La Rondine
by Puccini
July 19, 2019 at 7:30 PM & July 21, 2019 at 2 PM
Theater Wit
1229 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL 60657
Creative Team
Stage Director: Corina Brenciu
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Conductor: Daniel Alfred Wachs
Assistant Conductor: Yael Front |
Assistant Stage Director: Briana Sosenheimer
Musical Preparation: CJ Capen |
Synopsis
As the poet, Prunier, speaks of romance and love, Magda, a prostitute, reminisces about her past. She soon realizes that as the mistress of Rambaldo, she is living without love. That night, she dresses up as a working class woman and goes off to the Bullier nightclub. There, she falls in love with a young man, Ruggero, and decides to leave Rambaldo. Things are going well with the couple until Ruggero surprises Magda, with a proposition of marriage. Magda is then forced to tell the young man about her immoral past. In the end, she feels she must leave Ruggero and leaves him sobbing.
Cast
Magda - Kelly Singer
Kelly Singer hails from Little Rock, Arkansas, and is pursuing a Masters of Music under the tutelage of Shirley Close. Ms. Singer recently won second place in the Ades Vocal Competition at Manhattan School of Music, is a three-time winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Arkansas District, and has performed as a featured soloist with the Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, the Arkansas Choral Society, the University City Symphony Orchestra, the Cherokee Symphony Orchestra, and the Salzburg Voice Festival in Austria. Recent work includes Clorinda in Rossini’s La Cenerentola at Manhattan School of Music, Soeur Constance in Poulenc’s The Dialogues of the Carmelites with Harrower Opera in Atlanta, and Mabel in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance in Little Rock. Upcoming roles include Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with Harrower Opera and Magda in Puccini’s La Rondine with Chicago Summer Opera.
Magda - Kassidy Flick
Kassidy Flick is a Colorado native who recently moved out New York City. She has performed with professional companies in the Colorado region appearing on stage in works such as Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi Fan Tutti, Die Fledermaus, Merry Wives of Windsor, Guys and Dolls, and South Pacific. Now residing in New York City, she has performed in Cendrillon (Noemie) with New York Lyric Theater Opera and Street Scene (Grace Davis) with Mannes Opera. She earned her Bachelor of Music from the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. Ms. Flick had the privilege to study with Matthew Plenk during her undergraduate degree. Now, Ms. Flick is pursuing her Masters of Music at The New School of Performing Arts, Mannes College of Music and will be working with Amy Burton throughout her master’s degree.
Cover Magda - Melanie Culhane
Melanie Culhane is an American soprano that currently studies with Dr. Kathryn Leemhuis at Temple University in Philadelphia where she is pursuing her masters in music degree in Vocal Performance. She recently graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Mississippi with her Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance. She is from Memphis, Tennessee. She has studied with Nancy Maria Balach and Bradley Robinson in the past. Most recently, she performed the role of Melanto in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria at Temple University and Nella in Gianni Schicchi at the Red River Lyric Opera Festival in Wichita Falls, TX. She has also performed in the chorus in La traviata at Opera Memphis. Melanie Culhane has performed in the University of Mississippi Opera Theatre’s full-scale productions of Albert Herring, L’enfant et les sortilèges and Der Schauspieldirektor double-bill production, Hamlet: Prince of Denmark (world premiere), L’elisir d’amore, and The Merry Wives of Windsor and the University of Mississippi Opera Theatre’s scene programs Opera and Musical Theatre Scenes Inspired by Art and Dance, How Can I Keep From Singing, Journeys, and Tradition and Innovation Converge. She has worked as a Choral Scholar for First Presbyterian Church of Oxford and First Baptist Church of Oxford as well. Melanie Culhane served as a member of the Dream Team at Living Music Resource™ for three years. She has participated in Druid City Opera Workshop, Miami Music Festival, Musiktheater Bavaria Opera Workshop, The Living Music Institute, and Red River Lyric Opera Festival. In the upcoming months, Melanie Culhane will be performing the role of Magda (cover) in Puccini's La Rondine at Chicago Summer Opera, and in scenes as Donna Elvira, Second Lady, and Fiordiligi at Chicago Summer Opera.
Lisette - Yuxin Zhou
Originally from Chongqing, China. Yuxin Zhou begun studying piano before voice. She discovered her passion for opera singing at 17, studying with baritone Hong Li before university. She attended the University of Oregon for her undergraduate degree, focusing on vocal performance. There, she sang her first major role of Fiordiligi from Cosi fan tutte. Yuxin Zhou is currently completing her Master of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where she studies with Darlene Wiley. Yuxin Zhou was most recently heard as Nannetta in Falstaff and Servilia in La clemenza di Tito at the Butler Opera Center.
