Jackie O - 1997 Opera Production 

An opera by composer Michael Daugherty and librettist Wayne Koestenbaum
 

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CREATIVE TEAM

Michael Daugherty
Composer

Composers have frequently found musical inspiration in folklore, fables and historical figures, and a look at Michael Daugherty's catalogue published by Peer Music (New York) and represented in Europe by Faber Music (London), reveals an array of titles drawn from contemporary American culture, such as Sing Sing: J. Edgar Hoover, and Elvis Everywhere (for the Kronos Quartet), Desi for Symphonic Winds (a Latin big band tribute to Ricky Ricardo from television's "I Love Lucy"), Dead Elvis (for Boston Musica Viva), Lounge Lizards (a homage to cocktail pianists for two pianos and percussion), and the five-movement Superman inspired Metropolis Symphony and Bizarro.

These recent compositions reflect a diverse musical background: born in 1954 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Daugherty is the son of a dance-band drummer and the oldest of five brothers, all professional musicians. Daugherty grew up playing keyboards in jazz, rock, and funk bands, and at North Texas State University he composed his first orchestral work. Daugherty then spent a year as a Fulbright Fellow composing computer music at Boulez's IRCAM in Paris. He performed live synthesizer concerts of his own music with classic silent film, and collaborated with jazz arranger Gil Evans in New York. He received a doctorate in music composition in 1986 from Yale University, studying in New Haven from 1980-82 with composers Earle Brown, Jacob Druckman, Bernard Rands, and Roger Reynolds, and from 1982-84 in Hamburg, Germany with Gyorgy Ligeti. After teaching composition at Oberlin Conservatory from 1986-91, Daugherty joined the faculty at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) where he is currently Associate Professor of Composition.

Michael Daugherty's music has been performed throughout America and abroad by, among others, the New York Philharmonic, the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, at the Philharmonia (London), the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Los Angeles, Detroit, Cleveland, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Pasadena, St. Louis, Buffalo, Memphis, Richmond, Albany, Atlanta, and ensembles including Lontano, Boston Musica Viva, Netherlands Winds, and the Kronos Quartet. His compositions have been featured at Bang on a Can, Aspen, Tanglewood, the Grand Tetons, Warsaw Autumn, and Holland Festivals.

In the past decade, Daugherty has received numerous awards for his music including recognition from the American academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, fellowships from the Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Arts, and a Friedheim Kennedy Center Award. His Elvis Everywhere and Sing Sing: J. Edgar Hoover can be heard on recent Kronos Quartet Nonesuch recordings his Metropolis Symphony, Bizarro and Desi were recently recorded by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under the baton of David Zinman for Argo. Currently Daugherty is composing an opera entitled Jackie O for the Houston Grand Opera scheduled for performance in 1997.

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Wayne Koestenbaum
Librettist

Wayne Koestenbaum, winner of a Whiting Writer's Award, is the author of The Queen's Throat: Opera, Homosexuality, and the Mystery of Desire, nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism, and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. He is also the author of Jackie Under My Skin: Interpreting an Icon, and two acclaimed volumes of poetry, Ode to Anna Moffo and Other Poems and Rhapsodies of a Repeat Offender. Winner of The Nation/"Discovery" contest in poetry, he has written essays and poetry for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Harper's, Parassus, The Paris Review, Vogue, The Yale Review, Artforum, and the London Review of Books, and has appeared in The Best American Essays and The Best American Poetry anthologies. Educated at Harvard, John Hopkins, and Princeton, he is currently Associate Professor of English at Yale University, and a visiting Associate professor at the City University of New York's Graduate Centre.

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Nicholas Muni
Director

Nicholas Muni, a native of New Jersey, received his formal education at Oberlin Conservatory of Music in vocal performance and conducting. He subsequently studied voice with Todd Duncan, who created the role of Porgy in Porgy and Bess, in Washington, DC while at the same time pursuing opera conducting with such acclaimed projects as Dido and Aeneas at the American University. Relocating to new York City, he continued to work as a singer and conductor while beginning to work as a stage director. In 1982 he received a fellowship from the National Institute of Music Theatre to study with renowned metropolitan Opera singer and vocal coach Alberta Masiello in a unique program designed to coalesce musical and theatrical values. In 1983 he was appointed Principal Stage Director and Artistic Advisor to the Kentucky Opera, a position he held until 1988 when until 1990 he served as Director of Drama with the Metropolitan Opera Young Artist Development Program. Since 1985 he has been active with the National Endowment for the Arts as an on-site evaluator and panelist for company and project grants. He is presently on the recommending panel of ARIA (Awards Recognizing Individual Artistry), an organization providing individual grants in the amount of $15,000 to promising young singers. As a free-lance Stage Director he has directed nearly two hundred productions with some of the finest opera companies in North America, Europe and Australia.

