SENIOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Kelli Dill kelli@encoremagazine.com
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Robert Viagas robert@encoremagazine.com
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Tamara Hooks tamara@encoremagazine.com
DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR
Jennifer Nelson jennifer@encoremagazine.com
kelli@encorecharlotte.com
Tomer Zvulun
Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director
Welcome!
We are truly fortunate to open our 45th anniversary mainstage season with this delightful, family-friendly production of The Magic Flute. The timing could not have been better for this timeless tale. Like a great Pixar movie, Mozart’s comic opera (or singspiel – an opera with spoken dialogue) is packed with magic, humor, and endearing characters. It is all buoyed by some of the most heavenly music ever written by W.A Mozart.
There’s something about The Magic Flute that is so primal. A simple, uncomplicated fairytale accompanied by sublime music, that touches people profoundly. Ever since I saw Ingmar Bergman’s Magic Flute film, I have always believed in the transformational power of this art form. I see that undeniable power every time that I do a show and watch the audience. Especially when children are present. Bringing this production back to the stage has been an absolute joy for me.
If you experienced our recent shows at Pullman Yards of the musical Rent and La bohème, you saw productions that were closely tied to a particular time and place. Those productions were strongly driven by their gritty settings and tragic circumstances. They brought forward powerful, heartbreaking stories that sometimes hit too close to home and found many of us emotionally vulnerable.
The Magic Flute is the complete opposite. It’s all about color, magic, and charming naivete. The stuff that dreams and fairytales are made of. David Higgins’ design is a unit set—made of children’s toy blocks with fantastical light up symbols. Additional elements pop up as the story progresses, as if we were in a children’s pop-up book. A huge snake chases the hero outside a castle, three boys are suspended in the air in a hot air balloon, an enchanted garden appears, lightning bolts shatter the back wall and allow the Queen of the Night to magically appear. This is a world of fantasy and wonder and it has provided audience of all ages an escape for over 200 years. Now, more than ever, we welcome this wondrous escape in the theater.
In our fairytale season, each opera begins with “Once upon a time, there was a hero…”—Tamino in The Magic Flute, the flawed title character in Macbeth (March 2025), the shining protagonist in Siegfried (April/May 2025), and the mortal heroine in Semele (June 2025). There is a fascinating, multi-faceted theme to the stories we are telling this season. Just like all great stories, they frequently echo our own lives, our own faces.
I invite you to sit back, soak in Mozart’s eternal score and take your own hero’s journey along with us!
COMPOSER W.A. Mozart
LIBRETTIST Emanuel Schikaneder
THE MAGIC FLUTE IS SPONSORED BY
THIS PRODUCTION IS DEDICATED IN MEMORY OF Peggy Weber McDowell
RAINELLE KRAUSE’S PERFORMANCE IS DEDICATED IN MEMORY OF Mrs. Roberta Setzer
THE ATLANTA OPERA IS GRATEFUL FOR PUBLIC SUPPORT FROM VETERANS TICKET PROGRAM
The Atlanta Opera receives support from the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. GCA also receives support from its partner agency—the National Endowment for the Arts. Funding for programming is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.
Performer flying effects created by VertigoTM – getvertigo.com Puppets originally built by Lisa Sturz, Red Herring Puppets Puppets refurbished by Vitoworld Productions
Audience advisory: Strobe effects. Use of fog. Sudden sound effects. Approx. run time: 3 hours, including one 25-minute intermission—Act I: 70 minutes | Intermission: 25 minutes | Act II: 85 Sung/spoken in German with English supertitles. | Projected titles by Cori Ellison.
*Member of The Atlanta Opera Studio. Significant support for The Atlanta Opera Studio Artist Program from the Donald & Marilyn Keough Foundation, John & Yee-Wan Stevens, and Jerry & Dulcy Rosenberg.
†Alum of The Atlanta Opera Studio.
Kathleen Kim as the Queen of the Night from The Atlanta Opera’s 2010 production of The Magic Flute, at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. | photo by Tim Wilkerson
The Magic Flute, Mozart’s Pixar Movie
WRITTEN BY Benjamin Torbert
Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte, 1791) is an odd duck. It occupies a strange spot in opera’s standard jukebox. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, mythological stories commonly appeared in the major operatic genre of the time, opera seria, but typically based on Greco-Roman stories, particularly from Ovid. Flute belongs to the genre Singspiel, which like France’s opéra comique, combines song with spoken dialogue. Anglophone houses used to perform it with the dialogue in English, but the music in German. It also broadly conforms to the basic convention for operatic comedy—overcoming obstacles to a marriage occurring. And Mozart and librettist Emanuel Schikaneder infused it with a similar seriocomic posture to Mozart’s three great hits with Lorenzo Da Ponte, especially Don Giovanni looks hybrid on all its faces.
An easily précised story masks Flute’s complexity. The Queen of the Night reports that the Sun-Priest Sarastro has abducted and imprisoned her daughter, Pamina. After the Queen’s three femme sidekicks rescue a lost prince, Tamino, from a dragon, Pamina’s portrait instantly love-smacks him and the Queen tasks him with retrieving her, arming him with a magical flute that freezes enemies. With his uneasy ally Papageno, a girl-crazy, supremely goofy bird-catcher who believes himself avian, Tamino infiltrates Sarastro’s realm. Sarastro and his crew of Masonic acolytes convince Tamino to join their side, subjecting him to some initiation rituals, for the last of which Pamina joins him. The Queen, who has attempted to convince her daughter to assassinate Sarastro, is mysteriously vanquished immediately before the final ensemble. Pamina and Tamino live happily ever after, as do Papageno and his new boo, the bird-lady Papagena.
Confusingly, point-of-view shifts towards the end of the first act, never quite centered on Tamino, and migrating from the Queen’s version of events to Sarastro’s. Longtime residents of Georgia may have read Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (1953) in school, her most anthologized story, but one which was criticized upon release for its migration of POV from The Grandmother to The Misfit. Something similar happens in Flute
Nicole Cabel as Pamina and Adam Kirkpatrick as Monostatos. | photo by Tim Wilkerson
1st, 2nd, and 3rd Ladies. | Costume rendering by C. David Higgins.
This synopsis is too brief to treat the Masonic elements of the libretto, allegorical readings of which relate to the politics of the Enlightenment and Counter-reformation— surely, not why the opera remains popular, globally, 233 years later. Another major reading of Flute involves “progression” from magic and superstition (the Queen’s world) to paternalistic, ritualistic civilization (Sarastro’s). Most present-day audiences would find that reading bogged down with antiquarian gender roles, positioning the feminine as less evolved than the masculine. Most mildly feminist readings of Flute focus on Pamina, not the Queen.
Apart from the consistently delightful music, the opera’s appeal is better explained from a Jungian standpoint— it’s a fairy tale, structured with archetypes. Here, The Atlanta Opera’s General Director, and Director of this production, Tomer Zvulun, has, I believe, correctly diagnosed audiences’ Magic Flute fever, when he situates it in the 2024-25 season’s theme, the Hero’s Journey: “It fits into the framework of every Hero’s Journey that we know, from Hollywood’s Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter, to Pixar movies, and going back to
Greek mythology and religion. Odysseus, Buddha, Moses, Joseph, all these stories adhere to the three phases of the hero’s journey: separation, initiation, return.”
Flute’s basic structure makes it relatable to audiences reared on a diet of the popular texts Zvulun lists. Indeed, it’s opera’s Pixar film, if you will. Zvulun cites Emma Coats, a Pixar writer who in 2011 tweeted a series of guidelines to unify their films. Flute’s fit with three of them in particular suit the opera to the audience:
• RULE 1
You admire a character for trying, more than for their successes.
• RULE 4
Use this Story Spine:
o Once upon a time there was
o Every day
o One day
o Because of that
o Until finally
• RULE 6
Put your character in a challenging situation
He lists Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Up! but, of course, Wagner’s Siegfried, appearing later this Atlanta Opera season fits the formula as well. The staging reflects the fairytale atmosphere of Flute, which Zvulun physicalizes in a kid-friendly staging: “This offers an opportunity for us to introduce to the audience a whimsical, magical world that includes dragons, mischievous birds,
Temple of Wisdom. | Scenic rendering by C. David Higgins.
The
Sarastro and Pamina.
| photo by Tim Wilkerson
enchanted animals, and adventures that pop up as if we were in a story book. In fact, the set is designed out of building blocks that include hieroglyphic information from different cultures and different myths, so that the universe that we end up in is a sort of pop-up book.”
Like Zvulun, legendary film director Ingmar Bergman grokked the archetypal appeal of Flute, making a TV film, Trollflöjten (1975), so well received that it later achieved a theatrical release. Bergmann’s film uses a Swedish translation of the libretto, and explicitly makes Sarastro Pamina’s father, which the opera actually doesn’t. Find this movie in all its 1970s-haired glory if you can; it saw a recent airing on Turner Classic Movies.
Even past the story suited for ages 4 to 99, one of Mozart’s best scores draws audiences back and back again to Flute. The most famous music in the opera belongs to the Queen, whose second act rage-aria has entered popular culture as iconic for acrobatic operatic vocalism. (Miloš Forman’s Amadeus helped). But the lovelier of her two arias, “O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn,” appears early, as she gives Tamino the backstory. Tamino gets his own star turn upon seeing Pamina’s portrait, with “Dies Bildnis is beazaubernd schön.” Papageno, originally played by the librettist, Schikaneder, weaves comic music throughout.
But the most affecting music appears in the second act. Basses in opera, stuck in their lane of king-father-military general-priest, rarely receive lyric opportunities as gentle as Sarastro’s two arias “O Isis und Osiris” and “In diesen heli’gen Hallen,” two rather mansplain-y didactics about how the Masonic realm works, both of which Mozart saves with his inimitable melodic nous. And for beauty, nothing in the opera surpasses Pamina’s aria of suicidal ideation, “Ach Ich fühl’s,” when she incorrectly believes Tamino no longer loves her. The lovers reunite vocally and dramatically in harrowing a magic fire, with the aid of Tamino’s flute.
Few operas have proven as indestructible as The Magic Flute. The Atlanta Opera has already performed La bohème this season. Here is another.
