Season Artists

PHILLIP BULLOCK Baritone (Berea, Kentucky) Cato/Watchman/First Man/Man 1/Ensemble, Castor and Patience

Cincinnati: Angelotti, Tosca (2021); Gregorio, Romeo and Juliet (2019); Jim, Porgy and Bess (2019) Elsewhere: Jim, Porgy and Bess (Royal Danish Opera); Gregorio, Romeo and Juliet (Maryland Lyric Opera); Moralès, Carmen (Richmond Symphony Orchestra); Antonio, The Marriage of Figaro (Kentucky Opera)

JENNIFER JOHNSON CANO Mezzo-soprano (St. Louis, Missouri) Celeste, Castor and Patience

Cincinnati: Diana, La Calisto (2014) Elsewhere: Virginia Woolf, The Hours (Philadelphia Orchestra Association); Emilia, Otello & Hansel, Hansel and Gretel (The Metropolitan Opera); Offred, The Handmaid’s Tale (Boston Lyric Opera) Upcoming: Meg Page, Falstaff (The Metropolitan Opera)

PATRICK CARFIZZI Bass-baritone (Newburgh, New York) Major-General Stanley, The Pirates of Penzance*

Elsewhere: Lakai, Ariadne auf Naxos (The Metropolitan Opera); Leporello, Don Giovanni (Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden); Starveling, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Santa Fe Opera) Upcoming: The Bailli, Werther & Bartolo, The Marriage of Figaro (Houston Grand Opera); Sacristan, Tosca (The Metropolitan Opera)

GINA CERIMELE-MECHLEY Fight & Intimacy Director (Cincinnati, Ohio) La Bohème; Fierce; The Pirates of Penzance; Castor and Patience; Aida

Cincinnati: Romeo and Juliet, Porgy and Bess (2019); The Flying Dutchman, Another Brick in the Wall (2018); Fidelio, Tosca (2016); Silent Night (2014) Elsewhere: Romeo and Juliet (Cincinnati Shakespeare Company); Two Trains Running (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park) Upcoming: Cabaret (Cincinnati Actor’s Studio & Academy)

PEIXIN CHEN Bass (Houston, Texas) King, Aida*

Elsewhere: Timur, Turandot (Houston Grand Opera); Don Basilio, The Barber of Seville (San Diego Opera); Sarastro, The Magic Flute (The Metropolitan Opera) Upcoming: Fasolt, Das Rheingold (The Dallas Opera); Attila, Attila (Florida Grand Opera); Colline, La Bohème (Washington National Opera)

JENNIFER CHEREST Soprano (LaPlata, Maryland) High Priestess, Aida

Cincinnati: Cristina Kahlo, Frida (2017) Elsewhere: Gilda, Rigoletto (Dayton Opera); Susanna, The Marriage of Figaro (North Carolina Opera); Gretel, Hansel and Gretel (Washington National Opera) Upcoming: Soloist (Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra); Suor Genovieffa, Suor Angelica (Opera Omaha)

ANDRÉ COURVILLE Bass-baritone (Breaux Bridge, Louisiana) Colline, La Bohème

Cincinnati: Zuniga, Carmen (2021) Elsewhere: Clistene, L’Olimpiade (Moscow Philharmonic Society); Prince Yamadori, Madame Butterfly (Opera di Firenze); Pietro, Simon Boccanegra (Opéra de Rouen Normandie) Upcoming: Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni (Berkshire Opera Festival); Titurel, Parsifal (Houston Grand Opera)

ANTONIO CRUZ Baritone (Tucson, Arizona) Troll 2/Jim, Fierce*

Elsewhere: L’horloge comtoise and Le chat, L’enfant et les sortilèges (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra); Yeletsky cover, The Queen of Spades (Des Moines Metro Opera); Papageno, The Magic Flute (UC College-Conservatory of Music)

SEÁN CURRAN Stage Director & Choreographer (New York, New York) The Pirates of Penzance*

Elsewhere: Romeo and Juliet (The Metropolitan Opera); Gianni Schicchi (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis); Salome (San Francisco Opera) Upcoming: M. Butterfly (Santa Fe Opera); Seán Curran Company in “Ceili” (Irish Arts Center, New York)

MARK DIAMOND Baritone (Waco, Texas) Samuel, The Pirates of Penzance*

Elsewhere: Aeneas, Dido and Aeneas (Ars Lyrica Houston); Marcello, La Bohème (Houston Grand Opera); Figaro, The Barber of Seville (Opéra de Reims, Théâtre de Caen, Opéra de Limoges); Soloist, Handel’s Messiah (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra) Upcoming: Anthony Hope, Sweeney Todd (Austin Opera)

JESSICA DRAYTON Projection Designer (Powder Springs, Georgia) Fierce*

Elsewhere: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Cincinnati Shakespeare Company); Viva Diva! (Dallas Opera); Eugene Onegin (Dallas Symphony Orchestra) Upcoming: Lighting designer, Broadway Dallas High School Musical Theatre Awards; Lighting designer, Young Frankenstein (Circle Theater)

THOMAS DREEZE Baritone (Toledo, Ohio) Benoit/Alcindoro, La Bohème

Cincinnati: El Dancaïro, Carmen (2021); Count Capulet, Romeo and Juliet (2019); Frank, Die Fledermaus (2016) Elsewhere: Soloist, Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem (Hilton Head Symphony); Doctor, Pelléas et Mélisande (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra) Upcoming: Soloist, Stanbery’s The Golden Door (Carnegie Hall)

DICKY DUTTON Baritone (Wellsville, New York) Custom-House Officer, La Bohème*

Elsewhere: JJ, A Halloween Tree workshop (American Lyric Theater); Composer and performance artist, Vexations in Time (The Why Collective, Nancy Manocherian’s the cell theatre); Performance artist, Before Body Meets Earth (Aural Compass Projects) Upcoming: Soloist, Bach’s Easter Oratorio (Philadelphia Choral Arts Society)

VICTORIA ELLINGTON Soprano (Washington, D.C.) Nyomi, Fierce*

Cincinnati: Soloist, Opera in the Park (2021) Elsewhere: Leontine, L’Amant Anonyme (UC College-Conservatory of Music); Rachel, Harriet Tubman (Cleveland Opera Theatre) Upcoming: Pamina, The Magic Flute (Cincinnati Opera and Madcap Puppets)

ALAIN GAUTHIER Stage Director (Montreal, Quebec) La Bohème

Cincinnati: Pagliacci (2012); Gianni Schicchi (2012); Così Fan Tutte (2007); L’Étoile (2006) Elsewhere: La Traviata (Calgary Opera); The Elixir of Love (Opéra de Québec); Written on Skin (Opéra de Montréal) Upcoming: La veuve joyeuse (Festival d’Opéra de Québec); L’Étoile (Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University)

JAMES GEIER Wig & Makeup Designer (Cincinnati, Ohio) Resident Wig & Makeup Designer

Cincinnati: 2004–2021 seasons Elsewhere: Pittsburgh Opera, 2003–2021 seasons; The Nutcracker (Cincinnati Ballet) Upcoming: Pittsburgh Opera, 2022–2023 season; The Nutcracker (Cincinnati Ballet)

MARK GIBSON Conductor (Cincinnati, Ohio) La Bohème

Cincinnati: Fellow Travelers (2016) Elsewhere: West Side Story (China National Opera); A New Yorker’s Broadway Valentine (Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra); Salome (UC College-Conservatory of Music) Upcoming: Carmen (Miami Music Festival), Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 & Das Lied von der Erde (UC College-Conservatory of Music)

MEGAN GRAVES Mezzo-soprano (Fort Worth, Texas) Rumer, Fierce*

Elsewhere: Second Witch, Dido and Aeneas (Palm Beach Opera); Chorus (Den Norske Opera & Ballet)

RACHEL ELIZA GRIFFITHS Image Designer (New York, New York) Castor and Patience*

Recent Work: Seeing the Body (W.W. Norton & Company; Winner, 2021 Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Award in Poetry, 2021 Paterson Poetry Prize; Nominee, 2020 NAACP Image Award) Upcoming: Promise (Random House)

THOMAS C. HASE Lighting Designer (Madison, Wisconsin) Resident Lighting Designer & Lighting Director

Cincinnati: 1997–2021 seasons Elsewhere: The Demon (Opéra National de Bordeaux, Gran Teatre de Liceu); Ariadne auf Naxos (Santa Fe Opera); Romeo and Juliet (Houston Grand Opera); Alcina (Opera North) Upcoming: The Elixir of Love (Seattle Opera); Suor Angelica/Gianni Schicchi (San Diego Opera)

GORDON HAWKINS Baritone (Washington, D.C.) Amonasro, Aida

Cincinnati: Scarpia, Tosca (2016); Amonasro, Aida (2013); Crown, Porgy and Bess (2012) Elsewhere: Rigoletto, Rigoletto (Deutsche Oper am Rhein); Alberich, Götterdämmerung (Washington National Opera); Nabucco, Nabucco (Seattle Opera) Upcoming: Featured artist, Proximity (Lyric Opera of Chicago)

EARL HAZELL Bass (New York, New York) Second Man/Man 2/Ensemble, Castor and Patience*

Elsewhere: Nelson, Porgy and Bess (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Speaker, The Magic Flute (Tulsa Opera); Talpa, Il Tabarro (Utah Festival Opera); Old Gypsy, Il Trovatore (Arizona Opera); Jim, Porgy and Bess (San Francisco Opera) Upcoming: Bartolo, The Marriage of Figaro (Birmingham Opera)

CHRISTINA HAZEN Mezzo-soprano (Cincinnati, Ohio) Isabel, The Pirates of Penzance*

Elsewhere: Cherubino, The Marriage of Figaro (UC College-Conservatory of Music); Soloist, Handel’s Messiah (Dayton Opera); Flora Bervoix, La Traviata (Dayton Opera) Upcoming: Goffredo, Rinaldo & Zerlina cover, Don Giovanni (Minnesota Opera)

WENDY HILL Soprano (Racine, Wisconsin) Ms. Lee-Adler/Troll 4/Mary, Fierce

Cincinnati: Berta, The Barber of Seville (2021); Marcellina, The Marriage of Figaro (2019) Elsewhere: Woglinde, Götterdämmerung & Waldvogel, Siegfried (Seattle Opera); Constance Fletcher, The Mother of Us All (San Francisco Opera)

LAUREN MCALLISTER Mezzo-soprano (Cincinnati, Ohio) Vesta, Fierce*

Elsewhere: Lazuli, L’Étoile (Sin City Opera); Melanto, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria (Opéra Louisiane); Cherubino, The Marriage of Figaro (Opera Saratoga) Upcoming: Performances with Avivimus Vocal Duo and Seven Hills Baroque

RANDELL MCGEE Baritone (St. Louis, Missouri) Sergeant, La Bohème*

Elsewhere: Colline, La Bohème (Winter Opera Saint Louis); Sergeant, La Bohème (Union Avenue Opera); Adult James, Fire Shut Up in My Bones & Usher, Rigoletto (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis)

RAVEN MCMILLON Soprano (Baltimore, Maryland) Musetta, La Bohème & Ruthie, Castor and Patience

Cincinnati: Frasquita, Carmen (2021) Elsewhere: Gilda, Rigoletto (Opera Philadelphia); Pamina, The Magic Flute (Des Moines Metro Opera); Peter, The Snowy Day & Gretel, Hansel and Gretel (Houston Grand Opera) Upcoming: Johanna, Sweeney Todd (Austin Opera)

WILLIAM MENEFIELD Composer (Iowa City, Iowa) Fierce*

Elsewhere: Prism (Carnegie Hall); A Joyful Noise (University of Iowa School of Music); Feelin’ Good (Seasongood Pavilion) Upcoming: Pianist, Mark Lomax Quartet (National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Taft Museum of Art)

D. LYNN MEYERS Stage Director (Cincinnati, Ohio) Fierce*

Elsewhere: Producing Artistic Director, Tiny Beautiful Things, Cinderella (Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati); Playwright, Keeper of the Realm (The Carnegie); Casting director, Carol, Miles Ahead, Shirley, Bones and All

AMBER R. MONROE Soprano (Youngstown, Ohio) Clarissa/Ensemble, Castor and Patience*

Elsewhere: Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni (Opera Columbus); Countess Almaviva (Kentucky Opera); Nedda, Pagliacci (El Paso Opera); Rooster/Jay, The Cunning Little Vixen (Glimmerglass Festival) Upcoming: Inez, Il Trovatore; Isabel, The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson; Mimì cover, La Bohème (Washington National Opera)

S. KATY TUCKER Projection Designer (New York, New York) Castor and Patience

Cincinnati: The Flying Dutchman (2018) Elsewhere: Eurydice (The Metropolitan Opera); Florencia en el Amazonas (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Orpheus and Eurydice (Seattle Opera) Upcoming: Medea (The Metropolitan Opera); Elektra (Washington National Opera)

HOUSTON TYRRELL Tenor (Louisville, Kentucky) Parpignol, La Bohème* & Messenger, Aida

Elsewhere: Rodolfo, La Bohème; Judge Danforth, The Crucible; Rinuccio, Gianni Schicchi (University of Kentucky Opera Theatre) Upcoming: Tamino, The Magic Flute (University of Kentucky Opera Theatre)

VITA TZYKUN Scenic Designer (Odessa, Ukraine) Castor and Patience

Cincinnati: Fellow Travelers (2016) Elsewhere: La Favorite (Houston Grand Opera); The Passenger (Bolshoi Theater); Faust (Lyric Opera of Chicago) Upcoming: Edward Tulane (Minnesota Opera); The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (San Francisco Opera)