From 1988 - 1993 he served as Artistic Director of Tulsa Opera. During his tenure there he produced and directed two American premières: Verdi's Le Trouvère, the French version of Il trovatore, and Rossini's Armida, both of which were broadcast on National Public Radio's "World of Opera" series. He also directed a highly successful and controversial production of La Traviata which was purchased by New York City Opera and presented during their 1991 season. Another innovative project while at Tulsa was The Spanish Trilogy: new productions of Carmen, Fidelio and Il Barbiere Di Siviglia integrated into a cycle through a single concept and scenic design. These productions have since been presented in Dallas, Baltimore, Edmonton, Columbus, Nashville and Winnipeg.

His fruitful relationship with the Houston Grand Opera and Seattle Opera has resulted in two acclaimed co-productions: Il trovatore has been seen in Seattle, Houston, Tulsa and Melbourne and will be presented at L'Opèra Montreal in 1998 and Norma presented in Seattle, Houston and Los Angeles. Also planned with these two companies is a co-production of The Makropoulos Case.

Further work with Houston Grand Opera includes the world premier of Jackie O, an opera based on the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis which will also be presented at The Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada.

His work at the Canadian Opera Company includes Lulu (three act version), Rigoletto which has also been presented in Edmonton, Tulsa, Ottawa and Minnesota, and Jenufu which will be presented in the autumn of 1996 in Vancouver. For the Opera Theater of St. Louis he has created productions of La finta Giardiniera, Ariadne auf Naxos and Iphigénie en Tauride. The Minnesota Opera is another company he considers an artistic home where he has directed Rusalka, Don Giovanni, Rigoletto and two other world premières: Libby Larsen's Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus and Robert Moran's From the Towers of the Moon.

The 1993-94 season marked his European debut as Stradttheather GieBen with La Fille du Régiment. It's success led to subsequent engagements at that same theatre for productions of Idomeneo, Die Zauberflöte and The Rake's Progress. The 1993 season also marked debuts with the Boston lyric Opera with the American première of the Neopolitan version of Bellini's I Puritani and La Bohème at the Tiroler Landesheater in Innsbruck, Austria. In what is considered one of his most interesting projects, he directed a unique version of Berg's Wozzeck in a co-production between The Banff Centre and Montreal Nouvelle Ensemlbe Moderne.

Future stage directing projects include Cavalleria Rusticana/I Pagliacci at Opera Leipzig, The Rape of Lucretia at the Eastman School of Music, Jenufa at Vancouver Opera, the world première of Jackie O with the Houston Grand Opera/The Banff Centre and a revival of Il trovatore with Seattle Opera.

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GRAHAM COZZUBBO
Associate Stage Director

Graham is a director, educator and actor and was a co-founder and past artistic director of Calgary's New Century Stage, a former artistic associate at Alberta Theatre Projects, and a teacher of spoken voice at the Mount Royal College Conservatory. Directing credits for New Century Stage include Twelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice. For The Banff Centre, he directed the Canadian premiere of Sir Harrison Birtwistle's Bow Down. Other works includes direction of Hear Me Out! for New Works Calgary and the National Arts Centre; a workshop of Rendevous of Light for the Victorian Theatre in Baltimore. Also for Banff he has co-directed The Rake's Progress; directed Cabaret Aperghis; directed Henze's El CimarrÛn for Banff and Autumn Leaf Performance in Toronto; and worked as assistant director for Nicholas Muni on Wozzeck, and Jackie O at Houston Grand Opera. Graham is the former assistant artistic director of Banff 20th Century Opera and Song, and is the program director and acting instructor for the 1997 Integration program.

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BRUNO FERRANDIS
Music Director

Bruno Ferrandis has conducted performances of Apollo et Hyacinthus, La clemenza di Tito, Cosi fan tutte and Die Zauberflöte for the Canadian Opera Company. A native of France, he has also served as the Assistant Conductor for the COC's Bluebeard's Castle/Ewartung in Toronto, New York, Edinburgh, Melbourne and Hong Kong. Elsewhere he has conducted Song of Majnun and Monteverdi's Il combattimento for the Aspen Festival, and at the Juilliard Opera Center he has led performances of The Seven Deadly Sings, Rothschild's Violin, Medea and The Rape of Lucretia. A regular guest conductor of l'Orchestra Philharmonique de Radio France, he recently recorded a compact disc with that orchestra. He also conducts frequently with l'Orchestre de Rouen and l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, and is the Co-Artistic Director for the New York based contemporary ensemble Music Mobile. In April he will premiere a production of Manfred Gurlitt's opera Wozzeck in Rouen.

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PETER WERNER
Set/Costume Designer

Peter Werner is the head of design for the Stadt-theatre Giessen, where he has designed productions for The Daughter of the Regiment, Lucia di Lammermoor, Der Freishütz, Idomeneo, The Rake's Progrss and Sousa's The Freelance. A graduate of the Folkwang University in Essen, he has worked extesively with Robert Tännenbaum in Bremen as well as at the theatrers of Münster and Giessen. Other credits include the theaters of Karlsruhe, Munich's Gärtnerplatz, and The Banff Centre, where he worked with Nicholas Muni on Wozzeck.

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HARRY FREHNER
Lighting Designer

Over the past twenty years, Harry Frehner's work has been seen in over 250 productions from coast to coast in Canada with such companies as Pacific Opera Victoria, Vancouver Opera, Calgary Opera, Edomonton Opera, Citadel Theatre, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, The Banff Centre, Alberta Theatre Projects, Manitova Opera, Canadina Opera Company, Stratford Festival, Young People's Theatre in Novel Ensemble Moderne, Theatre New Brunswick and Neptune Theatre. The winner of four Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding Lighting, his work has been seen on CBC television.

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BRUCE BROWN
Choreographer, Paparazzo

Director, choreographer, performer and coach, Bruce Brown has choreographed scenes for The Tales of Hoffmann, Die Meistersinger von Nürenberg, Ariadne auf Naxos and Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci at the Metropolitan Opera. His music theatre credits include West Side Story, The Pirates of Penzance and Fiddler on the Roof. A staff teacher with the Met's Young Artists Development Program, he teaches hand-to-hand combat, fencing, broadsword and dramatic falls, as well as ballroom, period and character cance. He has directed performances for the New Orleans and Knoxville World Fairs as the USA National Women's Gymnastics Coach; and his many performance appearances include West Side Story, Gypsy, 42nd Street, Fiddler on the Roof, and currently I Lombardi, Lucia Di Lammermoor and Ariadne auf Naxos at the Metropolitan Opera.

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RICK RINDER
Stage Manager

Rick Rinder first came to Banff in 1977, as a student in the Theatre Crafts and Design Program. Following his training in Banff he spent seven years at Theatre Calgary where he was promoted through the ranks from apprentice to assistant stage manager, then eventually to senior stage manager, before beginning a freelance career that took him to almost every regional theatre across Canada. While stage managing the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (1988-1990), he toured extensively throughout North America and Europe. This summer will be Rick's thirteenth summer participating in the Banff Arts Festival, although this will be his first time working directly with the Opera and Song Program. Rick is currently stage manager at the Vancouver Playhouse.

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RICHARD ARMSTRONG
Extended Voice/Vocal Interpretation (resource artist)

Richard Armstrong has worked for over 25 years as performer, teacher and director. His work with the extension of the human voice has led to invitations to over 20 countries; most recently in the world of contemporary music theatre. He is a founding member of the Roy Hart Theatre of France. He currently divides his time between Paris, where he was founding faculty member of New York University's Experimental Theatre Wing from 1985 to 1989; southern France with the Roy Hart Theatre; Banff where he is extended vocal specialist in the Theatre Arts program of The Banff Centre; Toronto, Ontario, where he works with Autumn Leaf Performance; and his home in Corsica.

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KELLY ARNSBY
Movement (resource artist)

Kelly Arnsby has spent the past six seasons as a movement coach at the Stratford Festival where she was assistant to John Broome for her first two years and has continued on over the past four years to work with the Acting Company and the Young Company. Productions include As You Like It directed by Richard Rose, The Merchant of Venice directed by Marti Maraden, Amadeus and The Merry Wives of Windsor directed by Richard Monette and Antoni Cimolino, and The School for Wives and The Imaginary Cuckold directed by Michael Langham. She has taught movement and acting at the University of Windsor, and at the Opera School of the Royal College of Music in London, England, as well as leading workshops through Theatre Ontario and Wilfrid Laurier University. In 1991 Kelly was a participant in the Integration program and last summer she was the head of movment for the Banff Theatre Arts Opera and Drama programs. Kelly holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from Concordia University, is a graduate of Les Ateliers de Danse Moderne de Montrèal, is a certified practitioner in Shiatsu, and is working toward certification in Reflexology. Two Guthrie Awards and a Nicholas Pennell Award from the Stratford Festival enabled her to study movement and physical theatre with Monika Pagneux in London, and early European dance in Durham, England.

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MARIE-FRANCE LEFEBVRE
Music Coach

French-Canadian pianist Marie-France Lefebvre completed a doctorate at the University of Michigan, where she studied with Martin Katz and Arthur Greene. Previously, she received a master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music, and won prizes in solo piano and chamber music at the Conservatoire du QuÈbec. Mme. Lefebvre's other teachers include Donal Nold, Joseph Seiger, Monique Collet, and Marek Jablonski. Marie-France is currently a diction coach and rehearsal pianist at the Washington Opera. She has also worked professionally with The Santa Fe Opera and the Aspen Music Festival, and has served on the faculties of The Banff Centre and the University of Maryland. Mme. Lefebvre has performed throughout Canada and the United States as soloist and chamber musician, including several recitals broadcast across Canada on CBC Radio. She has also performed as collaborative pianist with many singers, including Samuel Ramey, Kathleen Battle and Denyce Graves. Marie France's recent engagements included a solo recital and a duo recital with cellist Nathaniel Chaitkin, both in Ottawa for CBC Radio.

