Bold. Brave. Brilliant.
by Daniel Catan

Florencia en el Amazonas

Daniel Catán

Daniel Catán

Composer

Catán was of Sephardic Jewish descent. He was born in Mexico City, and studied philosophy at the University of Sussex and music at the University of Southampton. He received a Ph.D. from Princeton University, where he studied with Milton Babbitt, James K. Randall, and Benjamin Boretz.

Catán was the first Mexican composer to have an opera produced in the United States, when San Diego Opera produced his opera Rappaccini's Daughter in March 1994. He has also composed orchestral andchamber works and film music. His style can be described as neo-impressionist. His music is richly lyrical, often painting evocative colours with the orchestral palette with soaring melodies atop.

In addition to composition, Catán had a fruitful career as a writer on music and the arts, reflective of his knowledge of world literature. He lived in South Pasadena, California. In 1998, Catán received the Plácido Domingo Award for his contribution to opera, and he received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2000. His last opera, Il Postino, whose premiere featured Plácido Domingo in the role of Pablo Neruda, is based on the 1983 novel Ardiente paciencia by Antonio Skármeta and the 1994 film Il Postino by Michael Radford; it premiered at the Los Angeles Opera in September 2010.

Catán died aged 62 on April 8, 2011, in Austin, Texas, a few days after he attended rehearsals for Il Postino at the Moores Opera Center at the University of Houston. At the time of his death, Catán was a member of the faculty at College of the Canyons and had been commissioned by the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin to write a new opera, Meet John Doe. Other planned projects included a collaboration with Michael Charles Tobias on his libretto The Misadventures of Pinocchio.

Marcela Fuentes-Berain mujer de letras, maestra y emprendedora incansable de ideas para la pantalla. Es licenciada en Filosofía por la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México y en Cuba en la Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisón de San Antonio de los Baños donde estudió Guionismo, donde fue asistente de curso y colaboradora cercana por más de una década de Gabriel García Márquez. La también discípula de Syd Field, durante el taller que impartió en México, formó parte del taller permanente de dramaturgia del maestro Hugo Argüelles.

Su facultad para la escritura le ha permitido transitar en los terrenos de la ópera, la poesía, el ensayo, resaltando su enfoque profesional en el campo del guión para cine y televisión, actividad que actualmente practica.

Es miembro activo de distintas comunidades cinematográficas iberoamericanas, de entre las que destacan el Sundance Institute, el foro de coproducción del Festival de Cine Iberoamericano de Huelva y Pro-imágenes de Colombia, entre otras.

Joseph Mechavich

Joseph Mechavich

Conductor

Regarded as a conductor of authority and warmth, Joseph Mechavich is known for his exceptional artistry and infectious energy which he brings to every performance as well as the personal and career-defining relationships he has forged with a number of opera companies and orchestras.

Of his Roméo et Juliette at Florida Grand Opera, the Palm Beach Artspaper extolled “One of the best things about this production is the conducting of Joseph Mechavich, who led the proceedings superbly. Tempos were beautifully judged, and the orchestra played wonderfully for him. You rarely hear this score with the kind of big-boned force with which Gounod wrote it, but Mechavich let it rip, with first rate results.”

Maestro Mechavich presided over Jake Heggie’s highly acclaimed opera, Moby-Dick, for both San Diego Opera and Calgary Opera as well as productions of  The Barber of Seville for The Washington National Opera, Porgy and Bess for Deutsche Oper Berlin and Roméo et Juliette for Florida Grand Opera. Engagements for the 2013/2014 season included La Bohème for Kentucky Opera, L’Incoronazione di Poppea for New England Conservatory of Music, Tosca for Dayton Opera, La Traviata for The Florentine Opera and Madama Butterfly for Calgary Opera. Additional upcoming engagements for the 2014-15 season and beyond include a return to Calgary Opera for their production of Silent NightFidelio and A Street Car Named Desire for Kentucky Opera, a recording and performances of Wuthering Heights with Florentine Opera, Nixon in China for San Diego Opera and The Magic Flute for Opera Colorado.… 

Critical acclaim abounds for Maestro Mechavich: “…Mechavich wrapped the whole performance in a kind of musically magic aura that resulted in one of the very best all-round productions ever…” Opera News (Elixir of Love, Dayton Opera); “…Mechavich was in emotional sync with Gounod’s rich swelling melodies…” Sun-Sentinel (Roméo et Juliette, Florida Grand Opera). In past seasons he has conducted highly recognized productions for Calgary Opera, Utah Opera, The Aspen Music Festival, Tulsa Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Oberlin Opera Theatre, Opera Saratoga and Virginia Opera.

On the concert stage, Maestro Mechavich has appeared with the Florida Orchestra, The Oberlin Chamber Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Hartford Symphony, Waterbury Symphony, Virginia Symphony and the Sarasota Orchestra. He has collaborated on ballet productions with the Orlando Ballet, Nutmeg Ballet (CT) and Sarasota Ballet.

In 2010, Maestro Mechavich was named Principal Conductor of Kentucky Opera. Previously, he held the position of Principal Conductor for Opera Birmingham from 2004-2010, Director of Music for Orlando Opera from 1998-2000 and Cover Conductor for The Santa Fe Opera from 2004-2007. A native of Long Lake, Minnesota, he studied at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and the Yale University School of Music.

