Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
Rocky Mountain Region
| Colorado-Wyoming
District Finalists Regional Winners in Boldface and Linked to Biographies Below |
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| 1986 White Eagle, tenor Kathryn Garber, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Hagedorn, soprano Gena Jeffries, soprano Glen McGrath, tenor John Ryan, baritone Gregory Stapp, bass |
1987 Tracy Bidleman, soprano Mark Calkins, tenor Kathryn Garber, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Hagedorn, soprano Gena Jeffries, soprano Gregory Stapp, bass Catherine Stoltz, mezzo-soprano |
1988 Kevin Anderson, tenor John Armstrong, baritone Elena Batman, soprano Gregory Cross, tenor Molly Donnelly, mezzo-soprano Kathryn Garber, mezzo-soprano Gail Sullivan, soprano |
1989 John Armstrong, baritone Elizabeth Croy, soprano Rebecca Eichenberger, soprano April Foreman, soprano Kathryn Garber, mezzo-soprano Gena Jeffries, soprano Barry Johnson, baritone |
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| 1990 John Armstrong, baritone Rebecca Koenigberg, soprano Robert Causer, baritone Gena Jeffries, soprano Barbara Paré, soprano Walter Pool, tenor |
1991 James Bobick, baritone Robert Causer, baritone Anne Christopherson, soprano Bret Howsden, baritone James Miller, tenor Yalun Zhang, baritone |
1992 Tracy Bidleman, soprano James Bobick, baritone Carla Fredell, mezzo-soprano Bret Howsden, baritone Gena Jeffries, soprano Julianne Lungren, soprano |
1993 Helena Biktasheva, soprano James Bobick, baritone Robert Causer, baritone Kathryn Krasovec, soprano Maureen Sorensson, soprano |
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| 1994 Julianne Best, soprano Helena Biktasheva, soprano James Bobick, baritone Emily Bullock, mezzo-soprano Mary Jaeb, soprano Jean Piatak, soprano Xiaolu Wu, soprano |
1995 Julianne Best, soprano Helena Biktasheva, soprano Elizabeth Bryan, soprano Emily Bullock, mezzo-soprano Daniel Fosha, tenor Emily Herrera. soprano Rhonda York, soprano |
1996 Amy Adams, soprano Douglas Biggs, tenor Leah Creek, mezzo-soprano Emily Herrera, soprano Amanda Kelts, soprano Jamie J. Offenbach, bass-baritone Elizabeth Wiley, soprano |
1997 Quinn Doody, mezzo-soprano Emily Herrera, soprano Mary Jane Kania, soprano Amanda Kelts, soprano Leslie Remmert, mezzo-soprano Dean Toma, baritone Lauren Sawer, soprano |
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| 1998 Amy Lynn Armstrong, soprano Jeremy Aye, baritone Derrick Ballard, bass-baritone Troy Cook, baritone Quinn Doody, mezzo-soprano Wistar L. Hart, mezzo-soprano Amy Lauritzen, soprano |
1999 Amy Lynn Armstrong, soprano Derrick Ballard, bass-baritone Hilary Burtt, mezzo-soprano Kara Guggenmos, soprano Donna Lee, soprano Jennifer Robertson, soprano Tausha Torrez, soprano |
2000 Kara Guggenmos, soprano Andras Palerdi, bass Jennifer Robertson, soprano Dorji Tse Rin (Ciren), tenor Lesley Watson, mezzo-soprano Lihui Zhang, soprano |
2001 Jason Baldwin, tenor Kara Guggenmos, soprano Amanda Kelts, soprano Jennifer Robertson, soprano Charles Edwin Taylor, baritone Lihui Zhang, soprano Qiuling Zhu, mezzo-soprano |
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| 2002 Daniel Fosha, tenor Kara Guggenmos, soprano Amanda Kelts, soprano Cynthia Kirkman, soprano Jennifer Robertson, soprano Bryce Smith, bass Bradley Thompson, baritone |
2003 Jason Baldwin, tenor Daniel Fosha, tenor Jessica Medoff, soprano Jennifer Randolph, soprano Alex Richardson, tenor Vale Rideout, tenor |
2004 Sarah Barber, mezzo-soprano Jennifer DeDominici, mezzo-soprano John Fulton, baritone Shauna Keene, soprano Damien Francoeur Krzyzek, baritone Alex Richardson, tenor Katrina Twitty, soprano |
2005 Sarah Barber, mezzo-soprano Julie Baron, mezzo-soprano Sara Gartland, soprano Toffer Mihalka, tenor Randall Scotting, countertenor Jason Switzer, baritone Sang-Jun Yoon, baritone |
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Rocky
Mountain
Regional Winners from Utah
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1986 Karen Anderson 1995 Karen Early Evans 1997 Jennifer Larson 1998 Michelle Wrighte |
1999 Karen Early Evans 2000 Lindsay Killian 2002 Mara Bonde 2003 Gioacchino Lauro Li Vigni |
 Ms. Stoltz, whose voice was described by Los Angeles
Times Music Critic
Bruce Burrows as "full ringing and free at the top and viola mellow at
the bottom" has extensive experience in opera, concert performances and
recital. She made her European debut at the Vienna State Opera in
Bernstein's A Quiet Place, followed by a highly successful
performance
as Smeton in Anna Bolena at the Teatro Lirico in Madrid.
Ms. Stoltz sang the role of Dinah in Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti
for Concertati di Chicago, a role she was taught by Bernstein while in
Vienna.
She has also studied the 'bel canto' style of singing in Italy with
famed
tenor and teacher Carlo Bergonzi. Ms. Stoltz has more than 16 operatic
roles
in her repertoire, including Hansel in Hansel and Gretel which
she
has sung with Pittsburgh, Anchorage and Long Beach Operas. She has also
performed Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus with the Santa Barbara
Civic
Light Opera. One of her signature roles is Rosina in Il Barbiere di
Siviglia
which she has sung with the Pennsylvania Opera Theatre, the Connecticut
Opera, the Intermountain Opera in Montana opposite renowned baritone
Pablo
Elvira and Opera Aperta in Boston. She made her Chicago Lyric Opera
debut
in the 1985-86 season as Kate Pinkerton in a nationally televised
PBS
"Great Performances" production of Madama Butterfly. Ms. Stoltz
has been soloist with symphony orchestras and choral groups in Canada,
Illinois,
Wyoming, Alaska, Colorado, Pennsylvania and California. In 2001. Ms.
Stoltz
was a soloist at the Basilica di San Paolo in Rome, with the very first
American chorale to be invited by the Vatican to perform Verdi's Requiem.
She has appeared in recital in Las Vegas, NV; Santa Barbara, Palm
Springs,
Orange and Beverly Hills, CA; Exeter, NH and Philadelphia. Catherine
Stoltz
was Artist-in-Residence at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. A
winner
of many prestigious audition awards and scholarships, Ms. Stoltz was a
national finalist in the 1987 Metropolitan Opera Auditions in New York
City. Since moving to New Hampshire she has devoted her talents
primarily to recital, oratorio and teaching in order to spend more time
with her family. |
 Gregory Cross has established an international career in
the opera
and concert works of Mozart, Bach, Handel, and Berlioz. Recent
performances
have included Don Ottavio in Don
Giovanni for the Florida Grand
Opera;
Arace in the Bastille Opera's Idomeneo; Tamino in Die
Zauberflöte for the Opera Company of North Carolina, Cleveland
Opera, and Austin Lyric Opera; and Jacquino in a concert version of Fidelio
with the San
Francisco Symphony. His recordings include "Au
Fond Du Temple Saint" from Les
Pecheurs De Perles with Gino Quilico, he is Sinon in Berlioz' Les Troyens for Decca, and is
the tenor
soloist in Beethoven's Cantata on the Elevation of Leopold II to
the Imperial Dignity (1790) with Elizabeth Futral, Jan Opalach, the
Collegiate Chorale and the Orchestra of St. Luke's for Koch. Mr. Cross
currently is a member of the ensemble
of The Metropolitan Opera and lives in New York.(Biography not provided by Mr. Cross.) |
 John Armstrong's versatility has allowed him
to perform in opera, concert and musical theatre with equal success.