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MARY MORRISON
Singing Teacher

Mary Morrison's past performances include major roles for the Canadian Opera Company and the Canadian Broadcasting Company Opera, featured symphony solos, recitals and recordings. She has participated in prestigious international contemporary music festivals throughout America, Europe, Scandanavia and Japan. Some of the composers she has worked and/or recorded with include Stravinsky, Penderecki, Ligeti, Cage, Berio, Xenakis, Takemitsu and Crumb. She has premiered their works in Canada and has performed many Canadian compositions commissioned for her. In recognition of her outstanding contribution to Canadian Music, she was awarded the Canadian Music Citation in 1968; was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1983; and in 1985 received the medal of Service to the Arts from the City of Toronto. President of New Music Concerts, Toronto, and a frequent consultant and juror for arts councils and competitions, Mary Morrison is currently teaching voice at the University of Toronto and The Banff Centre.

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TANIA MILLER
Assistant Music Director

Tania Miller has a bachelor of music education from the University of Saskatchewan, a diploma of fine arts in instrumental conducting from the University of Calgary and a master of music degree from the University of Michigan. Tania was the guest conductor at the season opening concert for the Toronto Wind Orchestra in 1996. She received the Ernest T. Jones Conducting Scholarship from the University of Michigan in 1997 and has studied under Kenneth Kiesler and Harold Faberman at the University of Hartford School of Music.

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MICHAEL GIANFRANCESCO
Assistant Set Designer

Michael is enrolled at Concordia University in the specialization in design for theatre. He has an extensive background in the performing arts including performance, design and as a orchestral musician (piano and saxophone). He was a member of the Eastwood Collegiate Concert Band and Symphony Orchestra and EastwoodÜs Jazz Choir and Chamber Choir. As a visual artist, Michael has entered exhibitions with his sculptures and taught art workshops for children. This is his second consecutive summer at the Banff Arts Festival; in the summer of '96 Michael assisted designer Terry Gunvordahl on the production Water & Gravity.

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JOVEN CHIAO-WEN LIN
Assistant Lighting Designer

Lin is currently in her 3rd year of a bachelor of fine arts in design/technical theatre program at the University of British Columbia. During her time at U.B.C. she has worked as assistant lighting designer, lighting operator, assistant set designer, sound operator, scenic painter and stage manager.

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SHAUNA ADAMS
Assistant Stage Manager

Shauna has her bachelor of music (honours) degree from the University of Victoria along with 10 years of performance experience (clarinet). She has worked in stage management and tour coordination for the International Storytelling Festival in Whitehorse, YT; the University of Victoria, BC; and is currently an Equity stage management apprentice . Shauna is presently working with the Edmonton Opera Association as a music administrator and an audience services assistant.

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ERIN MACKIE
Assistant Stage Manager

Erin graduated in 1993 from the University of Guelph with an honours bachelor of arts, drama and English degree. Since then she has had a variety of professional and non-professional theatre experiences, both on stage and behind the scenes. Most recently she was assistant stage manager for Theatre Direct Canada's production of U.F.O.R.E.X. at the duMaurier Theatre Centre.

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THE BANFF COMPANY

RAYANNE DUPUIS, Soprano
Jackie

Soprano Rayanne Dupuis is a former member of the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio. She has appeared with the COC as Laura in Luisa Miller, Destino and L'infea in La Calisto, the Fourth Midservant in Elektra, Karolka in Jenufa, Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos, Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto and Helen in the world premiere of Gary Kulesha's Red Emma. Miss Dupuis holds a doctoral degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook where she was the head vocal teaching assistant. She has also studied at Yale University and the University of Toronto. Other operatic credits include La voix humaine at SUNY; Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Pamina in Die Zauberfl³te and Corinna in Il Viaggio a Reims for Yale Opera; and NoÅmie in Cendrillon for The Banff Centre. Rayanne was a finalist in the 1995 Canadian Broadcasting CorporationÐs Young Artist Competition.

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VALERIE KOMAR, Mezzo Soprano
Maria Callas

Mezzo soprano Valerie Komar has performed the role of Agathe in Les Enfants Terribles, the new Philip Glass/Susan Marshall opera and dance spectacle. In 1996 she completed her masters of music at The Julliard School. While at Julliard Ms. Komar was seen as La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi, L'enfant in L'enfant et les Sortileges, Princesse Nicolette in L'Amour des Trois Oranges and Polly Peachum in The Beggar's Opera. She sang the world premiere of Betty Olivero's Juego di Siempre with the New Julliard Ensemble. She has also sung Pierrot Lunaire at Alice Tully Hall, Milton Babbitt's Philomel at M.O.M.A. and performed in the 1995 and 1996 Focus New Music Festival. Ms. Komar has been a studio artist at Central City Opera where she performed Javotte in Manon. In 1996 Ms. Komar performed Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children and Berio's Folk Songs for the first Julliard InterArts concert and Pierrot Lunaire with choreography by Glen Tetley.