Papageno. | photo by Tim Wilkerson
ARTHUR FAGEN CONDUCTOR
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
LA TRAVIATA, 2005
Arthur Fagen is Music Director Emeritus of The Atlanta Opera and Professor of Music in instrumental conducting at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington. In addition, he is in demand as a guest conductor of symphony orchestras and opera companies throughout the world. Fagen has conducted productions at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Metropolitan Opera, Bavarian State Opera (Munich), Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Berlin, New York City Opera, Theatre Capitole de Toulouse, Bordeaux Opera, Frankfurt Opera, Staatstheater Stuttgart, New Israeli Opera, Baltimore Opera, Edmonton Opera, Spoleto Festival, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Stadttheater Bozen. From 1998 to 2001, he was a regular guest conductor at the Vienna State Opera. On the concert podium, he has appeared with internationally known orchestras including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, the Czech Philharmonic, Munich Radio Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, RAI Orchestras (Torino, Naples, Milano, Roma), the Bergen Philharmonic, Prague Spring Festival, the Dutch Radio Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, to name but a few. Mr. Fagen has an opera repertory of more than 75 works. He has served as Principal Conductor in Kassel and Brunswick, as Chief Conductor of the Flanders Opera of Antwerp and Ghent, as Music Director of the Queens Symphony Orchestra and a member of the conducting staff of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. From 2002 through 2007, Mr. Fagen was the Music Director of the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dortmund Opera. Following successful concerts with the Dortmund Philharmonic at the Grosse Festspielhaus in Salzburg, Arthur Fagen and the Dortmund Philharmonic were invited to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Palais de Beaux Arts in Brussels, and in Salzburg, Beijing and Shanghai. He conducted in that period, among others, new opera productions of Siegfried, Götterdämmerung and two complete Ring cycles. Mr. Fagen conducted a new production of Turandot at the Atlanta Opera in 2007, opening the season with enormous success and inaugurating their new home at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. He returned to Atlanta to conduct Cold Sassy Tree by Carlisle Floyd plus productions of Akhnaten by Philip Glass, Der Fliegende Holländer, and Die Zauberflöte prior to being named its Music Director. Recent productions for the company include Tosca, Turandot, Faust, Madama Butterfly, The Abduction from the Seraglio, Le Nozze di Figaro and Der Fliegende Holländer, and Carmen. Most recently, he was on the podium for the company’s new productions of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre Arthur Fagen has an extensive critically acclaimed discography with many recordings for Naxos as well as BMG, Signum Classics, and the Bavarian Radio. His recording of William Dawson Levi’s Negro Folk Symphony with the Vienna Radio Orchestra was cited by NPR as one of the best albums of 2020. In recent seasons, he has conducted the Israel Symphony Orchestra, Holland Sinfonia, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Dortmunder Philharmoniker, NDR Hannover in Braunschweig and at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, the Winterthur Orchestra in Switzerland, and Rome’s Symphony Orchestras, Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Opera de Nice, concerts in Spain (Las Palmas, Navarra) and in Taiwan. A CD for Naxos was released in October 2007, Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies with the Staatskapelle Weimar plus the world premiere of Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie for the Teatro Massimo Palermo. Arthur Fagen was first prizewinner of the “Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Conductors Competition” as well as prizewinner of the “Gino Marinuzzi International Conductors’ Competition” in Italy. Born in New York, Mr. Fagen began his conducting studies with Laszlo Halasz. Further studies continued at the Curtis Institute under the guidance of Max Rudolf, and both at the Salzburg Mozarteum and with Hans Swarowsky. He also served as assistant of Christoph von Dohnanyi (Frankfurt Opera) and James Levine (Metropolitan Opera).
TOMER ZVULUN PRODUCER & STAGE DIRECTOR
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT THE FLYING DUTCHMAN, 2009
General and Artistic Director of The Atlanta Opera since 2013, Israeli-born Tomer Zvulun is also one of opera’s most exciting stage directors, earning consistent praise for his creative vision, often described as cinematic and fresh. His work has been presented by prestigious opera houses around the world, including The Metropolitan Opera, the opera companies of Israel, Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, Montreal, Wexford, Glimmerglass, Houston, Washington National Opera, Seattle, Dallas, Detroit, San Diego, Minnesota, Boston, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, New Orleans and Wolf Trap, as well as leading educational institutes and universities such as The Juilliard School, Indiana University, Boston University, and IVAI in Tel Aviv. Since taking the leadership in Atlanta one decade ago, he personally directed 30 of the company’s productions. He increased the operations of the company from three to six productions per season, while stabilizing the financials and in the course of his first decade tenure, secured Atlanta’s position as one of the top 10 opera companies in the U.S. Some of his noted achievements include launching the successful Discoveries series, creating the first young artist program in the company’s history, tripling the company’s annual fund raising, launching the company’s first Ring cycle, creating The Atlanta Opera Film Studio and building a theatre in a circus tent where performances were conducted safely during the pandemic. His work at The Atlanta Opera attracted international attention by earning numerous awards and prizes including two nominations of The Atlanta Opera for the International Opera Awards in London and the selection of his production of Silent Night as both the Irish Times and Atlanta JournalConstitution production of the year. His focus on innovation led to an invitation to deliver a TED talk as well as a case study that is taught at Harvard Business School. His productions travel the world and bring wide exposure to the company. Next season his production of Rigoletto travels to Los Angeles Opera, his La bohème returns to The Dallas Opera, and his acclaimed production of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs will make its Kennedy Center debut at the Washington National Opera.
C. DAVID HIGGINS SCENIC & COSTUME DESIGNER
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT THE MAGIC FLUTE, 2010
C. David Higgins has been designing opera, ballet, and theatrical scenery and costumes for more than 50 years. A retired Chair and Professor Emeritus of the Opera Studies Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, his scenery and costumes are celebrated in repertory productions around the world. Known for his Italianate scenic style, Higgins continues to design for opera, ballet and theatre companies nationally. Recent productions include Beauty and The Beast, Mary Poppins, Little Shop of Horrors, and Romeo and Juliet. A Bonsai enthusiast, Higgins participates in national events and has an award-winning collection of Bonsai trees.
NICHOLAS HUSSONG PROJECTIONS DESIGNER
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT CABARET, 2022
Broadway: Skeleton Crew (Tony Nomination); Off-Broadway: Skeleton Crew, These Paper Bullets (Atlantic, Drama Desk Nom) Wet Brain (Playwrights Horizons, Obie & Lucille Lortel award), On That Day in Amsterdam (Primary Stages, Drama Desk Nom); Select other credits: The Marriage of Figaro (Little Island NYC), An American Soldier (PAC NYC), The Wizard of Oz (Geva), Rent (Paper Mill Playhouse), Vietgone (The Guthrie), To the Yellow House (Lajolla), Kleptocracy (Arena), Until the Flood (15 regional and international locations), Haint Blu, Hair & Other Stories (Urban Bush Women), Grounded (Alley); Other work: Virginia Museum of Art, David Zwirner Gallery, Marc Jacobs, Mass MoCA, Complex Magazine, AMC+, San Diego Shell, San Diego Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Tony Awards (CBS), Ask Ronna Podcast. He also designed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, China, Canada and Vienna. Co-Creator of FEAST, an immersive dining experience with Listen&Breathe (Nantucket, Ireland) Creative Producer at Dwight Street Book Club. nickhussong.com
THOMAS C. HASE
LIGHTING DESIGNER
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
ROMEO AND JULIET, 2016
Thomas C. Hase is an internationally recognized lighting designer who is known for dynamic designs in opera, new theatrical productions and avant-garde dance. His design for the Tony-Award winning revival of Company on Broadway received critical acclaim. His work has been described as “superb” by The New York Times. Hase’s designs have been featured at many of the major opera companies in the United States, Europe, Canada, South America, and Asia. As resident lighting designer for Stadttheater Giessen in Germany, Hase produced more than 100 designs for theater, opera, and ballet. His work can be seen in several productions recorded for broadcast and distribution. Recordings of Company on Broadway and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at LA Opera have been released on DVD. Concurrent with his many freelance projects, Hase is the resident lighting designer and director for the Cincinnati Opera Summer Festival.
MELANIE STEELE
WIG & MAKEUP DESIGNER
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT THE GOLDEN TICKET, 2011
Melanie Steele lives in Atlanta where she works with The Atlanta Opera, Fox Theatre, The Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, as well as working in film and television as a wig and makeup designer. Steele recently toured with the national Broadway tour of The Lion King. She has designed wigs and makeup for The Santa Fe Opera, Austin Opera, Central City Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, Baltimore Opera, Kentucky Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Bard SummerScape, Opera Festival of New Jersey, Opera Pacific, Opera North Carolina, and Saratoga Springs Opera. Some of Steele’s work can be seen in Opera News, Makeup Artist Magazine, Seventeen, TIME, Newsweek, Glamour, Voyage Atlanta, IMDB, and Texas Monthly Magazine.
Rolando Salazar, chorusmaster and assistant conductor, has an expansive operatic and symphonic repertoire, including over forty productions with The Atlanta Opera as conductor, assistant conductor, and/or chorusmaster. He recently made his Opera Columbus debut in 2023 conducting Astor Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires, which he also assisted with at The Atlanta Opera. Conducting credits with The Atlanta Opera include Pagliacci, The Barber of Seville (Mainstage debut), Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins, and student matinees of La bohème and Don Pasquale. Salazar has also been featured as pianist in Love Letters to Atlanta, performing alongside singers Morris Robinson, Jamie Barton, Ryan McKinny, and Kevin Burdette. Recent conducting credits include Susannah and Die Zauberflöte with Atlanta’s Harrower Summer Opera, Ned Rorem’s Our Town with Georgia State University School of Music, Handel’s Messiah with the Atlanta Concert Opera, Le Nozze di Figaro with Red River Lyric Opera, Tosca with Permian Basin Opera, and other guest conducting engagements with the Georgia State University Symphony Orchestra, The Atlanta Ballet, Rome Symphony Orchestra, Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, as well as collaborations with Opera Louisiane, Madison Opera, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Rolando has served as associate conductor and chorusmaster for The Atlanta Opera, where he has studied and worked alongside his mentors Arthur Fagen and Walter Huff, in addition to a long and distinguished list of conductors and directors. He keeps an active coaching and collaborative piano schedule in Atlanta, preparing numerous singers for major engagements with orchestras and opera houses worldwide. Salazar is represented by Marvel Arts Management.
