Lyric Opera 2023-2024 Issue 6 - Champion

31 | Lyric Opera of Chicago Clark earned a master’s degree in opera from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he performed as First Sailor/ Dido and Aeneas , Tobias Ragg/ Sweeney Todd , and Don Ottavio/ Don Giovanni . Clark holds a Bachelors of Music degree and Graduate Artist Certificate from the University of North Texas. PAUL GROVES HOWIE ALBERT Previously at Lyric: Five roles since 1997, most recently Parsifal/ Parsifal (2013/14) and Faust/ La damnation de Faust (2009/10). Recent highlights for the American tenor include Dame Ethel Smyth’s The Wreckers (Houston Grand Opera) and the role of Howie Albert in Terence Blanchard’s Champion (Metropolitan Opera), where he also recently sang Chekalinsky in The Queen of Spades and Tamino in The Magic Flute , among numerous other roles over nearly 30 seasons. Concert highlights include La damnation de Faust with the Shanghai and Beijing symphonies, Stravinsky’s Perséphone with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Bruckner’s Te Deum with Krzysztof Urbanski and the Indianapolis Symphony, and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Donald Runnicles and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Additional highlights of recent seasons include a rare role debut singing Alessandro Cesare in Cavalli’s Eliogabalo with the Opéra national de Paris, appearances as Admète in Gluck’s Alceste with Madrid’s Teatro Real, Nicias in Massenet’s Thais with LA Opera, and Pylade in Iphigénie en Aulide with Theater an der Wien. He has also performed with Dallas Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Opéra de Lyon, Rochester Philharmonic, the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, and Prague Philharmonia, among numerous others. LEROY DAVIS BENNY “KID” PARET/ BENNY PARET, JR. Previously at Lyric: Jailer/ Tosca and Pastor, Kaboom and Chester/ Fire Shut Up in My Bones (all 2021/22). In 2023, the Ryan Opera Center alumnus returned to Florentine Opera for his first Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia , sang the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance with Nashville Opera, starred in the Canadian premiere of Laura Kaminsky’s February with Opera on the Avalon. This season he will make his debut at the Spoleto Festival in the world premiere of Ruinous Gods as Blue Dove and Doctor Undertow. Recent highlights include a role and company debut with Opera on the Avalon as Charlie in Three Decembers , Marcello in La bohème with Kentucky Opera, and Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly with Atlanta Opera. Davis made his Lincoln Center debut in the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Bartlett Sher’s Intimate Apparel , and sang in a concert with New York Festival of Song and in the world premiere of Completing the Picture by Michael Ching with Opera Company of Middlebury. He has appeared as Leporello in Don Giovanni with Boston Opera Collaborative, Forrester in Cunning Little Vixen , and Joe St. George in Dolores Claiborne . As a Gerdine Young Artist at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, he appeared in Rigoletto and Fire Shut Up in My Bones . He debuted at the Phoenicia Festival as Belcore in L’elisir d’amore and at Odyssey Opera as Ernesto Malcom in Maria, Regina d’Inghilterra . In 2018, Leroy was a resident studio artist with Florentine Opera where he sang Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas , Adonis in Venus and Adonis , and Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia . MEREDITH ARWADY KATHY HAGEN Previously at Lyric: Mistress Quickly/ Falstaff and Pasqualita/ Doctor Atomic (both 2007/08). Arwady began this season with a debut at the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as Lucia in concert performances of Cavalleria rusticana . Other season highlights for the Ryan Opera Center alumna include her debut with the Adelaide Festival in Australia as Death/ The Nightingale and Other Fables and a return to Madison Opera as Old Lady/ Candide . Last season, she returned to the Metropolitan Opera for Kathy Hagen/ Champion , a role she created at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and has subsequently performed with Detroit Opera andWashington National Opera. She recently debuted with the Glimmerglass Festival as Old Lady/ Candide and Gertrude/ Roméo et Juliette . Other recent highlights include First Maid/ Elektra withWashington National Opera, Ruth/ The Pirates of Penzance with Utah Opera, Martha/ Sky on Swings with Opera Saratoga, Third Lady/ The Magic Flute withWashington National Opera, and Filipievna/ Eugene Onegin with Seattle Opera, Atlanta Opera, and Dallas Opera. She appeared in Menotti’s The Medium in a new production at Oper Frankfurt in 2019, and has recently been seen at the Santa Fe Opera as Amelfa in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Le coq d’or and Pasqualita in a new Peter Sellars production of Doctor Atomic . She is a 2012 Grammy award winner for Best Opera Recording ( Doctor Atomic ). MEROE KHALIA ADEEB SADIE DONASTORG GRIFFITH Previously at Lyric: Chief’s Daughter #1 and Very Loud Girl/ Proximity (2022/23). Recent highlights include Violetta/ La traviata and Mimì/ La bohème at Tri-Cities Opera, Clara/ Porgy and Bess under the direction of Francesca Zambello at the Glimmerglass Festival, and Governess/ Turn of the Screw at Union Avenue Opera. Adeeb has sung the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica at Tri- Cities Opera, Joy in the world premiere of Everything for Dawn with Experiments in Opera, Annie in the world premiere of The Flood at Opera Columbus, Frasquita in Carmen with Annapolis Opera, Clara in Porgy and Bess with both Fort Worth Opera and Teatro Regio di Torino, and Galatea in Acis and Galatea in a virtual co-production with Annapolis Opera and Tri-Cities Opera. Other notable performances include Nannetta in Falstaff , Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni , Gilda in Rigoletto , and Bard 2 in Ben Moore’s opera Odyssey . Adeeb won third place in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and second place in the Deborah Voigt/Vero Beach Opera Foundation Inaugural International Vocal Competition. She studied at Louisiana State University and received a master’s degree at SUNY Binghamton.