2021 FESTIVAL – Palm Beach Opera

David Stern

Conductor

James Robinson*

Director

Latonia Moore

Mimì

Isabel Leonard*

Musetta

Michael Fabiano*

Rodolfo

Quinn Kelsey*

Marcello

Ryan Speedo Green*

Colline

Heeseung Chae+

Schaunard

Heeseung Chae, Baritone from South Korea, graduated Opera Institute at Boston University. He completed his Master and Bachelor of Music degrees at Seoul National University, and he received his Performance Diploma from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He has performed the roles of Schaunard in La bohème, Ceprano in Rigoletto, and Ford in Falstaff at Verdi Gala concert at Seoul national University. At IU, he performed Haly in L’italiana in Algieri, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, and Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. With the BU Opera Institute, he performed Philp Glass’s Hydrogen Jukebox and Il Conte in Le nozze di Figaro and Paul Watson in Johnathan Berger’s The War Reporter and Pelléas in Pelléas et Mélisande by Debussy. He also performed Marullo and covered Rigoletto at Charlottesville Opera as a Young Artist on 2017 and covered Il Conte on 2018 at the same program. He performed Marullo again in Rigoletto at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as a Gerdine Young Artist on 2019. On 2021, Heeseung will perfrom Schaunard and cover Marcello in La bohème, cover Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Silvio in I Pagliacci at Palm Beach Opera as a Benenson Young Artist. He studied with Andreas Poulimenos at IU and studied with Matthew DiBattista at BU.

Jake Gardner

Benoît/Alcindoro

David Stern

Conductor

James Robinson*

Director

Janai Brugger

Pamina

Kathryn Lewek*

Queen of the Night

Matthew Polenzani*

Tamino

Joshua Hopkins*

Papageno

Peixin Chen

Sarastro

Ryan Speedo Green*

Speaker

Matthew DiBattista

Monostatos

Patricia Westley+

Papagena

Shannon Jennings+

First Lady

Jenny Anne Flory+

Second Lady

Jennifer Johnson Cano*

Third Lady

A naturally gifted singer noted for her commanding stage presence and profound artistry, Jennifer Johnson Cano has garnered critical acclaim for committed performances of both new and standard repertoire. For her performance as Offred in Poul Ruders’s The Handmaid’s Tale she was lauded as a “consummate actress,” by The Wall Street Journal; a “tour de force” by The Boston Globe; and “towering…restless, powerful, profound, she is as formidable as this astonishingly demanding role deserves,” by The New York Times. In recital with Anna Netrebko at Carnegie Hall, Bachtrack called her performance “self-effacing and full of musicality.” With more than 100 performances on the stage at The Metropolitan Opera, her most recent roles have included Nicklausse, Emilia, Hansel and Meg Page.

Following engagements at Bravo! Vail with the New York Philharmonic, Ravinia Festival with Matthew Polenzani, and Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Music Festival, Ms. Cano ended summer 2019 with the LA Phil for performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Hollywood Bowl. She began her 2019-2020 season with Michael Tilson Thomas at San Francisco Symphony’s Opening Night Gala. In recital she appeared at Da Camera of Houston for a performance of Argento’s From the Diary of Virginia Woolf and joined pianist Benjamin Hochman and friends for Janáček’s The Diary of One Who Disappeared at New York’s 92nd Street Y. She received rave reviews for her Opera Philadelphia debut, singing Verdi Requiem with just 24 hours’ notice before the first performance. After widespread acclaim last season for her portrayal of Offred in Ruders’s The Handmaid’s Tale with the Boston Lyric Opera, Ms. Cano bowed as the title role of Bizet’s Carmen with New Orleans Opera.

Cano is a native of St. Louis and earned degrees from Webster University and Rice University and was honored as a distinguished alumna and commencement speaker at Webster University in May 2017. Her debut recital recording with pianist Christopher Cano, Unaffected: Live from the Savannah Voice Festival, was recorded completely live and unedited. Recent recordings include a live performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony, Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1: Jeremiah with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and a live recording of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde featuring conductor George Manahan, tenor Paul Groves and St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble. Ms. Cano joined The Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera after winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition, and made her Met debut during the 2009-2010 season. Among her honors are a First Prize winner of the Young concert Artist International Auditions, a Sara Tucker Study Grant, a Richard Tucker Career Grant and George London Award.

Moisés Salazar+

First Priest/Armored Man

Christopher Humbert Jr.+

Second Priest/Armored Man

With a “rich baritone voice,” and a “towering and alluring” stage presence, bass-baritone, Christopher Humbert Jr. has proven a favorite with several US audiences. Originally from Akron, Ohio, he has been seen in multiple operatic and theatrical productions throughout his home state with Opera Columbus, Mid-Ohio Opera, Nightingale Opera Theatre and others where he performed as Pooh-Bah in The Mikado, Count Carl-Magnus in A Little Night Music, Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, Fred Graham in Kiss Me, Kate, and more. Christopher has since performed with Seagle Music Colony (Don Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro, Jud Fry in Oklahoma) and Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre. Humbert was recently selected to join Opera Theatre Saint Louis during the 2020 season as a Gerdine Young Artist. During this time, Humbert was featured on St. Louis Missouri’s Channel Nine station for the inaugural “Songs for St. Louis” televised concert series. In addition to opera, Mr. Humbert is a frequent oratorio and concert soloist: Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s Ein Feste Burg ist unser Gott, Schütz’s St. Matthew Passion, and Bach’s St. John Passion, Händel’s Messiah. Humbert was a first–place finalist it Opera Guild of Dayton’s Tri-State Vocal Competition (2019) and has frequently won classical music and musical theatre awards from the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Humbert has since returned to Carnegie Hall stage as a soloist with Manhattan Concert Productions’ in Dona Nobis Pacem by Ralph Vaughan Williams, in which he shared the stage with ensembles from two of his former alma maters. In 2021, Humbert will be joining Des Moines Metro Opera, Palm Beach Opera as a Beneson Young Artist covering artists Morris Robinson, and Ryan Speedo Green, as well performing the role of Il Commedatore in Opera Columbus’ Don Giovanni. He would like to thank his closest advisors and mentors for continuously being a source of support and wisdom throughout his career.

Emily Helenbrook^

First Spirit

SarahAnn Duffy^

Second Spirit

Megan Callahan^

Third Spirit

Patrick Summers*

Conductor

James Robinson*

Director

Ana María Martínez

Nedda

Robert Watson

Canio

Michael Chioldi

Tonio

Joshua Hopkins*

Silvio

Matthew DiBattista

Beppe

Palm Beach Opera’s First-Ever Festival.

LA BOHÈME

DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE (THE MAGIC FLUTE)

PAGLIACCI

2021 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE