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P R O F I L E S | L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O
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February 8 - March 13, 2016
In 2011 the Texas-born tenor, a Ryan Opera
Center alumnus, made international headlines
in Moscow by becoming the first sole recipient
of the men’s first prize for opera, the men’s prize
for zarzuela, and the audience favorite prize in
Plácido Domingo’s highly prestigious Operalia
competition. Barbera will continue the current
season as Don Ramiro/Rossini’s
Cinderella
(Palermo), a role that has previously earned him
great acclaim in San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Palm Beach, and Seattle. He recently appeared
at San Francisco Opera as Count Almaviva/
The
Barber of Seville
, rapidly becoming a signature
role and one he will sing in Bologna later
this season after previous successes with it in
Los Angeles, Paris, Moscow, Rome, Naples,
Detroit, and Vancouver. Further roles include
Mozart’s Tamino (Ravinia), Puccini’s Rinuccio
(Toronto), Tonio/
La fille du régiment
(St.
Louis, Greensboro), Nemorino/
L’elisir d’amore
(St. Louis), Iopas/
Les Troyens
(San Francisco),
Elvino/
La sonnambula
(Washington), and
Rodrigo/Rossini’s
La donna del lago
(Santa
Fe). Barbera is a former Grand Finals
winner of the Metropolitan Opera National
Council Auditions and Grand Prize winner
of the Charles A. Lynam Vocal Competition
(Greensboro). The tenor is a former participant
in the American Institute of Musical Studies
(Graz, Austria), San Francisco Opera’s Merola
Program, and Florida Grand Opera’s young-
artist program.
LAURA WILDE
(
Marianne Leitmetzerin
)
Previously at Lyric Opera:
Four roles since 2013-14,
most recently Anna/
Nabucco
, Peasant Girl/
The Marriage of Figaro
(both 2015-16); Kate
Pinkerton/
Madama
Butterfly
(2013-14).
A native of Watertown, South Dakota, and
a third-year Ryan Opera Center member,
the soprano makes her debut at London’s
English National Opera this summer in the
title role/
Jenůfa.
Wilde was a Marion Roose
Pullin Artist in Residence with Arizona Opera
for two seasons, where her numerous roles
included Stéphano/
Romeo and Juliet
, Alisa/
Lucia di Lammermoor
, Siébel/
Faust
, and Lola/
Cavalleria rusticana
. She has also participated
in the young-artist programs of The Santa
Fe Opera (Deaconess/
King Roger
) and Opera
Theatre of Saint Louis (Omar/
The Death of
Klinghoffer
, Mrs. Segstrom/
A Little Night
Music
). Concert engagements include the
Adrian Symphony Orchestra, Civic Orchestra
of Chicago, and Phoenix Symphony. A
2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council
Auditions semi-finalist, Wilde was awarded
third place in the 2011 Palm Beach Opera
Competition and is a two-time recipient of the
Elihu Hyndman Memorial Award from Opera
Theatre of Saint Louis. The soprano is an
alumna of Indiana University (Jo March/
Little
Women
, Isabella/
L’italiana in Algeri
, Prince
Charming/
Cendrillon
) and St. Olaf College.
Laura Wilde is sponsored by an
Anonymous
Donor
and
Mrs. J. W. Van Gorkom
.
PATRICK GUETTI
(
Police Commissioner
)
Lyric Opera debut
A first-year Ryan Opera
Center member and a
native of New Jersey, the
bass was a first-place winner
of the 2015 Gerda Lissner
Foundation Competition and, a year earlier
while completing his studies at Philadelphia’s
Academy of Vocal Arts, a grand-prize winner
of the 2014 Metropolitan Opera National
Council Auditions. Highlights of Guetti’s
past seasons include his debuts at The Dallas
Opera as the Fifth Jew/
Salome
and at Opera
Philadelphia as José Tripaldi/Osvaldo Golijov’s
Ainadamar
. The bass is a former apprentice
artist at The Santa Fe Opera, having appeared
there in
Carmen
,
Fidelio
, Huang Ruo’s
Dr.
