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Romeo & Juliet

February 16 & 18, 2024

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Romeo & Juliet

February 16 & 18, 2024

The world’s most celebrated love story finds new dimension in Charles Gounod’s classic retelling of William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.  Set in 15th century Verona, the deep and rapturous love between Romeo and Juliet rivals the longstanding feud between their families – the Montagues and the Capulets. Will these star-crossed lovers be able to endure their feuding kin or succumb to tragedy? From tender intimacy to ecstatic grandeur, Gounod’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s eternal drama comes to life in a cinematic-inspired production. Gounod’s lush, romantic opera will explore the fragility of innocence and youth in the face of political turmoil. Real life couple – and Toledo Opera audience favorites – Zach Borichevsky and Kathryn Lewek star as Romeo and Juliet. Maestro Adam Turner returns to Toledo to conduct as director James Mitchell brings this timeless tragedy to life.

Starring Metropolitan Opera soprano Kathryn Lewek as Juliet and Metropolitan Opera tenor Zach Borichevsky as Romeo.

Sung in French with English Supertitles

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Learn more with our Audience Guide.

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Artist Bios
Adam Turner

Conductor

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Adam Turner

Currently in his sixth season as Artistic Director of Virginia Opera (following four seasons as Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor), Maestro Adam Turner garners critical acclaim for the breadth of his repertoire, artistic vision, and polished technique. Of his recent performance of Street Scene with Virginia Opera, Opera News praised the “sensitive conducting” of Adam Turner “who demonstrated an affinity for a score as stylistically diverse as the characters in the plot” and of his conducting of Der Freischütz, Opera News raved: “Conductor Adam Turner … ensured crackling rhythms as much as lyrical spaciousness, resulting in a performance that felt vital and spontaneous throughout.” In the 2021-22 season, Mo. Turner joined Toledo Opera to lead their production of Il Trovatore as well as four productions for Virginia Opera: Das Rheingold, La Bohème, Three Decembers, and Le Nozze di Figaro; additionally, he lead concert performances of “Classical Broadway” for Portland Symphony Orchestra, a “Music of the Bee Gees” concert for Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and returned to Central City Opera to conduct The Light in the Piazza. Last season, Mo. Turner conducted Die Walküre, The Pirates of Penzance, Fellow Travelers, and La Traviata, all for Virginia Opera, as well as a concert performance, “Fall Outdoor.” Also last season, Turner conducted Central City Opera’s production of Kiss Me Kate, in addition to two concerts for Virginia Symphony: “Never Break the Chain,” featuring the music of Fleetwood Mac, and “Broadway Rocks.” In his inaugural season as Artistic Director of Virginia Opera, Maestro Turner conducted performances of Street Scene, Don Giovanni, The Elixir of Love, and Madama Butterfly, in addition to Jack Perla’s An American Dream. Since then, he has conducted the company’s productions of Der Freischütz, The Seven Deadly Sins, Pagliacci, La Bohème, Samson et Dalila, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Der Fliegende Holländer, Il Postino, Aida, and Tosca.

James Kenon Mitchell

Stage Director

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James Kenon Mitchell

James Kenon Mitchell’s work has spanned various disciplines in the world of live theatre including collaborative piano, acting, and conducting, culminating in a focus on opera stage direction. He has directed Faust for Opera Modo, Madama Butterfly for Opera Forza and La Voix Humaine, Iolanta, Brettl Lieder, L'heure Espagnole, La Tragedie de Carmen and Three Decembers at Tri-Cities Opera in Binghamton, NY. He has been a dramatic coach on faculty at the CoOPERAtive Program and has directed the program's productions of La Traviata and The Magic Flute. At Westminster Choir College he has directed productions of The Magic Flute, Cendrillon, and Cost fan Tutte. Mr. Mitchell was Assistant Professor Voice and Opera and Head of Opera Theatre for six years at West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV. On the WVU main stage he has conducted performances of Kiss Me Kate, The Seven Deadly Sins, Hinn und Zurück, The Medium, Pirates of Penzance and Assassins. At WVU he was also stage director for productions of Cendrillon, The Old Maid and the Thief and Green Eggs and Ham and stagings of Copland's Twelve Songs of Emily Dickinson and Schubert's Die Schöne Müllerin and Winterreise. Mr. Mitchell holds a BM in Music Theory from the Eastman School of Music, an MM in Collaborative Piano and Opera Coaching from Westminster Choir College, and a Master of Music in Operatic Stage Direction from the Eastman School of Music where he recently directed L'Amant Anonyme and Alcina.

