Brandie Sutton

Rautendelein

Hailed by the New York Times for her "warm, ample voice" and "distinctive earthy coloring," and by Opera News for her "sumptuous, mid-weight soprano," Brandie Sutton has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, Radio Orpheus Symphony Orchestra in Moscow, the Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Danish Symphony Orchestra, Flint Symphony Orchestra, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. She has won several awards and competitions including, most recently, Harlem Opera Theater. Ms. Sutton has debuted principal roles at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Semperoper Dresden, AlterOper Frankfurt, New York City Opera, and was a featured artist at Carnegie Hall.

Fabio Armiliato

Enrico

Fabio Armiliato has been known to New York audiences since his first appearance with the New York City Opera as Don José in Carmen and with the Metropolitan Opera as Manrico in Il Trovatore, Radames in Aida, Loris in Fedora opposite Mirella Freni, Gabriele in Simon Boccanegra , and Turridu in Cavalleria Rusticana. He has appeared at all of the world’s major opera houses including La Scala, Vienna Staatsoper, Covent Garden, Paris Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Zurich Opera, San Francisco Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago, and traveled extensively in both opera and concert in appearances with his companion in life, the late Italian soprano Daniela Dessì. Mr Armiliato is featured in a number of successful opera DVDs including La bohème in the well-regarded production by the late Italian film director Ettore Scola. He also appeared in Woody Allen’s movie From Rome with Love opposite Alex Baldwin and Penelope Cruz. This season, in addition to his return to New York in La Campana Sommersa, he performs in concerts with Elina Garanca, and in Aida in Hong Kong. In recent seasons Mr. Armiliato has performed in Buenos Aires and Montevideo singing the tango repertory of Carlos Gardel and Tito Schipa.

Marc Heller

Enrico

American tenor Marc Heller recently added the role of Verdi’s Otello to his repertoire, performing it to critical acclaim nine times this season and last. He has performed principal tenor roles at the Metropolitan Opera, de Nederlandse Opera, Theater Capitôle du Toulouse, Royal Swedish Opera of Stockholm, Opera Oviedo, New York City Opera, the Hessisches Staatstheater, Opera Malmö, and the Komische Oper Berlin. He has appeared regularly as Calaf in new productions of Turandot at the Bolshoi in Minsk; Oviedo, Spain; and at the Domstufen Festival in Erfurt. Mr. Heller’s last season commenced with all Verdi roles in new productions, singing Ernani at the National Lithuanian Opera, Vilnius; Gustavo III in Un Ballo in Maschera in Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino at the Hessisches Staatstheater, Wiesbaden; and his debut as Otello at Theater Erfurt. The season ended with his debut at the Bolshoi in Moscow. In recent seasons, he reprised the roles of Radames and Canio, made debuts in several new productions including the title role in the German premiere of Reyer’s Sigurd, Max in Der Freischütz, Jean de Lyde in Le Prophete, Turiddu, Andrea Chenier, and Siegmund. He has performed Radames at the Pyramids at Giza, simulcast on R.A.I. Italian television, and at Royal Albert Hall. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Tan Dun’s The First Emperor, and returned as Tybalt in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, broadcast on the Met’s HD Movie Simulcast.


Michael Chioldi

L'Ondino

American baritone Michael Chioldi has quickly gained the reputation as one of the most sought-after dramatic baritones of his generation. Praised by Opera News for his "warm, rich tone" and by the Baltimore Sun for his "deeply communicative phrasing," he has received unanimous acclaim from critics and audiences around the world for his portrayals of the dramatic baritone roles of Verdi, Puccini, and Strauss. His recent role debuts include the title roles in Verdi's Rigoletto with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco, Macbeth with Palm Beach Opera, and Nabucco with Lyric Opera Baltimore; Conte di Luna in Il Trovatore with Utah Opera; and Rodrigo in Don Carlo with Austin Lyric Opera. Chioldi's 2016-17 season includes Verdi's Macbeth with New Orleans Opera, his debut as Iago in Otello with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco, Rigoletto Palm Beach Opera, and performances of Madama Butterfly with Austin Lyric Opera.

