Lyric Opera 2024-2025 Issue 5 - Blue

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 30 ZOIE REAMS THE MOTHER Previously at Lyric: Five roles since 2018/19, most recently Maddelena/ Rigoletto (2024/25) and Chief’s Daughter #2 and Sibyl/ Proximity (2022/23). Recent engagements for the American mezzo-soprano include Dinah/ Trouble in Tahiti and Autumn/ Service Provider at Minnesota Opera, Erika/ Vanessa at Spoleto Festival USA, and her debut at the Salzburg Festival as Doubtful Old Lady/Sergei Prokofiev’s The Gambler . She appeared at Lyric as Ragonde/ Le Comte Ory (2022/23) and Flora Bervoix/ La traviata (2018/19). Other recent highlights include Mandane/ Idaspe at Quantum Theatre, Beggar Woman/ Sweeney Todd at Austin Opera, Lily in the Metropolitan Opera’s Porgy and Bess , Jane in Cincinnati Opera’s Castor and Patience , the title role/ Carmen (Opéra Louisiane, Minnesota Opera), Margret/ Wozzeck (Des Moines Metro Opera), and Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 : Jeremiah (Staatstheater Cottbus Philharmonic Orchestra). She has also been heard as Maddalena/ Rigoletto (Wolf Trap Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Theater Basel), in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (National Symphony Orchestra), and in Handel’s Messiah (Las Vegas Philharmonic, Washington National Cathedral). An alumna of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Reams appeared in HGO productions of La traviata , Elektra , West Side Story , Nixon in China , and in world premieres of Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life and Laura Kaminsky’s Some Light Emerges . Other notable appearances include the leading role of Clarice/ La pietra del paragone (Wolf Trap Opera), Tituba/Robert Ward’s The Crucible (The Glimmerglass Festival), the Sandman/ Hansel and Gretel (Opéra Louisiane), and on the concert stage, Bruckner’s Te Deum (Houston Symphony Orchestra). KENNETH KELLOGG THE FATHER Lyric debut Recent highlights for the American bass include his recent Wagner debut as Fafner in Seattle Opera’s new Das Rheingold, a role he also sang at Calgary Opera. Returning to Seattle, he made his debut in the title role X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X . Other recent appearances include Il Re/ Aida in concert at Detroit Opera, Colline/ La Bohème with Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, Falstaff/ The Merry Wives of Windsor at Pocket Opera, and Logger/ Bulrusher at West Edge Opera. Highlights this season include Ramfis/ Aida at Daytona Opera, Kourouscha in Dede’s rarely heard Morgiane with Louisiana Philhamonic and Opera Lafayette, and a return to Washington National Opera in a role debut as Crown/ Porgy and Bess. Future appearances include Daland/ Der fliegende Holländer and Wotan/ Die Walküre (Act III) in concert. Kellogg sang The Father in Blue in its world premiere at The Glimmerglass Festival, then at Detroit Opera, Toledo Opera, Seattle Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Washington National Opera, Dutch National Opera, and English National Opera. In recent seasons, he appeared as Commendatore/ Don Giovanni at Seattle Opera, and made role debuts with Basilio/ Il barbiere di Siviglia at San Francisco Opera, Rocco/ Fidelio at North Carolina Opera, Raimondo/ Lucia di Lammermoor, and Ferrando/ Il Trovatore at Madison Opera. TRAVON D.WALKER THE SON Previously at Lyric: First Prisoner/ Fidelio and Borsa/ Rigoletto (both 2024/25). The second-year Ryan Opera Center tenor recently received his master’s degree from Rice University, where he sang Sam Kaplan/ Street Scene . In Lyric’s 2024/25 Season, he will also appear as Parpignol/ La Bohème . A native of Hinesville, Georgia, Walker completed his undergraduate studies at the Eastman School of Music. While there, he made his operatic debut in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Tibetan Book of the Dead . Walker has been a Studio Artist at Wolf Trap Opera and was invited to participate in Renée Fleming’s 2023 SongStudio and Joyce DiDonato’s 2023 Masterclass Series, both at Carnegie Hall, as well as the 2023 Britten Pears Young Artist Programme. Other engagements include the Erie Philharmonic and Houston Grand Opera (Jeremy Howard Beck’s Another City , world premiere). Walker received an Encouragement Award from the Kansas City District in the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the 2024 Best Vocal Artist Award from the American Opera Society, and the 2024 Luminarts Cultural Foundation Men’s Voice Fellowship. The 2024/25 Season also includes debuts with Opera Philadelphia in The Anonymous Lover and the North Carolina Symphony. Travon D. Walker’s performance as The Son is generously sponsored by Gene & Jean Stark. Travon D. Walker is sponsored by the Robert & Isabelle Bass Foundation,Inc. and the Ford and Mages families. NORMAN GARRETT THE REVEREND Previously at Lyric: Four roles since 2014/15, most recently Bilal/ Proximity and Garby/ The Factotum (both 2022/23). In the 2024/25 Season, the American baritone will return to Washington National Opera as Crown in Porgy and Bess , make a role debut as Macbeth with the Opera Orlando, and sing Abdul in Omar in concert with Quad City Symphony. Additional concert appearances include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Artist profiles