Butler Studio Showcase program

BUTLER STUDIO

SE PT E M B E R 1 3, 2 024 7 P.M .

Wortham Theater Center’s Cullen Theater

JANUA RY 17, 2 02 5 AT 7 P. M .

CUL LE N THEAT ER , WORTHA M T HEAT ER C ENT ER NEW this year!

• The finalists perform accompanied by the HGO Orchestra • Renowned conductor James Gaffigan takes the podium • The prize purse has TRIPLED—raising the stakes even higher!

Tickets for the concert start at $25. You’re invited to support the future of these young artists at a cocktail-attire dinner following the performance.

Ticket and gala dinner information at HGO.org.

On the cover: mezzo-soprano Ani Kushyan and tenor Michael McDermott. This page: bass-baritone Sam Dhobhany, accompanied by Dr. Maureen Zoltek.

WE LCOME TO TH E 2 02 4 S AR A H A N D ER N EST B UTLE R HOUSTO N GRAN D O PER A STU D I O S H OWCA SE! As we enter our second season as the renamed Butler Studio, we are excited to share the extraordinary talents of our artists with you tonight. This showcase marks the beginning of what promises to be a dynamic season of performances. We are deeply grateful to Sarah and Ernest Butler, and our entire community of amazing supporters and friends, who make this program possible.

Colin Michael Brush

Many of our artists have already performed on notable stages and participated in respected training programs. Now, they are here to take the next major step in their careers— building on their impressive achievements while deepening their artistry. Each artist brings something unique, and this season will be an opportunity for them to refine their distinctive voices and perspectives. They are poised to grow into powerful, singular artists who will define opera’s unfolding future.

Throughout the 2024-25 season, our Butler Studio artists will play key roles in productions on the mainstage at HGO and in events across the Houston community. Their contributions will resonate throughout everything we do, and tonight’s performance is just the beginning.

The human voice possesses a raw power and truth that can move and inspire like no other force. Tonight, as these talented artists take the stage, you’ll experience firsthand how their voices can captivate and transform an audience.

This is not just a performance—it’s a preview of the opera of tomorrow.

Thank you for joining us, and for sharing in the start of this journey.

Colin Michael Brush Director Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio

BUT L E R STU D IO S HOWCAS E

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PR O GRA M

The program will last approximately two hours, including one intermission.

Puccini – La bohème (1896) / Act I Opening: “Questo mar rosso mi ammollisce e assidera…”

Rodolfo Marcello Schaunard Colline Pianist

Michael McDermott Navasard Hakobyan Sam Dhobhany Ziniu Zhao Jenny Choo

Verdi – Simon Boccanegra (1857) / Act I, Aria, Scene, and Duet: “Come in quest’ora bruna…

Cielo di stelle orbato” Amelia Gabriele Ancella Pietro Pianist

Elizabeth Hanje Demetrious Sampson, Jr. Ani Kushyan Ziniu Zhao Laura Bleakley

Donizetti – The Elixir of Love (1832) / Act II, Sc. 3 Scene and Duet: “La donna è un animale stravagante davvero!…Venti scudi!”

Nemorino Belcore Pianist

Michael McDermott Navasard Hakobyan Jenny Choo

Gounod – Faust (1859) / Act IV, Final Trio: “Va-t’en!”

Marguerite Faust Méphistophélès Pianist

Alissa Goretsky Shawn Roth Ziniu Zhao Laura Bleakley

INTERMISSION Menotti – The Consul (1950) / Act I, Sc. 1

­­

Voice on Record John Sorel Magda Sorel The Mother Secret Police Agent Pianist Offstage Pianist

Elizabeth Hanje Navasard Hakobyan Alissa Goretsky Ani Kushyan Sam Dhobhany Jenny Choo Laura Bleakley

Offenbach – The Tales of Hoffmann (1881) / Act III, Duet: “C’est une chanson d’amour” Antonia Hoffmann Pianist

Elizabeth Hanje Michael McDermott Laura Bleakley

Wagner – The Flying Dutchman (1843) / Act I, No. 2 Der Steuermann Daland Chorus of Sailors Pianist

Demetrious Sampson, Jr. Ziniu Zhao Michael McDermott, Shawn Roth, Navasard Hakobyan, Sam Dhobhany Jenny Choo

Bizet – Carmen (1875) / Act IV, Final Scene and Duet: “C’est toi! C’est moi!”

