Baritone, Scott Ballantine, returns to Boston Opera Collaborative (BOC) as a member for the 2018-19 season. Previous credits with BOC include Schaunard in La Bohème, Hannah Before in As One, Valmont in The Dangerous Liaisons and Sid in Albert Herring. This season, he looks forward to expanding his specialty in contemporary opera as Father in The Scarlet Ibis. Ballantine’s contemporary resume is built from performances like John Brooke in MetroWest Opera’s Little Women, and as the title role in Tobias Picker's Fantastic Mr. Fox with Opera Steamboat in Colorado.
 

Ballantine spent the summer of 2018 with the Janiec Opera Company in Brevard, NC. There, he had his role debut as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly and was a Street Singer Soloist in Bernstein’s Mass. The day he returned to the east coast, he jumped immediately into a new performance schedule--joining the Southern Vermont Lyric Theatre as Barone in La Traviata. For more credits and upcoming engagements, please visit www.scottballantine.com. 

Danielle Bavli, soprano, is a native of New York City and is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Opera Performance at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Vanderbilt University. This season she was seen as Soprano 1 in Glass’s Hydrogen Jukebox with Boston Conservatory Opera and in the chorus of Odyssey Opera's production of Gounod's La reine de saba. Other credits include Cunegonde (cover) in Bernstein’s Candide, Stephanie in Heggie’s To Hell and Back, and Amy March in Adamo’s Little Women. Upcoming engagements include L'Eternita and Calisto (cover) in Cavalli's La Calisto with Opera NEO.

John Bitsas, baritone, received his MM in Opera Performance from The Boston Conservatory, and his BM in Voice Performance from Simpson College. John has performed with Newburyport Choral Society, Boston Cecilia, Crested Butte Music Festival, Emmanuel Music, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, Central Iowa Orchestra, and Orchestra Iowa.

On the stage, he has been seen as Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Owen Hart (Dead Man Walking), Betto di Signa (Gianni Schicchi), Herr Reich (Die lusitgen Weiber von Windsor), Melisso (Alcina), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Le fauteuil  (L’enfant et les sortileges), Endimione (La Calisto), George Jones (Street Scene), and The Abbot (Curlew River).

Concert repertoire includes bass soloist in Bach Cantatas 113, 82, and 94, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Charpentier’s Messe de minuit, Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on Christmas Carols, Bach’s Magnificat, Handel’s Messiah, Duruflé’s Requiem, Handel’s Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate Deo, Beethoven’s Fantasia in C minor, and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.

Korean baritone, Junhan Choi, is praised for his “splended baritone voice, rich and rounded”. In the 2018-2019 season, engagements included his role as Arturo (cover) in La straniera (Teatro Nuovo), as Escamillo in Carmen (Opera51) and the title role Don Giovanni (BOC). He was recently awarded the Gold Medal from Berliner International Music Competition in 2018 and he was awarded extraordinary prize at the 54th Viñas international voice competition in Barcelona. As a first prize recipient of 2017 Talents of the World International Voice Competition, he made his Carnegie Hall debut for ‘Tribute to Dmitri Hvorostovsky’ concert as a baritone soloist. He also won first place from MetroWest Opera’s Vocal Competition and was awarded from Rochester's Classical Idol Vocal Competition in 2017.

Praised for her "meltingly beautiful" (Opera News) singing, soprano Sarah Joyce Cooper earned her Bachelor’s Degree in French from Princeton University and her Master of Music Degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College. Previous performances include Pamina in Die Zauberflöte (CoOPERAtive), Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro (Savannah Voice Festival), Micaëla in Carmen (Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance), Violetta in La Traviata (New York Opera Studio/ Elizabeth R. and Co.), and Mimi in La Bohème (Boston Opera Collaborative). In 2016, Sarah was a first-place winner of the Coeur d’Alene Symphony Young Artists Competition and the Westminster Choir College Voice Scholarship competition. In January 2018, Sarah was awarded first place in the Opera and Operetta division for The American Prize. Most recently, Sarah made her Carnegie Hall debut after winning second place in the Talents of the World Competition in NYC. Sarah also serves as Executive Assistant for Help!ComeHome! a 501c3 organization dedicated to meeting the needs of under-served communities throughout the US.

