Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 6 The Three Queens

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 21 KATHLEEN FELTY | HANNAH KENNEDY | MARIA STUARDA , SARAH | ROBERTO DEVEREUX Previously at Lyric: Laura/ Luisa Miller (2019|20). The mezzo-soprano, a first-year Ryan Opera Center member, returns to the Lyric stage later this season in Die Walküre . A Texas native, she is an alumna of Texas Tech University and the A. J. Fletcher Opera Institute at the North Carolina School of the Arts (Winston-Salem). Her Fletcher performances included the title role/ La Cenerentola , Geneviève/ Impressions de Pelléas , Dinah/ Trouble in Tahiti , the Composer/ Ariadne auf Naxos , Paula/ Florencia en el Amazonas , Miss Jessel/ The Turn of the Screw , Charlotte/ Werther , and Unulfo/ Rodelinda . Felty is a former apprentice artist of The Santa Fe Opera, where she received the Katharine Mayer Award. She made her North Carolina Opera concert debut as Clotilde/ Norma and her Dayton Opera debut as Maddalena/ Rigoletto . Felty is a four-time District winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Kathleen Felty is sponsored by Heidi Heutel Bohn , Lawrence O. Corry , and Robert C. Marks . ERIC FERRING | HERVEY | ANNA BOLENA , LORD CECIL | ROBERTO DEVEREUX Previously at Lyric: Five roles since 2018|19, most recently Older Brother /Dead Man Walking (2019|20); Lurcanio/ Ariodante (2018|19). The Iowa-born tenor, a second-year Ryan Opera Center member, is an alumnus of Drake University and Boston Conservatory. Ferring is a former Pittsburgh Opera resident artist and Santa Fe Opera apprentice artist. He made his role debut as Tamino/ The Magic Flute at the 2019 Verbier Festival and will reprise that role later this season at North Carolina Opera, New Orleans Opera, and The Santa Fe Opera. He has also been heard at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Wolf Trap Opera, and Seagle Music Colony. This past summer he participated in the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme at Snape-Maltings (England) and the Mozart Academy of the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Among Ferring’s honors have been a Sara Tucker Study Grant from The Richard Tucker Foundation and a Career Grant from The Sullivan Foundation. Eric Ferring is sponsored by Richard O. Ryan , Richard W. Shepro and Lindsay E. Roberts , and Cynthia Vahlkamp and Robert Kenyon . MARIO ROJAS | RICHARD PERCY | ANNA BOLENA , ROBERT, EARL OF LEICESTER | MARIA STUARDA Previously at Lyric: Four roles since 2017|18, most recently Alfredo Germont and Gastone de Letorières/ La traviata , Parpignol/ La bohème (all 2018|19). The Mexican tenor, a third-year Ryan Opera Center member, is an alumnus of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (Don José/ La tragédie de Carmen , Nemorino/ L’elisir d’amore ). He has portrayed Rodolfo/ La bohème at Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes. Among the honors Rojas has received are third place in the 2018 Dallas Opera Vocal Competition, winner of the 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Illinois District Auditions, 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 sopranos Patricia Racette and Nicole Cabell at the Harris Theater’s “Beyond the Aria” recital series. Mario Rojas is sponsored by the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation . CHRISTOPHER KENNEY | GEORGE TALBOT | MARIA STUARDA Previously at Lyric: Four roles since 2018|19, most recently Motorcycle Cop/ Dead Man Walking , Fiorello/ The Barber of Seville (both 2019|20). A Minnesota native and a second-year Ryan Opera Center member, the baritone returns to the Lyric stage later this season as the Registrar /Madama Butterfly . He made his Grant Park Music Festival debut last summer as Bob/Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief . Kenney is a former member of Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program ( The Barber of Seville , Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince , Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up – world premiere). He was also 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. The 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 , Sasha Gerritson and Eugene Jarvis , and Blythe J. McGarvie . RICARDO JOSÉ RIVERA | DUKE OF NOTTINGHAM | ROBERTO DEVEREUX Previously at Lyric: Baron Douphol/ La traviata, Schaunard /La bohème (both 2018|19). The Puerto Rican baritone, a second-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 Theater, including Don Pasqual e, 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. He has also participated in numerous summer programs, including VOICExperience in Savannah and the Aspen Music Festival. Ricardo José Rivera is sponsored by Mrs. Myung S. Chung Family , Dr. David H. Whitney and Dr. Juliana Chyu , and Drs. Joan and Russ Zajtchuk .