The Elixir of Love Artist Bios

José Maria Condemi’s (Stage Director) current engagements include a new production of Ernani for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Il trovatore for Seattle Opera, and Faust for San Francisco Opera. In 2008-09 he directed Tristan und Isolde at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Orfeo ed Euridice for West Bay Opera, Le nozze di Figaro for Livermore Valley Opera, L’elisir d’amore and Tosca for San Francisco Opera, a new Die Zauberflöte for Opera San José, the world premiere of Don Davis’s Río de Sangre for Florentine Opera, and Ainadamar for Cincinnati Opera. Mr. Condemi has staged Luisa Miller for Canadian Opera Company, Il barbiere di Siviglia for Lyric Opera Chicago, Don Giovanni for Cincinnati and Portland Operas, Maria Padilla for Minnesota Opera, Il trovatore for Austin Lyric Opera, Così fan tutte for Seattle Opera Young Artist Program, L’elisir d’amore and Don Pasquale with Opera San Jose, Il barbiere di Siviglia for Lake George Opera, Susannah and Roméo et Juliette with Festival Opera, the Western Opera Theater’s national tours of Die Fledermaus and Don Giovanni, and Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias for University of Cincinnati, a production which earned him first prize in the 2000 USA National Opera Association competition. As a former Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera, he directed Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi and La Bohème for the Merola Opera Program and Così fan tutte for the main stage. A Fulbright Scholar from 1998 until 2000, he is also a recipient of the Argentina National Endowment for the Arts Awards.
   
  Pamila Gray (Lighting Designer) has previously designed lighting for the Sacramento Opera’s productions of Aida, Die Fledermaus, Otello, Tosca, The Pirates of Penzance, and La Bohème. She designs for several companies in the San Francisco Bay area including Opera San Jose, American Musical Theatre, TheatreWorks, and Marin Theatre Company. Her work has been seen in Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Sacramento, Ft. Lauderdale, Colorado Springs, and Washington D.C. Before moving to California, she spent time in Houston, where she designed for The Alley Theatre, Houston Grand Opera, and Theatre Under The Stars, among others. Her recent work has won her Drama-Logue Awards in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, six Bay Area Critic’s Circle Awards and numerous nominations, and four Dean Goodman Choice Awards. Ms. Gray is a graduate of Northwestern University.
   
Robin Gray, (Production Stage Manager) is in her seventh season for the Sacramento Opera. Her credits here include Carmen, La Boheme, Faust, La Traviata, Tales of Hoffman, Hansel and Gretel, Don Giovanni, La Cenerentola, Madama Butterfly, The Barber of Seville, Die Fledermaus, Turandot, Cosi fan tutte, Aida, Otello, The Turn of the Screw, Tosca, The Pirates of Penzance, The Marriage of Figaro, and La Bohème. Ms. Gray’s other opera credits include The Aspern Papers at Dallas Opera (starring Frederika von Stade and filmed for Great Performances) and Dead Man Walking (both at Cincinnati and Pittsburgh Operas and radio broadcast on NPR). She has stage managed operas also in West Palm Beach, Raleigh, Atlanta, and New Jersey. Her musical theatre credits are many and include Broadway and national tours of Man of LaMancha, Jesus Christ Superstar, Annie, The Magic of David Copperfield, Tap Dogs, Phantom of the Opera, and Hello Dolly. She recently stage managed a Motown revue at Bally’s in Atlantic City, and The Sound of Music in Minneapolis.
   
Carrie Hennessey (Gianetta), lyric soprano, is currently preparing for the upcoming season with Townsend Opera Players as Hanna (The Merry Widow), and Cinnabar Theater in the title role of Emmeline in the May 2010 West Coast premiere. Ms. Hennessey recently performed with West Bay Opera as Mimi in La Boheme, Mendocino Music Festival as soprano soloist in Stravinsky’s ballet Pulcinella and has performed with members of the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra in Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 for Voice and Eight Cellos. Ms. Hennessey is currently working with the Sacramento Opera’s Community Engagement programs to direct the April 2010 run of Brundibar and has performed and directed the opera Green Eggs and Ham with students in Rocklin, CA. Ms. Hennessey toured with the Tony Award Winning Theatre de la Jeune Lune and performed in the opera fusion productions Figaro and Don Juan Giovanni at the esteemed American Repertory Theatre, and the Tony Award Winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre. She has premiered and performed original works of composer Hiram Titus since 2003. Their most exciting collaboration is the release of her CD “A Prelude to Summer,” available through www.carriehennessey.com. She continued her passion for new music by performing two songs written for orchestra and soprano set to the poetry of Alexander Pushkin in composer Aaron Fiore’s recital at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in May 2009.
   
Ming Luke (Chorus Master). Conductor Ming Luke is the Chorus Master for the Sacramento Opera, Director and Conductor for the Berkeley Symphony's education programs, Music Director of the Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra, Associate Conductor of the Modesto Symphony, and the General Director of the Napa Valley Youth Symphony. Prior to his appointments in Northern California, he was a staff conductor for the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh and helped prepare the choir for such conductors as Charles Dutoit, André Previn, Mariss Jansons, Michael Stern, and Lucas Richman. Recognized nationally for his work in music education, Luke has been involved with numerous youth ensembles during his career and was President of the largest collegiate chapter of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC). He has experience with the major music education systems and methods including: Orff, Gordon, Dalcroze, Kodály, and Suzuki. He has served as a panelist for the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA). Ming Luke holds a Master of Fine Arts in Conducting from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Piano Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College of Rider University. Luke studied at the Pierre Monteux School and has served on the Grants and Cultural Committee of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission.
   
Timm Rolek, (Conductor) The 2009-2010 Season marks Mr. Rolek’s twelfth season as Artistic Director of the Sacramento Opera and sixth as Artistic Director and Conductor of the prestigious Lake Tahoe Music Festival. Formerly he was Music Director of the Grand Forks Symphony (1995–2005) and Heartland Symphony (1993–1998) and a member of the conducting staff at the Metropolitan Opera. He is a busy guest conductor on both the concert and operatic stages, having led performances with Nevada Opera, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Skylight Opera Theatre, Chatauqua Opera, Opera Delaware, Rimrock Opera, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Minneapolis Civic, and Glacier Symphonies, as well as the Ravinia Festival. He has recorded Jerre Tanner’s The Kona Coffee Cantata with the Prague Chamber Orchestra, and Joseph Fennimore’s Eventide (both on the Albany/Troy label). He conducted the American premiere of Ernst Krenek’s Das Geheime Koenigreich and has participated in the Pierre Boulez / IRCAM composers and conductors workshop at Carnegie Hall. Twin Cities Public Television KTCA-2 has featured Maestro Rolek on their two-time Emmy Award-winning program Arts on 2, and, in conjunction with Northern Lights Public Radio, he produced a nine-part radio-program called Music In Our Century. He has been a frequent judge for competitions including the National Council Auditions for the Metropolitan Opera. Under his tenure, the Grand Forks Symphony secured awards from ‘Meet The Composer’ and ‘Chamber Music America.’ After studying composition at the University of Minnesota, Maestro Rolek studied conducting with Herbert Blomstedt, Sir Neville Marriner, Klaus Tennstedt, and James Levine.
   
David Small (Belcore), baritone. In 1991, he debuted his Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and subsequently has enjoyed over one hundred performances of the role. He made his Austin Lyric Opera (ALO) debut in this signature role in 1998 and repeated it for ALO in the 2007 season. His Figaro has charmed audiences for the opera companies of Des Moines, Fresno, Nevada, Dayton, Toledo, Lyric Opera Cleveland and touring France and Spain with Il Teatro Lyrico d’Europa. Mr. Small’s repertoire also includes Escamillo (Carmen), Dr. Malatesta (Don Pasquale), Belcore (L’Elisir d’Amore), The Pirate King (Pirates of Penzance), Girard (Andrea Chenier), Valentin (Faust), Danilo (Merry Widow), Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Il Conte d’Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Guglielmo (Cosi fan Tutte), Papageno (The Magic Flute), The Four Villains (Les Contes d’Hoffman), Marcello (La Bohème), Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), High Priest (Samson & Delilah), Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus), Faninal (Der Rosenkavalier), Germont (La Traviata) and others. Mr. Small sang and recorded the role of Tony in Menotti’s Help, Help the Globolinks! for Madison Opera. In addition to numerous recitals with pianists such as Anton Nel, Anne Epperson, and John Novacek, he has appeared as soloist with St. Louis Symphony, Cincinnati May Festival, Austin Symphony, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic, Canton Symphony, Missouri Symphony, and Bravo! Colorado Music Festival. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in the Lord Nelson Mass and Schubert’s Mass in G with John Rutter conducting.
   
