We Value Artistic Integrity, Musical Excellence, Collaboration, Community Engagement & Inclusion
Our Mission
Chicago Fringe Opera is dedicated to presenting innovative vocal works with an emphasis on new and contemporary styles, engaging with the Chicago community through intimate and immersive performance experiences, and fostering and empowering local artists.
Our Vision: Chicago Fringe Opera is at the forefront of producing dynamic contemporary vocal works in the city of Chicago.
Laura Smalley
Executive Director
Laura Smalley
Executive Director
Laura Smalley is a producer, actor, and singer in the Chicago area. She has worked in arts administration with many prominent arts organizations, including Des Moines Metro Opera, Stage 773, The Lyric Opera Chicago, and Chicago Opera Theater. She is also an alumna of the 2018 Hart Institute for Women Opera Administrators, a professional development program at The Dallas Opera.
Laura’s recent performing credits include A Christmas Carol (Metropolis Performing Arts Centre), How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying,Hunchback of Notre Dame (Music Theater Works), Big Entrance (Forte Chicago), Love Wounds (Chicago Fringe Opera), Grant Park Music Festival, Merrie England (Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company), Pirates of Penzance (The Savoyaires), Pascagoula: A Folk Opera (Singing River Productions), Old Maid and the Thief (MOE), and Sorry/Grateful (Slotted Spoon Initiative).
Her cabaret performances include Sleep/Creep/Leap and Reunion: A Night of Sondheim. She is a founding member of the vintage vocal trio The Peppermint Patties, with recent shows including Won’t You Be My Galentine? (2020), Home for the Holidays (2020), and Holiday Cabaret (2021).
She holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from DePaul School of Music.
Productions with Chicago Fringe Opera
Two Remain
Executive Producer
2022
The Heroes Project – The Widow’s Will
Executive Producer
2021
A City of Works
Executive Producer
2021
Corsair
Executive Producer
2020
Love Wounds
Echo Cover; "I WIll Learn to Love a Person" Soloist Cover
2019
Dynamic Donuts: A Fundraiser for Love Wounds
Soloist
2019
Fringe at the Taproom
Soloist
2018
Catherine O'Shaughnessy
Creative Director & Conductor
Catherine O'Shaughnessy
Creative Director & Conductor
Catherine O’Shaughnessy is a rising orchestral and opera conductor in the United States and abroad. Her performances have earned rave reviews from the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Classical Review (“great skill, alertness and sensitivity”), and Vocal Arts Chicago (“resourcefulness…scrappiness and…fierce concentration”). Avidly committed to Chicago’s dynamic musical scene, she is currently the music director of Chicago Fringe Opera, and Principal Conductor of the 5th Wave Collective. In 2020, she proudly helped produce Fringe’s contribution to the Decameron Opera Coalition’s Tales From a Safe Distance—winner of the “Best Collaboration” award from 360° of Opera—which makes innovative use of technology to reimagine this art for challenging new circumstances.
A semi-finalist in the 2016 Spazio Musica International Conducting Competition, Catherine made her New York debut conducting Antonio Salieri’s La Cifra with the dell’Arte Opera Ensemble. She has also music directed Pyramus and Thisbe in Freiberg (Mittelsächsisches Theater) and conducted Don Giovanni and La Traviata in Orvieto (Teatro Mancinelli). In 2013 she conducted the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra at a sold-out performance in Tchaikovsky Hall, and in 2017 she guest-conducted the Piccadilly Symphony Orchestra (Manchester, UK). Catherine holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in orchestral and opera conducting from Arizona State University, where she was a student of William Reber and Timothy Russell.
Productions with Chicago Fringe Opera
Two Remain
Music Director
2022
Woyzeck
Music Director
2019
Love Wounds
Music Director
2019
The Long Christmas Dinner
Music Director
2019
The Great God Pan
Music Director
2018
Lucrezia
Music Director
2017
Song from the Uproar
Conductor
2016
In the Penal Colony
Conductor
2016
George Cederquist
Producing Artistic Director
George Cederquist
Producing Artistic Director
George is the Producing Artistic Director of Chicago Fringe Opera (called “the city’s alt-opera company” by the Chicago Tribune), which produces experiential, immersive, and site-specific productions of operas composed in English. At CFO, George has directed Woyzeck, The Rosina Project, The Long Christmas Dinner, The Great God Pan (world premiere), Lucrezia, In the Penal Colony, The Turn of the Screw, Trouble in Tahiti and The Rape of Lucretia. Camera opera filmwork includes Corsair, The Widow’s Will, and A City of Works.
