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THE APPRENTICE ARTIST PROGRAM

2018-2019 Season Apprentice Artist Program

The Apprentice Artist Program is an opportunity for recent graduates to gain valuable experiences at the professional level. During their five-month residency in Palm Beach they are Palm Beach Opera’s community ambassadors, performing throughout the region in education and outreach concerts, including Palm Beach Opera’s exciting new concert, A night of … Rising Stars & Classic Melodies. The Apprentice Artists further their artistic development through regular coaching as well as adding strength and consistency to all of the mainstage production choruses.

The Apprentice Artist Program is part of a unique three-tiered training system at Palm Beach Opera that includes the Studio Program and the Benenson Young Artist program.

The Apprentice Artist Program is sponsored in part by the Gladys and Sy Ziv Foundation.

  • Sooyeon Kang
    Sooyeon Kang
    Soprano
  • Suzannah Waddington
    Suzannah Waddington
    Soprano
  • Maire Carmack
    Maire Carmack
    Mezzo-Soprano
  • Jenny Anne Flory
    Jenny Anne Flory
    Mezzo-Soprano
  • Michael Anderson
    Michael Anderson
    Tenor
  • Anthony Ciaramitaro
    Anthony Ciaramitaro
    Tenor
  • Pavel Suliandziga
    Pavel Suliandziga
    Tenor
  • Robert Gerold
    Robert Gerold
    Baritone
  • Michael Miller
    Michael Miller
    Baritone
  • Christopher Carbin
    Christopher Carbin
    Bass-Baritone

Would you like more information about auditions?

For more information about our 2018 Apprentice Artist Program and auditioning, click here.

Faculty

Guest Vocal Coaches
Craig Rutenberg
Former Head of Music Administration at the Metropolitan Opera

Anthony Manoli
Mannes College of Music

Danielle Orlando
Curtis Institute & Academy of Vocal Arts

Rachelle Jonck
Teatro Nuovo & Westminster Choir College

Guest Voice Teachers
Stephen King, baritone
Rice University, Houston Grand Opera & Los Angeles Opera

Elizabeth Futral, soprano
Peabody Institute

Guest Diction Coaches
Corradina Caporello, Italian diction
The Juilliard School & Curtis Institute

Kathryn LaBouff, English diction
The Juilliard School & Manhattan School of Music

Masterclass
Stephanie Blythe, mezzo-soprano

Resident Music Staff
David Stern, Chief Conductor
Greg Ritchey, Associate Conductor & Chorus Master
Timothy Cheung, Young Artist Program Head Coach
Ksenia Leletkina, Apprentice Program Coach
Ben Malensek, vocal coach
Anna Fateeva, vocal coach
Cassie Makeeff, vocal coach

2017-2018 Season Apprentice Artists

Maria Brea, Soprano
Sooyeon Kang, Soprano
Brooklyn Snow, Soprano
Kelsey Robertson, Mezzo-Soprano
Emily Spencer, Mezzo-Soprano
Matthew Greenblatt, Tenor
Elliott Paige, Tenor
Robert Gerold, Baritone
Samuel Hinkle, Baritone
James Wright, Baritone

Sooyeon Kang
Soprano

A native of South Korea, soprano Sooyeon Kang joined Palm Beach Opera last season as an Apprentice Artist, where she covered as a Bridesmaid in Le nozze di Figaro, and returns as an Apprentice Artist in the 2019 season to cover Annina in La traviata and cover Ida in Die Fledermaus.  This summer, she attended Martina Arroyo Foundation’s Prelude to Performance where she covered the role of Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale.  Recently, she has participated in the CoOperative program as a Fellow, appeared with Hubbard Hall Opera Theater, and performed the role of Pez in the world premiere of Christman’s A Metamorphosis at Christman Opera Company.