Kathryn Lewek

Juliet

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Kathryn Lewek

Kathryn Lewek has established herself as one of opera’s most thrilling coloratura sopranos of this generation, performing some of the most vocally challenging roles in the repertoire, joining the top-ranking operatic performers of all time. Ms. Lewek made an “especially brilliant” (Backtrack) début as Ginevra (Ariodante) with the Salzburger Pfingstfestspiele in Austria, opposite Cecilia Bartoli, where Ms. Lewek “perform[ed] a miracle” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) and thrilled audiences with “a rich (and richly differentiated) soprano voice [that] has not been experienced for a long time” (Salzburger Nachrichten). In 2022, Ms. Lewek surpassed the record for the most performances as the Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute) by a single artist at The Metropolitan Opera, marking her eighth season with the house. She also performed the illustrious role at Gran Teatre del Liceu under Maestro Dudamel and made her role début as Violetta in La Traviata at Toledo Opera. In the same season, Dallas Opera hosted her for their Opera’s Greatest Hits! concerts and she returned to the New Choral Society for her unparalleled presentation of Handel's Messiah. Last season’s engagements included role débuts of Countess Adèle in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory with Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Heroines in Les Contes d’Hoffmann with Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as a reprisal of the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor for Opéra de Nice. Ms. Lewek will make house débuts with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Semperoper Dresden as Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte) and will sing the role in returns to the Vienna Staatsoper and The Metropolitan Opera for their new production, which will unclude her 50th performance of the role at the house. Future seasons include reprisals of the roles of Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) and Violetta (La Traviata), as well as her long-awaited role début of Gilda (Rigoletto).

Zach Borichevsky

Romeo

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Zach Borichevsky

Tenor Zach Borichevsky is “equipped with a flexible, bright voice that already has made him one of the most sought-after singers of his generation.” Mr. Borichevsky is known as a “star-level tenor” with “precise, nuanced high-register singing and agile acting,” paired with a “magical sense of complete spontaneity that comes from being in total command of the instrument.” A series of significant débuts have established Mr. Borichevsky as one of the most thrilling vocal talents to appear on the international stage; he has created widely celebrated international performances in roles such as Rodolfo (La Bohème) with Finnish National Opera, Romeo (Roméo et Juliette) for Teatro Municipal de Santiago in Chile, and Alfredo (La Traviata) for the Glyndebourne Festival. Early in the 2022-23 season, Mr. Borichevsky stepped into the lead role in Faust for Detroit Opera. He recently expanded his repertoire to include this role, having joined the Lyric Opera of Chicago to cover the role in their 2022 production, in addition to performing his first Narraboth (Salome) with the Spoleto Festival, USA. In that 21-22 season he also performed Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus) for Palm Beach Opera, reprised the role of Alfredo (La Traviata) for Opera Grand Rapids, performed Cassio in Washington National Opera’s production of Otello, and Rodolfo (La Bohème) with Toledo Opera. In concert, he sang the tenor solo in Verdi’s Requiem for the National Philharmonic at the Kennedy Center and recorded a virtual Messiah with New Choral Society. Last season, in addition to Faust, Mr. Borichevsky reprised his performance of Rodolfo in Nashville Opera’s production of La Bohème and returned to Aspen Music Festival as a soloist in Berlioz’s Requiem. In April of 2022, Mr. Borichevsky sang Alfredo (La Traviata) for Toledo Opera with his wife Kathryn Lewek as Violetta.

Sidney Outlaw

Mercutio

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Sidney Outlaw

Lauded by The New York Times as a “terrific singer” with a “deep, rich timbre” and the San Francisco Chronicle as an “opera powerhouse” with a “weighty and forthright” sound, Sidney Outlaw was the Grand Prize winner of the Concurso Internacional de Canto Montserrat Caballe in 2010. A graduate of the Merola Opera Program and the Gerdine Young Artist Program at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, this rising American baritone from Brevard, North Carolina recently added a GRAMMY nomination to his list of accomplishments for the Naxos Records recording of Darius Milhaud’s 1922 opera trilogy L’Orestie d’Eschyle in which he sang the role of Apollo. In the 2022-2023 season, Mr. Outlaw sang Schaunard (La Bohème) with Greensboro Opera, Dizzy Gillespie (Yardbird) with New Orleans Opera, and brought his celebrated Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro) to Opera Omaha. The 2021-2022 season featured Mr. Outlaw as Salieri (Mozart and Salieri) with Opera San Jose, Jake (Porgy and Bess) with Greensboro Opera, and Figaro (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) with Pensacola Opera and Opera Saratoga. Engagements for the COVID-affected 2019-2020 season included his San Francisco Opera debut as the First Mate (Billy Budd), Messiah with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony, and Tommy McIntyre (Fellow Travelers) with Madison Opera. In previous seasons, Mr. Outlaw sang Dizzy Gillespie in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird with both Atlanta Opera and Arizona Opera, returned to the Baltimore Symphony as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah and Minnesota Opera for the world premiere of The Fix, sang Fauré’s Requiem at Augustana College, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem at Cornell University, and made his debut with Mill City Summer Opera as Guglielmo (Così fan tutte).

Matt Boehler

Laurente

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Matt Boehler

Hailed as “a bass with an attitude and the goods to back it up,” by The New York Times, bass and composer Matt Boehler has a long-earned reputation as an inventive collaborative artist in the world of opera. He has sung principal roles with The Metropolitan Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Dallas Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, as well as the New York Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among many others. In addition to bringing "power and brilliant tone" (Opera News) to staples of the standard operatic repertoire, he is frequently in demand as a new music collaborator, reflected in several world premieres featured in his discography. The 2022-2023 season saw Mr. Boehler’s role debut as Figaro in Madison Opera’s Le Nozze di Figaro and returns to National Symphony Orchestra for Bernstein’s Mass and Des Moines Metro Opera for The Love for Three Oranges. He also reprised the role of Van Helsing for the 2023 GRAMMY-nominated studio recording of The Lord of Cries (Corigliano/Adamo) with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Upcoming singing engagements include the world premiere of Bulrusher (Stookey/Davis) with West Edge Opera and the role premiere of Arkel  (Pelléas et Mélisande) with Des Moines Metro Opera. An accomplished composer, Mr. Boehler’s chamber opera, Fat Pig, was lauded by Opera magazine as “impressive and captivating.” His recent song commissions from singers Sasha Cooke and David Portillo were recognized by Opera News as "accomplished" and "fresh and vita," and Cooke included his work on her 2022 GRAMMY-nominated album, how do I find you. Recent commissioners include Washington National Opera, Victory Hall Opera, and Vocal Arts DC. His new opera, The Road to Wellville, is in development at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and excerpts from it will be featured this season with West Edge Opera.

