Opera Theatre of Saint Louis 2025 Program Book

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Stéphane Denève, Music Director

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slso.org Subscriptions on sale now.

PROUD TO BE THE LONGEST-STANDING SUPPORTER OF OTSL, WITH AN ONGOING SPONSORSHIP OF ARTISTS-IN-TRAINING

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A SEASON OF DARING IMAGINATION Experience The Rep from September 3 – April 12.

Subscriptions for all 5 Mainstage productions start as low as $150!

VISIT OUR WEBSITE OR SCAN THE QR CODE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR UPCOMING SEASON!

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REPSTL.ORG|314.968.4925

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JOIN US FOR OUR 2025 SEASON

CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA

OPERA FOR KIDS

May 2-3 at Dunham Hall

July 12 at 10am & 1pm

Do not miss OE’s star-studded cast in two performances of Mascagni’s one act opera.

A 40-minute performance created for kids and families, presented free for all to enjoy at the Edwardsville Public Library

Featuring Ann Toomey, Geoffrey Agpalo, Lauren Decker, Craig Irvin, and Kathleen Felty

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OPERA EDWARDSVILLE AT EDWARDSVILLE CITY PARK September 5 at 7:30pm OE’s award-winning outdoor concert, free for all! Pack your picnic and enjoy stars of opera under the starry night sky.

Featuring Tracy Cantin, Chaz’men WilliamsAli, Kayleigh Decker, and Laureano Quant

WELCOME

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elcome to our 50th season of producing opera for the St. Louis community!

Our founders had a remarkable and radical vision for sharing this historically inaccessible art form with this community. They committed to perform all the operas in English and to create a welcoming atmosphere where you could experience opera up close and personal. They created a garden next door to the theater for pre-show picnics and post-show socializing. They invited the rising young stars of the opera world to sing here, and then treated them to genuine “St. Louis-style” hospitality. This commitment to accessibility and welcoming both guests and performers continues today.

The founders also set out to put St. Louis on the opera map by regularly commissioning new works. This was a bold and highly unusual move — clearly, they did not want OTSL to be just another opera company, but one that would attract attention and create excitement both here and far beyond.

This radical formula proved to be a highly successful one for galvanizing community support behind this young opera company. It also thrust St. Louis into a prominent role in the opera world, where OTSL is known for its record of attracting outstanding talent on the stage and beyond, as well as its commitment to innovation.

Over the years, OTSL has greatly expanded its presence outside the theater to reach more individuals in this region.

Our education programs introduce approximately 75,000 students annually to all aspects of opera, including singing, storytelling, directing, and costuming. Our aim is to encourage students to explore this art form, just as they would a museum, a botanical garden, or a new sport. It is a joy to watch students of all ages in this region take their turn on the stage with their first performance or to work with others to create a brand-new opera. Beyond education, OTSL brings people together through an extensive array of joint programming with other community organizations.

The presence of OTSL enriches our community in many ways: offering world-class entertainment, robust education programs, and vibrant community partnerships. In addition, OTSL brings national and international renown to our city.

We are thrilled and grateful to be part of St. Louis, and thankful for every one of you who has guided, supported, and cheered us on over the past 50 years. Each of you is a part of our story and part of our success — we hope you enjoy the company and party you have made possible!

With gratitude,

Kim Eberlein Chair, Board of Directors

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WELCOME

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ne of my favorite stories of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ founding comes from a gentleman who has been a dedicated subscriber since the very first season in 1976. He told me, “I bought a subscription to the first season because I was sure there wouldn’t be a second season.”

I love this story because it highlights just how wonderfully unlikely it might have seemed at the time that this start-up opera venture would survive, let alone become one of the most celebrated opera festivals in the country. And yet, our founders — a small group of dedicated civic leaders and brilliant artistic impresarios about whom you’ll learn more through these pages — had an inspired vision brought to life through sheer determination and hard work, and which has grown and thrived for the last five decades.

This year marks Opera Theatre’s 50th Festival Season, and we are celebrating with a fantastic lineup of productions that pay homage to our unique artistic legacy. We'll continue OTSL's time-honored tradition of presenting new and rarely seen contemporary works, marking our 45th world premiere with This House and staging a new production of A Midsummer Night's Dream by Benjamin Britten, a composer whose work was an integral part of our early decades. We also close a chapter on the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, as we bring to the stage the final postponed title from our canceled 2020 Festival Season, Die Fledermaus. And we come full circle by staging Don Pasquale, which opened OTSL’s first season in 1976. Our season includes dozens of returning artists — familiar faces to many of you — ranging from recent alumni of our young artist programs to established singers and directors who appeared here in our very first season.

For the last 50 years, people from all walks of life have come together here to create beauty and enjoy connection.

Each season represents a tremendous investment of dedication, generosity, talent, and passion, and I am grateful to everyone — staff, artists, artisans, volunteers, board members, supporters, audiences, and so many others — who come together to make our season possible. I also want to acknowledge my deep debt of gratitude to our inspiring Board Chair, Kim Eberlein. Together, we stand on the shoulders of many previous visionary leaders (multiple generations of general directors, board chairs, artistic trailblazers, and so many more) who built this institution.

The last 50 years have been tremendous, but I know the best at OTSL is still to come and we are full of excitement for an even brighter future. I could not be more grateful to share this momentous season with everyone in the Opera Theatre family. Whether this is your first time here, or you’ve been coming since 1976, thank you for choosing to be here today and thank you for your belief in the power of live opera.

I hope you’ll join us in the gardens after the performance as we toast to 50 years. But first, please enjoy the opera!

Warmly yours,

Andrew Jorgensen General Director EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

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202 5 50th fe stival season

by JOHANN STRAUSS II

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by RICKY IAN GORDON, LYNN NOTTAGE , & RUBY AIYO GERBER

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by GAETANO DONIZETTI

by BENJAMIN BRITTEN

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A YOUNG ARTIST SHOWCASE

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Leadership support for Opera Theatre’s 50th Anniversary Season comes from Noémi Neidorff.

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Missouri Arts Council, the Regional Arts Commission, and the City of St. Louis Mental Health Board.

Opera Theatre gratefully acknowledges Webster University for its sustaining partnership.

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We are honored to support the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and its mission to nurture the development of the next generation of opera artists and artisans.

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t a b l e o f CONTENTS A B O U T T H E 5 0T H A N N I V E R SA RY S E A S O N 12

50th Anniversary Festival Season

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Festival Season Schedule

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Other Festival Season Events G E T TO K N OW U S

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Our Mission and Values

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Our Shared Promise: A Community Code of Conduct

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The OTSL Experience & Accessibility Services

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Land Acknowledgement

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A Toast to Webster University

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Opera Theatre Repertory F E AT U R E A R TI C L E S

OUR PEOPLE 4

Welcome from the Board Chair

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Welcome from the General Director

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Board of Directors

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Meet our 2025 Artists

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St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

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OTSL Staff

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In Memoriam

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Guild Volunteers

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Guild Board of Directors

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Young Friends Steering Committee

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Community Engagement & Inclusion Council OUR SUPPORTERS

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Annual Fund

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Loyalty Giving

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Endowment Donors

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Golden Memories: A Fiftieth Anniversary Tribute

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Reflections from Richard Gaddes

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Tribute Gifts

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Advancing the Next Generation

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Spring Gala

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Centering Our Community

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Crescendo Circle

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Tribute to Jinny Browning

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Intermezzo Society

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National Patrons Council

FAC E S O F OT S L OT H E R I N FO R M ATI O N

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Jan and Ellen Richter

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John Lesser

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Program Book Advertisers

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Carol and Harry Moppins

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General Information

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Allison Felter

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The Berges Family Foundation believes in the power of the arts to inspire, build understanding, and transform our communities. We are proud to support Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and their 50th Season.

EMPOWERING YOUTH � NURTURING S.T.E.M. FUTURES SUPPORTING OUR HEROES � THRIVING ST. LOUIS 10

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B OA R D O F D I R E C TO R S E X EC U TIV E CO M M IT T EE Kim Eberlein Chair

Mont S. Levy Treasurer

Lelia J. Farr Vice-Chair

Ann McFarland Sullins Secretary

Lori Samuels Vice-Chair

Jim Berges Cynthia J. Brinkley Spencer B. Burke** Adrienne Davis Gina G. Hoagland Marcela Manjarrez Noémi K. Neidorff*

John H. Russell Robert L. Scharff, Jr. Janice Seele Rex Sinquefield Stephen Trampe Timothy Wentworth

David Hagee Dr. Lannis Hall Mrs. Ronald A. Holtman Frank Jacobs Barry Kirk Gene Kornblum  Kenneth Kranzberg J. David Levy, Jr. Dwight McBride, Ph.D.

David J. Meiners, M.D. Mabel L. Purkerson, M.D. Win Reed John Rhea Ellen von Seggern Richter Allison W. Roberts Mary Schoolman David Sewall, M.D. Joseph Shepard

Dr. Amber Simpson Thelma Steward Dr. Donald M. Suggs Mary Susman Maria Guadalupe Taxman Mark Throdahl Franklin F. Wallis Phoebe Dent Weil Robin Wentworth

Bettie Johnson Joanne Kohn Charles MacKay

Gene W. Spector, M.D. V. Raymond Stranghoener Roma B. Wittcoff

B OA R D O F D I R EC TO R S Gabe Angieri Tania Beasley-Jolly Ashley Budde Jane Clark Richard Cote, M.D. Jamison F. Craft Crystal Allen Dallas Arnold W. Donald Edes Gilbert

LI FE M EM B ER S Mrs. Stephen F. Brauer Robert M. Feibel, M.D. Mrs. William B. Firestone

PA S T B OA R D C H A I R S Dr. Leigh Gerdine  Mr. Laurance L. Browning, Jr.  Josephine C. Throdahl  David W. Mesker

1976–1978 1979–1986 1987–1995 1996–2001

Janet McAfee Weakley  Donna Wilkinson  Spencer B. Burke Noémi K. Neidorff

2002–2003 2004–2008 2009–2015 2016–2021

Terms align with Opera Theatre's fiscal year (October 1 – September 30).

* **  

Immediate Past Chair Previous Chairman Ex-Officio Member In Memoriam

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c e lebrating

50 YEARS As Opera Theatre of Saint Louis launches our 50th anniversary in 2025, we are excited to kick off a year-long celebration that honors longtime OTSL friends, invites new audiences to experience opera for the first time, and lifts up community partners who have been instrumental in shaping our work.

THIS SPECIAL MILESTONE OFFERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REFLECT ON OPERA THEATRE’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND TO SET THE STAGE FOR THE NEXT 50 YEARS OF INNOVATION:  OTSL shapes the future of opera by commissioning, developing, and producing new work. This House marks the company’s 45th world premiere in 50 seasons, with additional exciting commissions already planned through 2029.  Opera Theatre is nationally known as an incubator for excellence and has nurtured the careers of thousands of singers, theater artisans, and arts administrators. You can catch this season’s rising stars at Center Stage on Tuesday, June 24.  OTSL contributes to a vibrant St. Louis economy, employing more than 500 individuals at the height of the season and drawing audiences from more than 40 states as well as every zip code in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Next time you’re in the theater, introduce yourself to someone new and ask how they discovered OTSL!  Since Opera Theatre’s first season in 1976, we have worked to create an experience unlike any other — marrying world-class artistry with an informal, accessible setting that invites artists and audiences to connect.

And we are committed to continuing to use the stories we tell onstage to create experiences that foster dialogue and greater understanding.

We hope you will join us across the coming year to enjoy beautiful music, meet talented artists, and make new friends at these 50th anniversary activities (scan the QR code to learn more).

Learn more  ExperienceOpera.org/Celebrate50 12

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THANK YOU TO THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY COMMITTEE MEMBERS FOR THEIR LEADERSHIP AND SUPPORT: Lelia Farr Lori Samuels Noémi K. Neidorff Cynthia J. Brinkley Chairman Robert M. Feibel, M.D. Joseph Shepard Ashley Budde-Taylor Spencer B. Burke

Gina G. Hoagland

V. Raymond Stranghoener

Jamie Craft

Barry Kirk

Mary Susman

Crystal Allen Dallas

Mont Levy

Stephen Trampe

Professor Adrienne Davis

Marcela Manjarrez

Kim Eberlein

Mabel L. Purkerson, M.D.

Sara F. Fabick

Allison W. Roberts

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPONSORS WHO MADE SPECIAL ONE-TIME GIFTS TO MAKE THIS CELEBRATION POSSIBLE: Cynthia J. Brinkley

J. David & Lucy S. Levy

Ann McFarland Sullins

Crystal & Patrick Dallas

Karen & Mont Levy

Mary Susman & Tom Herm

Lelia & David Farr

Noémi K. Neidorff

Mr. & Mrs. Mark C. Throdahl

Robert & Jane Feibel

Ted & Lori Samuels

Stephen Trampe & Jenny Gupta

Diane & Paul Jacobson

Saucy Foundation

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CONGRATULATIONS ON 50 YEARS! For half a century, Webster University has proudly been the home of Opera Theatre, with a partnership dedicated to education, innovation and community impact. Together, we have fostered future leaders and made the arts more inclusive and accessible. Here’s to five decades of collaboration — and to many more!

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M AY 24 Saturday 30 Friday 31 Saturday

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DIE FLEDERMAUS DIE FLEDERMAUS THIS HOUSE

JUNE 4

Wednesday

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Thursday Saturday Sunday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

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THIS HOUSE DIE FLEDERMAUS DON PASQUALE THIS HOUSE DON PASQUALE THIS HOUSE DON PASQUALE A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM DIE FLEDERMAUS A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM DIE FLEDERMAUS A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM THIS HOUSE DON PASQUALE A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM CENTER STAGE DON PASQUALE A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM DON PASQUALE A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM DIE FLEDERMAUS THIS HOUSE

15 Sunday 18 Wednesday 19 Thursday 20 Friday 21 Saturday 22 Sunday 24 Tuesday 25 Wednesday 26 Thursday 27 Friday 28 Saturday 29 Sunday

Post-Show Champagne Toast ASL (American Sign Language)

Young Friends Night

Audio Description

Pride Night

Sensory-Conscious Performance

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MISSION & VALUES O p e ra T he at re’s mis sion is to s hap e a vibrant f ut ure for op e ra b y c onne c t in g, inspir in g, and e nte r tainin g our c ommunit ie s throu gh the p ow e r and be auty of the ar t for m; to fos te r the ne x t ge ne rat ion b y e mp ow e r in g a dive rse g roup of ar t is ts, ar t isans, and a dminis t rators at the hi ghe s t le ve l; and to ma k e op e ra ac c e s sib le and inc lusive throu gh innovat ive and c ollab orat ive s tor y te llin g that re f le c ts, e n ga ge s, and s t re n g the ns the S t. L ouis c ommunity, and at t rac ts nat ional and inte r nat ional au die nc e s.

OPERA THEATRE IS COMMITTED TO OUR VALUES: EXCELLENCE APPROACHABILITY CIVIC IMPACT DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION INNOVATION FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY FUN

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PROMISE a community code of conduct

WELCOME TO OPERA THEATRE OF SAINT LOUIS! Since our founding, we have been dedicated to creating an atmosphere of authentic warmth, joy, and shared appreciation for the beauty of opera. We pledge to make every effort to make opera-goers feel welcome, respected, and valued. To achieve this, we’ve crafted “Our Shared Promise” — a set of shared, mutual expectations that will foster a positive and inclusive experience for all. We invite you to join us in shaping an environment where everyone can fully enjoy the magic of the performing arts!

When you attend an OTSL performance or engage with our community, we pledge to do our best to ensure you experience: Respect and Kindness: We agree to treat one another with kindness, respect, and compassion. We believe in the power of courtesy and understanding to create a space where everyone can enjoy music, theater, and shared experiences.

Inclusivity: We are proud to be an inclusive organization. Discrimination, harassment, or disrespect based on any aspect of ability or identity have no place at Opera Theatre.

Fun: We believe that opera is not only a form of artistic expression, but also a source of joy and entertainment. Let’s enjoy a spirit of fun! We hope that together, we can share in moments of laughter, appreciation, and the comradery of a shared artistic experience.

Safe Environment: The safety of our community is our top priority. We ask you to please notify OTSL staff or security if you observe verbal or physical harassment, abusive language, or any form of threatening behavior. We will observe all local health and safety guidelines. Together, we hope to create an environment that respects the well-being of all.

While we believe in the power of shared values, we understand that sometimes misunderstandings can occur. If you witness a situation that goes against “Our Shared Promise” or if you have concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our friendly ushers or any other member of the Opera Theatre team. You can also send us an email at boxoffice@ opera-stl.org, and we’ll be more than happy to assist.

Thank you for being a part of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Your presence is what makes our work meaningful, and we’re thrilled to share this experience with you. Together, let’s make every moment at the opera unforgettable!

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OTSL

W E H O P E YO U H AV E A FA B U LO U S T I M E W I T H U S !

At Opera Theatre, we firmly believe that opera is for everyone! Whether you’re new to opera or to our festival, we want to do everything we can to make you feel welcome. Here are a few helpful tips on how to navigate OTSL like a pro, from picnicking before the show to taking advantage of our many accessibility services.

For additional information, questions, or assistance (or if you need an accommodation not mentioned on these pages), please contact the Box Office by calling (314) 961-0644, emailing boxoffice@opera-stl.org, or visit the Patron Services window in our lobby.

BEFORE THE OPER A Savor a pre-show picnic Enjoy open-air dining in our beautiful David W. Mesker Festival Gardens, surrounded by your fellow opera-goers. Seating is first come, first served — no reservations required! The gardens open 2.5 hours prior to performances.

Pre-order a picnic box from Ces & Judy’s Catering for an easy and delicious meal. Just visit ExperienceOpera.org/Picnics or call the Box Office at (314) 961-0644 by 4 p.m. the day before your show to place an order. Craving your favorite recipes or some takeout? You’re also welcome to bring your own food and beverages!

The David W. Mesker Festival Gardens are made possible by the

Get acquainted with opera previews One hour before every performance, a member of Opera Theatre’s music staff delivers an informal 20-minute presentation on the music and history of the opera you are about to see. Join us for these free previews, which are perfect for both the opera newcomer and the experienced veteran, in the Community Music School just next to the theater.

Opera Previews are generously underwritten by Mary Susman & Tom Herm.

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DURING THE OPER A Enjoy opera in English At OTSL, there’s no need to brush up on your German or Italian. Since our founding in 1976, all our operas have been performed in English! They’re also accompanied by projected English supertitles, so you’ll never miss a second of the drama.

Wheelchair and scooter seating Enjoy designated seating with top-notch views!

The Loretto-Hilton Center has wheelchairaccessible seating locations where patrons can either remain in their chairs or transfer to a theater seat. If mobility aids cannot be stored safely within your seating area, or if you prefer to transfer from a wheelchair to a theater seat, those aids will be stored outside the auditorium door as close as possible to your seat and promptly returned to you by an usher at intermission and after the final bows.

adapters for enabled hearing aids are available for pick-up at the Patron Services window in the lobby. Patrons may also bring their own headphones if they desire.

Audio description At Friday evening and Saturday matinee performances, patrons can take advantage of audio description services. Patrons can pick up a device prior to the performance or during intermission at the Patron Services window in the lobby, free of charge.

Program notes for low-vision patrons Complimentary large print and Braille versions of our program notes are available for each opera at the Patron Services window in the lobby.

Sign language interpretation OTSL is proud to offer American Sign Language interpretation at Friday evening performances.

Patrons interested in using this service can visit ExperienceOpera.org/Accessibility or call the Box Office to purchase ASL tickets in designated sections with the best view of our interpreters.

Sensory-conscious performances Join us on Wednesday evenings for sensoryconscious performances. People with light, sound, and other sensory sensitivities can enjoy a welcoming and inclusive environment, including relaxed rules on entering and exiting the theater during the performance. Stop by our Patron Services window on these dates to borrow ear plugs, headphones, fidgets, and weighted lap pads.

Assistive listening devices A frequency modulate (FM) audio enhancement system is available for all performances.

Free headset receivers and magnetic loop

Service animals Service animals are welcome. If you plan to bring a service animal, please inform the Box Office in advance of your visit.

AF TER THE OPER A Raise a glass The night doesn’t have to end when the show is over! We invite you to return to our candlelit gardens after the final curtain call for drinks, dessert, and revelry. We’d love to see you there — everyone is welcome.

Meet the artists After every performance, the cast of the show joins the audience for cocktails under the stars. Meet the stars of the show, no VIP access required!

Accessibility services for the 2025 Festival Season are sponsored by Focus Partners Wealth.

Audio description services are presented by MindsEye Radio.

ASL interpretation is presented by TLC Interpreting Services, LLC.

Sensory-conscious services are presented in partnership with Diff erent Dynamics.

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are YOU the next OPERA STAR? WORLD-REKNOWNED COACHES, FIELD TRIPS, & ONSTAGE PERFORMANCES! The Bayer Fund Artists-in-Training Program (AIT) is a nationally acclaimed program that identifies, coaches, and encourages promising young high school singers both on and offstage. AIT doesn’t just build great artists through rigorous vocal training — it also sets every participant up for success in any field by instilling lifelong lessons about goal-setting, hard work, and perseverance. Every year, approximately 20 students are selected through an audition process. For more than 35 years, AIT alumni have gone on to careers as professional performers, engineers, lawyers, physicians, teachers, and more!

Fall auditions are September 18 and 20. Learn more at ExperienceOpera.org/AIT Special thanks to lead sponsor, 20

OPERA THEATRE

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D I S COV E R M O R E D U R I N G O U R F E S T I VA L S E A S O N

BEYOND

the stage

Every Festival Season, more than 20,000 people attend a mainstage performance. But our efforts don’t end there…regardless of the season, Opera Theatre works year-round to make opera as fun and accessible as possible with free and low-cost events featuring the season’s shows, directors, designers, and artists. In total, Opera Theatre reaches more than 100,000 people a year! From inviting students to experience live performances, to providing networking opportunities for young professionals, to exploring the intersections of visual art and theater, we always aspire to foster meaningful connections through the beauty of this art form.

Read on for a snapshot of the many other ways you can engage with Opera Theatre this May and June — we hope to see you at one or more of these off-stage events! Everyone is welcome.

Leadership support for Opera Theatre’s 50th Anniversary Season comes from Noémi Neidorff.

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CAROL L. KIMBALL SPOTLIGHT ON OPERA SERIES

Mondays, May 5, 12, 19, & June 2 at 7 p.m.

Kirkwood Performing Arts Center, 210 E. Monroe Avenue

Discover insights into the season’s operas through panel discussions with composers, directors, designers, and special guest speakers. Moderated by General Director Andrew Jorgensen, each Spotlight focuses on a different production and features live performances of operatic excerpts by members of OTSL’s Young Artist Programs.

ExperienceOpera.org/Spotlight The Spotlight on Opera series is made possible with gifts celebrating the life of Carol L. Kimball, a member of the Opera Theatre family who was a generous friend and a beloved volunteer.

OPERA PREVIEWS

May 24 - June 29 6:30 p.m. before evening performances 11:30 a.m. before matinee performances Community Music School, 535 Garden Avenue One hour before each performance, members of OTSL’s music staff present a free, informative 20-minute talk highlighting the story and music of each opera.

Previews take place in the Concert Hall of the Community Music School, located next door to the theater, and are the perfect introduction to the opera you are about to see!

Opera Previews are generously underwritten by Mary Susman & Tom Herm.

YOUNG FRIENDS NIGHTS

May 24, June 5, 12, 13, 18, 21, 22, & 28 at 6 p.m.

Loretto-Hilton Center, 130 Edgar Road Young Friends events are designed to give patrons ages 45 and under the chance to meet, mingle, and socialize during an unforgettable trip to the opera...without breaking the bank. Participants enjoy an exclusive pre-performance buffet and open bar along with great seats for the opera, all starting at just $59 per person — or even less with a multi-show pass. Visit page 157 to learn more about the Young Friends!

ExperienceOpera.org/YoungFriends The Young Friends Program is made possible in part thanks to media sponsor St. Louis Magazine and cocktails sponsor Spirits of St. Louis Distillery.

INTERMEZZO NIGHT AT THE OPERA

June 11 at 5:45 p.m.

Loretto-Hilton Center, 130 Edgar Road The Intermezzo Society is dedicated to supporting and celebrating new voices in opera. Four annual events offer opportunities to connect with the St. Louis community and OTSL artists. At this third event of 2025, members enjoy a pre-performance dinner together in the lush David W. Mesker Festival Gardens. Membership starts at $50 per month or $600 annually. Visit page 151 to learn more about the Intermezzo Society!

ExperienceOpera.org/Intermezzo

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B E YO N D TH E S TAG E D I SCOV ER M O R E D U R I N G O U R FE S TIVA L S E A SO N PRIDE NIGHT AT THE OPERA

Wednesday, June 4 at 6 p.m.

Loretto-Hilton Center, 130 Edgar Road Join us for a loud and proud celebration of Pride Month! Unleash your inner diva, enjoy complimentary drinks, and party with a post-show DJ while you mingle with OTSL’s artists. This fabulous evening features a sexy and stylish midcentury production of Strauss’ comic operetta Die Fledermaus. Special Pride Night tickets range from $45-$160.

ExperienceOpera.org/PrideNight Pride Night at the Opera is generously sponsored by

SING OUT VOCAL CAMP

June 2-6 560 Music Center, Washington University, 560 Trinity Ave Sing Out is an extension of OTSL’s award-winning Bayer Fund Artists-inTraining Program. High school students receive daily voice lessons, participate in vocal master classes with season artists, and study movement, acting, and audition preparation. Sing Out includes tickets to live performances of Die Fledermaus and This House. The camp culminates with a recital and a fully-staged scene performance.

ExperienceOpera.org/SingOut Funded in part by

OPERA EXPLORERS

June 2-6 & June 23-27 at Saint Louis Public Libraries (for grades 4-7) June 23-27 at Manchester United Methodist Church (for grades 2-8) This popular summer camp introduces young people to the magic of opera. Students will explore the basics of stagecraft, including singing, writing, composing, costuming, stage makeup, and set design. Campers will use their new skills to create and stage their own original mini-opera. After the camp, students and their parents or guardians will have the opportunity to attend a matinee performance of Don Pasquale.

ExperienceOpera.org/OperaExplorers Funded in part by

OPERA TOURS AT THE ART MUSEUM

This House: June 1 & 15 at 1 p.m.

Don Pasquale: June 8 & 22 at 1 p.m.

Saint Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Drive In special one-hour tours, Saint Louis Art Museum docents lead guests through the Museum’s collection, highlighting sculptures, paintings, and themes that correspond to Opera Theatre’s productions of This House and Don Pasquale. Tours depart from the Visitor Information Center in the Main Building. All tours are free; no reservations are required.

ExperienceOpera.org/ArtTours

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B E YO N D TH E S TAG E D I SCOV ER M O R E D U R I N G O U R FE S TIVA L S E A SO N JOHN D. & SALLY S. LEVY MASTER CLASSES

May 31, June 8, & June 27 at 2 p.m.

Sally S. Levy Opera Center, 210 Hazel Avenue Inaugurated by the legendary Eleanor Steber in 1988, these extraordinary master classes offer insights by distinguished artists into the craft of singing and interpretation, featuring performances by select Richard Gaddes Festival Artists and Gerdine Young Artists (GYA). Tickets are $20 and available at the door.

Donors at or above the Contributor level ($250) may attend free of charge.

ExperienceOpera.org/MasterClass Funded in part by the John D. & Sally S. Levy Master Class Endowment Fund and presented in memory of John D. & Sally S. Levy, founding board members of Opera Theatre.

Famed soprano Ana María Martínez coaches GYA Georgia Belmont during a 2024 Levy Master Class.

RICKY IAN GORDON

Composer Saturday, May 31 at 2 p.m.

Long Island native Ricky Ian Gordon is one of today’s leading American composers of opera and art song. He studied piano, composition, and acting at Carnegie Mellon University before settling in New York City, where he quickly emerged as an acclaimed writer of vocal music.

Mr. Gordon’s songs have been performed and recorded by such internationally renowned singers as Renée Fleming, Nathan Gunn, Kelli O’Hara, Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Frederica von Stade, and Nadine Sierra, among many others.

PATRICIA RACETTE

Soprano Sunday, June 8 at 2 p.m.

Patricia Racette is known as one of the great singing actresses of our time, and she continues to share her artistry with audiences around the world. However, in St. Louis, she is even more beloved for her work as OTSL’s Artistic Director of Young Artist Programs. Every season, she crafts a rigorous curriculum for our young artists that helps push them to new heights of musical and dramatic interpretation — and this master class is the perfect example of that work in action!

RICHARD COX

Tenor Friday, June 27 at 2 p.m.

American tenor and former GYA Richard Cox has appeared on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, LA Opera, and many other renowned opera companies. In addition to being an accomplished concert singer and recitalist, Richard is a dedicated teacher and mentor for young artists. He currently serves on faculty at the Bard College Conservatory of Music and makes regular teaching appearances at the San Francisco Opera Center Adler Fellowship Program, Westminster Choir College, and several other universities around the world.

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“MUSIC gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination & LIFE TO EVERYTHING.” ~PLATO

Proud to support Opera Theatre of Saint Louis & the St. Louis Arts.

The

Foundation

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GIVING THANKS for w he re we stand

O

pera Theatre of Saint Louis acknowledges that we exist and gather on the ancestral homelands of the Osage Nation, Missouria, and Illini Confederacy, who were removed unjustly, and that we in this community are the beneficiaries of that removal.

Photo © JBYard

Despite centuries of forcible displacement and the loss of many tribal nations, more than 183,400 Indigenous individuals still live in Missouri today. We pay respect to elders both past and present, and we honor them as we live, work, and create art here.

To learn more about the history and legacy of Indigenous peoples, as well as ways to get involved in advocacy, please visit the Alliance for Native Programs & Initiatives at nativealliance.org.

Photo © Matt Gush

D I D YO U K N OW ?

1

This region is home to one of the most advanced prehistoric indigenous civilizations north of Mexico.

Known today as Cahokia, this ancient civilization’s original name has been lost to time. At its height in 1250 A.D., Cahokia was larger than the city of London and was a major center for culture and trade, thanks to the nearby confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois rivers. Cahokia was a mound city, and remnants of approximately 80 manmade mounds can still be seen today at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, less than 20 miles from the Loretto-Hilton Center.

To learn more and plan a visit, visit cahokiamounds.org.

OPE R A T H E A T R E of S A I N T L OU I S | 2022 FESTIVAL SEASON

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O U R H O M E O N TH E S TAG E Since Opera Theatre’s inaugural season in 1976, Webster University has graciously provided a warm, welcoming home for the company.

Dr. Leigh Gerdine, who was the university’s president at the time, was also OTSL’s founding board chairman. Without his advocacy and the university’s decades of support, it is unlikely that Opera Theatre could have grown into the world-class festival it is today.

We extend our profound gratitude to Webster University’s board and administration, especially Chancellor Tim Keane and Chairman John Nickel, for their ongoing partnership and support.

Photo © Ken Howard

Each spring, opera fans from around the world make the journey to Webster University’s Loretto-Hilton Center and its idyllic gardens to experience OTSL’s Festival Season.

More importantly, our partnership helps develop new generations of talented theater artists who begin their training in Webster’s Conservatory of Theater Arts and later graduate into professional roles with Opera Theatre.

The Loretto-Hilton Center at Webster University.

O U R H O M E I N TH E CO M M U N IT Y

Photo © Ken Howard

The Sally S. Levy Opera Center first opened its doors in May 2006, thirty years after OTSL’s founding. With modern new offices and thoughtfully designed spaces for rehearsals and community events, this building consolidated OTSL’s administrative and artistic functions into one site for the first time in the company’s history.

The Opera Center was named after one of our great founding supporters, Sally S. Levy, whose generosity of spirit, resources, and affection encapsulated the best of the Opera Theatre community. Together with her husband John, Sally inspired an infectious love of opera with her friends, children, and grandchildren, many of whom are still deeply involved with Opera Theatre to this day.

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Treemonisha, 2000.

Photo © Ken Howard

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A FIFTIETH-ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE TO OPERA THEATRE

I

have loved Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for almost exactly half of its fifty seasons.

My first visit to OTSL’s home base in Webster Groves was in 2000, the year the company was celebrating its twentyfifth anniversary season. I was then just starting my term as Executive Editor of Opera News, News, which had covered OTSL since its inception. I decided to make my first trip to St. Louis for two reasons. First, I was intrigued by the repertory: three of the four operas on offer that spring in St. Louis would be brandnew to me. The second (and more important) reason was that I succumbed to the not-sogentle urging of Maggie Stearns, OTSL’s formidable Director of Communications, who bluntly advised, “You have to get out here — we are so good.” And so, I booked my plane tickets, not knowing that a long weekend in St. Louis would be the source of some of the most important personal and professional relationships of my life.

I soon learned the 2000 season repertory was a reflection of the company’s quarter-century of commitment to excellence, innovation, and variety: the shows that year ranged from a new production of La traviata to the company premieres of Handel’s Radamisto and Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha Treemonisha,, plus the world premiere of Minoru Miki’s epic The Tale of Genji.

Genji.

I discovered that the musical and production values weren’t

by F. Paul Driscoll just “so “so good,” as Maggie told me — they were worldclass, with the great St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in the pit and brilliant set, costume, and lighting designs providing imaginative solutions to the physical challenges presented by company’s home theater, in Webster University’s LorettoHilton Center. The season’s four operas were performed in repertory and sung in English, as remains the company’s policy, by talented, eager young artists, many of whom were then on the brink of major careers.

To my eye, however, the most extraordinary thing about this company was its audience, whose rapt attention to the measured, stately intrigues of The Tale of Genji seemed as energized as its jubilant reception of Dianne McIntyre’s dazzling choreography for Treemonisha Treemonisha..

Despite the presence of the international press — Japanese television crews were on campus to record the openingnight festivities for The Tale of Genji — the atmosphere in the auditorium had the warmth of a family reunion. All the St. Louisans I spoke with during that first weekend, whether at the company’s justly celebrated pre-show “tent dinners,” or during casual intermission conversations, seemed invested in the success of Opera Theatre and eager to share with me the story of the company’s unlikely beginnings and the long list of its accomplishments.

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In November 1975, an offer was made to Richard Gaddes, the artistic administrator of The Santa Fe Opera, to come to St. Louis as a consultant

1975

OPERA THEATRE

to evaluate the situation. During his brief trip to St. Louis, for which he was paid $250 plus expenses, Gaddes looked at several venues in the city for the new project and deemed them all unsuitable. In a 1980 Opera News profile by Robert Jacobson, Gaddes remembered it was a chance visit to a dress rehearsal at the Loretto-Hilton Center that gave him “the answer to my dreams, even with the small pit.” In a 1996 interview for the OTSL archives, Gaddes explained, “[At

1976

A group of St. Louis businessmen — led by Dr. Leigh Gerdine, James Van Sant, and Laurence L. Browning — invite a young arts administrator named Richard Gaddes to St. Louis to conduct a feasibility study for a new opera company.

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Sheri Greenawald and Peter Strummer in Don Pasquale, 1976.

Photo © Bill Smith

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis began with a dynamic group of local civic leaders who wanted to explore the viability of a permanent opera company in St. Louis. Chief among them were Leigh Gerdine, the forward-thinking president of Webster College (as Webster University was then called); James Van Sant, a knowledgeable, voluble opera buff who was president of General Steel Industries; and Laurance L. Browning, vicechairman of Emerson Electric, a generous donor to myriad local arts, civic, and charitable organizations, although not an opera enthusiast.

There had been several previous attempts to establish a regular opera company in the city, but none had lasted. However, the warm reception for a series of opera performances at Missouri Baptist College in summer 1975 led Gerdine to believe “there was now an opera audience ready in St. Louis to welcome something of quality if we could mount something of quality,” as he recalled in a 1995 interview.

Opera Theatre opens its inaugural festival season on May 22 with Don Pasquale and continues with Albert Herring, and a double-bill of The Medium and The Impresario.

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the Loretto-Hilton], the idea came to me that, given the fact that…they had very little money…that an opera company could be started that would give performing opportunities to young singers…and the way to do it would be to single out young singers whom we believed would become major international artists in future years and present them on the stage in St. Louis.”

Gaddes returned to his home in New York and sent a report to St. Louis

1978 The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra becomes the official orchestra for all of Opera Theatre’s Festival Season productions. In this first year, OTSL and the SLSO performed La bohème, Forever Figaro, The Tree of Chastity, and Albert Herring.

1979

Opera Theatre commissions its first world premiere, The Village Singer, a oneact by the young composer Stephen Paulus.

at the two companies until 1979, when he became Opera Theatre’s full-time General Director.

Photo © Ken Howard

Eric McCluskey as The Ferrymanin Curlew River, 1986.

with an outline of his ideas for the new company, recommending more modestly scaled repertory than the backers’ wish list of Aida and other “extravaganzas,” as Gaddes called them. Gaddes heard nothing until early January, when he received a call from Gerdine offering him a position as General Director of the new company. The new season was scheduled to begin some four months away, on May 22 — the eve of Gaddes’ 34th birthday. Gaddes accepted the offer and negotiated

a fee of $2,000 for planning and delivering Opera Theatre’s first season on a budget of $139,000.

He did so with the understanding that he was to continue in his job at The Santa Fe Opera, where 1976 performances would not begin until after the OTSL season had ended. Gaddes had the blessing of Santa Fe’s founding General Director, John Crosby, who provided office and budget expertise for the planning of OTSL’s debut season.

Gaddes would serve double duty

A native of Wallsend, England, Gaddes was elegant, witty, and energetic, blessed with a keen eye for talent, a natural genius for fundraising, and a vast network of connections in the opera world in the United States and the United Kingdom. He soon won impressive support from an eminent group of individual and corporate donors with sufficient imagination and generosity to make the dream of a new opera company a reality.

Gaddes’s first-season repertory was a striking mix of eighteenth–, nineteenth–, and twentieth-century operas — Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Britten’s Albert Herring, and a double-bill of Menotti’s The Medium and Mozart’s The Impresario.

Despite valiant efforts in the local press and a half-page editorial mention in the May 1976 Opera News, Opera Theatre arrived as if by stealth: on opening night of Christopher Alden’s staging of Don Pasquale, only 137 seats were sold in a house that seated 924. But good news travels fast: the word continued on page 37

1983 Opera Theatre becomes the first American company (and one of only 65 companies worldwide) invited to perform at the prestigious Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. Over the course of two weeks, OTSL offered three operas and one concert.

1985

Colin Graham, an English-born stage director, is chosen as Opera Theatre’s firstever Artistic Director.

He served in this role until his passing in 2007.

1990

2006

OTSL launches the Bayer Fund Artistsin-Training Program (originally sponsored

by The Monsanto Fund). Now in its 35th year, this landmark program offers talented local high school students collegelevel vocal training and opportunities for college scholarships.

The Sally S. Levy Opera Center opens, providing Opera Theatre’s first united home for administrative, artistic, and educational functions.

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314-362-7509 | physicians.wustl.edu/voice

Washington University Voice and Airway Center is the official provider ofO Pacute voice care for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

36 E R A T H E A T R E of S A I N T L O U I S | 2 0 2 5 F E S T I V A L S E A S O N

In 1977, Opera News and The New Yorker published enthusiastic reviews of the OTSL season, beginning the company’s presence in the national press. Within the next few years, New York magazine, The New York Times, Newsweek, and The Times of London would also make the journey to Missouri; in New York, music critic Alan Rich cited the fledgling company as “one of the true jewels of the operatic firmament.” Beginning in 1978, musical standards rose when the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra began to play in the pit for OTSL performances, replacing the pick-up ensembles of the first two seasons. That same season, Colin Graham joined the company as Director of Productions.

Graham, a protean talent associated with the English Opera Group, Covent Garden, Aldeburgh, Glyndebourne, and English National Opera, was the preferred stage director of Benjamin Britten.

Graham’s work on Curlew River, Britten’s 1964 “church parable” adapted from a Japanese Noh play, inspired in him a deep admiration for Japanese classical theater that led to a fruitful collaborative relationship with Japanese composer Minoru Miki. OTSL presented the U.S. premiere of Miki’s An Actor’s Revenge in 1981, followed by the world premieres of Jorūri in 1985 and The Tale of Genji

OTSL’s production of Albert Herring is the fi rst opera in America to be broadcast by the BBC, 1977.

In the context of storytelling, compassion and understanding can enter the discussion more easily.

— T     O’L     in 2000, all staged by Graham, who also wrote the libretti for Jorūri and Genji. OTSL took the latter two works on historic tours to Japan’s Nissay Theater, where they were rapturously received.

Graham was named OTSL’s Artistic Director in 1985, and supported the creative identity of the company with meticulous, exacting care until his death, in 2007.

Graham embraced challenges: he delighted in discovering the proper scale for the works presented on OTSL’s smallish thrust stage. As longtime patron and former board chair Noémi Neidorff remembers,

Photo © Ken Howard

continued from 35

spread that the new company was adventurous and stylish. By the end of OTSL’s three-week, tenperformance season, it was playing to full houses, with Albert Herring providing the company with its first sellout — and with its first television broadcast, when the 1978 revival of Lou Galterio’s production was recorded in an historic collaboration by the BBC and WNET, sponsored

by The Monsanto Fund.

“When Opera Theatre did my favorite Verdi opera, Otello, in 1999, I said, ‘I cannot imagine how they’re going to pull that big opera off on that small stage.’ And when my husband Michael and I entered the auditorium, the first thing I saw was this massive head of a lion on stage — that just instantly resonated with me. And I said, ‘Sure! Otello!’ That was the genius of Colin Graham.”

Another of Graham’s Shakespeareinspired stagings attained legendary status almost immediately: more than forty years later, everyone remembers the serendipitous appearance of real fireflies in the theater one night during Beatrice and Benedict’s sublime Act I “Nocturne,” conducted by OTSL’s soon-to-be music director John Nelson. The long list of other memorable productions during the Richard Gaddes years includes director Frank Corsaro and designer Ron Chase’s multimedia realization of Delius’s Fennimore and Gerda in 1981 and the 1982 U.S. opera debut of director Jonathan Miller, who collaborated with conductor Calvin Simmons on an impeccable Così fan tutte, part of a six-season Mozart continued on page 39 EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

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cycle sponsored by Emerson Electric.

The company made a triumphant visit to the 1983 Edinburgh Festival, the first time an American company had been invited there. In 1984, Galterio’s OTSL production of Orfeo was designed by the singular American sculptor Louise Nevelson, executing her first work for the stage at the age of eighty-four.

Photo © Ken Howard Photo © Ken Howard

When Gaddes chose to step down as General Director, he tapped Charles MacKay as his successor. A native of New Mexico, MacKay was thirty-four, but already a veteran of significant administrative positions at The Santa Fe Opera, Spoleto USA, and the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy. MacKay joined OTSL as Executive Director in the fall of 1984 and took Gaddes’s place as General Director in 1985, leading the company for 24 seasons. A lifelong opera fan, Mackay understood sound financial management and was able to maintain OTSL’s admirable tradition of never accumulating a deficit. Under MacKay’s leadership, the company prospered and grew, presenting eight world premieres and 14 U.S. premieres on the company’s mainstage between 1985 and 2008. Opera Theatre expanded its education efforts, bolstered its commitment to professional training on and off stage, and introduced English-language supertitles during performances. One of the most significant achievements of this period was the launch of the company’s first endowment fundraising effort and a capital campaign to make possible the construction of the company’s Sally S. Levy Opera Center, which opened in 2006. Named for a beloved founding member of the OTSL board whose family contributed lead support for the new building, the Levy Center now provides space for the company’s administrative, rehearsal, and

The Tale of Genji, featured traditional Japanese instruments played by Reiko Kimura (left) and Yang Jing (right), 2000.

Christine Brewer as Queen Elizabeth I with members of the company in Benjamin Britten’s Gloriana, 2005.

community outreach needs.

Opera Theatre’s leadership never wanted the company to rest on its laurels, believing that the continued financial and artistic health of the company — and of the art form it celebrated — required progressive thinking and unceasing vigilance.

MacKay’s chief partners in maintaining OTSL’s harmonious balance of excellence and innovation were Colin Graham; conductor Stephen Lord, the company’s Music Director from 1991 to 2017; and Paul Kilmer, the company’s longtime Director of

Artistic Administration, who served the company for the better part of four decades. Among the most memorable productions of MacKay’s long tenure were Graham Vick’s modernist staging of Samuel Barber’s Vanessa in 1988; the 2002 company premiere of Lucia di Lammermoor, conducted with surpassing sensitivity

by Lord; Graham’s 2005 production of Britten’s Gloriana, starring the magnificent Christine Brewer, a former OTSL chorus member; and the electric 2004 staging of John Adams’ Nixon in China, directed by James Robinson. continued on page 41 EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

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One of the first projects O’Leary talked about with Robinson was a new staging of John Adams’ controversial The Death of Klinghoffer, a work based on the Palestine Liberation Front’s 1985 hijacking of an Italian passenger liner and the murder of one of its Jewish– American passengers. When O’Leary discussed producing Klinghoffer with Michael and Noémi Neidorff, who were prominent members of the Jewish community in St. Louis, they offered their support but, as Noémi Neidorff remembers, advised O’Leary to “wait a year, until you have developed more relationships in St. Louis.” O’Leary, who believes that “producing art should be a work of community building,” assembled an inter-generational, interfaith group of St. Louisans to engage in exploring Klinghoffer and its underlying issues, in order to “take every step to make sure our intentions were understood.”

The meetings were revelatory and civil in equal measure, proof of O’Leary’s conviction that “when people are looking at things through an artistic

Photo © Ken Howard

Just as Gaddes had identified his own successor, MacKay brought fresh leadership to OTSL by approaching thirty-two-year-old Timothy O’Leary about joining the company. O’Leary, then the Director of Operations and Planning at New York City Opera, was an admirer of MacKay’s: “Charles’s palpable sense of decency, compassion, and goodness was a model for the kind of leader I wanted to be. He made everyone feel valuable.” O’Leary arrived at OTSL in January 2008, as Executive Director, and succeeded MacKay as General Director in October 2008.

John Adams’ controversial The Death of Klinghoffer was the triumph of the 2011 OTSL season.

Davóne Tines (left) and Julia Bullock (right) starred in the nationallyacclaimed world premiere of Fire Shut Up in My Bones, 2019.

Photo © Eric Woolsey

Robinson, whose previous OTSL productions included his thrilling 2001 staging of Dominick Argento’s unjustly neglected Miss Havisham’s Fire, succeeded Graham as the company’s Artistic Director in 2007.

lens, they tend to show up as the best versions of themselves. In the context of storytelling, compassion and understanding can enter the discussion more easily. Music puts people in that sphere very powerfully.” The preparation paid off: Robinson’s beautiful, humane Klinghoffer production was the triumph of the 2011 OTSL season.

The company’s longstanding commitment to audience building entered a new phase in 2013, with the launch of “New Works, Bold Voices,”

a series of operas dedicated to telling stories that resonated with diverse contemporary audiences. The first opera in the series was Champion, a co-commission with Jazz St. Louis by composer Terence Blanchard and librettist Michael Cristofer. Based on the life of Emile Griffith, a closeted gay Black boxer, the Champion run was preceded by conversations with expert community-building partners — and greeted with a roaring standing ovation on opening night. Both Champion and Terence Blanchard’s second OTSL commission, Fire Shut Up EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

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In My Bones, have now been produced by the Metropolitan Opera and transmitted as part of that company’s The Met: Live In HD series, bringing the fruit of OTSL’s groundbreaking work to millions of opera lovers worldwide.

Gianni Schicchi on the outdoor stage during COVID-19, 2021.

O’Leary stepped down from his post at Opera Theatre in 2018, when he was named General Director of Washington National Opera (WNO), passing the Opera Theatre baton to Andrew Jorgensen, then the Interim Executive Director of WNO. Jorgensen, whose résumé included six years at WNO and five years on the artistic staff of the Metropolitan Opera, immediately embraced the unique nature of OTSL’s audience. “Their love for this company is greater than any one success or failure,” Jorgensen says. “Since the very beginning, management and

2009 James Robinson, an exciting rising stage director, is appointed Opera Theatre’s second Artistic Director.

During his tenure at OTSL, James is a tireless advocate for new opera, guiding works such as Champion and Fire Shut Up in My Bones to the stage.

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OPERA THEATRE

Photo © Eric Woolsey

Current OTSL board member Crystal Allen Dallas believes that the company’s continuing community work will be a key ingredient in Opera Theatre’s legacy. “I hope the next generation will look back at this work that Opera Theatre is doing now,” she says, “and they will say that organization mattered because they put community first — and they used art to do that.”

artistic leadership has delivered things that were worth seeing and has synergistically built up the audience’s faith in us. The stakes are much higher than they used to be, but we still have our responsibility to quality, to community, and to incubating the next generation of talent.”

In 2019, the company’s celebrated young artist programs were placed under the vibrant artistic leadership

of international star soprano Patricia Racette, whose association with OTSL began as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni in 1993. In 2020, Jorgensen and the OTSL staff faced the unimaginable challenges of guiding the company through the COVID-19 pandemic, canceling the planned season in the Loretto-Hilton Center and pivoting to a program of more than thirty online events. During the pandemic closure, all full-time employees were

2010

2013

2018

OTSL invites community leaders into dialogue around John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer.

The group evolves into OTSL’s Engagement & Inclusion Task Force.

OTSL presents the world premiere of Champion, the first opera by jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard and co-commissioned with Jazz St. Louis.

Blanchard would become the first Black composer produced by the Metropolitan Opera eight years later.

Opera Theatre hosts OPERA America’s annual conference, welcoming hundreds of national and international arts administrators, trustees, and artists to St. Louis.

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production of

as Reverend

Philip Glass’

Olin Blitch

Galileo Galilei

in Susannah,

wowed audiences

2023.

in 2024.

Photo © Eric Woolsey

A visually stunning

Guanbo Su

Photo © Eric Woolsey

William

retained, and all seasonal employees were offered 50% of their anticipated compensation. In 2021, OTSL returned to live performances, offering a single season on an outdoor stage in the parking lot at Webster University before returning to its regular home.

This year, Daniela Candillari, named the company’s Principal Conductor in 2022, will lead OTSL’s fortyfifth world premiere — Ricky Ian Gordon, Lynn Nottage, and Ruby

2020 Phyllis Brissenden, one of OTSL’s earliest supporters and most beloved friends, passes away. In her will, Phyllis bequeathes a transformational $48 million gift to OTSL’s endowment. To date, this is the largest gift ever recorded to an American opera company.

Aiyo Gerber’s This House — as part of the company’s 50th Anniversary Season in the Loretto-Hilton Center.

Asked to name a favorite OTSL memory, Jorgensen answers immediately: “One of them has to be hearing Leonard Slatkin conduct Gianni Schicchi in our parking lot season in 2021, and hearing Elena Villalón sing “O mio babbino caro” with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and

real birds chirping in the trees at the side of the stage. That moment felt like the proverbial dam breaking as we returned to live performance and were able to pull off this unbelievably complicated outdoor parking lot adventure. I will always be incredibly proud of what this organization, this team, this board, were able to do.

“And now we look forward — and we’ll see what’s next.” n

2021

2023

2025

After being forced to cancel the 2020 Festival Season due to COVID-19, Opera Theatre returns to live performance with an outdoor Festival Season on a parking lot.

Opera Theatre debuts a bold new community-driven commissioning model, known as the New Works Collective, which wins national acclaim for soliciting open applications from creators and putting decision-making power in the hands of the community.

Even as we celebrate our 50th season, we look forward to the future! May our next 50 years continue to advance opera, serve St. Louis, and inspire new generations of artists and audiences.

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FOR TICKETS AND INFORMATION VISIT WCHOF.ORG/MUSICSERIES

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reflections from our founder

Photo © OTSL Archives

RICHARD GADDES

Richard Gaddes served as the founding General Director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis from 1976 until 1985. He went on to run The Santa Fe Opera for nearly two decades.

Richard passed away in December 2023, but we’re honored to share some of his memories about the origins of Opera Theatre.

These words come from a 1996 oral interview and have been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

Richard Gaddes speaks at the 2012 Spring Gala.

I

’m not one of those people who was in the standing room at Covent Garden from childhood.

I came to opera much later in life, having really been interested in instrumental and chamber music. I had intended to become a teacher of music but while studying I worked at the Wigmore Hall in London, which was a very important concert hall. I worked backstage opening the door for artists and sometimes turning pages when the pianist needed a page turner. And so, to cut a long story short, I drifted into arts administration and in 1967 took a job with an artist’s manager in London who represented a lot of artists and particularly opera singers. At first I only worked with instrumentalists, but one day the firm’s owner said to me, “We are no longer going to represent instrumentalists — only opera singers.” So, in fact, what he

was saying to me was either you get into the opera business or find some other job. So that’s how I got into the opera world.

I worked there in 1967 and in 1968, John Crosby, the General Director of The Santa Fe Opera, came to London for two or three days to audition some of the singers that we represented. As he was leaving, he said to me, “Well, I hope when I come back next year you’ll be here and you’ll be as kind to me as you’ve been this visit.” To which I said, “Well, that’ll be fine but I’m thinking perhaps I might spread my wings a little bit and perhaps get a job with a symphony orchestra or whatever.” And he said, “Well, perhaps we’ll have a job for you at The Santa Fe Opera.” It was one of those remarks that one dismisses and doesn’t take seriously. So, I made continued on page 46

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continued from 45

polite noises and forgot about it. And six months later he called me and I came to Santa Fe to talk about it and that’s how I ended up in America.

I worked very closely with Crosby from the very beginning and, in the same way that I feel that he was the grandfather of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, he was also in a sense my mentor. Everything that you see in St. Louis today, or rather I should say much of what you see in St. Louis today, springs from his sense of high artistic quality and aesthetic sense, even down to the way the pavilion looks and the geraniums. That all stems from the Santa Fe side of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. It’s a very strong connection.

In 1975, a group of businessmen met in St. Louis. That group consisted of Leigh Gerdine, Larry Browning, Jim Van Sant, and Frank Peters. Leigh arranged the meeting to discuss how they might form a permanent opera

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Photo © OTSL Archives

“The wonderful thing about St. Louis is this tremendous enthusiasm. You have a wonderful Board, people who are keen, who are interested, it’s just wonderful. I have no regrets about it. I want it to succeed.”

company in St. Louis. The motivation was a series of opera performances that had happened at Maryville College in the summer of 1975 which, although they were a financial disaster, had drawn a good and enthusiastic audience. Jim left this meeting with a promise to call around and see who he could find as a consultant. He called Margaret Carson, who had been the press and public relations officer in Santa Fe in the early ‘70s, and she recommended me. The fee was $250 plus expenses. For me it was simply a little pocket money.

I flew to St. Louis and it was clear after some discussion that what this group had in mind was large-scale operas: Trovatore, Aida, and so on, in a larger theater. They took me downtown and they showed me the American Theater, Kiel, and the Ambassador.

They had no money, obviously, but they were prepared to raise it. The most depressing thing was that there was no theater that was suitable. That Saturday afternoon, Jim was driving

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Audiences picnic in OTSL’s gardens, 1982.

me back to the Breckenridge Hotel and we stopped at the Loretto-Hilton Theatre, where there was a dress rehearsal of a play taking place and Jim mentioned that there was a pit in the theater. It was covered because The Repertory Theatre didn’t use it.

So the idea came to me that, given the fact that this opera company had no money, and therefore couldn’t afford extravaganza type pieces, perhaps this company should focus on giving performing opportunities to young singers whom we believed would become major international artists in future years.

So I went back to New York and wrote a report outlining my ideas. And much to my surprise, within days of sending the report, Leigh Gerdine called me.

This must have been around January…

Leigh called me and said, in effect, “Let’s do it.” Then he asked how much my fee would be to put this all together by May, which was only four months away. I proposed a fee of continued on page 49

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CONNECT TODAY!

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“One of the first singers I introduced was Ashley Putnam... within a week of announcing that Ashley was a wonderful singer and you’d be hearing a lot of her, she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She was one of two winners and she sang on the radio. That gave me a bit of credibility.”

Photo © OTSL Archives

Richard Gaddes with (L to R) sopranos Pauline Tinsley, Sheri Greenawald, and Ashley Putnam under the tent, 1985.

continued from 46

$2,000 to do the whole thing, and he agreed. Now, of course, I was working full time for The Santa Fe Opera so I had to arrange that I could be in St. Louis and treat it as vacation from Santa Fe. So, in the space of 16 weeks, we put it together. I was the leader but there was a lot of input from colleagues such as Lou Galterio and Frank Rizzo.

I think we even called the soprano Ashley Putnam and said, “You know, we’ve got a chance to do a gig here; what would you like to sing?” Ashley had some ideas.

The key to it all was unknown singers who would become famous. Festival repertory. Rotating repertory, not stagioni. In other words, you could hear The Magic Flute on Tuesday and La bohème on Wednesday rather than doing one single opera, running it, and closing it. And unusual repertory, interesting repertory, in combination with standard repertory

such as a Mozart piece. And then, of course, we added premieres to that repertory as well and we started doing four operas.

scrubbing buckets. We scrubbed bathrooms out, made beds, and borrowed sheets and blankets. It was like summer camp.

Leigh Gerdine put together a brilliant board of people. But some senior members of the Board whose operatic education was mainly the Metropolitan Opera and the Saturday afternoon broadcasts were a little apprehensive (perhaps justifiably) about opera in St. Louis. You know, “It would never work in St. Louis. It might work in Santa Fe but this will never work in St. Louis.”

Here I was promising that we were going to bring in a group of singers who would eventually become big stars and you’d be glad to say, “They made their debuts in St. Louis.” And one of the first singers I introduced was Ashley Putnam. The first great stroke of luck I had was that, within a week of announcing that Ashley was a wonderful singer and you’d be hearing a lot of her, she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She was one of two winners and she sang on the radio.

That gave me a bit of credibility.

They still helped, though…it was wonderful. It was wonderful working with people who rallied.

The accommodation was a real problem. We were using the Garden Apartments for many of our artists.

But I remember the carpeting stank because the university had used them during the year and they were dirty. So there was an army of people who came along with

When it came time to put on the first opera, the most depressing factor was sales. Ticket sales were not good at all…I was beginning to think that perhaps our skeptics were right, that what I wanted to do here was not for St. Louis. We had sold very few

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Photo © Bill Smith

Pictured (L to R): Albert Herring with Pauline Tinsley as Lady Billows and Jan Curtis as Mrs. Herring, 1976.

Richard Gaddes (R) with director Colin Graham (L) discussing stage renderings, 1980.

It was very hard that summer because I had very little money in the budget for my housing. I think I had a borrowed car and there was just no place for me to stay. I ended up staying at a motel by Lindbergh

Photo © OTSL Archives 50

tickets…maybe 150 or 200, certainly no more. But I called Bob Orchard, and he filled the house by giving tickets away to his employees. We had a very respectable house and it really took off in the first act because I think people were agreeably surprised at how good it was. You could feel people realizing, “Oh, this is good!” So, ticket sales skyrocketed.

By the last week of the season, it was hard to get a ticket. The reviews were good and Albert Herring was a huge success. That was a spectacular cast and brilliantly directed. It was really the great coup of the season, which was a little ironic because that was the rare piece that we were most apprehensive about.

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and Interstate 44. It was very hard to work all day and then come home to a motel room. But, of course, there were lots of dinners and things and Leigh Gerdine and his wife Alice were wonderful.

Larry Browning came to Santa Fe later that summer after our first season. We sat at The Santa Fe Opera’s offices and he said to me, “I want you to sign a contract.” I think he went back to St. Louis very pleased with himself for signing me up to run additional seasons…and I was happy to accept. Suddenly, I was the kingpin, I’d had a success. I was only 31 or 32 years old at the time.

For the first two or three years, I spent my time in Santa Fe listening to all these apprentice singers and I would say to them, “Ok, I’m going to have you sing such-and-such.”

It was still somewhat by the seat of our pants then…we tended to fool ourselves into thinking we could wait until the last minute and somebody wonderful would turn up. Which was often the case. But then, the company became the place for a young singer to make a debut so we were deluged with people from everywhere who wanted to sing there. I mean, we had articles in the New Yorker in the second season.

Pictured (L TO R): Jerry Hadley as Ferrando, Thomas Hampson as Guglielmo, Patricia McCaff rey as Dorabella, and Ashley Putnam as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, 1982.

And those articles continued every year. Opera Theatre of Saint Louis had staggering publicity.

By 1978, we had done the television broadcast of Albert Herring, which really sealed everything, because to have BBC, WNET, and Channel 13 trucks there filming an opera — the very first opera BBC ever filmed in this country — that was a big deal.

After that, you couldn’t get a ticket… so I moved to St. Louis and stayed ten years with the company.

When we made the decision to perform opera in English, it seemed that there might not be a natural audience in St. Louis and that we

Photo © Ken Howard

The following summer when I returned to St. Louis, I ended up in an apartment above the stable at Peasy and Andy Love’s home on Westmoreland Place. And I remember the day I left St. Louis at the end of the second season to return to Santa Fe. There was no break. I’d been at a performance the night before and I had to start it all over again for a different company.

I’ve never told anyone this before, but I remember sitting on the bed in the morning weeping. I was so exhausted. I didn’t have the energy to pack to get on the plane.

would have to attract people by presenting opera as musical theater, which is what we did. The whole idea the first season was even if you hate opera, you’ll love this because the young singers don’t look like the preconceived notion of opera singers and they can act! But the audience in St. Louis has become so very sophisticated…many don’t know how wonderful an audience this is. Other companies should be so lucky as to have this kind of audience.

There were so many miraculous moments in those early years. We were doing Così fan tutte in the second season, and a very famous American continued on page 53

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“Another memorable moment came later when we did Fennimore and Gerda, which in my view is one of the most beautiful things we ever did.” continued from 51

singer was singing Don Alfonso. His voice was beginning to give out and if the Alfonso can’t hit the E in the famous Act I trio, it’s excruciating. And he couldn’t. It just wasn’t working.

We were in rehearsals. But I knew it was going to be a failure. So we called around and hired another singer, but the replacement just couldn’t get the English into his head in time to sing it. By this time, we’re at the dress rehearsal and everyone is frustrated.

Gimi Beni flew in from New York and he arrived in the theater as the rehearsal was about to begin. He put his suitcases down, walked onto the stage, pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, and it was as though it was a performance. Everybody just breathed this huge sigh of relief because we didn’t need to stage it, he just knew. It just happened. It was wonderful and he was brilliant.

Another memorable moment came later when we did Fennimore and

Kathryn Bouleyn in Fennimore and Gerda, 1981.

Gerda, which in my view is one of the most beautiful things we ever did.

(If you talk to people, you’ll either get those who say it was stunning or those who ask why we bothered. I’ve never known an opera which a divided opinion.) Stephen Dickson, who was singing the role of Niels, got laryngitis.

Maybe a day before the performance, I said to David Evitts (who was in another opera that season), “You don’t by chance know Fennimore and Gerda, do you?” In retrospect, it was a stupid remark because, I mean, who knows Fennimore and Gerda? But I explained that Stephen had laryngitis and was not able to sing and David learned the part in 24 hours and stood in the orchestra pit. The arrangement was that Stephen would give David the cue if his voice was conking out.

Stephen sang the performance right to the last few pages of music, when David took over and sang from the pit.

No one knew the difference. Stephen mouthed the words and David Evitts sang, and we got through it.

It was a huge effort to bring Opera Theatre of Saint Louis to where it arrived in ten years. We’ve often said that for companies to become so famous, as St. Louis has done, it can take 25 years. And in the first ten years, OTSL was the location of the first American opera filming for BBC, the first American opera company to go to the Edinburgh Festival…the first ten years was a series of miracles.

Even just seven or eight years in, St. Louis was boasting, “They made their debuts here.” Singers were being interviewed in Opera News and saying, “My spiritual home is St. Louis.”

It absolutely consumed my life, but even after I moved on, I never regretted it. The wonderful thing about St. Louis is this tremendous enthusiasm. You have a wonderful Board, people who are keen, who are interested, it’s just wonderful.

I have no regrets about it. I want it to succeed. My name will always be attached to it, I hope. n

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BY TH E NUMBERS

35

years of the Bayer Fund Artists-in-Training Program

40

years of the Richard Gaddes Festival Artist and Gerdine Young Artist Programs

45

world premiere operas produced by OTSL as of the 2025 season

500

people employed during the Festival Season

77,913 students reached in 332 schools in 2024

$34,000 in college scholarships awarded annually

$39,000 in professional development funds awarded annually

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Katerina Burton and Moisés Salazar perform an aria from La bohème at the Starlit Night Gala, 2024.

Photo © Jon Gitchoff

advancing

THE NEXT GENERATION S H A P I N G TH E F U T U R E O F O P E R A : N U R T U R I N G TA LE NT O N S TAG E , BAC K S TAG E , A N D B E YO N D

T H E M A B E L D O R N R E E D E R FO U N DAT I O N YO U N G A RT I S T E D U C AT I O N & D E V E LO P M E N T P R O G R A M S When you attend an opera, it’s easy to focus on the magic unfolding onstage — but each performance represents years of unseen preparation and collaboration.

The incredible artistry of our singers and musicians is matched by the talent of those who work behind the scenes and in our administrative offices. For five decades, our mission has been to ensure that opera remains vibrant by helping to train the next generation of artists, artisans, administrators, and appreciators… and we’ve invested deeply in those values. OTSL’s training programs provide emerging talent with transformative opportunities to grow and shine — both here in St. Louis and across the country.

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G LO BA L I M PAC T

OTSL’s commitment to nurturing talent starts early with pre-college opportunities. Established in 1990, our Bayer Fund Artists-in-Training Program (AIT) identifies and coaches approximately 24 promising young high school students each year, providing them with the foundation to succeed not only in music, but in life. Through rigorous college-level vocal training and curated arts experiences across St. Louis, students gain confidence, discipline, and countless transferable life skills.

Alumni of OTSL’s Young Artist Programs have appeared in prestigious opera houses around the world, including but not limited to the following:

While this program is centered on the voice at first glance, the ripple effect across St. Louis is profound; nearly 100% of AIT students go on to college and many are the first in their families to do so. Some alumni do pursue careers in music, but even more excel in entirely different fields, from medicine to law to engineering. Since its inception, AIT has supported nearly 300 students and provided more than $730,000 in scholarships. This initiative doesn’t just develop artists; it shapes well-rounded individuals who carry the lessons of hard work and perseverance into every corner of their lives. This early investment ensures that the art form remains accessible and exciting to new generations.

San Francisco Opera (California)

The impact of these programs can change lives. Take, for example, the journey of mezzo-soprano Mack Wolz. After completing the Bayer Fund Artist-in-Training Program as a high school student, Mack appeared at Opera Theatre as a Gerdine Young Artist in 2018, returned as a Gaddes Festival Artist in 2019, and celebrated a Grand Finals win in the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition in between those two appearances. Mack now lives in Switzerland and performs regularly at Theater St. Gallen.

The Metropolitan Opera (New York) Lyric Opera of Chicago (Illinois) LA Opera (California) Carnegie Hall (New York) Royal Opera House (London) Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich) Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna) Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt) English National Opera (London) Teatro Real (Madrid) Deutsche Oper Berlin (Berlin) Teatro alla Scala (Milan) Opéra National de Paris (Paris)

Opera Theatre is proud to have played a small part in the stories of so many artists, and we look forward to another 50 years of discovering and launching young talent!

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Mabel Dorn Reeder recipient Joshua Blue in The Magic Flute, 2022.

Photo © Eric Woolsey

N U R T U R I N G TO M O R R OW ’ S S TA R S For emerging opera singers, a critical first step in their professional journey is to audition for and be accepted by a competitive young artist program.

Young artist programs are offered by many companies around the country, providing crucial early opportunities for singers just beginning their careers, but few have a longer or more distinguished track record than OTSL’s Gerdine Young Artist and Richard Gaddes Festival Artist Programs (the origins of which date back to 1986). These initiatives are

more than stepping stones — they’re springboards. Gerdine Young Artists and Gaddes Festival Artists perform in our season ensemble, participate in master classes with notable opera stars, understudy leading roles, and receive hours of private coachings and dramatic training. These programs can help launch meteoric transitions from promising talent to stars in demand.

In any given year, as many as 60 members of the Metropolitan Opera’s roster are alumni of Opera Theatre.

The Richard Gaddes Festival Artist Program and Gaddes Career Grants are supported by the Richard Gaddes Fund for Young Singers.

A major gift from The Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation - Mabel L. Purkerson, M.D., Trustee in 2010 helped endow OTSL’s professional development programs and established the Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation Prize. Additional funding for these programs is generously provided by the E. Desmond Lee Family Fund for Professional Development, and the contributors listed on page 133.

SPECIAL THANKS TO

TH E MAB E L DO R N REEDER FO U N DATIO N for making possible the Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation Prize since 2010. Previous winners include the following: Aubrey Allicock Justin Austin René Barbera Joshua Blue Andriana Chuchman Thomas Glass Sydney Mancasola Brenton Ryan Elena Villalón Laura Wilde Corinne Winters EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

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Join us for our

2025 Season!

PRE-BROADWAY!

MAY 30 - JUNE 29

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YOU ARE INVITED TO A FREE INTERFAITH CONCERT “Caring For Our Shared Home” Featuring sopranos Angel Love and Benedetta Orsi, the Interfaith Youth Chorus, and musicians of many faiths.

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70 TH SEASON October 5, 2025 SCIENCE From Leonardo da Vinci to Albert Einstein November 16, 2025 PROTEST From Martin Luther to Bob Dylan December 21, 2025 TRANSFORMATION The Birth of Jesus Christ

Hear the chorus that critics called the best a cappella choir in the Midwest.

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For concert information and tickets visit chamberchorus.org.

February 15, 2026 JUSTICE From Abraham Lincoln to MLK April 19, 2026 COMMONWEALTH Queen Elizabeth II (born April 21, 1926) May 31, 2026 EQUALITY Half The Sky

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Sunflower props from the set of The Barber of Seville, 2024.

Photo © Macy White

/ 2024 /

PROFESSIONAL D E V E LO P M E N T AWA R D S FO R

TECH N I C AL TH E ATE R AR TI SAN S Larry & Jinny Browning Technical Fellowship Career Award Ariella Leibowitz

B U I LD I N G M AG I C BAC K S TAG E Audiences usually reserve their loudest cheers and applause for the star singers, but the unsung heroes of every opera are the dedicated members of the design, production, and crew teams. At OTSL, we believe that investing in backstage talent is just as important as onstage talent. Through initiatives like the Emerson Behind the Curtain Program, OTSL prepares college students for careers in stagecraft with an immersive introduction to technical theater. Participants gain firsthand experience in everything from set construction to costume design, collaborating directly with seasoned professionals and internationally soughtafter designers.

Emerson Behind the Curtain Scholarship Awards Vanessa Buck Will Everson Jordan Kerr Aspen Kinomoto Isa LoPiccolo-Kleine Marissa Thompson

For those returning as Browning Fellows, named in honor of OTSL founding board member Larry Browning and his wife Jinny Browning, the experience becomes even deeper. Browning Fellowships are offered to promising technicians who are returning after at least one season with the company, progressing through the ranks backstage just as Gerdine Young Artists do onstage. These advanced Browning Fellows attend professional seminars and may receive career grants to support extraordinary potential.

Rabbi Dr. Jay & Erika- Goldburg Scholarship Award Audrey DeHann

The Larry & Jinny Browning Fund for Technical Fellowships offers advanced training for young artisans pursuing careers in technical theater production and was made possible with a transformative endowment gift from the family of Opera Theatre’s late Board Chairman, Larry Browning. A memorial tribute to Larry’s wife Jinny Browning and a celebration of the Browning family’s lasting impact on Opera Theatre is on page 145.

Production MVP Catherine Good

Special scholarships for outstanding college-level assistants in the Emerson Behind the Curtain Program are supported by Emerson, gifts from Rabbi Dr. Jay & Erika- Goldburg, and a fund established in memory of Catherine Vail Levy. Distinguished young designers of OTSL productions are supported by the Alvin R. Frank Memorial Fund.

-In Memoriam

-In Memoriam

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Sumner High School senior Dakota Scott in Adrienne Danrich’s master class, 2024.

Photo © Macy White

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LE A D E R S H I P I N A R T S A D M I N I S TR ATI O N As General Director Andrew Jorgensen wryly recalls, “For most of my youth, I knew that shows required rehearsals and singers…but it didn’t occur to me that it was someone’s job to make sure everyone showed up for those rehearsals.”

Careers in arts administration are often overlooked, which is why OTSL’s Administrative Internship Program was created to help identify future stewards and leaders. Seasonal interns are integral members of the OTSL team, gaining practical experience in areas like marketing, development, finance, education, and production. In addition to their daily duties, they attend brown bag lunch sessions with other departments, participate in seminars led by industry leaders, and gain access to rehearsals and events, offering a comprehensive introduction to arts management.

Many program alumni go on to impactful careers in the field, including full-time positions at OTSL itself. (Currently, five members of OTSL’s annual staff got their start as seasonal interns and another seven began on backstage crews.) These early-career opportunities are more than a learning experience — they’re a launchpad for a new generation of arts practitioners who can help advance the opera landscape.

The Administrative Internship Program is made possible with generous support from Penny Pennington & Michael Fidler. Professional development programs are also supported by gifts made in memory of Mrs. John Sausele.

S U P P O R TI N G LI F E LO N G LE A R N I N G OTSL’s dedication to developing talent doesn’t end with these early-career programs. Through career grants and professional development awards, the company provides continuing support to exceptional singers and technicians throughout their journeys. These grants allow artists to pursue advanced training, fund professional travel or auditions, or take on career-defining projects. In 2022 and 2023 alone, OTSL awarded financial grants to 36 singers and 16 technical theater artisans.