In addition, George has directed opera scenes at Wolf Trap Opera and Chautauqua Opera, and new productions with the Chicago Sinfonietta, Pittsburgh Opera, the Bay View Music Festival, Chicago Folks Operetta, and Chicago Opera Vanguard. An enthusiastic mentor, George is the Producing Artistic Director of Opera and Theatre at North Park University, and has taught acting, auditioning and scene study at Northwestern University, Roosevelt University, and DePaul University.
Now in its seventh season, George hosts Opera Box Score, America’s Talk Radio Show About Opera, heard every Monday night on WNUR 89.3 FM Chicago and wherever you get your podcasts. The show tackles the week’s opera headlines and discusses them in a sports talk radio format.
A recipient of the 2015 American Prize in Directing, George’s production of Silent Night was chosen as a winner of Opera America’s 2013 Director-Designer competition. As one of ten Americans to receive the 2011-12 German Chancellor Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, George served as a Regieassistent at the Staatstheater Darmstadt.
George’s training includes the Resident Artist Stage Director program at Pittsburgh Opera, serving as the Apprentice Stage Director at the Merola Opera Program, and as the Directing Fellow at Wolf Trap Opera. He holds an MFA in Directing from Northwestern University and a BA in Theatre Studies and English from Yale University. A dual US-UK citizen, George is a proud ensemble member of Steep Theatre Company (Chicago) and the American Guild of Musical Artists.
He lives with his wife, their two children, their cat, and their four chickens, in Chicago.
Productions with Chicago Fringe Opera
The Heroes Project – The Widow’s Will
Director
2021
A City of Works
Artistic Director
2021
Corsair
Creative Director
2020
The Rosina Project Fall 2021 (NOITP)
Concept & Stage Direction
2021
Arts in the Dark
Director
2019
Woyzeck
Director
2019
The Rosina Project
Director
2019
The Long Christmas Dinner
Director
2019
The Rossini Project
Director
2018
The Great God Pan
Director
2018
Lucrezia
Director
2017
In the Penal Colony
Director
2016
The Turn of the Screw
Director
2015
Voices in the Dark, Jazz & Trouble in Tahiti
Director
2015
The Rape of Lucretia
Director
2014
Daina Fischer
Social Media Manager
Daina Fischer
Social Media Manager, Dramatic Soprano
Daina Fischer is a Lithuanian/American dramatic soprano based in Chicago. Alongside her passion for singing, Daina also has a private voice teaching studio and has years of experience as a social media manager. She has worked as a content creator and social media guru for Chicago Symphony Orchestra and enjoys creating beautiful content for theaters and arts programs. Daina has sung all over the Midwest and also internationally, working with renowned conductors, coaches, and teachers. She is a founding member of the vintage vocal trio “The Peppermint Patties” who is becoming a household name in the Chicago cabaret scene. Daina is active in the Lithuanian music community in the United States and has also given performances in Lithuania.
She holds an MFA in Vocal Performance from DePaul University.
Giovanna Jacques
PR & Audience Relations Director
Giovanna Jacques
PR & Audience Relations Director, Mezzo Soprano
Mezzo-soprano Giovanna Manilla Jacques is a founding member of Chicago Fringe Opera, serves as Secretary on the CFO Board and is also the PR Director. Though she was born and spent her childhood in San Francisco, she spent her formative years in the South of France where she studied at the Conservatoire National de Toulon. She moved to Chicago in 2009 to complete her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the DePaul School of Music. She graduated with her Master in Education with a focus in Higher Ed Leadership in 2021, also from DePaul. She served as Assistant Director of Admissions for the DePaul School of Music from 2017-2022, and is currently the Assistant Director of Admissions for the Evening & Weekend MBA at the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern). Though she is no longer an active performer, she is a committed audience member and is thrilled to still be a part of Chicago Fringe Opera!
Productions with Chicago Fringe Opera
Fringe’s Holiday House Party
Soloist
2015
The Turn of the Screw
Mrs. Grose
2015
Chicago Fringe Opera’s Lakeside Soiree
Soloist
2015
The Rape of Lucretia
Bianca
2014
Khary Laurent
Artistic Producer
Khary Laurent
Artistic Producer
Khary “K. F. Jacques” Laurent is a classical singer and hip hop producer. He has been featured on the Rosie Show (Oprah Winfrey Network), various Polish Television and radio networks, and has toured the US, Poland, and several other countries!
