Meet the Cast of Die Fledermaus

WILLIAM BOGGS (Conductor), Artistic Director of Opera Columbus, is consistently praised by critics as “daring,” “enlightened,” “superbly musical” and “sensual.” He has led some of his company’s greatest successes including Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Die Zauberflöte, Carmen, Pirates of Penzance and Macbeth. As the former General Director of Columbus Light Opera, where he received tenure, he produced over 200 performances of the works of Strauss, Léhar, Offenbach, Gilbert and Sullivan, Friml, Romberg, and Herbert, including The Gondoliers, The Merry Widow, La Traviata, Die Fledermaus, and La Bohème.Maestro Boggs also served as Music Director of the Welsh Hills Symphony Orchestra, the third conductor in its sixty-year history.
He recently conducted the world premiere of Robert Aldridge’s Elmer Gantry with Nashville Opera, Die Fledermaus with Opera Carolina, The Student Prince with Nashville Opera, Pirates of Penzance with Indianapolis Opera, a Mario Lanza tribute concert for the Fresno Grand Opera, and the Opera Columbus’s productions of La Bohème, Turandot, La Cenerentola and Les Pêcheurs de Perles. In the 2009-2010 season, engagements include an Elmer Gantry remount at Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, Die Fledermaus at the Mississippi Opera, Philip Glass’ The Fall of the House of Usher at the Nashville Opera, and Opera Columbus’ production of I Pagliacci and Romeo et Juliette
Maestro Boggs made his debut with the International Festival of Macau in performances of Chicago. Other noted engagements include Pirates of Penzance at Opera Carolina, Die Zauberflöte with Hawaii Opera Theater, Noye’s Fludde and The Mikado with Mississippi Opera, The Merry Widow and Die Fledermaus with Baltimore Opera, Cavalleria Rusticana with Cincinnati Opera, Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Dayton Opera, La Cenerentola at Lake George Opera, Aida and South Pacific with Fresno Grand Opera.
As an orchestral guest conductor, Maestro Boggs has performed symphonic works of Mozart, Bernstein and Bizet with the Columbus Symphony, the works of Bach, Mozart and Handel with the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, the works of Sibelius, Respighi, and Mendelssohn with the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra, the works of Dvorak, Tchaikovsky and Mozart with the Louisville Orchestra, the works of Frank, Stravinsky and Copland with the Orquestra Sinfonica del Estada de Mexico, and holds the title Conductor Emeritus of the Welsh Hills Symphony Orchestra.
Maestro Boggs received his Bachelor of Music, cum laude from Ohio State University where he went on to earn a Master of Music in Conducting and worked on his Doctoral Studies in Opera Production. He continued his Postgraduate Studies in Conducting with The Juilliard School in New York.

BILL FABRIS (Production and Staging Director) is a stage director with a national reputation for excellent, innovative and entertaining productions. Equally at home in the worlds of opera and musical theatre, he recently directed Le nozze di Figaro and Carousel for Shreveport Opera. His production of Massenet’s Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame won critical acclaim at Opera Boston where he returned to direct Candide. A regular at Chautauqua Opera, he has directed The Gondoliers, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado and The Barber of Seville. Die Fledermaus makes Fabris’ debut with Mississippi Opera and he’s thrilled to be working with a group of talented artists who have sung in several productions listed in the next paragraph.
His work regularly appears on the stages of opera companies throughout the US. For Opera Columbus he staged The Threepenny Opera; OperaDelaware: Der fliegende Holländer, Carmen, Cavelleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. Opera Carolina: The Pirates of Penzance and Die Fledermaus; Mobile Opera: The Tender Land, Rigoletto & The Merry Widow; Opera Colorado Artist Center: Roméo et Juliette; Eugene Opera: Die Fledermaus & The Mikado; Natchez Festival of Music: Falstaff, My Fair Lady, Die Fledermaus, Fiddler on the Roof & The Magic Flute; Cedar Rapids Opera Theater: L’elisir d’amore & Aida; Ash Lawn-Highland Festival: Oklahoma!, Kiss Me, Kate and The Wizard of Oz; Lyric Opera of San Antonio: Don Pasquale and La Cenerentola; South Carolina Opera: The Merry Widow, H.M.S. Pinafore and The Mikado; Anchorage Opera: Trouble In Tahiti, Don Pasquale and Il barbiere di Siviglia; Amarillo Opera: Tosca & Così fan tutte; Opera East Texas: La Bohème; Indianapolis Opera: The Pirates of Penzance. Other musicals include Little Shop of Horrors for Stage One, A Wonderful Life for Circa ’21 Playhouse and Fiddler on the Roof at Mt Gretna Summer Theatre.
His New York credits include The Desert Song, The Merry Widow, Countess Maritza and the recent critically acclaimed City Center productions of The Pirates of Penzance and H.M.S. Pinafore. Off-Broadway, Fabris directed the 20th anniversary production of Boy Meets Boy.
Internationally, he directed Nine at the Stadsschouwburg Theatre in Brugge, Belgium, A Little Sondheim Music and The Music of Leonard Bernstein at the Liceu in Barcelona, as well as the European tours of Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair. He also choreographed the award-winning short film Boot Camp, which has been a featured selection in numerous international film festivals including Berlin, St Petersburg and Sundance.
Future engagements include: L’elisir d’amore for Opera East Texas, Tosca for Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre and Souvenir for the Cyrano Playhouse in Anchorage.

MARYANN KYLE (Rosalinde) has sung leading roles with the Mississippi Opera, Chattanooga Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, the Southern Arts Festival Opera, the University of Illinois, East Tennessee Opera, LSU Opera, Gulf Coast Opera, and The Opera at USM. She has shared the stage with some of world’s greatest artists including performing the role of Micaela in Carmen, opposite internationally known mezzo-soprano, Denyce Graves, as a guest soloist with The Miami Festival, opposite famed bass-baritone William Warfield, and as soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Timothy Nobles and Marietta Simpson. In addition, she appeared as a soloist on the pop music stage with famed artists Patti Labelle, Patti Austin, Dionne Warwick, Ann Nesby and Vesta Williams.
While at the University of Illinois, she toured extensively with John Wustman in the Songs of Franz Schubert Recital Series. Wustman described her as “a lyric soprano of great and unusual gifts: an extremely musical singer that brings great beauty and style to all music that she performs,” and Kurt Klippstatter said that she "…possesses a beautiful soprano voice which is both expressive and technically well founded. Her combined vocal and dramatic talents make her a natural…"
In 2000, Dr. Kyle appeared as an Ensemble Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera and performed the roles of Clothilde in Norma, the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos, and the Foreign Woman in The Consul.
Kyle’s most recent opera appearances include Mrs. Ford in Falstaff, Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème, and Countess in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with the Mississippi Opera. Other major opera roles have included Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte, Violetta in La Traviata, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Lady Billows in Albert Herring, the Countess and Susannah in Le Nozze di Figaro, Micaela in Carmen, Musetta and Mimi in La Bohème, the title role in Floyd’s Susannah, the Evil Queen in the world-premiere performances of Zaninelli’s Snow White and many others.
Her involvement in collaborative efforts includes her continuing relationship with the Mississippi Arts Commission as a touring artist. Kyle and pianist Theresa Sanchez make up the duo “Bellescanto” and perform throughout the year presenting recitals and educational outreach performances. “Bellescanto” has presented several themed recitals including “A Tribute to Leontyne Price”, as well as tributes to the American Musical Theatre and American Art Song. This very active duo performs throughout the year around the region.
She is also actively involved in the professional vocal group known as the “Mississippi Vocal Arts Quartet.” This vocal ensemble performs music of all periods and styles. MVAE presents an exciting program of opera, musical theatre, vocal jazz, and classical music from the Renaissance to the 21st Century, and continues to keep a very busy performing schedule.
Kyle is currently Director of Southern Opera and Music Theatre Company’s Outreach and Workshop program and associate professor of voice at The University of Southern Mississippi. In addition, she is an artist/teacher in residence with the Operafestival di Roma and Festival Musica nas Montanhas in Brazil. She is an active member of NATS and MTNA and is a much sought after coach and teacher. Maryann Kyle’s students are actively involved in performance of both opera and musical theatre and have garnered numerous awards including state and regional Metropolitan Opera National Council audition winners, Sullivan Foundation winners, Washington International Vocal Competition, Birmingham and Lynam opera competition finalists, NATS regional and state award winners, NATS Governor’s Award winners, apprenticeships with Seattle Opera, Lake George Opera Festival, Aspen Festival, Wolf Trap, AIMS, and Operafestival di Roma. Kyle’s students have sung leading and supporting roles at the English National Opera, Tanglewood, Seattle Opera, and prestigious symphonies around the world. Her students continue to pursue their studies in major conservatories and schools including, Indiana University, San Francisco Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, and Oklahoma City University.

