SEPTEMBER 14, 2023 / 7 P.M.
Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center
On the
SEPTEMBER 14, 2023 / 7 P.M.
Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center
On the
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cover: baritone Navasard Hakobyan and soprano Renée Richardson. This page: soprano Meryl Dominguez, left, and mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner, right.Welcome to the 2023 Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio Showcase! This evening’s program provides an up-close look at our latest group of Butler Studio artists, revealing their spectacular talents and kicking off a busy and exciting season of performances. Throughout this season, you’ll see these artists appearing onstage at HGO alongside guest artists and Butler Studio alumni from around the world.
The annual search for Butler Studio artists is an exhaustive process. This year, the four new members were selected from nearly 1,000 applicants. They stand out because of their unique gifts. Each can etch their talent and artistry into the minds of an audience in a moving and transformative way. Tonight, we invite you to experience the extraordinary level of talent in this prestigious training program. As you learn more about them, notice their distinctive voices and personal music-making, and join us in dreaming about their future.
During the 2023-24 HGO season, Butler Studio artists will be involved in every work the company produces. From major role appearances in Falstaff to behind-the-scenes role covers in Intelligence and Don Giovanni, they are critical to HGO’s artistic success. I hope you will leave tonight’s performance inspired to support their growth and anticipate their next appearances.
This year’s event begins the program’s first full season as the Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio. We honor the Butlers and their extraordinary generosity with this performance.
Brian Speck DirectorSarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio
The program will last approximately one hour and 45 minutes, including one intermission.
Tchaikovsky – Eugene Onegin (1879) / Act I Scene, Quartet, and Arioso
Lensky Michael McDermott
Onegin Navasard Hakobyan
Larina Erin Wagner
Tatyana Renée Richardson
Olga Ani Kushyan
Pianist Michelle Papenfuss
Britten – The Turn of the Screw (1954) / Variation X – “She is here! Here, in my own room!” (The Schoolroom)
Governess Meryl Dominguez
Miss Jessel Erin Wagner
Pianist Marco Rizzello
Donizetti – La favorite (1840) / Act II Duet – “Ainsi donc on raconte… Quand j’ai quitté le château de mon père”
Léonor Ani Kushyan
Alphonse Navasard Hakobyan
Pianist Michelle Papenfuss
J. Strauss – Die Fledermaus (1874) / Act II Duet – “Dieser Anstand, so manierlich”
Eisenstein Demetrious Sampson, Jr.
Rosalinde Meryl Dominguez
Pianist Michelle Papenfuss
Floyd – Susannah (1955) / Act II, Sc. 1 – “How long’s it gonna last, Sam?”
Susannah
Sam
Renée Richardson
Demetrious Sampson, Jr
Pianist Michelle Papenfuss
Berlioz – Beatrice and Benedict (1862) / Act I Duet – “Comment le dédain pourrait-il mourir?”
Beatrice Erin Wagner
Benedict Michael McDermott
Pianist Marco Rizzello
Puccini – Madame Butterfly (1904) / Act II Duet – “Scuoti quella fronda di ciliegio”
Suzuki Ani Kushyan
Cio-Cio San Renée Richardson
Pianist Marco Rizzello
Director
Kristine McIntyre
Host Brian Speck
Music Director
Lighting Designer
Musical Preparation
Maureen Zoltek
Michael James Clark
Kirill Kuzmin **
Michelle Papenfuss *
Peter Pasztor **
Marco Rizzello *
Madeline Slettedahl
Supertitles
Jeremy Johnson
**
Director of Production
Technical Director
Assistant Technical Directors
Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Manager
Head of Costumes
Properties Design Director
Wig and Makeup Department Head
Kristen Burke
Bradley Roast
Rick Combs
Jackson Halphide
Beth Goodill
Joseph Blanchard
Norma Cortez
Megan
Dotti Staker
Supertitles called by Luisana Rivas. Stage crew personnel provided by IATSE, Local #51. Wardrobe personnel provided by Theatrical Wardrobe Union, Local #896.