Mr. Armstrong is often praised for his acting as well as his singing.
The Boulder Daily Camera praised his Count Almaviva in the Marriage of Figaro: “John
Armstrong's magnificent portrayal of the Count expressed all the
qualities that Mozart had intended.” Another critic wrote in The
Capitol Times, Wisconsin: “His Don Quixote in Man Of La Mancha is immensely
convincing. He is not afraid to let the moment carry the actor instead
of the other way around.” After his opening night as Pistola in Verdi's
Falstaff with Opera
Colorado, a critic from the Denver Post wrote: ”John Armstrong has a
rich Italian voice and the subtle comic timing of his movements on
stage
would have made him a star of the silent screen.” John made his
operatic debut with Opera Colorado in Denver in their 1988 production
of Gianni Schicchi as Simone
and Pinnelino, returning the following season to sing roles in the
company's production of Falstaff
and La Traviata. He then went
on to perform several leading roles with Milwaukee's Skylight Opera
Theatre including Escamillo in Carmen,
Taddeo in L'Italiana in Algieri,
The Duke in The Gondoliers,
Don Quixote in Man Of La Mancha
and Lank in Girl Crazy. Other
opera and musical performances include Mikado in The Mikado and Dick Dead Eye with Grant Park
Symphony in Chicago, Guglielmo in Così
fan tutte with Chicago Chamber Opera, La Mancha and Petrucchio
in Kiss Me Kate with Madison
Opera in Wisconsin and the title role in Kopit and Yeston’s The Phantom in Cumberland Playhouse
in Tennessee. John sang the lead role in Colorado Springs Symphony's
concert production of Nabucco
and the role of Top in the Aspen Opera Festival's production of The Tender Land by Copland. John
has performed numerous chamber works in the United States including
works such as Carmina Burana,
Elijah, The Messiah, Mozart's Requiem Mass, The Beethoven Missa Solemnis and the Ninth Symphony. One of his favorite
symphony works is Ravel's Don
Quichote a Dulcinee. Among the awards John has received, his
most memorable are First Place Finalist of the 1989 Metropolitan Opera
Regional Competition in Denver and First Place winner of the Bel Canto
competition, which awarded him a study grant in Siena, Italy under the
head coach of La Scala Opera, Maestro Walter Barracchi. John now lives
in Tacoma Washington with his wife Lucia Maria Caterina (Armstrong):
(Since John always wanted to be Italian and couldn't, he did the next
logical thing… he married one.) He now spends most of his time as an
actor in commercials, writing or performing for theatre and radio
dramas. John has a three-year-old son named John "who has only vague
resemblances to his mother and father which makes disowning his father
easier when he's older and I smooch him in public." |
 Dr. Koenigberg, who has been a national
finalist in the Metropolitan
Opera auditions and other prestigious competitions, presents a number
of recitals throughout the year. While an assistant professor of music
education at
Mississippi State University in Starkville, Koenigberg performed a
variety of works from the music theatre and art song genres. Featured
composers were
Luis Gonzalez, Leonard Bernstein, Richard Strauss, Claude Debussy,
Gaetano
Donizetti, and Ricky Ian Gordon. She was a regular guest soloist with
the
Meridian Symphony Orchestra during her tenure at Mississippi State
University.
Koenigberg has performed lead roles with the Milwaukee Skylight Opera,
New
England Lyric, Chicago Pocket Opera, Ohio Light Opera, and Opera
Colorado.
