Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 8 Elektra

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 26 | February 2 - 22, 2019 von Nürnberg and Leporello/ Don Giovanni . Among his other major successes are performances at Seattle Opera (Scarpia/ Tosca ), London’s English National Opera (Don Pizarro/ Fidelio ), and Des Moines Metro Opera (Orest/ Elektra ). Important Metropolitan Opera credits include e Gambler (company debut), Francesca da Rimini , and e Nose , which he also sang in Aix-en-Provence. He has premiered roles in many productions – among them Tortsheiner/Ben Moore’s Enemies , A Love Story (Palm Beach Opera, world premiere), Lieutenant Horstmayer/Kevin Puts’s Silent Night (Wexford Opera Festival, European premiere), and Doctor/Nicholas Maw’s Sophie’s Choice (Washington National Opera, American premiere). His international presence extends from the New Israeli Opera (title role/ Wozzeck ) and Komische Oper Berlin (Tomsky/ Pique Dame ) to eater St. Gallen and Oper Frankfurt (both as Mandryka / Arabella ). Horst is a past winner of the Liederkranz Competition’s Wagner division, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and the Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging Classical Artists. WHITNEY MORRISON ( Confidante ) Previously at Lyric: First Cretan Woman/ Idomeneo (2018/19); Gerhilde/ Die Walküre , Countess Ceprano/ 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, Germany’s Neil Semer Vocal Institute, and the 2018 Georg Solti Accademia di Bel Canto. 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. Whitney Morrison is sponsored by J. omas Hurvis. EMILY POGORELC (Trainbearer) Previously at Lyric: Noémie/ Cendrillon (2018/19). In 2018 the soprano, a Milwaukee native and first- year Ryan Opera Center member, graduated from the 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 prestigious Mozart Academy at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Later this season she returns to the Madison Symphony Orchestra for Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 . Among other previous successes are Romilda/ Xerxes , Berenice/Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro , and Johanna/ Sweeney Todd (Glimmerglass Festival); Chan Parker/ Charlie Parker’s Yardbird (New York’s Apollo eater); and Musetta/ La bohème , Fire/ L’enfant et les sortilèges , and Lucia/ e Rape of Lucretia (all at Curtis). Pogorelc has also appeared at Carnegie Hall (Berio’s Sinfonia ) and with the Bel Canto Chorus of Milwaukee and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. She has received first prize in numerous competitions, including e Carolyn Bailey and Dominick Argento Vocal Competition, the Hal Leonard Art Song Competition, and the Classical Singer Magazine Competition. Emily Pogorelc is sponsored by Sally and Michael Feder, Ms. Gay K. Stanek, and Jennifer L. Stone. ERIC FERRING (Young Servant) Lyric debut e Iowa-born tenor, a first- year Ryan Opera Center member, is an alumnus of Drake University and Boston Conservatory. As a Resident Artist at Pittsburgh Opera (2016/17, 2017/18), he appeared as Spoletta/ Tosca , Basilio and Curzio/ e Marriage of Figaro , Ricky/ Jeremy Howard Beck's e Long Walk , Flask/ Jake Heggie's Moby Dick , Nemorino/ L’elisir d’amore , and e Protagonist/ Douglas J. Cuomo’s one-man opera Ashes and Snow (world premiere, based on Wilhelm Müller’s Winterreise poetry). Ferring was a 2017 apprentice singer at e Santa Fe Opera, where he received the Richard Tucker Memorial Award. He has also been seen at Opera eatre of Saint Louis, Wolf Trap Opera, and Seagle Music Colony. In 2017/18 he received a Sara Tucker Study Grant from e Richard Tucker Foundation, a Career Grant from e Sullivan Foundation, and ird Prize in the Gerda Lissner Foundation International Voice Competition. In 2015, Opera eatre of Saint Louis presented Ferring with a career award from the Richard Gaddes Fund for Young Artists. Eric Ferring is sponsored by Richard O. Ryan, Stepan Company, and Cynthia Vahlkamp and Robert Kenyon. KENNETH NICHOLS (Old Servant) Previously at Lyric: Chorus member since 2000; ten solo roles since 2002/03, most recently Old Gypsy / Il trovatore (2018/19, 2014/15); Undertaker/ Porgy and Bess , Fourth Servant/ Capriccio (both 2014/15). Among the American bass-baritone’s roles in Chicago have been the King and the Herald/ e Love for ree Oranges (Chicago Cultural Center) and Leporello/ Don Giovanni (DuPage Opera eatre). He was an ensemble member and sang many performances of the featured role of Joe in Harold Prince’s production of Show Boat (1993-98) in New York, Toronto, Chicago, and London. Since 1998 Nichols has made seven appearances with “Night of 1,000 Voices,” the annual charity concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall. His concert activities have also included “An Evening of Gershwin” earlier this year with Sarasota’s Artist Series. Nichols is an alumnus of the Crane School of Music/ State University of New York at Potsdam. DONALD RUNNICLES (Conductor) Lyric debut e Scottish conductor is general music director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, music director of the Grand Teton Music Festival, and principal guest conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He is also conductor emeritus of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, having served as chief conductor from 2009 to 2016. Highlights of his 2018/19 season include conducting the world premiere of Detlev Glanert’s opera Oceane at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and guest engagements at the Tonhalle Orchester, and the Cincinnati, Dallas, and Toronto symphony orchestras. Maestro Runnicles’s former posts include music director of San Francisco Opera (1992 to 2008), principal conductor of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s (2001 to 2007), and general music director of the eater Freiburg and Orchestra (1989 to 1993). His recording of Wagner arias with Jonas Kaufmann and the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin won the 2013 Gramophone Award for Best Vocal Recording, and his recording of Janáček’s Jenůfa with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin was nominated for a 2016 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. Born in Edinburgh, Runnicles was appointed OBE in 2004, and holds honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. (See “How ey Handle Elektra ,” pp. 30-32.) SIR DAVID McVICAR (Original Director) Previously at Lyric: Nine productions since 2001/02, most recently Il trovatore (2018/19, 2014/15, 2006/07); Wozzeck (2015/16); La clemenza di Tito (2013/14). e 2018/19 season includes 16 productions internationally by the renowned Scottish director, among them new productions of Les Troyens at the Vienna State Opera, Adriana Levouvreur at the Metropolitan Opera, and I masnadieri at La Scala. McVicar began his association with the Royal Opera House in 2001. His achievements there have encompassed ten productions, ranging stylistically from e Marriage of Figaro to Salome. e Met has produced his Donizetti “ ree Queens” trilogy,