IAN SILVERMAN ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
Ian Silverman is thrilled to be making his debut with The Atlanta Opera as the Associate Director for The Magic Flute and Semele. Silverman has served on the directing staffs of The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, The Glimmerglass Festival, Utah Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Opera Colorado, and OnSite Opera, among others. He has also directed productions at Arizona Opera, Lakes Area Music Festival, William Jewel College, Amarillo Opera, Youngstown State University, The Rochester Fringe Festival, Miami Children’s Chorus, and Eastman Opera Theater. This season, he will direct a world premiere of Nicholas Flagello’s Beyond the Horizon at LaMaMa with Teatro Grattacielo. In the spring, he returns to the Houston Grand Opera to assist on Francesca Zambello’s West Side Story and a new production of Tannhäuser. Silverman has worked in all forms of music theater, from rare operettas to golden age musicals to large-scale grand opera. In addition to standard repertoire, Ian has extensive experience with new work and has worked on twelve world premiere productions. He also has experience working for film as both a director and video editor. Silverman is a recipient of the Robin L. Tobin Director-Designer Prize from Opera America for his production concept of Fellow Travelers. Ian graduated from the Eastman School of Music with Master of Music Degree in Stage Directing and a Certificate in Arts Leadership in May 2020.
SANTIAGO BALLERINI
STUDIO ARTIST ALUMNUS
TAMINO
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
ROMEO AND JULIET, 2016
Argentinian/Italian tenor Santiago Ballerini is recognized as one of the leading tenors in the bel canto repertoire, having performed at many of the major opera houses throughout North and South America, such as Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Canadian Opera Company, Ópera de Bellas Artes, and The Dallas Opera, as well as alongside leading international orchestras and opera houses in Europe such as Teatro Regio di Torino, Opéra national de Bordeaux, Teatro Real, Gran Teatre del Liceu, and more. The 2024-25 season features leading roles in Spain as Alfredo Germont in a production of La traviata and Fernando in Doña Francisquita. Ballerini will participate in three productions of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, with the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, the Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid, and at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari. Additional highlights include performances at the Teatro Filarmonico di Verona with Salieri’s La Passione di Gesù Cristo and a special production of Mozart’s Coronation Mass at the Granada Cathedral with the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada. Among his main roles are Ernesto (Don Pasquale), Count Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Don Narciso (Il turco in Italia), Lindoro (L’italiana in Algeri), Italian Singer (Der Rosenkavalier), Jünge Graf (Die Soldaten), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Tonio (La fille du regiment), among others.
BARRY BANKS MONOSTATOS
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT’S DREAM, 2024
Barry Banks, tenor, mounts a prestigious career built on impeccable technique and innate musicality. The Grammynominated tenor’s early career in a core repertoire of bel canto and classical roles took him to the major stages of the world including appearances as Don Narciso (Il turco in Italia) and the title role in Mitridate, re di Ponto at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Ernesto (Don Pasquale) at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia) at Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Idreno (Semiramide) at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Arnold (Guillaume Tell) at Welsh National Opera, Tamino (Die Zauberflöte) at the Salzburg Festival, and the title role of Candide in his U.S. stage debut at Chicago Lyric Opera. In a relationship with the Metropolitan Opera spanning more than 25 years, key roles have included Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Tonio (La fille du régiment), Elvino (La Sonnambula), Lindoro (L’italiana in Algeri), and Italian Tenor (Der Rosenkavalier). Banks’ triumphant return to the Metropolitan Opera in the 2021-22 season as Hades in Matt Aucoin’s acclaimed new opera Eurydice, earned him the highest of praise from audiences and critics alike, the Washington Post writing “His tenor is white-hot, piercing through the orchestra, threatening to burst into flames as Hades.” Further paving the way into a new territory of repertoire, other recent appearances include a return to Los Angeles Opera in Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abel’s new opera Omar conducted by Kazem Abdullah, and his role debut as Mime in Das Rheingold for Dallas Opera under the baton of Emmanuelle Villaume. Barry Banks joined the Peabody Conservatory as adjunct professor of vocal studies for the 2023-24 academic year.
PEIXIN CHEN SARASTRO / SPEAKER OF THE TEMPLE
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
Peixin Chen, bass, is recognized for his majestically resonant bass voice and a keen dramatic instinct that he brings to a wide range of roles on the international opera stage. Performances of the 2024-25 season include Sarastro in The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera, Colline in La bohème at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore at Florida Grand Opera, and Sparafucile in Rigoletto at Los Angeles Opera. The bass made his debut at the Salzburger Festspiele in a new production of Prokofiev’s The Gambler and other highlights of the 2023-24 season included a debut at the Teatro Real as Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Turandot both at the Metropolitan Opera and at Washington National Opera, a return engagement with Los Angeles Opera as Commendatore in Don Giovanni, and a debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a fully-staged presentation of Das Rheingold. Chen has sung Sarastro in The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera, Fasolt in Das Rheingold both at Seattle Opera and The Dallas Opera, Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Cincinnati Opera, and made his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in Don Carlos singing the Monk and covering Philippe II. Highlights of recent seasons also include a European debut at the Festival d’Aix en Provence in Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Metropolitan Opera performances of The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, and Boris Godunov, and Houston Grand Opera productions of Turandot, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Le nozze di Figaro, Il trovatore, The Magic Flute, and Die Walküre, among others.
RAINELLE KRAUSE
QUEEN OF THE NIGHT
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
Rainelle Krause, soprano, known for her absolute precision and fiery coloratura, is a versatile and compelling artist who recently impressed audiences and critics alike at her Houston Grand Opera debut in her signature role, Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. Last season brought several significant appearances in the role including with Bergen Nasjonale Opera, Opera Orchestre Montpellier Occitanie, Staatsoper Berlin Unter den Linden, and The Metropolitan Opera (cover). She also brought her in-demand Königin to Royal Danish Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Theater Basel, Oper Köln, and North Carolina Opera. This season, she reprises the role with the Royal Danish Opera and Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden, and she makes her Dutch National Opera, English National Opera, and Nashville Opera debuts in the role. Other recent highlights include her guest artist appearance with English National Opera’s BBC Proms concert Horrible Histories: ‘Orrible Opera, soprano soloist for Brevard Music Festival’s Carmina Burana under the baton of JoAnn Falletta, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera at Royal Danish Opera, the Princess in The Snow Queen at Concertgebouw Amsterdam under Maestro Kent Nagano, Tania in Al gran sole carico d’amore with Theater Basel, Pat Nixon in Nixon in China at The Princeton Festival, and featured artist for Opus Opera’s event, Mystique, a circus and opera collaboration. Some of Ms. Krause’s concert credits include a concert La traviata with the Irving Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Plano Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen with members of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem and Haydn’s Paukenmesse with the Amarillo Master Chorale.
DIANA NEWMAN
FIRST LADY
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
Diana Newman, soprano, brings “fresh and intense” performances to opera houses and concert stages across the United States and Europe. Newman began her 2022-23 season with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony, before joining the Dallas Opera as Woglinde in Das Rheingold, and later in the season as Despina in Così fan tutte. Highlights of Newman’s 2023-24 season included the world premiere of Aaron Zigman’s Émigré with the Shanghai Symphony, followed by the piece’s U.S. premiere with the New York Philharmonic. In the 2021-22 season, Newman made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, as well as covered the role of Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos. She joined the Alabama Symphony Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and sang the leading role of Clara in The Light in the Piazza with Central City Opera. Newman began the 2019-20 season in her debut with the Dallas Opera as First Lady in The Magic Flute conducted by Music Director Emmanuel Villaume and joined the Metropolitan Opera roster for the first time in December covering the role of Papagena in the same title. A recent graduate of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, she returned for the company’s Ring Cycle, reprising her roles as Woglinde in Götterdämmerung and Woodbird in Siegfried, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.
WAYD ODLE STUDIO ARTIST FIRST PRIEST / ARMORED MAN
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, 2024
Described by Opera News as a “standout,” Wayd Odle is an active performer on the operatic stage having sung Nemorino, Rodolfo, and on more than one occasion, a lastminute step-in for Don José in Carmen. This season, he will cover Javier Camarena as Alfredo Germont in La traviata with The Dallas Opera. He will also be a soloist in People’s Choice Concert with The Dallas Opera Orchestra. As an Atlanta Opera Studio Artist, he will be performing 1st Priest and 1st Armored Man in Die Zauberflote, as well as covering Tamino. He will also be covering Macduff and Malcolm in the upcoming production of Macbeth. Odle appeared as Delbert Grady on the world premiere opera recording of The Shining released by Grammy Award-winning label Pentatone. As a second year Apprentice Artist with Santa Fe Opera, he made his house debut with the company as the Marschallin’s Major-Domo in Der Rosenkavalier. Most recently, Odle was selected as a winner of the prestigious Giulio Gari Foundation receiving a career grant. Popular with audiences, Odle won Audience Choice Awards with Annapolis Opera, Opera Tampa, and Opera Mississippi. He is a winner of the John Alexander National Vocal Competition, the 2021 American Prize award, and earned accolades from The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Houston Saengerbund Awards, and the Shreveport Opera Competition. Odle is proudly from the middle of nowhere, North Platte, Nebraska. He is husband to MezzoSoprano Aubrey Odle and they happily have two children.
MERIDIAN PRALL
THIRD LADY
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
DIE WALKÜRE, 2024
Meridian Prall, mezzo-soprano, is a 2024 Grand Finals Winner of The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition and the recipient of the 2023 Rose Bampton Award from The Sullivan Foundation. This season, she returns to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for Julius Caesar (Cornelia). On the concert stage Meridian debuts with Toledo Symphony for Messiah and the Mozart Requiem, Erie Philharmonic for Messiah, and a solo recital with the Nantucket Musical Arts Society. Additional engagements include the Hart Institute for Women Conductors Showcase Concert with The Dallas Opera and the world premiere of Gregg Kallor’s Frankenstein (Elizabeth Lavenza cover) with Arizona Opera. In 2022-23, Meridian returned to Palm Beach Opera for Falstaff (Meg Page), Così fan tutte (Dorabella cover), and Madama Butterfly (Suzuki cover) as a member of the Beneson Young Artist Program. In the summer of 2023, she made her debut at The Santa Fe Opera in Rusalka (Third Wood Sprite) as a member of their prestigeous Apprentice Artist program. In 2021-22 Meridian made her debut with Palm Beach Opera in Dido and Aeneas (Sorceress) and Carmen (Mercédès cover) as member of the Beneson Young Artist Program. Additional engagements that season included a return to the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for The Magic Flute (Third Lady) as a returning member of the Gerdine Young Artist Program. Prall is a graduate of the University of Toledo and University of Michigan. As a result of winning the University of Michigan Concerto Competition, she performed the United States premiere of Verklärtes Jahr, a song cycle for mezzo-soprano and orchestra, with University of Michigan’s University Philharmonia Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Adrian Slywotzky.