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THOMAS GOERTZ, Bass
Ari

Bass/baritone Thomas Goerz's performances at The Banff Centre have included George III in Eight Songs for a Mad King which toured to the Edmonton Fringe Festival and the Stratford Festival, and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. With Theatre Aquarius he was Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha and with Washington Opera, Kennedy Centre, he played Robin Oakapple in Ruddigore. Mr. Goerz was Inspector Javert in the original Canadian cast of Les Miserables and he played the role of Monsieur Firmin in Phantom of the Opera. He performs regularly with the Edmonton and Calgary Opera Companies. Thomas has been the guest of symphony orchestras in Japan and across Canada. This season Thomas sings Dr. Bartolo in Barber of Seville with Opera Saskatchewan and Mustafa in The Italian Girl from Algiers with Pacific Opera. At Ottawa's Festival Canada he will sing Herod in L'enfance du Christ, a role he will reprise with the Canadian Opera Company.

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MARCEL van NEER, Tenor
JFK's Voice

Tenor Marcel van Neer received his bachelor of music degree in performance from the University of British Columbia in 1993. Since then he has participated in several programs at The Banff Centre, including the Academy of Singing, and Integration. Marcel has also performed the roles of Sellem in The Rake's Progress and Andres in Wozzeck at The Banff Centre. Recent world premiere performances include Johannes Kepler in The Star Catalogues by Owen Underhill and The Artist in Powers of Time by Barry Truax which premiered in Banff at the 1995 International Computer Music Conference. This fall Marcel will enter his second year of the Vancouver Opera Young Artist Ensemble program where he will perform mainstage roles in Il Trovatore, Salome and La BohÀme.

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DOUG MacNAUGHTON, Baritone
Andy Warhol

Baritone Doug MacNaughton began his career with Edmonton Opera in productions such as La Fanciulla del'West and H.M.S. Pinafore. Doug was most recently seen performing in Le Vampire et la Nymphomane - a new work with Montreal's Chants Libre, Messiah with both the Niagara Symphony and the Regina Philharmonic Choir, La Cenerentola with L'Opera de Quebec, Dialogues of the Carmelites with the Canadian Opera Company, La Traviata with Manitoba Opera, and Carmen with Orchestra London. Doug is also active in oratorio and concert work, having performed as a soloist with the International Symphony Orchestra of Sarnia and Port Huron, the Bach Elgar Choir, the Bell'arte Singers, the Mississauga Choral Society, the Orpheus Choir of Toronto and the Sudbury Symphony. In 1990 he co-wrote Symphony 'N' Suds for Symphony Nova Scotia. He previously performed at The Banff Centre in the title role of Wozzeck.

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IREN BARTOK, Soprano
Liz Taylor

Soprano Iren Bartok has returned to Alberta after living in London England for nearly eight years. Most recently Iren performed Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute for the Unicorn Arts Theatre at the Liverpool Playhouse. Other roles include Madame Butterfly in Madame Butterfly and Musetta in La Boheme both at the English Festival Opera and Gretel in Hansel and Gretel at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Holland Festival with Palace Opera. She has also performed at the London Music Theatre as Polly in The Threepenny Opera and at Her Majesty's Theatre as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera. A participant in the 1989 seven month Integration program, she has previously performed at The Banff Centre as the child in Weill's Der Jasager.

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KAREN YDENBERG, Soprano
Princess Grace

Soprano Karen Ydenberg participated in the Banff 20th Century Music Theatre Program in 1989-90. Since then she has appeared in many roles such as Paquette in Candide, Kate Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, Kate in The Pirates of Penzance, the Chambermaid in The Makropoulos Case and Sally in Die Fledermaus; all with Vancouver Opera. Karen appeared as Mavis in City Workers in Love and as Helga ÂTreasure of Icelandº in Gisela in her Bathtub at the Waterfront Theatre in Vancouver. She performed City Workers in Love at the Con'temp'aria Festival with Pacific Opera in Victoria as well as performing in two workshops, The Gang and Alternate Visions. Karen is currently a member of the Canadian Opera Company Studio Ensemble where she played Diana and Jove as Diana in the Ensemble Studio Production of La Calisto. She also played Gretel in the C.O.C.'s school touring production of Hansel and Gretel. Karen returns to the C.O.C. ensemble in August.

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CRAIG RAMSEY
Dancing Jackie

Craig Ramsey has appeared on stage with Windsor Light Opera, Theatre Alive and American Ballet Theatre. He was guest narrator and dancer for the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. His theatre credits include Gilbert in Anne of Green Gables, Frederick in Pirates of Penzance, Bert Barry in 42nd Street, Uncle Drosselmeyer in Nutcracker Ballet and the Narrator in Peter and the Wolf.

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LINDSAY BRAMLEY, Mezzo Soprano
Ensemble

Lindsay Bramley holds a master of arts degree in music from the Queen's College, Oxford University. Since her graduation she has pursued a career as a soloist in opera, concert and recital. She has performed with a range of British opera companies including New Chamber Opera, Hampstead Opera, Randazzo Opera and Opera Nova in such roles as Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro and Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Recent concert performances include the Verdi and Durufle requiems, Elgar's Sea Pictures and Beethoven's Choral Symphony. Lindsay was a participant in the 1996 Banff Centre for the Arts Integration program. She is presently resident vocalist for the contemporary music company in Phoenix, for which she has performed Berberian's Stripsody, Walton's Facade, Maxwell Davies' Miss Donnithorne's Maggott and Notre Dame des Fleurs and Birtwistle's Down by the Greenwood Side. Lindsay is also a member of the Edinburgh Festival Singers with whom she will be performing at this year's Edinburgh and Salzburg Festivals.