VICTOR KHODADAD (Eisenstein) as born in Shiraz, Iran of an Iranian father and a Cuban mother, and shortly after his birth the entire family moved to the U.S. His mother, a classically trained pianist and conductor, provided a childhood full of music and performing
opportunities. In college he pursued a classical theatre training and in 1992 received a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from San Francisco’s American Conservatory
Theater. Following several years of work in Los Angeles, including membership with the Improv group Los Angeles Theatresports, he moved to New York to pursue his career in theatre. By 2000, Mr. Khodadad had worked at Boston Center for the Arts, Hartford Stage Company, New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, Theatreworks/USA and Yale Repertory Theater. He was also in the original New York International Fringe Festival production of Urinetown!(the musical). While the majority of his efforts had been placed on getting work as an actor, he would occasionally be cast in musicals. After playing the role of Jesus in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar at Swine Palace Productions, directed by Barry Kyle, former Associate Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the fusion of music and drama prompted Mr. Khodadad to shift his focus and begin formal vocal study with Jerome Pruett, Associate Professor of Voice at The Hartt School, in April of 2001. In the summer of 2001, he was cast as Ferrando and Don Ottavio in concert readings in Italian for New York Opera Productions. After a turn as a super in the Met’s War & Peace he found himself, in the summer of 2002, in the Resident Artist Program at Natchez Opera Festival and then traveling to Italy, via a talent scholarship, to take part in the Spoleto Vocal Arts Symposium where he studied Italian and voice with Master Teachers Enza Ferrari and Bruno Rigacci. Recitals performed in New York and New Haven helped raise money for that trip. Singing in the chorus of Connecticut Opera in the fall of 2002 brought him his first contact with a larger regional house and encouraged him to continue his studies. This paid off when, in the summer of 2003, he returned to Natchez Opera Festival, alternately performing the roles of Benvolio and Romèo in Romèo et Juliette, and then to Hot Springs Music Festival, where he continued to gain experience singing with orchestra by performing in their production of The Magic Flute. The culmination of these efforts was enough to get him accepted into the Graduate Professional Diploma Program at The Hartt School of Music where he could gain leading role operatic experience and continue studying with Mr. Pruett.
In February of 2004, playing the role of The Male Chorus in Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia at The Hartt School, conducted by Kyle Swann, Assistant Conductor for Connecticut Opera, proved to be another turning point for Mr. Khodadad. This was the beginning of a string of performances including Testo in Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, Tamino in“The Magic Flute sung in German and conducted by the Met’s Stephen Crawford, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and his professional operatic debut singing the role of Lensky in Eugene Onegin at Opera Theater of Connecticut which was the opera’s premiere in that state. This production was presented in English with full orchestra conducted by Doris Lang-Kosloff. His performances over the past year include Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and Alfred in Die Fledermaus, both at Natchez Festival of Music, Ferrando in Così fan tutte with the Burgas Philharmonic Orchestra in Italian and for Opera of the Hamptons in English, and Sesto in Julius Caesar at Opera Theater of Connecticut conducted by Kyle Swann. In November of 2005, Mr. Khodadad made his Mississippi Opera debut singing the role of Alfredo in La Traviata and this October will make his debut with Commonwealth Opera by singing the role of Rodolfo in La Bohème directed by Ron Luchsinger, as well as debuting with New York Metro Vocal Arts Ensemble in New York City as Alfred in “Die Fledermaus” in November. As time permits, Mr. Khodadad coaches privately with legendary tenor Nicolai Gedda in Switzerland.

