AVA Opera Blog

A beam of sunshine...

  Baritone Markus Beam has always had one foot in America and another in Europe. It seems like this
year in particular he’s hopping back and forth.

Right now he’s traveling to St. Gallen Opera in Switzerland for seventeen performances as Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte.  He won’t be alone while in St. Gallen since recent AVA alums Evelyn Pollock and Derek Taylor also make that city, and opera company their home. From an email from Markus, it seems that this will not be the last St. Gallen will see of him. He’s been offered the title role in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Falke in Die Fledermaus, and Lescaut in Massenet’s Manon during the 2010-2011 season.

  On this side of the pond, Markus is also making his mark. Recent performances include the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance for Kansas City Opera. The Kansas City Independent said “Markus Beam as Pirate Jack was the ‘hot dog’ of the show, not just looking, but acting like Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow, but adding to it a golden baritone. he sparkled onstage…”

He also made his company debut in July at the Caramoor Festival as Belcore in L’elisir d’amore. Musical America said of his performance “Markus Beam looked charming as Belcore and sang solidly with a rollicking sense of fun.”

You can see Markus back on the East Coast in May 2010 when he will be a soloist with the National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall, NYC in markus , as well as a repeat visit to Philadelphia’s own Lyric Fest for Unplug! Concert on May 22 and 23, 2010.

A gold medal year...

Tenor Bryan Hymel is having what anyone would call a gold medal year.  When we last left off with Bryan, it was July and he was singing Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly at the English National Opera in London.

He was briefly back in Philadelphia before heading north for his first of two productions for the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto - Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, followed in January 2010 his first Don José in Carmen.

It was very exciting seeing Bryan’s photo in the November Opera News Magazine as the featured singer on the Sounds Bites page.

Between operas he is on the recital road, singing a concert on the prestigious Rosenblatt Recital Series in London, followed by a recital in New York City on December 1 at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center under the auspices of Opera Orchestra of NY.

Click here to read his interview for the Rosenblatt Recital.

2010 finds Bryan very busy debuting with Netherlands Opera as Énée in the Pierre Audi production of Les Troyens, and subsequently covers Don José in Carmen at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Ah, to be young again...

Corrine Schaefer had one of the most difficult tasks at AVA’s Giargiari Bel Canto competition in October. She was the first singer to sing for the audience. She's up for the task again when she is part of the opening night cast in AVA's production of Falstaff as Nannetta, the young daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Ford.

Ms. Schaefer hails from Belford, N.J. and received a B.M. in Vocal Performance from Indiana University, Jacob School of Music. She won an encouragement award from the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition in 2009 and second place in the National Opera Association Vocal Competition in 2008. Ms. Schaefer’s roles include Beth in Little Women, with the Intermezzo Music Festival; Adele in Die Fledermaus, and Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, both with Amadeus Opernensemble Salzburg. In March 2010 she will sing Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute with Opera Naples, FL.

Catch him quick...

Baritone Wes Mason begins his first year at AVA on the quiet side. He's working very hard on projects that will keep him busy after January when he will be running in the fast lane. His AVA commitments are Operatic Masterpieces in January, Capriccio in February, and Jubilate! in March. After that Mr. Mason will spend most of the Spring with the Fort Worth Opera where he will sing in the world premiere of Cuban composer Jorge Martin’s Before Night Falls. He will be joined by AVA alum Jesus Garcia in that fascinating project. I understand that Wes will soon be starting a blog of his own, and I promise to let you know when it is up and running.

Mr. Mason is from Norfolk, Va., and received a B.M. in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan. In 2009 he received an encouragement award from the Kansas District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and in the same year was also a finalist for the Sarah Tucker Study Grant. Mr. Mason has performed with the Michigan Opera Theatre, Seagle Music Colony, Motor City Lyric Opera, and Virginia Opera. He has performed Onegin in Eugene Onegin and Marcello in La bohème, among others.

From the Big Apple to the Big Pretzel...

First year tenor John Viscardi is from Manhasset, N.Y., and received both his M.A. in Music Performance—Opera Concentration and his B.M. in Vocal Performance from New York University. I would say that makes him a full-fledged New Yorker in my book!

He’s enjoying his time in Philadelphia and by now, I’m sure he’s acclimated himself to cheese steaks and pretzels. You will be able to hear Mr. Viscardi as the dashing Fenton in AVA production of Falstaff.

Recent roles under Mr. Viscardi’s belt include Tamino in The Magic Flute, Camille in The Merry Widow, Frederick in The Pirates of Penzance, First Sailor in Dido and Aneas, all with New York University; Giuseppe in La Traviata, with Opera New Jersey; Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, with the Rockland Opera; and Shining Knight in Babes in Toyland, with the Little Orchestra Society.

The fat and skinny of it...

New bass-baritone Zach Nelson has recently put on a tremendous amount of weight. The good part is that with one zipper he can remove it! I’m talking about his costume for the upcoming production of Falstaff.

Only in his twenties, he is having the time of his life working with internationally renowned stage director Tito Capobianco, and Maestro Macatsoris, on the role of a lifetime, that of Sir John Falstaff. He understands he has big boots to fill with all the greats who have sung this role in the past, but he’s up to the challenge.

