Cast

RUTH ANN SWENSON – SOPRANO
Ruth Ann Swenson was last seen at Palm Beach Opera as the Soprano Soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Ms. Swenson is recognized as one of the leading artists of our day and has won critical and public accolades internationally in theaters including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera National de Paris, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Berlin State Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Hamburg State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, among many others. Ms. Swenson has been especially noted in the title roles of Lucia di Lammermoor, Manon and Maria Stuarda, as well as Violetta in La Traviata, Marguerite in Faust, Adina in L’elisir d’amore, Elvira in I Puritani, Gilda in Rigoletto, Ilia in Idomeneo, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare and Juliette in Roméo et Juliette. Most recent engagements from the past two seasons include a return to the San Francisco Opera as Ginevra in Handel’s Ariodante, concert performances of Maria Stuarda in Lyon and Paris, The Merry Widow for the Dallas Opera, Marguerite in Faust at the Cincinnati Opera, and a return to the Metropolitan Opera as Marguerite, Violetta and Cleopatra.

DENYCE GRAVES-MONTGOMERY – MEZZO SOPRANO
Recognized worldwide as one of today’s most exciting vocal stars, Denyce Graves continues to gather unparalleled popular and critical acclaim in performances on four continents. Her career has taken her to the world’s great opera houses and concert halls. The combination of her expressive, rich vocalism, elegant stage presence, and exciting theatrical abilities allows her to pursue a wide breadth of operatic portrayals as well as delight audiences in concert and recital appearances. Denyce Graves has become particularly well-known to operatic audiences for her portrayals of the title roles in Carmen and Samson et Dalila. These signature roles have brought Ms. Graves to the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Washington Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Arena di Verona, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opernhaus Zürich, Teatro Real in Madrid, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Los Angeles Opera, and the Festival Maggio Musicale in Florence. Ms. Graves appears regularly on radio and television as a musical performer, celebrity guest, and as the subject of documentaries and other special programming. Denyce Graves is a native of Washington, D.C., where she attended the Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts. She continued her education at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory.

BRANDON JOVANOVICH – TENOR
Tenor Brandon Jovanovich is recognized by the world’s leading opera companies for his passionate stage portrayals of leading roles in French, Italian, German, and Slavic opera. In his exciting 2011/2012 season, Mr. Jovanovich will appear on the stages of the world’s most important opera houses: as Don Jose with the Deutsche Oper Berlin as well as the Bayerische Staatsoper, as Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with Lyric Opera of Chicago, as Cavaradossi in Tosca with Oper Köln, and a role debut in the title role in Don Carlos with the Houston Grand Opera. In concert he appears at the Hollywood Bowl performing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Choral Fantasy, both with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as with the Gürzenich Orchester Köln performing Mahler’s Eighth Symphony. A native of Billings, Montana, Brandon Jovanovich received his training at Northern Arizona University and at Manhattan School of Music. He won the Crawley Award from the Young Patronesses of the Opera/Florida Grand Opera Voice Competition and in 2004 he was given the prestigious ARIA Award.

ANGELA BROWN – SOPRANO
Angela Brown personifies the ideal American dramatic soprano:  sheer vocal power; luxurious finesse; shimmering, high pianissimos; and a charming personality larger than life.  Miss Brown is a trailblazer on a mission to bring operatic and classical vocal performance to a diverse audience.  Her witty and inspired recital program titled “Opera… from a Sistah’s Point of View” dispels the myths of opera through lively commentary on opera plots and characters, show-stopping arias, poignant art songs and moving spirituals. Miss Brown’s previous solo appearances include: Metropolitan Opera; National Opera of Paris; Bilbao Opera, Spain; Teatro La Fenice; Opera Company of Philadelphia; Cincinnati Opera; Indianapolis Opera; Florida Grand Opera; The Philadelphia Orchestra; Knoxville Symphony; Chautauqua Institution; the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.; and has performed in recital throughout the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Africa. A 1997 National Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions Winner, Miss Brown received her Bachelor of Music degree in voice from Oakwood College.  She attended the Indiana University School of Music as a student in the studio of Virginia Zeani.

SARAH JOY MILLER – SOPRANO
Sarah Joy Miller made her debut at Michigan Opera Theater in spring 2011 singing Gilda in Rigoletto and sees the release of an album of arias she recorded with the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Maestro Steven Mercurio in Pecs, Hungary. This follows a year filled with highlights, including appearances as Musetta in La Boheme at New York’s Symphony Space, Micaela in Carmen with New York Lyric Opera, and Violetta in La Traviata with Long Island Opera. The year also brought Ms. Miller award recognition from the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, the Gerda Lissner Foundation, the New York Lyric Opera Competition, and the Jensen Foundation. Ms. Miller made her professional operatic debut singing Mimi in Baz Luhrmann’s acclaimed Broadway production of Puccini’s La Boheme. She recently made her Hong Kong Opera debut singing a series of Opera Gala Concerts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and has also appeared in venues across the United States as Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, Marguerite in Faust, and the title role of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor.

LAUREN MCNEESE – MEZZO SOPRANO
Mezzo-soprano Lauren McNeese makes her Palm Beach Opera debut tonight. She has performed as Wellgunde in Das Rheingold, at San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Los Angeles Opera. She made her Los Angeles Opera debut as Thibault (Don Carlo) and has since returned there as Javotte (Manon), Karolka (Jenůfa), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi), and the Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte) among other roles. Other notable credits include her Michigan Opera Theater debut as Stéphano (Roméo et Juliette); Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) and Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro) at Minnesota Opera; the title role of L’Enfant et les Sortilèges and La Ciesca at Opera Company of Philadelphia; Cherubino at the Ravinia Festival; Dorabella (Così fan tutte) with Arizona Opera; and Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) and Stéphano at PORTOpera in Maine. McNeese is a graduate of the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago. She has appeared at Lyric Opera of Chicago in such roles as Dorabella, Mercédès (Carmen), Cherubino, Siebel (Faust), the Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte), Rossweisse, Lapák the Dog (The Cunning Little Vixen), and Flora (La Traviata).

ATALLA AYAN – TENOR
Brazilian tenor Atalla Ayan was born in Belem (Para) where he began his vocal studies in 2002 at the Conservatorio Carlos Gomes under the guidance of Professor Malna Mineva. He is the second place winner, Zarzuela prize winner and Cia Opera Sao Paulo prize winner of the 2010 Francisco Vinas Competition. In the 2011-2012 season Mr. Ayan will make his debut with the Glyndebourne Touring Opera as Rodolfo in La Boheme and join the Staatsoper Stuttgart as an ensemble member singing in the roles of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Alfred in Die Fledermaus and Rodolfo in La Boheme, among others. In the 2010-2011 season he made his debut at the Tetatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi. He appeared in July 2010 in a gala concert at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro opposite soprano Nino Machaidze and returned to Rio in September of 2010 appearing as Romeo in Romeo et Juliette.  During the 2009-2010 season Atalla Ayan was a member of the Lindemann Young Artists Development Program with the Metropolitan Opera.  Later that season he appeared in concert with the RAI Orchestra of Turin in a concert titled “Nuovi Voci”.

DANIEL SUTIN – BARITONE
Daniel Sutin was last seen on the Palm Beach Opera stage as Iago in Otello. This past fall of 2011, Mr. Sutin made his debut in the role of Verdi’s Macbeth with the Boston Lyric Opera and returned to Opera San Antonio as Germont in La Traviata. He will also return to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for La Boheme and Die Meistersinger. Mr. Sutin vast repertoire includes:  Paolo in Simon Boccanegra, the tilte role in Rigoletto, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Sonora in La fanciulla del west, Paris in Roméo et Juliette, the One Eyed Brother in Die Frau ohne Schatten, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Germont in La traviata, Orest in Elektra, Conte di Luna in Il Trovatore, Silvio in I Pagliacci, Ford in Falstaff and the Count in Le nozze di Figaro. Mr. Sutin’s European credits include performances at the houses of Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Stuttgart, Mönchengladbach, Basel and Zurich.  Mr. Sutin was born in Albany, New York, and earned Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Voice at the Juilliard School.

SHERRILL MILNES – CO-HOST
Five time Grammy nominated and three time Grammy winner, Sherrill Milnes is internationally recognized as the leading Verdi Baritone of his time.  His remarkable voice, artistic integrity, commanding stage presence, and rugged handsomeness have made him a favorite for all audiences. Milnes has conquered all of the great opera capitals of the world and United States.  At the Metropolitan Opera, where he sang more than 650 performances over a 32-year span, he has been honored with 16 new productions, seven opening nights, and ten national telecasts.  Milnes was also in great demand as a recitalist and in concert, appearing on the world’s major recital stages and with the great orchestras of North America and Europe.  He has had the honor of performing for every United States President since Gerald Ford.  Milnes has worked extensively with young singers throughout his career.  He has led master classes at the Juilliard and Manhattan Schools in New York, at most major universities throughout the country, and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.  More extensive teaching has been done at the Yale University School of Music; Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow; the Northern Royal College of Music in Manchester, England (where he is a fellow); the Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv; Montreal; and Puerto Rico; and the International Institute of Vocal Arts in Italy.  He has judged many international competitions including the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Milnes is Distinguished Professor of Music Emeritus from Northwestern University and now teaches masterclasses and workshops for universities and programs internationally. He serves as Artistic Advisor of Opera Tampa, the resident opera company of the Straz Center for the Performing Arts.

DONA D. VAUGHN – DIRECTOR
Dona D. Vaughn is Artistic Director of PORTopera in Portland, Maine, and also Artistic Director of the Opera Programs at Manhattan School of Music. For twelve years she served as Stage Director/Acting Coach for The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Directing credits include New York City Opera, Wolf Trap, Michigan Opera Theater, Birmingham Opera, New York’s Ensemble Studio Theater, Lincoln Center Playwrights’ Festival, New York Repertory Company, The Kennedy Center, Minerva Productions, Peterloon Festival, Heritage Theater (Calgary, Canada), DiVivreVoix (Vivonne, France), Florida Arts Festival,  and many colleges and universities across the US and Europe. A graduate of Brevard College where she currently serves on the board of trustees, she received her BA in vocal performance from Wesleyan (Outstanding Alumni Award),  MA in directing from Hunter College, and Honorary Doctor of Music from the University of Southern Maine. Formerly a member of the voice faculties for SUNY-Plattsburgh and Marymount Manhattan College, she often serves as an adjudicator for vocal competitions including: The Metropolitan Opera National Council, The Richard Tucker Foundation, The Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation, Denver Lyric Opera, Palm Beach Opera, The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Artist-in-Training Program, and Premio Spiros Argiris International Competition (Italy).