 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 have covered the entire history of operatic repertory from Cavalli to John Corigliano. In 1993, Liotta co-founded the Utah Festival Opera. 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 and Don Giovanni, as well as the world première of Willie Stark.
 DALE RIELING (Guest Conductor)
Dale Rieling is delighted to return to IU Opera Theatre’s production of She Loves Me after conducting it in 2004 and The Secret Garden in 2003. He was the musical supervisor and director for the Broadway production of Les Misérables from the Tenth Anniversary until its closing. Rieling supervised the third national tour and music directed the first national and international tours of Les Misérables. Also on Broadway, he music directed Miss Saigon. Other productions include The Producers, The Three Musketeers, Married Alive, Into The Woods, The Full Monty, Nine, West Side Story, Dracula: A Chamber Musical, The Will Rogers Follies, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Footloose, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, A Wonderful Life, Cinderella, Gypsy, My One and Only, Sweet Charity, Peter Pan, Hello, Dolly, and the regional premières of Hairspray and Thoroughly Modern Millie at North Shore Music Theatre. Rieling has conducted the Kansas City Symphony and the Bob McGrath in Concert with the Louisiana Philharmonic and Syracuse symphonies. He received his master’s degree in conducting from Northwestern University.
 ROBERT O'HEARN (Set and Costume Designer)
With an international career spanning 60 years, 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 have been Robert O’Hearn productions. Highlights of his 25-year tenure at the Met start in 1960 (at the old Met) with L’Elisir d’Amore and include the famous Die Frau Ohne Shatten (1966), Hansel und Gretel (1967), Der Rosenkavelier (1969), and Porgy and Bess (1985). A Hoosier native, he received a B.A. from Indiana University. He soon became a fixture at the Harvard University Brattle Theater, designing numerous productions which are now part of the Harvard University Theater Collection. In 1952, he turned his attention to Broadway and 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 include 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. His international credits include Porgy and Bess for the Vienna Volksoper and Bregenzer Festspiele, Otello for Hamburg Staatsoper, Swan Lake in Strasbourg, Die Meistersinger for Karlsruhe, and Der Rosenkavelier for Canadian Opera Company. Before joining the Jacobs School of Music’s Opera Studies faculty, from which he recently retired, he served as a professor at the Studio and Forum of Stage Design in New York City.
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LADISLAW SIPOS
 William Kloppenburg, bass-baritone, is in his second year of pursuing a master’s degree in vocal performance. He received his undergraduate degree in music education from the IU Jacobs School of Music. Kloppenburg has performed with IU Opera Theater on several occasions, including as the Sergeant in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, Elder McClean in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, and Alcindoro/Benoit in Puccini’s La bohème. He has been involved in several choirs in and around Bloomington and helped to create the role of Friar Laurence in Don Freund’s new musical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. He currently studies with Dale Moore.
ARPAD (LAZLO)
 Michael Cummings, now of Chicago, IL, is a second-year master’s student, studying with Scharmal Schrock. Having completed his undergraduate career at IU, Cummings has been featured on opera and musical theatre stages alike. Previous performances with IU Opera Theater include Gabriel in Too Many Sopranos, Little Bat McLean in Susannah, and Andrès, Pittichinaccio, Cochenille and Franz in Les contes d’Hoffmann. This fall, he will be seen as Junker Spärlich in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
ILONA RITTER
 Mezzo-soprano Eileen Carey Jennings was an award winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (North Mississippi/West Tennessee District) and a Mid-South Regional Level of MONC Encouragement Award winner. She has made regular appearances with the Mississippi Summer Arts Institute in roles such as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, Diana Morales in A Chorus Line, Rose Lennox in A Secret Garden, Bonnie in Anything Goes, and Betty Rizzo in Grease. She earned a Bachelor of Music with honors from Delta State University and is a member of Mu Phi Epsilon and Phi Kappa Lambda music honor societies. A second-year master’s student at IU, Jennings studies with Patricia Havranek.
STEPHEN KODALY
 A native of Tennessee, Oliver Henderson is accomplished not only as a comic singer/actor but also in romantic operatic leads. He made his professional debut in H.M.S. Pinafore with the Nashville Opera. Since that debut, he has performed in a variety of roles and venues, including with the Ohio Light Opera in Wooster, OH, where his roles included Danilo in Franz Lehar’s Merry Widow, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, and the title role in the recording of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Grand Duke on Albany Records. Henderson holds music degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Middle Tennessee State University. He is currently a doctoral student of Carol Vaness.
GEORG NOWACK
 Kenneth J. Pereira, baritone, is a doctoral voice student in the IU Jacobs School of Music, where he completed a Master of Music in Voice. Pereira made his debut with IU Opera Theater as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly. He was also heard on the IU Opera stage as Marcello in La bohème and as Spalanzani and Schlémil in Les contes d’Hoffmann. In the fall, he will perform the role of Herr Fluth in Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. His past musical theater roles include Tony in West Side Story, Billy Crocker in Anything Goes, and Matt in The Fantasticks. Prior to his studies at IU, Pereira was heard frequently in opera, oratorio, recital, and musical theater performances throughout northern California and the Bay Area. He graduated Magna cum Laude from California State University, Stanislaus, where he completed a Bachelor of Music in Voice. He is a student of Andreas Poulimenos.
MR. MARACZEK
 Adonis Duque Abuyen, baritone and native of Bakersfield, CA, completed his Bachelor of Music degree at Chapman University (CU), under the tutelage of Peter Atherton. At CU, he was seen in many opera productions, including Die Zauberflöte, as Papageno, and Gianni Schicchi, as Simone. Other roles performed in Southern California include Figaro in W. A. Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors. A former student of Giorgio Tozzi, Abuyen made his IU Opera Theater debut as a master’s student in 2005. Later that year, he traveled to Italy, where he performed Bartolo in Operafestival di Roma’s production of Le nozze di Figaro. Past roles with IU Opera Theater include Javelinot in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites; Peter, the father, in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel; Abbate Cospicuo in Busoni’s Arlecchino; Schaunard in La bohème; and, most recently, Lindorf in Les Contes d’Hoffmann. Abuyen is a doctoral student and studies with Patricia Stiles.
AMALIA BALASH
 Sara Ann Radke, a native of Toppenish, WA, is completing a Master of Music in Voice this semester, with plans to begin the doctoral program in voice this fall. Previous roles with IU Opera Theater include the Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto and Margarita Xirgu in the collegiate première of Osvaldo Golijov’s chamber opera, Ainadamar. Other performance credits include Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Maria in West Side Story, as well as several opera scenes. She also was the soprano soloist for the Yakima Symphony Orchestra’s performance of W. A. Mozart’s Requiem, K.626 and will reappear as a soloist this December for their performance of Handel’s Messiah. She is a student of Scharmal Schrock.
ENSEMBLE
HEAD WAITER, SHOPPER
 Joseph Mace is a doctoral student in voice at the IU Jacobs School of Music, where he studies with Patricia Havranek. Mace’s previous performances include the collegiate première of William Balcom’s A Wedding and baritone soloist in J. S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. He recently premièred Marcus Shelby’s Jazz Oratorio, Harriet Tubman: Bound for the Promised Land, which he reprised at the 2007 San Francisco Jazz Festival and released on the NOIR label in May 2008. Mace appeared in the San Francisco Opera productions of Verdi’s La Forza del Destino and Beethoven’s Fidelio and performed with Philharmonia Baroque in Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and J. S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. He received his Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and holds undergraduate degrees from Tulane University in vocal performance and French/French literature. Mace is a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA).
CUSTOMER NO. 1, GYPSY
 Kelly Holterhoff, a native of Cincinnati, is pursuing her master’s in voice at the IU Jacobs School of Music. Though she was a frequent member of the opera chorus during her undergraduate work at IU, this production marks her debut role with IU Opera Theater. Previously, she performed with the May Festival Choir in Cincinnati, where she was also a member of regional chamber vocal ensembles and a finalist in the Overture Award competitions. Holterhoff studies with Alice Hopper and holds an assistantship as the head wig and makeup designer for IU Opera and Ballet Theater.
CUSTOMER NO.2, WINDOW SHOPPER, MAGDA
 Jami Leonard is a senior, working on a Bachelor of Music in Voice. She studies with Patricia Wise. She Loves Me marks her debut with IU Opera Theater.
CUSTOMER NO. 3, GYPSY, CAROLER
 Emily Stokes, a native of Louisiana, will be a second-year master’s student at IU, studying with Brian Horne. Stokes received her Bachelor of Music from Southeastern Louisiana University, where she studied with Scharmal Schrock and graduated summa cum laude. She most recently performed in the collegiate première of William Bolcom’s A Wedding, as Buffy Brenner. She has also performed with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic. 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 Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Susannah, The Tender Land, A Little Night Music, and West Side Story.
