About the Artists

Sibyl Adams

Sibyl's performing experience began with her voice performance studies at the University of Idaho where the roles of The Witch in Into the Woods, Venus in Orpheus in the Underworld, Golde in Fiddler, the Sorcerer in Dido & Aeneas. and many opera scenes including Baba & Prince Orlofsky were among her personal favorites. Concert repertoire engagements include Mozart's Requiem and Handel's Messiah. Recent productions include that of Hansel (Lyric Opera NW), Annina La Traviata (Lyric Opera NW), shows with Hans Wolf Memorial Operetta Series, & weeks of sold out performances as Ruth in Pirates of Penzance with Lakewood playhouse. Baroque Opera continues to be a genre of music that she's drawn to & pursues education with Stephen Stubbs (Seattle Baroque Opera's Accdemia D'Amore) where her role of Satirino (La Calisto) this August was highly praised, baroque dance & gesture (Anna Mansbridge), and ornamentation master class (Baroque ornamentation with Dr. Julianne Baird). She'll be singing with Seatlle Opera Chorus in upcoming productions as well.

Clarice Alfonso

Hailing from Chicago, soprano Clarice Alfonso has recently performed the roles of Desirè with Puget Sound Concert Opera and Zerlina with Seattle Operamuse. Upcoming performances include Mahler's Resurrection Symphony as the soprano soloist, Genovieffa with Puget Sound, and Adina with Seattle Operamuse. Clarice received her masters degree in voice in Chicago where she performed her Orchestra Hall debut as the soloist in the North American premiere of Jacob TV’s Mountaintop, First Lady in Die Zauberflöte with Chicago Chamber Opera, and Julia Jellicoe in The Grand Duke. Clarice has sung with the Grant Park Chorus and Chicago Symphony Chorus, is a part of the VOX3 Ensemble, and often gives concerts featuring musical theater, jazz, and opera 10/2018

Tess Altiveros

Tess Altiveros (soprano) has been featured as a soloist both locally and internationally, including tours to Europe and Southeast Asia as well as frequent appearances with the Seattle Mariners. Acclaimed for her operatic roles, she most recently sang Musetta in Tacoma Opera's La Boheme and Ilia in Puget Sound Concert Opera's Idomeneo. Other credits include Frasquita in Carmen (Vashon Opera), Mimí in La Bohème (Bellevue Opera), the title role in Luisa Miller (Puget Sound Opera), Galatea in My Fair Galatea (Tacoma Opera), Laurette in Dr. Miracle (Tacoma Opera), and Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro (Tacoma Opera) and Tatyana in Eugene Onegin. Concert works include Handel's Messiah and Mozart's Requiem (Tacoma Symphony Chorus, Cascadian Chorale, Anna's Bay Chorale), Mozart's Exultate, Jubilate,, motets (Anna's Bay Chorale), the Haydn Paukenmesse and the Boulanger Soir sur la Pleine (Cascadian Chorale), among many others. Tess has also had the privilege of premiering new works as Eric Barnum's The Frozen Grail, a song cycle written written for her, and Robert Kyr's Sanctus. Miss Altiveros holds a Master's degree in vocal performance from the University of Washington where she trained with acclaimed soprano, Jane Eaglen. Tess now serves as Affiliate Artist Faculty at Western Washington University.

Austin Amaya, Tenor

Tenor Austin Amaya was last seen as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi with the Boise State Symphony Orchestra where he was also the 2007 winner of the Concerto Aria Competition. A brief leave from singing ultimately brought Austin to Seattle and the private studio of Jane Eaglen. Oratorio work has taken Mr. Amaya as a tenor soloist to the Idaho Civic Symphony, High Land Festival Orchestra, Sun Valley festival Orchestra and the experimental music group Breccia. With Breccia, Austin sang the world premier of News Piece composed by Gretchen Judd. A former student of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony Music Conservatory, Austin continues the enjoyed the benefits of that relationship. Future highlights include a recital under the blanket of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony series.

Cecilia Archuleta

Cecilia Archuleta, violinist, enjoys a varied and colorful career as a chamber musician, orchestral player, and soloist. Her refined and expressive virtuosity have brought numerous engagements with some of our region's most esteemed ensembles, as well as internationally. Cecilia is concertmaster with Thalia Symphony Orchestra, and has played with Northwest Sinfonietta, Seattle Symphony, and the Pacific NW Ballet. She is a member of Seattle Baroque Orchestra and Auburn Symphony Orchestra. She also performs with the Pacific Northwest Opera.

In chamber music (her greatest love), Cecilia has performed with the Philadelphia String Quartet for twelve seasons at the Olympic Music Festival, and the renowned Onyx Trio Series at Town Hall. She is on faculty with Icicle Creek Chamber Music Madness series, where she coaches adult chamber ensembles. She has performed with Gallery Concerts, Intimate Baroque, Anacortes Arts series, Friday Harbor Chamber Music Festival, Oswego music Festival and the Mainely Mozart Festival. 5/2024

David Barela, Bass

Throughout his career, multi-talented David Barela has studied and performed as pianist, organist, singer, conductor and dancer. As a pianist, David frequently performs solo recitals as well as having recorded and released three solo CDs under his own music label, DBG records. A recipient of the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition, he performed vocal solos with many organizations including Arizona Opera, New Mexico Opera, and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. David studied ballet and was a professional dancer with Southwest Ballet Company, New Mexico Opera and Four Corners Opera. David is originally from Silver City, New Mexico and is currently Music Director and Organist at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Seattle. He also maintains a large studio of voice, piano and organ students.

Dora Barnes

Dora Barnes was born and raised in Yakima Washington and now resides in Seattle. She is a classically trained vocalist, pianist, and saxophonist. Dora started studying classical voice at age 15 with Debra Hardy (Smith) in Yakima. She attended Yakima Valley Community College and Central Washington University with a focus on vocal performance. While in Yakima, Dora has performed with the Yakima Valley Light Opera Company as a chorus member as well as the part of Adele in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus. She has also played the role of Mrs. Jenkins in CWU’s production of Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land. Dora has been a chorus member of the Yakima Valley Community choir and the Yakima Valley Symphony Chorus and has performed as a chorus member in Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Orff’s Carmina Burana among others. Dora is now a student of Davida Kagen in Seattle and is a current member of Seattle’s Art Song Society. She has recently won the MONC NW “Encouragement Award” and has performed in the Masterclass for MONC NW. She also recently won first place and the Richard Engstrom Vocal Award in the adult opera division at PAFE. Dora is very excited to make her Puget Sound Concert Opera debut as Zerlina in Don Giovanni! 8/2018

Ryan Christopher Bede, Baritone

Born and raised in Tacoma, WA, baritone Ryan Christopher Bede made his Seattle Opera solo debut in May 2017 as the Second Priest in The Magic Flute, followed by Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly, Jim Crowley in An American Dream and Fiorello in The Barber Of Seville in the 2017-18 season.

He returns as Moralés in Carmen in May 2019. He also returns to Opera Idaho this season as Masetto in Don Giovanni after performing Papageno in The Magic Flute to great acclaim. In the Spring of 2019 he makes his role debut as Belcore in The Elixir Of Love with Tacoma Opera, where he has appeared in numerous roles such as Moralés/Le Dancaïre in Carmen, Tiger Brown in The Threeepenny Opera, Papageno, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, Schaunard in La Boheme and the Pirate King in The Pirates Of Penzance. Recent concert engagements have included Handel's Messiah with both the Bremerton Symphony and Federal Way Symphony, Spectrum Dance Theater's acclaimed production of Carmina Burana as well as Bach's Christmas Oratorio with Early Music Vancouver/Pacific Musicworks, conducted by Stephen Stubbs. He has been a frequent soloist with Orchestra Seattle in such masterpieces as Fauré's Requiem, Duruflé's Requiem, Haydn's Die Jahreszeiten, and Vaughan Williams's Fantasia On Christmas Carols. He sang Rutter's Mass Of The Children with the Everett Chorale and Bellevue Presbyterian Church, and in the summer of 2017 he performed the bass solo in Mozart's Requiem in Sofia and Varna, Bulgaria under the baton of Dr. Steven Zopfi and Dr. Scott Glysson.

Other recent performances have included a solo appearance with the Cal Poly Symphony & Chorus (Duruflé Requiem and Ravel Don Quichotte a Dulcinée), the role of the Land Speculator in the premiere of Sarah Mattox's opera Heart Mountain with Vespertine Opera, Samuel Barber's Dover Beach with the Seattle-based Bella Sala Ensemble, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus and Morales/Dancaire with Pacific Northwest (formerly Skagit) Opera, and Albert in Werther with Vashon Opera. He spent a summer as an Emerging Artist with Opera New Jersey and has also performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras in the Pacific Northwest.

He is a former Young Artist with Tacoma Opera and the Aspen Opera Theater Center, and was a two-time recipient of the Seattle Opera Guild Singers Training Fund Grant. He completed his studies at the University of Puget Sound and the University of Washington, and now frequently performs as a lecturer and preview artist for the Seattle Opera Guild. He presently serves as the baritone soloist and section leader at Bellevue Presbyterian Church, and teaches voice at the University Of Puget Sound and Tacoma Community College, as well as maintaining a private studio in the Tacoma area. 5/2019

Sydney Belden

Sydney Belden has always found joy in singing and bringing laughter to those around her. Hailing from sunny San Clemente, California, she is a senior double degree student pursuing a BM in Vocal Performance and a BA in Environmental Studies. Sydney also is an active member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority and an intern for the Seattle Subway Foundation. Around Washington, she is a proud member of the Tacoma Opera's Young Artist's Program, where she performed in Carmen this year and will soon appear in their production of Madama Butterfly. In the past she also sang as a performing member for the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle, a chorister for the Puget Sound Concert Opera, an ambassador for the Seattle Opera Guild (where she was a finalist in their 2022 Singer's Development Awards), and is currently a Choral Section Leader Intern at the UCUCC. In Summer 2023, she had the pleasure of performing in Austria for the Vienna Summer Music Festival (Belinda in Dido and Aneas) and in Germany for Lyric Opera Studio Weimar (Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte). At UW, she sang as Adina in this year's Opera Workshop Scenes performance of L'elisir D'amore and L'architecture in Les arts florissant's, was a chorister for last year's performance of Philemon und Baucis, and is a part of the Chamber Singers where she sang as a soloist for Schubert's Mass in G. Sydney is extremely grateful for the kindness, guidance, and support of her directors, friends, colleagues, and family. 4/2025

Christopher Benfield

Christopher Benfield is a Seattle- and Portland-based classical baritone who is pursuing a DMA in voice performance at the University of Washington under the voice instruction of Dr. Kari Ragan. Praised for his expressive performance and dedication to his craft, Christopher has appeared in scenes as Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), and Dr. Malatesta (Don Pasquale), among others. He is currently preparing for the baritone role in Phillip Glass’s Hydrogen Jukebox, presented by the University of Washington opera department.

Christopher has a strong background in education, and as such incorporates his passion for aesthetics, beauty, and expression in all educative and performative endeavors. He has brought his passion for art songs, mélodie, and lieder into his teaching, and in performance particularly enjoys focusing on the intense, intimate experience of vocalist and piano. 3/2019

Jacob Bernado, Tenor

Jacob Bernado is a recent graduate of Western Washington University, where he finished his Bachelor’s of Music in Vocal Performance in June 2018. At WWU, he performed in several opera studio and theatre productions, including singing the role of Ferrando in Mozart's Così fan Tutte (recipient of the First Place award for Division II in the 2015‐2016 National Opera Association Opera Production Competition,) Lorenzo in the West Coast premiere of William Bolcom's Lucrezia, and Archibald Craven in Western Summer Theatre's production of The Secret Garden. Additionally, he has sung with regional opera companies such as Lyric Opera Northwest (Gaston in La Traviata) and Puget Sound Concert Opera (Ruiz in Il Trovatore). He has directed multiple performances that support charitable causes, including a concert version of Pauline Viardot's Cendrillon to raise awareness for the works of female composers and support a local women's health nonprofit organization as well as a similar event, called “Patchwork,” to support a local organization that provides housing and care to low income people living with HIV/AIDS. In the 2018-2019 season, he can be seen performing with the Pacific Northwest Opera and Puget Sound Concert Opera, where he is a member of the inaugural Studio Artist program. In addition to his studies at WWU, he has also participated in programs such as Pacific Lutheran University’s Summer Opera Workshop, Seattle Opera’s Summer Academy, and Westminster Choir College’s CoOPERAtive program. In Fall 2019, he hopes to attend graduate school to pursue a Masters in Music. More info: jacobbernado.com 8/2018

Ashley Marion Biehl

Soprano Ashley Marion Biehl is a native Seattleite, though she didn’t know it until she moved there from Wisconsin in 2012. Most recently, she has been seen performing various roles with Puget Sound Concert Opera, and she is thrilled to be a Studio Artist for the 2019-2020 season, covering Blonde in Abduction from the Seraglio. In the summer of 2017, Ashley performed with Opera NEO as a Studio artist, where her "capricious, breezy soprano clearly defined Alinda, a cheerful gadfly in Isifile’s court" in Cavalli's Il Giasone. An intelligent and creative performer, she often seeks out unusual repertoire, which has led her to perform as the soprano soloist in Harry Partch’s King Oedipus with the University of Washington’s Partch Ensemble and in Faure's Penelope with Vespertine Opera. While touring with NOISE as Olympia in The Tales of Hoffman, she wowed thousands of children with her "shimmering" coloratura and comedic timing. At OperaWorks as an Advanced Artist, she discovered her love of acting improv, and she continues to take improv classes and performs improv in the Seattle area. 9/2019

Greta Birkby

Greta Birkby has been a resident of Seattle for twenty plus years and has been a featured soloist with Kirkland Choral Society, First United Methodist Church Seattle, Seattle Sings Messiah and Trinity Episcopal Church. She has performed with Seattle Opera, Seattle Symphony Chorale, and Choral Arts and has appeared on Grammy nominated and American Prize recordings. Ms. Birkby studied with Julian Patrick for an MM in Vocal Performance at the University of Washington; sang with Studio Lirico in Cortona, Italy and did post graduate work at the Guildhall School of Music in London. She toured as alto soloist in Sicily and Russia and is slated to sing in Cuba this summer on an ambassador tour with her alma mater, Smith College. This is her fourth year with PSCO. 9/2015

Deborah Blakesley

Deborah Blakesley is a national winner of the American Prize for Vocal Performance in Opera, described as having a “lovely, rich tone” and “great artistry”. Favorite roles include Mère Marie (Dialogues of the Carmelites at the University of British Columbia) opposite Judith Forst, Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), La Principessa (Adriana Lecouvreur at Puget Sound Concert Opera), Mrs. Grose (Turn of the Screw) and Aunt March (Little Women) (Banff Opera Centre), Witch (Hansel and Gretel at UBC, Burnaby Lyric Opera, and Whatcom Symphony Orchestra), Dido (Dido and Aeneas), Clotilde to Angela Meade's Norma and Emilia in a concert of Verdi’s Otello featuring Ruth Ann Swenson as Desdemona (Astoria Music Festival). 8/2018

Mauro Bonfanti

Mauro Bonfanti is a Baritone and a singing teacher with almost 40 operatic roles debuted in 12 countries around the world. He has the honor of having been one of the last students of Luciano Pavarotti. Mauro sang with artists such as Andrea Bocelli, Renato Bruson and many others. He has sung in Theaters such as: Maggio Musicale in Florence, Carlo Felice in Genoa, Comunale in Bologna, Sala Nervi in the Vatican, Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, Shanghai Opera House, Donizetti in Bergamo, Operà de Nice, National Opera in Bucharest. He taught singing at the Talent Show of Canale 5 (Italian TV program) "Amici" by Maria De Fillipi, his credit for having brought Alberto Urso, overall winner of the 2018 edition. He is President and Founder of the "Santa Gianna Beretta Molla" International Opera Competition in Mesero, which has successfully reached its sixth edition. His recordings are present on the major world platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music. Mauro graduated with honors from the Department of Art, Music and Performing Arts (DAMS) of the University of Turin, Italy, and in opera singing from the Aosta Conservatory. In December 2022 he moved, with his family, to Bellevue (WA), after obtaining a work visa for Extraordinary Artistic Abilities from the American Government.

04/2024

David Borning

David Borning's most recent performances include singing Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with Kitsap Opera, the Fauré Requiem with Bremerton Symphony, and La Bohème with Kitsap Opera.

While David was training as an actor at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts he discovered his vocal ability as a dramatic baritone. He then worked on his voice intensively with Tenor Michael Trimble. During that time he also studied languages in Siena and Berlin. He is now studying with renowned soprano Jane Eaglen.

David's performances this spring include the title role in Eugene Onegin with the University of Washington, singing the Dutchman's aria from Der Fliegende Holländer, as well as Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem with the Bremerton Symphony. This summer David will be singing with the Seattle Opera chorus in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungene.

Matthew Bosley

Matthew Bosley hails from Kent, WA and grew up singing and doing theater all over the South Puget Sound. He studied at the University of Idaho where received a Bachelors of Music in Music Business, and a Bachelors of Science in Non Profit Management. He works full time in Philanthropy and Marketing at The 5th Avenue Theatre. Outside of arts administration, Matthew is a staff singer at Epiphany Parish Seattle, and regularly sings with Seattle Pro Musica and Radiance Choir. His favorite roles include Mr. Laurence (Little Women the Musical), Zuniga (Carmen), Superintendent Budd (Albert Herring), and Maurice (Disney's Beauty and the Beast). Matthew would like to thank his teacher, DJ Jordan for pushing him to challenge himself, and allowing for growth. Everything for "T". 9/2023

Anjani Briggs

Anjani Briggs, soprano, is a Washington local, recently graduated from University of Michigan School of Music, Theater, and Dance. During her time there, Anjani had the privilege of studying with Professor Carmen Pelton and performing in multiple productions, including Candide by Leonard Bernstein and the titular role in scenes from William Grant Still's opera, Minette Fontaine. Other notable roles include Fiordiligi in Mozart's, Così fan tutte, Rosario in Granados', Goyescas, and Helena in Britten's, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Anjani has also had the pleasure of performing abroad in programs such as Siena Summer Music and Accademia Vocale Lorenzo Malfatti. Anjani received a bachelor's degree from Western Washington University. 9/2019

Jennifer Bromagen, Soprano

Hailed by the Tacoma News Tribune for her "shining coloratura and brilliant high notes", soprano Jennifer Bromagen enjoys performing on opera and concert stages throughout the Pacific Northwest. She has performed as La Contessa di Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with Bellevue City Opera, with Puget Sound Concert Opera as the title role in Donizetti's Anna Bolena, and as the Soprano Soloist in Golijov's She Was Here with the Northwest Sinfonietta. Most recently, Ms. Bromagen performed as Violetta in Pacific Northwest Opera's production of La Traviata, as well as a featured artist in Seattle Opera's A Very Drunken Christmas Carol.

Ms. Bromagen was an Associate Artist in Residence with Cleveland Opera and performed on their main stage as the First Handmaiden in Turandot, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and as Edith in The Pirates of Penzance. She has also been seen in such roles as Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Countess Adele in Le Comte Ory. She has been a featured soloist in concert halls, temples, and cathedrals throughout the U.S., performing classic solo concert works from Beethoven's 9 th Symphony, Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Coronation Mass, Mendelssohn's Elijah, and Verdi's Requiem, as well as such contemporary works as Jenkins' Cantata Memoria and Arnesen's Wound in the Water. 2022-23 engagements include a return to Pacific Northwest Opera as Desdemona in Verdi's Otello and the Marschallin in Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier as well as a return to Puget Sound Concert Opera to perform Amina in Bellini's La Sonnambula. 09/2022

Nilam Brown

Marlette Buchanan

Marlette Buchanan is a celebrated performer renowned for her versatility in opera, musical theatre, and various artistic genres. Praised by the Seattle Times as someone who offers “something special” from the moment she begins to sing, Marlette is a soprano distinguished by her extended range, flexibility, and warmth.

Her impressive repertoire includes leading roles in operas such as Cosi fan Tutte, Orfeo ed Euridice, The Bartered Bride, The Tales of Hoffman, and Porgy and Bess. In musical theatre, she has captivated audiences in lead roles in productions like Steel Magnolias, Crowns, Ain't Misbehavin', Once on this Island, Newsies, Man of La Mancha, Violet, Ragtime, The Wiz, Spitfire Grill, and Milk Like Sugar. Her outstanding performances have garnered numerous award nominations, including from Broadway World. Her concert performances highlight her artistic range and include works such as Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Orff's Carmina Burana, and Fanshawe's African Sanctus. Ms. Buchanan can be heard in the documentary The Freedom Riders, and she has appeared in the feature film The Details.

Marlette holds a Master of Music degree from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fisk University, where she toured nationally and recorded as a lead soloist with the Fisk Jubilee Singers.

In addition to her performance career, Marlette is deeply committed to arts education and advocacy. She serves as the Executive Director of an arts-based youth development organization and teaches music and theatre at Pacific Lutheran University. Marlette also serves on the boards of The Sound of the Northwest and InspireWA, furthering her mission to enrich communities through the arts. 12/2024

John Burkhardt

Since his debut with La Clemenza di Tito, John Burkhardt has been a vital contributor to Puget Sound Concert Opera, lending his talents to over 45 productions spanning a remarkable 15-year tenure, serving as chorus master, performance pianist and frequently as musical director as well. Additionally, John has conducted some of our favorite productions like La Damoiselle Elue, Andrea Chenier, and I Capuletti ed i Montecchi. Currently President of the PSCO Board, John volunteers extensively and supports fundraising Galas and our Studio Artist Program. In addition to his musical pursuits, John works for the University of Washington Tacoma, managing their communications. He is musically active in the Unitarian Universalist church and has been an opera and musical theater pianist for many years in Seattle and elsewhere. 10/2023

Jenna Calixto, Flute

Jenna can be heard playing flute and piccolo in a number of ensembles in the Seattle area, including the Lake Washington Symphony Orchestra, Tacoma City Ballet Orchestra, Octava Chamber Orchestra, and the Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society Orchestra. She has enjoyed performing with Puget Sound Concert Opera since 2010. A native of Vancouver, Washington, she holds performance degrees from Southern Methodist University (B.M.) and the University of New Mexico (M.M.). 4/2019

Michael Callahan, Tenor

Mike Callahan, tenor is a Seattle Native who has sung in many choirs in the Northwest for 50 years including The Polyphonic singers, the Seattle Chamber singers, the Seattle Men's Chorus, the Seattle Choral Company, and currently sings with the choir at Gethsemane Lutheran Church. He was featured in the role of Bardolfo in a production of Falstaff at the University of Washington in 1972. He has been in several opera workshops and student recitals. Recently he sang in the Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes at the University of Washington, and has been a chorus member in PSCO's performances of Il Trovatore, Faust and La Clemenza di Tito. Mike has studied with Frederick Jagel, Augusto Paglialunga, David Barela and Awilda Verdejo.

Jeanne Case

Jeanne Case performed with the Austin Symphony Orchestra and Ballet Austin for over ten years as well served as Principal Viola for the Austin Lyric Opera Orchestra. Since moving to the Northwest, she has worked with the Tacoma City Ballet and the Seattle, Tacoma and Vancouver (Washington) Symphonies. Jeanne holds performance degrees from the Eastman School of Music and San Francisco Conservatory. As an avid chamber musician, she has performed in Germany, Japan and Alaska, as well as in the Pacific Northwest area. 4/2019

Katherine Castro

Katherine Castro discovered her passion for music early in life, but it was on the operatic stage where she found her calling. Known for her dynamic range and seamless technique, she has performed with opera companies throughout Washington and Idaho including Coeur d'Alene Opera, Spokane Opera, Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Lyric Light Opera, Lyric Opera Northwest and Inverse Opera. Favorite characters and performances include Tosca (Tosca), Mercedes (Carmen), Violetta (La Traviata), Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly), Nimue (Camelot), and a masterclass with Thomas Hampson. Outside the theater, Katherine loves hosting game nights, collecting stamps in her passport, and sleeping. 10/2016

Victoria Chaussee, Mezzo Soprano

"Sings opera favorites beautifully" - The Seattle Weekly. Ms. Chaussee has performed with Seattle Opera, Lyric Opera Northwest, Kitsap Opera, Renegade Opera and many other NW organizations. She has performed the roles of Azucena in Il Trovatore, Mama Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana, Maddalena in Rigoletto, the Mother in Hansel & Gretel, the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Ludmilla in The Bartered Bride and Diana in Thespis. She has performed as a soloist for many NW organizations most recently with the Whidbey Island Chamber Singers and has sung the national anthem for the Seattle Mariners. She is a former first place winner of the National Association of Teachers of Singing NW Division Competition. She is also the director of Public Opera an opera group that introduces opera and has performed at Icicle Creek Music Center, the Bloedel Reserve, many auctions, restaurants and the Crocodile Café. Public Opera currently performs a monthly show at the Bellevue Hilton. Ms. Chaussee is a graduate of Seattle Pacific University and attended the American Institute of Musical Studies in New York City.

Kumiko Chiba

Cellist Kumiko Chiba graduated from Tokyo College of Music and Tokyo University of Arts in cello performance. She has been performing in orchestras and musical theaters in the Seattle area since 2010, including Lake Washington Symphony Orchestra, Bellevue Symphony Orchestra, Octava Chamber Orchestra, Village Theatre, Tacoma Musical Playhouse, and Secondstory Repertoire. When she isn't performing, she enjoys spending time with her family and 2 year old Goldendoodle. 1/2023

Candice Chin, Violin

Candice Chin received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington, where she studied with Steven Staryk and double-majored in music and economics. She also earned an MBA and MA from the University of Cincinnati. A Seattle native, Candice has been a member of the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Northwest, Northwest Symphony Orchestra, and Octava Chamber Orchestra. Her other principal teachers include Martin Friedmann and Ilkka Talvi. Candice enjoys playing in her quartet, The Weeknighters.4/2018

Yoojeong Cho

Soprano Yoojeong Cho has most recently been seen singing the role of Barbarina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Blanche de la Force from Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites with USC Thornton Opera, as well as the role of Despina from Mozart’s Così fan tutte as an Apprentice Artist at the Teatro Nuovo Summer Festival. Other credits include the role of Gretel from Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel and Zerlina from Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

As an avid recitalist, Ms. Cho has performed various solo and collaborative recitals in Los Angeles and Seattle and appeared in concerts with Seattle Symphony and University of Washington Symphony.

Yoojeong holds a Master of Music degree from USC Thornton School of Music where she taught as a Vocal Arts student instructor. 8/2019

Robyn Clapper

Robyn Clapper is pleased to be working again with Puget Sound Concert Opera. Other recent performances include La Tito di Clemenza with Puget Sound Concert Opera and The Mikado with the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Seattle.

Gary Claunch

Gary Claunch studied bassoon at the University of Washington with Arthur Grossman and Sidney Rosenberg. He played 3rd bassoon and contrabassoon for the Peter Britt Festival in 1980 and The Hong Kong Philharmonic from 1980 to 1984. He has played in the Seattle area for many local orchestras and opera companies most recently for the Northwest Symphony Orchestra under Anthony Spain, and subbing with the Cascade Orchestra under Michael Miropolsky. 4/2019

Elisa Clegg, Viola

Elisa Clegg switched from piano to the viola at age 10 and studied with Joyce Ramee at the University of Puget Sound in high school. She has just finished her Bachelors in Viola Performance at Central Washington University. As a freshman at CWU, she won the 2009 Snelling Scholarship Competition while also being awarded the Mary Estep Scholarship and Presidential Tuition Waiver. Her teachers have included George Taylor, Eric Shumsky, Emmanuel Vardi, and Roxanna Patterson. Currently she studies with Melia Watras and frequently plays with Philharmonia Northwest, Seattle Modern Orchestra, University of Washington Chamber Music Society, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, and Seattle Philharmonic. She greatly enjoys performing chamber music and presently coaches several high schools.

Robert W. Corl, Tenor

Mr. Corl holds a BA in Music Education and an MA in Opera Performance from Temple University in Philadelphia. He appeared as Papageno in Opera Pacifica's debut performance of Mozart's Magic Flute, which featured Metropolitan Opera Star Cyndia Seiden as the Queen of the Night. A versatile and veteran opera performer, he sang the role of Don José in Bizet's Carmen in Opera Pacifica's 2003 season, and directed the 2004 production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. Robert Corl's opera roles include Alfredo, La Traviata (Verdi), Eisentein, Die Fledermaus (Strauss), Rodolfo, La Bohème (Puccini), Pinkerton, Madama Butterfly (Puccini), Calaph, Turandot (Puccini), Turridu, Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni), Canio/Pagliaccio, Pagliacci, (Leoncavallo), Don José, Carmen (Bizet), Des Grieux, Manon (Massenet), Werther, Werther (Massenet), and Papageno, Magic Flute (Mozart). Robert is currently coaching tenor repertoire with Nico Castel in New York City. Mr. Castel is world famous for his books on opera libretti and diction (http://www.castelopera.com/nico.htm). With over 30 years at the Met and more than 200 character tenor roles to his credit, Mr. Castel is "...the undisputed authority on multi-lingual diction both here in the United States and internationally...", according to long-time friend and fellow performer, Placido Domingo. Robert has recorded his first CD, An American Tenor in China, with friend and conductor Claudia Simpson-Jones and the 80-piece China Opera and Dance Symphony of Beijing. The album features a dozen world famous tenor arias, and is published by Figaro, Records, Inc.

Lauren Corpus

Lauren Corpus has a master’s degree in Voice Performance from the University of Washington, where she studied with Dr. Kari Ragan. In 2019, she was a District Winner at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and she also toured in China with the UW Wind Ensemble as the Soprano soloist. She has received multiple encouragement awards from the Seattle Opera Guild Singers’ Development Awards and in 2021 was featured on King FM’s Northwest Focus Live. Previous roles include Le Feu in University of Washington’s production of L’enfant et les sortilèges, Mrs. Fiorentino in Pacific Lutheran University’s Street Scene, Sister Genevieve in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, with Lyric Opera Northwest, and she was the Soprano soloist in the University of Washington’s production of the Chamber Opera, Hydrogen Jukebox, by Philip Glass. In 2022 she was Isabel in the Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society’s production of The Pirates of Penzance and in 2023 she was a Soprano soloist in Mendelssohn's Lobgesang with Northwest Symphony Orchestra. 07/2024

Théodora Cottarel

French-American soprano, Théodora Cottarel has been recognized for her captivating dramatic performances and beauty of tone. Of her “electrifying performance” as Elle in La voix humaine, Schmopera wrote, “the way she maintained a beauty of tone […] while also finding great ways to color the characters’ neuroses was masterful.” In 2022, Théodora will be singing Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with the Long Island Opera at Madison Theater, the role of Misunderstood in the workshop of new opera Prisoner of Mercy by Vartan Aghababian and Luisamaria Hernandez, and launched the month-long French Cultures Festival with a kick-off concert organized by the French Embassy. In 2023, Prisoner of Mercy will be premiered and she will perform in a digital production of You’ll Find An Enchanted Neighborhood by Arturo Fernandez.

She has sung internationally in France, Italy, Belgium, and the United States working with companies like the Rome Philharmonic, Odyssey Opera and has performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées among others. She has worked with composers Isabelle Aboulker, Graciane Finzi, Tiziana de Carolis, Gabrielle Goliath, and Mark Adamo among others. Roles include: Elle (La voix humaine), Madame Goldentrill (The Impresario), Matilde (Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghiterra), Cendrillon (Cendrillon), Micaëla (Carmen), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Elvira (Don Giovanni), Servilia (La clemenza di Tito), Arminda (La finta giardinera), Despina (Così fan tutte),Suor Genovieffa (Suor Angelica), and The Angel (Jarireh, a persian opera). Concerts include: Britten’s Ceremony of Carols in the United States, Gabrielle Goliath’s Elegy in France with Do Disturb Festival, and in Mozart’s Missa Brevis in Do or Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes with the Rome Philharmonic.

Passionate about acting, Théodora has had the privilege of working with the late Elizabeth Kemp and was production assistant for the Actors Studio’s production of Waiting for Godot. She has also trained with director Claudine Hunault in France. Before the pandemic, she was scheduled to perform the role of The Wife in Garcia Lorca’s The Blood Wedding this year presented at the Boston Playwright’s Theater.

An avid chamber music performer, Théodora continually gives recitals in France, Italy and The United States, in various venues such as Le Festival Présences Féminines, MIT’s Killian Hall, and the Blaffer Museum in Houston. Passionate about performing work by women composers, Théodora has performed in the original recital Voies(x) de Femmes toured in eleven venues across France and Italy with pianist and composer Tiziana De Carolis. A CD of the program was released by the label Digressione Music (Digressione Music, DIGR105, 2020). 1/2024

Stephen Creswell, Violin

Violist Stephen Creswell has performed with the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society since 2013, and frequently appears locally with choirs, dance companies, and new music ensembles, including SCRAPE, the brainchild of composer Jim Knapp. He is a member of Northwest Sinfonietta, the player-led chamber orchestra, and regularly appears on Salish Sea Early Music programs, as well as with Early Music Underground. He has toured internationally with Tafelmusik (Toronto), Rebel (New York State), and Musica Angelica (Los Angeles). Since 2015, he is Administrator and Program Manager at the Academy of Music NW, a college-prep community music school -- amnw.org. Stephen studied at Indiana University and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, and lives in North Seattle with his family and one hyperactive black-and-white dog.9/2015

Charles Crowley, Baritone

Baritone Charles Crowley received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in vocal performance from the University of Oregon and Western Washington University respectively. He has performed for many years in musical theater, opera and operetta productions in the Puget Sound area. Recent operatic roles have included taking an unusual dual role of Dancairo and Morales in Carmen with Opera Pacifica; and Morales in Carmen and Captain Corcoran in HMS Pinafore, both with Skagit Opera. He also sang the roles of Gorgibus and The Magistrate in Vocal Arts Northwest's concert production of Signor Deluso. A string of Gilbert & Sullivan roles with New Savoy Opera included Ko-Ko in The Mikado, Florian in Princess Ida and Giuseppe in The Gondoliers. Musical theater roles include Reverend Crisparkle in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Roberts in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Angus MacGuffie in Brigadoon and the Three Ministers in Six Wives, all with Village Theatre; also Paul Fontaine in The Desert Song and the "Canaan Days" singer in Joseph with Civic Light Opera. Other favorite roles have included Cinderella's Prince and The Wolf in Sondheim's Into the Woods, and Hennessey/The Captain in Dames at Sea.

Meg Daly, Soprano

Soprano Meg Daly decided on serious vocal study when, as a senior in high school, she sang her first major stage role as Maria in West Side Story. After studying voice at Gonzaga University and spending a summer at the Aspen Music School, she completed a master's degree in voice at the University of Washington School of Music. Her most memorable performance came in 1999, when she stepped in minutes before curtain to sing the Queen of the Night at Seattle Opera when the original soprano became ill. She has performed as a soloist with many local organizations, including Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus with Kitsap Opera and Handel's Messiah and selected opera scenes with the Peninsula Community Chorus.

Mark Davies

Baritone Mark Davies has been an active performer throughout the Puget Sound region since relocating to Washington from the Midwest in 2014. He was heard most recently as Ping in Turandot with Pacific Northwest Opera in Mount Vernon, where he will also be performing the role of Schaunard in their upcoming 2018 production of La bohème. He has also worked with the Marrowstone Music Festival, Tacoma Opera, Bellevue City Opera Ballet, and Indiana University Opera Theater, having performed such roles as Ben in Menotti’s The Telephone, Captain Corcoran in HMS Pinafore, Albert in Werther, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte. Davies is also an active concert and recital artist, most recently putting on a performance of Wolf’s complete Italienisches Liederbuch at Western Washington University. He has also performed works including Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Handel’s Messiah, and Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore. When he is not singing, Davies is also a highly-regarded pianist and vocal coach, and has worked with and accompanied artists who appear at opera houses across the country and internationally. He currently lives in Bellingham, Washington, where he is an instructor of voice and music director of the opera program at Western Washington University. He is a doctoral candidate in vocal performance and literature at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where he was a student of Andreas Poulimenos and Timothy Noble. 8/2018

Katrina Deininger

Katrina Deininger, soprano, hails from Seattle. In July of 2018, she sang the role of Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at Aquilon Music Festival in McMinnville Oregon. She has also recently appeared as Gretel in a touring production of Hansel and Gretel with Northwest Opera in Schools, Etc. and as Giannetta in L'elisir d'amore at Asheville Lyric Opera while she was a Young Artist with the company. Katrina holds a Bachelor of Music from University of Puget Sound, and a Master of Music from University of Washington. She studies with Dr. Kari Ragan.

You can find Katrina online at katrinadeininger.com.8/2018

Mariatana del Rosario, Soprano

Mariatana del Rosario, soprano, has been praised for her "full, lyric sound with rich and interesting qualities." Recipient of the Marcella Kochanska Sembrich Vocal Award, Ms. del Rosario most recently performed the title role in Richard Strauss's Elektra for the Seattle Opera Guild Previews.

Ms. del Rosario has been featured in many fully-staged productions including the title role in Puccini's Suor Angelica, Mozart's Arminda in La finta giardiniera and Marchellina in Le nozze di Figaro, the Witch in Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel, Miss Todd in Menotti's The Old Maid and the Thief, the Mother in Thomas Pasatieri's The Women, and Jesse in Weill's Mahoganny-Songspiel. In addition, she has performed excerpts as Maddalena in Giordano's Andrea Chenier, Nero in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea, Mimi in Puccini's La boheme, and Gerhilde in Wagner's Die Walkure.

Ms. del Rosario has appeared in concert on many occasions including two featured performances with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra. She received the Bachelor of Music degree from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and the degree of Master of Music from the University of Washington. She is a student of renowned soprano Jane Eaglen.

Veronica G. Deraleau

Veronica G. Deraleau, soprano, is new to the Pacific Northwest and thrilled to be making her role debut covering Marzelline (Fidelio) with Puget Sound Concert Opera. Past roles include Zerlina (Don Giovanni) with OperaOggiNY and Vocal Productions NYC, Giannetta (L'Elisir d'Amore) and Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro) with New York Opera Forum, and Papagena (Die Zauberflöte) with Queens College Opera Studio. She has also performed early music roles including Euridice (Monteverdi's L'Orfeo) at the Boston Early Music Fringe Festival, Proserpina (Rossi's Orfeo) with the New York Continuo Collective, and Isifile (Il Giasone) with Opera Academy of California. In addition to opera, Veronica has performed oratorios by Bach, Handel and Mozart, and has premiered new works by composers including Trevor Shaw, Jeremiah Bornfield, Laura Ball, Manuel Ciordia, and Vi Hart. Veronica attained her Bachelor's in Music from Stony Brook University, where she was a recipient of the Edith Salvo Music Prize, and Master's in Vocal Performance from CUNY Queens College with Summa Cum Laude honors. 7/2023

Michael Drumheller, Baritone

Michael Drumheller is originally from Richland, Washington. A favorite bass- baritone in the Pacific Northwest classical music and opera scenes, he has been a soloist with Seattle Symphony, Tacoma Opera, Skagit Opera, Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Boston Lyric Opera, Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestra Seattle, and many other organizations, under the direction of renowned conductors including Robert Spano, Gerard Schwarz, and Leonard Slatkin. As a recitalist, he is especially interested in Russian music, and has been an invited performer of Russian vocal repertoire at the Icicle Creek Music Festival and at Wellesley College. Mr. Drumheller holds a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from Boston University, where he was a student of Phyllis Curtin. He is an alumnus of the Tanglewood Music Center and holds BS and MS degrees from MIT. His diverse musical background includes playing tympani in symphony orchestras and drumming and singing for his own rock bands. Mr. Drumheller has been a featured performer in many productions of the late, distinguished Northwest conductor Hans Wolf, and regularly appears as a soloist for Northwest Chorale, which raises money for Northwest Harvest. 9/2018

Michael Dudley, Baritone

Michael Dudley was raised in Seattle where he participated in both instrumental and choral music in the local schools and played clarinet in the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras. While attending Bellevue Community College, he joined the school's vocal jazz ensemble, Celebration! He also attended the University of Washington and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. Currently you can find Michael busy performing as a soloist and chorus member of several regional opera companies, including Seattle Opera, Tacoma Opera and Bellevue Opera. In addition, Mr. Dudley has appeared locally as a church soloist in concert and in oratorio.

Michael Dunlap, Bass-Baritone

Michael Dunlap (bass-baritone) is originally from Pasadena, California, where he embarked on his musical journey as a violist. He later studied composition at Western Washington University with Roger Briggs where he focused mainly on instrumental music. After college he started singing more, performing roles in musical theater and singing in choirs. Michael now performs regularly with Seattle Opera and has appeared in numerous roles in other local venues such as Northwest Opera in the Schools, Seattle Opera Guild Previews and most notably as Dr. Bartolo in The Barber of Seville for Tacoma Opera and Colline in La Bohème for Vashon Opera. Other roles for Vashon Opera include Masetto in Don Giovanni, Marco in Gianni Schicchi and the Jailer in Dialogues des Carmèlites. Michael returns to Puget Sound Concert Opera after singing the role of Ferrando in PSCO's production of il Trovatore. Other PSCO credits include Count Rodolfo in La sonnambula and Claudio in Bèatrice et Bènedict. 9/2018

Rosamund Dyer

Mezzo-soprano Rosamund Dyer received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She graduated with the highest academic honors and was welcomed by the National Music Honor Society as a Pi Kappa Lambda Scholar.

While at the conservatory, she was seen as a soloist in Mendelsohn's Elijah and the Oberlin Annual Sing- Along of Handel's Messiah produced by Credo Music, and the Oberlin Office of Spiritual and Religious Life. Rosamund made appearances on the Oberlin Opera Theater's stage in the Revolutionary chorus in the Dialogues des Carmélites by Francis Poulenc, and as Dorabella in Mozart's delightful Cosi fan Tutte under the baton of Christopher Larkin. She has performed roles of Third Wood Sprite in Rusalka in the Portland Opera Workshop (LAH-SOW), and has studied the roles of Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro.

Upon graduation, Rosamund moved to New York City and assisted Carnegie Hall, the American Opera Projects, Heartbeat Opera and the Beth Morrison Projects to nurture emerging composers and librettists in the creation of meaningful contemporary opera. She recently returned to Washington to pursue her calling as a performing artist and was a 2024 Winner of the Seattle Opera Guild's Singers' Development Award. She was the Alto Soloist in the Bellingham Chamber Chorale's Messiah, and has made appearances in the Pacific Northwest Opera's productions of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro and Die Entführung aus dem Serail.

A passionate recitalist, Rosamund has curated and produced five individual recitals. Her focus is to create an narrative that leaves the listener transfigured through the pairings of traditional, contemporary, and obscure treasures. Rosamund currently lives in Bellingham Washington where she is both an active performing artist, as well as supports local performance arts associations to insure a future where opera continues to inspire, transform, challenge and delight it's audiences. Rosamund has studied with Marilyn Horne, Timothy LeFebvre and is currently studying with Metropolitan Opera Baritone, Erich Parce. 04/2025

Abbie Eads

Abbie Eads is quickly establishing herself as a young, vibrant conductor and cellist. Recently named Conductor-in-Residence of the NW Edvard Grieg Society, Abbie is excited to be able to combine her passion for music and her love of her Nordic heritage. Having conducted in various masterclasses throughout the world, she has worked with musicians from professional orchestras such as the New Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and the Lviv Philharmonic. Abbie has studied with highly-respected conductors and educators such as Ludovic Morlot, Larry Rachleff, David Alexander Rahbee, Donald Schleicher, and Michael Jinbo. This season she will be conducting and performing in collaboration with ensembles like Minot Symphony Orchestra, Western Plains Opera, Minot Chamber Chorale, and Dakota Pro Music. Her current work as Development Officer for the Minot State University Foundation provides her a unique opportunity to inspire more people to become supporters of the arts. Previously Abbie was the Director of Music and Liturgy at Seattle's Our Lady of the Lake Parish and Director of Orchestras and Adjunct Professor at Pierce College in Puyallup, WA. During her studies in Seattle, she was conductor of the University of Washington Campus Philharmonia Orchestras and Assistant Conductor of the University of Washington Symphony Orchestra as Graduate Assistant. Eads completed a Masters Degree in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Washington under the tutelage of David A. Rahbee and Ludovic Morlot. Before her studies in Seattle, Abbie received a Bachelor of Arts in Music at Minot State University where she studied cello with Erik Anderson. As a cellist, Eads was a soloist with the Minot Symphony Orchestra as the winner of their 2014 MSO Concerto Competition and has also been accepted to perform and study at numerous music festivals across the country, including the Catskill High Peaks Festival in New York led by Yehuda Hanani and the Pierre Monteux Festival Orchestra in Hancock, Maine. 4/2023

Serena Eduljee

Serena Eduljee's soaring, rich, precise coloratura and "magnetic" (Entertainment News Northwest) acting has made her one of the Pacific Northwest's most in-demand singers, and a favorite of opera audiences everywhere.

Most recently, Serena completed a stellar and full performance season highlighting roles as "Nanetta" (Falstaff) with Puget Sound Concert Opera, "Rosina" (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) with Pacific Northwest Opera, "Violetta" and "Norina" in (The Drunken Tenor's Operapalooza Spectacular Shindig) Tacoma Opera; as well a many galas and concerts throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Competitively, Serena had the honor of representing the entire Northwest District and won 5th overall in the United States and Canada in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award (NATSAA). Ms. Eduljee made her Seattle Symphony debut performing the iconic role of "Queen of the Night" (Die Zauberflöte), a role she is well known for and has performed for Pacific Northwest Opera, Seattle Opera, Seattle Symphony, NOISE and in numerous concerts and recitals. Along with Seattle Symphony, Serena has had a full oratorio season singing the soprano solos in Carmina Burana and Bach's Magnificat with the Kirkland Choral Society, and The Messiah with the Whatcom Corale and Bellingham Symphony.

Other roles include "Olympia" (Les Contes d'Hoffmann) Pacific Northwest Opera, "Rosina" (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) Pacific Northwest Opera, "Nanetta" (Falstaff) Puget Sound Concert Opera, "Walter" (La Wally) Puget Sound Concert Opera, "Frasquita" (Carmen) Pacific Northwest Opera and Opera Bend, "Alkandre" (Penelope) Vespertine Opera, and "Gretel" (Hänsel und Gretel) Opera Mariposa. Ms. Eduljee is a frequent singer with Seattle Opera and last completed a season as "Princess Gilda" in the touring production of Laitman's The Three Feathers as well as a tour of Cinderella in Spain as the title role. Her performance as "Amore" ("A") in Seattle Opera's highly acclaimed production of O+E earned much praise. Previous roles with Seattle Opera include preview performances of "Rosina" (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), "Queen of the Night" (Die Zauberflöte), "Katya" (Katya Kabanova), "Violetta" (La Traviata), "Gretel" (Hänsel und Gretel) , "Alitsa" and "Raccoon" in Seattle Opera's commissioned cycle, Our Earth; as well as many concerts, recitals, and gala events on behalf of Seattle Opera around the greater Seattle area. She has been an honored singer of the Seattle Opera Guild and received their Opera Plus Artist Scholarship of 2015/2016 for her work.

Serena's education and training include OperaWorks Advanced Artist Program in Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University where she studied under world renowned opera star, Carol Vaness. She currently resides in Issaquah, WA with her fiance and their lovable Corgi.

Her 2023 season begins with: "Lisa" (La Sonnambula) with Puget Sound Concert Opera. 1/2023

Sophia Emanuel

Coloratura soprano Sophia Emanuel is a young artist on the rise. As a 2022 Festival Artist with Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, she covered 1st Lady (The Magic Flute), Micaëla (Carmen), and Mrs. Jenks (The Tender land). Sophia will be a 2022-2023 Studio Artist and Amina (La sonnambula) cover with Puget Sound Concert Opera. She was the 2021 winner of the Seattle Opera Guild Ernesto Alorda Encouragement award, as well as a semifinalist in the Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition. Sophia made two role debuts in the 2020 season as Queen of the Night and 1st Lady (The Magic Flute) with Northwest Opera in Schools Etc. She has made appearances in several productions with Pittsburgh Festival Opera including the chorus of La Bohème and Arabella, covering The Fiakermilli (Arabella), and premiering the role of Minnie in a workshop of Night Flight for Minerva's Owl. With San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Sophia performed Ortensia, Ettalina, and Eustacia in Musto's Bastianello, as well as Prima Conversa (Suor Angelica). At Carnegie Mellon University, Sophia was seen as Soprano II in Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox and Lucy Lockit (The Beggar's Opera), as well as premiering roles in two short operas through Carnegie Mellon's CO-OPERA project. 09/2022

Andrew Etherington

Andrew Etherington of Overland Park, Kansas, completed his undergraduate studies at Ole Miss and honed his singing and stage skills with Bill Hall’s American Opera Studio. Andrew then completed his graduate work at The Peabody Institute, studying both performance and pedagogy. While there, he conducted a volunteer choir at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and performed regularly in the professional choruses of Lyric Opera of Baltimore, Baltimore Concert Opera, and Washington National Opera. He is an adjunct voice faculty member at Olympic College in Bremerton, WA where he teaches applied voice and assists the opera productions. Recently, Andrew was proud to be a part of The ®evolution of Steve Jobs at Seattle Opera, a tenor soloist for Bremerton Symphony's December concerts, and in Willy & Fred, a new Opera by Linda Kitchen. 4/2019

Cara Evans

Cara Sun Evans earned her Master's in vocal performance from New York University. She recently covered the role of Sesto in Giulio Cesare with Opera Manhattan. Other performances include Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Papagena in Die Zauberflote with New York Lyric Opera and Diana in Pygmalion with Underworld Productions. Cara has also been seen as Dido in Dido and Aeneas, Mother and Shepherd in L'enfant et les sortileges, Katisha in The Mikado, and Madame Pritschisch in The Merry Widow. She has also had the opportunity to work with jazz musician Kenny Werner on his CD No Beginning, No End. Cara is a two time winner of the NATS New York City Chapter competition.

Karen Early Evans

Karen Early Evans makes her debut with Puget Sound Concert Opera singing her favorite Mozart role. She has performed the role of Fiordiligi with Utah Opera and Tacoma Opera. She was most recently heard singing Bach's Peasant Cantata with Yakima Symphony and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel with Bellevue Opera, where she has also performed the role of the 1st Lady in their production of The Magic Flute. She sings regularly with the Seattle Opera chorus and was recently invited to sing the roles of Nurse and Trang in a workshop for Amelia, a newly commissioned work for Seattle Opera. Ms. Early Evans performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Northwest Sinfonietta as soprano soloist and has also been a soloist with Tacoma Symphony, Boise Philharmonic, Utah Symphony and Eugene Concert Choir. She has performed roles with Lyric Opera Northwest, Skagit Opera, Opera Idaho and Glimmerglass Opera. Ms. Early Evans has been honored as a Finalist in the Metropolitan National Vocal Competition as well as the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition. She was chosen as the audience favorite in both the Eleanor Lieber competition and the Bella Voce competition. Upcoming engagements for Ms. Early Evans has her singing the Countess with Tacoma Opera and Rogue Opera.

Jon Farmer, Tenor

Jon Farmer is a Seattle area tenor that is being heard in many places around Puget Sound. Most recently, Jon performed the role of Pinkerton in Kitsap Opera's production of Madama Butterfly. As a member of the Seattle Opera Chorus since 2005, Jon has been involved in many productions. For the Seattle Opera Guild, Jon has performed the roles of Don Jose (Carmen), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Alfredo (La Traviata), and Dodge in Seattle Opera's original production, Amelia. As a concert soloist, Jon is a regular performer at Daniel's Recital Hall in downtown Seattle and has been seen as the tenor soloist in several Handel's Messiah performances. In Spring 2012, Jon can be seen as Rodolfo in Tacoma Opera's production of La Bohème.

Jaime Faucher

Jaime Faucher, a native of Bothell, Washington, received her undergraduate degree in horn performance from the University of Arizona and a Master's in Horn Performance from the Boston Conservatory where she studied with David O'Hanian (Canadian Brass). She is currently principal horn with the Rainier Symphony and Octava Chamber Orchestra, a member of Lake Union Civic Orchestra, and enjoys opportunities playing with other groups in the area including Orchestra Seattle, Seattle Philharmonic, and Northwest Symphony Orchestra 4/2022

Daniel Ferguson

Daniel Ferguson was born in Bremerton, WA. Active in sports and theater from a young age, he attended the University of Idaho, studying cello and voice under Drs. Chris Thompson, Kyle Ferrill, and Miranda Wilson. He attended workshops with the Tallis Scholars, Seraphic Fire, and Chanticleer, and has sung in Europe on tour. Daniel took a hiatus from music to work in the medical field, returning to the fold amidst the pandemic. He currently sings with the Epiphany Parish Choir and is studying with Dr. Darrell J. Jordan, and is hoping to step back into the field as a proper, fully grown baritone. 7/2023

Lee Anne Frahn, Soprano

Lee Anne Frahn is thrilled to return as a studio artist this season. Her operatic roles include Giulietta from Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Rita in William Bolcom's A Wedding, Titania in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, La Fée from Massenet's Cendrillon, and Annina in Verdi's La Traviata. Other roles and opportunities include covers of Mimi from Puccini's La Boheme, and Donna Anna from Mozart's Don Giovanni. Musical Theatre highlights include Gladys Hotchkiss from The Pajama Game, Gabby from City of Angles, and Annie Oakley from Annie Get Your Gun. Lee Anne earned a Master's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Western Washington University where she is currently the program coordinator for the department of music. 9/2019

Robert Frederiksen

Robert Frederiksen is ecstatic to work with Puget Sound Concert Opera for the first time in his career. Past operatic roles would include Seneca from L'incoronazione di Poppea and Le Fauteuil in L'enfant et les sortileges. Other roles include Dr. Purgeon in The Imaginary Invalid by Moliere and Mr. William Collins in Pride and Prejudice. He has worked alongside New York Devising companies Blessed Unrest and Tectonic Theatre Projects to create I Began Anyway and Heretoo, both completely original pieces produced in two weeks time. A dancer as well, Robert has worked with dance instructors of Western Washington University on their Winter Dances, Dance in Concert, and Graffiti Dance performances. Robert graduated from Western Washington University with a BA in Theatre concentrated in acting, and a BMus in Vocal Performance in the Summer of 2019. He currently lives in Bellingham WA working at Hardware Sales, a local hardware store, and plans to keep performing when he can. 10/2019

Tom Freet, Bass-Baritone

Mr. Freet has been a featured artist with Tacoma Opera, Seattle Civic Light Opera, Kitsap Opera, Skagit Opera, University of Washington and Opera Pacifica. Mozart opera roles performed by Mr. Freet include Don Giovanni, Commendatore, Guglielmo, Count Almaviva, Bartolo & Sarastro. He has performed a variety of other roles including Escamillo in Carmen, Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana, Mephistopheles in Faust & Albert in Werther. Mr. Freet was a guest artist for several San Francisco Opera Guild opening season galas. He was also a Metropolitan Opera Auditions Regional Finalist. He attended the Cornish Institute for the Arts (now Cornish College of the Arts) in Seattle.

Hayley Baudrau Gaarde, Soprano

Hayley earned her Master's in Music from the University of Washington where she was a student of Joyce Guyer. She has sung the roles of Princess Ida in Princess Ida, Belinda in Dido and Aeneas, and Maria in The Sound of Music. She has worked with the Puget Sound Concert Opera, the Spokane Opera Company, and various choirs in Spokane and Seattle. Currently she is in rehearsals with the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society and teaches voice students, beginning and advanced, at her private vocal studio.

Anna Galavis

Anna Galavis (formerly Richardson) is a versatile singing actress with recent credits spanning opera to new music to musical theatre. Thrilled to be performing in the Pacific Northwest this season, Anna lent her “clear, true soprano” to Patience with The Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, as well as Kathie in The Student Prince with Icicle Creek Center for the Arts. Noted for her “magnetic stage presence” and “rock-solid technique”, Anna delighted audiences as a “deliciously petulant brat” in her portrayal of Clorinda in Rossini’s La Cenerentola in historic Faneuil Hall in Boston. In her “energetic” performance as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte with NY Opera Exchange, Anna was praised for her “fantastic physical acting abilities”. Other recent opera credits include the vocally acrobatic La Feu in Ravel’s L’enfant et les Sortileges, and the cheeky concubine, Crobyle, in Massenet’s Thaïs.

Equally at home on the musical theatre stage, Seacoast Online praised Anna for having the “voice of an angel” as Marian Paroo in The Music Man at Rochester Opera House in New Hampshire. A lover of Sondheim, Anna enchanted listeners as Anne Egerman in A Little Night Music with Hartford Opera Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut. Other theatre engagements include Meg Brockie in Brigadoon, Ruth Putnam in The Crucible, and scenes from Phantom of the Opera as Christine.

Anna is also a fan of new music, and recently played the role of Doña Victorina in a revival of the Filipino opera Noli Me Tangere in original Tagalog. She also had the privilege of collaborating with Juventas New Music Ensemble in their world premiere of The Little Blue One as well as with composer Evan Mack in his opera Beach and Moan which was performed at New in November, a festival of new opera.

In 2013, Anna received her Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College, where she studied with renown vocal pedagogue, Patricia McCaffrey. During her graduate studies she also made solo appearances with Riverside Symphony Orchestra, New York Opera Exchange, Interlake Theatre, and The Savannah Voice Festival through V.O.I.C.Experience. Ms. Galavis received her undergraduate degree in Applied Music from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, where she graduated magna cum laude in 2010. 9/2019

William Gardner

Recognized across the country as a promising young artist, tenor William Gardner regularly performs repertoire spanning opera, oratorio, and ensemble work. His 2018/19 season includes performances as tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, K. 339, and Regina Coeli, K. 276, Haydn’s The Creation, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV, and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music. On stage he will perform the roles of The Defendant in Gilbert & Sullivan’s Trial by Jury and Jeppo Liverotto in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia. Other recent credits include the role of Martin in Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land as part of Seattle Opera’s inaugural Summer Young Artist Academy, the Fisherman in Stephen Paulus’ The Three Hermits, and tenor soloist in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen.

As a chorister, William sings with Choral Arts Northwest, Chorosynthesis Singers, and the Cathedral Cantorei of St. James Cathedral, Seattle. His ensemble work has brought him on tours across the United States, Canada, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and Iceland. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and currently studies at the University of Washington. www.williamgardnertenor.com 3/2019

Kimberly Giordano

Soprano Kimberly Giordano, lauded for her "polished", "sterling" and "honest performance" (Seattle Times) embodies the lyric soprano repertoire with her distinctive blend of elegance and emotion. Recent highlights include Ms. Giordano's appearance as Marguerite in Faust with Tacoma Opera and her Seattle Opera debut in Elektra (Die Vertraute). The 2010-11 season brings a return to Tacoma Opera, singing Nedda in Pagliacci and Trio Soprano in Trouble in Tahiti, as well as song recitals in Seattle and New York. The 2009-10 season marked her first foray into Verdi, appearing as la Voce di Cielo in Don Carlo with Bellevue Opera as well as her Benaroya Hall debut, singing Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Seattle Youth Symphony.

Ms. Giordano's operatic roles typify her skill as both an actress and musician, including the principal roles of Micaëla in Carmen, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Rose in Street Scene and the title role in Hansel and Gretel. She has appeared with a wide range of companies, including Tacoma Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Aspen Opera Theater Center, Bellevue Opera and NOISE.

Equally compelling on the concert stage, Ms. Giordano made her Carnegie Hall debut in Vaughan Williams' Dona nobis pacem with the New England Symphonic Ensemble. She has sung Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Helena Symphony, and Mozart's C minor Mass with the Bremerton Symphony Association. A committed performer of contemporary music, Ms. Giordano sang the role of Kelly in the West Coast premiere of Black Water, with music by John Duffy and libretto by Joyce Carol Oates. She has sung Madame Altina in Pasatieri's La Divina, and appears this season with the Affinity Chamber Ensemble, performing Elizabeth Alexander's My Aunt Gives Me a Clarinet Lesson.

Ms. Giordano was a finalist in the inaugural Irene Dalis Competition, The American Prize (Art Song), the Vera Scammon SOS Competition, the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle Award-Tour Competition and a semi-finalist in the Joy in Singing Competition. She holds a Master of Music degree in Voice from the University of Washington and a BFA in Music Theatre from Illinois Wesleyan University.

Beth Grimmett-Tankersley

Collaborative Pianist Beth Tankersley is active as an accompanist, chamber musician, and vocal coach. An artist with a diverse musical perspective, Beth is frequently in demand as a coach and rehearsal pianist, working with Pacific Northwest Opera, Tacoma Opera, NOISE, Operamuse, the University of Washington, and the University of Puget Sound. As an instrumentalist, Beth has performed recently with Orchestra Seattle, and she is scheduled to perform on Seattle Art Song Society’s 2018/19 season.

Beth is a native of Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma, and a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Beth currently lives in Rainier Beach with her husband, Nick, and their two dogs. 9/2018

Glenn Guhr, Baritone

"Glenn Guhr is terrific with his big warm voice and confident swagger", raves Mary Murfin Bayley of The Seattle Times. Other critics agree, Glenn Guhr is a performer of unique and outstanding ability.

Equally at home in everything from Shakespeare to Sondheim and Monteverdi to Verdi, Mr. Guhr has always prided himself on his versatility. He has appeared in operas, operettas, musicals, plays, and film with the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Opera, Seattle Early Music Guild, Civic Light Opera, Tacoma Opera, ACT Inc. (St. Louis), The St. Louis Shakespeare Company, Theatre Factory St. Louis and others in such roles as Gianni Schicchi, Papageno (The Magic Flute), Ford (Falstaff), Germont (La Traviata), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Grosvenor (Patience), and Fred Graham/Petruchio (Kiss Me, Kate).

In addition to his stage roles, Mr. Guhr appears frequently in recital and concert in the Pacific Northwest, performing with the Walla Walla Symphony, the Bellevue Philharmonic, Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers, the Seattle Choral Company, the Everett Symphony, the Port Angeles Symphony, the Seattle Philharmonic and others.

Mr. Guhr received a BA in music from Tabor College and an MM in Music History from Kansas State University. He also completed course work towards a PhD in Musicology at Washington University in St. Louis before turning his full attention to performance. In 2002, he finished a DMA in Vocal Performance at the University of Washington, where he studied with renowned baritone Julian Patrick.

Lisa Graham

Deac Guidi, Baritone

Deac Guidi first sang in the choruses of the Intermountain Opera Association's productions of Tosca, Don Pasquale, and Faust, and then went on to do secondary roles in Madame Butterfly and The Barber of Seville. As an undergraduate at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana he was the soloist in John Rutter's cycle When Icicles Hang and Durufle's Requiem. On the North Coast he has appeared in the North Coast Chorale's productions of Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance as the Pirate King and The H.M.S. Pinafore as Dick Deadeye. Deac was also seen as Count Almaviva in the inaugural Astoria Music Festival's production of The Marriage of Figaro as well as singing Papageno in the 2004 presentation of The Magic Flute. Deac performed the Marquis D'Obigny in La Traviata with Oregon Lyric Opera and made his debut with Opera Pacifica as Tonio in I Pagliacci. Recent performances include Leporello in Don Giovanni, a reprisal of the Pirate King with the North Coast Chorale, Baritone Soloist in Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Olympia Chamber Orchestra, Marco in Gianni Schicchi with Opera Theater Oregon, and Principe di Boullion in Adriana LeCouvreur with Willamette Concert Opera. He recently performed Papageno with Willamette Concert Opera, a performance the Corvallis Gazette called "mischievous perfection" and was a featured guest artist with the 2006 Astoria Music Festival where he sang highlights from The Magic Flute with the Astoria Music Festival Orchestra. His 2007 roles include The Count in Mozart's Figaro, Le Marquis in Massenet's Griselidis, Capellio in Bellini's I Capuleti e I Montecchi, Il Pedone in La Wally by Catalani, Hu Tsin in Leoni's L'Oracolo and Mr. Gobineau in Menotti's The Medium. 2008 engagements have included the North Coast premiere of We Have Spoken with the Cannon Beach Chorus, Don Ferrnando in Beethoven's Fidelio with WCO and Valentin in Faust with Puget Sound Concert Opera. He sang with the 2008 Astoria Music Festival performing the role of Riff in West Side Story and highlights from Henry Purcell's Fairy Queen. December brought the Saint-Saens Christmas Oratorio with the North Coast Chorale, and early 2009 saw recitals in Portland and Astoria in April, in addition to Baritone Soloist in Faure's Requiem with the Cannon Beach Chorus. During the summer of 2009 he again sang with the Astoria Music Festival performing the Drunken Poet/Corridon in Purcell's The Fairy Queen to which The Oregonian stated he a "great voice smartly deployed". In September he sang the role of Pandolfe in Massenet's Cendrillon with Puget Sound Concert Opera and in December Puccini's Messa di Gloria with the Cannon Beach Chorus, in addition to a recital in February. In 2010 he performed Count Rodolfo in Bellini's La Sonnambula with Puget Sound Opera, and Oroveso in Norma with Puget Sound Concert Opera. Recent performances include Werther with Opera Theater Oregon, Ferrando in Il Trovatore and Dr. Bartolo and Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Astoria Music Festival this past summer. Upcoming performances include Amahl and the Night Visitors with the North Coast Chorale and Bluebeard in Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle.

Tracy Hagen, Cello

This is Tracy's 15th year playing the cello, a career spanning many different sides of playing music: cellist in Quartet Brulant (2000-2002), assistant principle cellist in the Denver School of the Arts Orchestra (2001-2002), selected to play in the much coveted Young Artist Sinfonia led by The Colorado Symphony's principal violist, Basil Vendrys, and also played under conductor Adam Flat in the Denver Young Artist Orchestra. Recently, Tracy placed as the alternate for the 2004 Concerto/Aria competion at the University of Puget Sound, her chamber music group The Cornish Trio won the Washington State M.T.N.A. (Music Teacher's National Association) Competition in the chamber music division twice, and was chosen to perform with the 2008 Rome Festival Orchestra in Rome, Italy. A graduate of Cornish College of the Arts, Tracy has since studied with Seattle's prominent cellists, including Rajan Krishaswami, Toby Saks, cello professor at University of Washington, and Paige Stockley, cello professor at Cornish College of the Arts. She currently the cellist in the indie/rock band The Last Great Fire and the indie/punk band GOD, who have toured the west coast and are currently planning a spring tour of Japan. Tracy has recorded with several bands, including Lullabies for Falling Empires, featured on MTV's Needle in the Haystack with Lucy Bland, performed live on KEXP with The Golden Bears and at the Showbox at the Market, and in 2009 was featured on MTV's $5 cover with the the indie/punk band GOD.

Susanna Haley

Susanna Haley is a Seattle-based violinist and violist, with a deep appreciation for chamber music. Having studied privately from a young age, she attended the Academy of Music Northwest during high school, where she received training in chamber music, music theory, conducting, composition, and vocal arts. Her background also includes administrative management and musical participation with the chamber music conferences of the Manhattan String Quartet as well as Scherzo Cultural Journeys, in the U.S. and Europe. Susanna is an alumna of the University of Washington, where she graduated with a B.A. in European Studies in 2020. She currently freelances throughout the Puget Sound area, as well as working at the nonprofit Kandelia, an organization serving immigrant and refugee families. She has performed with groups and artists such as the Octava Chamber Orchestra, Scrape, Evan Flory-Barnes, The Piano Guys, Mr. & Mrs. Muffins, and many symphonic orchestras. She currently studies with Michael Jinsoo Lim. In her free time, Susanna loves travel and spending time in nature. 5/2023

Breanna Hanson

Breanna Hanson holds a degree in vocal performance from Seattle Pacific University and has played both lead and supporting roles in productions at Tacoma Opera, Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, ManeStage Theatre, Puget Sound Concert Opera (Chorus) and Seattle Pacific University. Breanna enjoys singing, teaching her voice students and directing a children's choir. She also enjoys spending time with her husband and their two cats. Some of her favorite roles have been Helene in An Incomplete Education with Tacoma Opera and Meg in Little Women with ManeStage Theater. You can also see her this July as Edith in the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society's production on The Pirates of Penzance. 4/2015

James W. ("JW") Harrington

James joins the PSCO for the first time in its production of Simon Boccanegra. He has sung several roles with the Bellevue Opera: Hermann and Schlemil in Tales of Hoffmann, Marullo in Rigoletto, Baron Dauphol in La Traviata, and Alcindoro in La Bohème. He sang and toured with the Harvard Glee Club, has studied voice under June Presswood in Virginia and Deeji Killian in Seattle, and currently performs in recitals and churches in the Seattle area. On weekdays, he appears onstage as a Professor of Geography at the University of Washington.

