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Rachel Watkins,
soprano (Gilda)
 Last season soprano Rachel Watkins made her debut
with Opera Tampa as Juliette in Romeo et Juliette.
Other recent performances include Adina in L’elisir
d’amore,
Violetta in La traviata and Die Königen die
Nacht in Die Zauberflöte with Opernhaus Zürich.
In 2007, Anton Coppola selected Ms. Watkins to sing
the title role of Rosina in his opera Sacco and Vanzetti. An
active recitalist in both Europe and the United States, she
recently made her Lincoln Center debut under the auspices
of the Joy in Singing Foundation. Ms. Watkins has won awards
in numerous competitions including the MacAllister Opera
Competition, the Rosa Ponselle Competition, the Liederkranz
Competition and the Jenny Lind Soprano Competition. She holds
a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Loyola University
in New Orleans, and a Master of Music from Yale University.
Yoonsoo Shin, tenor
(The Duke)
 Korean
Tenor Yoonsoo Shin makes his company debut with this production.
Mr. Shin holds an artist diploma from Indiana University
and Master’s degree from the University
of Maryland where he studied under distinguished artists
including Giorgio Tozzi and Dominic Cossa. He has received
numerous awards from prestigious competitions including the
Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation, the Liederkranz Foundation
for Voice Competition, and the
Metropolitan National Opera Competition where he was a national
semi-finalist. Mr. Shin performed the role of the Duke
as a young artist with the Merola program at San Francisco
Opera. He has gone on to perform at various leading opera
companies in the United States including Cleveland Opera
and New York City Opera where he specializes in lyric tenor
roles including Rodolfo in La bohème, Ferrando
in Cosi
fan tutte, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor and
Des Grieux in Manon.
Audrey Babcock,
mezzo-soprano (Maddelena/Giovanna)
 Toledo
Opera patrons will remember Ms. Babcock’s stunning
portrayal of the title character in last season’s production
of Carmen. Other recent performances include the
leading role in the Tobias Picker opera Therese Raquin with
Dicapo Opera, and Maddalena in Rigoletto with Florida
Grand Opera. Past productions include Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney
Todd and Tisbe in La Cenerentola at Wolf Trap
Opera, Carmen in The Tragedy of Carmen with Florida
Grand Opera and the title role in Benjamin Britten’s The
Rape of Lucretia at Santa Fe Opera in their apprentice
artist showcase performance. She is a winner of numerous
awards and competitions including the George London Award,
the Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation Award, and an Opera
Index Encouragement Award.
Stephen Kechulius,
baritone (Rigoletto)
 Among Mr. Kechulius’ recent successes was his
highly acclaimed German debut in the title role in Falstaff for
Opera Frankfurt. Other appearances include the title role
of Rigoletto at the Macau International Music Festival
in China, Seattle Opera, and the Greek National Opera. He
has sung Germont in La traviata with the Minnesota
Orchestra, Jack Rance in La fanciulla del West at
the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Germont in La traviata with
L’Opéra de Montréal. Mr. Kechulius made
his New York City Opera debut singing Baron Scarpia in Tosca,
and returned to sing the role of Leonidas in Mark Adamo’s Lysistrata .
His international appearances include his debut at Wexford
Festival as Blitch in Susannah, the title role in Nabucco for
Pacific Opera Victoria, and performances as Iago in Otello with
De Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp and Ghent. In 2001, Mr. Kechulius
sang the role of Enrico in Toledo Opera’s production
of Lucia di Lammermoor.
Randall Jakobsh,
bass (Sparafucile)
 From
British Columbia, bass Randall Jakobsh has established an
international reputation with important engagements with major
opera companies in Europe, South America, Canada and the United
States. He recently made his Salzburg debut as Pharnaces in König
Kandaules by Alexander
Zemlinsky, a role he reprised at Opéra Nancy, and
Teatro Colon de Buenes Aires. He debuted at Teatro Liceu
in Barcelona as Le Spectre in Hamlet and returned
to Barcelona as L’Ombra di Nono in Rossini’s Semiramide.
With Washington Opera he has been heard as Alidoro in La
Cenerentola, and has appeared with the Baltimore Opera
as Escamillo in Carmen. Fluent in German, he has
been engaged by the opera houses of Köln, Hamburg, Kassel,
Düsseldorf, Stuttgart and the Niedersächsische
Staatsoper Hannover in roles including Raimondo in Lucia
di Lammermoor, the title role in Don Giovanni,
Osmin in Entführung aus dem Serail, Colline
in La bohème and Philip II in Don Carlo. This
is Mr. Jakobsh’s debut with Toledo Opera.
