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 Barbara Shirvis, soprano (Juliet)
Soprano Barbara Shirvis is known for her gorgeous tone, technical security
and touching vulnerability. The 2005–2006 season included her first performances
as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin with Cleveland Opera, Alice Ford in Falstaff with
New Jersey Opera, and Nedda in Toledo Opera's production of Pagliacci.
As soprano soloist, Ms. Shirvis recently performed Dvorak's Requiem with
the Florida Orchestra, and Beethoven's Symphony
No. 9 with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra. In the 2004–2005
season, Ms. Shirvis made her Arizona Opera debut as Fiordiligi
in Cosi fan tutte and
performed Tosca in concert with the New Jersey Symphony
Orchestra. Other past engagements have included performances with
New York City Opera as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and
Micaëla
in Carmen, Curley's
wife in Of Mice and Men with Edmonton Opera, Donna Anna
in Don Giovanni with
the Bardovan Opera House, Violetta in La traviata with Syracuse
Opera, and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Syracuse Opera
and Berkshire Opera. Ms. Shirvis' 2006–2007 season will include
performances of Juliet in Romeo & Juliet for
Toledo Opera, Elijah for Jacksonville Symphony, Leila in Les
pêcheurs de perles for
Kentucky Opera and Liu in Turandot for New
Jersey Opera Theatre. Barbara Shirvis began her career at New York
City Opera where she sang for a decade in such roles as Micaëla,
Pamina in Magic Flute, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier and
Yum-Yum in Mikado.
 Leah Wool, mezzo-soprano (Stephano)
Young mezzo-soprano Leah Wool is rapidly garnering acclaim for her
beautiful voice and magnetic stage presence. In the 2005–2006
season, Ms. Wool joined the roster of New York City Opera and made
her debut as Delia in Il viaggio
a Reims, Eika in Vanessa with Central City Opera,
Hermia in A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, Karolka
in Jenufa,
the Sandman in Hänsel and Gretel, and Wowkle in La
fanciulla del West. Notable past performances also include Nancy
in Albert Herring,
Léoena in La Belle Hélène, and the
Third Spirit in The Magic Flute.
Sought after on the concert stage, she has appeared as mezzo-soprano
soloist for works including Haydn's Theresienmesse with
the New Jersey Symphony, Handel's Messiah,
Vivaldi's Gloria, Bruckner's Missa Solemnis, and
Bach's Magnificat,
Stravinsky's Les Noces, and Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass at
Yale University. Upcoming engagements include a return to Central
City Opera in 2007 to sing the title role in Massenet’s Cendrillon,
Hänsel in Hänsel
and Gretel with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Cherubino in Le
nozze di Figaro with Opera Roanoke, and Stéphano in Romeo
and Juliet with
Anchorage Opera.
 Ann McMahon Quintero, mezzo-soprano (Gertrude)
Praised for her warm and ingratiating mezzo, Ann McMahon Quintero
joins the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for Olga Olsen in Street
Scene as
well as the company's production of Hänsel and Gretel.
She will be heard in Handel’s Messiah with
the National Philharmonic, and in Guillaume Tell with the
Opera Orchestra of New York. Among her upcoming engagements are performances
of both opera and oratorio with Boston Baroque, and a return engagement
with Opera Orchestra of New York. Quintero recently made
her debut with Washington National Opera as Tisbe in La cenerentola. She
was immediately reengaged by the company for Dritte Dame in Die
Zauberflöte for
the 2004-05 season. Ms. Quintero is a 2005 recipient of both the
George London Award and Sullivan Foundation Award and was a semi-finalist
in Placido Domingo's Operalia Competition in Madrid. Graduating with
honors, she received her Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University.
 Eric Fennell, tenor (Romeo)
Eric Fennell is fast becoming one of the most sought after lyric
tenors. His opera experience includes leading roles with San Francisco
Opera, New York City Opera, Seattle Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Glimmerglass
Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Arizona Opera, Tulsa Opera, Central City
Opera, Sarasota Opera, and the Spoleto Festival USA. Mr. Fennell
has performed a wide variety of opera and operetta roles including
Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, The Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, Don
Jose in Carmen, Alfredo in La traviata, Ferrando
in Così fan
tutte, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Rodolfo in La
bohème, Don
Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Narraboth in Salome, Edgardo
in Lucia
di Lammermoor, Tom in The Rake's Progress, and Tony
in the National Tour of Master Class. Equally at home
on the concert stage, Mr. Fennell has performed tenor solos for
Mozart's Requiem, Verdi's Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Haydn's Creation, and Beethoven's
9th Symphony, as well as numerous recitals around the country.
Eric received a BA in Music from Gettysburg College and a Masters
in Voice and an Artist Diploma from Boston University where he
was a member of the Opera Institute.
 Richard
Clement, tenor (Tybalt)
Grammy-winning American lyric tenor Richard Clement has performed
with most of America’s major orchestras, bringing tonal beauty
and superb musicality to repertoire from the baroque to the contemporary.
His 2006-2007 season includes The Dream of Gerontius with
the North Carolina Symphony, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with
the New Jersey, San Antonio, Colorado Symphonies, Elijah with
the Memphis Symphony and Theofanides’ The Here and Now with
the Atlanta Symphony, including a performance in New York’s
Carnegie Hall. Other recent performances include Belmonte in Mozart’s Die
Entführung aus dem Serail with the National Symphony,
Haydn’s Creation with the Colorado Symphony and
the Verdi Requiem with the Albany Symphony, and The
Bells with the American Symphony in Lincoln Center’s
Avery Fisher Hall. Mr. Clement has been a soloist with the Cleveland
and Philadelphia Orchestras; Houston, Toronto, San Francisco and
Cincinnati Symphonies. Festival engagements include Tanglewood,
Grant Park and the Hollywood Bowl and a performance with Japan’s
Saito Kinen Festival.
 Lee Gregory, baritone (Mercutio)
Lee Gregory is a gifted singing actor, blessed with a beautiful,
warm, and ringing baritone voice. He is quickly becoming known
for his ability to embody his characters. His recent performances
include Mr. Marshall in Regina at
Bard's SummerScape festival; John Brooke in Little
Women with Dayton Opera. He has performed a wide variety of
roles including the title role in Don Giovanni, Melchoir
in Amahl and the Night
Visitors, Maximillian in Candide, Ping in Turandot, The
Clock and The Cat in L'Enfant et les Sortilèges,
Peter in Hänsel
and Gretel, Marcello in La bohème, Yamadori
in Madama
Butterfly, Escamillo in Carmen, and the Pirate
King in The
Pirates of Penzance. A winner of the Licia Albanese Puccini
Foundation Competition, Mr. Gregory has participated in a number
of prestigious training programs including San Francisco Opera's
Merola Opera Program, the Western Opera Theater Tour and Aspen
Music Festival. He is also the recipient of the Dean
Goodman Choice Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theater
for John P. Wintergreen in Of
Thee I Sing with Lamplighters Music Theater.
 Stephen Bryant, bass-baritone (Lord Capulet)
Bass-baritone Stephen Bryant’s distinguished career in concert and opera
has taken him around the world, with acclaimed performances in the United States,
Europe, the Middle East and Asia. His repertoire extends from Bach and Handel
to today’s most prominent composers. Among his numerous performances of
Handel’s Messiah are appearances with the Pittsburgh
Symphony, Musica Sacra at Carnegie Hall, Portland Baroque, Trinity
Consort in Portland, as well as the Greater Lansing Symphony and
the Columbus Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra. In recent seasons, he
has become one of the premiere interpreters of the works of Academy
Award-winning composer Tan Dun – most notably in the role of
Dante in the opera Marco Polo. In standard
repertoire, he has performed Colline in La bohème at
Indianapolis Opera, Leporello in Don Giovanni at Mobile
Opera, Don Alfonso in La cenerentola at
Berkshire Opera, Escamillo in Carmen at Opera North and
in Baton Rouge, and the title role of Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro at
Madison Opera. He also performed the Bonze in Madama Butterfly with
San Francsico Opera. A native of Princeton, New Jersey, Mr. Bryant
received his Bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and his Master's
degree from the University of Michigan.
 Stefan Szkafarowsky, bass (Friar Lawrence)
Bass Stefan Szkafarowsky is praised for the beautiful quality of
his bass voice as well as for his impeccable technique. He is highly
sought after by opera companies and orchestras in this country and
abroad. Upcoming engagements include Banquo in Macbeth with
Florentine Opera, the title role in Falstaff with
New Jersey Opera Theater, the King in Aida with Opera Pacific,
Benoit/Alcindoro in La bohème with Fort Worth Opera,
Bonze in Madama Butterfly at
Opéra de Québec, Commendatore in Don Giovanni with
Opera Pacific, Benoit/Alcindero in La bohème and
Bartolo in Le
nozze di Figaro with Metro Lyric Opera. Mr. Szkafarowsky has
appeared with Washington Opera as Ferrando in Verdi's Il trovatore as
well as Crespel in The Tales of Hoffman. He has performed
with many other renowned opera companies such as the Lyric Opera
of Chicago, New York City Opera, New Orleans Opera, Arizona Opera,
San Diego Opera, Dallas Opera, and Pittsburgh Opera. A native of
New York, Mr. Szkafarowsky attended the American Opera Center at
Juilliard. He is a recipient of grants from the Sullivan Foundation
and the Tito Gobbi Award from the Rosa Ponselle Foundation.
