The Valkyrie
By Richard Wagner
OSB Premiere
1870, by Richard Wagner (adapted by Graham Vick and Jonathan Dove)
Fantasy/Epic
In German with English surtitles
Set in Northern Europe in mythical times
From the team who brought Das Rheingold to the Lobero stage in the summer of 2021, join us this April for the second part of Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle, The Valkyrie.
Graham Vick and Jonathan Dove’s version of the Ring Cycle captures the mighty essence of Wagner’s masterpiece in an abbreviated time frame, with just 9 singers and 20 orchestral players. The pocket-sized miracle premiered in Birmingham, UK in 1990, and has been presented by dozens of opera companies around the world. Described by reviewers as “ear opening” and “imaginatively fresh”, the “Dove Ring” has made it possible for smaller companies to introduce this much admired but often intimidating work to new audiences in an accessible way while still satisfying Wagner fans. The plot unfolds with cinematic pace, character interactions become more intimate, and Dove’s masterful orchestral reduction beautifully reflects the splendor of the original score, while bringing out musical motives and details.
Star-crossed lovers Siegmund and Sieglinde unknowingly provoke the wrath of the gods of Valhalla, who decree the death of Siegmund. Brünnhilde, the titular Valkyrie, defies the will of her father Wotan, leader of the gods, to rescue Sieglinde and the couple’s unborn child, in Wagner’s romantic masterpiece that features the famous “Ride of the Valkyries”.
Returning to design The Valkyrie is director Crystal Manich with lighting and digital projections by François Pierre-Couture (La Traviata, 2022). Bass-baritone Kyle Albertson and mezzo soprano Nina Yoshida Nelsen reprise their roles as the Gods, Wotan and Fricka. Robert Stahley returns to the Lobero stage to sing the role of Siegmund after his successful run as Jupiter in Opera Santa Barbara’s Semele last season. Soprano and Santa Barbara local Julie Davies will portray his beloved twin sister, Sieglinde. Bass Colin Ramsey (Angelotti, Tosca ’22; Fafner, Das Rheingold ’21) returns to the ring cycle not as a giant, but as Hunding, husband of Sieglinde. The titular Valkyrie, Brünnhilde, will be performed by soprano Alexandra Loutsion making her Opera Santa Barbara debut. Her sisters and fellow Valkyries will be performed by members of the Opera Santa Barbara Chrisman Studio Artist Program, soprano Sunwoo Park and mezzo sopranos Georgia Jacobson and Christina Pezzarossi. Artistic and General Director Kostis Protopapas leads the Opera Santa Barbara Orchestra on the podium.
2 hours and 45 minutes
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Direction
Kostis Protopapas
Kostis Protopapas
Kostis Protopapas was named General Director of Opera Santa Barbara in December 2017, after two-and-a-half seasons as Artistic Director.
During his time as Artistic Director and principal conductor, Kostis brought a unified vision to OSB’s musical and production values, strengthening the orchestra and chorus, engaging some of the country’s most promising young directors and singers, building a high-performing production team, and increasing focus on contemporary American opera. As General Director Kostis assembled a team of enthusiastic overachievers with a passion for innovation and the desire to strengthen the company’s bond with the community, who consistently deliver programs and communications far greater than what can be expected from the size of the company.
Performance highlights from Kostis’ tenure include grand opera classics like Madama Butterfly, Manon, and Eugene Onegin as well as contemporary works like Daniel Catan’s Il Postino, the mariachi opera Cruzar la cara de la luna, and Robert Ward’s The Crucible, which the Santa Barbara Independent called “one of the season’s most exciting performances of any kind in Santa Barbara”.
Between March 2020 and June 2021, under Kostis’ leadership Opera Santa Barbara remained active and fully staffed. It was the first performing arts organization in Santa Barbara to offer streaming programming, and one of only two opera companies in California to present three live operas in the 2020-21 season. Additionally, Opera Santa Barbara became an advocacy leader for the reopening of the performing arts, and funded live performances by local musicians through “Operation Eurydice”.
Before coming to Santa Barbara Kostis was the Artistic Director of Tulsa Opera since 2008. He previously was an Assistant Conductor with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, LA Opera and Santa Fe Opera. At the Lyric Opera of Chicago, he also served as Assistant Chorus Master under Donald Palumbo for two seasons..
Born in Athens, Greece, Kostis Protopapas studied Archaeology and History of Art at the University of Athens before coming to the United States in 1993, on an Onassis Foundation scholarship, to study piano at The Boston Conservatory and conducting at Boston University. He became an American citizen in 2011. He loves living in Santa Barbara, and enjoys downtown restaurants, the Funk Zone’s tasting rooms, and sailing on the Santa Barbara Channel.
Crystal Manich
Crystal Manich
Crystal Manich is an Emmy Award nominated, versatile Latina international director whose works for stage and screen have been seen across the United States, Argentina, and Australia. She recently won Best First Time Female Filmmaker at the 2021 Toronto International Women Film Festival for her feature film The Copper Queen. She has also directed music videos for singer-songwriter Ivywild.