Currently Mr. Laurent is the head composer and playing the role of FIGARO in The Rosina Project which is the “hip hopera version of The Barber of Seville” with a cast of talented rappers, dancers, a beatboxer, dj, and singers. The Rosina Project was included in The Pivot Arts Festival two years in a row, featured on ABC 7 News, Chicago SunTimes, and The Chicago Tribune, and also received a grant for a citywide summer tour of Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks. It’s most recent theater performance sold out The Newport Theater in Lakeview, and will return to the stage in the Summer of 2021. His latest composition, “Corsair”, was a hip hop opera film commissioned by Chicago Fringe Opera for The Decameron Opera Coalition’s “Tales From A Safe Distance”. It debuted to rave reviews in October 2020 and was awarded Best New Local Opera Production of 2020 in The Chicago Reader.
Mr. Laurent was born and raised in Chicago Illinois. He holds a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from the Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.
Jenny Schuler
Marketing, Brand & Web Director
Jenny Schuler
Marketing, Brand & Web Director, Soprano
Soprano Jenny Schuler has earned praise in recent seasons for her powerful vocalism and compelling stage artistry. She has been hailed as a “sumptuous soprano,” with a voice “rich in nuance” and “a vivid presence on the stage.” Her 2020/2021 season highlights include a debut with Chicago Opera Theater as Isabela in La Hija de Rappaccini (originally Matilde in Catan’s Il Postino), a debut with Opera Festival of Chicago in the role of Giorgetta in Il Tabarro, in addition to her role as a featured artist in the Dante 700 recital series also with Opera Festival of Chicago..
In the 2019/2020 season Ms Schuler made her Oregon Symphony debut as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and returned as Mother in their production of Hänsel und Gretel, in addition to debuting the title role of Tosca with New Jersey Festival Orchestra. Productions canceled due to Covid-19 include Louder, Longer, Wagner! (Valerie/Brünhilde) with Lyric Unlimited, Lyric Opera of Chicago & Second City, and Songs from Letters recital with Chicago Fringe Opera.
Recent season highlights include the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos as a guest artist with Indiana University, Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Sugar Creek Opera, Ariadne auf Naxos and Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, both with the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, and Leonore* in the Princeton Festival’s production of Fidelio.
Ms. Schuler was nominated as finalist for the 2019 Richard Tucker Career Grant, she was the second place winner in the 2019 Classical Singer Competition, first place winner of the 2018 Lyra New York International Vocal Competition, a semi-finalist in the 2017 Premier Opera Foundation International Vocal Competition, a semi-finalist in Shreveport Opera’s 2017 Mary Jacobs Smith Competition, a finalist in the 2017 Marcello Giordani International Voice Competition, and first place winner in the 2016 Heafner–Williams Vocal Competition. Ms. Schuler earned her Artist Diploma from the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute and her Master of Music from Roosevelt University Chicago College of Performing Arts.
Productions with Chicago Fringe Opera
Ear Taxi Festival – Spotlight Series Concert: Songs From Letters
Soloist
2020
Dynamic Donuts: A Fundraiser for Love Wounds
Soloist
2019
2016 Holiday House Party
Soloist
2016
Chicago Fringe Opera’s Lakeside Soiree
Soloist
2015
Voices in the Dark, Jazz & Trouble in Tahiti
Girl, Jazz Trio
2015
2014 Christmas Celebration
Soloist
2014
The Rape of Lucretia
Female Chorus
2014
Bridget Skaggs
Vocal Arts Associate
Bridget Skaggs
Vocal Arts Associate, Mezzo Soprano
Mezzo-soprano Bridget Skaggs has swiftly gained the attention of Chicago audiences as “a compelling force” with an “agile, expressive voice” (Chicago Classical Review) equally at home in opera, art song, and oratorio. Critics have noted the way she “lights up the scene” (Chicago Reader) in performances with Chicago Fringe Opera, where she debuted the role of Austin in the world-premiere production of Rossa Crean’s The Great God Pan in 2018, and sang Christopher Cerrone’s Naomi Songs with “warm and plaintive mezzo” (Chicago Classical Review) as part of Love Wounds, a multi-disciplinary exploration of the composer’s works, in 2019.