Headshot of stage director Joshua Borths with Arizona Opera

Joshua Borths

Director

Joshua Borths is a stage director, writer, educator, and arts administrator with over twelve years of experience in the opera industry. Borths has directed dozens of professional productions, given over five hundred public lectures, and written more than eight children's operas that have introduced hundreds of thousands of young audiences to opera across the country.

Originally from Cincinnati, OH, Borths is currently the Resident Scholar of Virginia Opera and a member of the stage directing staff of Des Moines Metro Opera. Borths comes to Virginia after having served as the Director of Opera & Musical Theater and Professor of Music History at Capital University in Columbus, OH and as Director of Education and Resident Stage Director at Arizona Opera.

At Capital University, Borths produced and managed all of the opera and musical theatre programming while also teaching the music history curriculum. Additionally, Borths created a joint Resident Artist Program with Opera Columbus, creating innovative programming for both institutions. With Arizona Opera, Borths more than doubled the reach and scope of department through innovative programming and cultural engagement. By the end of Borths' tenure, the Department of Education reached 70,000 people annually.

Past favorites include directing productions of The Falling and the Rising and Beauty and the Beast for Des Moines Metro Opera; Rusalka, Florencia en el Amazonas, and The Barber of Seville for Arizona Opera; Hansel and Gretel and The Tragedy of Carmen for Opera Memphis; Madame Butterfly at Pensacola Opera, La Clemenza di Tito for the University of Maryland, Suor Angelica for Crested Butte Music Festival, and The Elixir of Love for Opera Las Vegas. As a stage director of musical theatre, Borths has directed Parade; Camelot; Kiss Me, Kate; and The Music Man.

Borths has also directed gala performances featuring Frederica von Stade and Joyce DiDonato, and staged the southeastern premieres of Soldier Songs and La Hija de Rappaccini.

As an assistant director, Borths has worked with many opera companies including Arizona Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Des Moines Metro Opera, and the Festival della Valle d'Itria. Additionally, Borths has hosted podcasts, written acclaimed surtitle translations of popular operas, and publicly interviewed many illustrious artists including Jake Heggie, Gregory Spears, David T. Little, Jonathan Dove, novelist Thomas Mallon, and Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Jane Smiley.

As an educator, Borths has taught at Shenandoah University, been a Visiting Professor at the Crane School of Music (SUNY Potsdam), directed Maryland Opera Studio, and was a guest panelist at the Opera America Conference. Borths collaborated with TED Ed on their first opera resources and was featured in Opera News for his innovative approach to opera education.

Borths holds undergraduate degrees from the University of Michigan and a masters degree in Opera Production from Florida State University.

Sandra Lopez

Florencia 11/13, 11/15 & 11/21

Upcoming engagements during the 2016-17 season for Sandra Lopez include performances as Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly with the Arizona Opera, her company and role debut as Blanche de la Force in Dialogues des Carmelites for the Sarasota Opera, and the title role in Catan’s La Hija de Rappaccini for Alamo City Opera.

 

Recent engagements in the 2015-16 season for Ms Lopez included the title role of Tosca for Opera North, for which Opera News raved: “petite, handsome Sandra Lopez was an admirably responsive actress, an experienced Puccini professional with a dark-hued lyric instrument capable of considerable emotional power”.  She also appeared as Matilde Neruda in Il Postino for Opera Saratoga, as well as a role and company debut as the title role in Catan’s FLORENCIA EN EL AMAZONAS with Arizona Opera.

 

Ms. Lopez has performed on the world’s great stages including recent performances with Finnish National Opera as Elisabetta in DON CARLO, Opera de Oviedo and Opera på Skäret in Sweden singing the title role in TOSCA, Venice’s Gran Teatro la Fenice, Opera Carolina, Florida Grand Opera and Fort Worth Opera as Mimi in LA BOHEME, Opera de Massy, Virginia Opera, Berkshire Opera, Opera de Fribourg in Switzerland, Festival de St-Cèrè, and Opera Eclatè, singing the title role in MADAMA BUTTERFLY, Opera Carolina as Desdemona in OTELLO, Cincinnati Opera, Forth Worth Opera, San Antonio Opera, Connecticut Grand Opera, PORT Opera in Maine, Florida Grand Opera, Palm Beach Opera and Opera North as Micaela in CARMEN, San Antonio Opera singing the title role in SUOR ANGELICA, Nedda in I PAGLIACCI and Micaela in CARMEN, the Salzburg Festival, the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, the Tanglewood Festival and The Metropolitan Opera as the 4th Maid in ELEKTRA, PORT OPERA in Maine and Nashville Opera for Nedda in PAGLIACCI, and finally with Fort Worth Symphony in a Semi Staged performance as Tatiana in EUGENE ONEGIN which she also sang at The Metropolitan Opera for it’s YOUNG ARTISTS GALA CONCERT conducted by James Levine in which she appeared singing the entire final scene as Tatiana.

 

A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Program, she has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera in numerous roles which include Catherine in Bolcom's VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, Frasquita in CARMEN, 4th Maid in ELEKTRA, Tebaldo in DON CARLO, Flower Maiden in PARSIFAL, covers including Liu/TURANDOT, Marguerite/FAUST, Nedda/I PAGLIACCI, and Roberta Alden for the world premiere of AMERICAN TRAGEDY, among others.

 

Ms. Lopez is also known for her performances in new works, and has participated in several world premieres, most recently in the 2014 premiere of Crozier/Krask's 'With Blood, With Ink' with the Fort Worth Opera which was released in 2015 on Albany Records.