In Fall 2019, she directed the world premiere stage adaptation of Julia Alvarez’s Return to Sender by Marisela Orta for the Nashville Children’s Theatre about Mexican immigration and its complexities. It has been nominated for several Broadway World regional awards. She also directed the opera adaptation of the Spanish language opera Il Postino for Virginia Opera in a new production that will appear at several companies in the United States.
In January 2020 Crystal directed the musical Bernarda Alba, based on the Spanish play by Federico García Lorca, by Michael John LaChiusa for the Minneapolis company Theater Latté Da in a new production. Her spring season also includes a new Spanish adaptation of Cimarosa’s opera Il Matrimonio Segreto set in 1980’s Little Havana in Miami, as well as André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire in Virginia.
Crystal was nominated for a 2021 Chicago/Midwest Regional Emmy Award for Daniel Catán’s Spanish Opera La Hija de Rappaccini. Crystal directed and co-produced this multi-cam production with Chicago Opera Theater and Valhalla Media live from the Field Museum in April 2021.
In June 2022, Crystal will direct the world premiere of the opera Southern Crossings in New York City.
Crystal’s feature film debut for the world premiere opera The Copper Queen was produced by Arizona Opera in collaboration with Manley Films. She also collaborates with singer-songwriter Ivywild and has directed music videos for Willing to Find Out and Longing for You.
Crystal was recently awarded a commission for the new musical play La Llorona now in development with Theater Latté Da. Read about it in American Theatre Magazine.
Stage Director /
The Cunning Little Vixen
March 2017 (debut)
François-Pierre Couture
François-Pierre Couture
Originally from Montréal, Canada, François-Pierre Couture has been working in the United States since 2006 and he is please to be making Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park debut. His multifaceted and dynamic approach to his craft has given him the opportunity to work across multiple environments and venues. He is also proud to be full time professor at East Los Angeles College, one of the most dynamic and upcoming theatre department in Los Angeles.
François-Pierre Couture has had the privilege of working in Los Angeles and the United States for the last decade as a scenic, lighting and projection designer. He has received multiple Ovation, LADCC, LA Weekly awards & nominations. Designs include: “Invisible Tango”, “A Picasso”, Geffen Playhouse; “Everything that Never Happened”, “With Love and Major Organ”, Boston Court Theatre; “Frankenstein”, A Noise Within; “Destiny of Desire”, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Arena Stage Theatre, South Coast Repertory & Goodman Theatre; “Jackie Unveiled”, Wallis Theatre; “The Mexican Trilogy, an American History”, Los Angeles Theatre Center; “Metamorphoses” , “Everything is Illuminated”, Ensemble Theatre Company; Médée and Teseo, Chicago Opera Theatre; Carmen and Cold Mountain, Music Academy of the West.
www.fpcouture.com
Instagram @fpcouturedesign
Scenic & Lighting Design /
The Cunning Little Vixen
March 2017
Scenic & Lighting Design /
L'italiana in Algeri
March 2015
Lighting Design / The Consul
April 2014 (debut)
Artists
Kyle Albertson
Kyle Albertson
Renowned not only for his luxurious voice, confidence, and style, but also for his versatility and ability to bring a character to life on stage, bass-baritone Kyle Albertson is taking the business by storm. In his recent début as Wotan in Wagner’s epic masterpiece Die Walküre, in Maestro Jaap van Zweden final performance with the Dallas Symphony, Theater Jones exclaimed, “the most impressive aspect of this performance came undoubtedly from Wotan…his voice masterfully brought the character to life…Albertson’s interactions throughout the performance with his most beloved daughter, Brünnhilde were ingenuously convincing. Coupled with Albertson’s commanding, though endearing, baritone, these moments did not seem like an opera concert at all, rather a fully realized engagement of dramatic and musical interpretation.”
The Dallas News called his performance “gripping… I can’t recall the opera’s final parting of father and daughter so emotionally intense…this high-intensity performance will surely rank as a legend in Dallas musical history.” And the Texas Classical Review declared he “delivered a quietly dramatic presence in his monologue relatively early on in Act II which gradually built up to the final scene three hours later in which he allowed his luxuriant tone quality to resonate at full volume before slipping gently into the mournful farewell aria ‘Leb’ wohl’.” This tour-de-force performance left no doubt that the next American Wotan had arrived.
Mr. Albertson made his European debut at Opera Köln in Germany as Frank Murrant in Street Scene and will return to Europe in 2022 to perform the title role in Der fliegende Holländer and Wotan in Loriot’s Der Ring an einem Abend for Opera Graz. In addition, he will return to the Metropolitan as Angelotti in Tosca. 2020 and 2021 Metropolitan Opera engagements were to include his debut as Angelotti in Tosca, and covering the roles of the Dutchman in Der fliegende Holländer, Claggart in Billy Budd, and Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde. He was also slated to make his role debut as Jochaanan in Salome and Pizarro in Fidelio.
Albertson’s first foray into Wagner’s demanding vocal universe came in his house début at Lyric Opera of Chicago for their production of Das Rheingold, in which he subsequently performed the role of Donner in Minnesota Opera’s production shortly thereafter. He then went on to cover Greer Grimsley’s Wotan in Francesca Zambello’s production of Der Ring des Nibelungen for San Francisco Opera and returned to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for their production of Siegfried.