JAMES C. MARTIN (Dr. Falke) has won critical acclaim for his performances in opera and concert as a versatile singer/actor and entertainer, with an artistic repertoire that spans from Bach to be-bop, Britten to Burleigh and Berg to Bernstein. He has appeared to reviews of the highest acclaim with leading musical organizations throughout the United States and abroad, including the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera’s Western Opera Theater Tour, the Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, New York City Opera, Tapestry New Opera Works in Toronto, L’Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg, FRANCE, Theater Basel in Basel, SWITZERLAND, the Norwegian Royal Opera House of Oslo, NORWAY, the Mississippi Opera Association, and the Metroplitan Opera Guild; the music festivals of Marlboro, Ravinia, Aspen, Moab, Colmar, and Tel Aviv; concert and recital appearances with NY’s Lincoln Center in their American Songbook and African-American History series, the Collegiate Chorale, the contemporary ensemble Continuum, Caramoor, MOMA’s Summergarden series, Joy in Singing, the American Composers Orchestra, Meet the Composers, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Red: an Orchestra, Mississippi Symphony, Mississippi Chorus, and the New York Festival of Song at such distinguished venues as Lincoln Center Jazz, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, the United States National Cathedral, and the Library of Congress.
Representative operatic roles include Mozart’s Figaro/Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni/Don Giovanni, Papageno/Die Zauberflöte and Publio/La clemenza di Tito, Puccini’s Marcello, Schaunard and Benoit/La bohème, and Betto/Gianni Schicchi, Verdi’s Pistola/Falstaff and Baron Duphol/La Traviata, Sam in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, Britten’s Noye/Noye’s Fludde, Ananaias/The Burning Fiery Furnace, and Jen Jensen/Paul Bunyan, L’horloge comtoise & Le chat noir/L’enfant et les sortilèges by Ravel, Silvio/I’ Pagliacci of Leoncavallo, as well as Johann/Werther, Liberto/L’incoronazione di Poppea, Farfarello/L’Amour des Trios Oranges, Ibn Salaam/The Song of Majnun, Dr. Reischmann/Elegy for Young Lovers, #6 “Iron Hans”/Transformations, and premieres of Ibn Salaam/The Song of Majnun, Dr. Breslau/The Woman at Ottowi Crossing, Dr. Faustus/Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights and the role of the black American exploring pioneer Matthew Henson in Facing South. Mr. Martin’s concert repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah, the passions of Bach, the requiems of Mozart, Fauré and Brahms, and a multitude of chamber works and innovative song recitals. He is an avid champion of the American Popular Song, specifically the works of African-American composers.
An advocate of new music, he has premiered and performed new, as well as recently discovered, concert and operatic works by many contemporary composers including George Walker, Anthony Davis, Tania Leon, Aaron Copland, Conrad Susa, Virgil Thomson, Ned Rorem, Stephen Paulus, Libby Larsen, Bright Sheng, Jonathon Sheffer, Lowell Liebermann, Sofia Gubaidulina, Arvo Pärt, Viktor Ullmann, Luigi Dallapiccola, Stefan Wolpe, Tristan Keuris, Bohuslav Martinu and a host of others. Equally at home in musical theater, his credits include Billy Flynn/Chicago, Joe/Show Boat, Leading Player/Pippin, Henry Higgins/My Fair Lady, Billy Crocker/Anything Goes, Quixote & Cervantes/Man of La Mancha, Lucky/Dames at Sea, Billy/Some Enchanted Evening and Bill Starbuck/110 in the Shade.
An active music educator, Mr. Martin has worked closely developing outreach programs, master classes and concert workshops with regional organizations including the Mississippi Music Conference for Church Music & Liturgy, Lyric Opera of Chicago’s “Opera in the Neighborhoods,” New York City Opera Education, the Hattiesburg Civic Chorus & Concert Association’s Meistersingers, and at the Juilliard School where he has frequently served as director/coordinator of its annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration. He is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS).
Mr. Martin received his Bachelor of Music degree from Illinois Wesleyan University and his Master of Music from the Juilliard School, with continued studies as a young artist/apprentice and fellowship recipient with the Juilliard Opera Center, the Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and Les Jeunes Voix du Rhin in Strasbourg, France. He is a recipient of the William Schuman prize, the SONY Elevated Standards award, the Theodore Presser and Irene Diamond scholarships, two Gluck fellowships and a Lilly grant. He studied voice with David Nott, Cynthia Hoffmann and Benita Valente. Other mentors and coaches include Steven Blier, Michael Barrett, John Humphrey, Luis Battllé, Marilyn Horne, Hermann Prey, Joan Sutherland, Reri Grist, George Shirley, Paul Sperry, Edward Berkeley, Kenneth Merrill, Diane Richardson, Owen Burdick, and Broadway legend Barbara Cook.
Other ventures and interests include directing, graphic design. and multiple collaborative arts projects including the newly formed Mississippi Vocal Arts Ensemble, as well as local fundraising and outreach activities. James now makes his home in Jackson, Mississippi, where he serves as Instructor of Voice at Millsaps College and Jackson State University while maintaining an active performance and teaching schedule in both his local and global communities.

Soprano SARAH CALLINAN (Adele), a 2009 Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition Regional Finalist, is on the brink of a budding career. Ms. Callinan recently spent several seasons singing with the Connecticut Opera where she performed many main-stage roles including Frasquita in Carmen, Gianetta in L’elisir d’amore, Elvira in L’italiana in Algeri, Nella in Gianni Schicchi, Despina in Così fan tutte, Blonde in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and most recently Zerlina in Don Giovanni to critical acclaim.
In the 2008-2009 season Ms. Callinan made her Connecticut Concert Opera début singing Monica/Girl in The Medium/Trouble in Tahiti. She also sang Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute with Boston Lyric Opera's New England Tour, Frasquita in Carmen with Michigan Opera Theater and performed the soprano solos in Handel’s Messiah with Commonwealth Opera.
Future engagements include Despina in Così fan tutte with Cape Cod Opera, Adele in Die Fledermaus with Salt Marsh Opera, a return to Connecticut Concert Opera to sing the title role in Lakmé and her début with Opera New Jersey singing Frasquita in Carmen. Other recent noted engagements include Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro with Mississippi Opera, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel with Opera Theatre of Connecticut, Yum-Yum in the Mikado with the Connecticut Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Josephine in H.M.S Pinafore with Simsbury Light Opera.
On the concert stage, Ms. Callinan has appeared as a soloist in both the Celebrate America and Holiday Pops concerts with the Hartford Symphony, performed in a concert of operatic arias and ensembles at the Sanibel Music Festival and was the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Vesperae Solennes de Confessore with the Farmington Valley Chorale.
In the summer of 2005, Ms. Callinan made her first international appearance winning the Jenny Lind Competition, which resulted in a recital tour in Sweden. Ms. Callinan was awarded first prize in the 2006 Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, first prize winner of the Friday Woodmere Music Club Competition, first prize winner and winner of the "Most Promising Coloratura" award in the Amici Competition, a finalist in the Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship Competition and won second prize at the Peter Elvins Vocal Competition.
Ms. Callinan, a native of Worcester, MA, attended the Hartt School of Music, graduated Magna cum laude from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music and a Performer’s Certificate in Voice.

JASON BUDD (Frank) is receiving accolades and recognition for his buffo performances. In a recent performance as Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the Michigan Opera Theatre, the Detroit Free-Press exclaimed, “Jason Budd as Bartolo was the definition of a buffa bass: rotund, blustery, funny, with an alluring, deep-chested voice.” Of an L’Elisir d’Amore performance, Opera News said, “Jason Budd's Dulcamara was a good-natured quack, nimble of limb and voice.”
Most recent engagements include Sacristan in Tosca with Virginia Opera; the title role in Falstaff with Opera in the Heights; Benoit/Alcindoro in La Boheme with Opera Cleveland and the Princeton Festival; Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Montfleury in the world premiere of Cyrano at the Michigan Opera Theatre; and Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’Amore with Cedar Rapids Grand Opera.
Next, he performs Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Skylight Opera, Benoit/Alcindoro in La Boheme with the Arizona Opera, Johann in Werther at Opera Cleveland, Zuniga in Carmen with Opera Western, and Frank in Die Fledermaus with the Mississippi Opera.
A house favorite at Orlando Opera, Mr. Budd has performed multiple roles in recent seasons including the title role in Gianni Schicchi, Frank in Die Fledermaus, Major General in Pirates of Penzance,The Bonze in Madama Butterfly, Pooh-Bah in The Mikado, 1st Soldier/5th Jew in Salome, Crespel/Luther in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Monterone in Rigoletto, Don Florito in Luisa Fernanda, Benoit/Alcindoro in La Boheme, Sir Joseph in H.M.S. Pinafore, Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro, Melchoir in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Speaker/First Priest in The Magic Flute, and Sacristan in Tosca.


