WILLIAM BOLCOM, Composer
Born in Seattle in 1938, composer William Bolcom’s cup is almost constantly overflowing. He bubbles irrepressibly with ideas, cross references, reminiscences, melody fragments, free-associations, torrents of consciousness, digressions, first-name references to the top creative minds of the 20th century (all close friends or mentors), and the occasional raunchy joke. He frequently interrupts himself.

He earned his B.A. from the University of Washington in 1958 and composed his first symphony in five weeks at the Aspen Festival, under the tutelage of Darius Milhaud; he later studied with Milhaud at Mills College and in Paris, and eventually earned a Ph.D. in composition from Stanford University (1964).

Since 1973, Bolcom has taught at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. He remains a tireless composer and touring recitalist (especially with his wife, mezzo-soprano Joan Morris) when not teaching. He concertized and recorded with legendary ragtime composer-pianist Eubie Blake and coauthored a book about him. Bolcom won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for 12 New Etudes for Piano. He has earned numerous commissions, Guggenheim fellowships, Rockefeller Foundation and Koussevitzky Foundation awards, a BMI award, the Marc Blitzstein Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters, several NEA grants, and honorary doctorates. In the late 1980s, Lyric Opera of Chicago decided to commission an opera for the 1990-99 “Toward the 21st Century” artistic initiative. Then-general director Ardis Krainik and her colleague William Mason polled several American conductors, who overwhelmingly recommended Bolcom, “because of his sense of theater and his knowledge of writing for the voice.” The commission was soon official; McTeague premièred, in 1992-93 to glowing reviews, followed by A View from the Bridge based on Arthur Miller’s play in the 1999-2000 season. It was performed at IU in 2005 and has been revived at the Metropolitan Opera, Portland Opera, and Germany’s Hagen Theatre.

Audiences find themselves in the well-focused centers of Bolcom’s creative whirlwinds in concert halls, cabarets, opera houses, and on numerous recordings.

ARNOLD WEINSTEIN, Librettist
Born in New York City in 1927, playwright, lyricist, librettist, director, poet, and educator Arnold Weinstein collaborated several times over several decades with composer William Bolcom: for Lyric Opera of Chicago on McTeague (1992), A View from the Bridge (1999), and on A Wedding (2004); on Medusa, a monodrama created for soprano Catherine Malfitano and premièred with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra in 2003; Dynamite Tonite; Casino Paradise; a cabaret opera; and four volumes of Cabaret Songs, written for Joan Morris and performed by various other singers. As part of the Songbook Series at New York’s famous Joe’s Pub, 18 Bolcom-Weinstein cabaret songs were presented in a 2001 revue, “The Last Lousy Moments of Love.”

Weinstein’s recent projects included Idiot’s Delight, a collaboration with Bolcom based on the 1935 Robert Sherwood play, and libretti for Bright Sheng and for David Amram, the latter based on the story of Rigoletto. With stage director Mary Zimmerman, Weinstein coauthored the libretto for Philip Glass’s Galileo Galilei. He wrote the lyrics for Robert Brustein’s Shlemiel the First (1994), adapted from I. B. Singer’s children’s stories. Weinstein has collaborated with artists Andy Warhol and Marisol. His plays include the Obie Award-winning Red Eye of Love (with music by Bolcom), and his adaptation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. He also wrote the “Paul Sills Story Theater” series for television, directed by Sills. Weinstein started the drama program at Chicago’s Columbia College in 1969. He has directed professional and student performances at Italy’s Spoleto Festival, LaMama Theater, Actors Studio, and other venues.

Weinstein earned degrees in classics and comparative literature from Hunter College and Harvard University, and received several Fulbright and Guggenheim fellowships and NEA grants. He was chair of the Yale Drama School Playwriting Department, 1965-69. As a professor at Columbia University, 1979-2003, he taught seminars in poetry and dramatic writing. Weinstein died in New York City in 2005.

ROBERT ALTMAN, Wedding Film director
Born in Kansas City, MO, in 1925, through his uncompromising creative vision and inimitable style, Robert Altman became one of the most important film directors of the last half-century.

He joined the Army at the age of 18 and was deployed to the South Pacific, where he flew bombing missions during World War II. He was discharged in 1947 and returned to Missouri, where he studied engineering at the University of Missouri. Altman’s first foray into filmmaking came in 1948, when he sold a script he had co-written to RKO [Pictures]. The proceeds from the script, which would become The Bodyguard, enabled him to pursue an ultimately abortive attempt at a career as a writer. After stints on both coasts did not result in steady work, Altman returned to Kansas City, where he found work as a writer and director of industrial films.

While in Kansas City, Altman began to raise money for his own feature, and, in 1957, the result, The Delinquents, was purchased by United Artists. Around the same time, he co-produced The James Dean Story, which brought him more work, if not commercial success. On the strength of these efforts, he was selected by Alfred Hitchcock to direct for the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. His tenure there was short (two episodes), but it led to a string of television directing jobs, including episodes of Maverick, Bonanza, Peter Gunn, Combat!, and Route 66.

