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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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|
November 19 - December 7, 2016
A second-year Ryan Opera Center member,
the Japanese baritone will perform roles
in several upcoming Lyric productions,
among them Moralès/
Carmen,
Captain/
Eugene Onegin
, and Marquis/
La traviata
(for
Celebrating Plácido
). Onishi has
received top awards from the Gerda
Lissner International Vocal Competition,
the Opera Index, Inc. Vocal Competition,
the Licia Albanese-Puccini International
Vocal Competition, and the Giulio Gari
Foundation Competition. For winning the
IFAC-Juilliard Prize Singing Competition
in Japan, he received a full scholarship
to attend The Juilliard School, where he
appeared in the title role/
Eugene Onegin
,
as Count Almaviva/
The Marriage of Figaro
,
and in
Don Giovanni
, Rossini’s
La scala
di seta
, and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s
Kommilitonen!
(U.S. premiere). In 2014
Onishi created the leading role of The Man/
Marty Regan’s
The Memory Stone
(world
premiere) with Houston Grand Opera’s
East+West program. Recent highlights
include two appearances at Carnegie Hall
(
Carmina Burana
, Vaughan Williams’s
Hodie
). Onishi has participated in the
Aspen Music Festival and School, Saito
Kinen Festival in Japan, and Germany’s
Internationale Meistersinger Akademie.
Takaoki Onishi is sponsored by the
Renée
Fleming Foundation
and the
International
Foundation for Arts and Culture.
EMMETT
O’HANLON
(
Second Servant
)
Lyric debut
The New York native is
a first-year Ryan Opera
Center member and
will be heard as the Second Priest/
The
Magic Flute
and Dancaïre/
Carmen
at Lyric
later this season. The baritone earned a
Master of Music degree from The Juilliard
School (Traveler/
Curlew River
, Bartley/
Riders to the Sea
), and a Bachelor of Music
degree from the University of Cincinnati
College-Conservatory of Music (Arsamene/
Xerxes
, Achilla/
Giulio Cesare
, Harašta/
The Cunning Little Vixen
). In a workshop
recently produced by the Metropolitan
Opera, O’Hanlon sang the Soldier/Scott
Wheeler’s
The Sorrows of Frederick the Great
.
His concert activities have included Bach
cantatas and Fauré’s
Requiem
, all with St.
Thomas Episcopal Church (Cincinnati).
O’Hanlon has been a prize-winner in the
Altamura/Caruso, Gerda Lissner, Opera
Index, Inc., Palm Beach Opera, and Dayton
Opera competitions. He participated in the
singer-training programs at Caramoor, La
Musica Lirica (Novafeltria, Italy), Oberlin
in Italy, and the “Juilliard in Paris” project.
O’Hanlon is a principal vocalist with
the celebrated Irish singing group Celtic
Thunder, both for concerts internationally
and on CD.
Emmett O’Hanlon is sponsored
by
Lois B. Siegel
and
Drs. Joan and Russ
Zajtchuk.
BRADLEY SMOAK
(
Bandit Chief
)
Previously at Lyric:
Eight roles since 2014-
15, most recently Ghost
of Hector/
Les Troyens
(2016-17); Waiter/
Der
Rosenkavalier
, General
Benjamín/
Bel Canto –
world premiere
(both 2015-16).
A native of North Carolina and a third-
year Ryan Opera Center member, the
bass-baritone will appear in the current
Lyric season as Zuniga/
Carmen
and Baron
Douphol/
La traviata
(for
Celebrating
Plácido
). Smoak has been heard with many
companies nationwide, with particular
success at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
(Colline/
La bohème
, King of Hearts/
U.S. premiere of Unsuk Chin’s
Alice in
Wonderland
, Pirate King/
The Pirates of
Penzance
, Masetto/
Don Giovanni
, Antonio/
The Marriage of Figaro
, Second Soldier/
Salome)
. He has appeared in concert with
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (
L’enfant
et les sortilèges, Pelléas et Mélisande,
Esa-
Pekka Salonen conducting) and onstage
at
Boston Lyric Opera (
Les contes d’Hoffmann
),
Palm Beach Opera (
Otello
,
Don Giovanni,
Carmen
), Sarasota Opera (
La bohème
,
The
Crucible
), Opera Omaha (
Carmen
,
The
Magic Flute
,
Fidelio
), Opera North, Opera
Charleston, Opera Roanoke, Annapolis
Opera, and DuPage Opera Theatre. Smoak
made his international debut at Ireland’s
prestigious Wexford Festival Opera in
The
Ghosts of Versailles
and Donizetti’s
Maria
Padilla
, returning for Smetana’s
The Kiss
and
Pergolesi’s
La serva padrona
.
Bradley Smoak
is sponsored by
The Elizabeth F. Cheney
Foundation
.
SIR ANDREW DAVIS
(Conductor)
Previously at Lyric:
54 operas since 1987,
most recently
Les Troyens
,
Das Rheingold
(2016-
17);
Bel Canto –
world
premiere (2015-16).
In addition to three operas at Lyric this
season, the busy schedule of Lyric’s
internationally renowned music director
also includes recordings and concerts
with the Bergen Philharmonic, as well as
his return to the Melbourne Symphony
Orchestra (where he is chief conductor) and
the major orchestras of Cleveland, Berlin,
and Liverpool. Highlights earlier this year
include performances with the MSO and
the Detroit, Frankfurt Radio, and Toronto
symphony orchestras. Maestro Davis is
former music director of Glyndebourne
Festival Opera and currently conductor
laureate of both the BBC Symphony
Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony
Orchestra. His operatic successes include
productions at such major international
companies as the Metropolitan Opera,
Covent Garden, and La Scala; the Bayreuth
and Edinburgh festivals; and the leading
houses of San Francisco, Munich, and
Santa Fe. Sir Andrew has appeared with
virtually every internationally prominent
orchestra, including the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and
the major orchestras of Berlin, Amsterdam,
Rotterdam, and London. A vast discography
documents Maestro Davis’s artistry, with