Other recent engagements have included his debut as Scarpia in Tosca for Virginia Opera, DeGuiche in Cyrano with Opera Carolina, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with New Jersey Festival Orchestra, Sam in Trouble in Tahiti with Opera Parallel at SFJazz, JP Morgan in the World Première of Tesla with SoBe Arts in Miami, and Escamillo in Carmen and Scarpia in Tosca for the Phoenicia Festival.
He first joined The Metropolitan Opera roster for Don Giovanni and returned for five consecutive seasons in their productions of Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, Dialogues des carmélites, The Merry Widow, and Manon. With Houston Grand Opera he performed the role of Sacristan in Tosca; with Atlanta Opera, the Sergeant of Police in Pirates of Penzance; Zuniga in Carmen with Dallas Opera; Lyndon B. Johnson in the workshop of David T. Little’s JFK and Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Fort Worth Opera; the title role of Sweeney Todd with Syracuse Opera; Lieutenant Horstmayer in Silent Night with Opera San José; Lescaut in Manon Lescaut with Opera Grand Rapids; DeGuiche in Cyrano with Michigan Opera Theatre; Sharpless in Madama Butterfly at Northern Lights Music Festival; Porthos in Les Trois Mousquetaires with Phoenicia Festival; Rucker Lattimore in Cold Sassy Tree with Sugar Creek Opera Festival; and the roles of the Prison Warden in Dead Man Walking, Hobson in Peter Grimes, and the Duke in Roméo et Juliette all with Des Moines Metro Opera.
A sought-after concert artist, a few recent highlights of his concert career include a solo in Bruckner’s Te Deum with Houston Symphony; the bass solo in Verdi’s Requiem with The Händel Society of Dartmouth; Händel’s Messiah with Boise Philharmonic; Papageno in Boston Youth Symphony’s concert performance of Die Zauberflöte at Symphony Hall; a Carnegie Hall début in Rutter’s Mass of the Children and a subsequent return for Kevin Padworski’s Wanderlust; and a concert version of Der Rosenkavalier with Christoph Eschenbach and the National Symphony.
Albertson is a graduate of The Santa Fe Opera Program, Minnesota Resident Artist Program, The Glimmerglass Festival, Aspen Opera Theater Center, and Chicago Opera Theater. He appeared in a variety of productions during his training including Les contes d’Hoffmann, Le nozze di Figaro, Un ballo in maschera, Roméo et Juliette, La donna del lago, as well as performed the roles of Escamillo in Carmen, Harašta in The Cunning Little Vixen, Geronimo in Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto, Gus O’Neill in John Musto’s Later the Same Evening, Nilakantha in Lakmé, to which critics hailed “Kyle Albertson made an imposing Nilakantha, bringing life to a character that is barely two-dimensional.” and finally Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Henry Kissinger in Nixon in China, lauded by The Chicago Sun Times and The Chicago Tribune for his “watchful” and “effective” portrayal.
Mr. Albertson has placed as a finalist in several competitions such as The Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, the George London Foundation Competition, the Marcello Giordani Competition, the Liederkranz Competition, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He holds a Master of Music degree from DePaul University where he studied with world renowned mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Northern Iowa where he studied with David Smalley. He is currently in the studio of Dr. Steven King.
Alexandra Loutsion
Alexandra Loutsion
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Hailed as "fearless" (Opera News) and “masterful” (Tulsa World) with a “powerful…and gorgeous voice" (MinnPost), Alexandra Loutsion continues to be recognized for her passionate performances and vocal versatility as a rising star on the operatic stage. In the 2021-2022 season, she makes her debut with Pittsburgh Festival Opera kicking off their solo recital series Legends in the Limelight: Pittsburgh Festival Opera Live at Carnegie Music Hall, returns to Lyric Opera of Chicago covering Sondra Radvanovsky as Lady Macbeth in their new production of Verdi’s Macbeth, and debuts with Austin Opera singing Leonore in Fidelio: A Celebratory Gala Production. She makes her Dallas Opera debut singing excerpts from Macbeth and Aida in their Opera’s Greatest Hits! concert, and debuts in the title role of Salome at the Fisher Center at Bard College. Alexandra returns to the University of Southern California (her alma mater) for a short coaching residency and joins the USC Symphony to sing Strauss’ Four Last Songs (Postponed due to COVID-19). She closes the season in her company and role debut with the Glimmerglass Festival singing Mother Abbess in Rogers & Hammerstein’s "The Sound of Music. Ms. Loutsion’s 2020-2021 season included a surprise debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago when she went on as Brünnhilde in Yuval Sharon’s Twilight: Gods, a reinterpretation of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung. She also made her debut with Chicago Opera Theater singing the leading role of Kayla in Kamala Sankaram’s Taking Up Serpents, and created an online recital series entitled Real Opera Wives of Chicago with mezzo-soprano Annie Rosen presented by New York’s Opera on Tap. Puccini has become a staple of Ms. Loutsion’s repertoire. In addition to singing Turandot with Pittsbur Ms. Loutsion spent two summers as an Apprentice Artist with the Santa Fe Opera, most recently to cover Leonore/Fidelio. She also covered Tosca and the leading role of Anna in Rossini’s Maometto II. Ms. Loutsion also spent two seasons as a Resident Artist with Pittsburgh Opera where she was seen as Armida/Rinaldo and Gertrude and the Witch/Hänsel und Gretel, among others. As an Apprentice Artist with Central City Opera, she was heard as Cio-Cio San/Madama Butterfly and as Melissa in Handel's Amadigi di Gaula. Ms. Loutsion