Carmen Don José Offstage Chorus Pianist Offstage Chorus Conductor Offstage Pianist

Ani Kushyan Shawn Roth Alissa Goretsky, Elizabeth Hanje, Michael McDermott, Demetrious Sampson, Jr., Sam Dhobhany, Ziniu Zhao Laura Bleakley Teddy Poll Jenny Choo

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C R EATIVE T E AM Director Host Music Director Lighting Designer Fight Director Intimacy Director Musical Preparation

Supertitles

Mo Zhou Colin Michael Brush Dr. Maureen Zoltek Michael James Clark H. Russ Brown Olivia Knight Laura Bleakley * Jenny Choo * Peter Pasztor ** Madeline Slettedahl William Woodard Lucas Nguyen

Butler Studio artist * Former Butler Studio artist **

PR O DU CT IO N C R E D ITS Director of Production Technical Director Assistant Technical Directors Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager Head of Costumes Properties Design Director Wig and Makeup Design Director Principal Wig Maker and Shop Manager

Kristen Burke Bradley Roast Elliott Carnell Jackson Halphide Brian August Isaí Leal Norma Cortez Megan Meghann Mason Dotti Staker

Stage crew personnel provided by IATSE, Local #51.

Wardrobe personnel provided by Theatrical Wardrobe USHER UNIT

Union, Local #896.

Usher personnel provided by IATSE, Local B-184.

LOCAL UNION

®

IATSE LOCAL B-184 USHER UNIT HOUSTON TEXAS

With deepest thanks to the members of the Butler Studio Committee, who helped make the Butler Studio Showcase possible: Warren Ellsworth, Chair Michelle Beale, Vice Chair Melinda Brunger Patrick Carfizzi Molly Crownover Lynn Des Prez Lynn Gissel

Sandy Godfrey Ellen Gritz Brenda HarveyTraylor Nancy Haywood Maureen Hetzel Melvyn Hetzel Gary Hollingsworth

Steve Homer Marianne Kah Stephanie Larsen Richard Leibman Carolyn Levy Sharon Ley Lietzow Claire Liu Tracy Maddox

Amy Melton Miguel MiroQuesada Valerie MiroQuesada Kathy Moore Charlene Nickson Gloria Portela Jill Risley

Allyn Risley Jack Roth John Serpe Janet Sims Dian Stai Harlan Stai Bob Wakefield Trey Yates

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WHO’ S WHO MO ZHOU (CHINA) DIRECTOR Previously for HGO, Mo Zhou served as director for the 2024 world premiere of Meilina Tsui and Melisa Tien’s The Big Swim and assistant director for La traviata (2017).

Zhou’s career spans opera, theater, dance, and film. Highlights of Zhou’s 2023-24 season include a reimagined Madame Butterfly set in post-WWII Allied-occupied Japan at Virginia Opera, Tosca with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, and La Calisto at Glimmerglass Festival. During the 2024-25 season, she revives her acclaimed Madame Butterfly with Florentine Opera and Kentucky Opera; directs Così fan tutte at The Juilliard School and La bohème at Arizona Opera; and returns to Virginia Opera for a new production of Così fan tutte. She will also make her Canadian directing debut with Madame Butterfly at Vancouver Opera. Companies producing her work include Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Berlin), National Centre for the Performing Arts (China), The Santa Fe Opera, and Florida Grand Opera. Zhou has held directing fellowships at Juilliard, Wolf Trap Opera, WP Theater, Merola Opera Program, and The Glimmerglass Festival.

A winner of the Opera America Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize and an Opera America Grant for Women Stage Directors, Zhou has taught at the University of Michigan and the University of MissouriKansas City Conservatory, and has served as guest dramatic faculty at programs including HGO’s Butler Studio.