 Valerian Ruminski,
bass (Monterone)
Career highlights for Mr. Ruminski have
included Lord Walton in I Puritani and Zuniga in Carmen with
the Metropolitan Opera, Don Alfonso in Così fan
tutte with Seattle Opera, Gremin in Eugene Onegin with
Santa Fe Opera and Utah Opera, La bohème with
Minnesota Opera and New York City Opera, Ferrando in Il
trovatore with Opera Pacific, and The King in Aida with
L’Opéra de Monte Carlo, L’Opéra
de Montreal and Atlanta Opera. He has appeared in La
Juive with the Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie
Hall, and the Verdi Requiem at the Verdi Festival
in Forli, Italy, and performed on the PBS Richard Tucker
Gala at Avery Fisher Hall. His discography includes Night
at the Opera on the Naxos Label, and a DVD on Deutsche
Grammophon of I Puritani from the Metropolitan Opera
Imax broadcast.
 Kirsten
Chambers,
soprano (Countess Ceprano)
Kirsten
Chambers has performed with Opera New Jersey, Shreveport
Opera, Bronx Opera, Lake George Opera, Opera Illinois, Opera
East Texas, The Living Opera in Dallas, Halifax Summer Opera,
and Moores Opera Center. Her
favorite credits include Nedda in I Pagliacci,
Musetta in La
bohème,
Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Die Königin
der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte, and Frasquita
in Carmen. She created the role of Saralinda
in the world premiere of Christopher Theofanides’ Thirteen
Clocks and her performance of Dircea in Casanova’s
Homecoming was recorded on the Newport Classics Label.
J. Raymond Meyers, tenor
(Borsa)
 Tenor J. Raymond Meyers specializes
in character and light tenor roles. Recent appearances have
included Beppe in I
Pagliacci and Basilio/Curzio in Le Nozze di Figaro with
Santa Barbara Grand Opera. Other performances include Mercury
in Orpheus in the Underworld and Borsa
in Rigoletto with Anchorage Opera, and Emperor in Turandot and
Giles Corey in The Crucible with Utah Festival Opera.
A resident of the San Francisco Bay area, he has sung Camille
in The Merry Widow, Paris in La Belle Hélène,
and Ernesto in Don Pasquale with Pocket Opera. Mr.
Meyers’ most recent CD is Heinrich Schulz: A Musical
Portrait recorded on the Helicon Records label.
Robert Kerr, baritone
(Marullo)
 Mr. Kerr has performed numerous roles with Opera Columbus
including Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Jimmy
and the Constable in The Threepenny Opera, and the
Customs Official in La bohème. A recent
member of the prestigious San Francisco Opera Merola Program,
he performed Alidoro in La Cenerentola and Le Marquis
de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites. He
is a graduate of Ohio State University where he received
his Master of Music in Vocal Performance. This past summer
he participated in the Glimmerglass Opera Young Artists Program.
 Brace Negron, bass-baritone (Count Ceprano)
Brazilian born Bass-Baritone Brace Negron has been
a prolific performer since his arrival to New York in 1998.
Mr. Negron is excited to debut with Toledo Opera as Count
Ceprano in Verdi’s Rigoletto. Other performances
in 2008 include the role of Jupiter in Offenbach’s Orpheus
in the Underworld with Bronx Opera, Figaro in Le
nozze diFigaro with Queens College Opera Studio,
and Christiano in Un ballo in maschera with Des
Moines Metro Opera. Other accomplishments include a concert
series/competition as a finalist in the Azuriales Opera Festival
this past August in southern France, a Lincoln Center debut
as Ali in December 2007 in an excerpts program of Rossini's L'Italiana
in Algeri as part of the Melody for Peace UNESCO Concert
at Avery Fisher Hall, and the Lucerne Festival in Lucerne,
Switzerland. Mr. Negron received his master’s degree
from Manhattan School of Music and his undergraduate degree
from Stetson University in Deland, Florida.
 Aubry Hagadorn, soprano
(The Page)
Young Soprano Aubry Hagadorn joined the Toledo Opera
Chorus for the 2006-2007 season. She has appeared in the
Opera’s recent productions of Romeo et Juliette,
Don Pasquale, and Tosca where she sang
the role of The Shepherd Boy. Other performances
include Amahl in Amahl & the Night Visitors,
Colin Craven in The Secret Garden, and Handel’s Messiah. She
has studied voice under the direction of Lora Knight and
most recently Renay Conlin. This past summer Aubry was accepted
into the Vocal Academy for High School Students at Oberlin
College. Aubry is the youngest member ever accepted into
the Toledo Opera Chorus.
 Jim Burns,
tenor (The Herald)
Jim
was last seen as “the
old gypsy” in
Toledo Opera’s production of Il trovatore.
In the 2006 season, he appeared as the notary in Don
Pasquale. A veteran of Toledo Opera, he has sung roles
in Carmen, Aida, Samson and Dalilah, Rigoletto and Madama
Butterfly, among others. For the past 34 years, he has
been a music educator in the Maumee Public Schools.
