Ravinia 2022, Issue 4

MATTHIAS BAUS (IFTINCA) BRENT MICHAEL SMITH, bass Currently an ensemble member of Zurich Opera through 2024, American bass Brent Michael Smith was recently a national semi- finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and a major prizewinner of the Concorso Lirico, Zachary Loren, Opera Index, and Op- era Birmingham competitions. In Zurich this season, he debuted as Sparafucile in Verdi’s Rigoletto and also portrayed Lorenzo in Bell- ini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi , Pietro in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra , Count Lamoral in Strauss’s Arabella , and Pistola in Verdi’s Falstaff . As a member of the company’s Opera Studio last year, he also sang as a Jesuit in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godonov . Smith was a resident artist of the Academy of Vocal Arts from 2017 to 2020, during which he made his role debut as the title character of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro ; also sang Balthazar in Donizetti’s La favorite , Brother Laurent in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette , Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Così fan tutte , Truffaldino in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos , and Fafner in Wagner’s Das Rhein- gold ; and debuted with Opera Philadelphia as Peter Quince in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Tchélio in Prokofiev’s The Love For Three Oranges . While an apprentice artist with Santa Fe Opera in 2018–19, he de- buted with the company as Lakey in Ariadne , having recently made debuts with Arizona Opera (as The God of Evil and Procrustes in Morganelli’s Hercules vs. Vampires ) and the Glimmerglass Festival (as Ariodate in Han- del’s Serse and rhe Commentator in Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg ). Smith was also previously an apprentice with Detroit Opera (2015–17) and Des Moines Metro Opera (2015–16), with whom he essayed such roles as Zuniga in Bi- zet’s Carmen , the British Major in Puts’s Pu- litzer Prize–winning Silent Night , Friedrich Bhaer in Adamo’s Little Women , Ashby and Billy Jackrabbit in Puccini’s La fanciulla del West , Marquis de Brisaille in DiChiera’s Cyra- no , Colline in Puccini’s La bohème , Second SS Officer in Weinberg’s The Passenger , Grand- pa Moss in Copland’s The Tender Land , and the Doctor in Verdi’s Macbeth . Brent Michael Smith is making his Ravinia and Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuts. VLAD IFTINCA, harpsichord, assistant conductor, coach Romanian-born pianist and conductor Vlad Iftinca is music director of the International Opera Studio, having cultivated a deep con- nection to the arts beginning with studies at the Reina Sofia School of Music and Royal Conservatory in Madrid, as well as Southern Methodist University, the Mannes School of Music, and The Juilliard School. Between 2007 and 2014, he served as staff coach of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera, where he was part of the main-stage productions musical team until 2019. Iftinca is currently on the music staff of the Staatsoper Stuttgart, where he has recently conducted perfor- mances of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and La Cenerentola , Mozart’s The Magic Flute , and Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti . He has recently served on the music staffs at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Los Angeles Opera, Dallas Opera, and Cantofest in Portugal, and his conducting credits also include Bucharest National Op- era, Opera San Antonio, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Oper Frankfurt, and Tri-Cities Opera. In recital, Iftinca has collaborated with such distinguished artists as Regina Resnik, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Deborah Voigt, Thomas Hampson, Hei-Kyung Hong, Luca Pisaroni, Matthew Rose, Lisette Oropesa, Erin Morley, Isabel Leonard, and Elza van den Heever. He was featured on the Met Stars Live in Con- cert series from the Royal Opera of Versailles, and has also appeared at such venues as Zu- rich Opera, Max-Joseph-Saal in Munich, Pa- lau des Arts in Valencia, Soirées Musicales d’Arles, Beijing Music Festival, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Los Angeles Opera, Seoul Performing Arts Cen- ter, and Hong Kong Arts Festival. Iftinca can be heard alongside Oropesa on her first solo recording, Within/Without , and his future en- gagements include a Songs of America recital with Hampson at the Turku Music Festival in Finland. Vlad Iftinca was a collaborating pianist for the Ravinia Steans Music Institute Program for Singers in 2006 and 2007 and re- turned in concert alongside Pisaroni in 2009. With these performances he is making his Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut. GARNETT