MICHAEL JAMES CLARK (UNITED STATES) LIGHTING DESIGNER Michael James Clark is the head of lighting and production media for HGO. During the company’s 2024-25 season, he serves as revival lighting designer for Cinderella and lighting designer for La bohème. In the

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2023-24 season, he was lighting designer for Falstaff and The Big Swim and revival lighting designer for Parsifal. During the 2022-23 season, Clark was associate lighting designer for The Marriage of Figaro, Werther, and Tosca, and during the company’s 2021-22 season he created the lighting design for the world premiere production of The Snowy Day, and served as the assistant lighting designer for The Magic Flute and associate lighting designer for Carmen. He served as revival lighting designer for HGO’s production of Aida (2020) and designed lighting for mainstage and Miller Outdoor Theatre productions of La bohème (2018-19) and the world premiere of The Phoenix (2019). He lit the HGO world premieres of Some Light Emerges (2017), After the Storm (2016), O Columbia (2015), and Cruzar la Cara de la Luna (2010), as well as many more mainstage and outdoor HGO productions. Clark also has designed lighting for Teatro La Fenice, San Francisco Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, Stages Repertory Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars, Rice University, and the 2007 Prague Quadrennial. He holds a degree in lighting design from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

LAURA BLEAKLEY (UNITED STATES) PIANIST/COACH Ms. Lynn Des Prez / Dr. and Mrs. Miguel Miro-Quesada Fellow

First-year Butler Studio artist Laura Bleakley, a Honolulu-born Korean-American, recently completed two years as a resident artist at Utah Opera. In 2024, she returned to the Glimmerglass Festival for her second summer as a young artist, while also serving as both assistant youth chorus director and principal coach/performance pianist on Glimmerglass’s world premiere youth opera, Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children. Bleakley has served as a Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, a resident artist with Opera in the

Heights, and a festival artist with Opera Saratoga. She has won competitions in both organ and piano, including the Music Teachers National Association State Piano Solo Competition, the MTNA Chamber Music Competition regionals, and the American Guild of Organists Competition. In addition to performing on National Public Radio’s From the Top and being featured in Houston Public Media’s Skyline Sessions, Bleakley recorded an album of rare Russian art songs for KNS Classical. She received her Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Houston, where she is currently pursuing her Doctor of Music degree.

JENNY CHOO (UNITED STATES) PIANIST/COACH Dr. Laura E. Sulak and Dr. Richard W. Brown Fellow

First-year Butler Studio artist Jenny Choo, from St. Louis, Missouri, joined the music staff for Sarasota Opera’s 2024 Winter Opera Festival as assistant conductor for Lucia di Lammermoor and L’infedeltà delusa.

In summer 2024, she returned to Aspen Music Festival and School as a coaching fellow. In 2023, she served as a vocal coach for the Fletcher Opera Institute at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Also in 2023, she served on the music staff for the U.S. premiere of Anchorage Opera’s Missing, a work that addresses the tragedy of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.

Choo’s passion for collaboration has taken her and her musical partners to song competitions including the 2021 Kneisel Lieder Competition, where they brought home second prize, as well as the 2022 Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition, after which they were invited to London to compete as finalists.

She studied collaborative arts at the Eastman School of Music.

SAM DHOBHANY (UNITED STATES) BASS-BARITONE Dian and Harlan Stai Fellow

First-year Butler Studio artist Sam Dhobhany, from Brooklyn, New York, received the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award at HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. He is a 2022 alumnus of HGO’s Young Artist Vocal Academy. During the 2024-25 season for HGO, he makes his company debut as Alidoro in HGO Family Day Presents Cinderella and performs the role of Terry in Breaking the Waves. In summer 2024, he returned to Santa Fe Opera as an apprentice artist, where his roles included Marchese d’Obigny in La traviata and covering Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love and The Notary in Der Rosenkavalier.

In 2024, Dhobhany sang the role of Angelotti in Tosca with Dayton Opera and the title role in The Marriage of Figaro at the University of Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music. In summer 2023, Dhobhany was an apprentice artist with Santa Fe Opera, where he covered and sang the role of Un Médecin in Pelléas et Mélisande and covered 2nd Spirit/5th Pastore in L’Orfeo. Dhobhany was a 2023 winner of the Michigan District in The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.

