Lyric Opera 2023-2024 Issue 9 - Rising Stars

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 6 STEFANO SARZANI CONDUCTOR The Italian-born conductor has been part of the music staff at Lyric since 2018. Cover conductor for several productions, he has also recently conducted La bohème (2018/19), The Barber of Seville (2019/20), and the family show The Magic Victrola (2021/22). Recent engagements include concerts with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Symphony NH, Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana (Italy), and La bohème at Opera Idaho. He has collaborated with Central City Opera ( Madama Butterfly , Billy Budd ), Detroit Opera ( Hänsel und Gretel ), Opera Maine ( Le nozze di Figaro ), and other symphonic and operatic institutions such as Boise Philharmonic Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra (Colorado), Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo (Italy), Den Jyske Opera (Denmark), Opéra national de Lorraine (France), Atlanta Opera, and Sarasota Opera. PATRICIA RACETTE DIRECTOR Previously at Lyric: Eight roles since 2000/01, most recently Sister Helen Prejean/ Dead Man Walking (2019/20), title role/ Madama Butterfly (2013/14, 2008/09). Directorial debut. The accomplished soprano is currently the Artistic Director of the Gerdine Young Artist and Richard Gaddes Festival Artist programs at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where she made her directorial debut with a new production of La traviata in 2018. She has subsequently directed productions there of Susannah and Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine , in which she sang the lead role. This season she directs Roméo et Juliette at Arizona Opera. Much sought after for master classes and workshops, in 2017, Racette presented the pilot program of her intensive seminar, Integrative Artistry, at the San Francisco Conservatory, and has since presented it at The Juilliard School and the Washington National Opera. She has received an Opera News Award, the Richard Tucker Award, and the Marian Anderson Award, as well as the 2017 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for her performance in Los Angeles Opera’s production of The Ghosts of Versailles . LUCY BAKER MEZZO-SOPRANO Previously at Lyric: Karolka/ Jen ˚ufa (2023/24). A first-year mezzo-soprano with the Ryan Opera Center fromWilmington, North Carolina, Baker has performed the title role/ Ariodante , Dorabella/ Così fan tutte , and the Hostess/Blitzstein’s Triple-Sec with Curtis Opera Theatre. Previous roles include Cherubino/ Le nozze di Figaro and Hansel/ Hansel and Gretel with DePaul Opera Theatre and Justice Ginsburg (cover) in Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg with Chautauqua Opera Company. In concert, Baker has appeared with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and Chautauqua Symphony. She received the Edith Newfield Award from the Musicians Club of Women and first prize in her category from the Chicago Chapter of the NATS Competition. A 2022 fellow at Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Baker holds a Bachelor of Music from DePaul University and a Master of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music. Lucy Baker is sponsored by Pamela Crutchfield,Ms.Gay K.Stanek and Blythe McGarvie . MICHAEL BANWARTH PIANIST Previously at Lyric: Music staff for Champion (2023/24). The first-year pianist, from Dubuque, Iowa, recently completed a Master of Music in collaborative piano at the New England Conservatory of Music. A recipient of the Dean’s Scholarship and Gunther Schuller medal at NEC, Banwarth served there as teaching assistant for the Song Lab program, performed frequently in the Liederabend and Sonata Night concert series, and prepared productions of The Turn of the Screw and L’enfant et les sortilèges . In summer 2022, he was a vocal piano fellow at Music Academy of the West. He has also held fellowships at the Bay View Music Festival and the Atlantic Music Festival and served as assistant music director and harpsichordist for the Iowa State Opera Studio during his undergraduate studies. Michael Banwarth is sponsored by Nancy Dehmlow, Lawrence O. Corry, Philip G. Lumpkin and Lori Julian for the Julian Family Foundation . RYAN CAPOZZO TENOR Previously at Lyric: Steersman/ The Flying Dutchman (2023/24) and Remendado/ Carmen (2022/23). The tenor, a second-year member of the Ryan Opera Center, received a Master of Musical Arts degree from the Yale School of Music, where he was awarded the Phyllis Curtin Career Entry Prize and was heard with Yale Opera as Arcadio/ Florencia en el Amazonas and Tamino/ The Magic Flute (partial role, Spring Opera Artist profiles