Lisette - Nini Marchese
Nini Marchese, soprano, is pursuing a Master of Music degree at University of North Texas, studying with Molly Fillmore. In the 2018-2019 season, she made several role debuts, including Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute) with Central Florida Lyric Opera, Despina (Così fan tutte) with UNT Opera, and Belinda (Dido and Aeneas) with Fillmore Opera Studio. Some of her past opera roles include Almirena (Rinaldo), Philidel and Venus (King Arthur), Evanco (Rodrigo), Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte) and the title role in Rameau’s Zéphyre. As a concert soloist, she has performed Bach Magnificat, St. John Passion, and portrayed Gläubige Seele in Handel Brockes Passion. An Illinois native, Nini completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign. She is a winner of the Thomas J. Smith Scholarship Competition and the Soirée Lyrique Vocal Competition.
Cover Lisette - Laura Pabon
A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Laura María Pabón began her study of the vocal arts at the age of eighteen in the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico under the tutelage of mezzo-soprano Ilca López. During this time she has had the opportunity to continue with her vocal development and participate in a variety of concerts and musical activities around the island. Laura has sung with a variety of distinguished Puerto Rican ensembles such as the San Juan Philharmonic Chorale and the Lyric Choir of Puerto Rico. She has received additional training in the International Vocal Arts Institute in New York and the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute in Montréal where she participated in a production of Massenet’s Cendrillion. She made her role debut at the age of nineteen in Vozarteum’s production of Handel’s Rinaldo as Armida and is set to perform as Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel for the Opera Workshop of the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico.
Yvette - Jordan Avellino
Jordan Avellino is a soprano from Downingtown, Pennsylvania. She is in her last semester at Bradley University, completing a degree in vocal performance. Jordan plans to continue her education in a graduate program next year. She has studied under Dr. Kerry Walters at Bradley University and Patricia Zanardi and Anna Fre while studying in Milan, Italy, in the fall of 2018. Jordan's favorite opera credits include Angelina in Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury, Mademoiselle Silberklang in Mozart's Der Schauspieldirektor, Bastienna in Mozart's Bastien und Bastienna, and Mirette in Milton Granger's Bluebeard's Waiting Room. Jordan is excited to make her debut with the Chicago Summer Opera program. She would like to thank her vocal coach, Dr. Walters and her mom and dad for all of their continuous support.
Yvette - Jinqiu Pei
Jinqiu Pei, soprano, graduated from Voice Performance and Pedagogy at Westminster Choir College. Ms. Pei has performed Ida (Die Fledermaus) and Mable (The Pirates of Penzance) and has performed in scenes as Madame Herz (Der Schauspieldirektor), First Fairy (Cendrillon) and Poppea (L’incoronazione di Poppea). She participated in Westminster Art Song Festival 2018 as a soloist. She also joined in the programs at the International Masters Academy of Opera 2017, NYC, OperaWorks Winter Intensive 2018, LA and CoOperative 2018, NJ. She performed in the ensemble of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly in the Princeton Festival at McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ. She will be also performing Yvette (La Rondine) in the Chicago Summer Opera this summer.
Bianca - France van Vuuren
A native of Cape Town, South Africa, Frances grew up in Singapore where she began her vocal training under the tutelage of Alexandra Novicova. She is in her third year at the Jacob’s School of Music pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance with a minor in Arts Management. She is a student of Alice Hopper. During her time at Indiana University she has performed in University Singers, Conductor’s Chorus, University Chorale, and the Summer Chorus conducted by Dr. Dominick DiOrio. She was a member of the chorus in Emmanuel Chabrier’s L’etoile and has been a member of the women’s chorus in the IU Ballet Theater’s production of the Nutcracker.
Bianca - Mara Lane
Last summer, Mara Lane performed the role of Miles in The Turn of the Screw with the Chicago Summer Opera as well as the role of She in a special production of Dido and Aeneas with the Atlantic Music Festival. She graduated summa cum laude with honors in Art History and Music from Knox College, where she sang the role of Belinda in Dido and Aeneas. Mara now studies voice with Victoria Vargas in Minneapolis.
Suzy - Gabrielle Hass
Gabrielle Hass is a mezzo-soprano currently attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to gain her Master's in Vocal Performance, with an anticipated graduation date of May 2019. Her operatic credits include the roles of Alisa (Lucia di Lammermoor), Dido (Dido and Aeneas), and the Fairy Queen (Iolanthe), as well as partial studies of Nicklausse (Tales of Hoffman), Romeo (I Capuletti e Montecchi) and Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), among others. She has performed solos in choral works such as John Corigliano’s Fern Hill, Heinrich Schütz’s Magnificat, Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, and Beethoven's Choral Fantasy. Hass is looking forward to performing the role of Sesto in UW-Milwaukee’s La Clemenza di Tito in April. She is currently a Choral Scholar at All Saints Episcopal Cathedral in Milwaukee, singing early music. She received her Bachelor's in Music from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, with emphases in Vocal Performance and Music Industry, and interned in Arts Administration at the Lawrence Academy of Music.
Ruggero - JeongMin Huh
Steven "JeongMin" Huh, Tenor, is from Seoul, South Korea. He has performed the repertoire of Richard Strauss, Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and Richard Wagner. According to South Florida Classical review.com, he has "a robust tenor voice to combine baritonal lower register with high notes that have real ping." He earned a Bachelor of Art and Science in Sociology at Georgia State University. Currently, he is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Voice Performance at Georgia State University. He has studied with tenor Jungsub Meng, and baritone Jai-Hwan Lee in Korea. Currently, he is studying with baritone Dwight Coleman, a professor of voice and Director of External Relations for the School of Music at Georgia State University. He was the 3rd place winner at Yega Voice competition in Seoul, South Korea. He was the 1st place winner at NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) Southeast region in Deland, FL. He was a finalist in the 2018 New York Lyric Opera Competition. For last two years, he has performed four recitals in Michigan and Georgia. His opera debut was as the “Italian singer” in Richard Strauss’s Opera Der Rosenkavalier in the Harrower Opera Workshop in Atlanta, GA. He has been an apprentice artist with the Miami Music Festival for last two years. During that time, he played “Howard Boucher” in Jake Heggie’s opera Dead Man Walking and “Ruggero” in Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Rondine. His upcoming performances are Gilbo in Gunyong Lee’s Opera “Spring Spring” in Atlanta, a recital in Johns Creek United Methodist Church and Puccini’s opera La Rondine “Ruggero” withChicago Summer Opera. Currently, he is performing with Opera on Tap Atlanta and Atlanta Music Friends. He is also a soloist in Atlanta Christian Men’s Choir, Bathel’s Choir in Saehan Presbyterian church of Atlanta and the Chancel Choir in Johns Creek United Methodist Church.
Ruggero - Taicheng Li
Tenor, Taicheng Li, is a graduated Master student of Manhattan School of Music. Previous credits include the Instructor in Lei Feng and Alfredo Germont in La traviata scenes, the Prince in Cendrillon, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi at Manhattan School of Music, soloist in the Great Choral Suite “Ask the Sky and the Earth” at Lincoln Center, soloist for one of the work of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy for the Neidorff-Karpati Hall grand reopening night concert of Manhattan School of Music, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Fritz in L’amico Fritz, Cacaliere in Il Biaggo a Reims in Italy Lyric Art, and soloist in Serenade of Music by Vaughan Williams at Carnegie Concert Hall.
Prunier - Giwooung Kim
Giwooung Kim (Tenor), from South Korea, studied voice at the Seoul National University. Giwooung Kim
made his opera debut as ‘Gastone’ in ‘La traviata’ with the Seoul Metropolitan Opera Theater in
2007. After his debut, Giwooug Kim performed roles in operas such as "Don Carlos" , "La
forza del destino", "Andrea Chenier", "Manon Lescaut", and "Tosca" from 2007 to 2010. After graduating from Seoul National University in 2013, Giwooung Kim worked in the Ministry of National Defense Military Band and performed for world leaders such as the US President Barak Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pope Francis. After military service in 2015, Giwooung Kim prepared to study abroad and entered Cleveland institute of music in 2018. Giwooung Kim currently studies with Professor Clifford Billions.
made his opera debut as ‘Gastone’ in ‘La traviata’ with the Seoul Metropolitan Opera Theater in
2007. After his debut, Giwooug Kim performed roles in operas such as "Don Carlos" , "La
forza del destino", "Andrea Chenier", "Manon Lescaut", and "Tosca" from 2007 to 2010. After graduating from Seoul National University in 2013, Giwooung Kim worked in the Ministry of National Defense Military Band and performed for world leaders such as the US President Barak Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pope Francis. After military service in 2015, Giwooung Kim prepared to study abroad and entered Cleveland institute of music in 2018. Giwooung Kim currently studies with Professor Clifford Billions.
Rambaldo - Brian Fenderson
Brian L. Fenderson, baritone, will be making his role debut as Rambaldo in Puccini's La Rondine with Chicago Summer Opera July 2019. Brian will be performing in the Opera Delaware production of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking in April 2019. In 2018, Brian completed the Bay View Music Festival SOARS 2-week intensive vocal training program in Michigan. The summer productions of Gianni Schicchi (Marco), and H.M.S. Pinafore (Sailor Freddie) with Red River Lyric Opera in Texas, and traveled to Cardiff, Wales to study at the International Academy of Voice under greats such as tenor, Dennis O'Neill CBE and sopranos, Dame Kiri te Kanawa and Nuccia Focile. In March, Brian performed in an outreach performance of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with the Opera Theatre of Montclair, where he debuted the role of Papageno. In 2017, Brian performed with the New York Lyric Opera in their annual Opera Gala at Carnegie Hall. In July 2017, Brian participated in the MusikTheater Bavaria Summer Training Program in Germany, where he performed in numerous opera/operetta scenes, sang in a masterclass for Stephen Hopkins of the Wiener Staatsoper, participated in a mock audition for German Agent, Antonia Klein, and studied under a host of world class musicians. Brian L. Fenderson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the Lincoln University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Delaware, where he studied under the tutelage of Dr. Isai Jess Muñoz.