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Colleen Brooks (Katz Award District Winner 2006, Fifth Place Award Winner 2005) has finished her coursework and examinations for the Doctor of Musical Arts from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, OH. Yeah! She is thrilled to be returning home to Wisconsin this October as an apprentice in the Florentine Opera's new young artist program. She will be performing the roles of Kate Pinkerton in MADAMA BUTTERFLY (November 2008) and Third Lady in THE MAGIC FLUTE (April 2009) in Florentine Opera's upcoming season as well as singing the title role in PINOCCHIO for opera outreach performances.
Janalyn Renee` Bump (2007 Wisconsin District MONC Encouragement Award Winner) finished her Bachelors of Music degree at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Janalyn has recently performed the role of Miss Silverpeal in Mozart’s THE IMPERSARIO with much success! Last October she was awarded the $2000 Encouragement Award at the WI District MONC Competition as well as winning first place at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Auditions in the Continuing Senior Women’s Division. She had won her division recently in 2005. This past November she also won the University of Whitewaters Concerto Competition and performed her winning aria this spring with the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater Orchestra. She had won this competition back in 2005 as well.
Keith Dixon (winner of the Joan Kreitzer Snyder District Award 2006) is currently singing at Romano’s Macaroni Grill in Middleton, WI. He has discovered a gift of not only singing opera, but also singing in other styles including musicals, and R&B. He is working on an album and wishes to pursue a career as a recording artist in addition to singing opera and musicals. Not only is he a singer, but he also is producer and a writer. He has written and produced all the songs currently on his album. Keith continues to study with Julia Faulkner and coach with Timothy Shaindlin. Keith is looking forward to moving to New York sometime this year.
Steven Ebel (4th Place 2004, performance prize Florentine Opera 2007) has sung with New York City Opera, Opera Delaware, Opera Cleveland and American Opera Projects . He took 2nd Grand Prize in the 2007 Concours de Montreal and 2nd in the 2005 New York Oratorio Society Solo Competition. In the 2007-2008 season he sang Quint in Opera Cleveland's Turn of the Screw, the lead role in the premiere of Man: Biology of a Fall in NYC, was soloist on a tour of Russia with Da Capo Chamber Players, sang Jachino in Fidelio with Empire Opera and Tamino in The Magic Flute as a guest artist with the Cleveland Institute of Music. A devote of contemporary music he is Co-Director of New Music New York where he performs and composes for their annual concerts (www.newmusicnewyork.com). this year he sang the premiere of his cycle Look Out. In August 2008 he sings the lead role of Jimmy in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the Tanglewood Music Center conducted by James Levine.
David Govertsen enjoys a busy singing schedule in Chicago. On the opera stage this past year he performed Colline in LA BOHEME for DuPage Opera Theater, Padre Guardiano in LA FORZA DEL DESTINO for da Corneto Opera, Nick Shadow in THE RAKE’S PROGRESS for NIU Opera, Ben in THE TELEPHONE for Bowen Park Opera, and Rakitin in A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY for OperaModa. Other operatic roles include Don Alfonso/COSI FAN TUTTE, Sarastro/MAGIC FLUTE, Professor Bhaer/LITTLE WOMEN, Sparafucile/RIGOLETTO, Dr. Grenvil/LA TRAVIATA, Plutone/BALLO DELLE INGRATE and the Cook in Prokofiev’s THE LOVE FOR THREE ORANGES in which he “all but stole the show” according to John Von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune. As a concert soloist, Mr. Govertsen’s repertoire includes works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Handel, Mendelssohn and Mozart. He is a member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Grant Park Chorus and New Classic Singers. On the concert stage this season he covered the bass solo in Mozart’s MASS IN C MINOR for the Chicago Symphony and made his CSO solo debut in the Vaughan Williams SERENADE TO MUSIC. This summer Mr. Govertsen will be an apprentice artist at Central City Opera where he will cover Blitch in SUSANNAH and sing the Abbot in CURLEW RIVER. Offstage, Mr. G. teaches elementary music in suburban Chicago.
Lucas Harbour (District Winner 2007) is in his first year with Chicago Opera Theatre's diploma program where he studies with Richard Stilwell. He just completed his Masters in Voice from Roosevelt University. Lucas will be covering Leporello for Chicago Opera Theater's 2008 season. He will also be covering Bartolo (Mozart) and Tsargo in Saariho's Adriana Mater for Santa Fe Opera's 2008 summer season. Recently he won third place at the Metropolitan Opera Upper Midwest Region and first in the Wisconsin Distict. He performed Montano in Sacramento Opera's November production of Otello after performing the same role at Des Moines Metro Opera in July. He also covered Theseus in Britten's Midsummer at DMMO. In February he performed Tom in Opera Santa Barbara's production of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera.
Megan Radder went to Opera Theatre St. Louis this summer to cover Ghita in Una Cosa Rara, she also performed on the Florentine Opera St. John’s Recital in February.
Rachel Renee is now teaching private voice lessons in the Chicago area. She's been cast in Chicago shows from now until January 2009. Presently she is in the ensemble and the understudy for Esmerelda in the American Premiere of Hunchback of Notre Dame at Bailiwick Repertory Theatre. Next she's the female swing for Side by Side by Sondheim for Light Opera Works, which runs October and November and then she is a Pick a little lady and the understudy for Marian in Light Opera Works Music Man.