 Micah
Graber, bass (The Prince)
Bass singer Micah Graber’s operatic roles include Blitch in Susannah at
Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, First Priest in The
Magic Flute at
Toledo Opera, Starveling in Midsummer Night’s Dream with
San Francisco Opera, Zuniga in Carmen with Western Opera
Theater, and Osmin in Die
Ehtführung aus dem Serail with Skylight Opera. Mr. Graber
received his Bachelor’s of Music in Vocal Performance from
Bowling Green State University and his Artist Diploma in Opera
from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. He
was a Resident Artist with Toledo Opera and had an Adler Fellowship
with the San Francisco Opera. He is currently a resident of Toledo
where he has a private vocal studio.
 Marc Verzatt, Stage Director
Marc Verzatt has an active career directing opera, operetta and musical theater
throughout the United States and Europe. He began his career as a dancer with
the Metropolitan Opera. Later, he joined the Cincinnati and Pittsburgh Opera
companies as a stage manager and subsequently served as assistant stage director
for the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He went on to become acting coach and
stage director for the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists. Mr. Verzatt
was co-artistic director and director of the Young Artists Program of the Lake
George Opera Festival. Recent engagements include productions
of Carmen and La bohème at the Atlanta Opera, Hänsel
and Gretel for Palm Beach Opera, Albert Herring with the New
Jersey Opera Theater, Roméo et Juliette for Arizona
Opera, Lucia di Lammermoor for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and
a debut with the Teatro Colon for Elisabetta Regina D'Inghilterra.
A noted teacher, he recently joined the Yale faculty as an adjunct professor
in opera and is currently teaching in the master's degree program, as well
as directing an opera scenes workshop. Mr. Verzatt staged Toledo Opera’s
highly successful production of Sweeney Todd.
 Arkadiy Orohovsky, Choreographer
A native of the
Ukraine, Mr. Orohovsky received his dance education at the Kiev State
Choreographic School, and a Bachelor and Master
of Arts degree from the Kiev State University of Culture.
In 1988 Mr. Orohovsky began his professional career at the Kiev
National Opera and Ballet Theatre where he danced numerous principal
and solo roles. In 1994 he won the Bronze Medal at the Serge Lifar
First International Ballet Competition in Kiev. Following this
prestigious award, he joined the El Paso Ballet as a Principal
Dancer. Mr. Orohovsky has appeared throughout the United States
as a guest artist with ballet companies such as California Ballet,
Dallas Metropolitan Ballet, Lone Star Ballet and Corpus Christi
Ballet. He has taught at the University of Texas at El Paso, University
of Utah, Mexico State University and West Texas A & M. At
Brigham Young University
he served as Artistic Director from 1997 to 2000.
From 2000 to 2004 Mr. Orohovsky worked with the Houston Ballet Company,
then continued his career as an international ballet instructor.
Before assuming his position as Artistic Director for Toledo Ballet,
he was director of the Vaganova Program at Houston International
Ballet Academy and Artistic Director of Houston International Ballet.
He is presently Artist-in-Resident/School Director of Toledo Ballet.
 Thomas Conlin, Conductor
Thomas Conlin is a frequent guest conductor with symphony orchestras
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. Last season at the National Opera of Croatia he
led performances of La fille du Régiment and the
Eastern European premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s West
Side Story. Future appearances include an arena staging of Aida in
four cities in India and return engagements in Croatia, Germany, Poland and Italy.
Next summer he performs and records music by George Gershwin with the Dallas
Symphony.
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 and will be followed by Vol. 2 in December.
Conlin has collaborated in concert with renowned vocalists Kathleen
Battle, Marilyn Horne, Robert Merrill, Roberta Peters, Giorgio Tozzi
and Frederica von Stade 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 The Turn
of the Screw, La traviata, Sweeney Todd, Don Giovanni, La
bohème,
The Crucible, The Barber of Seville, Faust, Madama Butterfly,
Pagliacci, Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Marriage of
Figaro and Così fan tutte and five
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 and From Broadway to the
Met. |