He directed a couple of largely unsuccessful feature films in the second half of the decade but nothing suggesting the extraordinary success and creative flowering of his next project: M.A.S.H. (1970), a critical smash hit that marked the first bold statement of Altman’s aesthetic. The film’s large ensemble cast, overlapping dialogue, and glorious narrative messiness are all facets of what we have come to think of as the Altman style. Nashville (1975) was spectacularly successful, but Three Women (1977) and A Wedding (1978) did not connect with the movie-going public, though critical opinion was still quite positive.

In 1992, with the release of The Player, Altman fans hailed his return, though he would probably argue that he hadn’t been away. Subsequent work includes Short Cuts, Gosford Park, and more recently The Company (2003). In 2006, Altman died in Los Angeles.

DAVID AGLER, Conductor
Artistic director of the Wexford Opera Festival, conductor David Agler has previously served as music director of the Vancouver Opera, principal conductor of the Australian Opera, resident conductor of the San Francisco Opera, principal guest conductor of the Oper der Stadt Köln, conductor and administrator of the Spoleto Festival, artistic director of the Opera Festival of New Jersey, and music director of the Syracuse Opera. He was recently named music director of the Banff Festival in Canada.

As a symphonic conductor, he has led concerts with numerous orchestras around the world. Recent conducting engagements include productions of Dead Man Walking for Calgary Opera; Un Ballo in Maschera for Opera Colorado; Tosca, Bluebeard’s Castle, and Romeo et Juliette in Vancouver; Tosca for Opera Pacific; Transatlantic for the Minnesota Opera; Manon and Salome for L’Opera de Montreal; Manon for the State Opera, Pretoria, South Africa, and for the Florentine Opera, Milwaukee; The Cunning Little Vixen for Portland Opera; Adam’s Si j’etais Roi for the Wexford Opera Festival; Orphee ed Eurydice by Gluck and Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Opera Colorado and New York City Opera; Gluck’s Il Trionfo di Cielia for Teatro Comunale Rossini in Lugo, Italy; Le nozze di Figaro for Opera Colorado and the New National Theater, Tokyo; Madama Butterfly for L’Opera de Montreal; Die Zauberflöte for the New York City Opera; Dialogues of the Carmelites for the Calgary Opera; La bohème for Boston Lyric Opera; and The Rape of Lucretia for the Opera Festival of New Jersey.

As music director in Vancouver, Agler earned special acclaim for productions of repertoire from the twentieth century. As principal conductor of the Australian Opera, Agler conducted numerous new productions, in addition to numerous revivals.

Notable accomplishments during his tenure in San Francisco were the formation of a new orchestra for the opera and the development of the San Francisco Opera Center and the American Opera Project. For a time, he was director of the EXXON/Affiliate Artists Program. He also conducted the world premières of John Harbison’s Winter’s Tale, Kirk Mecham’s Tartuffe, the American première of Tippett’s Midsummer Marriage, and new productions of The Rake’s Progress, L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Death in Venice, and Elegy for Young Lovers.

VINCENT LIOTTA, Stage Director
Stage director Vincent Liotta has been both a professional stage director and a dedicated educator for more than 25 years. He is the head of the Opera Stage Directing program at Indiana University, where he teaches stage directing, acting, and operatic literature. His professional projects have been seen on four continents and include Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Seoul, Korea), the eastern European première of Bernstein’s Candide (Romania), and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (Buenos Aires), as well as La fanciulla del West at the Canadian Opera Company (Toronto), Turandot at the El Paso Opera, and a new production of Die Fledermaus at the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre. In 1993, Liotta co-founded the Utah Festival Opera. His professional productions have covered the entire history of operatic repertory from Cavalli to John Corigliano. Notable works include directing the world premières of Mollicone’s Coyote Tales, a new version of Frank Loesser’s Greenwillow, Edwin Penhorwood’s Too Many Sopranos, and the American première of Dragon of Wantley. In addition, his works for the musical theater include a new libretto for Victor Herbert’s operetta, Naughty Marietta, and Viva Verdi, an original biographical evening about the life and work of Giuseppe Verdi. He has created productions at major American companies, including San Francisco, Houston, and Santa Fe, and has collaborated with Harold Prince on productions of Turandot, Madama Butterfly, and Don Giovanni, as well as the world première of Willie Stark.

ROBERT O'HEARN, Designer
There is no American theatrical designer more closely associated with the world of opera than Robert O’Hearn. Several of the most important productions in the Metropolitan Opera repertoire since the opening of Lincoln Center in 1966, have been Robert O’Hearn productions. Highlights of his long list of Met credits start in 1960 (at the old Met) with L’elisir d’amore and include Die Frau Ohne Shatten (1966), Hansel und Gretel (1967), Der Rosenkavelier (1969) and, Porgy and Bess (1985). His productions have been the benchmark of excellence both here and abroad. His international career spans 60 years, from his first professional stage production in 1948 in Cambridge, MA, until the present IU Opera Theater production of A Wedding, his final design before retirement this spring.

