Cody Michael Bradley is a Chicago-based musician with experience as a singer, pianist, vocal coach, music director, and conductor. Currently, on the voice faculty of Loyola University, he has previously worked at the College Light Opera Company (MA) and spent one season at Opera in the Ozarks (AR) as both singer and pianist. In 2016 he returned for his second season as a piano fellow at the Bay View Music Festival (MI), where he also conducted part of an opera scenes program. Recent regional credits include productions with Chicago Fringe Opera, Petite Opera Productions, and Thompson Street Opera. Cody works with numerous schools, churches, and community service groups as a pianist and serves as a vocalist and apprentice conductor with the Apollo Chorus of Chicago.

M.M. Vocal Coaching – Oklahoma City University
B.A. Vocal Music – Northwest Missouri State University

Soprano Katherine Bruton’s clear voice and vibrant characterization bring opera and art song to life. Her nuanced musicality and virtuosic vocal fireworks have earned her the roles of Miss Silverpeal/The Impresario, Mabel/The Pirates of Penzance, Le feu (The Fire)/L’enfant et les sortileges (The Child and the Spells), and Virtù (Virtue)/L’incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea), among others. She has also appeared with Pasadena Opera, the critically-acclaimed Pacific Opera Project, and OperaUCLA, among others.

An advocate of new opera, Ms. Bruton has been a part of several operatic premieres. Recently, Ms. Bruton has performed in the Chicago premieres of contemporary one-act operas as Darling Donnis/The Final Battle for Love by Philip Thompson, Sang Kancil the Mouse Deer/The Mouse Deer and the Crocodile by Hong-Da Chin, and Wing Tip/The Rootabaga Stories by Yvonne Freckmann with Thompson Street Opera Company. She also had the privilege of creating the role of “La Saborini” in the world premiere of The Dove and The Nightingale by American composer Roger Bourland. Upcoming performances include the world premiere of Ross Crean’s opera Lost Daughters as The Queen of the Night with Another Voice Collaborative in partnership with Resonanz Opera and future engagements with Thompson Street Opera Company.

Ms. Bruton also has a passion for art song, especially new art song. She has given premieres of several art songs and art song cycles, including Littles by Michelle Isaac and Personal Weather by Pin Hsing Lin. While at SongFest in Los Angeles, CA, Ms. Bruton had the privilege of working with fabulous collaborative pianists Graham Johnson, Martin Katz, Margo Garrett, and Kathleen Tagg. She has also performed in concert with American composer John Musto. Her passion for art song also extends to Russian art song, which she has performed consistently since Russian baritone Vladimir Chernov introduced her to the language and repertoire during her undergraduate studies at UCLA.

Ms. Bruton is pursuing her Masters of Music degree from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where she studies with soprano Judith Haddon. She also received bachelors’ degrees in vocal performance and music education from UCLA, where she studied with Vladimir Chernov. She is a proud OperaWorks alumna and has also attended Songfest in Los Angeles, CA and the Summer in Payerbach Opera Intensive in Austria.

Matthan Ring Black, baritone, holds a Master’s Degree in Opera Performance from Wichita State University and a Professional Diploma from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University where he spent two years as a Young Artist with Chicago Opera Theater. Matthan has recently performed the roles of Don Alvaro and Dandini in Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims and La Cenerentola, Huy/The Doctor in the Chicago premiere of Daron Hagen’s Amelia at CCPA and Roderick Usher in a new realization of Debussy’s unfinished La Chute de Maison de Usher.

Matthan is also committed to classical vocal music in recital and concert. He recently performed in song recitals honoring the 50th anniversary of the death of Francis Poulenc and selections from La Traviata and A Midsummer Night’s Dream to celebrate the birthdays of Verdi and Britten. Matthan is also passionate about the preservation of art song in English through nontraditional performances of songs from composers such as John Adams, Ernst Bacon, Leonard Bernstein, Jake Heggie, and Lee Hoiby.

Matthan recently made his main stage debut with Chicago Opera Theatre as Vagabond #2 in Carl Orff’s Die Kluge and will be featured as an Apprentice Artist with Opera Southwest this October. Matthan will be also performing the role of Tarquinius in Candid Concert Opera’s The Rape of Lucretia in November. Other performances include Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Sid (Albert Herring), Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte), L’horloge Comtoise (L’enfant et les sortileges), Henry Davis (Street Scene), and The Lord High Chancellor (Iolanthe).

John Cockerill is a coach and music director for opera and musical theatre. Recent productions include First Lady Suite, Young Frankenstein, Xanadu, Argento’s The Boor, Wargo’s Seduction of a Lady, and High Fidelity. He holds a M.M. in Collaborative Piano from the University of Colorado-Boulder, and a M.M. in Musicology and a B.M. in Piano Performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Jacquelyn Kress, mezzo-soprano, is a recent graduate of the Opera Institute at Boston University. With the OI, Ms. Kress was seen as Annio (La Clemenza di Tito), Kate (Owen Wingrave), Jean (Le Portrait de Manon), Mother Marie (Dialogues of the Carmelites), and Fidalma (Il Matrimonio Segreto). She has also performed with the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s outreach program as Tisbe in La Cenerentola. Other performances include Hansel and Gretel (Hansel), La vie parisienne (Métella), The Pirates of Penzance (Ruth),Trouble in Tahiti (Dinah), L’enfant et les sortileges (L’écureuil/La chatte), The Mikado (Katisha), Roméo et Juliette (Stephano), Cosi fan tutte (Dorabella). She has also been on the international stage: Salzburg, Austria as Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, and Périgueux, France as the title role in Offenbach’s La Périchole. Ms. Kress has a BM from the University of Illinois, and a MM from Roosevelt University.

After studying vocal performance at DePaul University, Melanie Lunardi shifted her focus towards arts administration. As Merit School of Music’s Voice and Guitar Program Director, she aims to create unique music programs designed to empower and inspire young musicians all across Chicago. In addition to her work in community music education, Melanie is currently pursuing her Masters of Science in Leadership for Creative Enterprises at Northwestern University. She has long been a performer and patron with the arts community in Chicago, and is beyond delighted to be part of Chicago Fringe Opera family!

Aaron Wardell has been praised for his attractive, versatile baritone and is a sought-after performer in both opera and concert. He recently sang Yamadori in the Castleton Festival’s production of Madama Butterfly, where he was called a “young, handsome hunk” by the Washington Post. He has appeared with Opera Tampa, Dayton Opera, Elgin Opera, Chamber Opera Chicago, Central City Opera and internationally at Teatro National de Sucre in numerous roles including Dancaïro (Carmen), Marcello (La Bohème), Marco (Gianni Schicchi) and the title role in Don Giovanni.

Equally at home on the concert stage, his oratorio credits include Adam in Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, Stravinsky’s Les Noces, Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony, Handel’s Messiah, Brahms’ Requiem, and both Bach Passions.

Aaron holds a Bachelor of Music from Western Michigan University, and earned a Master of Music in vocal performance and an Artist Diploma in opera from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Achilles Leonidas Bezanis, Tenor, recently completed his Master’s in Voice and Literature at the Eastman School of Music, studying under Professor Robert Swensen. He also holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, where he studied with Dr. Scott Piper. Achilles has performed the role of Fabrizio Naccarelli (The Light in the Piazza) at the Eastman School of Music, Gonzalve (L’Heure Espagnole) at the University of Michigan, Lucano (L’incoronazione di Poppea) at the Eastman School of Music, Beppe (I Pagliacci) at the Fresno Opera and Orchestra Summer Academy, El Remendado (Carmen) at the Bay View Music Festival, and most recently made his European debut as Monostatos (Die Zauberflöte) with the Berlin Opera Academy. Scene highlights include performances as Ferrando (Cosi Fan Tutte) at the Castleton Festival and Pong (Turandot), Candide (Candide), and Orombello (Beatrice di Tenda) at “Si parla, si canta” in Urbania, Italy.

Alex Enyart is an orchestra and opera conductor with a focus on new music. She had her international premiere with the Tomsk Philharmonic Orchestra in Russia in 2016, and has worked as an apprentice with the Louisville Orchestra and Kentucky Opera. She began focusing on contemporary opera with Thompson Street Opera Company in Louisville, KY where she also received her Masters in Orchestral Conducting. When the company moved to Chicago, she came with them and took the position of Music Director starting in the 2017-2018 season. Alex has also won the CODA conducting competition and as a result was invited to work with Anthony Maeillo. She has also had the privilege to work and study with Kimcherie Lloyd, Joe Mechavich, Harold Farberman, Teddy Abrams, and Donald Portnoy among many others.

Alyssa Arrigo is the current artist-in-residence collaborative artist at the Chicago College of Performing Arts and a Young Artist at Chicago Opera Theater. She is also an adjunct faculty member at Moraine Valley Community College where she teaches piano and lecture classes.

A Chicago native, Alyssa is a graduate of the esteemed Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. While completing her masters degree, Alyssa worked as an opera coach and rehearsal pianist for the IU Opera Theater in shows like Albert Herring, Faust, A View From the Bridge, Candide and the world premiere of Bernard Rand’s Vincent. She regularly performs with small opera companies around Chicago.

Ms. Arrigo is an avid collaborator. In 2011 she was seen with tenor Andrew Lunsford at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. She has traveled annually to Las Vegas, Nevada, to perform at the annual Food and Beverage Forum with acclaimed tenor, Carlos Montane.

A veteran of numerous summer festivals, Alyssa was has been a part of the Aspen Music Festival and School, Vladamir Feltsman’s PianoSummer and made her Italian debut while playing for opera singers in Montecatini Terme, Italy as part of the Italian Operatic Experience.

Ms. Arrigo maintains a small private studio and also teaches at the Beverly Arts Center in Chicago.

Amber is a senior BFA candidate in Directing at Columbia College Chicago, where she recently wrote and directed Frogs (Remix), an original adaptation of Aristophanes’ The Frogs. Past directing credits include Mud, Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen, Dean Talbot & the Search for America (Columbia College Chicago) and Le Nozze di Figaro (OperaRox Productions.) Lucrezia is her second production with Fringe Opera, where she stage managed Turn of the Screw in 2015. Amber returns to OperaRox this summer to direct the NY premiere of Griffin Candey’s Sweets by Kate at the Stonewall Inn.

