Il Barbiere di Siviglia
by Gioacchino Rossini
Libretto by Cesar Sterbini
based on Beaumarchais' play
Premiered: Teatro Argentina, Rome, February 1816
February 3, 4, 10, 11, 8:00 p.m.
With Opera Insights at 7:00 p.m.
Conductor: Uriel Segal
Stage Director: Kay Walker Castaldo
Designer: C. David Higgins
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| BIOGRAPHIES OF THE CAST AND ARTISTIC TEAM |
| ARTISTIC STAFF |
 Uriel Segal, Conductor. In addition to his role as Principal Guest Conductor, Uriel Segal is also music director of the Chautauqua Festival and conductor laureate of the Century Orchestra in Osaka, Japan. In North America, recent and upcoming guest conducting engagements include the orchestras of Montreal, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Portland (ME), Dallas, Houston, Louisiana, Virginia, Rochester, Detroit, San Diego, Buffalo, and New Jersey. Abroad, he has appeared with the Spanish National Orchestra (Madrid), Beethovenhalle Orchestra (Bonn), Hamburg Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, and the symphonies of Tokyo, Basel, and Quebec.
Born in Jerusalem, Uriel Segal’s international career was launched after winning First Prize at the 1968 Dimitri Mitropoulos International Conducting Competition in New York. His European debut with the English Chamber Orchestra was soon followed by invitations to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, London Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, among others. In 1972, Segal took the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra on a tour of Poland, the first West German orchestra to visit that country after World War II; he continued as Principal guest conductor of that orchestra for over 15 years. Segal has also been principal conductor of Philharmonia Hungarica, the Bournemouth Symphony, and the Israel Chamber Orchestra.
Since his operatic debut in Santa Fe in 1973, Uriel Segal has conducted opera extensively throughout Europe, Japan, Israel, and the United States. Recent productions include Madama Butterfly with the New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, Le Coq d’Or with Opéra de Nice, and The Magic Flute at Chautauqua.
Segal has recorded for Decca and EMI with such orchestras as the London Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Bournemouth Symphony, and the New Zealand Symphony. Toshiba EMI has recently released a CD of music by Robert Schumann made with the Century Orchestra Osaka in Japan
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Kay Walker Castaldo, Stage Director. A director of opera and theater, Kay Walker Castaldo has over 100 productions to her credit. She is a regular guest director at the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh Opera, and Indianapolis Opera, where she has been the inspiration for several “brilliantly conceived” new productions. Castaldo has served as Director in Residence for the Opera Company of Philadelphia where she worked as both a director and choreographer. She has choreographed the Emmy Award-winning televised production of Un ballo in Maschera, Pique Dame, and Damnation of Faust. Castaldo’s work has also been seen at New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, L’Opera de Montreal, Opera Delaware, Cincinnati Opera, Piccolo Opera at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Syracuse Opera, Saratoga Opera, Manitoba Opera, Calgary Opera, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and Pittsburgh’s Opera Center Apprentice Program. Recent engagements have included return engagements at Opera Company of Philadelphia for productions of Madama Butterfly, I Capuleti e I Montecchi, and Werther; at the Indianapolis Opera for Eugene Onegin and Il trovatore; and debuts with Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Omaha Opera . The Fall of 2005 included a production of The Pearl Fishers for Indianapolis Opera and a new highly acclaimed production of Die Walküre for the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Castaldo earned her Master in Music from the University of Michigan and pursued post-graduate studies in Opera Direction at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Subsequently, she took over as director of the Opera Department, where she held tenure and produced and directed more than 30 scene workshops and 20 complete productions. She has also directed four commissioned works for Greek National Television and directs for the New Dramatists’ Composer-Librettist development workshops in New York. She has taught acting at Yale University for a number of years as well as the Wilma Theater and the Music Theater Project in Athens, Greece.
This production of Il barbiere di Siviglia marks Castaldo’s IU Opera Theater debut.