Usher personnel provided by IATSE, Local B-184.
With deepest thanks to the members of the Butler Studio Committee, who helped make the Butler Studio Showcase possible:
Jack Roth, Chair
Warren Ellsworth, Vice Chair
Robin Angly
Michelle Beale
Melinda Brunger
Patrick Carfizzi
Molly Crownover
Lynn Des Prez
Lynn Gissel
Sandy Godfrey
Ellen R. Gritz
Brenda Harvey-
Traylor
Nancy Haywood
Maureen Hetzel
Mel Hetzel
Gary Hollingsworth
Steve Homer
Marianne Kah
Stephanie Larsen
Richard Leibman
Carolyn J. Levy
Sharon Ley
Lietzow
Claire Liu
Tracy Maddox
Beth Madison
Amy Melton
Miguel MiroQuesada
Valerie MiroQuesada
Kathy Moore
Charlene Nickson
Gloria M. Portela
Allyn Risley
Jill Risley
John Serpe
Janet Sims
Dian Stai
Harlan Stai
John G. Turner
Bob Wakefield
Trey Yates
Kristine McIntyre directed HGO’s Butler Studio Showcase in 2020 and 2021. She has directed more than 100 operas with a focus on new, contemporary, and American works, including the world premieres of Laura Kaminsky and Kimberly Reed’s Hometown to the World at the Santa Fe Opera, Kristin Kuster and Mark Campbell’s A Thousand Acres for Des Moines Metro Opera, and Galaxies in Her Eyes by Mark Lanz Weiser and Amy Punt. She recently directed her first opera film, Unknown, for UrbanArias, based on the song cycle by Shawn Okpebholo and Marcus Amaker, and also directed the premieres of Louis Karchin’s Jane Eyre for the Center for Contemporary Opera, Kirke Mechem’s John Brown for Lyric Opera of Kansas City, The Place Where You Started by Mark Lanz Weiser and Amy Punt at Art Share LA, and Mirror Game by Celka Ojakangas and Amy Punt. Upcoming projects include new productions of Dark Sisters, The Magic Flute, Galaxies in Her Eyes, and Bluebeard’s Castle for Des Moines Metro Opera. Recent productions include Moby-Dick, Flight, Dead Man Walking, Wozzeck, Billy Budd, and Manon (regional Emmy awards), Don Giovanni, Peter Grimes, Jenüfa, Street Scene, As One, Glory Denied, Soldier Songs, Sweeney Todd, Florencia en el Amazonas, Elmer Gantry, Of Mice and Men, Trouble in Tahiti, The Seven Deadly Sins, The Tender Land, a new English-language adaptation of Poulenc’s The Human Voice, Vanessa, The End of the Affair, Three Decembers, The Turn of the Screw, Semele, Rusalka, Eugene Onegin, The Marriage of Figaro, La bohème, Lucia di Lammermoor, Cinderella, Così fan tutte, Un ballo in maschera, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, La clemenza di Tito, Cavalleria rusticana, I Pagliacci, Werther, and The Tales of Hoffman.
Michael James Clark is the Head of Lighting and Production Media for HGO. This season for the company, he serves as lighting designer for Falstaff and The Big Swim and revival lighting designer for Parsifal. During HGO’s 2022-23 season, Clark was associate lighting designer for The Marriage of Figaro, Werther, and Tosca, and during the company’s 2021-22 season he created the lighting design for the world premiere production of The Snowy Day, and served as the assistant lighting designer for The Magic Flute and associate lighting designer for Carmen. He served as revival lighting designer for HGO’s production of Aida (2020) and designed lighting for mainstage and Miller Outdoor Theatre productions of La bohème (2018-19) and the world premiere of The Phoenix (2019). He lit the HGO world premieres of Some Light Emerges (2017), After the Storm (2016), and O Columbia (2015); mainstage productions of Otello (2014); Die Fledermaus, Aida, and Il trovatore (2013); La bohème, La traviata, and The Rape of Lucretia (2012); The Marriage of Figaro (2011); the world premiere of Cruzar la Cara de la Luna (2010); and numerous outdoor productions. Clark also has designed lighting for Teatro La Fenice, San Francisco Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, Stages Repertory Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars, Rice University, and the 2007 Prague Quadrennial. He holds a degree in lighting design from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Mr. and Mrs. Harlan C. Stai Fellow
A second-year Butler Studio artist from Brooklyn, Meryl Dominguez performs as a
Flower Maiden/1st Esquire in Parsifal and covers the roles of Callie Van Lew in Intelligence and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni during HGO’s 2023-24 season. During HGO’s 2022-23 season, she performed the role of Skyspace Woman in Another City, Slave in Salome, and Violetta in La traviata at Miller Outdoor Theatre. A finalist in HGO’s 2022 Eleanor McCollum
Competition Concert of Arias, she recently made her international debut as the title character in Norma with Musica Viva Hong Kong and returned to the company as the title character in Maria Stuarda. She was a resident artist at Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts, where she performed roles such as Violetta (La traviata), Juliet (Romeo and Juliet), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), Adina (The Elixir of Love), and Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), which she also performed with Knoxville Opera. As an apprentice artist at Santa Fe Opera, Dominguez sang the role of Naiade in Ariadne auf Naxos. She has Bachelor of Arts degrees in Dance and Voice Performance from Oberlin College and Conservatory. In addition to her operatic roles, she is an enthusiastic advocate for art song and new music.
Melinda and Bill Brunger/ Gloria M. Portela/ Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Nickson Fellow A second-year Butler Studio artist from Garni, Armenia, Navasard Hakobyan won first place at HGO’s 2022 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. During HGO’s 2023-24 season, he performs as Sharpless in alternate cast performances in Madame Butterfly. During the 2022-23 season at HGO, he performed the roles of Baron Douphol in La traviata, Antonio in The Marriage of Figaro, and Second Nazarene in Salome. He was a member of the young artist
program of the National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Yerevan, Armenia from 2018-23. His roles there included Silvio in Pagliacci, Giorgio Germont in La traviata, and Belcore in a new production of The Elixir of Love. He has won numerous international competitions, including first prize in the Premiere Opera Foundation International Vocal Competition, third prize in the José Carreras Grand Prix in Moscow, Russia, and first prize in the Butler Opera International Voice Competition in Austin. Hakobyan received his master’s degree at Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan. He was named the 2019 winner of the President of the Republic of Armenia Youth Prize. This past summer, he performed the role of Marcello in La bohème at Music Academy of the West.
Donna and Ken Barrow/ Jill A. Schaar and George Caflisch Fellow
A first-year Butler Studio artist from Tbilisi, Georgian-Armenian mezzo-soprano Ani Kushyan performs the roles of Flower Maiden/2nd Esquire in Parsifal and Sister Sophia in The Sound of Music during HGO’s 2023-24 season. Kushyan was a finalist in HGO’s 2023 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. She was a member of the young artists program at Armenian National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet from 2021-23, making her debut with the company as Third Girl in Anoush by Armenian composer Armen Tigranyan. Other roles include Marta in Iolanta, Lyubasha in The Tsar’s Bride, and Anoush’s mother in Anoush. As an active concert performer, she has appeared in Germany, Latvia, Sweden, Estonia, Georgia, and Armenia. She was named first prize winner in the 2022 Premiere Opera Foundation Vocal Competition, the audience prize winner
at the SOI Fiorenza Cedolins competition in Italy, first prize winner in the 2021 Armenian Romanciade, and winner of a special prize at the Ottavio Ziino International Singing Competition in Rome. Kushyan received her bachelor’s degree from the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory and her master’s degree from the Tbilisi State Conservatory in Georgia. She continued her studies at the Riga Jāzepa Vītola Latvian Music Academy and the Lübeck Academy of Music in Germany.
