Ariadne Auf Naxos - Roster

Alison Buchanan

Ariadne & Prima Donna

British soprano Alison Buchanan has performed on both sides of the Atlantic, the Middle East and Asia in repertoire that ranges from the Baroque to the Contemporary. She first came to international attention when she, at the last minute, replaced Monserratt Caballé with the Royal Philharmonic at the Proms in London.

Since then she has made débuts at the New York City Opera as Bess in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, the San Francisco Opera as Mimi in La Bohème, the Opera Company of Philadelphia as Antonia in Les Contes d'Hoffman and the Los Angeles Opera where she covered as Nedda in I Pagliacci alongside Placido Domingo, directed by Franco Zefferelli.

In the 1999/2000 season, touring with Sir Collin Davis and the European Union Youth Orchestra lead to further performances with the esteemed maestro, including Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with the Bayerischen Rundfunk in Munich and Britten's Peter Grimes with the London Symphony. She has also appeared as soloist with the BBC Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall in London, the Haydn Chamber Orchestra in Haydn's Creation for the Covent Garden Opera Festival and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera.

A graduate of the Guildhall School of Music in England and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia (as a Wingate Fellow and Countess Munster Award recipient), she is the winner of several international competitions including the Luciano Pavarotti, the Kathleen Ferrier, the Washington International and the Maggie Tayte, which enabled her to make her Royal Opera House recital début.

An avid new music lover, Buchanan has most recently performed the role of Maude in a concert version of Victor Herbert's Eileen with the Little Orchestra Society of New York, the lead role of the Spirits in the world premiere of Elena Ruehr's Toussaint Before The Spirits with the Boston Modern Opera Project and Blanch in André Previn's opera A Street Car Named Desire, under the composer's direction.

Upcoming performances include appearances at the Blumenthal Festival in Israel, the Jacksonville (FL) and Philippines symphonies and a US tour with the Ritz Chamber Players.

Iris Fairfax             top

(Zerbinetta)

Soprano Iris Fairfax is a versatile artist who performs roles in the soubrette, lyric coloratura and dramatic coloratura Fachs. Her repertoire spans the idioms of opera, early and contemporary classical music, traditional music theater and the American Songbook.

Miss Fairfax is one of the "Three Mo' Sopranos," a trio of ladies who present concerts of operatic arias and ensembles, art songs, spirituals, musical theater, and old standards.

Recent operatic mainstage credits for the Philadelphia native include: Mabel, Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance, OperaDelaware, Lucy/Treemonisha cover, Scott Joplin's Treemonisha with the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, First Lady in Mozart's Die Zauberflote with OperaDelaware, Euridice in Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld at the Trinity Center for Urban Life (Philadelphia, PA), and Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata with the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia. She also added the role of Susan in Stephen Sondheim's Company to her music theater resume (Trinity Center). Miss Fairfax has appeared as a featured soloist at the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival in Wilmington, DE (Duke Ellington Sacred Concerts) for the past five summers

She has performed the roles of Monica in The Medium and Laetitia in The Old Maid and the Thief (both by Menotti), as well as Madame Goldentrill in Mozart's The Impresario, with Opera North; Zerbinetta in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos with the Liederkranz Opera Theatre (which also awarded her a career grant); and Frasquita in Bizet's Carmen with OperaDelaware. The soprano received acclaim for her portrayals of both Bess and Clara in the Living Arts international tour of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.

Miss Fairfax has sung with the Delaware and Lancaster Symphonies (soprano soloist, Khatchaturian Piano Concerto), Cincinnati Opera, Pioneer Valley Symphony (soprano soloist, Carmina Burana), Philadelphia Singers, and the Cincinnati Composers' Guild. Additionally, she has performed in the Encores! Series at City Center in New York City (revival, Arlen's St. Louis Woman), as well as the American Music Theater Festival (premiere, Geri Allen's Fur on the Belly).

Iris is the recipient of several awards and honors, including: First place, New York Vocal Artists Millennium Competition; Legacy Award, National Opera Association Competition; career grant, Gerda Lissner Competition.

Lori-Kaye Miller            top

(Composer)

Bernard Abervandana            top

Tenor (the Tenor & Bacchus)

Bernard Abervandana, born in Jamaica and is a British Citizen resident in the UK. He studied at Thames Valley University, and then went on to postgraduate Studies at and Avery Hill College, University of Greenwich and the Welsh College of Music and Drama, University of Cardiff. ALCM, Piano & Voice respectively; LLCM(TD) Piano; LLCM Voice; GLCM (Music Degree); Postgraduates PGCE & ACWCMD. He currently studies voice with Josephine Veasey CBE and under her guidance has recently made the transition from lyric tenor repertoire to the more lyrico spinto / Dramatic tenor repertoire.

He made his debut with the English National Opera singing Henry Davies in Street Scene (Weill) and at Battersea Arts Centre he appeared as Leader Lost in the Stars (Weill). Bernard Abervandana joined Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Glyndebourne Touring opera in their productions of Simon Boccanegra directed by Sir Peter Hall and Porgy and Bess directed by Trevor Nunn and conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. He made his Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, debut singing the role of Robins Porgy and Bess conducted by Andrew Litton, which was relayed live on BBC radio 3. The production was filmed by Prime Time TV, and recorded by EMI records. At the Theatro Nacional De Sao Carlos in Lisbon he appeared as Mingo Porgy and Bess.

Very early in his career, Bernard Abervandana appeared in the Opera North and Royal Shakespeare Company joint production of Show Boat directed by Ian Judge. With Opera Ireland he performed in Don Giovanni, Peter Grimes and Madama Butterfly, with British Youth Opera he performed the role of Don Ottavio Don Giovanni; other roles performed also early in his career are Belmonte Abduction from the Seraglio, at the Riverside Studio, Hammersmith and on a UK tour. Mr Abervandana also on UK tour with the Pegasus Opera Company, performed the roles of Fenton Falstaff, Tamino Magic Flute, and Don José Carmen.

Bernard Abervandana has also performed a number of roles by twentieth century composers including Monsieur Jullien Mary Seacole (Richard Chew) conducted by the composer at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester and St Stephen Four Saints in Three Acts (Thompson) at the Almeida Festival, London. He has also appeared at the Lucerne Festival, Switzerland and the Orange Festival in France.

Recently he appeared in the Purcell Room at London's South Bank Centre in an evening of Richard Strauss music in which he sang scenes and arias from the roles of Narraboth Salome, Bacchus Ariadne auf Naxos and Der Kaiser Die Frau ohne Schatten. He performed the role of Bacchus Ariadne auf Naxos with English Touring Opera; also with Lillian Bayliss concert of contemporary music at Royal Festival Hall with London Philharmonic Orchestra. Most recent, he sang Raguel Tobias and the Angel, & covered Schoolmaster Cunning little Vixen all with English Touring Opera. Future engagements include Canio I Pagliacci, a co-production with English touring Opera and Pegasus Opera Company.

DeAndre Simmons            top

a Music Teacher & Harlequin

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Ørjan Hartveit            top

Baritone (the Major-domo & a Lakai)

The award-winning, Norwegian baritone Ørjan Hartveit trained with Omar Ebrahim in London, where he also took part in master classes with Elly Ameling, Graham Johnson, Malcolm Martineau and Roger Vignoles.

Recent recital appearances include Troldhaugen (the home of Edvard Grieg in Bergen) and the Old Royal Naval College (London) with the internationally acclaimed accompanist Eugene Asti. In concert he has sung Bach Magnificat; Berlioz L'enfance du Christ with Paul Daniel; Carpentier Te Deum; Britten Rejoice in the Lamb and masses by Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Stravinsky. Operatic roles include Count Almaviva (The Marriage of Figaro); Raguel's Men (Jonathan Dove: Tobias and the Angel); Dr. Hasselbacher (Malcolm Williamson: Our Man In Havana) and Liberto (L'incoronazione di Poppea).

Ørjan will return to the Merkin Hall with Ensemble du Monde for the world premier of a new work by the American composer Hampson Sisler in May 2007.