She performed her favorite role of Marie in Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment with the
Israel
Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel under the tutelage of
Metropolitan
Opera coach, Joan Dornemann, along with other Metropolitan favorites,
Nico
and Carol Castel and Martin Isepp. She also has been a finalist in the
San
Francisco Opera competition, the Eleanor Lieber Awards and the Young
Patronesses
of the Opera Competition in Miami. Koenigberg sang the world premiere
of
John Eaton's works Notes on Moonlight
and Let's Get This Show On the Road
with the Chicago Chamber Players. She has sung with the Colorado
Symphony Orchestra, the Arapahoe Philharmonic and the Longmont Symphony
Orchestra. This past summer, Koenigberg, was among ten MSU faculty to
be awarded project grants through the school's Humanities and Arts
Research Program. Her project was titled "Vocal Technique Clinic at the
Richard Miller Institute of Voice Performance and Pedagogy." Koenigberg
received her doctorate and master's degrees in vocal performance and
pedagogy from the University of Colorado in Boulder. She has a
bachelor's degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. Dr.
Koenigberg's best creative endeavor has to be her daughter, Kaija Meta
(with a bit of help from her husband, Brian), who was born September 6,
2001 and is the delight of her mommy's life. The Koenigberg family
recently returned to the Denver metro area. Dr. Koenigberg will be
teaching at UC Denver with Dr. Judith Coe and is a member of the
Augustana Vocal Ensemble (AVE) quartet. |
 Mr. Zhang, who was born in China, completed
his academic training at
the Central Conservatory of Music in Peking. An Opera Colorado
featured artist, Mr. Zhang was trained under the guidance of Nathaniel
Merrill,
Louise Sherman and Barbara Doscher in the early 90s. As a young artist,
he was the recipient of many awards, including the Rocky Mountain
regional
winner in 1991 of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions,
winner
of Luciano Pavarotti Voice Competition, recipient of George
London/William
Matheus Sullivan Grant, silver medallist in the 9th international
Competition
for Young Singers in Sofia, Bulgaria, first Place in the Loren L.
Zachary
Voice Competition and first Place in the Denver Lyric Opera Guild
Competition. The initial success in his performance as Rodrigo in Don
Carlo, Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera, Count di Luna in Il
Trovatore, and especially of his title role in Rigoletto
established him as a career artist. Recognizing his talent, numerous
opera companies in the US and around the world have sought his
services. Mr. Zhang has an enviable list of credentials, performing
Amonasro in Verdi's Aïda with the Metropolitan Opera (New
York), Minnesota Opera, Opera Colorado, Opera Ontario (Canada), and
Staatsoperhannover (Germany); Ezio in Verdi's Attila with
L'Opera
National du Rhin (Strasbourg) and as cover at Lyric Opera Chicago;
Count
di Luna in Verdi's Il Trovatore with New Orleans Opera, Opera
Pacific,
Fort Worth Opera, Nevada Opera, Saskatchewan Opera (Canada), Calgary
Opera
(Canada), Lyric Opera Ottawa (Canada), and as cover at the Metropolitan
Opera (New York); Don Carlos in Verdi's Ernani with
Staatsoperhannover
(Germany); Gérard in Giordano's Andrea Chénier
with
L'Opera National du Rhin (France), New Orleans Opera, Florentine Opera,
and
as cover at the Metropolitan Opera (New York); Germont in Verdi's La
Traviata
with New York City Opera; Miller in Verdi's Luisa Miller as
cover with the Metropolitan Opera (New York); Renato in Verdi's Un
Ballo
in Maschera with Washington Opera (DC), Opera Colorado, and
Staatsoperhannover
(Germany); Rigoletto in Verdi's Rigoletto with Florentine Opera
(Milwaukee),
Opera Colorado, and New York City Opera; Rodrigo in Verdi's Don
Carlo
with Portland Opera, Opera Colorado, and Baltimore Opera; Tonio in
Leoncavallo's Pagliacci with Portland Opera, Opera Colorado,
and New Jersey
State Opera; Valentin in Gounod's Faust with both Opera Pacific
and
Fort Worth Opera; High Priest in Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila
with Opera Pacific, Michigan Opera Theater, and Pittsburgh Opera;
Enrico
in Donezetti's Lucia di Lammermoor with Opera Colorado; Soloist
in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Boulder (Colorado)
Philharmonic
and Central Philharmonic in Beijing; Soloist in Verdi's Requiem
with Central Philharmonic in Beijing and at Savonlinna Festival
(Finland).
