The Dallas Opera 2021-2022 - The Barber of Seville/The Pearl Fishers

11 ABOUT THE ARTISTS Wallis Giunta (Rosina) The Dallas Opera debut The Irish-Canadian mezzo-soprano won the “Young Singer” category in the 2018 International Opera Awards and was “Breakthrough Artist in UK Opera” in the 2017 WhatsOnStage Awards. Recent highlights include Dodo in Breaking the Waves (Edinburgh International Festival, Adelaide Festival) and house debuts at Seattle Opera (title role in La cenerentola ) and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Bradamante in Alcina ). Other career highlights include her first Carmen, Rosina, and Octavian; Idamante in Idomeneo ; Flora in La traviata ; the Child in L’enfant et les sortilèges ; Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti ; the title role in Cenerentola ; Anna in Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins ; Sesto in La clemenza di Tito ; Dorabella in Così fan tutte ; and Olga in The Merry Widow at the Met. Giunta presented a critically acclaimed solo recital at the BBC Proms and has appeared with the major symphony orchestras of Munich, Leipzig, Toronto, and Ottawa. The mezzo-soprano is an alumna of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, The Juilliard School’s Artist Diploma in Opera Studies program, and the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio. Alasdair Kent (Count Almaviva) The Dallas Opera debut The Australian tenor had his U.S. operatic debut in 2016 in Cold Mountain at Opera Philadelphia, and his European debut at the highly prestigious Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in the fiendishly difficult role of Cavaliere Belfiore in Il viaggio a Reims . Kent’s burgeoning reputation in Rossini operas has included performances as Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville , Argirio in Tancredi , Lindoro in L’italiana in Algeri , Don Ramiro in La cenerentola , and Mambre in Mosè in Egitto . He is featured as Prince Frederic in the world- premiere recording of Poul Ruders’ new opera The Thirteenth Child , released on Bridge Records. The tenor is a recipient of the Marten Bequest by the Australia Council, one of Australia’s most important artistic awards. Kent is a graduate of Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts and an alumnus of Opera Philadelphia’s Emerging Artist Program, the Merola Opera program, the Lisa Gasteen National Opera School, and Wolf Trap Opera’s Filene Young Artist program. Lucas Meachem (Figaro) The Grammy® Award-winning American baritone is internationally acknowledged as one of today’s leading operatic artists. His 2019/2020 season included performances in Roméo et Juliette at San Francisco Opera, Don Giovanni and The Queen of Spades at Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Carmen at Turin’s Teatro Regio, plus the Richard Tucker Foundation Gala at Carnegie Hall. Meachem recently triumphed at Minnesota Opera singing his first Athanaël in Thaïs . Closely associated with Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera, he has also starred at every other major American house. European appearances have been highlighted by the title roles in The Barber of Seville , Don Giovanni , Billy Budd , and Eugene Onegin ; multiple roles at the Teatro Real Madrid; and Robert in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta in a five-city tour with Anna Netrebko. Meachem has also portrayed Wolfram in Tannhäuser at Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival. Additional successes include appearances with the major orchestras of Montreal, Prague, Rome, New York, and San Francisco. THE BARBER OF SEVILLE