Jason Howard, Baritone (Henry VIII)
Raised in the rich singing tradition of South Wales, Jason Howard is now recognized as one of the UK’s leading performers on the international operatic stage. Upon leaving his first career as a fireman, he took up studies at Trinity College of Music and the Royal College of Music with John Wakefield and Norman Bailey, respectively, and commenced his career at Scottish Opera, subsequently singing with all the major UK opera companies and orchestras.
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In the past 15 years he has sung to critical acclaim throughout Europe and North America in addition to his many UK engagements. Future engagements include major roles in Wagner operas at the Longborough Festival and the Gran Teatre de Liceu, Barcelona.
Ellie Dehn, Soprano (Catherine of Aragon)
American soprano Ellie Dehn has appeared in many of the world’s leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Bayerische Staatsoper, San Francicso Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Rome, Santa Cecilia, Geneva, Bologna, Santa Cecilia, San Diego Opera, and the Houston Grand Opera.
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In the 2010–11 season, Dehn made debuts with the San Francisco Opera and the Houston Grand Opera as Contessa in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, and returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Musetta in La bohème. She also performed Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine with the Opera Orchestra of New York and debuted at Teatro dell’ Opera in Rome as Musetta. Recent and future engagements include her Teatro alla Scala debut as Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Donna Elvira in the new production of Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera, her Royal Opera House debut as Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro, and her return to San Francisco Opera as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.
Jennifer Holloway, Mezzo-Soprano (Anne Boleyn)
Having earned international attention for her “vibrant mezzo-soprano and generous presence” (
New York Magazine), American mezzo-soprano Jennifer Holloway will be seen in the 2012–13 season as Donna Elvira in
Don Giovanni with Pittsburgh Opera, Tebaldo in
Don Carlo with the Metropolitan Opera, and Magnolia in
Show Boat with Washington National Opera.
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She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Flora in the company’s new Willy Decker production of La traviata and has sung both Die Zauberflöte and Carmen with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the batons of Leonard Slatkin and Gustavo Dudamel, respectively. A frequent concert soloist, Holloway’s oratorio experience encompasses performances of Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mozart’s Vesperae Solemnes, Pergolesi’s Stabat mater, and Beethoven’s Mass in C, among other works for the symphonic stage.
Photo by Rozarii Lynch.
John Tessier, Tenor (Don Gomez de Feria)
Canadian tenor John Tessier has worked with many of the most notable conductors of our day, including Lorin Maazel, Leonard Slatkin, John Nelson, Franz Welser-Möst, Valery Gergiev, Emmanuel Haïm, Charles Dutoit, Donald Runnicles, Robert Spano
, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Bernard Labadie.
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His operatic calendar has included performances at Minnesota Opera, English National Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Seattle Opera, Oper Frankfurt, New York City Opera, and Vancouver Opera, among others. Symphonic performances have brought him together with the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. In 2012–13, John Tessier debuts at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Cherubini’s
Médée, at the Wiener Staatsoper in Donizetti’s
La fille du régiment, and joins Seattle Opera for Beethoven’s
Fidelio.
Photo by Rozarii Lynch.
Nathan Stark, Bass (Duke of Norfolk)
Bass Nathan Stark has performed on operatic, concert, and recital stages throughout the United States, Europe, and China. Some of his opera credits have included Colline in
La bohème, Sparafucile and Count Monerone in
Rigoletto, the Commendatore in
Don Giovanni, Don Basilio in
Il barbiere di Siviglia, Filippo II in
Don Carlo, Don Profondo in
Il viaggio a Reims, Somnus and Cadmus in
Semele, and Seneca in
L’incoronazione di Poppea.
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He has performed under the batons of conductors such as Robert Spano, Edoardo Müller, John Keenan, Bernard Labadie, among others and has worked with internationally acclaimed stage directors including Sir Jonathan Miller, Bernard Uzan, Chris Alexander, and Lofi Mansouri. In the 2011–12 season he joins the roster of the Metropolitan Opera, performs in Mozart's Requiem at Washington's National Cathedral, and appears as the King in Aida in a return to Virginia Opera, as Friar Laurence in Roméo et Juliette with Dayton Opera, and makes his debut with Arizona Opera as the Bonze in Madama Butterfly and Pacific Symphony Orchestra as the bass soloist in Handel's Messiah. He is currently engaged to sing Nourabad in Les pêcheurs de perles with Virginia Opera, the Commendatore with Madison Opera, and Hundig in Die Walküre with Dayton Opera in the 2012–13 season.
Photo by Claire McAdams.
Jon-Michael Ball, Tenor (Earl of Surrey)
American tenor Jon-Michael Ball is the recipient of
Santa Fe Opera’s 2008 Richard Tucker Foundation Award. He made his company debut in the final performance of the 2008 production of Billy Budd, when he stepped in for an ailing colleague as Red Whiskers. VIEW MORE/LESS
Future engagements include Jacquino in
Fidelio with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and maestro Edo de Waart, and his debut with Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Ralph Rackstraw in
H.M.S. Pinafore. Appearances of past seasons included a return to Orlando Opera as Don Ottavio in
Don Giovanni and Pang in
Turandot; his London, debut in the concert series at St. George’s Bloomsbury; performances in Lima, Peru, with the Orquesta de Cámara “Ciudad de los Reyes”; and the role of the Reporter in Philip Glass’s
Orpheé at Glimmerglass. Ball is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music.
Photo by Claire McAdams.
Jeffrey Tucker, Bass (Cardinal Campeggio)
Bass Jeffrey Tucker has performed to popular acclaim in many opera houses across the United States creating a following with both audiences and presenters alike. He made his New York City Opera debut as Judge III in
Margaret Garner, which was followed by appearances as Lesbo in
Agrippina and as Siroco in
L’étoile VIEW MORE/LESS
At Sarasota Opera he performed Sparafucile in Rigoletto and Loredano in I due Foscari and returned in 2011 to perform the role of Reverend John Hale in The Crucible. He has also appeared with Opera Roanoke, the Opera Company of North Carolina, Toledo Opera, the Greenwich Music Festival, and the Utah Symphony. This season he debuts as the title character in The Mikado with Virginia Opera and revives Sparafucile with Opera Saratoga.
Branch Fields, Bass (Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury)
Bass Branch Fields recently was chosen to understudy the role of Emile de Becque in
South Pacific at the Lincoln Center Theater, a production directed by Bartlett Sher has won seven Tony Awards. His versatility as a singing actor allowed him to join the ensemble while understudying Emile de Becque, a first for this Broadway production.
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He has performed several roles with New York City Opera, among them Angelotti in Tosca, Major Domo in Vanessa, and Zuniga in Carmen. Other appearances include performances at Asheville Lyric Opera and Opera Company of North Carolina as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor and at Opera on the James as Colline in La bohème. This season Fields is returning to the role of Emile de Becque with the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine, as well as performing the role of Don Alfonso in Cosí fan tutte with Intermountain Opera.
