Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 6 Il Travatore

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 December 1, 2018 - January 20, 2019 | 25 KAYLEIGH DECKER (Dorothée) Previously at Lyric: Second Cretan Woman/ Idomeneo (2018/19). A first-year Ryan Opera Center mem- ber, 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 e 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’s Carlota . 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 (Dean of the Faculty) Previously at Lyric: First Trojan Man/ Idomeneo (2018/19): Jazz Trio Member/ Trouble in Tahiti, Emperor Altoum/ Turandot (both 2017/18). e Canadian tenor, a second-year Ryan Opera Center mem- ber, was recently named the Grand Prize and Opera Prize winner at the 52 nd Annual International Vocal Competition in s'Hertogenbosch. In summer 2018 he performed Count Almaviva/ e Barber of Seville (Aspen Music Festival) and Don Ottavio/ Don Giovanni (Italy’s New Generation Festival). Past performances include Ferrando/ Così fan tutte (Ryan Opera Center, also the University of Michigan, of which he is an alumnus) Lysander/ A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rinuccio/ Gianni Schicchi (University of Michigan); and Normanno/ Lucia di Lammermoor and Bardolfo/ Falstaff (Pacific Opera Victoria). Lovell has participated in the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme and San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program. He will debut this season with Music of the Baroque, the International Music Foundation, Apollo Chorus, and I Musici de Montréal. Among his many awards are 2 nd place in the Dallas Opera Vocal Competition and national semifinalist in the 2017 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 2019 he will join the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera. Josh Lovell is sponsored by Maurice J. and Patricia Frank . CHRISTOPHER KENNEY (Master of Ceremonies) Lyric debut A Minnesota native and a first-year Ryan Opera Center member, the bari- tone recently made his Grant Park Music Festival debut as Bob/Menotti’s e Old Maid and the ief . Kenney was most recently a member of Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program. While there, he was heard in the title role/ e Barber of Seville and also portrayed the Businessman/ e Little Prince , Pa Zegner/Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up (world premiere), and the Officer/ e Barber of Seville for WNO’s mainstage season at the Kennedy Center. Additionally, he was a featured soloist in Bernstein’s Songfest with the National Symphony Orchestra. A former Santa Fe Opera apprentice artist, Kenney is a three-time winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council District Auditions and winner of the 2014 Alltech Vocal Scholarship Competition. e baritone is an alumnus of Concordia College, the University of Kentucky, and Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts. Kenney returns to the Lyric stage later this season as the Marquis d’Obigny/ La traviata . Christopher Kenney is sponsored by an Anonymous Donor . ALAN HIGGS ( e King) Previously at Lyric: Second Trojan Man/ Idomeneo (2018/19); Gualtiero / I puritani , Count Ceprano/ Rigoletto (both 2017/18). e bass-baritone, a Florida native and second-year Ryan Opera Center member, recently opened the Beyond the Aria series to great acclaim with Erin Wall, David Portillo, and Craig Terry. Higgs graduated from Florida State University before becoming a studio artist at Atlanta Opera. His roles there included the Imperial Commissioner/ Madame Butterfly (professional debut), Antonio/ e Marriage of Figaro , Benoît and Alcindoro/ La bohème , the British Major/Kevin Puts’s Silent Night , the Mandarin/ Turandot , and Don Pasquale (stu- dent performances). Higgs has also spent a summer at the Santa Fe Opera (José Castro/ La fanciulla del West ). He 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 participating as a semi- finalist in the national-level competition (2017). He has also 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 . DAVID WEIGEL (First Minister) Previously at Lyric: Voice of Neptune/ Idomeneo (2018/19). e bass-baritone, a North Carolina native and a first-year Ryan Opera Center member, is an alumnus of Furman University (Greenville, South Carolina) 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 cur- rently 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 appear- ances include the Requiem s of Verdi, Mozart, and Brahms. Later this season, Weigel will return to the Lyric stage as Dr. Grenvil/ La traviata . David Weigel is sponsored by Lois B. Siegel, Michael and Salme Harju Steinberg, and Mrs. J. W. Van Gorkom . DJANGO ALLEGRETTI Lyric debut e dancer appears regularly with Chicago Repertory Ballet, where he debuted in 2017. He was featured from 2014 to 2016 with Manassas Ballet eatre (Peter/ Peter and the Wolf , Hilarion/ Giselle , roles in Cinderella and e Nutcracker ) and from 2010 to 2014 with Ballet eatre of Maryland (Prince/ Swan Lake , Cavalier and other roles/ e Nutcracker , Darien/ Dancing Princesses , Basilio/ Don Quixote Wedding Pas de Deux, Antony Tudor’s Continuo ). Allegretti studied for a decade at the San Francisco Ballet School, appearing in its productions of Stars and Stripes , Yondering , and Etudes , as well as with the parent company in Helgi Tomasson’s e Nutcracker and Yuri Possokhov’s Damned . JAIME BORKAN Lyric debut e dancer has appeared since 2017 with the Chicago-based dance choreog- raphy/aerial acrobatics company, C5 Create With No Limits. She is also a company member of Chicago Repertory Ballet. During 2015 and 2016 she was an aerialist and dancer with Royal Caribbean International. In 2018 she performed in Odyssey Dance eater’s season of riller . Borkan has also been seen with Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, Dance for Life, the Going Dutch Festival, and various concerts and showcases produced by the Alvin Ailey School. In 2017 she participated in both the Gaga Summer Intensive in Tel Aviv and the B12 Berlin Workshop Festival. She is an alumna of the Fordham University/Ailey School program. KRISTIAN BROOKS Previously at Lyric: My Fair Lady (2016/17). e dancer was seen in the national tour of the NETworks production of Dirty Dancing . She was seen as Helga/ Cabaret at Aurora’s Paramount eatre and has been a featured aerial- ist with both Luminosity and Aerial Dance Chicago. Brooks has also worked as a dancer, aerialist, and aerial captain for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. She was a team member and international competitor with the USA Rhythmic Gymnastics National Team for the World Championship competition. Brooks, who earned a B.A. in English language, media, and communications at the University of Rochester, trained at Bohaty’s School of Dance, Sports Club of Novi, and North Shore Rhythmics. JOSEPH A. HERNANDEZ Lyric debut In New York the dancer has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Dušan Týnek Dance eatre, and the Kate Weare Company. Since 2017 he has been a company dancer of LED (Boise, Idaho). He has also appeared in Chicago with River North Dance Chicago, in San Francisco with ODC/Dance and Opera Parallèle, and in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with Wellspring Cori Terry/Dancers. Hernandez earned a B.F.A. degree with cum laude honors at Western Michigan University. He has participated in many summer dance programs, including those of San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, River North Dance Chicago, Luna Negra Dance eater, and Giordano Dance Center.