2011 Season
History
2006
2010
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2006
Inaugural Season
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Performance
Details
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Program
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Sunday, March 26th at 5:00pm
University Unitarian Church
6556 35th Ave NE
Seattle, Washington 98115
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Audio
Clips
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Lucia 
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Anna
Bolena
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Semiramide
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I Capuleti
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Un Giorno
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Play All Clips
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- Act I scene 11 Duet from
Semiramide by Rossini (Semiramida & Arsace)
-Act II scene 2 Duet from Un
Giorno di Regno by Verdi (Giulietta & Edoardo)
- Act I scene 2 Duet from I Capuleti e i Montecchi
by Bellini (Romeo & Giulietta)
- Act I scene 2
from Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti (Lucia, Edgardo & Alisa)
- Act II scene 3 from Anna Bolena by Donizetti (Anna & Jane Seymour) |
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Cast
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 Amanda
Brown (Anna, Semiramide)
Companies:
Lyric Opera Northwest, Opera Pacifica, Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan
Society, Seattle Civic Light Opera, Bellevue Opera, Skagit Opera, The
King's Players, Northwest Savoyards, Eastside Musical Theatre, Village
Theatre, The College Light Opera Company
Roles:
Micaela, Nedda, Violetta, Fiordiligi, The Countess (nozze di
Figaro), Frasquita, Liu, Josephine, Margot Bonvalet, Gianetta,
Constance, Casilda, Tzeitel -Her Website
 Ellaina Lewis (Giulietta, Lucia)
Companies:
Black Box Opera Theater, Northwest Opera in Schools Etc, Northwest New
Works Festival, Aspen Opera Theater Center, Seattle Choral Company,
Seattle Musical Arts Society, The University of Washington, The Cascade
Symphony
Roles:
Helen, Mother, Pamina, Sally Hemmings, Despina, Mrs. Maurant, Dew
Fairy, Mll. Silvertone, Treemonisha, Gilda, Norma, Iphigenie, Alcina,
Musetta, Sophie, Donna Elvira, Lisette, Liu.
 Sharon Karsner (Giulietta, Jane
Seymour)
Companies:
Seattle Opera, Opera Pacifica, Northwest Opera in School Etc, Skagit
Opera, Rainier Lyric Opera, Mercer Island Cabaret Theater, Shoreline
Theater, Olympic Chamber Orchestra, Shoreline Community Symphony,
Ladies Musical Club of Seattle
Roles:
Azucena, Mamma Lucia, Mother, Marcellina, Marie, Miss Todd, La Cieca -Her Website
 Susan Salas (Romeo, Arsace, Alisa)
Companies:
Bellevue Opera, The Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Vocal Arts
Northwest, Skagit Opera, The Seattle Choral Company, The Billings
Handel Festival, The Seattle Symphony Soundbridge, Lake Union Civic
Orchestra, The Olympic Baroque Ensemble, Seattle Early Music Guild
Roles:
Rosine, Tessa, Phoebe Meryll, Constance, Wife of Bath, Fiametta -Her Website
 James Walters (Edoardo, Edgardo)
Companies:
Tacoma Opera, Bellevue Opera, Off-Center Opera, Willamette Concert
Opera, Kitsap Opera, Skagit Opera, Northwest Opera in Schools Etc,
Opera Pacifica, West Sound Lyric Theater, Vocal Arts Northwest, Seattle
Musical Arts Society
Roles:
Rodolfo, Agenore, Alfredo, Gastone, Camille, Ramiro, Don Octave, Goro,
Manrico, Hoffmann, Basilio, Tamino, Remendado, Ottavio, Monostatos,
Monsieur Vogelsang.
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Performance
Details
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The
Opera
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7:30pm June 30th & July 1st 2006
Ethnic Cultural Center Theater
3940 Brooklyn Ave. NE Seattle
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Audio Clips from our July 1st Performance
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Medium Clips
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Amelia Clips
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Born in Italy, Gian-Carlo Menotti has blended the cultures of the land of his birth and his adopted country The United States to become one of the most popularly successful composers of American opera.
Click Here For Extended Bio
Synopsis for The Medium
Synopsis for Amelia Goes to the Ball
Reviews of The Medium & Amelia
Rehearsal Photos
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Cast/Crew
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 Jeff Church (Stage Director) - Having assisted director Crystal Dawn Munkers at Bellevue Civic Theatre and Tacoma Actors Guild, Jeff is thrilled to have the opportunity to guide these talented artists. He has worked locally at Village Theatre, Fifth Avenue Theatre and Civic Light Opera. Regional work with Music Theatre of Wichita, Wichita State University Opera Theatre, New Opera of Chicago, Gilbert and Sullivan Society in Chicago, Pegasus Players in Chicago as well as Forever Plaid and it’s holiday sequel in Las Vegas, Buffalo NY’s Studio Arena Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre and Tokyo, Japan. trust, be true and live.
 Glenda Williams (Music Director - The Medium) Ms. Williams was the principal opera coach at the University of Washington for several years, and currently holds a similar position at Cornish College of the Arts. Her other opera credits include Seattle Opera's Young Artists Program, the Seattle Opera Guild's series of opera previews, professional companies in California and Nevada, and most recently, THE BARBER OF SEVILLE for Skagit Opera, LA CENERENTOLA for Bellevue Opera, and THE KAISER OF ATLANTIS for Black Box Opera Theater. She is a frequent accompanist for vocal recitals, including concerts in Iceland in 2004 and in Alaska this summer. She has been the pianist for the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society's Outreach Program for the past three seasons. Other musical adventures have included creating choral arrangements for Seattle Pro Musica, four international tours as a choral singer, and music-directing about sixty musical theatre productions.
 Chris Vincent (Music Director - Amelia Goes to the Ball) is a Ph.D. candidate in Ethnomusicology at the University of Washington and holds a Master's in ethnomusicology and a Bachelor's in piano performance from Florida State University. He studied the koto while attending Japan's Tokyo University of Arts and Music. While in Japan he also accompanied the Tokyo International Singers and directed the choir at St. Alban's Anglican/Episcopal Church. He has taught music theory and world music appreciation at the University of Washington and the Art Institute of Seattle, and music theater classes with Village Theatre's KidStage program. He is currently Director of Music at Mt. Baker Park Presbyterian Church and Artistic Director of The Market Street Singers. As an accompanist he has worked with the UW Voice and Opera Department, the Seattle Opera Guild, the Bellevue Philharmonic, Federal Way
Philharmonic, and several area community choirs.
 Meggan Davis (Stage Manager) is visiting Puget Sound Opera from her usual posts as stage manager for Youth Theatre Northwest and (as of very recently) Annex Theatre. Past credits include Magic, Anne of Green Gables, Honk! and Peter Pan at YTN and The Front Page at Annex.
Amanda
Brown (Amelia) was most recently seen with Lyric Opera Northwest as Micaela in Carmen. Other roles include Nedda in I Pagliacci, Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro and Frasquita in Carmen with Opera Pacifica, Josephine in HMS Pinafore, and Casilda in The Gondoliers with Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society, the title role in Kiss Me, Kate, and Margot Bonvalet in The Desert Song with Seattle Civic Light Opera, and Gianetta in The Gondoliers with Bellevue Opera, and the King’s Players.
-Her Website
 Carla Hilderbrand (cover for Madame Flora)
performs extensively as a soloist. Carla has been seen as Ruth in Skagit Opera’s Pirates of Penzance, Seattle Youth Symphony's soloist in Alexander Nevsky, a soloist with Orchestra Seattle in Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, Katisha in The Mikado, and Hänsel in Hänsel & Gretel. Additional solo oratorio performances include Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Magnificat, Handel’s Passion of the Christ and Messiah and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. She resides in Ballard where she teaches voice. In July she can be as Kate in Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance, and in November as Suzuki with Lyric Opera Northwest
-Her Website
Ellaina Lewis (Monica) has been seen this year as Helen in Three Sisters Who are Not Sisters with Black Box Opera Theater, Treemonisha with Seattle Chorale Company, and as Fiordiligi in scenes from Cosi fan Tutte with Seattle Opera Guild. Other roles with Seattle Opera Guild have included Norma in 2003, and Florencia in Florencia en el Amazonas. She toured as Pamina in The Magic Flute, Nicklausse in the doll act from The Tales of Hoffmann, and Gertrude in Hänsel and Gretel with Northwest Opera in Schools, Etcetera. Other opera credits include Anna Maurrant in Street Scene, Despina in Cosi Fan Tutte, and Madame Silvertone in The Impresario.
 Melissa Plagemann (2nd Chambermaid, cover for Mrs. Nolan) has appeared as a soloist with the Seattle Symphony, Tacoma Opera, Orchestra Seattle, Seattle Opera Guild, Skagit Opera, the Seattle Choral Company, Kitsap Opera, and NOISE, among others. Recent opera roles include Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Carmen with the Seattle Symphony, Dorabella in Così fan Tutte, Tisbe in La Cenerentola, and both the 2nd and 3rd Ladies in the Magic Flute. On the concert stage she has performed in several productions of Mozart's Requiem, as well as Copland's In the Beginning, and Saint-Saëns' Christmas Oratorio, among others.
-Her Website
 Melyssa Rice (Her Friend, cover for Mrs. Gobineau) has been studying, performing and teaching music for 10 years. She has performed roles/solos with Kitsap Opera, Seattle Comic Opera, Hildman String Orchestra, and VocalArts Northwest; has sung with the Seattle Opera chorus; and has given solo recitals in three states. A graduate of St. Olaf College, Melyssa currently teaches voice for the Music Center of the Northwest, four community colleges, and in her private studio. She currently studies with Erich Parce, and has studied with Janis Hardy, Thomasa Eckert and Awilda Verdejo.
Sharon Karsner (Madame Flora) was last heard in Beethoven’s 9th with Olympia Chamber Orchestra. Her stage roles include Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana, and Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Pacifica, and Rainier Lyric Opera, Marie in Loesser’s The Most Happy Fella, and Miss Todd in Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief. On the concert stage, Sharon has appeared as the alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Requiem, and Vivaldi’s Gloria. February through May 2005 Sharon toured with Northwest Opera in Schools, Etcetera as Gertrude in Hänsel and Gretel.
 Signe Mortensen (Mrs. Gobineau, cover for Amelia) has quickly made her vocal and theatrical mark in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Her roles include Musetta in La Boheme, Pamina in the Magic Flute, Micaela in Carmen, Saffi in Gypsy Baron, Ann Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Maria in West Side Story, Yum-Yum in The Mikado and Josephine in HMS Pinafore. She has appeared with Tri-Cities Opera, Skagit Opera, Bellevue Opera, Music of Remembrance, Northwest Opera in the Schools, Opera Pacifica, Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Northwest Savoyards, Black Box Opera Theatre, Hans Wolf Community Outreach, and the Rain City Symphony. Signe can be seen as Buffy in the West Coast premiere of Black Water with Off-Center Opera in August.
-Her Website
Susan Salas (Mrs. Nolan) has performed principal roles with Bellevue Opera, the Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Vocal Arts Northwest and Skagit Opera, and is a Regular Chorister with Seattle Opera. Susan is also a frequent recitalist and oratorio soloist and was the Resident Mezzo Soprano Soloist with the Seattle Choral Company in their 2004-2005 season. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Billings Handel Festival, the Seattle Symphony Soundbridge lecture series, Lake Union Civic Orchestra Seattle Early Music Guild, and Skagit Opera. She currently studies voice with Elizabeth Moore.
-Her Website
 Tiina Ritalahti (1st Chambermaid, cover for Monica) is a prolific recitalist practicularly with VocalArts Northwest, and The Ladies Musical Club. Tiina has been heard as Susanna in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Pamina and the 1st and 2nd Ladies in the Magic Flute, Adina in the Elixir of Love, and Marzelline in Beethoven's Fidelio. With the University of Washington's Opera theatre she appeared as Cis in Albert Herring and the First Spirit in Die Zauberflote. Tiina is a performing member of Seattle’s Ladies Musical Club, and recently toured with Northwest Opera in Schools Etcetera.
James Walters (The Lover) is seen regularly on West Coast stages. His roles include Don Octave in The Stoned Guest with Tacoma Opera, Camille in The Merry Widow with Willamette Concert Opera, Hoffmann in the Doll Act from The Tales of Hoffmann with N.O.I.S.E., and Agenore in Il Re Pastore with Off-Center Opera. This year he has been seen as the Narrator in Bach’s Coffee Cantata with Olympia Chamber Orchestra, and in November will be seen with Kitsap Opera as Alfred in Die Fledermaus.
 John Bumbalo (Her Husband) has sung frequently all over the USA and abroad. His roles include Crespel in The Tales of Hoffmann, Roucher in Andrea Chenier, Papageno, Zarastro & The Speaker in The Magic Flute, The Count in The Marriage of Figaro, Abemilich in Samson and Delilah, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Melchoir in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Germont & Il Barone in La Traviata, and Zuniga in Carmen. Upcoming Engagements include The Senator in Black Water with Off-Center Opera, and the Bonze in Madama Butterfly with Lyric Opera Northwest.
 Jonathan Silvia (The Chief of Police) is a frequent stage performer, having appeared with such opera and theater companies, as BASOTI (San Francisco), Eastside Musical Theater, Seattle Civic Light Opera, Bellevue Opera, and most recently Skagit Opera.
His roles include Alidoro in Cenerentola, Colline in La Bohème and the title role in The Mikado. He is active in the choral arts as well, as artistic staff with local community chorales and church choirs, in university ensembles, and even with fully professional ensembles, such as the nationally acclaimed Santa Fe Desert Chorale
 Ryan Francis (Mr. Gobineau, cover for Her Husband) is seen regularly on Northwest stages, his roles include Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, The First Priest and Second Armed Man in The Magic Flute, Koko in The Mikado, Silvio in I Pagliacci, Il Marchese D'Obingny in La Traviata, Dandini in Cenerentola, and Dig-Dig in The Cat That Turned into a Woman. He has sung with Utah Opera, Bellevue Opera, Tacoma Opera, and Opera Pacifica, amoung others. Ryan served in US Marine Corps reserve and has spent much of the last 3 years on active duty, most recently serving in Iraq returning late September, 2003. -His Website
 Will Halsey (Toby) Will's love of stage performance began in 2000 with Arizona Summer Opera's
H.M.S. Pinafore and The Gondoliers. Since relocating to Seattle, Will has
enjoyed performing with Village Theatre, Civic Light Opera, Northwest
Actor's Studio, The Driftwood Players, Greg Thompson
Productions, and the Rhythm Knights Dance Troupe, among others. Most recent
credits include Music Director for Book-It Repertory Theatre's Bud, Not
Buddy; and Stage Manager for the school tours of Open Door Theatre, whose
mission is to "free children from abuse and violence by teaching personal
safety skills through dramatic live performances." Will is currently
enjoying summer vacation before returning to school--to teach 5th and 6th
grade Band.
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