AND DANCE CAPTAIN

From : Ridgefield, Connecticut

Dallas Opera: Rigoletto (2022/2023, debut)

Career highlights: Mr. Spangler recently returned from San Fransisco working with director Elkhanah Pulitzer and composer Mark Grey on a groundbreaking new stateof-the-art mobile opera Birds in the Moon partnering with the New York Philharmonic, The Broad Stage Los Angeles, and Melon Foundation, featured in the NY & LA Times. He is also a recent recipient of a 2021-22 Arts Council England award as a developing artist, writer and director. Mr. Spangler has worked at the Royal Opera House, LA Opera, Bregenz Festpiel, Opera North, The Globe, and Glyndebourne Opera as a Movement & Action Director teaching in-house on their Young Artist Programmes or on main house productions. When he isn’t working in opera, Mr. Spangler works in film, TV, music videos and commercials choreographing on feature films such as Ronin 47 with Keanu Reeves, Romans with Orlando Bloom, Michael Winterbottom’s The Face of an Angel with Daniel Bruhl and Kate Beckinsale, and Netflix’s iBoy, Offbeat, and Allies, winning international awards and acclaim for film projects Embrace life and Carpool, in Rome, Cannes, and New York.

From: Dallas, Texas

Dallas Opera: The Barber of Seville (2006/2007, debut), 44 productions since 2006/2007

Career highlights: Mr. Zimmerman has worked with numerous opera companies around the world, including The Metropolitan Opera, and those of St. Louis, Santa Fe, Paris, Philadelphia, Chicago, Minnesota, Santa Barbara, Amsterdam and more. His career extends to Broadway, where he has worked with such shows as Wicked, Rocky Horror, Show Boat, South Pacific, and Evita . Some of his personal clients include Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato, Susan Graham, Patricia Racette, Martha Stewart, and Ricky Martin. Mr. Zimmerman has also worked with DIFFA Fashion Runway, Dallas Fashion and Art, and Yelp.com Fashion Magazine; credits include spreads inOpera News, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker. TV and Film credits are Glamour Magazine’s Women of the Year,Margaret (starring Anna Paquin), and Hostiles (starring Christian Bale and Rosemund Pike).

Kangmin Justin Kim HANSEL

From: Austin, Texas

Dallas Opera: Flight (2021/2022, debut)

Career highlights: Ms. Villalón is a 2019 Grand Finals winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and most recently took home several prizes in the Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition, including 2nd Prize, Audience Prize, CS Prize, and the Wil Keune Prize. In the 2022-2023 season, Ms. Villalón will join the ensemble of Oper Frankfurt, debuting as Iole in Hercules in a new production by Barrie Kosky as well as Atalanta in Xerxes. She will return to Houston Grand Opera as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, and the Queen of Sheba in Solomon for an international tour with The English Concert and Harry Bicket. She will also present a recital with the Tuesday Music Club in San Antonio, Texas.

Fro m: Evanston, Illinois

Dallas Opera: debut

Career highlights: This year, Mr. Kim made his role debut as Knusperhexe in Hänsel und Gretel in Wiesbaden, appeared in the title role of Siface in Krakow, as Epitide in La Merope in Amsterdam and Basel, and as Ruggiero in Alcina in Brno, Caen, and Versailles. He also performed Ottone in La Griselda, and Hyacinthus in Apollo et Hyacinthus in Venice and made his Santa Fe debut in the title role of the world premiere of M. Butterfly. He has performed at theatres and festivals such as the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Wiener Staatsoper, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Theater an der Wien, Théâtre du Châtelet, and Opéra Comique of Paris, Oper Köln, Teatro San Carlo Naples, Glyndebourne, Salzburg Festival, New York Lincoln Center, Philharmonie of Paris and Berlin, Harris Theatre Chicago, Edinburgh Festival, Lucerne Festival and the Teatro La Fenice Venice.

From: Manchester, New Hampshire

Dallas Opera: La traviata (1999/2000, debut), Jenůfa (2004/2005)

Career highlights: Ms. Racette has appeared in the most celebrated opera houses of the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Teatro alla Scala, Paris Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro Real, and Gran Teatre del Liceu. She went on to make her directorial debut with a new production of La traviata at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis in the summer of 2018 and returned in the summer of 2021 to direct herself in a production of Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine. Ms. Racette is currently the Artistic Director of Opera Theatre of St Louis’ Gerdine Young Artist and Richard Gaddes Festival Artist programs.

Mark Delavan THE FATHER

From: Princeton, New Jersey

Dallas Opera: Falsta˜ (2018/2019, debut)

Career highlights: Mr. Delavan regularly appears in the title roles of Der fl iegende Holländer, Falsta˜ ,and Rigoletto, and as Iago in Otello, Scarpia in Tosca, Jochanaan in Salome, and Amonasro in Aida. In addition, as a strong character actor on stages throughout the country, he has proved himself a crossover artist of immense skill, starring as Phil Arkin in Milk and Honey with York Theatre Company, to critical acclaim. This season, Delavan returns to Maryland Lyric Opera for the title role in Falsta˜ He will also return to Dallas Symphony in 2024 as Wotan in their concert performances of Der Ring des Nibelungen

From: Mundelein, Illinois

Dallas Opera: Carmen (2018/2019, debut)

Career highlights: Ms. Metzger recently made her company debut with Austin Opera as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, covered Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Ho˜ mann , and was slated to return to the Lyric Opera of Chicago to cover Taller Sister inMissy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’sProving Up (COVID19). During the 2022/2023 season, Ms. Metzger joins the roster of the Metropolitan Opera to cover Flora in La traviata, returns to Haymarket Opera Company to sing Nerone in L’incoronazione di Poppea, and sings Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette with Opera San Antonio.