ALEXANDRA RAZSKAZOFF
SECOND LADY
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
DAS RHEINGOLD, 2023
Alexandra Razskazoff, soprano, acclaimed by The New York Times as a “richly faceted, slinky soprano,” was named a Grand Finals Winner in the 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. In 2024, she returned to The Atlanta Opera to perform Ortlinde (Die Walküre) and will reprise Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) with Washington Opera Society. She will also debut as Nedda (I Pagliacci) with Vero Beach Opera. In 2023, she made her role debut as Micaëla (Carmen) at Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Chile. Razskazoff has performed with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Maryland Opera, Washington Opera Society, Vero Beach Opera, and Panama City Symphony. She covered Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) and Alice Ford (Falstaff) for Palm Beach Opera’s 2023 season. Notable debuts in 2022 include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Bozeman Symphony and Mimì (La bohème) at Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Chile. She also performed Violetta (La traviata) with Out of the Box Opera and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) with Teatro Grattacielo. In competitions, Alexandra took first prize in Vero Beach Opera’s “Rising Stars Competition” in 2024 and was a semifinalist in the 2021 Operalia vocal competition. She won first place in the 2021 James Toland Vocal Arts Competition and the Giovanni Consiglio International Competition. She also placed in several other prestigious competitions, including the PARTNERS for the Arts Competition and the Orpheus Vocal Competition. She completed her formal training as a Resident Artist with the Academy of Vocal Arts and Minnesota Opera, and as a Young Artist with San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program. She holds a master’s degree from the Juilliard School and a bachelor’s degree from the Peabody Conservatory.
AMANDA SHERIFF STUDIO ARTIST PAPAGENA
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT RIGOLETTO, 2023
Amanda Sheriff, soprano, is in her second year as an Atlanta Opera Studio Artist. This season, Sheriff will make her Opera Philadelphia debut as Jess (The Listeners) and will return to perform Zerlina (Don Giovanni). In 2024, she will make her role debut as Musetta (La bohéme) at Intermountain Opera Bozeman and return to the Glimmerglass Festival to perform Satirino/L’Eternita (La Calisto). Sheriff was a Young Artist at the Glimmerglass Festival and premiered the role Calista (Rip Van Winkle). In 2022, she was awarded first prize in the Lotte Lenya Competition and returned to Opera Delaware as Despina (Così fan tutte) and also rejoined Opera Baltimore as Miss Jessel (Turn of the Screw). During 2021, she joined Des Moines Metro Opera as an Apprentice Artist and made her debut as Miss Lightfoot (Fellow Travelers). She was also a Studio Artist at Florida Grand Opera, and performed the roles of Beatrice (Three Decembers), First Trio member (Trouble in Tahiti) and Célie (Signor Deluso). Amanda performed Norina (Don Pasquale) with Opera Delaware and Monica (The Medium) with Opera Baltimore. Sheriff was a Young Artist at Seagle in 2019 and performed Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro).
LUKE SUTLIFF PAPAGENO
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, 2024
Luke Sutliff, bass, is an alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera Studio and is quickly starting to make his mark in the opera world. This season Sutliff returned to Atlanta to debut Marcello in La bohème. Later in the season, he returns to the Houston Grand Opera, his home company, for his first Wolfram in Tannhäuser. He will also appear as Marcello in La bohème with Opera Maine. In concert he makes his debut with the Nashville Symphony as the baritone soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Giancarlo Guerrero conducting. Future engagements include debuts with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Canadian Opera Company, the Glyndebourne Festival and the Dallas Symphony. In the summer of 2023, Luke Sutliff premiered the titlerole in Nico Muhly’s version of Monteverdi’s Orfeo at the Santa Fe Opera, then made a series of exciting company and role debuts: Silvio in I Pagliacci with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Opera North Carolina and the Seattle Opera, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with The Atlanta Opera. He returned to the Santa Fe Opera in the summer of 2024 to perform Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore. In concert he debuted in Tokyo with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, and Fabio Luisi as the baritone solo in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8. Notable awards include second prize at the 2023 Operalia competition; two grants from the Richard Tucker Foundation (Sara Tucker Study Grant in 2022 and Richard Tucker Career Grant in 2024).
JASON ZACHER
STUDIO ARTIST
SECOND PRIEST / ARMORED MAN
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT RIGOLETTO, 2023
Jason Zacher, bass-baritone, is quickly gaining national attention as a rising new talent and versatile performer. Last season, Zacher joined the esteemed Studio Artist program at The Atlanta Opera, performing in productions of Frankenstein, Rigoletto, La bohème, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He also made multiple appearances at Carnegie Hall, notably making his debut with The Masterwork Chorus in Handel’s Messiah, as well as performing Haydn’s Nelson Mass with MidAmerica Productions. Zacher returned to The Glimmerglass Festival following a successful debut with the company in 2023. At The Glimmerglass Festival, he has showcased his talent as Argante in Rinaldo and Uncle/Witness 9 in Elizabeth Cree, while also being featured as a soloist alongside awardwinning singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant and Anthony Roth Costanzo. Additionally, he advanced to the finals of the prestigious Lotte Lenya Competition, where he received the second-place prize. This season, Zacher returns to The Atlanta Opera Studio for their productions of La bohème and Macbeth. He also joins South Florida Symphony to perform Pangloss/Voltaire in Candide, Worcester Chorus for Messiah, Montclair State University for Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9, and Tulsa Opera for a gala concert. Jason Zacher is represented by UIA Talent Agency.
MEI GUI ZHANG PAMINA
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT DON GIOVANNI, 2023
Ms. Zhang opens the 2024-25 season debuting the role of Oscar in Un ballo in maschera with San Francisco Opera. She will reprise her “warm, honeyed” Barbarina with the Metropolitan Opera in Le nozze di Figaro Zhang has appeared as Zerlina in Don Giovanni with The Atlanta Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Guangzhou Opera House; Despina in Così fan tutte with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood; and Ilia in Idomeneo (cover) with the Metropolitan Opera. At the Verbier Festival, where she was a Laureate of the 2019 Prix Yves Paternot, Ms. Zhang was Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2023, joining the Philadelphia Orchestra in J.L. Adams’ Vespers of the Blessed Earth and reprised the performance at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Previous season highlights include her debut as Euridice in San Francisco Opera’s Orfeo ed Euridice opposite countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński; and her “energetic, bright-voiced Thibault’’ in Sir David McVicar’s Don Carlos conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Her connection to her cultural roots have brought her to prominent stages worldwide, including her world premiere of Aaron Zigman and Mark Campbell’s Émigré with the New York Philharmonic and Shanghai Symphony, which was recorded with Deutsche Grammophon; and her debut as the lead role Dai Yu in Bright Sheng’s The Dream of the Red Chamber with San Francisco Opera.
PLEASE SAVE THE DATE FOR
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2025
Flourish Atlanta
HONORING
Victoria & Howard Palefsky
GALA CO-CHAIRS
Taila Murphy & Roxanne Varzi
St ep into a world of timeless beau ty and exquisite m usi c at the Bel Canto Gala. Whethe r you ’r e a lifelong opera lover or simply looking for a night of culture and elegance, the Gala promises an unforgettable ex p erience of grandeur and ar tist ry.
Visit atlantaopera.org/donate/gala for more information.
ANGEL WILLIAMS
GENII
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
Angel Williams is a brilliant 12-year-old who joins the Atlanta Opera for the first time this season. Williams is currently home-schooled with Georgia Connexus Academy, which allows her the time to focus on both education and her artistic gifts. Williams has many talents, however, singing, dancing and acting are her passion. She has been a part of the Clayton State University Spivey Hall Children’s Choir for 4 years under the direction of Dr. Shaw and now Dr. Hurley. Williams also studies with vocal coach Ms. Rhoda Nedd of McDonough, GA. Part of the For Your Glory Christian Art Ministry for six years, Williams has been inspired and supported by Director Christa Dunwoody. Angel’s inherited gifts are being cultivated daily in her home studio by her songwriter and music producer, her father and brother, Andy Williams, Sr. and Andy Williams, Jr.
ADRIENNE OCFEMIA
GENII
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
THE SHINING, 2023
Adrienne Ocfemia is thrilled to return to The Atlanta Opera in this amazing production of The Magic Flute! Previous productions include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, La bohéme, Dead Man Walking, and The Shining (as Danny Torrance, co-production with Alliance Theatre). Other credits include Henry in The Incredible Book Eating Boy, Child Ruth in the staged reading of Ruth and Lydia, Melinda Cratchit/ Child Dick Wilkins in A Christmas Carol, 2022 and 2023 (Alliance Theatre); Prentiss in Peter and the Starcatcher (Stage Door Theatre); Jane Banks in Mary Poppins (Aurora Theatre); Madeline in Madeline’s Christmas (Horizon Theatre); Amanda Thripp/u/s Matilda Wormwood in Matilda the Musical (Atlanta Lyric Theatre); Ballet Girl in Billy Elliot, u/s Jerome (performed) in South Pacific (City Springs Theatre Company). Adrienne is a member of the Pre-Professional Company and the Competition Team at City Springs Theatre Conservatory, where she trains in musical theatre. In her spare time, she enjoys dancing, playing the piano, ukulele, and guitar, doing artistic projects, and spending time with family and friends. She is grateful to The Atlanta Opera for this incredible opportunity, with special thanks to Mr. Rolando. Represented by DDO Kids. Love to her parents and older sister, Sophia. IG: @adrienne_aly.o
GENII
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT THE SHINING, 2023
Max Walls is an experienced theatre actor with a love for music and dance. Their recent credits include Ralphie in A Christmas Story (Theatrical Outfit), Danny in The Shining (The Atlanta Opera), Tina in Ruthless! (Out Front Theatre), Colin in The Secret Garden (Atlanta Lyric Theatre), Noah in Caroline, or Change (Jennie T. Anderson Theatre), and Michael Banks in Mary Poppins (Aurora Theatre).
MAX WALLS
PHOTO: TIM WILKERSON
Studio Artist Program
This season, singers Aubrey Odle, Amanda Sheriff, and Jason Zacher return for a second year in the program, with Wayd Olde coming on as the only freshman singer. Joining the vocalists will be stage director Elio Bucky
Each of the Studio Artists is an early career professional with significant training and stage experience, some with lead performances and major concert appearances on their resumé. The program builds on The Atlanta Opera’s commitment to provide opportunities for performers at all stages in their careers.
Throughout the season, these artists will have the opportunity to work with established performers and coaches
to improve their skills in all aspects of their field. Master Vocal Teacher
Laura Brooks Rice has been part of the Studio Artist program since 2021 and is an acclaimed performer and voice teacher and acting coach.
An experienced group of coaches and clinicians, including Principal Guest Voice Teacher David Okerlund, are engaged in the training and support of the Studio Artists.
The Atlanta Opera is grateful for the support of the young artist program from the Donald and Marilyn Keough Foundation, John and YeeWan Stevens, and Jerry and Dulcy Rosenberg.
AUBREY ODLE mezzo-soprano
ELIO BUCKY stage director
AMANDA SHERIFF soprano
WAYD ODLE tenor
JASON ZACHER bass-baritone
TOGETHER, LET’S MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF OUR NATION’S HEROES
The Home Depot Founda tion is proud to partner with The Atlanta Opera to honor our U.S. militar y, veterans and their families.
CHORUSMASTER
Rolando Salazar
SOPRANO
Nicole Lewis
Blair Lipham
Julia Metry
Natalie Rogers
Tiffany Uzoije
Alexandra Watson
Erika Wuerzner
MEZZO-SOPRANO
Madison Chambers
Isabella Chaney
Kristin Hagan
Valerie Hamm
Allison Nance
Liuba Shrivastava
Jessica Wax
TENOR
Levi Adkins
Ethan Godfrey
Grant Jones
Cameron King
Eric Mask
José Montañez
Daniel Weisman
BASS
John Alston
Maxwell Clements
Gus Godbee
Mitchell Jones
Andrew Kapsar
Stephen McCool
Michael O’Hearn
Jason Royale
Brandon Stephens
VIOLINS
Peter Ciaschini
The Loraine P. Williams
Orchestra Concertmaster Chair
Helen Kim
Assistant Concertmaster
Fia Durrett
Prinicipal Second Violin
Jessica Stinson
Acting Assistant Principal
Second Violin
Edward Eanes
Felix Farrar*
Sally Gardner-Wilson
Robert Givens
Patti Gouvas*
Lisa Morrison
Shawn Pagliarini*
Virginia Respess-Fairchild
Patrick Ryan
Rafael Veytsblum
Holly Bryan†
Barbara Careaga†
Chelsea Cline†
Kevin Chaney†
Alison James†
Serena Scibelli†
Elonia Varfi†
VIOLA
William Johnston Principal
Catherine Allain
Assistant Principal*
Julie Rosseter
Acting Assistant Principal
Ryan Gregory*
Karl Schab
Joli Wu*
Josiah Coe†
Kathryn Steely†
Meghan Yost†
CELLO
Charae Krueger Principal
Cynthia Sulko
Acting Assistant Principal
David Hancock
Mary Kenney
Norbert Lewandowski†
BASS
Daniel Tancredi Principal
Emory Clements
Bailey Bennett†
Jonathan McWilliams†
FLUTE/PICCOLO
James Zellers Principal
Kelly Bryant
OBOE/ENGLISH HORN
Christina Gavin Acting Principal
Ann Lillya†
CLARINET/BASSETT HORN
David Odom Principal
John Warren
BASSOON
Carlos Clark Principal
Debra Grove
FRENCH HORN
David Bradley Principal
Jason Eklund
TRUMPET
Yvonne Toll-Schnieder Principal
Alexander Freund
TROMBONE
William P. Mann Principal
Ed Nicholson†
BASS TROMBONE
Richard Brady
TUBA
Donald Strand*
TIMPANI
John Lawless Principal
PERCUSSION
Michael Cebulski*
HARP
Susan Brady*
CELESTE
Elena Kholodova
PERSONNEL MANAGER
James Zellers
ORCHESTRA LIBRARIAN
Phil Parsons
Musicians employed in this production are represented by the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada. *Core Musician On Leave | †Non-Core Musician
Christine Beard, Barbara D. Stewart Legacy Society member, enjoying retirement with a cocktail and a smile, taking a break from her usual artistic endeavors.
Prima Donna of Purpose
How Opera Harmonized Christine Beard’s Life
For Christine Beard, the love of opera runs deep—it’s woven into the fabric of her life. Born to an Italian family in San Francisco, her earliest memories include listening raptly to Enrico Caruso’s rich tenor voice emanating from the hand-crank Victrola at her grandparents’ home. She was only 13 years old when she attended her first live opera, Bizet’s Carmen, and was transfixed by the stunning visuals, powerful voices, and sweeping emotions.
From that moment Christine was hooked and regularly attended opera performances, including the historic first post-World War II American production of Madame Butterfly, and volunteered her time with the San Francisco Opera throughout college. Her passion grew as she settled in Cincinnati and then Atlanta, where she became deeply involved with both cities’ opera companies, serving on the board of Cincinnati’s opera and ballet companies before moving south and helping run the “Friends of The Atlanta Opera” organization alongside her husband, Wally. Together, they organized and chaired galas, led fundraising campaigns, and created the organization’s Libretto publication for years.
For Christine, volunteering was far more than entertainment—it was a way to find community and purpose. Now in her 90s, she still laces up her running shoes each July for the annual Peachtree Road Race, volunteers daily with myriad organizations, and travels internationally whenever she can.
However, no matter where life has taken her, Christine’s constant devotion to opera has endrured. That’s why she decided to include The Atlanta Opera as a beneficiary in her will.
If you’re inspired by Christine’s example and would like to learn about planned gifts to the Opera, contact Jonathan Blalock at 336-512-6832 or jblalock@atlantaopera.org
“Opera has brought me so much joy throughout my life through its incredible artistry and sense of community,” she explains. “I want to ensure future generations can experience that same magic for years to come.”
With her legacy gift, Christine is passing on a lifetime of memories and enthusiasm to the next generation of opera lovers in Atlanta. Just as Caruso’s voice once ignited her passion, Christine’s generosity will keep the transcendent power of live opera resonating for the future.
COURTESY CHRISTINE BEARD
ANNUAL GIVING
We are grateful for the following donors’ generous support. This list reflects gifts and annual pledges to unrestricted operating expenses, special projects, and/or endowment made between Mar 1, 2023 and Sep 30, 2024.
DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE
$200,000+
Harold Brody & Donald Smith†
John & Rosemary Brown†
Dr. Frank A. Critz & Dr. Ann Critz†
Beth & Gary Glynn
Mr. Howard W. Hunter - Gramma Fisher Foundation†
Disosway Foundation - Dudley & Carole Johnson
Mr. & Mrs. Michael L. Keough
*Mr. & Mrs. Carl W. Knobloch, Jr.†
*Peggy Weber McDowell & *Jack McDowell
Mr. James B. Miller, Jr.
Jerry & Dulcy Rosenberg†
Katherine Scott
$100,000+
Connolly Family Foundation†
*Sylvia Halleck, MD
Mr. John Haupert & Mr. Bryan Brooks†
Alfredo & Beau Martin†
John & Yee-Wan Stevens†
Rhys & Carolyn Wilson†
$50,000+
The Antinori Foundation†
Mr. & Mrs. Paul Blackney†
Mr. Robert P. Dean & Mr. Robert Epstein†
The Gable Foundation, Inc†
Mr. John L. Hammaker
Mary Ruth McDonald
Mr. & *Mrs. Robert L. Setzer
Mr. William F. Snyder†
Carol B. & Ramon Tomé†
Ms. Bunny Winter & Mr. Michael Doyle†
$25,000+
Cathy & Mark Adams†
Mr. & Mrs. James Anderson
Bryan & Johanna Barnes†
Laura & Cosmo Boyd
Dr. & Mrs. Alexander Gross†
Mr. & Mrs. Douglas J. Hertz
Talia & John Murphy
Victoria & Howard Palefsky†
*Mr. William E. Pennington†
Ms. Janine Brown & Mr. Alex J. Simmons, Jr.