Lauded by the New York Times for her “emotional range,” and for her “plummy, nuanced mezzo” by Backstage, American Mezzo-soprano SARAH HELTZEL (Orlofsky) made her Seattle Opera debut in 2005 as Siegrune and Flosshilde in their acclaimed Der Ring des Nibelungen. Ms. Heltzel spent much of the 2004-2006 seasons with Seattle, also singing Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Miss Jessel in Britten’s Turn of the Screw, as a member of the Young Artist Program. She returns to sing Siegrune in Die Walküre and Flora in Verdi’s La traviata with the company in the 2009-2010 season. In the coming season, Ms. Heltzel also takes on Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus for Mississippi Opera.
Recent appearances include her critically acclaimed performance as the Marquise de Merteuil in Susa’s The Dangerous Liaisons with Dicapo Opera Theatre, the title role in Bizet’s Carmen with both Tacoma Opera and Skagit Opera, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Boston Chamber Music Society, Respighi’s Il Tramonto with the Red Rocks Music Festival, and Brahms’ Liebeslieder Walzer for Music at Southhampton: “Sustainable Treasures.” With Chautauqua Opera she has sung Cherubino, and the Monitor in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. This past December Sarah sang Messiah with Seattle Symphony, where she previously appeared as the alto soloist in Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass in 2007.
Sarah made her concert debut at Alice Tully Hall with the New York Symphonic Ensemble as the 2003 recipient of the Panasonic Harmony Award and has since performed Verdi’s Requiem for the “Requiem for Darfur” benefit concert at Carnegie Hall. Additional concert engagements have included Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Handel’s Messiah; she has recently been a featured soloist with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, and with the Yakima Symphony Orchestra. Equally at home on the recital stage, Ms. Heltzel has performed numerous song recitals in the New York, Boston, and Seattle areas.
In previous seasons, Sarah sang Candy Mallow and the Squirrel Mistress in American Lyric Theater’s workshop of Peter Ash’s The Golden Ticket. She has also sung Mère Marie in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites in Tel-Aviv with the Israel Vocal Arts Institute, and appeared as Giulietta in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and as Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther with the International Institute of Vocal Arts in Italy. At Manhattan School of Music, she performed the roles of Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Zweite Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, among others. Other credits include La Messaggiera in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and the title role of Offenbach’s The Grand Duchess of Gérolstein.
Sarah received a 2006 Apprentice Award from Chautauqua Opera, and was an encouragement grant recipient in the 2009 and 2005 Gerda Lissner Foundation competitions. She was a winner in the 2004 Sun Valley Opera Competition as well as the 2002 Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition (Junior division). Sarah holds a Bachelor of Music from Gordon College (MA), and both a Master of Music degree and a Professional Studies Certificate from Manhattan School of Music.

ELIZABETH PASARILLA RICHARDSON (Ida) is pleased to be performing again with the Mississippi Opera. Within the last year she has appeared with MS Opera as Suor Genevieve in Suor Angelica, a featured soloist in The Best of Opera Choruses and a chorus member in Reneé Fleming – Voice of the Century. She has also participated in their productions of Cavalleria Rusticana and La Boheme. She most recently finished a run of the children’s show Frog & Toad with New Stage Theater, where she has also starred in the last two runs of A Christmas Carol. Other favorite stage credits include Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Cinderella in Into the Woods, Mrs. Ham in Noye’s Fludde and Maria in West Side Story. Elizabeth also possesses a great love for choral music and has performed as a soprano soloist in Vivaldi’s Gloria, Faure’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah. Having completed her Bachelor of Music at Wheaton College and her Master of Music at the University of Southern California, she has had the opportunity to meet and work with such gifted artisans as composer and director Marvin Hamlisch, conductor John Nelson and soprano Sylvia McNair. Elizabeth is a resident of Clinton, MS. She and her husband Justin are excitedly awaiting the birth of their first child, due to arrive in July.

Tenor CARL R. DYKES (Alfredo) has studied voice, French, and Italian. While a student, he received numerous awards and accolades. Carl also participated in and won several vocal competitions including the Fulton Ghallager award for Operatic Vocal Excellence accompanied by a scholarship. Dykes also appeared in numerous concerts on stage singing Handel, Fauré, Mozart, Bach, and Verdi. During his senior year of study, he was accepted to the Cleveland Institute of Music for work towards an MFA. Carl has appeared on stages in cities around the world including; New York’s Carnage Hall, Munich, Stockholm, Warsaw, Paris, Luxemburg, Bruges, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Riga Latvia, Berlin, and many more. Some roles in which he has appeared are; Alfredo in La Traviata, Nanki Poo in The Mikado, Frederick in Pirates of Penzance, Francois Villon in The Vagabond King, and Ralph Rackstraw in H.M.S. Pinafore. His voice has been heard as feature soloist live on MPR, (Minnesota Public Radio) on several occasions, and he has performed opera arias during “Opera Gala Nights A’La Asti’s” of New York singing lyric tenor. His voice can also be heard on numerous CD recordings with musical styles from chamber to a cappella, and from choral to opera, and even self-written country music. During the day Carl is a Financial Consultant at Community Investment Professionals with Community Bank in Brandon, MS.

Tenor EDWARD DACUS (Dr. Blind) has appeared in over thirty character and leading opera roles with several regional opera companies, including the New Orleans Opera, Mississippi Opera, Lyric Opera of Waco, Ohio Light Opera, and the Baton Rouge Opera under some the country’s premiere conductors and stage directors. Roles include Beppe in Pagliacci, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, Goro in Madama Butterfly, Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Camille in The Merry Widow, Malcolm in Macbeth, Guillot in Manon, Spoletta in Tosca, Basilio and Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro, and Gastone in La traviata. Dacus is Associate Professor of Music at Mississippi College and serves as organist/choirmaster at the Church of the Creator in Clinton.





BILL FABRIS (Frosch) is an actor/director who started his career performing in musical theatre and opera. Broadway/Touring credits include The Pirates of Penzance, Jubilee, La Cage aux Folles, Alcazar de Paris, Chicago, Jesus Christ Superstar & Hair. Off-Broadway: Pageant (created role of Miss Bible Belt, Ruth Ann Ruth). He has performed with Chautauqua Opera in Die Fledermaus & She Loves Me, the world premiere of Tonkin at OperaDelaware and with Opera Company of Philadelphia and Opera South Carolina. Regional performances include Candide (Paper Mill Playhouse) and Sweeney Todd (TheatreVirginia). Most recently he sang the role of Beadle Bamford in Sweeney Todd at Shreveport Opera and is trying to grow gracefully into older character roles.







ERIC HAHN HAMBRICK (Ivan) is a native of the Jackson area. He holds Vocal Performance and Business Administration degrees from USM and Mississippi College. He has performed on stages from the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco to Carnegie Hall. He has been a part of Mississippi Opera Chorus for about 25 years. He also is a member of The Mississippi Chorus and The Mississippi Chorus Chamber Choir. He has performed in numerous theatres across the state and serves on the Board of Directors at Black Rose Theatre in Brandon. Some of his favorite roles have been Horace Vandergelder in Hello Dolly, Mr. Mushnik in Little Shop of Horrors, Mr. Bumble in Oliver, the Minstrel in Once Upon a Mattress and Burl and Stanley Sanders in Smoke on the Mountain and Sanders Family Christmas. He also enjoys performing with Mississippi Murder Mysteries. He has been involved in the Music Ministry at First Baptist Church in Jackson since his teenage years.

Meet the Cast of Suor Angelica and Cavalleria Rusticana!