He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

ALISSA GORETSKY (UNITED STATES) SOPRANO Nancy Haywood / Susan Bloome / James M. Trimble and Sylvia Barnes Fellow

First-year Butler Studio artist Alissa Goretsky, a Los Angeles native, was the third-place winner of HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. During the 2024-25 season she makes her HGO debut as Clorinda in Cinderella, and performs the role again BUT L E R STU D IO S HOWCAS E 5

WHO’ S WHO for the company’s English-language Family Day production. She made her operatic debut as Gismonda in Ottone at Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall under the baton of Corey Jameson in 2019. In March 2024 she performed the role of Ma Zegner in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up, also at Caroline Hume Hall. Other recent roles include Foreign Woman in The Consul, Mimì in La bohème, Contessa Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, and Emilia in Flavio, as well as covering the roles of Sister Alice and Sister Catherine at San Francisco Opera in Dialogues of the Carmelites. Goretsky was a San Francisco District Winner in the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and received the Special Encouragement Award in the competition’s second round in Los Angeles. In 2023, she won the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition, and in 2022, she took First Place in the Palm Springs Opera Guild competition. Goretsky holds both Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

NAVASARD HAKOBYAN (ARMENIA) BARITONE Bill and Melinda Brunger /Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Nickson / Gloria M. Portela Fellow

During HGO’s 2024-25 season, third-year Butler Studio artist Navasard Hakobyan performs the role of Schaunard in La bohème. Hakobyan won first place at HGO’s 2022 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias.

In 2023, he won 3rd Prize and the Don Plácido Domingo Ferrer Prize of Zarzuela at the Operalia World Opera Competition, and in 2024 was named a National Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. During HGO’s 2023-24 season, he performed as Sharpless in alternate cast performances of Madame Butterfly, and during the company’s 2022-23 season, he performed the roles of Baron Douphol in La traviata, Antonio in The Marriage of Figaro, and Second Nazarene

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in Salome. Other roles during the 2023-24 season include his house and role debut as Gregorio in Romeo and Juliet with Dallas Opera, and his Carnegie Hall debut in a concert dedicated to Rachmaninoff’s 150th anniversary. Future seasons include a house debut with Semperoper Dresden, a solo concert in Prague, and more. In summer 2023 as a fellow at Music Academy of the West, Hakobyan performed the role of Marcello in La bohème. Notable prizes include being named winner of the 2023 Marilyn Horne Song Competition at Music Academy of The West, a 2022 Sullivan Award, first prize at the 2023 Butler Opera International Voice Competition in Austin, first prize in the 2023 Premiere Opera Foundation International Vocal Competition, and many more. He received his master’s degree at Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan.

ELIZABETH HANJE (UNITED STATES) SOPRANO Ms. Marty Dudley / Amy and Mark Melton Fellow

First-year Butler Studio artist Elizabeth Hanje, a TanzanianAmerican soprano from Vestavia Hills, Alabama, was the first-place winner at HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. She is a 2022 alumna of HGO’s Young Artist Vocal Academy and the Des Moines Metro Opera Apprentice Program. In fall 2024, she makes her mainstage debut with HGO as Ines in Il trovatore. At Oberlin Conservatory, her roles have included Ernestina in L’occasione fa il ladro, Comedian in Matthew Recio’s The Puppy Episode, and Lyra in Melissa Dunphy’s Alice Tierney, as well as performing in the chorus of Acis and Galatea. In April 2022, she performed the role of Lyra in Alice Tierney in her debut with Opera Columbus.

Hanje has sung in masterclasses with director Michael Capasso, soprano Christine Goerke, mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, and soprano Harolyn Blackwell. She is a

winner of the 2023 Duncan Williams Voice Competition and the 2022 George Shirley Vocal Competition. In 2021, she received the Richard Miller Award for Fine Singing and a YoungArts Award. In spring 2024, she received her Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory.