Sooyeon completed a Graduate Diploma in Opera at New England Conservatory of Music, where her featured performances included Lauretta in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, the title role in Massenet’s Cendrillon, and Sandrina in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera.  She earned her master’s degree in Opera Performance from the University of Texas at Austin, performing the roles of Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème, Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, The Beggar Woman in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, and Asilah cover in the world premiere of Hagen’s A Woman in Morocco. During her time in Austin, she appeared as a guest artist with the Round Rock Symphony Orchestra, Lakeway Arts Committee, and the Balcones Community Orchestra as a winner of the Classical Artists Development Foundation Voice Competition. She also appeared twice on KMFA 89.5, Austin’s Classical Radio Station. She received her bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance from Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea.

 

Suzannah Waddington
Soprano

Sponsored by Ms. Anne Bazik

A native of New York City and Philadelphia, Suzannah Waddington is a young soprano pursuing a career in opera performance studying under soprano Angela Meade. Performing since the age of 12, Suzannah has taken on roles in the operatic and musical theater repertoire. In 2015, Suzannah won her category at the CNYFL-NATS competition, and soon after was awarded the Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan National Council Awards. In 2014, she had the honor of being the soprano soloist cover at Carnegie Hall for the National Sacred Honor Choir’s world premiere. Most recently Suzannah was selected as a participant in Joyce DiDonato’s Master Class series at Carnegie Hall. In the summer of 2018, Suzannah will be singing Pamina with Blooming Voce Summer Opera Workshop and will be an apprentice artist with Teatro Nuovo (formerly Caramoor). This fall, she will be an apprentice artist with Palm Beach Opera and will cover Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. Suzannah currently resides in Philadelphia.

Maire Carmack
Mezzo-Soprano

A native of Seattle, WA, mezzo-soprano Maire Carmack graduated summa cum laude with a double major in philosophy and music from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, where she sang Prima Donna in the world premiere of Philip Blackburn’s hyper-opera The Sun Palace. Prize winner in the Pikes Peak Opera League Young Voice Competition, Ms. Carmack joined Opera Theatre of the Rockies for its productions of Lakmé, Tosca, The King and I, The Sound of Music, and Così fan tutte. Ms. Carmack went on to pursue her master’s degree at the Eastman School of Music where she studied with Robert Swensen and performed the role of Empress Ottavia in Eastman Opera Theatre’s production of Monteverdi’s L’incoronzaione di Poppea under the direction of acclaimed conductor and lutenist, Paul O’Dette. While at Eastman, Ms. Carmack also played Margaret Johnson in The Light in the Piazza; a role coached by the composer himself, Adam Guettel. This past summer, Ms. Carmack joined “Si parla, si canta!” in Urbania, Italy, where she sang the roles of La Zelatrice in Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Maddalena in Verdi’s Rigoletto. Ms. Carmack continues to study with Robert Swensen in Rochester, NY, and will join the Apprentice Artist Program at Palm Beach Opera for the 2018-2019 season.

Jenny Anne Flory
Mezzo-Soprano

Sponsored by Drs. Marsha & Henry Laufer

Mezzo-soprano Jenny Anne Flory, from Dayton, Virginia, graduated with her MM in Opera Performance, as a member of the University of Maryland Opera Studio (May 2017) where she was the first recipient of the Maryland Opera Studio Scholarship.  She holds a BM in Vocal Performance from James Madison University (May 2015).

Over the 2017 summer, she participated in the Wintergreen Music Festival Vocal Intensive where she sang the alto solo in the Mozart Requiem, and worked with conductor Erin Freeman.  She also

traveled to Italy to participate in the BelCanto in Tuscany Emerging Artist Program.  There she worked with vocal coach, Giovanni Reggioli, and teachers, Elizabeth Bishop and Arianna Zukerman. This spring and summer (2018) she will be performing in a recital for the Potomac Vocal Institute, and hopefully returning to the BelCanto in Tuscany program.