Douglas Kinney Frost (Conductor) is Music Director of Syracuse Opera He has lead orchestras throughout North and South America receiving critical acclaim in recent performances including Porgy and Bess at the prestigious Teatro Colon, La Bohème at the Florida Grand Opera, a new production of Madama Butterfly and La Traviata with Anchorage Opera, the Boston premiere of Little Women at the New England Conservatory, The Magic Flute at the Syracuse Opera, and Postcard from Morocco at the University of Michigan. He was the associate conductor and chorus master for Opera Colorado’s Nixon in China, which was recently released on the Naxos recording label. In concert, the breadth of his repertoire has been highlighted in performances with the National Symphony of Mexico, the Bellas Artes in Mexico City, and orchestras in Brazil and Uruguay, Russian Federal Orchestra in Moscow, St Petersburg Festival Orchestra, Kharkov Philharmonia in Ukraine, and the National Orchestra of Korea in Seoul, Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, and in the U.S. with the Colorado Bach Festival, Rochester Philharmonic, Westminster College, Utah, Virginia and Richmond Symphonies, among others.






Stephanie Gregory (soprano), Suor Angelica, debuts in this title role with Mississippi Opera. A native of Mississippi, Ms. Gregory made her debut as Magda in Puccini’s La Rondine with the Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi in Milan. Ms. Gregory has just completed the role of Tosca with Opera Theater of Connecticut. She sang her first Mimi in La Bohème with Opera Ischia, a role she later reprised with Mississippi Opera., and was also featured in the roles of Micaëla in Missouri and South Carolina as well as Musetta with the Opera Theater of Connecticut and Violetta in South Carolina and with the New Opera Festival di Roma, in Rome Italy. In 2004, she completed a concert tour of South America with the Yale Alumni Chorus singing the soprano soloist in Rossini’s Stabat Mater. She made her debut in the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires with the Orquesta Filarmônica de Buenos Aires. Other cities included were Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, Santiago, Chile and La Plata, Argentina. Other operatic roles for the 2001 ‘American Jenny Lind’ include Lucia in The Rape of Lucretia, Nannetta in Falstaff, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore, Ilia in Idomeneo and Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Opera engagements in 2008/2009 include Violetta in La Traviata in South Carolina as well as reprising the title role of Suor Angelica for Opera Theater of Connecticut.
Her solo work includes Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Stravinsky’s Les Noces, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem and ‘Great’ Mass in C Minor, Samuel Adler’s Stars in the Dust, and Haydn’s Creation and Lord Nelson Mass. Her first recording endeavor, Stars In The Dust, music by Meira Warsheaur, which was recorded by the Slovak Radio Orchestra in Bratislava was recently released by Albany Records. Ms. Gregory received a Master of Music degree in Opera Performance as well as an Artist’s Diploma from Yale University. She also graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a Bachelor of Music Education degree, specializing in piano and choral conducting.


Jeniece Golbourne (mezzo-soprano), La Principessa/Santuzza, returns to Mississippi Opera where she was Mistress Page in Falstaff. She has performed as Maddalena in Rigoletto with New Jersey Opera; the title role in Carmen, Béatrice in Béatrice et Bénédict, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, and Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte at the Manhattan School of Music; Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Westminster Opera Theater; the Principessa in Suor Angelica with the American Singers Opera Project; and both Adalgisa in excerpts from Norman and Eboli in excerpts from Don Carlo with Opera Noire. Concert highlights have included Amneris in Aïda with the Annapolis Chorale and Symphony; arias from Carmen with the Deutsche Kammeracademie Neuss am Rhein Orchestra; the Verdi Requiem with the Würzburg Orchestra; da Falla’s El Sombrero de Tres Picos with the Manhattan School of Music Orchestra; an Opera Concert with the Prague Castle Guard and Police Orchestra, Czech Republic; and an American Songs Concert with the Collegiate Chorale and the New York Repertory Orchestra, conducted by Robert Bass. Jeniece Golbourne is a graduate of Westminster Choir College, and received her Master of Music in Voice Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. She has performed in the master classes of Fedora Barbieri, Marilyn Horne, Alberto Zedda, Martin Katz, Willie Waters, and Bo Skovhus.
Engagements for Ms. Golbourne during the 2008-09 season include Azucena in Il Trovatore with Virginia Opera and with Eugene Opera.


Marcos Aguiar (tenor), Turiddu, sang his first Otello in 2008 with the DuPage Opera Theater and with the Vero Beach Opera. He also appeared as Dick Johnson in Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West with the Di Capo Opera Theater, Canio in I Pagliacci with the Augusta Opera, and during the summer he sang the role of Des Grieux in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut with the Utah Festival Opera in Logan, Utah.
A frequent performer in concert and opera, Marcos has appeared as a soloist with the State of São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestras of the Municipal Theater of São Paulo and Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro, the Louisiana Philharmonic, among others. In 2003, as a winner of the 6th Aldo Baldin Vocal Competition in Brazil, he was awarded his prize by principal judge, Fiorenza Cossotto. In the same year he debuted as Don José in Bizet’s Carmen at the Opera Festival in Florianopolis, Brazil. In 2004, he sang concert versions of the roles of Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Don José in Carmen at The Municipal Theater of São Paulo and also sang the role of Don José at the Teatro da Paz Opera Festival in Belém, Brazil. In 2005, Marcos made his debut at the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro singing the role of Macduff in Verdi’s Macbeth. He appeared again in Carmen and Madama Butterfly at the 2006 and 2007 Indiana University Opera Theater seasons, again singing the roles of Don José and Pinkerton. Marcos Aguiar holds a Bachelors degree in Music and Voice from Santa Marcelina College in São Paulo, Brazil, and a Masters Degree in Music from Loyola University in New Orleans.

Maksìm Ivanov (baritone), Alfio, was born in Russia and has been praised for his portrayal of many operatic roles including Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Marcello and Schaunard in La Bohème, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Dandini in La Cenerentola, Onegin in Eugene Onegin, Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Robert in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, and Ford in Falstaff. In the United States he has sung leading roles with such companies as Glimmerglass Opera, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Providence, Opera Theater of Connecticut, Boheme Opera of New Jersey, Sanibel Music Festival and Ash-Lawn Highland Festival among others. A frequent soloist on the concert stage, his most recent performances include Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana at Woolsey Hall in New Haven, “Viva Italia: An Evening of Italian Arias” with the Wallingford Symphony and was a special guest soloist in an evening of Russian repertoire with the Connecticut Grand Opera and Orchestra.
Mr. Ivanov is a two time winner of the Metropolitan Opera competition in Connecticut, and has won numerous other prizes including the Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, the New York’s Jensen Foundation, Liederkranz Opera, the Licia Albanese Voice Competitions and the Shubert Theater International Opera Competition.
Mr. Ivanov holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from State University of New York at Stony Brook. He received his Bachelor of Music (cum laude) from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Music degree from both the Manhattan School of Music and Yale University.
Currently Mr. Ivanov is an Adjunct Professor of Music at the Connecticut College in New London, CT.

Meet the Cast of Rigoletto!

Constantinos Yiannoudes as Rigoletto

Praised for “a fascinating combination of charm and menace”, “a creamy, noble sound”, and “an exceptional voice”, baritone Constantinos Yiannoudes maintains an active performance schedule in both opera and concert.