 

Ms. Lopez has collaborated with many conductors including James Levine, Fabio Luisi, Daniele Callegari, Valery Gergiev, Eduardo Muller, Julius Rudel, Dennis Russell Davies, Donald Runnicles, Yves Abel, Anton Guadagno, among others. Ms. Lopez was selected for the acoustical testing of the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Opera House at the Arscht Center in Miami, Florida, and also performed the role of Mimi in their Opening Night Gala Celebration.

 

As comfortable in concert as on the operatic stage, Ms. Lopez recently appeared with the Lithuanian Opera and the Nürnberg Symphony for solo operatic galas with the orchestras, as well as numerous solo recitals throughout the US and France.

 

Ms. Lopez has toured with Andrea Bocelli to critical acclaim and has performed a wide variety of repertoire, including the Verdi Requiem, Strauss' Four Last Songs, Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem, Orff's Carmina Burana, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Missa Solemnis, Gounod's Saint Cecilia mass, and Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, as well as many Opera Galas and recitals with various festival and symphonies, including the Nürnberg Symphoniker, Orquesta Nacional de Puerto Rico, Fort Worth Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Greensboro Symphony, Manchester Festival Orchestra, Miami Chamber Society, among others.

 

Ms. Lopez has been the recipient of numerous prizes, awards, and grants, including Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Competition, and subsequently a Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist, the Grand Prize Winner of the Florida Grand Opera Young Patroness Association, First Prize at the Palm Beach Opera Competition, Career Grant Recipient from the George London Foundation and the Beau Bogan Foundation, and World Finalist in the Luciano Pavarotti Competition.

 

Ms. Lopez is also a lover of Spanish song repertoire and Zarzuela, and regularly performs concerts, recitals, galas, and fully-staged performances of this unique repertoire.

Alexandra Loutsion

Florencia 11/14 & 11/22

Hailed as "a singer to watch" (The Washington Post) with a voice that is “powerful and projecting" (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Alexandra Loutsion continues to be recognized for her passionate performances and vocal versatility as a rising star on the operatic stage. This season, she adds three new roles to her repertoire: the title role of Puccini’s Tosca with Central City Opera, Princess Turandot in Puccini’s Turandot with Pittsburgh Opera, and the Foreign Princess in Dvorak's Rusalka with Arizona Opera. She also makes her debuts with Palm Beach Opera as Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly, and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic singing the title role in Puccini's Tosca. She was recently heard as Florencia in Daniel Catan’s Florencia en el Amazonas with Arizona Opera, and made her Wolf Trap Opera debut as Cio-Cio-San in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly to great acclaim. She debuted with North Carolina Opera as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and Dayton Opera as Gertrude in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, as well as returning to Pittsburgh Opera as Almera in a new production of Nico Muhly's Dark Sisters. She also covered the Lady-in-Waiting in Verdi’s Macbeth with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Riccardo Muti.

Ms. Loutsion spent two summers as an Apprentice Artist with the Santa Fe Opera, most recently to cover the role of Leonore in Fidelio conducted by Harry Bicket. She also covered the title role in Puccini's Tosca, the leading role of Anna in Rossini’s Maometto II, and was heard in various scenes including Maddalena di Coigny in Giordano's Andrea Chénier, Elvira in Verdi's Ernani, and Gerhilde in Wagner's Die Walküre at the annual Apprentice Showcase. Ms. Loutsion also spent two seasons as a Resident Artist with Pittsburgh Opera where she was seen as Armida in Handel’s Rinaldo, Gertrude and the Witch in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, and Annina in Verdi's La traviata. As an Apprentice Artist with Central City Opera, she was heard as the title role in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and as Melissa in Handel's Amadigi di Gaula, as well as Minerva in Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld, La Dame Elegante in Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tirésias, and as Frasquita in Bizet's Carmen. Other recent performances have included the title role in Madama Butterfly with Opera on the James, Anna Kennedy in Maria Stuarda with Washington Concert Opera, the Foreign Woman and Magda cover in Menotti’s The Consul with Opera Santa Barbara, Sie in Karl Hartmann's Wachsfiguren Kabinett with the Aspen Music Festival, and the leading role of Isabella in Wagner's Das Liebesverbot as part of the Ring Festival LA.

Ms. Loutsion recently represented the United States as a quarterfinalist in the Francisco Viñas International Singing Contest in Barcelona, Spain. She was also a winner of the Metropolitan National Council District Auditions and Long Beach Mozart Competition, as well as a finalist in the Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation Competition, McCammon Voice Competition and Dallas Opera Competition. She is the recipient of the Catherine Filene Shouse Education Fund Career Grant from Wolf Trap Opera, Santa Fe Opera Donald Gramm Memorial Award and Anna Case MacKay Award, Shoshana Foundation Richard F. Gold Career Grant, the Central City Opera John Moriarty Award, and the Aspen Music Festival New Horizon Fellowship. She holds a Master of Music in Vocal Arts from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Ithaca College.

Luis Alejandro Orozco

Riolobo 11/13, 11/15 & 11/21

An El Paso Texas native, Mexican-American Baritone Luis Alejandro Orozco has been praised for his “voluminous baritone and beautiful legato.” Luis begins the 2018/19 season with Mill City Summer Opera as Escamillo in Carmen. He also returns to Opera Santa Barbara and Anchorage Opera as Marcello in La bohème and makes his debut with Pensacola Opera as Riolobo in Florencia en el Amazonas. Orozco was a recent guest soloist with the Evgeny Svetlanov State Symphony in Moscow for Leonard Bernstein’s 100th anniversary tribute concert. Previous notable appearances include performances with, Cincinnati Opera, San Diego Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Michigan Opera Theater, New Orleans Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Florentine Opera, and Washington National Opera. He is also known as the leading interpreter in the United States for the role of El Payador in Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires.