TH E F U T U R E I S B R I G HT, I N D E E D Opera is often seen as a near-ancient art form, but at OTSL, opera is anything but static. The only way any art form can survive is through finding new practitioners and devotees. That’s why our training programs are designed not only to pass along best practices and traditions, but also to question the status quo and drive evolution. By investing in early-career talent onstage, backstage, and in the office, OTSL is shaping an opera world that is inclusive, innovative, and thriving… and it all starts right here in St. Louis.

As OTSL celebrates its 50th Anniversary Season, these programs stand as a testament to the company’s vision: an art form that continues to inspire and enchant, while nurturing the passion and creativity of the next generation.

With every aria sung, every set constructed, and every decision made, OTSL is ensuring that opera remains a vibrant force for the 21st century and beyond. n

/ 2024 /

PROFESSIONAL D E V E LO P M E N T AWA R D S FO R

SINGERS

Elihu M. Hyndman Memorial Award Gabriela Linares Barbara & Stanley Richman Memorial Award Veronica Siebert Richard Gaddes Career Awards Michelle Mariposa Jouelle Roberson Laura Santamaria Thelma Steward Endowed Artist Alumni Awards Joshua Blue Adrienne Danrich Melissa Joseph Angel Love Lauren Michelle Brittany Renee Professional Development Awards Levi Adkins Emilio Vásquez / 2024 /

PROFESSIONAL D E V E LO P M E N T AWA R D S FO R

BAY E R FUND AR TI ST S - I N TR AI N I N G ALU M N I Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Guerrerio/Wedgewood Partners, Inc. Award Zoë Meier-Juhlin Scott Joplin Award Jahlil Johnson Kenneth Billups Award Tony Washington

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C E LE B R ATI N G O U R PA R TN E R S We wish to acknowledge the many partner organizations who have supported our community work across the last few years.

We hope you enjoy hearing from some of our recent collaborators.

“After serving as chorus master for Arizona Opera’s veterans project a few years ago, my passion for opera’s transformative power inspired me to collaborate with OTSL, beginning with The Walk with Little Amal and continuing with the New Works Collective.

At OTSL, I am driven by the power of the arts to unite and transform, crafting operas that resonate deeply with our diverse communities. Together, we’re shaping a brighter, more harmonious future — one performance at a time.”

In 2024 alone, OTSL organized more than 200 different community and education activities in 62 unique zip codes across St. Louis, reaching more than 18,000 individuals.

Mezzo-soprano Michelle Mariposa and pianist Marika Yasuda perform Artwork & Arias at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM), 2024.

Photo © Macy White

c e nte r ing our

COMMUNITY

— Dr. Philip A. Woodmore, Artistic Director of Voice & Camps at COCA

“OTSL has been a source of inspiration in my activism and helps to broaden my horizons. Not bad for someone who hadn’t been to any operas prior to 2018! The company is also a true community partner and walks the walk. OTSL is on the cutting edge of creating new operas and welcoming new artists that reflect our lived experiences. It is magic to see our stories on stage in a city where our histories have often been erased.”

— Caroline Fan,, activist and political consultant 64

A

t Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, we believe that opera is more than just an art form — it’s a way to connect, share stories, and inspire conversation.

As we celebrate our 50th Anniversary Season, we aren’t just reflecting on five decades of groundbreaking opera productions…we’re also examining how we fulfill a year-round commitment to our community. Regardless of your age, background, or your familiarity with opera, opera is for you. You’re welcome here, and you belong.

Our investment in community stretches far beyond the confines of our festival every May and June. While the Festival Season is a highlight of our work, it’s just one piece of the puzzle. Throughout the year, OTSL is present in neighborhoods across the St. Louis region bringing opera to new audiences and creating spaces for diverse voices to be heard.

Leadership support for Opera Theatre’s 50th Anniversary Season comes from Noémi Neidorff.

Leadership support for the New Works Collective comes from the Mellon Foundation and the Edward Jones Foundation.

Additional support for the New Works Collective comes from Sara Burke, Allen & Merry Richon, Annemarie & Matt Schumacher, Dr. Pamela Stuerke, and Susan & David Young.

Accessibility enhancements for the New Works Collective are made possible by PNC Arts Alive.

R E AC H I N G B E YO N D TH E S TAG E Our work doesn’t stop when the performance ends. We actively seek to engage with communities in every corner of the St. Louis metro area — from downtown to North County, from South City to rural areas on the outskirts. Whether through pop-up performances in parks or classroom visits, we bring the art form directly to people where they live, work, and play. In 2024 alone, OTSL organized more than 200 different community and education activities in 62 zip codes across St. Louis, reaching more than 18,000 individuals.

GATE WAY FO R D IA LO G U E Opera is an art form built on storytelling, and stories are a powerful way to connect people. At OTSL, we use the operatic voice not just to entertain, but to open doors for deeper conversations. In 2010, Opera Theatre convened a group of faith leaders to explore the themes of John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer, resulting in what the media called “an outbreak of interfaith understanding and civility” in St. Louis, and launching a new model of engagement for the company that encourages dialogue and builds understanding. This work has continued each year by embracing topics inspired by the work on our stage, encompassing race, gender, sexual identity, and social justice. These programs invite people from all walks of life to come together and share their thoughts, experiences, and perspectives in a space where music and conversation intersect.

We are also deeply committed to amplifying the work of others. Whether through collaborations with local organizations, schools, or nonprofits, we aim to share our resources to support and strengthen the work of those already serving our community and help bring their missions to life. And we’re excited to offer artistcurated programs like Our Songs that allow singers an opportunity to share music that reflects their lived experiences and continues to inspire them.

“The Artwork and Arias partnership I feel fortunate to steward with Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM) has unfolded so many layers of inspiration. I enjoy watching artists light up seeing connections between the visual and performing arts. I’ve witnessed opera transcend boundaries and create deeper community connections. OTSL has impacted my own perspective. Before coming to St. Louis in 2020, I considered opera as not really ‘for me.’ I often share a story of the first soundcheck we hosted, when I asked if the artist needed a microphone. Everyone smiled and said, ‘That won’t be necessary.’ When the aria began, I felt my spirit move and have been drawn to opera ever since!

Happy anniversary, OTSL!” — Michelle Dezember, Director of Learning & Engagement at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis

“The Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity is proud to partner with OTSL. Working together on programming that fronts the exploration of race and ethnicity in opera has been a highlight of our arts and culture initiatives.

Working together has been both rewarding and transformative.

Together, we have been able to lift up and celebrate the varying and talented voices of scholars, singers, librettists, and musicians. We are truly grateful and proud of this partnership.”

— Tila Neguse,, Senior Associate Director at the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity at Washington University in St. Louis

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ARTWORK BY PIERRE MORNET

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE THE KNOCK ONCE UPON A MATTRESS

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JUNE 28 - AUGUST 3 centralcityopera.org

C E NTE R I N G O U R CO M M U N IT Y

New Works Collective, Cook Shack, 2023.

Photo © Eric Woolsey

“I choose to collaborate with Opera Theatre because it is a joy! I am a musicologist, and a lot of my teaching happens through lectures and student discussions. However, I believe that a healthy arts discourse should extend past the classroom and into local communities, and OTSL consistently sparks a conversation that achieves those goals. By collaborating with the creators involved with the New Works Collective, I am able to engage incredible music and interesting people beyond a strictly academic context, and that participation enriches my own experience of the music.”

— Lauren Eldridge Stewart, Ph.D. Assistant Professor in the Department of Music, Washington University in St. Louis

BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS AND EXPANDING ACCESS A core part of our community engagement is ensuring that opera is accessible to everyone, regardless of background, ability, or experience. We strive to break down stereotypes and make opera welcoming for first-time operagoers, people with disabilities, and communities that may not have traditionally had access to the arts.

In 2022, Opera Theatre launched a revolutionary approach to commissioning with the New Works Collective. This initiative inverts the traditional opera model by moving decision-making power out of the company’s hands and into the community through a collective of St. Louis residents. This group of ten local artists, advocates, and community leaders annually reviews more than 100 applications and selects composers and librettists to create 20-minute operas that resonate with the St. Louis community — welcoming new creators to the art form and bringing stories of joy, empowerment, and love to our stage.

Whether through community-led artistic practice, sensory-conscious performances, free concerts, or educational outreach programs, we are committed to removing the barriers that can prevent people from experiencing the beauty and power of opera.

“OTSL is a leader among arts organizations, both in St. Louis and nationally, thanks to its Community Engagement & Inclusion Council.

I first joined that council in my capacity as the Diversity Chairperson for STL250, our city’s birthday celebration. Our Council and Board efforts have since grown, impacting all aspects of OTSL and reinvigorating opera as the living art form it is meant to be. OTSL has brought that spirit to the selections on its stage, to its community and education programs, and to the broadening diversity of its artistic and administrative staff.

Together, we are St. Louis.”

— Philip Deitch,, Board President of the St. Louis LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

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C E NTE R I N G O U R CO M M U N IT Y “OTSL’s commitment to artistic excellence and engaging educational experiences is a transformative force for St. Louis.

The outstanding productions they deliver every year, coupled with innovative educational programs, have inspired countless students and residents alike. We are proud to partner with them to advance community building and a vibrant cultural environment. OTSL has helped make this city an even better place to live, fostering a deeper appreciation for the arts and strengthening our collective identity.”

We hope to contribute to a St. Louis that’s just as vibrant and creative, as it is inclusive, connected, and inspired.

— Michael V. Smith,, Ph.D. Director at the Des Lee Fine Arts Education Collaborative at University of Missouri St. Louis

“Our work with OTSL has been gamechanging for Gateway Music Outreach. Through our joint initiatives, GMO students have participated in OTSL’s Arts Intensives and Opera on the Go! programs, reaching students who might never otherwise have the opportunity to experience opera. OTSL’s innovative approach to music education has elevated our programming and inspired new teaching methodologies. This partnership exemplifies the power of arts organizations working together to create a lasting impact in our community.”

— James McKay,, Co-Founder/Music Director at Gateway Music Outreach

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I N S P I R I N G YO U TH TH R O U G H E D U C ATI O N Education is an integral part of our commitment to the community. We believe in nurturing the next generation of artists, audiences, and advocates for opera.

Our education programs work with students, families, and educators to provide learning experiences that don’t just promote a love of opera or the arts — they spark curiosity, open-mindedness, and joy across disciplines. Through school residencies, arts intensives, touring shows, master classes, and performance opportunities, we cultivate a love for the arts that will carry on for generations.

Last year alone, Opera Theatre served 74 schools across our region.

Throughout its history, Opera Theatre has been a pioneer in creating new works for young people, having commissioned six operas from professional composers and librettists. Each of these commissions has the unique formula of featuring students in principal roles performing for student audiences. Additionally, OTSL has taken the creative process to students in the classroom, who are led by an

“Three years ago, I first experienced Opera Theatre of Saint Louis through the New Works Collective and instantly understood how incredibly vital this work was for our community.

Afterwards, I purchased season tickets and continued growing my understanding of just how critical art is to our humanity through the beautiful operas performed that year.

Never would I have imagined that I would come to love the opera so much, but Opera Theatre does an amazing job connecting the talented gifts of performers, composers, and librettists to those who are receiving the stories. In addition, the intentionality behind each opera is what makes them so important to our community.

Pictured (L to R): Danielle Singleton as Rosemary Red and London Morrow as Grandma Vivian in Little Red, The Musical as part of an arts intensive with Grand Center Arts Academy at the Sun Theater, 2023.

OTSL Teaching Artist in creating their own operas. Students experience firsthand the worlds of composers, librettists, designers, directors, and performers, bringing their original works to life on the stage for their student peers.

At OTSL, we know that opera’s true magic lies in its ability to bring people together, to transcend boundaries, and to create a sense of belonging. As we look ahead to the next 50 years, our commitment to St. Louis will only grow stronger.

We pledge to deepen our presence across the region — bringing opera to more neighborhoods, more often, and in new ways that resonate with the lives and stories of our diverse community. We hope to contribute to a St. Louis that’s just as vibrant and creative, as it is inclusive, connected, and inspired. This is our vision for the future: an opera company that’s not just at the forefront of the city’s cultural landscape, but a vital force that makes St. Louis an even more exciting and welcoming place to call home.

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As a local educator, Opera Theatre is even more vital because they continue to introduce learners to a world of infinite possibilities. It’s a world where you can chase your dreams, literally, and see people who look like you on stage or playing the instruments or writing, directing or composing the stories.

OTSL has allowed students to experience the incredible talent of local artists both in theaters and in our school.

Opera Theatre could choose to take the easy road, but they choose to be an organization that grows and welcomes all people into the audience to enjoy their productions. I’m grateful not just for the partnership for all of our schools, but also for our greater community.”

— Dr. Grace Lee,, Dean of Faculty at MICDS

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PATRICIA SINGS PIAF

FEATURING PATRICIA RACETTE AND CRAIG TERRY

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SPONSORED BY OPERA THEATRE OF SAINT LOUIS

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JAN & ELLEN RICHTER our steadfast friends

J

an Richter vividly remembers meeting Richard Gaddes, Opera Theatre’s founding director, after watching the 1978 production of La bohème — the first OTSL production he ever attended.

“As I came out of that La bohème and I was looking around the lobby, some Englishman stepped up to me, reached out a hand and said, ‘Glad to see you here tonight. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you’ll consider coming again.’”

Since 1999, the Richters have attended every Opera Theatre season and have shaped Opera Theatre’s very identity, adding their own distinctive warmth to the mix.

“Jan was already a volunteer with Opera Theatre and so I happily joined him. Eventually, I became co-chair and then head of the Guild’s transportation committee,” Ellen remembers.

Their love for Opera Theatre’s productions, particularly the newer works and world premieres, led them to establish the libretto committee to compile and print public copies of the libretto, or script, for each opera.

“This was way back in the nineties. It was really a pity that some of these interesting new works were being done and there was, in a sense, no record of it,” Ellen explains. An early 1990s National Public Radio story about a new piece of technology known as DocuTech inspired them to remedy that. “It was a way to do instant printing for the first time.

In one or two minutes, you could get this 50-page libretto printed out. And if you needed another 27, or however many, you could do it all in one day,” they recall.

Among their many contributions has been expanding OTSL’s audience. While working at McDonnell Douglas —

Courtesy of OTSL Archives

That warmth and openness instantly persuaded Jan to come back. Two years later, he would be joined by his wife, Ellen, who recalls that “that friendly, welcoming, open connection has been a characteristic of the company from early on.”

then a major aerospace manufacturer in St. Louis — Jan organized evenings designed to turn his colleagues into OTSL patrons.

“For most of the 1990s, we capitalized on the picnic tradition,” Jan recalls. A special arrangement with the box office paired with the promise of dessert proved to be a winning combination. “After the performance, we’d come back to the garden for long parties and several times we closed them out. We introduced more than 200 people to Opera Theatre over most of a decade,” Jan says.

While work obligations led the Richters to relocate to Washington D.C., geographic distance never deterred them. They joined OTSL’s National Patrons Council — Ellen becoming a co-chair in 2024 — and have remained our steadfast friends.

As Jan remarks, “Opera Theatre just sells itself to you. If you give it even a third of a chance, it will show you a good time.”

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In his free time, John Lesser is also a prolifi c painter.

This painting commemorates OTSL’s 50th Anniversary Season with miniature references to every mainstage opera ever produced here. How many can you identify?

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JOHN LESSER: the greatest opera fan

His introduction to opera came early and almost by accident. When he was 15, his grandmother was gifted a recording of Medea. Since she didn’t have a record player, she gave it to John.

“I’d never heard of Maria Callas, whoever that was. I’d never heard of Tulio Serafin, or Teatro alla Scala. I didn’t know Cherubini.” Yet he immediately connected with the music. “I took the record home, I put it on, and I took the libretto out. And then Callas made her entrance into my living room. She opened her mouth, delivered the first line, and I put the libretto down. I didn’t need it. Everything she felt was in the sound,” he recalls.

Surprisingly, for someone who has never missed a show, he had to be persuaded to attend the first one, Opera Theatre’s original production of Don Pasquale. “My mom had just died, and I was not in the best of shape, so I decided I’d stay home.” A phone call from a friend changed that.

“I had such a good time. It brought me out of my crummy mood.” That very night, he decided to get a ticket for the next performance, and then the next one after that.

Soon, he became an integral part of the Opera Theatre community. “I always talk about

Courtesy of OTSL Archives

J

ohn Lesser has seen not just every production, but every single performance Opera Theatre has staged since its inaugural 1976 season. On one occasion, he even walked through a flood to make it to the theater. “You can never see an opera too many times,” he explains. “It’s never going to be the same show twice.” Opera offers what he calls “a sensory overload,” and watching a production numerous times gives him the chance to concentrate on a single element at a time. “Every performance is a new experience.”

John Lesser with fellow patrons Georgia Pettus (left) and Phyllis Brissenden (middle).

‘us’ when I talk about Opera Theatre. It feels like family,” he explains. “One of the great advantages of Opera Theatre is being able to go up to the tent after the performance. And then the singers come up and we get to meet them and talk to them. We have opportunities to interact that you just don’t get in any other company.”

Along with his love of opera, John has an abiding love for vintage opera posters, which he avidly collects. In fact, the walls of the Sally S. Levy Opera Center (OTSL’s office and rehearsal facility) are lined with items from his astounding collection, made up of over 1,000 pieces. He is particularly fond of his world premiere posters, which often reflect or give clues about the original staging. “I always say it’s as close as I can get to opening night.”

As much as he values opera history, he is just as invested in its future. “I sit there at master classes, watching young singers, and crying my eyes out because I just think, this is so exciting.

The art form that I love most is in good hands.” ■

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Il trovatore

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FAC E S O F OTS L

CAROL & HARRY MOPPINS our first call

Y

ou might have seen Harry Moppins on stage as a supernumerary — or non-singing performer — throughout the years at Opera Theatre. His stage credits include The Grapes of Wrath (2017), Regina (2018), and Awakenings (2022).

Courtesy of the Moppins

“The first production I did was The Grapes of Wrath. I was the father that was dying. And it’s at the very end of the opera.” In the scene, the lead soprano must hold him as she sings. “It’s really something to have a soprano singing in your ear, especially if she’s doing a crescendo,” he recalls humorously. Harry has gotten as close as one can get to the magic of opera.

Harry and his wife, Carol, perfectly embody the warmth and dedication of the OTSL Guild, the volunteer organization dedicated to supporting the company. “You can always give your time and talent,” Harry remarks.

They have lived up to that as volunteers since Opera Theatre’s second season.

Carol and Harry have held many roles throughout the years. They have lightwalked (i.e., stood in for actors onstage as the lighting designer builds their cues), greeted guests, managed the boutique, transported artists, and served as members of the concierge committee. Alongside the Guild, they have helped welcome performers and craftspeople each festival season. If an emergency arises, the Moppins are often the first call and eager to assist.

Carol and Harry crossed paths long before they truly met; they took piano classes together as children where their robust love of music began. Carol has been a distinguished piano teacher for almost 30 years, and Harry is also an experienced pianist. Harry says, “I was the accompanist for my high school choir, and I took piano through my sophomore year of college just to keep my skills up so I can always use that to accompany people.”

In high school, Harry sang in a musical with Grace Bumbry — the trailblazing St. Louis-born opera star. Like Bumbry, Harry attended Charles Sumner High School and studied

with the much-storied music teacher Kenneth Brown Billups. Music is an integral part of the Moppins’ legacy.

“Our kids have always been involved with music. We wanted them to experience things like I did growing up,” Harry explains, remembering the time he and Carol took their daughter, Missy, then five years old, to see Opera Theatre’s 1982 production of The Pirates of Penzance.

Decades later, Missy was by her parents’ side as they met Charles Blow, the author of the Fire Shut Up in My Bones memoir that inspired OTSL’s 2019 world premiere opera of the same title.

A tender backstage moment clearly exemplifies the special place the Moppins occupy within our Opera Theatre community. Carol and Harry were backstage during a performance of Regina when Carol asked the performers to join her in wishing her mother a happy 90th birthday. The whole chorus joined in on the phone call to sing “Happy Birthday,” a fitting tribute to the Moppins’ generous tenure as Guild members and as true Opera Theatre family.

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ALLISON FELTER a champion for our community

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Her interest in music began in the sixth grade. Shortly after moving to a new town in Kansas, Allison’s mom signed her up for band to help her make friends. Allison chose the French horn, which opened countless doors both as a student and later as a professional. She studied music and business throughout college, establishing her network through ensemble experiences like high school band to a summer internship with the Spoleto Festival.

While a member of the McDonald’s All-American High School Band, Allison found herself drawn to the administrative side of her musical experiences. For example, how exactly did more than 100 students from around the country make it to the Macy’s Day and Rose Bowl Parades? Who bought their plane tickets, picked their musical selections, and made sure everyone showed up on time?

“That was a transformative experience that showed me that you could pair your interests and your passions together. It informed me there were other ways to make a living that included music.”

At Opera Theatre, Allison pairs her love for music and passion for education to bolster and enhance our community.

“We would not have such amazing artists onstage or behind the scenes if not for the teachers introducing the incredible world of music, drama, and art in the classroom. And it is OTSL’s job to support and enhance this essential work at every opportunity. We are teachers’ greatest fans, as we know their work contributes to every kid’s learning, understanding, and being a productive, happy citizen in this world.”

Photo © Eric Woolsey

s our Director of Education and Engagement, Allison Felter is a resolute advocate for Opera Theatre’s music education initiatives. When she began working in our education department in 1994, she embraced the challenge of helping grow and steward our world-class resources for our communities in St. Louis and beyond.

Allison is incredibly proud of new works that invite students in and celebrate their accomplishments, such as the commissioned work Joshua’s Boots from 1999.

Inspired by a discussion at a teachers’ workshop, the opera featured Bayer Fund Artists-in-Training alumnus Jermaine Smith in the title role. It is that exciting spirit of innovation that inspires every day of Allison’s work.

“The best way I can describe it is that every year, the frame is the same, but the canvas is blank, and you get to populate it with new ideas, programs, people, and possibilities. This area is so dynamic, and it has opportunity after opportunity to create something brand new to help kids and audiences make discoveries about opera and about themselves.”

“Not everybody gets to be happy about waking up to their job every day, and not that there are not hard moments, but it is such a privilege and a joy to do something you genuinely love. Introducing great kids and audiences to great art will never get old.”

As she celebrates over thirty years on our annual staff, we salute and thank Allison Felter, our great champion of education and engagement, and wish her and her education department colleagues continued success at Opera Theatre.

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OPER A IN THREE AC TS Music by Johann Strauss II Libretto by Carl Haffner and Richard Genée, after Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy’s Le réveillon English translation by Ruth & Thomas Martin Presented under license by G. Schirmer, Inc. and Associated Music Publishers, copyright owners Die Fledermaus was first performed at Theater an der Wein, Vienna on April 5, 1874.

First performed by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis at the American Theatre on December 20, 1983.

creative team George Manahan Conductor

Seán Curran Choreographer

Diane Machin Assistant Stage Director

Shawna Lucey* Stage Director

Andrew Whitfield Chorus Master

Cindy Knight Stage Manager

Robert Innes Hopkins* Set & Costume Designer

Erie Mills English Diction Specialist

Valerie J. Clatworthy Assistant Stage Manager

Eric Southern Lighting Designer

Steven Aguiló-Arbues* Assistant Conductor

Emily Stafford Assistant Stage Manager

Krystal Balleza Will Vicari Wig & Makeup Designers

Jonathan Heaney* Repetiteur

Emma Kay Staunton* Intern Assistant Stage Manager *Opera Theatre main season debut

This performance will last approximately 2 hours and 25 minutes, including one 25-minute intermission.

Die Fledermaus is underwritten by Roma B. Wittcoff.

Opera Theatre dedicates this production to the memory of David W. Mesker, whose leadership and gifts of treasure, time, and spirit will enrich this company for years to come.

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THE CAST (in order of vocal appearance) ALFRED Joshua Blue+○ ADELE Deanna Breiwick ROSALINDE Sara Gartland* GABRIEL VON EISENSTEIN Edward Nelson* DR. BLIND Gregory V. Sliskovich*♦ DR. FALKE Johnathan McCullough○ FRANK Robert Mellon+○

D id yo u k n ow?

“Die Fledermaus” means “the bat” in German.

SALLY Sophia Baete*♦ PRINCE ORLOFSKY Kelsey Lauritano○

SY N O P S I S

IVAN/FROSCH FROSCH Oscar Olivo*

AC T I Outside the Eisenstein residence, Alfred serenades his former lover, Rosalinde, who is now married to Gabriel von Eisenstein. Rosalinde’s housemaid, Adele, wishes she could attend the glamorous party that Prince Orlofsky is throwing. When Rosalinde refuses to give her the night off, Adele pretends her aunt is sick. Alfred continues to profess his love, and although Rosalinde initially resists, she eventually agrees to a rendezvous later.

Eisenstein returns home with his lawyer, Dr. Blind, after having just been sentenced to eight days in jail for hitting a police officer.

His friend Falke urges him to delay jail for a night so they can both attend Orlofsky’s party. Unbeknownst to Eisenstein, Falke also invites Rosalinde, offering her the chance to catch her husband flirting with other women. When Eisenstein departs for “prison,” Rosalinde bids him farewell.

* Opera Theatre main season debut ♦ Gerdine Young Artist ○ Former Gerdine Young Artist + Former Gaddes Festival Artist

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Alfred returns for a romantic nightcap, but they are interrupted by the prison warden Frank, who has come to arrest Eisenstein. To protect her reputation, Rosalinde convinces Alfred to pose as her husband and leave with Frank.

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A man dressed as Napoleon enjoys the attention of female party-goers at a costume party.

Photo © Creative Commons

AC T I I At Prince Orlofsky’s extravagant party, guests gossip about their enigmatic host. Orlofsky is skeptical when Falke promises him an entertaining evening, but he agrees to see where the night takes them.

Adele shows up and surprises her sister Sally, who is a professional dancer, by posing as a mysterious starlet named Tanya. Eisenstein is masquerading as a Frenchman. He recognizes Adele but she manages to preserve her disguise. One of the other partygoers is the prison warden Frank, who pretends to be a producer to impress Sally and Adele.

When Rosalinde makes her entrance in a mask and costume, she is incensed to see her husband indeed flirting with other women. She slyly steals his favorite pocket watch after capturing his attention. As midnight approaches, Falke recounts the story of his infamous nickname, Dr. Fledermaus (“Dr. Bat”), which he received courtesy of a past prank by Eisenstein. The crowd toasts

to champagne and brotherhood as the revelry continues late into the early hours of the morning, when Eisenstein must rush off to jail.

AC T I I I At the jail, the grumpy warden Frosch is annoyed

by Alfred’s non-stop singing. Frank arrives, slightly inebriated and reminiscing about the previous night’s escapades. Adele and Sally come to the prison hoping that Frank can help them advance their stage careers.

When Eisenstein arrives at the jail, he is surprised to discover his cell is already occupied by a man who was found with his wife. Eisenstein disguises himself as Blind in order to confront the imposter. Rosalinde rushes in, seeking Alfred’s release. When Eisenstein reveals himself to Rosalinde, she defiantly produces his watch as proof of his own would-be infidelity. The scene dissolves into a brawl, and Orlofsky arrives to break it up. As peace is restored, the entire party sings a final toast to the pleasures of champagne and love.

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a note f rom THE DIRECTOR

COSTUME SKETCHES

FOR OTSL’S 2025 PRODUCTION OF DIE FLEDERMAUS

Photo © Ken Howard/Opera San José

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trauss’ gem of an operetta, whose title translates to “The Revenge of the Bat,” has infidelities, saucy maids, operatic tenors, a costumed ball, a jail, and Russian nobility…all set to the music of the “Waltz King.”

Sketches courtesy of costume designer Robert Innes Hopkins.

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In thinking about Rosalinde and Eisenstein, who are hungry for a little entertainment, Orlofsky’s imperial gender-bending and pleasure-seeking nature, and Dr. Falke’s extraordinary revenge plan led me to the year 1959, when the first Playboy Bunny Club opened in New York City. This happy couple living in the suburbs just might find their way to a naughty Halloween party in Greenwich Village, with of S A I N T L O U I S | 2 0 2 5 F E S T I V A L S E A S O N

flashes of Stonewall just a few years on the horizon.

Our beloved characters are walking a razor’s edge between absurdity and dignity, making them comedic fodder and oh-so-painfully human.

And much like life, no one in this operetta is absolutely right or exactly wrong. In assuming life can be made perfect, we are all exposed for our foolishness.

Best just pour out some bubbles, raise a glass, and enjoy every moment of this life with a generous heart and open mind. For as the Russian proverb warns, she who does not risk does not drink champagne. 

a note f rom THE CONDUCTOR

by George Manahan

GETTING TO KNOW VIENNESE OPERETTA Die Fledermaus is one of the beloved examples of an operatic sub-genre called “Viennese operetta.” Learn what that means and what elements to listen for as you watch the performance!

Photo © Richard Bowditch

Since its premiere in 1874, no Viennese operetta has come close to eclipsing Die Fledermaus in popularity.

This style (a direct precedessor to modernday musical theater) was extremely popular in the decades leading up to World War I, not only for its charming and memorable music, but also for its lighthearted yet satirical social commentary.

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t is a joy to return to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for the opening production of its 50th Anniversary Season. It’s hard for me to believe, but this is my sixth time conducting at Opera Theatre since 2003 — and most of my previous operas here were new or contemporary works, such as Champion, Emmeline, and Treemonisha.

So what is it about a classic title like Die Fledermaus (which premiered in 1874) that made me eager to return for this project, you might ask? Simply put, this opera is a joy to work on each and every time. It was created in a mad whirlwind with a very short timeline…the entire score was composed in just 42 days! Strauss tended to write faster than his librettist partners and for this particular opera, he composed several chunks of scenes before the

words had even been written, which is quite unusual in opera.

This frenetic energy, where the music and the text lead and propel each other in equal measure, translates to a fast-paced and thoroughly delightful evening of music and theater. The score is both catchy and sumptuous, highlighting the best parts of the Viennese waltz tradition, although what you’ll see tonight is a slightly more contemporary imagining from our brilliant stage director, Shawna Lucey. I’m delighted for this opportunity to work once again with the members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the quality and reputation of which is truly unmatched in the world of opera.

I hope you enjoy the music and comedy of our Die Fledermaus — all hail the joys of love, brotherhood, and champagne! 

Die Fledermaus’ composer, Johann Strauss II (not to be confused with Richard Strauss) was also known as “The Waltz King.” He composed more than 500 waltzes, polkas, and other dance tunes during his lifetime and his music was widely enjoyed everywhere from Moscow to Boston.

During the opera, you’ll hear elements of these various dances, from the swaying “12-3” beat of the waltz to the ever-increasing pace of the Hungarian csárdás, which is prominently featured in Rosalinde’s dramatic Act II aria. In addition to popular dance music, you’ll also hear rich and sweeping melodies common to the Romantic era, punctuated by rousing finales featuring the full ensemble.  EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

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OPER A IN T WO AC TS Music by Ricky Ian Gordon Libretto by Lynn Nottage and Ruby Aiyo Gerber Commissioned by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Orchestrations by Ricky Ian Gordon and Bruce Coughlin Copyright 2025 by Ricky Ian Gordon and Lynn Nottage and Ruby Aiyo Gerber

creative team Daniela Candillari Conductor James Robinson Stage Director Allen Moyer Set Designer Montana Levi Blanco* Costume Designer Greg Emetaz Video Projections Designer Marcus Doshi Lighting Designer

Krystal Balleza Will Vicari Wig & Makeup Designers Seán Curran Choreographer Kristen Kemp* English Diction Specialist Darwin Aquino Assistant Conductor Eric Sedgwick Repetiteur

Michelle Cuizon Assistant Stage Director Kimberley S. Prescott Stage Manager Jessie Mhire Assistant Stage Manager Rickelle Williams Assistant Stage Manager Laurel Schmidt Intern Assistant Stage Manager *Opera Theatre main season debut

This performance will last approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes, including one 25-minute intermission.

Leadership support for This House comes from Noémi Neidorff, the Berges Family Foundation, and the Whitaker Foundation.

W H I TA K E R F OU N DAT ION This House is made possible in part by the Fred M. Saigh Endowment at Opera Theatre and the Sally S. Levy Family Fund for New Works. This House is funded in part by The Amphion Foundation, Inc. and major production support is provided by Opera Theatre’s Rudolph W. Driscoll Endowment for Contemporary Opera.

Daniela Candillari’s engagement is made possible with generous support from Kim & Tim Eberlein.

Opera Theatre is pleased to recognize Ricky Ian Gordon as a Salvatore & Dagnija Comado Master Artist in memory of longtime friends and supporters.

Opera Theatre gratefully acknowledges the late Pris McDonnell for endowment support for composer residencies.

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THE CAST (in order of vocal appearance) YOUNG IDA Brandie Inez Sutton MILTON Sankara Harouna* LUCY Aundi Marie Moore*

UNCLE PERCY Victor Ryan Robertson IDA Adrienne Danrich LINDON Justin Austin+ ZOE Briana Hunter ○

Photo © Lee Snider, 2007

BEULAH Krysty Swann*

SY N O P S I S

GLENN Brad Bickhardt ♦

AC T I Voices of generations past whisper through the Walker home in Harlem’s Sugar Hill neighborhood. Ida shoos the voices away as her son Lindon works on a painting. Outside, Ida’s daughter Zoe warily approaches the house with her husband Glenn. Zoe is overwhelmed by childhood memories as she looks out over the block. Zoe asks Glenn to let her enter the house alone — she hasn’t visited Ida and Lindon in years.

THOMAS Christian Pursell

The family’s reunion is uneasy. Lindon’s brotherly banter is a tad too sharp, Ida is quick to question her daughter’s motivations, and Zoe can’t stop pointing out items in need of repair. But where Zoe sees decay, Ida and Lindon see their family history. Ida remembers her own sister Lucy and all the trouble they used to get into together as young girls despite their mother’s strict rules.

* Opera Theatre main season debut ♦ Gerdine Young Artist ○ Former Gerdine Young Artist + Former Gaddes Festival Artist

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Ida is pulled back to the present when Zoe reveals that she’s pregnant, but Ida isn’t pleased. She’s agitated by the ghostly figures of Lucy, her husband Milton, and her mother Beulah lingering in the background. Zoe can’t see the ghosts, who crowd around the Walkers as the house pressures a reluctant Ida to tell Zoe the truth.

Ida brings to life the history and former inhabitants of the house.

Originally purchased by Minus Walker, the son of a sharecropper,

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Beautifully restored brownstones look out over West 120th Street in Harlem.

the house passes in the 1930s to Ida’s Uncle Percy, who lives fast, wild, and far beyond his means. Beulah begs her brother not to squander the fruit of their father’s hard work. As Percy’s recklessness spirals out of control, he begins selling all their possessions to keep his creditors at bay. Desperate not to lose their home, Beulah commits an act of violence to protect their father’s legacy.

AC T I I Thomas, Lindon’s boyfriend, drops by the house with some shopping and affectionately greets Zoe. Like Zoe, Thomas is eager to get Lindon out of the house and suggests a trip to Valencia, Spain. The two lovers’ argument blends with another ghostly couple’s…young Ida begs an aloof Milton for love, but he warns her not to ask for more than he can give.

Zoe is getting some fresh air on the stoop when Glenn returns from a coffee shop around the corner. She confesses that she’s having second thoughts about their plan to move into the brownstone, but Glenn begs her

not to give up on their dream. Zoe goes back inside and asks Lindon once again to let her renovate their home. Ida cryptically accuses Zoe of being too much like her aunt Lucy.

We travel to the past where Lucy leads a Black nationalist meeting at the house. Young Ida has brought her fiancé Milton home to meet her family, painfully unaware that Milton and Lucy are about to fall in love with each other.

Later, Beulah confronts Lucy, who is pregnant with twins.

Lucy views motherhood as an obstacle to her future dreams, but Milton desperately wants to be a father. Lucy begrudgingly gives birth, but then refuses to feed or care for the infants. As Milton tries to comfort the screaming babies, Young Ida argues with Lucy to disastrous results.

Ida has finally revealed all her secrets to her horrified daughter. Worried, Glenn enters the house to find a distressed Zoe, who emotionally confronts her mother and brother. After one last stunning revelation, Zoe is forced to make her peace with the past so she and Glenn can step into the future.

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a note f rom THE LIBRETTISTS b y Ly n n N ot t a g e & R u by A iyo G e r b e r

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wo generations of the Walker family inhabit a majestic Harlem brownstone, once home to salons and rich social gatherings. Now it keeps its inhabitants suspended in time as the external world continues to revolve around them. Outside, the surrounding neighborhood is being devoured by gentrification and Black displacement, Black homes and histories erased — lost to gut renovations, the sterile chill of central A.C., and the disappearance of traditions that once defined Harlem’s heartbeat. Yet, this house refuses to surrender. As such, the house has become a form of resistance; a repository of family history and memories. The occupants, the Walker family, are tethered to the brownstone, but at times they are not sure whether they are prisoners or protectors.