 Linda Brovsky,
Stage Director
One of America's most creative and imaginative directors,
Linda Brovsky's productions have earned critical and popular
acclaim on operatic stages throughout North America, including
the San Francisco Opera (L'elisir d'amore), Santa
Fe Opera (La traviata, Don Giovanni), Seattle Opera
(I Puritani, Rigoletto, La Cenerentola, Madama Butterfly,
L'elisir d'amore, La fille du régiment, La Cenerentola,
Il barbiere di Siviglia, Die Fledermaus, and The
Merry Widow), San Diego Opera (Le Nozze di Figaro, Faust and La
Cenerentola), Los Angeles Opera (The Countess Maritza),
Opera Theater of St. Louis (Black River by Conrad
Susa and the world premiere of The Midnight Angel by
David Carlson), Glimmerglass Opera (Midnight Angel), Florentine
Opera Company (Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Carmen, Hansel
and Gretel and the American premiere of Lowell Liebermann's The
Portrait of Dorian Gray), Kentucky Opera (Lucia
di Lammermoor, La Cenerentola, Carmen, La traviata,
and Tosca), Opera Pacific (Il barbiere di Siviglia,
La traviata), Pittsburgh Opera (L'elisir d'amore),
Cincinnati Opera (Rigoletto, La traviata), Palm
Beach Opera (I Puritani), Atlanta Opera (L’elisir
d’amore, La traviata, and Wolf Trap Opera (L’Ormindo
and Postcard from Morocco).
At home with young singers, she has directed
productions for the Academy of Vocal Arts (Lucia di Lammermoor),
Mannes School of Music (La Finta Giardiniera), Manhattan
School of Music (Griffelkin, the American premiere of Matthus'
Cornet Christoph Rilke's Songs of Love and Death, Britten's
The Turn of the Screw, a new production of Rappacini's
Daughter and the world premiere of Scott Eyerly’s House
of the Seven Gables). This season she returns to Opera Cleveland
for Il barbiere di Siviglia. She will also return to Seattle
Opera in the future to direct The Magic Flute.
Her talents extend to the world of musical
theater, where she directed the fiftieth anniversary national
tour of Oklahoma for
the Troika Organization, and Happy End at Chicago's
Court Theater, served as librettist for Claude White's Love,
Death, and High Notes, a children's opera commissioned
and performed by Opera Theater of St. Louis, serving as dramaturgy
for Scott Eyerly's new work entitled The House of the
Seven Gables. An accomplished choreographer, writer,
and lecturer, Ms. Brovsky is an advisor for the Douglas Moore
Foundation for New Composers.
Thomas
Conlin, Conductor
 Thomas
Conlin is a regular guest conductor with symphony orchestras,
ballet companies and opera companies on five continents,
most recently in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Croatia,
Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway, Poland,
Russia, Spain, Turkey and throughout the United States.
Many of Conlin’s programs feature works by Barber,
Bernstein, Copland, Gershwin and other fellow Americans,
and he is a champion of music of our time, but his international
career includes conducting Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov
in Russia, Beethoven and Brahms in Germany, Mozart and Mahler
in Austria, Debussy and Ravel in France, Verdi and Puccini
in Italy, Grieg in Norway and Sibelius in Finland. Last season
he led the Eastern European premiere of Bernstein’s West
Side Story at the National Opera of Croatia, in Zagreb.
Maestro Conlin’s recording of George Crumb’s Star-Child,
on which he conducts the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and
Chorus, won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical
Composition. His music video, Symphonic Wonderworks,
won the Gold Award (1st Prize) at the 1992 Houston International
Film Festival and was nominated for a Telly Award. His CD
of Crumb’s A Haunted Landscape was nominated
for an Indie Award as Best Orchestral Recording of 2002,
and his latest CD on the Bridge label, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Echoes
of Time and the River, was released in 2004 to great
acclaim. The first in a series of recordings of works by
the Brazilian composer Camargo Guarnieri was released on
the Naxos label last Year.
Conlin has collaborated in opera and concert
with renowned vocalists Kathleen Battle, Marilyn Horne, Robert
Merrill, Sherrill Milnes, Roberta Peters, Giorgio Tozzi and
Frederica von Stade, in ballet with Mikhail Baryshnikov,
Edward Villella and Violette Verdi, and with instrumentalists
Emanuel Ax, Alicia de Larrocha, James Galway, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak
Perlman and Isaac Stern. For Toledo Opera he has conducted
recent productions of Romeo and Juliet, Don
Pasquale, The
Turn of the Screw, La traviata, Sweeney Todd, Don Giovanni,
La bohème, The Crucible, The Barber of Seville, Faust,
Madama Butterfly, Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana, Il trovatore,
Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Marriage of Figaro, Tosca and Così fan
tutte, and seven of TO’s Opera Galas: Three
Tenors! – the Next Generation, A Night in Old
Vienna, The Greatest Wagner Concert Ever!, Opera Goes to
the Movies, From Russia with Love, Richard Strauss:
the Last Great Romantic and From Broadway to
the Met. |