Michelle Beale and Dick Anderson/ Dr. Ellen R. Gritz
and Mr. Milton D. Rosenau Jr. Fellow
A first-year Butler Studio artist from Huntington Beach, California, tenor Michael McDermott is the third-place winner in HGO’s 2023 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias and a 2021 alumnus of HGO’s Young Artists Vocal Academy. During HGO’s 2023-24 season, he performs the roles of Bardolph in Falstaff and 4th Esquire in Parsifal and covers the role of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. In 2022 he covered the role of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Aspen Music Festival, returning in 2023 to perform Arbace in Idomeneo. At The Juilliard School in New York, he performed the roles of Spärlich in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor and Filippo in Hadyn’s L’infedelta Delusa, as well as appearing in liederabends and recitals coached by Brian Zeger and Pierre Vallet. His recent competition wins include first prize in the 2021 Schmidt Vocal Competition and first prize in the Scholarship Division of the National Opera Association’s Carolyn Bailey Argento Competition. McDermott received his Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School, and pursued his master’s degree at Rice University studying with Robin Rice.
Dr. Saúl and Ursula Balagura/ Sharon Ley Lietzow and Robert Lietzow/ Dr. Laura E. Sulak and Dr. Richard W. Brown Fellow
Second-year Butler Studio artist Michelle Papenfuss, originally from Fairfax, Virginia, served as coach for La traviata, The Marriage of Figaro, and Tosca during HGO’s 2022-23 season. During HGO’s 2023-24 season she serves as coach for Intelligence, Madame Butterfly, and The Sound of Music and appears with Butler Studio singers in recital and other performances. She is an alumnus of the Cafritz Young Artist Program at the Washington National Opera (WNO) and was recently a Young Artist at the 2022 Glimmerglass Festival. During her time at WNO, Papenfuss served as assistant conductor for Così fan tutte and played for several new operas commissioned by the American Opera Initiative, including the workshop for Jeanine Tesori’s Grounded At Glimmerglass, Papenfuss served as a coach for Carmen, Taking Up Serpents, and Holy Ground. In 2020, Papenfuss graduated from the University of Michigan with a master’s degree in collaborative piano, where she studied with Martin Katz. She also holds a bachelor’s degree (2016) and master’s degree (2018) in piano performance from Brigham Young University, where she studied with Jeffrey Shumway and Scott Holden. Last summer, she joined Wolf Trap Opera as a coaching fellow, where she served on the music staff for Faust
Kathleen Moore and Steven Homer/ Carolyn J. Levy Fellow
A second-year Butler Studio artist from Springfield, Pennsylvania, Renée Richardson
performs the roles of Flower Maiden in Parsifal and Sister Margaretta in The Sound of Music, as well as covering the role of Mary Jane Bowser in Intelligence, during HGO’s 2023-24 season. During the 2022-23 season at HGO, she performed the roles of Annina in La traviata and Woman Whose Uncle Loved Maria Callas in Another City and appeared in Giving Voice. In the 2021-22 season she sang Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème at the Academy of Vocal Arts, where she studied with Bill Schuman. Also at AVA, she sang the Foreign Princess in Dvořák’s Rusalka, the title role and Suor Dolcina in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, and Inès in Donizetti’s La favorite. She holds a Professional Studies Diploma in Voice from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where her roles included Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Béatrice in Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict, and the title roles in Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Cherubini’s Medea. Richardson has been seen in several Pensacola Opera productions including Carmen, La bohème, and The Pirates of Penzance. She was the recipient of an A. Grace Lee Mims Scholarship for Negro Spirituals and was the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Kennett Symphony. She was recently named a finalist in the Vincerò Worldwide Opera Competition in Naples, Italy. This past summer, she debuted the role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Wolf Trap Opera.