Jason Duika

Capulet

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Jason Duika

Verdi Baritone Jason Duika sang the title role in Verdi’s Nabucco, in October of 2019 with West Bay Opera, in California, where the reviews said, “Baritone Jason Duika triumphed in the role, with a range from vengeful and commanding to pitifully weakened after his blasphemy to moving and reverent after he turns again to God. Both singing and acting were top-notch.” Previously, he sang the baritone solos in Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem with Mid America Productions at Carnegie Hall’s Isaac Stern Auditorium, Herode in Massenet’s Herodiade with New Amsterdam Opera, and Francesco Foscari in Verdi’s “I Due Foscari” with West Bay Opera. Previous roles have included Marcello (La Bohème); Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor) in a return to his alma mater, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music; and, Giorgio Germont (La Traviata). He next heads to Boheme Opera of New Jersey to sing Escamillo (Carmen).He is also a graduate of Alma College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Music, Portland State University, where he received a Master’s in voice performance, and the Jacobs School of music, where he received a Performer Diploma in voice. Jason was also in the young artist programs of Utah Festival Opera (2012), Wichita Grand Opera (2013), and sang and covered nine roles with Palm Beach Opera, as the baritone young artist in the Benenson program from 2014-2016.

Jon Suek

Tybalt

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Jon Suek

Jon Suek has sung the roles of Masetto (Don Giovanni), performed as an undergraduate at Western Washington University and Pandolf (Cendrillon). Being a native of the Evergreen State, Mr. Suek’s transition to singing tenor repertoire coincided with his transition to the Midwest for graduate school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a formative experience in both how cold winter can be and how elusive high notes can be. While enrolled at UNL, he sang the roles of Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), King Kaspar (Amahl and the Night Visitor), Dino (A Wedding), and Hoffmann (first act only) (Les Contes d’Hoffmann). At UNL, recital apogees for him were performances of Schumann’s Dichterliebe and Britten’s Winter Words. After his time in Nebraska, Mr. Suek moved to Graz, Austria where he taught English for two years and then moved to Italy for six months to study il linguaggio dell'opera! After returning to the states, he sang an attenuated version of the role of Steve Jobs in a Seattle Opera Guild Preview from Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, as a chorister for Seattle Opera’s production of La Traviata, and as Tamino in a reduced English-language version of The Magic Flute with the Seattle based opera company N.O.I.S.E. You may have seen Mr. Suek in the Summer of 2023 singing at the Aquilon Music Festival (reviving his interpretation of Don Ottavio), at the Mostly Modern Festival in New York, or at the Lyric Opera Studio Weimar singing Tamino (in German). If you are interested in seeing and hearing more of Mr. Suek (rhymes with “book”), you can find him tooling around your local municipal golf course. He will gladly trade his rendition of your favorite tenor aria for golf balls.

Dorian Payton Hall

Duke of Verona

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Dorian Payton Hall

Dorian Payton Hall (Baritone) is a freelance vocalist and music educator. More recently, he and Curtis Institute of Music faculty member Reese Revak presented a Virtual Concert of African American Art Songs and Arias that was featured in a spotlight by CBS-3 Philadelphia News. As an active artist, he has appeared over the years with the Illinois Symphony, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Michigan Opera Theater (Detroit), New Orleans Opera, Capitol Opera, Delaware Valley Opera, the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, and the Brevard Music Festival. As a concert soloist, Mr. Hall has been featured in Handel's Messiah, the Faure Requiem, the Mozart Requiem, Mass in C Minor (Mozart), Brahms Requiem, Mass of the Children, A Gospel Mass, and others. His operatic credits include performances in Carmen, Faust, Manon (Massenet), Rigoletto, Nabucco, Don Carlo, Aida, La Traviata, Satyagraha, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, Il Tabarro, Die Fledermaus, Der Fliegende Hollander, Tannhaeuser, Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, L'enfant et les sortilèges, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Porgy and Bess, and the De Organizer. As a frequent collaborator, Mr. Hall has shared the stage with renowned artists such as the late Moses Hogan, Delfeayo Marsalis, Logan Skelton, Stephen Smith, Jerry Blackstone, Willis Patterson, Kenneth Kiesler, Timothy Cheek, Tyler Driskill, Anita Johnson, and Albinas Pringztas. Before Hurricane Katrina, he served as an elementary vocal music teacher for both Edgar P. Harney and Morris F.X.Jeff Public Schools in New Orleans. Mr. Hall is currently a D.M.A pre-candidate at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance.