Bridget is increasingly recognized for her excellence in the musical and movement styles of Baroque repertoire, having performed Giunone in Cavalli’s La Didone with Haymarket Summer Opera Program in 2018, Bradamante in Handel’s Alcina with Chicago Vocal Arts Consortium in 2019, and performed numerous Bach cantatas as a Festival Artist at the Baroque on Beaver Island Festival (MI) in summers 2014 and 2015.
Nationally, Bridget has appeared as the Fox in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen with Opera Steamboat, and Charlotte in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, where she served as Young Artist. Internationally, she has toured Bruckner’s Te Deum as alto soloist with Blue Lake International Symphony. Her vast concert and oratorio repertoire includes the Ravel Shéhérezade, Duruflé Requiem, Vivaldi Gloria, Handel Messiah, and Bach Magnificat.
A passionate advocate for art song, Skaggs is a founding member of vocal chamber quartet Fourth Coast Ensemble, and was recently named Vocal Arts Associate for Chicago Fringe Opera. She has twice been awarded the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago’s vocal chamber fellowship. This season she records music by composer Lori Laitman, and has recorded the American premiere of Paul Abraham’s 1932 jazz operetta Ball at the Savoy for future release. A native of Southlake, Texas, Bridget received her education at Oklahoma City University’s Wanda L. Bass School of Music, and resides in Chicago.
Productions with Chicago Fringe Opera
Two Remain
Zosia
2022
Ear Taxi Festival – Spotlight Series Concert: Songs From Letters
Soloist
2020
Love Wounds
Soloist (Naomi Songs)
2019
The Great God Pan
Austin
2018
Jonathan Zeng
Community Engagement Coordinator
Jonathan Zeng
Community Engagement Coordinator, Tenor
Lauded for his versatility as a performer and accomplished in Musical Theater, Opera, Oratorio and Concert repertoire, critically acclaimed tenor, Jonathan Zeng, has performed throughout the United States with companies such as Cincinnati Opera, Central City Opera, Tulsa Opera, Opera Memphis, Utah Festival Opera, and the Princeton Festival. With a voice described by Chicago publications as “valiant”, “stunning”, “vibrant”, and “rich”, Jonathan is based in Chicago and has appeared as soloist with The William Ferris Chorale in the American premiere of John Joubert’s Five Songs of Incarnation and Bonaventura Somma’s Missa Pro Defunctis. You may also have seen him singing with the Grant Park Symphony Chorus, in Johnny Johnson or The Csardas Princess with Chicago Folks Operetta, or performing in Chicago Fringe Opera productions The Long Christmas Dinner, Trouble In Tahiti, Turn of the Screw, and Song From the Uproar. Roles elsewhere range from Goro in Madama Butterfly & Beppe in I Pagliacci to Prince Charming in Cinderella, Chip Tolentino in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Frederic in Pirates of Penzance. An avid proponent for arts education and vocal instruction, Jonathan has served as an adjunct faculty member in the Preparatory Department at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and has maintained a private voice studio for more than a decade. Jonathan received a BA in Music Education from the School of Music at Western IL University and an MM in vocal performance from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (CCM). Jonathan also writes and records his own music.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Julia Elise Hardin, a native of Lawrence, KS, has been touted as a “powerful” and “expressive” singer drawing from her extensive acting background. She is a founding company ensemble member of Chicago Fringe Opera, and was previously Co-Company Manager and Manager of Finance (2014-2015).
As a singer, Ms. Hardin has performed principal and featured roles as a coloratura mezzo-soprano with Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Opera in the Neighborhoods, Chicago Opera Theater, the Castleton Festival (founded by the late Maestro Lorin Maazel), Florentine Opera, Central City Opera, the Fondazione Lirico in Bari, Italy, and more. Orchestral engagements have included regional performances with the Milwaukee Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Rockford and Ft. Wayne Symphonies. Ms. Hardin garners accolades and awards from foundations such as NATSAA, Neue Stimmen, Chicago Union League, Bel Canto Foundation and the Friends of Austria. Julia performs regularly with Chicago groups Music of the Baroque, Aestas Consort and William Ferris Chorale. In 2011, she joined in celebrating the Grammy wins of Florentine Opera’s recording of Aldridge’s Elmer Gantry from the Naxos label, on which she is featured as Mrs. Baines.
