GRAND OPERA
PUCCINI TURANDOT
A BLOODTHIRSTY PRINCESS. A PRINCE IN LOVE. THREE RIDDLES NEVER BEFORE SOLVED.
75th ANNIVERSARY BENEFIT CONCERT ANDREA BOCELLI FINDING
Welcome to the third grand opera of our season, Puccini’s Turandot. His incomplete masterpiece is one of the most gorgeous pieces of music ever written. Based on correspondence between the composer and his libretist, we know that he could not figure out how to end the opera, leaving it in an unfinished state when he passed away in 1924.
Turandot is Puccini’s final opera and is far and away his most musically adventurous. As in Madama Butterfly, the music is filled with Asian elements: the percussion section in particular packed with gongs and various tuned instruments (xylophones, glockenspiels and the like). It is still, however, an Italian opera with the outrageously titled Ping, Pang and Pong - a spin on classic Commedia dell’arte characters.
This is an opera that blends epic chorus passages with brilliant intimate moments. The chorus plays a much more significant role than in Puccini’s other operas, acting as an onstage witness to well over half of the action. The opening is said to musically depict an executioner’s axe falling, and that chilling effect is well maintained throughout.
Turandot is the story of a beautiful and bloodthirsty Chinese princess who must marry against her will. She devises a devious test: she will marry anyone who can answer the three riddles; those who fail are executed. In disguise, Prince Calaf answers her questions to force her hand and then poses one to her – if she can guess his name before dawn, Turandot will not be obliged to marry him. This prompts one of the most famous arias: Nessun Dorma – No one sleeps. The slave girl Liù is tortured to reveal his name. The completion of the torture marks the end of Puccini’s music. Composer Franco Alfano finished it, bringing to life the version most often performed.
As we close on this season, we cannot help but take pride in the glorious music we’ve created on and off our main stage. Opera Carolina’s Education and Community Engagement Programs continue to thrive. By the end of the school year, we will have visited 45 schools, reaching approximately 20,000 students in nine counties in NC, SC, and GA, and brought storybooks to life through music for families in 18 libraries and recreation centers in Mecklenburg and Cabarrus counties.
Our next season opens with the stars. We begin with an Anniversary Benefit concert starring Andrea Bocelli, then a blockbuster production of Carmen, followed by our spectacular annual fundraiser Bella Notte. We do hope you will be able to join us for these and other events later in the season. Tickets for our 2024/25 season will be available on our website at operacarolina.org.
Now, as we enter our 75th season, we are asking you for an additional contribution to our mission. If you become a subscriber, you will be entitled to multiple benefits, including a discounted ticket price, the ability to change your seats and the ability to change your performance attendance dates, and - perhaps most importantly to many of you - the ability to obtain tickets to Andrea Bocelli’s concert before they become publicly available.
We are looking forward to celebrating our 75th season with you.
Board Chair
CAROL Y. KENDRICK Board Chair. Arts Advocate
ARLENE FEREBEE Vice-Chair. Novant Health
CHRISTOPHER T. MARDANY Vice-Chair. Hearst
DARYL HOLLNAGEL Secretary. Shumaker Loop and Kendrick
FRANK BONCIMINO Treasurer. Gaming Intelligence
PHYLLIS ZANGHI Assistant Tresurer. AIG
JULIE BERNARD Immediate Past Chair. Deloitte
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LIFE MEMBERS
DR. KI-HYUN CHUN CPA, Ph.D., LL.D, The Chun Group
LESLIE PALIYENKO Metropolitan Opera National Council
CHARLOTTE D. PAYNE Arts Advocate
PEG POVINELLI Arts Advocate
EMILY SMITH Arts Advocate
OC2020 CAMPAIGN CHAIRS
ROB ENGEL Wells Fargo
MARY TABOR ENGEL Queens University
JAMES MEENA
General Director & Principal Conductor
SARAH WATSON
Executive Assistant to the General Director
Development
CLAUDIO FERRI
Senior Director for Institutional Advancement
ALINA MACNICHOL
Senior Director for Development
KIMBERLY MIZE
Development Consultant
PHIL VOLPONI
Corporate Development & Government Affairs
Learning & Community
ASHLEY JOHNSON LAM
Senior Director for Learning
TEIL TALIESIN
Learning Programs Manager
Marketing
GAIL GARVIN
Community Programs & Patron Services Manager
LOGAN WEBBER
Digital Media Manager
KIAH RUFFIN
Creative Writer and Communications
Production
MICHAEL BAUMGARTEN
Director of Production, Resident Lighting & Video Designer
VALERIE WHEELER
Production Stage Manager & Assistant to Director of Production
EMILY JARRELL URBANEK
Director of Music Preparation
WILBERT FERGUSON Technical Director
JAY GRAVES
Assistant TD and Properties Manager
Finance
SHALIL GIANNONE
Finance Consultant
TINA KATIS
Accounting Manager
By Alina MacNichol
Multi-Generational Engagement with Opera Carolina: The My Mentor and Me program cultivates an early interest in opera and is tailored to middle- and high-school age youth. Every season, youth and their adult opera lovers enjoy a special brunch with Maestro Meena.
This season, My Mentor and Me will be meeting before the Sunday matinee performance of Turandot. The brunch is a shared experience for youth and adults from various communities, introducing them to opera and giving them a chance to engage with each other before the performance.
For many of the mentors and mentees who attend, this is their first exposure to opera.