In the 2002-2003 season, Mr. Zhang made his Metropolitan Opera debut as
Amonasro
in Verdi's Aïda. In addition, he will perform the title
role
in Verdi's Nabucco with Staatsoperhannover. In the coming
season 2003-2004,
Mr. Zhang will perform in the role of Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca.
He has emerged as a world-class baritone, and specifically, as the
leading Verdi baritone of a new generation, capable of interpreting the
great roles
of the Italian repertoire. Yalun currently is a principal of the Staatsoperhannover,
Germany. |
 Geena
won First Place in the San Francisco Opera Competition in 1990,
took First Place in the Bel Canto Competition in Italy in 1991, and was
the Rocky Mountain regional winner of the Metropolitan Opera National
Council Auditions in 1992. In 1994 she was in a production of Phantom
of the
Opera in Costa Mesa, CA. In the fall of 1995 she made her Carnegie
Hall
Debut under the Baton of John Rutter as the soprano soloist in the
Mozart Regina Coeli, the Schubert Mass in G Major and
Rutter's Magnificat. She was soloist in Dubois' Seven Last
Words
with the Colorado Symphony. Ms. Jeffries has performed leading operatic
roles regionally with such companies as Tulsa Opera, Opera Colorado and
Chicago's Light Opera Works. One of the high points in her career was
performing
Gilbert & Sullivan's Princess Ida in Boulder, Colorado,
under
the direction of John Reed. In 1996 she toured the U.S. with The
Phantom
of the Opera 3rd National Company in the role of Carlotta
Giudicelli
in San Francisco and was in the New York production at the Majestic
Theater
with Hal Prince as the director in 1998. Other credits include starring
in operettas, appearing in cabarets as the featured soloist, performing
in a jazz ensemble, touring as the opening act for a country western
band,
and numerous engagements alongside her father as a country duet. She
has
also worked commercially in the field of voiceovers. When Geena lived
in
New York, she sang in a Black Gospel Choir that reached out to the
homeless.
She recently has been general manager of productions and director of
marketing
and development for major entertainment companies, and she has been a
music
recording producer. Geena and her husband, Michael Mattox, have a
daughter,
Emily, born in 2001. They formerly lived in Las Vegas, NV, but moved in
the
spring of 2003 to Gaithersburg, MD. Geena is a member of the
Association
of Theatrical Press Agents & Managers. She has a B.A. in
Music/Business
from Rockmont College and a M.F.A. in Performance from the University
of
Colorado. |
 Kathryn
Krasovec earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of
Denver (1990) and a Master of Music from Indiana University (1993). She
completed the two year Juilliard Opera Center Young Artist Program
(1995), the San Francisco Opera Center/Merola Young Artist Program
(1995), and attended
the Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv in 1994, 1996, and 1997.
Kathryn
has won several awards and competitions including the Metropolitan
Opera
National Auditions (1993), McAllister Awards, College Division (1993),
The
Orlando Opera Competition (1994), Lucrezia Bori Grant (1994), The San
Francisco
Opera Merola Grand Finals (1995), The Juilliard De Rosa Grant (1995),
and
the Licia Albanese Scholarship Award (1996). During the period 1993 to
1999,
Kathryn performed extensively in the USA and Israel. Performance
highlights
include Zerlina in Don Giovanni at the Chautauqua Opera (1993),
Dorabella
in Così fan tutte at the Israel Vocal Arts Institute
(1994), Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro at the San Francisco
Opera
Center (1995), Knappen in Parsifal at the Metropolitan Opera
(1995),
Ensemble in The Ghosts of Versailles at the Metropolitan Opera
(1995), Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel at the Western
Plains
Opera (1995), Hermia cover in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the
Metropolitan Opera (1996), and the Second Woodsprite in Rusalka
at the Metropolitan Opera (1993, 1997). From 1999 to 2002, Ms.