Because Mr. Nelson did not take part in AVA's Giargiari Bel Canto Cmpetition in October, his only time at AVA as a soloist, so far has been at the new student recital.

Zachary hails from Annapolis, Md., and received a B.M. in Vocal Performance from The Catholic University of America in Washington DC. He is the recipient of the 2009 Benjamin T. Rome School of Music Vocal Performance Award. While at Catholic University his opera roles included Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, and Marcello in La bohème. Other roles include Morales in Carmen, with Summer Opera Theater Company; Marcello in La bohème, and Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro, both with Bel Cantanti Opera.

Under the youm, youm tree...

First year soprano Na Li Youm is a beautiful and demure young lady, but hand her a stick and she can tease Sir John Falstaff like a pro. As Mistress Ford in the opera Falstaff, she gets to have fun at his expense.

Ms. Youm began her season by placing second in the AVA’s Giargiari  Bel Canto Competition, as well as being the radio audience favorite when it was broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM.

She received her M.M. in Music from Mannes College School of Music and her Bachelor of Vocal Performance from The Korean National University of Arts. She received the grand prize in the Giulio Gari International Competition in 2008. Ms. Youm’s roles include Violetta in La Traviata, with Mannes College, and La Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro with The Korean National University of the Arts.

Split that pizza three ways...

 
As you might know from past blogs, AVA alums always travel in a pack. If one AVA singer in an opera company is good, two are better and three in the same company is amazing.

That’s exactly what happened at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, Italy for two of their productions last month. Mezzo-soprano Nicole Piccolomini, and tenors Stuart Neill and James Valenti were all there for Verdi’s Rigoletto and Il trovatore.

I spoke to Nicole on the telephone last week, while she was spending some time at home in the Big Apple, and she said that she had a marvelous time singing with both James and Stuart.

Mr. Valenti was there to sing one of his signature roles, the Duke in Rigoletto. He had the opportunity to catch up with Nicole when she portrayed Maddalena. They both performed these roles together at AVA in 2005 while they were resident artists. Mr. Neill was there to sing Manrico in Il trovatore, and Ms. Piccolomini was the understudy for Azucena.

All three of these amazing singers have a full schedule during this season. Mr. Valenti was just in Lyon, France where he sang a gala concert as well as the title role in Werther, then onto Japan for a concert, and Spain and Minnesota for La bohème, and then the Metropolitan Opera for his house debut as Alfredo in La Traviata.

Ms. Piccolomini will be back in December at her old stomping grounds of Deutsche Oper Berlin for another round of Maddalena's in Rigoletto. Following that she debuts with Opéra National de Paris in their new Ring Cycle. She will travel between shows in Paris to Toulouse, France for Erst Magd in Elektra.

Mr. Neill will also spend a good part of the season in Europe with Il trovatore in both Piacenza, and Blozano, Italy. He will also sing in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem in Budapest, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Berlin, Germany.
 

But the pictures are good...

The opera season is beginning earlier these days, and I sometimes miss telling all of you about recent productions that our alums performed. Thank goodness for my AVA alumni group on Facebook and the great photos I can find on there. Here are a few I recently unearthed.

 
Bass Burak Bilgili as Ferrando in Il trovatore with San Francisco Opera. With a quick goodbye to California, Mr. Bilgili is not at Michigan Opera Theater for their production of Nabucco, along with fellow alumna Carla Dirlikov, with opens this weekend.

 
Most recent alumna Jessica Rose Cambio as Mimi in La boheme at Teatro Sociale di Como in Italy. Ms. Cambio wrote to say that "soprano superstar, Mirella Freni was in the audience, and it was a great thrill to have sung my first Mimi for her." From Como the production moved to Cremona, Brescia, and Pavia.

  Soprano Othalie Graham as Turandot with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. mline.com said of Ms. Graham "She made the Turandot part entirely her own. With a big sound and able upper tessitura..."

 
  We hit paydirt with San Antonio Opera! Three alums in Madama Butterfly. Baritone Luis Ledesma as Sharpless, tenor Jeffrey Halili as Goro, and bass Matthew Arnold as the Bonze.

Stage director, John de Lancie, of Star Trek fame set this production in the future. AVA master vocal coach, and wife of Mr. Ledesam, Danielle Orlando said that it was quite interesting and actually worked.
From the photo, I can't quite tell who Mr. Arnold, as the Bonze, is supposed to be, but makes for good conversation.

San Antonio Express news said of Luis, "the performance by the U.S. consul, Sharpless, sung by baritone Luis Ledesma, was the strongest."
 
 
 
 

The winner and new champion...

Yesterday I announced that the winner of AVA’s Bel Canto competition was mezzo-soprano Margaret Mezzacappa. Now you get to meet her…

Margaret is from Euclid, Ohio, and she received a B.M. in Music Performance from the Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music, where in 2008 she was the winner of the Baldwin-Wallace College Concerto Competition.

While at Baldwin-Wallace College her roles included Public Opinion in Orpheus in the Underworld, Baba in The Medium, Juno in Semele, Mum in Albert Herring, Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible, and The Sorceress in Dido and Aneas.

She moved to Philadelphia with her best friend, a five-year-old pug named Wheezer. You’ll be able to see her in all of AVA’s performances of Falstaff, where she sings the role of Dame Quickly.