Ravinia 2024 Issue 4

ANDREA CARROLL American/Guatemalan/Austrian soprano An- drea Carroll has marked several career high- lights this season, including two debuts as Mu- setta in Puccini’s La bohème —at London’s Royal Opera House and with Orchestre National de Lille—and returns to both Vienna State Opera and Teatro alla Scala as Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale , as well as to Houston Grand Op- era as Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff and San Diego Opera in concert with tenor Joshua Guerrero. Over the next year, she will return to Teatro alla Scala as Woglinde in a new David McVicar pro- duction of Wagner’s Das Rheingold and debut with Semperoper Dresden as Gretel in Humper- dinck’s Hänsel und Gretel and San Francisco Op- era reprising Musetta. She will also debut with Minnesota Orchestra singing Mozart’s Requiem and with the Prague Philharmonia reprising No- rina. A 2018 Richard Tucker Career Grant recip- ient, Carroll studied at the Manhattan School of Music before further honing her voice at Glim- merglass, where she sang Rose Segal in John Musto’s Later the Same Evening . She also spent two seasons each at Wolf Trap Opera and the Houston Grand Opera Studio, where her roles included Corinna in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims , Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni , Adele in J. Strauss’s Die Fledermaus , and Anne Egerman in A Little Night Music , as well as Musetta. During 2015–20, Carroll was an ensemble member at Vienna State Opera, performing 15 leading roles with the company. Mozart’s Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro and Pamina in The Magic Flute , Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto , Adina in Doni- zetti’s L’elisir d’amore , and Woglinde and Stimme des Waldvogels across Wagner’s Das Rheingold , Götterdämmerung , and Siegfried were among the highlights in her repertory. Carroll subse- quently made several major debuts, including at Teatro alla Scala and Metropolitan Opera as Zerlina, Canadian Opera Company as Susanna, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Micaëla in Bi- zet’s Carmen . Past highlights also include creat- ing Mary Bailey in Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life with Houston Grand Opera and both Kitty in Johannes Maria Staud’s Die Weiden and Fati- ma in Johanna Doderer’s Fatima with Vienna State Opera. Andrea Carroll is making her Ra- vinia and Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuts. ALEXANDRIA SHINER Soprano Alexandria Shiner, a Grand FinalsWin- ner of the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Com- petition, has highlighted the past year joining the Cleveland Orchestra (in her debut) and Los Angeles Philharmonic for fully staged produc- tions of Mozart’s The Magic Flute (as First Lady) and Wagner’s Das Rheingold (as Wellgunde) respectively, as well as debuting with the NDR Elbphilharmonie singing Mahler’s Eighth Sym- phony and joining Lyric Opera of Chicago for Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer . She made her Met debut during 2021–22 as Die vierte Magd in Strauss’s Elektra and returned last season as the First Lady in Simon McBurney’s new produc- tion of The Magic Flute . Shiner reprised Die vi- erte Magd and also sang Die Schleppträgerin in a new Washington National Opera production of Elektra last season as well, also debuting with Arizona Opera as the Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music and joining Lyric Opera of Chi- cago’s cast of Verdi’s Ernani . In the summer of 2021, she portrayed Leonora in Verdi’s Il trova- tore at the Glimmerglass Festival, where she also sang on the Wagner concert “Gods and Mortals” and a musical theater concert entitled “To The World.” Shiner’s concert highlights have recent- ly included Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the National Symphony Orchestra and for her Victoria Symphony (Canada) debut, Verdi’s Re- quiem with the Quad City Symphony Orches- tra, and her Los Angeles Philharmonic debut at the Hollywood Bowl singing Gerhilde in Act III of Wagner’s Die Walküre . Shiner is a recent graduate of the Cafritz Young Artists Program at Washington National Opera, where she was seen in The Magic Flute (as First Lady), Menot- ti’s The Consul (as Magda), Verdi’s Don Carlo (as the Celestial Voice), Handel’s Alcina (title role), and the world premiere of Sankaram’s Taking Up Serpents (as Kayla). Her credits also include Ag- athe in Weber’s Der Freischütz and the title role in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos with Wolf Trap Opera, the North American premiere of Liszt’s lost opera Sardanapalo (as Mirra) at the Library of Congress, and Berta in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville with Glimmerglass and Washington National Opera. Alexandria Shiner is making her Ravinia and Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuts. SAMANTHA HANKEY Mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey is lauded for a powerful stage presence, earning plaudits for her debuts during the 2023/24 season at London’s Royal Opera House, as Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte ; with Detroit Opera, por- traying the Fox in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen ; and at Lyric Opera of Kansas City, in a role debut as Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana . A 2017 Grand Finals Winner in the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition, she most recently appeared with the company as Stéphano in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette , having also portrayed Octavian in Strauss’s Der Rosen- kavalier on its stage. In the past year, Hankey also sang Dorabella at Opernhaus Zürich and was a soloist in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Berlin Radio Symphony, and recent high- light have included her Carnegie Hall debut, portraying Federico García Lorca in Golijov’s Ainadamar at Scottish Opera, debuting at Lyric Opera of Chicago as Hänsel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel , and a role and house debut as Mélisande in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande at Santa Fe Opera. During 2019–21, Hankey was an ensemble member with Bavarian State Op- era, appearing in many leading roles. During the same season she made her Met debut, Hankey also sang named roles at Opernhaus Zürich, Den Norske Opera, Dallas Opera, and Grand Théâtre de Genève. On the concert stage, she has performed solo recitals at London’s Wig- more Hall and in New York at Alice Tully Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and she sang the title role of Handel’s Agrippina with Il Pomo d’Oro in Finland. Hankey co-developed the lead roles in David Herzberg’s The Rose Elf and The Wake World and has also premiered works with Opera Philadelphia and the Met. A Massachusetts native, Hankey began her vocal training at the Longy School of Music and New England Conservatory before earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees at The Juilliard School. Her career honors additionally include both first prize and the Media Prize at the inaugural Glyn- debourne Cup, multiple prizes at the Operalia Competition, a Richard Tucker Career Grant, first prize in the Dallas Opera Guild Competi- tion, and a Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship. Samantha Hankey is making her Ravinia and Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuts. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • AUGUST 5 – AUGUST 18, 2024 70 ZHANNA ISHCHENKO(CARROLL);CAITLINOLDHAM(SHINER);DARIOACOSTA(HANKEY)