Krasovec was engaged at Das Theater Trier in Trier, Germany, where she
performed a wide variety
of roles including Desdemona in Otello (1999), Rosalinde in Die
Fledermaus (1999), Anne Frank in Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank
(2000, 2001), Musetta in La bohème (2000), Zerlina
in Don Giovanni (2000), Norina in Don Pasquale (2001),
Füchslein
Schlaukopf in The Cunning Little Vixen (2002), Papagena in Die
Zauberflöte (2002), Hannchen in Der Vetter aus Dingsda
(2002),
Acis in Acis und Galatea (2002), and Cupid in Orpheus in
der Unterwelt
(2001, 2002). A highlight of her performing experience while in Europe
has
been the role of Anna Frank in Frid's Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank,
which she debuted at the Staatsoper Prague. Kathryn also received high
praise
as the Vixen in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen. During the
summer
of 2002, Kathryn was heard as soprano soloist in Orff's Carmina
Burana
with the Rheinland Pfalz Kultursommer. The 2002-2003 season began with
her debut at the National Theatre Prague where she was heard in the
title role of The Cunning Little Vixen and she will sing the
British Dancing
Girl in John Adam's The Death of Klinghoffer. Ms. Krasovec is
the
first American singer to perform this role at the National Theatre. |
 Ms. Wu’s professional training in opera commenced at the
Central
Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China, where she studied with
Professor Jiang Ying. Since graduating in 1983 and in the subsequent
decade, Ms. Wu played an
active role in promoting Western operas to the Chinese audience in more
than 100 performances, including playing the leading role of
Cio-Cio-San
in Madama Butterfly, Mimi in La Bohème, Micaela in Carmen, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, and Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro. As a high
achieving artist in China, her professional career was further extended
when she
emigrated, in 1990, to the United States, where she trained under the
supervision
of Nathaniel Merrill and Louise Sherman at Opera Colorado's Artist
Center in Denver. As an Opera Colorado featured artist, she has made
numerous concert appearances with Opera Colorado, the National
Repertory Orchestra, Musica Viva International concerts, and the
Boulder Philharmonic. In Europe, Ms. Wu performed Micaela in Carmen
at Savonlinna Opera Festival, Finland and as soprano soloist in the Requiem of Verdi. With her polished
style and attractively beautiful voice combined with her
intelligent treatment of the texts and acute sensibility to the
portrayal of characters, Ms.
Wu Xiaolu has been the winner of numerous regional and international
opera
competitions since emigrating to the United States. She was the winner
of,
among others, the Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition, Mondial
Chinese
Vocalist Concourse in Rome, Italy, Metropolitan Opera's Rocky Mountain
Regional
Audition, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Despite
these achievements, Ms. Wu has always been striving for new heights in
her
career with wholehearted devotion to the art of opera, which, in her
own
words, "is my entire life." |
 Ms. Creek, in addition to being the 1996 winner of the
Metropolitan
Opera National Auditions for the Rocky Mountain region, also was named
first place winner in the Dicapo Opera Theatre Vocal Competition.
Recently
Ms. Creek was seen in New York City Opera's Paul Bunyan, on
"Live
from Lincoln Center." Other New York City Opera appearances
include
roles in Intermezzo, L'Enfants et les Sortileges, Meg
Page in Falstaff, and Anna Hope in The Mother of Us All,
among others. Ms. Creek also sang Nicklausse in Tales of Hoffmann
at the Utah Opera Festival in 1999. Recent engagements include Hansel
for
Sarasota Opera, Nicklausse for Syracuse Opera, and Erika in Barber's Vanessa with Des Moines Metro
Opera. Ms. Creek has also
appeared
with New England Lyric Operetta and Opera Colorado (Dorabella in Cosi
fan tutte under the baton of Richard Bonynge). She performed with
Wolf
Trap Opera and was an apprentice artist with Santa Fe Opera. Ms. Creek
made
her Carnegie Hall debut in June, 1999, with Mid-America Productions as
soloist
for Mozart's Solemn Vespers. She returned in May, 2000, for the
Durufle Requiem, and sang in the Mozart Requiem in
2001. Ms.
Creek received a Master of Music in Voice from Indiana University.