O’Hearn is a native Hoosier, born in Elkhart, IN, on July 19, 1921. He is also a graduate of Indiana University, receiving his B.A. in 1943. In 1948, he became a fixture at the Harvard University Brattle Theater, designing numerous productions over the next few years. The artwork of those productions is now part of the Harvard University Theater Collection. O’Hearn remained associated with the Brattle until 1952, when he turned his attention to New York and Broadway. Starting in 1953, he served as assistant designer on such legendary productions as Kismet (1953), Pajama Game (1955), My Fair Lady (1956), and West Side Story (1958).

By 1960, he was designing in his own right at the Metropolitan Opera, where he became a regular for the next 25 years. His other U.S. credits are quite extensive, including the New York City Opera, New York Shakespeare Festival, City Center Theater, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Boston Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Houston Opera, Ballet West, Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, and the San Francisco Ballet.

In 1965, he designed Porgy and Bess for the Vienna Volksoper. This began a long association with European opera houses that includes Bregenzer Festspiele (Porgy and Bess), Hamburg Statsoper (Otello), Strasbourg (Swan Lake), Karlsruhe (Die Meistersinger), and the Canadian Opera Company (Der Rosenkavelier).

Before joining the Jacobs School of Music Opera Studies faculty in 1988, he served as a professor at the Studio and Forum of Stage Design in New York City (1968–88). He has also given guest lectures and classes at Carnegie Mellon University, Brandeis University, and Penn State University.

O’Hearn’s elegant and theatrically sensitive designs form the mainstay of the IU Opera Theater repertoire—Peter Grimes, Eugene Onegin, Wozzek, Falstaff, Carmen, Ariadne-auf-Naxos, Arabella, Manon, and Le nozze di Figaro, to name a few.

As a teacher, O’Hearn has been a wonderful first-hand resource for the development of opera and theatrical design during the second half of the twentieth century and is much admired by both students and fellow faculty.

During his long and impressive career, he has worked with a veritable who’s-who in opera production and performance and has brought with him to IU a great wealth of knowledge on everything operatic. O’Hearn’s 20-year tenure with Jacobs has been a significant part of the 60-year history of IU Opera Theater, and it is important to make note that he has been the first American-born principal designer to serve in that post.

As the history of IU Opera Theater continues to be written, it will no doubt remember Robert O’Hearn as a key figure in the development of even higher standards of artistic achievement.

MICHAEL VERNON, Wedding Dances
Michael Vernon, who staged the wedding dances, studied at the Royal Ballet School in London with such legendary teachers as Dame Ninette de Valois and Leonide Massine. He performed with the Royal Ballet, the Royal Opera Ballet, and the London Festival Ballet before going to New York in 1976 to join the Eglevsky Ballet as ballet master and resident choreographer. He was artistic director of the Long Island-based company from 1989 to 1996. Vernon was appointed Chair of the Jacobs Schools Department of Ballet and Artistic Director of the Ballet Theater in the fall of 2006.

He has choreographed numerous works for ballet companies in the United States and worldwide. Mikhail Baryshnikov commissioned him to choreograph In a Country Garden for American Ballet Theatre (ABT). His solo S’Wonderful was danced by ABT principal Cynthia Harvey in the presence of President and Mrs. Reagan and shown nationwide on CBS television. He also worked as the assistant choreographer on Ken Russell’s movie Valentino, starring Rudolph Nureyev and Leslie Caron.

Vernon has taught at StepsNYC for many years, working with dancers from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and many other high profile companies. He is an integral part of the Manhattan Dance Project, which brings NY-style master classes to all regions of the country. He has been involved with the Ballet Program at Chautauqua Institute since 1995, regularly teaches and mentors dancers for Ballet Hawaii in Honolulu, and is the artistic director for Ballet School of Stamford in Connecticut.

Vernon has been company teacher for ABT, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Metropolitan Opera Ballet, and Alvin Ailey Company and School, as well as guest teacher for the Julliard School.

CAST BIOGRAPHIES

A native Oklahoman, baritone Ferris Allen (Jules Goddard) has performed with such diverse ensembles as Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Julliard Opera Theater, Oberlin Opera Theater, and the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires. An active recitalist, Allen presented Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte with pianist Margo Garrett at the 2007 Aspen Music Festival. This spring, he and conductor-pianist Andrew Altenbach of Minnesota Opera will give Twin Cities performances of Schubert’s Winterreise. In May, Allen makes his debut with American Opera Theater in Washington and New York performances of Charpentier’s David et Jonathas.

