OPERA THEATER OF CONNECTICUT - WINE WOMEN AND SONG - SCENES FROM YOUR FAVORITE OPERAS
MEMBERS OF THE COMPANY - IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
SCOTT BEARDEN
Scott Bearden (baritone) is the First Prize winner as well as the Audience Prize winner in the 2008 Irene Dalis Vocal Competition. In 2007, Mr. Bearden
was the Audience Prize winner in the same competition. Also in 2007, Mr. Bearden was the First Prize winner of the 2nd Chester Ludgin American Verdi
Baritone Competition in front of a jury made up in part by, Maestro Placido Domingo, Mignon Dunn and Maestro Julius Rudel.
Mr. Bearden continues to impress audiences and critics alike with his vivid portrayals of many of the heavier baritone roles from the Italian repertoire.
His recent performances include the title role in Verdi's Falstaff with Toledo Opera and Germont in La Traviata with Mercury Opera in Rochester, New York.
In 2009, Mr. Bearden has appeared as Iago in a concert performance of Verdi's Otello with the Oakland /East Bay Symphony and as Tonio in Knoxville
Opera's production of I Pagliacci.
In the summer of 2008, Mr. Bearden was seen first in the role of the father, Amonasro, in Verdi's Aida with Cedar Rapids Opera Theater and
returned to Festival Opera for Conte di Luna. Finally, Mr. Bearden returned to the east coast for Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca with
Opera Theatre of Connecticut .
In the fall of 2008, Mr. Bearden was engaged by the San Francisco Opera as the cover for the role of Varlaam in their production of Boris Godunov,
starring Samuel Ramey in the title role.
Other past engagements include: Rigoletto and Scarpia for Opera Theatre of Connecticut, Falstaff, Tonio in I Pagliacci and the title role
in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi with Mississippi Opera, Un Ballo in Maschera with Festival Opera, Falstaff for the Tanglewood Music Festival, under
the baton of Maestro Seiji Ozawa, Three Penny Opera, La Bohème and Tosca with West Bay Opera, Tosca and La Bohème with the Midland Symphony,
Così fan tutte and Tosca at the Sanibel Music Festival, Falstaff, Tosca and Il Tabarro with IVAI in Tel Aviv, Israel, and with Opera San Jose,
both as a resident artist and as a guest artist, L'Elisir d'Amore, Rigoletto ( two productions), Madama Butterfly, Falstaff, Così fan tutte,
Manon, La Bohème, I Pagliacci and Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
Mr. Bearden earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Central Michigan University and a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan
School of Music. It is possible to hear Mr. Bearden on the Vox Classics recording of Britten's Albert Herring. He and his wife reside in New York City.
TERESA EICKEL
In the 2008-2009 season, Teresa Eickel (soprano) performed the role of Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly with Boheme Opera, a role she has performed to
great critical and audience acclaim with Mobile Opera, Ashlawn Opera Festival, Opera Fairbanks, San Francisco Lyric Opera, and the Bear Valley Music
Festival. Ms. Eickel was also featured as the soprano soloist in concerts with Boheme Opera, the Essex Winter Concert Series, and in a concert
series featuring the music of operetta composer, Ivor Novello. In 2009-2010, Ms. Eickel will make her debut as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte
with Opera Memphis and as a recitalist on the Rising Star Series with the prestigious Ravinia Festival.
In recent seasons, Ms. Eickel debuted in the role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Opera Memphis, the role of Liù in Sacramento
Opera's production of Turandot, and the role of Mimi in La Bohème with Salt Marsh Opera, a role she has also performed with Treasure
Coast Opera. She has also sung the role of Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Memphis, as well as Lost Her Moccasins in Opera
Memphis's premiere of Corps of Discovery. With Ashlawn Opera Festival, she sang the role of First Lady in The Magic Flute and with
Opera Theater of Connecticut she performed the role of Gretel in Hansel and Gretel. She has also sung with Sarasota Opera and Connecticut Opera.
Ms. Eickel has performed recitals in collaboration with Ashlawn Opera and members of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and has also appeared
as a featured soprano soloist in a concert of operatic selections with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed in concerts with
Lake George Opera, the Trenton Symphony and Salt Marsh Opera.
Ms. Eickel is a three-time award winner of the Sergio Franchi competition and a 2006 recipient of the New Boston Fund Fellowship Award from the Hartford Arts Council.
GALA EL HADIDI
Gala El Hadidi (mezzo-soprano) joined the Cairo Opera Company in 2001 at the age of 18. She has studied singing withtTenor Dr. Sobhi Bidair
since 1998 and attended several master classes with soprano Caroline Dumas, mezzo-soprano Ingeborg Danz in Germany, and with baritone Tom Krause
in Finland.
She is currently doing her M.M. Degree at Yale University where her upcoming roles include Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro and Carmen in Le
Tragédie do Carmen with Yale Opera.
She graduated from the American University in Cairo with a B.A. in Philosophy in 2005 and a M.A. in English and Comparative Literature
in June 2007. Her Thesis is titled: "Carmen: Debating the Femme Fatale." She has won several prizes in French and German competitions such
as "Jugend Musiziert." Ms. El Hadidi received a scholarship to attend the International Bach Academy in Stuttgart/Germany in September 2005.
Throughout the last 7 years, she has performed in several concerts in Connecticut, New York State and Washington D.C., Rome, Venice
and Ischia; Stuttgart and Leipzig; Helsinki and Savonlinna (Finland); Istanbul; Algiers and Constantine (Algeria); Rabat, Casablanca
and Essaouira (Morocco). She participated in many International festivals such as: Stuttgart's International Summer Festival 2004;
Festival de Tres Culturas in Morocco; Festival des Alizes in Morocco; Europäische Musik Festival in Stuttgart; Der Internationale Musik
Sommer in Stuttgart in 2006 and the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland in 2007 and 2008. In May 2009, Ms. El Hadidi made her debut at the
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage as a participant of the Conservatory Project, in Washington D.C., as well as became the New England
Finalist at The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for 2009 and 2010.
MICHAEL-PAUL KRUBITZER
Michael-Paul Krubitzer (tenor) is quickly gaining a reputation as one of America's most promising young tenors. Engagements this season have included debuts with the
Waterbury Symphony as the tenor soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, as well as Connecticut Concert Opera singing the role of Gerald in Lakmé.
Recently, Mr. Krubitzer has been featured at the Central City Opera Festival in Colorado where he covered and performed the role of Alfredo in La Traviata,
and has made company debuts with Amarillo Opera singing in Carmen and Opera Omaha in Aida. Michael-Paul's operatic training has included appearing with
Florida Grand Opera as part of its Young Artist Program, one of the America's highest ranked opera training programs. Also, he was a Resident
Artist at Connecticut Opera for two seasons and returned as a mainstage artist in 2008 for Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio.
Mr. Krubitzer is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree in Opera Studies at Yale University where he was featured in performances of
Mozart's The Magic Flute and Massenet's La Navarraise. He will be performing the role of Don José in Yale Opera's spring production of La Tragedie de Carmen.
Michael-Paul Krubitzer originally hails from Nanticoke, PA and obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Hartt School of Music at
the University of Hartford.
BRIAN CHENEY
Brian Cheney (lyric-tenor) has received national acclaim for his interpretation of operatic roles such as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Nemorino in L'Elisir D'Amore,
Rodolfo in La Bohème, the Duke in Rigoletto, Don Jose in Carmen, Tom Rakewell in The Rake's Progress and Alfredo in La Traviata.
No stranger to the concert stage, Mr. Cheney's oratorio and concert experience ranges from critically acclaimed performances of Handel's Messiah
in New York City, Providence, and Philadelphia to Mendelssohn's Elijah, Britten's Saint Nicolas, Mozart's Requiem as well as Leonard Bernstein's Candide.
An accomplished recitalist, he has been praised for his "wonderful gift for capturing the nuances and emotions in songs of any language." He recently
made his Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall debut with pianist, Catherine Venable with whom he has performed recitals and concerts throughout the United States.
In addition to his Weill Hall debut, highlights from his last two seasons include: second round finalist in the Mezzo Opera Competition in Zseged,
Hungary, the role of Cortez in the world premier of Daniel Steven Crafts opera La Llorona, the Duke in the Asheville Lyric Opera's production of Rigoletto,
and tenor soloist in Mendelssohn: The Man & His Music at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. His future performances include Don Jose in Carmen with Asheville
Lyric Opera and the Tenor Soloist in Verdi's Requiem in Albany, NY.
During the final years of Jerry Hadley's life, the legendary American tenor served as a powerful and influential mentor and dear friend
to Mr. Cheney. Having learned from him the art, nuance and stylistic ease of singing many different operatic roles, Viennese and American operetta,
Musical Theater, as well as American popular song and art song make Mr. Cheney one of today's most versatile artists. Like Mr. Hadley, he also
has a profound commitment to new operas as well as to American opera.
In addition to his stage, concert, and recital performances, Mr. Cheney maintains an active interest in teaching and was recently appointed
to the faculty of the Conservatory of Music at Capital University, Columbus, Ohio and Department of Music at Otterbein College, Westerville, Ohio.
OPERA THEATER OF CONNECTICUT
Opera Theater of Connecticut celebrates its 25th season this year. Founded in 1986, OTC provides professional
artists with the vital opportunity to realize their talents in the practice of their crafts, provides access
to the performing arts to a wide audience by presenting high quality productions at an affordable price,
and brings the performing arts into communities not regularly serviced by performing arts companies.
OTC introduces audiences to young singers who are on the cusp of major careers. Performers such as Jane Dutton,
Scott Bearden, Carl Tanner, Michael Corvino, Shelley Jameson, Mark Heller, Laura Vlasik Nolen, Sarah Jane McMahon
and Bradley Garvin sang with, and Yves Abel and Stephen Crawford conducted with, Opera Theater at the
Andrews Memorial Theater or the Sanibel Music Festival soon before their debuts with such companies
as the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago.