Amy Hutchison has championed American opera throughout her career. Her production of Missy Mazzoli’s Song from the Uproar: The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt for Chicago Fringe Opera was hailed as “imaginative” and “striking… contemporary music theater.” She has directed William Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge for Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Washington National Opera and Portland Opera. Her collaboration with Ricky Ian Gordon and Stacey Tappan, Once I Was: Songs by Ricky Ian Gordon, was staged at the Chicago Cultural Center and recorded on the Blue Griffin label. Hutchison’s production of William Grant Still’s epic masterwork Troubled Island for South Shore Opera Company was named the number one classical music event of 2013 by Andrew Patner in the Chicago Sun-Times. Hutchison has also directed: Joelle Lamarre’s The Violet Hour: the Life of Leontyne Price; Jonathan Stinson’s The March: A Civil Rights Opera Project and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Dream Lovers and African Romances for South Shore Opera Company. Other local productions include Leo Fall’s Madame Pompadour (Chicago Folks Operetta), Dido and Aeneas and The Telephone (Elgin Opera), Brigadoon (Music By the Lake), Faust (DuPage Opera), and Ned Rorem’s Our Town (DePaul Opera Theatre). Productions nationwide include Carmen (Kansas City, Milwaukee, Columbus), Turandot (Orlando), Don Pasquale (Indianapolis), La Traviata (Costa Mesa), Il Matrimonio Segreto (Boston), and Help, Help, the Globolinks! (Madison).

Ms. Hutchison has served on the directing staffs of Lyric Opera of Chicago and Houston Grand Opera. She has staged the Maurice Sendak production of Hänsel und Gretel for Opernhaus Zürich, The Juilliard School (televised for PBS: Live from Lincoln Center) and for the Canadian, San Diego, Indianapolis, and Baltimore opera companies. As Associate Director, Hutchison has staged Porgy and Bess throughout the United States and globally, including Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, L’Opéra National de Paris, Teatro La Fenice, and opera houses in Düsseldorf, Lucca and Tokyo.

Ms. Hutchison is a member of the faculty of The Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, where she teaches Opera Workshop to Voice Performance majors.

Upcoming projects include: AS ONE for Chicago Fringe Opera, THE POET for South Shore Opera Company of Chicago, and A Donizetti double bill of IL PIGMALIONE and RITA for Chicago Opera Theatre.

Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Anatoliy Torchinskiy began his piano studies almost forty years ago. After immigrating to Chicago, he earned both bachelors and masters degrees in piano performance from Chicago Musical College at Roosevelt University. He began accompanying professionally in 1996 and has been heard in Italy, Scotland, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, and the Chicago area. He has played live on WFMT radio for da Corneto Opera and Chicago Folks Operetta. In the summer of 2008, he played under the baton of Maestro James Conlon as a rehearsal accompanist for Ravinia’s production of Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio. In 2016-17, Mr. Torchinskiy was more active as an accompanist to soloists and small ensembles, both instrumental and vocal. At Westminster Presbyterian Church in DeKalb, IL, he accompanied and performed with a Mendelssohn sextet. At Roosevelt University, he performed with a vocal quartet at a Composers’ Concert, performing a work by Patricia Morehead. He also accompanied at Northern Illinois University for several solo recitals. Anatoliy most recently played for the Sunrise Sunset Benefit Concert with local singers and as rehearsal accompanist for Soiree Lyrique’s production of Tosca under the baton of Maestro Philip Morehead. For more info visit www.torchinskiy.com.

Baritone Andrew Groble (a Milwaukee, WI native) is very excited to be making his debut with Chicago Fringe Opera.  While at DePaul University for his masters studies, he was seen as Ottone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, the title role in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Harry Easter in Weill’s Street Scene, Eisenstein in Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, and Don Eusebio in Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro.  During his time as an undergraduate at Oberlin College and Conservatory (where he also studied German literature), Andrew performed as Nardo in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera and as the Bartender in Bolcom’s A Wedding, as well as in a number of sad Irish plays.  In Chicago, Andrew has also sung with the William Ferris Chorale.

Andy Hall is a passionate saxophone soloist, chamber musician, and private instructor based in Ann Arbor, MI. He has performed as a soloist with the Michigan Symphony Band, World Youth Orchestra, Triangle Wind Ensemble, and was a featured artist on NPR’s “From the Top”. Chamber accomplishments include membership with various prize-winning saxophone quartets over the past twelve years, and one of the founding members of the contemporary music ensemble Latitude 49. He is also the baritone saxophonist with The Moanin’ Frogs, a modern vaudeville saxophone sextet performing throughout the country and internationally. He has competed and placed in numerous state, national, and international competitions, winning first place at the national level of the 2009 NFMC Biennial Competition, 2nd Place in the North Carolina Symphony Concerto Competition, and being named a 2009 Presser Scholar for excellence in saxophone performance. Holding a MM from the University of Michigan and a BM from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in saxophone performance, Andy now takes great joy in spreading his knowledge and experience to his private studio. Andy has taught the saxophone in group and private settings for twelve years. He has held the position as saxophone instructor at North Carolina School of the Arts Community Music School, and is currently the saxophone instructor Dexter Community Schools, with a private, award-winning studio based from his home in Ann Arbor. Andy’s principal teachers and mentors include world renowned saxophonists Donald Sinta, Dr. Steven Stusek, Dr. Timothy McAllister, Chad Eby, and Dr. Susan Fancher. He is a proud member of the North American Saxophone Alliance and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Performances by clarinetist Andy Hudson have been hailed as “a treat for the listener” and praised for “an uncommon singularity of purpose, technical virtuosity, youthful vigor and a mature sensitivity.” Based in the Chicago area and active nationally, Andy has performed at the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest, the World Congress of the International Alliance for Women in Music, and the Bang on a Can Summer Marathon. He has won top honors at the MTNA National Senior Woodwind Competition, the Sewanee Summer Music Festival Concerto Competition, the MTNA Southern Chamber Music Competition, and both the Columbus State University and Northwestern University Concerto Competitions. A frequent soloist, Andy has recently performed the concerti of Weber, Gandolfi, James M. David, Michael Daugherty, and Mozart among others. Several of his performances have been broadcast on WFMT Chicago, including his 2011 performance of Scott McAllister’s “Black Dog” as soloist with the Northwestern University Symphonic Wind Ensemble. A noted interpreter of contemporary music, Andy has premiered and commissioned dozens of works to date and was a presenter at the 2017 New Music Gathering. He has recently performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on their MusicNOW series, as well as at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Eastman School of Music, and Constellation Chicago. Andy makes his Carnegie Hall debut in 2017 as a member of the trio F-PLUS, and also performs regularly with The Zafa Collective, earspace, and 10th & Broadway. In 2017, Andy performed across Switzerland and Germany as a member of the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra under the baton of Matthias Pintscher. Andy holds teaching positions at Lake Forest College and Northwestern University, and each summer joins the Artist-Faculty of the Tennessee Valley Music Festival. He holds degrees from Columbus State University and Northwestern University.

Chicago native Angela De Venuto’s vibrant soprano and magnetic stage presence has brought her to perform such roles as Adele (Die Fledermaus), the title role of Angélique (Ibert), Emily Webb (Our Town), Fiametta (The Gondoliers), and Peep-Bo (The Mikado) with DePaul Opera Theatre, and Lady Saphir (Patience) with Savoyaires.

Recently, Angela has performed self-produced recitals: An Evening of Art Song, and Sending Our Love (a benefit recital for Illinois tornado victims). She also performed scenes as Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) with the Northwest Chicago Symphony and scenes as Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro) at Northwestern University, was soprano soloist for Vivaldi’s Gloria, and covered the role of Musetta (La bohéme) with Kor Productions. She occasionally performs throughout the country as soprano soloist with composer and pianist Eric Genuis in venues ranging from concert halls to maximum-security prisons.

In concert, Angela has performed works from Vivaldi, Handel, and Monteverdi to respected American composers such as John Cage and Thomas Pasatieri. A prolific recitalist, Angela has performed composers such as Respighi, Chausson, Dowland, Barber, Libby Larsen, and Previn. In 2013, Angela was the winner of the Raimondi Scholarship and in 2012, the LiPuma Scholarship in the Casa Italia Vocal Competitions. Angela trained in the Advanced Artist Program with OperaWorks during the summer of 2014 and received her B.M. in Vocal Performance from DePaul University.

Praised for her expressiveness and richly colorful tone, mezzo-soprano Ashley Armstrong is known for her musicianship as well as her scholarship. Driven by the desire to inspire in others a curiosity for more knowledge about music, she seizes every opportunity to share her vocal talents. This motivation has afforded her many unique opportunities to sing for esteemed individuals such as his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, and at such celebrated locations as St. Paul’s Cathedral at Ground Zero, and Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre.

Ms. Armstrong begins the 2016/2017 season as an Artist with Chicago Fringe Opera, performing in Missy Mazzoli’s Song from the Uproar, an opera inspired by the journals of Isabelle Eberhardt, detailing her fantastic seven-year odyssey through the desserts of North Africa; and Ted Rorem’s Our Town, a tongue in cheek commentary on American life, based on the play by Thornton Wilder about the small fictional town of Grover’s Corners and the daily lives of its citizens. Her other engagements include Beethoven 9 with Chicago combined choirs, and a series of concerts in collaboration with Old Capitol Opera.

Ms. Armstrong made her operatic debut in 2011 as Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte at the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Art Center, and this last year, she received her Chicago premiere at CCPA where she was featured as The Wife in Thomas Pasatieri’s The Women, Suzette in Milton Granger’s Bluebeard’s Waiting Room, and Ottavia in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. Other opera credits include Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors and Azucena in a gala presentation of Verdi’s Il trovatore. Additionally, she presented or has been featured in recitals for the Chicago College of Performing Arts, the University of Northern Iowa, and the Chicago Art Institute. In 2012 she won the senior division of the Iowa chapter of NATS student auditions and the next year she took home second place in the graduate division.

Currently a student of Allan Glassman, Ms. Armstrong received her M.M. from the Chicago College of Performing Arts in May of 2016. Before that, she graduated magna cum laude and Pi Kappa Lambda with a B.A. in Music and Theatre from the University of Northern Iowa, where she studied with Jeffrey Brich. During her time as a student she also gave world premieres of many works, including: “Could” by Pete Fernandez, Just Ann by Rebecca Burkhardt and Cynthia Goatley, Joy by John Schwabe, and Festival te Deum by David Childs.