Lindsay Ammann (Nettie Sloan/Aunt Bea Sloan), mezzo-soprano, was a National semi-finalist in the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions this past March. Along with many other competition wins, Ammann was a 2007 Opera Index Finalist. Past IU Opera roles include Dame Doleful (Too Many Sopranos) and Maddalena (Rigoletto). Other roles include Third Lady (The Magic Flute), Gertrude (Hansel and Gretel), Ruth (Pirates of Penzance), and Kate Pinkerton (Madame Butterfly). Ammann attended the 2006 Aspen Summer Festival, where she sang for Reneé Fleming and Jane Eaglen. This summer, she will join the Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Des Moines Metro Opera. Ammann is a second-year master’s student and studies with Costanza Cuccaro.

Bass Erik Anstine (Snooks Brenner), originally from Eugene, OR, makes his debut as Snooks. He recently received his Bachelor of Music in Voice from Northwestern University, having also spent his junior year at the Royal Academy of Music in London. His recent roles include Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni with the American Opera Group, Kecal in The Bartered Bride with Northwestern University, and the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance with the East Surrey Choral Society. He will also appear in IU Opera Theater’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann as Crespel. He was recently named a winner of the Central Illinois District in the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions. A first-year master’s student, Anstine studies with Timothy Noble.

Soprano Suna Avci (Bridesmaid 2) is a first-year master’s student who studies with Mary Ann Hart. Previously at IU, she performed the role of Nuria in Oswaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar and participated in the Liz Upchurch lieder master class series. Avci has also performed the roles of Josephine (H.M.S. Pinafore, Richmond Symphony Orchestra), Madame Lidoine (Dialogue of the Carmelites, Northwestern University), Cunegonde (Candide, Northwestern University), and Lucy Brown (Threepenny Opera, Northwestern University), in addition to solos in several concert works. Upcoming performances include the soprano solos of Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass at the Harris Theater of Chicago in March.

Bass-baritone Nathan Brown (Breedley) has performed many roles, including Tartuffe (Tartuffe), Count Carl Magnus Malcolm (A Little Night Music), Ben (The Telephone), Rev. Olin Blitch (Susannah), and Figaro and Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro). While studying with Jonathan Retzlaff, Brown took first place in the Mid-South Region of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Voice Competition three consecutive years. He has appeared in and observed master classes with Dawn Upshaw, Ian Bostridge, Martin Katz, and Barbara Honn. Brown, who debuted with IU as Ceprano in Rigoletto, studies with Timothy Noble.

Soprano Christine Cornell (Buffy Brenner), a student of Mary Ann Hart, is working towards her bachelor degree in vocal performance. She has appeared in the IU Opera Theater productions of Susannah, L’elisir d’amore, and Carmen. Cornell has also been a soloist with several ensembles through the university, including the University Chorale conducted by William Gray, David Baker’s Jazz Ensemble, the A.I. Jazz Ensemble under Aaron Vandermeer, and the Jazz Combo program with Steve Houghton. She has also performed at the Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis with the Buselli Wallarab Jazz Orchestra and in a Bloomington Pops concert with Christopher Ludwa.

Courtney Crouse (Victoria Corelli), a native of Fort Worth, TX, is a doctoral student in voice and song literature. Her roles include Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (with Opera Ischia in Italy), Columbina in Busoni’s Arlecchino, and Mrs. Gibbs in Ned Rorem’s Our Town. During her time at IU, she has also performed the roles of Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore, Second Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and the role of Amalia in the musical She Loves Me. Crouse earned her Bachelor of Music in Voice at Texas Wesleyan University and her Master of Music in voice at IU. She studies with Carol Vaness.

Meghan Dewald (Diana Sloan), soprano, is a first-year Master of Music student who studies with Costanza Cuccaro. She recently performed the role of Margarita Xirgu in the collegiate première of Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar at the Jacobs School of Music. Dewald’s operatic credits include the roles of Juliette in Roméo et Juliette (OperaWorks tour) and Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Kentucky Opera, First Lady in Die Zauberflöte, and Suor Dolcina in Suor Angelica at Northwestern University. Dewald is a native of Reading, PA, and completed her Bachelor of Music degree magna cum laude at Northwestern University.

Bass-baritone Alan Dunbar (Jules Goddard) is currently working on his doctorate in vocal performance and studies with Costanza Cuccaro. Dunbar did his undergraduate study in music theory and composition at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. From 1998 to 2004, he performed throughout North America and Europe with the internationally acclaimed male chamber vocal ensemble Cantus. Since arriving at Indiana University in 2004, he has appeared in 10 IU Opera Theater productions, most recently as St. Peter in Edwin Penhorwood’s Too Many Sopranos and Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore. In May of 2008, Dunbar will sing the role of Bluebeard for Natchez Opera.

Carl DuPont (Randolph) completed undergraduate studies and a Performer’s Certificate at the Eastman School of Music. While in Rochester, DuPont was a frequent recitalist with the William Warfield Foundation. In addition to bass solos by J. S. Bach, Handel, and Schubert, DuPont performed Méphistophélès in Schumann’s Faust with the Eastman Symphony. With the Eastman Opera Theatre, he sang lead roles in Sweeney Todd, East and West, and Cendrillon. His IU Opera Theater debut was as Graf Lamoral in Arabella, followed by Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore, under Costanza Cuccaro. He has been invited to sing in Carnegie Hall with Ton Koopman and the St. Luke’s Orchestra.

