THE ARTISTS
the prince In 2010–2011, tenor Khachatur Badalyan made his Italian debut at Teatro Massimo Bellini as Rodolfo in La bohème and appeared as Ismaele in Nabucco at Teatr Wielki in Poland. He also performed Alfredo in La traviata and the Duke in Rigoletto at the Novaya Opera Theatre in Moscow as well as making his North American debut as the Prince in Rusalka with Opéra de Montréal.
Recent engagements include the Prince in Rusalka and Don José in Carmen at the Opéra National de Paris; Rodolfo in La bohème at Venice’s Teatro La Fenice; Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut with Den Nye Opera; Alfredo in La traviata for Deutsche Oper Berlin; La bohème at Teatro Massimo Bellini (Catania); and Alfredo in La traviata and Ismaele in Nabucco for Wielki Teatr (Warsaw). Mr. Badalyan also has appeared at the Mariinsky Theatre (the title role in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly and Lensky in Eugene Onegin). Future roles include Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana with Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Ismaele with Ópera de Las Palmas and the Prince (Rusalka) for Arizona Opera.
Marianne Cornetti
jeŽibaba Marianne Cornetti is recognized internationally as one of the leading Verdi mezzo-sopranos in the world. She has appeared as Amneris in Aida, Azucena in Il trovatore and Eboli in Don Carlo at theaters including the Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House–Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Theatre Royale de la Monnaie (Brussels), Teatro Comunale (Florence), the Arena di Verona, Gran Teatro del Liceu (Barcelona), the Teatro San Carlo (Naples), and many others. Recent engagements include Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and Laura in La Gioconda with Deutsche Oper Berlin; Azucena in Il trovatore at the National Centre for the Performing Arts of China in Beijing and the Teatro Municipal in São Paulo (Brazil); Verdi concerts at the the Teatro Regio as well as Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera on its tour to Japan; Ulrica for the Royal Opera House–Covent Garden; and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel for Minnesota Opera. Other roles include Ortrud in Lohengrin in São Paulo; Eboli in Parma (Italy); Dame Quickly in Falstaff in La Coruña (Spain); the Principessa in Adriana Lecouvreur in Cagliari (Italy); and the Witch for Lyric Opera of Kansas City.
Bergen Baker
second dryad Hailed by the Star Tribune as having a “fetching blend of grace, warmth and humor on stage,” Bergen Baker recently served as Teaching Artist for Minnesota Opera. In addition to performing as a concert soloist across the Upper Midwest, Ms. Baker has performed both locally and abroad. Most notably, she has sung the roles of Nanette in Mlle. Modiste with Skylark Opera, the Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte with the Minnesota Orchestra and Minnesota Opera, and Tisbe in La Cenerentola with La Musica Lirica in San Marino, Italy. Her concert and oratorio experience includes performances of Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Igor Stravinsky’s Les noces. She recently sang Papagena in The Magic Flute, Mercédès in Carmen and Wowkle in La fanciulla del West for Minnesota Opera.
Ms. Baker holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from DePaul University and the University of Minnesota, respectively. At the U of M, she appeared in the role of Sharon Falconer in Elmer Gantry by Robert Aldridge and returned as a guest artist for the title role in Aldridge’s Sister Carrie.
Siena Forest
first dryad Soprano Siena Forest appeared as the Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel and Frasquita in Carmen with Minnesota Opera during its 2014–2015 season. This season, she returned as Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos and Pamina in the Duluth touring performance of The Magic Flute and will cover Wendy Torrance in The Shining. This past summer, Ms. Forest covered the role of Marie (La fille du régiment) with Mill City Summer Opera. In December, she was the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the South Dakota Symphony.
In summer 2014, Siena starred as Pamina in The Magic Flute and was the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, with the ok Mozart International Music Festival. In the summer of 2013, she was a studio artist with Central City Opera, where she received an award in honor of Patsy Rose Musser. At cco, she sang scenes as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice, Noémie in Cendrillon and Rose Maurrant in Street Scene. With the Indiana University Opera Theater she has sung Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, Nannetta in Falstaff and Musetta in La bohème.
Michael Christie
conductor Michael Christie became music director of Minnesota Opera in September 2012. Before coming to Minnesota, he served as music director of the Phoenix Symphony (2005–2013), the Brooklyn Philharmonic (2005–2010), the Queensland Orchestra (Brisbane, Australia; 2000–2004) and the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder (2000–2013).
Recent opera engagements have included productions with Opera Theatre of St. Louis (Alice in Wonderland, The Ghosts of Versailles and The Death of Klinghoffer), Wexford Festival Opera (Silent Night and The Ghosts of Versailles), Minnesota Opera (La traviata, Wuthering Heights, Silent Night, Madame Butterfly, Nabucco, Anna Bolena, Turandot, Manon Lescaut, Arabella, Macbeth, La fanciulla del West, The Manchurian Candidate, Carmen, Ariadne auf Naxos and The Magic Flute) and Aspen Opera Theatre (The Ghosts of Versailles and West Side Story). He has also conducted at Opéra de Montréal and Opera Philadelphia (Silent Night) and Lyric Opera of Chicago (Rising Stars). He made his San Francisco Opera debut with the world premiere of The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, and in 2017, he leads the world premiere performances of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs by Mason Bates with Santa Fe Opera.
Paul Hackenmueller
lighting design A Minneapolis native that has spent the last 13 years in New York, Paul is delighted to be “home” and now splits his time between New York and Minneapolis. His opera work has been seen at The Dallas Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Bucharest National Opera, Rome Opera, Gotham Chamber Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Colorado and Palm Beach Opera. His theater work includes work on more than 10 Broadway productions as well as regional theater productions at the Guthrie Theater, Geva, Syracuse Stage, Alliance Theater, Merrimack Rep, Perseverance Theater, Portland Stage, Berkshire Theater Group and McCarter Theater Center/Princeton University. Work with musical artists includes Katy Perry, Michael Buble, Norah Jones, Tony Bennett, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Garth Brooks, Lionel Ritchie, Ricky Martin, Luke Bryan and James Taylor. Commercial work and clients include the Carlson Companies, Target, Starkey and Helms Briscoe. He received his Master of Fine Arts from nyu’s Tisch School and his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities). sparkdesigncollaborative.com
| RUSALKA
Khachatur Badalyan
13