La Boheme - Opera Guild of Rochester

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Andrew Oakden, Marcello Baritone Andrew Oakden continues to garner critical acclaim in opera houses across the United States and abroad making his international debut with Opera de Nice (France) as Rambaldo (La Rondine). Also this season he performs the roles of Marcello (La Bohème) with Mercury Opera and Sharpless (Madama Butterfly) with Utah Opera. Last season he made his New York City Opera mainstage debut performing the roles of Alfio (Cavalleria Rusticana) and Tonio (Pagliacci.) He recently made his Ft. Worth Symphony debut in the role of Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) and earlier this season with the Santa Fe Symphony in Carmina Burana. In 2005, he performed the Mandarin (Turandot) and Pietro (Simon Boccanegra) at Santa Fe Opera, and Alfio (Cavalleria Rusticana) and Tonio (Pagliacci) at Sarasota Opera where he additionally covered Stankar in Verdi’s (Stiffelio.) Following his success as Tonio at Sarasota Opera, The Sunday Telegraph (London) wrote: “…the unexpected thrill of a young baritone, Andrew Oakden, stepping in at a moment’s notice into the role of Tonio and bringing the house down with his superb singing of the prologue…Oakden is a name to note.” Mr. Oakden was the 1st Prize Winner in the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition as well as being a recent finalist in both the regional Metropolitan Opera Competition and the 2005 MacAllister Awards. Upcoming engagements include his role debut as Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro) with Florida Grand Opera and Raleigh (Roberto Devereux) with Dallas Opera. Elena O’Connor, Musetta Soprano Elena O’Connor makes her debut with this performance. Previously, she has sung the role of Musetta under Julius Rudel and the direction of Ed Berkeley at the Aspen Music Festival. She has also appeared as Gilda in Rigoletto and Micaela in Carmen at the Aspen Music Festival, where she is also a winner of the Festival’s Vocal Concerto Competition. Other honors come from Mobile Opera’s Rose Palmai- Tenser Competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and the Palm Beach Opera International Vocal Competition, where she was a winner two consecutive years. With Palm Beach Opera, Ms. O’Connor toured as the title role in their production of Chauls’s Alice in Wonderland and performed concerts throughout South Florida with Maestro Kamal Khan. A native of Rochester, Ms. O’Connor did her undergraduate studies at Eastman and the University of Miami School of Music, where she sang the role of Francesca in the U.S. premiere of Luigi Mancinelli’s Paolo e Francesca, South Florida’s Sun-Sentinel calling her portrayal “stunning.” She was also recently praised in the New York Times for her “standout” performance at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha with Collegiate Chorale. As an art song enthusiast, Ms. O’Connor has been a three-time fellow with the University of Miami’s Lieder program in Salzburg, Austria, where as an honoree of the Schloss-Leopoldskron Competition, she was featured in concerts and worked in masterclasses with Helen Donath and the late Jerry Hadley. In the summer of 2006, she was a member of the Ravinia Festival’s Steans Institute Program for Singers under the auspices of James Conlon and Margo Garrett, where she studied and performed works of Schumann, Rachmaninoff and Poulenc. Also under the auspices of Maestro Conlon, Ms O’Connor was one of the youngest ever featured soloists in the long history of the Cincinnati May Festival, performing the soprano role in Bach’s Cantata No. 21 under Robert Porco, Cincinnati’s Enquirer referring to her “a young star to watch.” She currently resides in New York City.
Steven Tompkins, Rodolfo Tenor Steven Tompkins makes his professional opera debut singing the role of Rodolfo in La Bohème with Mercury Opera. The Naples (FL) Sun Times describes his voice as “fused with power and passion” and predicts that “the young tenor, so handsome, will have a great career ahead.” The Ann Arbor News simply calls his voice “outstanding.” Mr. Tompkins made his professional orchestral debut in 2005 with the International Symphony Orchestra in Sarnia, Ontario, singing Handel’s Messiah and the Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio. Other solo performances with orchestra include The Seven Last Words of Christ of both Schütz and Dubois, Bach’s Cantata No. 4 and Cantata No. 12, Haydn’s The Creation, Schubert’s Mass in G and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. On the concert stage, he appears regularly in recital on the Essex Summer Concert Series in Essex, NY, and with the Naples Opera Society in Naples, Florida. Mr. Tompkins is continuing his opera studies as a member of the select Specialist Program at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, where he received the Master of Music degree in vocal performance, having been awarded full-tuition scholarships for both degrees. He is a graduate of Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester NY with a B.S. Degree in Vocal Performance. At UMAA he has performed the leading tenor roles of Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème conducted by Martin Katz, Jenik in The Bartered Bride by Smetana, Don José in La Tragédie de Carmen by Georges Bizet, adapted by Peter Brook, and The Man with a Paint Box in Domenic Argento’s Postcard from Morocco. In November 2007 Mr. Tompkins was a semi-finalist in the Czech and Slovak International Vocal Competition held in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He has received another full-tuition award to study in June 2008 at the Scuola Italia in Urbania, Italy, where he will perform in concerts at the Teatro Bramante. Joel Atella, Assistant Director Joel Atella is in his final year studying vocal performance at the Eastman School of Music. He began performing in 1996, flying sky high as Michael Darling in Peter Pan, and is a 2005 Presidential Scholar in the Arts. He has appeared onstage with Mercury Opera Rochester in the chorus of Norma, and is excited to join the Artistic Staff as Assistant Director for this production. Mr. Atella’s Eastman Opera Theatre credits include Major Domo/Chorus in The Merry Widow and the mute role of Toby in The Medium. A native of Fort Collins, Colorado, he thanks his parents and JM for their love and support. Karla M. Krogstad, Director of the Bach Children’s Chorus at Nazareth College Karla Krogstad earned degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, University of Connecticut, and the Eastman School of Music. She is an active arranger of music for children’s voices. Ms Krogstad has conducted the Chorus in such diverse works as Britten’s War Requiem, Orff‘s Carmina Burana, the Waltz of the Snowflakes from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, and Mahler’s Symphony #3. She lives in Rochester with her husband, Bob and daughter, Ingrid. Nic Minetor, Lighting Designer Lighting designer/director for theater, film and TV, Nic Minetor has been resident designer for more than 40 productions of Eastman Opera Theatre, including Candide, La Bohème, The Medium, Dialogues of the Carmelites and Sweeney Todd; and many Opera Theatre of Rochester and Geva Theatre productions, including A Christmas Carol. This is his eighth production with Mercury Opera Rochester. His work has also been seen at NTID, SUNY Brockport, Elmira and Nazareth Colleges.
Page 1 and 2: Mercury Opera Rochester presents La
Page 3 and 4: Scene Paris, in the mid-1920’s Sy
Page 5 and 6: Artistic & Production Staff Artisti
Page 7 and 8: Joseph & Maria Finetti Amy Fujimura
Page 9 and 10: Biographies Gerard Floriano, Artist
Page 11: University, and University of Memph
Page 15 and 16: Finishing its third season of both

La Boheme - Opera Guild of Rochester

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