Ravinia 2023 Issue 4

STEPHEN DILLON (SANCHEZ); SIMON PAULY (ROBINSON) RACHEL BLAUSTEIN Soprano Rachel Blaustein was a finalist in the 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Com- petition, winning the Fernand Lamesch Na- tional Finalist Award. A native of Olney, MD, she twice previously earned Encouragement Awards from the Met’s National Council Auditions (2019, 2021), among several other competition honors, and she holds a Master of Music from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. Over the 2022–23 sea- son, she appeared with Maryland Lyric Opera as Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff , Annapolis Op- era as the Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro , and, as part of its digital series, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Pami- na in Mozart’s The Magic Flute . Blaustein was also featured in concert as a soloist in Mo- zart’s Requiem with New Choral Society and gala performances with Opera Edwardsville and the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra. She recently made recordings of Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Garden of the Finzi-Continis , in which she created the role of Micòl with New York City Opera in 2022, and John Coriglia- no’s The Lord of Cries , which was the vehicle of her 2021 Santa Fe Opera debut creating the role of Autonoe. During the 2021–22 sea- son, Blaustein made her Tulsa Opera debut as Lauretta in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and returned to Chicago Opera Theatre as Fras- quita in Bizet’s Carmen , having previously ap- peared with the company as the Queer Kid in the Midwest premiere of Kamala Sankaram’s Taking up Serpents and in Daniel Catan’s La hija de Rappaccini . She also joined Washing- ton National Opera to cover the role of the Monument in Sankaram’s Rise , part of Writ- ten in Stone ; appeared with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Ruth (covering Rose) in the premiere of Tobias Picker’s Awakenings ; and participated in the Metropolitan Op- era’s workshop of Kevin Puts’s The Hours . Blaustein’s highlights also include debuting as Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin with Opera NEO, singing Nannetta in Falstaff with Chautauqua Opera and Adina in Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love with Opera Santa Barbara, concerts with the Milwaukee Symphony Or- chestra as a soloist in Bach’s B-minor Mass, and touring with Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Lyric Unlimited in the title role of Frances Pollock’s Earth to Kenzie . Rachel Blaustein is making her Ravinia and Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuts. STEPHANIE SANCHEZ The Audience Choice Award winner at the 2021 Jensen Foundation competition and recipient of the 2018 Igor Gorin Memorial Award, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Sanchez recently appeared with Cincinnati Opera as the Commanding Officer’s Wife in Aleksan- dra Vrebalov’s The Knock , having spent the spring with Lyric Opera of Chicago as Pas- senger Three in the premiere of Proximity —a trio of operas by Daniel Bernard Roumain ( The Walkers ), Caroline Shaw ( Four Por- traits ), and John Luther Adams ( Night )—and with Intermountain Opera as Maddalena in Verdi’s Rigoletto . In the past year, San- chez also appeared with Opera Southwest as Carlotta in Héctor Armienta’s Zorro , Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as the Third Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute , West Edge Opera as the Mother in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Coraline , and Opera San José as Mercédès (covering the title role) in Bizet’s Carmen . At the 2021 Glimmerglass Festival, Sanchez sang the role of Ines and covered Azucena in Francesca Zambello’s 90-minute adapta- tion of Verdi’s Il trovatore and was a featured artist in an all-Wagner concert. That fall, she first joined the Lyric’s roster as a cover for the Second Lady in The Magic Flute , and she made her house debut with Austin Opera in a solo recital highlighting works by Mexican and Latine composers. Having completed an Artist Diploma at Rice University’s Shep- herd School of Music in 2017, Sanchez be- came a resident principal artist with Opera San José, where her highlights have included Prince Orlofsky in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus , Hansel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel , and Azucena in Il trovatore . While a Pullin Studio Artist with Arizona Opera, she sang Persephone in Patrick Morganelli’s Hercules vs. Vampires , Paquette in Bernstein’s Candide , Berta in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, and Flosshilde in Das Rheingold , and she later ap- peared with the company as Baroness Nica in Daniel Schnyder’s Charlie Parker’s Yardbird . Her credits also include Gertrude in Hansel and Gretel with Brava Opera Theater, Olga in Tchiakovsky’s Eugene Onegin with Inter- mountain Opera, Flora in Verdi’s La travia- ta with Saint Petersburg Opera, Roggiero in Rossini’s Tancredi at Teatro Nuovo, and Zita