Audrey Q. Snyder is a cellist in Chicago, Illinois.  An advocate of contemporary music, she currently plays as part of the Chicago-based Zafa Collective, a new music group founded with the idea of inclusivity (both in programming and performance) at its core.  Audrey is also a member of the Houndstooth String Quartet, which focuses on contemporary music in its programming. Miss Snyder also regularly plays popular music, having performed several times with folk artist Emily Mure at venues including Club Passim, Rockwood Music Hall, and The Living Room, and can be heard on Emily’s upcoming 2017 album. In 2016, she played with the national tour of The Bridges of Madison County.  Most recently, Audrey has subbed on Hamilton: An American Musical in Chicago. Audrey holds a B.M. and M.M. (with an Arts Leadership Certificate) from the Eastman School, where she studied with Alan Harris.Audrey Q. Snyder is a cellist in Chicago, Illinois.  An advocate of contemporary music, she currently plays as part of the Chicago-based Zafa Collective, a new music group founded with the idea of inclusivity (both in programming and performance) at its core.  Audrey is also a member of the Houndstooth String Quartet, which focuses on contemporary music in its programming. Miss Snyder also regularly plays popular music, having performed several times with folk artist Emily Mure at venues including Club Passim, Rockwood Music Hall, and The Living Room, and can be heard on Emily’s upcoming 2017 album. In 2016, she played with the national tour of The Bridges of Madison County.  Most recently, Audrey has subbed on Hamilton: An American Musical in Chicago. Audrey holds a B.M. and M.M. (with an Arts Leadership Certificate) from the Eastman School, where she studied with Alan Harris.

Becca Jeffords is a freelance lighting designer who works across the midwest and southeast. She has had the pleasure of designing Turn of the Screw and In the Penal Colony for Chicago Fringe Opera. Some other Chicago credits include lighting design for Lifeline Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Raven Theatre, Chicago Children’s Theatre, About Face Theatre, Steep, The New Colony, Redmoon and Steppenwolf Garage Series. New York credits include Cherry Lane Theatre and the NYC Fringe Festival. Becca received her BFA in Production Design from Columbus State University and her Masters in Lighting Design from Northwestern University.

American mezzo-soprano Bridget Skaggs’s performances have been acclaimed across the U.S. and Europe. As a young artist with Opera Theater of Pittsburgh Ms. Skaggs sang Charlotte in A Little Night Music and Darléne in the world premiere of Night Caps International. She is a two-time recipient of the Vocal Chamber Music Fellowship with Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, an intensive art song training program. This season she performs Austin/The Great God Pan (Chicago Fringe Opera), and the world premiere of I-THOU, a new song cycle by Wayland Rogers (Fourth Coast Ensemble). Other credits include Tangolita/Ball at the Savoy (Chicago Folks Operetta), Quickly/Falstaff (/kor/ Productions), Carmen/Carmen (Lake Forest Civic Orchestra), concert soloist/Anton Bruckner’s Te Deum (Blue Lake International), festival soloist/Baroque on Beaver Festival (Beaver Island, MI). She is a frequent curator and recitalist with the vocal quartet Fourth Coast Ensemble, which she co-founded in 2013. Ms. Skaggs holds a B.M. and M.M. from Oklahoma City University, where operatic credits include Flora/La Traviata, Prince Orlofsky/Die Fledermaus, and Secretary/The Consul.

Caitlin McLeod (Costume Designer) is ecstatic to make her Chicago Fringe Opera debut with this production. Caitlin is a costume and scenic designer, puppet enthusiast, traveler, and dreamer. Most recent credits include: Stellaluna (Northbrook Theatre), Men on Boats (Hollins University), Beauty’s Daughter (American Blues Theatre), and Crazy for You (Drury Lane), along with many assistant credits (Marriott, Drury Lane, Lookingglass Theatre). Outside her work in traditional theatre, Caitlin utilizes art as a catalyst to break the mundane through street art, performance art, and toy theatre. She earned her MFA at Northwestern University.

Pianist/coach Casey Baker, a native of Flushing, Michigan has performed as a soloist, collaborative pianist, and coach for vocalists. He has spent six summers as a coach and pianist for the Musical Theatre Program at the Interlochen Center for the Arts with previous works including Oklahoma, Les Misérables, Crazy for You, Catch Me if You Can, and Evita. Other work includes coaching Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi for Opera Venezuela, The Light in the Piazza at Grand Valley State University, Rodrigo with L’Aurora Nuovo, and Falstaff and Offenbach’s Orphée aux enfers at the University of Illinois Lyric Theater. Casey received an undergraduate degree from Grand Valley State University, studying with Robert Byrens and Helen Marlais, an MM from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, studying with Julie Gunn and Cynthia Hayman-Coleman, and an artist diploma from the Chicago College of Performing Arts studying with Scott Gilmore. While at CCPA he was an apprentice coach and pianist with Chicago Opera Theatre. Previous works include Cabildo, L’enfant et les sortilèges, CCPA; The Fairy Queen, Gianni Schicchi, Lucio Silla, Le Vin Herbé, The Perfect American, Chicago Opera Theatre.

Chris Cvikota is a Chicago-based Sound and Lighting Technician. He is a graduate of Illinois State University with a degree in Theatre Design/Production with an emphasis in sound and lighting design. Chris has been actively involved in Chicago with many organizations including Northwestern University, Court Theatre, and Music Theatre Works. His summers have taken him to the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Hope Summer Repertory Theatre, and the world-renowned Santa Fe Opera. While in Chicago, Chris has collaborated on a number of projects with Jeff-award winning sound designer, Jeffrey Levin. He looks forward to his continued collaboration with Mr. Levin and the Chicago theatre community.

Praised for her “astounding vocal expressivity” and “soaring full voice”, soprano Christina Pecce is a singing-actress who crosses over the genres of opera, musical theatre, jazz, and performance art. This season, she performed in the inaugural Diva Cage Match with Out Of The Box Opera at Uppercut Boxing Gym in Minneapolis and premiered her one-woman cabaret entitled Witches, Bitches, & Divas! at Davenport’s Piano Bar in Chicago. She was featured as an Apprentice Artist for Fort Worth Opera’s 2016-2017 season performing the roles of Frasquita in Carmen and Mother’s Ghost in the world premiere of Voir Dire by composer Matthew Peterson.

A native of Boston, Ms. Pecce has performed the roles of Anne in Heggie’s To Hell and Back and Armida in Rinaldo with Boston Opera Collaborative. Additionally in the Boston area, Christina has performed the title role in Mary Poppins, Vivienne (Legally Blonde), Dottie (Show Boat), and Mrs. Segstrom (A Little Night Music). She is a proud member of the Actor’s Equity Association. In 2015, she took part in the U.S. premiere of Lee Mingwei’s Sonic Blossom, a performance art piece featured at The Museum of Fine Arts. She is a graduate of The Boston Conservatory (MM Opera Performance).

Chris Sies is a percussionist and composer originally from Manchester, Maryland. A diverse performer praised for his “virtuoso flair” (Detroit Free Press), Chris has appeared with the United States Navy Band, New Music Detroit, The Black Earth Ensemble, My Brightest Diamond, Man Forever, and the “experimental powerhouse,” So Percussion. An avid promoter and performer of contemporary music, Sies has premiered numerous works including the world premiere of Phil Kline’s Dreamcitynine as well as several premieres of John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit. He has also performed at such events as the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, New Music Gathering, the Midwest Composers Symposium, the University of Toledo’s Festival of New Music, and New Music Detroit’s annual Strange Beautiful Music. As a composer and collaborative artist, Sies has worked in many facets including dance, performance art, and multimedia projects with works presented by the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), the Percussive Arts Society, and Ann Arbor Dance Works. His most recent collaboration with dancer/choreographer Maddy Rager entitled (renewed) was featured at the American College Dance Association’s National Gala in Washington D.C. which included several performances at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Among his many musical projects, Chris is an active member of the Willo Collective and is currently working on a release under his solo noise-metal moniker S[K]IES. Chris Sies proudly endorses Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets.

Born in Brasov, Romania, Codrut Birsan began piano lessons at age 6 and at 17 accompanied for Opera Brasov. A former singer, Birsan studied at the Bucharest Conservatory and as a young musician he received instruction from Prof. Georgeta Stoleriu. In 2005, Birsan moved to the United States and obtained his Master of Music after receiving a scholarship from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Here Birsan began collaborations as an accompanist to singers and instrumentalists. Later, as an accompanist at the University of Wisconsin, Birsan began conducting larger instrumental ensembles and coached a wider range of singers, primarily focusing on opera, style, and performance practice. These collaborations would later become the catalyst and framework from which he would build Candid Concert Opera.

Birsan is a regular collaborator with Lyric Opera of Chicago and has served as music director for Opera in the Neighborhoods, Lyric’s vibrant outreach which brings opera productions to suburban and city schools. Recently, Birsan also accompanied a masterclass taught by renowned soprano, Renee Fleming. He has worn a number of professional hats and his musical credits include accompanist and opera coach with the San Francisco Lyric Opera, Livermoore Opera, Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute (BASOTI), and with the Opera Academy of California.

Also a capable and respected composer, in 2010 Birsan composed a portion of the score to “The World According to Ion B,” an acclaimed documentary originally premiering on HBO which later received an International Emmy Award.

Danielle Taylor is a violinist and violist in the Chicago area. She holds degrees from Oberlin College and Oberlin Conservatory, where she studied with Gregory Fulkerson and is completing her Masters at Northwestern University where she works with her mentors, Blair Milton and Victor Yampolsky. A passionate advocate for arts education and inclusion, Danielle has been a member of Chicago Sinfonietta and the Grant Park Music Festival’s Project Inclusion program and maintains a busy teaching schedule in addition to performing with groups including The Zafa Collective and Chicago Solisti.

Chicago native David Govertsen recently completed his tenure as a member of the Ryan Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago where his mainstage assignments included roles in The Magic Flute, Boris Godunov, Werther and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. He returned to Lyric this season to sing the Haushofmeister in Capriccio.