Orozco is as graduate of the artist diploma program at the University of Cincinnati’s College- Conservatory of Music. During his tenure there, he was seen in such performances as the title role in Don Giovanni, title role in Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Il Conte di Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, and baritone soloist in Orff’s scenic cantata Carmina Burana. As a member of the Opera Theatre of St. Louis’s Gerdine Young Artists Program he participated in the world première of Terrance Blanchard’s jazz opera, Champion. Mr. Orozco is also an alumnus of Des Moines Metro Opera’s Apprentice Artist Program where he was seen as Escamillo in La tragédie de Carmen and Baron Duphol in La traviata. Additionally, Mr. Orozco is a winner of The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Indiana District and Tri-State District.

Headshot of opera baritone singer Joseph Lattanzi with Arizona Opera

Joseph Lattanzi

Riolobo 11/14 & 11/22

A 2017 recipient of a top prize from the Sullivan Foundation, Joseph Lattanzi established himself as a singer to watch with his portrayal of Hawkins Fuller in the world premiere of Greg Spears’ Fellow Travelers with Cincinnati Opera, followed by further performances for his debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago, in New York at the PROTOTYPE Festival, and with Arizona Opera, and Des Moines Metro Opera. Praise for Lattanzi's performances included The New York Times saying “Joseph Lattanzi was splendid as Hawk, his buttery baritone luxuriant and robust.” and Opera News described him as a “confident, handsome presence, and a resonant baritone suggesting wells of feeling that the character might prefer to leave untapped.” In the 2022/23 Season, Lattanzi once again joined The Metropolitan Opera for their productions of Peter Grimes and Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk before returning to the role he created in Fellow Travelers with Virginia Opera. Lattanzi also made a debut with the Sacramento Choral Society as the baritone soloist in Carmina Burana.

In the 2021/22 Season, Lattanzi continued his relationship with The Metropolitan Opera, covering the role of Orpheus in Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice and joining their production of Madame Butterfly. Additionally, Lattanzi returned to his hometown in the title role in The Barber of Seville with the Atlanta Opera, where he was praised for his “stellar” voice and his “top notch” acting by the Atlanta Arts Review. Lattanzi capped off the season debuting the role of Escamillo in Utah Festival Opera’s production of Carmen.

Recent career highlights include his return to Cincinnati Opera as Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Silvio in Pagliacci with Atlanta Opera, Dandini in La cenerentola with Virginia Opera, and the title role in Don Giovanni with the Jacksonville Symphony. A regular at The Metropolitan Opera since the 2018/19 Season, Lattanzi has been on the roster for productions of Der Rosenkavalier, Kat’a Kabanvova, Marnie, Madame Butterfly, and The Barber of Seville. Lattanzi has also maintained a strong relationship with Arizona Opera, where he was a member of the Marion Roose Pullin Opera Studio from 2015 until 2017. During Lattanzi's time with the company, he was heard in the title role of Don Giovanni, as Dandini, Riolobo in Florencia en el Amazonas, and was featured in the company’s Sapphire Celebration with Frederica von Stade. Additional performances included Moralès and Dancaïre in Carmen, Yamadori in Madame Butterfly, and as the Gamekeeper in Rusalka. Lattanzi also appears regularly with Seattle Opera, most recently as the Steward in their filmed production of Jonathan Dove’s Flight.

On the concert stage, Lattanzi was heard in a celebration of the music of Leonard Bernstein with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and in the coast of West Side Story at Grand Tetons Music Festival under the baton of Donald Runnicles. Lattanzi has appeared with Jake Heggie in OPERA America’s Creators in Concert series, previewing Fellow Travelers at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust, and in Carmina Burana with the Reno Philharmonic and at the Christ (Crystal) Cathedral, and with the Chicago Sinfonietta.

The Georgia native has studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). In addition to two summers at the Merola Opera Program, Lattanzi has participated in programs at the Brevard Music Center and the Chautauqua Institute Voice Program.

Susannah Biller

Rosalba 11/13, 11/15 & 11/21

Susannah Biller, a former Adler Fellow, has appeared at the San Francisco Opera as Kristina (The Makropulos Case); Frasquita (Carmen); Despina (Così fan tutte); in addition to creating the roles of Lolita and a Bridesmaid in Heart of a Soldier. As a participant in the 2009 Merola Opera Program, she sang Caterina (L’Amico Fritz) and performed scenes as Eurydice (Orfeo ed Eurydice), Musetta (La Bohème), Elvira (L’Italiana in Algeri), and Monica (The Medium). Other recent engagements include Daisy (Harbison’s The Great Gatsby) and Eurydice (Glass’s Orphée) with San Francisco’s Opera Parallèle, her New York debut as Fortuna (Mozart’s Il Sogno di Scipione) and Eritea (Cavalli’s Eliogabalo) with Gotham Chamber Opera, Serpina (La Serva Padrona) with Opera Santa Barbara, and Nannetta (Falstaff) with Portland Opera. Upcoming engagements include Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro) with Opera Idaho, Garcias (Don Quichotte), and Adina (L’Elisir d’Amore) with Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

Sarah Tucker - a stand-out young soprano

Sarah Tucker

Rosalba 11/14 & 11/22

Praised by Opera Today for “pure, clear tones” and lauded by the Arizona Republic for “purity and vivacious charm,” young soprano Sarah Tucker is demanding attention for her captivating vocal timbre and engaging stage presence. Tucker was a National Semifinalist in the 2014 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and recently completed her second year as a member of the Arizona Opera Studio. She was recently heard as Nelly Nettleton in Arizona Opera’s innovative, multi-lingual production of Arizona Lady, in which she not only sang, but also “danced like a flapper” (Opera Today).