CUSTOMER NO. 4, CAROLER, CAFE GUEST
 Charis Peden, 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. She sang Candace Ruteledge in Bolcom’s A Wedding.
CUSTOMER NO. 5, STEPHANIE, NURSE, WINDOW SHOPPER
 Ursula Maria Kuhar, mezzo-soprano, is a second-year Doctor of Music in Voice student at the Jacobs School of Music. She received her bachelor’s degree in arts administration with honors and master’s in music education from Butler University, where she studied with Michael Sells. She also received a “Diplôme d’études en langue française” from Université de Paris IV (La Sorbonne) in Paris, France. With IU Opera Theater, she has appeared as Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro and Mrs. Ott in Susannah. Past opera roles include Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas and Katisha in The Mikado. On the concert stage, she has been the alto soloist in Bach’s Mass in b minor, Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody, Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1, “Jeremiah,” Handel’s Messiah, and Vivaldi’s Gloria. Kuhar was the mezzo-soprano soloist for the world première of Frank Burch Brown’s Mary With Jesus with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir and recorded the work on their album, From East to West. This fall, she will return to the IU Opera Theater stage as Frau Reich in Nicolai’s Merry Wives of Windsor. Kuhar is a student of Scharmal Schrock.
VIKTOR, SHOPPER
 Tenor Jonathan B. Lerner, a native of Mission Hills, KS, is currently a junior, double majoring in both voice performance and choral music education. This marks Lerner’s debut with IU Opera Theater. Notable past roles include Brack Weaver in Kurt Weill’s Down in the Valley, Tommy Albright in Lerner & Lowe’s Brigadoon, and Miles Gloriosus is Stephen Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to The Forum. Lerner has been a featured performer with The Lyric Opera of Kansas City, The Kansas City Symphony, Music Theatre for The People of Kansas City, and the Kansas City Chorale. Lerner studies under Alan Bennett.
BUSBOY, CAROLER
 Tenor Nicholas Nesbitt is presently working on his Masters of Music in Voice and studies with Costanza Cuccaro. Nesbitt received his bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from DePauw University in 2006. Some of his previous roles include Sam in IU’s Fall 2007 production of Susannah, Nemorino in IU’s summer 2007 production of L’elisir d’Amore, Arlecchino in IU’s spring 2007 production of Busoni’s Arlecchino; Tamino in DePauw’s 2006 production of W. A. Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Rinnuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, and Orpheus in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld. He received the National Society of Arts and Letters Ilknur P. Ralston Memorial Award in the spring of 2008. Nesbitt has also won first place at NATS Indiana State and regional competitions. He was also a junior division winner of Opera Columbus’s Irma M. Cooper international vocal competition in 2006.
KELLER, GYPSY, SHOPPER
 Jesse Malgieri, a senior, is a native of Rochester, NY. Malgieri has won the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s Young Artist Vocal Competition and has appeared as a soloist at the Rockefeller Center for the Arts and the Chautauqua Institution, singing the title role in scenes from Sweeney Todd. While at the Jacobs School of Music, Malgieri has appeared as a soloist with the University Chorale, Motet Choir, and the Symphonic Choir as the bass soloist in Mendelssohn’s Di Erste Walpurgisnacht. Malgieri has twice participated in the Charley Creek Vocal Workshop, directed by Timothy Noble, and was selected to participate in a German Lieder masterclass with Liz Upchurch at the Jacobs School this spring. Malgieri has appeared with IU Opera Theater as Zio Bonzo in Madama Butterfly, Monterone in Rigoletto, Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro, and will play Marquis d’Obigny in this fall’s production of La traviata. Malgieri is a student of Timothy Noble.
FERENC, CAROLER
 Kevin Necciai, a student of Patricia Stiles, is a third-year undergraduate at the Jacobs School of Music. He sang the Groomsman 2 in Bolcom’s A Wedding.
CAFE GUEST, SHOPPER
 Justin Merrick is earning his Master of Music in Voice, with a Minor in Conducting/Arts Administration. His studies have led him to be the winner of several local, state, regional, and national voice/talent competitions, including the Leontyne Price Emerging Artist competition, National Association of Teacher Singers, National Association of Black Musicians, and Debbie Allen’s FameUS Triple Threat competition. Most notably, Merrick won the National Honda All-Star competition, where he is featured in 2006, 2007, and 2008 Forbes, Newsweek, Black Enterprise, Ebony, and Essence magazines. Merrick has trained in tap, modern, and ballet for nine years and in his spare time, enjoys composing. |