In addition to his work on the Lyric stage, this season Mr. Govertsen appeared as the Apparition in Macbeth with the Chicago Symphony under the baton of Maestro Riccardo Muti. Other operatic highlights of the season include featured roles in double bills at both Santa Fe Opera and Chicago Opera Theater, as well as Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola with Candid Concert Opera, Zaccaria in Nabucco with da Corneto Opera, and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Main Street Opera.

Mr. Govertsen made his Carnegie Hall debut as the Herald in Otello with the Chicago Symphony conducted by Riccardo Muti. He is an alumnus of both the Santa Fe and Central City Opera apprentice programs and holds degrees from Northwestern University, Northern Illinois University and the College of DuPage.

Soprano Diana Stoic is a Chicago-area native who is garnering acclaim on opera and concert stages in Illinois and throughout the Midwest. For her portrayal of Cunegonde in Candide with the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, Stoic was described as “utterly luminous.”

Ms. Stoic is a member of the Supplementary Chorus at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She last appeared in their production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel in 2015. She performs with many local opera companies in the Chicago-area, most recently the First Lady in The Magic Flute with Petite Opera Productions. She is a member of the Lira Ensemble, the nation’s only professional organization specializing in Polish music.

She has sung extensively with Des Moines Metro Opera, performing mainstage roles in their productions of Le nozze di Figaro and Tosca. With DMMO she has covered leading roles including Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Alexandra in Blitzstein’s Regina.

A frequent soloist with the DuPage Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Stoic has performed a program of Czech songs and arias, Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5, and the roles of Sandman/Dew Fairy in concert performances of Hansel and Gretel. She has also performed with the Chicago Civic Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic, Musica Lumina, and Salt Creek Chamber Orchestra.

Ms. Stoic is passionate about introducing young audiences to opera and educating them about classical music. She participated in outreach programs with Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, Opera Santa Barbara, OPERA Iowa, Opera for the Young, Chicago Opera Playhouse, and is currently a teaching artist with Chicago Opera Theatre.

She completed her Masters of Music from the Chicago College of Performing Arts and received her Bachelor of Music from Simpson College (Indianola, IA). Ms. Stoic has received numerous awards from the Bel Canto Foundation and was a winner in the 2012 Opera Idol Competition.

Elyse Kakacek has been acclaimed by Chicago critics as “a young singer with vocal heft” with a “sparkling soprano voice” and “pleasing ability to navigate the stage”. She has been seen in various stage roles including Nedda, Susanna, Pamina, Frasquita, Clorinda, Adele and Ida in Die Fledermaus, Despina, Gretel, Zerlina, Papagena, Yumyum and Peep-Bo in The Mikado, and Sieglinde Lessing in Music in the Air. She also was in the cast of Spirit of the Dance in Niagara Falls as a featured soloist for Spirit Productions.

She has performed with The Cobalt Opera, Candid Concert Opera, Music by the Lake, Petite Opera Productions, American Chamber Opera Company, The Gilbert and Sullivan Company of Chicago, The Savoyaires and the DePaul Opera Theatre. She made her musical theatre debut at age seventeen as Dari in a middle-eastern pop-opera Sitaram with Lookingglass Theatre.

Her next adventure will be portraying the role of Despina in The Floating Opera Company’s inaugural production of Cosi fan tutte in the fall. Miss Kakacek will also be singing the role of Alice with Chicago Opera Playhouse during their 2014-2015 season production of Alice in Wonderland by Adam Busch. On the concert stage, she has appeared as soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy at the International Beethoven Festival in Chicago, Mendelssohn’s Elijah (The Youth), and in Schubert’s Mass in G. Elyse was a Finalist in both Chicago’s Opera Idol Competition and in the Opera Professional division for The American Prize: Virginia Schorr Memorial Award in 2013.

Miss Kakacek is honored to be a member of the Black Box Acting Studio family where she has completed four levels of study in the Sanford Meisner Method. She has participated in several summer training programs including Chicago Summer Opera, Operaworks, The Amalfi Coast Music Festival and the Opera Training Institute of Chicago. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from DePaul University and currently studies voice with Winifred Faix Brown in Chicago.

Emelinda Escobar is a Chicago-based professional violinist who plays with Quad City Symphony, Heartland Festival Orchestra, and The Zafa Collective. She is on the faculty of Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook and maintains a private studio in both Evanston and Lincoln Park. She graduated from Northwestern University with her MM having studied under Gerardo Ribeiro and was concertmaster of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago 2014-2016 and has played with professional orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has been a soloist with the South Loop Orchestra and has performed with Yo-Yo Ma on Chicago’s WFMT broadcast. Her festival credits include attending Meadowmount as a teaching assistant in addition to the Green Mountain Music Festival, Aria Music Festival, Triada, and Okemo Mountain Music Festival.

Lyric mezzo soprano Emma Sorenson hails from Houston, Texas. Ms. Sorenson currently resides in Boston where she is an Emerging Artist for the Boston Lyric Opera. She debuted with the company as a featured artist in their Art in Bloom series at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and will appear in the ensemble of La Boheme, and as Frou Frou in their Spring production of The Merry Widow. Ms. Sorenson is an active member of the Boston Opera Collaborative, where she will be singing the role of Siebel in Gounod’s Faust. This summer, Ms. Sorenson is engaged as an Apprentice Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera . There she sang the part of a Flower in La Hija de Rappaccini by Catan, and performed as a chorus member and featured soloist in their mainstage works Jenůfa by Leoš Janáček and Die Entführung aus dem Serail by Mozart . While in Boston, she has performed several mainstage roles with The Boston Conservatory including the role of Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia by Benjamin Britten, Dritte Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Zulma (and Isabella cover) in Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri, and most recently Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress by Igor Stravinsky.

Ms. Sorenson is the recipient of the Ileana Ingraham Encouragement Award at the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions in Kansas City. Previously, Ms. Sorenson also won first place for the second consecutive year in her age group in the tri-state midwest National Association of Teachers of Singing competition, and is the two-time recipient of the James Moroney Nigh Opera Scholarship. She recently graduated with a Master of Music performance degree from The Boston Conservatory under the tutelage of Dr. Rebecca Folsom.

Eric Staves is honored to be working with Chicago Fringe Opera for the first time. Chicago credits include: Posh (Steep Theatre Co.), Love and Human Remains (Cor Theatre), Heat Wave (Cold Basement Dramatics), Half Price Cosmos (Bread and Roses). Televison: Empire (Fox). Film: The View From Tall (Official 2016 LA Film Festival Selection) and Goat (Paramount). You can also catch Eric on the popular Web Series, P.O.P.S. on YouTube. Eric is represented by Gray Talent Group.

Erik is thrilled to be working on this production!  He has designed lights around Chicago for the past four years. Erik’s designs have been seen at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing arts, The Harris Theatre, Carnegie Hall, and the Detroit Music Hall. He is currently affiliated with Chicago based musical ensemble “eighth blackbird’, as well the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus. He received his Masters of Fine Arts degree at the University of Wisconsin -Madison campus. He has designed over 80 productions in his career.

Since moving to Chicago in 2011, Gabriel Di Gennaro has had the pleasure of working with many of the vibrant companies in and around its neighborhoods. In 2018 Gabriel dives into two characters as Roderick & Sam in Hindemith’s The Long Christmas Dinner with Chicago Fringe Opera. In 2017 Gabriel was featured in the role of Ignacio, a less than savory father-to-be, in Bolcom’s Lucretia with Chicago Fringe Opera.

Chicago audiences have witnessed Gabriel in several military roles including the titular role of Johnny Johnson (Folks Operetta), Colonel Calverley in Patience (Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company), and General Pervoyedov in Bobok (Thompson Street Opera). Other highlights include Figaro in Petite Opera Productions’ The Barber of Seville as well as the world premieres of Rhys Williams in Evanston Chamber Opera Company’s For Those in Peril and Jimmy in The Floating Opera Company’s composite opera War and Peace. Gabriel is an alumnus of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, the University of Delaware, OperaWorks, the College Light Opera Company, and the young artist programs of Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, and Chicago Summer Opera.

Gillian Hollis, soprano, studied opera and vocal performance as an undergraduate at the University of Maryland and a Master’s student at Northwestern University. She has performed with many companies in the U.S. including Madison Opera, Ash Lawn Opera, Chicago Folks Operetta, and Main Street Opera. Ms. Hollis is a winner of the Classical Singer Competition, the Virginia Maier Cooper Award, and a two-time Union League Civic and Arts Competition finalist. She is currently touring with Madison-based Opera for the Young as Beauty in their operatic adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, and will return next season as Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. She is delighted to join Chicago Fringe Opera as Flora in Britten’s Turn of the Screw.

Artistic Director of The Zafa Collective, Hannah Christiansen is a Chicago-based violinist. She holds degrees from Oberlin College, Oberlin Conservatory, and Northwestern University, where she studied with Milan Vitek and Gerardo Ribeiro, respectively. A member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Ms. Christiansen has been featured as a soloist with the Northwestern University Baroque Music Ensemble and Contemporary Music Ensemble. In the summers, Ms. Christiansen has been a chamber music fellow at the Manchester Music Festival and at le Domaine Forget, and has been heard in halls including Carnegie Hall (NYC), Ozawa Hall (Tanglewood), the Mozarteum (Salzburg), and Dvorak Hall (Prague). A sports enthusiast, Ms. Christiansen is a writer for Inside Lacrosse in her spare time.

Jani Parsons is an award-winning Canadian pianist and teacher, exploring diverse interests in performance, pedagogy, theory, and new music performance. Previous concerts include appearances at the Chan Centre for the Arts, Banff Centre for the Arts, the Ravinia Festival, MASS MoCA, Constellation, the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago) and the Detroit Institute for the Arts. In addition to her work as pianist and artistic director with Latitude 49, Jani is an active collaborator, having performed with members of Bang On A Can All-stars, New Music Detroit, Eighth Blackbird, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Fifth House Ensemble, and members of the Detroit and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. Jani has appeared in educational residencies at the New England Conservatory, University of Minnesota, Indiana University, Northwestern University and University of Southern Mississippi, and has served as faculty at the Fresh Inc festival and Interlochen Summer Arts Camp. She can be heard on the Tzadik label and Çedille Records and has been broadcast as soloist and collaborator on CBC Radio 2 and Wfmt. Jani is a graduate of the University of Michigan (MM and DMA in Piano Performance and Pedagogy), the Vancouver Academy of Music (BM), and the Royal Conservatory of Music (ARCT). Her esteemed teachers include Dr. Arthur Greene, Dr. John Ellis, Prof. Christopher Harding, Lorraine Ambrose, and Allen Reiser. A passionate teacher herself, Jani serves on the piano faculty at Baylor University and teaches online-lessons to several students in Canada. Jani is generously sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts and is a Hambidge Scholar.

