Ariodante
by George Friedrich Handel
(presented in Italian with English subtitles)
Directed by: Maribeth Crawford
Conducted by: Yael Front
Cast:
Ariodante: Kate Tombaugh
Ginevra: Christina Kerstan
Polinesso: Barbara LeMay
Dalinda: Autumn West
Lurcanio: Allan Palacios Chan
Il Re: John Fitzwater
Oduardo: Alison Scherzer
ALLAN PALACIOS CHAN, LURCANIO
Philippine-born tenor Allan Palacios Chan earned his Masters in Music in Vocal Performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. While in Cincinnati, he has performed with Cincinnati Opera for four consecutive seasons. He also performed the role of Damon in Cincinnati Chamber Opera's inaugural performance of Handel's Acis and Galatea. Mr. Chan is currently pursuing his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. This summer he will be attending the prestigious Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California as a voice fellow where he will be learning the role of Don Ramiro in Rossini’s opera La Cenerentola.
MARIBETH CRAWFORD, DIRECTOR
A native of Clinton, MS, soprano Maribeth Crawford completed her Doctorate at CCM with a concentration in voice and an emphasis in opera directing. In addition to her training and education at CCM, Ms. Crawford has appeared as a young artist with Opera in the Ozarks, Rising Star Audition Works, and the Natchez Festival of Music. Crawford's performance experience includes areas of opera, oratorio, musical theater, and art song. She is an avid recitalist and educator of music. She has served on faculty at the Beck Center for the Arts, Central State University, and Cincinnati State University. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Voice at Walsh University, and lives in Cleveland Heights, Ohio with her husband and two children.
JOHN FITZWATER, IL RE
John Day Fitzwater, bass-baritone, has performed with the ArtPark Opera, Western New York Opera Theater, Whitewater Opera, Buffalo Philharmonic, Northwest Symphony and was in the cast of the American premier of Phillip Glass’ Satyagraha at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He holds degrees from Northwestern University. John is the owner of FitzCo, a residential remodeling company in Cincinnati. He is married and has four grown children, 2 dogs and 3 cats. John has been a volunteer with Big Brother’s, Habitat for Humanity, Give Back Cincinnati and Ascension and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, among others. He enjoys hiking, biking, travel and photography.
CHRISTINA KERSTAN, GINEVRA
Christina Kerstan, soprano, has recently completed her Master of Music degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Kenneth Shaw. She received her undergraduate degree from Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA, where she studied with Dr. Nina Tober. Her roles performed include Miss Wingrave (Owen Wingrave), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte).
ALISON SCHERZER, ODUARDO
Soprano Alison Scherzer has been praised for her “high, sweet coloratura” and “expressive countenance.“ Operatic roles include Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Blonde in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Zerbinetta and Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos, Mrs. Nordstrom in A Little Night Music, Lucy in Menotti’s The Telephone, Curley’s Wife in Of Mice and Men and Mabel in Pirates of Penzance. She is currently a soloist in The Cast, an international operatic ensemble about which a documentary film entitled Operatic will be released in 2015. Ms. Scherzer attended CCM in Cincinnati for her Master of Music and Artist Diploma studies. www.alisonscherzer.com
AUTUMN WEST, DALINDA
Autumn West is one of the co-founders and artistic directors of Cincinnati Chamber Opera. A soprano originally from Chicago, Illinois, West was educated at Northwestern University, where she received her Bachelors, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where she received her Masters. West is currently pursuing her Doctorate coursework at CCM. Some of West's favorite roles performed include Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Galatea in Acis and Galatea, Clarice in Il Mondo della Luna, Sister Berthe in The Sound of Music, The Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel, and Amy in Little Women. West is also an avid performer of new music; she portrayed Grace in the Cincinnati premiere of Daron Hagen's The George Washington Suite, and Aurora in the world premiere of Marie Incontrera's At the Other Side of the Earth. West has also appeared in concert as the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Magnificat, Schubert’s Mass in G, Vivaldi’s Gloria.
YAEL FRONT, CONDUCTOR
Yael Front grew up in Beit Yitzchak, Israel. In 2011, Ms. Front received a Bachelors degree in orchestral conducting from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where she studied with Dr. Evgeny Tsirlin. There, she served as conductor of the Jerusalem Academy Wind Ensemble and assistant conductor for the Chamber Choir, Symphony Orchestra and opera production of her final year, Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel. That same year, she formed the Ramat Gan 'Gvanim' Children's Choir. In 2011, Ms. Front traveled to Siena, Italy, to participate in the 'Academia Musicale Chigiana Masterclasses in orchestral conducting. In masterclasses with Michail Jurowski and Lior Shambadal, Yael performed works by Bartok and Beethoven with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra the Berlin Sinfonietta, respectively. In 2012, Yael joined the 'Tedarim' project, a year-long contemporary music program for outstanding young musicians. Ms. Front is currently pursuing a Masters degree in orchestral conducting at the College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati with Professor Mark Gibson.
BARBARA LEMAY, POLINESSO
Barbara has sung Charlotte, Suzuki, Prinz Orlofsky, Zweite Dame, Lucretia, Bersi, La Zia Principessa, Aurelia in The Chocolate Soldier, the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Mezzo No. 2 in the world premiere of Line Tjørnhøj’s Oration, and the Nurse in “Strawberry Fields” of Central Park. Companies include Resonance Works Pittsburgh, New York City Opera, Asheville Lyric Opera, Center for Contemporary Opera, St. Petersburg Opera, Liederkranz Opera Theatre, Amarillo Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, and Kansas City Chamber Orchestra. In 2010 Barbara recorded In The Garden, featuring garden-themed art songs by Mattox, Brahms, Strauss, Respighi, Fauré and others.
KATE TOMBAUGH, ARIODANTE
Kate has sung as a young artist with the Santa Fe Opera, Utah Opera/Utah Symphony, and the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Additionally, she sang as a Stern Fellow at the LA-based Songfest and in the Opera Studio of the A.I.M.S Festival in Graz, Austria. Her experiences on the stage range from musical theater to operetta and opera, with a strong background in choral and oratorio literature. Last season saw Kate as “Rosina” in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville with the Santa Fe Concert Association (NM), as “Hansel” in Hansel and Gretel with Opera Omaha (NE), and as “Meg Page” with Winter Opera St. Louis in Verdi’s Falstaff (MO). Recently, Kate sang “Hansel” in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel with Performance Santa Fe, her fourth principal role with the company. In May-June, 2014, Kate will make her Canadian debut with Opera on the Avalon in St. John’s Newfoundland, singing “Carrie Pepperidge” in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.