Katrina Thurman (Adina), soprano, possesses a distinctively beautiful and sizable instrument, which is enlivened by her magnetic, fiery performance, and dramatic intent. Ms. Thurman embarks upon her 2009-2010 season with Belinda in Dido & Aeneas with the The Yard and a recording of Louis Karchin’s opera, Romulus, on the Naxos label. In the 2008-2009 season, Ms. Thurman debuted with Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Musetta in La Bohème, sang Amy in Little Women for Syracuse Opera, and joined Florida Grand Opera as Ellen in Lakmé, Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro, and the cover of Clorinda in La Cenerentola. The 2007-2008 season saw Ms. Thurman as Rose in Lakmé and Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte with Tulsa Opera and returning to Glimmerglass Opera to cover Bianca/Lois Lane in Kiss Me Kate. Other performance highlights include Ms. Thurman’s French opera debut as Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos with Opéra National de Lyon following her critically acclaimed German debut as Vénus in Rameau's Dardanus, and Mrs. Naidoo in Phillip Glass’ Satyagraha with Oper Bonn. Ms. Thurman sang Musetta in La Bohème with Piedmont Opera and created the role of Martha in the world premiere of Romulus by Louis Karchin with American Opera Projects. Ms. Thurman is a winner of first place and audience choice in the 2008 Classical Singer Magazine Competition. She holds a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music from Oklahoma City University.
   
Dinyar Vania (Nemorino), tenor, has performed as Rodolfo in La Bohème at New York City Opera, Opera Roanoke, Knoxville Opera, and Madison Opera; Meleagros in Mark Adamo’s Lysistrata at New York City Opera, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at Syracuse Opera, Cavaradossi in Tosca at Dallas Opera, Nevada Opera Theater, and Sacramento Opera; and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at Cedar Rapids Opera Theater. He made his debut with Opera Delaware in a Gala Concert followed with his first Alfredo in La Traviata at Opera Cleveland, then again with Metro Lyric Opera. He was a featured soloist in the New York City Opera in The Parks concert series. At the prestigious International Vocal Arts Academy in Tel Aviv (Israel) he performed excerpts from Lucia di Lammermoor under the baton of Maestro Paul Nadler and the New Israeli Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Vania celebrated his Carnegie Hall debut as tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, as part of a Pakistani Earthquake Relief Concert, and also sang the symphony with the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed holiday concerts with the Naples Philharmonic, Verdi Concerts with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, and Verdi Requiem with Dayton Symphony Orchestra. His awards include Artist of the Year Award from Syracuse Opera, First Place in the Giulio Gari International Vocal Competition, Second Place in the Licia Albanese-Puccini Competition. He was a semi-finalist in Placido Domingo’s Operalia in Madrid.
   
Igor Vieira (Dr. Dulcamara), baritone, is hailed by Opera News as “superb” and “show-stealing.” Igor Vieira made his professional debut in his native Brazil, at age 17 singing the role of Dancaïre in Bizet’s Carmen. Subsequent roles have included Belcore in L’elisir d’Amore, the title role in Don Giovanni, Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Ford in Falstaff, Lescaut in Manon Lescaut and most recently the title role in Pelleas et Melisande. Mr. Vieira has sung 57 operatic roles with such companies as the Rio de Janeiro Opera, The Amazonian Opera Festival, Opera de Villecroze (France), Teatro Barakaldo (Spain), Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Theater of Philadelphia, West Bay Opera, Berkeley Opera, San Francisco Lyric Opera, Rimrock Opera, Fremont Opera, Festival Opera, and Opera Santa Barbara. He was world finalist of the 1995 Luciano Pavarotti Voice Competition in Philadelphia, and a past member of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City Apprentice Program.