Ms. Flory sang Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, Cupidon in Offenbach’s Orfée aux enfers, and the title role in Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia last season with the Maryland Opera Studio.  She recently performed the role of Flora in Charlottesville Opera’s La traviata, and participated in the chorus of MOS’ productions of Regina and Don Giovanni. She also sang with her classmates in the MOS New Work reading and the MOS

Opera Scenes (Spring 2016).  Some of her previous roles at JMU include Lady Angela/Patience, Buttercup/HMS Pinafore, Third Lady/Die Zauberflöte, and Edith/Pirates of Penzance.

Flory has performed as the alto soloist for Handel’s Messiah (Ovation Singers, St. Anne’s Episcopal, JMU), Mozart’s Requiem (JMU), Haydn’s Maria Theresa Mass (First Pres. Charlottesville) and Vivaldi’s Gloria (JMU).  She also sang the soprano solo in the Dvořák Mass in D Majorand Te Deum.

She sang the National Anthem at the inauguration of University of Maryland Chancellor Robert L. Caret, and at the school wide 2015 graduation at James Madison University.  Ms. Flory previously studied voice with Dr. Carrie Stevens, Delores Ziegler, and Linda Mabbs, and currently studies with Elizabeth Bishop and Arianna Zukerman.

Jenny has been taking voice lessons for 8 years, while teaching through part of her undergraduate career and has nine years piano experience.

When Jenny isn’t performing, or teaching you can find her curled up with a good book. She loves Disney, Harry Potter, and spending time with her younger siblings and baby cousins. And she can’t wait to work with you!

Michael Anderson
Tenor

Tenor Michael Anderson most recently appeared as an Artist in Residence with Dayton Opera, where he sang Pong in Turandot, the Sergeant in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and the Soloist inMessiah with Dayton Philharmonic. As a Studio Artist at Opera Saratoga in 2017, Michael sang Bardolfo in Falstaff, garnering recognition from Opera News as “the best” of the opera’s “comic trio” and as “vocally disciplined.” While at Opera Saratoga, Michael was thrilled to perform Gus Polock and Professor Trixie in The Cradle Will Rock under the baton of John Mauceri. The commercial recording of this performance was released by Bridge Records in July, 2018. Michael’s other work in 2017 and 2018 includes the role of the Evangelist and Servus in Bach’s St. John Passion and the Soloist in Messiah with the Westchester Oratorio Society, the Soloist in Farewell to Arms with the New York Sessions Choir, and the Soloist in Lobgesang and the Mozart Requiem with the Manhattan School of Music Symphonic Chorus and Orchestra. Michael has participated in Young Artist Programs at Central City Opera (2016), where he sang Jimmy in Later the Same Evening and at Wolf Trap Opera (2015, 2014), where he performed in the Opera Box Quartet and covered Count Almaviva in The Ghosts of Versailles, and performed Le Journaliste in Les mamelles de Tirésias. Honored with the Christopher Kiryluk Memorial Award by Central City Opera, Michael was a finalist in the Opera Index Competition in 2017. He was also a finalist in the New Jersey State Opera Alfredo Silipigni Vocal Competition and in Manhattan School of Music’s Alan M. and Joan Taub Ades Vocal Competition. Michael attended Manhattan School of Music, where he received his Bachelors of Music in 2014 and his Masters of Music in 2016. As a student, he sang Mayor Upfold in Albert Herring and Tigrane in La Doriclea. He also the tenor solo in King David and Obadiah in Elijah with the Manhattan School of Music Symphonic Chorus and Orchestra, and appeared as the tenor soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Guelph Symphony Orchestra. Michael lives in New York City, where he has been a voice student of Catherine Malfitano since 2015.

Anthony Ciaramitaro
Tenor

Sponsored by Teeda & Salvatore Nuzzo

Tenor Anthony Ciaramitaro, a Florida native, is currently pursuing his Master’s degree at Florida State University under David Okerlund, and has recently performed the role of Don Ramiro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola with Florida State Opera.