Past seasons have found him at San Francisco Opera covering Germont in La traviata; Sarasota Opera for the Count in Le nozze di Figaro; Eugene Opera for Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Germont in La traviata; Boheme Opera of New Jersey in the title roles of Rigoletto, Don Giovanni and Il barbiere; San Antonio Lyric Opera for Escamillo in Carmen; Fargo Moorhead Opera for Scarpia in Tosca, and New York’s Central Park with New York Grand Opera for a dual bill of Bohèmes, as Marcello in Puccini’s score and Rodolfo in Leoncavallo’s version of the story.

Mr. Yiannoudes has also appeared with Opera San José, Nevada Opera, Annapolis Opera, Taconic Opera, Teatro Grattacielo, Little Orchestra Society and Opera Orchestra of New York. He has appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and the Bruno Walter Auditorium.

His current operatic repertoire also includes Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana, Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Ford in Falstaff, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera and Rodrigo in Don Carlo.

Equally at home in contemporary works, Mr. Yiannoudes has been heard in Kurt Weill’s Mahagonny-Songspiel, Virgil Thomson’s Four Saints in Three Acts, and Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors. World premiere performances have included the role of Drosselmeir in Craig Bohmler’s The Tale of the Nutcracker and the baritone in Roger Trefousse’s Found Objects. Mr. Yiannoudes also sang the role of Marius in the New York premiere of composer Robert Starer’s Apollonia.

On the concert stage the baritone has performed Rossini’s Ermione, Fauré’s Requiem, John Rutter’s Mass of the Children, and the world premiere of Stephen Walters’ Requiem at Carnegie Hall. He was the soloist in Puccini’s Messa di Gloria with the Eugene Concert Choir, as well as in Handel’s Utrecht Jubilate, Dvořák’s Mass in D, and Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs.

Recent operatic engagements have brought Mr. Yiannoudes to Syracuse Opera, where he made his company debut in the title role of Rigoletto. He returned to New York’s Central Park, this time as Germont in La traviata with the New York Grand Opera, and to Taconic Opera as Conte di Luna in Il trovatore.

Sarah Jane McMahon as Gilda

Sarah Jane McMahon is swiftly gaining recognition for her beautiful "vocal sophistication" and sparkling stage presence. In 2008, she opened the New York City Opera's spring season in Purcell's King Arthur and was lauded for her "silvery-voiced soprano" and "real star presence." In 2007, she performed Mabel in a new production of The Pirates of Penzance with N.Y.C.O. for which the The New York Times described her as a "deft comic actress" while also praising her vocal polish and flexibility. Sarah Jane made her debut with the New York City Opera in April 2006 as Galatea in Handel's Acis and Galatea. For this production, The New York Times described her as "bright, active, and fastidiously musical," and the New York City Opera bestowed upon her the coveted Kolozsvar Award.
Shortly after earning a Master's degree in Music from Yale University, Sarah Jane was selected by Maestro Placido Domingo to join the Los Angeles Opera, where she sang with the celebrated tenor as the Fifth Flower Maiden in Parsifal. Other roles with L.A. Opera include Naiad in Ariadne auf Naxos and The Milliner in Der Rosenkavalier. Sarah Jane also performed Donna Clara, the Infanta, in Zemlinsky's Der Zwerg at Bard SummerScape Festival for which Opera News wrote: "Sarah Jane McMahon laughed and danced as the glamorous Infanta, making a golden sound with an alluring light vibrato that evoked the young Pilar Lorengar."
Sarah Jane has performed frequently with New Orleans Opera as Valencienne in The Merry Widow, Musetta in La Bohème, Monica in The Medium, and Maria in West Side Story. She has also sung with Opera Grand Rapids as Maria in West Side Story and Micaela in Carmen, the Washington Concert Opera as Dorinda in Handel's Orlando, with Opera Theater of Connecticut as Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare, and with Des Moines Metro Opera as Abigail Williams in The Crucible.
Recent concert appearances have included Carmina Burana at Avery Fisher Hall, The Rutter Requiem at Carnegie Hall, a New Year's Eve Gala with the New Orleans Opera, and Yum-Yum in The Mikado and Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance with the Colorado Symphony. Broadway audiences have enjoyed her participation in Scott Seigel's Broadway by the Year 1959, Broadway Unplugged, and A Night at the Operetta at Town Hall, NYC. For this latter appearance Opera News praised her beauty pageant looks and "superb, stylish rendition" of "One Kiss."
A summa cum laude graduate of Loyola University New Orleans and Yale University, Sarah Jane is the Recipient of the Blake Stern Scholarship for Academic and Vocal Excellence at Yale University and a Theodore Presser Scholar. Sarah Jane has recorded the title role in the premiere recording of Emmerich Kalman's Sari, which is available on Albany Records. Opera News described her singing as having "a bright, pleasing sheen that recalls the young Barbara Hendricks." She also has recorded an album of sacred music dedicated to New Orleans and the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
Upcoming engagements include appearances with the Central City Opera as Lucia in Britten's Rape of Lucretia and Maria in West Side Story, a return to New Orleans Opera as Micaela, Knoxville Summer of 1915 with the Ridgefield Symphony, and a Gala Concert with Placido Domingo.

Michael Wade Lee as The Duke

The San Francisco Classical Voice hails tenor Michael Wade Lee as a singer "most impressive...with a well-articulated voice of clarity and remarkable color". A seasoned performer on the operatic stage, he has sung with some of the most respected companies in the world, including the Greek National Opera, New York City Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis and the San Francisco Opera Center. Most recently, Mr. Lee performed B F Pinkerton MADAMA BUTTERFLY with Midland Symphony as well as Charles Clayton in the premier reading of Stephen Schwartz's new opera, SÉANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON. Last year, he made his international debut in an engagement with the Greek National Opera, performing the role of Don José CARMEN opposite Denyce Graves. In quick succession, Mr. Lee reprised the role of Don José CARMEN with both Chautauqua Opera and for Opera in the Heights. Finally in 2008, Mr Lee sang Nemorino L'ELISIR D'AMORE with St Petersburg, conducted by Mark Sforzini. Mr. Lee looks forward to performing the roles of Don José CARMEN with San Antonio Opera directed by Paul Sorvino, the Duke RIGOLETTO with Mississippi Opera, and Tamino DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE with El Paso Opera.

This season he adds the roles of Cavaradossi TOSCA, Nemorino L'ELISIR D'AMORE and Froh DAS RHEINGOLD to his performed repertoire, adding to a wide variety of roles which include Der Hauptmann WOZZECK which was performed with Indiana Opera Theatre, Nanki-Poo THE MIKADO with Nashville Opera, and Raymond Pocket MISS HAVISHAM'S FIRE with Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Mr. Lee has performed the Duke RIGOLETTO at Connecticut Lyric Opera and Opera In The Heights and Turiddu CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA at Chelsea Opera, and in 2004 he performed the Male Chorus RAPE OF LUCRETIA to great acclaim with San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program. Of his performance the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "The best singing came from...tenor Michael Wade Lee, who combined heroism and honeyed tenderness in equal measure".

Gaining a reputation for his vivid characterizations, Mr. Lee created the role of The Actor in the world premiere of Kitty Brazelton's opera FIREWORKS! at American Opera Projects and he has additionally been a member of Pacific Opera's roster since 2002. In 2006, Mr. Lee sang the 1^st Guest in Dargomyzhsky's THE STONE GUEST with the American Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leon Botstein at Avery Fisher Hall.

