SIREN SONG
by Jonathan Dove
libretto by Gordon Honeycombe & Nick Dear
William Lumpkin, conductor
Matthew Larson, music preparation & coach
Claire Choquette, stage director
CAST
DAVEY……………….....……...…+David Rivera Bozon, * llhee Lee
DIANA………….…...……………………..+Abby Orr, *Darby Barnett
JONATHAN.....……………...…..+Nathan Savant, *Noah B. Rogers
CAPTAIN…….......………………….…………………….Dalton Rowe
REGULATOR/WIRELESS OPERATOR………………Ryan Hangar
+Denotes Saturday, 2:00pm & Sunday, 2:00pm
*Denotes Saturday, 7:30pm & Sunday, 7:30pm
ENSEMBLE
Cheng-Yeh Tsou, Violin Siqing Shen, Cello Min Kyung Cho, Bass
John Legere, Flute Kailey Hrencecin, Oboe
Jake Pierson, Clarinet/Bass Cl. YiHao Lee, Horn
Matthew Larson, Piano
Allison Voth, Keyboard
Sheng Chan, Percussion
CREATIVE & PRODUCTION TEAM
Scenic Designer...............................................Cameron Carcasson
Costume Designer......................................................Morgan Bailie
Lighting Designer.........................................................Lena Broach
Technical Director..................................................Tess Evans-Shell
Intimacy Director...........................……………………..Yo-El Cassell
Stage Manager...............................................................Emily Cady
Production Manager..................................................Sanaz Bagheri
Associate Production Manager.........................................Sam Noto
Production Electrician.................................................Noah Wrafter
Properties Coordinator.........................................Kara Zacharewicz
Properties Supervisor..........................................Zoe Charbonneau
Sound Engineer..............................................................Irene Wang
Assistant Scene Designer........................................Khushi Chavda
Assistant Costume Designer.....................................Nora Kempner
Assistant Lighting Designer..........................................Davin Martin
Assistant Technical Director........................................Sydney Elliott
Assistant Stage Manager..............................................Iaslyn Lewis
Assistant Sound Engineer......................................Rachael Debraal
Production Assistant..............................Kadynce Morton, M Morris, Rebecca Weltmann
Wardrobe Crew.......Lucy Braudis, Reagan Kacmar, Zola Gutierrez
Asst. Production Electrician/Programmer..........Nathan McWilliams
Light Board Operator/Crew..............................................Annabel Ji
Lighting Crew...........................................Sarah Akand, Tessa Herr, Scarlett McConnell Elder, Francesca Botifoll, Renee Yang, Silvano Spagnuolo
Sound Board Op./Sound Crew............................. Jacob Robertson
Sound Crew.........Santiago Sanchez-Lara Alonso, Paolo Bonarriva
Supertitles......................................................................Allison Voth
Front of House.....................Keira Bertram, Erick Cestelos Rosales
House Manager.......................................................................Cu Ye
SOM Director of Production & Performance............Chris Dempsey
SOM Stage Manager............................................Anna Richardson
SOM Librarian........................................................Ken Yanagisawa
Opera Institute Artistic Director...............................William Lumpkin
Opera Institute Managing Director & Producer......Oshin Gregorian
Presented under license from G. Schirmer, Inc. o/b/o Chester Music Ltd./ St. Rose Music Publishing Co.
STAGE DIRECTOR’S NOTE
What a joy to be back at BU Fringe!! The electricity in the room as we’ve built this show has been palpable and I’m so glad you’re here to experience it with us. Welcome.
When I began studying this opera a few months ago, I immediately fell in love with the score and have only fallen deeper in love since. Jonathan Dove’s orchestration provides a wildly imaginative vehicle for storytelling, intricately painting the soundscape of each new location throughout the show no matter how exotic. As the story progresses, you can listen for real-world sounds in the orchestra like a train whistle, a thunderstorm, a ship’s horn, and twittering tropical birds.
This explosive sonic backdrop perfectly juxtaposes the opera’s central theme of quiet loneliness. As able seaman Davey Palmer is surrounded by a thousand other people on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean, his heart yearns for deeper connection. Based on the true story told in British author Gordon Honeycombe’s 1992 novel of the same title, Siren Song explores themes of isolation, deception, and desire.
I certainly don’t want to give too much away, but you should just know that £18,000 in 1990 is about $56,400 today.