Darnell Ishmel            top

Bass baritorn (a Wig maker & Truffaldino)

Described as show stealing and commended for his "...rich baritone, precise diction and superb comic timing, which kept the enthusiastic audience entertained." by the New York Times, Darnell Ishmel is a native of Lansing, Michigan, and received both his undergraduate and graduate education at the University of Michigan School of Music in Ann Arbor, Michigan where he studied voice performance with Dr. Willis C. Patterson and Professor Daniel Washington.

As an opera singer, Darnell has performed over a dozen opera roles including: The Policeman in Menotti's The Consul, the Parson and the Badger in Janácek's The Cunning Little Vixen, Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola by Rossini, Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors by Menotti, Simone in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, and the title role in the world premiere staging and recording of James Dapogny's revival of the long-lost James P. Johnson blues opera De Organizer.

Other opera credits also include the role of Don Alfonso in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte with the Studio LiricoOpera Training Program in Anghiari, Italy under the direction of the late Talmage Fauntleroy. He has appeared in the role of Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Houston Ebony Opera Guild under the baton of Maestro Willie Anthony Waters. Most recently he appeared in the role of Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Martina Arroyo Foundation's Prelude to Performance opera training program, under the direction of Maestro Steven Crawford.

David Gordon            top

Tenor (Dancing Master & Brighella)

David Gordon's operatic roles include Don Jose (Carmen), Bacchus ( Ariadne auf Naxos), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Rodolfo (La Boheme), Alfredo (La Traviata), The Male Chorus ( The Rape of Lucretia), and the Governor (Candide). He has recently performed in plays by Samuel Beckett, an a capella Alice in Wonderland by Peter Westergaard, and a reading of a new musical, Runway 69, which he also directed. He has performed with the New York City Opera, Opera Company of Brooklyn, Bronx Opera, Lake George Opera Festival, Fort Worth Opera, Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra, Central City Opera, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Kalistos Orchestra, the Mozart Society of Harvard College, Camerata New York, Manhattan School of Music and the University of Michigan.

Jacob Feldman            top

Tenor (an Officer & Scaramouche)

Tenor Jacob Feldman has been recognized both in Canada and the United States for his superb stage presence, musical sensitivity, and compelling characterizations. His repertoire comprises all the character tenor and much of the operetta canons. He received great acclaim for his portrayal of the title role in Britten's Albert Herring during the inaugural 2004 season of New Jersey Opera Theater in Princeton NJ and will be returning to NJOT in 2006 for their Falstaff as Dr Caius and for the Double Bill of Gianni Schicchi/Buoso's Ghost as Gherrardo.He has also performed at the Liederkranz Music Society in New York, including performances as Vasek in The Bartered Bride, and both Phillipe and Alexander in Romberg's The New Moon.

Jake spent the summer of 2002 at Seagle Music Colony, where he was both Pirelli in Sweeney Todd and Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. He also attended the Natchez Opera Festival that spring, as Beppe in Pagliacci, and as repititeur for Seymour Barab's The Toy Shop. He has also spent summers at the Orford Music Festival (Scaramuccio in Ariadne auf Naxos), Summer Opera Lyric Theater of Toronto (Bardolfo in Falstaff) and College Light Opera Company (Various roles including Nanki-Poo in Mikado).

Jake began his musical studies at the age of five in his native Boston, studying classical at the All Newton Music School. His introduction to theater came in 1989 when, at eleven years old, he was asked to perform the role of Young Patrick in Mame at Needham Community Theater, directed by J. Scott Brummit. He continued his theater and vocal studies at Camp Encore/Coda in Sweden, ME for six summers, and at the New England Conservatory Extension Division, with Tenor William Cotten. Jake received a Bachelor of Music Degree with High Distinction in 2001 from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, having begun a degree in Biology before concentrating solely on music.

His performance experience at McGill included Don Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro and Spalanzani and Frantz in Les Contes d'Hoffmann with Opera McGill, Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors with McGill Player's Theater, and Jack Point in The Yeomen of the Guard with The McGill Savoy Society. He also served as vocal coach and repititeur at the Savoy Society for The Mikado, HMS Pinafore, and Iolanthe.

Jake resides in Astoria, Queens, where he has lived since 2002. He currently studies with former Metropolitan Opera Baritone Mark Oswald.

Melissa Cintron            top

soprano (Naiad)

Victoria Weil            top

mezzo-soprano (Dryad)

American mezzo-soprano Victoria Weil is well versed in both classical and contemporary repertoire and has performed locally and abroad. After completing her studies at the New England Conservatory, she spent two years as an apprentice artist with the Santa Fe Opera where, during the first season, she sang the role of Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos. During her second year, she participated in the American premiere of Venus and Adonis (Henze) as one of the madrigals. Victoria later repeated this role in Amsterdam at the Concertgebouw under the baton of Markus Stenz. Favorite roles include Dorabella, Hansel, Siebel, Mercedes, and Tisbe. She has sung with Santa Fe Opera, Natchez Opera, Tanglewood , New Jersey State Repertory Theater, NYOP, Belleayre Festival, Taconic Opera and New Rochelle Opera. Recently, Victoria made her Carnegie Hall debut as the alto soloist in Mozart's Missa Brevis. Victoria lives in NYC and studies with Rita Shane.

Sasha Leinster            top

(Echo)

Hilda Harris            top

host

Mezzo-soprano Hilda Harris, formerly a leading artist of the Metropolitan Opera, has performed throughout the United States and Europe. A native of Warrenton, North Carolina, she is known for her portrayals of the "trouser" roles in the mezzo repertoire. She has established herself as a singing actress and has earned critical acclaim in opera, on the concert stage, and in recital. At the Metropolitan Opera, she made her debut as the Student in Lulu and also sang Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), the Child (L'Enfant et les sortilèges), Siebel (Faust), Stephano (Roméo et Juliette), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel), and Sesto (Giulio Cesare). During her extensive career, she has sung such roles as Carmen in St. Gallen, Switzerland; Brussels; and Budapest. In Holland and Belgium she sang the roles of Dorabella (Così fan tutte) and Rosina (Barber of Seville), and the title role in La Cenerentola.

She has also sung leading roles with the San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Seattle Opera, Spoleto USA, and the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds in Italy. She has appeared extensively in symphonic and oratorio repertoire with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Quebec Symphony, Helsinki Orchestra, Sweden's Malmö, Symphony and the radio orchestras of Hilversum in the Netherlands.

Her accomplishments have been documented in And So I Sing, by Rosalyn M. Story; Black Women in America, an Historical Encyclopedia, edited by Darlene Clark Hines; The Music of Black Americans by Eileen Southern; and African-American Singers by Patricia Turner.

Ms. Harris's discography includes Hilda Harris (a solo album); The Valley Wind (songs of Hale Smith); Art Songs by Black American Composers (album); X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X (CD); From the South Land, songs and Spirituals by Harry T. Burleigh (CD); and Witness, Volume II, compositions by William Grant Still (CD).

Ms. Harris taught voice at Howard University from 1991 through 1994 and is presently a member of the voice faculties of Sarah Lawrence College and Manhattan School of Music. She maintains a private studio in New York City and is on the voice faculty at the Chautauqua Institution during the summer months.

Marlon Daniel            top

conductor

Described as "?a natural and enormous talent." by the Chicago Sun Times, conductor Marlon Daniel has performed in venues in that range from the Rudolfinum in Prague to Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. He has made débuts with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra (Cantus Firmus), the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra in Bulgaria, the Praga Sinfonietta, Hradec Králové and Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic in the Czech Republic and at several international music festivals including the prestigious Les Musicales de Pontivy Festival (France), Santander (Spain), Fontainebleau (France) and the 13th International Music Festival in Kroměříž, (Czech Republic). In 2002 he had the honor of conducting a performance at the world première inauguration of the new MAYBACH Car sponsored by Daimler Chrysler and Mercedes Benz (DE), an event that received multimedia press coverage worldwide.

He has received numerous prizes and awards including the 2003 Hazel Scott Memorial Prize for Outstanding Musical Achievement, a Rose Hanus Fellowship, the M.C. Lawton Civic and Cultural Club Grant for Musical Development, the Mabel Henderson Memorial Grant for Foreign Experience, a Capitol Region Foundation Grant for Arts in Education and an Honorary Key to the City of Chicago for Outstanding Musical Achievement bestowed by the late Mayor Harold Washington.