OTC focuses on the standard and appropriate repertoire since it provides young singers with the roles they
will need to enter a professional career and also provides the audience the chance to hear excellent singers
in live opera productions. Our educational outreach program, Overtures, has organized, through various school
boards, parent-teacher associations, libraries, historic sites and community and service agencies, programs
that presented not only music theater pieces written for children but also scenes from classical and modern
opera.
OTC has also organized projects that include the students in the presentation of music theater at their schools.
To date, some 8,500 audience members, from school children to seniors, have been to Overtures presentations.
In 1990 Opera Theater began informance lectures (Opera Talk) before each show, offering a chance to hear
the director talk about the performance. This April, OTC's Guild, The Amici, sponsors its 14th state-wide
vocal competition. Next summer the company presents Verdi's La Traviata
Kate Ford (General Director) co-founded Opera Theater of Connecticut in 1986 and has served as the company's
producer and administrator and has coordinated the costumes for every show since its founding,
including its recent productions of Hansel and Gretel, Madama Butterfly and Tosca. She has been involved
in fund-raising and administration for various companies in New York City including the New York Opera
Repertory Theater, New York Lyric Opera, and Opera Ensemble of New York. As well as being President of
The Friends of Straus Park Concerts in New York City, she has been a Jenny Lind National Competition
for Sopranos judge. With the Town Players in New York City, she produced Little Johnny Jones and Fiddler
on the Roof and their American Musical retrospective, Broadway Goes to Town. She has produced house
concerts and galas such as Opera Theater of Connecticut's recently acclaimed Wine, Women and Song,
a luscious blending of Opera with a professional wine tasting. She has produced and costumed all operas
for Opera Theater of Connecticut at the Sanibel Music Festival, including Eugene Onegin, Hansel and Gretel,
La Bohème and Madama Butterfly. For Mississippi Opera, she also costumed their production of
Gianni Schicchi / I Pagliacci. Upcoming performances include Verfi's La Traviata for Opera Theater
of Connecticut and 2010's Wine, Women and Song.
Alan Mann (Artistic Director) has recently directed Mississippi Opera's Carmen, La Bohème, and Rigoletto,
Opera Theater of Connecticut's Julius Caesar, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, and Tosca, New Jersey Verismo
Opera's Tosca as well as The Sanibel Music Festival's Julius Caesar and Eugene Onegin. He received degrees
in directing from The Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and from the London Academy of Music and
Dramatic Art, London - a two year program designed especially for him at the direction of the school's
former head, renowned Shakespearean director, Michael MacOwan. He also studied Set Design under Chris
Hewitt and Lighting Design with Richard Pilbrow and Molly Friedel. He received his Ph.D. in Opera Production
from Andersen University. Mr. Mann has held Master classes in opera performance at Hartt School of Music
and the University of Southern Mississippi. His directing assignments span traditional opera,
contemporary opera, comic opera, musical theater, and classic and modern theater. As Artistic Director
of Opera Theater of Connecticut, he has directed and designed its productions, which include opera
and Shakespeare, since its founding in 1986. He directed and designed all nineteen opera productions
for the Sanibel Music Festival and has designed lights and sets for other productions including
Shirley Valentine, Interlude (at the Edinburgh Festival), and The Nutcracker Suite. Mr. Mann has
also frequently served as a judge for various opera and Shakespeare competitions, including
The Jenny Lind National Competition for Sopranos. He also serves as the Artistic Director
of Opera Theater of Connecticut and Executive Director of the Boston Chamber Music Society.
Kyle Swann (Conductor) is currently Visiting Artist in Vocal Coaching and Conducting at the Hartt School of Music
and is on the coaching staff of Yale Opera. He has conducted orchestral, operatic and choral repertoire throughout
the eastern United States and abroad. In 1993, he made his professional debut conducting Company One Theater's
world premiere of James Sellars's The World is Round. He recently conducted Donizetti's Maria Stuarda
in Boston's Jordan Hall with the Boston Academy of Music,Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Connecticut Opera and Rigoletto with Mississippi Opera.
He has appeared in Brazil with the Orquestra Sinfonica de Estado de São Paulo, at Alice Tully Hall and
St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, and the Rathaus in Vienna.
He conducted Boston Academy of Music Opera's The Beggar's Opera, which was named "Best of Boston", and returned
there to conduct Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore. He has conducted Hartford performances of such works as
Mephistofele, Rigoletto, Lucrezia Borgia, and La fille du regiment. He has performed with the Hartford
Symphony, the South Florida Opera Company, and the Opera Theater of Connecticut where he recently conducted
their Julius Caesar, Madama Butterfly, and Tosca. Mr. Swann was resident conductor of Connecticut
Opera and director of Opera Express for several seasons and is a faculty member of the Hartt School
of Music, where he was the Karl Böhm International Fellow of Orchestral Conducting.
He recently conducted performances of Mozart's Impresario and Le Nozze di Figaro with Intermezzo Young Artists
and Britten's Noye's Fludde, La Bohème, and Tosca, for Mississippi Opera. In February, he conducted Le Nozze
di Figaro for the Hartt School of Music, where he most recently was the music director for Dialogues des Carmelites.
Upcoming engagements include Verdi's La Traviata for Opera Theater of Connecticut.