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 C. David Higgins, Stage Design. David Higgins has been designing scenery since 1972, when he began working at the Indiana University School of Music as a master scenic artist. Now a faculty member, he has been designing opera and ballet scenery and costumes across the globe for theaters in the United States, England, Italy, Iceland, and Korea. With over 150 productions to his credit, he has been described as one of America’s finest scenic painters by Opera News magazine and is best known for his detailed, Italianate painting style. |
 Mona Tobin Houston, Italian Diction Coach. Though Houston recently retired from Indiana University, she continues to be in demand as a diction and text coach for opera chorus and soloists. During her university career, she taught courses in Phonetics and Pronunciation, Advanced Translation, French for Singers, Seventeenth-century French Theater, and Seventeenth-century French Poetry. In 1989, she received the Lilly Endowment Open Faculty Fellowship to study the rehearsal process in professional theaters in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Paris. Singers, directors, and conductors seek our Houston not only for her academic experience, but also because her musical training and excellent ear make her uniquely able to apply the pronunciation of the language to its musical context. |
| THE CAST (in order of appearance) |
| Fiorello, servant to the count |
 Andrew Darling, baritone, is a senior vocal performance major, and has been seen in IU Opera as Achilla in Giulio Cesare, Barney in The Ballad of Baby Doe, and Sciarrone in Tosca. He has won an encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera Competition, was a finalist at the Palm Beach Opera vocal competition and the Bel Canto Foundation Competition, as well as at the Dallas Opera competition. Darling studies with Andreas Poulimenos and Virginia Zeani.
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 Steven Hrycelak, bass, is a first-year master’s student studying with Timothy Noble. Hrycelak received a BA in Music from Yale University in 2002, where he performed several operatic and musical theater roles, from Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro to Caiaphas in Jesus Christ Superstar, and where he sang with the Yale Whiffenpoofs. For the past three years, he was a freelance vocalist in New York, where he sang with the NY Choral Artists, the Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola, the Bard Festival Chorale, and the NY Virtuoso Singers, among others. He was a featured soloist at Trinity Church Wall Street, where he sang solos in Handel’s Messiah, which was broadcast live on WQXR radio, as well as solos in Haydn’s Heiligmesse, which was recorded for the Hänssler Classic record label. He was also a soloist with Musica Sacra, the NY Collegium, the Waverly Consort, and the Collegiate Chorale, with whom he made his Lincoln Center debut for their A Night at the American Operetta program at Alice Tully Hall. Hrycelak has also been active as a musical director, pianist, and conductor at Yale, in New York, and in Scotland, where he was musical director of Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. |
| Count Almaviva |
 Jordan Bluth, tenor, is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance. Previously at IU, he has been seen as Archibald Craven in The Secret Garden and the Old Miner/President Chester Arthur in The Ballad of Baby Doe. In the summer of 2004, he performed as a Young Artist with the Utah Festival Opera Company, where he covered the role of Archibald Craven in The Secret Garden and played the role of Angus “the kilt” MacGuffie in Brigadoon. This past summer, he travelled to Glimmerglass Opera to cover the role of Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte and performed the role of Strolling Player in Britten’s Death in Venice. Bluth is a two-time winner of the Berta Autenrieth Most Promising Singer Award at the Arizona chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. From Gilbert, AZ, he currently studies with Dale Moore. |
 Florin Olimpio-Ormenisan, tenor, was born in Bistrita, Romania. Following studies at the Orthodox Theological High School in Bucharest, he enrolled at the National University of Music in Bucharest, where he received his Artist Diploma in Voice. Olimpio has studied voice with Ionel Voineag, Corneliu Fanateanu, and Virginia Zeani. He is currently pursuing his Performer Diploma in voice, studying with Andreas Poulimenos. Olimpio won the Ioan Holender Deutsche Bank Prize (2002), Vienna ProArte International (2002), and both the Rotary Club and Brasov Opera Prizes at the Traian Grozavescu International Voice Competition in Lugoj (2002). In addition, he won the Brasov Lieder Competition and Eugenia Moldoveanu International Prizes(2003). Last season, he performed Prince Tamino in Die Zauberflöte and Alfred in Die Fledermaus in Bucharest, Romania. |
| Figaro, a barber |
 Baritone C. Phillip Dothard of Cartersville, GA, was recently a graduate student at Indiana University, where he performed the roles of Marcello in La bohème and Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff. He studied with Timothy Noble. In the title role of Falstaff, Dothard made his Opera Theatre of St. Louis debut last summer while participating in their Gerdine Young Artist program, where he returned this summer to sing the role of Marullo in Rigoletto. Previously, he spent three summers at Brevard Music Center performing Jigger in Carousel, Curly in Oklahoma!, and Fred Graham/Petrucchio in Kiss me, Kate. This fall, Dothard was an artist-in-residence at Opera Theatre of St. Louis and went to Tulsa Opera to cover the role of Valentin in Faust. He received his bachelor’s degree from Shorter College in Rome, GA, where he performed Dr. Gregg in Gallantry, Tony in The Most Happy Fella, and Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus. Dothard is a two-time Metropolitan National Council Regional finalist and district winner; 2003 Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Artist national winner; and Orpheus Competition Da Capo, Puccini, and Rossini Award winner. He has taken master classes with W. Fred Scott, William McIver, William McGraw, Kurt Ollman, Stephen Lord, and Sherill Milnes. |
 Jason Richard Plourde, baritone, is in his third year of studies at IU, where he is pursuing a Master of Music in Voice and Opera. While at IU, Plourde has performed the roles of Swallow (Peter Grimes), William Jennings Bryan (The Ballad of Baby Doe), Baron Mirko Zeta (The Merry Widow), and the Marquis (La traviata). Among his other roles were Count Almaviva (The Marriage of Figaro), Le Podestat (Dr. Miracle), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Jekyll and Hyde, the musical), Dr. Craven (The Secret Garden), Henry Higgins (My Fair Lady) at Brevard Festival, Marquis de la Force (Dialogues of the Carmelites), and Sir Joseph Porter (HMS Pinafore). Plourde has also appeared in various concert works, including W. A. Mozart’s Requiem, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, and Fauré Requiem. He has been a three-time participant in the Portland Opera Repertory Theatre’s Young Artist Program, and he was a member of Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center this past summer. He is a student of Timothy Noble. Plourde made his Indianapolis Opera Debut in the role of Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow and will be returning there this spring to cover the role of Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro. He has been invited to join the Central City Opera Apprentice Program for this summer, where he will cover and perform the role of Horace Tabor in The Ballad of Baby Doe. |
| Rosina, Dr. Bartolo's Ward |
 Jennifer Feinstein, mezzo-soprano from Cranston, RI, is in her final year of study for the Master of Music in Voice. She completed her undergraduate studies at Indiana University in 2004, receiving a Bachelor of Music in Voice. She has previously appeared at IU Opera Theater as Flora in La traviata, Martha in The Secret Garden, Mama McCourt in The Ballad of Baby Doe, Ilona Ritter in She Loves Me and Cenerentola in La Cenerentola. She will be returning for her second season with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis this summer, where she will make her debut as Second Salvation Army Girl in Kurt Weils’ Street Scene, as well as covering Rosina in The Barber of Seville. She has previously participated in such programs as the Spoleto Vocal Arts Symposium, Brevard Music Center, and the Charley Creek Vocal Workshop. Feinstein is a student of Costanza Cuccaro. |
 Tiffany Rosenquist received her Bachelor of Music in Voice from Indiana University in August 2003. A student of Timothy Noble, she is currently finishing her Master of Music in Voice. Originally from Redlands, CA, Rosenquist has sung many roles with Indiana University Opera Theater, including Maria in West Side Story, Zaida in The Turk in Italy, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Beth in Little Women, Paquette in Candide, La Conversa in Suor Angelica, and Maria in The Sound of Music. In the summer of 2005, Rosenquist was an apprentice artist with the Lake George Opera, where she sang Frasquita in Carmen, and Peep-Bo in The Mikado. This summer, she will be an apprentice artist with Des Moines Metro Opera. She was the first place winner of the eleventh annual Spotlight Award Vocal Competition through the Los Angeles Music Center, and was a finalist in the thirty-fifth annual Palm Beach Opera Competition. She is a member of the First United Church choir in Bloomington, where she was the soprano soloist for the Christmas portion of Handel’s Messiah. In the spring of 2005, Rosenquist sang the soprano solos in Canadian composer Eleanor Daley’s Requiem with the Motet Choir at Indiana University, in addition to being a guest soloist with the Marion Philharmonic Orchestra on their Lerner and Loewe Songbook concert. |
| Doctor Bartolo |