Sun Yat-Sen
(American premiere), and
The
Impresario/Le Rossignol
. Other roles include
Leggatt/Theodore Morrison’s
Oscar
(Santa Fe,
world premiere), Massenet’s Don Quichotte,
Prince Gremin and Zaretsky/
Eugene Onegin
,
Don Basilio/
The Barber of Seville
, Tom/
Un
ballo in maschera
, Arkel/
Pelléas et Mélisande
, and
Crespel and Wilhelm/
Les contes d’Hoffmann
(all
at AVA). Among Guetti’s numerous awards are
a 2014 Sara Tucker Study Grant, the Audience
Favorite Award at the 2013 Giargiri Bel Canto
Competition, and first prize in the Premio
Verdi competition.
Patrick Guetti is sponsored by
The C. G. Pinnell Family
.
PHILIP KRAUS
(
Notary
)
Previously at Lyric Opera:
23 roles since 1990-91,
most recently The Bailiff/
Werther
(2012-13);
Antonio/
The Marriage of
Figaro
(2009-10); Bartolo/
The Barber of Seville
(2007-08).
The New York City-born baritone has made
a specialty of Verdi’s Falstaff and Puccini’s
Gianni Schicchi, performing both roles to
high acclaim at Chicago Opera Theater and
Chamber Opera Chicago. Kraus’s versatility
encompasses the Viennese (
The Gypsy Baron,
The Merry Widow
,
One Night in Venice
) and
Baroque repertory (Handel’s
Dettingen Te
Deum
,
Esther
,
Judas Maccabaeus
, and Cosroe/
Hasse’s
Siroe
). Among his specialties are
the Purcell masques (
The Fairy Queen
,
King
Arthur
) and the works of Gilbert and Sullivan
(Sir Joseph Porter/
H.M.S. Pinafore
, Major
General Stanley/
The Pirates of Penzance
).
Further appearances include Taddeo/
L’italiana
in Algeri
(Hawaii Opera Theatre), the Vicar/
Albert Herring
(Cleveland Opera), title role/
Rigoletto
(Minnesota Opera), Salieri/Rimsky-
Korsakov’s
Mozart and Salieri
(Fort Wayne
Philharmonic), Douphol/
La traviata
(with
Renée Fleming at Los Angeles Opera, released
on DVD), and Mangus/Sir Michael Tippett’s
The Knot Garden
(American premiere). Kraus is
active in the concert hall having made multiple
appearances singing Beethoven’s
Symphony
No. 9
, Orff’s
Carmina Burana
, Brahms’s
A
German Requiem
, and Verdi’s
Requiem
with
orchestras throughout the United States. This
past November he made his UK debut in
recital at Norwich Cathedral.
JONATHAN JOHNSON
(
Innkeeper
)
Previously at Lyric Opera:
Five roles since 2014-15,
most recently Raoul de St.
Brioche/
The Merry Widow
,
Don Curzio/
The Marriage
of Figaro
(both 2015-16);
Third SS Officer/
The
Passenger
(2014-15).
A second-year Ryan Opera Center member
and a native of Macon, Georgia, the tenor will
make his debut at Portland Opera this July as
Lindoro/
The Italian Girl in Algiers
. Johnson
first appeared in Chicago in Poulenc’s
Les
mamelles de Tirésias
with the Civic Orchestra,
before debuting at Lyric in
Capriccio
. The
tenor graduated from the University of North
Carolina School of the Arts with a master’s
degree and a Professional Artist Certificate.
His leading roles there included Ruggero/
La rondine
, Lechmere/
Owen Wingrave
, Azaël/
Debussy’s
L’enfant prodigue
, and Fenton/
The
Merry Wives of Windsor
. Johnson’s other major
performance credits include Ezekiel Cheever/
The Crucible
(Piedmont Opera), and the title
role/
Candide
and Rev. Horace Adams/
Peter
Grimes
(both at the Aspen Summer Music
Institute). At the Townsend School of Music
at Mercer University, where Johnson received
his bachelor of music degree, he sang the title
role/Cavalli’s
L’Egisto
, King Kaspar/
Amahl and
the Night Visitors
, Camille de Rosillon/
The
Merry Widow
, and Nemorino/
L’elisir d’amore.
Jonathan Johnson is sponsored by
Mr. and Mrs.
William C. Vance
.