ANI KUSHYAN (GEORGIA/ARMENIA) MEZZO-SOPRANO Ken and Donna Barrow / Mr. and Mrs. D. Patrick McCelvey / Ms. Jill A. Schaar and Mr. George Caflisch / Mr. and Mrs. James W. Crownover Fellow

Second-year Butler Studio artist from Tbilisi, Ani Kushyan was a finalist in HGO’s 2023 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. During HGO’s 2024-25 season, she performs the role of Shepherd in Tannhäuser. Her roles during the company’s 2023-24 season included Flower Maiden/2nd Esquire in Parsifal and Sister Sophia in The Sound of Music. In October 2023, she made her Carnegie Hall debut in a concert dedicated to Rachmaninoff’s 150th anniversary. In summer 2024, she performed as a soloist in Houston Ballet’s production of Mayerling. Kushyan was a member of the young artist program at Armenian National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet from 2021-23. As an active concert performer, she has appeared in Germany, Latvia, Sweden, Estonia, Georgia, and Armenia. She was named a 2024 National Semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the first-prize winner in the 2022 Premiere Opera Foundation Vocal Competition, the audience prize winner at the SOI Fiorenza Cedolins competition in Italy, first-prize winner in the 2021 Armenian Romanciade, and winner of a special prize at the Ottavio Ziino International Singing Competition in Rome. Kushyan received her bachelor’s degree from the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory and her master’s degree from the Tbilisi State Conservatory in Georgia. She continued her studies at the Riga Jāzepa Vītola Latvian Music Academy and the Lübeck Academy of Music in Germany.

MICHAEL MCDERMOTT (UNITED STATES) TENOR Michelle Beale and Dick Anderson / Dr. Ellen R. Gritz and Mr. Milton D. Rosenau Jr. Fellow

A second-year Butler Studio artist from Huntington Beach, California, Michael McDermott is the third-place winner in HGO’s 2023 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias and a 2021 alumnus of HGO’s Young Artists Vocal Academy. During HGO’s 2024-25 season, he performs as Messenger in Il trovatore, Don Ramiro in student and Family Day performances of Cinderella, and a tenor soloist in Breaking the Waves. During HGO’s 2023-24 season, he performed the roles of Bardolph in Falstaff and 4th Esquire in Parsifal. In 2022, he covered the role of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Aspen Music Festival and returned in 2023 to perform Arbace in Idomeneo. In summer 2024, McDermott sang the role of Camille de Rosillon in The Merry Widow at the Glyndebourne Festival.

His recent competition wins include first prize in the 2024 Grand Concours Vocal Competition, first prize in the Schmidt Vocal Competition, and first prize in the Scholarship Division of the National Opera Association’s Carolyn Bailey Argento Competition. McDermott received his Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School, and pursued his master’s degree at Rice University.

SHAWN ROTH (UNITED STATES) TENOR Drs. Liz Grimm and Jack Roth / Drs. Rachel and Warren A. Ellsworth IV / Kathleen Moore and Steven Homer / Sharon Ley Lietzow and Robert Lietzow Fellow

First-year Butler Studio artist Shawn Roth, from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was named a winner of the Pittsburgh District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in 2023. During HGO’s 2024-25 season, he makes his company debut as Heinrich der Schreiber in Tannhäuser. He was recently BUT L E R STU D IO S HOWCAS E 7

WHO’ S WHO a resident artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts, where he performed as part of the Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia in addition to the role of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. Roth is a three-time fellow at Music Academy of the West, where he won the Marilyn Horne Song Competition in 2021 for a recital performance of Schumann’s Liederkreis, Op. 39. In 2023, he received an honorable mention in the Meistersinger Competition at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz. In summer 2024, he covered the role of Narraboth in Salome at Des Moines Metro Opera as an apprentice artist. In 2024, he took the top prize in the Wagner Society of New York’s 2024 Grant Awards. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory, where Marilyn Horne named him a Rubin Scholar.

DEMETRIOUS SAMPSON, JR. (UNITED STATES) TENOR Dr. Dina Alsowayel and Mr. Anthony R. Chase / Mr. Eliodoro Castillo and Mr. Eric McLaughlin / Mr. and Mrs. Hector Torres / Mr. Trey Yates Fellow

A second-year Butler Studio artist from Albany, Georgia, Demetrious Sampson, Jr. performs the roles of Ruiz in Il trovatore, Parpignol in La bohème, and Younger Sailor in Breaking the Waves during HGO’s 2024-25 season. The previous season for the company, Sampson performed the role of 3rd Esquire in Parsifal. Sampson is the second place and Audience Choice Winner in HGO’s 2023 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias and a 2022 alumnus of HGO’s Young Artists Vocal Academy. He made his professional debut with The Atlanta Opera at the age of 20 as Crab Man in Porgy and Bess, a role he reprised at Des Moines Metro Opera in summer 2022 as an apprentice artist.