recently represented the United States as a quarterfinalist in the Francisco Viñas International Singing Contest in Barcelona, Spain. She was a winner of the Metropolitan National Council District Auditions and the Long Beach Mozart Competition, as well as a finalist in the Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation Competition, McCammon Voice Competition, and Dallas Opera Competition. She is the recipient of the Catherine Filene Shouse Education Fund Career Grant from Wolf Trap Opera, Santa Fe Opera’s Donald Gramm Memorial Award and Anna Case MacKay Award, the Shoshana Foundation Richard F. Gold Career Grant, the Central City Opera John Moriarty Award, and the Aspen Music Festival New Horizon Fellowship. She holds a Master of Music in Vocal Arts from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Ithaca College. Ms. Loutsion was also recently awarded a place in the Greek America Foundation's "Forty under 40" Class of 2018, which celebrates the professional excellence and philanthropic endeavors of North Americans of Greek descent  |
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Robert Stahley
Robert Stahley
Tenor Robert Stahley, known for “bringing vociferous ring to the tenor line,” (South Florida Classical Review), is making waves throughout the operatic industry. He is a current member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein young artist program at LA Opera where he has performed roles such as Le Berger in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, Valcour in L’Amant Anonyme, First Armored Man in Barrie Kosky’s famed production of Die Zauberflöte, and Parpignol in the North American premiere of Barrie Kosky’s La bohème. In the 2021 festival season, Robert will return to the Santa Fe Opera as a second-year Apprentice, where he will sing the role of The Captain in the world premiere of John Corigliano’s The Lord of Cries and will be featured in concert with Grammy Award winning Soprano Angel Blue. Recent engagements include the title role in The Tales of Hoffmann with Arbor Opera Theater, the tenor soloist in Verdi’s Messa Da Requiem with the Quad-City Symphony, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Lynn Philharmonia. Previous performances include William Marshall in Regina with Opera Theater of St. Louis, scenes as Lenny in Of Mice and Men and Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with the St. Louis Symphony, and Pang in Turandot with the Kentucky Symphony. He also appeared as Trajan in a Workshop of Rufus Wainwright’s new opera Hadrian with the Canadian Opera Company. He has been a Studio Artist with Wolf Trap Opera where he covered the role of Rodolfo (La Boheme) and Male Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia). Other significant roles include Candide (Candide) Idomeneo (Idomeneo), The Schoolmaster (The Cunning Little Vixen), Charlie (Mahagonny-Songspiel), The Lamplighter and Drunk (The Little Prince), Sam Kaplan (Street Scene), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), and Hubert Humphrey (Dark River).
Equally comfortable on the concert stage, Mr. Stahley recently made his Indianapolis Symphony debut singing arias from operas such as Tosca and Die Zauberflöte. He has also been the tenor soloist for Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher, St. Matthew Passion with the Amherst Bach Festival, the tenor soloist in Schubert's Mass in A-flat with CCM choirs, and appeared in several operatic scenes, such as Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Hoffmann (Les contes d’Hoffmann), The Duke (Rigoletto), and Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly).
Mr. Stahley won first prize in the 2019 Wagner Society of New York Competition, was a third prize winner in the 2018 Gerda Lissner Vocal Competition, placed first in the 2017 Piccolo Vocal Competition, and was a finalist in the 2018 Mildred Miller Competition. He completed his Artist Diploma and Masters at the College Conservatory of Music. He has bowed with opera companies such as Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Wolf Trap Opera, Cincinnati Chamber Opera, Arbor Opera Theater, Palm Beach Opera, and Cincinnati Opera.
In the summer of 2022, he will be a Filene Artist with Wolf Trap Opera, where he will appear as Max in Der Freischütz and Sam Polk in Susannah. In the 2022/23 season, he will make his Dallas Opera debut as Froh in Das Rheingold and perform Melot in Tristan und Isolde with the LA Philharmonic.
In the summer of 2021, he returned to Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist, creating the role of the Captain in the world premiere of Mark Adamo's The Lord of Cries. For Santa Fe Opera's cancelled 2020 season, he had been contracted to return as a second-year Apprentice Artist and to sing the roles of the First Armored Man in The Magic Flute and Melot in Tristan und Isolde. He had also been contracted to sing the role of Narraboth in Salome with the Bard Conservatory Orchestra.
Recent performances include the tenor soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Lynn Philharmonia and the tenor soloist in Verdi's Messa da Requiem with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra.
Julie Davies
Julie Davies
Julie Davies, soprano, praised for her “colorfully focused and powerful sound” and facility of “glimmering coloratura,” enjoys an active stage career, performing with international orchestras and opera companies. Ms. Davies has been featured in Darmstadt’s new productions of Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffman (all four ladies) where she was acclaimed for having “demonstrated astounding flexibility,” Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci (Nedda), and Donizetti’s Don Pasquale (Norina) and Wagners Die Walküre (Gerhilde). Ms. Davies is specifically celebrated for her performances of the title roles in Lucia di Lammermoor and La sonnambula.
Ms. Davies will perform the role of Gerhilde in a new production of Wagner’s Die Walküre in Madrid’s Teatro Real in the 2019–20 season. In March 2019, Ms. Davies sang Verdi’s Requiem with Southwest Florida Symphony. In 2018, Ms. Davies sang Contessa in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro in Santa Barbara, California to great acclaim: “Julie Davies as Countess Almaviva wowed audiences in her spectacular Act III aria ‘Dove sono,’ eliciting long applause.” In 2017, Ms. Davies championed Strauss’ beautiful vocal setting of Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs) with the University of Oklahoma Orchestra. In addition, in 2017 Ms. Davies was one of two singers chosen by the iconic mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne to dedicate her Museum, opened in Bradford, Pennsylvania. Ms. Davies performed Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with the Opéra National de Paris (2015), had a very successful debut in Rio de Janeiro as Marzelline in Beethoven‘s Fidelio and made her debut as the Junges Mädchen in the co-production of Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron (released on film and televised world-wide in 2015) with Paris and Madrid Operas (2016).
A frequent concert singer, some of Ms. Davies' credits include Poulenc's Gloria, Stravinsky's Pulcinella, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, Bernstein's Jeremiah, Mendelssohn's Elijah and Psalm 115, Handel's Messiah, Fauré's Requiem, Mozart's Vesperae de Confessore and Requiem and Beethoven's Choral Fantasia.
Ms. Davies has won several competitions: Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions, First in the Naftzger Young Artists Competition, Second in the highly esteemed Jensen Foundation Competition, and Finalist in the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition. Ms. Davies has sung in masterclasses with Marilyn Horne, Martina Arroyo, Frederica von Stade, and Hoerst Guenter.
Nina Yoshida Nelsen
Nina Yoshida Nelsen
Hailed as a “rich voiced, expressive mezzo-soprano” by San Francisco Classical Voice, Nina Yoshida Nelsen made her New York City Opera debut with great success as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, conducted by George Manahan.
In the 2021-2022 season Nina Yoshida Nelsen makes her Boston Lyric Opera debut as Mama Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana. She also makes her Bard Opera debut singing Mother Chen in Huang Ruo’s An American Soldier, with performances at Jazz at Lincoln Center. She then returns to Opera Santa Barbara for a double bill of El Amor Brujo and Frugola in Il Tabarro. Nina makes her Chicago Opera Theater debut singing Queen Sophine in Mark Adamo’s Becoming Santa Claus. In the spring, she sings mezzo solos in Boston Lyric Opera’s “Uplifting Asian Voices” concert and records Madama Butterfly with the company. She also will sing Mama in Jack Perla’s An American Dream at Kentucky Opera and the Alto Solo in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Rhode Island Philharmonic.
In the 2019-2020 season Nina Yoshida Nelsen made her Portland Opera debut as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly. She also performed the world premiere of Blood Moon at Prototype Festival in New York City. Nina returned to Chicago Lyric Opera to cover Suzuki in Madama Butterfly and gigs canceled due to Covid were the Santa Barbara Symphony performances Beethoven's Mass in C ?and the role of Khanh in Huang Ruo's Bound at The Juilliard School.
In the 2018-2019 season, Nina made her Lyric Opera Chicago debut as Mama in Jack Perla's An American Dream. She also reprised the same role at Anchorage Opera. Nina returned to Opera Santa Barbara as Tituba in The Crucible and also sang in their 25th Anniversary Gala concert.
Nina made an important debut at Utah Opera in March of 2009, singing Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro. The mezzo-soprano is the recipient of a 2008 Encouragement Award from the Gerda Lissner Vocal Competition. In 2006, Ms. Nelsen was a National Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She is a 2009 graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia, where she studied with Bill Schuman. At AVA, her roles included: Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor, Smeton in Anna Bolena, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Kabanicha in Katya Kabanova, Annina in La traviata, Larina in Eugene Onegin, and Erika in Vanessa.
Other noteworthy recent engagements include: Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette with Opera New Jersey, Rebecca Nurse in The Crucible with Utah Festival Opera, the title role in Carmen and the role of Antonia’s Mother in Les contes d’Hoffmann with Komische Kammeroper of Munich, and Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Opera Santa Barbara.
Nina Yoshida Nelsen spent the 2004-2005 season as an Artist-In-Residence with Orange County Opera, where she performed the role of the Marquise de Berkenfeld in La fille du régiment in their educational outreach program. Ms. Nelsen made her debut with Opera Providence in 2002 as Tisbe in La cenerentola, and subsequently appeared with the company as Dorabella in their English version of Così fan tutte.
Other notable roles include Idamante in Idomeneo, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Lulu in Lukas Foss’The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, all of which she performed with the Opera Institute at Boston University.
In 2005, Ms. Nelsen was a National Finalist in the prestigious Loren L. Zachary Society Vocal Competition, and she was also a National Finalist in the 2006 and 2008 Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition. In 2004, Ms. Nelsen won first prize in the Performing Arts Foundation Vocal Competition, the Profant Foundation Vocal Competition and the Santa Barbara Foundation Vocal Competition.
Colin Ramsey
Colin Ramsey
Bass-Baritone Colin Ramsey has been lauded for his “majestic, rotund, ravishing bass” (Opera Today). During the 20-21 season, Mr. Ramsey joined San Diego Opera as Colline in La bohème, as well as returning to Pacific Opera Project as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, and the Festival Lyrique en Mar as Leporello in Don Giovanni (COVID19). Other recent engagements include returns to Opera Santa Barbara as Frère Laurent in Romèo et Juliette and the Bonze in Madama Butterfly, joining the Festival Lyrique en Mar as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor and the bass soloist in Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, and multiple productions of La bohème as Colline including Opera Idaho, Gulfshore Opera, and Opera Buffs Inc in Los Angeles. In upcoming seasons, Mr. Ramsey will return to Opera Santa Barbara as Fafner in Jonathan Dove’s arrangement of Das Rheingold, and San Diego Opera, singing The Speaker and 2nd Armored Man in Die Zauberflöte (COVID19), Capulet in Romèo et Juliette, and Betto in Gianni Schicchi.
His 2018-19 season was an exciting one including a return to the Los Angeles Philharmonic for performances of John Cage’s Europeras directed by Yuval Sharon. Mr. Ramsey also made his San Diego Opera debut as Marullo in Rigoletto and in the spring of 2019, Mr. Ramsey returned to Opera Santa Barbara for an exciting and timely production of Robert Ward’s The Crucible singing the role of Reverend Hale.
Other recent performances have seen him in role and company debuts singing Le Comte des Grieux in Manon, The Speaker in Die Zauberflöte, and his Santa Fe Opera debut singing the Registrar in Madama Butterfly and covering Edward Teller in John Adam’s Dr. Atomic in a landmark production directed by Peter Sellars. Mr. Ramsey’s unique “smoky” timbre has been well lent to additional roles such as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Figaro in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Guglielmo in Così fan Tutte, Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Father Palmer in Silent Night, Alidoro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Collatinus in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Seneca in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, Mr. Kofner in Menotti’s The Consul, Il Frate in Verdi’s Don Carlo, Angelotti in Tosca, and Cadmus and Somnus in Handel’s Semele.
Sunwoo Park
Sunwoo Park
SUNWOO PARK, from Seoul, South Korea, is a Graduate Certi?cate student studying under Professor Elizabeth Hynes at the Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California. She will be joining as Opera Santa Barbara Chrisman Studio Artist this year and performing the world premiere piece called All the Truths We Cannot See: A Chernobyl Story by Ulias Pulkis as a “Bear” in Helsinki, Finland in Spring 2022. She was invited to perform Papagena in The Magic Flute and to cover First Sprite in Rusalka at The Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Singer Program and Witness 1, Singer 1 and Woman 1 in Lessons in Love and Violence by George Benjamin at Lyric Opera of Chicago and also to perform as a “Calisto” in Cavalli’s La Calisto at USC Opera in 2020. However, those scheduled performances were canceled due to COVID-19. During the summer of 2019, she covered Musetta in La Bohème at The Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Singer Program. At USC Opera, she performed as a “Susanna” in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro in 2019 and “Le Feu (The Fire)” in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges and a “Lady with a Hand Mirror'' as a Operetta Singer in Dominick Argento’s Postcard from Morocco in 2018. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in vocal performance from the Seoul National University where she graduated cum laude with the Eminence scholarship. She also recorded songs in the advertisement of Nikon Camera in Japan and the main title song of "Tachikoma" which is a famous animation movie in Japan.
Georgia Jacobson
Georgia Jacobson
A native of Duluth, Minnesota, French-born, Greek-American mezzo-soprano Georgia Jacobson’s recent engagements in 2022 include covering the role Virginia Woolf in the world premiere/concert version of The Hours by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Gregory Pierce at the The Philadelphia Orchestra, covering the role of Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Des Moines Metro Opera, as well as her debut as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at the University of Cincinnati- CCM. In March 2022, Jacobson returned home to Minnesota to premiere two song cycles, both commissioned for her by The Schubert Club and composed by Carol Barnett (Young/Old Witches, Bat) and Linda Kachelmeier (Lake Superior Songs). Jacobson looks forward to returning to the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra in May 2023 as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, as well as debuts with Kentucky Opera as Tisbe in La Cenerentola and Maggie in The Gift of the Magi, and Opera Santa Barbara as Lucilla (cover) in La scala di seta, Margaret/Signora N in The Light in the Piazza, and Waltraute in Die Walküre. In previous seasons, she covered Mary Johnson (Fellow Travelers) as an Apprentice Artist at Des Moines Metro Opera (2021), and premiered the role of Sage (Everything Comes to A Head) with Lyric Opera of the North (2021). In January of 2021, Jacobson was a Metropolitan National Council Encouragement Award winner in the South Carolina district. Additionally, Ms. Jacobson won 1st Place in the National Opera Association’s 2020 Carolyn Bailey and Dominick Argento Vocal Competition. Jacobson has a special affinity for French repertoire, and she was proud to make her professional debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in their production of Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges as Maman/Tasse/La libellule under the baton of Maestro Louis Langrée. A consummate musician and lover of new music, she workshopped the roles of Virginia Woolf (The Hours), Ruth (Awakenings) and Vesta (Fierce) with Opera Fusion: New Works and Cincinnati Opera. Her other recent roles include Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflote) and Endimione (La Calisto) with CCM Opera. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance from University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and Master’s of Music (Voice) from University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music, where she has recently received an Artist Diploma (Opera Performance).
Christina Pezzarossi
Christina Pezzarossi
Hailed for her "fleet vocal technique" and "resonant, smoky mezzo", Mezzo-soprano Christina Pezzarossi is quickly gaining recognition as a distinguished and versatile young artist in the world of opera. Originally from Miles City, Montana, she received her Master's degree from the The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.
In the 2020 season, Christina made her debut with Pacific Opera Project in a critically acclaimed drive-in performance of Cosi fan tutte (under the parody title COVID fan tutti) as Dorabella.
For the 2018/2019 season, Christina joined Pensacola Opera as a Resident Artist, singing The Witch in their touring production of Hansel and Gretel, Gertrude in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette and Paula in Catan's Florencia en el Amazonas. She also was an Apprentice Artist at Central City Opera, making her company and role debut as Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and performed in, Encore: A Musical Revue Concert. She received the John and Ginny Starky Award from Central City Opera at the end of the summer.
Christina has spent two summers as an Apprentice with Des Moines Metro Opera, covering Mrs. Segstrom in Sondheim's A Little Night Music and The Stewardess in Jonathan Dove's Flight.
Christina’s repertoire includes the title role in Handel’s Agrippina, Minerva in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria, Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, Hermia in Purcell’s Fairy Queen, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Flora in La traviata, and Alisa in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor.
She has performed with Opera San Jose, Opera NEO, The Pacific Symphony, Boulder Opera, Emerald City Opera, and received an Encouragement Award from the San Francisco District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Synopsis
ACT I
Pursued by enemies during a storm, Siegmund stumbles exhausted into an unfamiliar house. Sieglinde finds him lying by the hearth, and the two feel an immediate attraction. They are interrupted by Sieglinde’s husband, Hunding, who asks the stranger who he is. Calling himself “Woeful,” Siegmund tells of a disaster-filled life, only to learn that Hunding is a kinsman of his enemies. Hunding tells his guest they will fight to the death in the morning.
Alone, Siegmund calls on his father, Wälse, for the sword he once promised him. Sieglinde reappears, having given Hunding a sleeping potion. She tells of her wedding, at which a one-eyed stranger thrust into a tree a sword that has since resisted every effort to pull it out (“Der Männer Sippe”). Sieglinde confesses her unhappiness to Siegmund. He embraces her and promises to free her from her forced marriage to Hunding. As moonlight floods the room, Siegmund compares their feelings to the marriage of love and spring (“Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond”). Sieglinde addresses him as “Spring” but asks if his father was really “Wolf,” as he said earlier. When Siegmund gives his father’s name as Wälse instead, Sieglinde recognizes him as her twin brother. Siegmund pulls the sword from the tree and claims Sieglinde as his bride, rejoicing in the union of the Wälsungs.
ACT II
High in the mountains, Wotan, leader of the gods, tells his warrior daughter, the Valkyrie Brünnhilde, that she must defend his mortal son Siegmund in his upcoming battle with Hunding. She leaves joyfully to do what he has asked, as Fricka, Wotan’s wife and the goddess of marriage, appears. Fricka insists that Wotan must defend Hunding’s marriage rights against Siegmund. She ignores his argument that Siegmund could save the gods by winning back the Nibelung Alberich’s all-powerful ring from the dragon Fafner. When Wotan realizes he is caught in his own trap—he will lose his power if he does not enforce the law—he submits to his wife’s demands. After Fricka has left, the frustrated god tells the returning Brünnhilde about the theft of the Rhinegold and Alberich’s curse on it (“Als junger Liebe Lust mir verblich”). Brünnhilde is shocked to hear her father, his plans in ruins, order her to fight for Hunding.
Siegmund comforts his fearful bride and watches over her when she falls asleep. Brünnhilde appears to him as if in a vision, telling him he will soon die and go to Valhalla (“Siegmund! Sieh auf mich!”). He replies that he will not leave Sieglinde and threatens to kill himself and his bride if his sword has no power against Hunding. Moved by his steadfastness, Brünnhilde decides to defy Wotan and help Siegmund. Siegmund bids farewell to Sieglinde when he hears the approaching Hunding’s challenge. The two men fight and Siegmund is about to be victorious, when Wotan appears and shatters his sword, leaving him to be killed by Hunding. Brünnhilde escapes with Sieglinde and the broken sword. Wotan contemptuously kills Hunding with a wave of his hand and leaves to punish Brünnhilde for her disobedience.