Claudette Hatcher, Mezzo-Soprano

Mezzo-soprano and actress Claudette Hatcher is a versatile performer celebrated for her dynamic artistry across opera, musical theater, Shakespearean drama, and film. Frequently seen in productions throughout the greater Seattle area, Claudette has also gained international acclaim.

Claudette's operatic highlights include her acclaimed performances in the English National Opera, Dutch National Opera, and Metropolitan Opera's joint production of Porgy and Bess, where she earned the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera, the South Bank Sky Opera Award, and the Black British Theatre Award for Best Opera Production. Her poignant interpretation of “Professor Jesus” in Seattle Opera's Porgy and Bess (2018) further solidified her reputation as an impactful soloist.

A lover of dramatic storytelling, Claudette has portrayed memorable roles such as Katisha in NW Savoyards' The Mikado, hailed for her “flawless voice” (Everett Herald) and her “chilling” rendition of “Alone and Yet Alive.” In addition to her work in opera, she has excelled in musical theater with standout performances like Church Lady Darlene in Tacoma Musical Playhouse's The Color Purple.

Her Shakespearean ventures include roles in Henry IV, Part 1 and 2 and the Tacoma Shakespeare-a-thon production of Regina II (Richard II adaptation), where critics praised her as “delightfully mad and sycophantic” (News Tribune).

Claudette's dedication to her craft extends to film, where she continues to bring her expressive range to independent and short film projects. Whether captivating audiences with her powerful mezzo tones or her commanding stage presence, Claudette Hatcher remains a cherished artist celebrated for her versatility and emotional depth. 12/2024

Michael Heitmann

Michael Heitmann has performed throughout the country for opera companies like Seattle Opera, Tacoma Opera, Inland Northwest Opera, Puget Sound Concert Opera and Northwest Opera in the Schools, Etc...., and FBN Productions. Mr. Heitmann's role highlights include Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), title role (Don Giovanni), Olin Blitch (Susannah), Don Pedro de Hinoyosa (La Périchole), Marullo (Rigoletto), Colline (La bohème), Belcore (Elixir of Love), Sir Tristan Mickelford (Martha), Agamemnon (La belle Hélène),Papageno/Sarastro/Narrator (The Magic Flute), Coyote/Frog/Tayil (Our Earth) Prince Pablo (Cinderella en España), Rambaldo Fernandez (La Rondine), Ben (The Telephone), Hortensius (The Daughter of the Regiment), Bello (La fanciulla del West) and Spalanzani (The Tales of Hoffmann - The Doll Act), Father/Sandman (Hansel and Gretel), and Toymaker (The Toy Shop). 

A regular concert and recital performer, he is known for his creative solo recitals that make classical music more relatable. Recitals include Love in the Time of Tinder, In Times of War and Murica, Love. Loss. Life., and If it ain't broke..., as well as duet recitals Heroes and Villains, Tale of Three Cities, and Low Riders. He's been a soloist in Fauré's Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Beethoven's Symphony no. 9, Schubert's Mass in G Major, and J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion, as well as BWV's 56, 145, and 158. He has also been a cast member of Opera on Tap - Seattle.

In addition to his solo engagements, Mr. Heitmann's passion is adapting and producing operas for modern audiences. He condenses the show to around an hour, writes a modern English libretto, and sets them in situations that reach today's audiences. Some are simply updated versions, like Le Nozze di Figaro, and Elixir of Love. Others are wild takes, like Carmen set in a rural American strip club, The Real Housewives of Sparta (La belle Hélène), and The Prince's Matchmaker - Sister's Edition (Viardot's Cendrillon), as well as co-writing a Seattle version of La bohème. 02/2022

Renwick Hester

Renwick Hester hails originally from South Carolina, where he received his BA Music Ed/Voice Performance/Piano Certificate for Accompanying at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. While in college, Renwick was the bass soloist/section leader for St Martin's In The Fields Episcopal Church all four years. At the university, Renwick performed in various musicals, operas, and oratorios. He was a member of the renowned University of South Carolina Concert Choir, which won the Bela Bartok Choral Festival in Debrecen, Hungary. After graduating from college, Renwick took a choir director position at First Christian Church, and accompanied ballet and tap classes at a local dance studio in Columbia. He performed in tap ensembles, and also in the ballet corps of Giselle, and Carmina Burana. Since living in Seattle, Renwick has sung in Seattle Opera Chorus, Seattle Mens Chorus, The Esoterics, various choir jobs, and Seattle Sings Messiah as Bass Soloist for 13 years. While in Seattle Opera Chorus, Renwick was Bass Section Leader and performed Lord Krishna in the NW permiere of Satyagraha by Philip Glass, and The Old Servant and Prussian General in War and Peace by Prokofiev. When he sang in the Seattle Mens Chorus, he was bass section leader, as well as soloist on The Pink Album. He has also accompanied for various voice studios around Seattle, as well as the famed opera fundraiser, The Pub Jump. Currently, Renwick is the Bass Section Leader @ Trinity Episopal Church. He and dear friend and mezzo-soprano, Greta Birkby are in the process of writing a musical, and also have put together a program of Broadway show tunes that they are performing at local retirement homes and communities. Cendrillon is Renwick's second production with Puget Sound Concert Opera and he is very happy to be back with such a talented and warm group of singers.

Brandon Higa, Tenor

Tenor Brandon K. Higa has been singing in the Pacific Northwest since 2001. He has performed most recently with NOISE as Count Almaviva in the 2007 tour of Rossini's The Barber of Seville having previously performed as Tamino in Mozart's The Magic Flute. His other roles include Tamino and Monostatos from Die Zauberflote, Vasek in Smetana's The Bartered Bride, Paolino in Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto, Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas as well as The Beggar in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. Brandon grew up in Honolulu, Hawai'i but has called Seattle home since 2001.

Carla Hilderbrand, Mezzo-Soprano

Carla Hilderbrand has performed the roles of Hansel & the Witch (Hansel and Gretel), 3rd Lady (Magic Flute), Afra (La Wally), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Ruth & Kate (Pirates of Penzance), Marquise de Berkenfield (Daughter of the Regiment) and Venus (Orpheus and the Underworld). She has had the privilege of working with Portland Opera, Tacoma Opera, Lyric Opera NW, Bellevue Opera, Skagit Opera, NOISE, Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Willamette Concert Opera, Orchestra Seattle / Seattle Chamber Singers, and the Seattle Youth Symphony.

Katie Hochman, Soprano

Soprano Katie Hochman enjoys performing recitals, opera and opera scenes through the Ladies Musical Club and Puget Sound Concert Opera. Highlights for the soprano have been the title role of Massenet's Cendrillon and soloist in La Damoiselle Élue both with Puget Sound Concert Opera. Katie has previously sung with Portland Opera, Utah Opera, Willamette Concert Opera, Opera Theater Oregon and Rainier Family Opera. She has also enjoyed orchestral work as soprano soloist in Handel's Messiah, Fauré's Requiem, Haydn's Creation and Mozart's Exultate, Jubilate.

Dave Holden, Tenor

Dave Holden has just completed his first production with the Northwest Savoyards Musical Theatre Society as the Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance. Earlier this year, Dave performed with The Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society in The Mikado (July 2008) and enjoyed a return to opera while performing with Bellevue Opera in Carmen (April 2008). Dave has also performed locally with the Rainier Chorale since 2006 as a featured soloist. Dave has a day-job as a Systems Certification Engineer working for Honeywell in Redmond where he has worked since moving to the area in January of 2006. He has been in the Aerospace Industry for more than 20 years. Previously, Dave lived in Austin, Texas where he performed with Austin Lyric Opera from 2002 to 2006. Those productions included most of the major works by Verdi, Puccini and Mozart along with some newer productions like the critically acclaimed Dead Man Walking in which he sang the part of Inmate #2. Prior to joining ALO, he had a wonderful time performing in the Zilker Theatre Production of Will Roger's Follies as Clem Rogers (2001). In 2000, Dave joined with some friends in the Austin area and co-founded the vocal ensemble AKA, an 8-10 voice ensemble specializing in 40s and 50s standards, with whom he performed as a featured soloist until 2005.

Alexandra Hollerman

Alexandra Hollerman is a mezzo-soprano from Louisiana. She recently moved to the Seattle, WA area after finishing her masters degree at Louisiana State University. Recently, she has performed as the Third Spirit in The Magic Flute with Opera Louisiane, as Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Heredia, as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte with LSU Opera, as Meg Page in Falstaff at the Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute, as Mercedes in Carmen at the Midwest Institute of Opera and at OperaBend, and in the Chorus of Don Giovanni and Die Fledermaus with Tacoma Opera. 6/2016

Juliet Hollifield

Lyric soprano Juliet Hollifield was born in Dillon, Montana. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Central Washington University and currently studies with Professor Janeanne Houston. She is thrilled to be making her Puget Sound Concert Opera debut. Juliet has delighted audiences in the South Sound with her comedic performances for several years now, receiving praise such as "carrying the best voice in the cast" with "range that goes far beyond vocalization to her acting skills" (Drama in the Hood). Juliet recently made her professional debut as Mabel in Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society's Pirates of Penzance. She has also been pleased to sing with Tacoma Opera and the Dickens Carolers of Seattle. Other roles include Anne Egerman in A Little Night Music, Heather Macnamara in Heathers! the Musical, Evelyn Nesbit in Ragtime!, El Gato in El Gato con Botas, Papagena in The Magic Flute, and Snoopy in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. 08/2022

Jared Ice

Jared Ice, Baritone, is a Seattle native whose performances have won positive reviews from Northwest Public Radio. Jared has performed; The Mayor from Bizet's Le Docteur Miracle and Midas from Suppe's Galathea with Tacoma Opera, Alessio from Bellini's La Sonnambula with Puget Sound Opera, Bob from Menotti's The Old Maid and The Thief with The Ladies Musical Club of Seattle, Alfio from Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana with the Washington-Idaho Symphony, Schaunard from Puccini's La Bohéme with Bellevue Opera and the Father in the University of Washington's recent production of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. Future engagements include Dandidi from Rossini's La Cenerentola with Puget Sound Opera (July 2011) and Death in Holst's Savitri with Vespertine Opera Theater (July 2011)

Tim Janecke

A recent transplant to the Pacific Northwest, Tim Janecke makes his debut performance with Puget Sound Concert Opera this season. Past roles include Ferrando (Cosi Fan Tutte) and Nemorino (L'Elisir d'Amor) with Bowen Park Opera, Alfredo (La Traviata) and Don Basilio (Le Nozze di Figaro) with L'Opera Piccolo and Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) and Ferrando with Candleopera. In the world of light opera, Tim has performed Cloclo (Tricolet) with Chicago Folks Operetta and Achilles (Beautiful Helen of Troy) with Light Opera Works. In addition to his busy solo career, Tim is an experienced ensemble singer, having performed extensively with the Chicago Symphony Chorale, Chicago Lyric Opera and as a Christmas Caroler at the Forge Club in the Chicago area. Tim received his Master's Degree from DePaul University and currently studies with Winnifred Brown.

Amber Rose Johnson

Amber Rose Johnson is currently completing her Master's in Voice at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She received her Bachelor's in Literature from Evergreen State College and studied Shakespearean acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. In 2012 she sang the role of Nova in David Conte's opera Firebird Motel as well as the role of Narciso in Handel's Agrippina. While attending the Conservatory she has also performed in several opera scene programs. Favorite roles include Sally in A Hand of Bridge, Idamante in Idomeneo and Third Lady in Die Zauberflute. This summer she will return to BASOTI for the roles of La Natura in La Calisto and La Principessa in Suor Angelica. A native of the Pacific Northwest; she has performed with Puget Sound Opera, Puget Sound Concert Opera and Lyric Opera Northwest. She currently studies with Sylvia Anderson.

Darin Jones

Darin Jones began his musical career as a member of the Grammy award winning Phoenix Boys Choir. He has since appeared throughout North America and in Europe performing numerous opera and musical theatre roles such as: Count Belfiore in Mozart's La finta giardiniera, Jaquino in Fidelio, Ecclitico in Haydn's Il mondo della luna, George Nowack in She Loves Me, and Jinx in Forever Plaid. He is currently a member of the Seattle Opera Chorus. Darin holds a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Gonzaga University and Master of Music from the University of Washington.

Nerys Jones, Soprano

Nerys Jones was born and educated in Mid Wales and studied at both the Royal Scottish Academy and Guildhall schools of music and drama. In 1994 she joined English National Opera where she became a company mezzo-soprano for six seasons, roles including Cherubino, Despina, Zerlina, Second Lady, Melissa Princess Ida, Bird Blond Eckbert, Proserpina Orfeo, Flora La Traviata, Pitti Sing Mikado, Mercédès Carmen, Nursing Sister Suor Angelica , Rosette Manon, Kitchen Boy Rusalka, Hansel Hansel and Gretel, Flower Maiden and Second Squire Parsifal, and Sister Mathilde Dialogues des Carmélites . She has performed with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Scottish Early Music Consort and the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, St John’s Smith Square, London. Other appearances include Cherubino, Rosina and Dorabella for Grange Park Opera, Dryad in a concert performance of Ariadne auf Naxos at the Barbican Concert Hall conducted by the late Richard Hickox, Stewardess Flight with Reisopera in Holland, Vlaamse Opera and the Adelaide Festival. The title role La Cenerentola for Opera Zuid and Pitti Sing The Mikado for La Fenice in Venice. Hansel with Reisopera in Holland and Prince Charmant in Cendrillion for Puget Sound Concert Opera and understudied at the Seattle Opera on their World Premier piece “Amelia.” Nerys lives in Seattle with her husband and two daughters Celyn and Mali.

Darrell J. Jordan

Seattle-based lyric baritone Darrell J. Jordan has been praised for his "shining, beautiful voice" (Broadway World), his "expressive baritone and facial expressions" (The SunBreak), and has been called "the star of the show" (Columbia Heart Beat). In demand as a recitalist and concert soloist, his recent solo concert engagements have been with Amherst Early Music Festival, Odyssey Chamber Music Series, Rolla Choral Arts Society, Choral Arts Alliance of Missouri, Missouri Symphony, Southside Philharmonic Orchestra, Toledo Symphony, Thalia Symphony, Olympia Chamber Orchestra, Salt Water Music Series, Seattle Art Song Society, Harmonia Orchestra, and Seattle Choral Company. Dr. Jordan has performed almost 40 full roles, some favorites being: Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Dandini (La Cenerentola), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus), Ignacio (Lucrezia), Count Gil (Il segreto di Susanna), Bunthorne (Patience), Dandini (La Cenerentola), Belcore (L'elisir d'amore), and Dr. Malatesta (Don Pasquale). Opera credits include Opera West, Tacoma Opera, Wilmington Concert Opera, Music On Site, Inc., St. Louis Opera Collective, Haymarket Opera Company, Gateway Opera, the Institute for 17th Century Music, Show-Me Opera, Lawrence Opera Theatre, Puget Sound Concert Opera, Northwest Opera In Schools Touring Company, Operamuse, Seattle Modern Opera Company, Pacific Northwest Opera, the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Seattle, Opera on Tap, OperaBend, Engage Opera, Landlocked Opera, Low Brow Opera, Barn Opera, and Seattle Opera. He is a member and co-artistic director of the nationally recognized, award-winning professional vocal chamber ensemble, Vox Nova. He is currently under management with Vocal Artist Management Services. www.DarrellJJordan.com 10/2023

Ki-Jung Jun, Soprano

Soprano Ki-Jung Jun was born in Seoul, Korea. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Kyung- Won University and continued studying classical voice at the New York University where she received her Master's Degree. At NYU she has performed actively in operas, including Nora (Riders to the Seas), First Knitter (A Game of Chance) and Princess ( L'enfant et les sortileges) and in scenes as Susanna (Le nozze do Figaro), Norina (Don Pasquale), Frasquita (Carmen), Adina (Elixir of Love), Rosina (Barber of Seville) and Musetta (La Boheme). She was also in the emerging artist program at Pacific Opera in New York. Upon completing her degree Ki-Jung moved to Philadelphia and performed the role of Hyangdan in Chun-Hyang-Jeon, an opera celebrating the 100th anniversary of Korean immigration in America. In the Northwest, she is an active performer in both Concert and Opera. She performed in the Auburn Performing Arts Center, Edmonds Center for the Arts, and Meany Hall. She has been singing with PSCO since 2012, as the cover of Giulietta in Bellini's I Capuletti ed i Montecchi, and Caterina in Mascagni's L'amico Fritz. She will also be singing Butterfly in Puccini's Madame Butterfly in 2015. 11/2014

Sharon Karsner, Mezzo-Soprano

Sharon Karsner, mezzo soprano, has worked with Puget Sound Concert Opera, Bellevue Opera, Willamette Concert Opera, Puget Sound Opera, Opera Pacifica, Northwest Opera in Schools, Etc, Skagit Opera, Lyric Opera Northwest and Rainier Lyric Opera. Sharon's roles include Martha from Faust, Azucena from Il Trovatore, La Voix from Les contes d'Hoffmann, zia Principessa from Suor Angelica, Sally from A Hand of Bridge, Madame Flora from The Medium, Mamma Lucia from Cavalleria rusticana, Gertrude from Hansel and Gretel, Marcellina from Le nozze di Figaro, Marie from The Most Happy Fella and Miss Todd from The Old Maid and the Thief. Sharon's oratorio credits include, alto soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Coronation Mass and Requiem, and Vivaldi's Gloria.

Esther Kelley

Esther D. Kelley is a gifted, passionate, charismatic musician and educator in the Spokane, WA area. A proud graduate of Gonzaga University, she is a favorite with public school and private music students alike. She directs, accompanies or sings in four local performing ensembles, including Inland Northwest Opera, where she performed in the 2022 production of La Traviata and on their August 2023 Opera Truck series. Ms. Kelley truly believes that to whom much is given, much is required, which motivates her to use her musical talents to benefit others. 07/2024

Ericka Kendall

Bassist Ericka Kendall has been an active performer in the Puget Sound area for more than 20 years. She plays frequently with the Tacoma City Ballet Orchestra, Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Puget Sound Concert Opera, Northwest Symphony Orchestra, and many other ensembles. She also plays bass guitar in Seattle's premier Herb Alpert tribute band, Rat City Brass. Ericka holds bachelor's degrees in Zoology and Psychology, as well as a Juris Doctorate. When not performing, she practices law in Seattle and spends time with her dogs and cats. 2/2023

Kristine Kiner

Kristine was raised in the Pacific Northwest. After attending three years at the University of Washington studying music performance, she decided to further her education and receive her Bachelors of Music from Northwestern University. From Chicago, she spent additional time in Brazil and New York before returning home, to the beautiful Northwest. Kristine enjoys performing with several local performing arts organizations throughout the Puget Sound area. 4/2019

Nathaniel Kondrat, Bass-Baritone

Nathaniel Kondrat, bass-baritone, starts his 2013-2014 season with the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart. Mr. Kondrat recently premiered Random Blackouts in Oregon and is set to sing a world premier in June, 2013 by the same composer.

In 2012, Kondrat sang Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Leporello (Don Giovanni). Nathaniel worked with famed baritones Sir Thomas Allen, Nathan Gunn, and Clayton Brainerd. In 2011, Nathaniel graduated from The San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he sang Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte) Melisso (Alcina) Jim (Gift of the Magi) a world premiere chamber opera as Sherriff Peters (Trifles) Truffeldino (Ariadne auf Naxos) Major Murgatroyd (Patience) Father Trulove (Rake's Progress) and many others.

Nathaniel made his professional debut as Il Bonze (Madame Butterfly) in 2008. Nathaniel apprenticed with Willamette Concert Opera where he appeared in Catalani's La Wally, Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi, and Menotti's The Medium. Nathaniel sang Antonio (Le Nozze di Figaro). That same year, Nathan was singing with the Portland Opera in Fidelio and Rigoletto.

Christina Kowalski-Holien, Spinto Soprano

Ms. Kowalski-Holien is a native of Germany, where she graduated with a M.M. in Music and Drama from the Hochschule für Musik und Kunst in Frankfurt am Main. She made her U.S. debut as Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio at the Mark Theater in Portland Oregon and has since then performed with numerous orchestras, opera companies and organizations throughout the Northwest and Europe in exiting repertoire such as Poppea, Haensel und Gretel, The Turn of the Screw, L’Elisir d’amore, Don Giovanni, Tosca, Butterfly, La Boheme, Norma and The Marriage of Figaro. Ms. Kowalski-Holien’s most recent engagements include “Donna Elvira” with Pacific Northwest Opera and the season ending concert for Vancouver Symphony (US), showcasing Rossini’s Soirees Musicales. Her upcoming schedule includes an appearance with Grays Harbor Symphony as the featured Soloist with selections from Haendel’s Messiah. Ms. Kowalski-Holien has been an affiliate artist faculty member at the University of Puget Sound since 2005 and is a doctoral candidate (ABT) at the University of Washington. Her CD “The Seven” is available over CD Baby and Amazon.com. 9/2018

Yi-Ting Kuo, Violin

Bernard Kwiram

Bernard Kwiram (Conductor) made his debut with Puget Sound Concert Opera in 2013 conducting Béatrice et Bénédict. He has subsequently conducted Der Frieschütz, Anna Bolena, Cavalleria Rusticana, La Wally, Martha and Il Trovatore. Mr. Kwiram has also conducted for the Tacoma Opera, Pacific Northwest Opera, Bellevue Opera and Civic Light Opera, in works such as Orpheus in the Underworld, Le Comte Ory, La Fille du Regiment, l’Elisir d’Amore, Il Turco in Italia, La Boheme, La Tragedie de Carmen, Die Zauberflöte, Die Fledermaus, La Perichole, The Merry Widow, Rigoletto, Aida, La Cenerentola, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Carousel, The Wizard of Oz, Kiss Me, Kate and Signor Deluso. He has been the music director and conductor of the Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society since 2002, conducting over 160 performances of the G&S Canon, including the ballet Pineapple Poll. In 2015, Mr Kwiram became the music director and conductor of the Tacoma City Ballet, conducting performances of The Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky), Carmina Burana (Orff), Cinderella (Prokofiev), Dracula (Smetana & Elgar) and Pinocchio (Shostakovich). As a singer, Bernie has appeared in roles with the Seattle Opera, Everett Symphony, Bellevue Opera, Civic Light Opera, Seattle Concert Opera, Lake Union Civic Orchestra, Kitsap Opera, Mock’s Crest Productions, Kirkland Choral Society and the Leavenworth Summer Theatre in roles ranging from Tamino and Lenski to Colonel Fairfax and Prince Karl Franz. Mr. Kwiram has created a number of adapted and reduced orchestrations for operas, ballets and oratorios. He is also a private vocal instructor and serves as an adjunct professor of voice at Northwest University. 4/2019

Michael Kysar

Michael is a reformed voice teacher who now sings for fun after a busy and "checkered" career as a teacher, conductor, composer, music publisher, and singer. He performed over 150 recital performances with the duo A Gift of Song, conducted over 500 performances around the world during 27 years with The Boeing Employees Choir, and somehow managed to spend over 20 years at Microsoft. As producer and music director for Pacific Lively Arts, he produced and conducted a high school summer stock program that presented such shows as Brigadoon, Oklahoma!, The Desert Song, and Fiddler on the Roof. In the last century, he performed as baritone soloist with the Seattle Chamber Orchestra, St. James Cathedral, The Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society, and Civic Light Opera.

