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Thomas Booth as Rodolfo, Cavaradossi and Pinkerton
Internationally acclaimed tenor Thomas Booth has performed widely in opera and concert around
the United States and throughout Europe and other parts of the World. His
principal vocal training was at the Juilliard School in New York with Russian Bass Alexander Kipnis and also privately with Metropolitan Opera tenors James
King and John Alexander. He holds
his Masters in Voice and Opera Performance form Northwestern International
University in Denmark and his Bachelors from the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill.
Under management with Columbia Artists and later ICM Artists Ltd., Mr. Booth
sang with the Metropolitan Opera in
Principal and Leading Roles for nine seasons and sang for five seasons with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and also
with the New York City Opera. He
has performed across the United States in most every state and in New Orleans,
Miami, Memphis, Seattle, Dallas, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Portland (
Maine and Oregon), Boston, San Diego, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Disney's Epcot
Center, The Spoletto Festival USA and many other cities. In Europe and Internationally Mr. Booth has
sung in Rome, London, Nice on
the French Riviera, Nantes and
Montptellier, France, in Belgium,
Ireland, Warsaw, Stockholm, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Mexico
City, Monterrey, Montreal, the Spanish Canary Islands, Frankfurt, Aachen, Saarbrucken and other German
cities, in South Africa and Tokyo. He has sung the World Premier of George Lloyd's The Vigil of Venus at London's
Royal Festival Hall, The American Premier
of John Cage's Europa in New York the Israeli Premier of Naom Sherif's The Sephardic Passion in Tel
Aviv. Mr. Booth has been heard numerous times on National
Public Radio via performances from the
Met, Lyric Opera and broadcasts of his recordings of John Socman and The Vigil
of Venus and Boris Godunov. He has appeared on PBS in Illinois in a US premier of Verdi’s Messa Solenne. He has
also appeared onstage with each of the Three Tenors. |
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Rachel Cobb as Tosca and Butterfly
American soprano Rachel Cobb has
earned critical acclaim in the United States and Europe as a total performer
with incredible dramatic intensity. Hailed as “fiercely dramatic” (The London Times), having presented “one
of the best impersonations I have seen” (Opera Magazine) and possessing a “pure
soprano [with] charm and fragility” (Classical Voice) and “real vocal thrust”
(Opera News).
Recent engagements include
appearances as Miss Jessel in Glyndebourne's production of The Turn of the
Screw, as Cio Cio San in Madama
Butterfly with Opera Panama, as Mimì in
Opera Pacific’s production of La Boheme conducted by John DeMain, for which she was named Most
Promising Young Artist, as Donna Anna in Don
Giovanni with Madison Opera and the
Westfield Symphony, as Pallade Athena in Gluck's Paride ed Elena with Will Crutchfield conducting at The Caramoor
Festival, as Fiordiligi in Cosí fan tutte and as Beauty in Giannini's Beauty and the Beast with Baltimore Opera and Kitty Hart in the Opera
Pacific production of Dead Man Walking.
Notable roles in her repertoire
include Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus,
Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, Nedda
in Pagliacci, Marguerite in Faust, Micaëla in Carmen, and Countess in Le nozze di Figaro. Ms.
Cobb was a first prize winner of the Farwell Award in Chicago, 2nd place winner
at the Metropolitan National Council Auditions in Chicago, a 2007 Licia
Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Vocal Competition Grant Winner and a
two-time finalist in the highly esteemed Loren L. Zachary Competition.
Ms. Cobb has also achieved
success on the concert stage in recent appearances with the Fairbanks Symphony
in performances of the Verdi Requiem and
in Washington D.C. with Strauss' Four Last Songs. Upcoming performances include Mimì with Duluth
Festival Opera.
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Tim Mix as Marcello and Scarpia
Recipient of a 2008 Richard Tucker Foundation Career Grant, Timothy Mix is recognized for the beauty of his voice and his compelling stage presence. He received critical acclaim for his pivotal role as Edward Gaines in the New York premiere of Richard Danielpour and Toni Morrison’s Margaret Garner, in a new production by Tazewell Thompson, for which the American baritone received New York City Opera’s 2008 Christopher Keene Award.