Judith & Mark Taylor
Mr. & Mrs. William E. Tucker
Bob & Cappa Woodward Charitable Fund
The Mary & Charles Yates Family Fund†
PATRON’S CIRCLE
$15,000+
*Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Bair
Julie & *Jim Balloun†
Mr. David Boatwright†
Mr. & Mrs. Edward J. Hardin
Slumgullion Charitable Fund†
Mr. & Mrs. Richard P. Nicholas III†
Larry & Beverly Willson†
GOLD
$10,000+
Elizabeth & Jeremy Adler†
Mrs. *Phillip E. Alvelda†
*Mr. & *Mrs. Shepard B. Ansley
John & Wendy Anzalone†
Dr. & Mrs. Asad Bashey
*Mr. & Mrs. C. Duncan Beard
Mr. & Mrs. Dante Bellizzi
Natalie & Matthew Bernstein
Anonymous
Mr. Frank H. Butterfield†
Matt & Kate Cook
Mr. Tomer Zvulun & Mrs. Susanna Eiland
Dieter Elsner
Mr. Leroy & Mrs. Ariana Fass
Dr. Donald J. & Janet Filip†
Alex Hertz
The Hilbert Law Firm
Donna & *Richard Hiller
Roya & Bahman Irvani
*Mary & *Wayne James
Gail G. Johnson
KaneTreadwell Law LLC
Dr. & Mrs. David Kavtaradze
Mimi & Dan D. Maslia
Stephanie & Gregor Morela†
Sandra & Peter Morelli†
Mr. & Mrs. Steve Paro†
Mr. & Mrs. Michael E. Paulhus†
Norm & Shannon Prestage
Lynn & Kent Regenstein†
Mr. James L. Rhoden
Ms. Ana M. Rountree & Mr. Mason Rountree
Mr. Milton J. Sams†
Thomas R. Saylor
Charles T. & Donna Sharbaugh†
Mr. & Mrs. Timothy E. Sheehan
Christine & Mark St.Clare†
Benny & Roxanne Varzi
Wadleigh C. Winship Charitable Fund
SILVER $5,000+
Catherine A. Binns
Dr. R. Dwain Blackston
Drs. Eda Hochgelerent & Bruce Cassidy†
Mrs. Carol J. Clark
John W. Cooledge†
Mr. & Mrs. Ron L. Cundy
Dr. Jeannette Guarner & Dr. Carlos del Rio
Mr. Trey Duskin & Ms. Noelle Albano
Mr. Richard H. Delay & Dr. Francine D. Dykes†
Mr. & Mrs. Robert G. Edge
Dr. & Mrs. Todd D. Ellis
Mr. & Mrs. Reade Fahs
Sally & Hank Fielding†
Mr. James & Mrs. Kathy Flanagan
Ms. Rebecca Y. Frazer & Mr. Jon Buttrey
Mr. & Mrs. Ethan Garonzik
Stephens Family Foundation
Mr. Ellis & Mrs. Cathy Green
Kevin Greiner & Robyn Roberts
Judge Adele P. Grubbs
Gena & Joey Gyengo
Mrs. Lynn Hanna
Dr. Thomas High
Mr. L. D. Holland†
Billy Huger
Mr. Pitak Intrawityanunt
Christopher & Joan Kell
Ms. Anne Morgan & Mr. James Kelley
Ms. Elizabeth Klump
Mr. & Mrs. Larry Kurlander
Mrs. Dale Levert & Mr. George W. Levert
Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Long
Dr. Jill Mabley†
Mr. Nicholas Marrone
Belinda & Gino Massafra
Robert & Creel McCormack
Clara M. & John S. O’Shea†
Lib & Neal Quirk
*Morton & Angela Sherzer
Baker & Debby Smith†
Lynne & Steven Steindel
Mr. Tarek Takieddini
George & Amy Taylor†
Dr. & Mrs. Nicholas Valerio III†
Thurman Williams
BRONZE $2,500+
Scott & Betsy Akers
Ms. Casey Armanino
Mr. Jonathan Blalock
Raphael Bostic
Sean & Amy Bowen
Mr. & Mrs. Charles Cohn
Jean & Jerry Cooper
Mr. James M. Datka & Ms. Nora P. DePalma
Jim & Carol Dew
Danica & Milton Dilligard
Mr. Mark du Mas
Mr. Thomas Emch
Mark & Mary Eppert
Mr. & Mrs. Lance Fortnow
James C. Goodwyne & Christopher S. Connelly
Dr. Thomas N. Guffin, Jr.
Atlanta Neurology
Ms. Laura Heery
Mr. Brian Henry
Douglas Hooker & Patrise Perkins Hooker
Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey R. Hoopes
Mr. & Mrs. David C. Huffman
Cliff Jolliff & Elaine Gerke
Mr. & Mrs. Gert Kampfer
Mr. Alfred D. Kennedy & Dr. Bill Kenny
Red Eft Mapping
Ms. Brenda O. Lambert
Linda L. Lively & James E. Hugh III
Mr. & Ms. Larry Anderson
Samantha & William Markle
John S. Metz
Barbara & Mark Murovitz
Mrs. Agnes Nelson
Denis Ng & Mary Jane Panzeri Ng
Lucy S. Perry
Mr. Joshua Peyton
Mrs. Betsy Pittman
Margaret & Bob Reiser
Monet Jeanne Roberson
Mr. & Mrs. J. Barry Schrenk
Dr. Edgar P. Simard & Dr. Emile C. Pinera
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Sproul
Dr. Jane T. St. Clair & Mr. James E. Sustman
Mr. Johnny Thigpen & Mr. Clay Martin
Cynthia Widner Wall
Dr. & Mrs. James O. Wells, Jr.
Mr. Mark Westfall
*Dr. & Mrs. R. Craig Woodward
FRIEND’S CIRCLE
INVESTOR $1,000+
Mr. Paul Anderson, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Robert O. Banker
Ms. Hope M. Barrett
Christine M. Beard
Mr. Walter Carter Bland
Mrs. Jane Blount
Dr. & Mrs. Jerry Blumenthal
Ms. Martha S. Brewer
Mr. Nelson C. Chu
Ms. Alice Sue Claeys
Mr. N. Jerold Cohen & Ms. Andrea Strickland
Ms Lillianette Cook & Ms. Carol Uhl
John & Linda Cooke
Jeremy & Audrey Critz
John & Melissa Critz
Ms. Barbara Croft
Dr. & Mrs. F. Thomas Daly Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Harold T. Daniel Jr.
Anonymous
Micah Fortson & Georgia Jarman
Spencer Gelernter & Sonya Kuropatwa
Mr. Michael D. Golden & Dr. Juliet Asher
Mr. & Mrs. Richard P. Grodzicki
Ms. Louise S. Gunn
Robert & Ada Habl
Felicia & Isaiah Hale
George L. Hickman III
Mr. & *Mrs. Harry C. Howard
Richard & Linda Hubert
David Hughes
Mrs. Cecile M. Jones
Mrs. Peter G. Kessenich
Wadih & Ali Khayat
Ms. Carol Kranig
Anonymous
Tim & Angela Leveridge
Dr. & Mrs. Ellis L. Malone
Jennifer & Chad Mann
Dr. & Mrs. Steven Marlowe
Mrs. Erin Martin
Charles Bjorklund & Sted Mays
Philip & Caroline Moïse
Linda & Don Morris
Twinkle Nelson
Carol S. Niemi
Kathie & Charles Palmer
Mr. Darryl-Christopher Payne†
Dr. & Mrs. Lawrence S. Phillips
Dr. & Mrs. Donald Reitzes
R.J. & D.G. Riffey, Jr.
Sidney & Phyllis Rodbell
Stewart & Mary Searle
Richard Sonenklar & Gregory Haynes
Gail & Barry Spurlock
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Stansfield
Kay Summers
Dr. & Mrs. Michael Szikman
Ms. Virginia S. Taylor
Mr. Michael Tushman & Mrs. Marjorie Williams
Eldred Veira
Ms. Betsy K. Wash
Alan & Marcia Watt
Rae & *George Weimer
Mr. & Mrs. Mark Westfall
Ms. Kathy J. White
Dr. & Mrs. Hamilton Williams
Thomas R. Williams Family SUPPORTER $500+
Judith M. Alembik
Karyn Alexander
Dr. Catherine Allard
Dr. Raymond Allen
Paula Stephan Amis
Colonel & Mrs. John V. Barson, D.O.
Mr. Albert E. Bender, Jr.
Mr. Edward S. & Mrs. Nese Berkoff
Mrs. Marilee F. Betor
Mr. Matt Blackburn
Jill Blair & Fay Twersky
Ms. Mary D. Bray
Stanford M. Brown
Craig & Brenda Caldwell
Dr. Lawrence M. Cohen
Mrs. Jan W. Collins
Julianna M. Critz
Ann & Jim Curry
Mr. David D’Ambrosio
Mr. & Mrs. John Drucker
Mrs. Anne J. Ederington
Drs. Morgan & Susan Horton Eiland
*Mr. & Mrs. Robert F. Engeman Sr.
Dr. & Mrs. David J. Frolich
Mr. Glen Galbaugh
Dr. Richard Goodjoin
*Mr. & Mrs. Sam Hagan
Mr. & Mrs. Sheffield Hale
Mr. Ronald L. Harris & Mrs. Jacqueline Pownall
Debra M. Hulsey
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas E. Johnston
Ms. Lynne Elliott Jones
Matthew Katzmark
Keith Kellum
Joan & Arnold Kurth
Mr. Scott Lampert
Mr. Sidney E. Linton
Livvy Kazer Lipson
Allan & Vaneesa Little
Dr. Jo Marie Lyons
Jeanie & Albert Marx
Mr. Michael Mayes
Mr. M. Reynolds McClatchey Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Allen P. McDaniel
Mr. Bernard McGuinness
Mr. M Sean Molley & Ms. Heidi C. Pritchett
Ciaran Morris
Jane Morrison
Mr. Marvin Moss
Terri & Stephen Nagler
Ms. Mollie W. Neal
Rita Omark
*Sharon & Jim Radford
Mr. Stephen L. Rann & Ms. Dytre Fentress
Mr. & Mrs. James W. Robbins
Sandra & Ronald Rousseau
Dr. & Mrs. William M. Scaljon
Ms. Regina Schuber
Dr. & Mrs. William E. Silver
Andrew J. Singletary, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. E. Kendrick Smith
Mr. Fred B. Smith
Mr. Paul Snyder
Clayton & Holly Sparrow
Melanie Steele
Steve & Christine Strong
Carolyn & Robert Swain
Mr. Stephen H. Thompson & Mr. Drew Mote
Mr. Joseph Usher
Ms. Brenda D. Jennings
Kelly Weekes
CONTRIBUTOR $250+
Christine Allen
Ms. Nancy H. Amato
Stephan & Laura Anderson
Atlanta Opera Orchestra Players Association
Mr. & Mrs. David S. Baker
Claire & Bryan Benedict
Mr. & Mrs. Sid Besmertnik
Dr. Stephen R. Brandt
James & Nancy Bross
Beau F. Brummett
Mark & Peg Bumgardner
Mr. Jerald M. Byrd
Mr. & Mrs. Don S. Coatworth
Carol Cookerly & Robert Beal
Carol Comstock & Jim Davis
Mr. & Mrs. David R. Dye
Mr. Devin Ehrlich
Allison Fichter & Phillip O’Brien
Judy & Stan Fineman
Mary Anne & Bruce Gaunt
Ms. Pat Godbee
Vasily Goncharu
Ms. Susan Goodman
Drs. Nancy & Robert Griner
Deborah & Paul Harkins
Mr. Jamael & Mrs. Rashidah Hester
Mr. & Mrs. Douglas M. Holly, Jr.
