Gioachino Rossini
Cinderella
(La Cenerentola)
A comic masterpiece based on the Cinderella story
Conducted by Associate Music Director Jesse Leong
Mr. Leong is generously sponsored by Ted and Anne Jaroszewicz
Friday October 20th 2017 at 7.30 pm
Sunday October 22th 2017 at 3.00 pm
At the Arts Center at Dunham (1945 Dunham Way, Cincinnati, OH, 45238)
Tickets: cinderellaopera.brownpapertickets.com or 1-800-838-3006
This production will be dedicated to the memory of Dr. Bob Hasl
Technical Direction and Lighting Design: Larry Csernik
Originally from Louisville, KY, Larry is a locally based lighting designer who stayed in Cincinnati after attaining his BA in Theater at Northern Kentucky University. While at NKU he designed many shows including Mud Nostalgia, and The Divine Visitor. He has designed shows for Thomas More College, and Cincinnati Contemporary Dance Theater’s 2016 Area Choreographers’ Festival hosted at the Jarson-Kaplan Theater. He most recently designed lighting for QCO’s Don Giovanni.
Stage Director: Jacquelyn Mouritsen
On faculty at the Miami Music Festival, Jacquelyn has directed all of the one-act operas and opera scenes programs for the festival’s 2016 and 2017 seasons. Most recently she directed An Embarrassing Position by Dan Shore, a scenes program comprised entirely of works by Jake Heggie, and an opera scenes program centered on magic and fairy tales. Other recent credits include directing Ruddigore with the University Gilbert and Sullivan Society at Indiana University, and assistant directing Rodelinda at IU Opera and Ballet Theater under the direction of Tom Diamond. In addition to her work in Miami, Jacquelyn has directed opera productions for Reimagining Opera for Kids, IU Summer Chorus, and Great Lakes Light Opera. She has directed scenes for the opera workshops of both Sylvia McNair and Patricia Stiles at IU. Jacquelyn Mouritsen is pursuing a Doctor of Music degree in Vocal Performance with minors in Theatre and Music History at Indiana University.
Angelina (Cinderella): Kayleigh Decker
Kayleigh Decker, mezzo-soprano, recently graduated with her masters from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she is currently studying with William McGraw in pursuit of an Artist Diploma. During her time in Cincinnati, Ms. Decker has sung the Fox in The Cunning Little Vixen, Le Prince Charmant in Cendrillon, and Idamante in Idomeneo with CCM Opera. In addition, she has sung the role of Peggy in Opera Fusion’s workshop of Shalimar the Clown, and the Fox in Cincinnati Chamber Opera's production of The Little Prince. In past summers, Ms. Decker has been a young artist at The Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Utah Festival Opera. She was also a participant in the Houston Grand Opera Young Artists Vocal Academy. Ms. Decker has been the recipient of several awards including 1st Place in the Three Arts Scholarship Fund Competition , 2nd place in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions-Great Lakes Region, and the Corbett Award in the CCM Corbett Opera Scholarship Competition. In 2015 she graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where she studied with Marlene Rosen and Timothy LeFebvre.
Ms. Decker is generously sponsored by Dr. John and Susan Tew
Prince Ramiro: Ben Lee
Tenor Benjamin Lee is currently in his second year of the Artist Diploma in Opera at the Cincinnati College - Conservatory of Music under the instruction of Tom Baresel. A Los Angeles native, Benjamin received his Bachelor’s in Vocal Arts at the University of Southern California, and his Master’s degree in Voice at CCM. Recent engagments include a workshop of Laura Kaminsky’s Some Light Emerges with Houston Grand Opera, Brighella in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the role of Arbace and the Gran Sacerdote in Mozart’s Idomeneo at CCM, and Florville in Rossini’s Il signor Bruschino at CCM. This last summer, Benjamin was featured as a Young Artist with Cincinnati Opera, performing Alejandro and Leon Trotsky in Robert Xavier Rodriguez’ Frida.
Mr. Lee is generously sponsored by Marilyn Z. Ott
Dandini (The Prince’s Valet): Simon Barrad
The versatility of “gorgeous voiced” baritone, Simon Barrad, has been heard across the United States and Europe in opera, Lieder, and oratorio concerts. His favorite performed roles and pieces include Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Owen Wingrave, Kaiser Overall (Der Kaiser von Atlantis), Carmina Burana, and Sibelius’ Kullervo Symphony. He has recently sung with such companies and festivals as the Tanglewood Music Center, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Bach Festival.
As a Fulbright scholar in Helsinki and in subsequent concert tours, Simon has received wide acclaim for his side-by-side interpretations of Finnish and American music, headlining venues including the Berlin Philharmonie, Helsinki’s Musiikkitalo, and Finland’s National Opera House. Recently, his gift for creative recital programming led to a residency as Songfest’s very first Recital Fellow. In the realm of new music, he has consistently championed new works, giving first performances of works by John Harbison, David Lang, and many others, as well as performing at the John Duffy Institute for New Opera under the direction of Libby Larsen.
Don Magnifico (The Stepfather): Hunter Enoch
Hunter Enoch, baritone, is originally from Paris, Tennessee. He is a recent graduate of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at Washington National Opera. There he was seen as Il Conte Almaviva in the Young Artist performance of Le Nozze di Figaro, the Corporal in The Daughter of the Regiment, ADC in The Dictator’s Wife, Sharpless in the Young Artist performance of Madame Butterfly, James Miller in Better Gods, and Morales in Carmen. Hunter has worked with the Glimmerglass Festival, Virginia Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Cincinnati Opera, Seattle Opera, Chautauqua Opera and Wolf Trap Opera. Hunter is also a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Alidoro (The Fairy Godfather): Samson McCrady
Samson McCrady was born and raised in the desert southwest of Tucson, Arizona. It was there that he discovered his love of singing with the renowned Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus. Recent distinctions include First Place in the 2016 national Classical Singer competition and a Young Artist position with Cincinnati Opera this past season. Upcoming appearances include bass soloist Handel’s Messiah with Collegium Cincinnati, bass soloist in the Bach B-Minor Mass with the CCM Chamber Choir, the Sacristan in CCM’s Tosca, the King of Scotland in CCM’s production of Handel’s Ariodante, and the title role in CCM’s Gianni Schicchi. Samson is a student of Prof. William McGraw at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. Outside of singing and the stage, he is a passionate cyclist, reader, and outdoorsman.
Clorinda (Stepsister): Erin Keesy
American soprano, Erin Keesy is currently based in Cincinnati, OH. She received her Master’s degree and Artist diploma from Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music where she studied with Dr. Gwendolyn Detwiler. Her 2016-17 season has included appearances with the Cincinnati POPS orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, Hamilton Fairfield Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, she was a Young Artist with Cincinnati Opera and performed in Robert Rodriguez’s Opera, Frida as Mrs. Ford and Natalia Trotsky. She also performed in Barrie Kosky’s innovative new production of Die Zauberflöte as the cover for the Queen of the Night. She has also recently performed the roll of Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Queen City Opera in Cincinnati. She is excited to return to the QCO stage as Clorinda in Rossini’s Cenerentola. Also upcoming, she will be making her debut in concert with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Other upcoming engagements include Händel’s Messiah with the Louisville Orchestra and an Opera favorite’s concert with the Hamilton-Fairfield Symphony. She looks forward to continuing to perform with Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble in their 2017-18 season.
Ms. Keesy is generously sponsored by Emily Hodges.
Tisbe (Stepsister): Ellen Graham
Mezzo-soprano Ellen Graham is a versatile singer who has garnered recognition for performances that are “stirring” and “beautifully sung.” During the 2016-2017 season she appeared as Julia Child in Bon Appetit with concert:nova, and Erda in Queen City Chamber Opera’s Siegfried. Concert performances included her debut with The May Festival in Bach’s Cantata 106 conducted by Robert Porco, the regional premier of Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard with the Vocal Arts Ensemble and Handel’s Messiah with Collegium Cincinnati.
Ms. Graham has performed with the Cincinnati Pops under the baton of John Morris Russell and has appeared as a soloist with many regional orchestras including the Evansville Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Central Ohio Symphony, and the Clermont Philharmonic Orchestra.
Equally at home on the musical theater stage, she has performed in regional theaters including Pittsburgh Public Theater and the College Light Opera Company and has portrayed such roles as Ruth (The Pirates of Penzance), Madame Giry (Phantom of the Opera), Sheila (A Chorus Line) and Katisha in The Mikado. She can be heard singing the role of Orlofsky in the 2010 Albany Records recording of Die Fledermaus.