Sharon Annette Lancaster, Mezzo-Soprano

Seattle resident and Canadian mezzo-soprano Sharon Annette Lancaster is a gifted singer and musician actively performing in the Pacific Northwest. Solo engagements have included performances with the Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestra and Bellevue Chamber Chorus, Philharmonia Northwest, Seattle Bach Choir, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Choral Company, Kirkland Choral Society, and Music Center of the Northwest, as well as the Walla Walla and the Yakima Symphonies. She has presented recitals in many Seattle venues, in Portland, Oregon, and in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where her recital was recorded and aired by CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) radio. Sharon has appeared on local television and been heard on KING-FM radio. Recently Sharon sang the role of Cherubino in Willamette Concert Opera's production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. Other roles include the part of Suzuki in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Miss Todd in Menotti's The Old Maid and the Thief. Upcoming roles include Sesto in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito. Ms. Lancaster has performed with Skagit Opera and Bellevue Opera as well as with Portland's Bel Canto Northwest opera institute and Seattle's Accademia d'Amorée baroque opera workshop. Sharon is a winner of the Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside competition and the first recipient of the Helen Jensen Memorial Scholarship. She holds a Masters degree in organ and voice performance. Sharon is regular soloist and part-time organist at First Church of Christ, Scientist in Edmonds and teaches voice at her home studio. For more information please visit Sharon's website at www.sharonannettelancaster.com.

Sarah Larkworthy

Sarah Larkworthy, mezzo-soprano, makes her Puget Sound Concert Opera debut as Paris. She most recently appeared as Elizabeth in the premiere of Sweets by Kate with Lowbrow Opera Collective. A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory with a degree in vocal performance, Sarah has participated in several prestigious music festivals, including the Seagle Festival, Oberlin in Italy, The Redwoods Opera Workshop, and OperaWorks. In 2018, she was named an Emerging Artist with Bel Canto in Tuscany. Her other recent roles include Wellgunde (Götterdämmerung) with Potomac Vocal Institute and Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) with Baltimore Concert Opera. Favorite roles also include Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), and Mercedes (Carmen). 9/2024

Nicholas Larson, Tenor

Nicholas Larson has performed many leading and comprimario roles with Willamette Concert Opera, Kansas City Lyric Opera, Kansas City Civic Opera, Kansas City Puccini Festival, Milwaukee Opera Theater, Des Moines Metro Opera, Pensacola Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Nova of Los Angeles, and Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra. His roles include Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor, Remandado in Carmen, Nathaniel in Les Contes D'Hoffmann, Prince Charming in Cendrillon, Borsa in Rigoletto, Robert in Hin und Zurük, Ruggero in La Rondine, Second Jew in Salome, Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore, Luther and Buford in Cold Sassy Tree, Ferrando in Cosí fan tutte, Des Grieux in Manon, Tamino, Monostatos and First Priest in Die Zauberflöe, Alfredo in La Traviata, Scaramuccio in Ariadne auf Naxos, Arthur Jones in Billy Budd, Elder Gleaton in Susannah, Cinderella's Prince in Into the Woods, Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro, Gloster Hemming in The Mother of Us All, and Edmondo in Manon Lescaut. He received his bachelors degree at Eastman, his masters at USC, and his doctorate at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He currently lives and teaches private voice lessons at The Shedd Institute in Eugene, Oregon.

Alan Lawrence

Alan Lawrence has been co-principal Clarinet in Orchestra Seattle for many years, and has performed with many area orchestras and chamber music groups. He studied with Joe Allard at the New England Conservatory, and has a masters's degree in Clarinet Performance from Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Richard Waller. He has previously been a member of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and The Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra. Alan resides in Edmonds, Washington, where he has been with Edward Jones Investments since 1987.

Cary Lee

Cary Lee is excited to return to Puget Sound Concert Opera as a Studio Artist after singing for several seasons in comprimario and chorus roles. Originally from Orlando, Cary has been living and working in Seattle ever since earning his Bachelor's of Music in Vocal Performance from Northwestern University in 2012. Cary has also performed as a guest artist with the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle and is a regular church soloist with the First United Methodist Church of Seattle. He also enjoys singing with small choral ensembles; he was a founding member of Sound City Singers and has been a guest performer with Radiance. Cary is a student of Stephen Wall. 12/2023

Helen Lee

Helen Lee is a highly accomplished Seattle-based flutist and piccoloist. She performs frequently with various groups in the Puget Sound area, including Puget Sound Concert Opera, Federal Way Symphony, Bellevue Opera, Bellevue Symphony, Northwest Symphony, Cascade Symphony, Federal Way Chorale, Sno-King Chorale, Octava Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Festival Orchestra, and the Sound Ensemble. Helen's strong inspiration to start the flute at age 11 came from seeing an armored flutist in an anime a few years prior to finally obtaining a flute. She holds multiple performance degrees from the University of Washington and has performed professionally in Japan and Hong Kong. Helen enjoys spending her free time with family and friends, relaxing on her lever harps, taking photos, honing language skills in Japanese and Cantonese, and sipping bubble tea. 4/2025

Janice Ching-Jung Lee, Cello

Taiwanese-American cellist Janice Ching-Jung Lee is an active performer and music educator in the greater Seattle area. She is the cellist for the Seattle-based Ellinor String Quartet, plays frequently with the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Tacoma City Ballet Orchestra, Puget Sound Concert Opera, Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra and many other ensembles.

She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education and Cello Performance from the National University of Tainan in Taiwan, and Master’s Degree in Cello Performance from the University of Washington in Seattle under the late Professor Toby Saks. In addition to her cello performing and teaching, she also serves as pianist at Kennydale United Methodist Church in Renton. Janice has been heard in many of the greatest concert halls in north America and Asia, including those in Seattle, WA and Taipei, Taiwan. 4/2019

Tony Wayne Leininger, Bass/Baritone

Recent solo work includes Mozart's Coronation Mass, with the St. Cecilia Oratorio Society, and Brahms' Liebeslieder Walzes, for the Happy Hour Concerts musical series, produced by Gethsemane Lutheran Church and directed by Dr. David Barela. Before moving to Seattle in 1996, Tony lived in Minneapolis for 10 years, where he worked as an actor, including a memorable stint as the wizard Gandalf in the Children's Theatre Company's production of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. While in Minneapolis, he also sang with The Minneapolis Orchestra Festival Chorus, with Phillip Brunelle; the Plymouth Music Series, with Dale Warland; and with Central Lutheran Church's compline choir. Since moving to Seattle, Tony has sung regularly with the Seattle Symphony Chorale, with directors Abraham Kaplan, George Fiore, and Joseph Crnko.

Teresa Lin, Mezzo-Soprano

Teresa recently returned from Coburg, Germany, where she sang four solo roles and over 200 performances and 12 productions with the Landestheater opera chorus. She sang Dinah in Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti with the Tacoma Opera Young Artist Program in 2007, and will perform with Puget Sound Concert Opera in Puccini's Suor Angelica in 2009. Teresa studied with Sheila Converse at Washington State University, where she received a B.M. in Vocal Performance and a B.A. in German, and with Tom Harper at the University of Washington, where she received a M.M. in Vocal Performance and a M.A. in Music History.

Li-Ling Liao

Taiwanese-Canadian violinist Li-Ling Liao is a member of Symphony Tacoma, and is currently second violin principal of the Northwest Symphony Orchestra. She performs frequently with the Vancouver Symphony (B.C.), Vashon Opera Orchestra, Tacoma City Ballet Orchestra, Auburn Symphony, and many other ensembles. Li-Ling holds performance degrees from the Boston Conservatory, the New England Conservatory of Music, and University of Maryland. 4/2022

Christopher Lin

Christopher Lin started the violin at age 4, and the piano at age 5. He studied with Daniel Kobialka, former principal second of the San Francisco Symphony, and currently freelances with several ensembles in greater Seattle. He has served as the Associate Concertmaster of the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, and regularly performs with the Federal Way Symphony, the Lake Washington Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera Northwest, and the Tacoma City Ballet.

In his youth, he has won first prizes at the Southwestern Youth Music Festival, performed with the National Festival Orchestra under Benjamin Zander at Carnegie Hall, and served as concertmaster and associate concertmaster of all-California and all-national youth orchestras.

Chris received his PhD from the University of Washington and his BA from UC Berkeley. 4/2019

Laura Loge, Soprano

Soprano Laura Loge has been hailed for her "luminous stage presence" and "characterful and versatile voice." She can be heard performing as soprano soloist, often singing Nordic repertoire, with orchestras throughout the Northwest, and on chamber music and song concert stages throughout the US. Opera roles include Violetta (La Traviata), Musetta (La Bohème), Micaëla (Carmen), Mother (Hansel & Gretel), Ännchen (Der Freischütz), Lisa (La Sonnambula), La Fée (Cendrillon), Pousette (Manon)Lucy (The Telephone), Guadalena and Ninetta (La Perichole), Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), SecondLady (Magic Flute), Goddess Diana (Iphigénie en Aulide), Suor Genovieffa (Suor Angelica) and Miss Silverpeal (The Impresario). She has performed as the soprano soloist in Mozart's Requiem,Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Incidental Music to Egmont, Neilsen's Third Symphony, Fauré's Requiem, Grieg's Songs for Soprano and Orchestra, Schumann's Mass and Requiem, Handel's Messiah,and Verdi's Requiem. Laura specializes in Nordic art song, having performed across the United Statesand in Norway, including in Edvard Grieg's villa. She has produced two albums of Nordic song,including Breaking the Language Barrier: Songs in Norwegian and Danish, Composed by Foreignersand Songs and Piano Music of Edvard Grieg, Op. 33 & 66. Laura is the Artistic Director of the Mostly Nordic Chamber Music Series at the Nordic Museum and Founder and President of the Northwest Edvard Grieg Society. 08/2022

Gino Lucchetti, Tenor

Lyric tenor Gino Lucchetti of Seattle is well-known for his distinguished artistry, impeccable timing, and what the legendary soprano Jane Eaglen called "high notes so natural and gorgeous that no one should mess with them." Gino most recently appeared as Rodolfo in Kitsap Opera's La Bohème, the Verdi Requiem tenor soloist for the Kirkland Choral Society, Alfredo in Die Fledermaus with Bellevue Opera, Don José in Lyric Opera Northwest's production of Carmen, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana with Concert Opera of Seattle, and as the tenor leads in Tacoma Opera's production of Donizetti's Viva la Mamma and Black Box Theater production of Ned Rorem's Three Sisters and Bertha. He has performed roles for Seattle Opera and the Seattle Symphony, and is a regular performer for the Seattle Opera Guild, where his roles have included Rodolfo, Faust, Duke of Mantua, Manrico, Lindoro, Nemorino, Don José, Des Grieux (Puccini and Massenet), MacDuff, Pollione, Florestan, Calaf and King Kaspar. Upcoming roles include Canio and Cavaradossi. Gino's oratorio repertoire includes Verdi's Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Rossini's Stabat Mater, and Handel's Messiah and Judas Maccabeus. A past member of the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program, Gino was selected by Seattle Symphony as one of only three Pacific Northwest singers to participate in a public master class taught by Jane Eaglen. He also has recorded "La Serenata," a collection of popular Italian songs and arias; appears in the popular Gabriel Knight series of video games produced by Sierra On-line; and sings frequently for concert series, festivals, private events and restaurants.

Steven Luksan

Steven Luksan is a composer, pianist, and educator making music in Seattle, WA, USA. He is on the faculty of Music Center of the Northwest, a teaching artist at Seattle Opera, and is the accompanist for the Seattle Mannskor (The Norwegian Male Chorus of Seattle). He currently serves as Composer-in-Residence with the Northwest Edvard Grieg Society. Steven received a Master's Degree in Music Composition from the University of British Columbia and Bachelor's Degrees in Music and Norwegian Language from the University of Washington. His compositions are influenced by folk traditions, jazz, minimalism, and the music of his favorite composers from the early 20th century. His compositions include pieces for solo piano, chamber music including viola, oboe, or flute, and over 100 art songs in English and Norwegian. Steven is an advocate for the performance of new and uncommon compositions (especially those by Scandinavian composers and women composers), and for the performance of chamber music in intimate settings. He is the founder and artistic director of the Saltwater Music Series (Des Moines, WA), a concert series dedicated to performances of local and off- the-beaten-path chamber music. 4/2023

Stuart Lutzenhiser, Tenor

Stuart Lutzenhiser hails from Seattle and is a frequent soloist in arts organizations around the Northwest. He has appeared with Tacoma Opera, North Bay Opera, the renowned Pocket Opera of San Francisco, Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Vancouver Opera and Seattle Opera, as a member of their Preview Artists program, and as far away as Maracaibo, Venezuela. A regular with local symphonies and choral groups, he has performed with the Yakima Symphony, Thalia Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Whatcom Symphony, Bremerton Symphony and can be heard on the Seattle Pro Musica recording of the Rachmaninov Vespers. Mr. Lutzenhiser holds a Masters Degree from Indiana University where he was also awarded a Performer's Certificate as an outstanding recitalist. An advocate of contemporary, he has performed the world premieres of Corigliano's Of Rage and Remembrance and McGary's St. Mark's Passion. When not busy singing, Stuart keeps his hands full with his wonderful wife Melissa and their two children, Helen and Alice.

Trevor Lutzenhiser, Violin

Trevor Lutzenhiser performs regularly throughout the region, primarily as principal 2nd violin for the Seattle Philharmonic and the Octava Chamber Orchestra. He is the Conductor/Artistic Director of the Mukilteo Community Chamber Orchestra as well.

Emma Rose Lynn, Soprano

Emma Rose Lynn is a soprano currently living and working in Seattle, WA. Her career highlights include the world premiere of a song cycle on texts by Emily Dickinson composed by Carleton Macy, as well as performing with the Macalester Orchestra as a Featured Artist in the annual Macalester Concerto and Aria Competitions of 2011 and 2013. She completed the Young Artist Program Songfest at the Colburn School of Music in downtown Los Angeles, California and most recently is the winner of the 2015 Advanced 1 category Puget Sound NATS competition. She particularly thrives on the performance process of contemporary music. She enjoyed her past collaboration with the Zeitgeist New Music Ensemble and with composer Samuel Tygiel and is currently collaborating with composer Victoria Malawey on a new work. She founded the Seattle branch of www.groupmuse.com and is a very active member of the community. She received her B.A. in Music and Religious Studies from Macalester College in Saint Paul, and continues her vocal studies under Charles Peterson. She will begin the Master of Music program at the University of Oregon in fall of 2015.4/2015

Samuel D. McCoy, Conductor

Conductor Samuel D. McCoy (conductor) is honored to be returning to Puget Sound Concert Opera as Principal Conductor with Cendrillon. Sam was recently seen leading Puget Sound Concert Opera's productions of Suor Angelica and Simon Boccanegra, as well as conducting scenes from Rigoletto, Un Ballo in Maschera, Turn of the Screw, Die Zauberflöte, and Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor with the UW Opera Workshop. A new transplant to Seattle, Sam was recently chosen to be the assistant conductor for the Seattle Bach Choir. Before moving to Seattle, Sam lived in Brooklyn, NY where he was the co-conductor of C4: Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, the assistant conductor for the New Amsterdam Singers Chamber Chorus and a member of the early music vocal ensemble Guildsingers. Currently a DMA Choral Conducting student at the University of Washington, Sam studies with Dr. Geoffrey Boers. He earned his BM in Vocal Performance and MM in Orchestral Conducting from Oklahoma City University, where he studied with Florence Birdwell, Matthew Mailman, Mark Parker, Jan McDaniel and Stephen Coker.

David McDade, Coach and Accompanist

David McDade is the Head of Coach/accompanists for Seattle Opera, also serving as a musical advisor for the Young Artists Program. He has been active as an accompanist and conductor of opera, and has been a member of the music staff of Portland Opera and Washington National Opera. He has been both an accompanist (Seattle) and judge (Spokane) for the MONC auditions, and a judge for the Sun Valley Opera Vocal Competition. His varied background includes credits as french hornist, vocalist, and actor. He is a graduate of Portland State University (BM, vocal performance) and The Peabody Conservatory (MM, conducting).

Susan McDaniel, Conductor and Pianist

Pianist/Conductor Susan McDaniel has held staff coaching and accompanying positions with Utah Festival Opera, the San Diego Opera Ensemble, Manhattan School of Music, and Seattle Opera, where she has worked with such conductors as Edoardo Müler and Gerard Schwarz. Ms. McDaniel studied accompanying with Warren Jones and has performed in master classes for Patricia Craig, Martin Katz and Charles Wadsworth. Her most recent concert engagement was a United States tour with the Berlin Radio Choir. In addition, Ms. McDaniel has appeared widely as a soloist and chamber musician, including recitals in Freiburg (Germany), Prague, and St. Moritz.

Janet MacLean

Robert McPherson

Hailed by the New York Times for his “robust voice, agility and confidence,” Robert McPherson recently returned to the Israeli Opera for his first performance of Narraboth in Salome. Last season he was with the Metropolitan Opera for Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro and stepped in as Idreno for their production of Semiramide. Additionally, McPherson’s performance as Andres in Alban Berg’s Wozzeck, culminated in the Houston Symphony’s 2018 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording in the classical category. Other recent performances include Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles with English National Opera and Israeli Opera and Leopold in La Juive with Opéra national du Rhin.

McPherson’s discography includes work as the Angel Gabriel and Shepard in Andrew T. Miller’s The Birth of Christ recorded on Sony BMG Masterworks, also shown on Public Broadcasting Service and reprised in Rome at the Vatican’s invitation; On Hampton Roads Music, McPherson sang the tenor solo in Berlioz’s Requiem with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, which Gramophone said, “[he] sings the challenging tenor lines… with tender urgency.” His Rossini recordings and videos include Idreno in Semiramide, Iago in Otello, Gernando/Ubaldo in Armida on Dynamic, and Arbace in Ciro in Babilonia on Opus Arte.

A Seattle native, McPherson’s self-written and produced comic show The Drunken Tenor debuted at special request of Seattle Opera BRAVO! and after multiple performances with the Seattle Fringe Festival, he won Best of Fringe. The Drunken Tenor has also appeared at Seattle’s annual Bumbershoot Festival, Café Nordo’s Knife Room and other popular venues throughout the Northwest. 4/2019

Maria Mannisto

Maria Mannisto has an extensive performing history as an opera singer, concert soloist, pianist and organist. She received her Masters degree in voice from the University of Washington in 2009, studying under renowned soprano Jane Eaglen. Maria appeared in UW productions of La finta giardiniera (Sandrina), Suor Angelica (La Zelatrice), scenes from Rigoletto (Gilda) and La Traviata (Violetta), and as soprano soloist in Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire, Berio's O King, and Bach's Mass in B Minor. She has been featured in two operas with Seattle Experimental Opera: The Gospel of the Red-Hot Stars in 2006 and Hunger: The Journey of Tamsen Donner in 2008, both by local composer Tom Baker. She has also performed in operas by numerous other Seattle composers including Wayne Horvitz, Bill Smith, Garrett Fisher, and Brian Cobb. In 2007 she was awarded the Finlandia Foundation Performer of the Year, which provided her with the opportunity to perform recitals around the United States, Canada and Finland. Maria was a finalist in the 2010 Kanagsniemi Song Competition in Kangasniemi, Finland.

Merideth Marano

Merideth Marano of Asheville, North Carolina is a classically trained soprano as well as a military wife, married to a Captain serving in the Unites States Army. In the past six years she has lived and performed in South Carolina, Germany, Washington DC, Georgia and most recently, Washington State.

Merideth spent her time overseas studying with Elizabeth Whitehouse, an Australian soprano well known to the German and Australian stages. Shortly after acquiring her Master’s degree in Vocal Performance she was chosen as a winner in an international voice competition, specially chosen to tour with renowned baritone Jacob Pustina, the founder and chief patron of the competition.

After relocating to Washington DC she gained acclaim as a young artist performing leading roles with Maryland Lyric Opera, Bel Cantanti Opera, Victorian Lyric Opera Company and Singers’ Theatre of Washington. Critical acclaim includes statements from the Washington Post calling Merideth “certainly the standout”, from Washington Life reporting: “she sang with a radiance that floated with ease into the performance space”, from Washington City Paper: “Marano has dramatic vocal weight with a high register and a gift for coloratura” and from DC Metro Arts: “she was a constant thrill throughout the evening, sparkling in her high notes and bringing a special poignancy and soulfulness to her low notes”.

During a brief time spent in Georgia Merideth was chosen for the prestigious honor of paid festival artist for the Savannah Voice Festival, and received one on one coaching with famed Baritone Sherrill Milnes as well as many other notable personalities in the opera world. She placed third in a national competition held by New York Lyric Opera Theater, and was a finalist in the Pro-Mozart Society Competition. Merideth was recently rewarded second place in the Seattle Opera Guild Scholarship Competition and is looking forward to continuing to get to know the local opera scene in the Pacific Northwest.

Merideth’s well-rounded career spans from oratorio and concert performances to leading roles in opera. Notable roles include Donna Anna (Mozart), Juliette (Gounod), Sylva (Kalman), Nedda (Leoncavallo), Roselinde (Strauss) Echo (Strauss), and Suor Angelica (Puccini). She was the featured soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Handel’s Messiah and Vivaldi’s Gloria, and has performed in several countries including Germany, Czech Republic, Jordan, the United States and Italy. 8/2018

Sarah Markovits, Soprano

Soprano Sarah B. Markovits is a versatile performer who has sung roles as wide-ranging as Blanche in Dialogues des Carmelites, Arminda in La Finta Giardiniera, Laurie in The Tender Land, and Grizabella in CATS. In 2004 she served as understudy for Fredericka von Stade's appearance with Seattle Men's Chorus. In 2006 she performed with the Rose Consort of Viols. In 2009 she sang the role of Filia in Carissimi's Jephte with Seattle's Choral Arts, and was the soprano soloist for Tacoma Symphony's performance of Handel's Messiah. From 2005-2007 Ms. Markovits served on the voice faculty at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and taught voice at Punahou School in Honolulu. She is currently a Candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at The University of Washington, where she studies with soprano Jane Eaglen. Ms. Markovits teaches voice, piano, and music theory at Pierce College Fort Steilacoom and "The Art of Singing" through Pierce College Continuing Education.