It has been a joy watching composer Ricky Ian Gordon awaken the inhabitants of the Walker brownstone and bring them so gloriously to life with his evocative, soulful, and

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Photo © Jasmine Clarke

At the heart of the opera is a conversation between generations.

As collaborators —and as mother and daughter — we found an intimate, expansive, and emotional vocabulary to excavate the rich lives of the Walker family. In doing so, we also found a way to explore our own relationship: the tensions and tenderness, the inheritance of memory, and the weight of what it means to hold on — or to let go.

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage and her daughter, poet and writer Ruby Aiyo Gerber, are teaming up to write the libretto of This House.

beautiful music. Ricky is a brilliant storyteller with the rare ability to illuminate the emotional depths of his characters through sound. We are so thankful to be in collaboration with James Robinson, whose vision and artistry have helped to shape this opera into something truly special. ■

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D id yo u k n ow?

This House is based on a piece Gerber began during her undergraduate degree at Brown University during the COVID-19 pandemic.

a note f rom THE COMPOSER

by Ricky Ian Gordon

W

orking with a mother and daughter the likes of Lynn Nottage and Ruby Aiyo Gerber deserves an essay of its own. Few would dispute that Lynn is one of the most brilliant and celebrated playwrights in the world.

Her expertise at plot construction, character development, and the overall scaffold that keeps a play a taut and compelling creation are unquestionable. But her instinct to bring her brilliant poet daughter into our process, and her trust that it was Ruby’s idea we should musicalize — a play Ruby had written at Brown University, where Lynn also went — ended up being gold.

There is far too great a risk of revealing spoilers when writing about this opera. A young couple, Zoe and Glenn, are expecting a child, and they

Photo © Fay Fox

This unique look at a century-old house in Harlem and its inhabitants — a long line of colorful characters in compelling and moving situations — afforded me a way to get out my entire palette and paint each character in a musical vocabulary that I felt, instinctively, suited them: jazz, ragtime, serialism, American popular song, stride piano, hard rock…you name it, basically, a musical walk through a century and a quarter.

So often, I would be setting absolutely beautiful text to music, and I would write to Lynn and ask, “Who wrote this?” And she would always write back, “The magic of Ruby.” What a privilege it has been to create this opera with two such jewels.

This is Ricky Ian Gordon’s second collaboration with Nottage, following the 2022 opera, Intimate Apparel (based on Lynn Nottage’s play of the same name).

contemplate raising their family in the house Zoe grew up in. We meet them on the stoop of the brownstone. More, I cannot say, except this: it gives new meaning to the phrase, “If these walls could talk.” Even the house sings!

Suffice it to say, I am very excited to bring This House to you with our tremendous cast, the wonder of my dear friend, Jim Robinson, directing our fourth collaboration! The great Daniela Candillari conducting, Allen Moyer designing the set (my fifth opera with him)! And…there is my

dear friend, almost brother, Bruce Coughlin, who works with me on my big operas when we orchestrate together, whose ears I would not want to be in a world without. And all the new and wondrous people I have met creating This House. That’s how it is. A composer sits alone in his room for a few years — which can be lonely, frustrating, and isolating — but at the end, there is a room full of people, and you can be satisfied knowing you have created this rich and varied community. I am overwhelmed with gratitude to bring this to you.

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a note f rom THE DIRECTOR

by James Robinson

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n the winter of 2022, I had the great pleasure of attending a performance of an opera at Lincoln Center Theater Company — Intimate Apparel by my longtime collaborator and composer Ricky Ian Gordon and Lynn Nottage, a playwright who had reigned supreme in my theater-going memory for years.

This House, a story about a multigenerational family living in a Harlem brownstone, seemed like the perfect tale for a motherdaughter collaboration. Ricky was obviously inspired by this story and he quickly set to work.

Over the ensuing months, This

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Photo © David Jaewon Oh

Written for a small ensemble of singers and scored for only two pianos, this opera, based on Lynn’s play of the same name, was a bit of a revelation for me. I knew, of course, that Ricky had produced a string of brilliant operas including two for OTSL, but how was it that this was Lynn’s first foray into the operatic world? She was a natural librettist. It didn’t take long for me to reach out to Lynn and Ricky and invite them to create another opera for St. Louis.

But I had one request: Please write something on an original subject, not an adaptation of an existing play.

They both enthusiastically agreed.

Lynn, however, suggested that she collaborate with her daughter, Ruby Aiyo Gerber, an early-career writer, and went so far as to offer up an idea for the libretto that Ruby had been kicking around for a few years.

After 16 years as OTSL’s Artistic Director, Robinson joined Seattle Opera as their newest General and Artistic Director in September 2024. Robinson brings his collaborative, innovative spirit to lead to This House in 2025.

House began to emerge as a unique and passionate opera and one that inspired me and my entire creative team, all present or former inhabitants of New York City brownstones. Thoughts of former inhabitants of these buildings occupied my time living in Brooklyn and I often wondered what stories the walls could tell.

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This House, with its complex family dynamics, its painfully revealed secrets, and the blurred lines between reality and fantasy, past and present is an opera I have been looking forward to directing since the idea for it was hatched. It is befitting that This House, which connects history with the present day, is the world premiere for Opera Theatre’s 50th Anniversary Season. n

a note f rom THE CONDUCTOR b y D a n i e l a C a n d i l l a ri

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orking on a new opera is always a thrilling experience. We get to enjoy the incredible privilege of working with the composer and the librettist in real time. I have been a fan of Ricky Ian Gordon’s music since my student days at Indiana University. When Ricky expressed his wish to work with me on his newest opera, I was thrilled.

From the stoic hymn-like melodies in the brass in the opening, to the light and airy textures in the winds, to the returning motif that symbolizes the house as a character, Ricky’s score and orchestration are filled with details, precision, and complexity.

His incredible dedication to the text and word painting are shown through quick tempo changes, which always follow the speed of the language and — in a way — remind me of the shapes of Richard Strauss’ conversation operas. When Lucy says “time has no place,” the orchestra paints the passage of time with ticking

Photo © Julie Merkle

Shortly after our first conversation, Ricky shared the libretto with me and I remember being completely drawn to the story and the characters. I found myself wanting to learn more about each one of our protagonists and being completely invested in everything they were facing. The duet between Thomas and Lindon brought tears to my eyes and I simply couldn’t wait to get to see the full score and start my discovery of Ricky’s shaping of the musical world.

Daniela Candillari applauding the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra after Center Stage, 2024.

even eighth notes, starting in the strings and then gradually building throughout the orchestra, only to ease out into the nostalgic sound of harp and celesta, which then serve as a carpet for the rhythmic textures in the woodwinds. Rich, romantic harmonies and the harmonic shifts always direct our attention to the next dramatic moment, thereby making the orchestra not just the support for the stage, but an active participant in every dramatic beat.

Through all these musical elements — including stylistic shifts that encompass swing, habanera, and ragtime, among others — and impeccable timing of character

and mood changes, I believe This House will be an evening filled with joy, curiosity, heartbreak, hope, and perhaps most importantly, a question of how we create our worlds and what roles are adopted by the spaces in which we reside. I hope you will join me in celebrating and participating in our 45th world premiere! n

D id yo u k n ow?

As Principal Conductor, Candillari works to shape the music direction and ensure the highest quality of musical preparation for each production.

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OPER A IN THREE AC TS Music by Gaetano Donizetti Libretto by Giovanni Ruffini and the composer English translation by Phyllis Mead By arrangement with Hendon Music, Inc., a Boosey & Hawkes company, Sole Agent in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico for Casa Ricordi/Universal Music Publishing Ricordi S.R.L., publisher and copyright owner.

Don Pasquale was first performed at Théâtre Italien, Paris on January 3, 1843.

First performed by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis on May 22, 1976.

creative team Kensho Watanabe* Conductor

Seán Curran Choreographer

Olivia Gacka Assistant Stage Director

Christopher Alden Stage Director

Andrew Whitfield Chorus Master

Francesca MacBeth Stage Manager

Marsha Ginsberg Set & Costume Designer

Erie Mills English Diction Specialist

Valerie J. Clatworthy Assistant Stage Manager

Eric Southern Lighting Designer

Steven Aguiló-Arbues* Assistant Conductor

Emily Stafford Assistant Stage Manager

Krystal Balleza Will Vicari Wig & Makeup Designers

Nicholas Roehler Repetiteur

Laurel Schmidt Intern Assistant Stage Manager *Opera Theatre main season debut

This performance will last approximately 2 hours and 25 minutes, including one 25-minute intermission.

Leadership support for Don Pasquale comes from the Steward Family Foundation.

Don Pasquale is supported by a gift honoring the memory of Sally S. Levy from The Saucy Foundation by her children: Lucy & J. David Levy, Diane & Paul Jacobson, and Karen & Mont Levy.

Opera Theatre dedicates this production to Leigh & Alice Gerdine, whose support and commitment helped guide the company’s growth and success.

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THE CAST (in order of vocal appearance) DON PASQUALE Patrick Carfizzi DR. MALATESTA Kyle Miller ○

D id yo u k n ow?

ERNESTO Charles Sy ○

Don Pasquale was the first opera that Opera Theatre ever produced! It opened our inaugural season on May 22, 1976.

NORINA Susanne Burgess*○ NOTARY Sheri Greenawald

SY N O P S I S AC T I The wealthy bachelor Don Pasquale is furious that his nephew Ernesto has fallen in love with a penniless widow. Pasquale decides to get married himself so he can disinherit his disobedient nephew and produce a new heir. Pasquale consults Dr. Malatesta, who suggests his own sister as a bride. Elated, Pasquale instructs Malatesta to arrange the meeting. Ernesto arrives and once again defies his uncle’s orders to choose a more suitable bride. Pasquale shares his own marriage plans and kicks Ernesto out of the house.

The young man is devastated by the loss of his inheritance and his future with Norina.

Malatesta visits Norina and lays out his plan: she will pretend to be his sister, marry Pasquale in a mock ceremony, and then make him so miserable that he would do anything to be rid of her. Norina accepts.

* Opera Theatre main season debut ○ Former Gerdine Young Artist

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(L to R) Peter Strummer as Don Pasquale, Ron Raines as Dr. Malatesta, Sheri Greenawald as Norina, and Vinson Cole as Ernesto in Opera Theatre’s fi rst-ever production, Don Pasquale.

Photo © Bill Smith, 1976

AC T I I

AC T I I I

Oblivious to the plan, Ernesto mourns the loss of Norina and his impending exile. Meanwhile, Pasquale can’t wait to meet his new bride. Malatesta arrives and introduces Pasquale to his timid sister “Sofronia.” Pasquale is smitten and decides to hold the wedding immediately.

As Norina indulges in lavish spending, Pasquale is infuriated at his growing mountain of bills. Norina mocks Pasquale, but in her heart of hearts, she begins to feel some sympathy for the old man. As she leaves for the theater, she drops a letter for Pasquale to find, suggesting a secret rendezvous with a lover. Alarmed, Pasquale calls for Malatesta, who assures Pasquale that they will catch “Sofronia” in a compromising situation.

Just as the ceremony begins, Ernesto bursts in, accusing Norina of betrayal. Malatesta discreetly explains the plan to Ernesto, who then agrees to witness the marriage.

Once the contract is signed and Pasquale hands over his fortune, Norina sheds her demure façade and declares herself the master of the household. Pasquale is left stunned.

Ernesto serenades Norina, and they profess their love for each other. Pasquale and Malatesta arrive too late to catch Ernesto, who slips away as Norina plays the dutiful wife. Malatesta then announces that Ernesto plans to introduce his bride to Pasquale, who has no idea that Norina is, in fact, the widow that Ernesto loves.

“Sofronia” acts enraged at the idea of sharing her home with another woman, leading Pasquale to joyfully permit Ernesto to marry Norina and restore his inheritance.

When the truth about “Sofronia” is revealed, Pasquale accepts the outcome with good humor and gives the couple his blessing.

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MEMORIES FROM 1976 b y S h e ri G r e e n awa l d

Richard Gaddes brought together such a bright group of young talent, and we were all enthused to help launch the company. I was lucky enough to know dear Richard already from The Santa Fe Opera, so I didn’t hesitate to accept the contract to sing at his new company.

I also was very close friends with our stage director Christopher Alden; in fact, during that first season, Christopher and I shared an apartment at the lovely Garden Apartments (just down the street from the theater), which is where most of the young artists were housed. It had a somewhat dormitory feel! Even after all these years, I can still recall the sound of the train that ran by the Garden Apartments around about 4 a.m. and always woke me up. And I’ll never forget the smell of honeysuckle that grew outside the back door of our apartment!

We artists hung out together constantly. It was the best part of “festival” work…to be able to establish such close relationships with one’s colleagues and to simply have communion 96

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n Act I, an aging patriarch clings to his last shreds of dominance, refusing to cede his power to the next generation. In Act II, an empowered female crashes through the glass ceiling and shoves the patriarch off his throne. In Act III, the deposed monarch, confused and befuddled by the mysterious ways of his successors to the throne (Gens X, Y, and Z), finally lets go of his drive to assert his authority, turns on the metaphorical TV, and gives way to the joys of retirement.

The fates could not have chosen a more fitting way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis than by bringing back Don Pasquale, the first piece ever performed by this illustrious company. Donizetti’s evergreen masterpiece, arguably the greatest those 50 years, beginning with the opera buffa ever composed, ways in which opera designers and sings wittily of the joys and pains directors like Marsha Ginsburg and I of ageing, of the ever-shifting approach the timeless masterpieces relationship between young and which have been handed down to us. old, and, finally, of the satisfaction which comes from Take a look at the accepting one’s photos of the 1976 “Having now become, in mortality. It’s production on pretty amazing Andrew Jorgensen’s words , these pages and that I was only ‘a dis tinguished senior compare them to seven years old s tate sman in the opera the aesthetic of when I directed world,’ Alden returns to helm the current one, that first Don which replaces this new produc tion.”

Pasquale a half period-specific - S T. L O U I S P O S T -D I S P A T C H century ago, no? picture postcard OK, I was actually realism with a 25 at the time, more open-ended which means I’m now…well, you do fluidity, in an attempt to conjure up the math! In any event, there have a psychic space in which the eternal been a lot of developments during conflict between young and old

Photo courtesy of Christopher Alden

This season’s production of Don Pasquale features a cameo appearance by soprano Sheri Greenawald as the Notary. Sheri sang the role of Norina in OTSL’s inaugural 1976 performance and kindly offered us these memories of that first season.

in what is often a very lonely profession.

Photo © Larry Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The cast of OTSL’s 1976 Don Pasquale (pictured L to R): Ron Raines, Sheri Greenawald, Peter Strummer, and Vinson Cole with director Christopher Alden as he explains blocking.

can be seen from different shifting perspectives. Perhaps some of you are saying to yourselves, “Hmmm...I kind of prefer how the ’76 production looked,” but the heady controversy circling around tradition versus innovation has played a key role in keeping the mad art form called opera provocative, challenging, and lively during these past 50 years.

“The fates could not have chosen a more fitting way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of OTSL than by bringing back Don Pasquale, the first piece ever performed by this illustrious company.”

The dynamic young singers in the cast of Don Pasquale those many years ago were stellar members of an exciting new generation of American opera singers who, with the looks and acting chops of movie stars, suddenly began to be snapped up by the opera houses of the world: Ron Raines, Vinson Cole, Peter Strummer, and Sheri Greenawald, one of

the reigning divas of OTSL. Their careers were lovingly supported and developed by OTSL, as were the careers of countless singers, conductors, directors, coaches, designers, stage managers, etc. of the succeeding generations, who have been fortunate enough to take part in the brilliant first half century of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

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I can’t remember where we rehearsed that summer, as rehearsal spaces often changed…from school auditoriums to spaces in shopping malls. But we got the job done! I suppose I was surprised when I moved into the theater to find the thrust stage and the vomitoria. But I came to enjoy waiting in the “voms” for my entrances.

Vinson Cole and I could be very naughty waiting there… one could make faces at someone on stage, but the audience couldn’t see us!

I came to love the thrust stage and the intense proximity of the audience, who could see every nuance of one’s acting choices. That proximity is what makes Opera Theatre so special.

Nowhere else can you feel so connected to the people for whom you are performing, and we could sense that from day one.

We sang our hearts out, and, ah, what we did for love and OTSL! ■

Sheri Greenawald as Norina in Don Pasquale.

Photo © Bill Smith, 1976

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Chamber Music Society of St. Louis 2025-26 Season 17

SUBSCRIBE NOW

www.chambermusicstl.org 314-941-6309 for tickets

Michael F. Neidorff Chamber Concert Series Masters of Vienna

Echos of Germany

Unfinished Business

French Impressions: A Tale of Two Cities

Gypsy Spirit

Love Notes

Monday, September 22, 7:30 Experience the timeless brilliance of Vienna’s musical heritage.

Monday, October 13, 7:30 A musical journey connecting Sister Cities St. Louis and Lyon.

Halloween Spooktacular Monday, October 27, 7:30 A hauntingly fun musical journey with mysterious and macabre melodies.

Monday, November 17, 7:30 Celebrating St. Louis and Stuttgart Sister Cities.

Monday, December 1, 7:30 Composers inspired by the passion of Romani music.

Silent is Golden

Monday, December 15, 7:30 Double-feature silent films on the big screen as we perform the music live at the Hi-Pointe Theatre.

Monday, January 26, 7:30 Unfinished, yet the music continues to resonate.

Monday, February 16, 7:30 Our signature Valentine’s Lovefest program returns: music inspired by love and romance.

An Evening With Nicholas McGegan

Monday, March 9, 7:30 Our St. Louis favorite graces our stage for another enchanting night of music.

Located across the street, Cyrano's is the perfect place for a before or after opera treat.

}

603 E. Lockwood Webster Groves, MO (314) 963-3232 www.cyranos.com Mon, Wed-Thurs: 11 am - 9:30 pm Fri & Sat: 11 am - 11 pm • Sun: 11 am - 9 pm

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Swing Into Spring

Monday, March 30, 7:30 Shake off winter blues with jazz piano duo Stephanie Trick and Paolo Alderighi.

Night at the Opera Monday, April 20, 7:30 Chamber music by opera composers.

May the 4th Be With You Monday, May 4, 7:30 All things 4 on the 4th of May.

a note f rom THE CONDUCTOR b y Ke n s h o Wa t a n a b e

I

One of the real highlights of Don Pasquale is its overture, which beautifully showcases the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in the pit. A particular point of interest is the gorgeous cello solo at the beginning which gives a glimpse into the opera’s tender lyricism. Beyond the overture, audiences should also listen for Donizetti’s brilliant ensemble writing as well as the quick, witty exchanges that make this opera such a delight.

What an honor it is to be invited to be a part of this important anniversary with the work that

Photo © Abigel Kralik

come to this production of Don Pasquale following recent experiences with Puccini’s dramatic operas La bohème and Madame Butterfly, as well as contemporary works like Terence Blanchard’s Champion and Kevin Puts’ The Hours. Don Pasquale is a fascinating contrast to these works, and presents an opportunity for me to immerse myself in Donizetti’s mastery of bel canto opera, where comedic timing, lightness, and sensitive support of the singer from the pit are essential.

started it all at OTSL! I’m also thrilled to be collaborating with Christopher Alden, who directed the auspicious production 50 years ago.

My wish is that our audience finds this Pasquale as engaging and

charming as it was received at its premiere in Paris in 1843, when it was hailed as a comedic masterpiece. As times change and society evolves, revisiting masterpieces like this can also be an act of discovery for all of us, performers and audience alike. n

Abo u t t h e co m pose r G a et a n o Do n i zet t i Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848) was an Italian composer during the Romantic period in the 19th century. During his life, he wrote over 70 operas ranging from tragedies to comedies to historical works. Since our opening in 1976, we’ve performed Donizetti pieces in nine of our seasons: The Daughter of the Regiment (1990, 2011), The Elixir of Love (1982, 2014), Lucia di Lammermoor (2002), The Night Bell (1981), and Don Pasquale to open our inaugural season, again in 1998, and now in our 50th Anniversary Season.

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OPER A IN THREE AC TS Music by Benjamin Britten Libretto by Peter Pears and the composer, after William Shakespeare’s play Used by arrangement with B&H Music Publishing Inc. d/b/a Boosey & Hawkes, publisher and copyright owner.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream was first performed at Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall, Suffolk, on June 11, 1960.

First performed by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis on June 11, 1992.

creative team Leonard Slatkin Conductor

Seán Curran Choreographer

Anna Theodosakis Assistant Stage Director

Tim Albery Stage Director

Andrew Whitfield Chorus Master

Zachary Jenkins Stage Manager

Emma Kingsbury* Set & Costume Designer

Kristen Kemp* English Diction Specialist

Jessie Mhire Assistant Stage Manager

Marcus Doshi Lighting Designer

Darwin Aquino Assistant Conductor

Rickelle Williams Assistant Stage Manager

Krystal Balleza Will Vicari Wig & Makeup Designers

Lindsay Woodward* Repetiteur

Emma Kay Staunton* Intern Assistant Stage Manager *Opera Theatre main season debut

This performance will last approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes, including one 25-minute intermission.

Additional production support is provided by Mr. & Mrs. William B. Firestone, Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Scharff, Jr., and Dr. & Mrs. Gene W. Spector.

Leonard Slatkin’s engagement is made possible with the generosity of the late Mr. & Mrs. Laurance L. Browning, Jr. EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

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SY N O P S I S

THE CAST (in order of vocal appearance)

AC T I

COBWEB Emilie Kealani* ♦

QUINCE Robert Mellon +○

MUSTARDSEED Veronica Siebert* ♦

SNUG Dylan Gregg* ♦

PEASEBLOSSOM Laura Santamaria* ♦

STARVELING Adam Partridge* ♦

MOTH Zoe Brooks* ♦

FLUTE Christian Sanders

PUCK Matisse Carmack*

SNOUT Sam Krausz * ♦

TYTANIA Jana McIntyre*

BOTTOM Ben Brady*

OBERON James Laing*

THESEUS Jose Olivares*♦

LYSANDER Anthony León*

HIPPOLYTA Michelle Mariposa

HERMIA Jennifer Johnson Cano○ DEMETRIUS Theo Hoffman○ HELENA Teresa Perrotta* ✱ Opera Theatre main season debut ♦ Gerdine Young Artist Gaddes Festival Artist ○ Former Gerdine Young Artist + Former Gaddes Festival Artist

Oberon, the Fairy King, is quarreling with his queen Tytania over a young mortal boy she has adopted. Until she agrees to hand over the boy, he has set the seasons awry — summer can become winter and spring can become fall. Oberon sends his sprite Puck to find a magic flower whose juice can cause a person to fall in love with the first creature they see upon waking. He plans to use this to trick Tytania into giving up the boy.

The two young lovers Lysander and Hermia have run away from Athens to elope; Hermia’s father wants to use the strict Athenian laws to force her to marry another suitor named Demetrius. Demetrius chases after the couple, pursued by Helena, who is hopelessly in love with him despite his cruel rebuff s. Oberon feels for Helena and orders Puck to use the magic flower to make Demetrius fall in love with her.

Elsewhere in the woods, a group of workers meet in secret to discuss a play they hope to perform at the wedding of Theseus, Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. After much persuasion by Quince, the director of the play, Bottom and Flute agree to play the roles of the star-crossed lovers Pyramus and Thisbe.

The group plans to meet for rehearsal later that night.

Lysander and Hermia are lost in the woods. Exhausted, they lie down to sleep. Puck mistakenly thinks he has found Demetrius and sprinkles the flower’s juice onto Lysander’s eyelids. Helena happens upon them and wakes Lysander. When he immediately professes his love for her, she assumes he’s mocking her and storms off. Lysander follows, leaving Hermia alone.

In Tytania’s bower, the fairies soothe their queen to sleep.

Oberon silently appears to put her under the flower’s spell.

Costume renderings for the chorus of fairies, courtesy of set and costume designer Emma Kingsbury

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Love’s spell is cast in OTSL’s 1992 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Photo © Ken Howard, 1992

AC T I I

AC T I I I

Quince and the players meet to rehearse. Puck amuses himself by turning Bottom into a donkey. The other players are terrified and flee the woods, but Bottom doesn’t quite understand what has happened. He begins to sing to comfort himself, awakening Tytania, who falls helplessly in love with him.

As the sun begins to rise, Oberon gives Tytania the antidote. She is horrified by the ass she has taken to her bed and is happily reconciled with Oberon. The four young lovers awaken to a world that makes sense once more — Demetrius loves Helena, and Lysander and Hermia are reunited. Bottom wakes up, no longer a donkey but a man once again, convinced the previous night was just a strange dream. He finds his friends and they learn that their play has been chosen to be performed at Theseus’ wedding.

Oberon’s delight in Tytania’s enchantment is short-lived.

When Demetrius appears still looking for Hermia, Oberon realizes Puck’s mistake and puts the juice of the flower on Demetrius’ eyes as he sleeps. Helena and Lysander stumble upon Demetrius and wake him, causing both men to now swear their love for Helena. Hermia arrives and chaos erupts as all four lovers quarrel viciously.

Oberon gives Puck an antidote to the magical flower and orders him to lure the young lovers to sleep once more.

Once they’ve collapsed with exhaustion, Puck applies the antidote to Lysander’s eyelids.

After returning to Athens, the four lovers appear before Theseus to ask his forgiveness for transgressing city laws. Theseus magnanimously invites them to be married alongside him and Hippolyta. Quince and the players perform their tragedy of “Pyramus and Thisbe,” and as midnight strikes the three happy couples retire to bed. Oberon, Tytania, and the fairies arrive to bless the sleeping lovers.

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a note f rom THE CONDUCTOR

by Leonard Slatkin

“If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumbered here While these visions did appear.”

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That is a slight misstatement. In opera, sung text is about three to four times slower than the spoken word. If the entire play were set, we would be in the theater for ten hours.

To get it into a more conventional format, Britten and his librettist, Peter Pears, cut about half of the dialogue. As the composer said, “The original Shakespeare will survive.”

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Photo © Nico-Rodamel

entle Puck, did you really think that you and your company would actually insult us? These words have been with us for more than four hundred years, and still, they delight our minds, ears, and senses. With so many variations on the theme, with ballets, incidental music, films, and reworkings, one would think that operatic adaptations would be plentiful. But there have only been five and Britten’s is the only one to actually follow the entire play.

is simply figuring out where to put the orchestra. With a rather outsized ensemble, one has to be creative in order to meet the score’s demands. It is worthwhile for audience members to have a look in the pit to see where the musicians are situated.

But there are 20 characters to deal with and this is where Britten’s incredible score comes literally into play. Although there are no arias in the sense that we are used to, each one of the members of the cast has an almost equal role. Only Oberon, assigned to the countertenor, would appear to be the main protagonist.

The stylistic elements employed are quite diverse. They range from nods to Purcell and Mendelssohn to the prevailing modernism of the 1960s. Britten provides atmosphere and his usual orchestral brilliance throughout, starting with those amazing glissandos representing the forest. The chaos of Pyramus and Thisbe is a wonder of musical manipulation.

There are numerous challenges for all the musicians. At OTSL, one of them

From its first performance, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

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was recognized as an operatic masterpiece. With a composer at the height of his powers, a perfect story, and a receptive public, we do not have to count ourselves as being among the insulted. Rather, both Shakespeare and Britten have elevated our conscience with this brilliant stage work. I look forward to all the performances and am happy to welcome you to enjoy our take on these visions.

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D id yo u kn ow?

For Slatkin, Conductor Laureate of the SLSO, A Midsummer Night’s Dream marks his fifth time conducting at OTSL during our 48year partnership with the SLSO.

an introduc tion to BENJAMIN BRITTEN As Opera Theatre of Saint Louis celebrates our 50th Festival Season, we honor a composer with a long history on our stage.

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nglish-born Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) ranks among opera’s most-performed 20th century composers. Fans will recognize his works Peter Grimes (1945), War Requiem (1962), and The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (1945), among many others. Because Britten wrote operas in English, his works have always been a natural fit for our stage, easing the language barrier for new audiences and welcoming those who are just discovering their love of opera. Britten loved to use stories that were relatable to the general population...such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, based on the Shakespeare play of the same name.

Originally premiered in 1960, A Midsummer Night’s Dream was composed and conducted by Britten.

He adapted it together with his longtime collaborator and partner Peter Pears. During their incredibly faithful adaptation process, only one non-Shakespearean line was added.

Britten holds a special place in Opera Theatre lore. Throughout our 50 seasons in St. Louis, we have produced 11 of his 16 operas. This is no coincidence — Britten was a close friend of our former Artistic Director, Colin Graham, who served at Opera Theatre from 1985 until his passing in 2007. In a 1988 article titled “Stage Directions,” Graham reflected on

how his work with Britten shaped his career and approach.

“There’s no question,” Graham said, “that Benjamin Britten has been my greatest influence; being invited to work with him so soon on Noye’s Fludde introduced me to his methods, which meant always having the director and the designer (I was both) involved in an opera right from the start, so he could integrate their ideas into the finished composition.”

“Through Britten, it became part of my blood that what finally causes a production to live or die

Photo © OTSL Archives

Benjamin Britten (L) with former OTSL Artistic Director Colin Graham (R) at the Red House, 1973.

is its response to the composer’s intention,” Graham continued. “Music is not just an accompaniment but the springboard of the emotions — it must dictate one’s approach to what happens onstage — and I cannot, therefore, impose a concept on a work unless I feel it will illuminate the message of the text.”

Even as we honor OTSL’s historical ties to Britten, we are excited to share this new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and to celebrate the fresh perspective that each artist brings these treasured works.

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Opera Theatre’s history with Benjamin Britten Albert Herring, 1976, 1978 Billy Budd, 1993 Curlew River, 1986

Gloriana, 2005 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1992 Noah’s Flood, 1990

Paul Bunyan, 1984 Peter Grimes, 1990 The Prodigal Son, 1987

The Rape of Lucretia, 1996 The Turn of the Screw, 1980

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A SHOWCASE CONCERT featuring our Richard Gaddes Festival Artist and Gerdine Young Artists Tuesday, June 24 at 7:30 p.m.

Accompanied onstage by members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

creative team Daniela Candillari Conductor

Andrew Whitfield Chorus Master

Patricia Racette Artistic Director of Young Artist Programs

Diane Machin Anna Theodosakis Assistant Stage Directors

Yvette Loynaz Patricia Racette Program Co-Curators

William Woodard Repetiteur

Seán Curran Erica Ferguson Diane Machin Dennis Oliveira Patricia Racette Anna Theodosakis Stage Directors

Kimberly S. Prescott Production Stage Manager

Valerie J. Clatworthy Zachary Jenkins Cindy Knight Francesca MacBeth Jessie Mhire Emily Stafford Staging Staff Erica Ferguson Dennis Oliveira Apprentice Assistant Stage Directors

Rickelle Williams Stage Manager Laurel Schmidt Emma Kay Staunton Assistant Stage Managers

This performance will last approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes, including one 25-minute intermission.

Patricia Racette’s engagement is made possible with generous support from Tim & Robin Wentworth.

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R I C H A R D GA D D E S FE S TIVA L A RTI S T Mezzo-soprano Michelle Mariposa

G ER D I N E YO U N G A RTI S TS in alphabetical order by voice part Sopranos Laura Elena Fernández Emilie Kealani Tess Levine Jouelle Roberson Laura Santamaria Sofia Scattarreggia Anna Thompson Mezzo-sopranos Sophia Baete Zoe Brooks Imara Ashton Miles Isabel Randall Veronica Siebert Kim Stanish

n i t a r b e l ce

EA Y N E T

g

RS

ER T N E of C E STAG

Countertenor Elijah English

A B O U T C EN T ER S TAG E

Tenors Levi Adkins Carlos Ahrens Brad Bickhardt Sam Krausz Micah Perry Gregory V. Sliskovich

Since its founding in 1976, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis has built a reputation for identifying, nurturing, and promoting the operatic world’s most promising early-career singers. This commitment to young talent was formalized in 1986 with the launch of a dedicated young artist program, which has since grown into today’s current Gerdine Young Artist and Richard Gaddes Festival Artist Programs.

Baritones Cole Bellamy Sean Holshouser Adam Partridge Emilio Vásquez Patrick Wilhelm Bass-baritones Dylan Gregg Jose Olivares Nathan Savant

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Together, these two programs cultivate the next generation of promising opera talent by offering invaluable professional experience to emerging young singers. Led by Artistic Director of Young Artist Programs Patricia Racette, these programs span nine weeks during the Festival Season and offer artists extensive vocal coaching, master classes with renowned opera artists, understudy opportunities, and onstage experience in both the ensemble and featured supporting roles.

As many as 1,200 singers apply annually to Opera Theatre’s young artist programs. This year, only 28 were selected for the Gerdine Young Artist Program, and just one was offered a spot in our Richard Gaddes Festival Artist Program, an honor reserved for of S A I N T L O U I S | 2 0 2 5 F E S T I V A L S E A S O N

Lucy Evans, Laura Santamaria, John Godhard Mburu, and Justin Ramm-Damron perform a scene from The Marriage of Figaro in Center Stage.

Photo © Eric Woolsey, 2024

exceptionally remarkable young singers. In addition, two apprentice assistant directors was chosen to participate in and support the young artist programs.

Ten years ago, Opera Theatre introduced the first Center Stage concert to celebrate its young artists.

This one-night-only event gives these wonderful singers a chance to claim the spotlight with excerpted scenes from opera’s cherished classics and rare gems, sung in their original language and accompanied onstage by the Grammy Award-winning St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Look around you at this concert — amidst the audience are dozens of artist managers, artistic administrators, and opera practitioners who have traveled here from around the country to discover the next rising stars.

Many OTSL alumni go on to starring roles here and on the world’s most renowned stages. Last year alone,

ten principal artists in the 2024 Festival Season began their careers in OTSL’s young artist programs. At the prestigious Operalia Competition, two of the top prizes for 2024 were awarded to former GYAs Kathleen O’Mara and Meridian Prall. In addition, our alumni have appeared everywhere from the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden to the Metropolitan Opera and include singers such as Jamie Barton, Christine Brewer, Lawrence Brownlee, Christine Goerke, Kate Lindsey, Erin Morley, Paula Murrihy, Matthew Polenzani, Morris Robinson, Michael Spyres, Russell Thomas, Corinne Winters, and many more.

Opera Theatre’s commitment to supporting earlycareer singers has been at the heart of our success since our founding. It’s a true privilege to work with a new class of young artists every year — our Festival Season wouldn’t be possible without them!

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A note f rom the ARTISTIC DIRECTOR of YOUNG ARTIST PROGRAMS

WELCOME TO CENTER STAGE! Each season, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis brings new stories, new music, and perhaps most importantly, new artists to introduce to our community.

Patricia Racette Artistic Director of Young Artist Programs

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We focus our curriculum on practical and dramatic instruction that will help these artists develop their own unique artistic voices — no two are alike.

For me, Center Stage epitomizes the “boots on stage” work that is crucial to help young artists bridge the gap between their academic successes and their blossoming professional careers.

From a pool of 1,100 video applications, we invite approximately 400 singers for live auditions in seven cities across the country.

We have chosen 29 singers to join us as our young artists on a nine-week journey of intense professional development.

Through our young artist program, these singers have the chance to cover leading roles, perform supporting roles, and create one of opera’s finest choruses.

Each mainstage production has a staged cover run, in which our young artists perform their cover role in its entirety for a small but appreciative audience of administrators, community, and peers.

s the Artistic Director of Young Artist Programs, I invite you to celebrate the talent of our Richard Gaddes Festival Artist and Gerdine Young Artists at this beloved event. These singers represent the future of opera, as they are the ones who will keep the art form vibrant for many years to come. Center Stage is a highlight of every Opera Theatre season, perfectly encapsulating our mission to develop the next generation of artists through exceptional professional development and community engagement.

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Center Stage, 2024 Photo © Eric Woolsey

WELCOMING BACK OUR

YO U N G A R TI ST A LU M N I

Not only does OTSL hire dozens of young artists each season, we also invite alumni to return in principal roles! Below are the former young artists performing in our 2025 Festival Season.

JUSTIN AUSTIN+ L i n d on , T h i s Ho u s e

JOSHUA BLUE+○ A l f red,

D ie F le de r mau s

SUSANNE BURGESS○ Nor i n a , D o n Pa s q u a l e THEO HOFFMAN○ Deme t r iu s, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

During their time at Opera Theatre, our young artists have access to our gifted musical staff as well as world-renowned guest artists and industry professionals who join us throughout the festival season. We have created a focused curriculum centering on musical style, linguistic nuance, stage deportment, vocal technique, and repertoire exploration.

We also offer guidance on building a sustainable career in this art form that helps protect and enrich their lives as artists, both on and offstage.

Center Stage offers our young artists the opportunity to cultivate and grow their interpretive skills through a fully invested performance. While most young artist concerts in this industry are accompanied by piano, Opera Theatre welcomes the world-class St. Louis Symphony Orchestra on

stage under the direction of our own Principal Conductor, Daniela Candillari.

Center Stage may be a one-night only performance, but it represents the culmination of extensive planning and preparation on behalf of these young artists. I want to thank my main co-conspirator, my fellow curator and Opera Theatre’s Director of Artistic Administration, Yvette Loynaz. She carried the lion’s share of work related to this special evening.

Yvette and I also thank Daniela for her contributions as we help nourish a full and bright future for these artists!

To our young artists, we thank you for your dedication and hard work, and we celebrate your accomplishments here at Opera Theatre. We support you now, and we cannot wait to witness what comes next! n

BRIANA HUNTER○ Z o e, T h i s Ho u s e JENNIFER JOHNSON CANO○ He r m i a , A Midsummer Night’s Dream KELSEY LAURITANO○ P r i nc e O rlofs k y, D ie F le de r mau s JOHNATHAN M cCULLOUGH○ D r. Fa l ke, D ie F le de r mau s ○ ROBERT MELLON+○ Fr a n k , Die F le der maus; Q u i nc e, A Midsummer Night’s Dream KYLE MILLER○ D r. Ma l ate s t a , D o n Pa s q u a l e CHARLES SY○ E r n e s t o, D o n Pa s q u a l e ○ Former Gerdine Young Artist + Former Gaddes Festival Artist EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

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me e t our 2025

ARTISTS

SO LO A RTI S TS Sara Gartland* Sheri Greenawald Dylan Gregg*♦ Sankara Harouna* Theo Hoffman○ Briana Hunter ○ Jennifer Johnson Cano○ Emilie Kealani*♦ Sam Krausz*♦ James Laing* Kelsey Lauritano○

Justin Austin+ Sophia Baete*♦ Brad Bickhardt♦ Joshua Blue+○ Ben Brady* Deanna Breiwick Zoe Brooks*♦ Susanne Burgess*○ Patrick Carfizzi Matisse Carmack* Adrienne Danrich

Anthony Leόn* Michelle Mariposa ■ Johnathan McCullough○ Jana McIntyre* Robert Mellon+○ Kyle Miller ○ Aundi Marie Moore* Edward Nelson* Jose Olivares*♦ Oscar Olivo* Adam Partridge*♦

Teresa Perrotta* Christian Pursell Victor Ryan Robertson Christian Sanders Laura Santamaria*♦ Veronica Siebert*♦ Gregory V. Sliskovich*♦ Brandie Inez Sutton Krysty Swann* Charles Sy○

COUNTERTENOR

BARITONES

TENORS

Cole Bellamy Sean Holshouser Adam Partridge Emilio Vásquez Patrick Wilhelm

R I C H A R D GA D D E S FE S TIVA L A RTI S T MEZZO-SOPRANO

Michelle Mariposa

G ER D I N E YO U N G A RTI S TS SOPRANOS

MEZZO-SOPRANOS

Laura Elena Fernández Emilie Kealani Tess Levine Jouelle Roberson Laura Santamaria Sofia Scattarreggia Anna Thompson

Sophia Baete Zoe Brooks Imara Ashton Miles Isabel Randall Veronica Siebert Kim Stanish

Elijah English

Levi Adkins Carlos Ahrens Brad Bickhardt Sam Krausz Micah Perry Gregory V. Sliskovich

BASS-BARITONES

Dylan Gregg Jose Olivares Nathan Savant

A M I DS U M M ER N I G H T ’ S D R E A M C H I L D R EN ’ S C H O R U S

(from the St. Louis Children’s Choirs, led by Dr. Alyson Moore, Artistic Director) Andrea Altadonna Lucca Badino Bryndis Bryan

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Benji Chu Axel Jones Mazie Menkhus

Emily Musarra August Phillips Jack Pitlyk

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Ana Ramirez Lucia Schnare Keziah Speicher

Center Stage, 2024.

Photo © Eric Woolsey

A RTI S TI C S TA FF ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF YOUNG ARTIST PROGRAMS Patricia Racette PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR Daniela Candillari CONDUCTORS Daniela Candillari George Manahan Leonard Slatkin Kensho Watanabe STAGE DIRECTORS Tim Albery Christopher Alden Shawna Lucey James Robinson CHOREOGRAPHER Seán Curran

DESIGNERS Krystal Balleza Montana Levi Blanco* Marcus Doshi Greg Emetaz Marsha Ginsberg Robert Innes Hopkins* Emma Kingsbury* Allen Moyer Eric Southern Will Vicari

ASSISTANT CONDUCTORS Steven Aguiló-Arbues* Darwin Aquino

HEAD OF MUSIC Darwin Aquino

APPRENTICE ASSISTANT STAGE DIRECTORS Erica Ferguson* Dennis Oliveira*

CHORUS MASTER Andrew Whitfield

* OTSL Mainstage Debut ♦ Gerdine Young Artist ■ Richard Gaddes Festival Artist ○ Former Gerdine Young Artist + Former Gaddes Festival Artist

REPETITEURS Jonathan Heaney* Nicholas Roehler Eric Sedgwick William Woodard* Lindsay Woodward*

ENGLISH DICTION SPECIALISTS Kristen Kemp* Erie Mills

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A R TI S T P R O F I LE S LEVI ADKINS

Tenor Margery Fort Armstrong Endowed Tenor Gerdine Young Artist

OTSL DEBUT

Parpignol, La bohème, 2024

PAST

The Magic Flute, La bohème, The Atlanta Opera; The Barber of Seville, OTSL

DARWIN AQUINO

Head of Music & Assistant Conductor This House, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

OTSL DEBUT

2022 Festival Season

PAST

Viva Rachmaninoff, Saint Louis Philharmonic Orchestra; Doña Clementina, Opera Southwest; New Works Collective, Center Stage, OTSL; George Balanchine’s Western Symphony & Serenade, Saint Louis Ballet

STEVEN AGUILÓ-ARBUES

JUSTIN AUSTIN

OTSL DEBUT PAST

OTSL DEBUT

Assistant Conductor Die Fledermaus, Don Pasquale

Amahl and the Night Visitors, Central City Opera; La vida breve, Opera Fort Collins; Rigoletto, Sarasota Opera; Tosca, The Atlanta Opera; Madame Butterfly, Opera Colorado

Baritone Dr. James Hinrichs & Mary Schoolman Artist Lindon, This House Pyarelal Kaul, Shalimar the Clown, 2016

FUTURE

The Barber of Seville, San Francisco Opera; A Voice Within (world premiere), Houston Grand Opera; The Galloping Cure (world premiere), Edinburgh International Festival

PAST

Così fan tutte, Romeo and Juliet, LA Opera

CARLOS AHRENS

Tenor Phoebe Dent Weil Artist Gerdine Young Artist

FUTURE

Lincoln in the Bardo (workshop), Chautauqua Opera

PAST

Scalia/Ginsburg, Charlottesville Opera; Candide, The Glimmerglass Festival; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music Opera; The Magic Flute, Queen City Opera

TIM ALBERY

Stage Director Mr. & Mrs. Harvard K. Hecker Endowed Artist A Midsummer Night’s Dream

OTSL DEBUT

The Coronation of Poppea, 2019

PAST

Grimes on the Beach, Aldeburgh Festival; The Ring Cycle, Scottish Opera; The Flying Dutchman, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Billy Budd, English National Opera; Les Troyens, Lyric Opera of Chicago

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

Vocal Fellow, Ravinia Steans Institute

PAST

Double Tone: The Duality of Dark and Light, Carnegie Hall; Dialogues of the Carmelites, Juilliard Opera; 2024 New York District Winner, The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition; Empowering Voices, The Washington Chamber Orchestra

KRYSTAL BALLEZA

Wig & Makeup Designer 2025 Festival Season

OTSL DEBUT

2023 Festival Season

PAST

Orlando, Signature Theatre; Galileo Galilei, OTSL; Émigré, New York Philharmonic; White Christmas, Paper Mill Playhouse

CONTINUES AS

Real Women Have Curves: The Musical, Broadway

COLE BELLAMY

OTSL DEBUT

PAST

Don Pasquale, 1976

FUTURE

Il sogno di Scipione, OrpheusPDX; Rigoletto, Canadian Opera Company

PAST

Un giorno di regno, Garsington Opera; 2009 Olivier Award Winner, Partenope, English National Opera; The Flying Dutchman, Lyric Opera of Chicago

OPERA THEATRE

Mezzo-soprano Steve Trampe & Jenny Gupta Endowed Artist Sally, Die Fledermaus Gerdine Young Artist

CHRISTOPHER ALDEN Stage Director Don Pasquale

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SOPHIA BAETE

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Baritone Gerdine Young Artist Così fan tutte, Rinaldo, La traviata, Detroit Opera; The Righteous (world premiere), The Santa Fe Opera

BRAD BICKHARDT

ZOE BROOKS

OTSL DEBUT

OTSL DEBUT PAST

Tenor Sara Epstein Artist Glenn, This House Gerdine Young Artist

Priest, Galileo Galilei, 2024

FUTURE

La traviata, Livermore Valley Opera; Madame Butterfly, Lyric Opera of Chicago

Mezzo-soprano Moth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Gerdine Young Artist

Hamlet, Hansel and Gretel, The Coronation of Poppea, SUNY Purchase Opera

PAST

The Creation, Spokane Symphony; La finta giardiniera, Arizona Opera

MONTANA LEVI BLANCO

SUSANNE BURGESS

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

PAST

PAST

JOSHUA BLUE

DANIELA CANDILLARI

OTSL DEBUT

OTSL DEBUT

FUTURE

FUTURE

Costume Designer This House

Lincoln in the Bardo (world premiere), The Metropolitan Opera, LA Opera El Niño, The Metropolitan Opera; Champion, The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Purple Rain, Orin Wolf Productions; The Skin of Our Teeth, Lincoln Center Theater

Tenor Tani Wolff Memorial Artist Alfred, Die Fledermaus A Singer, La rondine, 2015 La bohème, Opera North

Soprano Norina, Don Pasquale

Carmen, The Metropolitan Opera; The Tales of Hoffmann, The Florentine Opera Die Frau ohne Schatten, The Metropolitan Opera; Lucia di Lammermoor, Gulfshore Opera; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Atlanta Opera

Principal Conductor Kim & Tim Eberlein Artist This House, Center Stage

New Works, Bold Voices Lab, 2021

PAST

The Barber of Seville, Canadian Opera Company; Concert, Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Concert, London Philharmonic Orchestra; Concert, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

BEN BRADY

PATRICK CARFIZZI

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

OTSL DEBUT

Così fan tutte, Detroit Opera; The Anonymous Lover, Opera Philadelphia; La bohème, English National Opera; The Magic Flute, The Metropolitan Opera

Bass-baritone Bottom, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Il viaggio a Reims, Opera Philadelphia

PAST

Bass-baritone Karen & Mont Levy Artist Don Pasquale, Don Pasquale Dr. Bartolo, The Barber of Seville, 2006

FUTURE

The Magic Flute, The Metropolitan Opera; Rigoletto, Eugene Opera; Pelléas and Mélisande, La traviata, The Dallas Opera

The Barber of Seville, San Francisco Opera

DEANNA BREIWICK

MATISSE CARMACK

OTSL DEBUT

OTSL DEBUT PAST

Soprano Phoebe & Spencer Burke Artist Adele, Die Fledermaus Johanna, Sweeney Todd, 2012

FUTURE

Falstaff, LA Opera; Dialogues of the Carmelites, The Dallas Opera

PAST

La forza del destino, Peter Grimes, The Metropolitan Opera; The Elixir of Love, San Francisco Opera; L’italiana in Algeri, The Santa Fe Opera

Actor Puck, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The Little Mermaid, Area Stage; Romeo and Juliet, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Webster University Sargent Conservatory of Theatre

PAST

Un ballo in maschera, Bayerische Staatsoper; La rondine, Opéra de Monte-Carlo; The Coronation of Poppea, Opernhaus Zürich

EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

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A R TI S T P R O F I LE S BRUCE COUGHLIN

GREG EMETAZ

OTSL DEBUT

OTSL DEBUT

FUTURE

FUTURE

Co-Orchestrator This House “27,” 2014

Floyd Collins, Lincoln Center Theater

PAST

The Grapes of Wrath, OTSL; The Light in the Piazza, Once Upon a Mattress, Broadway

Video Projections Designer This House The Golden Ticket, 2010 The House on Mango Street, The Glimmerglass Festival; La Cage aux Folles, Jersey Boys, The Muny; Lili Elbe, The Santa Fe Opera

PAST

Galileo Galilei, OTSL

MICHELLE CUIZON

ELIJAH ENGLISH

OTSL DEBUT

OTSL DEBUT

FUTURE

PAST

Assistant Stage Director This House Susannah, 2023 The Magic Flute, Champion, The Metropolitan Opera

Countertenor Gerdine Young Artist Cardinal 1/Oracle 1, Galileo Galilei, 2024

PAST

La bohème, Opera San José; Julius Caesar, OTSL

Rinaldo, Detroit Opera; Welcome to the Madness (world premiere), Brundibár, Opera Steamboat; Julius Caesar, OTSL

SEÁN CURRAN

ERICA FERGUSON

OTSL DEBUT

OTSL DEBUT PAST

Choreographer 2025 Festival Season Nixon in China, 2004

FUTURE

Apprentice Assistant Stage Director 2025 Festival Season

PAST

La bohème, The Catholic University of America; Dead Man Walking, Miami Music Festival; Albert Herring, Chicago Summer Opera; The Gondoliers, Duke Ellington School of the Arts

ADRIENNE DANRICH

LAURA ELENA FERNÁNDEZ

OTSL DEBUT

PAST

Silent Night, Houston Grand Opera, The Metropolitan Opera Galileo Galilei, Harvey Milk, The Pirates of Penzance, OTSL; PATH, Everywhere All the Time, Seán Curran Company

Soprano Konneker Master Teaching Artist Ida, This House Miriam H., Awakenings, 2022

Soprano Dorothy & Billy Firestone Endowed Artist Gerdine Young Artist

PAST

2025 Finalist, Luciano Pavarotti Foundation Opera Naples International Voice Competition; 2023 First Place Winner, St. Petersburg Opera Guild Competition

MARCUS DOSHI

OLIVIA GACKA

OTSL DEBUT

OTSL DEBUT

FUTURE

PAST

FUTURE

Porgy and Bess, The Metropolitan Opera Intimate Apparel (world premiere), Lincoln Center Theater; Aportia Chryptych (world premiere), Canadian Opera Company; Dead Man Walking, New Orleans Opera; Forgotten Voices, Carnegie Hall

Lighting Designer This House, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Treemonisha, Così fan tutte, 2023 La traviata, Garsington Opera

PAST

Pass Over, Broadway; The Wreckers, Houston Grand Opera; The Merchant of Venice, The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh; Edward Tulane, Minnesota Opera

Assistant Stage Director Don Pasquale 2023 Festival Season Lucidity, The Anonymous Lover, Ithaca College; The Pirates of Penzance, OTSL Opera on the Go!; Proving Up, Opera Steamboat

EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

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A R TI S T P R O F I LE S SARA GARTLAND

Soprano Josephine & Monte Throdahl Endowed Artist Rosalinde, Die Fledermaus

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

JONATHAN HEANEY Repetiteur Die Fledermaus

OTSL DEBUT PAST

PAST

New Works Collective, OTSL; The Turn of the Screw, On Site Opera; The Merry Wives of Windsor, Juilliard Opera

MARSHA GINSBERG

THEO HOFFMAN

OTSL DEBUT

OTSL DEBUT

PAST

PAST

SHERI GREENAWALD

SEAN HOLSHOUSER

OTSL DEBUT

PAST

La traviata, Opera Colorado Macbeth, The Atlanta Opera; La traviata, The Dallas Opera; Salome, Des Moines Metro Opera

Set & Costume Designer Don Pasquale Treemonisha, 2023

Primary Trust, Roundabout Theatre Company; English, Roundabout Theatre Company, Atlantic Theater Company; The Lehman Trilogy, The Guthrie Theater

Soprano Notary, Don Pasquale

Norina, Don Pasquale, 1976

PAST

A Quiet Place (world premiere), Teatro alla Scala; The Woman at Otowi Crossing (world premiere), OTSL; Der Rosenkavalier, Welsh National Opera; La traviata, The Santa Fe Opera; Manon, San Francisco Opera

DYLAN GREGG

Bass-baritone The Berges Family Foundation Endowed Artist Snug, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Gerdine Young Artist

OTSL DEBUT PAST

Manon, Staatsoper Hamburg; Grounded, The Metropolitan Opera; Platée, Opernhaus Zürich; Pelléas and Mélisande, National Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan; Iphigénie en Tauride, Opéra-Comique

Baritone Gerdine Young Artist

The Magic Flute, Opéra Bastide; The Merry Widow, Sondheim on Sondheim, Die Fledermaus, Moores Opera Center; The Pirates of Penzance, The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston

BRIANA HUNTER

Mezzo-soprano Janet McAfee Weakley Memorial Artist Zoe, This House

OTSL DEBUT

Flora Bervoix, La traviata, 2018; Pvt. Stanton, An American Soldier, 2018

PAST

SANKARA HAROUNA

ROBERT INNES HOPKINS

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

Salome, Madame Butterfly, Lyric Opera of Chicago

PAST

Rigoletto, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Tosca, Dayton Opera; The Snowy Day, Portland Opera

OPERA THEATRE

Thierry, Dialogues of the Carmelites, 2014

The Marriage of Figaro, Romeo and Juliet, Palm Beach Opera; Der Rosenkavalier, The Santa Fe Opera; The Barber of Seville, The Rape of Lucretia, Academy of Vocal Arts

Baritone Milton, This House

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Baritone Demetrius, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

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Fire Shut Up in My Bones, Carmen, Il trovatore, The Metropolitan Opera; Blue (world premiere), The Glimmerglass Festival; Carmen, Washington National Opera

Set & Costume Designer Dr. Alvin R. Frank Memorial Endowed Artist Die Fledermaus

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

Parsifal, San Francisco Opera

PAST

Tristan and Isolde, San Francisco Opera; Rigoletto, Lyric Opera of Chicago; The Merry Wives of Windsor, Royal Shakespeare Company; Dalibour, The National Theatre, Brno

JENNIFER JOHNSON CANO

JAMES LAING

OTSL DEBUT

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

Mezzo-soprano Edes P. Gilbert Artist Hermia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Third Graduate, Street Scene, 2006

FUTURE

The Turn of the Screw, Die Walküre, The Santa Fe Opera; Madame Butterfly, The Metropolitan Opera

PAST

The Righteous (world premiere), The Santa Fe Opera; Aida, Arizona Opera

EMILIE KEALANI

Soprano Ann & Bill Sullins Artist Cobweb, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Gerdine Young Artist OTSL DEBUT FUTURE Il viaggio a Reims, Opera Philadelphia PAST La Calisto, La bohème, The Glimmerglass Festival; Jenůfa, Staatsoper Stuttgart; The Elixir of Love, Curtis Opera Theatre

Countertenor Oberon, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Figaro Gets a Divorce, The Royal Swedish Opera

PAST

Flight, State Opera South Australia; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Opera North; The Tempest, Vienna Staatsoper; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Korea National Opera

KELSEY LAURITANO

Mezzo-soprano Mr. & Mrs. Sanford N. McDonnell Endowed Artist Prince Orlofsky, Die Fledermaus

OTSL DEBUT

A Townswoman, Emmeline, 2015

FUTURE

Così fan tutte, Oper Frankfurt

PAST

The Marriage of Figaro, The Cunning Little Vixen, Madame Butterfly, Oper Frankfurt; Petite messe solennelle, Edinburgh International Festival

KRISTEN KEMP

ANTHONY LEÓN

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

English Diction Specialist This House, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Head of Music, The Denyce Graves Foundation Shared Voices

PAST

Tenor Lysander, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Don Giovanni, Opera di Roma

PAST

Rusalka, Romeo and Juliet, La rondine, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Manhattan School of Music Opera Theatre

The Barber of Seville, OTSL Opera on the Go!; Così fan tutte, LA Opera; The Pearl Fishers, Staatsoper Unter den Linden; Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence

EMMA KINGSBURY

TESS LEVINE

OTSL DEBUT PAST

PAST

Die Walküre, Das Rheingold, Teatro alla Scala; Ghost Sonata, Opera Australia; Atlas, Europeras 1 & 2, LA Philharmonic

Summer and Smoke, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Boston Conservatory at Berklee; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Chicago Summer Opera; The Coronation of Poppea, Manhattan School of Music Opera Theatre

SAM KRAUSZ

SHAWNA LUCEY

Set & Costume Designer Colin Graham Master Artist Endowment A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Tenor Arnold Hershman Endowed Artist Snout, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Gerdine Young Artist

OTSL DEBUT PAST

Aida, La finta giardiniera, Arizona Opera; Salome, Des Moines Metro Opera; Semele, Wolf Trap Opera

Soprano Myrna Hershman Endowed Artist Gerdine Young Artist

Stage Director Ann Lee & Will Konneker Endowed Artist Die Fledermaus

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

Falstaff, LA Opera

PAST

Bluebeard’s Castle, Opera San José; Così fan tutte, LA Opera; La traviata, Tosca, San Francisco Opera

EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

119

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MindsEye builds a more inclusive community by translating vision into audio for individuals who are blind or visually impaired.

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A R TI S T P R O F I LE S DIANE MACHIN

Resident Assistant Stage Director Die Fledermaus, Don Pasquale

OTSL DEBUT

2022 Festival Season

PAST

ROBERT MELLON

Baritone Donald L. Bryant, Jr. Endowed Artist Frank, Die Fledermaus; Quince, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

OTSL DEBUT

Scalia/Ginsburg, Tosca, Chautauqua Opera; Treemonisha, The Barber of Seville, OTSL; Leonora, Chicago Opera Theater

A Customs Officer, La bohème, 2016

GEORGE MANAHAN

IMARA ASHTON MILES

OTSL DEBUT

FUTURE

FUTURE

PAST

Conductor Sally S. Levy Endowed Artist Die Fledermaus Thaïs, 2003

Appalachian Spring, Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera

PAST

Madame Butterfly, Anchorage Opera; Don Pasquale, Opera Tampa; Pagliacci, Florida Grand Opera; Breaking the Waves, Detroit Opera; La bohème, Ópera de Oviedo

Mezzo-soprano Adelaide Cherbonnier Memorial Artist Gerdine Young Artist Soloist, The Grant Park Music Festival

PAST

2025 Semi-Finalist, Concert of Arias Competition, Houston Grand Opera; Treemonisha, Opera Ebony; Ragtime, Romeo and Juliet, Toledo Opera

MICHELLE MARIPOSA

KYLE MILLER

Tosca, New Orleans Opera; La bohème, Opera Colorado; Treemonisha, Champion, OTSL

Mezzo-soprano Sarah Bryan Miller Memorial Artist Hippolyta, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Richard Gaddes Festival Artist

OTSL DEBUT

Maria Maddalena, Galileo Galilei, 2024

PAST

Baritone Mary Ann Lee Memorial Artist Dr. Malatesta, Don Pasquale

OTSL DEBUT

Guccio, Gianni Schicchi, 2021

FUTURE

Don Giovanni, Komische Oper Berlin; The Little Prince, The Dallas Opera; The Magic Flute, LA Opera

2025 Grand Finals Winner, The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition; The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, American Rhapsody, Mud Girl (world premiere), Jungle Book, Gods & Mortals: A Celebration of Wagner, Washington National Opera

Grounded, The Metropolitan Opera; Nixon in China, Deutsche Oper Berlin

JOHNATHAN McCULLOUGH

ERIE MILLS

Baritone Jane and Robert Feibel Artist Dr. Falke, Die Fledermaus

OTSL DEBUT

An Officer, The Barber of Seville, 2015

PAST

The Anonymous Lover, Opera Philadelphia; The Barber of Seville, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Pittsburgh Opera; The Elixir of Love, New Orleans Opera

CONTINUES AS

Program Director, National Youth Opera Academy

JANA McINTYRE

Soprano Margaret B. Grigg Memorial Artist Tytania, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

Carmina Burana, Grant Park Music Festival

PAST

The Daughter of the Regiment, Opera Santa Barbara; Pli selon pli, New York Philharmonic; Innocence, San Francisco Opera; Daphne, American Symphony Orchestra

PAST

English Diction Specialist Die Fledermaus, Don Pasquale

OTSL DEBUT

Britomarte, The Tree of Chastity, 1978

FUTURE

The Monkey King (world premiere), San Francisco Opera

PAST

2025 Lifetime Achievement Award, National Opera Association

CONTINUES AS

Artistic Director, Livermore Valley Opera

AUNDI MARIE MOORE Soprano Lucy, This House

OTSL DEBUT PAST

Jubilee, Seattle Opera; Porgy and Bess, The Metropolitan Opera; Blue, Dutch National Opera; Don Giovanni, Opéra de Monte-Carlo; Pagliacci, Sarasota Opera

EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

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A R TI S T P R O F I LE S ALLEN MOYER

Set Designer Mr. & Mrs. Ernest A. Eddy, Jr. Endowed Artist This House

OTSL DEBUT

The Marriage of Figaro, 1999

FUTURE

La bohème, The Santa Fe Opera

PAST

Galileo Galilei, Julius Caesar, OTSL; Orfeo and Euridice, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, The Metropolitan Opera

EDWARD NELSON

Baritone Mr. & Mrs. William H.T. Bush Endowed Artist Gabriel von Eisenstein, Die Fledermaus

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The Metropolitan Opera; La Cenerentola, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden; Silent Night, Houston Grand Opera; Bartleby, the Scrivener (world premiere), Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège

ADAM PARTRIDGE

Baritone Sondra & Milton Schlesinger Artist Starveling, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Gerdine Young Artist

OTSL DEBUT PAST

La bohème, Wolf Trap Opera; The Rape of Lucretia, Eugene Onegin, The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University; 2024 Western Region Special Encouragement Award, The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition

TERESA PERROTTA

Soprano Helena, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

OTSL DEBUT PAST

The Magic Flute, The Metropolitan Opera; Falstaff, The Santa Fe Opera; La bohème, The Glimmerglass Festival, Washington National Opera; 2022 Grand Finals Winner, The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition

PAST

Pelléas and Mélisande, The Dallas Opera

JOSE OLIVARES

Bass-baritone Carla Myerson Artist Theseus, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Gerdine Young Artist

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

Rigoletto, Finger Lakes Opera

MICAH PERRY

Tenor Gerdine Young Artist

PAST

The Marriage of Figaro, Pagliacci, Pensacola Opera; Carmen, Austin Opera; Semele, American Baroque Opera; Don Pasquale, Quisisana Resort

PAST

The Barber of Seville, Sarasota Opera; Gianni Schicchi, Finger Lakes Opera; Romeo and Juliet, Lyric Opera of Kansas City; The Love for Three Oranges, Des Moines Metro Opera

DENNIS OLIVEIRA

Apprentice Assistant Stage Director

OTSL DEBUT PAST

CHRISTIAN PURSELL

Bass-baritone Maggie & Ron Holtman Artist Thomas, This House

Die Walküre, Norma, New Jersey Opera Theater; Mitridate, re di Ponto, Opera Neo; The Magic Flute, Florida State Opera Outreach

OTSL DEBUT

OSCAR OLIVO

PATRICIA RACETTE

OTSL DEBUT PAST

OTSL DEBUT

Actor Ivan/Frosch, Die Fledermaus

Paradise, Theater Münster; Ein Volksfeind, Schauspiel Frankfurt; Queen Lear, Maxim Gorki Theater; Orlando, Schauspiel Hannover; Karl May, Volksbühne Berlin

Escamillo, Carmen, 2022

PAST

Don Giovanni, Cincinnati Opera; Tosca, The Metropolitan Opera; Carmen, Des Moines Metro Opera; The Grapes of Wrath, MasterVoices; Othello, Opera Philadelphia

Artistic Director of Young Artist Programs Robin & Tim Wentworth Artist Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni, 1993

FUTURE

Stage Director, Houston Grand Opera; Dialogues of the Carmelites, The Dallas Opera; Patricia Sings Piaf, Seattle Opera, OTSL; Susannah, Opera Omaha

PAST

The Ghosts of Versailles, The Shepard School of Music at Rice University; 2024 Winner, Outstanding Production of an Opera, Susannah, St. Louis Theatre Circle Awards

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ISABEL RANDALL

CHRISTIAN SANDERS

Mezzo-soprano Dr. Mary Anne Rudloff Endowed Artist Gerdine Young Artist

Tenor Flute, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

PAST

Monostatos, The Magic Flute, 2022

Whaling Women, Boston Conservatory at Berklee; Is This America?, White Snake Projects; The Love for Three Oranges, Carmen, Des Moines Metro Opera; Omar, Boston Lyric Opera

JOUELLE ROBERSON

Soprano Thelma Steward Endowed Artist Gerdine Young Artist

PAST

Treemonisha, Highway 1, U.S.A., Opera at Morgan; Suor Angelica, Opera Lucca; The Marriage of Figaro, Manhattan School of Music Opera Theatre; Porgy and Bess, The Atlanta Opera

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

Susannah, Opera Omaha; The Rake’s Progress, Des Moines Metro Opera

PAST

Loving v. Virginia, Virginia Opera; The Little Prince, Pacific Opera Victoria; Sweeney Todd, Utah Opera

LAURA SANTAMARIA

Soprano Clark & Jeanette Gamble Memorial Endowed Artist Peaseblossom, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Gerdine Young Artist

OTSL DEBUT PAST

Così fan tutte, Riders to the Sea, Boston Conservatory at Berklee; The Pirates of Penzance, OTSL Opera on the Go!; 2024 Richard Gaddes Career Award, OTSL; 2024 Florida District Winner, The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition

VICTOR RYAN ROBERTSON

NATHAN SAVANT

OTSL DEBUT

PAST

Tenor Uncle Percy, This House

Benny “Kid” Paret/Benny Paret, Jr., Champion, 2013

Bass-baritone Gerdine Young Artist

PAST

Gianni Schicchi, Siren Song, Florencia en el Amazonas, Boston University Opera Institute; La bohème, Opera San José; Rigoletto, Opera North

JAMES ROBINSON

SOFIA SCATTARREGGIA

2023 Grammy Nominee, The Life and Times of Malcolm X, The Metropolitan Opera; The Magic Flute, Seattle Opera; Candide, Opéra national de Paris; The Merry Widow, Opera Hong Kong; The Phantom of the Opera, Broadway

Stage Director This House

OTSL DEBUT

Radamisto, 2000

FUTURE

La bohème, The Santa Fe Opera; Silent Night, The Metropolitan Opera; The Wedding Banquet (world premiere), Seattle Opera; Il trittico, Houston Grand Opera

Soprano Robert & Martha Scharff Endowed Artist Gerdine Young Artist

PAST

The Marriage of Figaro, Buff alo Opera Unlimited; Dialogues of the Carmelites, Eastman Opera Theatre

PAST

Champion, Lyric Opera of Chicago

NICHOLAS ROEHLER

ERIC SEDGWICK

OTSL DEBUT

OTSL DEBUT

PAST

PAST

Repetiteur Don Pasquale Tosca, 2023

El último sueño de Frida y Diego, Madame Butterfly, Turandot, LA Opera; La Cenerentola, Houston Grand Opera; If I Were You, Merola Opera Program

Repetiteur This House

Treemonisha, 2023 The Barber of Seville, OTSL; Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Manhattan School of Music Opera Theatre; Lessons in Love and Violence, Tanglewood Music Festival; Angel’s Bone, Beth Morrison Projects

EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

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A R TI S T P R O F I LE S VERONICA SIEBERT

Mezzo-soprano Elleard B. Heffern Fine Jewelers Endowed Artist in memory of Keith Shaw Mustardseed, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Gerdine Young Artist

OTSL DEBUT PAST

KIM STANISH

Mezzo-soprano Gerdine Young Artist

PAST

Matilde, Opera Southwest; Madame Butterfly, Iolanthe, Opera Naples

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (world premiere), Eugene Onegin, Indiana University Opera and Ballet Theater; Julius Caesar, OTSL

LEONARD SLATKIN

BRANDIE INEZ SUTTON

OTSL DEBUT

OTSL DEBUT

Conductor Mr. & Mrs. Laurance L. Browning, Jr. Endowed Artist A Midsummer Night’s Dream Ariadne on Naxos, 1979

PAST

Soprano Emma Coulter Ware Artist Young Ida, This House

Freddie Alexander Joplin/Treemonisha, Treemonisha, 2023

Highway 1, U.S.A., Gianni Schicchi, OTSL; Vanessa, The Santa Fe Opera

PAST

GREGORY V. SLISKOVICH

KRYSTY SWANN

OTSL DEBUT PAST

OTSL DEBUT PAST

DONNA SOLVERUD

CHARLES SY

OTSL DEBUT PAST

OTSL DEBUT

Tenor Dr. Blind, Die Fledermaus Gerdine Young Artist

Lucia di Lammermoor, Carmen, Nashville Opera; Scalia/Ginsburg, Fargo-Moorhead Opera; Rigoletto, IN Series Opera; Falstaff, Knoxville Opera

Teaching Artist, St. Louis Children’s Choirs A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Choir Director, Laramie High School; Choir Director, Boltz Middle School; VP for Choral Activities, Wyoming Music Educators Association

Carousel, Boston Lyric Opera; The Magic Flute, Seattle Opera; La traviata, Virginia Opera; Cendrillon, El Niño, The Metropolitan Opera

Mezzo-soprano Fred Wehrle, Jr. Memorial Artist Beulah, This House

Dead Man Walking, Champion, The Metropolitan Opera; Blue, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Intimate Apparel (world premiere), Lincoln Center Theater

Tenor Ernesto, Don Pasquale Adolfo, La rondine, 2015

PAST

CONTINUES AS

La sonnambula, The Elixir of Love, Staatsoper Stuttgart; Don Giovanni, Deutsche Oper am Rhein; La Cenerentola, Vancouver Opera; La finta giardiniera, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe

ERIC SOUTHERN

ANNA THEODOSAKIS

OTSL DEBUT

OTSL DEBUT

PAST

FUTURE

Choir Director, Choristers, St. Louis Children’s Choirs; Choir Director, Francis Howell Central High School

Lighting Designer Die Fledermaus, Don Pasquale Tosca, Susannah, 2023 Galileo Galilei, Julius Caesar, OTSL; Paul’s Case, Prototype Festival, UrbanArias; Candide, Baltimore symphony Orchestra; The Good Swimmer, Brooklyn Academy of Music

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Resident Assistant Stage Director Don Pasquale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Così fan tutte, 2023 Carmen, Opéra de Montréal

PAST

La bohème, Manitoba Opera; Don Giovanni, Calgary Opera; Così fan tutte, University of Toronto Opera; Carmen, Edmonton Opera

ANNA THOMPSON

PATRICK WILHELM

PAST

PAST

Soprano Lucy & Stanley Lopata Memorial Artist Gerdine Young Artist

Baritone Bettie S. Johnson Artist Gerdine Young Artist

The Ghosts of Versailles, Alcina, The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University; The Righteous (world premiere), Der Rosenkavalier, Don Giovanni, The Santa Fe Opera

Don Giovanni, Carmen, Virginia Opera; Faust, Wolf Trap Opera

EMILIO VÁSQUEZ

WILLIAM WOODARD

Baritone Robert and Lorraine Duesenberg Endowed Artist Gerdine Young Artist OTSL DEBUT Other, Galileo Galilei, 2024

PAST

Candide, The Marriage of Figaro, Curtis Opera Theatre; The Marriage of Figaro, Dido and Aeneas, CCM Opera d’Arte; La bohème, International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia

Repetiteur Young Artist Programs, Center Stage

OTSL DEBUT FUTURE

Carmen, Wolf Trap Opera

PAST

Breaking the Waves, West Side Story, Il trovatore, Houston Grand Opera; La clemenza di Tito, Washington Concert Opera

WILL VICARI

LINDSAY WOODWARD

OTSL DEBUT

OTSL DEBUT PAST

Wig & Makeup Designer 2025 Festival Season 2016 Festival Season

PAST

Orlando, Signature Theatre; Galileo Galilei, OTSL; Émigré, New York Philharmonic; White Christmas, Paper Mill Playhouse

Repetiteur A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The Rake’s Progress, Opera Omaha; The Daughter of the Regiment, Opera Colorado; Sweeney Todd, Utah Opera; The Shining (world premiere), Minnesota Opera

CONTINUES AS

Real Women Have Curves: The Musical, Broadway

KENSHO WATANABE

Conductor Barbara M. Osborne Memorial Artist Don Pasquale

OTSL DEBUT PAST

The Hours, La bohème, Champion, The Metropolitan Opera; Madame Butterfly, Detroit Opera

ANDREW WHITFIELD

Chorus Master John H. Russell Artist Die Fledermaus, Don Pasquale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

OTSL DEBUT

Treemonisha, Tosca, Susannah, 2023

FUTURE

Chorus Master/Associate Conductor, Chicago Opera Theater

PAST

Guest Chorus Director, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; Assistant/Cover Conductor, The Metropolitan Opera; Chorus Director/Associate Conductor, Minnesota Opera; Guest Chorus Director, San Francisco Symphony

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A PARTNERSHIP for the a ge s

S

ince 1978, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis have built a treasured and unique artistic relationship. It is a privilege to create art alongside such an inspiring and dedicated institution — an unparalleled joint venture between an opera festival and a major orchestra in our country.