Fund supports this popular annual event, in
Opera Carolina. For more information, contact alina@operacarolina.org
Opera in Three Acts and Five Scenes
Music by GIACOMO PUCCINI (1858-1924)
Libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni
Inspired by the play Turandot by Carlo Gozzi, adapted by Friedrich Schiller
Finale by Franco Alfano
First performance: April 25, 1926. Teatro alla Scala, Milan
APRIL 18, 20 & 21, 2024
Belk Theater, Charlotte, North Carolina
These productions are made possible by
Princess Turandot
Calaf, the Unknown Prince
Liù, slave to the Tartar royal family
Timur, dethroned Tartar King
Ping, Grand Chancellor
Pang, the General Purveyor
Pong, the Chief Cook
A mandarin
Emperor Altoum
Conductor
Director
Lighting & Video Design
Scenic Design
Costumes Design
Costumer
Wig & Make-Up Design
Property Design
Technical Director
* Opera Carolina debut
^Member of the Resident Company
Amy Shoremount-Obra*
Dario Di Vietri
Jennifer Forni*
James Eder
Jeffrey McEvoy*
Zachary Taylor*
Johnathan White^
John Fortson
Elliott Brown^ (Thu/Sat)
Logan Webber* (Sun)
James Meena
Jay Lesenger
Michael Baumgarten
Anita Stewart
Anna Oliver
Allison Collins
Martha Ruskai
Jay Graves
Wilbert Ferguson
The Opera takes place in the Imperial City, China in Legendary Times
The Opera Carolina Chorus and Academy Chorus members
The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra
Opera Carolina dedicates these performances of Turandot to the following Gold Circle members of the Verdi Society for their philanthropic support:
Mary Margaret and Josh Beaver, Sherri and Jon Bennett, Bill and Pauline Chinnis, Jane Conlan, Laura and Mike Grace, Dean Fischbeck and Lisa Lust, Isabelle and Bill Griesmyer, Jessie J. and Joye Blount Knight, Katherine and Mark Love, Holly and Chris Maurer, Karen and Brandon Perry, Mary Margaret and Fritz Porter, Neely and Jack Purcell, Gwen Reichbach and Michael Fonzo, Barbara and Terry L. Scott, Dr. Shanté Williams, Aundrea and Stephen Wilson.
Turandot, daughter of Emperor Altoum, has decreed that she will only marry if a suitor of noble blood can answer three riddles. If he cannot, the price shall be his head. Her most recent suitor, the Prince of Persia, is to be executed at the moon’s rising. In the commotion outside the palace a blind man falls to the ground, and his companion, Liù, asks for help. They are aided by Calaf, who recognizes the man as his long-lost father, Timur, the banished ruler of his land. Calaf, like his father, is running from enemies and concealing his identity, and is known only as the Unknown Prince. Liù continues to aid Timur even in exile because years before, as she explains, Calaf bestowed a smile upon her. The people impatiently await the beheading. As the Prince of Persia enters, the crowd is suddenly moved and pleads with the Princess to pardon him. Turandot appears and dispassionately confirms the Prince’s sentence with a silent gesture. Calaf immediately is entranced by her beauty. Timur and Liù try to convince the smitten Calaf that he must leave with them, but he breaks away and attempts to announce himself as a suitor. The three ministers of the Imperial Household, Ping, Pang, and Pong, warn him of his folly, to no avail. Liù begs him to listen, but Calaf ignores her entreaties and ceremoniously rings the gong, signifying his challenge for Turandot’s hand.
was born in Lucca in Tuscany, Italy on December 22, 1858. As a teenager, Puccini served as an organist to the area churches and played the piano as entertainment at social events. In March 1876, the twenty-year old walked thirty kilometers to attend a performance of Verdi’s latest opera success, Aïda. This event changed his life and he decided that he would make opera his life’s work.
While studying at the Conservatory, Puccini obtained a libretto from Ferdinando Fontana, and entered a competition for a one-act opera in 1882. Although he did not win, Le Villi was later staged in 1884 at the Teatro Dal Verme and it caught the attention of Giulio Ricordi, head of G. Ricordi & Co. music publishers, who commissioned a second opera, Edgar, in 1889.
Puccini collaborated with several librettists on his works, including Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. His most famed operas include: Manon Lescaut (1893), La bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), Madama Butterfly (1904), La fanciulla del West (1810), Il Trittico—a collection of three one-act operas: Il tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi (1918), and Turandot (1926)—unfinished at the time of Puccini’s death and later completed by Franco Alfano, one of Puccini’s protégées.
Ping, Pang, and Pong prepare for the eventuality of a wedding or a funeral. They discuss their misery since Turandot reached marriageable age, numbering the many noble suitors who have met a deadly fate and reminiscing about life in their native provinces. Is there truly a man whose passion can melt Turandot’s icy heart? Their hopes are guarded. A crowd assembles for the Trial of the Three Enigmas. Turandot devised this system to avenge her ancestress, Lo-u Ling, who was captured, raped, and put to death by marauding invaders. She offers Calaf one last chance to withdraw, but he stands firm. The first question is offered: “What is born each night and dies each dawn?” Calaf correctly answers “Hope.” Slightly taken aback, Turandot poses the next riddle: “What flares warm like a flame, yet it is no flame?” Calaf hesitates, then answers perfectly “Blood.” Visibly shaken, Turandot asks the final question: “The ice that gives you fire, what can it be?” Calaf tarries, then triumphantly cries “Turandot!” The people celebrate his victory, but Turandot pleads with the emperor not to be given to this Unknown Prince. Seeing her distress, Calaf offers a riddle of his own: “If before morning you can discover the name I bear, I shall forfeit my life.”
