Lyric Opera 2023-2024 Issue 9 - Rising Stars

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 8 LUTHER H. LEWIS III STAGE DIRECTOR Previously at Lyric: Aida, Jen ˚ufa, The Flying Dutchman (all 2023/24) ; Proximity, The Factotum, Le Comte Ory, and Fiddler on the Roof (all 2022/23) . The multidisciplinary artist is the inaugural Ryan Opera Center Stage Director, a new Ensemble position started in 2022/23. The Indiana native, who studied at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the University of Kentucky, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, has appeared in principal, supporting, and chorus roles in the U.S. and abroad with numerous companies, among them Lyric ( Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (2012/13), Porgy and Bess (2014/15)), and other productions at San Francisco Opera and Opéra de Montréal. In 2018, Lewis presented Illustrations: A Gallery Concert in collaboration with Chicago Opera Theater at the Goodman Theatre. He directed and designed scenic elements for Chicago Opera Theater’s Opera for All program and for After School Matters. Lewis recently served as the inaugural Crane Directing Fellow with Opera Columbus and as a directing fellow with Opera Saratoga. Luther H. Lewis III is sponsored by Lead Sponsor the Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation . ALEJANDRO LUÉVANOS TENOR Previously at Lyric: Messenger/ Aida , Notary/ The Daughter of the Regiment (both 2023/24) , Passenger 6/ Proximity, Lillas Pastia/ Carmen , A Royal Herald/ Don Carlos , and Riccardo/ Ernani (all 2022/23). The Mexican tenor is a second-year member of the Ryan Opera Center Ensemble. His appearances in Mexico include Don José/ Carmen (Toluca Philharmonic Orchestra); Borsa/ Rigoletto , Count Almaviva/ The Barber of Seville, and scenes from Il trovatore (Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México); and Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Petite Messe Solennelle , as well as an opera gala with Ramón Vargas (all at Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes). He has appeared as tenor soloist in Bach’s Cantata No. 4, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Brahms’s Liebeslieder Walzer , Schubert’s Winterreise , and Luis G. Jordà’s Cantata a la Independencia . Luévanos was previously a two-year member of the Opera Studio at the Bellas Artes, where he is scheduled to return to appear in Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk . He is a 2021 and 2022 winner of the Mexico District in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Alejandro Luévanos is sponsored by an Anonymous Lead Donor . SOPHIA MAEKAWA MEZZO-SOPRANO Previously at Lyric: Tisbe/ Cinderella and Herdswoman/ Jen ˚ufa (both 2023/24). The first-year mezzo-soprano with the Ryan Opera Center from Kyoto, Japan, was a 2022 Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist, understudying Rosina/ Il barbiere di Siviglia and Comrade Chin and Shu Fang/ M. Butterfly , and a 2021 Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, understudying Kadin/ On the Edge . She recently received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. While there, the mezzo performed in Ariodante (title role), Albert Herring , and L’enfant et les sortilèges . Other roles in her repertoire include Hermia/ A Midsummer Night’s Dream , Annio/ La clemenza di Tito , Mercédès/ Carmen , Second Woman/ Dido and Aeneas , and Mrs. Nolan/ The Medium . Concert appearances include the Wichita Symphony and Curtis Symphony Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Maekawa received the American Opera Society of Chicago Scholarship Award. She was a finalist at the 2022 Opera Grand Rapids Competition and semi-finalist in the 2021 Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition. Sophia Maekawa is sponsored by David and Janet Fox,Richard W.Shepro and Lindsay E.Roberts and Mark and Gale Kozloff . TESS NAVAL STAGE MANAGER Previously at Lyric: Aida, Champion, Jen ˚ufa, The Flying Dutchman (all 2023/24); Carmen, The Factotum, Don Carlos, Fiddler on the Roof (all 2022/23) . Naval is the Ryan Opera Center’s first Stage Manager, a new Ensemble position. A Chicago native previously based here as a freelance stage manager, she graduated from Boston University with a BFA in stage management. Some recent projects include work with Yale Opera for their Fall Opera Scenes programs (2018, 2019, 2021), including The Elixir of Love , Eugene Onegin , The Old Maid and the Thief , and Le Rossignol ; The Pirates of Penzance and Peter Pan with Music Theater Works; Gather with Filament Theatre; Yours Truly with Albany Park Theater Project; Cendrillon with North Park University; the Jason Bishop Show ; Boston University Opera Institute's productions of Così fan tutte and La tragédie de Carmen ; Mary Poppins with the Berkshire Theatre Group; and Our Class with the Boston Center for American Performance. Naval has interned at the Pentameters Theatre in London, the Ivoryton Playhouse in Connecticut, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and Berkshire Theatre Group. Tess Naval is sponsored by Amy & Paul Carbone and Roberta L. & Robert J.Washlow . LAUREANO QUANT BARITONE Previously at Lyric: Notary/ The Daughter of the Regiment and Foreman/ Jen ˚ufa, Lawrence Brownlee and Friends (all 2023/24) , Dancaïre/ Carmen and Count of Lerma/ Don Carlos (both 2022/23). A second-year member of the Ryan Opera Center Ensemble and a native of Barranquilla, Colombia, the baritone holds a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music and a Master of Musical Arts degree from Yale University. Highlights of his repertoire include Belcore/ The Elixir of Love , Guglielmo/ Così fan tutte , Figaro/Saverio Mercadante’s I due Figaro , Maguire/