Marie-Hélène Bernard President and CEO, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

The shared accomplishments over our nearly 50-year history are numerous. From our very first performances together, our partnership has centered on providing unforgettable experiences, showcasing new productions and works by American composers, and nurturing emerging talent. Introducing new works and productions — with more than 40 world and U.S. premieres — has fueled our collaboration. Giving life to important new operas — including in recent years, Terence Blanchard’s Champion and Fire Shut Up in My Bones, Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland, Tobias Picker’s Emmeline and Awakenings, and Stewart Wallace’s Harvey Milk — holds a special place in our hearts as they enrich the repertory for generations to come.

In 2015, our shared interest in propelling the future of the art form took another step forward with the inauguration of the now-yearly Center Stage concert, featuring the Richard Gaddes Festival and Gerdine Young Artists on stage alongside our great orchestra. We are honored that each Festival Season culminates with a showcase of such astonishing talent.

Together, we have witnessed and navigated great change. Like symphonic music, opera has become more inclusive through community building and learning experiences for all.

We weathered the challenge of a global pandemic with memorable outdoor performances of William Grant Still’s Highway 1, U.S.A., led by SLSO Conductor Laureate Leonard Slatkin.

Beyond the stage, our partnership has expanded to schools throughout the St. Louis region. For the past five years, our Arts Intensive collaborations have given students the tools to express their creativity through the development of an original musical production. Seeing the students’ ideas come to life in their final performances alongside SLSO musicians brings us immense joy.

Opera speaks to the core of humanity, delivering moving stories of love, life, loss, and humor. The unified vision between our two institutions elevates St. Louis as one of the finest operatic and symphonic destinations in the country.

All of us at the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra congratulate Opera Theatre of Saint Louis on its 50th anniversary.

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T H E O R C H E S T R A FO R D I E F L E D E R M AU S A N D D O N PA S Q UA L E FIRST VIOLIN Celeste Golden Andrews Hannah Ji Yoojin Lee Joo Kim Emily Ho Jessica Hellwege Kyle Lombard Melody Lee SECOND VIOLIN Kristin Ahlstrom Eva Kozma Seul Lee Siyu Zhang Asako Kuboki Marin Osawa Nicolae Bica

VIOLA Alejandro Valdepenas Michael Casimir Andrew Francois Xi Zhang Davis Perez Amy Greenhalgh CELLO Daniel Lee Jennifer Humphrey Yin Xiong James Czyzewski Alvin McCall BASS Erik Harris Brendan Fitzgerald Ron Mobley Teddy Gabrielides

HARP Megan Stout FLUTE Jennifer Nichtman Ann Choomack OBOE Jelena Dirks Xiomara Mass CLARINET Robert Walker Jeanine Garesche Dana Hotle BASSOON Andrew Cuneo Julia Paine

HORN Thomas Jostlein Blaine Dodson Victoria Knudtson Julie Thayer TRUMPET Steven Franklin George Goad TROMBONE Jon Reycraft Ed Jacobs Jason Sato TIMPANI Kevin Ritenauer PERCUSSION Charles Renneker Sasha Luthy Kim Shelley

T H E O R C H E S T R A FO R T H I S H O U S E A N D A M I D S U M M E R N I G H T ’ S D R E A M FIRST VIOLIN David Halen Erin Schreiber Charlie Lin Ann Fink Angie Smart Xiaoxiao Qiang Yoojin Lee Sooah Jung Rebecca Hamilton SECOND VIOLIN Alison Harney Andrea Jarrett Janet Carpenter Shawn Weil Jessie Chen Nathan Lowry

VIOLA Beth Guterman Chu Jonathan Chu Susan Gordon Shannon Williams Chris Tantillo CELLO Melissa Brooks David Kim Elizabeth Chung Bjorn Ranheim BASS Aleck Belcher David DeRiso Sarah Kaiser HARP Sarah Fuller Megan Stout

FLUTE Andrea Kaplan Jennifer Gartley

TRUMPET Omri Barak Mike Walk

OBOE Phil Ross Cally Banham

TROMBONE Amanda Stewart

CLARINET Scott Andrews Aleksis Martin Tzuying Huang

PERCUSSION Will James Michael Metz

SAXOPHONE Christopher Bartz

KEYBOARD Peter Henderson Eric Sedgwick (OTSL) Lindsay Woodward (OTSL)

HORN Roger Kaza Tod Bowermaster

About the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

UNITEY KULL Chief Marketing and Communications Officer

PAUL PIETROWSKI Chief Operating Officer

SCOTT LANNING Chief Financial Officer

ALEX SHAPIRO Chief Philanthropy Officer

ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION Eliza Caperton Ian Kivler

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL Craig Hahn Justin Kang

OPERATIONS Chris Aman Margaret Bailey Ann Slayton Alana Szeles

STAGE CREW Ron Bolte, Jr. Nigel DeLuca Franklin Horvath Adam Sheppard

MUSIC LIBRARIANS Katie Klich Henry Skolnick Amanda Tallant

MAUREEN BYRNE Vice President, Education and Community Programs

TIMPANI Shannon Wood

BASSOON Andy Gott Ellen Connors

S T. LO U I S S Y M P H O N Y O R C H E S T R A T E A M MARIE-HÉLÈNE BERNARD President and Chief Executive Officer

BASS TROMBONE James Martin

Celebrated as a leading American orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is the second-oldest orchestra in the country, marking its 145th year with the 2024/2025 season and its sixth with Music Director Stéphane Denève. The SLSO maintains its commitment to artistic excellence, educational impact, and community collaborations, honoring its mission of enriching lives through the power of music.

Orchestra lists complete as of April 7, 2025.

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O P E R A TH E ATR E O F SAI NT LO U I S S TA F F While there are less than 50 members of Opera Theatre’s annual staff, during each Festival Season our team grows into the many hundreds as we welcome seasonal staff, artists, interns, and volunteers to bring these alluring operas to life!

ANDREW JORGENSEN General Director

PATRICIA RACETTE Artistic Director of Young Artist Programs

DANIELA CANDILLARI Principal Conductor

NICOLE AMBOS FREBER Managing Director

ALLISON FELTER Director of Education & Engagement

ANH LE Director of Marketing & Public Relations

YVETTE LOYNAZ Director of Artistic Administration

MICHELLE MYERS Director of Administration & Finance

STEPHEN RYAN Director of Production & Operations

LINDA SCHULTE Director of Development & Campaign Strategy

A DVA N C E M E N T SAMANTHA GINOPLOS Community Partnership Coordinator

BRYNNA NEWLYN Manager of Board Relations

B OX O F F I C E ALYSSA GOVE PRZYGODA Associate Director of Box Office & Patron Services

MONICA ROSCOE Box Office Systems & Operations Manager

BOX OFFICE REPRESENTATIVES Douglas Barron Carol Hodson Caroline Bush Kristy Kannapell Julie George Erin Mathiesen Isabella Hodges Zahria Moore

SARA ACKERMAN Manager of Donor Communications

BRITTAINY BROWN Event Coordinator

JENNA PIEPER Data Assistant

STACEY BREGENZER Senior Manager of Donor Engagement

TYLER MCKENZIE Manager of Volunteer Engagement

Taijha Silas Celene Totry

D E V E LO P M E N T

TORI REZEK Deputy Director of Development, Institutional Giving & Events

RACHEL SINCLAIR Manager of Institutional Giving

SAM VARNON Events Intern

ANNA FRID ∆ Patron Services Intern

M A R K E T I N G & P U B L I C R E L AT I O N S KELLY GLUECK Graphic Designer & Brand Manager

MICAELA GRIFFIN Communications Manager

BRADY HARDIN Web & E-Marketing Manager

JAYNIE CHATMAN Graphic Design Intern

HUMAM MAALA Press & Communications Intern

CAMERON TYLER Company Manager

CHARLOTTE ULMER Company Scheduler

ANA CABALLERO UMANA Artistic Intern

AL-NISA MUHAMMAD Social Media Intern

A R T I S T I C A D M I N I S T R AT I O N STEPHANIE NIGUS Associate Director of Artistic Operations

AMBER NICOLE SWEET Artistic Assistant

The position of General Director is underwritten in part by a generous gift from the Zoe and Max Lippman Memorial Fund.

Allison Felter is the Michael  & Noémi Neidorff Endowed Director of Education and Engagement.

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Charla Sausele Intern for Opera Administration

E D U C AT I O N & E N G AG E M E N T MORGAN FISHER Education & Engagement Manager

KEVIN NICOLETTI Teaching Artist Coordinator

MEGAN AUSTIN Education Intern

A D M I N I S T R AT I O N & F I N A N C E TARA BENNETT HR Assistant

RHONDA HENDERSON Controller

MARIE JOWETT Senior Accountant

ANGEL NIHELLS Accounting Clerk

ERIC WOOLSEY Operations Manager

ASHLEY STEED Payroll & Benefits Administrator

JOSHUA GOLDMAN Finance Intern

PRODUCTION ASSOCIATE Caroline John

LIGHTING & VIDEO SUPERVISOR Jonathan Scully

P R O D U C T I O N & O P E R AT I O N S MAGGY BORT Production Manager

STACY HARRIS Costume Shop Manager

JACK RUSHEN Technical Director

LUCIE GARNETT Archive & Concierge Coordinator

GINA PEARSON Production Administrator

OREVIA VONGSA Office Manager

S E A S O N A L P R O D U C T I O N S TA F F P R O D U C T I O N A D M I N I S T R AT I O N ASSOCIATE LIGHTING DESIGNERS Max Grano de Oro Cheyenne Sykes

MATERIALS COORDINATORS Hank Geers Sophia Darr

IATSE SHOP CARPENTERS Eli Barrera Jeff Berry Kenya Lockett Dave McCarthy Dan Roach Jr. Rick Shetley

CHARGE ARTIST Stephen Pollihan

ASSISTANT CHARGE ARTIST Allison Larkins

SCENIC ARTISTS Sarah Frost Sullivan Emily Frei Scott Loebl Alexis Pearson James Van Well

STAGE CREW Elijah Dickey  Mechelle Enloe Kostadena Hartley Connor Kielty* Summer Levin Leigh Rice Gerik Walsh

ASSISTANT PROPERTIES MANAGERS Catherine Good Daniel Henke+

IATSE PROPERTIES CARPENTER Scott De Broux

PROPERTIES ARTISAN Adrianna Nelson

IATSE PROPERTIES RUN SUPERVISORS John Amann Sandy King

PROPERTIES RUN CREW Julie Dimitro* Echo Hicks Jordan Kerr

ASSISTANT TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Catherine Adams

ASSOCIATE TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Emilie WeilbacherMcMullan

DRAFTSPERSON Victoria Esquivel

S C E N E RY IATSE STAGE CARPENTERS Marc Huggins Daniel McCarthy

PROPERTIES PROPERTIES MANAGER Ralphie Thompson

*

Emerson Production Artists

 Emerson Production Assistants

+

Larry & Jinny Browning Technical Fellows



PROPERTIES INTERN Aryana Berres

Keith & Cynthia Shaw Endowed Artist

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S E A S O N A L P R O D U C T I O N S TA F F L I G H T I N G / V I D EO/S O U N D/O R C H E S T R A O P E R AT I O N S IATSE PRODUCTION ELECTRICIAN Peggy Thierheimer

IATSE BOARD PROGRAMMER Meike Schmidt

IATSE DECK ELECTRICIAN Chris Shetley

IATSE NETWORK ELECTRICIAN Eric Elz ASSISTANT DECK ELECTRICIAN Chuck Immer 

ELECTRICS CREW Ella Hamlin* Jules Houston Alistair Reardon Cameron Smith IATSE AUDIO ENGINEER Boris Golynskiy

IATSE AUDIO ASSISTANT Savannah Gipson IATSE VIDEO ENGINEER Garrett Barati IATSE ORCHESTRA SUPERVISOR Michael Lynch

ORCHESTRA OPERATIONS ASSISTANT Allyson Sims ORCHESTRA OPERATIONS CREW Piper Holley* Jennifer Hong*

WIGS & MAKEUP WIG & MAKEUP ARTISANS Lucy Garlich Pelle Melio Bekah Toone+

WIG & MAKEUP APPRENTICE Ryan Moore

CO S T U M E C R A F T S CRAFT SHOP MANAGER Angelique Newbauer

ASSISTANT CRAFT SHOP MANAGER John Inchiostro

COSTUME CRAFT ARTISANS Barbara Casement Cynthia Davis Kathleen Reid Cecilia Skemp

DYER/PAINTER Garth Dunbar

HEAD DRAPER Robert Trump

FIRST HANDS Elena Jaquez Enrique Landa Bruk Longbottom Carrisa Sexton

STITCHERS Blake Blanning Genevieve Collins Emily Cosma Jen Goldstein Kit Griffith Adriaen Hobgood Hannah LiberatoreSchreiber

CO S T U M E S ASSISTANT COSTUME SHOP MANAGER Spencer Lawton COSTUME DESIGN ASSISTANTS Stephanie Gall** Zachary Payne

DRAPERS Paula Buchert Elizabeth Eisloeffel Ginny McKeever Richard Tuckett

Pearl Modine Shreya Patel Carrigan Ring Calyn Roth Bria Trachsel Evelyn Weaver

WA R D R O B E WARDROBE SUPERVISOR Calyn Roth+

*

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Emerson Production Artists

ASSISTANT WARDROBE SUPERVISOR Virginia Parkinson

 Emerson Production Assistants

OPERA THEATRE



WARDROBE CREW Anna Beshoar Teagan KaretskiSmythe Emma Miller Arison Shopfer Domonique Stubbs*

Emerson Costume Apprentices

+

Larry & Jinny Browning Technical Fellows

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Vail Levy ** Catherine Endowed Artist

l

Joan F. Richman Endowed Young Artist

FRONT OF HOUSE HOUSE MANAGER Atticus Schlegel

ASSISTANT HOUSE MANAGERS Sarah DeBroux Tiesha K’Nuckles

PATRON ACCESSIBILITY MANAGER Carl Wickman

GARDEN MANAGER Trisha Schmersahl

SEASON CATERING Ces & Judy’s Catering

VAN DRIVERS Rahsaan Andrews Daniel Brodsky Ronald Jethroe Jeffery Miller Brittany Ware

FRONT OF HOUSE STAFF Danielle Ahearn Margaret Ahleim Kira Bess Amelia Broussard Brianne Bush

Tanisha Butler Olivia Cardwell Isaiah Crawley Cullen Day Jill Deardorff Olivia Dempsey Michael Dockery

Ariane Esperon Owen Groene Ashley Gyr Leo Hahn Ava Hettenhausen Cecilia Hickey Brittni Jones

Arnezsia Kimbrough Anastasia Lalicker Jean Melcher Lennia McCombsJackson Akacia McLucas Alex Nelson

Rylee Pals Trinity Quayle Sergio Raisch William Ratcliff Alicyn Reed Marquisha Rice Marissa Roby

Alex Roesler Kristine Taylor Katie “Kai” Vishno Savanah Warners Tanner Wilson Eboni Young

ASSISTANT STAGE DIRECTORS Michelle Cuizon Olivia Gacka

STAGE MANAGERS Zachary Jenkins Cindy Knight Francesca MacBeth

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS Valerie J. Clatworthy Jessie Mhire Emily Stafford Rickelle Williams

INTERN ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS Emma Kay Staunton Laurel Schmidtl

APPRENTICE ASSISTANT STAGE DIRECTORS Erica Ferguson Dennis Oliveira

COSTUME ASSISTANT Beth Goldenberg

SCENIC ASSISTANTS Warren Karp Michael Lewis

ASSOCIATE LIGHTING DESIGNERS Max Grano de Oro Cheyenne Sykes

LIGHTWALKERS Betzy Barnes-Wilson Connie Emge Mark Engelhardt Ann Fusz Ellen Fusz Gail Hafer Kirsten Jacobson Jean Kennedy Pam Lewis Pam Mahoney

Jim Morrell Harriet Scholle Lizanne Schraer Kathleen Sitzer Rowena Van Dyke Anne Williams

S TAG I N G S TA F F PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER Kimberley S. Prescott RESIDENT ASSISTANT STAGE DIRECTORS Diane Machin Anna Theodosakis

D E S I G N S U P P O R T S TA F F COSTUME ASSOCIATE Benjamin Burton

VO LU N T E E R S DRESSERS Ann Fusz Ellen Fusz Christi Maginn Chris Saulter

SUPERNUMERARY Julian Russell

This list of Opera Theatre staff is accurate as of April 11, 2025. We regret the ommission of anyone who was hired after this date.

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Opera Theatre acknowledges with gratitude the spirit and generosity of the following individuals, corporations, foundations, and public agencies, whose investments at all levels provide invaluable support for the company’s mission. Their philanthropy allows Opera Theatre to maintain its fiscal soundness and high level of artistic achievement. Thank you to the following current members:

TH E CO U N CI L FO R A R TI S TI C E XC E LLE N C E The Council for Artistic Excellence recognizes donors who have made significant leadership commitments in support of the 2025 season.

L E A D ER S H I P C I RC L E $ 1 0 0,0 0 0 + Anonymous Donor (1)

Alfred Korn* 

Dr. Jeanne & Rex Sinquefield

Jim Berges & Elizabeth Mannen Berges & Berges Family Foundation

The Mellon Foundation

David & Thelma Steward & Steward Family Foundation

Robert & Jane Clark

Noémi K. Neidorff

Clayco

Regional Arts Commission

Edward Jones

The Saigh Foundation

Lelia & David Farr

Ted & Lori Samuels

Missouri Arts Council

Robin & Tim Wentworth Whitaker Foundation Roma B. Wittcoff World Wide Technology Foundation

D I R EC TO R S ’ C I RC L E $ 5 0,0 0 0 -$9 9, 9 9 9 Anonymous Donors (2)

The FS Foundation

Karen & Mont Levy

The Margaret Blanke Grigg Foundation

National Endowment for the Arts

Mrs. Laurance L. Browning, Jr.* & The Pulley Foundation

Diane & Paul Jacobson

Penny Pennington & Michael Fidler

Kim & Tim Eberlein

William T. Kemper Foundation

Roy Pfautch

The Levy Family & The Saucy Foundation

Emily Rauh Pulitzer

Bayer Fund 

Emerson Mr. & Mrs. Irl F. Engelhardt & Engelhardt Family Foundation

J. David & Lucy S. Levy*

Saint Louis Mental Health Board

TH E PATR O N P R O G R A M The Patron Program recognizes donors who make annual gifts of $2,500-$49,999. These donors make possible the work at the heart of Opera Theatre’s mission — mainstage productions, education, community engagement programs, and more.

P RO D U C TI O N U N D ERW R IT ER PAT RO N S $2 5 ,0 0 0 -$ 49, 9 9 9 Anonymous Donor (1)

Robert J. Lieber Charitable Trust

Mr. & Mrs. Mark C. Throdahl

Boniface Foundation

Pershing Charitable Trust

Cynthia J. Brinkley

PNC Arts Alive

Stephen Trampe & Jenny Gupta* & Flying Cloud Charitable Foundation

Phoebe & Spencer Burke*

Mabel L. Purkerson, M.D.

Robert & Jane Feibel

John H. Russell

Alison & John Ferring

Mary Schoolman & Jim Hinrichs

Focus Partners Wealth

Dr. David Sewall & Jeff Kapfer

Edes P. Gilbert

Stifel

Nancy & Ken Kranzberg & Kranzberg Family Charitable Foundation

Ann McFarland Sullins

Edward H. & Rosemary Young Fund of the St. Louis Community Foundation

Mary Susman & Tom Herm*

Ann Ziff

Clemence S. Lieber Foundation

Robert & Julie Vitale Franklin F. Wallis* Webster University+ Wells Fargo Advisors

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A R IA PAT RO N S $ 1 5 ,0 0 0 -$24 , 9 9 9 David & Melanie Alpers Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP Crawford Taylor Foundation

Greg Heckman & Tracey Hanfling

Marcela Manjarrez

Gina & Lee Hoagland

Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Scharff, Jr.*

Dorothy & Billy Firestone

Bettie S. Johnson

Edward Chase Garvey Memorial Foundation

MacCarthy Foundation

Gene Kornblum 

Robert & Carla Myerson* The St. Louis Trust Company Nina Coulter Ware Ellen & Bill Yeckley

S P O N SO R PAT RO N S $ 1 0,0 0 0 -$ 14 , 9 9 9 Ameren

Mary Ranken Jordan & Ettie A. Jordan Charitable Foundation

Dr. John T. Biggs

Mr. & Mrs. David W. Kemper & Kemper Family Foundation

Catherine Binns +

Chapman & Co.

Dr. & Mrs. Richard Cote Mrs. Robert H. Craft, Jr. Sara Epstein

Gerald M. Kowarsky* Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Langsam* John Frank Lesser*

Ann Faget*

Leigh & Jean Mason

Keith & Ann Fischer Roxanne H. Frank

Barry Kirk & Andrew Martin

Randy McDonnell & Mr. & Mrs. Sanford N. McDonnell Foundation



Georgia C. Pettus Lee & Nancy Reycraft Allen & Merry Richon Jan Paul Richter & Ellen von Seggern Richter Allison W. Roberts Sondra Schlesinger* Shoshana Tancer Phoebe Dent Weil*

Mrs. Ronald A. Holtman

Dr. & Mrs. David Meiners

Dr. Virginia V. Weldon  & Mr. Francis Austin

Heather Hunt-Ruddy

John & Christy Nickel

Susan & David Young

Adrienne Warren Patton

Sharon & Elliot Zucker*

P RO D U C ER PAT RO N S $7, 5 0 0 -$9 , 9 9 9 Anonymous Donor (1)

Mrs. Joseph F. Gleason

Louis D. Beaumont Fund No. 1 of David & Angie Hagee the St. Louis Community Foundation Andrew Jorgensen & Crystal & Patrick Dallas & Mark Stuart-Smith Excel Business Concepts Liz* & Brian Mischel Greg & Prissy Evans

Missouri Humanities

Pinnell Foundation Marsha & William C. Rusnack Tom & Ulrike Schlafly Annemarie & Matt Schumacher James V. & Susan S. Stepleton

B EN EFAC TO R PAT RO N S $ 5 ,0 0 0 -$7, 49 9 Anonymous Donors (2)

Pamela Buell*

Enterprise Bank & Trust

Donna & Harvey Allen

Sara Burke

Melanie & Anthony Fathman, M.D.

Steven Arenberg

Ces & Judy's Catering

John Forestner & Brad Alford

Susan Arenberg

Commerce Bank

Pam Belloli & Dave Shimek

Rabbi Dr. Jay & Erika  Goldburg*

Lee & Alexandra Benham

Terry E. Crow* & Gateway Clippers Holdings

C. R. Grigg

Mr. & Mrs. Stephen F. Brauer

Professor Adrienne Davis

Lee Broughton & Christine Taylor Broughton

Bill Dolan & Suzanne Bromschwig Dolan*

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Rik & Gail Hafer Dr. Lannis E. Hall Janet & Andy Hoyne

Phyllis R. Hyken Andrew S. Love Selby & Richard McRae Foundation Sedgwick Mead, Jr. & Catherine Perry Lisa Mechele Dr. James A. Morrell Peggy Ritter John R. Roberts

Mrs. Robert L. Rosenheim & Rosenheim Charitable Family Foundation Dr. Mary Anne Rudloff* Linda & Bruce Ryder Mrs. Edward L. Salmon, Jr. Janice & Stephen Seele Linda Seibert Jenny Shifrin

Mary Strauss Donald M. Suggs Susan & Ben Uchitelle Josephine & Richard Weil & Sage Charitable Foundation Peter J. Wender Miriam Wilhelm Katherine K. Young

PAT RO N S $2 , 5 0 0 -$ 4 , 9 9 9 Anonymous Donors (2)

Marti & Bob Fowler

Dr. John E. Mazuski

William Aitken

Jeffrey & Lotta Fox

Jack Austin Miller

Robert C. Anderson

Don & Margie Franz

Heidi & Win Reed

Gailya & John Barker

Nicole & Keith Freber

Marti Reichman

Tania Beasley-Jolly & William Jolly

Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Gershman & Gershman Foundation

Alan J. Savada & Will Stevenson

Graybar Electric Company, Inc. Jan & Ronald Greenberg & The Greenberg Gallery

Kathy Sears — in memory of Frances & Walter Sears & Florentine Friedman

Michael L. & Paula E. Gross

Edward Seidel

Mrs. Gerard K. Gunther, Jr.

Sudie Shinkle

Kit & Patricia Heffern & Elleard Heffern Fine Jewelers

Ray M. Simon & Mel Pashea

Mary I. Brown

Carolyn Henges & Jay Henges Charitable Trust

Mr. & Mrs. V. Raymond Stranghoener

Buron F. Buffkin & Donn Kleinschmidt, M.D.

Arnold & Myrna Hershman*

Paul Cambridge & Amanda Trudell Cambridge

Alfred & Marilyn Holtzer

Dr. Martin J. Bell* Marie-Hélène Bernard & Douglas Copeland Rudi J. Bertrand Dr. Irene Bettinger June R. Bierman Elaine & Harold Blatt Catherine S. Bollinger

Tobie Chapman Elaine Coe Mrs. P. Terence Crebs Michael & Susan Darcy DM3 Fund Dr. & Mrs. James W. Donnelly Sarah Duffy Jane & Chuck Ettelson Sara Fabick Alan R. Fiddleman* Lance & Marcy Fortnow

Anne W. Hetlage Dr. Alan W. Hopefl Jeannette R. Huey* W.W. & Anne Jones Anne & Craig Jorgensen Elma Kanefield Brian & Mary Jane Kinman Mrs. Newell S. Knight Mr. & Mrs. David Kowach Stephen E. Kraft

Esther G. Schweich

Dr. Jamie Spencer & Anna Ahrens Mr. & Mrs. Warren G. Sullivan Peggy Walter Symes Maria & Philip Taxman Mr. & Mrs. E. R. Thomas, Jr. Douglas M. & Sherida E. Tollefsen Susan & Peter Tuteur George & Betsy Vogt Robert & Nancy Wagoner Drs. Craig & Terri Weldon James & Barbara Willock Melissa Wohlwend Stuart & Susie Zimmerman

Jim & Pam Krekeler Joe & Alice Maffit

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F R I E N DS O F TH E F E S TIVA L Friends of the Festival make generous gifts of $50-$2,499 to support Opera Theatre’s annual operations.

These wonderful partners make Opera Theatre’s work possible through essential unrestricted support.

G UA R A N TO R S $ 1 ,0 0 0 -$2 , 49 9 Anonymous Donors (4)

Helen Etling

Andrew J. & Roxanne T. Miller

Gwen E. Adams

Phyllis L. Evans

Erie Mills* & Thomas Rescigno

H. Dieter & Karla Ambos

James Florczak & Nancy Friedland

Jane & Steve Mitchell

Gabe Angieri

Janice & Bill Forsyth

Alice Montgomery

Linda Apicello

Gerard Frankenfeld

Mr. & Mrs. James R. Moog

Mrs. Walter F. Ballinger II

Don & Darlene Freber

Wilhelm & Ingrid Neuefeind

Elizabeth Barnes-Wilson

Ann M. Fusz*

Dr.  & Mrs. Matthew Newman*

Anthony Bassett

Ellen M. Fusz*

Bob & Kara Newmark

Mr. & Mrs. Barry Beracha

Mr. & Mrs. Martin E. Galt III & The Jackes Foundation

Robert & Carol Nordman

Dr. James Gandre & Dr. Boris Thomas

Mr. & Mrs. John Oliver

Sharon Biegen & Brian Vandenberg Sally Brayley Bliss & Jim Connett Drs. Nanci & James Bobrow Eugenie R. Bonte

Joseph E. Geist

Dr. Michael R. Borts & Dr. Mary Gorman

Ann & Randy Getz Gary Goodman

Martha Brewer & Calvin Bentley Charitable Foundation Trust

Anne P. Grady

Richard Brickson

E. Reuben & Gladys Flora Grant Charitable Trust

Ashley Budde-Taylor & Dr. Matthew Taylor

Miran & David Halen

Brandy Burkhalter

Donna & Robert Heider

Linda Burns

Dr. & Mrs. John W. Hubert

Dr. Anne Carman

Margaret & Martin Israel

Beverly Clarkson Vicki & Brian Clevinger Karen Coburn

Gayle Jackson Frank Jacobs & Marylen Mann Nanette Johnson & Glen Yonetani

Joseph E. Corrigan* Dr. Carlos C. Daughaday Richard M. Dolphus Mr. & Mrs. Arnold W. Donald Dr. & Mrs. Wm. Claiborne Dunagan Bill Durham  Dr. & Mrs. Gerald Early Hope Edison & Julian I. & Hope R. Edison Foundation Richard L. Egilsrud Barbara Enneking & Henry Puch

OPERA THEATRE

Mr. & Mrs. Hugh Harrington Shirley A. Heiman*

Nelda Carlisle-Gray

136

Ann Carole Gaspar

Alice Jorgensen Richard & Shirley Knight

Martha C. Nussbaum John Howard Percy Mr. & Mrs. Raymond W. Peters Harriet & Philip Polster Lynn Post Judy & Paul Putzel Brian Abel Ragen Susan & John Rava Charles & Marian Rice Richard Robb Jane & Bruce Robert David Roberts & Sue Fischlowitz Leon & Ann Robison John Ross Philip & Reggie Roy Ann R. Ruwitch & John Fox Arnold Dr. & Mrs. Joseph Ruwitch Jo-Ellyn M. Ryall, M.D.

Diane Levine & Dr. Jim Jenkins

Saligman Family & The Linda & Harvey Saligman Charitable Foundation

Rosalyn & Charles Lowenhaupt

Alice Sargent

Mr. & Mrs. John Peters MacCarthy

Ann Scheuer

Mr. & Mrs. Mark McCallum

Jerry & Sue Schlichter

Pat & Brigid McCauley

Harriet Scholle

Diane McCullough*

Sandy Schonwald

Brenda K. Melson

Thomas Sehr & Margaret A. Wayne

LaVerna Meyer

Drs. Andrey Shaw & Cynthia Florin

Ronald Levin

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Natalea Simmons Beaudean

J. Kennard Streett

Mei Chen Welland

Eve Simon

Rev. Dr. Pamela Stuerke*

Ms. K. E. Wentzien

Dr. Amber Simpson & Kenneth Simpson

James P. Tobin & Virginia E. Heagney

Ellen White

Kenneth  & Marjorie Smith*

Mr. & Mrs. Gregory Trapp

Bill & Diann Wichman

Arlie & Eileen Traughber

Gerald Wilemski

Rowena B. Van Dyke

Mr. & Mrs. Richard Wilt

Barbara & David Ware

Barbara McAfee Wohltman

Mr. & Mrs. John D. Weil & Pershing Place Foundation

Donna Zoeller

Lester Anderson

Connie Emge

Margaret & Martin Israel

Susan Frelich Appleton & Robert O. Appleton, Jr.

Mary Karen Engel & Mark Engel

Mark Jacobs

Drs. Jennifer & Robert Arch

Kimberly Faulhaber

Suzanne & Jim Johnson III

Steven Bain

Benjamin Kozower & Nikki Fedoravicius

Marjorie Eddy Johnson

Christy Beckmann & Jim Vykopal

Mary Ferguson

Sarah Bernard

Dr. Kathleen Ferrell

Mr. & Mrs. Steve Kidwell

Mr. & Mrs. David Bishop

Marjorie & Terry Franc

Ruth M. Blundell

Gerard Frankenfeld

Jane & Charlie Brader

Mary Jane Fredrickson

Dr. & Mrs. Alan Braverman

Ronald & Cheryl Fromm

Gregory Burley Brown

Casey Gardonio-Foat

Elsbeth Brugger

Elaine Gernstein

Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Brunkhorst

Barbara Gervais

Ralph H. Bruns

Leslie S. Gewin

Barbara M. Bryant

Amy & Amrit Gill

Hap & Mary Burke

Gail Glenn

Rodney & Elaine Carlson

Gerald & Dr. Colette Gordon

Jerry & Anne Carlson

Dr. & Mrs. Kevin Graepel

Marie Casey & Kenn Entringer

Darrell Grant

Pat Church & Jim Daues

Miran & David Halen

Katie & Charlie Claggett

Mr. & Mrs. Stephen C. Hall

John Michael Clear & Isabel Marie Bone

Mr. & Mrs. Scott J. Hammann

Dr. & Mrs. Edward Cohen

Anna Harris

Dr. John Sopuch Mary Ann & Andrew Srenco Bill & Karen Stebelski* Molly Strassner

S U P P O RT ER S $ 5 0 0 -$9 9 9

Shereen Corbett Ann M. Corrigan Laura & William Courtney Anthony Cutaia Diane Dark Quintus L. Drennan, Jr.

Steven Harpole Louis Hawn Mr. & Mrs. John Hensley Ian Hinchliffe & Marjorie Shapiro Luise N. Hoffman

Tamara Keefe Harry Knopf Laura & Anthony Lancia Mark & Ginny Lawson Anh Le & Ryan Kulage Peggy & Don Lents Laurie & Sean Lock Antonio Longrais & Marisa Human Charles MacKay Kellie J. Mandry Dr. & Mrs. David Margolis Michele M. Maue The McGregor Family Virginia McKeever Laura & John Meyer Richard J. Mitchell Lucy Morris Wynne & Randy Moskop Michelle Myers Bruce J. Nelson Dianne C. Nichols Carolyn & John Odom Ruth Orth

Philo Holcomb

Dr. Gwendolyn D. Packnett & Mr. John Moten, Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. David H. Hutchinson

Nancy Patten

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Kimberly Perry

Linda E. Schulte

Dr. & Mrs. Garry Vickar

Linda Horne & Daniel Phillips

Linda Schwartz

Ellen A. Wallace

Jeffrey A. Pierce

Mr. & Mrs. James Shafter

Roy Wehrle & Vonnie Hinesley

Mrs. B. Franklin Rassieur, Jr.

Drs. Barry & Marilyn Siegel

Michael W. Weisbrod

Patricia Rice-Hellmuth & George Hellmuth

Kathleen & William Sitzer

Matthew & Sara Wheeler

Laverne Riebold Moseley & Willard Moseley

Jermaine Smith & Family

Kathryn R. White

Janet Spencer

Beverly Field Whittington

Deanna Stevenson

Mary Wittry

John & Jolly Stewart

Douglas & Lynn Yaeger

Louise Flick & William True

Dr. & Mrs. Myles Yanta

Alicia Underwood

Bree Yard

Vance Urick

George Yeh

Mary Riebold Dr. Carol L. Roslund Anne Marie Ruhlin Jennifer A. Sage Mrs. Gideon H. Schiller

CO N T R I B U TO R S $2 5 0 -$ 49 9 Anonymous Donors (4)

Brian Corry & Sue Arnold

Great Harvest Bread Company+

Abreu Family

Kathianne & David Crane

Robert & Catherine Gresick

Audrey Adreon

Dr. & Mrs. James P. Crane

Susan L. Hahn

Natalie Alberici

Cravings

Scott Amelung

George L. Crow

Glenda Hares

M. J. Aneskievich

Rand Dankner

Dr. Nanette Hegamin

Pippa & Dave Barrett

David Kirkland Catering

Mr. & Mrs. David Wismar Herman

Michael G. Biggers

Dr. Debbie Depew & Brad Moore

Michael Herron

Dr. Ellen F. Binder

David & Susan Dobmeyer

Mr. & Mrs. Paul Hirth

Lynn Bodicky

Robert & Jamie Driver

Virginia A. Hoeper

Kenneth & Ann Bohm

Kay & Larry Dusenbery

Kathy Hoffman

Ellen Bonacorsi

Luke J. Elmer

Mark & Peggy Holly

Mr. & Mrs. Keith Hamilton

+

Sharon Bower

Explore St. Louis

Mr. & Mrs. Robert C. Boyd

Gary & Susan Fletcher

Ms. Cathy Hooper +

Patricia Brasher

Margie Horowitz

Forest Park Forever

Mr. & Mrs. Patrick Huber

Peter & Sally Franzmann

Thomas Incrocci

Joan T. Briccetti

Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Garnett

Mr. & Mrs. Joel S. Iskiwitch

Richard & Sujata Buck

Dr. Bill L. Gaus

Barbara Jenkins

Heather Burenga

Mr. & Mrs. James Gavin

Katherine Johnson

Carol Carlson

John Gedrick

Mary H. Karr

Robert & Connie Carr

Scott Gill

Dr. Michelle E. Kemp

Shandy & Kristine Casteel

Marianne Gillis

Gerry & Ginge Kettenbach

Mr. & Mrs. Jim Castellano

James Glazier

David Kimball & Laura Arnold

Christopher Chan

Deborah J. Goldstein

Steve & Margie Knapp

Dr. Lewis R. Chase

Marc Goldstein & Elizabeth Zucker

Mr. & Mrs. Richard Kniep

Breadsmith of St. Louis

+

Christopher L. Cimijotti Dr. Janet Congdon 138

+

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Katie Gray

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Christie Kovac Jack & Mary LaBarge

Douglas R. Lane Bob & Marcia Lange Patricia Leontsinis Fran & Norman Leve Dr. & Mrs. Frederick Lewis Mary Jo & Jerry Liberstein Photo © Jessica Flanigan

Brad Liebman Dr. George A. Lodoly Melvin Loeb Carolyn W. Losos Cindy & Gregg Lueder Bruce & Sharon MacKenzie Dr. Jerald & Jane Maslanko Massage Luxe Rock Hill+

Mr. & Mrs. J. L. Price

Mr. & Mrs. Warren G. Sullivan

Mrs. Lansden McCandless, Jr.

