Program – Queen City Opera

Queen City Opera presents

Così fan tutte

Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte

October 17 & 18, 2026 · 3:00 PM
The Arts Center at Dunham
Sung in Italian with English supertitles

Isaac Selya, Conductor
Brian Robertson, Stage Director

The performance lasts approximately three hours, including one intermission. Please silence all phones and electronic devices.

Cast

Fiordiligi: Alea Louise Vernon
Dorabella: Lauren McAllister
Despina: Rachel Kobernick
Ferrando: Carlos Ahrens
Guglielmo: Kade Bennett
Don Alfonso: Seoyong Lee

Chorus

Nia Spaulding
Junyue Gong
Candace Williams
Grant Buchanan Shields
Mark Hockenberry
Ben Flanders

Queen City Opera Orchestra
Isaac Selya, conductor · Michael Patterson, continuo

Synopsis

Act I

At a café near campus, the young athletes Ferrando and Guglielmo boast to Don Alfonso, a cynical professor of social science, about the perfect faithfulness of their fiancées, the sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi. Alfonso insists that no woman’s constancy can survive temptation, and he proposes to prove it scientifically. The young men accept his wager and sign on as his research subjects: for one day, they will follow his protocol to the letter, and he will demonstrate that their fiancées are just like all the others.

The sisters gaze at portraits of their beloveds and swoon over their good looks. Alfonso arrives with devastating news: Ferrando and Guglielmo have been called up for military service and must leave at once. After a tearful farewell, the men march off to the cheers of their fellow recruits, and the sisters, together with Alfonso, pray for gentle winds to carry them safely.

Despina, who works at the café, has little patience for Dorabella’s melodramatic despair. She advises the sisters to enjoy themselves while the men are away, since the men are surely doing the same. Alfonso pays Despina to serve as his research assistant and help him introduce two new suitors: Ferrando and Guglielmo, in outlandish disguise. The sisters are outraged by the strangers’ advances, and Fiordiligi declares that her heart stands as firm as a rock against any storm. Guglielmo makes a brazen case for the newcomers’ many charms, and the sisters storm off. The men are sure they have won the bet, but Alfonso reminds them that the day is not over. Ferrando sings rapturously of his love.

The strangers return, pretending to have swallowed arsenic in despair over the sisters’ rejection. Despina arrives disguised as a doctor and revives them with a giant magnet. The sisters’ compassion is stirred, but when the strangers demand a kiss, they refuse indignantly.

Act II

Despina coaches the sisters on how a woman of the world should handle men. Persuaded that a little harmless flirtation can do no harm, the sisters divide the strangers between them: Dorabella chooses the dark-haired one (Guglielmo), and Fiordiligi the blond (Ferrando). With Alfonso and Despina egging them on, the bashful suitors finally declare themselves.

Left alone, Guglielmo quickly wins over Dorabella, who gives him the locket bearing Ferrando’s portrait in exchange for a heart-shaped pendant. Fiordiligi resists Ferrando’s advances, but once alone she is tormented by her feelings and begs her absent fiancé to forgive her.

The two men compare notes. Guglielmo is proud of Fiordiligi’s constancy, but Ferrando is shattered to learn that Dorabella has given away his portrait. Torn between betrayal and love, he cannot stop thinking of her.

Fiordiligi resolves to escape temptation by putting on a uniform and joining her fiancé at the front. Ferrando interrupts her, begging her to strike him down with his own sword if she will not have him, and at last she gives in. Now it is Guglielmo’s turn to rage. Alfonso sums up his findings: everyone blames women, but così fan tutte – they all do it.

Despina arranges a double wedding. As the sisters and their new lovers celebrate, Despina, now disguised as a notary, presents the marriage contract. The moment the sisters sign, the soldiers’ chorus is heard: Ferrando and Guglielmo are coming home. The strangers are hustled out of sight and reappear as the returning soldiers, who feign shock at the discovery of the contract. Confronted with the evidence, the sisters beg forgiveness, and the men reveal the ruse. Declaring his experiment complete, Alfonso urges the couples to reconcile, and all agree: happy is the person who looks on the bright side of everything, and lets reason be their guide.

About the Opera

Così fan tutte (1790) is the third and final collaboration between Mozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, following The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni. It premiered at Vienna’s Burgtheater on January 26, 1790. Our production moves the story to a mid-century American college campus, inspired by Alfred Kinsey’s research at Indiana University, when human intimacy was newly becoming a subject of scientific study. Don Alfonso is a professor of social science, and his famous wager becomes an experiment run under ethical standards that no review board would approve today.

Artist Biographies

Fiordiligi: Alea Louise Vernon

Coloratura soprano Alea Louise Vernon is quickly emerging as one of the most compelling young coloratura voices of her generation, celebrated for her radiant upper extension, incisive musicality, and vivid dramatic presence. Her performances have garnered enthusiastic critical acclaim, with reviewers praising her “plush and bright sound,” “captivating storytelling,” and “spectacular” stage charisma. In the 2025–2026 season, Ms. Vernon appeared throughout the greater Ohio region as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Handel’s Israel in Egypt, and in concert with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Pops, where she performed the Queen of the Night’s Vengeance Aria to resounding ovation. She also continued her deep commitment to recital work, presenting The Distance Between Who I Was and Who I Am with Marie-France Lefebvre, Longing with pianist Samuel Martin for the Orange Recital Series in Connecticut, and Romance with Queen City Opera and Continuo. These performances mark her role debut as Fiordiligi. Previous engagements include her role debut as La Fée in Massenet’s Cendrillon at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where she has also recently appeared as Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Eurydice in Orpheus in the Underworld, and Die Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte. She made her professional operatic debut with Queen City Opera, singing the Queen of the Night in Josh Shaw’s reimagined video-game production of The Magic Flute.

Ms. Vernon has appeared as a featured soloist in renowned venues including Carnegie Hall, Music Hall, Paul Hall, The Bushnell Theater, Peter J. Sharp Auditorium, Seiji Ozawa Hall, and The New World Center. Her concert repertoire includes the Lord Nelson Mass, the Nunes Garcia Requiem, Messiah, and Mozart’s Requiem, among others. A passionate advocate for twenty-first-century music, Ms. Vernon made her first world premiere in 2018 at the Midwest Composers Symposium and has since premiered multiple new works. In 2022, she debuted Evan Mack’s Take This Job and… with Cincinnati Song Initiative, and she continues to collaborate on new operatic and song repertoire, including recent workshops of Revenants by Eli Lucas with the Scandinavian Society. Her training includes summers at the Casentino Voice Festival in Poppi, Italy, the New York Summer Music Festival, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In 2019, she became one of the youngest artists ever to hold residency with the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center.

She earned her Bachelor of Music from CCM, where she studied with Elliot Madore and William McGraw, and her Master of Music in Vocal Performance. She is an alumna of The Juilliard School Pre-College Division and the Ensign-Darling Vocal Fellowship at The Bushnell Theater. Ms. Vernon is a National YoungArts Winner, a two-time George London Scholarship recipient, First Place Winner in both The American Prize Women in Song and Women in Opera (Pre-College Division), a 3Arts Scholarship Winner, and Second Place Winner in SongSlam, a competition commissioning new works. Above all, Ms. Vernon is devoted to expanding access to classical music. She regularly partners with public schools to create educational performances, masterclasses, and outreach programs, believing deeply that opera belongs to every community and every listener. When not performing, Ms. Vernon can be found with her dogs Guy and Sophie, her beloved running partners.

Dorabella: Lauren McAllister

Cincinnati-based mezzo-soprano Lauren McAllister recently performed the role of Marta in Queen City Opera’s production of Iolanta and Madame de Volanges in Susa’s The Dangerous Liaisons with Vegas City Opera, and sang the mezzo solo in Corigliano’s Fern Hill with the Akron Symphony Orchestra. Lauren appeared as the alto soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and Queen City Opera. With Conspirare, she premiered and recorded Joby Talbot’s Piedra de Sol and Mark Buller’s Requiem in the Light. Lauren also premiered composer Ben Owen’s reimagined 24 Italian Art Songs and Arias this past year. Upcoming performances include appearances with Conspirare, the alto solo in Bach’s Mass in B Minor, and a premiere recording of two song cycles by Stanley Hoffman.

Lauren performs regularly with a variety of choral and chamber music ensembles, including Conspirare, Evergreen Ensemble, New Downbeat, the Bach Ensemble at Saint Thomas, and Ensemble con Fuoco. Lauren is an artist on four Grammy®-nominated recordings for Best Choral Performance: Conspirare’s House of Belonging, The Singing Guitar, and The Hope of Loving, and the PaTRAM Institute Singers’ Sander: The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

Operatic highlights include Vesta in the world premiere of Fierce by William Menefield and librettist Sheila Williams (Cincinnati Opera), Queen of the Virtues in Hildegard von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum (Collegium Cincinnati), Marta/Laura (Iolanta, Queen City Opera), Lazuli (L’étoile, Sin City Opera), Melanto (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Opera Louisiane), Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus, Undercroft Opera), Courtier and Maid cover (The Witches of Venice, Opera Saratoga), and La Périchole (title role, Sin City Opera). As a soloist, Lauren has performed a variety of Bach cantatas with the Bach Ensemble of Saint Thomas and the Bach Society of Dayton, appeared in staged productions of the Pergolesi Stabat Mater and Bach’s Saint John Passion, and debuted with the Lubbock Symphony for their Chamber Sound! Series with works by Jennifer Jolley and David T. Little. Other notable appearances as a soloist include the Bach Easter Oratorio and Ascension Oratorio, BWV 1083, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Handel’s Messiah, Fern Hill (Corigliano), A Child of Our Time (Tippett), Ode to Common Things (Ratcliff), Considering Matthew Shepard by Craig Hella Johnson, and the US premiere of the Telemann Brockes Passion.

Lauren earned her Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). She holds a bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance from the Eastman School of Music. Lauren was the 2015 Nebraska District winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, was a finalist in the 2012 Jessie Kneisel Lieder Competition, and won first place in the 2011 Syracuse Civic Morning Musicals Competition.

Despina: Rachel Kobernick

Rachel Kobernick is a versatile soprano praised for her “power and sweetness” (The Observer), “seamless coloratura sparkle” (Seen and Heard International), and “captivating performance” (The New York Times). This season, Rachel makes her concert debut as a soloist with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, returns to Kentucky Opera to sing Berginella in Songbird, makes her role debut as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro (Indianapolis Opera), debuts with Park City Opera singing Laurie in The Tender Land, and returns to Queen City Opera singing Despina in Così fan tutte. In 2025, Rachel premiered four exciting roles, singing La Statue Animée in Rameau’s Pygmalion (Kentucky Opera), Marguerite in Faust (Heartbeat Opera), Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof (Cincinnati Opera), and Norina in Don Pasquale (Opera Magnifico). She is also a 2025 George and Nora London Foundation Competition Finalist.

Additional performance credits include appearances with Sarasota Opera, Opera on the James, Queen City Opera, the NF Opera Collective, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and Cincinnati Song Initiative. In competition, Rachel has been a finalist of the National Opera Association, Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra, and Corbett Foundation, and has won multiple awards from the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the Kyrenia Opera Competition, the National Society of Arts and Letters, and the Three Arts Scholarship Fund. Rachel graduated with a master’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music.

Ferrando: Carlos Ahrens

Tenor Carlos Ahrens, praised for his vibrant stage presence and clear, expressive sound, is a rising talent on the American opera stage. He starred as Justice Antonin Scalia in the title role of Scalia/Ginsburg with Charlottesville Opera in 2025. Additional role credits include the Baron and King of Eldorado in Candide at the Glimmerglass Festival and Tommy Djilas in The Music Man with Charlottesville Opera. In 2025, he joined The Opera Theatre of St. Louis as a Gerdine Young Artist, covering Flute in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and sang Bevins in the Metropolitan Opera–partnered orchestral workshop of Lincoln in the Bardo with Chautauqua Opera. Recently, Carlos returned to the role of Pietro Baglioni in La hija de Rappaccini, making his house debut with Opera Columbus.

Carlos recently completed his Artist Diploma at the College-Conservatory of Music, where he also earned his Master of Music. This summer, Carlos returned to the Glimmerglass Festival to cover the lead role of Timothy Laughlin in Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers and play the role of Mike in Oklahoma! This upcoming season, Carlos will be the Virginia Opera Tenor Emerging Artist, singing Beppe in Pagliacci and Pang in Turandot. Carlos is very excited to be singing Ferrando at Queen City Opera, a role he has conquered once before at his alma mater, Vanderbilt University.

Guglielmo: Kade Bennett

Praised for his striking presence and storytelling, baritone Kade Bennett is a multidisciplinary artist in opera, musical theatre, and dance. His recent and upcoming engagements include Pandolfe in Massenet’s Cendrillon with University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Opera Theatre and covering Judge Turpin in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, a collaboration between CCM’s Musical Theatre and Opera programs. Last season, he debuted the role of Demetrius in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and joined Cincinnati Opera’s 2025 Summer Chorus for Rigoletto, Tosca, and Fiddler on the Roof.

Other credits include Guglielmo in Così fan tutte and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with Utah Vocal Arts Academy; The Four Villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Vater in Hänsel und Gretel, and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with Utah Valley University (UVU); Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette with Utah Valley Opera Fest; and Marcello and Schaunard in La bohème with Mediterranean Opera Festival. A trained dancer in tap, jazz, ballet, and ballroom, Kade has won two “Best Actor in a Musical” Zarf Awards. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from UVU and is pursuing a Master of Music at CCM under Elliot Madore. When not performing, he works behind the scenes in live technical production.

Don Alfonso: Seoyong Lee

Bass-baritone Seoyong Lee, from South Korea, is a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Lee received his Bachelor of Music degree with distinction at the Eastman School of Music under Dr. Jonathan Retzlaff and a Master of Music degree at Northwestern University under W. Stephen Smith.

Lee was an Apprentice Artist of Chautauqua Opera in 2024 and 2025 under Director Steven Osgood, where he performed Colline in Puccini’s La bohème, Vollman in Missy Mazzoli’s Lincoln in the Bardo, the title role of Pepito, and the bass solo in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Rossen Milanov, and covered Father in Hansel and Gretel.

Other opera roles Lee has performed include the title role of Le nozze di Figaro, Marcello in Puccini’s La bohème, Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen, Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Der Tod in Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Harašta in Příhody lišky Bystroušky, and the Puppet Master in Postcard from Morocco.

One of Lee’s greatest passions is advocating for operas by living composers. He gave voice to Ginger Chap in Missy Mazzoli’s Lincoln in the Bardo at the Cincinnati Opera workshop, then Vollman at Chautauqua Opera, and the Woodcutter in Christopher Cerrone’s In a Grove in its Midwest premiere at Northwestern.

Fiordiligi cover and chorus: Nia Spaulding

California-native soprano Nia Spaulding is a 2025–26 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition Encouragement Award winner (Indiana District). Most recently, she was a 2026 Resident Artist at the Glimmerglass Festival, where she covered the role of Lucy in Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers and performed in the ensembles of Madama Butterfly and Kelley Rourke’s English adaptation of Così fan tutte. She is excited to make both her role and company debuts as the Sandman and Dew Fairy in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel with Virginia Opera in early 2027. During the 2025 season, Nia appeared as the stepsister Noémie in Massenet’s Cendrillon at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where she and her fellow stepsister “provided delightful comic relief…with bright, clear voices and impish charm” (Cincinnati Concert Reviews). She also performed the role of Arminda in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera and was the soprano soloist in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with CCM Choirs and Orchestra.

Passionate about contemporary opera and amplifying underrepresented voices within the operatic canon, Nia has collaborated with Cincinnati Opera’s Opera Fusion: New Works program. Through OF:NW, she participated in workshops of In the Rush by Carlos Simon, commissioned in partnership with the Metropolitan Opera, and Lalovavi by Kevin Day, where she workshopped the role of Niamara prior to the opera’s 2026 Cincinnati Opera premiere. A proud alumna of the Lehrer Vocal Institute at the Music Academy of the West, Nia holds both Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Voice Performance from CCM.

Dorabella cover and chorus: Junyue Gong

Junyue Gong is a Chinese mezzo-soprano. In October 2026, she covers the role of Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte with Queen City Opera. The following spring, she will make her Washington, D.C. debut in the leading role of Isabella in Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri with Bel Cantanti Opera in May 2027. Her 2026 season also includes a house debut with Regina Opera in the title role of Carmen. She has recently captivated audiences as Carmen with Cincinnati Opera outreach and as the alto soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic. Her versatile repertoire includes Ramiro in La finta giardiniera, Madame de la Haltière in Cendrillon, Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, and Bianca in The Rape of Lucretia. A prizewinner of the 2025 Third Prize (Tuesday Musical), 2024 Special Award (Laffont Competition, Nebraska District), and 2023 First Prize (Career Bridges), she holds both her Master of Music and Artist Diploma from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).

Ferrando cover and chorus: Grant Buchanan Shields

Grant Buchanan Shields is a tenor from Morrow, Ohio. He is pursuing a Master of Music in Opera at Binghamton University with Thomas Goodheart. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where he studied with Kenneth Shaw. At Binghamton, he has performed scenes and roles including Lyric Tenor in Postcard from Morocco, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Pablo in How Nanita Learned to Make Flan, and scenes from Verdi’s Falstaff, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Bizet’s Carmen, and Massenet’s Werther. He has also collaborated extensively with student composers on songs, song cycles, chamber pieces, and concert works, giving several world premieres.

While at CCM, Mr. Shields made his debut as Don Basilio and Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro, Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi, Sailor in Dido and Aeneas, and Mercury in Orpheus in the Underworld. He sang in the choruses of CCM and local opera houses, including Dido and Aeneas, Dialogues des Carmélites, and Die Zauberflöte at CCM; Lucia di Lammermoor, Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Madama Butterfly at Cincinnati Opera; and Super Flute at Queen City Opera. He covered Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi at CCM, Monostatos in Super Flute at Queen City Opera, and Sid in Sid the Serpent Who Wanted to Sing at Binghamton. His oratorio credits include the tenor solos in Nunes Garcia’s Requiem and Jephté in Carissimi’s Historia di Jephté.

Despina cover and chorus: Candace Williams

American soprano Candace Williams has performed and studied a variety of operatic roles, including Norina (Don Pasquale), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Constance (Dialogues des Carmélites), Musetta (La bohème), and more. She frequently appears as a chorus member with Cincinnati Opera and joined the company for its 2026 Festival. With a specific passion for community engagement, Candace has also performed with Cincinnati Opera in a variety of outreach performances aimed at young audiences, including the title role of César Cui’s Little Red as part of its collaboration with Roundabout Opera for Kids. Ms. Williams is a decorated competitor, holding multiple awards from the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the George Shirley Vocal Competition, and the Pasadena Vocal Competition. An avid lover of choral traditions, Candace recently joined the 2026 Spoleto Festival as a Vocal Fellow and regularly performs with several Cincinnati-based professional vocal chamber ensembles. She holds an Artist Diploma in Opera Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Kentucky, and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance & Pedagogy from Oakwood University.

Guglielmo cover and chorus: Mark Hockenberry

Mark Hockenberry, baritone, is a native of Hanover, Pennsylvania, and is based in Cincinnati. He was most recently featured as the Third Jew in Richard Strauss’ Salome with Cincinnati Opera. Mark has been working as a singer in Cincinnati for five years, performing with Cincinnati Opera, the May Festival Chorus, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and numerous ensembles throughout the tri-state area. He sings regularly with the schola at St. Francis Xavier Church. He earned his master’s degree in vocal performance at the University of Arizona and his bachelor’s degree at Westminster College.

When not making music, Mark can be found mowing greens at Maketewah Country Club, bartending in Music Hall, or playing with his dog, Bubby.

Don Alfonso cover and chorus: Ben Flanders

Baritone Ben Flanders is the founder and Artistic Director of the art song collective Slavic Voices, which specializes in the song repertoire of Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and the Czech Republic. The ensemble performs regularly in the Cincinnati area and has brought its concerts to the University of Vermont, Idaho State University, the University of Saint Thomas in Minnesota, and many other venues. Also an active performer in opera, oratorio, and choral settings, Mr. Flanders was a member of Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble under the direction of Craig Hella Johnson from 2013 to 2025, and has performed roles with Dayton Opera and Queen City Opera as well as singing as a member of the Cincinnati Opera Chorus. Recent projects include American Voices, a concert of art songs and spirituals curated as part of Slavic Voices’ residency at Ascension and Holy Trinity Church in Wyoming, Ohio, and a recording of the art songs of Ostap Bobykevych for the Ukrainian Art Song Project.

Stage Director: Brian Robertson

Coming to Cincinnati from Los Angeles, Brian has spent the past 30 years working in film and television in the area of cinematography, as well as working as a director, fight choreographer, scriptwriter, and stage manager in theatre and opera. He is on faculty as a directing professor at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He has worked for Opera Southwest, Reduced Shakespeare Company, Greenbrier Valley Theatre, The Know Theatre, Cincinnati Opera, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Sarasota Opera, Bay View Music Festival, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Pones Inc. Laboratory of Movement, Oberlin Conservatory of Music Vocal Academy, the University of Kentucky, The Carnegie Arts Center, Opera Project Columbus, Opera North, and Des Moines Metro Opera, among others.

Associate Music Director and Continuo: Michael Patterson

Michael Patterson is a Puerto Rican-American conductor and pianist known for his dynamic musicianship, warm leadership style, and community-driven spirit. As Associate Music Director of Queen City Opera, he helps shape the company’s vision for bold, socially relevant productions that feature Cincinnati’s emerging artists in collaboration with local community organizations. His conducting journey began at eighteen, when he founded the PianoForte Symphony Orchestra, leading it from 2009 to 2014. He also serves as Music Director of the Seven Hills Symphony, one of Cincinnati’s leading community orchestras, with an emphasis on storytelling, accessibility, and artistic joy.

As a collaborative pianist, Patterson performs with Cincinnati Opera, notably through its Opera Fusion: New Works initiative, assisting in the development of operas by composers including Carlos Simon, Laura Kaminsky, and Maria Thompson Corley, and joined the company as assistant conductor and pianist for its 2025 season. He also plays with Cincinnati Ballet, the Cincinnati BoyChoir, and the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic. He has conducted ensembles locally and internationally, including the Filarmonica de Stat Târgu Mureș, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic, The Orchestra Now, Apollo Orchestra, Hopkins Symphony Orchestra, and members of the Rochester Philharmonic, earning praise for his “dramatic subtlety and musical finesse” (The Millbrook Independent).

He is completing his doctorate in orchestral conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he studies with Mark Gibson and led the 2024 CCM production of Mozart’s La finta giardiniera. He holds a conducting degree from Bard College Conservatory of Music, having studied with Harold Farberman, Leon Botstein, and Joan Tower. Michael lives in Cincinnati with his wife, Vivian.

Conductor and Artistic Director: Isaac Selya

Isaac Selya is highly sought after as a conductor, entrepreneur, scholar, and educator. He founded Queen City Opera in 2012 and serves as its Artistic Director, where he selects repertoire, contracts artists, coaches singers from the piano, conducts performances, and leads the company’s fundraising and operations. He is also Music Director of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic and a Staff Conductor for the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance.

He made his German debut conducting the world-famous Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in 2018, and has guest conducted the Dayton Philharmonic, the Xiamen Philharmonic in China, the National Symphony of Guatemala, and Pacific Opera Project, where he led the Los Angeles stage premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta. For the Glimmerglass Festival he led the first-ever reading of the revised version of Philip Glass’s Appomattox, with the composer present. In 2025 he conducted the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra accompanying Cincinnati Ballet. A featured Spotlight Artist in Musical America, he was named an inaugural conducting associate of the Defiant Requiem Foundation, and under his leadership QCO became the first Cincinnati-based opera or orchestra to win the American Prize in both Opera Production and Opera Conducting.

