Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 3 Idomeneo

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 October 13 - November 2, 2018 | 25 NOAH BAETGE (High Priest) Lyric debut A Pacific Northwest native, the tenor reprises a role that he first performed at the Metropolitan Opera (2016/17). He has appeared frequently at the Met, including Walther/ Tannhäuser and most recently First Armored Man/ e Magic Flute and ird Jew/ Salom e. Baetge made his New Rochelle Opera debut starring as Manrico/ Il trovatore. He has also performed at the Princeton Festival, Pittsburgh Opera, Seattle Opera, and e Santa Fe Opera. e tenor has appeared multiple times at the Caramoor Summer Music Festival, and performed for its 75th opening night with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Collegiate Chorale. Other concert engagements include Spoleto Festival USA and at Carnegie Hall, where he debuted with the St. Cecilia Chorus and Orchestra. An alumnus of several distinguished artist residencies, he graduated from Juilliard with the prestigious Richard F. Gold Career Grant. A 2009 Grand Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Baetge received first prize and the Upcoming Wagner Singer prize in the Gerda Lissner Foundation Vocal Competition. He was also awarded the top prize in the George London Foundation Vocal Competition. DAVID WEIGEL (Voice of Neptune) Lyric debut e bass-baritone, aNorth Carolina native and first- year Ryan Opera Center member, is an alumnus of Furman University (Greenville, SC) and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Weigel received a professional artist certificate from the A. J. Fletcher Opera Institute at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. A winner of the 2016 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Michigan District), he is currently a D. M. A. candidate at the University of Michigan. Weigel performed with San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program in 2017 (Death/ Sāvitri ) and 2013 (Collatinus/ e Rape of Lucretia ). Other recent engagements have included Bottom/ A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the title role/ e Marriage of Figaro at the University of Michigan, as well as both the title role and Masetto/ Don Giovanni . Concert appearances include the requiems of Verdi, Mozart, and Brahms. Later this season, Weigel will return to the Lyric stage as First Minister/ Cendrillon and Dr. Grenvil/ La traviata . David Weigel is sponsored by Lois B. Siegel, Michael and Salme Harju Steinberg, and Mrs. J. W. Van Gorkom. WHITNEY MORRISON (First Cretan Woman) Previously at Lyric: Gerhilde/ Die Walküre , Countess/ Rigoletto (both 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 returns to the Lyric stage later this season as the Confidante/ Elektra . She has appeared in concert with the Eastman Wind Ensemble and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Morrison 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. Nathanial 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. Whitney Morrison is sponsored by J. omas Hurvis. KAYLEIGH DECKER (Second Cretan Woman) Lyric debut A first-year Ryan Opera Center member, the mezzo-soprano is an alumna of the University of Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory. At CCM Opera she sang such leading roles as Idamante/ Idomeneo , Prince Charming/ Cendrillon, and the Fox/ e Cunning Little Vixen . Decker has also performed at the Glimmerglass Festival, San Diego’s Opera Neo, Cincinnati Chamber Opera, Queen City Opera, and Oberlin Opera eatre, as well as in world premieres of Ben Moore’s Robin Hood and Paul Davies’ Carlota . At Lyric she will return later this season as Dorothée/ Cendrillon . A former Gerdine Young Artist at Opera eatre of Saint Louis and former participant in the Houston Grand Opera Young Artists Vocal Academy, she has appeared in concert with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic and the St. Louis Symphony. Among Decker’s honors are first place in the ree Arts Scholarship Fund Competition, second place in the Great Lakes Region Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and the Corbett Award in CCM’s Corbett Competition. Kayleigh Decker is sponsored by e C. G. Pinnell Family. JOSH LOVELL (First Trojan Man) Previously at Lyric: Jazz Trio Member/ Trouble in Tahiti , Emperor Altoum/ Turandot (both 2017/18). e Canadian tenor, a second-year Ryan Opera Center member, returns to the Lyric stage later this season in Cendrillon and Ariodante. An alumnus of the University of Michigan (Lysander/ A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ferrando/ Così fan tutte , Rinuccio/ Gianni Schicchi ), he made debuts last summer as Don Ottavio/ Don Giovanni at the New Generation Festival, and Count Almaviva/ e Barber of Seville at the Aspen Music Festival. An experienced Baroque interpreter, this season Lovell will sing Bach’s Coffee Cantata with Music of the Baroque (debut), conducted by Jane Glover; Handel’s Messiah with e International Music Foundation and Apollo Chorus; and Bach cantatas, as well as the Magnificat, with the Baroque ensemble I Musici de Montréal. e tenor, a past participant in San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program, won 2nd place in the 2018 Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, 3rd place in the 2017 Marcello Giordani Foundation International Vocal Competition, and was a 2017 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions semi-finalist. Josh Lovell is sponsored by Maurice J. and Patricia Frank. ALAN HIGGS (Second Trojan Man) Previously at Lyric: Gualtiero/ I puritani, Ceprano/ Rigoletto (both 2017/18). The bass-baritone, a Florida native and second- year Ryan Opera Center member, graduated from Florida State University before becoming a studio artist at Atlanta Opera. His roles there included the Imperial Commissioner/ Madama Butterfly (professional debut), Antonio/ e Marriage of Figaro , Benoit and Alcindoro/ La bohème, the British Major/ Kevin Puts’s Silent Night , the Mandarin/ Turandot , and Don Pasquale (student performances). Higgs has also spent a summer at e Santa Fe Opera (José Castro/ La fanciulla del West ). He returns to the Lyric stage later this season as the King/ Cendrillon . Higgs has earned recognition from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, winning twice in the Georgia District and once in the Southeast Region, as well as finishing as a semifinalist in the national-level competition (2017). He has won the American Opera Society Scholarship, the Santa Fe Opera Katherine Mayer Award, and a Sullivan Foundation Award. During the summer of 2018 he participated in the Solti Academy in Italy, where he received a Solti Foundation Scholarship. Alan Higgs is sponsored by Heidi Heutel Bohn, Lawrence O. Corry, and Robert C. Marks.