 Bass-baritone Alan Dunbar is currently working on his master’s in voice and studies with Costanza Cuccaro. Dunbar did his undergraduate study in Music Theory and Composition at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. He debuted with the IU Opera Theater as Alcindoro in La bohème, appeared as Louis in William Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge, and performed the role of Don Alfonso in last fall’s production of W. A. Mozart’s Così fan tutte. His other roles include Pangloss/Voltaire in Berstein’s Candide, Prince Gremin in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin with Opera Twin Cities, and the creation of the role of the Abbot in the new opera Sicut Erat by New England composer Brian Griffeath-Loeb. For the past seven years, Dunbar has been singing throughout North America and Europe with the internationally acclaimed male chamber vocal ensemble Cantus. |
 Baritone David Swain was raised in the city of Round Rock, TX. Swain graduated in May 2003 from Texas Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance. There he studied with voice teacher, stage director, and baritone Gerald Dolter. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree from Indiana University, from which he has received a position of graduate assistant. He currently studies under Timothy Noble. His roles have included Maesetto in Don Giovanni, El Gallo in The Fantasticks, Cesare Angelotti in Tosca, Colline in La bohème, Alidoro in La Cenerentola, and, recently, Count Capulet in Roméo et Juliette. |
| Don Basilio, a singing teacher |
 IU alumnus Curtis Cook returns to the MAC stage for his second Don Basilio, the first being in 1996. A native of Little Rock, AR, Cook received his Bachelor of Music from Oklahoma City University before coming to IU for his master’s degree from 1992 to 1998. While at IU, he sang 13 opera roles, including the title characters in The Turk in Italy and Don Pasquale, plus Sarastro in The Magic Flute, Father Barre in Penderezki’s The Devils of Loudon, Kezal in The Bartered Bride, and Osmin in Abuction from the Seraglio. Cook has sung with the opera companies of Indianapolis, Dayton, St. Louis, and Tulsa, as well as The Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam and the State Opera of Krakow, Poland. Cook has sung over 40 performances of Sarastro in two different tours of The Magic Flute, both throughout Germany and Switzerland. Besides opera, he has performed extensively with the Aguava New Music Ensemble, having sung in festivals in New York, Chicago, Tel Aviv, and Mexico. |
 Bass-baritone Young Ju Lee, a native Korean, is in the master’s program in Voice. Some of his roles with IU Opera Theater include the title role in The Turk in Italy, Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette, Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin, Pistola in Falstaff, and Marquis in La traviata. In 2005, he sang W. A. Mozart’s Per questa bella mano, K.612 with the University Orchestra under the baton of Imre Palló. In the summer of 2003, Lee was apprentice artist with the Des Moines Metro Opera. He earned his bachelor degree in Mathematics. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from Yonsei University at Seoul, Korea. Lee is a student of Andreas Poulimenos. |
| Berta, Rosina's governess |
 Amanda Biggs, soprano, is currently a first-year Performer Diploma student at Indiana University, where she is a student of Patricia Wise. She received her BM in voice from Western Kentucky University in 2005. Her roles include the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Sister Angelica in Suor Angelica, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, and Lola in Gallantry. Biggs has appeared with the Bowling Green Western Symphony orchestra and has won numerous prizes and scholarships, both academically and musically, while at Western Kentucky University. She is the recipient of the E. H. Claus Graduate Scholarship at IU and will graduate in spring 2006. This is her IU debut performance. |
 Mezzo-Soprano Patricia Thompson is currently pursuing a Doctor of Music in Voice at the Jacobs School of Music, where she also completed a Master of Music in Voice. She is a student of Patricia Stiles. Active on the IU Opera stage, Thompson has been seen as Hata in The Bartered Bride, Cornelia in Julius Caesar, Filippyevna in Eugene Onegin, and Dame Quickly in Falstaff, as well as participating in the workshop for the world premiere of Ned Rorem’s Our Town. She has also been heard as a soloist on the concert stage, recently in Stravinsky’s Les Noces, Handel’s Messiah, and Vivaldi’s Gloria, and several Bach cantatas. Thompson has been a member of the Dale Warland Singers, and the Ensemble Singers of the Plymouth Music Series, where she was heard frequently on “A Prairie Home Companion” with Garrison Keillor. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Voice from St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN, and was a member of the St. Olaf Choir. |
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