The 2008/09 season features a pair of notable house debuts: at Dallas Opera as the Duke of Nottingham in the Stephen Lawless production of Donizetti’s Roberto Devereaux, conducted by Graeme Jenkins, and at Michigan Opera Theatre as Edward Gaines in Kenny Leon’s production of Margaret Garner. Mr. Mix also takes on the role of Marcello in La Bohème at both Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Palm Beach Opera. His concert calendar includes Fauré’s Requiem with the Buffalo Philharmonic, and Beethoven’s Mass in C and Dvorák’s Te Deum with Voices of Ascension.
During the 2007/08 season, Timothy Mix made his debut at the Boston Lyric Opera as Marcello in La Bohème, and sang Ford in New York City Opera’s Falstaff. He also performed principal roles in two recent American operas: the aforementioned Margaret Garner, and Clayton McAllister in the Atlanta Opera production of Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree. |
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Trevor Scheuneman as Schaunard and Sharpless
“Rich” and “gleaming” (Washington Post) are a few words used to describe the voice of American baritone Trevor Scheunemann. For the 2008 – 2009 season, Mr. Scheunemann returned to Washington National Opera for his role debut as Zurga in Les pêcheurs des perles and will also make another role debut as Escamillo in Carmen with Teatro de la Opera in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In the summer of 2009, he will return to the Glyndebourne Festival to sing Melot in Tristan und Isolde and will make his debut at Opéra National de Bordeaux... more in Robert Carsen’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. Mr. Scheunemann also joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in their productions of Thaïs and La rondine. In concert, he will perform Vaughan Williams’s Dona nobis pacem, Britten’s Cantata Misericordium, and Purcell’s Come, Ye Sons of Art with the Choral Arts Society of Washington (DC).
The 2009 – 2010 season will see Mr. Scheunemann at the Washington National Opera as Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Metropolitan Opera as Morales in the new production of Carmen conducted by Lorin Maazel, his San Francisco Opera debut as Jake Wallace in La fanciulla del West conducted by Nicola Luisotti, Oper Frankfurt as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, and Opéra de Lille with Emmanuelle Haïm in Rameau’s Dardanus. Future seasons will see Mr. Scheunemann at the Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, and San Francisco Opera. [Read more]
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Emily Ezzie as Mimi
Soprano Emily Ezzie graduated from Boston University having received the Ellalou
Dimmock Award. Since then, she has been steadily distinguishing herself as a young artist to watch, recently adding the 2008 Grand Prize in the Long Leaf Opera Vocal Competition to her list of accolades. Among her roles, most notable are the title role in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta and Mimì in La Bohème where in recent performances, she was hailed as “The acknowledged star of the evening” by All Arts Review. With the Pittsburgh Opera she was singled out for her portrayal of Barbarina in their production of Le Nozze di Figaro, directed by Christopher Alden. Other engagements include appearances with the Baltimore Opera, Opera Boston, Washington DC’s Bel Cantanti Opera, The Greenwich Music Festival, and the Washington Vocal Arts Ensemble to name a few. She has performed as a Young Artist with Opera North, The Opera and Theatre Music Festival of Lucca Italy, and Sarasota Opera where she received the Stuart R. Silver Scholarship. This Summer Ms. Ezzie can be seen performing with the Natchez Festival of Music. |
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Brendan Cooke as Colline and Sciarrone
Brendan Cooke holds a Master of Music Degree from the Peabody Conservatory, where he was a student of the renowned British Bass-Baritone, John Shirley-Quirk. Mr. Cooke has sung over thirty operatic roles, ranging from Bottom in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream to the title role in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Colline in La Bohème, and Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia to name a few. Locally, Brendan has performed numerous roles with the Baltimore Opera (Crespel in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Alessio in La Sonnombula, Dancairo in Carmen) as well as with Opera Vivente, Opera AACC, and the Young Victorian Theatre. Brendan has performed with opera companies and orchestras all over the United States including Sarasota Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Opera North, Center City Opera, Opera Southwest, Portland Opera Repertory, New Orleans Opera, the Louisiana Philharmonic and the Connecticut Master Chorale. In addition to a busy performing schedule, Brendan is an Associate Broker and Realtor® with Passport Realty, LLC in Mount Vernon. |
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J Austin Bitner as Spoletta
J Austin Bitner holds a Masters of Music (Peabody Conservatory), a Bachelors of Arts in International Business (Ball State University) and is a continuous Baltimore-Washington performer. Mr. Bitner has been a regular member of the Washington National & Baltimore Opera Companies for the past 12 years where he has performed roles in The Consul, Of Mice and Men, I Vespri Siciliani, Dead Man Walking, and La Traviata with each company in addition to his seasonal work with them as a chorus member and in their educational programs. He has performed over fifty roles in opera, operetta, and musical theatre notable highlights include, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Laca in Jenufa, Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance, and Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer. Residing in Baltimore, J Austin performs throughout the Mid-Atlantic region; regularly with Anne Arundel Community Opera, Pantolites (Baltimore), Young Victorian Theatre and Annapolis Chorale as well as Opera Carolina, Spoleto Festival Opera, and Summer Opera (DC). Mr. Bitner also serves as an Area Representative Regionally and Nationally for AGMA and is employed as the Director of Member Services for The Engineers Club of Baltimore located in the historic Garrett-Jacobs Mansion. |
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Tim Kjer as Benoit
Bass Timothy Kjer has performed with many of the leading music organizations in the Baltimore-Washington area including Annapolis Opera, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Baltimore Opera, Handel Choir, Morgan University Choir, Opera Vivente, Washington Summer Opera, Washington National Opera, Washington Concert Opera, Wolf Trap Opera and Young Victorian Theatre. Operatic roles include Doctor Bartolo in The Barber of Seville, Skeeter (Simone) in The Tale of Johnny S. Kickey (Gianni Schicchi), Doctor Grenvil in La Traviata, and Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly. Mr. Kjer has also performed leading roles in Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore, The Sorcerer, The Pirates of Penzance, The Gondoliers, Trial by Jury, and The Mikado. Sacred repertoire performances have included Handel’s Messiah, Debussy’s L’Enfant Prodigue, Fauré’s Requiem, and Mozart’s Grand Mass in C minor. |
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Catherine MiEun Choi as Suzuki
Described as “With a world of emotion and soul” (Washington
Post), “unusual beauty of tone” (Boston Globe), “Choi sings with expression and
beauty (Boston herald)”, “thrilling highlight” (variety),
Mezzo-Soprano Catherine performed in the National Tour of
The King and I as Lady Thiang starring Sandy Duncan, Stefanie Powers and Lou
Diamond Phillips .
She attended the Korean National University of Arts of
Music, and Peabody Conservatory. While attending Peabody, she made her debut in
1999 at the Washington National Opera Company as Mercy Lewis in The Crucible. And in 2004, she performed in the production of Manon
Lescaut as Madrigal Singer under baton of Plácido Domingo at the Washington
National Opera.
Her other performed operatic roles include Suzuki in Madama
Butterfly, Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress, Hansel in Hansel
and Gretel, Dying Juana in With Blood, With Ink, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Maddalena in Rigoletto.
Catherine is thrilled to make her debut at the Baltimore
Concert Opera! |
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James Harp Pianist
James Harp is well known in the Baltimore area as a stage director, pianist, organist, singer, composer, lecturer, writer and conductor. He holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He has been the Artistic Administrator of the Baltimore Opera Company since 1989 and has been the Chorus Master since 1993. Since 1983 he has served as organist for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and since 1987 has been the Cantor (Organist/Choirmaster) for Baltimore's historic St. Mark's Lutheran Church, where he also serves as Artistic Director of the St. Cecilia Society Concert Series.
His stage direction credits include such well known operas as Madama Butterfly, Don Giovanni, Cosi Fan Tutte, and Carmen, as well as less well-known American works: Buxom Joan (Raynor Taylor); Slow Dusk(Carlisle Floyd); Beauty and the Beast (Vittorio Giannini); The Village Singer (Steven Paulus); Too Many Sopranos (Edwin Penhorwood); The Music Shop (Richard Wargo). As a solo singer he has performed with Baltimore Opera Company, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, Summer Opera Theatre of DC, Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia, and the Contemporary Music Forum of Washington, DC. He has appeared with the Young Vic in three productions: Ruddigore (Sir Despard Murgatroyd); The Gondoliers (Don Alhambra); and Iolanthe (Earl Mountararat). |
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Note: Cast subject to change |
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