Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 9 La Traviata

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 February 16 - March 22, 2019 | 25 most prominent young-artist program), he has sung elsewhere in Mexico as Don Ottavio/ Don Giovanni and Julian/Tomás Brèton’s La verbena de la Paloma. Among the honors Rojas has received are third place in the 2018 Dallas Opera Vocal Competition, winner of the 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council District Auditions, second place in the East Bay Opera League Competition, and, in 2015, the Marta Eggerth Kiepura Award in the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Vocal Competition, third place in the Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition, and the Emerging Singers Award in the Opera Index Vocal Competition. He has been heard with soprano Nicole Cabell and pianist Craig Terry at the Harris eater’s "Beyond the Aria" recital series and Kentucky Opera’s Sidecar cabaret series. Mario Rojas is sponsored by the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation. CHRISTOPHER KENNEY (Marquis d’Obigny) Previously at Lyric: Master of Ceremonies/ Cendrillon (2018/19). A Minnesota native and a first-year Ryan Opera Center member, the bari- tone made his Grant Park Music Festival debut in 2018 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 win- ner 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. Christopher Kenney is sponsored by an Anonymous Donor. RICARDO JOSÉ RIVERA (Baron Douphol) Previously at Lyric: Schaunard/ La bohème (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 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 eater, including Don Pasquale, Gianni Schicchi, and Don Quixote/Ravel’s Master Peter’s Puppet Show (part of the 2016 Casals Festival). He recently earned his master’s degree at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where his appearances included Fiorello/ e Barber of Seville, Starveling /A Midsummer Night’s Dream , and Marco/ Gianni Schicchi. He has also participated in numerous sum- mer programs, including VOICExperience in Savannah and the Aspen Music Festival, where he has appeared as Claudio/ Beatrice 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 . DAVID WEIGEL (Doctor Grenvil) Previously at Lyric: First Minister/ Cendrillon, Voice of Neptune/ Idomeneo (both 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 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 (where he is completing his doctoral degree). A winner of the 2016Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Michigan District), he is 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. David Weigel is sponsored by Lois B. Siegel, Michael and Salme Harju Steinberg , and Mrs. J. W. Van Gorkom. ERIC FERRING (Giuseppe) Previously at Lyric: Young Servant/ Elektra (2018/19). e Iowa-born tenor, a first-year Ryan Opera Center member, is an alum- nus 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/ e Long Walk , Flask/ 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. Dancers JORDAN BEYELER Lyric debut e Chicago-based dancer has appeared as both a dancer and singer with Norwegian Cruise Lines; as a principal dancer with Cerqua Rivera Dance eatre and Deeply Rooted Dance eater; and as a featured dancer with Visceral Dance WITHIN and Inaside Chicago Dance CSE. Recently she made her musical theater debut as Kristine/ A Chorus Line at Metropolis Performing Arts Center. She graduated from Columbia College in Chicago with a B. F. A. in dance. ANDREW HARPER Lyric debut e dancer has appeared in three productions directed by Francesca Zambello at Washington National Opera: Candide, e Flying Dutchman, and Madama Butterfly. He danced in both Carousel (Charles Newell’s production, in which he played the Carnival Boy) and e Magic Flute (directed by Madeline Sayet) at the Glimmerglass Festival, and he was seen in Terrence Mann’s production of Oklahoma! featuring the celebrated Agnes de Mille choreography, at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, of which Harper is an alumnus. He has been an ensemble dancer with the Ashley Bouder Project and a soloist with numerous ensembles, among them Merce Cunningham Trust, Daniel Gwirtzman Dance, and the Exit 12 Dance Company. DEMETRIUS M C CLENDON Previously at Lyric: Les Troyens (2016/17); La clemenza di Tito , Parsifal (both 2013/14). Born and raised on the south side of Chicago, Demetrius McClendon began dancing street hip-hop at age 15. He began his formal training at Northern Illinois University under the tutelage of Randall Newsom and Judith Chitwood. Since graduating in 2011, he has danced professionally with DanceWorks Chicago, TU Dance, Owen/Cox Dance Group, and as a guest artist with Deeply Rooted Dance eater, Wylliams/Henny Contemporary Dance, Twin