Internationally acclaimed tenor, Jesus Garcia, has been praised by the press for his “soaring vocalism” and his “dynamic stage presence”. He specializes in the romantic roles of the French and Italian repertoires.

Critically acclaimed appearances of the recent past include Mr. Garcia’s debut in the title role of Gounod’s FAUST at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland under the baton of Philippe Auguin, COUNT ALMAVIVA in Rosetta Cucchi’s production of “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” with Boston Lyric Opera, and RODOLFO in “La Boheme” with Tampere Talo in Finland.

“His Italian-like colorful voice was capable of anything. He mastered the highest notes. It feels like Garcia doesn’t just settle for acting, instead he lives the role. Jesus Garcia is probably the best Faust in the history of the Savonlinna Opera festival.”

–Itä-Savo, Finland

 “As Count Almaviva, Jesus Garcia was on fire from the beginning, unleashing beautifully ardent paeans to Rosina in his elegant voice and throwing himself wholly into his various disguises as drunken soldier and obsequious music teacher.”

– The Boston Globe

Other recent guest engagements brought Jesus Garcia’s debut as GIASONE in Cherubini’s “Medea” under the baton of Jane Glover at Opera Omaha, as well as his return to Nederlandse Reisopera as ALFREDO in Floris Visser’s production of “La Traviata”, and his return to the Badisches Staatstheater for the title part of TITO in Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito.” Garcia also recently appeared at The Wexford Festival as ENRICO in Fabio Ceresa’s new production of Donizetti’s seldom performed opera “Maria de Rudenz”; as NADIR with the Nederlandse Reisopera and the Carré Theater in Amsterdam; as ALFREDO under the baton of Lawrence Foster at the Savonlinna Opera Festival; as RODOLFO in Puccini’s “La Bohème” directed by Rosetta Cucchi at the Boston Lyric Opera; as well as MACDUFF in “Macbeth”, PYLADES in Gluck’s “Iphigenie en Tauride”, TEBALDO in Bellini’s “I Capuleti e i Montecchi”, and NEMORINO in “L’Elisir d’Amore” directed by Jacopo Spirei at the Badisches Staatstheater. Mr. Garcia also performed Mozart’s “Requiem” in cities thoughout Italy with Filharmonia Arturo Toscanini conducted by Maestro Rinaldo Alessandrini.

Engagements in 2021 include the role of “Rufus” in the new opera “Desert In” with Boston Lyric Opera, Rodolfo in “La Boheme” with Opera Columbus, and Tebaldo in “I Capuleti e i Montecchi” with Opera Omaha. Mr. Garcia is also a singer-songwriter, and his debut record ”Fundamental” is being released in Spring 2021. www.jesusg.com

Past company credits include FENTON in Falstaff with the Houston Grand Opera and the Opera Company of Philadelphia; FERRANDO in Cosi fan Tutte with the Berlin Staatsoper and the Spoleto Festival USA; RODOLFO in La Boheme with Boston Lyric Opera, L’Opera National de Bordeaux, Prague State Opera, Opera Hong Kong, Opera New Zealand, and Opera Rio de Janeiro; NADIR in Les Pecheurs de Perles with the Opera Firenze, Nationale Reisopera Netherlands, Minnesota Opera, Opera Toulon, and Michigan Opera Theater; ERNESTO in Don Pasquale with Opera Company of Philadelphia, Palm Beach Opera, and Arizona Opera; ALFREDO in La Traviata with Savonlinna Opera Festival, Theater Heidelberg, Staatsoper Darmstadt, and Phoenix Opera; ALFRED in Die Fledermaus with the Washington National Opera; RAMIRO in La Cenerentola with the Washington National Opera and the Dallas Opera; LYSANDER in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Hamburg Staatsoper and Lyric Opera of Chicago (cover); STEVA in Jenufa and Rossini’s Stabat Mater with Opera Marseille; LE BESILIEN in La Vie Parisienne with L’Opera National de Lyon; IDOMENEO with theaters Nancy, Caen, and Luxembourg; TONIO in La Fille du Regiment with Michigan Opera Theater; JEAN in Le Jongleur de Notre Dame with L’Esplanade Massenet Festival in St. Etienne, France and in Theater Basel in Switzerland; TEBALDO in I Capuleti e i Montecchi with the Spoleto Festival USA; and OVIDIO in the world premiere of Before Night Falls with Ft. Worth Opera.

Recording credits include the world premiere recording of Jorge Martin’s “Before Night Falls”, the Original Broadway Cast recording of Baz Luhrmann’s “La Boheme”, and the Virgin Classics DVD recording of Laurent Pelly’s production of “La Vie Parisienne”.

Jesus Garcia has made several television appearances including the “Today Show”, “Breakfast with the Arts” on A&E, and the “Tony Awards”. He has also been featured in the pages of numerous publications including “The New York Times”, “Vogue”, “Vanity Fair”, “New York Magazine”, and “Opera News”.

American operatic baritone Eric McKeever has won consistent praise for his voice of “power and brilliance” (Chicago Tribune) and “considerable flexibility and a communicative presence enhanced by expressive, crystalline diction.” (Opera News)

Eric’s 2020-2021 season includes recording Kamala Sankaram’s Looking at You and Experiments in Opera’s Aqua Net and Funyuns podcast opera, performing Dandini in Opera on Tap’s digital version of La Cenerentola, performing live in Salt Marsh Opera’s outdoor “Music at the Lighthouse” concert, joining Little Opera Theatre of NY in a live-stream of Zemlinksy’s Eine florentische tragödie, and returning to Opera Columbus for Marcello in a new production of La bohème.

[/one-half] Eric is a frequent performer with Opera Columbus having recently appeared as Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), Betto (Gianni Schicchi) and Marcello in 2016’s La bohème.

Bass Yi Yang is a Professional Study Program candidate at Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Maitland Peters. Previous credits include Le nozze di Figaro (Bartolo) with Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Showa University of Music, Così fan tutte (Don Alfonso) with the Deagu Opera House, La Bohème (Benoit & Alcindoro) with Lanzhou Symphony Orchestra, Aida (The King of Egypt) with Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, I due Timidi (Narrator) and Emmeline (Henry Mosher)with Manhattan School of Music.

KATHLEEN KELLY is a pianist, conductor, educator, and writer – and like many classical musicians, a recent experimenter with digital content. She is both deeply experienced in the classical vocal canon and engaged in new creation. Her 2021-22 finds her co-starring in Minnesota Opera’s digital premiere of Kamala Sankaram’s INTERSTATE, collaborating in recital with Ryan McKinny and Elena Villalon, and conducting the world premiere of Matt Boehler’s opera FAT PIG, starring activist soprano Tracy Cox.

The first woman and first American named as Director of Musical Studies at the Vienna State Opera, Kathleen’s operatic experience is the backbone of her career. Trained at the San Francisco Opera, she joined the company’s music staff and moved from there to a long association with the Metropolitan Opera. She was head of music at Houston Grand Opera, and music director of the Berkshire Opera before moving to Vienna. Kathleen has conducted at the Glimmerglass Festival, Wolf Trap Opera, Arizona Opera, El Paso Opera, Opera Columbus, the Merola Program, and the Alexandria Symphony, and has been a visiting master coach for the prestigious young artist programs of Chicago Lyric Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, Minnesota Opera, and the Canadian Opera Company.

Kathleen’s recital career includes appearances at Weill Hall, Zankel Hall, the Kennedy Center, DC Vocal Arts, Wigmore Hall, Spivey Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein, the Mahlersaal of the Vienna State Opera, the Neue Galerie, the Schwabacher Series in San Francisco, Cincinnati Song Initiative, and the Tucson Desert Song Festival. Her recent collaboration with Jamie Barton has won wide acclaim, and her partners have included Christine Goerke, Michael Kelly, Troy Cook, Amber Wagner, Sorin Coliban, Joyce DiDonato, Ariana Strahl, Karen Slack, and Jennifer Holloway. She has curated art song series for the Houston Grand Opera and the Vienna State Opera, and is currently involved in the creation of new vocal works through Sparks and Wiry Cries’ songSLAM events.

In demand as a mentor of rising artists, Kathleen has given masterclasses and workshops across North America, including at the University of Toronto, the Schulich School at McGill University, University of Cincinnati, Baylor University, Vanderbilt University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Michigan, the Peabody Conservatory, University of Washington, Westminster Choir College, Harvard University, and Interlochen. She has served on the juries of the Wirth Prize at McGill University, the Dallas Opera Guild competition, the Kristin Lewis Foundation Scholarship auditions, the Cooper-Bing competition, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions.

Kathleen’s commitment to new music, particularly American music, is a major part of her musical life. She has prepared or conducted workshops or performances of operas by William Bolcom, Tobias Picker, Matthew Aucoin, Ricky Ian Gordon, Jake Heggie, Laura Kaminsky, and Daron Hagen. Her recent recital programs have included world premieres by Juliana Hall and Judith Shatin.

Kathleen is an active participant in the digital space. As an educator, she has done frequent masterclasses and programs online, including for the Sewanee Festival, the Collaborative Piano Institute, Washington National Opera, and Minnesota Opera. She is the pianist on numerous digital collaborations, including Vanished with tenor Russell Thomas for the Dallas Opera, and Coronadaemmerung with Jamie Barton and Ryan Mckinny. Kathleen performed as a pianist in the Cincinnati Song Initiative all-digital season, and conducted the recorded soundtrack for Unsung, a movie produced by Victory Hall Opera released in February 2021.

A published poet and essayist, Kathleen has created several new opera translations and libretti. She is the co-librettist of Interstate, a chamber opera by Kamala Sankaram. Kathleen’s English adaptation of Hansel and Gretel, commissioned by Tri-Cities Opera, is now in use alongside her chamber orchestra arrangement of the work. For Arizona Opera, she created a multilingual version of Emmerich Kalman’s Arizona Lady, and she wrote the libretto for David Hanlon’s Wolf Trap premiere Listen, Wilhelmina! Her English adaptation of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride premiered in November 2019, and she created a new English adaptation of La boheme for Opera Columbus. Her English adaptation of Janacek’s Diary of One who Disappeared was used in Dallas Opera’s Vanished. Kathleen commissioned settings of three of her poems from composers David Hanlon, Jamie Leidwinger, and Juliana Hall. In 2021, one of her poems, “You,” was selected by Jake Heggie for inclusion in his song cycle “What I Miss,” premiered by Jamie Barton in the same year.

Danielle has worked as a freelance stage manager in opera, theatre, dance  and special events for the last decade. Recent credits include La Bohème with More Than Musical, Tri-Cities Opera, Opera Omaha and Opera Columbus,  Bernadette’s Cozy Book Nook (World Premiere with Fort Worth Opera), Zoom Speed Dating Tonight! (NYU & World Premiere with Brevard Music Center), Miranda: A Steampunk VR Experience (World Premiere with Tri-Cities Opera & Opera Omaha), Kanye West’s Mary at Lincoln Center and Pergolesi: Stabat Mater with Death of a Classic in the catacombs at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. Other companies include: The Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Gulfshore Playhouse, TheatreZone, The Mother Line Story Project, On Site Opera,  International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia, Lakes Area Music Festival, Brevard Music Center, Opera Grand Rapids, The Castleton Festival, Opera Naples, and Gulfshore Opera. Danielle received her MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at  Rutgers University. She is a proud member of The Actors Equity Association and American Guild of Musical Artists.