Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 7 La Boheme #2

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 January 10 - 31, 2019 | 23 RICARDO JOSÉ RIVERA (Schaunard) Previously at Lyric: Schaunard (Oct. 2018 performances). The Puerto Rican baritone, a first-year member of Lyric’s Ryan Opera Center, returns to the company’s mainstage later this season to portray Baron Douphol/ La traviata . Rivera 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 performed in scene and concert presentations 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 at the University of Puerto Rico Theater, including Don Pasquale, Gianni Schicchi , and Don Quixote/ Ravel’s Master Peter’s Puppet Show (part of the 2016 Casals Festival). Rivera recently earned his master’s degree at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where his appearances included Fiorello/ The Barber of Sevill e, Starveling/ A Midsummer Night’s Dream , and Marco/ Gianni Schicchi . He has also participated in numerous summer programs, including VOICExperience in Savannah and the Aspen Music Festival, where he has appeared as Claudio/ Béatrice et Bénédict and Angel 7 in Luke Bedford’s opera Seven Angels. Ricardo José Rivera is sponsored by Dr. David H. Whitney and Dr. Juliana Chyu , and Drs. Joan and Russ Zajtchuk. JAKE GARDNER (Benoit, Alcindoro) Previously at Lyric: Five roles since 2001/02, most recently Benoît, Alcindoro (Oct. 2018 performances); Brétigny/ Manon (2008/09); Jules/ A Wedding (world premiere, 2004/05). The career of the distinguished American bass- baritone has encompassed productions at the Vienna Volksoper, Dresden’s Semperoper, Glyndebourne, Dutch National Opera, the Edinburgh Festival, and the major houses of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Washington, and Miami. For a decade he performed as principal baritone with the Cologne Opera, under the baton of music director James Conlon. Recently Gardner sang his first Prince Gremin/ Eugene Onegin at Eugene Opera and portrayed Ashby/ La fanciulla del West (Virginia Opera); Harold Ryan/Richard Auldon Clark’s and Kurt Vonnegut’s Happy Birthday Wanda June (Indianapolis Opera, world premiere); the Hermit/ Der Freischütz , his 100th role (Virginia Opera); Sulpice/ La fille du régiment (Honolulu); Bartolo/ The Barber of Seville (Eugene, San Antonio); and Scarpia/ Tosca (Piedmont Opera, Opera Coeur d’Alene). Gardner has sung a wide variety of operetta and musical theater, including recent portrayals of Baron Zeta/ The Merry Widow (LA Opera), Frederic/ A Little Night Music (Hawai’i Opera Theater), Judge Turpin/ Sweeney Todd (Houston Grand Opera), and Buffalo Bill/ Annie Get Your Gun and Mayor Shinn/ The Music Man (both at Glimmerglass Opera). This season’s highlights include Gardner’s first Bailiff/ Werther (Florida Grand Opera), Sir Joseph Porter/ HMS Pinafore (Eugene Opera), and Wagner’s Ring Cycle in One Night (Binghamton Philharmonic). MARIO ROJAS (Parpignol) Previously at Lyric: Ruiz/ Il trovatore (2018/19); Parpignol (Oct. 2018 Performances); Borsa/ Rigoletto (2017/18). The Mexican tenor, a second-year Ryan Opera Center ensemble member who returns later this season as Gastone/ La traviata , has portrayed Rodolfo/ La bohème at Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes. Rojas is an alumnus of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (Don José/ La tragédie de Carmen , Nemorino/ L’elisir d’amore , SFCM Gala with renowned pianist/coach Warren Jones). One of the youngest singers ever to receive the Plácido Domingo scholarship from SIVAM (Mexico’s most prominent young-artist program), he has sung elsewhere in Mexico as Don Ottavio/ Don Giovanni and Julian/Tomas Breton’s La verbena de la Paloma . Among the honors Rojas has received are a 2018 William M. Sullivan Foundation Singer Award, third place in the 2018 Dallas Opera Vocal Competition, winner of the 2018 MONC Central District Auditions, second place in the East Bay Opera League Competition, the Marta Eggerth Kiepura Award in the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Vocal Completion, third place in the Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition, and the Emerging Singers Award in the Opera Index Vocal Competition. Mario Rojas is sponsored by the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation. CHICAGO CHILDREN’S CHOIR Previously at Lyric: 11 productions since 2000/01, most recently La bohème (Oct. 2018 performances); Turandot (2017/18); Carmen (2016/17). Founded as a single choir in Hyde Park at the height of the civil rights movement in 1956, today the Chicago Children’s Choir serves 4,800 youth representing all 57 Chicago zip codes. The CCC encompasses programs in 85 city schools and 10 neighborhoods, an ensemble for young male voices, and the world-renowned Voice of Chicago. Under president and artistic director Josephine Lee, Chicago Children’s Choir has undertaken many highly successful national and international tours, has been featured in national broadcasts, including NBC’s Today , Oprah , and the PBS series From the Top: Live from Carnegie Hall , and was featured in the Chicago/Midwest Emmy-winning documentary Songs on the Road to Freedom (2008). A regular collaborator with major Chicago musical organizations, CCC has performed throughout the world, for many dignitaries, and in performances with such celebrities as Chance the Rapper, Luciano Pavarotti, Beyoncé, Yo-Yo Ma, and Celine Dion, among many others. DOMINGO HINDOYAN (Conductor) Previously at Lyric: La bohème (Oct. 2018 performances). The Venezuelan conductor, who made a pre-season appearance leading the 2018 Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park concert, enjoys a vibrant career leading internationally acclaimed ensembles. Starting with the 2019/20 season, he will serve as principal guest conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Highlights among many prestigious engagements this season include debuts with the Vienna State Opera ( Turandot ) and Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu ( Luisa Miller ) plus symphonic concerts with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. Last season Hindoyan made acclaimed debuts at the Metropolitan Opera ( L’elisir d’amore ), the Mariinsky Theatre ( La bohème ), Oper Stuttgart ( Tosca ), Semperoper Dresden ( La traviata ), and L’Opéra de Monte-Carlo ( I puritani ). Recent symphonic engagements include performances with the Dresden Philharmonic, Hamburger Symphoniker, Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre National de Belgique, and Malmö Symphony Orchestra. From 2013 to 2016 Hindoyan was first assistant to Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin State Opera and has since become a prominent guest conductor there, having led a vast array of works including La traviata, Tosca, L’elisir d’amore, La bohème, The Barber of Seville, The Rake’s Progress, Orfeo ed Euridice, and The Rite of Spring (ballet). Born in Caracas, Venezuela, and originally a violinist, Domingo studied conducting at Geneva’s Haute École de Musique. ( See Conductor's Note, page 30.) STEFANO SARZANI (Conductor – Jan. 31) Lyric conducting debut Previously at Lyric: Musical staff/ Turandot (2017/18) . The Italian-born conductor will appear later this spring for a set of concerts in New Hampshire with Symphony NH as music director candidate. Upcoming engagements include collaborations with Central City Opera ( Madama Butterfly, Billy Budd ) and Michigan Opera Theater ( Hänsel und Gretel ). Most recently, Sarzani achieved great success at Des Moines Metro Opera leading Astor Piazzolla's masterpiece, Maria de Buenos Aires . His recent conducting engagements also include Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi