Lyric Opera 2023-2024 Issue 9 - Rising Stars

7 | Lyric Opera of Chicago Showcase). Previously, Capozzo earned Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Purchase College Conservatory of Music. At Purchase Opera, he was featured as Rinuccio/ Gianni Schicchi (guest artist), Reverend Samuel Parris/Robert Ward’s The Crucible , Don Ottavio/ Don Giovanni , Nero/ L’incoronazione di Poppea , and Lysander/ A Midsummer Night’s Dream . Capozzo’s portrayal of Mozart’s Tamino has been heard at the Berlin Opera Academy. The Huntington, New York native is a two-time Second Place Regional winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and was invited to participate in the 2023 Georg Solti Accademia. Ryan Capozzo is sponsored by the H. Earl and Miriam U. Hoover Foundation . RON DUKES BASS Previously at Lyric: Corporal/ The Daughter of the Regiment (2023/24), Chief’s Son #1 and Passenger 8/ Proximity, Sam/ The Factotum , and Jago/ Ernani (all 2022/23). Last season, the second-year Ryan Opera Center member was featured at Pittsburgh Opera in We Shall Not Be Moved . He completed his master’s degree in opera at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. While there, he served as Associate Instructor of Voice and performed numerous featured roles with IU Opera Theatre, among them Bartolo/ The Marriage of Figaro , Don Basilio/ The Barber of Seville , and Simone/ Gianni Schicchi . He has extensive experience with local, start-up opera companies in Bloomington, Indiana, including Bloomington Chamber Opera, where he portrayed Sarastro/ The Magic Flute , and A Little Knight Music Opera Company, where he was heard as Oroveso/ Norma . Originally from Indianapolis, Dukes is a former Studio Artist at Wolf Trap Opera (Truffaldino/ Ariadne auf Naxos ) and the Glimmerglass Festival (Old Gypsy/ Il trovatore and other roles). He recently concluded a residency with Pensacola Opera, singing Basilio/ The Barber of Seville and Sarastro. Ron Dukes is sponsored by Lead Sponsor Lois B.Siegel ° and cosponsors Nasrin & Mark Thierer . KATHRYN HENRY SOPRANO Previously at Lyric: Priestess/ Aida, Jana and Jen ˚ufa/ Jen ˚ufa (all 2023/24), and Passenger 1/ Proximity (2022/23). In the summer of 2021, the soprano portrayed Lucy Harker/ John Corigliano’s The Lord of Cries (world premiere) at the Santa Fe Opera; she appears on the work's Grammy nominated recording. A former Baumgartner Studio Artist at Milwaukee’s Florentine Opera, she appeared there as Barbarina/ The Marriage of Figaro , Micaëla/ La tragédie de Carme n, and the title role/ Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon . As a Toulmin Foundation Scholar at New York’s Juilliard School of Music, Henry portrayed Arminda/ La finta giardiniera . A native of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the soprano has appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and Civic Orchestra of Chicago. She participated in Carnegie Hall’s 2022 SongStudio with Renée Fleming and Ravinia’s 2020 Steans Music Institute. Henry was a finalist in the 2015 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and the 2018 Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition, among others. For the 2023 Aspen Music Festival, she starred as Roxane Coss/ Bel Canto . Kathryn Henry is sponsored by Lead Sponsor The C.G.Pinnell Family and cosponsors Patricia A.Kenney and Gregory J.O’Leary . CHRISTOPHER HUMBERT, JR. BASS-BARITONE Previously at Lyric: Lawrence Brownlee and Friends (2023/24). Originally from Akron, Ohio, the first-year bass-baritone has performed widely throughout his home state, including appearances with Opera Columbus, Mid-Ohio Opera, and Nightingale Opera Theatre. Other engagements include Boston Lyric Opera, Detroit Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, the Seagle Festival, Utah Festival Opera, and Annapolis Opera. Humbert is a former participant in the young- artist programs at Palm Beach Opera ( L’elisir d’amore , Carmen , La bohème , Die Zauberflöte ) and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Concert appearances include Carnegie Hall (debut, baritone soloist in Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacem ) and the Erie Philharmonic. Humbert received the American Opera Society of Chicago Scholarship Award. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio and a Master of Music degree from Boston Conservatory. Christopher Humbert, Jr. is sponsored by Lead Sponsor Patricia Frank and cosponsors the Bill & Orli Staley Foundation . DONALD LEE III CONDUCTOR/PIANIST Previously at Lyric: Music staff for Champion (2023/24), The Factotum (2022/23); conducted selections for The Magic Victrola (2021/22). The Virginia native is the inaugural Ryan Opera Center conductor/ pianist, a new Ensemble position in 2021/22. While with Lyric, he has conducted selections for Sunday in the Park with Lyric the past three summers. Recent engagements as a conductor and pianist include Cincinnati Opera for The Highlands with their Opera Fusion: New Works series, Seattle Opera for X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X , Des Moines Metro Opera for Porgy and Bess and Carmen , and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for their New Works Festival and other projects. Lee recently programmed and performed in digital recitals titled Where Honor is Due with Salon 21 in Cincinnati and Adaptations with Piano by Nature, highlighting music of Black composers alongside canonical works. An alumnus of James Madison University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Lee has served as assistant professor of piano at Kentucky State University. Donald Lee III is sponsored by Lead Sponsors Michael Steinberg and Dr. Salme Harju Steinberg and cosponsors Dr. David H.Whitney and Dr. Juliana Y. Chyu and Drs. Joan and Russ Zajtchuk . °Deceased