in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi at Opera Maine. Stephanie Sanchez is making her Ravinia and Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuts. JAMES ROBINSON James Robinson has served as the artistic di- rector of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis since 2008, and during his tenue he has directed numerous world premieres, including Ter- ence Blanchard’s Champion and Fire Shut Up in My Bones , Ricky Ian Gordon’s 27 , Jack Per- la’s Shalimar the Clown , and Tobias Picker’s Awakenings , as well as a new version of Stew- art Wallace’s Harvey Milk (co-directed with choreographer Sean Curran). His credits with the company also include productions of John Adams’s The Death of Klinghoffer and Nixon in China , Dominick Argento’s Miss Havish- am’s Fire , Marc Blitzstein’s Regina , Weill’s Street Scene , Picker’s Emmeline , Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath , and the American premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland . Robin- son plays an instrumental role in curating ar- tistic programming at OTSL and is a resource for rising composers and librettists across the nation. With Washington National Opera, in February 2022 he directed Written in Stone , a trio of new operas commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy Center. A fre- quent guest at Santa Fe Opera, last summer Robinson directed the world premiere of M. Butterfly by Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang, adding to credits with produc- tions of Barber’s Vanessa in 2016 and Ruo’s Dr. Sun Yat Sen in 2014, as well as Mozart’s Così fan tutte , Strauss’s Capriccio , and Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress . Last spring, he made his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut returning to Fire Shut Up in My Bones , following an ac- claimed run at the Metropolitan Opera to open its 2021 season. Robinson returned to the Met this spring to remount Champion with the company and is bringing the pro- duction to the Lyric this winter. First seen at English National Opera and Dutch National Opera, his Grammy-winning production of the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess opened the Met’s 2019 season and was reprised in 2021. For Canadian Opera Company, Robinson has directed acclaimed productions of Strauss’s Elektra , Bellini’s Norma , Donizetti’s The Elix- ir of Love , and Nixon in China . He has also directed numerous new productions for Houston Grand Opera—most recently Han- del’s Giulio Cesare and the world premiere of Gordon’s A House Without a Christmas Tree —and San Francisco Opera ( The Elixir of Love and Picker’s Dolores Claiborne ). James Robinson in making his Ravinia debut. 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 per- formed 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; under the direction of Ste- phen Alltop since 1997, it began singing the complete work in 2000 and recorded it on the Clarion label in 2006. Apollo also embraces new masterpieces, featuring contemporary composers Eric Whitacre, Eleanor Daley, and Stephen Paulus on its programs that regularly span from spirituals to sambas, and from the Baroque to the blues. In addition to its own season, Apollo has frequently been invited to perform on music festivals and concert series with major orchestras and other ensembles around the Midwest, including the Ravin- ia Festival with the Chicago Symphony Or- chestra and the Peninsula Music Festival in Door County. Apollo has been featured with movies in concert and in several operas and choral symphonies, performed with Jackie Evancho and Josh Groban, and appeared on Oprah’s two-part finale of The Oprah Show . The Apollo Chorus of Chicago first sang at Ravinia in 2002 and is marking its 10th sea- son at the festival. STEPHEN ALLTOP, music director Stephen Alltop has built a career based on excellence in several disciplines, conducting both orchestral and choral ensembles and performing as a keyboard artist. A special- ist in oratorio performance, he has led over 100 oratorio and operatic masterworks. Since 1994, Alltop has served on the conducting and keyboard faculties of Northwestern Uni- versity, where he conducts the Alice Millar Chapel Choir and the Baroque Music Ensem- ble. He has also been music director of the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra since 1995, earning Conductor of the Year honors from the Illinois Council of Orchestras in 2012. He received the same honor in 2022 with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony, having be- come its music director in 2013. In 2007, All- top made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting music of Eric Whitacre. As a harpsichordist and organist, he appears frequently with Mu- sic of the Baroque and has been featured with Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society, Chica- go Bach Project, Chicago Sinfonietta, Joffrey Ballet, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Minnesota Orchestra, and the Chicago, Melbourne, Mil- waukee, and Omaha Symphonies. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 31 I ; I I