Sarah Mattox, Mezzo-Soprano

Mezzo-soprano Sarah Mattox has appeared in principal roles with many companies nationally, including Seattle Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Eugene Opera, Tacoma Opera and many others. Favorite roles include Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, and the title roles in Cendrillon and Carmen. She received special acclaim for her debut as Feodor in Seattle Opera's Boris Godunov. The Seattle Times said "...it was newcomer Sarah Elouise Mattox, in the 'pants role' of Boris' son Feodor, who raised eyebrows all over the Opera House with her believable, lifelike acting and her well-schooled voice." In Cleveland, the Beacon Journal called her "...a rich-toned mezzo-soprano who came to life as Dorabella." Also at home on the concert stage, Ms. Mattox has made several appearances at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony. She has also been a soloist with the Northwest Sinfonietta, Cascade Festival of Music, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Eugene Concert Choir and many others. April 2010 marked her fourth appearance as a concert soloist at Carnegie Hall in New York. For a complete schedule, please visit www.sarahmattox.com.

Christine Menschner, Soprano

Born in Germany, light lyric Soprano Christine Menschner studied voice at the Dresden University of Music “Carl Maria von Weber“ in Germany. After finishing her German State Examination (Master's degree) in Music and German Education, Christine graduated at the University of Music with a Double Master's degree in Vocal Performance and Vocal Education. Concerts brought her to Venezuela, Belgium, Italy, the United States and Canada. Christine performed in operetta and opera productions such as The Beautiful Helen, Die Fledermaus, La Bohème, Mask in Blue, The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Franziska Linkerhand, Lo frate nn'amorato, The Mikado, and Cosi fan tutte.

Recently Christine moved to Seattle. Highlights of 2015 include her production and performance of the show Vienna to Broadway- A Musical Metamorphosis, Christine's role debut as Despina in the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle Opera Program production of Cosi fan tutte, her German Holiday concert tour and teaching a masterclass at the Semper Opera Dresden/Germany.

Christine serves as an active performer and board member of Ladies Musical Club. She is dedicated to advocate the German speaking music in the community by performing and teaching emerging artists in German Opera, Art Song, Oratorio and diction. Obsessed with singing European operetta music Christine is excited to make her Puget Sound Concert Opera debut in the production of A Viennese New Year whose program she helped to design.

Krista Mercier

Brian Minnick

Tenor Brian Minnick has sung extensively throughout the Boston and D.C area and is excited to continue his career in the Tacoma/Seattle area. In 2015 he received his Masters in Opera Performance from the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, MA under the guidance of Donna Roll. In 2012 he received his Bachelor in Vocal Performance from George Mason University under the direction of Washington Opera and George Mason Professor Lisa Berger.

He most recently performed Michele in Menotti's Saint of Bleecker Street with Longy Opera as well as a soloist in American Classics' Tin Pan Opera. He also performed as the Tenor Soloist in Rossini's Stabat Mater with Calliope under the direction of Boston University's Julia O'Toole.

In the 2013/2014 season, Brian sang the role of Jean in the United States premiere of Dvořák’s opera Die Bauer ein Schelm as well as the Tenor Soloist in the Bruckner Te Deum with Calliope. In the same season he performed Brack (Down in the Valley), Torquemada (L’heure espangole) and covered Sailor (Dido and Aeneas) in addition to performing extensive scenes recitals and masterclasses with Longy Opera.

Next month Brian will be singing Chorus in Tacoma Opera’s Don Giovanni as well as Dr. Bryan Cooper in Kitsap Fringe Opera’s Maelstrom: The Zombie Opera. 9/2015

Michael Monnikendam

Michael is presently the Director of Music Ministries at St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Laurelhurst. He has an Undergraduate Degree in music from Duquesne U. and a Master's Degree in Music from Carnegie-Mellon U.

A few years after completion of his work at CMU, he worked in NYC as a professional musician and worked at Marble Collegiate Church while there. In 2000 he moved to Seattle and worked at another St. Luke's with the Rev. Thomas Bigelow. While in Seattle he appeared in over 20 productions with the Seattle Opera.

He has sung as numerous roles from New York and Pennsylvania to productions with Seattle Opera. He recently moved back to Seattle after 6 years in Little Rock, AR where he was a private music teacher and church musician.

Kimberly Monzón, Soprano

American soprano Kimberly Monzó was awarded first place in the professional division of the Coeur d'Alene Symphony 2007 Young Artists' Competition. Recent performances include Serafina The Night Bell, Sandman/Dew Fairy Hansel and Gretel, Zerbina La Serva Padrona, and Annina La Traviata with Spokane Opera. In March of 2007 she made her debut with Opera Idaho in their production of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. She was a Pensacola Opera Resident Artist in the 2006 season, and made her mainstage debut as Frasquita in Carmen as well as covering the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor. Other roles include Tytania A Midsummer Night's Dream, ónchen Der Freischóz, Lucy A Room With a View, Johanna Sweeney Todd, Frólein Silberklang Der Schauspieldirektor, Erste Frau Die Zauberflóe, Echo Ariadne auf Naxos, and Lady Larken Once Upon A Mattress. As a former Apprentice Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera in 2005, she performed roles in scenes, such as Susanna Le nozze di Figaro, Norina Don Pasquale, Rose Street Scene, and Blanche de la Force Dialogues des Carmóites. A versatile concert performer, Ms. Monzó's repertoire ranges from A Gershwin Celebration with Seagle Music Colony to Bach's Gott ist Unsre Zuversicht and Pachelbel's Deus in adjutorium with the University of Missouri-Kansas City's Chamber Orchestra. She has performed recitals with Opera Plus! in Coeur d'Alene, ID, as well as operatic selections in concert with the Coeur d'Alene Symphony. Ms. Monzó is currently studying under soprano Jane Eaglen. Upcoming engagements include Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Opera Plus!

Sunday Moore, Soprano

Sunday Moore is currently earning her undergraduate in classical voice at Cornish College of the Arts. She was recently featured in the Seattle-based choral ensemble The Esoterics. Sunday is excited to take part in her third production with Puget Sound Concert Opera and is looking forward to participating in many more productions in the Seattle area.

Wesley Morgan, Tenor

American tenor Wesley Morgan has been praised by conductors, stage directors and audiences for his "ringing tenor" and "gift for suave phrasing" (Greenville News), and "leaving the audience swooning" with his "flawless performance" as described by The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Mr. Morgan made his international debut this December as the tenor soloist in Messiah for the Windsor Symphony Orchestra in Ontario. This season the rising tenor returned to Atlanta Opera as Gastone in La Traviata, where as a Studio Artist he starred in the company's touring shows as Frederic in Pirates of Penzance, and appeared on the mainstage as Mayor in Cold Sassy Tree, and 1st Priest in Die Zauberflöte. For St. Petersburg Opera's Emerging Artist program, Wesley has sung the roles of Count Almaviva in Il Babriere di Siviglia, and Nemorino in l'Elisir d'Amore. Other roles include Tamino in Die Zauberflöte (Jubal's Lyre Opera), Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi (Capitol City Opera), Nanki Poo in The Mikado (Atlanta Lyric Theatre & Greenville Light Opera Works), the title role in Candide (Georgia State University Opera), and Rodolfo in La Bohème for El Paso Opera, where he returned earlier this season to sing Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus. Last summer Wesley sang the role of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte as a young artist with Ash Lawn Opera, and is pleased to have recently made his West Coast debut as The Son in Les Mamelles de Tirésias with Verspertine Opera Theatre. Upcoming for Wesley are two more Eisensteins in Die Fledermaus for Mock's Crest Productions and for Vashon Opera.

Rachelle Moss

Contralto Rachelle Moss made a notable debut as Kate Pinkerton in Sarasota Opera’s production of Madama Butterfly. Sarasota newspaper Your Observer, praised her portrayal as “regal”.

In the 2018-2019 season Ms. Moss portrayed the title role in Carmen and Commendatora in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Operamuse, Bianca in The Rape of Lucretia with Tacoma Opera, and Fire in Seattle Art Song Society’s Elemental Recital. She will return to Puget Sound Concert Opera as Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia and make her debut at St. Petersburg Opera singing Maestra delle Novizie and covering La Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica as an Emerging Artist. Rachelle also enjoys singing both operetta and concert repertoire. She has performed the roles of Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd with the University of North Texas and Effie in The Ballad of Baby Doe with the Spotlight on Opera; as the Alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Federal Way Symphony; and as the Alto soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass with Kansas City Kansas Community Chorus.

Ms. Moss was an 2016-2017 Apprentice Artist at Sarasota Opera. She has received numerous awards including: a Career Grant from the Seattle Opera Guild, an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the Mary Cook Memorial Award for Outstanding Apprentice Artist from Sarasota Opera Guild, and the Stuart R. Silver Scholarship from Sarasota Opera. She holds a Bachelor's in Music History and Master's in Vocal Performance from the University of North Texas. 3/2019

Misha Myznikov, Baritone

Recent engagements include: Count di Luna in Verdi's Il Trovatore, Puget Sound Concert Opera, Figaro in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Tacoma Opera, Gellner in Catalani's La Wally, Puget Sound Concert Opera, Eugene Onegin in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Tacoma Opera, Hermann in Offenbach's Les Contes D'Hoffmann, Seattle Opera, Emile in Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific, Lyric Light Opera, Yeletsky in Tschaikovsky's Pikovaya Dama (Pique Dame) and Eugine Onegin with Opera in concert of Seattle, Silvio in Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci, Figaro in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Marcello in Puccini's La Boheme, Alfio in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, Kitsap Opera, Peter in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, David in Barber's A Hand of Bridge and Giuseppe in The Gondoliers by Gilbert and Sullivan with local opera companies. Scheduled for the upcoming season with operatic and symphonic companies. 9/2018

Janene Nelson

Jan Nelson is a Seattle-area mezzo-soprano whose "gorgeously sung" performances range from opera and oratorio to early music. Her operatic roles include Dorabella, Third Lady, Prince Orlofsky, Miss Todd, and Nicklaus, and her recent oratorio performances include Mozart's Requiem, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, and J.S. Bach's Mass in B Minor. Janene was a founding member of the early music ensemble Vox Resonat from 2011-2014 and sang with the Oregon Bach Festival for seven seasons as a member of the Berwick Chorus. She currently sings with the vocal ensemble Resonate and recently appeared as a soloist with Rainbow City Orchestra. She holds a doctorate in vocal performance from the University of Oregon and serves as the head of vocal studies at Seattle Pacific University. 10/2023

Rochelle Nguyen, Violin

Rochelle Nguyen, from Los Altos, CA, currently studies violin with Ron Patterson, and previous teachers include Robin Sharp at Stanford University, and Daniel Kobialka in San Francisco. She has worked with Pamela Frank, Yizhak Schotten, and members of the St. Lawrence, Emerson, Cypress, Concord, and American string quartets. At Stanford, Rochelle was an active participant in chamber music, playing in a string trio, horn trio, and two string quartets. She also served as concertmaster of the Stanford Symphony Orchestra and the Stanford Philharmonia Orchestra. Rochelle was a member of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra for seven years. She went on two European tours with the SFSYO, traveling to Austria, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Rochelle has attended several summer music festivals, including Music@Menlo, Youth Music International, and Tanglewood Music Center (2009 and 2010), where she worked with renowned conductors such as James Levine, Michael Tilson Thomas, Kurt Masur, Herbert Blomstedt, Leonard Slatkin, Robert Spano, and Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos. Here in Seattle, Rochelle is a member of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, the Seattle Modern Orchestra, and the Puget Sound Concert Opera orchestra. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Bioengineering at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Jesse Nordstrom

Jesse Nordstrom is a Seattle native with a leggiero tenor voice that "excites the listener with easy highs and captivates with surprising power." Jesse's recently sang Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Pacific Northwest Opera last April, and has also performed the lead roles of Nemorino in L'elisir d’amore and Tamino in The Magic Flute. When he's not performing or at his day job, Jesse can be found spending time with his wife Melody and two young daughters, Ruby and Willa. 8/2017

Luke Norvell

Luke Norvell is a tenor studying voice and music education at The Master's University, where he also sings actively in the Los Angeles area. After having sung various bass and baritone roles such as Frank Maurrant in Street Scene, Sprecher, Second Priest, and Second Man in Armor in Die Zauberflöte, Ben in The Telephone, and Vater in Hänsel und Gretel, he has made the transition to tenor. He made his operatic tenoral debut singing Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus in July 2019 and has since sung Monostatos, First Priest, and First Man in Armor in Die Zauberflöte. On the concert stage, he has sung the tenor solos for Mozart's Requiem and in competition, he has both a first and a second place finish in the NATS LA Collegiate Auditions. 9/2019

Caitlin Nuckolls

Susan Payne O'Brien

Susan Payne O'Brien is a poet, performer and opera director living in Seattle. Her writing for theater has been seen on the stages of 2nd Story Chicago, Around the Coyote, Links Hall, The Piven Theatre Workshop and The International Puppetry Festival. She is the founding artistic director of Forte, an all-female improvisational comic opera troupe. In her teaching and work with theatrical and operatic ensembles she is committed to helping students and artists of all levels access authenticity of voice. Recently, she has worked with emerging operatic performers at The Santa Fe Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, DePaul University and The Chicago College of Performing Arts. She is a frequent soloist with Seattle Pro Musica and will be featured in their Spring performances of Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Sea Symphony in conjunction with The Auburn Symphony. 02/2025

Dawn Padula

DAWN PADULA, mezzo-soprano, is a versatile performer of opera, oratorio, musical theatre, jazz, and classical concert repertoire. Opera roles include Carmen in Carmen, Azucena in Il Trovatore, Lady Jane in Patience (2018 Gregory Awards People's Choice Nominee), Lady Blanche in Princess Ida, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, The Third Lady in The Magic Flute, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, Maddalena in Rigoletto, Isabella in The Italian Girl in Algiers, Erika in Vanessa, and the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas. She recently recorded the roles of Zita in Gianni Schicchi and Olga Olsen in Street Scene with the Social Distance Opera. Recent and upcoming engagements include the roles of Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance (Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society), Dame Quickly in Falstaff (Puget Sound Concert Opera), Dryad in Ariadne auf Naxos (Vashon Opera), Armelinde in Cendrillon (Puget Sound Concert Opera) and Maddalena in Rigoletto (Vashon Opera). Notable classical concert work includes performing as a soloist in a concert version of West Side Story with the Tacoma Symphony, being the mezzo-soprano soloist in Penderecki's Credo with the Houston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jahja Ling, and touring to Varna and Sofia, Bulgaria as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Mozart's Requiem with members of the Adelphian Concert Choir, the Portland Symphonic Choir, the Tuscon Masterworks Chorale, the West Liberty University Singers, the West Liberty College Community Chorus, and the Pazardzhik Symphony. Her musical theatre roles include paying tribute to celebrities in Forbidden Broadway's Greatest Hits, Jack's Mother in Sondheim's Into the Woods, Domina in Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Woman 3 in the Kander and Ebb revue, And the World Goes 'Round. She has also performed as a jazz vocalist in venues such as Pacific Lutheran University's Jazz Under the Stars Series and the Puget Sound Jacobsen Series. Her classical solo album, Gracious Moonlight, is available on streaming platforms. Dr. Padula, an award-winning professor, is Director of Vocal Studies at the University of Puget Sound School of Music in Tacoma, WA, where she is the Chair of the Vocal Studies Area, directs the Opera Theater, and co-directs the Songwriting major. 08/2022

Jonathan Pasternack

Jonathan Pasternack has conducted orchestra, opera, ballet and contemporary music performances with such ensembles as the London Symphony Orchestra, Residentie Orkest of the Hague, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, among many others. Pasternack has held positions with the Oregon Symphony, Bellevue Opera, Icicle Creek Music Center, Seattle Junior Youth Symphony, and Pacific Lutheran University. He was appointed Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Washington School of Music in June 2010. His debut recording on the Naxos label, leading the London Symphony Orchestra in Béla Bartók's Miraculous Mandarin suite and the Symphony No. 1 by Johannes Brahms, was released to critical acclaim in January 2011.

Born and raised in New York City, Jonathan Pasternack studied violin, cello, piano, trombone and percussion, before taking up conducting at the age of eighteen. He was educated at the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College of Music, University of Washington, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was a conducting fellow at the Aspen, Brevard and David Oistrakh Music Festivals. Pasternack won Second Prize at the 2002 Cadaqués International Conducting Competition in Barcelona, where he was the only American invited to compete. His principal teachers were Peter Erös, Neeme Järvi, Hans Vonk, James DePreist and Jorma Panula.

Jonathan Pasternack's opera credits in the Pacific Northwest include Lakmé and Adriana Lecouvreur with Puget Sound Concert Opera, Tosca with Skagit Opera, La bohème, Don Carlo and Tosca with Bellevue Opera, Il barbiere di Siviglia with Kitsap Opera, Die Fledermaus with Pacific Lutheran University Opera, the premiere of Gloria Swisher's The Prestigious Music Award with Shoreline Community College Opera, and productions of The Turn of the Screw, Dialogues des Carmèlites, Cendrillon, L'enfant et les sortilèges, Kiss Me, Kate and Hänsel und Gretel with the University of Washington Opera.

Joseph Paolino, Bass

A veteran of the musical stage and theater, bass Joseph Paolino performed in the Seattle Opera chorus for more than twenty years. Operatic roles include The Bonze/Yamadori (Madama Butterfly), Gianni Schicchi, Mr. Gobineau(The Medium), Parpignol (La Bohème), Don Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia). Joseph has performed over twenty musical theater roles including Mayor Shinn (Music Man), Ali Hakim (Oklahoma), Uncle Oscar (Little Mary Sunshine) Senator Wingwoah (Best Little Whorehouse in Texas) and Herr Zeller (Sound of Music). As an actor of the spoken word, he has performed Wilford Morgernhall (The Dock Brief), Johnny (Lullaby), Narrator (The Pink Siamese), Pierre Palillon (Young Ben), Sir Claud Amaory (Agathe Christie's Black Coffee), and Baeutches Requiem and has performed with Seattle Pro Musica.

Micah Parker

Baritone, Micah Parker, debuts with NWEGS for the first time in the title role of Peer Gynt. He's performed such operatic roles as, Captain Corcoran in HMS Pinafore, Fredrik in A Little Night Music, the title role of Gianni Schicchi, Germont in La traviata, the Count in Nozze di Figaro, and Valentin in Faust. He has also played principal roles in Rogers and Hammerstein's Carousel and The King and I. He has done solo work with many symphonic organizations around the Northwest. He regularly recitals in academic and professional settings, particularly enjoying work with younger generations; his penchant for outreach has led him to work with Northwest Opera in Schools, Etc., local community colleges and high schools to showcase opera as an art form. His directing engagements include Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience and Massenet's Cendrillon, performing solos in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Bernstein's Gloria and Fauré's Requiem, and Handel's Messiah. He is a regular chorister with Seattle Opera, and will be next signing the role of the Jailer in Seattle Opera's Tosca and then Zurga in Puget Sound Concert Opera's Pearl Fishers. 04/2025

Rebecca Paul

A recent transplant to the Northwest, Rebecca Paul was a featured performer on TV's "From Odetta to Obama: Celebrating a Changing America" in Seattle's Town Hall. With the University of Washington Opera workshop, Rebecca has performed Amelia Un Ballo in Maschera and Maria Boccanegra Simon Boccanegra. Complete roles performed include Angelica Suor Angelica, Magda The Consul for Notre Dame University and Orlovsky Die Fledermaus for the Rochester Opera Factory. Recent appearances of selected scenes include Elsa Lohengrin and Gertrune Götterdämmerung with the Wagner Theater Program, Cio-Cio San Madama Butterfly with Mannes College of Music, Donna Anna Don Giovanni, La Contessa Le Nozze di Figaro and Leonore Fidelio with Notre Dame University

Recent concert appearances include soprano soloist Haydn Harmoniemesse with the Notre Dame Symphony and soprano soloist Verdi Requiem with Middle Tennessee Choral Arts Society. Additionally, she was a featured soloist for the Opening Ceremony for the Performing Arts Center at Notre Dame University.

Rebecca is an alumna of the the prestigious Merola Opera Program with San Francisco Opera and the Wagner Theater Program at Mannes College of Music. She has received honors from many leading vocal organizations including top prize in the Concerto Competition at Notre Dame University, Grand prize of the National Orpheus Vocal Competition, 2nd Place in the Rochester Oratorio Society "Classical Idol" Competition, Semi-finalist of the Loren Zachary Society National Vocal Competition, and Semi-finalist of the Meistersinger Competition, AIMS, Graz, Austria.

Rebecca is a Doctor of Music candidate at the University of Washington where she continues her vocal studies with Jane Eaglen.

Dustin Peskuric

Dustin Peskuric performs with the Seattle Philharmonic and has appeared with many local ensembles, including the Everett Philharmonic, Saratoga Orchestra of Whidbey Island and Lake Washington Symphony. His background in light opera and musical theatre includes productions with the College Light Opera Company of Falmouth, MA, Taproot Theatre and the Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society. He is a former student of Geoff Johnson of Kenmore, WA and a graduate of New York University, where he studied English literature and music composition. 3/2019

Rebecca Peterson

Rebecca is thrilled to be performing with Puget Sound Concert Opera again this season. Recent appearances include preview performances of Carmen (Micaela) with Seattle Opera Guild; Adriana Lecouvreur (Jouvenot) with Puget Sound Concert Opera; and How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Smitty) with Twelfth Night Productions. Recent appearances of selected scenes include La Bohème (Mimi) in Pacific Lutheran University's Summer Opera Workshop; as well as Susannah (Susannah), Le nozze di Figaro (Countess) and La Bohème (Mimi) in a benefit concert for the historic Vogue Theatre in Cle Elum, WA. Last year she received the Helen Jensen Memorial Award in Voice and first place in the Opera division of the Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside in Bellevue, WA. She is currently studying with Davida Kagen.

Ksenia Popova

Soprano Ksenia Popova has been hailed by The Tacoma News Tribune as “a soprano to watch.” Ms. Popova has sung the roles of Micaëla (Carmen), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Juliette (Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette), Polly Peachum (The Threepenny Opera), Josephine (H.M.S Pinafore) with Tacoma Opera, Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and Gretel (Hansel and Gretel) with Pacific Northwest Opera, Josephine (H.M.S Pinafore) with Opera Coeur d’Alene, Gilda (Rigoletto) and Adele (Die Fledermaus) with Vashon Opera. Previously, Ms. Popova was a Studio Artist with Tulsa Opera, where she covered the role of Marguerite (Faust). As a Resident Artist with Opera San Jose, she performed in the student matinee of Lucia di Lammermoor (as Lucia) and Il Barbiere di Siviglia (as Berta) and sang the role of Madeleine in the West Coast premiere of Kevin Puts’ Silent Night.