Recent highlights include Papageno in The Magic Flute with Shreveport Opera and Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia as a Studio Artist with the Florentine Opera. Other credits include Benny in The Ballad of Baby Doe and Sacristan (Cover) Tosca at Central City Opera, bass soloist for Bruckner’s Te Deum with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Don Alfonso as a guest artist in Cosi fan tutte with the New England Conservatory and A Mandarin/Ping in Turandot with Shreveport Opera. His appearances with the Florentine include Imperial Commissioner/Yamadori in Madama Butterfly, Ivan in Die Fledermaus, Maitre D’/Farley in Sister Carrie (world premier and recording) and Masetto in Don Giovanni. Mr. Davis recently performed a concert of new American operatic works from the Florentine’s recording anthology at Opera America’s National Opera Center in New York City.

Soprano Shannon Grace obtained her MM from The Boston Conservatory in Vocal Performance in 2013 and her BM in Voice from Ithaca College in 2010. Past performances include:  BOC’s The Scarlet Ibis (Mother) in January, Opera Bites as Lucy in Lucy, Dangerous Liaisons (Madame de Volanges), From the Diary of Virginia Woolf (Virginia Woolf), Opera Bites ‘16 (Mona in American Flag), Opera Bites ‘15 (Soprano in Tempo Fuori del Tempo; Soprano in The Act) and Our Town (Mrs. Webb) in 2015. Regionally, Shannon has performed with MetroWest Opera in Hansel and Gretel (Sandman, Dew Fairy cover), NEMPAC in Die Fledermaus (Chorus, Adele cover), and was a Resident Artist at the Atlantic Music Festival singing partial roles including Gilda in Rigoletto and Adina in L’elisir d’amore. She was also a top 20 finalist for the Classical Singer Competition – Young Artist Division.

Soprano Madison Hatten’s most recent operatic performances include Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosi fan tuttè and Frau Fluth in Nicolai’s Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor with Boston Conservatory Opera, and Countess Almaviva from Le Nozze di Figaro with the Janiec Opera Company. Her performance experience also consists of many scenes from the operatic repertory, including the highlight roles of Michaela from Bizet’s Carmen with Center Stage Opera, and the title role of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta (cover) with Russian Opera Workshop in Philadelphia. Madison has been chosen to sing in masterclasses with the acclaimed soprano Roberta Roberts, mezzo-soprano Frederica Von Stade, and counter-tenor David Daniels.

Soprano, Alyssa Hensel is a second year member with the Boston Collaborative Opera. Her recent performances include: solo appearance with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus (Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms), Assistant B (Womb with a View), April #2 (Symposium),  Vitellia (La Clemenza di Tito), Eliza (Dark Sisters) and Louisa Berry (A Letter to Vanguard, new commission).  Ms. Hensel attended Oberlin Conservatory of Music (B.M. ‘14, Voice) and The Boston Conservatory (M.M. ‘17, Voice). For more info and updates on Ms. Hensel’s performance schedule, please visit: www.alyssahensel.com

Tenor Wes Hunter, praised for his "drama, heart, and shining tone,” regularly performs both standard and new repertoire. He most recently sang the title character in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory (Lowell House Opera), Oronte in Handel’s Alcina (Opera del West), Laurie in Adamo’s Little Women (MetroWest Opera), Michael the Archangel in the workshop of Julian Wachner's Rev 23 (Beth Morrison Projects), and premiered as Eugene in Leo Hurley’s The Body Politic (Juventas New Music Ensemble). Other credits include Lindoro in L’Italiana in Algeri, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Nika Magadoff in The Consul, and Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte. Mr. Hunter has also performed as a soloist in concert repertoire across the east coast including Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music, Handel's Messiah, Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb, and Schubert's Mass in G. Mr. Hunter received degrees from The Boston Conservatory and the University of Maryland, College Park.

Described as having “pipes with real heft and warmth” and “an expressive face, ever interesting to watch” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), lyric soprano Jessica Jacobs is garnering attention for her “radiant” voice and “affecting” acting. 