A Chicago native, Jared received his B.M. from DePaul University in 2012 where he studied with Christopher Lorimer. There, he was cast in a number of leading roles such as Gabriel Von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus and Luiz in The Gondoliers through DePaul Opera Theater. He recently was an apprentice artist at Sarasota Opera for their 2014 winter season.

Currently, he studies with Julia Faulker while being a chorister for the Lyric Opera of Chicago and for the Chicago Symphony Chorus.

Jay Koch hails from Elmhurst, IL and moved to Chicago three years ago to pursue lighting design. She is currently a senior at The Theatre School at DePaul University and a graduate of Officer Candidate School with the United States Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia. She is very excited to announce that this is her first design with Chicago Fringe Opera! Previous designs include Mr. Burns: a Post Electric Play, The Seagull, Crime and Punishment and She Kills Monsters at The Theatre School. She has also worked on productions for live TV including the ESPY awards, and the MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City.

Jeffrey Levin is a composer, sound designer, and musician based in Chicago IL. Jeffrey has contributed original music and sound designs for over 80 productions for various theaters in and outside of Chicago. He has collaborated with Steppenwolf, Steep, Strawdog, A Red Orchid, Oracle, Cor Theatre (Company Member), Windy City Playhouse, Emerald City, Albany Park Theatre Project, Stage Left, TUTA, Step Up Productions, Chicago Commercial Collective, Chicago Fringe Opera, Collaboraction, Hope Summer Repertory Theatre, ChiArts High School, and Columbia College. He was awarded the Edes Award for Emerging Artists that funds an ongoing collaboration with the storytelling artist collective The LIVINGroom. In addition to the Edes Award, other awards and Recognitions include a Joseph Jefferson Award for Sound Design of THE HAIRY APE at Oracle Theatre along with three other Jeff Award nominations for Sound Design and Original Music, the Michael Philippi prize for best professional exhibit (2016), Kleinman Composition Competition for his original work for Clarinet and Electronics, TimeOut Theatre Award nomination, and a Wilde Award Nomination. Jeffrey received his Masters of Music in Composition at DePaul University and Bachelors of Music in Composition at Columbia College Chicago.

Jessica Hiltabidle brings a synthesis of sparkle and depth to roles such as Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), Violetta (La Traviata), and the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor. Her interpretations in repertoire from baroque to contemporary have garnered the attention of composers and audiences alike. Jessica created the role of Clytemnestra in the world premiere of Ross Crean’s Lost Daughters and also collaborated with Crean to record the role of Rachel in The Great God Pan for Parma Recordings. In the Dec 2017, Jessica performed as the Marchande de Pois Verts in Offenbach’s comic opera Mesdames de la Halle with New Moon Opera. Previous seasons have included performances with organizations including Oberlin Mozart Players, Chicago Summer Opera, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Operafestival di Roma, and OperaWorks. In addition to performing in the world premiere of Gilda Lyons’ A New Kind of Fallout, she has been seen in roles including Queen of the Night, Olympia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), and the title role in Suor Angelica. Jessica holds a Master of Music degree from Westminster Choir College and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In her freshman year at Arizona State University, Josephine won the 2011 annual Concert of Soloists competition, which led to a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the ASU Symphony. Other honors include the Grand Prize Winner at the 2009 Arizona Musicfest Competition, first prize in the Senior Concerto Division of the 2009 Schimmel/Arizona Piano Young Artist Competition, and 2008 MTNA Arizona State Senior Division Winner. In May 2014, she received the Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude, in piano performance from Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts of Arizona State University. Her mentors include Dr. Baruch Meir and Dr. Hamilton Tescarollo.

An avid collaborator as well as a soloist, Josephine has performed with members of the Cincinnati Symphony, Classical Revolution Chicago, and many young artists in recitals and competitions, including the CSYO Concerto Competition in November 2016, of which the two top prize-winning performances were her collaborations. She made her Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall collaborative debut in November 2016 with cellist Miriam Smith, who was also her piano student. Josephine is also a passionate teacher who sees teaching as an essential expression of her personality and musicianship. She also believes deeply in interdisciplinary art collaboration and presenting great music of all genres, and is launching a concert concept that combines the forces of living music, lighting design, art film, and fashion design in an ongoing, large-scale project with Lanly Le as the videographer and photographer. She also champions new music written by living composers, and she has premiered several new works around the world.

A native of Austin, Texas, Jonathan Wilson has been performing in the Chicago area since 2015, working with many local opera and theater companies. An enthusiast of contemporary opera, Jonathan recently performed the role of John Brooke in Adamo’s Little Women with Chicago Vocal Arts Consortium. He was also excited to perform in the mid-western premieres of Richard Wargo’s opera, The Seduction of a Lady (Peter Semyonych), with Transgressive Theatre-Opera and Hilliard’s and Boresi’s charming comedic opera, The Filthy Habit (Gil), with Third Eye Theatre Ensemble. In 2017, Jonathan also had the opportunity to be part of the world premiere of the full-length work Cosmic Ray and the Amazing Chris (Quintar, Nerd 2), with Thompson Street Opera Company.

At home in many different musical styles, Jonathan recently appeared in Theo Ubique’s 2017 Jeff Award-winning production of the musical The Most Happy Fella (Ciccio, Jake) in Chicago. Other musical theatre and operetta performances include Assassins (Zangara) with Petite Opera Company, several productions with The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company of Chicago, and multiple productions of Monty Python’s Spamalot.

Passionate about bringing music and opera to new audiences and across cultural barriers, Jonathan was excited to take part in a production of Donizetti’s Rita (Gasparo) in 2016, sung in Italian, to introduce children to opera and foreign language. Additionally, he toured with Chicago Opera Playhouse’s new opera, Once Upon a Windy City (Al Capone), composed entirely of the ideas and stories of Chicago Public School students. Jonathan also made his Symphony Center solo debut in 2015, performing in Mandarin with the Dong Fang Chinese Performing Arts Association, in Xian Xinghai’s The Yellow River Cantata in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Outside of performing, Jonathan is passionate about math and science, and he greatly admires the creative overlap between the scientific and musical arts to explore the intricacy, complexity, and beauty of the world. He holds a BS degree with highest honors from the University of Illinois in Engineering Physics with a minor in Mathematics and a MS degree from the University of Michigan in Applied Electromagnetics and RF Circuits. He has worked as a radio frequency electrical engineer and a lecturer in physics, astronomy, and Earth science.

Soprano Kaileen Miller is an up-and-coming singer in the Chicago area, performing regularly with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Grant Park Music Festival, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She recently particpated in the Emerging Artist Program with Virginia Opera, singing the role of the High Priestess in Aida and covering the role of Eurydice in Philip Glass’ Orphée. She spent two summers at Central City Opera as an Apprentice Artist, most recently singing Nella in Gianni Schicchi and a cover performance of Oriana in Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula. Additionally, she was hailed with rave reviews in her appearance as Donna Anna in Berkeley Opera’s Don Giovanni, declaring her portrayal as “a clear audience favorite…she sang with fervent feeling.” Previously based in San Francisco, Ms. Miller has sung many other operatic roles in the Bay Area including: the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Micaëla in Carmen, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, and Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She completed her Master’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook. Ms. Miller has worked with such luminaries as Dame Kiri te Kanawa, Thomas Hampson, Christine Brandes, Helmuth Rilling, and Nicola Luisotti. She has won numerous competitions and awards, including third place in the Western Regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, fourth place in the East Bay Opera League Scholarship Competition, and an Encouragement Award in the District Met Auditions in San Francisco.

Karla Wong was born in Minatitlan, Veracruz, Mexico in 1974. Her father is originally from Ixtetec, Oaxaca and her mother from Santiago La Ollaga, Oaxaca. This is the reason why Karla’s heart very much belongs to the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Karla grew up in Istmo a region of Oaxaca. The region’s tradition of celebrating art and colors are evident throughout her work. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Law and Social Sciences from the University of Oaxaca (U.A.B.J.O.).
After graduating, Karla began her career as composite artist for the general prosecution and justice department for the state of Oaxaca, which she continues into the present day. She considers herself a “self-taught” artist. Karla started out with pencils then gradually experimented with oil paints. She eventually took private lessons from a renowned master artist in Oaxaca. In every brush stroke, Karla plasters the splendors of her culture, a culture her parents instilled in her. She pushes the limits and steers away from more traditional elements to give it a magical touch of surrealism. Karla paints magical characters using emblematic symbols of Istmena culture. Such imagery as the hair pieces, papel picado (paper banner), the Tehuano hat, and embroidery among others. She brings such characters to life with brightly-colored detail. She has exhibited in the state of Oaxaca, the state of Puebla, multiple museums in Mexico City, numerous cultural houses, and in the National Palace and other prestigious government buildings.

Katy Compton, a native of Waxahachie, Texas, has been praised for her “clear and attractive soprano,” and has established herself as a warm, accessible, and thoughtful performer. This winter, she looks forward to singing in concerts with CHAI Collaborative Ensemble and Chicago Fringe Opera. Katy’s recent performance highlights include playing the Governess in The Turn of the Screw with Chicago Fringe Opera, touring with Lyric Opera of Chicago’s outreach program, Opera in the Neighborhoods, as Dortchen in The Brothers Grimm, and singing with the Lyric Opera of Chicago chorus in last season’s production of Tannhäuser. Katy was a semi-finalist in last year’s Classical Singer Competition, is a proud member of Vox 3 Collective, and is an accomplished chorister, singing frequently with the Chicago Symphony Chorus and Grant Park Chorus. She received her M.M. in Voice Performance from Florida State University, and lives in Chicago with her husband.

Latitude 49 is a dynamic mixed chamber group blending the finesse of a classical ensemble with the drive and precision of a finely tuned rock band. With members coming together from across the United States and Canada, L40 epitomizes a diverse, unconventional family of sounds, instruments, and human experiences. The group currently holds Ensemble-in-Residence positions at Princeton University and Baylor University with previous residencies at the University of Michigan, the Kenosha Creative Space, and the University of Illinois Chicago. Latitude 49 presents numerous concerts each season in major venues including the Ravinia Festival (Chicago), (le) Poisson Rouge (NYC) and Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Music Box. More than forty works have been written for L49 so far by a multitude of composers ranging from aspiring students to Pulitzer prize-winning masters. With commissioning and supporting living composers at the heart of its mission, L49 strives to engage diverse audiences with new sounds and specially curated programs that reflect the world in which we find ourselves, with all its beauty and curiosities. With it s name taken from the parallel along the Canadian/United States border, Latitude 49 serves as a bridge between artists, composers, and listeners of today.

*Andy Hall is a D’Addario Woodwind Artist and Clinician.
**Chris Sies endorses Vic Firth mallets and drumsticks.

Laura Kaminsky is a composer of opera, orchestra, chamber, vocal, and choral music with “an ear for the new and interesting” (New York Times). Recently cited in The Washington Post as “one of the top 35 female composers in classical music,” her scores often address current social and political issues such as sustainability, war, and human rights. Her music is “full of fire as well as ice, written in an idiom that contrasts dissonance and violence with tonal beauty and meditative reflection.” (American Record Guide) She recently made waves with her opera As One (co-librettists Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed), which premiered at BAM in 2014 and has since become one of the most frequently produced contemporary operas nationwide. Two more collaborations with Campbell and Reed include Some Light Emerges for Houston Grand Opera and Today It Rains for Opera Parallèle and American Opera Projects. With Reed, she has been commissioned by a consortium led by Santa Fe Opera and San Francisco Opera to create a new opera inspired by the Postville immigration raid. Other commissions include a Piano Quintet for Ursula Oppens and the Cassatt String Quartet, and her seventh string quartet for the Fry Street Quartet. Head of composition at Purchase College Conservatory of Music/SUNY, she is composer-in-residence at American Opera Projects.

Lyric soprano and native New Yorker Leigh Folta was recently named first place winner at the 2016 Chicago Chapter NATS competition. In 2015, she placed first in the Casa Italia Competition and was named a finalist in Chicago Opera Idol, where she sang for famed baritone Sherrill Milnes. Her roles to date include Poppea/L’incoronazione di Poppea, LPN/Bluebeard’s Waiting Room, Pamina, Papagena, and 2nd Spirit/Die Zauberflöte, Anne of the Cross/Dialogues of the Carmelites, and Suor Osmina/Suor Angelica. While at the Astoria Music Festival in June 2015, the Oregon Music News reported; “…with her gorgeous expressive face and gorgeous voice, [Leigh] glowed as Pamina” (goo.gl/IiXsP4). During a 2016 Masterclass, distinguished collaborative pianist and coach Martin Katz said of Leigh’s performance, “That was the best Caro Nome I’ve ever heard.” Leigh holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California and a Master of Music degree from the Chicago College of Performing Arts.

Basso Profundo Mark Haddad is making his first appearance with Chicago Fringe Opera as Herbert in Ross Crean’s The Great God Pan. Mr. Haddad performs in a variety of vocal ensembles, which include; Bella Voce, the Lakeside Singers, the William Ferris Chorale, Grant Park Music Festival Chorus, the choir of St. Chrysostom’s Church, and Am Shalom Synagogue (among others). In March, aside from his work with CFO, he can be seen making his professional debut with Haymarket Opera Company as Pilato in Rossi’s Oratorio per la Settimana Santa. Mr. Haddad hails from the great state of Texas, and has lived in Chicago for a little over two years. He earned his Bachelor’s in Vocal Performance from Texas Tech University and his Master’s from the University of Delaware, also in Vocal Performance. When he is not performing, he works as a substitute teacher at Intrinsic Schools of Chicago. In his limited free-time, he enjoys spending time with his girlfriend, and is an avid pool player.

Extolled as a “fierce creative,” Marysa Abbas is a passionate performer of new works. Recent World Premieres include: Trevor in the Naxos/Parma recording of Ross Crean’s The Great God Pan, Mrs. Darling in Ross Crean’s Lost Daughters, and ensemble in Minnesota Opera’s critically acclaimed world premiere of Paul Moravec’s The Shining. In Chicago, she’s performed: Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Grace Ansley in Roman Fever, Miss Manners in Miss Manners on Music, and Virginia Woolf in a staged performance of Dominick Argento’s From the Diary of Virginia Woolf. She recently sang in the Chicago premiere of The Final Battle for Love with Thompson Street Opera as well as with Sugar Creek Opera as an apprentice artist for their production of Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath.

She obtained her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at Viterbo University, and completed her Master of Music in Opera Performance at Wichita State University. Ms. Abbas currently works as a Managing Diva of Opera on Tap’s Chicago chapter, as well as a producer in the Chicago area. She is the founder of Praxilla Femina, a women’s music collective in Chicago, and is a current student of Julie Miller.

Soprano Maureen Smith has been praised for her “distinctive voice (that rings) out bright and clear” (Third Coast Daily). A fierce lover of new music, Maureen is thrilled to make her Chicago Fringe debut! She cut her teeth in Milwaukee, WI, where she performed with Milwaukee Opera Theatre (Autumn, “Fairy Queen Fantasy;” Lecturer, “Handel’s Bestiary”), Present Music (Thanksgiving concert, 2013), Opera On Tap-Milwaukee (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Kalliope Vocal Arts (Opera galas, recitals) and Sunset Playhouse (Bug in a Rug touring children’s theater; Rose, “Lumberjacks in Love”). She spent a summer in Pittsburgh, PA singing with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, where she had the opportunity to premiere two new works by American composers: “A New Kind of Fallout,” OTP’s commissioned Eco-Opera by Gilda Lyons, and the first of a new song cycle by composer Evan Neely. Since moving to Chicago, Maureen has performed extensively with the Niles Metropolitan Chorus and Musica Lumina Orchestra in recital and oratorio, and made her debut with Main Street Opera in September of 2016 as Nannetta in Falstaff. Her main focus at the moment is as Womanaging Director of Scapi Magazine, a multimedia arts journalism outfit devoted to sharing underserved perspectives. Head to scapimag.com to find articles, videos and podcasts! Go out and make something!

Praised for his handsome tone and immaculate diction, operatic baritone Maxwell Seifert recently made his professional Chicago debut as Captain Valentine with the Chicago Folks Operetta in Kurt Weill’s rarely heard Johnny Johnson. A Pacific Northwest Native, he began his stage career as a boy soprano in the Seattle Opera’s 2006 production of Macbeth. Today, Maxwell maintains a wide variety of repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary opera to golden age musical theater. This spring he will play the leading role of Griffith in the world premiere of For Those in Peril by Francis Lynch with the Evanston Chamber Opera Company. Maxwell was recently awarded the grand prize at the Bel Canto Competition in Chicago and was a national semifinalist in the Classical Singer Competition. He has performed in numerous master classes, most notably with Jake Heggie and Isabel Leonard. He was a young artist at the Aspen Summer Music Festival performing in scenes from Ariadne auf Naxos and Die Fledermaus.
His operatic credits include the baritone in the jazz trio in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti and L’horloge in L’enfant et les sortileges at the Franco American Vocal Academy. In 2015, he graduated with a B.A. in music performance from Pepperdine University where he performed as Danilo in The Merry Widow, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Belcore in L’elisir d’more, and Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus as well as some musical theatre roles such as Enjolras in Les Misérables and the dancing chorus in Oklahoma. Maxwell is currently based in Chicago, where he earned his Master of Music degree from Northwestern University studying with W. Stephen Smith.

Melissa Arning grew up in the Detroit suburbs, went to college in Cleveland, and now continues her tour of the Midwest at her home in Chicago. A frequent performer of both oratorio and opera, Ms. Arning’s roles include Ruth in Dark Sisters, Meg inFalstaff, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Cendrillon in Cendrillon, Muse/Nicklausse in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Pitti-Sing in The Mikado, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Despina in Cosi fan tutte, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, and Mercedes in Carmen. Ms. Arning has appeared with The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Third Eye Theatre Ensemble, The Grant Park Chorus, Main Street Opera, The North Shore Chamber Arts Ensemble, Opera for the Young, Petite Opera, Music by the Lake, Chamber Opera Chicago, Chicago Folks Operetta, Music of the Baroque, Cleveland Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, and The Cleveland Chamber Symphony. In her spare time, Ms. Arning is a beekeeper.

Pianist-conductor Michael McElvain has been heard on WFMT radio broadcasts, including a live cycle of the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven, the WFMT Membership Drive, and contemporary music program Relevant Tones. As a soloist and collaborative artist he has performed in masterclasses led by Leon Fleisher, Emanuel Ax, Martin Katz, and David Daniels. Beyond classical music, he has toured Europe as keyboardist for celebrated progressive rock group Pavlov’s Dog.

Recently, Mr. McElvain led The Metropolitan Orchestra of St. Louis in a performance of Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony. He has served as Chorus Master for The Chicago Bach Ensemble, and provided music direction for several stage productions including CUBE Ensemble’s first-ever opera, as well as musical theatre works by Stephen Sondheim. Presently, Mr. McElvain serves on the faculties of DePaul University School of Music and Italian summer voice institute Musica nelle Marche.

Naomi Brigell, mezzo-soprano, is quickly gaining recognition as an “expressive, athletic and strong-voiced” presence on the operatic stage (Naples Daily News). In 2018, Brigell joined Opera Naples as a resident artist, performing as Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) and Giannetta (L’elisir d’amore). She then joined Des Moines Metro Opera as an apprentice artist, where she was featured on the main stage as Third Wood Sprite (Rusalka). Other highlights include Dritte Dame (Die Zauberflöte) with Opera in the Heights, Sesto (La clemenza di Tito) with Chicago Summer Opera, and Nancy (Albert Herring) with Opera Breve.

Brigell was awarded the grand prize in the Kristin Lewis Foundation Competition and first runner-up in the Mobile Opera Madame Rose Competition. During her academic studies, she was awarded the Winifred and Maurice Hirsch Memorial Scholarship and the Ellalou Dimmock Award.

Naomi Brigell is a proud graduate of University of Houston and Boston University.

Missourian Nathan Ward comes from an eclectic musical background, drawing on study of piano, cello, and composition to inform his singing. Currently pursuing a master’s degree from Northwestern University under Karen Brunssen, where he has recently performed as Howard Boucher in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, and Richard Dauntless in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Ruddigore, Nathan has also recently collaborated as a soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, Kile Smith’s Vespers with the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble, and Benjamin Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings.

Before graduating from the University of Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in voice performance, he performed in Show-Me Opera’s productions of Cosí fan tutte, (Ferrando) La Cenerentola (Don Ramiro), and The Merry Widow, (Saint-Brioche), and became a recurring soloist with the Mizzou New Music Ensemble and the Bach Collegium Choir. Influential teachers include Ann Harrell and Braeden Harris.

Nicole Elizabeth Hager, soprano, a native of Bettendorf, Iowa, is know for her full dramatic voice and her comedic abilities on stage. Recent roles include Djameleh in the American premier of The Rose of Stambul​ (Leo Fall) with the Chicago Folks Operetta, Sarah Good in The Crucible, Arminy in Carousel, Ida in Die Fledermaus, and Margo in The Merry Widow as well as countless other chorus and opera scene appearances. ​Nicole received her Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa where she studied with Dr. Virginia Croskery and Dr. Robert Larsen. She holds a Masters of Music degree from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University where shes studied with Christine Flasch and Matthew Chellis.​​

Patrick Rizzotti is a scenic designer working in theatre, opera, and television. He has a strong interest in new works and highly collaborative projects that blur the traditional lines between director, designer, performer, and audience. The focus of his work is visual storytelling and creating innovative worlds that help express the idea of the story through the use of the space.

Select New York Designs Include: The Assignment (A.R.T./NY), Snow Orchid and Money Grubbin’ Whores (Theatre Row), Jasper in Deadland (Prospect Theater), Party In The USA, Victor Frange Presents Gas (Incubator Arts), Dukus (Target Margin Lab), Dancing Lessons, Sex and Education, The Fabulous Lipitones, Asher Lev (Penguin Rep), Titanic (Westchester Broadway). Additional credits include: Pittsburgh Opera, Premiere Stages, Flat Rock Playhouse, Florida Repertory, Creede Repertory Theatre, North Carolina Stage Company. Television Design Credits Include: America’s Got Talent, The Dr. Oz Show, The TODAY Show, and The Mysteries of Laura.

Patrick has received the USITT Scenic Design Award, is a winner of the OPERA America Director-Designer Showcase, and a Lincoln Center Director’s Lab Alumni. M.F.A Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. Memberships: Wingspace Theatrical Design Collective and USA 829.

Mezzo-soprano Quinn Middleman is currently a Young Artist with Chicago Opera Theater (COT). The 2017-2018 season brings a lot of firsts for Quinn: she debuted with Haymarket Opera and Third Coast Baroque, and is excited to join Chicago Fringe Opera for the first time. Additionally, she sings the role of Doris in the premiere of Kevin Puts’ Elizabeth Cree with Chicago Opera Theater, and appears with Scott Gilmore in a recital of women composers benefiting a local women’s shelter. Recent engagements include covering Dorabella in Così fan tutte and performing Entertainer in Britten’s The Burning Fiery Furnace with Central City Opera, where she received the John & Ginny Starkey Award for being an outstanding young artist. Quinn maintains a diversified schedule of performing, including concert work, opera, art song, and competitions. Most recently, she was named a winner of the Wisconsin District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Next season, she will cover the role of Old Lady in Candide with Chautauqua Opera, and return as a professional artist to the stage of Chicago Opera Theater in the premiere of The Scarlet Ibis.

Quinn’s education includes two summers at the Tanglewood Music Center, a master’s degree in Voice from Northwestern University, Bachelor’s degrees in Oboe Performance and Vocal Arts from the University of Southern California, a fellowship with SongFest@Colburn, and a summer with Aspen Music Festival. She currently studies with Judith Haddon.

Soprano Rachael Long has performed the role of Narrator in the World Premier of Francis Lynch’s opera For Those in Peril. In her first world premiere with Lynch, she portrayed the role of Acolyte in Joseph’s Gift. Other roles include Nedda (Pagliacci), Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Corinna and Delia (Il Viaggio a Reims) and La dame in Poulenc’s La dame de Monte Carlo. Future engagements include Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi) and Serafina (Cover – Il campanello) with New Moon Opera, Susanna (Susanna’s Secret) with Evanston Chamber Opera, Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) and Countess Adèle (Cover – The Count Ory) with Transgressive Theatre Opera. Long received her MM from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University (CCPA) and her BFA from Carnegie Mellon University. She was a founding member of Forte, Chicago’s premier opera improv troupe.

Mezzo- soprano Rachel Mast is a versatile singer, skilled in styles from opera to art song to church music. Hailing from Corvallis, Oregon, Rachel currently resides in Chicago and since living there has had the pleasure of singing with groups such as the St. Alphonsus Choir, the Salt Creek Chamber Orchestra, La Caccina, and the Grant Park Chorus.

Rachel is an alumna of Goshen College where she was a two-time winner of the school’s Concerto-Aria Competition and performed roles including Cherubino/Le Nozze di Figaro and Belinda/Dido and Aeneas. She recently completed her graduate studies in voice at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University where she performed the roles of RN/Bluebeard’s Waiting Room and Valetto/L’Incoronazione di Poppea. Other past engagements include Nicklausse/Les Contes d’Hoffmann with the Napa Music Festival, Mother/Hansel and Gretel with the Midwest Institute of Opera, and a return to Goshen College to sing the alto solos in Larry Nickel’s Requiem for Peace.

Praised for her “very colorful, interesting and beautiful instrument,” Mezzo Soprano Robin Bradley has performed in venues across the nation, ranging from Carnegie Hall to Michigan’s cherished Hill Auditorium to the historic Sanders Theater in Cambridge, MA. A graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago, Robin recently participated in Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre’s Young Artist Program, where she covered the title role in Carmen. Coming up, she will make her debut with Winter Opera Saint Louis as Emilia in their 2015 production of Otello. Robin has also served as a company apprentice of Flamenco Chicago, the professional company of acclaimed dancer and choreographer Rosetta Magdalen.

Robin was recently seen as Ottavia in L’Incoronazione di Poppea with the Manhattan Summer Voice Festival, Madame de la Haltière in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Tisbe in La Cenerentola, Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte with Candid Concert Opera, La Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro and The Witch and Mother in Chicago Opera Playhouse’s outreach production of Hansel and Gretel.

Praised for an exciting sound, Mezzo-Soprano Samantha Attaguile is quickly establishing herself as a spirited young talent in the modern artistic world. A New Jersey native, Samantha earned her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from The Boston Conservatory and her Master of Music in Voice from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Samantha has had the pleasure to work with many of Chicagoland’s musical organizations including Main Street Opera, Third Eye Theatre Ensemble, The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company of Hyde Park, Thompson Street Opera, and Petite Opera. Samantha is also a managing div@ of Opera on Tap Chicago and helped kickstart New Brew Chicago, an offshoot of Opera on Tap dedicated to performing new vocal music.

Role highlights include Flora (The Enchanted Pig by Jonathan Dove), Lola (Cavalleria rusticana), Dido (Dido and Aeneas),Barbara Ansley (Roman Fever), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Phoebe Meryll (The Yeomen of the Guard), Maddalena (Il viaggio a Reims), Vèronique (Doctor Miracle), Nurse (Strawberry Fields by Micael Torke), and The Abbess (Sister Angelica).

A performer in every sense of the word, Samantha’s experience is not limited to the traditional operatic realm and she enjoys taking part in a wide array of musical and theatrical projects. She performs in semi-annual concerts with the Colombian folk group, The Mulati Ensemble, and appeared as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Duruflé’s Requiem with the DuPage Chorale, as well as with the Southwest Symphony Orchestra singing a concert of Rodgers & Hammerstein classics. For fun and fundraising, Samantha has participated in Compass Creative Dramatics’ adaptations of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Peter Pan to raise money for children’s theatre programs and appeared as a Puppeteer in Quest Theatre Ensemble’s Blue Nativity.

Samantha currently works, lives, and performs in Chicago with her outrageously supportive husband, Antoni, and feline fur babies, Desdemona and Ophelia.

Sarah Ponder, mezzo-soprano enjoys a busy career as a soloist and ensemble singer in Chicago. Hailed as “Deeply expressive” (Chicago Sun Times) and a “first-class soloist” (Chicago Classical Review), some of Sarah’s recent favorite performances include two featured solo appearances with the Grant Park Music Festival, playing the wolf in The Brothers Grimm with Lyric Opera’s Opera in the Neighborhoods production, and a rousing duet rendition of “Row, Row Your Boat” with Yo-Yo Ma at Children’s Memorial Hospital as part of her ongoing work with the Citizen Musician Initiative. Through her outreach at Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sarah has also “beguilingly” (Chicago Tribune) performed several solo concerts with famed Maestro Riccardo Muti at the piano.

Described as having a “clear, secure, lyric tenor voice” that is “bold and assertive,” Scott Brunscheen is establishing himself as a unique voice in classical music.

For the 2013-14 season, Scott joined Madison Opera as a studio artist, during which he performed as Spoletta in Tosca, the solo inmate in Dead Man Walking, and the understudy for Tonio in Donizetti’s La fille du régiment. Additionally, Scott travelled to Germany and Tunisia to participate with the Bachakademie Stuttgart as a soloist under the direction of Hans-Christoph Rademann. He also returned to Chicago to sing Don Ramiro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola with Candid Concert Opera (now Chicago Fringe Opera). For the summer season, he sang with the Caramoor Bel Canto Festival as a soloist in Donizetti’s Miserere and ensemble member.

During previous seasons, Mr. Brunscheen performed Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola), and covered Roderick in Philip Glass’ The Fall of the House of Usher, First Priest (Die Zauberflöte), Aronne in (Mose in Egitto), Delfa in Cavalli’s Giasone, and Tobias Ragg (Sweeney Todd).

Future performances include Wilhem Grimm in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s outreach and community performances of The Brothers Grimm, Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia with Chicago Fringe Opera, and a return to Bachakademie Stuttgart.

Scott has been a young artist with Chicago Opera Theater, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Caramoor Bel Canto Festival, and Opera New Jersey. His completed his undergraduate studies at University of Utah and received his graduate degree from Roosevelt University. He currently lives in Chicago with his husband.