It is decreed that none shall sleep, under penalty of death, until the name of the Unknown Prince is discovered. Calaf expresses his conviction that he alone will reveal the secret. Ping, Pang, and Pong offer any prize, including his safe escape, if he tells them his name. Timur and Liù are captured, and at Turandot’s request Timur is to be tortured until he reveals the truth. Liù steps forward and says that she knows the prince’s name but will keep it as her eternal secret. Calaf reproaches the Princess for her cruelty. Turandot’s strength and desire for revenge leave her, and she weeps for the first time. Calaf reveals his true identity, thereby putting his life in Turandot’s hands. Trumpets announce the arrival of dawn and the assembly of the court. Turandot addresses the emperor and the people: “I have discovered the stranger’s name—it is Love!”
PBy Eli Halso Youth Academy member and Junior Chorus member
PMusic is a universal language. It’s all encompassing. From the beginning, there has been music, whether it is the sound of a running river or of a symphony. It’s a language of emotions, of expression, of people. Music is in the lives of every person, no matter your race, language, and religion; no matter your life. In a sense, opera is the epitome of the language of music. Performed all over the world in many different languages, with many different instruments and messages, opera reflects humanity. No matter the premier date, the main ideas of operas still stay true. One can walk out of a 2023 production of L’Orfeo having experienced the same human ideals and expressions as hundreds of thousands of others have since its initial performance in 1607.
While my love of opera started in the fourth grade when I was 9, my experience in its world started in 2019 at age 12. I had a voice teacher who was part of Opera Carolina who encouraged me to try for the children’s chorus. I did, performing the children’s part in La bohème. It was the best choice I could have made. Not everyone gets to experience the incredible, rushing moment of life when everything clicks, and you know in that moment where you are supposed to be. That was the first time I felt that moment. A moment that makes you feel truly alive. Moved and encompassed by the world of music. You can feel the vibrations of the orchestra throughout your entire body, feel the power of the harmony of voices. Through the air, through your soul. That moment is what opera is to me.
When I aged out of the children’s chorus, I moved to the Youth Academy’s Summer Workshop, which is completely dedicated to helping shape, grow, and cultivate young singers. It’s an environment where you’re surrounded by people with the same passion for music as you, learning from each other, helping each other develop, and forming important bonds and relationships that will continue to help you grow and flourish outside of the Youth Academy. In a way, it’s networking, which is very important in working to get into a musical profession. You’ve now met, acquainted, and bonded with people going into the same industry as you. You have connections, which are crucial to have. Besides learning from each other, you’re learning from professionals in the industry. That’s an important opportunity for young performers to have. You have someone who knows what it’s like to live your goals there to cultivate you. That’s an important thing to have, an experience that guides you not only now, but in future endeavors. That is why the Youth Academy is so important and helpful for young, developing musicians.
The Youth Academy isn’t the only thing I’ve been granted the opportunity to do by Opera Carolina. My freshman year of high school, I was invited back to do the children’s part in Tosca, an opportunity for which I am eternally grateful. Even though I had aged out of the children’s chorus, they still allowed me to come back to perform. It was such an incredible experience. Recently, I was allowed to work with the full chorus (photo), no longer in child roles, but as a junior chorus member. An opportunity that means more than words will ever be able to say. I’ve found a place here, a family. Everyone is wonderful and the experience it has granted me is worth more than anything. I’m honored to be a part of it.
“Opera Carolina reaches out to you with music and helps provide you with that incredible, all-encompassing, life changing world.”
Opera Carolina has provided a place for me to grow, learn, and flourish. They’ve granted me experiences worth their weight in gold. They have granted me bonds that I will carry for the rest of my life. Opera is the thing I am most passionate about in the world, and so much of that I owe to Opera Carolina for giving me a place to exist in the world of music. It’s not just me they give a place to, they give a place to everyone. Whether you’re in the audience of your very first opera, or you’re headlining one of the shows of the season, Opera Carolina reaches out to you with music and helps provide you with that incredible, all-encompassing, life changing world. They provide you with a moment in the world that makes you feel alive, just like the moment they gave me. And if anything, that is what opera is about.
To learn more about the Youth Academy, visit operacarolina.org/youth-academy
Maestro Meena has held principal and resident conducting posts with the Cleveland Ballet, Toledo Symphony, Opera Carolina, Opera Grand Rapids and Toledo Opera, in addition to guest conducting appearances that include a nationally televised Thanksgiving concert for the Korean Broadcasting System Symphony; performances of Stravinsky’s tour de force La Sacre du printemps with the National Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan; concerts with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra in the new Cairo Opera House; and symphony concerts with the orchestras of the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, the Orchestra Regionale Toscana in Italy, the Grand Rapids Symphony, the Memphis Symphony, the Mexico City Philharmonic, the Orlando Symphony, the National Symphony R.O.C (Taiwan), the Pittsburgh Symphony, the KBS Symphony (Seoul) and the Toledo Symphony. He has been guest conductor with Arizona Opera, Edmonton Opera, the National Arts Center Ottawa, Manitoba Opera, NYCity Opera, Opera Pacific, l’Opera de Montreal, Pittsburgh Opera, Portland Opera, Opera Pacific, Sarasota Opera, Utah Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, and the Washington Opera. He has conducted legendary singers including Renée Fleming, Denyce Graves, James McCracken, Mignon Dunn, Marilyn Horne, Jerome Hines, Diana Soviero, Jerry Hadley, Mark Delavan and Marcello Giordani.