Welcome aboard the HMS Ark Royal—enjoy the show.
— Claire Choquette
ARTISTIC BIOGRAPHIES
Jonathan Dove’s music has filled opera houses with delighted audiences of all ages on five continents. He is one of the most performed living opera composers and few, if any, contemporary composers have so successfully or consistently explored the potential of opera to communicate, to create wonder and to enrich people’s lives. Born in 1959 to architect parents, Dove’s early musical experience came from playing the piano, organ and viola. Later he studied composition with Robin Holloway at Cambridge and, after graduation, worked as a freelance accompanist, repetiteur, animateur and arranger. His early professional experience gave him a deep understanding of singers and the complex mechanics of the opera house. Opera and the voice have been the central priorities in Dove’s output throughout his subsequent career.
Starting with his breakthrough opera Flight, commissioned by Glyndebourne in 1998, Dove has gone on to write more than thirty operatic works including The Adventures of Pinocchio (2007), Mansfield Park (2011) and Marx in London (2018). Flight, the most successful modern comic opera, has had over thirty productions to date in Europe, the USA and Australia. His television opera When She Died… (2002) was seen by 2.5 million people worldwide. Dove’s innate understanding of the individual voice is exemplified in his large and varied choral and song output, and his confident optimism has made him the natural choice as the composer for big occasions. In 2010, A Song of Joys for chorus and orchestra opened the festivities at the Last Night of the Proms, and in 2016 an expanded version of Our Revels Now Are Ended premiered at the same occasion. In 2018 They will Rise commissioned by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey was premiered to commemorate the centenary of the Royal Air Force.
Throughout his career Dove has made a serious commitment to community development through innovative musical projects. Tobias and the Angel, a 75-minute opera written in 1999, brings together children, community choirs, and professional singers and musicians in a vivid and moving retelling of the Book of Tobit. His 2012 opera Life is a Dream, written for Birmingham Opera Company, was performed by professionals and community choruses in a disused Birmingham warehouse. 2015 brought the World Premiere of The Monster in the Maze, a community opera co-commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, premiered under
the baton of Sir Simon Rattle in three separate translations and productions. The Monster in the Maze has since been performed around the world, translated further into Taiwanese, Portuguese, Swedish Dutch and Catalan, and received a BASCA British Composer Award in 2016’s ‘Amateur and Young Performers’ category. Dove’s work for orchestra has included a Proms commission for the BBC Symphony Orchestra Gaia Theory (2014) which takes its inspiration from the ground-breaking writings of scientist and environmentalist James Lovelock. His work for children and family audiences Gaspard’s Foxtrot, based on the book by Zeb Soanes with illustrations by James Mayhew, was co-commissioned by the Philharmonia Orchestra, Three Choirs Festival Association, Docklands Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Royal Scottish National Orchestra and premiered in 2019. A film of the work, featuring the RSNO with Zeb Soanes alongside moving illustrations from the book, had already been seen by 104,000 children in 2022. A second Musical Tale, Gaspard’s Christmas, commissioned by the RSNO, premiered in 2022. In Exile (2021) for solo baritone, solo cello and orchestra, depicts a day in the life of an involuntary exile. Written for Simon Keenlyside and Raphael Wallfisch, it was commissioned by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as part of its centenary commission series Jonathan Dove won the 2008 Ivor Novello Award for classical music and was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s 2019 Birthday Honours for services to music.
William Lumpkin’s extensive repertoire and career have led to engagements with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Boston Lyric Opera, having previously served on the music staff for Los Angeles Opera, Aspen Opera Theatre, and Wolf Trap Opera. Additionally, Maestro Lumpkin led performances of the Mary Zimmerman production of Philip Glass’s Galileo Galilei as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s New Wave Festival, having previously conducted world premiere performances at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.
Most recently, Mr. Lumpkin conducted performances of Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Opera Grand Rapids with members of the Grand Rapids Symphony in a production directed by Eve Summer and was guest conductor for The Meadows School for the Arts at Southern Methodist University production of Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. Mr. Lumpkin conducted the American premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Flight with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and again for Boston Lyric Opera, which Opera News
praised, stating ”Dove’s impressive score was conducted wonderfully by another veteran of the Saint Louis production, William Lumpkin.” Additional credits at St. Louis include La bohème, The Magic Flute, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Hansel and Gretel. He also joined Boston Lyric Opera to conduct Così fan tutte. Of this production, Opera News stated “Lumpkin kept his players and singers under firm control, at the same time allowing them sufficient liberty to bring out nuances in their performances,” and the Boston Globe noted “His work had brio, style, and heart, and the orchestra played beautifully for him.”