The 2019/20 Season included several company debuts: as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Pensacola Opera, Mimi in La bohème with Gulfshore Opera, and Tatyana in Eugene Onegin with Opera in the Heights. This season, she returns to Gulfshore Opera for a reprise of her Mimi in La bohème.

The 2018/19 Season for Tucker included debuts with The Dallas Opera as Frasquita in Carmen, San Diego Opera as Micaëla in Carmen, and Intermountain Opera Bozeman as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin. In the 2017/18 Season, Tucker made her Opera Philadelphia debut where she reprised First Memory in Lembit Beecher’s War Stories, a role which she first premiered with Gotham Chamber Opera in New York City. Additionally, she sang Gilda in Rigoletto with Opera Connecticut and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi with the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival. The 2016/17 Season brought her debut with Utah Opera as Micaëla in Carmen, her return to Texas State University as a guest soloist in Stravinsky’s Les Noces, and covering the title role in The Golden Cockerel at Santa Fe Opera. Her 2015/16 Season included several more role debuts with Arizona Opera including Micaëla in Carmen, Rosalba in Florencia en el Amazonas, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni as well as her San Francisco Opera debut as Jano in Jenufa.

Passionate about uncommon works as well as traditional operatic repertoire, Tucker collaborated with conductor Scott Terrell in Lexington Philharmonic’s 2015 Holiday Series, which included the rarely performed “Song of the Angel” by John Tavener. The piece’s haunting duet for soprano and solo violin requires great musical and vocal versatility, which was “stunningly realized by Tucker” (Tedrin Blair Lindsay, Contributing Music Critic, www.kentucky.com). She was also the star of a cutting-edge workshop of composer Clint Borzoni’s The Copper Queen in which she performed the role of Julia Lowell as part of Arizona Opera’s “Arizona Spark” initiative.

Other recent appearances include Norina in Don Pasquale with the Crested Butte Music Festival, and the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah with both Lexington Philharmonic and the Christ Cathedral (Crystal Cathedral) in Orange County, CA. Additional past credits include the roles of Contessa Ceprano and Paggio in Rigoletto, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at Arizona Opera, for which she received high acclaim. In 2014, Tucker performed Suor Dolcina in Suor Angelica and Contessa Ceprano in Rigoletto with the Crested Butte Music Festival, and the role of Tina in Flight with Opera Fayetteville.

In addition to her success in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Tucker has received numerous awards in several nationwide vocal competitions. She was a finalist in the Fritz & Levinia Jensen Foundation Voice Competition, in the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation Competition she was a finalist and winner of the Encouragement Award, and she competed in the semifinals of the Dallas Opera Guild and Fort Worth Opera McCammon Vocal Competitions. Tucker is a recent graduate of the University of Cincinnati College‐Conservatory of Music (CCM).

Andrew Bidlack

Arcadio 11/13, 11/15 & 11/21

Featured by Opera News as one of their 'top 24 brilliant young artists" (October 2015), tenor Andrew Bidlack begins the 2018/19 Season at Lyric Opera of Kansas City in his role debut as Tony (West Side Story) before traveling to Atlanta Opera to reprise the role. At Calgary Opera he recreates the role of Rob Hall (Everest) and at Arizona Opera he appears as Nikolaus Sprink (Silent Night). The role of Greenhorn (Moby Dick) takes the artist to Chicago Opera Theatre. 

Last season at Lyric Opera of Kansas City the artist revived the role of Rob Hall (Everest), a debut he originally made at Dallas Opera in 2015. He appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in the role of Beppe (I Pagliacci) reviving the great success he had in the role in a previous season. At Opera Santa Barbara he appeared as Almaviva (The Barber of Seville) followed by Arcadio (Florencia en el Amazonas) at Florida Grand Opera. The artist ended the season at Des Moines Metro Opera in the role of Bill (Flight) in highly lauded performances.

Past roles include Lensky (Eugene Onegin) and Greenhorn/Ishmael (c) (Moby-Dick) at Dallas Opera. He developed the role of Christopher Morcom in (The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turning) (by Justine Chen and David Simpatico) for American Lyric Theatre, and at Madison Opera sang the role of Tamino (The Magic Flute). At Saratoga Opera he sange in the title role of Getry's rarely heard opera Zemire et Azor.

Recent highlights include his European and UK debut in the challenging rold of Private John Ball in Welsh National Opera's world premier by composer Iain Bell, In Parenthesis, directed by David Pountney and conducted by Carlo Rizzi with performances at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden; and his Metropolitan Opera of New York debut as Beppe and the Lamplighter (cover Edmondo) Manon Lescaut for which he won critical accolades. At Arizona Opera he made his role debut as Arcadio. 