While
there she studied with Vera
Scammon and was a recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant. In
the summer of 2003 she and her family returned to live in Colorado. Ms.
Creek is represented by Tornay Management, Inc. of New York. |
 A native of Arizona,
Mr. Taylor joined The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann
Young Artist Development Program at the beginning of the 2002-2003
season after being selected as a winner of The Metropolitan Opera
National Council Auditions in 2001. Mr. Taylor made his Met debut last
season in the role of Herald in Otello. During the 2003-2004
Metropolitan Opera Season, he will sing the role of Marullo in Rigoletto,
2nd Nazarene in Salome, and Huntsman in Rusalka. During
the summer of 2004, Ms. Taylor will perform the role of Sharpless in Madama
Butterfly
for The Met in the Parks Concert Series. In November of 2003, Mr.
Taylor will make his debut with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
performing the role of Francesco in a concert version of I
Masnadieri. During the summer of 2002, Mr. Taylor performed the
role of Leporello in Don Giovanni
at the Operafestival di Roma. During the 2000-2001 season, Mr. Taylor
was a member of Opera Colorado's Joseph and Loretta Law Artist
Development Program. He has performed the roles of Marcello in Amedeo
Vives' Bohemios, Don Giovanni in John Davies' The Three
Little Pigs, Mandarin in Turandot, Lakai in Ariadne auf
Naxos, and Angelotti in Tosca at Opera Colorado. He has
also performed Scarpia in Tosca with Opera Fort Collins, Jud
Fry in Oklahoma with
Augusta Opera, and Elder McLean in Susannah, Stewpot in South
Pacific and the
Cowardly
Lion in The Wizard of Oz at Utah Festival Opera. Mr. Taylor has
sung Handel's Messiah with the Larimer Chorale, Carmina
Burana with the Fort Collins Symphony, and Bach's Cantata No. 65
with the Fort Collins Bach Festival. He has presented
recitals in Pueblo, Fort Collins, Loveland, and Prescott, AZ. Mr.
Taylor was
Featured Soloist with the Fort Collins Symphony Christmas Pops Concert
in 1999-2002. Among his numerous awards and honors, Mr. Taylor was a
prizewinner at the 2002 Liederkranz Foundation Competition and First
Place winner in the 1999 High Plains Singing Competition Senior
Division. Website |
 Shauna Keene is originally from Santa Maria, CA. She is a student at the University of Colorado and will receive a Bachelor of Music in August 2004. She currently is a student of Robert Harrison. Ms. Keene won first place in the junior division of the West Palm Beach Opera Competition in April 2003. She is a two time winner of the Anderson Voice Competition at the University of Colorado. In the summers of 2001 and 2002 she was invited to the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA to study with Marilyn Horne. Her roles include Adina in L'elisir d'amore, Constance in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute and Feu, Princesse and Rossignol in L'enfant et les Sortilèges. |
 Jason Switzer, an Alaskan Native, is currently in his fourth year as a resident artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts, where he studies with William Schuman. While at AVA, he has performed many roles including Il Conte in Le Nozze di Figaro, Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, Orest in Elektra, and Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’Amore. Mr. Switzer has participated in numerous young artist programs. This last summer he performed the Four Villains in Les Contes d’Hoffmann and covered Boniface in Massenet’s Le Jongleur de Notre Dame at Central City Opera. At the Tanglewood Music Festival, he performed L’Arbre and Le Fauteuil in L’Enfant et les sortileges. He also performed Don Alfonso with Opera North. In 2004, Jason received a study grant from the Licia Albanese/Puccini Foundation and was also awarded the 1st Prize in the Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship Competition. Upcoming engagements include Robert in Iolanthe by Tchaikovsky and Schaunard in La Bohème at AVA. He will be returning to Central City this summer as the Bonze in Madama Butterfly and Hel Helson in Paul Bunyan. |