Mr. Ciaramitaro had the privilege to perform as a Studio Artist with Wolf Trap Opera during their 2015 season as Basilio from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, The Messenger from Verdi’s Aida, and among the ensemble of Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles.

In previous seasons, Mr. Ciaramitaro made his professional debut with Florida Opera Theater as Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, the 2nd trio member in Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, Piquillo from Jacques Offenbach’s La Perichole with the Franco-American Vocal Academy in Perigueux, France, and scenes from Verdi’s La forza del destino, La Traviata and Mozart’s Don Giovanni in Oberaudorf, Germany with Music Theater Bavaria.

Mr. Ciaramitaro graduated in 2014 with his Bachelor’s in music from Rollins College, where he studied under Richard Owens, who has been a great inspiration to the advancement of his career. Mr. Ciaramitaro has been a concert soloist for The Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, The Messiah Choral Society, and The Villages Philharmonic.

Mr. Ciaramitaro has an avid love of the stage and is eager to one day have an illustrious career as a singer of opera, oratorio, and concert repertoire.

Pavel Suliandziga
Tenor

Sponsored by Mickey & Allan Greenblatt

Masters Graduate from the Russian Academy of Music in 2015, tenor Pavel Suliandziga is now
completing his Professional Studies Diploma at Mannes College of Music (2017). His roles
include Trike and Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin in 2014 and 2015 with the Russian
Academy of Music, Tamino [The Magic Flute] with R.A.M. In collaboration with ESMUC in
Barcelona, Spain in 2014 and Peter Quint [The Turn of the Screw] in 2013 and most recently the
role of Nemorino (L’elisir D’amore) and Ferrando (Cosi Fan Tutte) with Mannes under the baton
of Joseph Colaneri. Pavel was also a solo performer in the Beethoven Symphony No.9 with the
R.A.M. Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Fedoseev. He was the 1st place prize winner in
2013 and 2014 with AADGT in New York, performing in Carnegie Hall and 3rd prize winner in
Bella Voce competition in Moscow. Pavel Suliandziga was a participant in the Vianden Festival
in Luxembourg in 2013 and 2014 and IVAI summer program in New York and Montreal 2016.

Robert Gerold
Baritone

Sponsored by Mrs. Ronnie Isenberg

Praised by critics as a “gorgeous” and “powerfully voiced” “baritone of tonal richness”, Robert Gerold is
a native of Blairstown, New Jersey. For the 2017-18 season, Mr. Gerold joins Palm Beach Opera as an
Apprentice Artist. Mr. Gerold worked as a Resident Artist with Pittsburgh Festival Opera for their 2017 season,
debuting the role of Lockdown in the world premiere of Dwayne Fulton’s A Gathering of Sons (soon to be
released on CD/DVD for purchase) and portraying the role of Commerzienrat in Strauss’s Intermezzo , while
covering the title role in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd.

Mr. Gerold graduated from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2017 with a Bachelor’s
Degree in Vocal Performance, where he studied with acclaimed baritone Andreas Poulimenos. Mr. Gerold
performed many leading roles while attending IU, including Figaro in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, Riolobo
in Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, Abdul (the savage) in Menotti’s The Last Savage, Peter in Humperdinck’s
Hänsel und Gretel, and Curly in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!.

Mr. Gerold is an international artist, having performed in Ischia, Italy, with the Masterclass Ischia
program in 2012, and subsequently made his international operatic debut in 2014 as the title role in Puccini’s
Gianni Schicchi in Arezzo, Italy, as part of the Oberlin In Italy program.

Mr. Gerold’s other operatic credits include Il Mandarino in Puccini’s Turandot with Coro Lirico, as well
as Le Premier Ministre in Massenet’s Cendrillon and Peter in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel with SUNY
Purchase Opera. In 2014, Mr. Gerold debuted the dual roles of Retrograde/Asher in the world premiere of Eric
Lindsay’s Cosmic Ray and the Amazing Chris with New Voices Opera in Bloomington, Indiana.