A scholar as well as a performer, Isaac is the editor of a new Bärenreiter critical edition of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and has contributed to critical editions for Bärenreiter, Henle, Schott, Breitkopf & Härtel, and the University of Chicago Press / Casa Ricordi spanning the works of Bach, Beethoven, Bizet, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Wagner, and Weber. He is one of the few conductors in the world to have led all of Mozart’s German-language operas. He holds a BA from Yale College (principal cellist of the Yale Symphony), an MM from Mannes/The New School, and a doctorate from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where his research focused on historical casting trends in Mozart’s operas. Committed to access, he serves as a cello teaching artist and conductor at the El Sistema-inspired MYCincinnati Youth Orchestra.

About Queen City Opera

Queen City Opera was founded in 2012 to advance the careers of emerging singers, instrumentalists, designers, and conductors by giving them valuable professional engagements in high-quality productions. Our productions combine high-caliber opera with contemporary relevance and community collaboration, and QCO is the first Cincinnati-based opera company or orchestra to win the American Prize in both Opera Production and Opera Conducting.

We are delighted to return to the historic Arts Center at Dunham in Price Hill, a renovated tuberculosis hospital at the heart of the renaissance that is transforming the neighborhood through the arts. The intimate theater brings the audience up close to the performers and immerses them in the music and the action.

Board of Directors

Deborah Lewis, President
Catherine Cook, Treasurer
Karlee Hilliard
Mahmoud Said
Kathy Sandman
Bernadette Cervantes Ruud

Queen City Opera Orchestra

Violin 1

Jordana Greenberg
Sujean Kim
Yu-Kun Hsiang
Cheng-Chia Chiu
Kiran Rajamani
Vera Hsu

Violin 2

Pin-Hsuan Chen
Yen-Ju Young
BettyAnne Gottlieb
Rodney Ho

Viola

Nathaniel Sendi
Siyu Jiang
Jiho Chung
Bin Gu

Cello

Patrick Baek
Min-Ching Lin

Bass

Maurice Todd
Ben Grabell

Flutes

Annie Gordon
Yian Liu

Oboes

Bonnie Farr
Sarah Minneman

Clarinets

Miriam Culley
Joey Miller

Bassoons

Randal Dennler
Evan Schultz

Horns

Eric Morin
Kenji Ulmer

Trumpets

Audrey Schmid
Emery Hicks

Timpani

San-Lou Wei

Continuo

Michael Patterson

Artistic and Production Staff

Artistic Director and Conductor: Isaac Selya
Associate Music Director and Continuo: Michael Patterson
Pianist: Stephen Variames
Stage Director: Brian Robertson
Stage Manager: Nadia Mason
Assistant Stage Manager: Laila Gose
Scenic Engineer: Sean McGhee
Scenic Associate and Audio Engineer: Kenji Ulmer
Lighting Designer: Amanda Hackney
Lighting Assistant: Isaac Ludlam
Costume Designer: Laura Molander
Wigs and Makeup Assistant: Jerome Horng
Supertitles Coordinator: Mike Goist
Videographer: Dave Zeng
Director of Marketing and Audience Development: Charlotte Ulmer

Queen City Opera Foundation Support

ArtsWave
Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation
Elsa Heisel Sule Foundation
Matinée Musicale Education Fund
Maurice E. Oshry Fund at the Greater Cincinnati Foundation
Nippert Musical Arts Fund

Queen City Opera Individual Support

Anonymous
Spencer Bergman
Robert and Debra Chavez
Catherine Cook
Ephraim Glinert
Karlee Hilliard
Daniel J. Hoffheimer
Ted and Anne Jaroszewicz
Carol Louise Kruse
Deborah Lewis
Scott McGhee
Emily Montion
William Needelman
Stuart Own
Glenn and Cassandra Plott
Hera Reines
Mahmoud Said
Mary Sandmann
Janet Schultz
Isaac Selya
Mark Shapiro
Bev Wright Smith
Dan Franklin Smith
Michael Sturgulewski
Drs. Catharina and Bob Toltzis
Daniel Tonozzi
Barbara Wagner

Video and Audio Production

Dave Zeng Productions
KU Audio

Support Queen City Opera

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