Ms. Jan W. Hughen
Mr. Rolf Ingenleuf
Susan Johnston & Shannon Motley
Mr. William Johnston
Mr. J. Carter Joseph
Mr. & Mrs. David Keller
John & JoAnn Keller
Dorothy Yates Kirkley
Nancy Kritikos
Mr. Roy Locklear III
Richard Lodise & Valerie Jagiella
Mr. Simon Miller
Berthe & Shapour Mobasser
Mr. & Mrs. George T. Munsterman
Mr. John Owens
Mr. William A. Pasch
Mr. & Mrs. John Payan
Mr. Lawrence F. Pinson
Catherine Popper & Noah Eckhouse in honor of Ms. Faye P. Popper
Misty Reid
Patty & Doug Reid
Mr. Stephen & Mrs. Elizabeth Rhoden
Mr. Barry F. Ross & Mrs. Jane M. Rooks Ross
Harriet Ruskin
Ms. Anne Schneider
Dr. & Mrs. Stuart H. Silverman
Elizabeth Morgan Spiegel
Mr. Raymond A. Strikas
Dr. David E. Sutherland II
& Mrs. Sarah F. Yates Sutherland
Barbara & Jon Swann
Mr. & Mrs. Frederick C. Taylor
Ms. Nancy A. Thomas
Ms. Mary Thorpe-Mease
Mr. & Ms. Wolfgang Tiedtke
Erica Walden
Ms. Susan Wall
Troy Wiley
Ms. Jone Williams & Ms. Barbara Robb
Mr. & Mrs. Richard H. Zimmermann
†extraordinary donors who have committed to continue their annual giving for three years or more *deceased
CORPORATE PARTNERS
$100,000
The Coca-Cola Company
The Home Depot Foundation
$50,000+
Price Waterhouse Coopers
Smurfit WestRock UPS
$25,000+
The Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation
Gas South KPMG LLP
PwC Charitable Foundation
$10,000
Blackrock
KaneTreadwell Law LLC
The Hilbert Law Firm
National Distributing Co., Inc.
The Varzi-Cohen Group, Merrill Lynch
$5,000+
Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters CIBC
FOUNDATIONS & GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
Foundations
$500,000+
The Molly Blank Fund of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
Lettie Pate Evans Foundation
$225,000+
Mr. Howard W. Hunter - Gramma Fisher Foundation
$100,000+
Anonymous
The Charles Loridans Foundation, Inc.
The Coca-Cola Foundation Connolly Family Foundation Disosway Foundation
The Halle Foundation
Donald and Marilyn Keough Foundation
Knobloch Family Foundation
$50,000+
Livingston Foundation Atlanta Music Festival Association Fund of Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta
The Gable Foundation
The Rich’s Foundation, Inc.
The Zeist Foundation, Inc.
Mary and EP Rogers Foundation, Inc.
The Sara Giles Moore Foundation Truist Trusteed Foundations: Florence C. and Harry L. English Memorial Fund
$20,000+
The Roy and Janet Dorsey Foundation
The Hertz Family Foundation, Inc.
J. Marshall & Lucile G. Powell Charitable Trust
The Jim Cox, Jr. Foundation
The Ray M. & Mary Elizabeth Lee Foundation
$10,000+
The George M. Brown Trust Fund JBS Foundation
The John & Rosemary Brown Family Fnd
$5,000+
The Hills Family Foundation, Mr. & Mrs. Thomas D. Hills, Trustees
The Stephens Family Foundation Camp-Younts Foundation
The Robert and Polly Dunn Foundation
$1,000+
The Mary Brown Fund of Atlanta, Georgia
The Opera Guild for Atlanta
Government Funding
City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs
Cobb Travel & Tourism
Fulton County Arts & Culture
Georgia Council for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
BARBARA D. STEWART LEGACY SOCIETY
The Atlanta Opera established the Barbara D. Stewart Legacy Society to recognize donors who have designated The Opera as a beneficiary in their estate plan. In honor of Barbara D. Stewart’s many contributions to The Atlanta Opera, our planned giving division, the Encore Society, has been renamed the Barbara D. Stewart Legacy Society.
Cathy Callaway Adams & Mark Adams
Anonymous (5)
*Mr. & *Mrs. Shepard B. Ansley
*Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Bair
Mrs. Wallace F. Beard
The Bickers Charitable Trust
Mr. Jonathan Blalock
*Jim & *Nancy Bland
Mr. Montague L. Boyd, IV
Mr. Robert Colgin
*Martha Thompson Dinos
The Roy & Janet Dorsey Foundation
Mr. Richard H. Delay & Dr. Francine D. Dykes
Arnold & Sylvia Eaves
*Ms. Dorothy E. Edwards
*Heike & Dieter Elsner
Ms. Melodi Ford
Carl & Sally Gable
*Ms. Anne Marie Gary
Mr. & Mrs. Sidney W. Guberman
Ms. Judy Hanenkrat
*Sylvia Halleck, MD
Caroline Hardin
Richard & Fern Hartnig
The Hilbert Family Trust
Eda L. Hochgelerent, M.D. & Bruce A. Cassidy, M.D.
Mr. L. Don Holland
Mr. Hilson Hudson
*Mrs. Joseph B. Hutchison
Gail G. Johnson
Mr. J. Carter Joseph
*Mrs. Alfred D. Kennedy, Sr.
*Mrs. Isabelle W. Kennedy
*Donald & *Marilyn Keough
Mr. & Mrs. Michael L. Keough
Ms. Corina M. LaFrossia
Mr. & Mrs. John G. Malcolm
Mr. Robert L. Mays
Mr. & Mrs. Allen P. McDaniel
*Peggy Weber McDowell & *Jack McDowell
Mr. & Mrs. Craig N. Miller
*Miss Helen D. Moffitt
Mr. J. Robert Morring
Clara M. & John S. O’Shea
Mrs. Polly N. Pater
Mr. James Paulk
*Mr. William Pennington
*Mr. Bruce Roth
Ms. Hazel Sanger
Mr. D. Jack Sawyer, Jr.
Anita & J. Barry Schrenk
Katherine Scott
*Mrs. Roberta Setzer
Elizabeth N. Shapiro
*Mrs. Lessie B. Smithgall
Elizabeth Morgan Spiegel
Christine & Mark St.Clare
*Ms. Barbara D. Stewart
*Mrs. Eleanor H. Strain
Mr. Tarek Takieddini
Sandra & *Tom Teepen
Dr. & Mrs. Harold Whitney
*Mrs. Jane S. Willson
Rhys & Carolyn Wilson
Ms. Bunny Winter & Mr. Michael Doyle
Mr & Mrs Robert G Woodward
Mr. Charles R. Yates, Jr. & Mrs. Mary Mitchell Yates
*Mr. & *Mrs. Charels R. Yates, Sr.
Mr. Tomer Zvulun & Mrs. Susanna Eiland
*deceased
TRIBUTES & MEMORIALS
In Memory of Phillip Edward Alvelda
Mrs. Kay Alvelda
In Memory of Shepard B. Ansley
Jonathan Blalock
Dr. R. Dwain Blackston
John & Rosemary Brown
Sally & Hank Fielding
Mr. & Mrs. Sidney W. Guberman
Mary Ruth McDonald
In Memory of Eleonora M. Barson
Colonel John V. Barson, D.O. & Mrs. Gay L. Barson
In Memory of Duncan Beard
Bob & Cappa Woodward Charitable Fund
In Honor of Mr. Jonathan Blalock
Mr. Leroy & Mrs. Ariana Fass
Everett L. Long
In Honor of Dr. Hal Brody & Mr. Don Smith
Connor Howard
In Honor of John & Rosemary Brown
Mr. Barry F. Ross & Mrs. Jane M. Rooks Ross
In Memory of Kyle Burkhalter
Mr. Matt Burkhalter & Mr. John Carey
In Memory of Maria Callas
Jesus Olivas Sierra
In Memory of Anson Callaway
Dawn & Randall Romig
In Memory of Suzanne Claeys
Ms. Alice Sue Claeys
In Honor of Rebekah Clark Cooledge
Dr. John W. Cooledge
In Honor of Robert Dean & Robert Epstein
Jonathan Blalock
Ms. Carol Kranig
Linda & Don Morris
In Memory of Col. & Mrs. Edgar W. Duskin
Noelle Albano & Trey Duskin
In Honor of Sally & Hank Fielding
Ms. Nancy H. Amato
Ms. Anne Schneider
In Memory of Sam Hagan
Jonathan Blalock
William Frampton, III
Mr. Sheffield Hale & Mrs. Elizabeth M. Hale
Mr. Alfred Msezane
Wayne R. Vason & Lee Harper
Ms. Elizabeth Wilson & Ms. Susie Schklar
Ms. Roslyn S. Winston
In Memory of Mary & Wayne James
John & Rosemary Brown
In Memory of Dr. James T. Lowman
Ms. Mary Thorpe-Mease
John & Yee-Wan Stevens
In Memory of George H. & Cecile G. Malone
Ms. Eleanor Malone
In Honor of Alfredo Martin
Jonathan Blalock
In Honor of Julie Meyer
Helen & Steven Kraus
In Honor of Talia & John Murphy
Lib & Neal Quirk
In Honor of Howard & Victoria Palefsky
Natalie & Matthew Bernstein
Patty & Doug Reid
In Memory of Ann Chamlee Payne
Darryl-Christopher Payne
In Honor of Jerome & Dulcy Rosenberg
Dr. & Mrs. William E. Silver
In Honor of Rolando Salazar & The Atlanta Opera Chorus
Ms. Pat Godbee
In Memory of Mrs. Roberta Setzer
Mr. Robert L. Setzer
In Honor of William F. Snyder
Jonathan Blalock
In Honor of John & Yee-Wan Stevens
Jonathan Blalock
In Honor of Jason Walker
Erica Walden
In Honor of Paul Warshauer
Helen & Steven Kraus
In Memory of George Weimer
Dr. R. Dwain Blackston
Mr. Matt Burkhalter & Mr. John Carey
Mary Ruth McDonald
In Memory of Margaret Gwendolyn Williams
Thurman Williams
In Memory of Marya Gabrielle Williams
Jone Williams & Barbara Robb
In Honor of Charles R. Yates, Jr. & Mary Yates
Anonymous (24)
Carol Cookerly & Robert Beal
Mr. Jonathan Blalock
Mr. Pitak Intrawityanunt
Mr. Joshua Peyton
Mr. Stephen & Mrs. Elizabeth Rhoden
Mr. & Mrs. J. Barry Schrenk
Dr. David E. Sutherland II & Mrs. Sarah F. Yates Sutherland
Dorothy Yates Kirkley
Mr. Joseph Usher
In Honor of Mr. Tomer Zvulun & Ms. Susanna Eiland
Sally & Hank Fielding
Ms. Elizabeth Klump
Bob & Cappa Woodward Charitable Fund
In Memory of Henry Zvulun
Mary Jane Burkhalter
Sally & Hank Fielding
Mr. Michael D. Golden & Dr. Juliet Asher
Ms. Elizabeth Klump
In Honor of The Atlanta Opera Staff
Rae & George Weimer
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Board Chair
Mr. Rhys T. Wilson
Vice-Chair
Mr. John L. Hammaker
Vice-Chair | Development Committee Co-Chair
Mr. Charles R. Yates, Jr.
Treasurer | Finance Committee Chair
Ms. Bunny Winter
Secretary
Mr. Howard Hunter
Audit Chair
Mr. Bryan H. Barnes
Community Engagement Committee Chair
Mr. Alex Simmons, Jr.
Development Committee Co-Chair
Mrs. Talia Murphy
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Committee Chair
Mrs. Stephanie Morela
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MEMBERS
Mrs. Qaadirah Abdur-Rahim
Ms. Cathy Callaway Adams
Mrs. Susan M. Anderson
Mr. Bryan H. Barnes
Mr. Dante Bellizzi
Mr. Montague L. Boyd, IV
Dr. Harold J. Brody
Mrs. Rosemary Kopel Brown
Mr. Frank H. Butterfield
Dr. Frank A. Critz
Mr. Clark Dean
Mr. Robert Dean
Dr. Carlos del Rio
Dr. Todd Ellis
Mr. Dieter Elsner
Dr. Donald J. Filip
Mr. Kevin Greiner
Mrs. Joanne Chesler Gross
Facilities Task Force Chair
Mr. Howard Palefsky
Investment Committee Co-Chair
Mr. Frank Butterfield
Investment Committee Co-Chair
Mrs. Sandra S. Morelli
Nominating & Board Engagement Committee Chair
Mr. Kevin Greiner
Strategic Planning Committee Chair
Mrs. Christine St.Clare
At-Large Member, Immediate Past Chair
Mrs. Cathy Callaway Adams
At-Large Member
Mr. John Haupert
Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic
Director, ex-officio member
Mr. Tomer Zvulun
Mrs. Caroline Hardin
Mr. John Haupert
Mr. Jamael Hester
Mr. Andrew R. Long
Mr. Alfredo Martin
Ms. Kelly Mayhall
Mr. James B. Miller, Jr.
Mrs. Stephanie Morela
Mrs. Sandra S. Morelli
Mrs. Talia Murphy
Mr. Howard Palefsky
Mr. Michael E. Paulhus
Mr. Herbert J. Rosenberg
Mr. Thomas Saylor
Mr. Alex Simmons, Jr.
Mrs. Christine St.Clare
Mr. William E. Tucker
Mr. Rashaun Williams
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Mr. Andrew J.M. Binns
Mr. Kenny L. Blank
Mrs. Inge Bledel
Ms. Mary Calhoun
Mrs. Lejla Dickson
Ms. Sally Bland Fielding
Ms. Julia Filson
Mr. Roger Fleming
Mr. Lance Fortnow
Dr. Thomas N. Guffin, Jr.
HONORARY MEMBERS
Mr. Ronald Antinori
The Very Reverend
Samuel G. Candler
Mr. Robert G. Edge
Mr. Carl I. Gable, Jr.
Mrs. Nancy Hall Green
Mr. Gregory F. Johnson
Mr. Carter Joseph
Mr. Alfred Kennedy, Jr.
Mr. Michael Keough
Mrs. Emily C. Knobloch
Mr. George Levert
Mr. J. Barry Schrenk
Mr. Timothy E. Sheehan
Mr. G. Kimbrough Taylor, Jr.
Mr. Mark K. Taylor
Mr. Thomas R. Williams
Mr. Robert G. Woodward
Mr. Douglas Hooker
Mrs. Erin Quinn Martin
Mr. Robert G. Pennington
Mr. Paul Snyder
THE ATLANTA OPERA STAFF
EXECUTIVE
Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun
Managing Director
Executive Assistant & Board Liason
Special Projects Manager
ARTISTIC / MUSIC
Micah Fortson
Misty Reid
Nancy Kritikos
Music Director Emeritus Arthur Fagen
Director of Artistic Administration
Artistic & Operations Manager
Meredith Wallace
Megan Bennett
Chorus & Orchestra Manager Chris Bragg
Orchestra Librarian
Phil Parsons
Artistic Services Coordinator Elizabeth Graiser
PRODUCTION
Director of Production
Robert Reynolds
Assoc. Director of Production Meggie Roseborough
Production Manager
Amy Smith
Technical Director Rick Combs
Associate Technical Director
Associate Technical Director—Operations
Lighting Supervisor
Props Supervisor & Artisan
Rodney Barge
Bram Sheckels
Matthew Peddie
Paige Steffens
Production Finance Specialist Ruth Strickland
Calling Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Managers
COSTUME
Costume Director
Jen Shaw
Caitlin Denny-Turner
Sarah Burch Gordon
Show Manager Paula Peasley-Ninestein
Communications Coordinator Allison Hines
Stock Manager / Wardrobe Supervisor
Jenn Rogers
Master Draper / Tailor Mary Cruz Torres
First Hand
Lead Stitcher
Gibron Shepperd
Margaret Tennant
Stitcher Michelle Lee
Crafts Artisan Erin Magner
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & EDUCATION
Director of Community Engagement & Education
Education Manager
DEVELOPMENT
Development Managing Director Jessica Langlois
Director of Development—Individual Giving Jonathan Blalock
Associate Director of Development Operations
Katy Gardner
Development Operations Manager Aaron Walker
Individual Giving Manager Luke MacMillan
Development Operations & Events Coordinator Erin Turner
FINANCE
Chief Financial Officer Christina Paloski
Controller Inga V. Murro
Staff Accountant David Tubbs, Jr.
ADMINISTRATION
Chief Administrative Officer Kathy J. White
Director of Facilities Kenneth R. Timmons
HR Manager Winona Cobb
MARKETING & AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
Director of Sales & Marketing Rebecca Brown
Creative Services Manager Matt Burkhalter
Assistant Director of Sales & Marketing Emily Crisp
Box Office Associate Justin Stanley
Box Office Associate Sierra Embres
COMMUNICATIONS & PUBLIC RELATIONS
Director of Communications & Public Relations Michelle Winters
Communications & Marketing Manager Ashley May King
THE ATLANTA OPERA FILM STUDIO
Director of The Atlanta Opera Film Studio Felipe Barral
Film Associate Amanda Sachtleben
Short-Form Video Editor Brittany Fontis
THE ATLANTA OPERA STUDIO ARTISTS
Stage Director Elio Bucky
Mezzo-soprano
Jessica Kiger
Amy Williams
Community Engagement & Education Coordinator Jonesia Williams
PRODUCTION SUPPORT
PRODUCTION
Head Carpenter
Assistant Carpenter
Head Electrician
Head Properties
Head Audio
Head Video
Head Lighting Programmer
LED Technician
COSTUME/WIG & MAKEUP
Wardrobe Supervisor
Wig & Makeup Lead
Aubrey Odle
Tenor Wayd Odle
General Director Apprentice Aletha Saunders
Soprano Amanda Sheriff
Bass-baritone Jason Zacher
Hank Collins
Daniel Ware
Jaime Mancuso
Gina Cirillo
Teddy Murray
Andrew Van Eyechaner
David Reingold
Brennon Jones
Jenn Rogers
Wendy Sanders
THE MAGIC FLUTE LIVESTREAM
Additional Camera Operators Adam Khan, Christina Massad, Kendra Johnson, Michelle Sanders, Isaac Breiding
Sound Capture & Live Mixing
Tim Whitehead
Sound Monitor Preston Goodson
Livestream Technical Operator
Switcher
Gerald Griffith
Felipe Barral-Secchi
CONCESSIONS
Concession stands are located in the center of the lobbies on all three levels. Food and beverage items are prohibited inside the theater. Thank you for your cooperation.
RESTROOMS
Restrooms are located on house right and house left of all three lobbies. Family restrooms are also located on house right of all three lobbies. Mobility-impaired patrons may use any of our restrooms.
PREPAID PARKING
On the performance page on the Cobb Energy Centre website there is a link to purchase parking in advance. Day of parking is available for $15 (credit or debit card only). There are 1,000 on-site parking spaces; 700 in a four-level deck and 300 more in a surface lot.
EMERGENCY INFO
In the event of an emergency, please locate the nearest usher who will direct you to the appropriate exit.
ELEVATORS
Elevators are located on each side of the lobbies on all levels.
LOST & FOUND
Items are turned into the Synovus Box Office on the day of a performance. To inquire about a lost item, please call Public Safety at 770-916-2911.
SMOKING
Smoking is prohibited inside the building.
SPECIAL ASSISTANCE
Persons requiring access assistance are asked to contact the Ticketmaster at 800-982-2787 for advance arrangements.
Audio clarification devices are available to our hearing impaired guests at no charge. This is on a firstcome, first-served basis and are available at the main desk in the lobby.
Wheelchairs are available upon request. All items require a form of identification to be held until the item is returned.
COBB ENERGY CENTRE RULES & REQUESTS
• All patrons, regardless of age, must have a ticket in order to be admitted to the performance. Please be aware that not all performances are suitable for children.
• Infants will not be admitted to adult programs. Parents will be asked to remove children who create a disturbance.
• There is no late seating allowed. Closed-circuit monitors are provided in the lobby as a courtesy to latecomers.
• Please turn off all cellphones prior to the beginning of each performance.
• Please limit conversation during the performance.
• Cameras (including use of cellphone camera) and audio and video recording devices are strictly prohibited at all times.
• Leaving while the show is in progress is discourteous and we ask that you refrain from doing so.
• Please unwrap all candies and cough drops before the performance.