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SUNG TAEK CHUNG, Baritone
Ensemble

Sung Chung completed his bachelor of arts (Honours Psychology) and his bachelor of science degrees at the University of Manitoba. Currently he is attending the University of Toronto's School of Music in the opera division. Sung is making his second appearance at the Banff Arts Festival after last year's performance of Georges Aperghis' de la nature de la gravitÅ and de la nature de l'eau. Later this summer he will be attending the Britten-Pears School for advanced musical studies in Aldeburgh, England where he will be performing the role of Sid in Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring.

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BREMNER DUTHIE, Baritone
Ensemble

Bremner Duthie studied music at McGill, gamelan at Simon Fraser University and contemporary music theatre at The Banff Centre. He performed and directed Peter Maxwell Davies' Eight Songs for a Mad King, has sung several music theatre works by Sondheim and performed the West Coast premiere of H.K. Gruber's Frankenstein!!. Recently he made his debut as Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro with the Victoria Conservatory of Music. As artistic director of the new vocal company Current Sound Opera(tions) he produces and performs in several contemporary vocal productions every year.

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BRENDA GLUSKA, Mezzo Soprano
Ensemble

Brenda Gluska has performed in opera, oratorio and concerts from coast to coast. Her operatic roles include Suzuki in Madame Butterfly, Muse/Niklaus in Tales of Hoffmann, Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mrs. Noan in The Medium and Serpina in la Serva Padrona. Her oratorio performances include Durufl™'s Requiem and Vivaldi's Gloria. A participant in the 1992 Integration program at The Banff Centre, Ms. Gluska was a third prize winner in the 1993 Eckhardt-Gramatt™ National Music Competition and a finalist in the 1993 Edward Johnson National Vocal Competition. She obtained her bachelor of music degree from Brandon University and her master of music degree from the Manhattan School of Music.

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TIMOTHY ISHERWOOD, Baritone
Ensemble

Timothy Isherwood has studied at the University of Toronto's drama program and at Sheridan College in the Music Theatre Program. He has a wide range of training from modern dance to piano and cello training and on-camera training. His film experience includes Ju Ju Spirit feature for CBC Television and as Don Giovanni for Rogers Cable TV. Stage work includes being in the chorus for the Barber of Seville for Opera Ontario, as Masetto in Don Giovanni and as Pheidippides in Clouds for the Ancient Comic Opera Company at Poor Alex Theatre.

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MARION NEWMAN, Mezzo Soprano
Ensemble

Marion Newman holds a bachelor of music in piano performance from the University of Victoria and a master of music with honours in vocal performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. A study grant recipient of the Canadian Native Arts Foundation, Marion performed Bernstein's Somewhere for the '95 Aboriginal Achievement Awards on CBC television. Marion was a participant in the spring '96 Banff Centre for the Arts Integration program. That summer she also sang thirty performances of an adaptation of Offenbach's operettas Parisian Follies in Victoria as Perichole and Matella. She has appeared as a soloist with the Victoria Symphony, the Portland Baroque Orchestra, the Capriccio vocal ensemble and the San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra. This Christmas Marion performed in Handel's Messiah with the Kingston Symphony. She teaches piano and voice lessons and continues her studies with Selena James.

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ROBERT MARTIN REID, Tenor
Ensemble

Robert Martin Reid is currently in his second year as a member of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble. To date Robert has played Giove and Pane in the COC ensemble production La Calisto and the Fourth Jew in the COC production of Salome. Robert received his education at Queen's University and at the Toronto Opera School.

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STACIE ROBINSON, Soprano
Ensemble

Stacie Robinson studied at the New England Conservatory of Music where she received her bachelor of music and furthered her opera studies in the graduate diploma program. She pursued her masters of music at the University of Tennessee where she was an apprentice with the Knoxville Opera Company. She was Second Place Winner of the 1996 Eckhardt-Gramatt» Voice Competition in Brandon, Manitoba. Her performance experience includes roles with Toronto Opera in Concert, Opera Buffa, Opera East, Knoxville Opera and New England Conservatory Opera. Future engagements include the understudy of the Princess in R. Murray Schafer's Princess of the Stars in Haliburton, Ontario and participation in the Britten-Pears Twentieth Century Song course in Aldeburgh, England. She returns to Banff this year after participating in the 1996 Integration program. In February 1998 Stacie will present a recital of contemporary music with John Hess in Toronto that will include the premiere of a work she commissioned by the Canadian composer Juhan Puhm.

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OSTAP SOROKA, Baritone
Ensemble

Ostap Soroka who reigns from Mississauga is fluent in four languages including French, Italian and Ukrainian. His highlighted engagements include Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, R.C.M. Opera Workshop; Junius in Britten's Rape of Lucretia with Opera Anonymous and Marcello in Puccini's La Bohème, U.W.O. Opera Workshop. He has had voice training with Thomas Schilling and George Shirley.

