PERFECT MUSIC.
IMPERFECT HUMANS.

In 1786, Mozart revolutionized opera. Taking Beaumarchais’ play about servants and nobility – so incendiary that it was banned in Vienna – Mozart composed an opera that is both funny and moving, creating a sublime masterpiece.

The opera takes place on one day, and tells of Susanna and Figaro’s maneuvering to get married as they plot around the Count with the help of the Countess and several people with their own agendas. Music elevates every moment, and the flaws of humanity give way to the beauty of compassion.

One of the greatest operas ever written, Figaro is ever-young, ever-wise, and ever-transcendent.

The Marriage of Figaro

Friday, April 28, 2023 at 8 pm
Sunday, April 30, 2023 at 2:30 pm
Overture Hall
Sung in Italian with projected English translations

approx. run time: 3 hours, with 1 intermission

Radio Broadcasts

The Marriage of Figaro

Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte

Premiered 1 May 1786
Burgtheater, Vienna, Austria

Previously at MO: 1962, 1972, 1989, 1999, 2010

Act I
In a room they have been allocated, Figaro and Susanna, servants to Count and Countess Almaviva, are preparing for their wedding. Susanna is concerned that the room is too close to the Count’s chamber and explains to Figaro that Almaviva is pursuing her. Figaro vows to thwart the Count’s plans. Once Figaro leaves, Dr. Bartolo and Marcellina enter. Marcellina is determined to marry Figaro, while Bartolo is angry at him for making a fool of him in the past. When Susanna returns, she and Marcellina are sarcastically polite to each other.

The page Cherubino enters, seeking advice from Susanna, as Count Almaviva caught him alone with the gardener’s daughter. Almaviva arrives, and Cherubino hides. The Count attempts to seduce Susanna, but is himself forced to hide when yet another person arrives. It’s the music teacher Don Basilio, who mentions Cherubino’s crush on the Countess. In a rage, the Count reveals himself to an amused Basilio. He becomes even more enraged when he discovers Cherubino and realizes that the boy has overheard him propositioning Susanna.

Figaro returns, accompanied by the entire household, who praise the Count. Put on the spot, the Count is forced to bless the marriage of Figaro and Susanna. To get rid of Cherubino, he gives the boy a military commission, telling him to report for duty immediately. Figaro and Susanna commiserate with Cherubino.

Act II
In her bedroom, Countess Almaviva mourns the loss of her husband’s love. Susanna tells the Countess that she and Figaro have a plan: Almaviva will receive an anonymous letter informing him that his wife has taken a lover. At the same time, Susanna will set up a rendezvous with Almaviva, but will send a disguised Cherubino in her place.

Cherubino enters with a song of love for the Countess and a commission letter that the Count forgot to seal. He is taken aback when the women begin to dress him in women’s clothes. After Susanna steps into an adjoining room, the Count knocks on the locked bedroom door. Cherubino hides in the dressing room while the Countess lets in her husband.  Almaviva is instantly suspicious and demands entry into the locked dressing room, but the Countess refuses to open it, claiming Susanna is inside trying on her wedding dress. Almaviva leaves the room to get a crowbar, taking the Countess with him. Susanna helps Cherubino escape through the window before taking his place in the dressing room. The Count and Countess return, and the Countess confesses everything to her husband. She is shocked when Susanna exits the locked dressing room. Almaviva begs forgiveness for his suspicions.

Figaro arrives to gather everyone for the wedding. He is followed by the gardener Antonio, who is upset that someone jumped from the Countess’s balcony and crushed his flowers. With prompting from the women, Figaro claims it was he who jumped. The gardener shows him Cherubino’s dropped commission, which Figaro claims he was holding to get the Count’s seal. Marcellina, Bartolo and Basilio enter, and Almaviva is delighted to hear their claim that Figaro is obliged to marry Marcellina to pay off an outstanding debt.

Act III
Later that day, Susanna approaches Count Almaviva. He once again asks her to meet him in the garden, and she agrees. He is overjoyed, but becomes enraged when he overhears Susanna conspiring with Figaro. Marcellina, accompanied by the lawyer Don Curzio, demands that Figaro pay his debt or marry her. Figaro replies that he can’t marry without the consent of his parents, for whom he’s been search for years, having been abducted as a baby. When he reveals a birthmark on his arm, Marcellina and Bartolo recognize the mark as belonging to their son, and the three joyfully reunite. Figaro embraces his long-lost mother as Susanna enters. She misunderstands the embrace and rages at Figaro. Marcellina explains the situation, and everyone is happy except the Count.

The Countess dictates a letter from Susanna to the Count, confirming their meeting that evening in the garden. Cherubino, now dressed as a girl, appears with Barbarina, daughter of Antonio. The Count and Antonio arrive, and Antonio reveals Cherubino’s disguise. Barbarina persuades the Count to let her marry Cherubino. The household assembles for Figaro and Susanna’s wedding. During the dancing, Susanna slips the Count her letter.

Act IV
In the garden later that night, Barbarina despairs that she has lost the pin the Count has asked her to take back to Susanna. When Figaro and Marcellina appear, Barbarina tells them about the pin. Thinking that Susanna is unfaithful, Figaro curses all women. He hides when Susanna and the Countess arrive, each dressed as the other.  Alone, Susanna sings of love, knowing that Figaro is listening to her. She then hides in time to see Cherubino try to kiss the disguised Countess. The Count declares his love for Susanna, who is really the Countess, while Figaro tells the Countess, who is really Susanna, about the tryst. Susanna forgets to disguise her voice, and Figaro figures out it is she under the Countess’s cloak. Susanna and Figaro embrace and are seen by the Count, who explodes with rage. At that moment, the real Countess steps forward and reveals her identity. Ashamed, the Count asks her pardon. She forgives him, and the entire household celebrates the day’s happy ending.

Media

Cast

Habersham, Jasmine 2022
Jasmine Habersham
Susanna

Madison Opera Debut: Digital Opera in the Park 2020
Recently at MO: Eurydice, Orpheus in the Underworld

Recently: Gilda, Rigoletto (Opera North-UK); Zerlina, Don Giovanni (Seattle Opera); Cleopatra, Giulio Cesare; Micaela, Carmen; Girl, Der Kaiser von Atlantis (Atlanta Opera); Adina, The Elixir of Love (Phoenicia International Festival of Voice); Katie Jackson, The Fix (Minnesota Opera); Pip, Moby Dick (Opera San Jose, Utah Opera)

Caballero, Elizabeth
Elizabeth Caballero
Countess Almaviva

Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2007
Recently at MO: Florencia, Florencia en el Amazonas; Donna Anna, Don Giovanni; Violetta, La Traviata; Micaela, Carmen
Recently:
Blanche, A Streetcar Named Desire (Florida Grand Opera); Cio-Cio-San, Madama Butterfly (Oper Stuttgart); Mimì, La Bohème (Oper Stuttgart, Seiji Ozawa Music Academy); Cecilia Valdes, Cecilia Valdes (Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid); Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni (Florida Grand Opera); Amelia, Un Ballo in Maschera (Stadttheater Klagenfurt)

Boehler_Matt
Matt Boehler
Figaro

Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2012
Recently at MO: Osmin, The Abduction from the Seraglio; Rocco, Fidelio; Leporello, Don Giovanni 
Recently: Sparafucile, Rigoletto (Florida Grand Opera); Ob, Becoming Santa Claus (Chicago Opera Theater); Van Helsing, The Lord of Cries (Santa Fe Opera)

4x5Adams-Michael
Michael Adams
Count Almaviva

Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2022
Recently:
Sharpless, Madama Butterfly (Dallas Opera); Count Almaviva, The Marriage of Figaro (Austin Opera); The Count / The Herald, Der Schatzgräber (Deutsche Oper Berlin); Figaro, The Barber of Seville (Utah Opera); Belcore, The Elixir of Love (Seattle Opera)

LArson_Kirsten
Kirsten Lippart
Cherubino

Madison Opera Debut: Lola, Cavalleria Rusticana (2018)
Recently at MO: Venus, Orpheus in the Underworld; Digital 20/21 Season; Flora, La Traviata; Mrs. Segstrom, A Little Night Music; 3rd Wood Sprite, Rusalka
Recently: Alto Soloist, Messiah (Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra); Sarah, Sarah Bernhardt (Stoughton Chamber Music Festival); Johanna, Sweeney Todd (Middleton Players Theatre); Prince Orlofsky, Die Fledermaus (Madison Savoyards)

Margaret Gawrysiak Headshot
Margaret Gawrysiak
Marcellina

Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2022
Recently:
Madame Larina, Eugene Onegin (Seattle Opera, Atlanta Opera); Older Woman, Flight (Seattle Opera); Marcellina, The Marriage of Figaro (Opera Colorado); Old Lady, Candide (Ravinia Festival)

Spencer, Alannah
Alannah Spencer
Barbarina

Madison Opera Debut: Ensemble, She Loves Me
Recently: Contessa, Le nozze di Figaro Act II (Brew City Opera); Tosca, Dead Diva Society (The Valkyrie Ensemble); Luise, The Departure (Evanston Chamber Opera); Bagatelle, Bagatelle (Roosevelt University Opera); Antonia, The Tales of Hoffmann (MIOpera)

Sieverding_Benjamin
Benjamin Sieverding
Dr. Bartolo

Madison Opera Debut: Duke of Verona, Romeo and Juliet (2016)
Recently at MO: Dr. Grenvil, La Traviata
Recently: Mr. Noble, The Montana Mikado (Intermountain Bozeman); Betto, Gianni Schicchi (Tulsa Opera); Zungia, Carmen (Mill City Summer Opera); Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte (Glacier Symphony, Opera in the Heights); The Armchair, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (Pacific Symphony); Alfred Austin, The Fix; Warden Benton, Dead Man Walking; Colline, La Bohème; Max Cane, Dinner at Eight (Minnesota Opera); Sarastro, The Magic Flute (Lake Area Music Festival)

Byrd Tyrese
Tyrese Byrd
Don Basilio

Madison Opera Debut: Normanno, Lucia di Lammermoor (2021)
Recently at MO: Mercury, Orpheus in the Underworld; Keller, She Loves Me 
Recently: Policeman 1/ Congregant 1, Blue (Toledo Opera); Jesse, Undying Love (Hearing in Color); Don Basilio, Bliss (Detroit Opera); Herr Vogelsang, The Impresario; Miles, Proving Up (Univ. of Michigan SMTD); Le Prince Charmant, Cendrillon; Arpad, She Loves Me (Furman University Lyric Theatre)

Guzman, David 2022
David Guzmán
Antonio

Madison Opera Debut: 5th Jew, Salome (2022)
Recently: Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte: Remix; Duke of Verona, Romeo & Juliet; Court Usher, Rigoletto (The Florentine Opera); Vodník, Rusalka; Plutone, L’Orfeo (Milwaukee Opera Theatre); Leporello, Don Giovanni (Teatro América-Puerto Rico); Truffaldino, Ariadne auf Naxos; Pistola, Falstaff (CCM Opera)

Valdez, Pedro
Pedro Valdez
Don Curzio

Madison Opera Debut: 2nd Nazarene, Salome (2022)
Recently: Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni (Chicago Summer Opera); Don Ramiro, La Cenerentola (Northern Lights Music Festival); Alberto, La curandera; First Sailor, Dido and Aeneas; Tamino, The Magic Flute (Texas State Opera)

Rhodes-Russel_Stephanie_web
Stephanie Rhodes Russell
Conductor

Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2021
Recently:
La Traviata (Opera Orlando); Dr. Miracle (Dallas Opera); The Turn of the Screw (Temple University); Excerpts from Eugene Onegin (Wolf Trap Opera)

Rigazzi_Dan
Dan Rigazzi
Stage Director

Madison Opera Debut: The Magic Flute (2017)
Recently:
The Magic Flute (Pittsburgh Opera); Baseball: A Musical Love Letter (Lyric Opera of Kansas City); La Cenerentola (Metropolitan Opera); Roméo et Juliette (Teatro alla Scala)

Sponsors

Marshall Osborn

The Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation

Kato & David Perlman

Bert & Diane Adams

Lau & Bea Christensen Charitable Foundation

Kennedy Gilchrist & Heidi Wilde

Chun Lin

Patricia & Stephen Lucas

Sally & Mike Miley

The Wallach Family

Rick & Gail Nordheim

Cyrena & Lee Pondrom

The Ann Stanke Fund

Friends of Kathryn Smith

Hurley Burish, S.C. Attorneys logo


Keely Futterer

Rosina, The Barber of Seville

Hometown: Dover, AR
Madison Opera Debut: Léontine, The Anonymous Lover (2024)

Recently: Anna Sørenson, Silent Night (Wolf Trap Opera); Musetta, La Bohème; Armida, Rinaldo; Charlene, Service Provider; Jazz Trio, Trouble in Tahiti (Minnesota Opera);
Armida, Rinaldo; Vanderdendur, Candide; Angostura, Tenor Overboard (Glimmerglass Festival);
Rodelinda, Rodelinda (Hudson Hall); Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte (Opera Memphis);

Upcoming: Marcellina, Leonora (Chicago Opera Theater);
Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte (Virginia Opera); Verdi Requiem (Erie Philharmonic)


Weston Hurt

Baritone, Opera in the Park

Hometown: Spring, TX
Madison Opera Debut: Germont, La Traviata (2019)

Recently: Sharpless, Madama Butterfly (Houston Grand Opera, New Orleans Opera);
Britten's War Requiem (Opera Roanoke); Scarpia, Tosca (Arizona Opera);
Germont, La Traviata (Lyric Opera of Kansas City); Nabucco, Nabucco (Seattle Opera)

Upcoming: Rigoletto, Rigoletto (English National Opera)

Joshua Sanders

Tenor, Opera in the Park

Hometown: Plain, WI
Madison Opera Debut: Giuseppe, La Traviata (2011)
Also at MO: Tobias Ragg, Sweeney Todd; Inmate, Dead Man Walking; Ensemble, Acis and Galatea

Recently: Count Almaviva, The Barber of Seville; Romeo, Romeo and Juliet (Opera San José);
Tamino, The Magic Flute (Nashville Opera); Sam Clay, The Amazing Adventures of
Kavalier & Clay
workshop (Metropolitan Opera)

Upcoming:  Victorin, Die tote Stadt (Boston Symphony Orchestra)

Sachie Ueshima, wearing black in front of a stone staircase.
Sachie Ueshima

Zerlina, Don Giovanni

Hometown: Wakayama City, Japan
Madison Opera Debut
Former Madison Opera Studio Artist

Recently: Cio-Cio-San, Madama Butterfly (Virginia Opera); Violetta, La Traviata;
Krystyna Zywulska, Two Remain (UW-Madison)

Upcoming: Cio-Cio-San, Madama Butterfly (Kentucky Opera)


David Walton

Count Almaviva, The Barber of Seville

Hometown: Twin Cities, MN
Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2017
Also at MO: Belmonte, The Abduction from the Seraglio

Recently: Ferrando, Così fan tutte (Princeton Festival); Ramiro, La Cenerentola (Toledo Opera);
Count Almaviva, The Barber of Seville (North Carolina Opera);
Frederic, The Pirates of Penzance (Opera San Antonio); Filippo, Deceit Outwitted (Sarasota Opera)

Upcoming: Count Almaviva, The Barber of Seville (Minnesota Opera); Candide, Candide (South Florida Symphony);
Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni (Livermore Valley Opera)

Emily Fons

Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni

Hometown: Milwaukee, WI
Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2012
Also at MO: Opera in the Park 2024; Rosina, The Barber of Seville (2015)

Recently: Nicklausse, The Tales of Hoffmann (Palm Beach Opera);
Rosina, The Barber of Seville (Cincinnati Opera, Santa Fe Opera);
Woman, Ghosts (San Diego Opera); Cherubino, The Marriage of Figaro (Canadian Opera Company);
Hansel, Hansel and Gretel (New Orleans Opera)

Upcoming: Princess Irene, Tamerlano (Haymarket Opera)


Kanopy Dance

María de Buenos Aires

Hometown: Madison, WI
Madison Opera Debut: Acis & Galatea (2013)
Recently at MO: Florencia en el Amazonas; Trouble in Tahiti / The Seven Deadly Sins


Lisa Thurrell

Choreographer, María de Buenos Aires

Hometown: Madison, WI
Madison Opera Debut: Florencia en el Amazonas (2018)
Recently at MO: The Anonymous Lover, Trouble in Tahiti / The Seven Deadly Sins
Co-Artistic Director of Kanopy Dance

Recently: Director and Choreographer, Winter Fantasia: Reimagined; Polaris + Revelations;
The Next Generation;
Confluence: A Prelude; Graham: In Her Voice; Shades of Light (Kanopy Dance);
Choreographer, Bluebeard's Castle (Des Moines Metro Opera)

Upcoming: Director and Choreographer, Inner Passages (Kanopy Dance);
Choreographer, The Cunning Little Vixen (Des Moines Metro Opera)


