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Guest Artist , Tenor

Hailed as “every inch the hero in stature and voice” (Classical Voice North America), award-winning American tenor John Riesen is consistently impressing audiences with his “impassioned���and vibrant” voice (Opera Today)� Riesen’s growing career boasts a variety of roles in which he excels and includes signifi cant work in opera, musical theatre, studio recording and concert� He has released two studio recording albums: What You’d Call a Dream (2019) and Christmas at Home (2020), and several singles including, “Autumn Leaves (2021)” “What a Wonderful World (2021)” and “Maria (from West Side Story) (2021)” that have reached well over 1 million streams on Spotify and Apple Music� John is also the head of Spotify promotion and PR for Emitha LLC, building an ecosystem for classical singers around the world to be heard on streaming services� In the covid-aff ected 2020-2021 season John performed concerts, live streams, and productions with several companies including Intermountain Opera Bozeman, Shades of Pink Charity Foundation, The FAR Conservatory in Detroit, and Las Vegas Opera� He returned to the stage in 2021 as Ralph Rackstraw in HMS Pinafore with Pensacola Opera, Martin in The Tender Land with The Hart School, Alfredo in La Traviata with the Pacifi c Symphony, and Younger Thompson in Glory Denied with Berkshire Opera Festival� In the 2021-2022 season, John returns to signature roles including Frederic in Pirates of Penzance with Utah Opera, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi with On Site Opera, Chris in the world-premiere of Favorite Son by Grammy award winning songwriter Marcus Hummons, as well as his Carnegie Hall debut as tenor soloist in the Messiah with Musica Sacra under the baton of Kent Tritle� Riesen’s 2019-2020 season included his debut as Roméo in Roméo et Juliette as a guest artist with the Janiec Opera Company and his Michigan Opera Theater debut as Pirelli in Sweeney Todd as well as Younger Thompson in Glory Denied with Urban Arias, and Bill Calhoun in Kiss Me, Kate with Intermountain Opera Bozeman� Other honors include being a repeat Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, 1st prize in the Harold Haugh Light Opera Competition, and 2nd prize in the Mary Jacobs Smith Singer of the Year Competition as well as awards from the Opera Columbus Cooper-Bing Competition and the Opera Birmingham Competition� Riesen has been privileged to sing for political fi gures, including President Barack Obama, President Jimmy Carter, District Judge Stephanie Kulp Seymour, and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg� He has sung the national anthem at several collegiate, semiprofessional and professional organizations, including the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park, the Pensacola Ice Flyers, MSU hockey/baseball and more� Before singing, John avidly pursued athletics and academics, and he attained all-region pitcher status in 2006 and 2007, as well as Academic All-State honors in 2008�

Guest Artist bouquets provided by Bitterroot Floral.

Guest Artist, Soprano

An accomplished and versatile actor and singer noted for her “soaring soprano” and “striking theatricality” (The New York Times), Susan Derry is at home in a wide range of roles� She made her Broadway debut in the Tony -winning revival of Wonderful Town and performed the role of Christine in The Phantom of the Opera in Hamburg, Germany with the Neue Flora Theater� She garnered critical acclaim for her recent portrayal of Francesca Johnson in The Bridges of Madison County at Keegan Theatre in Washington DC; the Washington Post proclaimed” the ace this staging is Susan Derry “and Broadway World called it the role of her career� Susan sang Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady with the Utah Symphony Orchestra opposite the late Peter Scolari as Professor Henry Higgins and recorded “Singing,” a song cycle by Gerald Ginsburg, based on the poetry of Langston Hughes in collaboration with pianist Paul Lincoln� She also made her Off-Off Broadway debut in The Shrill Collective’s world premiere of Megan Bussiere’s A Period Piece as Sam; the play was a finalist for the 2019 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference Prize� Other theatrical career highlights include Marian in The Music Man; Kate/Lilli in Kiss Me Kate; Desdemona in Othello; Fiona in Brigadoon; Meg in Crimes of the Heart; Helen in Saturday Night; Agnes in I Do! I Do!; Betty Schaeffer in Sunset Boulevard; Betty in White Christmas, and Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest� Susan has professional experience in opera, as well, premiering the role of Olivia in Gary Glickmans’ adaptation of Twelfth Night with American Opera Projects and singing Jessica in the American premiere of Reynaldo Hahn’s The Merchant of Venice with Portland Opera� Susan was the centerpiece of the Bold New Works series in Virginia, an initiative to create world-premiere musicals; her performance in the first piece, a new version of The Turn of the Screw, was hailed as “brilliant�” Since then, she has earned accolades as Mary Shelley in Monsters of the Villa Diodati; as a daughter struggling with her mother’s decline from Alzheimer’s in Kaleidoscope and as a hard-edged single mother in Witch, based on the #MeToo movement� All four works feature Susan prominently on the cast albums� In a concert setting, Susan headlined as a guest soloist at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops on an evening of Frank Loesser’s music under the direction of Rob Fisher and the late, great Skitch Henderson� She also has the esteemed honor of appearing in the Encores! Series at New York City Center eleven times� Additionally, she has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall’s Community Sings series, the Lawton Symphony, the Palm Beach Orchestra, in Kennedy Center galas, Sondheim Award galas, and with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Leonard Bernstein’s Mass conducted by Marin Alsop� Solo work includes three one-woman evenings: It’s Got to Be Love, about finding happiness among the high notes, I Wish It So, a holiday evening, and Days and Dazed, a look at how anything can happen in the busy middle of your life� A champion of new works, Susan Derry co-founded Urban Arias, DC’s contemporary opera company, in 2009 and continues to amplify their message of excellence and accessibility in DC and beyond by serving as Board President� Susan earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University and a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music� She serves as an adjunct professor of voice at American University and has a thriving private studio� She lives in the DCarea with her husband