During summer 2023, he joined the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco. In summer 2024, he made company and role debuts with Cincinnati Opera as Gastone

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in La traviata and with Wolf Trap Opera as the Kronprinz in Kevin Puts’s Silent Night. A previous Encouragement Award winner, he was named a National Finalist in the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.

Sampson received his bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University in 2023.

ZINIU ZHAO (CHINA) BASS-BARITONE Carolyn J. Levy / Jill and Allyn Risley / Dr. Peter Chang and Hon. Theresa Chang and Friends / Dr. Ron Galfione and Carolyn Galfione Fellow

First-year Butler Studio artist Ziniu Zhao, from the Chinese province of Shandong, was the second-place winner at HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. During the 2024-25 season, he makes his HGO debut as Don Magnifico for the company’s English-language Family Day production of Cinderella. Zhao is a member of the Opera Talent Training Program of the China National Arts Foundation. He won first prize in the Colorado International Music Competition in the United States, the Rossini Singing Award for Best Singing in the Fiorenza Cedolins Opera Competition in Italy, and the Maria Callas Award in the Vincerò International Opera Competition, also in Italy. He has appeared in operas such as Don Pasquale (title role), La bohème (Colline), and Così fan tutte (Don Alfonso). In 2023, he gave a solo concert in China’s Shandong Province. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where he received the Outstanding Student Scholarship for four consecutive years.

S ARA H A ND E R N E ST BUTL E R H O U STO N GRA ND OPE R A STUD IO FACU LTY + STA F F Colin Michael Brush, Director Sponsored by Christopher Bacon and Craig Miller, Mr. Jack Bell, and Lynn Gissel

Dr. Maureen Zoltek, Music Director Mr. and Mrs. Albert B. Alkek Chair

Kiera Krieg, Butler Studio Manager Dr. Stephen King, Director of Vocal Instruction Sponsored by Jill and Allyn Risley, Janet Sims, and the James J. Drach Endowment Fund

Patrick Summers, Conducting Instructor and Coach Sarah and Ernest Butler Chair

Peter Pasztor, Principal Coach Sponsored by the Mr. and Mrs. James A. Elkins Jr. Endowment Fund

Mo Zhou, Showcase Director and Guest Acting Faculty Stephen Neely, Dalcroze Eurhythmics Instructor Adam Noble, Movement Instructor Christa Gaug, German Instructor Enrica Vagliani Gray, Italian Instructor Sponsored by Marsha Montemayor

Neda Zafaranian, English Instructor Margo Garrett, Guest Coach Warren Jones, Guest Coach Hemdi Kfir, Guest Coach Matthew Piatt, Guest Coach Leon Major, Guest Acting Faculty

Madeline Slettedahl, Assistant Conductor William Woodard, Assistant Conductor Brian Connelly, Piano Instructor

The Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio is grateful for the underwriting support of Ms. Marty Dudley, Ms. Stephanie Larsen, and Mr. and Mrs. Richard J. Langenstein. The Butler Studio is also thankful for the in-kind support of the Texas Voice Center and for the outstanding support of the Magnolia Houston hotel.

Additional support for the Butler Studio is provided by the following funds within the Houston Grand Opera Endowment, Inc.: The Gordon and Mary Cain Foundation Endowment Fund Marjorie and Thomas Capshaw Endowment Fund James J. Drach Endowment Fund The Evans and Portela Family Fund

Carol Lynn Lay Fletcher Endowment Fund William Randolph Hearst Endowed Scholarship Fund Charlotte Howe Memorial Scholarship Fund Elva Lobit Opera Endowment Fund Marian and Speros Martel Foundation Endowment Fund Erin Gregory Neale Endowment Fund Dr. Mary Joan Nish and Patricia Bratsas Endowed Fund John M. O’Quinn Foundation Endowed Fund Shell Lubricants State Company Fund Mary C. Gayler Snook Endowment Fund Tenneco, Inc., Endowment Fund Weston-Cargill Endowed Fund

FUNDED IN PART BY

THE CITY OF HOUSTON THROUGH

HOUSTON ARTS ALLIANCE

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HGO.ORG/ BUTLER-STUDIO