As Associate Professor of Music and the Artistic Director and Conductor for the Opera Institute at Boston University, he has conducted over 40 opera productions, including a co-production with Glimmerglass Opera of E. Loren Meeker’s production of Janacek’s “The Cunning Little Vixen”, a co-commission with New York City Opera of Tobias Picker’s chamber version of his opera “Dolores Claiborne”, and a concert version of “Vanessa” with Boston University alum Lauren Flanigan. He has also appeared as guest conductor at Indiana University and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
As a pianist, Mr. Lumpkin collaborated with Juliana Gondek recording Roger Bour-land’s “Four Quartets of Songs and Arias” for Navona Records. A native of Lewisburg, PA, Mr. Lumpkin holds a BM from the Eastman School of Music, an MM in Conducting from UCSB, and a D.M.A. from the University of Southern California.
Award-winning stage director Claire Choquette’s concept for Salome won Opera America’s Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer prize for an arresting cult-centric production in 2022. A quick up-and-comer on the American opera scene, Claire has been in high demand, having directed eight fully staged productions in her first year as a full-time stage director. In November 2024, Claire will make her directing debut at Fort Worth Opera with Adamo’s Little Women. Other recent directing credits include Lucia di Lammermoor at Painted Sky Opera in Oklahoma City, Little Women at Harrower Summer Opera, The Impresario at Opera Baltimore, La Bohème at Shreveport Opera, Dust Bowl with The Verdigris Ensemble, Alice Tierney at Boston University Opera Institute, L’incoronazione di Poppea at Red River Lyric Opera, and Handel’s Rodelinda at American Baroque Opera Company. Claire has held positions as a resident assistant director at The Dallas Opera Outreach, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Painted Sky Opera. Early in her career, she served as an Assistant Professor of voice and opera workshop at the Universidad Nacional del Paraguay in Asunción, Paraguay.
Matthew Larson received his Doctorate in Collaborative Piano from Arizona State University under the tutelage of Eckart Sellheim. An accomplished recitalist, Dr. Larson has played over 1,000 performances in the US and Europe. He has worked with such varied artists as Metropolitan Opera stars Carol Vaness, Maria Spacagna, Eric Owens, and Lawrence Brownlee; Academy of Ancient Music director Christopher Hogwood; vocal pedagogy pioneer Richard Miller; and the eminent collaborative artist Dalton Baldwin, with whom Matthew was invited to study in New York. Past positions include Assistant Conductor for Boston Lyric Opera; Music Director for the University of Connecticut Opera Program; Staff Pianist for Yale University Opera; Vocal Coach at Brown University; Staff Pianist for The American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria; Music Director of Opera Providence; Vocal Coach at Walnut Hill School for the Arts; Pianist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Festival Chorus; Music Director of Cape Cod Opera; and Vocal Coach for Tanglewood Institute’s Young Artist Vocal Program. Currently, Dr. Larson is on faculty at Boston University; Music Director of Seaglass Theater Company of New Bedford MA; and Minister of Music at First Congregational Church of Milton, Massachusetts. In January 2020 he earned a Grammy Award as pianist on Boston Modern Opera Project’s recording of Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr. Fox
Yo-EL Cassell is currently Head of/Assistant Professor of Movement at Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre. A dynamic, inspiring, and prolific hearing-impaired theatre artist with an accomplished and extensive movement performance, choreographic, direction, and teaching experience for Theatre (Drama, Physical and Musical Theatre), dance, opera, and film whose achievements lie in his collaborative and spirited mission of breaking through the boundaries of access via physical expression. Yo-EL Cassell‘s life-long aspiration and research focuses on three keywords: accessibility, diversity, and joyfulness—engineering the importance of allowing the practical, performative, and creative channels of movement to be accessible for all; regardless of experience, discipline, disability, gender, and socioeconomics means. Mr. Cassell’s unconventional teaching and creative approach encourages and champions the importance of how each individual’s physical instrument—their body–is the solution to expressing their inner landscape, balancing the essentiality of owning in equal measure: the expressive and informative self within the movement of creativity, performance, and life. Mr. Cassell developed The J.O.Y. approach in movement which practices the importance of embracing and embodying
JOY– not merely one’s own happiness but one’s “J”ourney “O”f “Y”outh– mindset in practice, allowing one to embrace the mindset of a child when activating within time and space– particularly, the curious, explorative, creative and imaginative mindset. Due to his hearing impairment, Mr. Cassell connected with the channel of physical expression at the age of three to respond to senses he could access and fill in the blanks physically for what he was missing via the act of hearing. Mr. Cassell continuously believes that he began to “hear” when he moved, thus beginning a lifelong commitment and passion to embodying, creating and accessing movement in any shape or form.