Julia Gries

Stephano

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Julia Gries

Julia Gries, mezzo-soprano, graduated from Bowling Green State University in 2020 with a Masters in Music performance, studying under Myra Merritt. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Butler University in Indianapolis, IN, where she studied voice performance with Kirsten Gunlogson. In 2023, Ms. Gries performed as a Resident Artist with Toledo Opera. She has performed the role of Cercatrice (Suor Angelica) with Toledo Opera. Previous roles include Dinah (Trouble in Tahiti), Fidalma in Dominic Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio Segreto, Athamus (Semele), La Badessa (Suor Angelica), and Dame Doleful in Edwin Penhorwood’s Too Many Sopranos. Ms. Gries has performed abroad in Italy including scenes from Il Matrimonio Segreto (Fidalma) and Le Nozze Di Figaro (Cherubino) with La Musica Lirica. She has also performed scenes from Così Fan Tutte (Dorabella), Les Contes d’Hoffman (Nicklausse) and Hansel and Gretel (Hansel) with PopUp Opera in Indianapolis. Her past recognitions include being a finalist in the Marjorie Conrad Art Song Competition and the Bowling Green State University Concerto Competition. Ms. Gries has performed as a part of the Toledo Opera Chorus and Toledo Symphony Chorus.

Imara Miles

Gertrude

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Imara Miles

Hailed for her expressiveness and lush sound, Imara Miles (She/They) is a mezzo-soprano from the Washington, DC area. With experience in both operatic and musical theater repertoire, Miss Miles has been a featured performer in shows such as Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Berta), The Drowsy Chaperone (Title Role), Gianni Schicchi (Zita), and Porgy & Bess (Lily) to name a few. As a graduate of York College of Pennsylvania (B.A.) and Indiana University (M.M.), she has been a young artist in programs such as The Glimmerglass Festival, Grant Park Music Festival, Pensacola Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, and is currently a Resident Artist with Toledo Opera. Her past awards and recognitions include the Mollie Shapiro Award at Des Moines Metro Opera, an Encouragement award winner from the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition, a semi-finalist in the George Shirley Vocal Competition, and the 2022 Elizabeth Greenfield Award. their recent credits include Lola (Cavalleria Rusticana), La Badessa (Suor Angelica), Mercécès (Carmen), and Tisbe (La Cenerentola). She’s very excited to return to Toledo Opera for  her upcoming role debuts as Gertrude (Romeo and Juliet) and Sarah (Ragtime).

Evan Fleming

Gregorio

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Evan Fleming

American Baritone Evan Fleming is a New Jersey native and versatile stage performer engaging in opera, musical theatre, and contemporary music. In the 2022-2023 season, he created the role of Father in the world premiere opera OURLAND: A Dystopian State with the San José Chamber Orchestra. In May 2023, Mr. Fleming joined the Opera Company of Middlebury as an Apprentice Artist for their summer festival. While in Vermont, he debuted roles in Barber’s A Hand of Bridge (David) and Menotti’s The Telephone (Ben). Closing out 2023, Mr. Fleming returned to his alma mater, singing solos from Carmina Burana with the Montclair State University Chorale. In 2022, Mr. Fleming made role debuts in two of Sondheim’s best musicals. In the spring, he appeared as Anthony Hope (Sweeney Todd) (Montclair State University). Returning to Opera Steamboat for a second summer, he debuted a dream role: Bobby (Company). A graduate of Montclair State University (B.M. 2019) and The University of Alabama (M.M. 2021), Mr. Fleming created roles in two world premiere productions during the 2019-2020 season. In collaboration with the Tuscaloosa Symphony and conductor Adam Flatt, he created the role of Little John in Joseph Landers’ Let Us Now Praise Famous Men which was recorded by Alabama Public Television for broadcast in 2020. In addition, he was seen in multiple roles in Michael Ching’s modular work RSBE: Remove Shoes Before Entering. Past roles include Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) (Opera Steamboat), Dandini (La Cenerentola) (Red River Lyric Opera), Groom in Mark Adamo’s Avow and Man in Michael Ching’s Leo: An Opera in One Cat with The University of Alabama. Mr. Fleming is elated to be a Resident Artist with Toledo Opera for their 2023-2024 season. Upcoming credits include: Harry Houdini (Ragtime) with Toledo Opera.