Steve & Sue Rakel

Lynne Tatlock & Joseph Loewenstein

Susan McCorkell

Stanley Ransom

Ted Drewes Frozen Custard+

MaryAnn McCormick

Mr. & Mrs. Derek K. Rapp

Megan E. Thornberry

Hugh A. McGaughy

Elizabeth Raschbaum

Sarah Trulaske

Meridith McKinley

Trevor D. Reese, Jr.

Thomas Turnbull & Darrell Smith

Shawn Merys

Dr. Valerie C. Reichert

Mr. & Mrs. James von der Heydt

Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Miller

Beth Rogers

Steven Weber

Judy & David Milton

Dr. Randolph Roller & Charles Cross

Michael Weeda & Joanne Michalski

Missouri Historical Society+

Larry Rosen

Mr. & Mrs. Ted Weinberg

Mr. & Mrs. Jean-Paul Montupet

Mr. & Mrs. Alan C. Rosenkoetter

Marlita Weiss

Harry & Carol Moppins

J. Michael & Susan Ryan

Ann Carroll Wells

Mr. & Mrs. Edward Morris

Stephen Ryan & Judi Jewell

Klair White

June C. Mueller

Anthony & Darlene Scaglione

Jim Wilson

Rose Marie Nester & James Heine

Mark V. Scharff

Alan & Susan Witte

David Newburger

Becky Scherer

Daniel E. Woodward

Lee Nickelson & Lynda Dautenhahn

Whitney Scherr

World Chess Hall of Fame +

O+O Hospitality Group +

Maria Schlafly & David Aholt

Kay E. Wunder

Francis & Peggy Oates

Leann & Andrew Schuering

Dr. Allan & Mrs. Deborah Zacher

Kim Oliver

Mary Ann & Richard Shaw

Aleene Zawada

Gloria Park

Jim Shumate

June Pellarin

Gerry Shaikun & Laurie Smith*

Alan & Dr. Sunny Pervil

Dr. & Mrs. L.D. Smith

Lisa Pestronk

John & Nancy Solodar

Heinz Peter

St. Louis Magazine +

Nancy Phillips

Kevin T. Staley

Ann Podleski

Gary L. Stansbery

Donald Prahlow

Kirk Stein

Alan Pregozen

Maxine Stone*

* Crescendo Circle  In Memoriam + In-kind donations This list includes contributors who made annual fund gifts before April 1, 2025, and we look forward to acknowledging donors who made a gift after that date on next season’s contributor list.

We regret that donors of less than $250 are not listed due to space limitations.

Their generosity is vital to the company’s continued success, and we extend our sincere thanks for their support.

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decades of GENEROSITY As we celebrate Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ 50th Festival Season, we are mindful of the many who have invested in this company’s success every year for the past 20, 30, or even 40 or more years. Thank you to all the current donors on this list, and to all who have supported the company across the last 50 years. We appreciate your loyalty and dedication to Opera Theatre!

4 0 -5 0 CO N S EC U TIV E Y E A R S O F G IV I N G Anonymous Donor (1) Audrey Adreon David & Melanie Alpers Mrs. Walter F. Ballinger II Louis D. Beaumont Fund No. 1 of the St. Louis Community Foundation Dr. Martin J. Bell Lee & Alexandra Benham Rudi J. Bertrand June R. Bierman Elaine & Harold Blatt Mrs. Merle N. Blundell Drs. Nanci & James Bobrow Mrs. Laurance L. Browning, Jr.  Phoebe & Spencer Burke Paul & Elissa Cahn Mary & Elliott Chubb Elaine Coe Mary Diboll Bill Dolan & Suzanne Bromschwig Dolan Quintus L. Drennan, Jr. Jane & Chuck Ettelson Robert & Jane Feibel Dorothy & Billy Firestone Keith & Ann Fischer 140

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John Forestner & Brad Alford Edward Chase Garvey Memorial Foundation Joseph E. Geist Mrs. Joseph F. Gleason Rabbi Dr. Jay Goldburg Rik & Gail Hafer Arnold & Myrna Hershman Anne W. Hetlage Alfred & Marilyn Holtzer Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence J. Horgan Phyllis R. Hyken Margaret & Martin Israel Diane & Paul Jacobson Bettie S. Johnson Mary Ranken Jordan & Ettie A. Jordan Charitable Foundation Mary H. Karr Richard & Shirley Knight Harry Knopf Dr. Stuart Kornfield Gerald M. Kowarsky Nancy & Ken Kranzberg

Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Langsam John Frank Lesser Fran & Norman Leve J. David & Lucy S. Levy Karen & Mont Levy Carolyn W. Losos Charles MacKay Mrs. Lansden McCandless, Jr. Hugh A. McGaughy LaVerna Meyer Jack Austin Miller Wilhelm & Ingrid Neuefeind Mrs. Matthew Newman Adrienne Warren Patton Georgia C. Pettus Laura & Rick Pfeiffer Mr. & Mrs. J. L. Price Emily Rauh Pulitzer Marti Reichman Jan Paul Richter & Ellen von Seggern Richter Mrs. Robert L. Rosenheim Mr. & Mrs. Alan C. Rosenkoetter Dr. Mary Anne Rudloff

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Ann R. Ruwitch & John Fox Arnold Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Scharff, Jr. Sondra Schlesinger Jerry & Sue Schlichter Dr. Mim Shelden & Lou Kinsey Jim Shumate Drs. Barry & Marilyn Siegel Eve Simon Stephen W. Skrainka Brian & Jane Smith James V. & Susan S. Stepleton J. Kennard Streett Peggy Walter Symes Mr. & Mrs. E. R. Thomas, Jr. Stephen Trampe & Jenny Gupta Susan & Peter Tuteur Franklin F. Wallis Whitaker Foundation Ellen White Jim Wilson Roma B. Wittcoff Sharon & Elliot Zucker

Photo © Jessica Flanigan, 2023.

3 0 - 4 0 CO N S EC U TIV E Y E A R S O F G IV I N G Anonymous Donor (1) Robert C. Anderson M. J. Aneskievich Bayer Fund Kenneth & Mary Biskup Eugenie R. Bonte Ralph H. Bruns Mr. & Mrs. John J. Corbett Joseph E. Corrigan Mrs. P. Terence Crebs Rand Dankner Mr. & Mrs. Irl F. Engelhardt Sara Epstein Melanie & Anthony Fathman, M.D. Mary Ferguson Alison & John Ferring Janice & Bill Forsyth Mary Jane Fredrickson Ann M. Fusz Ellen M. Fusz Deborah J. Goldstein Donna & Robert Heider Jan Hermann Luise N. Hoffman

Mrs. Ronald A. Holtman Nanette Johnson & Glen Yonetani Mrs. Alexander Kalin Rosalyn & Charles Lowenhaupt Dr. John E. Mazuski Pat & Brigid McCauley Diane McCullough Sedgwick Mead, Jr. & Catherine Perry The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Liz & Brian Mischel Robert & Carla Myerson Rose Marie Nester & James Heine Francis & Peggy Oates John Howard Percy Judy & Paul Putzel Stanley Ransom John & Nancy Rice Patricia Rice-Hellmuth & George Hellmuth Richard Robb

Dr. Carol L. Roslund Dr. & Mrs. Joseph Ruwitch Thomas Sehr & Margaret A. Wayne Dr. David Sewall & Jeff Kapfer Gerry Shaikun & Laurie Smith Drs. Andrey Shaw & Cynthia Florin Jenny Shifrin Sudie Shinkle Dr. & Mrs. L.D. Smith Dr. Jamie Spencer & Anna Ahrens Mr. & Mrs. Warren G. Sullivan Lynne Tatlock & Joseph Loewenstein Dr. & Mrs. Paul M. Vandivort, Jr. George & Betsy Vogt Phoebe Dent Weil Marlita Weiss Peter J. Wender Barbara McAfee Wohltman

“ The stakes are m u c h hi g h e r t h a n t he y u s e d to b e , b u t w e s t i l l h ave our responsibility to quality, to community, and to in c u b a t in g t he ne x t generation of talent.”

- a ndrew jorgensen, gener a l director



In Memoriam EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

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D E C A D E S O F G E N E R OS IT Y 2 0 -3 0 CO N S EC U TIV E Y E A R S O F G IV I N G Anonymous Donors (6) Scott Amelung Ameren Susan Frelich Appleton & Robert O. Appleton, Jr. Mary M. Bannister Gailya & John Barker Anthony Bassett Pam Belloli & Dave Shimek Jim Berges & Elizabeth Mannen Berges Sharon Biegen & Brian Vandenberg Michael G. Biggers Sally Brayley Bliss & Jim Connett Catherine S. Bollinger Jane & Charlie Brader Mr. & Mrs. Stephen F. Brauer Martha Brewer Mary I. Brown Elsbeth Brugger & Gretchen Vender Meulen Buron F. Buffkin & Donn Kleinschmidt, M.D. Carol Carlson Rodney & Elaine Carlson Belinda Carstens-Wickham Richard & Margaret Christenson Beverly Clarkson Commerce Bank Grace Crews Corbin Ann M. Corrigan Mrs. Robert H. Craft, Jr. Jill Cumming Beverly Curtis Anthony Cutaia Diane Dark Dr. Carlos C. Daughaday David & Susan Dobmeyer Mr. & Mrs. Arnold W. Donald Dr. & Mrs. James W. Donnelly Sarah Duffy Kay & Larry Dusenbery Kim & Tim Eberlein Fay Schubert Eckert Hope Edison Edward Jones Richard L. Egilsrud 142

OPERA THEATRE

Connie Emge Enterprise Holdings Foundation Phyllis L. Evans Sara Fabick Alan R. Fiddleman Tom & Debbie Fishwick Nicole & Keith Freber Nora Frein Charlotte Frisbie David R. Ganz Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Garnett Robert & Catherine Gresick Michael L. & Paula E. Gross Susan L. Hahn Mark Hartnagel Shirley A. Heiman Carolyn Henges Gina & Lee Hoagland Dr. Alan W. Hopefl Mr. & Mrs. Alvin Horst Janet & Andy Hoyne Mr. & Mrs. David H. Hutchinson Silvian Iticovici & Cathy Ifune Gayle Jackson Frank Jacobs & Marylen Mann Marjorie Eddy Johnson William T. Kemper Foundation Steve & Margie Knapp Mr. & Mrs. Richard Kniep Mrs. Newell S. Knight Stephen E. Kraft Jim & Pam Krekeler Jack & Mary LaBarge Douglas R. Lane William Larson & Christopher Harlow Mary Jo & Jerry Liberstein David Linzee Jim & Connie Lippert Melvin Loeb Iona A. Long-Baldwin Cindy & Gregg Lueder Dr. & Mrs. Carl A. Lyss Mr. & Mrs. John Peters MacCarthy Joe & Alice Maffit Elizabeth Mahony

Marcela Manjarrez Mr. & Mrs. Paul Marsh Dr. Jerald & Jane Maslanko Leigh & Jean Mason The McGregor Family Patricia McHugh Laura & John Meyer Erie Mills & Thomas Rescigno Judy & David Milton Richard J. Mitchell Mr. & Mrs. James R. Moog Lucy Morris Jo Anne Morrow Noémi K. Neidorff James Nicholson Martha C. Nussbaum William Paul Pershing Charitable Trust Alan & Dr. Sunny Pervil Mr. & Mrs. Raymond W. Peters Pinnell Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Mike Pishko Harriet & Philip Polster Mabel L. Purkerson, M.D. Brian Abel Ragen Susan & John Rava Dr. Valerie C. Reichert Allen & Merry Richon Fredric Rissover Kurt Rupe Marsha & William C. Rusnack John H. Russell Alan & Marilyn Sachs Jennifer A. Sage The Saigh Foundation Maria Schlafly & David Aholt Damaris Schmitt Kathleen & William Schnyder Harriet Scholle Mary Schoolman & Dr. James Hinrichs Linda Schwartz Mrs. Henry L. Schweich Linda Seibert Dr. Jeanne & Rex Sinquefield Jurgen Skoppek Marjorie Smith John & Nancy Solodar

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Dr. John Sopuch Janet Spencer Kevin T. Staley Kendall Stallings Stifel Rabbi Jeffrey & Dr. Arlene Stiffman Maxine Stone Mr. & Mrs. V. Raymond Stranghoener Molly Strassner Mary Strauss Donald M. Suggs Ann McFarland Sullins Mary Susman & Tom Herm Maria & Philip Taxman James P. Tobin & Virginia E. Heagney Douglas M. & Sherida E. Tollefsen Arlie & Eileen Traughber Madge Treeger Susan & Ben Uchitelle Rowena B. Van Dyke Robert & Nancy Wagoner Mr. & Mrs. John D. Weil Josephine & Richard Weil Drs. Craig & Terri Weldon Mr. & Mrs. Darrell Yearwood Ellen & Bill Yeckley George Yeh Edward H. & Rosemary Young Fund of the St. Louis Community Foundation Stuart & Susie Zimmerman

This list includes current donors (as of April 1, 2025) who have made a membership level gift ($50+) every year for the past 20 years or more. It reflects the best of our knowledge, but it may not be perfect across 40 years of records. If we have missed you or someone you know, please reach out to the Development team at (314) 963-4228, and we will correct future lists.

TH E G O LD E N CI R C LE : M A J O R CO N TR I B U TO R S TO T H E EN D OW M EN T Opera Theatre’s high standards of performance and, indeed, the company’s survival in the future depend on building a substantial endowment. To ensure the quality of this institution for succeeding generations, individuals, foundations, and corporations in the Golden Circle have made major gifts to Opera Theatre’s endowment fund. For their commitment to the company’s continued artistic excellence and community service, we express our deepest gratitude.

D O N O R S O F $ 1 ,0 0 0,0 0 0 & A B OV E Anonymous Donors (3) Phyllis Brissenden Mr. & Mrs. Laurance L. Browning, Jr. Salvatore & Dagnija  Comado The Ford Foundation

Mr. & Mrs. Harvard K. Hecker & The Hecker Family Charitable Fund Ann Lee  & Will  Konneker Gene Kornblum Sally S. Levy  & Family

David W. Mesker  The Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation — Mabel L. Purkerson, M.D., Trustee The Saigh Foundation

D O N O R S O F $ 5 0 0,0 0 0 -$9 9 9 , 9 9 9 Anonymous Donor (1) Rex  & Phyllis  Brown Susan Brown 

Rudolph W. Driscoll  & The Driscoll Foundation Mr.  & Mrs.  E. Desmond Lee

National Endowment for the Arts Noémi & Michael  Neidorff

D O N O R S O F $2 5 0,0 0 0 -$ 49 9 , 9 9 9 Jim Berges & Elizabeth Mannen Berges & The Berges Family Foundation Adelaide Cherbonnier Emerson Lelia & David Farr Dr. & Mrs. Leigh Gerdine

Margaret B. Grigg  Dorothy Kelley Mr. & Mrs.  L. Max Lippman, Jr. Sarah Bryan Miller Mr. & Mrs. Reuben M. Morriss III Robert W. Schaefer

David & Thelma Steward & The Steward Family Foundation Jack C. Taylor  Fred J. Wehrle, Jr. Whitaker Foundation Dr. Richard D. Yoder

D O N O R S O F $ 1 0 0,0 0 0 -$249 , 9 9 9 Anonymous Donors (4) Mrs. Norris H. Allen Paul M. Arenberg Barry Family Trust Bayer Fund & Monsanto Fund Gertrude & William A. Bernoudy Foundation Ruth Palmer Blanke  Mr. & Mrs. Donald L. Bryant, Jr. Gertrude B. Busch Mr. & Mrs. William H.T. Bush Margaret Crumpacker, M.D. The Robert H. & Lorraine F. Duesenberg Foundation

In Memoriam

Mrs. Ernest A. Eddy, Jr. Enterprise Holdings Foundation Clark & Jeanette Gamble Trust Colin Graham, O. B. E. Mr. & Mrs. Anthony L. Guerrerio The William Randolph Hearst Foundation William T. Kemper Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Lopata Mrs. Charles W. Lorenz  Morton J. May Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Sanford N. McDonnell Mr. & Mrs. William B. McMillan, Jr.

Arthur Osver  & Ernestine Betsberg Osver Mr. & Mrs. Emmanuel C. Paxhia Emily Rauh Pulitzer Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Scharff, Jr. Mrs. William H. Sheffield Dr. Jeanne & Rex Sinquefield Mrs. Leif J. Sverdrup Mr. & Mrs. Monte Throdahl Janet McAfee Weakley Professor Emeritus Charles M. Weiss Marjorie Wyman

Our thanks to the endowment donors of less than $100,000, whose gifts are vital to Opera Theatre's continued success.

We regret that these donors could not be listed due to space limitations.

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IN MEMORIAM “ S anc t um” I built a t iny garde n In a c or ne r of my he ar t.

I k e pt it jus t for love ly thin gs And b a de all e lse de p ar t.

And e ve r w as the re music, And f low e rs b los some d fair; And ne ve r w as it p e r fe c t Unt il you e nte re d the re.

- Beulah B. Malkin

144

Virginia “Jinny” Browning

Stephen Hereford

Nancy Pollnow

Donald L. Bryant, Jr.

Carl Hermann

Bill Sciortino

Nicholas Clifford

Nancy Kalishman

Suzanne Sessions

Robert Cole, Jr.

Joanne Kohn

Bonnie Shopper

Ian Cruickshank

Alfred Korn

Jane Shumate

Bertram Culver III

Gene Kornblum

Michael Simpson

Robert Duesenberg

Dianne Lazaroff

Kenneth Smith

Robert W. Duffy

Sally Lefler

Peter Strummer

Bill Durham

Ann Mandelstamm

Lois Trowbridge

Edgar Ellermann

Theresa McKee

Colette Walsh

Sam Fox

Jane Miller

Dr. Virginia Weldon

Roxanne Frank

John Nelson

Mattie French

Jill Petzall

OPERA THEATRE

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remembering VIRGINIA “JINNY” BROWNING

O

pera Theatre is deeply saddened by the passing of Virginia “Jinny” Browning earlier this year. We have known no greater friends than Jinny, her late husband Larry, and the Browning family.

Virginia “Jinny” Browning and her husband Larry.

Before the assembly of Opera Theatre’s founding board and before Richard Gaddes was engaged to become the company’s first General Director, a small group of St. Louis civic leaders launched the effort that led to the founding of OTSL. Larry and Jinny Browning were among those leaders. Larry was a founding Board member and the company’s second Board Chair. Opera Theatre was a family affair, and Jinny was right there beside Larry, critical in her own right to launching the company.

The Brownings are largely responsible for OTSL’s deep commitment to fiscal discipline. They helped to instill a culture that lives on, advocating tirelessly not only for our artistic success but also for balanced budgets.

Larry and Jinny were also devoted to OTSL through their generous philanthropic investment in many initiatives, including the Larry and Jinny Browning Fund for Technical Fellowships, which supports artisans who work and learn backstage. Indeed, the very theater in which Opera Theatre now performs — the Virginia Jackson Browning Theatre at the Loretto-Hilton Center — was named in recognition of Jinny’s impact on Webster University, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, and OTSL.

Courtesy of OTSL Archives

Jinny was pivotal in founding the Opera Buff s, the predecessor to the OTSL Guild, and launched much of the work that our Guild continues today, including artist transportation and housing. Jinny also volunteered in the office in the early days, helping to set up Richard Gaddes’ filing system. Devoted not only to the company but to its people, the Brownings were known for hosting pool parties at their home, inviting artists and artisans to escape the St. Louis summer heat on company days off, and helping to create the warm sense of community that endures today.

Jinny’s involvement in the community was wide and deep, extending to the Community Music School, Saint Louis Science Center, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Central Institute for the Deaf, Circus Flora, and others.

She was a lifelong lover of theater and music, and she shared that passion widely through her work in the community.

After 37 years in St. Louis, Larry and Jinny returned home to Maysville, Kentucky in 2010. They stayed engaged with OTSL throughout the rest of their lives.

We will remember Jinny this season as we celebrate our 50th anniversary — a birthday that certainly would not have been possible without her lifelong dedication.

■

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D O N O R S TO TH E 2 024 –2 02 5 TR I B U TE F U N D Opera Theatre gratefully acknowledges the following gifts to the Tribute Fund in honor/memory of the following special individuals.

In Honor of Mary Akers William Anderson In Memory of Donald Bryant Abreu Family Mike & Carolyn Kolman Paul & Judy Putzel In Memory of John R. Buckley Sarah & Michael David Smith In Honor of Phoebe & Spencer Burke John Ross Ann Cady Scott In Memory of Bob Cole Margaret Wald In Memory of Bob Craft Tom & Ulrike Schlafly Sharon & Elliot Zucker In Memory of Bertram “Terry” Culver Carolyn & Ernest Clarke Dr. & Mrs. Philip G. George Mr. & Mrs. Stephen C. Hall Jane S. Mackey Mr. & Mrs. Kimball R. McMullin Francis & Peggy Oates Mr. & Mrs. Raymond W. Peters Patricia Rice-Hellmuth & George Hellmuth Kathy Smith J. Kennard Streett

In Memory of Bill Durham Ron Bozzay Katie & Charlie Claggett Steve Degnan Marjorie & Terry Franc Mr. & Mrs. Harold Helmkampf OPERA THEATRE

In Honor of Kim Eberlein Marie Casey Rosalyn & Charles Lowenhaupt In Honor of Kim & Tim Eberlein Mrs. Walter F. Ballinger II Jerry & Anne Carlson Mr. & Mrs. Jim Castellano Dr. & Mrs. Will Chapman

In Honor of Nicole Freber Donna & Harvey Allen Allen & Merry Richon In Memory of Mattie French Roxanne Hazelwood & Elizabeth Hazelwood Arnold Jacobson Scott & Pamela Kibler Karen & Andy Wasserman & Family In Memory of Richard Gaddes Elma Kanefield The Patriot Foundation

In Honor of Luke Elmer Anonymous Donor

In Honor of Emilie Hensley Mr. & Mrs. John Hensley

In Honor of Barb Enneking & Hank Puch Jinny & Jim Gender Jim & Karen Gender Susan Kaiser CJ Larkin

In Memory of Carl Hermann Madelyn Harris & Peter Wilson

In Honor of Lelia & David Farr Roy Pfautch In Honor of Bob & Jane Feibel Charles & Marian Rice In Honor of Jane Feibel Byron Kerman Sharon & Elliot Zucker In Memory of Mary Feldmeier Peter Kelly

In Memory of Theodore B. Curtiss Cathy Curtiss

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Ted & Jane Simmons John Stevenson J. Kennard Streett Ellen A. Wallace Dennis E. Walsh

In Honor of Allison Felter Mr. & Mrs. Scott J. Hammann Marilyn E. Votaw In Honor of Morgan Fisher James A. Morrell

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In Honor of Andrew Jorgensen & Mark Stuart-Smith Anonymous Donor Marie-Hélène Bernard & Douglas Copeland Sharon & Elliot Zucker In Honor of Andrew Jorgensen, Mark Stuart-Smith, & Caterina Anne Stuart-Smith Ann McFarland Sullins In Honor of Amy Kaiser Robert & Jane Feibel In Honor of Claire Kaufman Rebecca Melander In Memory of Gene Kornblum Robert & Jane Feibel Anne W. Hetlage J. David & Lucy S. Levy Susan & John Rava

In Honor of Anh Le Ryan Kulage In Memory of Sally Lefler Junior League of St. Louis - Drue Webster Committee In Honor of Lucy Levy Robert & Jane Feibel Karen & Mont Levy In Honor of Mont Levy Elinore Weinhaus In Honor of Marcela Manjarrez Ellen Franzel In Honor of Tyler McKenzie James A. Morrell In Honor of Harry Moppins Georgia C. Pettus In Honor of the National Patrons Council Jamie Craft In Honor of Noémi Neidorff Dr. & Mrs. Alan Braverman Dr. James Gandre & Dr. Boris Thomas John Roberts In Honor of Jenna Pieper Kaitlin Evans Jakob Mueller Jonathan & Rachel Pieper In Honor of Patricia Racette Alice Jorgensen In Honor of Patricia Racette & Beth Clayton W.W. & Anne Jones

In Memory of Catherine Raney Anonymous Donor Jan Paul Richter & Ellen von Seggern Richter In Honor of Susan & John Rava Susan & Ben Uchitelle In Honor of Jan Paul Richter & Ellen von Seggern Richter Marilyn Meeker In Honor of James Robinson Mr. & Mrs. David W. Kemper In Memory of Maynord Rosen Larry Rosen In Honor of John Russell & Darryl Redhage Amy & Amrit Gill In Honor of Steve Ryan and the Production & Operations Team Robert & Jane Feibel

In Memory of Jane Shumate Mr. & Mrs. Richard C. Bradley, Jr. Jane Otto In Honor of the Sign Language Interpreters Mary Gann In Memory of Kenneth Smith Richard & Shirley Knight Georgia C. Pettus In Honor of Jamie Spencer Kate S. Pitman & The Pitman Family In Honor of Caterina Anne Stuart-Smith Janet & Andy Hoyne Jan Paul Richter & Ellen von Seggern Richter In Honor of Maria & Phil Taxman Lisa Pestronk In Honor of Mark & Sudie Throdahl Ann Carroll Wells

In Memory of Charla Sausele Anonymous

In Memory of Tani Wolff Linda Seibert

In Honor of Bob & Martha Scharff Dr. & Mrs. Edward Cohen

In Memory of Sue Wright Janet Mulroy

In Honor of Linda Seibert Robert & Jane Feibel In Memory of Suzanne Sessions Scott Gill Wynne & Randy Moskop In Memory of Bonnie “Bunny” Shopper Marsha Alent Barbara J. Feldacker Jim & Lorraine Harris Sandy Kaplan

The list of Opera Theatre contributors was complete at press time and indicates those who made tribute fund gifts before April 1, 2025. Donors who made gifts later will be recognized during the 2026 Festival Season. To honor or remember a loved one, please call (314) 963-4228 or visit us online at ExperienceOpera.org/Tributes.

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Understanding When Culture Starts Is Seen

When Culture Is Seen

St. Louis Public Radio brings context and humanity to the stories that affect life in the metro area.

stlpr.org

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A service of UMSL

TH E 5 0TH A N N IV E R SA RY GA L A Opera Theatre’s 50th anniversary kicked off on May 8, 2025, with a wondrous celebration 50 years in the making.

The 50th Anniversary Gala was chaired by Noémi Neidorff and featured artists with deep connections to Opera Theatre: baritone Justin Austin, tenor Joshua Blue, soprano Deanna Breiwick, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, pianist Christopher Cano, and pianist Eric Sedgwick. The evening ended with a surprise performance from the 2025 Richard Gaddes Festival Artist and Gerdine Young Artists.

Opera Theatre is profoundly grateful to the donors whose generosity supported an unforgettable 50th anniversary celebration. All funds raised will support accessible arts experiences for all ages, living wages for artists in our community, and awe-inspiring performances that bring acclaim to St. Louis.

PRESENTING SPONSORS Noémi K. Neidorff

UNDERWRITERS

GUARANTORS

DIRECTORS Thriess & Lynn Britton Kevin Counihan & Maryanne Hertel

Jim Berges & Elizabeth Mannen Berges

Gina & Lee Hoagland

Cynthia J. Brinkley SUSTAINERS Robert & Jane Clark

Barry Kirk & Andrew Martin

Phoebe & Spencer Burke

John & Christy Nickel

Penny Pennington & Mike Fidler

Kim & Tim Eberlein

Lori & Ted Samuels

Lelia & David Farr

Dr. Jeanne & Rex Sinquefield

Mr. Joseph Shepard & The Honorable Claire McCaskill Robin & Tim Wentworth BENEFACTORS Crawford Taylor Foundation

SPONSORS Dr. James Hinrichs & Mary Schoolman David & Babette Meiners

Karen & Mont Levy

Tom & Ulrike Schlafly

Stephen Trampe & Jenny Gupta

Dr. David Sewall & Mr. Jeff Kapfer

Roma B. Wittcoff

Ann McFarland Sullins

Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Langsam PRODUCERS Lee & Alexandra Benham Sara Fabick Robert & Jane Feibel Alison & John Ferring Jeffrey & Lotta Fox Edes P. Gilbert Carolyn Henges Brian & Liz Mischel Martha & Bob Scharff Annemarie & Mark Schumacher Mary Susman & Tom Herm Franklin F. Wallis

Special thanks to the following individuals and organizations for making this event possible: Jack Rushen

Steve Ryan

List complete as of April 22, 2025. We regret the omission of anyone who contributed after this deadline.

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C R E SC E N D O CI R C LE Members of the Crescendo Circle help secure Opera Theatre’s commitment to artistic excellence, innovative programming, and fiscal stability by making provisions for OTSL in their estate plans. Thanks to their support, the quality you experience today will be enjoyed by future generations of operagoers.

By informing us of your planned gift, you will be included as a member of this important group of friends. To learn more about planned gift opportunities, please contact Linda Schulte, Director of Development & Campaign Strategy, at (314) 963-4227 or lschulte@opera-stl.org. All inquiries are strictly confidential.

WIT H U T M OS T G R ATIT U D E , O P ER A T H E AT R E AC K N OW L ED G E S T H E M EM B ER S O F T H E C R E S C EN D O C I RC L E Anonymous Donors (4)

Mr. & Mrs. Arnold Hershman

Dr. Robert Packman 

Susan Ahl

Jane House

Stanley Ransom

Dr. Martin Bell

Jeannette R. Huey

Dr. Mary Anne Rudloff

Amy Kaiser

Joy Ryan

Robert A. Bilzing Mrs. Laurance L. Browning, Jr.



Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Scharff, Jr.

Pamela Buell

Gene Kornblum 

Sondra Schlesinger

Phoebe & Spencer Burke

Gerald M. Kowarsky

Mr.  & Mrs. Arthur Seltzer

Carolyn Kehlor Carr

Michael Kramer

Mrs. Donald J. Sher

George B. Kyle

Dr. Monica Minkoff Siegfried

Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Langsam

Kenneth  & Marjorie Smith

Mrs. James Corrigan

Dianne Lazaroff 

Laurie K. Smith & Gerald L. Shaikun

Joseph E. Corrigan

Sally Gene Lefler 

Mrs. James P. Stearns

Irene Cortinovis

John Frank Lesser

Bill & Karen Stebelski

Bill Dolan & Suzanne Bromschwig Dolan

J. David & Lucy S. Levy

Maxine Stone

Barry Arthur Litwin

Pamela S. Stuerke

Ann Faget

Charles MacKay

Mary Susman & Tom Herm

Alan R. Fiddleman

Helen McCallie

Isolde Thalmann

Ann M. Fusz

Diane McCullough

Dr. Patrick R. Thomas

William D. Merwin 

Stephen Trampe & Jenny Gupta

Earl Charvet Salvatore & Dagnija Comado 



Ellen M. Fusz Richard Gaddes

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Alfred Korn





Erie Mills & Tom Rescigno

Franklin F. Wallis

David R. Ganz

Liz Mischel

Phoebe Dent Weil

Rabbi Dr. Jay & Erika  Goldburg

Robert & Carla Myerson

Sharon & Elliot Zucker

Joan Goodson 

Dr. & Mrs. Matthew Newman

Richard & Susan Hancey

Timothy & Kara Graziano O’Leary

Shirley A. Heiman

Peggy Otto

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

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 In Memoriam

Led by Crystal Allen Dallas and Marcela Manjarrez, the Intermezzo Society is dedicated to supporting and celebrating new voices in opera. Members discover new artists, attend social events, and enjoy behindthe-scenes access — all while making new connections throughout the St. Louis community.

Top (L to R): Bass-baritone Phillip Lopez, mezzo-soprano Gabriela Linares, and soprano Laura Santamaria raise a glass at the Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration.

Left (L to R): Intermezzo Society CoChairs Crystal Allen Dallas and Marcela Manjarrez with General Director Andrew Jorgensen at the Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration.

Photos © Macy White, 2024

Membership starts at $600 ($50 per month) and includes complimentary tickets to four events throughout the year: a Winter Brunch in January, A Toast to Opera in March, Intermezzo Society Night at the Opera in June, and a Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration in the fall.

Membership is also open to any current donor of Opera Theatre who has given $600 or more in the past year. Intermezzo Society membership may impact the tax-deductibility of your gift. For more information or to sign up, please contact Tori Rezek, Deputy Director of Development, Institutional Giving and Events, at (314) 963-4223 or trezek@opera-stl.org.

CO - C H A I R S Crystal Allen Dallas

Marcela Manjarrez

M EM B ER S Drs. Jennifer & Robert Arch

Sara Fabick

Kellie J. Mandry

Pam Belloli & Dave Shimek

Gerard Frankenfeld

Kimberly R. McAllister

Sam C. Bertolet & Helen Ziercher

Casey Gardonio-Foat

Diane McCullough

Ashley Budde-Taylor & Dr. Matthew Taylor

Barbara Gervais

Brenda K. Melson

Leslie S. Gewin

Tisha & Ahmeed Micko

Amy & Amrit Gill

Liz & Brian Mischel

David & Angie Hagee

Michelle Myers

Miran & David Halen

Dianne C. Nichols

Steven Harpole

Dr. Gwendolyn D. Packnett & Mr. John Moten, Jr.

Brandy Burkhalter Paul Cambridge & Amanda Trudell Cambridge Laura & William Courtney

Margaret & Martin Israel

Patrick Dallas

Mr. & Mrs. David Kowach

Lynne Puetz

Michael & Susan Darcy

Xiuli Ren

Diane Dark

Benjamin Kozower & Nikki Fedoravicius

Allison W. Roberts

Connie Emge

Laura & Anthony Lancia

Anne Marie Ruhlin

Mary Karen Engel & Mark Engel

Mark & Ginny Lawson

Mrs. Edward L. Salmon, Jr.

Anh Le & Ryan Kulage

Jane & Chuck Ettelson

Laurie & Sean Lock

Alan J. Savada & Will Stevenson

Annemarie & Matt Schumacher Janice & Stephen Seele Linda Seibert Dr. Amber Simpson & Kenneth Simpson Mary Ann & Andrew Srenco Bill & Karen Stebelski J. Kennard Streett Alicia Underwood Rowena B. Van Dyke Mei Chen Welland Gerald Wilemski Bree Yard George Yeh

This list includes membership as of February 3, 2025. We look forward to acknowledging new members who joined after that date on next season’s Intermezzo list.

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November 7-23, 2025 • US PREMIERE

AN ORCHARD FOR CHEKHOV

By Brazilian playwright Pedro Brício, translated by Steven K. Smith

January 23 - February 8, 2026 TBA April 17 - May 3, 2026

THE END OF THE WORLD CABARET Adapted from Austrian playwright Jura Soyfer’s 1936 futuristic satire All plays at the Marcelle Theater, 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive

P H O T O B Y I RY N A O L A R

20252026

Brace yourself for the rapids ahead...

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N ATI O N A L PATR O N S CO U N CI L Opera Theatre’s National Patrons Council (NPC) is a group of donors from around the country whose involvement directly supports OTSL’s mission. Their input allows Opera Theatre to further enhance artistic quality, raise the company’s national profile, and advance outstanding young artists.

Through NPC, patrons who may not have a direct connection to St. Louis can find a dedicated community of opera fans that share in their enjoyment of Opera Theatre’s year-round programming.

National Patrons Council members enjoy special benefits throughout the year, including a dedicated weekend of unique events during the Festival Season, involvement in strategic planning questions, and company updates from Opera Theatre’s leadership.

Membership is available with an annual gift of $2,500.

Additional levels of support are available at $5,000 (NPC Gold Circle) and $7,500 (NPC Platinum Circle).

Members of Opera Theatre’s NPC come from around the nation, and gather annually in St. Louis.

We are always interested in growing our community of National Patrons Council members. If you would like to learn more about this program, please contact Linda Schulte, Director of Development & Campaign Strategy, at (314) 963-4227 or lschulte@opera-stl.org.

Opera Theatre is deeply grateful for the support of the following National Patrons Council, NPC Gold Circle, and NPC Platinum Circle members.

CO - C H A I R S Jamie Craft Washington, D.C.

Ellen von Seggern Richter Maryland

CO U N C I L M EM B ER S Robert C. Anderson California

Marilyn Meeker Michigan

Eve Simon Nebraska

Jamie Craft Washington, D.C.

Robert & Carla Myerson Pennsylvania

Shoshana Tancer Arizona

Bill Dolan & Suzanne Bromschwig Dolan Oregon

Jan Paul Richter & Ellen von Seggern Richter Maryland

Drs. Craig & Terri Weldon Missouri

Ann Faget Texas

Marsha & William C. Rusnack California

John Forestner & Brad Alford Texas

Alan Jay Savada & Will Stevenson Washington, D.C.