Stephanie Cluggish is a freelance costume designer based in Chicago. In addition to collaborating with the Chicago Fringe Opera, she has designed for American Theatre Company, Haven Theatre, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Porchlight Music Theatre, The Gift Ensemble, Northwestern University, Yale Dramatic Association (CT), Music Academy of the West (CA), Wolf Trap Opera (VA), and others. She is also the Costume Shop Manager for Lookingglass Theatre Company. She received her BFA from Emerson College and her MFA from Northwestern University. She is a proud member of USA829.

Stephen is an aspiring singing actor from the Chicago area. He is currently pursuing his Master of Music degree at the Chicago College of Performing arts. Recently, he has been seen as a performer of opera, operetta, musical theater and straight theater in the Milwaukee and Chicago areas.

Susan Payne O’Brien is deeply influenced by the rich theatrical landscape of the Chicagoland area where she works and resides. She trained as a director and performer under Byrne and Joyce Piven at the famed Piven Theater Workshop. Drawing upon her twenty year tenure as a teacher, performer and director at Piven and upon her years as an actress and opera singer Susan creates inventive work for the theater and opera stage.

She is the founder and Artistic Director of Forte Chicago, an all female operatic company that devises new work pushing the boundaries of the female voice. Since Forte’s launch in 2015 it has premiered five full length original devised shows exposing fresh audiences to the possibilities and delight of opera. Susan is passionate about bringing theatrical devising process to opera classrooms and has served on the directing and opera faculties of Roosevelt University, DePaul University and North Park University. She has directed, written and devised shows for The Piven Theater Lab, Black Cat Theater, 2nd Story, Links Hall, The Santa Fe Opera, The El Paso Opera, Artemesia, and the CUBE Ensemble.

Thomas Bailey is an Illinois native and a strong advocate for new music. He received his MM from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, and currently studies with Allan Glassman. Currently based in Chicago, Thomas seeks out and supports new music experiences as often as possible. He has been recently seen onstage in Thompson Street Opera Company’s production of Cosmic Ray and The Amazing Chris as KenKen, and as Overseer Pitts in South Shore Opera Company’s production of Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed that Line to Freedom. Thomas can also be heard in the ensemble of the recording of The Great God Pan.

Canadian violinist Timothy Steeves has performed throughout North America and Europe as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, and advocate of contemporary music. He has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and the Salzburger Festspiele and his performances have also been heard on BBC Radio, NPR, and Radio Canada among others.Timothy made his solo debut in 2004 with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and has since performed with orchestras in both Canada and the United States in repertoire ranging from Vivaldi to Corigliano. Timothy was recently named Acting Associate Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Previously, he served as Concertmaster for the world-premiere recording of Darius Milhaud’s Oresteia of Aeschylus, which was nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for Best Opera Recording. Timothy’s chamber music collaborators have included Pierre Amoyal, Andrés Cárdenes, Nancy Ambrose King, Steven Mackey, and Paul Schoenfeld. He has also performed throughout the United States as the founding violinist of the new music ensemble Latitude 49, whose debut album Curious Minds was released in January of 2017. Timothy has also toured both Canada and the United States as a duo with pianist Jani Parsons and with soprano Alexandra Smither. Timothy completed a Bachelors and Masters of Music in Violin Performance at the University of Michigan, studying with David Halen and Stephen Shipps and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at Rice University under the tutelage of Cho-Liang Lin. Timothy performs on a 1871 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, on loan by the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank.

Tierra Whetstone, Mezzo-Soprano is currently a senior at North Park University pursuing her B.A. in Music and studies with Dr. Samuel Handley. Ms. Whetstone has appeared in Alice in Wonderland as the Cheshire Cat, Pirates of Penzance as Ruth, Into the Woods as the witch and in Cendrillon as Madame de la Haltière. She has had the opportunity to sing with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and The John W. Work Chorale here in Chicago.

Tobias Wright is a tenor and native Kansan who was most recently seen in the world premiere of Rootabaga Country as Gimme the Ax with Sarasota Opera. Summer of 2017 saw Tobias make his Opera North debut as Goro in Madama Butterfly and Ajax I in Offenbach’s La Belle Hélène.In the spring of 2017 Tobias performed the role of Lorenzo in William Bolcom’s Lucrezia with Chicago Fringe Opera. Early 2017 saw Tobias with Sarasota Opera, where he made his debut as Un Giovanetto in Italo Montemezzi’s rarely performed L’amore dei tre Re. At the conclusion of the season he was awarded the Scheininger-Reznick Apprentice Scholarship for an Outstanding Apprentice Artist. In December of 2016, Mr. Wright was seen in Chicago with Light Opera Works as Alfred in their new production of Die Fledermaus. Summer of 2017 saw the release of the world premiere of Ross Crean’s The Great God Pan, in which Tobias sang the role of Clarke. The Great God Pan was released by Navona Records/Naxos of America.

In the fall of 2015 Tobias sang the role of Juan in the world premiere of Eustasio Rosales’ Andina at the historic Athenauem Theater in Chicago. The performance and production were featured in the documentary film The Way to Andina, premiering at the Chicago International Movies & Music Festival in the Spring of 2017.

Tobias holds a Master’s Degree in Opera Performance from Northwestern University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Voice from the University of Kansas.

Trevor Vanderzee graduated from DePaul School of Music where he studied under Marc Embree and David Alt. Trevor was seen as a young artist at Utah Festival Opera where he understudied Sharpless (Madama Butterfly) and various other roles. Other credits include Papageno in The Magic Flute (DePaul Opera Theatre), Belcore in The Elixir of Love (Opera for the Young), and Vater in Hänsel und Gretel (Chicago Summer Opera). Trevor was the recipient of 1st place in the Hal Leonard Competition and the NATS Chicago Musical Theatre Competition, and received an Emerging Artist award through the Lotte Lenya Competition. In 2016, Trevor was granted the Betty Van Andel Scholarship through Opera Grand Rapids.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, young American bass-baritone Vince Wallace, is a versatile performer with broad performing experience ranging from skilled ensemble performances to a variety of solo roles and orchestral appearances. Currently based in Chicago, Mr. Wallace has appeared regularly with the Lyric Opera of Chicago since 2008; as a member of the ensemble, and as the Usher in Rigoletto. For the 2008/2009 season, Vince performed with both the Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Fransisco Opera productions of Porgy & Bess in the ensemble; covering and going on to perform a small role with Lyric. He performs with the Grammy Award-winning Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in several programs including their encore and live rendering of the scores to The Lord of the Rings at the Ravinia Festival. Locally, he sings with the Grant Park Music Festival as well as numerous chamber ensembles and churches in the area.

Previous work includes the title role in Le nozze di Figaro as a part of Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance, Superintendent Budd in Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring, Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, the Jailor in Tosca with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Benoit and Alcindoro in La boheme, both Leporello and the Commandatore in Don Giovanni with American Chamber Orchestra, The King in The King & I, Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, and Uncle Max in The Sound of Music. Solo orchestral performances include appearances as Pilatus in the St. John Passion and Judas in St. Mathew Passion.

Zachary Angus is a lyric baritone praised by Chicago Theater Review for his “earnest and spinning instrument.” Recently, his work around the Chicago area has centered on new works: Poet (When Adonis Calls, regional premiere with Thompson Street Opera), Joseph (Joseph’s Gift, world premiere with Evanston Chamber Opera), and Little Matchgirl Passion (Facility Theatre, staged by Dado). In recent seasons he has been featured in a number of opera and light opera productions both around Chicago and on the west coast: Friedrich Bhaer (Little Women, Eugene Opera), Marco (Gianni Schicchi, Salt Creek Chamber Orchestra), Bartley (Riders to the Sea, SCCO), Belcore (L’elisir d’amore, SCCO), Claudio (Béatrice et Bénédict, Eugene Opera), Captain Corcoran (H.M.S. Pinafore, The Savoyaires of Evanston), and Pangloss/Cacambo/Martin (Candide, Opera Notre Dame), as well as serving as an Emerging Artist with Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra. This spring he will join Indianapolis Opera as a Resident Artist.

Tenor Zachary Vanderburg has been heralded as singing “with vocal luster, dramatic fire, and lyrical sympathy” – Augsburger Allgemeine. Performances this season include Dvorak’s Stabat Mater in festivals in southern France and northern Germany; Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2 Lobgesang at the Masterworks Festival; Bach’s Quodlibet, Cantata 147, and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy as an artist-in-residence at the Baroque on Beaver Island Music Festival; appearances with Music of the Baroque, of which he is a member and teaching artist, under the direction of Jane Glover and Nicholas Kraemer; his role debut of The Visitor in Philip Glass’ In the Penal Colony with Chicago Fringe Opera; and guest recitals at Roosevelt University, Ball State University, Chicago’s City Winery, PianoForte Foundation and The Musical Offering.

Recently, Zachary made his Orchestra Hall debut as the tenor soloist in the North American premiere of Jacob TV’s Mountaintop with the Chicago Sinfonietta, a performance he revisited in February. Comfortable in opera repertoire as well as concert and recital, past seasons have seen Zachary’s role debuts of Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème and Leander in Nielsen’s Maskarade; a concert featuring Britten’s Serenade for Tenor and Horn at the Baroque on Beaver Island Music Festival; a performance in the 10th annual PianoForte Foundation Schubertiade; performances with the Chicago Opera Theater in Verdi’s Giovanna d’Arco and Bloch’s MacBeth; European tours of Bruckner’s Te Deum, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and Mozart’s Coronation Mass headlining the Eutiner Festspiele, Festival Durance Luberon, Hamburg’s St. Michael’s Church, as well as other venues in Germany, France and Luxembourg; and appearances as a backup singer in Chicago with The Rolling Stones on their 50 & Counting tour. Zachary has been recorded for broadcast by the Bavarian Public Radio (Bayerischer Rundfunk), WFMT in Chicago, and Blue Lake Public Radio in Michigan. He is a founding member of Fourth Coast Ensemble, Chicago’s premiere classical vocal quartet. Zachary has a masters from the Chicago College of Performing Arts and is currently pursuing a fellowship in vocal chamber music at the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago. He is a student of American tenors Allan Glassman and Nicholas Phan.