In addition to her Executive Directorship with Chicago Fringe Opera, Hardin has worked the head of Development and Engagement and Fest Manager for Twickenham Fest, a chamber music festival located in Huntsville, AL.
Beginning with a career primarily based in theater and acting, Julia Elise Hardin followed with strict vocal training at Northwestern University. She continues study with Julia Faulkner. Hardin holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and a master’s from Northwestern University. She currently resides in Chicago with her husband.
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.
Brad Caleb Lee is a UK based visual dramaturge. With CFO he designed Lucrezia, The Long Christmas Dinner, Woyzeck, Corsair and co-conceived A City of Works. Other collaborators include East Riding Theatre, Opera’r Ddraig, Summer Theatre of New Cannon, Richard Burton Theatre Company, Elan Frontoio, Welsh National Opera, Opera Sonic, Music Theatre Wales, Prague Shakespeare Company, Theatre Tuscaloosa, Hell in a Handbag, and Filament Theatre.
Brad curated and designed YOUR VOICE!, an immersive community-driven exhibition reopening the Wales Millennium Centre, was the Curatorial Producer of Prague Quadrennial 2019, was featured in World Stage Design 2017, and co-designed the award-winning British pavilion, MAKE/BELIEVE for PQ2015 / Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Brad is the founding editor of Ascending and has previously edited other publications on theatre design. He holds an MA from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and both a BA and a BS of Commerce from The University of Alabama.
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!
Lyric soprano Jessie Lyons is one of the most promising performers of opera’s new generation. The Iowa native has been enthusiastically received by audiences in numerous productions in Italy and throughout the United States.
Jessie has been described as “an amazingly talented young lyric soprano [with] a unique voice that is strong and warm throughout her range,” and her “poise and natural stage presence put her at the top of the list among her current peers.”
(Matthew Chellis, international performing artist).
Of one performance, Stage West Des Moines director Paul Dieke said, “Jessie has an exciting voice, brilliant and powerful, with secure, well-developed high tones. She was musically accurate and approached her roles with sensitivity and expressiveness. Dramatically, she was superb. Her anger/fight scene was mesmerizing.”
Jessie has performed numerous roles with various opera companies. Among her finest achievements to date are her performances of Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff, Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème, La Ciesca in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with La Musica Lirica in Italy. She has also performed as Alice Ford in Otto Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and Lady Billows in Britten’s Albert Herring at Luther College, and Mimi in American Chamber Opera’s production of La bohème. In addition, she has sung with the Taos Opera Institute in Taos, New Mexico. Following that, Jessie performed with the Des Moines Metropolitan Opera in their 40th anniversary season, singing in Puccini’s La Rondine and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and scenes from Britten’s Turn of the Screw, Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, Mozart’s Cosí Fan Tutte, and Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music.
Jessie holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Luther College and a Master’s Degree from Roosevelt University’s “Chicago College of Performing Arts.” After finishing her Master’s Degree, Jessie spent a summer in New York City participating in the Manhattan School of Music Summer Festival.
Most recently, Jessie took part in Madison Opera’s 2013-14 resident artist program in Madison, Wisconsin, where she covered the title role in Puccini’s Tosca and sang Sister Catherine (and covered Sister Rose) in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking.
Ted Nazarowski has worked in many facets of theater throughout his career. In addition to his day job as a music and theater teacher in the Chicago Public Schools, Mr. Nazarowski has worked as a director, musician, and designer throughout the Chicago area. Recent lighting design credits include A Fool’s Journey (Misfit Circus), Lucrezia and Songs from the Uproar (Chicago Fringe Opera), The Violet Hour (South Shore Opera) and The Consul (Main Street Opera). He is thrilled to be working with such an amazingly talented cast and crew!
Clarissa Parrish Short is returning to the operatic world after transitioning from mezzo-soprano to soprano. She has sung with opera companies and choruses throughout the United States and Germany, including the Mittelsächsisches Theater, Theater Plauen-Zwickau, Portland Opera, Florentine Opera, Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance, the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, the Basilica of St. Josaphat, St. John Cantius, and St. Mary’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
A native of Sterling, Virginia, Clarissa is an alumnus of the Manhattan School of Music and James Madison University. She currently lives in Chicago, Illinois with her husband tenor Aaron Short. She works at Northeastern Illinois University as the Business Manager for the College of Arts and Sciences and sings with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chorus.
Supported by The MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, & the Illinois Arts Council Agency. Chicago Fringe Opera is an Opera America Partner.