Allison Voth is an Associate Professor of Music at Boston University and Principal Coach at BU’s Opera Institute. A wellknown coach with a specialty in diction, she has worked with such companies and festivals as Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Boston, Chautauqua Opera, Opera North, Opera Unlimited, The Florence Voice Seminar, and the Athens Music Festival. Also a recognized supertitlist, her titles have been used nationwide, including at Washington Opera and the Chicago Symphony, and, internationally, at the Barbican Festival in London. As a specialist in the music of Paul Bowles, in 1992, she produced and performed in a multi-media performance piece entitled Paul Bowles: One Man, Two Voices at Merkin Hall in New York, and in 1995, she premiered a set of piano preludes in the EOS Ensemble’s Bowles Festival. Ms. Voth is also the Music Director of the Cantata Singers’ Chamber Series and can be heard on CRI recordings.
Oshin Gregorian is the Managing Director and Producer for the Boston University Opera Institute. Previous positions include Director of Operations with the ProArte Chamber Orchestra, and General Manager for Collage New Music. Mr. Gregorian holds a BM in vocal performance from Boston University, a MM in vocal performance from Manhattan School of Music, and is a graduate of the Opera Institute with honors. With the Opera Institute, he has been seen as Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Il Podesta in La Finta Giardiniera, and Junius in The Rape of Lucretia, among others. He has performed in numerous concerts and oratorio works with ensembles such as the Tanglewood Festival Chorus/ Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Newburyport Choral Society, and Boston Youth Symphony, among others. Mr. Gregorian made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2005 under the auspices of Music Armenia.
DESIGN & PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES
Sanaz Bagheri is a second-year Production Management student. She has a background in acting, directing, and theatre management, with experience both on stage and behind the scenes. Sanaz is passionate about bringing dynamic, collaborative productions to life, drawing from her diverse theatre experiences in Iran and the U.S.
Morgan Bailie (she/her) is a third-year Costume Design BFA student. She is thrilled to be working on her design debut with BU Opera Institute. Selected credits include “Constellations” (PK Productions, Costume Designer) “Grow Until...” (BU STAMP, Costume Designer), and “HALF” (BU STAMP, Costume Designer). She has recently worked with the Santa Fe Opera and is originally from Minnesota. She would like to thank her assistant, Nora Kempner, and the Siren Song team.
Lighting Designer, Lena Broach (She/Her) is a senior Lighting Design major. Recent credits include lighting design for i love you and i always will or charlie’s play, Spot Op on Barrington Stage Company’s Next to Normal and La Cage Aux Folles, and assistant design for Boston University’s Sunday in the Park with George, One Penny Down, and Orlando. She also serves as the president of BU’s Trans Listening Circle.
Francesca Butera is a first year Design and Production student at Boston University. So far at BU she has worked as a PA on the Next Stage Workshops: Mother May I? and Against a Village as well as working on wardrobe crew. She would like to thank her friends and family for their support and BU SOT for these opportunities!
Stage Manager, Emily Cady (she/they) is so excited to collaborate with the OI again for this production and cannot wait to continue her operatic endeavors in the spring. Favorite Credits: Kyoto (Good Chance Theatre/Royal Shakespeare CompanyLondon), From Here On (Good Chance Theatre - London), Most Happy In Concert (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Just For Us (Regional Premiere, WTF), Faith Healer (Barrington Stage), Collective Rage (BU SOT), Little Women (BU SOT/OI), Lizzie (BU STAMP). Endless love to all involved, the family, and the dream team. BFA Stage Management and Kilachand Honors College 2025. @emilyycadyy
Scenic Designer, Cameron Carcasson (he/him) is a Theatre Arts Design and Production Major concentrating in Scenic Design, Performance, and Costumes. He works in the paint shop on
several shows and has a passion for puppetry. He would like to thank his people for being.
Props Supervisor, Zoe Charbonneau is a senior at Boston University studying Theatre Arts with an emphasis in scenic design (but LOVES props). She has worked as a property coordinator for shows such as Once The Musical and Little Women: the opera. She would like to thank Tasha for her continued enthusiasm and effort for all prop things! She is extremely excited to have the opportunity to work on the Fringe Festival, and hopes you all enjoy!
Khushi Chavada is a Sceneographer currently pursing her MFA in Scenic Design at Boston University. Her focus lies in giving a voice to untold stories, especially minority cultures while integrating sustainability into her design.
Rachael DeBraal is a sound design major in the class of 2027. Her favorite shows she's worked on are Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Chicago. She would like to thank her friends and family for their unconditional support and love.
Assistant Technical Director, Sydney Elliott is from Raton, New Mexico and is a graduate of New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe. She is a current student at BU School of Theatre in Design and Production. She has been doing theatre for 7 years as an actor, stage manager, and lighting designer.
Technical Director, Tess Evans-Shell is a third year MFA Technical Production student. She is originally from Johnson City, Tennessee. She has worked on several BU shows including Shakespeare in Love, and Mankind. She wishes to thank her family and mentors for supporting her.
Nora Kempner (she/her) is a sophomore Costume Design and Production major, and she is so excited to be working on this show in her first BU assistantship. She would like to thank her family for driving the hour into the city to support her on this show.
Iaslyn Lewisn(she/they) is a junior stage management major here at BU! Past BU credits in-clude Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet (ASM), The School for Lies (SM), Cendrillion (ASM), Greek Fest (SM). They would like to send a big thank you to her friends, family, and boyfriend for all of their support. Enjoy the show!
Davin Martin (he/him) is a junior lighting major at Boston University where he has recently worked on Cendrillon, Yerma, and The Drunken City. He can usually be found working on a fun project that ended up a little larger than he anticipated. Davin would like to thank Laurel, Dan, Linnea, and all his wonderful friends for their constant support. Visit him at davinmartin.com
Assistant Production Electrician/Programmer, Nathan McWilliams is a sophomore Lighting Design major from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Professional credits include Seussical, Young Frankenstein, and The Music Man (Lighting Apprentice) at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, and Merrily We Roll Along, Falsettos, and Grand Hotel (Lighting Intern) with Front Porch Theatricals. BU Credits include Molly Beall’s BFA Lighting Thesis: Illuminate! An Electric Cabaret Showcase (Production Electrician), and Yerma (Assistant Production Electrician). He is super excited to be a part of this year’s Fringe Festival with the production of Siren Song! nathanmcwilliams.myportfolio.com
Sam Noto (she/her) is a first-year MFA Graduate Production Manager. She is from Las Vegas, NV and received her bachelor’s in Theater Sound Design from Suffolk University. Sam has been working for Live Nation for the last 8 years as a Sound Engineer, Stage Manager and Production Manager, while also being a Freelance Sound Designer and Engineer for shows including Cymbaline at Suffolk University, and The Orchard at Arlekin Players Theater. She wants to express her gratitude for such an incredible team for her first show at Boston University.
Sound Engineer, Irene Wang (she/they) is a junior BFA Sound Design Major at Boston University School of Theatre. Professional credits include Sound Supervisor for SpeakEasy Stage’s The Prom and Audio Engineer/A1 for Berkshire Theatre Group’s Million Dollar Quartet. Most recently at Boston University, she was the Production Sound Engineer for the Fringe Opera Series in Studio One.
Production Electrician, Noah Wrafter is a 4th year Lighting Undergrad focusing his studies in Lighting Production and Technology. Noah is excited for you to see the work of the incredible design and production team of this years Fringe Festival, and hopes you enjoy the show and return for the next round of productions in a few short weeks!
Props Coordinator, Kara Zacharewicz (they/them) is a class of 2027 Design, Production, and Management major at Boston University from Boulder, Co. They’ve worked on shows at BU such as Alice Tierney and One Penny Down.
SINGER BIOGRAPHIES
Soprano Darby Barnett is a native of Chicago, Illinois and a current graduate student at Boston University studying under Dr. Alison Trainer. Barnett’s recent engagements include Atalanta (La corona) with Opera Seme, Cathleen in Vaughan-Williams’ Riders to the Sea and Gianetta (L’elisir d’amore) with BU Opera Theatre, chorus roles with BU’s Opera Institute (La Clemenza di Tito, Cendrillon), and Sandman/Dew Fairy (Hansel and Gretel) with the Miami Music Festival, where she was credited with an “unforced lyric soprano [sound] ”that “captured the gentle lyricism in Humperdinck’s writing” (South Florida Classical Review). Barnett received her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from DePaul University, where she performed Satirino in (La Calisto) with DePaul Opera Theatre. Barnett is thrilled to be performing the role of Diana (Siren Song)with BU’s Opera institute, and later in the season, she will be seen as Suor Genovieffa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica
David Rivera Bozón, Colombian tenor from Bogotá. He is a first-year of the Opera Institute under the tutelage of Doctor David Guzman. Mr. Bozon holds a Master of Music and Graduate Diploma in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory, and Bachelors from the National University of Colombia. With the Opera Institute David Rivera Bozon is perfoming Davey Palmer from Siren Song by Jonathan Dove; Un Campesino and covering the title role from El Caminante by Eduardo Sanchez de Fuentes and Arcadio from Florencia en el Amazonas by Daniel Catán. His operatic experience includes the main tenor roles in the operas La Vida Breve by Manuel de Falla; L’Amico Fritz by Pietro Mascagni; Elisir d’Amor by Gaetano Donizetti; La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi; Werther by Jules Massenet; L’Enfant Prodigue by Claude Debussy; Les Mamelles de Tirésias by Francis Poulenc; from operas by Puccini: La Bohème, Gianni Schicchi, Madama Butterfly and Tosca; and the operas by Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, Idomeneo, La Finta Giardiniera and Don Giovanni. Mr. Bozon has been recognized by the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives for his outstanding labor in the cultural area, and the Pirandello Liceum for his outstanding contribution to the Italian Heritage in the United States of America. Some upcoming performances are The Tastes of Thanksgiving at The Arctic Playhouse in Rhode Island, Florencia en el Amazonas and guest artist for the Head of the Charles for a third consecutive year. For more information, visit DRBTenor.com
Ryan Hanger (he/him), Tenor, from Dallas, Texas, is a first-year Performance Diploma in Vocal Performance student studying under David Guzmán. He received his Master of Music in Classical Voice from New York University and his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Southern Methodist University. This is his first production at Boston University. His most recent work includes Nero in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. During his time at NYU, he appeared as Pitman/Etches in Titanic, Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, the title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo, and the First Sailor in Dido and Aeneas. Other performance credits include Joe Crowell in Our Town by Ned Rorem and Ezekiel Cheever in The Crucible by Robert Ward. He has been a finalist in the Eastern Region as well as Texoma Region NATS chapters. Next spring, he will be part of the chorus in BU’s production of Florencia en el Amazonas and Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi.
Korean tenor Ilhee Lee is currently pursuing a Performance Diploma at the Boston University Opera Institute under the guidance of Penelope Bitzas. He holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music from Seoul National University, as well as a Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music. Ilhee has performed in a wide range of roles, including the Tito in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito and Prince in Massenet’s Cendrillon with Boston University Opera Institute, Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with Opera in the Ozarks, Endimione in L’arbore di Diana, Aeneas in Dido & Aeneas, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, and Quint in The Turn of the Screw with New England Conservatory. In the upcoming season, he will join the cast of La Bohème with Opera San José, where he will be preparing to take on the role of Rodolfo. Ilhee has been honored with several prestigious awards, including the John Moriarty Award from Central City Opera, the Joan and Henry Wheeler Presidential Scholarship, and the Tan Family Foundation Scholarship from New England Conservatory.
Abigail Orr is a soprano from Montgomery, Texas. Abigail is a second-year Master’s student at Boston University under the tutelage of Dr. Lynn Eustis. She is currently the teaching assistant for the undergraduate Opera Acting Project. Her most recent performances include singing Diana in Jonathan Dove’s Siren Song and La Fée (Cendrillon) Boston University’s Opera Institute, as well as Adina (L’Elisir D’amore) in their scenes production. Abigail has also sung Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) with Utah Vocal Arts Academy and was a recent alumna of Songfest as a Colburn Fellow recipient. Abigail is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of
Music and has received her Certificate in Opera Performance from Texas Tech University. During her time at TTU, Abigail performed as a Young Artist at Amarillo Opera where she covered the role of Gilda (Rigoletto) and performed in outreach performances of Davies’ The Three Little Pigs under the guidance of Rebecca Hays and Mary Jane Johnson.
Dalton Rowe, baritone, is a second-year Master’s student at the Boston University School of Music, where he studies voice with Dr. Lynn Eustis. Dalton is from Oxford, Alabama, and received a degree in Music Education from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2022. At UAB, he studied voice with Dr. Emily Jaworski Koriath (BU SoM’18). Last year, Dalton made his first foray into opera in BU Opera Institute’s productions of Massenet’s Cendrillon (Le Premiere Ministre, chorus), Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito (Publio cover, chorus), and Vaughan Williams’s Riders to the Sea (Bartley). Over the summer, Dalton sang Masetto in Boston Summer Opera’s inaugural production of Don Giovanni. This spring, Dalton will sing Marco in OI’s production of Gianni Schicchi.
Nathan Savant, having been praised for being a “charismatic bass-baritone” with “vocal power”, is a Performance Diploma Candidate at Boston University: Opera Institute where he studies with Penelope Bitzas. This year at the Opera Institute, Nathan will perform the roles of Jonathan in Siren Song, Riolobo in Florencia en el Amazonas, and the title role in Gianni Schicchi. Previously at the Opera Institute, Nathan has performed the roles of Baritone in Hydrogen Jukebox and Pandolfe in Cendrillon.Previously, Nathan served as a Resident Artist at Opera North in 2024 and 2022 where he’s sung the roles of Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Marchese d’Obigny in La Traviata, John Styx in Orphée aux enfers, Rapunzel’s Prince and the Wolf in , and Count Monterone and covering the title role in Rigoletto. In summer 2023, he served as a Studio Artist at Chautauqua Opera Company, covering Escamillo in La Tragédie de Carmen and singing in the Ensemble for Sweeney Todd. Nathan holds a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the Eastman School of Music. For more information about Nathan, please visit nathansavantsinger.com.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized institution of higher education and research. With more than 34,000 students, it is the fourth-largest independent university in the United States. BU consists of 17 schools and colleges, along with a number of multi-disciplinary centers and institutes integral to the University’s research and teaching mission. In 2012, BU joined the Association of American Universities (AAU), a consortium of 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada. Learn more at bu.edu.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS
Established in 1954, Boston University College of Fine Arts is a community of artist-scholars and scholar-artists who are passionate about the fine and performing arts, committed to diversity and inclusion, and determined to improve the lives of others through art. With programs in Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts, CFA prepares students for a meaningful creative life by developing their intellectual capacity to create art, shift perspective, and think broadly. CFA offers a wide array of precollege, undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs, as well as a range of online degrees and certificates. CFA consists of School of Music, School of Theatre, School of Visual Arts, Opera Institute, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Boston University Art Galleries, Boston University Arts Initiative, and Wheelock Family Theatre, as well as numerous centers and programs dedicated to the fine and performing arts. Learn more at bu.edu/cfa.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS SCHOOL OF MUSIC: OPERA INSTITUTE
The Opera Institute at Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Music is an intensive, highly selective two-year performance-based training program for emerging operatic artists. A professional faculty and renowned guest artists provide personal support and training in all areas pertinent to a career in opera, including voice, acting, languages, and movement styles. Additionally, the Opera Institute selects undergraduate and graduate singers from the School of Music who demonstrate true operatic potential and have mastered an intermediate integration of acting, vocal, and movement skills for the Opera Theater, Opera Workshop, and Opera Project programs. Find more at bu.edu/cfa/opera.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS SCHOOL OF THEATRE
The School of Theatre at Boston University College of Fine Arts offers conservatory-style education for the study of acting, stage management, design, production, and all aspects of the theatre profession within the setting of a major research university. The School of Theatre seeks to provide students with opportunities for artistic growth through a rigorous curriculum, professional connections, and an emphasis on collaboration and new work.
