Lyric Opera 2021-2022 Issue 6 Tosca 2

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 24 ALAN HIGGS | SACRISTAN Previously at Lyric: Four roles since 2017/18, most recently The King/ Cendrillon , Second Trojan Man/ Idomeneo (both 2018/19). The bass-baritone, a Florida native and Ryan Opera Center alumnus, opened the Harris Theater’s “Beyond the Aria” series in 2018. Higgs graduated from Florida State University before becoming a studio artist at Atlanta Opera. His roles there included the Imperial Commissioner/ Madama Butterfly (professional debut), Antonio/ The Marriage of Figaro , Benoît and Alcindoro/ La bohème , the British Major/Kevin Puts’s Silent Night , and the Mandarin/ Turandot . Higgs appeared in a Santa Fe Opera summer production as José Castro/ La fanciulla del West . He has 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. RIVERS HAWKINS | ANGELOTTI Previously at Lyric: Doctor/ Macbeth , and Sunday in the Park with Lyric’s Rising Stars (2021/22). First-year Ryan Opera Center bass Rivers Hawkins is a native of Columbia, South Carolina. He is an alumnus of Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music (Master of Music and Performer Diploma), where he performed the title role/ Giulio Cesare , Leporello/ Don Giovanni , and the Captain/ Florencia en el Amazonas . He was a finalist in The Kurt Weill Foundation’s 2020 Lotte Lenya Competition, where he won a Trustees Award and was featured in the Foundation’s documentary Down to Twelve . Hawkins is a recipient of The Georgina Joshi Foundation’s International Fellowship, and in 2018 held a Resident Young Artist position with Hawaii Opera Theatre, performing as Zaretsky and the Captain/ Eugene Onegin , the Corporal/ La fille du régimen t, and Beau/ Service Provider . Hawkins is also a former member of Central City Opera’s Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program. Rivers Hawkins is sponsored by the H. Earl and Miriam U. Hoover Endowment Fund. ANTHONY REED | SCIARRONE Previously at Lyric: Six roles since 2019/20, most recently Second Armored Man/ The Magic Flute and Assassin and First Apparition/ Macbeth (2021/22). Bass Anthony Reed is a third-year member of the Ryan Opera Center and an alumnus of the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. A former Adler Fellow and participant in the Merola Opera Program with San Francisco Opera, his highlights on stage there include King of Egypt/ Aida , Speaker/ Die Zauberflöte , and Dottore Grenvil/ La traviata . Reed recently sang Frère Laurent/ Roméo et Juliette with Wolf Trap Opera, Don Basilio/ Il barbiere di Siviglia with Annapolis Opera, and Haydn’s Creation with North Carolina Master Chorale. His repertory also encompasses Sarastro/ Die Zauberflöte and Don Magnifico/ La Cenerentola , among others. He has performed with Grammy Award-winning symphony orchestras and some of the world’s most esteemed conductors, including Nicola Luisotti and Donald Runnicles. Anthony Reed is sponsored by J.Thomas Hurvis. LEROY DAVIS | JAILER Previously at Lyric: Sunday in the Park with Lyric’s Rising Stars (2021/22). Baritone Leroy Davis is a second-year member of the Ryan Opera Center. Recent company debuts include Lincoln Center Theater as George Armstrong in the world premiere of Intimate Apparel ; Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Pastor, Lay-about Man, James, Kaboom/ Fire Shut Up in My Bones (world premiere); the Phoenicia Festival as Belcore/ The Elixir of Love ; Boston Opera Collaborative as Leporello/ Don Giovanni ; and Odyssey Opera as Ernesto Malcolm/ Maria, Regina d’Inghilterra . At Lyric, he will appear as Pastor and Kaboom/ Fire Shut Up in My Bones (2021/22). Davis was also seen as the Forester/ The Cunning Little Vixen , Hannah Before/ As One , Joe St. George/ Dolores Claiborne , and Pablo Picasso/ After Life at Boston University’s Opera Institute. Other credits include Maximilian/ Candide as an Apprentice Artist with Chautauqua Opera; Aeneas and Adonis/ Dido and Aeneas , Papageno/ The Magic Flute , Fiorello/ The Barber of Seville , and Maitre D’ and Farley/ Sister Carrie (world premiere and recording) as a Studio Artist at Florentine Opera; the Mandarin and Ping/ Turandot with Shreveport Opera; and bass soloist for Bruckner’s Te Deum with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Leroy Davis is sponsored by the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation. LIAM BRANDFONBRENER | SHEPHERD Lyric debut The 11-year-old performer made his professional debut at The Santa Fe Opera in 2019, as the 11th prince in the World Première of Poul Ruder’s The Thirteenth Child and in the children’s chorus for La bohème . He has been a member of the Chicago Children’s Choir for three years, studies piano and voice, and is active in baseball, basketball, and soccer. Currently in 5th grade, he lives in Chicago with his parents, who are both members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra. CHICAGO CHILDREN’S CHOIR Previously at Lyric: 14 productions since 2000/01, most recently The Queen of Spades , Dead Man Walking (both 2019/20). Chicago Children’s Choir (Josephine Lee, president and artistic director) is the nation’s preeminent youth choral organization, serving 5,200 students across the city of