In concert, Ms. Popova has appeared as the Soprano Soloist with Carmina Burana with the Greater Seattle Choral Consortium and Sammamish Symphony Orchestra. She is a Metropolitan Opera National Council Third Place Regional winner, as well as having received Audience Favorite and Encouragement Awards. Occasionally, she dips her toes into Musical Theatre, performing the role of Pat Collins in the US premiere of Stephen Edwards’ Moon Landing. Ms.Popova is the Founder of Opera on Tap Seattle, a nonprofit that brings opera to the masses via your local dive bar. Upcoming performances include Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) with Vashon Opera and a debut with Puget Sound Concert Opera as Gulnara (Il Corsaro). 04/2024

Emily Purcell

Emily Mason Purcell appeared previously in Puget Sound Concert Opera's production of Clemenza di Tito, and is pleased to be performing with Puget Sound Opera Company again. Emily has a degree in vocal performance from Seattle Pacific University.

Namarea Randolph-Yosea

Tiina Ritalahti, Soprano

Finnish born soprano, Tiina Ritalahti, makes her debut with Puget Sound Concert Opera in the role of Despina. She delighted audiences throughout Washington while performing Pamina and the Second Lady in The Magic Flute. Her other Mozart roles include Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro and the First Spirit in The Magic Flute. Most recently, Tiina played Belisa in local composer Kam Morrill's Love's Fool. She has extensive experience singing in Menotti's operas: Lucy in The Telephone, Leatitia in The Old Maid and the Thief, Monica in The Medium, and the Second Chambermaid in Amelia Goes to the Ball. Further, she has sung Änchen in Der Freischlütz by Weber and Cis in Britten's Albert Herring. As a featured soloist at the Finnish Arts and Music Festival, she presented selections by Yrjö Kilpinen and Oskar Merikanto. Tiina's passion for singing also extends to art song repertoire, which she performs regularly in recitals around western Washington.

Jeremy Briggs Roberts

Jeremy Briggs Roberts serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Washington Idaho Symphony in Pullman, Washington. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Briggs Roberts served most recently as Music Director of the Icicle Creek Youth Symphony and Summer Symphony, Associate Conductor of the Philharmonisches Kammerorchester Berlin, Music Director of the University of Washington Opera for the 2004-2005 season, Associate Conductor of the University of Washington Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director of the University of Washington Baroque Ensemble and Contemporary Group. A member of the conducting faculty at the 2009 Marrowstone Summer Music Festival in Bellingham, Washington, he has led such ensembles as the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, London Soloists Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Spokane Symphony, Thüringen Philharmonie, Sofia Festival Orchestra and the Bacau Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. His opera credits include productions of Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto, Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, Offenbach's Orphée aux Enfers, Britten's Turn of the Screw, Ravel's L'enfant et les Sortilèges, Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte, Die Zauberflöte, Le Nozze de Figaro, and Der Schauspieldirektor, Salieri's Prima la Musica e Poi le Parole, and Smetana's Bartered Bride.

Dr. Briggs Roberts was a prizewinner at the 2006 Vendôme Academy of Orchestral Conducting in Paris. He has studied and worked closely with many of today's leading conductors including Peter Erös, Janos Fürst, Gerard Schwarz, Jorma Panula, John Nelson, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, and Gianluigi Gelmetti. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Music from the University of Puget Sound and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Washington.

Emily Robinson

Emily Lott Robinson has enjoyed performing with Puget Sound Concert Opera since 2009. She studied Voice and Music History at the University of Washington and Cornell University. Favorite roles include Katisha in The Mikado (understudy), Inez in The Gondoliers, Gertrude in Hamlet, Aase in Peer Gynt, Arden in Das Ende, and Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet. She has also appeared in various film and commercial projects, and sings with Lyric Opera Northwest and the Dickens Carolers.

Mary Rose

Lyric coloratura, Mary Rose, is thrilled to be a part of Cendrillon with Puget Sound Concert Opera. Most recently, Mary sang Norina in Don Pasquale with Tacoma Opera. She has also performed La Cometesse Adele in Le Comte Ory (Chicago Summer Opera), the vixen Bystroushka in The Cunning Little Vixen (L.S.U School of Music) and Lady Psyche in Princess Ida (Houston Gilbert and Sullivan Society). She also covered the role Aveline Mortimer in Elizabeth Cree (L.S.U. School of Music) and Gianetta in The Gondoliers (Houston Gilbert and Sullivan Society). Mary has a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Luther College, and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from L.S.U. School of Music. Mary is currently a student of dramatic soprano Alexandra Lobianco. 08/2022

Jay Rozendaal, Coach and Accompanist

Jay Rozendaal has served as pianist and assistant conductor for numerous productions at Seattle Opera since 1991, and on the staffs of San Francisco Opera, Dallas Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Houston Grand Opera. He is a member of the voice faculty of Western Washington University, and has held positions in the opera departments of the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Akron. In the Seattle area he has performed often as pianist in chamber, recital and concert engagements including the San Juan Chamber Music Festival, the Cascade Symphony, and the Bellevue Philharmonic.

Jay holds the Bachelor of Music degree from Westminster Choir College, and the Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Vitya Vronsky Babin and Paul Schenly. He participated in the inaugural Art Song Festivals in Cleveland, studying with artists such as Elly Ameling, Hakan Hagegard, Dalton Baldwin, Warren Jones, Elisabeth Soderstrom, and Maureen Forrester. He was an apprentice coach in the Houston Grand Opera Studio and in the Merola Opera Program at the San Francisco Opera. He also holds two degrees in theology from the General Theological Seminary, and is an Episcopal priest.

Rachel Routson, Soprano

Rachel Routson, Soprano, has performed the role of Dido in Dido and Aeneas, Leticia in The Old Maid and the Thief, and Poppea in L'incoronatione di Poppea while working on her undergraduate degree at Millikin University. She has been a soprano soloist for Millikin's choral program singing Mozart's Vesperae solennes di confessore and Handel's Messiah. While pursuing her master's degree at University of Washington, she sang the role of Sandrina in La finta giardiniera. She was also a featured as Konstanze in scenes from Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the AIMS program in Graz, Austria as well as soprano soloist in Faure's Requiem with the Whatcom Chorale in Bellingham, Washington. Rachel currently resides in Seattle and studies under the tutelage of Jane Eaglen.

Courtney Ruckman, Soprano

Soprano Courtney Ruckman is a graduate of the University of Maryland where she earned her Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance. On the operatic stage she has enjoyed performances of the Sandman in Hansel and Gretel with the Emerald City Opera Artist Institute, First Lady in Die Zauberflöte with the Bel Cantanti Summer Opera Festival, and Madame Goldentrill in The Impresario with the Bethesda Summer Music Festival. Along with receiving an honorable mention in the 2011 Coeur d'Alene Symphony Young Artist Competition, Mrs. Ruckman took third place in the 2008 Lotte Lehmann Foundation Cybersing Competition, received the 2008 Ruggiero Morigi Artist Award from the Washington, D.C. Italian Cultural Society, and won first place in the 2007 Sue Goetz Ross Memorial Competition. An avid concert performer, she has performed recitals in the concert series of the All Saints Lutheran Church and Riverdale Presbyterian Church. She has also performed as the soprano soloist in Mozart's Coronation Mass and Exsultate Jubilate, Rutter's Requiem, and Handel's Messiah.

Stephen Rumph

Stephen Rumph has established himself as a leading tenor in opera, oratorio, and concert. Stephen made his Seattle Symphony debut in Bach's Cantata 171 and returned to sing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Uematsu's Distant Worlds. Recent operatic credits include Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) and Tamino (The Magic Flute) with Skagit Opera, Don José (Carmen) with Vashon Opera, Rodolfo (La Bohème) with Tacoma Opera, and Loge (The Legend of the Ring) with Berkeley Opera. Concert appearances have included Beethoven's Ninth with Spokane Symphony, Mozart's Requiem with Northwest Sinfonietta, and Handel's Messiah with Bellevue Philarmonic. He will be singing Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana) with Whatcom Symphony this spring. Stephen is a professor of music history at the University of Washington and has just published his second book, Mozart and Enlightenment Semiotics.

John Eric Rutherford, Tenor

John Eric Rutherford, tenor, is currently serving as music professor at Pierce College in Lakewood, Washington. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Otterbein College, a master’s degree from Northwestern University, and is a current doctoral degree student at the University of Washington. He has over 15 years of teaching experience in vocal and instrumental music at all levels. John is also an avid performer. He has appeared in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte as Ferrando, Smetana’s The Bartered Bride as Jenik, Piccinni’s La Bouna Figliuola as Il Marchese, I Capuleti e I Montecchi as Tebaldo, and Britten’s Midsummer Nights Dream as Lysander. His concert works include performances of Schubert’s Mass in G, Bach’s 21st Cantata, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Vivaldi’s Dixit Dominus, Mozart’s C Minor Mass, and Handel’s Joshua. He has also been a featured soloist in many concerts and performances at a variety of venues including Door County Music Festival, Puget Sound Concert Opera, Piccini Theatre in Bari Italy, Seattle Opera, Elmhurst Symphony, Columbus Opera Theatre and Tacoma Opera. 3/2019

Victoria Sadow

Latin-American soprano, Victoria Sadow, is rapidly establishing herself as a premier interpreter of the lyric coloratura repertoire. She made her professional debut with Opera Southwest, covering the role of Amenaide in their 2016 production of Rossini's Tancredi. Her recent operatic appearances include Venus in the world premier of Michael Polo's Pluto, Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Gretel in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, Lucia in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Annina in Strauss II's Eine Nacht in Venedig, Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Susanna in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Esmeralda in Smetana's The Bartered Bride, and Lauretta in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. Her oratorio credits include Mendelssohn's Psalm 42, Brahm's Ein Deutsches Requiem, Faure's Requiem, and Sato's Requiem Pacis.

As an accomplished competitor, Ms. Sadow was the Fourth Place Winner of the 2021 Vienna Summer Music Festival Vocal Competition, First Place winner at the 2014 Classical Singer Regional Vocal Competition and at the 2012 National Association of Teachers of Singing Vocal Competition, as well as Second Place at the 2012 Reiman Opera Competition.

Born and raised in Phoenix, AZ, Ms. Sadow holds a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance from the University of Arizona. She currently makes her home in Washington State. 08/2022

Mariana Sandoval, mezzo-soprano

Mariana Sandoval, mezzo-soprano, is an opera singer from El Paso, Texas based out of Seattle, Washington. Mariana works as an individual giving officer for Seattle Opera and is a teaching artist for Path with Art. Mariana obtained her bachelor's and master's degree in Music Vocal Performance from The University of Texas at El Paso. She began her musical studies at a young age with the El Paso Conservatory of Music. In 2013, she was chosen to perform as a chorus member for "Opera Bhutan," a project which organized the first-ever Western opera performance in the Kingdom of Bhutan with artists hailing from across the globe.

Mariana has performed in numerous productions with El Paso Opera, Opera UTEP, and the UTEP Dinner Theatre. She made her El Paso Opera debut as a soloist in their 2016 holiday concert 'Tis the Season for Opera, covered the role of Tisbe from their 2017 production of Rossini's La Cenerentola, performed the role of The Sandman in their 2018 production of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, was one of the soloists for their 2018 concert Mozart by Moonlight and performed the lead role of Dinah in their 2019 production of Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti. Most recently, she played the role of Luisa Fernanda in Opera UTEP's presentation of the first act of Torroba's Luisa Fernanda and debuted the role of the Calavera in El Paso Opera's production of Frida. Beyond Bhutan, and including USA, Mexico, Italy, and Canada, she is blessed that her singing continues to take her around the world. 07/2023

William Schlott

Will Schlott is a recent graduate of the University of Washington where he earned bachelor's degrees in voice and psychology. Most recently, he sang the roles of Morales and Dancairo in Carmen as well as Snug in A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Miami Beach Summer Classical Music Festival. He is currently preparing to sing Figaro in Opera for the Young's touring production of Barber of Seville. 08/2022

Derek Sellers

Tenor Derek Sellers is thrilled to have the opportunity to return to Puget Sound Concert Opera and the Pacific Northwest music scene after a multi-year hiatus in California's Central Coast region. Long-time attendees of PSCO may recall him in previous appearances as Prunier in Puccini's La Rondine in 2016 and Arbace in Mozart's Idolemeneo in 2012. Prior to moving to California he also regularly performed with the Seattle Opera Chorus, Seattle G&S, and many other companies in the greater Seattle area. Throughout the rest of December there is a chance you may encounter Mr. Sellers performing with his lovely wife Sophia with the Seattle Dickens Carolers, or if you happen to be in the Kent area you may catch him in his other principal occupation working with rockets at Blue Origin. 10/2023

Shaunessey Scott

Shaunessey Fischer Scott is an unlikely musician. In 1998, as a junior in high school in Woodland, CA, he bought his first musical instrument, an electric bass guitar, at a garage sale. The following week, a classmate asked Shaunessey if he would play bass in his rock band. Our young bassist replied that he was interested but that he didn't know how to play his instrument yet. "You have two weeks to learn," the classmate replied. And so, Shaunessey's unlikely career in music began: he learned to play the electric bass guitar well enough to perform with the group and write his own bass lines. He studied the styles of popular bass players of the time and wrote his own musical lines relying mostly on his intuition.

In 2005, having moved to Seattle in order to break into the local rock music scene, Shaunessey decided that it was time to study music in earnest. He took private lessons for double bass and group piano lessons at the Seattle Central Community College. Later, he transferred to Cornish College of the Arts to pursue a degree in Musical Composition. In 2007, he transferred to the University of Washington and studied under Barry Lieberman for his BM in String Performance - Double Bass.

Shaunessey is currently a freelance bassist and gigs regularly with Chicharra Tango (chicharratango.com) and Toy-Box Trio (toyboxtrio.com). He has performed with many Seattle civic orchestras, including the Lake Union Civic Orchestra (luco.org), Philharmonia Northwest (philharmonianw.org), Octava Chamber Orchestra (octavachamberorchestra.com), and the Seattle Peace Chorus (seattlepeacechorus.org). He has also recorded with singer/songwriters Tamara Power-Drutis, Tai Shan and Roxanna Walitzki.

Jennifer Glenn Shoval, Viola

Jennifer Glenn Shoval is an active performer and coach in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. She received her Bachelor's in Viola Performance from the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Pacific and her Masters in Viola Performance from the University of Arizona. She did further studies in Vienna, Austria. Her primary teachers have included Joyce Ramee, Hong-Mei Xiao and Gertrude Rossbacher, former violist with the Berlin Philharmonic. Performing throughout the United States, Austria, China and Mexico Jennifer has worked with such artists as Linda Ronstadt, Rod Stewart, Smokey Robinson, the Brubeck Quartet, Mannheim Steamroller and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. She regularly performs with the Yakima and Federal Way Symphonies, Octava Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Choral Company and Puget Sound Concert Opera. She is also involved in film/videogame soundtrack recordings and coach's chamber music at Academy of Music Northwest.

Jonathan Silvia, Bass-baritone

Jonathan Silvia (bass-baritone) is a young singer who has been attracting notice with his distinct timbre, secure technique, fine musicianship, and incisive interpretative gifts. Nationally, he has appeared at Des Moines Metro Opera, singing the title role of Carlisle Floyd’s Markheim, and at Opera Tampa as Colline (La Bohème). For Seattle Opera, he has performed several principal roles, most recently as the High Priest of Baal (Nabucco). Appearances with other Northwest opera companies include Colline (La Bohème) and Sam (Trouble in Tahiti) with Tacoma Opera, Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro) with Kitsap Opera, Ramfis (Aïda), Sarastro/Sprecher (The Magic Flute), and Alidoro (La Cenerentola) with Skagit Opera, Leporello (Don Giovanni), Zuniga (Carmen) and Basilio (Barber of Seville) with Vashon Opera, Kaspar (Der Freischütz), Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra) and Nilakantha (Lakmé) with Puget Sound Concert Opera, and Filippo (Don Carlo) and Alidoro in (La Cenerentola) with Bellevue Opera. With Music of Remembrance, he portrayed Death in Ullmann's Emperor of Atlantis to critical acclaim. In 2014, Mr. Silvia premiered The Lost Voice, a one-act children's opera composed by Aaron Grad. He also sang the title role in Britten’s Noye’s Fludde at Bellevue Presbyterian Church, where he is a resident soloist. He is a frequent concert artist, performing works such as the Brahms’ Requiem and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Handel's Messiah, and performs and records regularly with the Byrd Ensemble. As an advocate for singing, he performed three seasons with Northwest Opera In Schools, Etc. and has taught privately and at the university level for over a decade. Mr. Silvia is a graduate of Lawrence University, Wisconsin, with a degree in Voice Performance and Pedagogy. 9/2015

Korland Simmons

Praised for his ringing voice and easy stage presence, Korland Simmons is a recent transplant to the Pacific Northwest. Most recently, he has appeared in the following roles: Police Buddy 2/Congregant 2 in Blue (Seattle Opera), Don Ramiro in La Cennerentola (Seattle Opera Guild previews), Don Ottavio (Don Giovani-Opera Bend), and Andres/Cochenille/Franz/Pittichinaccio (Les Contes d'Hoffmann-Pacific Northwest Opera). Previous roles include Don Basilio/Don Curzio (Le Nozze di Figaro), Mendoza (Hiram Titus' Rosina), Remus (Treemonisha), Remendado (Carmen), Eduardo Milfort (La Cambiale Matrimonio) and Mayor Upfold (Albert Herring). In addition to opera, Korland is also chorister at Seattle Opera. He studies voice, currently, with Neil Semer. 08/2022

Diann Spicer

Diann Spicer (soprano) has performed with many groups including Choir of the Sound, Evergreen Chorale, Lyric Opera Northwest, and Lyric Light Opera. She is currently a featured soloist and board member of PLU's Choral Union, having been a member since 2013. Diann has performed in many musical productions since receiving her degree in Music Arts with a German minor from Pacific Lutheran University in 2002. She looks forward to continuing to perform with Puget Sound Concert Opera as she has been doing since 2010. 6/2016

Adam Sterling

Charles Robert Stephens

Charles Robert Stephens’s career spans a wide variety of roles and styles in opera and concert music. His performances show “a committed characterization and a voice of considerable beauty.” (Opera News) At the New York City Opera he sang the role of Professor Friedrich Bhaer in the New York premiere of Adamo’s Little Women, and was hailed by The New York Times as a “baritone of smooth distinction.” Since his debut as Marcello in La Bohème, Mr. Stephens’ New York City Opera roles include Frank in Die Tote Stadt, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, and 43 performances as Germont in La Traviata on tour across the US.

Mr. Stephens has sung on numerous occasions at Carnegie Hall in a variety of roles with the Oratorio Society of New York (St. Matthew Passion), the Masterworks Chorus (Messiah), and Musica Sacra (Lord Nelson Mass). Carnegie Hall performances with Opera Orchestra of New York have included roles in Otello, Lucrezia Borgia, and Adriana Lecouvreur.

Mr. Stephens’ many operatic roles include Rigoletto (National Theater of Taiwan), Amonasro (El Paso Opera), Germont (Montevideo, Uruguay and Minnesota Opera), Rodrigo (Boston Bel Canto), Count di Luna (Boston Bel Canto), Gianni Schicchi (Buffalo Opera), Tonio ( Di Capo Opera), Enrico (Connecticut Opera), Sharpless (National Theater of Santo Domingo), the Barber in Figaro (Hawaii Opera) and many others, with leading opera companies throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Memorable engagements include the role of the blind Tiresias in Niobe, Queen of Thebes with the Boston Early Music Festival, Scarpia in Tosca and Rigoletto in Spokane, Belcore, Sharpless and Escamillio with the Helena Symphony, Britten’s Cantata Misericordia in Tacoma and Seattle, Verdi’s Requiem in Philadelphia, Messiah with the Santa Fe Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony, Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony with the Tacoma Symphony, The High Priest in Samson and Delilah in Birmingham and the Bach St. John Passion with Portland Baroque and the Northwest Sinfonietta. Festival appearances include performances at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts and the Methow Chamber Music Festival, a return engagement at the Spoletto Festival in the Brahms Requiem with the Westminster Choir and TV appearances in New York City as a featured artist with “Regina Resnik Presents.”

Notable engagements include Elijah with Seattle Pro Musica and Portland Chamber Orchestra, and the Brahms Requiem with the Bellingham Festival, Choral Arts and Northwest Repertory Singers, Carmina Burana with the Hartford Symphony, Haydn’s Creation with the North Carolina Symphony.

Last season opened with his 5th appearance with the Seattle Symphony (opening night concert) and ended with his 11th appearance with the Helena Symphony (Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony).

This season will include performances of the Monteverdi Vespers as his 5th engagement with Pacific Musicworks, Messiah with Tacoma Symphony and Bellevue Ballet, Brahms Requiem in Missoula and Olympia, the title role in Rigoletto with Northwest Lyric Opera, Bach B Minor Mass with Seattle Pro Musica and Haydn’s Mass in Time of War with the Northwest Sinfonietta.8/2016

Corinne Stevens, Soprano

Corinne Stevens is a young lyric mezzo-soprano currently performing in the Pacific Northwest. A 2008 recipient of the Anna Sosekno Assist Trust, she recently completed a run of H.M.S. Pinafore with Skagit Opera as the understudy to Buttercup and has appeared as Ines in Il Trovatore with Puget Sound Concert Opera as well as in the chorus of La Bohème with Skagit Opera. She looks forward to performing the lead role of Metella in La Vie Parisienne and Mastrilla in La Pèrichole at the Franco American Vocal Academy in Pèrigord, France this summer. She has appeared frequently in recitals on San Juan Island, most notably as the soprano soloist in Vivaldi's Gloria with the San Juan Singers and the Victoria Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Yariv Aloni in Christmas 2007. Before coming to Washington, she studied voice in Vienna, Austria with Carol Blaickner-Mayo after completing her music degree at Skidmore College in NY.

Katie Stevenson

Mezzo-soprano Katie H. Stevenson performed in numerous concerts and operas on the East Coast, Canada, and Europe before moving to Seattle in 2015. While living Europe. she performed in Überlingen Germany, the Kilkenny Music Festival in Ireland, and several concerts in England. Following her performance at the Ilmington Music Festival in England, the Stratford Herald praised her for her "beautiful singing!" In NYC her career blossomed and she performed numerous opera roles such as Carmen and Mercedes (Carmen), Romeo (I Capuleti e I Montecchi), Dorabella (Cosi fan tutte), and Emilia (Otello), along with concert appearances at DiCapo Opera, Opera Collective, and Opera on Tap NYC. During her years in Anchorage Alaska, Katie performed with the Anchorage Opera as well as the Anchorage Concert Choir Assoc., while also traveling out of state to perform in Young Artist programs in Canada and N. Carolina. Since moving to Seattle she has performed roles and concerts with Puget Sound Concert Opera, NW Opera In Schools (N.O.I.S.E.), Seattle Modern Opera Company, Bellevue Festival of the Nativity, and the Ladies' Musical Club. Last season she performed the roles of Emilia (Otello) and Annina (Der Rosenkavalier), while also covering Octavian, with Pacific NW Opera. She made her Seattle Opera Tagney Recital Hall debut last summer in new operas with the Seattle Opera Creation Lab program. She also recently performed with Bellevue Opera as Mercedes (Carmen) while also covering the role of Carmen. This coming season she will be performing numerous roles with Tacoma Opera and Puget Sound Concert Opera. In addition to performing, Katie teaches voice and piano to young students and is the president-elect for the Puget Sound Chapter of NATS. www.katiehstevensonmezzo.com 10/2023

Charles Lyon Stewart

07/2024

Jon Suek

Jon Suek, a tenor hailing from the Evergreen State, began his singing journey at Western Washington University, showcasing his talent in roles such as Masetto in Don Giovanni and Pandolf in Cendrillon. His pursuit of tenor repertoire led him to the cold winters and high notes of the Midwest at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he portrayed characters like Don Ottavio and King Kaspar. During his time in Nebraska, standout recitals included Schumann's Dichterliebe and Britten's Winter Words. Post-Nebraska, Mr. Suek ventured to Graz, Austria, teaching English for two years before immersing himself in the language of opera during a six-month stint in Italy. Returning to the U.S., he took on diverse roles, from a preview of Steve Jobs in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs to chorister duties in Seattle Opera's La Traviata and Tamino in a reduced English version of The Magic Flute with N.O.I.S.E. In 2023, he graced the stages of the Aquilon Music Festival, the Mostly Modern Festival in New York, and the Lyric Opera Studio Weimar. 1/2024

Kristen Swenson, Soprano

Kristen Swenson (soprano) is delighted to make her debut with Puget Sound Concert Opera in Don Giovanni. She is a graduate of Western Washington University where she received her Bachelors in music and a graduate of University of Nebraska Lincoln where she received her Masters in music. Her previous operatic roles include Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, La Fèe in Massenet's Cendrillon, Diana in William Bolcom's A Wedding, Geraldina in A Hand of Bridge, and her European debut as Berginella in La Périchole. Up next she will be making her debut in Lyric Opera Northwest's production of Puccini's La Bohème. She will also perform in the upcoming concert series put on by the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle. She will perform Debussy's Ariettes Oubliées in November and “Schlafe, mein Liebster” from Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen in the Bach Centennial in the spring. 8/2018

Jocelyn Claire Thomas

Praised for her “staggeringly brilliant…ethereal soprano” (The Source) Jocelyn Claire Thomas has engaged audiences with her haunting sound, musical intelligence, and unusual versatility. She has sung more than 40 operatic roles with Portland Opera, Tacoma Opera, Eugene Opera, Inland Northwest Opera, Opera Theater Oregon, OperaBend, Brava Opera Theater, Cascadia Chamber Opera, and many others. Recent solo highlights include Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Salem Philharmonia Orchestra, “Amore” in Orpheus & Eurydice with Inland Northwest Opera, Soprano Soloist in Dvorak's Stabat Mater with Festival Chorale Oregon, and “Nedda” in Pagliacci with OperaBend. Some upcoming engagements include Soprano Soloist in Messiah with the Coulter Concert Series, “Mother” in Amahl and the Night Visitors with Ping & Woof Opera, and Soprano Soloist in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Willamette Master Chorus. Jocelyn holds a B.M. from the Oberlin Conservatory, and both an M.M. and Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory. Currently based in Portland, OR, Jocelyn maintains a private studio in voice, piano, and flute. www.jocelynclairethomas.com 9/2024

Regina Thomas, Soprano

Noted for her portrayal of Alice Ford (Falstaff) for Repertory Opera Company, Los Angeles, Regina Thomas is described as a "buoyant soprano with solid technique". A high honors recipient in both Opera and Art Song divisions at the Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside(Bellevue, WA) and a semi-finalist at Il Concorso Internationale di Canto Lirico (Siena, Italy), Regina now continues her studies with Jane Eaglen. An outstanding member of the Northwest Musical community for over 20 years, Regina Thomas has performed with a variety of companies including Kitsap Opera, Willamette Concert Opera, Bellevue Opera, Puget Sound Concert Opera, Seattle Opera and the Seattle Opera Guild. She is currently the Opera Director and President Elect for the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle. Operatic roles include Suor Angelica, Tosca, Marguerite (Faust), Lady MacBeth (MacBeth), Leonora (Il Trovatore), Vitellia (La Clemenza di Tito), Prince Orlovsky (Die Fledermaus), The Mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Dorabella (Cosi Fan Tutte), Mother (Hansel and Gretel) and Judith (Bluebeard's Castle). In concert, she has performed soprano solos from Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Ein Deutches Requiem and Fauré Requiem as well as Berio's Folk Songs for Mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble.

Catherine Treadgold

Catherine Treadgold, mezzo soprano, began her career in New York, performing in musicals, operas, and oratorios. In Seattle she has toured with NOISE, lectured and sung for Seattle Opera previews, and performed with such groups as Bellevue Opera and Musical Experiences. A former winner of the UW’s Brechemin Scholarship, Ms. Treadgold has a BA cum laude from Princeton and a MM from the UW. She is a member of Actors’ Equity and was once certified as a stage fighter. For five years, Catherine was a voice professor at Shoreline Community College. To learn more, go to www.catherinetreadgoldmezzo.com. 4/2019

Gwen Trussler

Gwen Trussler mezzo-soprano, holds Performance degrees from Florida State University (BM/MM) as well as ARRT Certification in Radiography, Computed Tomography, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. She has appeared with Tacoma Musical Playhouse, Heavier Than Air Theatre, Evergreen Performers, TMP Family Theater, Amici Opera, Operesque, South Georgia Opera, and Florida State Opera. A Wagner enthusiast, she was chosen to perform in the inaugural year of the Baldwin-Wallace Wagner Intensive where she coached with Jane Eaglen, Timothy Mussard, and Nancy Maultsby. Gwen works with MultiCare and Franciscan Health as an MRI Technologist and is also a Voice Over artist specializing in audiobook narration. 10/2021

Sherry Tuinstra

Natalie Toida, Violin

Natalie Toida began studying the violin at age 6 and played her first opera, Britten's Noye's Fludde, at the age of 8. In 1982 Natalie and her family moved to Virginia Beach, where she continued private lessons in the Suzuki Method until high school. Throughout her teenage years, she performed with the Virginia Youth Symphony Orchestra as well as numerous chamber ensembles throughout Virginia. During her senior year she and a fellow violinist created the Southside String Ensemble which later grew to become the Hampton Roads Youth Orchestra. In college, Natalie continued her musical studies at James Madison University and received a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance in 1993. Upon completing her degree, Natalie moved to Seattle and began performing with the Seattle Philharmonic, the Federal Way Symphony, the Bellevue Opera, and the Evergreen City Ballet, in addition to freelancing. Recently she performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the 9th Street Philharmonic in Columbia, MO.

Denes Van Parys

A conductor of both Opera and Musical Theater, Denes Van Parys has led performances for numerous opera companies, theaters and orchestras both in America and abroad. He had a long tenure at Tri-Cities Opera, a large regional opera company in upstate New York and has conducted several national tours of Broadway musicals. He also routinely travels to Asia where he has led many orchestra concerts with, among others, the Taipei Symphony. As an educator, Denes served on the faculty of Ithaca C ollege as Director of Opera and Musical Theatre. He has also directed Education Outreach and Singer Training Programs for Ithaca Opera, Delaware Valley Opera and for Tri-Cities Opera (Binghamton) where he also taught for the M.M. Opera Program run in conjunction with the State University of New York (now Binghamton University. He is currently a Staff Accompanist for Pacific Lutheran University and University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. He gives workshops throughout the year and spends each summer running the Musical Theatre program at Camp Starlight in the mountains of Pennsylvania. An active composer and recipient of a Meet-the-Composer Grant, he has seen his works performed across the country. His works include song cycles, a trumpet concerto, a setting of the Mass, a Requiem and the opera House of Butterflies. He was commissioned to compose a Jazz setting of the Lutheran Worship's Mass and Service of the Word for Trinity Lutheran Church in Pullman WA and continues to write music for the Church and for the Theater.

Kristin Vogel

Acclaimed for her powerful lyric voice, her intensity onstage, and her well-honed vocal technique, Kristin Vogel has been honored in multiple international competitions and is sought for roles that require dramatic passion and sensitive musicality. Originally from Texas, Ms. Vogel has enjoyed traveling as a musician and meeting wonderful people all over the world. Now residing in the Seattle area, Ms. Vogel enjoys frequent engagements with companies in the Pacific Northwest in addition to maintaining her international performing schedule. Highlights for this season include her first full Tosca, recitals at Edmonds' Cascadia Art Museum, soloing with Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra, and joining the Seattle chapter of Opera On Tap for some high-quality fun. Recent local performances include her debut with Symphony Tacoma as the soprano soloist in Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra, operetta and classic holiday tunes as the featured soloist on the Cascade Symphony holiday concert, and Mimì with Tacoma Opera. Ms. Vogel also recently sang Liù with Knoxville Opera in their touring production of Turandot and joined the Utah Festival Opera as the title role in Madama Butterfly and the Soprano Soloist in their performance of Verdi's Requiem. Other notable performances include Nedda in I Pagliacci with St. Petersburg Opera in Florida, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Asheville Lyric Opera, Marguerite in Faust with Boheme Opera New Jersey, and many Mozart heroines in a series of “3 Divas” concerts with Northwest Sinfonietta in Seattle, Tacoma, and Puyallup. Ms. Vogel has a personal goal to sing all of Puccini's heroines.

9/2024

David Wadden

Bass-baritone David Wadden began his singing career in Boston. As an Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera, he sang the Marchese in La Traviata and Andret in Frank Martin's The Love Potion. Also with BLO, he was a soloist in Boston's Landmarks summer concert series. Local productions included Colline in La Boheme with Longwood Opera, Bertan in Iolanta with Commonwealth Lyric Theater, and Bermiata in Snegurochka with Lowell House opera. He is currently pursuing a degree in computer science at the UW and has participated in opera scenes with the UW Opera Theater. He looks forward to his first production with Puget Sound Concert Opera. 9/2018

Malinda Wagstaff

Malinda Wagstaff is a warmhearted soprano pursuing her master's degree at Indiana University under the tutelage of Carol Vaness. This spring, Ms. Wagstaff will perform the titular role in Tosca scenes in Heidi Grant Murphy's Opera Workshop. This season, Malinda was featured as Annina in La Traviata with Inland Northwest Opera. She also performed as Mutter in Indiana University's production of Hänsel und Gretel. Previously at IU, Malinda has performed as First Lady in Die Zauberflöte and in the ensembles of Falstaff, La Rondine, and the world premiere of Anne Frank by Shulamit Ran. In Carol Vaness's Opera Workshop, she performed the role of Manon in act two of Manon Lescaut. Malinda earned her bachelor's degree with high distinction from the Eastman School of Music with an Arts Leadership Certificate. While at Eastman, she prepared the role of Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd (cancelled due to Covid-19). She also performed as Angel More in The Mother of Us All with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and La Chouette in L'enfant et les Sortilèges. Recent awards include an encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Oregon District and a first prize award in the Coeur d'Alene Symphony's Young Artist Competition. Malinda has participated in the Prague Summer Nights Festival, Harrower Summer Opera Festival, and the Mediterranean Opera Studio Festival. That festival work included role preparation of Suor Angelica (cancelled due to Covid-19), a performance as Effie in The Ballad of Baby Doe, Czech opera scene work, and ensemble performances in Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro. Malinda also serves as a teaching artist and the vice president of the non-profit What is Opera, Anyway? 7/2023

Stephen Wall

Stephen Wall made his debut at Seattle Opera as the Young Servant in Elektra in 1984. At Seattle Opera he has appeared in 80 productions including Tannhauser, Lohengrin, Die Meistersinger, Salome, Boris Godonouv, War and Peace, The Ballad of Baby Doe and Un Ballo in Maschera. He has performed roles with Portland Opera, Utah Festival Opera, and Tacoma Opera. He is a soloist with the Symphonies of Seattle, Spokane, Vancouver ( B. C. ) and Sapporo Japan. From 1985 until 2010 Stephen performed as tenor soloist in all of the major cantatas and oratorios of Bach and Handel with Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers under the baton of George Shangrow. Stephen has been the tenor section leader with the Seattle Opera chorus since 1999. His students have gone on to professional singing careers, been winners of The Met auditions as well won scholarships to several different young artists programs. He has participated in Seattle Opera previews as a soloist and speaker since 1980. 4/2015

James Walters, Tenor

James Walters is seen regularly on West Coast stages. His most recently performed roles are from the Bel Canto repertoire; Elvino in Bellini's La Sonnambula with Puget Sound Opera and Tonio in Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment with Kitsap Opera. Of his performance of Elvino Bernard Jacobson of MusicWeb International wrote "The most elegant of the soloists was tenor James Walters, who brought agreeably light tone and a nice sense of line to the central role of Elvino." Other performances with Kitsap Opera include Alfred in Strauss' Die Fledermaus, Basilio & Curzio in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Gastone in Verdi's La Traviata, and Monostatos in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. James has also been seen as The Lover in Menotti's Amelia Goes to the Ball with Puget Sound Opera, Agenore in Mozart's Il Re Pastore with Off-Center Opera, Camille in Lehar's The Merry Widow with Willamette Concert Opera, Don Octave in P.D.Q. Bach's The Stoned Guest with Tacoma Opera, Don Basilio in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro and Remendado in Bizet's Carmen with Opera Pacifica, toured with NOISE as Hoffmann in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann, and appeared with Bellevue opera in Verdi's La Traviata, and Puccini's Madama Butterfly. In concert James has been heard several times in Astoria Oregon's Clatsop College's Arts & Ideas concert series performing opera arias and ensembles; including Bill in Barber's short opera A Hand of Bridge. Other concert performances include the Tenor Soloist in Bach's Coffee Cantata with Olympia Chamber Orchestra, several performances as the Tenor soloist in Handel's Messiah, a concert of Mozart selections as a guest of the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle, and many other concerts and recitals with various local organizations including: Skagit Opera, Bellevue Opera, Kitsap Opera, Puget Sound Opera, Vocal Arts Northwest, West Sound Lyric Theatre Ensemble, Seattle Civic Opera Association, and the Seattle Musical Arts Society who awarded James with a Helen Crowe Snelling Scholarship from their vocal competition in 2004.

Colin Ward

Colin Ward has been studying voice for about six years. He is a graduate of Western Washington University with a major in Political Science and a minor in Music. Colin has appeared in many concerts and operas including The Ballad of Baby Doe as Bushy, Le Nozze di Figaro as Count Almaviva, and I Pagliacci as Beppe. Colin Ward also occasionally performs with the Seattle Opera Chorus. Colin sings regularly with Puget Sound Concert Opera, notably as the Priest (Idomeneo) and Frederico (L'amico Fritz). 4/2015

Ralph Wells, Baritone

Baritone Ralph Wells appeared with the Los Angeles Opera as Sonora in La Fanciulla del West with Placido Domingo in 2002, and he returned the following season for Die Frau ohne Schatten under Kent Nagano. 2002 also saw his Lincoln Center debut in Gordon Getty's Joan and the Bells, and he was a soloist in Mozart's Requiem with the Pasadena Pops on the anniversary of September 11th. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer called Wells "expressive and impassioned, on a grand scale with big projection, big tone and big personality." He has over fifty major roles, including Escamillo, Eisenstein, Oberto, Ford, Germont, Francesco (in I Masnadieri), Don Carlo (in Ernani), Telramund, Figaro (in The Barber of Seville), Taddeo, Sharpless, Alfio, Tonio, Silvio, Mercutio, Valentin, Don Giovanni, Guglielmo, Salieri, Danilo, Schaunard, and Getty's Falstaff in Plump Jack. His oratorios include Elijah, Carmina Burana, Ein Deutsches Requiem by Brahms, the Fauré Requiem, Duruflé Requiem, Bach's Magnificat, Berlioz's L'Enfance du Christ, Handel's Messiah and Belshazzar, Bloch's Sacred Service, Mozart's Vespers in C, Puccini's Messa di Gloria, the Saint-Saëns Christmas Oratorio, and Haydn's Mass in Time of War. His other orchestral credits include Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije and Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony. He has sung with Seattle Opera, Tulsa Opera, Portland Opera, Nevada Opera Theater, Oakland Opera, Townsend Opera, San Francisco Opera's Merola Program and Western Opera Theater, Pocket Opera, Boise Opera, Eugene Opera, Dartmouth Opera, Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Bozeman Symphony, and Yakima Symphony. His New York recital debut was in 1997, at the Roosevelt home in a tribute to Lawrence Tibbett. His awards include the Petri Scholarship for European Study and winning the San Francisco Opera Auditions. He has toured with Community Concerts and can be heard on his CD, The Ash Grove and other Concert Songs. 1/2008

Robert Wise

Baritone Robert Wise is a recent graduate of Iowa State University from Iowa City, Iowa. Previously, he joined PSCO in their production of La sonnambula as Alessio. His recent roles include Tommy in Lerner and Loewe's Brigadoon, Frank Maurrant in Weill's Street Scene, the Sorcerer in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, and Le Baron de Pictordu in Viardot's Cendrillon. He previously placed first in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Central Region Competition and second in his division for the 2022 National NATS competition. He looks forward to joining PSCO for another great season. 08/2023

Alexa Woodard, Violin

Violist Alexa Woodard has been living and performing in Seattle since 2018. You can find her playing most frequently with the Puget Sound Concert Opera and Everett Philharmonic Orchestra. She received her BA in viola performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. When she isn't gigging, teaching, or working her day job, Alexa enjoys hiking, reading, baking, and spending quality time with her dog, Willow. 6/2023

Lavert Woodard Jr.

Lavert Woodard Jr, hails from Chattanooga TN, he attended Tennessee State University (HBCU) majoring in Music Education. While at Tennessee State, he participated in the marching and concert bands as well as the University Choir, Meistersingers (concert choir) and String Ensemble.

After graduation, he moved to Mountlake Terrace WA where he was the band and choir director at Mt Lake Terrace High School and band director at Brier Terrace Middle School a position which he held for 2yrs, followed by 1yr as choir director at Baker Middle school in Tacoma WA.

From 1985 through 1998 he was director of the Brotherhood Chorus at Mount Zion Baptist Church Seattle. In 1987 he became one of the original members of the Sounds of the Northwest choral group, founded by Juan Huey-Ray. From 1989 - 1998 he was a member of the Seattle Opera Chorus and also sang with the Seattle Symphony Chorus from 2014-2016. In 2023 he rejoined the Sounds of the northwest with whom he currently sings. 01/2025

Eliza Woodyard

Eliza Woodyard (soprano) is thrilled to take part in Puget Sound Concert Opera's 2018-19 season. Most recently she sang the roles of Gretel in Hansel and Gretel and Olympia in The Tales of Hoffmann: The Doll Act with Northwest Opera In Schools. Other operatic performances include Silver Dollar in The Ballad of Baby Doe with Opera Fort Collins, Erste Knabe in Die Zauberflöte with Opera Classica Europa,Yvette in La rondine with Puget Sound Concert Opera, Adele in Die Fledermaus with the Greeley Philarmonic, and Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte with the University of Northern Colorado Summer Opera Tour. In addition to concert repertoire such as Bach's Coffee Cantata and Peasant Cantata, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, and Bruckner's Te Deum, Eliza has participated in the world premieres of André von Haren's "Spirit Painting" and Michel Edward's War Symphony with Octava Chamber Orchestra. Additionally, she has appeared as a member of the Seattle Opera chorus in Nabucco, The Pearl Fishers, The Flying Dutchman, and Aïda. Eliza holds a master's degree in vocal performance from the University of Northern Colorado 8/2018

Lesley Chapin Wyckoff

Lesley Chapin Wyckoff, soprano, is distinguished in both concert and opera repertory, having won honors from the Metropolitan and San Francisco Operas. She has written and performed a series of humorous presentations including: I Wanna be a Prima Donna; Opera 101; Holidays Around the World; Opera, Inside Out; Champagne's Delicious Bubbles: the Lighter Side of Opera; and Naughty but Nice: A Survey of Centuries of Saucy Songs. She is a past president of Ladies Musical Club and a current member of the Seattle Opera Board of Trustees. 4/2023

Elizabeth Galafa Ylaya

Soprano Elizabeth Galafa Ylaya is of Puerto Rican heritage & grew up bilingual. She was born in San Diego, California and raised in Orlando, Florida, where she began her vocal training at 14.

This past July, Elizabeth made her debut at the 45th Annual Oregon Coast Music Festival, where she performed several Spanish selections with the Pops Orchestra.

She begins her 2023-2024 season joining local artists Eli Schille-Hudson, classical guitarist and Cori Belle, pianist, in a Hispanic Heritage Concert, as a part of the Snohomish Concert Series. This holiday season you can catch Elizabeth with the Tacoma Concert Band, performing in their annual holiday concert, “Joy to the World”.

The 2022-2023 season included a recital at Dancing Fish Vineyards, performing classic Musical Theatre hits with local artists. In December 2022, she appeared as featured soloist with Symphony Tacoma in their Holiday Favorites concert. She also joined Tacoma Concert Band for their Sousa Spectacular.

In the 2021-2022 season, Elizabeth made her debut with the Federal Way Symphony, singing Rodrigo's “Tríptic de Mossén Cinto”. In September 2021, she performed a solo recital at Seattle Opera, commemorating Seattle Opera's first indoor public performance since the Covid-19 pandemic.

In November 2019, she made her Seattle Opera debut, performing the role of Toledo in the new American opera: The Falling and the Rising.

Some previous performance credits include Anita in West Side Story with Symphony Tacoma, Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni & Lola in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, both with OperaBend, & Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with N.O.I.S.E (Northwest Opera in Schools, etc.).

Elizabeth received an Encouragement Award at the 2018 Seattle Opera Guild Awards. She was also named a 2018 semi-finalist at the NATSAA Finals in New York City.

Elizabeth has been a young artist at Aquilon Music Festival, Miami Music Festival, and Operaworks. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance from Stetson University and a Master's degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Michigan.

Elizabeth is also a private voice teacher & a licensed Music Together® teacher, a worldwide music & movement program for children from birth through age eight. She currently resides in Edmonds, Washington with her husband. 07/2024

Jenny Ziefel

Jenny Ziefel is a classically trained clarinet and saxophone player with wide ranging musical interests. She is involved in many different styles of music including orchestral playing, chamber music, jazz, free improvisation, new music, music theatre, and more. She has been teaching professionally since 1992 and in the Seattle area since 1998. She has played with the Seattle Bass Clarinet Project (Setzer/Ziefel Duo), the Bellevue Philharmonic, the Lake Washington Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra, Cascade Symphony, the Eastside Chamber Music Series, and countless other ensembles in the Seattle area. 4/2023