Andrew Bidlack is a frequent interpreter of contemporary music; he created the roles of Irving Tashman in Ricky Ian Gordon's Morning Star at Cincinnati Opera and that of Rob Hall in Joby Talbot's Everest at Dallas Opera. He workshopped Greenhorn/Ishmael in the developmental production of Moby Dick at San Francisco Opera while he was an Adler Fellow; he inaugurated Tancredi The Inspector (John Musto) at Wolf Trap. As a Merolini, he created the role of Charles Carter in Thomas Pasatieri's The Hotel Casablanca. Making his debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago, he appeared at Carnegie Hall as The Young Collector in their production of A Streetcar Named Desire with Renée Fleming, a role he also sang in Chicago, and in the role of Sandy (The Lighthouse) at Dallas Opera for the inception of their Chamber Opera Series.

With a large number of Rossini/Mozart and bel canto roles also to his credit, Andrew has appeared as Tamino, Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Almaviva and Ferrando (c) (Cosi fan tutte) at Florida Grand Opera; Rodrigo (Otello) at Opera Southwest; Almaviva and Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola) at Opera Omaha; Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) and Arturo (Lucia di Lammermoor) at San Francisco Opera; Bastien (Bastien et Bastienne) at Des Moines Metro Opera, Nemorino (L'elisir d'amore) at Empire State Lyric Theater; Tonio (La Fille du Regiment) at Palm Beach Opera and for PORTopera. 

A graduate of San Francisco Opera's prestigious Adler Fellowship, Mr. Bidlack made his house debut in The Little Prince and went on to appear as Odoardo (Ariodante), Count Albert (Die Tote Stadt), Simpleton (Boris Godunov), Gastone (La Traviata), and Ruiz (Il trovatore) amoung other roles. 

Other significant appearances include his debut as Baron Lummer (Intermezzo) at New York City Opera, Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi) for Intermountain Opera Bozeman, and Almerich (Iolanta) at Dallas Opera where he also appeared as Count Albert. His performances as Prince Karl Franz (Student Prince) and Anatol (Vanessa) at Utah Festival Opera were met with great enthusiasm by audiences and critics alike. Other roles include Rodolfo (La Bohème), the title role (Candide), Snout (A Midsummer Night's Dream) Emilio Partenope and Tom Rakewell (The Rake's Pogress).

International engagements include his South American debut as Oronte (Alcina) at Teatro Municipal de Santiago in Chile, Damon (Acis and Galatea) at the Macau International Music Festival, and his appearance as a Guest (The Saint of Bleecker Street) at the Spoleto Festival in Italy, which was recorded and release under the Chandos label. 

Concert performances include the tenor solos in Handel's Messiah, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Haydn's Creation and Mozart's Requiem; his Carnegie Hall debut singing the solos in Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium and the tenor soloist in Carmina Burana  with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Andreas Delfs. HIs recital appearance alongside soprano Ava Pine at the Dallas Museum of Art was well-received by public and critics alike.  

Arizona Opera Studio's Andrew Penning

Andrew Penning

Arcadio 11/14 & 11/22

Andrew Penning, originally from St. Paul, MN, is a tenor in the Arizona Opera Studio. During the 2015-16 season he returned to the Arizona Opera Studio to make leading role debuts as Arcadio (Florencia en el Amazonas) and Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni). He will also sing the supporting roles of Remendado (Carmen), Chester Kingsbury (Arizona Lady), and Bardolfo (Falstaff). Assignments from the 2014-15 season with Arizona Opera included Triquet (Eugene Onegin), Borsa (Rigoletto), and 1st Armored Man/Second Priest (Die Zauberflöte).

Mr. Penning has been a Young Artist with some of the most prestigious companies and festivals in the United States. In the summer of 2015 he will cover the role of Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) at Des Moines Metro Opera. At the Glimmerglass Festival he performed the roles of Delmonte (King for a Day) and Scaramuccio (Ariadne auf Naxos). With Utah Opera as The Ballad Singer in Of Mice and Men, Opera News said, “cast standouts included … Andrew Penning as the Ballad Singer, whose sweet lyric tenor conveyed the workers’ conscience.” As a Fellow at the 2011 Tanglewood Music Festival, he sang the Second Tenor in performances of Stravinsky’s Renardwith the Mark Morris Dance Group and gave recital performances featuring works by Richard Strauss, Alberto Ginastera and Ralph Vaughn Williams’ chamber song cycle On Wenlock Edge. At CCM Spoleto in the summer of 2010, he performed the role of the Male Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia). As a young artist at Seagle Music Colony in upstate New York, he performed the roles of The Governor and Vanderdendur (Candide).

In addition to his work in opera, Mr. Penning is also an active concert soloist. In performances of Handel’s Messiah with the Tucson Symphony of 2014, the Arizona Daily Star said “Penning…was ashow-stealer, singing at times with richly nuanced vibrato and at other times with such ringing clarity that you just couldn’t take your eyes off him.” Other concert repertoire includes: Arvo Pärt’s Passio, Monteverdi’s Vespers, Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio, J.S. Bach’s Magnificat, J.S. Bach’s

Cantata 12, Haydn’s Grosse Orgelmesse in E Flat, and Bruckner’s Te Deum.

Mr. Penning completed his Master of Music in Vocal Performance at the University of Cincinnati:College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and his Bachelor of Music at Lawrence University.

www.andrewpenning.com

With a velvety tone and a stage presence which exudes confidence and charm, baritone Levi Hernandez is gaining momentum as a sought after artist on the operatic stage. Mark Thomson Ketterson of Opera News declared of his principal debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago as Dandini in La Cenerentola,“Young baritone Levi Hernandez’s intelligent Dandini displayed a most impressive knack for subtle text-­‐ painting within a pristinely negotiated coloratura line…”

Recently, the El Paso native made his Houston Grand Opera debut as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly next to Ana Maria Martinez and Joseph Calleja. He also joined the rosters of San Francisco Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in their productions of Puccini’s Il trittico and Fanciulla del West. His 2014/15 season includes a return to the Metropolitan opera to cover the title role in The Death of Klinghoffer and Dancaïre in Carmen, his Opera Roanoke debut as Dandini in La Cenerentola, the title role in Gianni Schicchi with Intermountain Opera, and Figaro in The Barber of Seville and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in his debut with Pine Mountain Music Festival. Future seasons will see his return to Opera Omaha and the Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

The 2013/14 season featured returns to the Metropolitan Opera for Die Frau ohne Schatten, Opera Omaha as Don Magnifico in La cenerentola, Opera Theatre of St. Louis as Papageno, the Philadelphia Ballet for Carmina Burana, and Intermountain Opera Bozeman for Germont in La traviata. In the 2012/13 season, Mr. Hernandez returned to the Metropolitan Opera for Carmen, revisited Sharpless with Nashville Opera, appeared with Opera Memphis as Marcello in La bohème, sang Handel’s Messiah with the El Paso Symphony, and performed the role of Guglielmo in Puccini’s Le Villi with the Spoleto Festival, USA.

Other recent engagements include his European debut with Komische Oper Berlin’s Pique Dame in the role of Tomski, Tobias Mill in Rossini’s La cambiale di matrimonio with Opera Omaha, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Minnesota Opera, Intermountain Opera, Virginia Opera, Lake George Opera and Cedar Rapids Opera, his debut with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis as Leporello in Don Giovanni, Dandini in La Cenerentola with Opera North, Marcello in San Antonio Opera’s La bohème, Schaunard in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s La bohème, Valentin in Faust with The Kalamazoo Symphony, and Don Lucas in Luisa Fernanda, Sciarrone in Tosca, and Crébillon in La rondine with Los Angeles Opera.

An alumnus of the Lyric Opera center for American Artists, Mr. Hernandez made his Lyric Opera main stage debut during the 2004/05 season. During his tenure at Lyric he was also seen as Marullo in Rigoletto, Sciarrone in Tosca, the Innkeeper in Manon Lescaut and the Bartender in the world premiere of William Bolcom’s A Wedding. A versatile actor as well as a fine singer, Hernandez portrayed the title role in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi at the 2004 Grant Park Music Festival. Other career highlights include Marcello La bohème for El Paso Opera, Papageno with Madison Opera in their The Magic Flute, performances in Boston Lyric Opera’s productions of Carmen and The Barber of Seville, and Count Ceprano in Rigoletto, Moralès in Carmen, and Haly in L’italiana in Algeri, all with Opera Company of Philadelphia.

Mr. Hernandez has been seen on the concert stage as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Charlotte Symphony, the Phoenix Symphony, the Pennsylvania Ballet, and Cheyenne Symphony and in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Pennsylvania Ballet. A 2002 Metropolitan Opera National Council Awards finalist, his many awards include a Licia Albanese-­Puccini Foundation grant as well as being a 2002 OPERALIA competition finalist. After receiving his undergraduate degree at Westminster Choir College, Mr. Hernandez attended the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia where he performed a number of leading roles including Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Marcello in La bohème, Ford in Falstaff, Gugliemo in Così fan tutte, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Vicar in Albert Herring and Falke in Die Fledermaus.

Mezzo soprano Adriana Zabala enjoys a vibrant career that spans performance and recording of new opera, song, and concert works, as well beloved operatic roles, traditional concert and oratorio works, German Lieder, French Mélodie, and American and Spanish song.

As the title character in the American Premiere of Dove's The Adventures of Pinocchio at the Minnesota Opera, Adriana Zabala was praised by The Wall Street Journal as showing "tremendous stamina and boy-like flair." The New York Times hailed her as "a vivid, fearless presence," and theL.A. Times as "extraordinary" for her portrayal of the Barbarian Girl in the American premiere of Philip Glass' Waiting for the Barbarians with the Austin Lyric Opera. 

In addition to an extensive repertoire of traditional works, Ms. Zabala is a champion of new music: in opera, concert, and song. For her recording with composer and pianist Gregg Kallor,Exhilaration: Dickinson and Yeats Songs, Opera News Online says, "Kallor has found a wonderful exponent in Adriana Zabala, a gifted, agile mezzo-soprano. Kallor knows how to make these words sing, and Zabala gives perfect flight to them. Singing with uncommon clarity and natural beauty, she seems to be deep inside both the poems and Kallor's musical realizations." The duo has performed these songs at Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall, on the Carnegie Room Series in Nyack, NY, in the Ted Mann Concert Hall in Minneapolis, and on the Salzburg International Chamber Music Series in Austria. With baritone Matthew Worth, she will give the premiere of Kallor's new song cycle at New York City's Subculture in spring of 2015.