In January 2008, Mr Lee performed the tenor solo in the North American Premier of Scherbachyov's Symphony Blokovskaya with Leon Botstien and the American Symphony Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall. the New York Times said, "[Mr Lee] sang with attractive tone and stamina in the final movement, a lurid Dantean fantasy..."He also sang the tenor solo in the Mozart Requiem and Jenkins The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace at Carnegie Hall and has appeared in concert with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and on the stages of Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Merkin Hall in New York City. He was a finalist in the Texoma region's NATS competition and won the Metropolitan Opera National Council encouragement award in Indiana in 2000. Additional awards include a prestigious Merola Career Grant and the Pacific Opera Career Grant.

Hilary Ginther as Maddalena

Ms. Ginther is a recent graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, and a native of Bristol, Va. With the Southern Opera and Musical Theatre Company she performed in many shows including the The Magic Flute (2^nd Lady), Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah (Mrs. McLean), Bernstein’s West Side Story (Maria), and the title role in Bizet’s Carmen. Her previous roles with the Mississppi Opera include Verdi’s La Traviata (Annina), Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde (Mrs. Jaffett), covered the title role in Carmen and recently performed The Marriage of Figaro (Cherubino). Ginther was selected to sing in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (3^rd Lady) with the Opera Festival di Roma this summer in Rome, Italy. Ginther has attended summer young artist programs such as the Daniel Ferro Vocal Program in 2005 and was a Lake George Opera Studio Artist in 2007 where she performed in Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne (Leonié). She was also the soloist cover for Schubert’s Mass in G at the Hurricane Katrina Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall in 2005. In 2006, Ginther was a finalist in the Charles A. Lynam Vocal Competition, and was a semi-finalist in 2007. She was also a semi-finalist in the 2007 Opera Birmingham Vocal Competition, and has won both the state and regional NATS competition in 2006-2007. She has coached with Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music faculty member Robert Kopelson, Juilliard School voice teacher, Daniel Ferro, the director of LA Opera Works, Ann Baltz, Ronaldo Russo of Lucca, Italy, Italian coach and conductor, Bruno Ragacci, and world-renowned conductor and coach, Fiora Contino. Ginther’s previous voice teachers include Mark Owen Davis; she currently studies with Dr. Maryann Kyle.

MEET THE CAST OF LA BOHÈME!

(back row) Maryann Kyle, James Martin, Kreshnik Zhabjaku, Daland Jones, Mike McDonald, Kyle Swann
(front row) Raffaele Sepe, Stephanie Gregory, Dan Hague, Laurentiu Rotaru

We kicked off the season this past Saturday night with a "Meet the Cast, La Bohème Pre-Party" sponsored by the Mississippi Opera Guild at Reservoir Pointe.

This wonderfully eclectic group of singers and directors including artists from Italy, Romania, Albania, Connecticut, and New York are right here in Mississippi.

We hope to see you at the performance on November 10 at 7:30pm in Thalia Mara Hall. Call 601-960-2300 for tickets!

The Metropolitan Opera goes to the movies!

Find a movie theater near you!

Click the link for ticketing and details

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/hd_events.aspx

Roméo et Juliette – Gounod
Saturday, December 15, 2007 1:00 pm

Hansel and Gretel – Humperdinck
Tuesday, January 1, 2008 1:00 pm

Macbeth – Verdi
Saturday, January 12, 2008 1:30 pm

Manon Lescaut – Puccini
Saturday, February 16, 2008 1:00 pm

Peter Grimes – Britten
Saturday, March 15, 2008 1:30 pm

Tristan und Isolde – Wagner
Saturday, March 22, 2008 12:30 pm

La Bohème – Puccini
Saturday, April 5, 2008 1:30 pm

La Fille du Régiment – Donizetti
Saturday, April 26, 2008 1:30 pm

Some sad news

Please read the following regarding of one of Mississippi Opera's most prized Board Members Barbara Moffitt
Barbara Herfurth Johnson Moffitt of Jackson, a longtime community arts activist, died of pancreatic cancer on Friday, August 24, at her brother's home in Osage Beach, MO. She was 75. Visitation will begin at 12 noon on Wednesday, August 29, at Wright and Ferguson Funeral Home on High Street, with the service following at 2 p.m. in the chapel there. The Rev. Dr. Ruth Wallace Black, director of pastoral services at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, will officiate. A native of Eldon, MO, Mrs. Moffitt was the daughter of the late Matilda Haldiman Herfurth and Theodore R. Herfurth. She attended the Eldon Public Schools where she was active in all music activities and played piano, flute, oboe and violin. She also played organ for her church. She was a member of her high school honor society, editor of her high school newspaper and salutatorian of her class. She also served as auditor for the American Legion Girls' State. After high school graduation, she attended William Woods College and Central Missouri State College – both on a music scholarship – and Radcliffe (night school) in journalism. She earned her baccalaureate degree cum laude at Belhaven College in Jackson. In l952, she married John Harold White, Jr., and they had one son, John Harold White III, who died in 2003. Mrs. Moffitt earned her law degree at the Mississippi College School of Law where she graduated cum laude. She was a member of the Mississippi State Bar and a charter member of the Mississippi Women Lawyers' Association. She was a former member of St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral. Always involved in the community, Mrs. Moffitt was a member of the Jackson Symphony League and served as league secretary and chairman of the league's 1973 Odyssey Ball. She served as president of the Community Children's Theatre of Jackson and the Jackson Family Service Association and as a member of the board of the Mississippi Kidney Association. She also was a member of the One O'Clock Club, the Holiday Club, the Serendipity Luncheon Club, the Mississippi Museum of Art, the Bridge Aunties, the University Club, Women in Art and the Women's Fund of the Greater Jackson Foundation. A past president of the Contemporary Drama Club, she was named "a volunteer of the year" by Goodwill Auxiliaries in 1992. Mrs. Moffitt worked on the Mississippi Arts Festival from its inception as the Pops Plus and Maytime Mosaic in the late 60s. She served as co-chair, chair and advisor for the annual event and president and board member of the parent organization, the Mississippi Arts Festival, Inc. Longtime friend Lois Clover said she was a part of the arts scene in Jackson since her college days at Belhaven. "The Mississippi Arts Festival – which was staged at the coliseum/fairgrounds -- wrapped symphony, opera, theatre, art exhibitions and children's events into one package," Mrs. Clover said. "Barbara chaired one of our most spectacular festivals. She had an innate talent for handling contracts with performing artists and particular brilliance with artistic programming, fundraising and budgeting. Other volunteers were happy to follow her leadership." But her love in the arts was opera. She began her volunteer career with the Mississippi Opera Association (then the Jackson Opera Guild) in 1958 as promotion chair and subsequently served as a member of the organization's board for many years. She was production director of the Mississippi Opera Company for nine years – during which the company did 22 productions. She also served as president of the Mississippi Opera Guild and as administrative director for the Opera Company for two years and as general manager of the company for two years. The Mississippi Opera is a charter member of Opera America, an organization that provides a voice for opera in this country. Mrs. Moffitt represented the state organization for more than a decade at Opera America's annual meetings. She also was elected to the organization's Board of Directors, the first nonprofessional named to that body. "For many years," said Richard B. Wilson, Jr., former president and board chairman of the Mississippi Opera Association, " Barbara served as the volunteer production manager of our company. It was she who was responsible for getting red cabbages (if needed for props) or a firing squad composed of prominent bankers, lawyers and businessmen to execute a tenor in the final scene of Tosca, " he said. " We could not have paid her enough to do what she did as a volunteer. Truly, Barbara was the backbone of the Mississippi Opera during its glory days." Edwina Goodman, who performed in many productions during that period, said Barbara "was dedicated to doing whatever it took to present a performance equal to those of numerous larger companies. "Having sung in several productions, I can say she was always the catalyst for the production. She was wonderful in making the lead singers, the chorus, the conductors, the stage managers and the members of the orchestra feel that they were doing something truly enlightening and important for the community," Mrs. Goodman said. Mrs. Moffitt also was a member of the board of Friends of the Arts in Mississippi, the support organization of the Mississippi Arts Commission, and served as its executive director for two years. She was chosen for listing in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in Arts Entertainment for her contributions to the arts. Mrs. Moffitt had a wide circle of friends, among them Jay Wiener who as a young professional moved next door to Barbara and her husband, Dr. Sam Johnson, whom she married in 1982. Wiener said: "High among my good fortune in life is that of moving next door to Barbara and Sam Johnson, shortly after graduating from law school, in my 20s. Any fear that adulthood is marked by dull conformity was allayed by Barbara and Sam's example. "They were cultured, intelligent, and pragmatic, with puckish senses of humor, rivaling any experienced at college," Wiener said. " We were devoted neighbors from the outset, and I cherish Barbara's model; given her commitment to the community's cultural health; her progressive passion to make the world a better place; and her unwillingness to suffer fools gladly, when to do so is acquiescence in low expectations, in a world in which short term considerations increasingly eclipse community health and progress." Dr. Johnson, who was chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, died in a white water rafting accident in 2000. Barbara married Dr. Ellis Moffitt, a retired allergist, in 2001. He died in 2004. In addition to her love for the arts, Barbara's passion was for animals – especially her standard poodle, Cara. She is survived by her brother, James T. Herfurth; her nephew, Matt Herfurth, his wife, Jeane, and their children, Abbey and Grace, all of Osage Beach, MO; niece, Kimberly Herfurth-Ayscue of Raleigh, NC, and her children Michael and Andrew Boyle of Tallahassee, FL; stepchildren, Margaret Sudduth of Jackson, Alice Johnson of Jackson, Dr. Lee Johnson of Ft. Worth, TX, Dr. Virginia Crawford of Hattiesburg, and Dr. John Moffitt of Madison; ten step grandchildren; and her beloved poodle, Cara. Friends named as honorary pallbearers include R. James Young, Dr. D. E. Magee, Dr. C. J. Chen, Joe Harris, Richard B. Wilson, Jr., Mueller Addkison, Charles Daley, E. Grady Jolly, Jr., and Dr. Don Mitchell, all of Jackson. Memorials may be made to the Mississippi Opera, the Mississippi Animal Rescue League or a charity of choice. Published in the Clarion Ledger on 8/28/2007.

