Lyric Opera 2021-2022 Rising Stars

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 9 Conservatorio L. Boccherini in Lucca, Italy, her hometown. Maria Novella Malfatti is sponsored by two Anonymous Donors and Patricia A. Kenney & Gregory J. O’Leary. ANTHONY REED | BASS 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. He will appear at Lyric as Sciarrone/ Tosca (2021/22). Anthony Reed is sponsored by J. Thomas Hurvis. CHRIS REYNOLDS | PIANIST Previously at Lyric: Sunday in the Park with Lyric's Rising Stars; music staff for The Magic Flute and Macbeth (2021/22). Currently a doctoral candidate at The Juilliard School, second-year Ryan Opera Center pianist Chris Reynolds recently performed at Lincoln Center Theater for Ricky Ian Gordon and Lynn Nottage’s chamber opera Intimate Apparel . Other performance venues include Bayreuth, Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, WQXR, the Kyoto Summer Music Festival, and National Sawdust. A two-time winner of the Juilliard Vocal Arts Honors Recital Auditions, Reynolds has been a fellow at SongFest and Aspen, as well as a Schwab Rising Star at Caramoor as part of the New York Festival of Song Emerging Artist Series. He has worked at the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center Theater as an opera coach/répétiteur and has served on the faculties of the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie, William Paterson University, and the Mostly Modern Festival. Reynolds holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School. Chris Reynolds is sponsored by Nancy Dehmlow,Loretta N.Julian, and Philip G.Lumpkin. DENIS VÉLEZ | SOPRANO Previously at Lyric: Papagena/ The Magic Flute , Giannetta/ The Elixir of Love , Third Apparition/ Macbeth , Sunday in the Park with Lyric's Rising Stars (2021/22). Second-year Ryan Opera Center soprano Denis Vélez, from Puebla, Mexico, was a national winner of the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition in 2020. In the National Singing Contest Carlo Morelli, her performance earned her the First Prize, the French Opera Award, and the Francisco Araiza Special Award. Vélez’s repertoire includes the Countess and Susanna/ The Marriage of Figaro , Bastienne/ Bastien und Bastienne , Fiordiligi/ Così fan tutte , Adina/ The Elixir of Love , and Mimì/ La bohème . Prior to her arrival in Chicago, she was a member of the National Opera Chorus at Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes, and she holds a bachelor’s degree in operatic singing from Mexico’s Superior School of Music. Last spring Vélez sang in the Harris Theater’s Beyond the Aria series alongside Joyce DiDonato. Denis Vélez is sponsored by The C. G. Pinnell Family. HOLLY H. GILSON Senior Director, Communications DAVID ZIVAN Program Book Editor CATHY KIEPURA Program Book Design JESSICA M. PEDROZA, PMP Project Manager Administrative Offices 20 North Wacker Drive Suite 860 Chicago, Illinois 60606 lyricopera.org SAMETZ BLACKSTONE ASSOCIATES Visual Direction PMGMA, Inc. 340 Anthony Trail, Northbrook, IL 60062 pmgma.com Gail McGrath, Publisher & President Sheldon Levin, Finance Rand Brichta, Arnie Hoffman, Michael Hedge, Account Managers You can view this program on your mobile device at www.pmgma.com For advertising information call 847-770-4621. To see our Terms and Conditions relating to advertising orders, visit our website at pmgma.com . All contents copyrighted. All rights reserved. Nothing may be reproduced in any manner without written permission. © 2022 PMGMA, Inc. is a Woman Owned Business.