Sarah Shestak (2007 Upper Midwest Encouragement Award recipient) recently graduated from Viterbo University with her bachelors in music performance while studying under Jean Saladino. Her roles at Viterbo include The Queen of the Night in THE MAGIC FLUTE, and Madame Goldentrill in THE IMPRESARIO. Sarah was a finalist in this year's Schubert Club Competition in St. Paul, MN. This fall she will start working on her masters in music performance with a teaching assistantship at UW-Milwaukee. Sarah is excited to work on the role of Eurydice in UW-Milwaukee's production of ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD in the coming year.
Christopher Aaron Smith (Milwaukee Music Teacher's Association, Inc. Award, 2005; Skylight Opera Theatre Award, 2005 and 2006) is currently entering his second year of vocal performance graduate studies at the New England Conservatory of Music. Since his last update, he has appeared in ANGELIQUE (The Italian) and a scene from ALBERT HERRING (Albert) with NEC Opera Workshop under the directions of Patricia-Maria Weinmann and Greg Smucker. He has also appeared in concert, singing the tenor solos in Mozart's REQUIEM MASS with Masterworks Chorale (Boston), in recital, performing a solo recital entirely devoted to the American opera, and in a masterclass with renowned art song guru Paul Sperry. Last month, Mr. Smith competed in the BSR Annual Open Auditions where he advanced to the Finals in November. Other future engagements include singing the tenor solos in Bach's MAGNIFICAT in July and two other solo recitals later this summer. He currently studies voice with Patricia Craig and coaches with Michael Strauss, Daniel Wyneken, and Timothy Steele.
Amanda Tarver (District Co-winner 2006) performed a cabaret show with friends and colleagues at the Maxims Theatre in Chicago this past January. In March she performed with the Chicago Opera Theatre in the principle role of Lisetta from Haydn’s IL MONDO DELLA LUNA. Ms. Tarver will performed in Chicago Opera Theatre’s production of Mozart’s DON GIOVANNI and John Adams’ THE FLOWERING TREE in May. This summer she is excited to perform with Chautauqua Opera as Flora in LA TRAVIATA; The Dog in THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN; Mrs. Hildebrandt and Nurse #2 in STREET SCENE; as well as performing in the ensemble of their production of COSI FAN TUTTE.
Susan Wiedmeyer (District Encouragement Award Winner 2007) looks forward to attending graduate school this fall at UW-Milwaukee where she will continue to study voice with Dr. Valerie Errante. This summer she has had the pleasure of performing with the Master Singers of Milwaukee, and her upcoming engagements include performing Eurydice in Offenbach's ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD at UWM and Mabel's understudy/Ensemble in Gilbert and Sullivan's PIRATES OF PENZANCE at The Skylight.
Mara Winston will be singing the roles of Angelica in Handel’s Orlando and The Queen of the Night from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at Bay Area Summer Opera Theater in 2008, where she has previously appeared as Soeur Constance/Dialogues des Carmélites, Barbarina/Le Nozze di Figaro, Musetta/La Bohème, Héro/Béatrice et Bénédict, and covered the role of Despina/Così fan tutte. She spent last summer in residence with the Wolf Trap Opera Company singing the role of Asphodèle in Chabrier’s L’Étoile and covering the role of Celia in John Musto’s Volpone. She was also seen as Susanna/Le nozze di Figaro, Nanetta/Falstaff, and Donna Anna/Don Giovanni in the Studio Artists’ Concert, as well as participating in Carmen with Denyce Graves and the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stephen Lord. While completing her Bachelor of Music degree at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts (CCPA), Miss Winston studied with Michael Best and David Holloway, singing Le Feu and Le Rossignol in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges at the Chicago Cultural Center. She also portrayed Dorine in Kirke Mechem’s Tartuffe, Pamina/Die Zauberflöte, Lakmé/Lakmé, Zerbinetta/Ariadne auf Naxos, Cunegonde/Candide, and Zerlina/Don Giovanni. Miss Winston is a featured guest soloist in the Schaumburg Symphony Orchestra’s Presto Concert series, singing selections from La Traviata (Violetta), Die Zauberflöte (Queen of the Night), Lakmé (Lakmé), Lucia di Lammermoor (Lucia), Candide (Cunegonde), Hänsel und Gretel (Gretel), and Die Fledermaus (Adele). Following her performances of Orlando, Miss Winston will study French and Poulenc’s La voix humaine in southern France at ELFCA, Institut d’Enseignement de la Langue Française - Côte d’Azur. She has attended the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS in Graz), touring Austria with AIMS’s American Musical Theatre Ensemble. Miss Winston will begin graduate study at Northwestern University in the fall, studying with Sunny Joy Langton.
Rebecca Young (Encouragement Award, 2007) participated in the Civic Music Association’s Coaching Program this year, working with Tim Shaindlin and presenting a recital in April along with the other participants. The rest of the year was primarily focused on education, completing her student-teaching at seven schools in the Appleton Area School District, including strings, choral music, and general music, in grades K-12. Rebecca graduated from Lawrence University in June, and received the Pi Kappa Lambda Music Education Teaching Award in all three areas of her teaching. This fall, she will begin her position as Elementary Strings Teacher in Northfield, MN, and hopes to find singing opportunities there and in the Twin Cities.
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