Saturday, September 18 Sunday, September 19 Sunday, October 3 Saturday, October 9 Friday, October 15 Sunday, October 17 Saturday, October 23 Monday, November 8 Saturday, November 13
|
|
| |
Kate – Elisabeth Bieber
Mezzo-Soprano, Elisabeth Bieber, has been noted for her “spine-tingling” performances and her “warm, fluid [tone]… even in scale from top to bottom.” Holding degrees in both English and Music, Ms. Bieber’s love of poetry and story makes her a compelling singing-actor. Ms. Bieber’s 2009-2010 season has expanded her experience on the concert stage. She made her debut with Opera Omaha and Omaha Symphony this fall in their Choral Collaborative concert, featuring opera scenes and selections from Mozart’s Requiem. Ms. Bieber revisited this Requiem and Orchestra Iowa in their “Reflections” concert this spring. She looks forward to returning to Omaha Opera next spring as Kate Pinterton in their production of Madama Butterfly. For the 2008-09 season, Ms. Bieber made her debut with Orchestra Iowa in their first production following the Cedar River flood as alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah. She returned to Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre for their HD broadcast production of Madama Butterfly (Kate Pinkerton) and later that spring for Cosi fan tutte (Dorabella). Last summer, she was a Bel Canto Young Artist with Caramoor International Music Festival where she covered the role of Arsace in Rossini’s Semiramide. Other operatic roles to her credit include Maddalena in Rigoletto, Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible, Desireé Armfeldt in A Little Night Music and the title roles in The Rape of Lucretia and La Cenerentola. As an apprentice artist with Utah Symphony and Opera, she was involved with the world premiere production of Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath. Ms. Bieber was a first place winner at the 2007 Minnesota District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 2006, she was a National Semi-Finalist for the NATS American Artists competition and an Encouragement Award winner at the Upper Midwest Regional Met Auditions. Her academic training includes a Bachelor of Arts degree from Luther College in both English and Music and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Iowa in Vocal Performance. She has served apprenticeships with Des Moines Metro Opera, Utah Symphony and Opera, Bel Canto at Caramoor, Opera Santa Barbara and Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre.
Goro – Jason Ferrante
Jason Ferrante is quickly becoming recognized as one of the leading character singers of his generation singing both comedians and protagonists on the operatic stage, and in concert, a repertoire of a wide range of composers from Bach and Handel to John Musto and Lowell Liebermann. Recent highlights include his debut at the New York City Opera as King Ouf in L’etoile, Pong in Turandot under the baton of Lorin Maazel at the Guangzhou Opera House, China, the Wexford Festival as the Tenor Opera Box Ghost in The Ghosts of Versailles, the Eugene Opera as Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro, and a return to Italy as the Beadle in Sweeney Todd at Teatro Comunale di Bologna and Teatro Municipale di Piacenza. Additional engagements for 2010-11 include Goro with Kentucky Opera and Jaquino in Opera Boston’s Fidelio.
Cio-Cio-San – Kinoshita Mihoko
A native of Kagoshima, Japan, Mihoko Kinoshita received her Masters Degree at Musashino Academy of Music before studying in Italy where she was awarded numerous prizes such as first place in the Santa Margarita International Competition and the Bevegna International Competition. She sang Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni under Seiji Ozawa in Tokyo in 2002 and in later seasons appeared at the Tokyo National Theater as Giorgetta in Il Tabarro and as Violetta in La Traviata, as Mimi in La Boheme conducted by Roberto Rizzi Brignoli at the Tokyo Bunkakaikan, Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera at the Nikikai, and Leonora in Il Trovatore with the Verdi project in Saitama . She has already started to make a name for herself as Madama Butterfly having sung the role at the Belgrade Opera, the Grand Theater of Tokyo the Nikikai Opera Theater, the Kanagawa Philharmonic, and the Sofia Summer Festival. In 2007 she was awarded First Prize of the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation Competition and caused a sensation in their winner’s concert at Lincoln Center. She was then invited to sing Butterfly in London’s Wigmore Hall for the Georg Solti Anniversary Concert. In 2008 she returned to Japan to sing Desdemona in Otello, the Britten War Requiem, plus Madama Butterfly with Michigan Opera Theater, Baltimore Opera and the Midlands Symphony. Engagements for 1010 include Butterfly for Phoenix Opera and Vancouver Opera, the Mahler Eighth Symphony with the Tokyo Philharmonic under Ondrej Lenard. And a series of concerts in Tokyo with conductor Hugh Wolff. In 2011 she travels to London for the revival of the Raymond Gubbay production of Butterfly at Royal Albert Hall before returning to the States to reprise the role for her Opera Omaha debut. On the concert stage she has been seen in recital at the Medoc Music Festival in Bordeaux and has sung the Verdi Requiem with the Kanagawa Philharmonic, Tokyo metropolitan Orchestra, and in the US with the Spokane Symphony. Additionally she sang a Gala Concert with the Toscanini Philharmonic Orchestra led by Lorin Maazel.
Bonze - Gregory Pearson
Gregory Pearson, born and raised in Lake Village, Arkansas, is building a formidable career as an opera singer in and out of his native Arkansas. He completed his Bachelor of Music in vocal performance at University of Arkansas (Monticello) and achieved his Master of Music in vocal performance at University of Nevada (Las Vegas). While pursuing his degrees Mr. Pearson starred in a variety of operas including the roles of Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) and Bob in Old Maid and the Thief (Menotti). Following his graduation from University of Nevada Mr. Pearson was accepted into the Young Artists Program of Utah Symphony and Opera. A recent review of his rendition of Starek in Jenufa (Janacek) stated that Mr. Pearson is “one of Utah Opera’s most reliable supporting singers.” (Salt Lake Tribune, 24 January 2005). Other roles sung in main stage productions at Utah Symphony and Opera include Larkens in Girl of the Golden West (Puccini), Dr. Lomax in Cold Sassy Tree (Floyd), and Saretski in Eugene Onegin (Tchaikowsky). Mr. Pearson has also sung leading roles at Anchorage Opera and constantly to returns to Opera Wildwood in his native Arkansas. As stated in a review of his Scarpia in Tosca this past season, “Pearson, a dominating presence as Scarpia, is a terrific baritone who sets the tone in the first act.” (Arkansas Times, 19 June 2005) Other Wildwood roles include Sparafucile in Rigoletto (Verdi), Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini), Schaunard in La Bohème (Puccini), and Frank in Die Fledermaus (Strauss). Among his many symphonic performances Mr. Pearson has sung before 40,000 people at Utah Symphony and Opera’s annual Fourth of July celebration and at a number of other events. He has also sung with the Jerusalem (Israel) Symphony with renowned Utah composer Lex De Azevedo in his oratorio Hosanna, the Last Days of Christ, as well as Christmas concerts and Messiah (Handel) singalongs with Mount Timpanogos (Utah) Chamber Orchestra, Mobile Symphony and his native Arkansas Symphony. In addition to future operatic engagements in Utah and Arkansas, Mr. Pearson intends to pursue his doctorate.
Pinkerton - Gerard Powers
Conductor - Joseph Rescigno
Yamadori - Dan Richardson
Iowa-native, bass-baritone Dan Richardson makes his Opera Omaha debut as Prince Yamadori in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.
Mr. Richardson recently made his Des Moines Metro Opera mainstage debut as Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Uno Sicaro in Macbeth. He also covered the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro, and as a James M. Collier apprentice artist he performed scenes from Don Giovanni, Faust, I Puritani, Un Ballo in Maschera, and Billy Budd.
In past seasons at DMMO he has covered a number of roles including: Kilian in Der Freischutz, Angelotti in Tosca, and Sir Walter Raleigh in Britten’s Gloriana, to name a few. In the winter of 2010 he toured with the OPERA Iowa outreach program, singing the roles of Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Dr. John Milholland/Rep. Garner in Michael Patterson’s A Dream Fulfilled: The Saga of George Washington Carver. Mr. Richardson has also sung with Chamber Opera Chicago and was an Apprentice Artist with the Sarasota Opera in 2009. Mr. Richardson is an alum of Simpson College where he studied under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Larsen.
Suzuki - Mika Shigematsu
Director - Leslie Swackhammer
Sharpless - Todd Thomas
|
|
|
|