BRUCE, stage director Garnett Bruce’s body of work includes direct- ing at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Fran- cisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Wash- ington National Opera, and Dallas Opera, and his European opera debut staging Puc- cini’s Turandot for the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, among many other collaborations in opera. From 2008 to 2011 he was the artistic advisor and principal stage director for Opera Omaha, where he led a cycle of the three Mo- zart–Da Ponte operas. He began directing for the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University in 2004, receiving a faculty ap- pointment in 2006. He was on staff at the As- pen Music Festival and School from 1993 and joined the faculty from 1997 until 2019, when he became artistic advisor to Opera San An- tonio. Earlier this year he joined the faculty of University of Texas–Austin’s Butler School of Music as stage director and Lecturer in Opera Studies. Born in Washington, DC, Bruce was a choirboy at Washington National Cathedral and holds degrees in English and drama from Tufts University. After internships with Hal Prince and Leonard Bernstein in the early 1990s, he joined the staffs of Santa Fe Opera, Washington National Opera, Dallas Opera, and Opera Colorado. His award-winning production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola for Kansas City has traveled to Austin, Orlando, and Madison. Known especially for his large- scale work of the standard repertoire, he has created stagings of Puccini’s Turandot , Bizet’s Carmen , Puccini’s Tosca , Verdi’s Aida , Leon- cavallo’s Pagliacci , and Puccini’s La bohème that have been seen coast to coast. Garnett Bruce is making his Ravinia and Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuts. APOLLO CHORUS OF CHICAGO The Apollo Chorus of Chicago is the area’s premier volunteer chorus, featuring over 120 auditioned members comprising men and women of all ages, races, creeds, and occupa- tions brought together by their abiding love of music. The voices of college students blend seamlessly with the voices of retirees who have belonged to Apollo for over 50 years. Apollo performs the masterworks of choral repertory in concert halls and cathedrals all around the Chicago area. Recently the chorus has performed Mendelssohn’s Elijah , Bach’s B-minor Mass, Orff ’s Carmina Burana , and Mozart’s Requiem, but Apollo is perhaps best known for its presentations of Handel’s Messiah that have become a beloved holiday tradition for Chicago families. The chorus began its annual performances of Messiah in 1879, seven years after its founding; un- der the direction of Stephen Alltop since 1997, it began singing the complete work in 2000 and recorded it on the Clarion label in 2006. Apollo also embraces new masterpiec- es, featuring contemporary composers Eric Whitacre, Eleanor Daley, and Stephen Pau- lus on its programs that regularly span from spirituals to sambas, and from the Baroque to the blues. In addition to its own season, Apol- lo has frequently been invited to perform on music festivals and concert series with ma- jor orchestras and other ensembles around the Midwest, including the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Peninsula Music Festival in Door Coun- ty. Apollo has been featured in Star Wars In Concert and several operas and choral sym- phonies, performed with Jackie Evancho and Josh Groban, and appeared on Oprah’s two-part finale of The Oprah Show , “Oprah’s Farewell Spectacular.” The Apollo Chorus of Chicago first sang at Ravinia in 2002 and is returning for its ninth season at the festival. STEPHEN ALLTOP, music director The music director of the Apollo Chorus of Chicago for 25 years, Stephen Alltop has built a career based on excellence in several disci- plines, conducting both orchestral and choral ensembles and performing as a keyboard art- ist. A specialist in oratorio performance, he has conducted over 100 oratorio and operatic masterworks. Since 1994, Alltop has served on the conducting and keyboard faculties of Northwestern University, where he con- ducts the Alice Millar Chapel Choir and the Baroque Music Ensemble. He has also been serving as music director of the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra since 1995, earning Conductor of the Year honors from the Illi- nois Council of Orchestras in 2012. In 2007, Alltop made his Carnegie Hall debut con- ducting music of Eric Whitacre. As a harp- sichordist and organist, he has been featured with Boston’s Handel and Haydn Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Bach Project, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Mil- waukee Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Or- chestra, and Music of the Baroque. RAVINIA MAGAZINE • AUGUST 1 – AUGUST 14, 2022 40 I I I