Recent engagements include the new production of The Magic Flute for which he serves as co-producer and conductor with the theaters in Lake Como, Brescia, Pavia and Cremona Italy, performances of Turandot in the Teatro Antiche Taormina and Teatro Greco Siracusa, Tosca at the Luglio Musicale Trapanese in Sicilia, a double-bill of Rachmaninoff’s rarely-performed Aleko paired with Pagliacci as well as La fanciulla del West, both with New York City Opera; Le nozze di Figaro for Teatro Sociale Rovigo Italy, La Fanciulla del West for five prestigious Italian theaters: Teatro del Giglio, Lucca Italy, Teatro Verdi in Pisa, Teatro Alighieri di Ravenna, Teatro Pavarotti di Modena and Teatro Goldoni di Livorno, plus a Gala concert with Renee Fleming and the Toledo Symphony, and La bohème with the prestigious Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago.
During Jay Lesenger’s more than 45-year career as stage director, administrator, and teacher, he has directed almost 250 operas, operettas, and musicals. Mr. Lesenger continues to be recognized for productions that are dramatically compelling and musically informed.
For 21 years he was the General/Artistic Director of Chautauqua Opera, the longest-serving general director in the company’s history, where he created more than 50 productions, including new stagings of Peter Grimes, Luisa Miller, Vanessa, Macbeth, Il Trovatore, Stiffelio, Two Widows, Maria Stuarda, The Cunning Little Vixen, Regina, The Ballad of Baby Doe, Susannah, and The Consul.
His exceptional career began at the New York City Opera, where his new staging of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena opened Beverly Sills’s first season as general director of the NYCO. Other productions for “The People’s Opera” included The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, and Street Scene. Notable productions include the World Premiere of Thea Musgrave’s Pontalba for New Orleans, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Louisiana Purchase. His innovative production of Ariadne auf Naxos was seen in Atlanta, Virginia, Chautauqua, Opera Columbus and telecast on PBS from Florentine Opera/Milwaukee.
For five years, he directed the School of Music Opera Theater at the University of Michigan and later was Director of Opera at Northwestern University where his productions included the first staging ever of the Beaumarchais Operatic Trilogy — The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro, and The Ghosts of Versailles. He is a nationally recognized teacher of acting for singers and has directed and taught at the Mannes School of Music, The Juilliard School, the Academy of Vocal Arts, Indiana University and the Manhattan School of Music, where he staged the first major New York revival of John Corigliano/William Hoffman’s The Ghosts of Versailles. Jay is a frequent adjudicator for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and holds a bachelor’s degree from Hofstra University and a master’s from Indiana University.
Top Prize Winner of the 2018 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition Wagner Division, Soprano Amy Shoremount-Obra has garnered major attention for her work on the operatic and concert stage. Ms. Shoremount-Obra made her much-anticipated Metropolitan Opera Debut in 2014 as First Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. She recently returned to the Met for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons for the revival of the English version of the opera in the same role. In previous seasons at the Met, she has covered the roles of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Anna in Nabucco, Clotilde in Norma, Aksinya in Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Queen of the Night (also in Die Zauberflöte).
Ms. Shoremount-Obra’s other recent operatic appearances have included her debut in the title role of Turandot with Opera Grand Rapids, the title role of Salome with the Southern Illinois Music Festival, the title role of Daphne (R. Strauss, cvr) with The American Symphony Orchestra, Leonore in Beethoven’s Fidelio with the LA Philharmonic (workshop) and Grand Harmonie in Princeton, NJ, the title role in Pacini’s Maria, Regina d’Inghilterra and Marchesa in Verdi’s Un Giorno di Regno with Odyssey Opera of Boston, the title role in Tosca and Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with Maryland Opera in Baltimore, Freia (cvr) in Wagner’s Das Rheingold with the New York Philharmonic, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Opera Las Vegas, The Savannah Voice Festival, and NYC’s new Venture Opera, Musetta in La bohème with the Savannah Philharmonic, Fiordiligi in Cosí fan tutte with Annapolis Opera, and First Lady in The Magic Flute with the Pacific Symphony in Costa Mesa, California. Important concerts include her Carnegie Hall debut as the Soprano Soloist in Brahms’ Requiem with The Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of the late James DePreist, and her debut at David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center as the Soprano Soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with the National Chorale.
During the summer of 2016, she appeared in Honolulu, on The Big Island of Hawaii, and in Maui with Virtuoso Violinist Eric Silberger, Louisiana Philharmonic Cellist Daniel Lelchuk, and Canadian Pianist Ian Parker for the first season of the Hawaii International Music Festival, a festival she co-founded. Her performance at the Blaisdell Concert Hall included a collaboration with world-renowned Taiko Artist Kenny Endo. In 2018, she made her debut with the Orquesta Filarmónica del Estado de Chihuahua in Mexico in a solo concert of arias from Il Trovatore, Nabucco, Tannhäuser, and Turandot. Ms. Shoremount-Obra made her European Operatic debut as Ifigenia in Handel’s Oreste at the Spoleto Festival, Italy. She is a native of New Jersey and holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music (BM, MM) and The Juilliard School (AD). She continues her vocal studies in New York as a student of Diana Soviero.
Since winning the prestigious competition “Una voce per l’Arena” tenor Dario Di Vietri has performed in the world’s greatest theaters including the Arena di Verona as Calaf in Turandot, Opera di Roma, Teatro San Carlo of Naples, Teatro Petruzzelli of Bari, Teatro Regio of Parma, Teatro Massimo Bellini of Catania, and the Puccini Festival in Torre Del Lago, performing leading roles such as Radames in Aida, Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Renato Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut, Samson in Samson et Dalila, Don José in Carmen, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, Manrico in Trovatore, the title role in Andrea Chenier, and Canio in Pagliacci.
Internationally, Dario has performed with Opera de Oviedo, the Greek National Opera, Maggio Fiorentino, the Eptapyrgion Festival in Thessaloniki (Greece), Tirana National Opera, National Kaohsiung Center for the Art of Taiwan, Ohrid Festival (North Macedonia), Velada de las Artes - Mazatlan (Mexico), Sinfonica de Balears, the Seoul Arts Center, Belgrade National Theatre, Bucharest National Opera, Ankara State Opera, Cairo Opera House, Dubai Opera, Polish National Opera, Algeri International Music Festival, International Festival of Music of Cartagena.
He returns to Opera Carolina following acclaimed performances of Carmen in 2018. Born in Bari, Di Vietri studied at Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan and the School of Opera of the Teatro Comunale in Bologna.
Since 1999, the Hearst corporate office in Charlotte and the Hearst Foundations in New York have provided a reliable, firm foundation for Opera Carolina’s philanthropic campaigns. Hearst corporate has been the Title Sponsor of the Season-Opening opera production in each year from the 2001/02 season to the 2023/24 season-opening production of Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana.
This amazing support is made more significant by the investment the Hearst Foundations have made in Opera Carolina:
THANK YOU TO THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO MAKE HEARST A SPECIAL CORPORATE PARTNER.
Praised for her “warm, gleaming lyric soprano” voice (Washington Post), American soprano Jennifer Forni has distinguished herself as a dynamic singer possessing the raw yet luxurious power of a classic full lyric soprano. Oregon Arts Watch commented, “She has the best messa di voce... I’ve heard in a long time!”.
In recent years Jennifer has performed such roles as the iconic role of Turandot in Puccini’s final work Turandot and Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello with Springfield Regional Opera as well as La Contessa in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Jennifer was featured as Tatyana with the Portland Opera in their brand-new production of Eugene Onegin, under the direction of Kevin Newbury. She has also appeared as Musetta in their production of La bohème and Micaëla in their Carmen. Jennifer can also be seen in the Metropolitan Opera’s HD Broadcast performance of Wagner’s Parsifal under the award-winning direction of Francois Gerrard. This production was broadcast live in HD to movie theatres around the world.
Jennifer is equally at home on the concert stage, having just performed the world premiere of Gordon McQuere’s Rossetti Songs with the Topeka Symphony this past March 2021. She has also performed such works as; Chants d’Auvergne with the Oregon Music Festival, Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony at Carnegie Hall with the New York Choral Society, the Fauré and Rutter Requiems (also at Carnegie Hall) with Mid-America Productions, Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Oregon Mozart Players, Juneau Symphony, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, and The Topeka Symphony, Mahler”s Symphony No. 2 with the Greeley Philharmonic, Mahler’s 4th Symphony with the Topeka Symphony and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and the Mozart Requiem with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.
James Eder is a bass from Columbus, OH. His voice has been acclaimed as a “solid bass” voice that is “robust” and “resonant” and having “ample quality and quantity” while his dramatic interpretations have been acclaimed by OperaWire for his versatility and humanism. 2022 and 2023 were full of new roles and companies for James, making debuts with Chautauqua Opera, Opera Carolina, Opera on the James and Opera Saratoga. James performed the role of Angelotti in Chautauqua, the Sacristan in Charlotte for productions of Tosca and Simone in Gianni Schicchi with Opera on the James in Lynchburg, VA. James covered the title role in Donizetti’s comedy Don Pasquale with Opera Saratoga and performed the title role in a new opera, The Selfish Giant, based on a short story by Oscar Wilde. Upcoming in May 2024, James will perform as the bass soloist in Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor with the Columbus Symphony and in November will be making a company and role debut as Hortensius in Opera Colorado’s production of La file du régiment. Other recent engagements include Colline in La bohéme with Cleveland Opera Theater, Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos with Cincinnati Opera, and The High Priest of Baal in Nabucco with Sarasota Opera. Additionally, James has worked with symphonies and opera companies including Sarasota Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Columbus Symphony, Opera Carolina, Opera Southwest, Chautauqua Opera, Opera Columbus, Opera on the James, Knoxville Opera, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Cleveland Opera Theater, Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, Opera Project Columbus, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, and the Brevard Music Center’s Janiec Opera Company.
Baritone Jeffrey McEvoy has been involved with concert, musical theater, and operatic performances from a young age. Most recently he was featured as Olin Blitch in Central Piedmont’s production of Susannah and has performed leading and comprimario roles with numerous regional companies. Some favorite roles include Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Guglielmo in Cosí fan tutte, Escamillo in Carmen, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Ramiro in L’Heure Espagnole, Polonius in Hamlet, Thomas Putnam in The Crucible, Sam in Trouble in Tahiti, and Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia
As a young artist, he held residencies with the Connecticut Opera and Kansas City Lyric Opera, a studio artist position with Sarasota Opera, summer apprenticeships with both Lake George Opera and De Moines Metro Opera, and was the winner of the Kansas City District and competed as a Midwest Regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Dr. McEvoy is a graduate of the University of Kansas, Wichita State. University, and John Brown University. His area of research involves vocal pedagogy cross-training for Commercial and Classical singers, and he serves as Director of Opera Studies and Associate Professor of Voice at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Tenor Johnathan Stanford White began his Operatic studies at the College of Charleston in 2004 while working on his B.A. in Opera Performance. Since moving to Charlotte and joining Opera Carolina as a Resident Company Member in 2013, Johnathan has become a staple in the classical music scene.
After making his Opera Carolina stage debut in Turandot as the Emperor in 2015, Johnathan has performed numerous roles during his tenure with Opera Carolina, Toledo Opera, and Opera Grand Rapids, including Goro in Madame Butterfly, Beppe in Pagliacci, Spoletta in Tosca, Pang in Turandot, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Ferrando in Cosí fan tutte, as well as many others. Apart from his Operatic pursuits, Johnathan is also an accomplished symphonic soloist performing throughout the East Coast. Recently, Johnathan made his international debut with The International Lyric Academy’s production of The Tales of Hoffman in Vicenza, Italy. This is Johnathan’s 11th anniversary with Opera Carolina and he is honored to be rostered as a Spotlight Principal Artist.
Tenor Zachary Taylor graduated with his M.M. in Voice from UNC Greensboro in 2023, and he received his B.M. in Voice from Towson University in 2020. Zachary is a two-time Apprentice Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera, where he covered the Master of Ceremonies in The Love from Three Oranges in 2023 and will sing the Second Nazarene in Salome this summer. He also was a 2023-24 Jan Miller Studio Artist with Pensacola Opera, where he sang Ferrando in Cosí fan tutte, Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Dr. Blind in Die Fledermaus. Some of his other recent roles include Don José in Carmen and Alfred in Die Fledermaus with Music on Site, as well as Ferrando in Cosí fan tutte and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel with UNCG Opera Theatre. Zachary is a 2023 Encouragement Award Winner for the North Carolina District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition
Basso John Fortson is celebrating his third decade performing with Opera Carolina. Among his many appearances with his home company, John has performed the roles of Nouabad in Les pêcheurs de perles, Montano and Ludovico in Otello, The Bonze in Madama Butterfly, and last season as the Marquis L’Obigny in La traviata. He has also performed with Opera Southwest in New Mexico, Piedmont Opera Theater in Winston-Salem, Central Piedmont Opera Theatre, and The Charlotte Symphony.
Elliott Brown is a native of Bloomfield, Connecticut. He is a proud alumnus of Benedict College, where he studied with Dr. Angela Small Blalock. Mr. Brown is currently a student of Mr. John Fowler. Most recently, Mr. Brown made his role debut as Arcas in Nmon Ford’s Orpheus. Mr. Brown has also performed the roles of Robbins in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Don José in Bizet’s Carmen, Spoletta in Puccini’s Tosca, il messaggero in Verdi’s Aida, Trin in Puccini’s La Fancuilla del West, and Wesley Harris in Moravec’s Sanctuary Road.
With a “rich voice- powerful, yet tender and endearing” (CVNC) and his “amusing flair” (The L.A. Times), Colorado Springs native Logan Webber has performed with Chautauqua Opera, The Princeton Festival, the RAP in Alaska, Opera Orlando, Amelia Island Opera, Virginia Opera, Pacific Opera Project, The Indianapolis Symphony Yuletide Celebration, Hawaii Opera Theatre, the Maryland Opera Studio, and the AIMS program in Austria. Highlights for Mr. Webber include Jonathan Dale in Piedmont Opera’s Silent Night, and Rolf in Charlottesville Opera’s The Sound of Music. Logan received his B.M. from UNCSA where he was awarded a William R. Kenan Jr. Excellence Award. He received his M.M. in Opera Performance from UMD at College Park. In 2020 he returned to UNCSA completing his PAC studying with Phyllis Pancella.
Each issue, Opera Carolina highlights a patron whose philanthropic work has transformed our company and the community.
By Ashley Johnson Lam
Awatery gradient of blue washes the sky from deep celestial heights to terrestrial brightness that meets an ever-stretching golden horizon. Where the two meet, a lone camper making its way to the edge of the frame. While there are no visual indications that the camper is in motion, the viewer can feel its forward momentum toward a new, exciting horizon. To experience the sense of hope and wonder that emanates from this painting, “The Way West”, is to know its artist, the philanthropist and business leader, Gilbert C. Maurer.
Director of Hearst Foundations, former Chief Operating Officer of Hearst, and trustee under the will of William Randolph Hearst, Maurer has spent more than fifty years leading creative growth and transformation across the country through the media industry and his many posts at prestigious institutions.
“I can’t remember the first time I made a picture – I’ve always made pictures. It’s hardwired in a way, coming from a family of artists” he reminisces. Though Maurer downplays it, the impact of his creative practice goes unnoticed by none. Upon receiving the magazine industry’s esteemed Henry Johnson Fisher Award in 1986, presenter Paul McPherson declared that “Gil gives new meaning to the term ‘Renaissance man.’ On one hand, he is extremely creative… On the other hand, he is extremely pragmatic,” evidence of his artistic prowess and business acumen creating a dynamic meeting of complements and an instinctual understanding of excellence that guides the route forward.
Maurer’s scope and investments in the Arts landscape are ever-expanding. In addition to his work at Hearst, he has served as president of the Whitney Museum Board of Directors from 1993 to 1998, remaining a trustee emeritus today, and currently serves as a Board member of the California Institute of the Arts. Following his work in the late nineties to engage Norman Foster as an architect for the New York skyline-changing Hearst Tower, he was made an honorary trustee of the Norman Foster Foundation. More recently, Maurer was celebrated as a Living Landmark for the New York Landmarks Conservancy, and this year received and experienced an orchestral piece written in his honor by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Zwilich, debuted by the Palm Beach Symphony.
And though many of those accolades and investments feel as if on distant horizons, Maurer’s investment in Charlotte and with Opera Carolina have been both generously sustaining and visionary. From Hearst Foundations’ investment in Opera Carolina’s educational endowment and support of audience engagement efforts, to the Maurer Family Foundation’s support of opera productions on our city’s stages, Gilbert Maurer has enabled the Opera to grow and deepen our engagement in the Charlotte region, enriching and expanding the frame of the lives of residents at all stages of life.
“We have a higher calling to share art with the public”
“We have a higher calling to share art with the public”, Maurer reflects on his hopes for what both Hearst’s and his own personal investments in the Arts landscape will affect. Were there any doubt of his sense of duty to making art accessible to the world, they would be quelled by examining the legacy of art in our everyday lives that Maurer has created: top-notch media such as magazines, facilitating architecture that meets the needs of a changing world, ensuring the recruitment of the world’s finest creatives at Hearst, empowering artistic education across the country, and countless community arts investments, for which Opera Carolina is deeply grateful.
Though undiscernible in the painting, there is little room for doubt that there is an unseen Gilbert Maurer behind the steering wheel of that camper, willing the way forward out of the frame and into a new horizon.
EMILY JARRELL URBANEK, Director of Music Preparation
Emily Jarrell Urbanek has been Opera Carolina’s Director of Music Preparation since 2007, serving as chief coach, pianist, and chorus director, and she has performed with the company since 2003. During Opera Carolina’s 2019-2020 season, Emily conducted a joint production of Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg for Opera Carolina and Opera Grand Rapids, as well as Opera Carolina’s March 2022 performances of Zach Redler and Jerre Dye’s opera, The Falling and the Rising, and their 2023 performances of La traviata. Emily is also an extra keyboardist with the Charlotte Symphony and frequently performs chamber music with area musicians. Recent performances include Shostakovich’s Seven Romances on Poems of Alexander Blok with Opera Carolina and Chamber Music 4 All, music for piano and strings by women composers with the Bechtler Ensemble, and Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81, with the principal strings of the Charlotte Symphony in a collaboration with the Charlotte Ballet entitled Ibsen’s House. From 2007 to 2023 Emily was part of the musical staff of the Chautauqua Opera, and she has also served as repetiteur for a variety of companies, including New York City Opera, San Diego Opera, Austin Opera, Fort Worth Opera Festival, New Orleans Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Cincinnati Opera. This summer she will be joining the music staff of the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center.
MICHAEL BAUMGARTEN, Director of Production/ Resident Lighting and Video Designer
Opera Carolina’s Director of Production and Lighting Designer since 2005, Michael Baumgarten has designed lighting for more than 400 opera productions at regional and international opera companies, including, New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Manitoba Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Austin Opera, Arizona Opera, Lyric Opera Kansas City, Palm Beach Opera, Toledo Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, Michigan Opera Theater and Virginia Opera.
A graduate of the Yale School of Drama and member of United Scenic Artists-Local 829, Mr. Baumgarten has also served as Director of Production and Resident Lighting Designer for Chautauqua Opera since 1999. Equally at home with digital design and innovative technologies, he has designed and created new digital imagery for over fifteen Opera Carolina productions including Turandot, Les pêcheurs de perles, Nabucco, Macbeth, Roméo et Juliette,
La fanciulla del West, and I Dream.