Ms. Lynn Des Prez/ Dr. Gary L. Hollingsworth and Dr. Ken Hyde/ Stephanie Larsen/ Dr. and Mrs. Miguel Miro-Quesada Fellow
A first-year Butler Studio artist from Mercato Saraceno, Italy, Marco Rizzello serves as coach for a selection of mainstage operas and appears with Butler Studio singers in recital and other performances during HGO’s 2023-24 season. He is an alumnus of the Art Song Festival in Cleveland and the Aspen Music Festival, where he served as a rehearsal
pianist for Falstaff under the baton of Patrick Summers. He has served on the staff at NYU Steinhardt and worked as a coach at Manhattan School of Music. A prizewinner in many international piano competitions, Rizzello recently made his New York debut at the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at New York classical music station WQXR. He has performed in many prestigious festivals, including the Settimane Musicali al Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza (2017 and 2020) and the Piano Echoes Festival (2019). Rizzello studied at the “G. Rossini” Conservatory in Pesaro, the International Piano Academy in Imola, and the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He studied solo piano with Giorgio Farina, Giovanni Valentini, Marlies Van Gent, and Boris Petrushansky, and opera coaching with Ubaldo Fabbri, Warren Jones, and Thomas Lausmann. Engagements this past summer included the 2023 Georg Solti Accademia and Wolf Trap Opera, where he was a coaching fellow and served on the music staff for Don Giovanni.
Dr. Dina Alsowayel and Mr. Anthony R. Chase/
Mr. and Mrs. Hector Torres/ Mr. Trey Yates/ Eric McLaughlin and Elliot Castillo Fellow A first-year Butler Studio artist from East Albany, Georgia, Demetrious Sampson, Jr. performs the role of 3rd Esquire in Parsifal during HGO’s 2023-24 season. Sampson is the second place and Audience Choice Winner in HGO’s 2023 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias and a 2022 alumnus of HGO’s Young Artists Vocal Academy. He made his professional debut with Atlanta Opera at the age of 20 as Crab Man in Porgy and Bess, a role he reprised at Des Moines Metro Opera in summer 2022 as an apprentice artist. At Georgia State University, he has performed the roles of Vanderdendur in Candide and the title role in John Musto’s Bastianello. A
previous Encouragement Award winner, he recently won the Georgia District in the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Sampson received his bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University, where he studied with Kathryn Hartgrove. During summer 2023, he joined the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco.
MEZZO-SOPRANO
Mr. and Mrs. James W. Crownover/ John Serpe and Tracy Maddox Fellow
A New Orleans native and Grand Finals Winner of the 2021 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Emily Treigle is a third-year Butler Studio Artist. She returns to HGO for the 2023-24 season, singing Meg Page (Falstaff) and Suzuki (Madame Butterfly) and covering Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni). She spent the summer as a Filene Artist with Wolf Trap Opera, where she performed as Juno/Ino (Semele). In her previous seasons at HGO, following her 3rd place win in HGO’s 33rd annual Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias, Treigle has been seen as Flora (La traviata), Miss Violet (Another City, world premiere), Mère Jeanne (Dialogues of the Carmelites), and Gertrude (Romeo and Juliet). She has also covered the roles of Herodias (Salome) and Marcellina (The Marriage of Figaro). She appeared at the Aspen Music Festival as a Fleming Artist in 2022, as well as Wolf Trap Opera in 2021, where she covered the title role in Holst’s Savitri. Treigle pursued her Master of Music degree at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where she received her Bachelor of Music degree in 2020. An undeniable legacy, her grandfather was world-renowned bass-baritone Norman Treigle.