From: Pasadena, Texas

Dallas Opera: Madame Butterfl y (2021/2022, debut)

Career highlights: As a Fort Worth Opera Lesley Resident Artist, Ms. Gilliam stepped in as Luisa in the world premiere production of Hector Armienta’s Zorro. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, she was a district winner for the˜2020-2021˜Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions, and was engaged in a number of virtual performances. Ms. Gilliam was also a featured soloist at TDO alongside Sasha Cooke and Deanna Breiwick in the orchestra workshop of˜The Diving Bell and the Butterfl y , a new work by composer Joby Talbot. This April, she will sing the title role in La traviata at Shreveport Opera.

Kimberley Ahrens

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, GREATER DALLAS CHORAL SOCIETY

From: ˛McKinney, Texas

Dallas Opera: debut

Career highlights: Ms. Ahrens currently serves as Artistic Director of the Greater Dallas Choral Society. From 2013 to 2022, she was a principal conductor for the Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas and has taught choir in the public school system for eighteen years. Choirs under her direction have been invited to perform at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention in 2013 and 2018, and the American Choral Directors Association

Middle School/Junior High National Conference in 2014. Ms. Ahrens is a highly sought after clinician and guest conductor for elementary and middle school honor choirs throughout the nation and a frequent adjunct professor and guest lecturer at the university level.

Terrie Preskitt-Brown

PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR, GREATER DALLAS CHORAL SOCIETY

From: Dallas, Texas

Dallas Opera: debut

Career highlights: Ms. Preskitt-Brown has been teaching choral music to children for over 40 years. A renowned conductor, voice instructor, and soprano, Ms. PreskittBrown serves as principal conductor of the Brio Chorus for the Greater Dallas Choral Society. From 2003-2022 she was a principal conductor for the Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas. Ms. PreskittBrown has prepared children’s choruses for John Rutter’s “Mass for the Children” at the National American Choral Directors Association Convention in 2013, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s 2016 recording of Mahler’s 3rd Symphony.

Greater Dallas Choral Society

Kimberley Ahrens, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Hansel and Gretel Children’s Chorus

Kimberley Ahrens & Terrie Preskitt-Brown,CONDUCTORS

Sophia Abeyta

Caleb Aldis

Ella Aldis

Samuel Aldis

Vera Aldis

Anika Ammareddygari

Ava Ansiaux

Madeline Beluso

Zoe Bennett

Finley Benton

Frederick Berger

Sadie Bono

Ruth Bruno

Zoë Cernoch

Tula Charalambopoulos

Emma Childs

Eitan Cisneros

Taryn Climer

Penelope Correa

Kayla Culpepper

Devin Desilva

Noielle Eckert

Lilly Engels

Sophia Fitzgerald

Elyta Flora

Aryahi Gairola

Alexandra Gamble

Olivia Givens

Rohini Gopal

Sam Hastings

Sofi a Hernandez

Elizabeth Holt

Austin Howarth

Emerson Irvin

Ava Jafari

Corrigan Jones

Michella Kok

Kade Kuehler

Jenna Lee

Lauren Lo

Charlotte Marlowe

Patricia McDonald

Kane McLeod

Arjun Sripal Medara Metla

Elliana Mitchell

Holden Montgomery

Conrad Moore

Ananya Nagendra

Cici Nelson

Mary Abbay Neylon

Grace Nicholson

Brendan Northrop

Reagan Pfa° enberger

Beckett Potter

Audrey Pottkotter

Katherine Pottkotter

Sienna Roper

Mira Russell

Lane Russell

Angi Sanghvi

Amy Kate Scheib

Charlie Scheib

Leila Shelton

Jenani Sivamani

Amberleigh Thurman

Rebekah Tower

Ishaana Vishwanath

Makenna Whatley

Erin Williams

Upton Wortley

Avalyn Zeng

From: Dallas, Texas

Dallas Opera: debut

Career highlights: The Greater Dallas Choral Society was created in 2022 to continue the legacy of Cynthia Nott and the Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas, one of America’s largest and most prestigious youth choral programs. Now under the leadership of Artistic Director Kimberley Ahrens, the GDCS is dedicated to giving children and youth an experience in choral artistry in a group that refl ects the ethnic and economic diversity of greater Dallas. Currently in their 26th year of service to the greater Dallas community, the GDCS artistic sta° serves over 250 singers in grades four through twelve. GDCS’s inaugural season boasts fi ve choruses, including three treble choruses for children in grades four through eight, a high school treble chorus, and a high school mixed chorus.