Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 10A Renee Fleming Gala

P R O F I L E S | L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O 18 | March 23, 2019 WHITNEY MORRISON Previously at Lyric: Four roles since 2017/18, most recently Confidante/ Elektra, First Cretan Woman/ Idomeneo (2018/19); Gerhilde/ Die Walküre (2017/18). e soprano, a Chicago native and second-year Ryan Opera Center member, is an alumna of Alabama’s Oakwood University, the Eastman School of Music, and Germany’s Neil Semer Vocal Institute. Among her operatic roles are Donna Anna/ Don Giovanni (Chicago’s Floating Opera) and Miss Pinkerton/ e Old Maid and the ief (Grant Park Music Festival). Morrison has appeared in concert with the Eastman Wind Ensemble and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. She also performed the National Anthem at the 2016 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. In addition to winning the Minnesota District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Morrison has earned top prizes in the National Classical Singer University Competition, the R. Nathaniel Dett Club NANM Scholarship Competition, and the Musicians Club of Women Competition. She is a two-time recipient of the UNCF John Lennon Endowed Scholarship and a former finalist in the Luminarts Classical Music Competition. Sponsored by J. omas Hurvis. EMILY POGORELC Previously at Lyric: Trainbearer /Elektra, Noémie/ Cendrillon (both 2018/19). In 2018 the soprano, a Milwaukee native and first- year Ryan Opera Center member, graduated from Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music; earned the Ginette eano Prize for Most Promising Talent at the inaugural Glyndebourne Opera Cup; debuted at Washington National Opera as Cunegonde/ Candide ; and participated in the Aix-en-Provence Festival’s Mozart Academy. Later this season she returns to the Madison Symphony Orchestra for Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 . Previous successes also include Romilda/ Xerxes , Berenice/Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro , and Johanna/ Sweeney Todd (Glimmerglass Festival) and Chan Parker/ Charlie Parker’s Yardbird (New York’s Apollo eater). Pogorelc has also appeared at Carnegie Hall and with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Sponsored by Sally and Michael Feder, Ms. Gay K. Stanek, and Ms. Jennifer L. Stone. RICARDO JOSÉ RIVERA Previously at Lyric: Baron Douphol/ La traviata , Schaunard/ La bohème (both 2018/19). e Puerto Rican baritone, a first-year member of Lyric’s Ryan Opera Center, has portrayed Guglielmo/ Così fan tutte at the International Vocal Academy of Rome; sung several recitals with the American Masters of Opera Academy in Moscow; and per- formed as a participant in Tel-Aviv’s International Vocal Arts Institute. He has had repeat engagements at the Performing Arts Center of San Juan and the University of Puerto Rico eater. He recently earned his master’s degree at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music ( e Barber of Seville, A Midsummer Night’s Dream , Gianni Schicchi ). He has also participated in VOICExperience in Savannah and the Aspen Music Festival. Sponsored by Dr. David H. Whitney and Dr. Juliana Chyu, and Drs. Joan and Russ Zajtchuk . MARIO ROJAS Previously at Lyric: Five roles since 2017/18, most recently Alfredo Germont and Gastone de Letorières/ La traviata, Parpignol/ La bohème, Ruiz/ Il trovatore (all 2018/19). The Mexican tenor, a second-year Ryan Opera Center member, has por- trayed Rodolfo/ La bohème at Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes. In Chicago he has been heard in the Harris eater’s “Beyond the Aria” series. Rojas is an alumnus of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and one of the youngest singers ever to receive the Plácido Domingo Scholarship from SIVAM (Mexico’s most prominent young-artist program). He is a winner of third place in the Dallas Opera Vocal Competition, the Marta Eggerth Kiepura Award in the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Vocal Competition, and the Emerging Singers Award in theOpera Index Vocal Competition. Sponsored by the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation. ANN TOOMEY Previously at Lyric: Fifth Maid/ Elektra Musetta/ La bohème, (both 2018/19); “Bernstein at 100” concert (2017/18); First Lady/ e Magic Flute (2016/17). A Michigan native and third-year Ryan Opera Center member, the soprano holds a master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She earned her bachelor of music degree at Oakland University (Rochester, Michigan). Toomey por- trayed Gabrielle/ La rondine at Opera eatre of Saint Louis while participating in the 2015 Gerdine Young Artist program. She was a 2016 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions national semifinalist and an award recipient in the 2015 Corbett Opera Scholarship Competition at UCC-CM. Toomey has appeared at the Grant Park Music Festival, with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and in the Harris eater’s “Beyond the Aria” series. Sponsored by e Susan and Richard P. Kiphart Family, Richard O. Ryan, and Richard W. Shepro and Lindsay E. Roberts. DAVID WEIGEL Previously at Lyric: Dr. Grenvil/ La traviata, First Minister/ Cendrillon, Voice of Neptune/ Idomeneo (all 2018/19). e bass-baritone, a North Carolina native and a first- year Ryan Opera Center member, is an alumnus of Furman University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the A. J. Fletcher Opera Institute at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and the University of Michigan. A winner of the 2016 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Michigan District), Weigel performed with San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program in 2017 (Death/ Savitri ) and 2013 (Collatinus/ e Rape of Lucretia ). Other recent engagements have included A Midsummer Night’s Dream and e Marriage of Figaro at the University of Michigan. Weigel has also performed with North Carolina Opera, Greensboro Opera, Piedmont Opera, Asheville Lyric Opera, Opera North, and the Brevard Music Center. Sponsored by Lois B. Siegel, Michael and Salme Harju Steinberg , and Mrs. J. W. Van Gorkom.