Glenn Seven Allen

Il Fauno

Glenn Seven Allen is garnering critical acclaim for his work in theatre, opera, and concert throughout the United States as a consummate singing actor, lauded for his dynamic interpretations of leading roles. Mr. Allen was hailed by Opera News as an “Edwardian matinee idol, giving by far the most detailed dramatic performance.” This season, due to the wild popularity of its last run, he reprises his role as Jerome in the Drama Desk-nominated Di Goldene Kale Off-Broadway at the National Yiddish Theatre-Folksbiene. Also this season he portrays Pontius Pilate in Casa Mañana's production of Jesus Christ Superstar, and performs in New York City Opera’s production of Candide.

Kristin Sampson

Magda

Praised by the New York Times for her “bright, sizable and expressive voice” Kristin Sampson’s 2016-17 season includes her Carnegie Hall debut as soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, her role and house debut at Opera Carolina as Minnie in La Fanciulla del West, and her debut at the Festival Puccini in Torre del Lago as Tosca. Her future engagements include Minnie with New York City Opera, Teatro del Giglio in Lucca, Goldoni Theatre of Livorno, and Teatro Verdi in Pisa; Suor Angelica at Torre del Lago; and concert appearances in Italy and throughout the United States. A 2017 recipient of a grant from the Olga Forrai foundation, she has performed in the U.S. with the New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Orchestra of New York, among others, and internationally with the Opera Society of Hong Kong, National Theater of Szeged, Teatro Municipal de Santiago, and Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.

Philip Cokorinos

Il Curato

Hailed by Opera News for his “comedic high jinks” and “first-rate singing,” bass-baritone Philip Cokorinos was the winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1985, and went on to sing his debut during the Met’s 1987-1988 season. Since then, he appeared in more than 375 performances of 35 operas at The Met. This season at the Met, Cokorinos portrays the role of Innkeeper in their production of Manon Lescaut, Johann in Werther and performs in La bohème. Recently, he debuted the role of Riolobo at New York City Opera in their production of Florencia en el Amazonas and subsequently reprised the role of Sacristan in Tosca for Los Angeles Opera.

Renata Lamanda

La Strega

Mezzo-soprano Renata Lamanda has appeared on the most important stages in Italy including Teatro dell’Opera in Rome in Rigoletto, Werther, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata, and Aida; Teatro alla Scala in The Fiery Angel; Teatro San Carlo in Naples in The Makropoulos Case, Suor Angelica, and Madama Butterfly; and the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago in Madama Butterfly, Il Tabarro, Cavalleria Rusticana, and I Medici. She has performed Adalgisa in Norma in Taormina and at Teatro Verdi in Trieste, and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. She recorded Leoncavallo’s I Medici for Deutsche Grammophon with Plácido Domingo and Daniela Dessì. In recent seasons she performed Bersi in Andrea Chenier at Avery Fisher Hall in New York with Roberto Alagna, and Azucena in Trovatore at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. She has performed under the baton of Nello Santi, Daniel Oren, Paolo Carignani, Evelino Pidò, Bruno Bartoletti, John Fiore, Andrea Licata, Antonio Pirolli, Alberto Veronesi, Marcello Rota, Paolo Olmi, Asher Fisch, Eve Queler, and Miguel Perez Sierra.

Ira Levin ( Conductor )

Ira Levin is known internationally for the great versatility of his musical activities. He has conducted well over a thousand performances of 75 operatic titles and is equally at home in concert, with a vast symphonic repertoire. He is an award-winning concert pianist and was a pupil and the teaching assistant of the legendary Jorge Bolet at the Curtis Institute of Music. His 40 publications, most of which have been performed and recorded, include orchestrations of major works by Liszt, Franck, Busoni, Reger, Rachmaninoff and Respighi, piano transcriptions, and cadenzas to several Mozart piano concertos. He was the principal guest conductor of the legendary Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires from 2011-2015, where he conducted 12 major opera productions, including the American premieres of Enescu’s Oedipe, Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel and Glanert’s Caligula. He was the Music and Artistic director of the Teatro Municipal in São Paulo and the Teatro National in Brasilia, the principal conductor of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and the Bremen Opera, and principal guest conductor of the Kassel Opera. He has worked with many of the world’s leading instrumentalists, singers and stage directors. He has recorded several CDs to great critical acclaim with the London Symphony, Scottish National Orchestra, the Norrlands Symphony Orchestra, and of his own piano transcriptions.