Robin Federici (Muffin Brenner), soprano, is a native of southern New Jersey and is currently pursuing a Performer Diploma in Voice. She was previously seen with IU Opera Theater as Die Fiakermilli in Arabella. She completed her undergraduate at the Jacobs School of Music in 2006 under the tutelage of Alice Hopper. Federici has participated in guest master classes conducted by Dawn Upshaw, Roger Vignoles, Carol Vaness, and Virginia Zeani. She is a recipient of the Mendel Opera Scholarship and the J. Davis Scholarship. Federici currently studies with Carol Vaness.

Sally Freeland (Muffin Brenner), soprano, is currently in the last semester of her studies for a Master of Music in Voice. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice from IU. This production marks her debut with IU Opera Theater. Over the past three and a half years, she has appeared in the chorus for 10 different productions, including the world première of Ned Rorem’s Our Town and the collegiate première of William Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge. Freeland is an associate instructor for the department of Music Theory. She is a student of Scharmal Schrock.

Erin Houghton (Security Woman), mezzo-soprano, received her Bachelor of Music at IU. She is pursuing a Master of Music with a Ph.D. Minor in French Literature. IU roles include The Sandman in Hansel and Gretel and Pitti-Sing in The Mikado. Houghton recently received First Place (undergraduate division) in the Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Competition. Last summer, she was the guest soloist at the IU Freshman Induction ceremony. This month, she’ll be featured in a Brahms and Strauss Lieder Recital under the direction of Liz Upchurch. Houghton, a former student of Dale Moore, studies with Patricia Stiles.

Steven Hrycelak (William Williamson), bass, has a Master of Music in Voice from IU and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Yale University. With IU Opera Theater, his roles have included Sparafucile, Zuniga, Fiorello, and Dottor Bombasto in Arlecchino. He is also a frequent concert soloist, most notably as Jesus in J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion. Hrycelak spent the past two summers singing roles with Union Avenue Opera in St. Louis, including Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro. He also has worked extensively in New York, as a soloist with Trinity Church Wall Street, Musica Sacra, and the Waverly Consort, and as an ensemble singer.

Soprano Jennifer Kelsey Jakob (Rita Billingsley), a native of Kempten, Germany, is a first-year master’s student. She received her bachelor degree from Oberlin College, where she performed a diverse repertory, including Britten’s Les illuminations and Strauss Lieder. With Oberlin, she made her Italian debut as Clarina (La Cambiale di Matrimonio). Jakob has worked with Elly Ameling, Rudolf Jansen, and Robert Tear, and has sung in master classes with Mirella Freni and Marilyn Horne. She joined Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as a Gerdine Young Artist for the 2006 and 2007 seasons and is singing as an apprentice in Santa Fe Opera’s upcoming season. She studies with Costanza Cuccaro.

Baritone Christopher Johnson (Breedley) is currently in the second year of his master’s program, studying with Timothy Noble. A native of Montana, Johnson received his undergraduate education at Montana State University-Bozeman. His roles have included Billy Bigelow (Carousel), Bob (The Old Maid and the Thief), the Speaker (The Magic Flute), Graf Dominik (Arabella), the Sergeant (Manon Lescaut), and Samuel (The Pirates of Penzance), as well as covering the role of Silvio in Pagliacci. He has worked extensively with both Intermountain Opera and Rimrock Opera companies. Upcoming engagements include Belcore (L’elisir d’amore) with Rimrock and Moralés (Carmen) with Intermountain.

Bass-baritone Carl Kanowsky (William Williamson), from Santa Clarita, CA, is pursuing a Master of Music degree, having received his bachelor’s degree with distinction from IU in 2007. Kanowsky has interned at the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony and the LA Opera. A sampling of his musicological work was chosen for publication in the 2005 issue of the Undergraduate Scholar. He has given recitals at the Palais Corbelli in Vienna and Milan’s Casa di Riposo Giuseppe Verdi. Previous roles include Orson in Too Many Sopranos (IU Opera Theater) and Caronte in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (Bloomington Early Music Festival). He is a student of Patricia Havranek.

Meredith Mills Kiesgen (Victoria Corelli) is a singer and actress, who performs opera, musical theater, theater, and film. She holds both Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Voice degrees and has studied acting in Chicago and Los Angeles. Kiesgen has performed with Chamber Opera Chicago, Grant Park Symphony Chorus, Music Theater of Southern California, The Pollard Theater, Theatrikos Playhouse, Arizona Light Opera Company, Grand Canyon Shakespeare Festival, Arizona Spectrum Series Productions, The Rome Festival, Bloomington Playwrights Project, Sony Pictures, and MTV. She has begun the doctorate in voice program and studies with Patricia Havranek.