Operatically, in addition to the two American premieres listed above, Ms. Zabala created roles in John Musto's Volpone and Douglas Cuomo's Doubt. She will sing the title role in the world premiere of Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein's new opera, Sister Carrie, with The Florentine Opera in 2016, this season creates the role of Rosie Chaney in the world premiere of Kevin Puts' and Mark Campbell's The Manchurian Candidate with Minnesota Opera, and sings the role of Joanna in the revival of Carly Simon's Romulus Hunt with Nashville Opera. In new concert works, Ms. Zabala sings the soloist role in the James Whitbourn's Anne Frank oratorio Annelies, which she has done with Oratorio Society of Minnesota and will repeat at Montclair State University in New Jersey. She will be a soloist in the upcoming world premiere of Jeffrey Van's Reaping the Whirlwind with the Susquehanna Valley Chorale, and is a soloist on the recent Naxos DVD release of Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein's Parables.

In the classic repertoire, Ms. Zabala has recently appeared as soloist in Beethoven's 9th Symphonyand the Mozart Requiem with The Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra, in Messiah with both the Jacksonville and Phoenix Symphonies, in Mahler's 3rd Symphony with Quad Cities Symphony and Maestro Mark Russell Smith, and in Rossini's Stabat Mater with the Berkshire Choral Festival. This season she will return to the Jacksonville Symphony for the Mozart Requiem, perform and record the Requiem with the Florida Bach Festival Society, join Boston's Bay Back Chorale and Orchestra as soloist in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, sing Chausson's Poème de l'amour et de la mer with the Oregon Mozart Players, and join Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra as the alto soloist in Mahler's Second Symphony, "Auferstehung."

In the last few seasons, engagements include the world premiere of Douglas Cuomo and John Patrick Shanley's opera Doubt, for which Ms. Zabala created the role of Sister James, the role of Sesto in Handel's Giulio Cesare with The Florentine Opera, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro with both The Florentine Opera and the Jacksonville Symphony, the role of Dorabella with Opera Saratoga, Annina in Der Rosenkavalier with The Minnesota Orchestra, recitalist with theSalzburg International Chamber Music Concerts, soloist with The Jerusalem Symphony, and the role of Isabella Linton in Wuthering Heights with Minnesota Opera.

Ms. Zabala has been seen on the stages of The Seattle Opera, The Minnesota Opera, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Wolf Trap Opera, the Wildwood Festival, The Syracuse Opera, the Arizona Opera, the Atlanta Opera, the Lyric Opera of San Antonio, Opera Carolina, the Lake George Opera, Opera Pacific, and Utah Opera, among others. Her most frequently performed traditional roles are Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, the title role in Rossini's La Cenerentola, and Cherubino in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. Other career highlights include many appearances with the New York Festival of Song, soloist at the Caramoor International Music Festival with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, alto soloist with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with Bryn Terfel asElijah, recitals in the Barns at Wolf Trap, the The Kennedy Center’s Millenium Stage, The Dallas Museum of Art, Ventford Hall in Lenox, MA, and in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Ms.Zabala made her European debut under the late Maestro Lorin Maazel as Mercedes in Carmen at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain and returned for the same role and as the Page inSalome with Maestro Zubin Mehta.

Adriana Zabala was raised in Miami, Caracas, Venezuela, and Lake Jackson, Texas. She earned her undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University, was a Fulbright Scholar in Salzburg, Austria, studying German Lieder at the Mozarteum and earned her masters degree at theUniversity of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She was an Artist Resident for two seasons with the Minnesota Opera, was a Young Artist with the Seattle Opera, and is an alumna of the apprentice programs at the Berkshire Opera, the Santa Fe Opera, and the Wolf Trap Opera Company.

Professor Zabala is a proud member of the voice faculty at the University of Minnesota, where in addition to her thriving studio, she teaches graduate vocal literature, administrates a program of collaboration between the Minnesota Opera and the University of Minnesota, teaches a Freshman Seminar called Shakespeare in Film and Music, and a May Session Global Seminar, Vive les Arts!, in Paris. Ms. Zabala is managed by Ana de Archuleta at ADA Artist Management & Representation in New York City. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two daughters.

Calvin Griffin

Calvin Griffin

Captain

Calvin Griffin, a native of Columbus, Ohio, joined the Florida Grand Opera studio in the 2016-2017 season. Mr. Griffin made his debut with the company stepping in as a cover to sing the role of Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen. In addition, he sang Zaretsky and covered Gremin in Eugene Onegin, Victor in Before Night Falls, and Samuel in Un ballo in mascherawith the company. Mr. Griffin recently finished a stint with the Arizona Opera Studio where he performed the roles of the Captain in Florencia en el Amazonas, Zuniga in Carmen, Pistola in Falstaff, Count Ceprano in Rigoletto, Zaretsky in Eugene Onegin, Speaker/2nd Armored Man in Die Zauberflöte, Hortensius in La fille du régiment, Colline in La bohème, and Dr. Grenville in La traviata. In 2016, he made his Opera Columbus debut as Colline in La bohème

In a busy 2017 -2018 season, Mr. Griffin makes exciting debuts with Atlanta Opera as Mother in The Seven Deadly Sins and Morales in Carmen, Opera Birmingham singing Escamillo in Carmen, Opera on the James as Leporello in Don Govanni, Opera Orlando singing Alidoro in La cenerentola, and will return to Arizona Opera to sing Dr. Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia. In concert, he sings Handel’s Messiah with the Richmond Symphony and Bach’s Mass in B minor with Gloria Musicae in Sarasota, Florida.