Lance & Marcy Fortnow Illinois

Sondra Schlesinger California

Diane & Paul Jacobson Minnesota

Kathy Sears Washington, D.C.

Ellen & Bill Yeckley New York Susan Staley Young California Sharon & Elliot Zucker Missouri

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O P E R A TH E ATR E O F SAI NT LO U I S G U I LD Thank you to all of our 2025 volunteers!

Gwen Adams Susan Adams Lenessa Age Anna Ahrens Gabe Angieri Darwin Aquino Lekha Bala Gailya Barker John Barker Betsy Barnes-Wilson Victor Barrios Tania Beasley-Jolly Martin Bell Pamela Belloli Elisa Bender James Berges Laura Bezona Kekoa Blakemore Lynn Bodicky Ashley Bolden Eugenie Bonte Celia Bouchard Allison Bowers Geoff Bowers Jane Brader Kimmy Brauer Stephen Brauer Marilyn Brickson Cindy Brinkley Be.Be Brown Ashley Budde-Taylor Rebecca Buffington Phoebe Burke Sara Burke Spencer Burke Tim Burnham Amanda Cambridge Paul Cambridge Carol Carlson Anne Carman Pat Church Jane Clark Beverly Clarkson Patricia Codden Lyna Colombo Janet Congdon Laura Cooper Kevin Corpuz Ann Corrigan Richard Cote Michaeleen Cradock Jamison Craft Karen Crebs Jill Cumming Crystal Dallas Patrick Dallas Jim Daues Adrienne Davis 154

Philip Deitch Michelle DeMumbrane Lisette Dennis Vickie Denson Mary Desloge Ann Divine Arnold Donald Noreen D’Souza Sally Eaton Kim Eberlein Timothy Eberlein Fay Eckert Holly Eggert Connie Emge Sue Engelhardt Cecily Erker Helen Etling Sara Fabick Caroline Fan David Farr Lelia Farr Anthony Fathman Melanie Fathman Jane Feibel Robert Feibel Alan Fiddleman Dorothy Firestone Ann Fischer Vincent Flewellen Gerard Frankenfeld Mary Franzen Barbara Fraser Marie Furrer Ann Fusz Ellen Fusz Casey Gardonio-Foat Anne Gerst Ann Getz Randy Getz Edes Gilbert Mary Gordon Sol Guber Delores Guyton Gail Heyne Hafer Rik Hafer Angie Hagee David Hagee Susie Hahn Lannis Hall Sally Hanson C.J. Harlan Magan Harms Patricia Heffern Robert Heider Shirley Heiman John Herget IV Tom Herm

OPERA THEATRE

Michael Herron Arnold Hershman Myrna Hershman Victoria Herwig Britny Hill Gina Hoagland Virginia Hoeper Neil Hoffsten Mark Holly Peggy Holly Ken Holmes Diane Holt Maggie Holtman Ann Holton Jim Holton Naretha Hopson Jane House Andrew Hoyne Janet Hoyne Leigh Anne Huckaby Jeannette Huey Laura Huff Marilyn Humiston Heather Hunt-Ruddy Phyllis Hyken Chakita Jackson Glenn Jackson Ingeborg Jackson Dorothy JacksonDurity Franklin Jacobs Laura Jarasek Bettie Johnson James Johnson Jordan Jones Jessica Kaiser Richard Kammenzind Patrice Kaplan Heather Kartal Mark Kent Ruth Kim Barry Kirk Donn Kleinschmidt Margie Knapp Steve Knapp Joanne Kohn Kenneth Kranzberg James Krekeler Pamela Krekeler Shirley Kronemer Anthony Lancia Joyce LaFontain Douglas Lane Teresa Lane William Lawler Grace Lee Sally Lefler John Lesser

J. David Levy Karen Levy Mont Levy Cora Lippi Charles MacKay Christi Maginn Betsy Mahoney Pamela Mahoney Erin Mahony Simon Kellie Mandry Marcela Manjarrez Susan Markovich Nancy Marron Andrew Martin Roz Marx Helen McCallie Diane McCullough David Meiners Marilyn Meeker Susan Mello Ezra Meyer Karen Miller Kenny Miller Diona Mills Carl Mitchell Eliza Mitchell Ursula Moeller Jessica Moore Carol Moppins Harry Moppins Jim Morrell Kimberly Morton Sheryl Moschner Judy Muckerman Vimal Nair Noémi K. Neidorff Rose Marie Nester Liah Neudecker Ingrid Neuefeind Linda Nguyen James Nicholson Amanda Niehaus Ryan Niehaus Melany Nitzsche Tammy O’Donnell Carol O’Keefe Kristen O’Keefe Regis O’Keefe Kaitlin Page Gloria Park Sue Paster Douglas Pedersen June Pellarin Kathy Petersen Jeanitta Perkins Georgia Pettus Chuck Phillips Barbara Piper Green

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Colleen Potratz Nartana Premachandra Jessica Price Mabel Purkerson Kevin Raines Meryl Raines Basim Raza Win Reed John Rhea Patricia Rice-Hellmuth Ellen Richter Jan Paul Richter Anthony Riley Christina Rios Allison Roberts Brenda Rodi Charles Rodi John Rorris Robert Ruddy Ann Marie Ruhlin John Russell Kéelin Russell Louisa Russell Jo-Ellyn Ryall Sharon Ryan Joseph Samocha Lori Samuels Chris Saulter Mark Scharff Robert Scharff Christine Scherzinger Christopher Schmid Damaris Schmitt Harriet Scholle Mary Schoolman Ellie Scott Janice Seele Stephen Seele Linda Seibert Jason Sellers David Sewall Charles Shannon Joseph Shepard Sudie Shinkle Anne Shultz James Shumate Jane Shumate Anna Simms Cary Simowitz Amber Simpson Rex Sinquefield Kathleen Sitzer Marjorie Smith Gene Spector Jamieson Spencer Janet Spencer

Linda Stark Kirk Stein Caitlin Stephen Deanna Stevenson David Steward Thelma Steward Raymond Stranghoener Donald Suggs Ann Sullins Cay Sullivan Mary Susman Peggy Symes Pamela Tapsell Maria Taxman Phillip Taxman Elise Tegtmeyer Jacqueline Thompson Mark Throdahl Sudie Throdahl Alonzo Townsend Stephen Trampe Eileen Traughber Emily Underwood Rowena Van Dyke Linda Vandivort Alexandria Vanover Nancy Wagoner Robert Wagoner Franklin Wallis Robert Waugh Phoebe Weil Michael Weisbrod Keith Welsh Robin Wentworth Tim Wentworth Sara Wheeler Beverly Whittington Kay Whittington Cathie Wille Gerald Wille Anne Williams Anne L. Williams Diane Wilson Tina Wisdom Roma Wittcoff Alan Witte Philip Woodmore Roslyn Wylie Rick Yakimo George Yeh Jessie Youngblood Nancy Zander Elliot Zucker Sharon Zucker

O P E R A TH E ATR E O F SAI NT LO U I S G U I LD The volunteers of the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Guild provide vital support for OTSL’s Festival Season, community and education programs, special events, and off-season activities.

Guild volunteers coordinate transportation, housing, and welcome bags for our artists, publish bi-annual newsletters, manage the lobby boutique, advocate for the arts to legislators, give talks to schools and adult education groups, support dress rehearsals and performances, publish opera libretti and commentary, help staff community events, offer administrative support in the main offices, and much more.

The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Guild is the envy of opera companies around the world. The Guild was formed in 1976 under the name of “Opera Buffs” with Ed Etheredge and Jinny Browning serving as Presidents. In 1978, the “Buffs” became the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Guild, and in 1982, it took on its current structure featuring an Executive Committee and Vice Presidents. The Guild has had more than 30 committees over the years, each serving the company in unique ways. Today, the Guild has over 300 members serving across 22 committees.

Since the company’s founding, Opera Theatre has been able to rely on the unwavering support, dedication, and passion of the Guild. Our heartfelt thanks to each volunteer.

G U I L D E X EC U TIV E CO M M IT T EE PRESIDENT Janice Seele

TREASURER Pat Codden

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT/ NOMINATING CHAIR Linda Seibert

ADVISORS Gailya Barker Sara Fabick Ann Fusz Ellen Fusz Janet Hoyne Mary Susman Peggy Walter Symes Bob Wagoner

SECRETARY Elliot Zucker

VICE PRESIDENT OF ARTISTIC SUPPORT Gerry Frankenfeld VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Harriet Scholle VICE PRESIDENT OF MEMBERSHIP Gloria Park

CO M M IT T EE C H A I R S ADVOCACY Diane McCullough ARTISTS-IN-TRAINING Mark Kent Beverly Whittington BOUTIQUE Gerry Frankenfeld Susie Hahn CONCIERGE Margie Knapp Harry Moppins

GREETERS Gail Hafer Mark Scharff

MET AUDITIONS Connie Emge Gerry Frankenfeld

GUILD EVENTS Gloria Park

NEWSLETTER Jane Brader Deanna Stevenson

GUILD RECRUITMENT Sara Fabick GUILD RELATIONS Deanna Stevenson HISTORIANS Pat Codden Casey Gardonio-Foat

DOCENTS Rose Nester Kathleen Sitzer DRESS REHEARSAL REFRESHMENTS Tammy O’Donnell DRESSERS, SUPERS, & LIGHTWALKERS Ann Fusz Ellen Fusz

HOUSING Janice Seele LIBRETTI Ellen Richter Jan Richter George Yeh

OFFICE SUPPORT Sara Fabick SPOTLIGHT ON OPERA Genie Bonte Jan Congdon TEMPOS Connie Emge TRANSPORTATION Peggy Holly Steve Seele VOLUNTEER RECORDS Steve Knapp

MARKETING Kay Whittington

Learn more about volunteering at OTSL by visiting ExperienceOpera.org/Volunteer or contact Tyler McKenzie, Manager of Volunteer Engagement, at (314) 963-4225 or tmckenzie@opera-stl.org.

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© Jessica Flanigan

YO U N G F R I E N DS S TE E R I N G CO M M IT TE E Opera Theatre’s Young Friends Steering Committee was formed in 2009 to build interest, appreciation, and passion for opera by engaging an exciting new generation of opera-goers for the 21st century.

The Steering Committee is an enthusiastic group of young professionals who support Opera Theatre in a variety of ways.

Feedback from the group has helped to shape not just the group’s signature in-season Young Friends events, but many other past and current OTSL programs, from Opera Tastings to Kids’ Club to Pride Night. By serving as ambassadors for OTSL among their friends and professional networks, the Steering Committee is instrumental in helping the company reach new audiences year-round.

To learn about this year’s in-season Young Friends events, see page 23.

YO U N G FR I EN DS S T EER I N G CO M M IT T EE CHAIR

VICE-CHAIRS

Ashley Budde

Ryan Niehaus, Recruitment Casey Gardonio-Foat, Season Events Christina Rios, Social Activities

COMMITTEE Ashley Bolden Rebecca Buffington Kevin Corpuz Patrick Dallas Diona Daniels John Herget Joyce LaFontain

Teresa Lane Kenny Miller Amanda Niehaus Kaitlin Page Jeanitta Perkins Basim Raza Anthony Riley

Ellie Scott Cary Simowitz Alexandria Vanover Sara Wheeler Jessie Youngblood

The Young Friends Program is made possible in part thanks to media sponsor St. Louis Magazine and cocktails sponsor Spirits of St. Louis Distillery.

If you are interested in joining the Young Friends Steering Committee, please contact Anh Le, Director of Marketing & Public Relations, at (314) 963-4294 or ale@opera-stl.org.

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stldancetheatre.org Life in Step 158

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CO M M U N IT Y E N GAG E M E NT & I N CLU S IO N CO U N CI L Opera Theatre’s Community Engagement & Inclusion Council first began in 2011 as the “Engagement & Inclusion Task Force,” an informal network of supporters and volunteers who came together to promote interfaith dialogue around the staging of John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer. In the fall of 2012, the group formalized its commitment to helping Opera Theatre grow an audience that more fully reflects the rich diversity of the St. Louis region and in 2022, adopted the current name to make clear its enduring role in advising Opera Theatre’s community work.

The Council is committed to creating stronger and more authentic relationships between OTSL and local collaborators across the St. Louis region. Members come from a diverse cross-section of our community and are dedicated to a flexible and respectful approach to community engagement. The Community Engagement & Inclusion Council is grounded in a belief that by connecting people through a shared experience, and by embracing active participation from diverse individuals and groups, we can create opportunities for meaningful partnerships that will ultimately strengthen our region.

MEMBERS OF THE 2024–2025 COMM U NIT Y ENGAGEMENT & INCLUSION COU NCIL Elisa Bender Sara Burke Philip Deitch Lisette Dennis Vickie M. Denson Kim Eberlein

Caroline Fan Vincent Flewellen Dr. C.J. Harlan Magan Harms Naretha Hopson Ruth Kim

Linda Nguyen Nartana Premachandra Maria Taxman Emily Underwood

If you are interested in becoming involved with this group, please contact Samantha Ginoplos, Community Partnership Coordinator, at sginoplos@opera-stl.org.

OVER THE YE ARS , THE GROU P HAS HELPED PL AN A WIDE R ANGE OF EVENTS Residencies with acclaimed artists such as authors Charles Blow and Salman Rushdie; composers Terence Blanchard, Ricky Ian Gordon, Huang Ruo, and Damien Sneed; librettists David Henry Hwang, Rajiv Joseph, Kasi Lemmons, and Royce Vavrek; singers Julia Bullock, Jennifer Johnson Cano, and Kendall Gladen; and director/designer Isaac Mizrahi The “Belonging in Opera” series, a multi-year exploration of race and opera, created with Washington University’s Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Equity and the Department of Music Artist-curated performances such as “Artwork & Arias” in collaboration with the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM)

The LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce series of Pride events celebrating the world premiere of Harvey Milk in 2022.

Collaborations with local partners including Arts & Faith St. Louis, the Diversity Awareness Partnership, Harris-Stowe State University, Jazz St. Louis, the Jewish Community Center, John Burroughs School, The Links Incorporated, Missouri History Museum, the OCA, the Saint Louis Club, the St. Louis Press Club, St. Louis Public Radio, Saint Louis University, Urban League Young Professionals, and Wells Fargo Advisors And many more!

To learn more about other in-season community events, please see pages 22-26.

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LA BOHÈME Giacomo Puccini VANESSA Samuel Barber LA FINTA GIARDINIERA Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

ALBERT HERRING Benjamin Britten

THE SECRET OF SUZANNE Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari

PAUL BUNYAN Benjamin Britten

OBERON Carl Maria von Weber (Graham edition)

‘77 FESTIVAL SEASON

AN ACTOR’S REVENGE Minoru Miki

OFF-SEASON

COSÌ FAN TUTTE Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

OFF-SEASON

THE OLD MAID AND THE THIEF Gian Carlo Menotti

Regional touring production

TRIAL BY JURY Sir Arthur Sullivan

H.M.S. PINAFORE Sir Arthur Sullivan

DIE FLEDERMAUS Johann Strauss II

FOREVER FIGARO Gioachino Rossini (compiled by Gimi Beni)

American Theatre

‘82 FESTIVAL SEASON THE ELIXIR OF LOVE Gaetano Donizetti COSÌ FAN TUTTE Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart MADDELENA Sergei Prokofiev

1985

LA BOHÈME Giacomo Puccini

LA VERBENA DE LA PALOMA Tomás Bretón

OFF-SEASON MADAME BUTTERFLY Giacomo Puccini

‘85 FESTIVAL SEASON THE BARBER OF SEVILLE Gioachino Rossini

UNDER THE DOUBLE MOON Anthony Davis

THE WOODLANDERS Stephen Paulus

OFF-SEASON

National touring production

THE SPANISH HOUR Maurice Ravel

‘86 FESTIVAL SEASON

THE BEGGAR’S OPERA John Gay

THE VILLAGE SINGER Stephen Paulus

1986

‘79 FESTIVAL SEASON

Edison Theatre

THE THREE PINTOS Carl Maria von Weber (Mahler edition)

THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE Sir Arthur Sullivan

FALSTAFF Giuseppe Verdi

1983

THE MAGIC FLUTE Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

‘83 FESTIVAL SEASON

THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS Kurt Weill THE TURN OF THE SCREW Benjamin Britten

LA TRAVIATA Giuseppe Verdi

BEATRICE AND BENEDICT Hector Berlioz

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL FENNIMORE AND GERDA Frederick Delius THE FACE ON THE BARROOM FLOOR Henry Mollicone THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE Stephen Paulus SLOW DUSK Carlisle Floyd

THE BOOR Dominick Argento Regional touring production

THE FACE ON THE BARROOM FLOOR Henry Mollicone Regional touring production

World Premiere American Premiere

THE GONDOLIERS Sir Arthur Sullivan Edison Theatre

Regional touring production

New Performing Edition Young Person’s Opera Season dates align with Opera Theatre’s fiscal year (October 1 – September 30).

OPERA THEATRE

NOAH’S FLOOD Benjamin Britten St. Alphonus Rock Church

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE Giachino Rossini Regional touring production

Regional touring production

Christ Church Cathedral

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‘87 FESTIVAL SEASON CARMEN Georges Bizet ALCINA George Frideric Handel CINDERELLA Gioachino Rossini BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Stephen Oliver OFF-SEASON THE PRODIGAL SON Benjamin Britten Christ Church Cathedral

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

OFF-SEASON

THE ISLE OF TULIPATAN Jacques Offenbach CURLEW RIVER Benjamin Britten

PETER GRIMES Benjamin Britten

THE DEVIL AND KATE Antonín Dvo�ák

National touring production

LES MAMELLES DE TIRÉSIAS Francis Poulenc

‘90 FESTIVAL SEASON

THE DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT Gaetano Donizetti

THE BEGGAR’S OPERA John Gay

DON GIOVANNI Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

OFF-SEASON

OFF-SEASON

THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

OFF-SEASON

MARGOT LA ROUGE Frederick Delius

FACT OR FICTION Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek

THE TALES OF HOFFMANN Jacques Offenbach

Regional touring production

THE JOURNEY TO RHEIMS Gioachino Rossini

Edison Theatre

‘80 FESTIVAL SEASON

DIE FLEDERMAUS Johann Strauss II

A DEATH IN THE FAMILY William Mayer

The Apple Shed

GIANNI SCHICCHI Giacomo Puccini

LACLEDE’S LANDING James Meyer Regional touring production

THE MIKADO Sir Arthur Sullivan

Regional touring production

Regional touring production

OFF-SEASON

THE BEGGAR’S OPERA John Gay

The Muny

COX & BOX Sir Arthur Sullivan

WERTHER Jules Massenet

IDOMENEO Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

OFF-SEASON

ARIADNE ON NAXOS Richard Strauss

‘89 FESTIVAL SEASON THE MERRY WIDOW Franz Lehár

KING ARTHUR Henry Purcell (Graham edition)

THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE Stephen Paulus

Regional touring production

Regional touring production

JŌRURI Minoru Miki

DR. MIRACLE Georges Bizet

LA TRAVIATA Giuseppe Verdi

LOVE, DEATH AND HIGH NOTES Claude White

Regional touring production

Edison Theatre

‘78 FESTIVAL SEASON

Nissay Theatre, Tokyo

Regional touring production

1989

GIANNI SCHICCHI Giacomo Puccini

JŌRURI Minoru Miki

1990

THE NIGHT BELL Gaetano Donizetti

OFF-SEASON

1 9 91

PYGMALION Jean-Philippe Rameau

1 9 87

1 978

MADAME BUTTERFLY Giacomo Puccini (Brescia edition)

‘88 FESTIVAL SEASON

ORFEO AND EURIDICE Christoph Willibald Gluck

ALBERT HERRING Benjamin Britten

160

THE MAGIC FLUTE Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

FENNIMORE AND GERDA Frederick Delius

THE TREE OF CHASTITY Vicente Martín y Soler

1 979

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

‘84 FESTIVAL SEASON

THE MEDIUM Gian Carlo Menotti

COUNT ORY Gioachino Rossini

1980

RIGOLETTO Giuseppe Verdi

1988

THE IMPRESARIO Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

‘81 FESTIVAL SEASON

1984

DON PASQUALE Gaetano Donizetti

1 9 81

‘76 FESTIVAL SEASON

1982

1 977

1 976

O P E R A TH E ATR E O F SAI NT LO U I S R E P E R TO RY

‘91 FESTIVAL SEASON EUGENE ONEGIN Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky MITRIDATE, KING OF PONTUS Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart LA BOHÈME Ruggero Leoncavallo ARIADNE ON NAXOS Richard Strauss OFF-SEASON CHIP AND HIS DOG Gian Carlo Menotti Regional touring production

THE MIDNIGHT ANGEL David Carlson

KATYA KABANOVA Leoš Janáček

BILLY BUDD Benjamin Britten (original version)

OFF-SEASON

OFF-SEASON

JOSHUA’S BOOTS Adolphus Hailstork

CANDIDE Leonard Bernstein (final edition)

1999

1994

‘94 FESTIVAL SEASON

THE MERCHANT AND THE PAUPER Paul Schoenfield

TOSCA Giacomo Puccini

THE WOMAN AT OTOWI CROSSING Stephen Paulus OFF-SEASON

National touring production

THUNDER OF HORSES Cary John Franklin

‘00 FESTIVAL SEASON TREEMONISHA Scott Joplin LA TRAVIATA Giuseppe Verdi

THE TALE OF GENJI Minoru Miki

THE VERY LAST GREEN THING Cary John Franklin

OFF-SEASON

‘96 FESTIVAL SEASON

THE JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS COUNTY Lukas Foss

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE Gioachino Rossini

LA CLEMENZA DI TITO Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA Benjamin Britten OFF-SEASON THUNDER OF HORSES Cary John Franklin Webster University

Missouri History Museum

20 01

1996

Regional touring production

‘01 FESTIVAL SEASON LA BOHÈME Giacomo Puccini

LA BOHÈME Giacomo Puccini SALOME Richard Strauss

20 07

OFF-SEASON BRUNDIBÁR Hans Krása Touhill Performing Arts Center

‘10 FESTIVAL SEASON THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart EUGENE ONEGIN Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC Stephen Sondheim

‘05 FESTIVAL SEASON RIGOLETTO Giuseppe Verdi

THE GOLDEN TICKET Peter Ash

ROMEO AND JULIET Charles Gounod

‘11 FESTIVAL SEASON

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry

RADAMISTO George Frideric Handel

Regional touring production

LA RONDINE Giacomo Puccini (third edition)

DREAM OF THE PACIFIC Stephen Mager

JOSHUA’S BOOTS Adolphus Hailstork

20 0 0

ARMIDA Franz Joseph Haydn

NIXON IN CHINA John Adams

‘09 FESTIVAL SEASON

THE GHOSTS OF VERSAILLES John Corigliano

CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA Pietro Mascagni

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE Giachino Rossini

MADAME BUTTERFLY Giacomo Puccini

IL RE PASTORE Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

CARMEN Georges Bizet

OFF-SEASON

THE TALES OF HOFFMANN Jacques Offenbach

TROILUS AND CRESSIDA ★ William Walton

‘04 FESTIVAL SEASON

THE SECRET MARRIAGE Domenico Cimarosa

‘08 FESTIVAL SEASON

UNA COSA RARA Vicente Martín y Soler

SISTER ANGELICA Giacomo Puccini

Regional touring production

LA BELLE HÉLÈNE Jacques Offenbach

THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

THAΙS Jules Massenet

OTHELLO Giuseppe Verdi

IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS Christoph Willibald Gluck

Saint Louis Art Museum

TOSCA Giacomo Puccini

‘99 FESTIVAL SEASON THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

THE ENCHANTMENT OF DREAMS Cary John Franklin

‘03 FESTIVAL SEASON

FLIGHT Jonathan Dove

THE PEARL FISHERS Georges Bizet

‘95 FESTIVAL SEASON

Regional touring production

COCA

FALSTAFF Giuseppe Verdi

BLACK RIVER Conrad Susa

LA BOHÈME Giacomo Puccini

LA TRAVIATA Giuseppe Verdi

OFF-SEASON

20 0 8

ARIANNA Alexander Goehr

Regional touring production

1 9 95

DON PASQUALE Gaetano Donizetti

DON GIOVANNI Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

THE BLACK SPIDER Judith Weir

OFF-SEASON

20 03

CINDERELLA Jules Massenet

FAUST Charles Gounod

2004

‘93 FESTIVAL SEASON

LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR Gaetano Donizetti

HAMLET Ambroise Thomas

‘98 FESTIVAL SEASON

THE MIKADO Sir Arthur Sullivan

I PURITANI Vincenzo Bellini

THE MAGIC FLUTE Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

LOSS OF EDEN Cary John Franklin

COCA

1998

1 9 93

Regional touring production

‘02 FESTIVAL SEASON

2 0 09

BRUNDIBÁR Hans Krása

‘07 FESTIVAL SEASON

ANNA KARENINA David Carlson

Nissay Theatre, Tokyo

201 0

OFF-SEASON

THE TALE OF GENJI Minoru Miki

GLORIANA Benjamin Britten

‘06 FESTIVAL SEASON THE BARBER OF SEVILLE Gioachino Rossini

2011

THE TALE OF ORPHEUS Claudio Monteverdi

OFF-SEASON THE VERY LAST GREEN THING Cary John Franklin

COSÌ FAN TUTTE Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart TRANSFORMATIONS Conrad Susa

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Benjamin Britten

Missouri History Museum

20 02

THE VANISHING BRIDEGROOM Judith Weir

OFF-SEASON THUNDER OF HORSES Cary John Franklin

MADAME BUTTERFLY Giacomo Puccini

20 05

THE TURK IN ITALY Gioachino Rossini

‘97 FESTIVAL SEASON

20 0 6

MADAME BUTTERFLY Giacomo Puccini

1 9 97

1 9 92

‘92 FESTIVAL SEASON

DON GIOVANNI Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart THE DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT Gaetano Donizetti PELLÉAS AND MÉLISANDE Claude Debussy

HANSEL AND GRETEL Engelbert Humperdinck

THE DEATH OF KLINGHOFFER John Adams

JANE EYRE Michael Berkeley

OFF-SEASON

STREET SCENE Kurt Weill

JOSHUA’S BOOTS Adolphus Hailstork Touhill Performing Arts Center

THE GRAND DUCHESS OF GEROLSTEIN Jacques Offenbach MISS HAVISHAM’S FIRE Dominick Argento HIPPOLYTUS AND ARICIA Jean-Philippe Rameau

EXPERIENCEOPER A.ORG

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HIGHWAY 1, U.S.A. William Grant Still

‘24 FESTIVAL SEASON THE BARBER OF SEVILLE Gioachino Rossini LA BOHÈME Giacomo Puccini JULIUS CAESAR George Frideric Handel

ALICE IN WONDERLAND Unsuk Chin

SHALIMAR THE CLOWN Jack Perla

GALILEO GALILEI Philip Glass

‘13 FESTIVAL SEASON

‘17 FESTIVAL SEASON

NEW WORKS, BOLD VOICES LAB ON THE EDGE Laura Karpman

LA CLEMENZA DI TITO Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

“27” Ricky Ian Gordon DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES Francis Poulenc

‘15 FESTIVAL SEASON

RICHARD THE LIONHEART George Frideric Handel EMMELINE Tobias Picker

OPERA THEATRE

2020

LA RONDINE Giacomo Puccini

AWAKENINGS Tobias Picker

REGINA Marc Blitzstein

HARVEY MILK ★ Stewart Wallace

DON PASQUALE Gaetano Donizetti

AN AMERICAN SOLDIER Huang Ruo

‘23 FESTIVAL SEASON

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Benjamin Britten

‘19 FESTIVAL SEASON

TREEMONISHA ★ Scott Joplin (Damien Sneed edition) TOSCA Giacomo Puccini

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

COSÌ FAN TUTTE Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

RIGOLETTO Giuseppe Verdi

SUSANNAH Carlisle Floyd

THE CORONATION OF POPPEA Claudio Monteverdi

OFF-SEASON

FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES Terence Blanchard

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE Gioachino Rossini

DIE FLEDERMAUS Johann Strauss II

LA TRAVIATA Giuseppe Verdi

ORFEO AND EURIDICE Christoph Willibald Gluck

201 9

THE ELIXIR OF LOVE Gaetano Donizetti

‘18 FESTIVAL SEASON

THE MAGIC FLUTE Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

202 5

CHAMPION Terence Blanchard

THE MAGIC FLUTE Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

‘25 FESTIVAL SEASON

THE TONGUE & THE LASH Damien Sneed

THE TRIAL Philip Glass

‘14 FESTIVAL SEASON

CARMEN Georges Bizet

THE GRAPES OF WRATH ★ Ricky Ian Gordon

PAGLIACCI Ruggero Leoncavallo

Touhill Performing Arts Center

‘22 FESTIVAL SEASON

MOON TEA Steven Mackey

202 2

IL TABARRO Giacomo Puccini

OFF-SEASON NEW WORKS COLLECTIVE UNBROKEN Ronald Maurice MECHANISMS J.E. Hernández ON MY MIND Jasmine Arielle Barnes

MADAME BUTTERFLY Giacomo Puccini

202 3

THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE Sir Arthur Sullivan

2017

LA VOIX HUMAINE Francis Poulenc

THE VERY LAST GREEN THING Cary John Franklin

2014

GIANNI SCHICCHI Giacomo Puccini

ARIADNE ON NAXOS Richard Strauss

OFF-SEASON

2015

MACBETH Giuseppe Verdi

‘21 FESTIVAL SEASON

COSÌ FAN TUTTE Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

THE KISS Bedřich Smetana

162

LA BOHÈME Giacomo Puccini

2024

SWEENEY TODD Stephen Sondheim

‘16 FESTIVAL SEASON

2021

CARMEN Georges Bizet

201 6

‘12 FESTIVAL SEASON

201 8

2013

2012

Pictured (L to R): Ardeen Pierre as Annie Turnbo Malone and Flora Hawk as Dayo in Cook Shack, an inspiring 20-minute opera from the New Works Collective.

Photo © Phillip Hamer, 2023

‘20 FESTIVAL SEASON Cancelled due to COVID-19

NEW WORKS COLLECTIVE COOK SHACK Del’Shawn Taylor SLANTED: AN AMERICAN ROCK OPERA Joe X. Jiang & Simon Tam MADISON LODGE Tre’von Griffith

THIS HOUSE Ricky Ian Gordon

OFF-SEASON NEW WORKS COLLECTIVE BLACK COFFEE Concert Black FAMILY STYLE Meilina Tsui KANDAKE Tim Amukele

World Premiere American Premiere New Performing Edition Young Person’s Opera Season dates align with Opera Theatre’s fiscal year (October 1 – September 30).

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TH A N K YO U TO O U R 2 02 5 P R O G R A M B O O K A DV E R TI S E R S This special program book for our 50th Anniversary Season is made possible through the generosity of our advertisers. We hope you will join us in using their services and let them know how you have enjoyed seeing their advertisements in print.

Thank you to our current advertisers that have supported the program book for ten years or more: Elleard Heffern Fine Jewelers (48) Webster University (48) IATSE Local #6 Stagehand Union (43) St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (40) The Muny (40) Ces & Judy’s Catering (39) Janet McAfee (39) The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (36) Saint Louis Art Museum (32) Gunther Salt Company (29) STAGES St. Louis (29) Wildflowers (24)

Regional Arts Commission (22) St. Louis Public Radio (22) Des Moines Metro Opera (20) The Saint Louis Chamber Chorus (20) Central City Opera (19) Union Avenue Opera (19) Cyrano’s (15) Siteman Cancer Center (14) St. Louis Magazine (14) Advertiser’s Printing Company (13) Chase Park Plaza (13) Marsh McLennan Agency (12)

A DV ERTI S ER I N D E X Advertiser’s Printing, 21 Arts & Faith St. Louis, 59 Assistance Home Care, 48 Bayer Fund Artists-in-Training Program, 20 Berges Family Foundation, 10 Castle Design, 48 Central City Opera, 66 Ces & Judy’s Catering, 38 Chamber Music Society of St. Louis, 98 Chase Park Plaza, 14 Clayco, 27 Cyrano’s Café, 98 The Davey Tree Expert Company, 98 Des Moines Metro Opera, 116 Elleard Heffern Fine Jewelers, 1 The Fabulous Fox, 30 Green Door Art Gallery, 120 Gunther Salt Company, 56 IATSE Local #6 Stagehand Union, 56 Janet McAfee Real Estate, 40 Jazz St. Louis, 66 Kirkwood Performing Arts Center, 76 Lewis Rice, back cover Link Auction Galleries, 76 Marsh McLennan Agency, 60 MindsEye Radio, 120 The Muny, 60 Nine PBS, 132

Opera Edwardsville, 3 Plancorp Wealth Management, 70 Regional Arts Commission, 24 The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, 2 Saint Louis Art Museum, 47 The Saint Louis Chamber Chorus, 59 Saint Louis Dance Theatre, 158 Sarasota Opera, 74 The Sheldon Concert Hall, 70 Siteman Cancer Center, 6 The St. Louis Children’s Choirs, 120 St. Louis Magazine, inside back cover St. Louis Public Radio, 148 St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, inside front cover St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Chorus, 52 STAGES St. Louis, 58 Stray Dog Theatre, 52 Trinity Griffin Events, 120 Union Avenue Opera, 156 Upstream Theater, 152 Washington University Voice & Airway Center, 36 Washington University Great Artists Series, 74 Webster University, 14 Wildflowers, 28 Wolfgram Law, 76 World Chess Hall of Fame, 44 World Wide Technology, 8

We are grateful to STL Programs for their outstanding efforts and dedication to the success of the 2025 Program Book.

N CC EE OO PP EE RR AA .. OO RR GG EE XX PP EE RR II EE N

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PROGRAM BOOK EDITORS Micaela Griffin Anh Le

O N TH E COV E R : TI É LE R E C H E ATE M This season’s program book features an original painting by St. Louis artist Tiélere Cheatem, commissioned by OTSL on the occasion of the 50th Festival Season.

Cheatem is a multifaceted artist and performer whose vibrant and emotionally charged artistry is showcased both on stage and in art galleries across the United States. Recent awards include the St. Louis Artists’ Guild’s Anne Metzger Memorial Biennial Exhibit Award (2023) and LOTTIES “Best Supporting Performer in a Comedy” Award (2023).

DESIGNER Kelly Glueck CONTRIBUTORS Sara Akerman Christopher Alden Daniela Candillari F. Paul Driscoll Kim Eberlein Nicole Ambos Freber Ruby Aiyo Gerber Ricky Ian Gordon Sheri Greenawald Micaela Griffin Andrew Jorgensen Anh Le Shawna Lucey George Manahan Tyler McKenzie Lynn Nottage Patricia Racette James Robinson Leonard Slatkin Kensho Watanabe

Learn more at tcheatemstudios.com.

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis looks forward to presenting more works by local artists in future program books.

T H E AT E R P O LI C I E S A N D I N FO R M ATI O N To ensure the enjoyment of our audience, and out of respect for our artists, Opera Theatre will not seat latecomers until there is a predetermined break in the opera. However, latecomers are invited to watch the performance via closed-circuit television in the lobby. Patrons who leave the auditorium during a performance will be allowed to return to their seats at predetermined breaks in the opera.

PRINTER Advertisers Printing The Fiftieth Anniversary Season Program Book © Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, 2025

GENERAL I N FO R M ATI O N If you would like to receive future communications from Opera Theatre, please leave your contact information with the Box Office, or sign up for our mailing list at ExperienceOpera.org.

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis 210 Hazel Ave. St. Louis, MO 63119

All patrons are welcome at Opera Theatre. Please notify the Box Office as early as possible to arrange special seating if you have a service animal or any accessibility needs, as these seats are limited (please see pages 18-19 for more information on our accessibility services).

All cell phones and other electronic devices must be turned off during the performance. Any use of smartphones for texting, browsing, or recording is prohibited, as is the use of any cameras or other recording equipment not previously authorized by Opera Theatre management.

Left something behind? Lost articles may be claimed at the House Manager’s Office, or you can call (314) 246-8009 after 10 a.m. the next performance day.

All casting is subject to change.

In the event of a fire, please walk to the nearest exit. In the case of any other emergency, please follow the direction of OTSL ushers and staff.

The scenic, lighting, and costume designers of Die Fledermaus, This House, Don Pasquale, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream are represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 of the IATSE.

Administrative Offices: (314) 961-0171

All Scenic Artists employed by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis are represented by United Scenic Artists, IATSE Local USA 829, AFL-CIO, CLC.

Box Office: (314) 961-0644

Performing Artists, Stage Directors, Choreographers, and Stage Managers are represented for collective bargaining purposes by the American Guild of Music Artists, the union of professional opera singers, dancers, and staging personnel of the United States.

Email: info@opera-stl.org

Wigs supplied by The Wig Associates.

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is a member of OPERA America.

Opera Theatre promotes diversity and inclusiveness and affi rms its ADA compliance.

FSC Certifi cation

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