The Dallas Opera 2021-2022 - Madame Butterfly/Flight

21 FLIGHT Elena Villalón (Tina) The Dallas Opera debut The soprano is a current studio artist at Houston Grand Opera. In 2020/21 she performed in HGO’s new digital season in Vinkensport , The Snowy Day, and Hansel and Gretel , as well as in the Studio Showcase. Other appearances include recitals with Cincinnati Song Initiative and at the Rienzi Museum of Fine Arts as part of the studio recital series, and a concert of Baroque cantatas and arias with Mercury Chamber Orchestra. In the 2019/20 season, Villalón portrayed Inès in Donizetti’s La favorite and La Mujer in Javier Martínez’s El Milagro de Recuerdo (world premiere) at HGO. Villalón is a former Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where she made her professional debut as Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro . Villalón was a Grand Finals winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2019. Andrew Stenson (Bill) The American tenor, heard previously at TDO as the Steersman in The Flying Dutchman , is a former first-prize winner of the prestigious Giulio Gari and Gerda Lissner competitions. His recent leading roles have included Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville , Tamino in The Magic Flute , Sprink in Silent Night , Nemorino in The Elixir of Love , Tonio in La fille du regiment , Fadinard in The Italian Straw Hat , and the demanding role of Danny Chen in An American Soldier in both the world premiere and the expanded version). Stenson’s appearances at Lyric Opera of Chicago include Ferrando in Così fan tutte and Gen in Bel Canto (world premiere, PBS telecast). He has also been heard in Don Pasquale , Margherita , and Candide . An alumnus of the young artist programs of the Metropolitan, Seattle, and San Francisco operas, Stenson has been featured at the Met as Beppe in Pagliacci and Demetrius in The Enchanted Island . Will Liverman (Steward) The much-acclaimed American baritone was the 2020 recipient of Washington National Opera’s Marian Anderson Vocal Award, and was prominently featured at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in 2021. This season, Liverman returned to the Metropolitan Opera to star in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones (company premiere). At the Met, he will also reprise his portrayals of Horemhab in Akhnaten and Papageno in The Magic Flute . Among other Met credits is Malcolm Fleet in Nico Muhly’s Marnie (American premiere). Liverman’s new opera, The Factotum , written with DJ/recording artist JK Rico, is being developed in partnership with Lyric Opera of Chicago and that company’s Ryan Opera Center, of which Liverman is an alumnus. Among his recent credits are Silvio in Pagliacci (Denver), Schaunard in La bohème (TDO, Santa Fe, Philadelphia), the Pilot in The Little Prince (Tulsa), and Dizzy Gillespie in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird (Philadelphia world premiere, subsequent performances in London, Chicago, Madison, and New York). Newly released is Liverman’s first album, Dreams of a New Day —Songs by Black Composers. Kristen Choi (Stewardess) The Dallas Opera debut The mezzo-soprano’s recent engagements have included Suzuki in Madame Butterfly at Opera Omaha; a role and house debut with Opera Maine as the Third Lady in The Magic Flute ; and the title role of Lady Murasaki in the world premiere of Michi Wiancko and Deborah Brevoort’s Murasaki’s Moon , a new work with Onsite Opera and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She performed Suzuki in Madame Butterfly with Lyric Opera of Kansas City and with Virginia Opera. Her time in Virginia also included a role debut as Hiroko Kobayashi in Jack Perla’s An American Dream . Recent seasons were highlighted by Suzuki at Washington National Opera, as well as her European debut as Paquette in Candide (Opéra National de Bordeaux). Choi also made role debuts as Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream ) and Ruth Sherwood in Wonderful Town .