Amy and Mark Melton/ Drs. Liz Grimm and Jack Roth/ Mrs. Nancy Haywood Fellow
A second-year Butler Studio artist from El Paso, Erin Wagner performs the roles of Flower Maiden/Voice from Above in Parsifal, Kate Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, and Sister Berthe in The Sound of Music during HGO’s 2023-24 season. During the 2022-23 season at HGO, she made her mainstage debut replacing an indisposed colleague in the role of Jack for the final performance of The Wreckers, and she performed the roles of Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro and Page of Herodias in Salome. She is a winner of the 2021 Naumburg Foundation International Vocal Competition and, with pianist and composer Shawn Chang, the 2021 Juilliard Vocal Arts Honors Recital. Wagner was a 2021 Renée Fleming Artist at Aspen Music Festival, where she performed the roles of Second Lady (The Magic Flute) and Unulfo (Rodelinda); sang in scenes from Così fan tutte, La clemenza di Tito, and Semele; and premiered David Clay Mettens’s The Sustaining Air. She worked with Fleming for Carnegie Hall’s 2021 SongStudio and received second prize in the 2021 Saengerbund Awards. She has performed with Steven Blier and Bénédicte Jourdois at Caramoor and with Brian Zeger at Juilliard Songfest. This past summer, she returned to Aspen to perform the role of Idamante in Idomeneo. She completed her Bachelor of Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Joan Patenaude-Yarnell, and her Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Darrell Babidge and was a Gluck Community Service Fellow.
Brian Speck, Director
Sponsored by Lynn Gissel, Jill and Allyn Risley
Maureen Zoltek, Music Director
Mr. and Mrs. Albert B. Alkek Chair
Joanna Latini, Butler Studio Administrator
Ana María Martínez, HGO Artistic Advisor
Stephen King, Director of Vocal Instruction
Sponsored by Jill and Allyn Risley, Janet Sims, and James J. Drach Endowment Fund
Patrick Summers, Conducting Instructor and Coach
Sarah and Ernest Butler Chair
Peter Pasztor, Principal Coach
Sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. James A. Elkins Jr. Endowment Fund
Kirill Kuzmin, Principal Coach
Madeline Slettedahl, Assistant Conductor
William Woodard, Assistant Conductor
Brian Connelly, Piano Instructor
Kristine McIntyre, Showcase Director
Skye Bronfenbrenner, Movement Instructor
Adam Noble, Movement Instructor
Christa Gaug, German Instructor
Enrica Vagliani Gray, Italian Instructor
Sponsored by Marsha Montemayor
Olia Prokopenko, Russian Instructor
Margo Garrett, Guest Coach
Warren Jones, Guest Coach
Hemdi Kfir, Guest Coach
The Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio is grateful for the underwriting support of Beth Madison, Ms. Marty Dudley and Mr. and Mrs. Richard J. Langenstein.
The Butler Studio is also thankful for the in-kind support of the Texas Voice Center and for the outstanding support of the Magnolia Houston hotel.
Additional support for the Butler Studio is provided by Mr. Chris Bacon and Mr. Craig Miller, Mr. and Mrs. Melvyn Hetzel, Ms. Diane K. Morales, Mr. Patrick Carfizzi, and the following funds within the Houston Grand Opera Endowment, Inc.:
The Gordon and Mary Cain Foundation Endowment Fund
Marjorie and Thomas Capshaw Endowment Fund
James J. Drach Endowment Fund
The Evans and Portela Family Fund
Carol Lynn Lay Fletcher Endowment Fund
William Randolph Hearst Endowed Scholarship Fund
Charlotte Howe
Memorial Scholarship Fund
Elva Lobit Opera Endowment Fund
Marian and Speros Martel Foundation Endowment Fund
Erin Gregory Neale Endowment Fund
Dr. Mary Joan Nish and Patricia Bratsas Endowed Fund
John M. O’Quinn Foundation Endowed Fund
Shell Lubricants (formerly Pennzoil-Quaker State Company) Fund
Mary C. Gayler Snook Endowment Fund
Tenneco, Inc., Endowment Fund
Weston-Cargill Endowed Fund