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JENNIE SUCH, Soprano
Ensemble

Jennie Such received her bachelor of music degree from the University of Western Ontario and is currently in her first year of opera at the Royal College of Music, London, England studying with Margaret Kingsley. Jennie has performed with the London Handel Society, the New Chamber Opera, the Orchestra London Canada and the Aldeburgh Festival. Oratorio highlights include Handel's Messiah with the Victoria Symphony, the Brahm's Requiem at St. Martin-in the-Fields, as well as Bach's Cantata 140 and Christmas Oratorio. Jennie has performed in programmes at the Aldeburgh Festival, The Banff Centre, the Guelph Spring Festival and the Gregynog Festival in Wales.

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ERIKA TANNER, Soprano
Ensemble

Erika Tanner received her bachelor of music voice performance (with a minor in piano) from Acadia University along with the 'top graduating student in music' award. She has an artist diploma with honours (voice) from the University of Toronto and has further studied at The Banff Centre, Britten-Pears School and the Goethe Institute. She has performed new and traditional repertoire with Opera Anonymous, Opera Atelier, Toronto Operetta Theatre, and Vancouver New Music.

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ELIZABETH CATHERINE REID
Viola

Elizabeth Reid is a graduate of the artist diploma program in viola from the Royal Conservatory of Music and has her master of music in solo performance and literature from the University of Western Ontario. Her orchestral credits include the Classical Academy Orchestra, the Boris Brott Summer Music Festival, the Royal Conservatory of Music, the East York Symphony, the Sudbury Symphony, the London Fanshawe Symphonic Chorus Orchestra and Orchestra London. She has also played in the Contemporary Chamber Players and the Symphony Orchestra at the University of Western Ontario.

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NATHANIEL CHAITKIN
Violincello

Nathaniel Chaitkin graduated from the pre-college division of the Julliard School where he studied with Ardyth Alton. He continued his studies at the University of Michigan studying cello and chamber music and receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees in music. Nathaniel has served as principal cellist of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, the Virginia Chamber Orchestra and the Langsing (MI) Symphony. Mr. Chaitkin now resides in Washington, D.C. and performs regularly with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, the National Gallery Orchestra and is a faculty member of the D.C. Youth Orchestra program. This past May, Mr. Chaitkin gave a recital at Ottawa University which was broadcast across Canada on CBC Radio.

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PETER PAVLOVSKY
Double Bass

Peter Pavlovsky graduated from the University of Regina's bachelor of music performance program with Great Distinction in 1991. He studied privately with Radomir Zalud, principal bassist of the Czech Radio Philharmonic and associate professor of Akademia Muzickych Umeni in Prague from 1991 to 1994. For two summers he has played with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada on full scholarship, including the 1994 national tour. In 1996 Peter performed in the world premiere of Kafka's Chimp by John Metcalf at The Banff Centre.

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MEGAN WINSOR-LOVELY
Flute/Piccolo

Megan Winsor-Lovely received her bachelors degree from the University of Toronto studying with Douglas Stewart. She was a soloist with the U. of T. Wind Symphony and the U. of T. Concert Band, as well as with the Vivaldi Chamber Orchestra. She received her master's degree from the University of Indiana studying with Jacques Zone. Megan is now principal flutist of the Midland-Odessa Symphony in Texas and teaches throughout the area.

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SIMON ALDRICH
Clarinet

Simon Aldrich is currently principal clarinet of l'Orchestre de l'Opera de Montrâal and l'Orchestre Metropolitain de Montrâal as well as a member of le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne. He holds a doctorate and two masters degrees from Yale University and has studied at Northwestern University and McGill University. His teachers have included David Shifrin, Robert Marcellus, Joaquin Valdepenas and Emilio Lacurto. He is heard regularly on CBC radio in Canada and has recorded for the Alma, SNE, Analekta and Auvidis France CD labels.

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MARC FELDMAN
Bassoon

For the past three years Marc Feldman has played bassoon and contrabassoon for the Orchestra Metropolitana do Lisboa in Lisbon, Portugal. In 1996 he also played solo in the Hummel Concerto conducted by Robert Stankovsky. Other performances include bassoon solos with Ars Nova and the National Orchestre de Lyon, bassoon with Divertimento Ensemble of Milan, Orchestre de Paris and contrabassoon with Opera of Marseille. Marc has studied at L'Ecole Normale de Music de Paris where he received le diplome Superior de Music de Chambre, le diplome Superior d'Execution and le diplome Superior d'Enseignement. In addition he has studied with Manual Zegler, Andre Sennadat and Sherman Walt.

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PETER LUTEK
Saxophone

Peter Lutek is a Canadian performer and composer. His studies have included programs at the University of Toronto and the Banff Centre, during which time he formed and led jazz, improvisatory and avant-garde ensembles. Since then he has performed in Toronto as a bassoonist and/or saxophonist in recitals of original compositions and improvised music, and with the Les Amis Ensemble, New Music Concerts, the Freddie Stone Ensemble and Hemispheres music projects. He is also a founding member of the 40 fingers saxophone quartet.