SOPRANOS
LINDSEY BRAKHAGE
PEG BROUGHTON
MCKENZIE COLEMAN
BETHANY GILMORE
HANNAH HOYT
ALEXANDRIA MCNEELY
KATHERINE OWENS
STEPHANIE PATTERSON
JERSEY ROCHE
NANCY UNSER
JANICE WILLIAMS
JULIA WOODWARD
FAN YANG
MEZZOS
CORNELIA (C.C.) COOPER
CHLOE COX
JULIA FERTEL
COLLEEN GUSEMAN
ELI HALSO (YOUTH ACADEMY)
ALINA MACNICHOL
MARIE POWELL
EMILY JARRELL URBANEK , Chorus Master
SANDY STOVALL
RACHEL TURNER
KELLIE WILLIAMS
TIA WILSON
TENORS
ELLIOTT BROWN
GERRY CLONARIS
HARRELL CORNELL
LAMAR DAVIS
HAEGON KIM
NOAH RICE
NICKOLUS STEWART
DAMON STINSON
OLIVER STOUTNER
LOGAN WEBBER
CALEB WILSON
BASS
SEAN BUGGS
HARRISON BUMGARDNER
DRIZZIE BURSTON
BRADFORD HOLSHOUSER
MICHAEL BAUMGARTEN, Lighting and Video Designer
BRIAN JENSEN
CHARLIE LANG
GREG LOWERY
JARVIS MILLER
LARRY TOPPMAN
JUSTIN TRAXLER
KENDRICK WILLIAMS
YOUTH ACADEMY MEMBERS
HARPER CLAVIN
LIZA FRANCINI
ALLIE FULGHUM
REECE GARRISON
EVA GREPSIOU
ZOE IRELAND
ARYA JAMESON
MAELLE KUZIN
KAT KUZIN
LUCA SHARON
NICOLETA SHARPE
EVIE STEUDE
EMILY JARRELL URBANEK, Director of Music Preparation
STEPHEN FIELD, Pianist
WILBERT FERGUSON, Technical Director
JAY GRAVES, Property Master and Assistant TD
VALERIE WHEELER, Production Stage Manager
HANNA ATKINSON, Assistant Stage Manager
JULIE FISCHESSER, Assistant Stage Manager
ALLISON COLLINS, Costume Coordinator
LANE MORRIS, Costume Assistant
MARTHA RUSKAI, Wig & Make-Up Designer
MARK BOLEY, Wig & Make-Up Assistant
Opera Carolina Corporate & Foundation Major Sponsors
Christopher Warren-Green conductor laureate & music adviser
Christopher James Lees resident conductor
Calin Ovidiu Lupanu
Concertmaster
The Catherine & Wilton Connor Chair
Joseph Meyer
Associate Concertmaster
Kari Giles
Assistant Concertmaster
Susan Blumberg°°
Jane Hart Brendle
Cynthia Burton
Emily Chatham°°
Ayako Gamo
Lenora Leggatt
Jenny Topilow
Dustin Wilkes-Kim
Hanna Zhdan
Oliver Kot, Principal
The Wolfgang Roth Chair
Kathleen Jarrell
Assistant Principal
The Pepsi-Cola Foundation of Charlotte Chair
Carlos Tarazona°
Monica Boboc
Martha Geissler
Sakira Harley
Tatiana Karpova
Ellyn Stuart
VIOLAS
Benjamin Geller, Principal
The Zoe Bunten Merrillt Principal Viola Chair
Alaina Rea*
Assistant Principal
Chihiro Tanaka
Acting Assistant Principal
Ellen Ferdon
Cynthia Frank
Wenlong Huang
Viara Stefanova
Ning Zhao
CELLOS
Jonathan Lewis
Principal
The Kate Whitner McKay Principal Cello Chair
Allison Drenkow
Acting Assistant Principal
Alan Black*
Principal Emeritus
Marlene Ballena
Jeremy Lamb
Amy Sunyoung Lee
Sarah Markle
Oksana McCarthy †
Kurt Riecken,* Principal
Jason McNeel, Acting Principal
Judson Baines*
Assistant Principal
Justin Cheesman †
Acting Assistant Principal
Jeffrey Ferdon
Luis Primera †
HARP
Andrea Mumm Trammell
Principal
The Dr. Billy Graham Chair
FLUTES
Victor Wang
Principal
The Blumenthal Foundation Chair
Amy Orsinger Whitehead
Erinn Frechette
PICCOLO
Erinn Frechette
OBOES
Erica Cice
Acting Principal
The Leo B. Driehuys Chair‡
Teil Taliesin †
Terry Maskin
ENGLISH HORN
Terry Maskin
CLARINETS
Taylor Marino
Principal
The Gary H. & Carolyn M. Bechtel Chair
Samuel Sparrow
Allan Rosenfeld
E ♭ CLARINET
Samuel Sparrow
BASS CLARINET
Allan Rosenfeld
BASSOONS
Joseph Merchant Principal
Joshua Hood
Nicholas Ritter
CONTRABASSOON
Nicholas Ritter HORNS
Byron Johns
Principal
The Mr. & Mrs. William H. Van Every Chair
Andrew Fierova
Philip Brindise †
The Robert E. Rydel, Jr. Third Horn Chair
Richard Goldfaden
Andrew Merideth †
TRUMPETS
Alex Wilborn Principal
The Betty J. Livingstone Chair
Jonathan Kaplan
Gabriel Slesinger
Associate Principal
The Marcus T. Hickman Chair
TROMBONES
John Bartlett Principal
Thomas Burge
BASS TROMBONE
Scott Hartman Principal
TUBA
Colin Benton Principal
The Governor James G. Martin Chair
TIMPANI
Jacob Lipham Principal
The Robert Haywood Morrison Chair
PERCUSSION
Brice Burto n Principal
° Non-revolving position
°° Alternates between first and second violins
† Acting member of the Charlotte Symphony
‡ Funded by The Symphony Guild of Charlotte, Inc.
* On leave
The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra is a proud member of the League of American Orchestras.
This roster lists the full-time members of the Charlotte Symphony. The number and seating of musicians on stage varies depending on the piece being performed.
$1.5 MILLION AND ABOVE
Bank of America
C.D. Spangler Foundation / National Gypsum Company
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Trane Technologies
$600,000 - $1 MILLION
Albemarle Foundation
Atrium Health
Barings
Duke Energy
Honeywell
JELD-WEN, Inc.
LendingTree Foundation
Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
Novant Health
Red Ventures
Truist
$300,000-$600,000
Ally Financial
The Centene Charitable Foundation
Childress Klein Properties
Coca-Cola Consolidated
Deloitte
EY
The Gambrell Foundation
Moore & Van Allen
PwC
Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A.
Rodgers Builders
Wells Fargo
UP TO $300,000
Fifth Third Bank
Foundation For The Carolinas
Deidre and Clay Grubb
Leslie and Michael Marsicano
Jane and Hugh McColl
Nucor Corporation
PNC Bank
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