Although focusing his career as a conductor he continues to perform as a concert pianist and chamber musician. A graduate of Manhattan School of Music, he holds both a Masters of Arts and Bachelors of Music degree. He also holds Diplomas from Le Conservatoire Américain (Fontainebleau France), Centro de Estudios Musicales Isaac Albeniz (Santander, Spain), an Advance Performance Certificate from the American Conservatory of Music Young Artists Program and most recently Post Graduate Diplomas from the Prague Academy and the Prague Conservatory.

He began to play the piano at an early age but did not receive formal training until age thirteen. His first teacher was Kathryn Gladden, a former pupil of Moriz Rosenthal (a student of Franz Liszt). Later he studied with Alexander Edelmann (of whom he was the last student), Arkady Aronov, Nicolai Lomov, Miyoko Nakaya Lotto and Salvatore Spina. Conducting studies were made with Bĕlohlávek, Harold Farberman, David Gilbert, Tomáš Koutník and Miriam Nĕmcová.

His musical development has also been shaped by the influence of Dmitri Bashkirov, Gaby Casadesus, Pavlina Dokovska, Vladimir Feltsman, Richard Goode, Larry Rachleff, Jerome Rose, Louis Salemno, Mariusz Smolij, Kirk Trevor, František Vajnar and Oxana Yablonskaya.

Mr. Daniel is the Music Director and Conductor of Ensemble du Monde. He is Associate Conductor of the Prague Sinfonietta, former Music Director of Manhattan Virtuosi chamber orchestras and a former member of the New York Philharmonic Conductor's Round Table. Upcoming concerts include orchestra, recitals and solo appearances in London, Norway, Paris, Prague, Moscow and New York.

Daniela Candillari            top

vocal coach

Daniela Candillari started playing the piano at the age of five, initially taking lessons with her grandmother and then at a music school in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. Ms. Candillari received her Bachelor of Music and Masters Degree in Piano Performance from Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Graz, Austria. Upon completion of her studies she began work on a Doctorate in Musicology at University of Vienna, Austria. Combined with her doctorate she also studied with the world-renowned pianist and chamber musician Paul Gulda. In 2004 Ms. Candillari was awarded a Fulbright scholarship at Indiana University, where she recently gained Masters Degree in Jazz studies.

Alongside her mainstay studies Ms. Candillari has participated in master classes with some of Europe's finest professors and performers including Roger Vignoles, Thomas Zehetmair, Arnulf von Arnim, and members of the Vienna String Sextet.

Since age seven Ms. Candillari has given numerous recitals throughout Europe, United States, and Canada. Interests in chamber music and orchestral works have resulted in her various recording collaborations as well as radio and TV productions throughout Europe. In summer 2005 Ms. Candillari has been invited by Håkan Hagegård to Stockholm for performances of Dominick Argento's From the Diary of Virginia Woolf and Ture Rangström's Ur Kung Eriks Visor. Recently Ms. Candillari collaborated with Bravo Channel production on TV series Shakespeare in Music.

As an opera coach Ms. Candillari worked at Indiana University Opera Theatre, Brevard Music Festival, Charley Creek Workshop, and has been invited to various festivals in the US and Europe. In the 2006/2007 season she has been called back to Indiana University Opera Theatre as a German Diction Coach, and later in the year, as an official pianist for the International Vocal Arts Institute.

Rafael Gallegos            top

Stage Director & Set Design

Rafael Gallegos is co-founder and director of Conspiracy Laboratory (ConLab), a Brooklyn-based experimental and interdisciplinary theatre ensemble. ConLab's creations include Going, Going, Gone! about the steroid scandal in baseball, Glenn Gould's Contrapuntal Theatre, 1984. and the upcoming Zen/Tea, a site-specific work based on Japanese tea ceremony and set at the LDC Garden in Bushwick where ConLab is the company in residence. Rafael has served as assistant director for Chuck Hudson, John Jesurun, and Moises Kaufman. Born in Lubbock, TX, Rafael trained at the University of New Mexico and is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab.