GLUCK’S ORPHÉE ET EURYDICE

Siman Chung, countertenor, a native of Busan, South Korea, recently made his debut with Korea National Opera in the role of Grifone in Vivaldi’s ORLANDO FINTO PAZZO, and appeared in concert with the United Philharmonic Orchestra at the Seoul Arts Center. He previously appreared in the title role of RINALDO with the European Early Music Festival. He is a finalist and winner of “Best Vocal Performance by a Young Talent” in the Alexander Girardi International Singing Competition in Coburg, Germany, and a finalist and winner of the “Best Countertenor Prize” in the Francisco Vinas International Singing Competition in Barcelona, Spain.

In December 2015, Siman Chung made his debut at Carnegie Hall, singing MESSIAH with The Cecilia Chorus.

Mr. Chung has been heard with Mannes Opera in excerpts from RINALDO, GUILIO CESARE, and as Idamante in IDOMENEO in a concert evening of opera scenes. His most recent success was in the leading role of the Refugee in Jonathan Dove’s FLIGHT with Mannes Opera.

In March, 2017, he will make his NY recital debut, presented by Opera Index as their Emerging Artist. And in the spring of this year, he returns to Korea National Opera to repeat his role in the Vivaldi opera.

For the 2017-18 season, Siman Chung joins the roster of the Metropolitan Opera.

Mr. Chung was the winner of Opera Index’s Arthur E. Walter Memorial Award for $7,500 in 2015, and in spring 2016 he won First Prize in the Gerda Lissner Foundation Competition. Additionally, Siman was the 2016-17 recipient of the prestegious Sullivan Foundation Award

Mireille Asselin is a Canadian soprano in the midst of an exciting career. In December of 2015 she created waves by jumping in as Adele for opening night of DIE FLEDERMAUS at the Metropolitan Opera under the baton of James Levine. The critics raved that she “stole the show” with her “crystalline voice” and “abundant charm,” hailing it as one of New York’s “most enchanting performances of 2015.”

2016-17 marks Mireille’s fourth season at the Met, where she debuted as Poussette in MANON in March ’15. This year she covers Jemmy in GUILLAUME TELL and Rosina in IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA. Mireille also returns to Opera Atelier and the Royal Opera of the Palace of Versailles singing the role of Creuse in Charpentier’s MEDEE. She makes her debut with the Minnesota Orchestra in the MESSIAH, and with the Handel and Haydn Society singing Iris in SEMELE.

As a respected interpreter of early music, Mireille appears regularly with Opera Atelier in Toronto and at the Boston Early Music Festival where her most recent roles have included Celia (LUCIO SILLA), Morgana (ALCINA), Galatea (ACIS AND GALETEA), Minerva (ULISSE), and La Musica/Euridice in ORFEO. She made her European opera debut as Princesse Andromede (PERSEE) at Versailles in 2014, and recently sang the title role in BERENICE at the 2016 Gottingen International Handel Festival, Germany.

As a member of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio from 2011-2013 she performed Adele in FLEDERMAUS, Servilia in CLEMENZA DI TITO, the title role in Handel’s SEMELE (Ensemble Studio performance), and Contessa Ceprano in RIGOLETTO. She has also appeared with Ash Lawn Opera (Despina, COSI FAN TUTTE), Wolf Trap Opera (Therese, MAMELLES; Frasquita, CARMEN; Nannetta, FALSTAFF), and the Glimmerglass Festival (Phenice & Lucinde, ARMIDE). Her other operatic credits include Susanne (NOZZE DI FIGARO), Pamina (ZAUBERFLOTE), the title role in Stravinsky’s ROSSIGNOL, Lauretta (GIANNI SCHICCHI), and Soeur Constance (DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES).

Mireille is an accomplished concert singer and recitalist and has appeared with many of North America’s major orchestras and festivals. She is also an acknowledged champion of contemporary music and has participated in a number of premieres and workshopsw of new works. In 2013, her debut album Ash Roses was released on the Centrediscs label to great acclaim. In April 2011, she made her Carnegie Hall debut singing Vaughan Williams’ DONA NOBIS PACEM and returned to Carnegie in January of 2012 to give a recital in the Song Continues series. Mireille has also done film work, starring as Pamina in the feature film Magic Flute Diaries.

Ms. Asselin obtained her Master of Music from Yale University’s prestigious Opera Program in 2010. Prior to her studies at Yale, she completed a Bachelor of Music at the Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto (2007).

Hailed by the New York Times for her “clear, pealing voice” (Scarlatti’s L’Arianna-The Arianna Project, Musica Nuova) and by Opera News for her “best all-around performance” (Ariodante – The Princeton Festival), soprano Marcy Richardson has appeared as a soloist in many of New York City’s premiere concert halls, including Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall under Nicholas McGegan with American Classical Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, and Avery Fischer Hall. Originally from Grosse Pointe, MI and a graduate of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Ms. Richardson’s operatic credits include Poppea in Handel’s Agrippina with Operamission, Diana and Giove as Diana (La Calisto) with Vertical Player Repertory, Dalinda (Ariodante) with the Princeton Festival, Monica (The Medium) with St. Petersburg Opera, Kurt Weill’s Berlin to Broadway with Opera Columbus, Mabel (The Pirates of Penzance), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Mrs. Hayes (Susannah) with Orlando Opera, Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Adina (L’Elisir d’Amore) with Baltimore Opera, Emmaline (Purcell’s King Arthur) with the Bloomington Early Music Festival, Papagena (Die Zauberflöte) with Opera Vivente and residencies as a young artist with Central City Opera, Baltimore Opera, Orlando Opera, and Brevard Music Center. She has performed as a singer and aerialist with Company XIV in Brooklyn for the past three seasons in their productions of Nutcracker Rouge, Cinderella, Snow White, and Paris. She has seven years of training as an aerialist and pole acrobat, and is the 2014 Pole Sport Organization level 4 national champion. Please visit www.marcyrichardson.com.

Joel Ivany is the Founder and Artistic Director of Against the Grain Theatre in Toronto, and is the Artistic Director of Banff Centre’s “Opera in the 21st Century” program. His directing credits include productions of Verdi’s Macbeth (Minnesota Opera), Carmen (Vancouver Opera and the Canadian Opera Company), Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Edmonton Opera), Gavin Bryars’ Marilyn Forever (Adelaide Festival in Australia) and Le nozze di Figaro (revival at Norwegian National Opera). He is the author of five (and counting) original librettos including #UncleJohn (adaptation of Don Giovanni performed at Opera Columbus) and Figaro’s Wedding (adaptation of Le Nozze di Figaro, upcoming at Cowtown Opera). He was a Dora Mavor Moore Award nominee for Outstanding Direction (AtG’s Figaro’s Wedding), Outstanding New Opera/Musical (AtG’s #UncleJohn) and the recipient of the same prize for Figaro’s Wedding.  Recent mainstage directing credits include new productions with the Canadian Children’s Opera Company (Brundibár), Dead Man Walking (Vancouver Opera) and Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins (Toronto Symphony Orchestra) . His 2017/2018 engagements include; a return to Minnesota Opera for his production of Dead Man Walking and a new production of Die Fledermaus at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Jason Hiester, D.M.A, (Voice/Conducting) University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; Dr. Hiester, a tenor and conductor performs on both sides of the baton, having begun his career on the stage, before moving into the pit.  His professional singing credits include roles with West Palm Beach Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Opera Columbus, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Florida Grand Opera. As a member of the musical staff of Opera Columbus, Dr. Hiester serves as Associate Conductor and Chorus Master.  He has conducted in the main stage season for the last four years.

“…HIS INVENTIVE WORKS ARE A BRAINY, HIGH-ENTERTAINMENT MIX OF MUSIC HALL, CABARET, THEATER AND DANCE.” -The New York Times

In 2006, Austin created COMPANY XIV wowing critics and audiences with a unique blend of circus, Baroque dance, opera and lavish design. Recent credits include choreography for the Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Canadian Opera Company, The Juilliard School, Guggenheim Works in Process, Carnegie Hall La Serenissima festival, Gotham Chamber Opera and the Kennedy Center. Austin has been nominated for;  Drama Desk Award- Best Choreography, Drama Desk Award- Unique Theatrical Experience, The Bessie Awards- Best light, set and costume design, Grand Jury Prize Dance on Camera Lincoln Center. He won the Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Grant from Opera America, the Innovative Theater Award- Outstanding Choreography/Movement and the Susan Braun Award.

He’s a graduate of The Juilliard School (BFA 2006)

S. Katy Tucker is a video and projection designer based in Brooklyn, NY. Her work in theater and opera has been seen around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera; the Sydney Opera House, Dutch National Opera, San Francisco Opera, LA Opera, Carnegie Hall; the New York City Ballet; the Kennedy Center; BAM, The Park Avenue Armory, LA Phil, among others. She has collaborated with composers and musicians like Paul McCartney, John Zorn, Jeffrey Ziegler, Amanda Gookin, Helga Davis and Paola Prestini.  Her artwork has been seen at The Corcoran Museum, Artists’ Space, The Dillon Gallery, Brookfield Place, and The Kitchen.

Recent productions: Dmitri Tcherniakov’s Prince Igor at The Dutch National Opera and Metropolitan Opera, Francesca Zambello’s production of The Ring Cycle at the Kennedy Center, Ouroboros Trilogy, a fully immersive multimedia production at the Majestic with Michael Counts and Beth Morrison Projects, Tristan and Isolde and The Flying Dutchman with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, The Odyssey at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a season of multi media collaborations with the Saint Louis Symphony and conductor David Robertson.

Upcoming projects: The Ring Cycle at San Francisco Opera, The Flying Dutchman at Atlanta Opera and La Ciociara at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari.

Recently Zane designed the costumes and scenery for the American Premier of Philip Glass’s The Perfect American at The Chicago Opera Theater.

NYC:Nutcracker Rouge (Minneta Lane Theater). The Brothers Size (The Public Theater) Or (The Womans Project). The Poe Projects (American Lyric Theater)

International opera and theater: Uncle Vanya with Uppsala Stadsteater Sweden; The King Stag with The Shanghai Theater Academy (Shanghai); You, We, Us, All  with tours to Hamburg and Antwerp; Our Class with The National Theater of Lithuania; Eurydice with The Finish National Theater (Helsinki); Macbeth with the Volksbühne Am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Berlin);  Bambilandat National Theater of Lithuania and Oskaras Korsunovas Theater; Sleeping Beauty with the Seoul Performing Arts Festival (South Korea).

2014, Drama Desk Nomination for Nutcracker Rouge

2012, Winner of the Opera America Director/Designer Competition.

MFA Yale School of Drama

JAX Messenger maintains a successful career as a lighting professional. He has lit productions for such companies as Opera Philadelphia (The Wake World), Curtis Institute of Music (Dr Atomic, Impressions of Pelléas) The Canadian Opera Company (Pyramus and Thisbe),Boston Lyric Opera (In the Penal Colony), Bard SummerScape (Oresteia, The Wreckers, The Turendot Project) R. B. Schlather’s exhibition (Alcina, Orlando, The House Taken Over), Adam H Weinert (MONUMENT),  Wanda Culture Industry Group (Princess Butterfly) Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (Laurencia, Waltzpurgisnacht, Majisimas), Merola Opera (Barber of Seville, Transformations) The Washington Ballet (Sleeping Beauty, Fluctuating Hemlines, Shostakovich Concerto, Don Quixote) The San Francisco Opera (Requiem, The Elixir of Love for Families). He has recreated the designs of Japhy Weideman, Tony Tucci, Mark McCullough, Keven Meek, Nacho Duato, Jeff Bruckerhoff, and Jennifer Tipton. As an assistant lighting director he has managed the creation of 4 operas for New York City Opera and 48 operas for The San Francisco Opera. As a lighting supervisor he has produced tours for Black Grace Dance, The Washington Ballet and Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo in hundreds of venues around the world.

Barbara Brenton Sahr (Repetiteur) is an international vocal coach, accompanist and pianist. Graduate of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Westminster Choir College. Has taught at OSU School of Music, Westminster Summer Sessions, and currently teaches at Capital University School of Music.

Lesley is thrilled to be working at Opera Columbus for the first time, on this exciting production of Orphée et Eurydice. Working primarily in opera, she has stage managed for the Canadian Opera Company, Against the Grain Theatre, The Glenn Gould School, Tapestry Opera, Canadian Children’s Opera Company, the University of Toronto Opera School, Queen of Puddings and The Banff Centre.

John Gzowski is a musician of many interests.

Some were instilled by studying with Alexina Louie, James Tenney, Ann Southam and Trichi Sankaran. Originally studying classical guitar, John switched to electric after developing a taste for rock and jazz. He played in many groups in the Queen Street scene in Toronto in the 80’s, most notably the Garbagemen. Around the same time he began playing with some more experimental jazz groups, like Graeme Kirkland’s groups, Tom Walsh’s N.O.M.A., Paul Cram’s early groups and doing free improv work across the country, at jazz festivals in Montreal, Halifax and Vancouver.

He then started listening to and playing world music’s, performing Romany Gypsy music with the Altin Yildiz Orkestar, South African pop with Siyakha, Greek and Arabic music with Maza Meze, and North Indian flavoured jazz with Tasa, on instruments such as oud, tambouritsa, cumbuc, cello, and mandolin. He has studied with U Shrinivas, Ali Akbar Khan and Trichi Sankaran and performing shows in folk festivals across the country. His work in New Music includes playing with Hemispheres for over 6 years, concerts with New Music Concerts and the Canadian Electronic Ensemble. He has written for Array Music, the Evergreen Club Gamelan Ensemble and Hemisphere’s.

An interest in tuning and temperament lead to the building of several instruments designed for higher resolution tunings, including guitars in 19 and 31 tone equal temperament, 31 tone 5 limit just intonation and a study of Harry Partch’s 43 tone just intonation system known as Monophony. He has lead the microtonal group Critical Band, with concerts across North America, and built replica’s of Partch’s instruments for the performance of newly commissioned music and performances of several of Partch’s early works.

His theatre work has won him 6 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, with over a dozen more nominations. His work has been seen in over 200 productions, across the country, with companies like the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Luminato, National Arts Centre, Mirvish, CanStage, Soulpepper, Tarragon and Factory Theatre. For dance, he has written for Dancemakers, Kaeja D’dance, Hanna Kiel, Gadfly and Julia Aplin, using acoustic instruments, electronics, bicycle bells, homemade instruments, found sound and multi speaker systems. His installation pieces have been shown at the AGO, Nuit Blanche and New Adventures in Sound Art.