This season, Ms. Jacobs makes her company debut with Long Island Opera singing Mimi in La Bohème, a company and role debut with Worcester Shubertiade singing the title role in the Merry Widow, and returns to Boston Opera Collaborative to sing Mimi. In the 2016-17 season, she sang with Boston Opera Collaborative in Tom Cipullo’s The Husbands and as Magda in Puccini’s La Rondine. Notable previous engagements have included Rosasharn in The Grapes of Wrath and Nella in Gianni Schicchi with Sugar Creek Opera, Ilia in Idomeneo, Marguerite in Faust, Armida in Rinaldo, and Miss Wordsworth in Albert Herring with Boston Opera Collaborative, and Mimi in La Bohème and Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with NEMPAC Opera Project. Ms. Jacobs has won an encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Second Place in the Peter Elvins Competition, and was chosen as a finalist in the Orpheus and MetroWest Opera Competitions, and a semi-finalist in the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition. She currently studies with Dr. Rebecca Folsom. 

www.jessicajanejacobs.com

Soprano Emily Michiko Jensen is thrilled to return to BOC. She was most recently an Apprentice Artist at Sarasota Opera during their 2017 Fall & Winter seasons. As a Studio Artist at Chautauqua Opera, she sang the role of 2nd Soprano in Missy Mazzoli’s Song from the Uproar and returned the following season to cover the role of Soprano 2 in Hydrogen Jukebox.

Ms Jensen made her company debut with Boston Opera Collaborative as Marguerite in their production of Faust where she was hailed as a “a gifted singing actress… with an intriguingly versatile instrument.” Other roles include: Blanche (Dialogues of the Carmelites), Foreign Woman (The Consul), Suzel, (L’amico Fritz), Governess (Turn of the Screw), and Tiny (Paul Bunyan).

Originally from San Diego, Emily received a Graduate Diploma & Master of Music in Vocal Performance from NEC and holds a BM in Vocal Performance from the Eastman School of Music. https://www.emilymichikojensen.com/

Mezzo-soprano Rebecca Krouner is thrilled to join her second season at BOC. The Boston Glove praised her performance last season as Hannah After in As One, writing that she “unleashed a torrent of expression, exulting in wordless curlicues of sound in joyful moments, and snarling and weeping during the violent scene.” Rebecca was a resident artist at Opera San Jose and holds an MM from Manhattan School of Music and a BA from Brown University. Roles performed include Carmen, Komponist, Azucena and Orlofsky. She's performed locally with Odyssey Opera, MetroWest Opera, Lowell House Opera, Panopera, the Boston Civic Symphony, the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra, Grand Harmonie, and the Paul Madore Chorale.

Soprano Qiuyli, a native of Chinese, earned her bachelor of music in Vocal performance from China, Tianjin conservatory of music. Now she is a first-year student of Master in vocal performance at Longy school of music .

American Baritone, Andrew Miller, is known for his "warm, robust baritone" and "fine comic sensibilities". Andrew made his BOC debut as Vicomte de Valmont in The Dangerous Liaisons. Previous credits include: Escamillo with Opera Theater Cape Cod; Fiorello with Boston Midsummer Opera; Hannah before and Marcello with Boston Opera Collaborative; The Inquisitor with Odyssey Opera; Ogre and Dr. Rappaccini with OperaHub; Don Pizarro, Don Magnifico and Alcindoro/Benoit with NEMPAC Boston; The Steward, The Marquis, Antonio, Schaunard, and Papageno with The Boston Conservatory; The Marquis at Teatro Magnani in Fidenza, Italy; Beethoven 9 soloist with New Hampshire Philharmonic; Mozart and Brahms Requiem soloist; the title roles of Don Giovanni and Gianni Schicchi, King Melchior and multiple engagements with the Janiec Opera Company and Fort Worth Opera. Andrew trained as a young artist at the Brevard Music Festival, and at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Andrew is a native of Arlington, TX.

Donegan Moore graduated with two bachelors of arts degrees, in theatre performance and in music, from Oklahoma City University. Some of her favorite performances have been her New York debut with Chelsea Opera and in Italy as a part of the Accademia Vocale Lorenzo Malfatti. Donegan would like to thank her husband for all his love, encouragement and support.

Tenor Fran Rogers’ recent opera credits include Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Boheme, Art in Solitro’s Triangle (world premiere), Dos Senores in I Am Easily Assimilated from Bernstein’s Candide (concert performance with Frederica von Stade and the Boston Symphony Orchestra), Ruggero in Puccini’s La Rondine, Danceny in Susa’s The Dangerous Liaisons, and Ramiro in Rossini's La Cenerentola. Fran recently made his Boston Symphony Hall solo debut singing a collection of songs by Pavel Haas and Gideon Klein. He is a regular national anthem soloist for Boston sports teams including the Celtics, Red Sox, and Patriots, having performed on multiple occasions for live audiences of up to 70,000 and international television audiences of up to fourteen million.

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In addition to solo performances across the country and the globe, Fran is in his third season as a roster artist with the Boston Opera Collaborative. Fran has been critically acclaimed for his “luscious tenor voice that stole the show every time he opened his mouth”, "open, free, and effortless high notes", his "athleticism", and "raw strength and natural timbre".

For more information and details on upcoming performances, please visit franrogerstenor.com.

Lyric coloratura soprano, Jennifer Soloway, is a native of Marietta, Georgia (just outside Atlanta) and has performed with The Boston Conservatory, Oklahoma City University Bass School of Music, University of Miami Frost School of Music in Salzburg, Taos Opera Institute, and the Harrower Opera Institute at Georgia State University.

Her past operatic roles include Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier (2015), Emily in Our Town (2014), Rose in Street Scene (2013), Lucy in The Telephone (2011), and Rapunzel in Into the Woods (2013). Her musical endeavors in 2016 included performing the roles of Annina in La Traviata, Susanna in Le Nozze de Figaro, Stephanie in Jake Heggie’s To Hell and Back, and Morgana in Handel's Alcina.  Her most recent role was Cunegonda in Candide.

Ms. Soloway earned her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Oklahoma City University and her Master of Music in Opera Performance from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee under the tutelage of Rebecca Folsom.

Felisha Trundle, Crossover Soprano, is a native of Owassso, Oklahoma. Mrs. Trundle earned her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Oklahoma State University (’17) and is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Voice Performance at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee (’19) under the tutelage of Bradley Williams.

Her Recent engagements include the cover of Sister Constance in (Dialogues des Carmélites) with the Boston Conservatory Opera. Lauretta in (Gianni Schicchi), Sister Genovieffa (Suor Angelica), Mrs. Gleaton (Susannah) with OSU Opera, and Logainne (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling-bee) with Oklahoma State University Department of Theatre . She has also performed the Soprano Solo in (Bachianas Brasileiras) with Oklahoma State University Symphony Orchestra.

Soprano Sophie Urquhart is excited to be involved with Don Giovanni as a member of the chorus. Sophie is a first-year member of Boston Opera Collaborative’s administrative team in the roles of Production Coordinator and Development Associate, and she also works with Boston Singer’s Resource as Communications Assistant. A recent graduate of Brown University, Sophie plans to study vocal performance at the graduate level while also pursuing her interest in arts administration. Sophie is a student of Dr. Rebecca Folsom.

Rebecca Wright, soprano, is excited to sing with BOC for the first time! A graduate of the New England Conservatory, Rebecca has sung with various local groups, including Opera del West, the MIT G&S Players, MetroWest Opera, Whole Tone Opera, Longwood Opera Concert Series, and the Brookline Symphony Orchestra. She has sung various roles as part of programs from the Crittenden Opera Studio in Brookline to FAVA in Austria. She is thrilled to be a part of this reimagined Don Giovanni!

Nicaraguan-American soprano Isabelle Zeledón seeks to forge cross-cultural connections and understanding through music. She is thrilled to make her BOC debut as Donna Elvira during the 2018-19 season. Past operatic engagements include Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Alcina (Alcina), Almera (Dark Sisters), and Frau Fluth (Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor). Other notable performances include scenes performances of Vanessa (Vanessa) and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni). Previously, Isabelle has attended acclaimed summer training programs, such as OperaWorks as an Advanced Artist, and the Boston Conservatory Opera Intensive in Valencia. She recently completed her Professional Studies Certificate in Voice Performance at the Boston Conservatory, where she also received her M.M. in Opera Performance. Isabelle received a B.M. in Vocal Performance, cum laude, from New England Conservatory, and a B.A. in International Relations and German Studies, cum laude, from Tufts University. She studies with Dr. Rebecca Folsom.