ACT III
Brünnhilde’s eight warrior sisters—who have gathered on their mountaintop bearing slain heroes to Valhalla. They are surprised to see Brünnhilde arrive with a woman, Sieglinde. When they hear she is fleeing Wotan’s wrath, they are afraid to hide her. Sieglinde is numb with despair until Brünnhilde tells her she bears Siegmund’s child. Now eager to be saved, she takes the pieces of the sword from Brünnhilde, thanks her, and rushes off into the forest to hide from Wotan. When the god appears, he sentences Brünnhilde to become a mortal woman, silencing her sisters’ objections by threatening to do the same to them. Left alone with her father, Brünnhilde pleads that in disobeying his orders she was really doing what he wished. Wotan will not give in: she must lie in sleep, a prize for any man who finds her. She asks to be surrounded in sleep by a wall of fire that only the bravest hero can pierce. Both sense this hero must be the child that Sieglinde will bear. Sadly renouncing his daughter (“Leb’ wohl, du kühnes, herrliches Kind”), Wotan kisses Brünnhilde’s eyes with sleep and mortality before summoning Loge, the god of fire, to encircle the rock. As flames spring up, the departing Wotan invokes a spell defying anyone who fears his spear to brave the flames.
(via Metropolitan Opera)
ACT I
Pursued by enemies during a storm, Siegmund stumbles exhausted into an unfamiliar house. Sieglinde finds him lying by the hearth, and the two feel an immediate attraction. They are interrupted by Sieglinde’s husband, Hunding, who asks the stranger who he is. Calling himself “Woeful,” Siegmund tells of a disaster-filled life, only to learn that Hunding is a kinsman of his enemies. Hunding tells his guest they will fight to the death in the morning.
Alone, Siegmund calls on his father, Wälse, for the sword he once promised him. Sieglinde reappears, having given Hunding a sleeping potion. She tells of her wedding, at which a one-eyed stranger thrust into a tree a sword that has since resisted every effort to pull it out (“Der Männer Sippe”). Sieglinde confesses her unhappiness to Siegmund. He embraces her and promises to free her from her forced marriage to Hunding. As moonlight floods the room, Siegmund compares their feelings to the marriage of love and spring (“Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond”). Sieglinde addresses him as “Spring” but asks if his father was really “Wolf,” as he said earlier. When Siegmund gives his father’s name as Wälse instead, Sieglinde recognizes him as her twin brother. Siegmund pulls the sword from the tree and claims Sieglinde as his bride, rejoicing in the union of the Wälsungs.
ACT II
High in the mountains, Wotan, leader of the gods, tells his warrior daughter, the Valkyrie Brünnhilde, that she must defend his mortal son Siegmund in his upcoming battle with Hunding. She leaves joyfully to do what he has asked, as Fricka, Wotan’s wife and the goddess of marriage, appears. Fricka insists that Wotan must defend Hunding’s marriage rights against Siegmund. She ignores his argument that Siegmund could save the gods by winning back the Nibelung Alberich’s all-powerful ring from the dragon Fafner. When Wotan realizes he is caught in his own trap—he will lose his power if he does not enforce the law—he submits to his wife’s demands. After Fricka has left, the frustrated god tells the returning Brünnhilde about the theft of the Rhinegold and Alberich’s curse on it (“Als junger Liebe Lust mir verblich”). Brünnhilde is shocked to hear her father, his plans in ruins, order her to fight for Hunding.
Siegmund comforts his fearful bride and watches over her when she falls asleep. Brünnhilde appears to him as if in a vision, telling him he will soon die and go to Valhalla (“Siegmund! Sieh auf mich!”). He replies that he will not leave Sieglinde and threatens to kill himself and his bride if his sword has no power against Hunding. Moved by his steadfastness, Brünnhilde decides to defy Wotan and help Siegmund. Siegmund bids farewell to Sieglinde when he hears the approaching Hunding’s challenge. The two men fight and Siegmund is about to be victorious, when Wotan appears and shatters his sword, leaving him to be killed by Hunding. Brünnhilde escapes with Sieglinde and the broken sword. Wotan contemptuously kills Hunding with a wave of his hand and leaves to punish Brünnhilde for her disobedience.
ACT III
Brünnhilde’s eight warrior sisters—who have gathered on their mountaintop bearing slain heroes to Valhalla. They are surprised to see Brünnhilde arrive with a woman, Sieglinde. When they hear she is fleeing Wotan’s wrath, they are afraid to hide her. Sieglinde is numb with despair until Brünnhilde tells her she bears Siegmund’s child. Now eager to be saved, she takes the pieces of the sword from Brünnhilde, thanks her, and rushes off into the forest to hide from Wotan. When the god appears, he sentences Brünnhilde to become a mortal woman, silencing her sisters’ objections by threatening to do the same to them. Left alone with her father, Brünnhilde pleads that in disobeying his orders she was really doing what he wished. Wotan will not give in: she must lie in sleep, a prize for any man who finds her. She asks to be surrounded in sleep by a wall of fire that only the bravest hero can pierce. Both sense this hero must be the child that Sieglinde will bear. Sadly renouncing his daughter (“Leb’ wohl, du kühnes, herrliches Kind”), Wotan kisses Brünnhilde’s eyes with sleep and mortality before summoning Loge, the god of fire, to encircle the rock. As flames spring up, the departing Wotan invokes a spell defying anyone who fears his spear to brave the flames.
(via Metropolitan Opera)