Wisconsin native David Klink (Bartender), baritone, is a senior pursuing a double degree in voice and choral music education. Klink has performed in IU Opera Theater’s past productions of Carmen and Arabella. He is currently serving as the 2007-08 president of the IU ACDA chapter and studying with Patricia Wise. 

Amanda Kohl (Diana Sloan), lyric soprano, comes to Indiana University from the Hartt School of Music in Connecticut, where she earned her Bachelor of Music degree. During her time at the Hartt School, she performed as soloist in choral works, including Verdi’s Gloria and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, as well as appearing in the role of Leatitia in Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief. In addition, she has sung in master classes with Deborah Birnbaum, Peter Kazaras, and Warren Jones. Kohl, a student of Carol Vaness, is currently working toward a master’s degree in music, hoping to finish in the fall of this year.

A native of Parke County, IN, tenor Matthew Latta (Groomsman 4), a second-year doctoral student, earned his Master of Music and his Bachelor of Music degrees from IU and the University of Evansville, respectively. Previous roles include Elder Gleaton (Susannah), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), and Flute (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), First Bird in Richard Faith’s Beauty and the Beast (world première), and the role of Martin in Bruce Trinkley and Richard Charnesky’s opera.com.edy (world première). He participated in master classes with Shirlee Emmons, Richard Hundley, Roger Vignoles, and The King’s Singers. Latta is Vice President of student NATS at IU. He studies with Brian Horne.

Kathryn Leemhuis (Tulip Brenner), mezzo-soprano, studies with Costanza Cuccaro in the graduate program. Her roles include Dido in Dido and Aeneas, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Flora in La traviata, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mrs. Hildebrand in Street Scene, and Hänsel in Hänsel and Gretel. Recently, Leemhuis performed Dorabella under James Levine, sang at Carnegie Hall in the Marilyn Horne Foundation’s Song Continues Festival, and placed in the Opera Columbus International Vocal Competition. She will perform as a young artist in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center. A native of Columbus, OH, she completed her undergraduate degree at Oberlin. Leemhuis is a winner of the Metropolitan National Council Auditions, Indiana District.

Joseph Mace (Waiter) is a doctoral student in the studio of Patricia Havranek. He recently premièred Marcus Shelby’s Jazz Oratorio Harriet Tubman: Bound for the Promised Land at the San Francisco Jazz Festival and recorded it on the NOIR label. Roles include Uberto (La Serva Padrona), Betto (Gianni Schicci), and Pandolfe (Cendrillon). Mace appeared with the San Francisco Opera in La Forza del Destino and Fidelio and with Philharmonia Baroque in Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and J. S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. He earned a master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory and holds undergraduate degrees in music and french from Tulane University. Mace is a member of American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA).

Jonathan Matthews (Luigi Corelli), tenor, is in his final semester of the master’s degree program, studying with Timothy Noble. He received his Bachelor of Music at the University of Utah, where he received the Pike Scholarship, the highest award given to singers. His roles include Leandro from IU’s production of Arlecchino, the title roles in Les contes d’Hoffmann and Idomeneo, Lippo Fiorentino in Street Scene, Gastone in La traviata, and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. He has also performed solos in Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9; W. A. Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass, and Handel’s Messiah.

Grady McCoy (Groomsman 2) is a sophomore, studying with Alan Bennett.

Hailing from Beulah, CO, Cody Medina (Snooks Brenner), bass-baritone, is a second-year Master of Music candidate, studying with Timothy Noble. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music, where he studied with Kenneth Cox. His roles include Reverend Olin Blitch (Susannah), Figaro and Antonio (Le nozze di Figaro), Falstaff (The Merry Wives of Windsor), and Dulcamara (L’elisir d’amore). He made his European debut in 1999, has sung with Cleveland Opera Circle, has been a guest artist at the Maud Powell Music Festival, and was a guest artist with the Colorado Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Justin Merrick (Randolph), baritone, hails from Annapolis, MD, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Hampton University. This is his debut with IU Opera Theater. Merrick has competed in several competitions, ranking as a finalist in the 2005 and 2007 NATS Mid-Atlantic Competitions, Leontyne Price Emerging Artist Competition, and National Association of Negro Musicians (NANM) Young Artist Competition. Also a conductor and composer, Merrick has written and directed/produced two musicals, which premièred in Hampton Virginia’s Ogden Hall. A former student of William Ray and Shelia Maye, he is pursuing a Master of Music, studying with Dale Moore. Merrick is an associate instructor for the African American Arts Institute.

Kevin Necciai (Groomsman 1), a student of Patricia Stiles, is a third-year undergraduate at the Jacobs School of Music. This is his first mainstage production.