Luke Serrano

Count Paris

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Luke Serrano

Baritone Luke Serrano is an Ohio Native originally from Cleveland and holds a Bachelors of Music in vocal performance, as well as minors in Italian studies and music industry from Bowling Green State University. Mr. Serrano has been a member of the Toledo Opera chorus since 2018, having performed in Rigoletto, Die Zauberflöte, La Traviata, Cavalleria Rusticana, and The Merry Widow. A regional vocalist, he recently performed in Detroit Opera's production of Faust as a part of the chorus, and sings at the Historic Mariners' Church. Mr. Serrano frequently gigs around the greater Toledo and southern Michigan area, as well as Northwest Ohio, singing everything from classical to jazz to musical theater. He has performed the roles of Joey (The Most Happy Fella), Guglielmo (Cosi Fan Tutti), Giuseppe Palmieri (The Gondoliers), Emile de Becque (South Pacific), Big Jule (Guys and Dolls), and Bobby (Crazy for You). Mr. Serrano studied abroad in Viterbo, Italy from January to May in 2019 as a part of USAC, and was awarded the Gilman Scholarship then. When not performing, Mr. Serrano is a part of the Toledo Opera staff, and works as the Box Office and Production Assistant. Before relocating to Toledo, he served as the music director at GracePointe Church for 2 years, and held a small studio teaching beginner piano to children, and voice to High School and early College students. He studied under Tenor Christopher Scholl and baritone Salvatore Champagne.

Nick Kottman

Benvoglio

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Nick Kottman

Tenor Nicholas Kottman is an Ohio Native originally from the village of Bellbrook, Ohio. He has been praised for his vibrant, lyric tenor sound. He holds a Bachelor of Music in choral music education and his Master of Vocal Performance degree specializing in vocal pedagogy and vocal science both from Bowling Green State University. When not performing, Mr. Kottman works as an adult education teacher at Toledo Correctional Institution, assisting incarcerated persons with getting their GED. He has been a member of the Toledo Opera chorus since 2019 having performed in Macbeth, La Bohème, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, and Cavalleria Rusticana. Mr. Kottman has performed the roles of Orpheus (Orpheus in the Underworld), Father in the world premiere of Nuclear, Don Alfonso (Cosi Fan Tutti), Tony Esposito (The Most Happy Fella), and Carl Olsen (Street Scene). He has also sung several recitals throughout the greater Toledo area. Notably, Mr. Kottman won first place in the undergraduate division of the Dr. Marjorie Conrad art song competition at Bowling Green State University along with collaborative pianist Emily Morin. He studied under baritone Lance Ashmore and baritone Keith Phares during his university studies and has since studied with tenor Shawn Mathey and soprano Sujin Lee. 

Tuesday Talks

This free public panel discussion composed of artists, scholars, and Toledo community members goes beyond what's on stage and delves into the opera's issues which can be seen in today's contemporary society. Wine reception to follow.

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Pre-Opera Talk

Join us one hour before the curtain for an informational presentation providing historical context and insight into the opera.

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Production Details

Experience Shakespeare's greatest love story with Gounod's beautiful score in the this traditional production set in 18th century Verona, Italy.

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