Guest Artist Bios

Melinda Whittington, soprano

The Salt Lake Tribune praises Melinda Whittington for her “performances of emotional resonance along with their powerhouse vocals.” Her 2023-24 season includes her Minnesota Opera and role debut as Mimì in La bohème. Last season she returned to her home company, Opera Carolina, for her role debut as Violetta in La traviata. Previously with Opera Carolina, she has sung Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte, as well as the Coming Home Soldier in Dye’s The Falling and the Rising.

Elsewhere, the soprano has joined Arizona Opera as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and the title role of Rusalka, Utah Opera for Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Ash Lawn Opera as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, and North Carolina Opera as Ada in Higdon’s Cold Mountain and Nedda in Pagliacci. She has sung further performances of Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Grand Rapids and Kentucky Opera; the title role of Arabella with Pittsburgh Festival Opera; Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with Opera Birmingham and Pensacola Opera; Micaëla in Carmen with Greensboro Opera; and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Green Mountain Opera. The soprano also joined the roster of the Lyric Opera of Chicago for its production of Eugene Onegin, as well as the Metropolitan Opera for Akhnaten and Macbeth.

Ms. Whittington is a former Resident Artist of the Academy of Vocal Arts, at which she sang Marguerite in Faust and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte. She joined Opera Philadelphia for an exciting evening of new opera with Opera Philadelphia and their composers in residence, Lembit Beecher and Missy Mazzoli. On the concert stage, she has sung Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Philadelphia Sinfonia, Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Back Bay Chorale, and excerpts of Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with the Charlotte Symphony.

Leann Sandel-Pantaleo, mezzo-soprano

Following performances of Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, Leann Sandel-Pantaleo was praised by the Portland Press Herald with the exclamation that “she has a glorious voice…. and she took fire.”

Mezzo-Soprano Leann Sandel-Pantaleo has performed on the major stages of the operatic world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Teatro alla Scala, BBC Proms, and Berlin Staatsoper. This season, she sings performances of Verdi's Requiem with Kwamé Ryan and the Charlotte Symphony. Her engagements in the 2022-23 season included performances with the Cincinnati Symphony May Festival as the Old Woman in Candide, followed by rescheduled performances of Verdi’s Requiem with the Portland Symphony.

Past seasons have featured performances of Siegrune in Die Walküre with Teatro alla Scala, Berlin Staatsoper, BBC Proms, and the Metropolitan Opera, where she has also bowed as Flora in La Traviata, a role she also sang with San Francisco Opera; the title role in Carmen with Utah Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Opera Omaha, Tulsa Opera, Hawaii Opera Theater, and Chautauqua Opera, where she also made her role debuts as Augusta Tabor in The Ballad of Baby Doe and The Old Lady in Candide; Ursule in Béatrice et Bénédict and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Houston Grand Opera; Amneris in Aida with North Carolina Opera, Portland Opera, El Paso Opera, and Sarasota Opera; Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with PORT Opera; and she created the role of Tamara in the world premiere of Enemies: A Love Story with Palm Beach Opera. Recent concert highlights include appearances with the Plano Symphony and the Santa Barbara Symphony.

Cooper Nolan, tenor

Tenor Cooper Nolan, praised for his “bright, shining, tenor” (Musical America) and his “powerhouse voice” (Opera News), is increasingly making a name for himself as an important interpreter of some of opera's most demanding tenor roles. This season he debuts with Virginia Opera for a role debut in Siegfried (title role) and will be seen on the concert stage with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem and Harrisburg Symphony for Jonathan Leshnoff’s Saul. Last season he returned to Boston for Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra conducted by Federico Cortese and made his role debut in Aida (Radames) with Finger Lakes Opera.

Recent performances include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Jacksonville Symphony and the University of Florida, Defiant Requiem in Washington, DC, and return to University of Florida for Carmina Burana. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in Elgar’s The Kingdom with the American Symphony Orchestra with Leo Botstein conducting followed by a return to Theater Aachen for Hermann in a new production of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades.

Additional recent engagements include a role/house debut as Canio in Pagliacci with Opera San José, Act III of Lohengrin with the Victoria Symphony (Canada) conducted by Christian Kluxen, Act I of Die Walküre with the HarvardRadcliffe Orchestra conducted by Federico Cortese, and was a featured soloist in Charlottesville Opera’s Encore: Opera Favorites conducted by Steven Jarvi. Mr. Nolan made his Oper Frankfurt debut as the title role in Verdi’s Stiffelio and made his role debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.

Robert Pomakov, bass

This season canadian bass Robert Pomakov returned to the Canadian Opera House as Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro and First Nazarene in Salome. He also returned to Calgary Opera as Banquo in Macbeth. He will also make his deut at the Tiroler Festspiele as Hagen in Götterdämmerung

In the 2021-2022 season, he made his debut at Opernhaus Zürich as Fernando in Il Trovatore, and returned to the roster of the Metropolitan Opera to cover Monterone in Rigoletto, the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos, and the Bonze in Madama Butterfly. In recent seasons, Mr. Pomakov made important house debuts with Opéra National de Paris as the Bonze in a production directed by Robert Wilson, and with Den Norske Opera as Gremin in Christof Loy’s production of Eugene Onegin.

In the 2018-2019 season Mr. Pomakov made role debuts as Nourabad in Les Pêcheurs de Perles in a return to Santa Fe Opera and Méphistophélès in Faust for his house debut with Vancouver Opera. He returned to Oper Frankfurt for King René in a new production of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta directed by Lydia Steier and returned to the Metropolitan Opera to reprise the role of Monterone in Rigoletto. Concert performances included his debut with the Victoria Symphony, singing King Heinrich in Act III of Lohengrin, and the New Mexico Philharmonic as the bass soloist in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. Mr. Pomakov made his Metropolitan Opera house debut as Monterone in Michael Mayer’s new staging of Rigoletto in a production that was seen live in HD in cinemas around the world. He has also appeared with the company as Don Basilio in Bartlett Sher’s production of Il barbiere di Siviglia, Mathieu in Andrea Chénier opposite Patricia Racette and Marcelo Álvarez, Crespel in Les Contes d’Hoffman, the Bonze in Madama Butterfly, Il Frate in Don Carlo under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and in productions of Manon with Diana Damrau and Vittorio Grigolo, and Le nozze di Figaro conducted by James Levine, among others. He covered the title role in Verdi’s Attila in a new production by Pierre Audi, led by Riccardo Muti.