Christopher Nelson (Donato Corelli), tenor, is currently in his first year of study for the Master of Music in Voice. He has performed with IU Opera on multiple occasions, most noted being Arlecchino in Arlecchino, Ralph in H.M.S. Pinafore, Monostatos in The Magic Flute, El Remandato in Carmen, and Borsa in Rigoletto. He is actively involved in theater in and around the community of Bloomington. Nelson graduated from the IU Jacobs School of Music last May with a Bachelor of Music in Voice. Nelson studies with Paul Kiesgen.

Johanna Nordhorn (Antonia Goddard), mezzo-soprano, is a second-year master’s voice student of Costanza Cuccaro. Her roles include Colombina in Arlecchino, Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, First Prioress in Dialogues des Carmélites, and Public Opinion in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld. She plans to finish her degree in May and will cover the role of Suzuki in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly with the St. Louis Opera Theater this summer.

Charis Peden (Candace Ruteledge), a Massachusetts native, is a first-year master’s student of Patricia Stiles. Since relocating to Bloomington, she has performed as Miss Todd in ExArt’s 2006 production of The Old Maid and the Thief and in scenes from Suor Angelica, The Ballad of Baby Doe, The Magic Flute, and Falstaff, through IU’s Summer Opera Workshop. Peden graduated with high honors from Abilene Christian University (TX), where she sang as the Princess in Suor Angelica and understudied the role of Zita in Gianni Schicchi.

Shelley Ploss (Maid 1) is a first-year graduate student from Peru, IN. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Butler University while studying with MaryAnne Scott. In the summer of 2007, Ploss was a part of the La Musica Lirica young artists program in Novafeltria, Italy. She was a part of the chorus for the 2007 production of La bohème at IU. Ploss is a student of Scharmal Schrock.

Soprano Kaia Richards (Bridesmaid 3) is currently a master’s student in vocal performance at Indiana University, where she studies with Robert Harrison. This is her third time performing with IU Opera Theater.

John Rodger (Groomsman 3) is a native of Miami Beach, FL. He recently sang the role of Pong and covered Prince Calàf in Opera North’s production of Turandot, and sang the Duke of Mantua in IU Opera Theater’s production of Rigoletto and with Opera Western Reserve in Youngstown, OH. In 2008, he will sing Alfredo in La traviata with Miami Lyric Opera, will perform as part of the Indianapolis Opera Ensemble touring program, and will participate in the Young American Artists program at Glimmerglass Opera, covering the role of Claudio in Wagner’s early opera Das Liebesverbot. He is currently a graduate student in the studio of Timothy Noble.

Naomi Isabel Ruiz (Antonia Goddard), from Washington, is pursuing a Performer Diploma in Voice, after completing a Master of Music in Voice. Last summer, she performed the role of Mimì in La bohème at the Brevard Music Center. This past spring, Ruiz received a Mu Phi Epsilon Scholarship Award, was a finalist in the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition, was an IU Travel Grant Competition Winner, and won first place in the Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Competition. Last fall, she was seen as Zerlina in Don Giovanni with IU Opera Theater. Ruiz studies with Patricia Wise.

A Mississippi native, tenor Daniel Shirley (Dino Corelli) is pursuing a Master of Music under Patricia Stiles. He has been featured in the IU productions of Roméo et Juliette, Our Town, Transformations, Manon, and Too Many Sopranos. Numerous regional concert appearances include Messiah with Evansville Philharmonic, Elijah with the Lafayette Bach Chorale Singers, and Mass in B Minor with Columbus Philharmonic. A two-time studio artist of the Chautauqua Opera, Shirley will apprentice this year with both Opera Memphis and Central City Opera, where he will cover Sam in Floyd’s Susannah.

A native of Indiana, Kris Simmons (Photographer) is a senior pursuing his Bachelor of Music degree at the Jacobs School of Music. While at IU, he has been involved in several community productions of Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors through Bloomington Music Works. The past two summers, he was involved in the IU Opera Workshop production of scenes from The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, The Old Maid and the Thief and others. Simmons is the recipient of the Mendel faculty scholarship and has appeared in numerous IU Opera Theater choruses. He is a student of Patricia Stiles.

Emily Smokovich (Bridesmaid 1), a junior, is from Kentwood, MI. She studies with Andreas Poulimenos. This is her fourth opera with IU, having been in the chorus of Don Giovanni, Madama Butterfly, and, most recently, La bohème.

Mezzo-Soprano Audrey Snyder (Nettie Sloan/Aunt Bea Sloan) is a native of Rochester, NY, and is pursuing her master’s. Snyder made her debut with IU Opera Theater as Mrs. McLean in Susannah. In 2007, she was a resident opera artist with the Pine Mountain Music Festival, covering the roles of Old Lady in Candide and Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti. Other roles include Madame de la Haltière in Cendrillon, Arnalta in The Coronation of Poppea, Jenny in Company, and Mother Jeanne in Dialogues des Carmélites. She graduated from Eastman School of Music in 2006. Orchestra appearances include Mendelssohn’s Elijah and W. A. Mozart’s Coronation Mass. Snyder studies with Patricia Stiles.

Sarah Stankiewicz (Housekeeper) is a second-year doctoral candidate studying with Mary Ann Hart. She has previously appeared as Cousin Hebe in IU Opera Theater’s 2003 production of H.M.S. Pinafore. During her time at IU, Stankiewicz has participated in master classes and a Liederabend under the direction of pianist Roger Vignoles and has sung for the composer Richard Hundley in the Living Composers Forum organized by the IU Student Chapter of NATS. She received her Master of Music in Voice from IU and her bachelor’s degree in vocal peformance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

Emily Stokes (Buffy Brenner), a native of Louisiana, is a first-year master’s student at Indiana University studying with Costanza Cuccaro. Stokes received her Bachelor of Music from Southeastern Louisiana University, where she studied with Scharmal Schrock. This is her IU Opera Theater debut. Her previous roles include Just Jeanette in Too Many Sopranos, Isabelle/Madeline in The Face on the Barroom Floor, and both Maria and Elsa in The Sound of Music. Other ensemble credits include Susannah, The Tender Land, A Little Night Music, and West Side Story. This past December, Stokes performed with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic.

Tenor Mark Van Arsdale (Donato Corelli) is a first-year master’s student in voice. Most recently, he was seen as Sam in Susannah. Other recent operatic roles include Ferrando in Così fan tutte and Triquet in Eugene Onegin at Northwestern University, where he graduated with his Bachelor of Music. He was a young artist with Central City Opera in 2006, where he performed the Second Dandy in The Ballad of Baby Doe. Van Arsdale has appeared twice with the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra. This summer, Van Arsdale will be a vocal fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. He is a student of Robert Harrison.

Stephanie Washington (Rita Billingsley), a native of Tulsa, OK, is a first-year master’s student under Carol Vaness. This is her IU Opera Theater debut. Washington received her bachelor’s at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she performed the roles of Clarina (La cambiale di matrimonio), Giannetta (L’elisir d’amore), and Elizabeth (The Secret Marriage). She also gave performances in Oberlin’s Danenberg Honor’s Recital and Oberlin’s Commencement Recital. This past summer, she participated in the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA. Washington has also enjoyed participating in master classes with Marilyn Horne, Leona Mitchell, John Churchwell, Christopher Larkin, and Matthew Epstein.

Anthony Webb (Luigi Corelli) is in his second year of study for his Master of Music in Voice at IU. He was seen in Susannah as Elder Hayes in October, as well as Graf Elemer in Arabella last spring. Other operatic roles for this tenor from Spanaway, WA, include the Devil in The Devil and Daniel Webster, Monostatos in The Magic Flute, Giles Corey and Ezekiel Cheever in The Crucible, and Pirelli in Sweeney Todd. Webb studies in the studio of Robert Harrison.

Tenor Joshua Whitener (Dino Corelli) is a doctoral student at IU, where he has performed the roles of Camille (The Merry Widow), Josh (Jeppe), Mike (A View from the Bridge), Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), and Nanki-Poo (The Mikado). Previous roles include Alfred (Die Fledermaus) and Edwin (Trial by Jury). Professionally, Whitener has performed with the Missouri Symphony and the Des Moines Metro Opera. This summer, he will be an apprentice artist with the Central City Opera, where he will cover the roles of Tony (West Side Story) and Little Bat (Susannah). Whitener is a student of Costanza Cuccaro.

Heather Youngquist (Tulip Brenner), an Iowa native, is pursuing her Master of Music in Voice at IU. Previous roles at IU Opera Theater include the Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel and Gianetta in L’elisir d’amore. Last summer, she sang the role of La Musica in L’Orfeo with the Bloomington Early Music Festival. She has also appeared as Cerere in Rossini’s oratorio Le nozze di Teti, e di Peleo with the University Singers and as a soprano soloist in a performance of Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light with the Bach Chorale Singers of Lafayette, IN. She is a student of Robert Harrison.

Christina Zimmer (Maid 2) is a first-year Master of Music student at IU. She appeared as the alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah at The Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. Zimmer was a finalist in the Palm Beach National Vocal Competition. In addition, she has performed concerts with Associazione Firenze Lyrica, Associazione Caruso, and Corale Seneses. A student of Patricia Stiles, Zimmer debuted scenes from P. Q. Phan’s new opera, Lorenzo Di Medici.

A native of Dallas, TX, mezzo-soprano Kendall Zini-Jones (Candace Ruteledge) is a first-year master’s studing under Dale Moore. She recently completed her Bachelor of Music at Louisiana State University, where she was seen as La Maestra delle Novizie in Suor Angelica. This past summer, she performed the roles of Suzuki (Madama Butterfly) and Caterina (L’Amico Fritz) for Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s Opera Theater and Music Festival of Lucca in Lucca, Italy. In addition, she has been featured in concerts and operas around Europe in countries such as Italy, Austria, and France. This is her debut role with IU Opera Theater.