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COLLEEN YOUNG
Horn

Colleen Young received her bachelor of music in performance from the University of Toronto. She was given scholarships to attend The Banff Centre in 1983 and 1984. In 1986 Colleen moved to Cologne to study with Professor Erich Penzel at the Musikhochschule, Koeln. During her tenure in Germany, she played with several orchestra including WDR Radio Orchestra, Cologne; Philarmonische Straatsorchester Bremen; Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn; and the Starlight Express Orchestra, Bochum. Colleen was a member of the Symphonic Brass Bayreuth and toured with the Vienna Philharmonic Chamber Strings. She returned to Canada in 1994 and now works as a freelance musician in Toronto while continuing her work abroad.

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MERRIE KLAZEK
Trumpet

Merrie Klazek holds a bachelor of music degree from the University of Calgary and a masters of music degree from Northwestern University. She has performed with Vancouver Opera, Vancouver Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Pacific Opera. Her musical theatre credits include La Boh¿me and Love of Three Kings, both with with Pacific Opera; Camelot with the Victoria Operatic Society; The Makropoulos Case with Vancouver Opera; and Carmen with Orchestra London. In addition Merrie has played principal trumpet with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and won the 1996 CBC Broadcast Competition. Presently she plays with Orchestra London Canada.

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BOB NICHOLSON
Bass Trombone/Euphonium

Bob Nicholson has studied at the University of Prince Edward Island, the University of Toronto, the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. He has performed with Hannaford Street Silver Band, Canadian Opera Company, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Hamilton Philharmonic, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Esprit Orchestra, Elmer Iseler Singers, Toronto Mendelsohn Choir, Amadeus Choir and at the Elora Festival. He has also played in the orchestra pits of Beauty and the Beast, Showboat, Crazy for You, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables and the Charlottetown Festival. Bob is currently bass trombonist with the Toronto production of the Phantom of the Opera.

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MARY OSOKO
Violin

After studying under Dr. Lise Elson at the Mount Royal Conservatory in Calgary, Mary received her bacherlor of Musical Arts from the University of Western Ontario and her master of Music from Yale University. Her major teachers and coaches include Sidney Harth, Betty Jean Hagan, Peter Oundjian, Syoko Aki and Lorand Fenyves. She was a member of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra for two years and has played with other orchestras including Orchestra London, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra. From 1995 to 1997 Mary toured in Canada and the U.S. with ALW's Music of the Night. She is currently Assistant Concertmaster with both the National Ballet of Canada and the Esprit Orchestra. She has previously performed at The Banff Centre in Punch & Judy by Sir Harrision Britwistle. In the fall, Mary will join the Winnipeg Syphony.

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AARON LOVELY
Tuba

Aaron received his bachelor of music degree on euphonium from Grand Rapids Baptist College in 1992 and his masters degree on tuba from Indiana University School of Music in 1995. Aaron was a brass instructor in the Washington D.C. area in residence with the Monumental Brass Quintet at the Levine School of Music. He has performed with the Monumental Brass Quintet, the Embassy Brass Quintet and the Watchmen Brass Quintet as well as being a solo finalist at the 1995 International Tuba and Euphonium Conference. Currently he is a band director in Greenwood Texas.

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RICHARD L. MOORE
Percussion

Richard L. Moore holds a bachelors and a masters degree from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Music, where he studied with the Nexus percussion ensemble. Currently he is working with Peter Sadlo at the Hochschule F½r Musik in Munich, Germany. Mr. Moore's performing experience has ranged from opera to jazz, new music and musical theatre. Recently Mr. Moore performed with A. De Vantgarde for their Projekte Neur Musik in Munich, Germany.

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SAMUEL MORGANSTEIN
Percussion

Samuel Morganstein holds a masters in music degree from the Cincinnati College, Conservatory of Music and a bachelor of fine arts degree from the State University of New York. He is a freelance percussionist who currently plays with symphony orchestras in both Canada and the United States, notably the Toronto Symphony, the Columbus Symphony, the ProMusic Chamber Orchestra and the North Carolina Symphony.

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ALICIA ROMEO, Harp

Alicia Romeo was first introduced to the harp while working toward her degree in French at Indiana University in Bloomington. She then went on to earn her bachelors degree in music after studying with world renowned harpist, Susann McDonald. The years following her graduation were filled with performances with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, the Maryland Symphony Orchestra and the New England Chamber Ensemble. Alicia was the harp instructor at Virginia Commonwealth University and taught harp and piano lessons to private students. In 1996 Alicia was accepted as a scholarship student to the Manhattan School of Music where she is earning her master's degree.

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JOHN GOULART
Accoustic Guitar

John Goulart has toured extensively throughout Canada and performed as soloist with the Calgary Philharmonic, the Regina Symphony and the Montreal Symphony. He has also won several prizes in major international competitions in Japan, Venezuela, the United States and Canada. John is a recording artist for IBS Records.