In addition to his operatic and musical theatre credits, Mr. Gerold is equally at home on the concert
stage, having performed as a soloist in several works, such as Ives’s The Celestial Country, Mahler’s Lieder
eines fahrenden Gesellen, Strauss’s Opus 10, and selections from Grainer’s musical Robert and Elizabeth.
Mr. Gerold has had the pleasure of collaborating with many renowned conductors, including Betsy
Burleigh, Arthur Fagen, Constantine Kitsopoulos, Brent McMunn, Paul Nadler, David Neely, and Jason
Tramm. Mr. Gerold’s current voice teacher is Michael Paul.

Michael Miller
Baritone

Sponsored by Mr. & Mrs. Barry Gray

Noted for his towering size and mellifluous tone, Boston-based baritone Michael Miller is at the beginning of an exciting performing career. This season, Michael joins Palm Beach Opera as an apprentice artist. Mr. Miller recently returned to the Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, New York, where he sang the role of Lt.Audebert in Kevin Puts’ Pulitzer Prize winning opera Silent Night. Mr. Miller is a graduate of Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where he recently appeared in the title role of Eugene Onegin.

At home in both contemporary American opera and standard repertoire, Michael’s performances have spanned from the title role of Rossini’s classic Il Barbiere di Siviglia to the transformative role of Joseph DeRocher in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking. In 2017, Michael joined the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as a Gerdine Young Artist. Prior to his move to Boston, Michael made his debut with the Glimmerglass Festival as Thomas Putnam in Francesca Zambello’s production of The Crucible. During his undergraduate career, Michael appeared in main stage productions of Dead Man Walking, Gianni Schicchi, and L’heure espagnole. Between academic years, he spent three summers training at the Seagle Music Colony. Originally from Meadville, Pennsylvania, Michael now calls Boston home.

Christopher Carbin
Bass-Baritone

Sponsored by Mr. & Mrs. Charles Gottesman

Bass-Baritone Christopher Carbin is quickly becoming recognized for his artistic versatility and affinity for new opera. In the summer of 2018, he joined the Glimmerglass Festival as a Young Artist, covering the roles of Harašta in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen and the British Major in Puts’s Silent Night, among other assignments.

Christopher has collaborated with such artists as Cerise Jacobs, Paola Prestini, and Julian Wachner in several workshop productions of the new operas Gilgamesh and Rev. 23, and in the fall of 2018 will be creating the role of Marsyas in the world premiere of PermaDeath, by Cerise Jacobs and Dan Visconti.

Christopher returned to the New England Conservatory of Music as a guest artist in February of 2018, performing the role of Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.

In October of 2017, Christopher made his debut with Odyssey Opera, singing the role of Armando in Donizetti’s rarely performed L’assedio di Calais under the baton of Maestro Gil Rose. He returned to Odyssey Opera in April of 2018, performing the role of Talbot in Verdi’s rarely staged Giovanna d’Arco. 

In the summer of 2017, Christopher performed in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a concert reading of a new Elena Ruehr opera, Crafting the Bonds, before making his Colorado debut with the Crested Butte Opera Studio as Simone in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi.

As a 2016 Gerdine Young Artist with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Christopher performed the role of the Assassin in Verdi’s Macbeth, under the baton of Maestro Stephen Lord. Also at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, he covered the role of Abdullah in the world premiere of Shalimar the Clown (based on the Salman Rushdie novel), by Jack Perla and Rajiv Joseph, under the baton of Jayce Ogren. Upon returning from St. Louis, Christopher joined the Boston Lyric Opera chorus for their revolutionary production of Carmen.

Other roles Christopher has performed include Claudio (Agrippina), Tío Sarvaor (La vida breve), Gideon March/Mr. Dashwood (Little Women), Don Alfonso (Così fan tutti), and Peter Quince (A Midsummer Night’s Dream.)

Christopher holds a B.M. in Vocal Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and a M.M. in Vocal Performance with a concentration in Vocal Pedagogy from the New England Conservatory of Music.

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