Raffle Winners

Thank you to everyone who purchased a chance to win in the annual Mississippi Opera raffle fundraiser. The winners were drawn on April 21 during intermission of the production of Carmen at Thalia Mara Hall. Congratulations to:

Mary Ann McCarty - 41" Outdoor Stainless Viking Grill

Bob Soukup - Opera Length Mikimoto Pearls

Chad Clifford - 2007 C230 Mercedes-Benz


Be on the lookout for next year's chance for your name to be listed above!!!

Meet the Cast!

Photo credit Steve Rouse, USM Marketing and Public Relations





Cast members for Mississippi Opera (left to right) Oziel Garza-Ornelas as Escamillo, Fenlon Lamb as Carmen, Daniel Holmes as Don José and Hilary Ginther Carmen cover.

Oziel Garza-Ornelas’ (baritone) career already includes appearances with many opera companies in Europe and North America, including The Washington Opera (Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte), Frankfurt Opera (Belcore), Grand Théâtre de L’Opera de Limoges (Marcello in La Bohème), San Diego Opera (Schaunard in La Boheme), Orlando Opera (Schaunard), Sarasota Opera (Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Lescaut in Massenet’s Manon), Opera Theater of Connecticut (Escamillo in Carmen), Piedmont Opera (Lescaut and Marcello), Grand Théâtre de Genève, L’Opera de Nancy and the Neues Festspielhaus, St Pölten (Emuke in Tania Leon’s Scourge of Hyacinths produced by Robert Wilson), and Di Capo Opera Theater in New York (Silvio in I Pagliacci).

Recent engagements include debuts with the Santa Fe Opera as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Opéra Royal de Wallonie, in Liège, Belgium as Germont in La Traviata, New Israeli Opera as Dandini in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Teatro Bellas Artes in Mexico City as Taddeo, Opera Carolina as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Kentucky Opera as the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro, Shreveport Opera as Germont, and Rigoletto for Nevada Opera.

For American mezzo-soprano Fenlon Lamb’s debut Sacramento Opera as Rosina IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, the Sacramento Bee raved, “…every inch the saucy rebel [who] navigated the highly ornamented passages with creamy ease.” Described as “deliciously vulnerable” her Dorabella COSÌ FAN TUTTE was hailed by the Santa Barbara News-Press as “a charismatic characterization supported by a dynamic, rich vocal sound.” The Baltimore Sun applauded her AGRIPPIN saying “In the title role, Fenlon Lamb revealed a bright, flexible voice, ever-brilliant phrasing and theatrical flourish.”

Recently Ms. Lamb sang the roles of Stephano ROMÉO ET JULIETTE at Cleveland Opera, Maddalena RIGOLETTO for Opera Vivente and Flora LA TRAVIATA with Opera Grand Rapids. Highlights from recent seasons include Rosina IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA with Sacramento Opera, Dorabella COSÌ FAN TUTTE for both the Caramoor International Music Festival and Opera Santa Barbara, Charlotte WERTHER for Opera Vivente, the title role of IOLANTHE for Cleveland Opera where she also sang the world premiere of COME TO ME IN DREAMS with baritone Sanford Sylvan.

American tenor Daniel Holmes has been praised as a "confident and passionate Roméo" in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette with Opera North, and enthusiastically lauded as Alfredo in La Traviata, "his voice was smooth and controlled, and he sang with unpretentious confidence."

Other opera roles include Rodolfo in La Bohème at Italy's Ravella Festival, Gérald (Lakmé) at Sarasota Opera, Hoffmann in Les Contes d'Hoffmann with the Tri-Cities Opera (NY), Tom in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, Sam in Carlisle Floyd's Susannah, and Rinuccio in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. He has also performed leading roles with Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

This year, Mr. Holmes returned to Sarasota Opera to sing Rodolfo and as cover for Carlo in Verdi's I Masnadieri.

Hilary Ginther, a Bristol, VA native, is a senior voice performance major at USM. She has performed roles with SOMTC in Susannah, The Magic Flute, and A Grand Night for Singing. She performed as Maria in the USM production of West Side Story in Geb. 2006. Ginther studies with Dr. Maryann Kyle, who also directs the SOMTC.