Kirstin Chávez

El Duende, María de Buenos Aires

Hometown: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia / Albuquerque, NM
Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2006

Recently: Glenda, We Shall Not Be Moved (Pittsburgh Opera); Verdi's Requiem (Pensacola Symphony);
Carlotta de Obragón, Zorro (Fort Worth Opera); Suzuki, Madama Butterfly (Dallas Opera);
Mozart's Requiem (Paducah Symphony); Carmen, Carmen (St. Barth's Music Festival)

Upcoming: Carmen, Carmen (Kentucky Symphony Orchestra); Carmen, Carmen Inside Out (the film)


Ryan Nash

Sergeant, The Barber of Seville

Hometown: Longmeadow, MA
Madison Opera Debut
Madison Opera Studio Artist

Recently: Gherardo, Gianni Schicchi (American Gothic Performing Arts Festival); Frederic, The Pirates of Penzance (Madison Savoyards);
Mercurio, La Calisto; Gastone, La Traviata; Albert Herring, Albert Herring (UW Madison Opera);
Rinuccio, Gianni Schicchi (La Musica Lirica USA); Alfred, Die Fledermaus; Monostatos, The Magic Flute (UMass Opera)

Upcoming: Tamino, The Magic Flute (Opera for the Young)


John DeMain

Conductor: Opera in the Park, The Barber of Seville, Don Giovanni

Hometown: Youngstown, OH
Madison Opera Debut: The Magic Flute (1995)
Recently at MO: Candide, Tosca, Trouble in Tahiti / The Seven Deadly Sins, Salome


Rebecca Herman

Stage Director, The Barber of Seville

Hometown: Austin, TX
Madison Opera Debut

Recently: Carmen (Austin Opera); Don Giovanni (Opera Colorado, Cincinnati Opera);
Un Cuento de Luces y Sonmbras
(LOLA); La Bohème (Glimmerglass Opera);
The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Utah Opera, Calgary Opera)

Upcoming: The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Washington National Opera); New Opera Workshop, We Might be Struck by Lighting (LOLA)


Fenlon Lamb

Stage Director, Don Giovanni

Hometown: Princeton, NJ
Madison Opera Debut:
La Traviata (2019)
Recently at MO: Lucia di Lammermoor

Recently: La Fanciulla del West (Central City Opera); The Elixir of Love, Così fan tutte (Palm Beach Opera);
The Marriage of Figaro
(Portland Opera); Carmen (Opera Santa Barbara);
Charlie Parker's Yardbird (Dayton Opera); La Bohème (New Orleans Opera); Mozart and Salieri (Opera San Jose)


Kamna Gupta

Conductor, María de Buenos Aires

Hometown: St. Genis-de-Puilly, France
Madison Opera Debut

Recently: The Pearl Fishers (Vancouver Opera); In Our Daughter's Eyes (LA Opera / BMP);
Number Our Days (Perelman Performing Arts Center); Glory Denied (Cleveland Institute of Music);
Rocking Horse Winner (Tapestry Opera); The Rip Van Winkles (Glimmerglass Festival)

Upcoming: Ruinous Gods (Spoleto Festival USA)


Frances Rabalais

Stage Director, María de Buenos Aires

Hometown: New Orleans, LA
Madison Opera Debut: Tosca (2023)

Recently: Macbeth (Resonance Works); Hansel and Gretel (Opera Birmingham);
The Magic Flute (North Carolina Opera); The Barber of Seville (Pensacola Opera)


Charles Eaton

Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni

Hometown: Storrs, CT
Madison Opera Debut: Moralès, Carmen (2017)
Recently at MO: Count Malcolm, A Little Night Music

Recently: Ponchel, Silent Night; Brother, The Seven Deadly Sins (Wolf Trap Opera); Schaunard, La Bohème;
Sam, Trouble in Tahiti; Masetto, Don Giovanni; Argante, Rinaldo (Minnesota Opera);
Fedorov, The Christmas Spider (Opéra Louisiane, Marble City Opera);
English Ambassador, The Ghosts of Versailles (Royal Opera Versailles);
Marcello, La Bohème (Imperial Symphony Orchestra)

Upcoming: Mercutio, Romeo & Juliet (Minnesota Opera);
Silvio, Pagliacci (Pensacola Opera)


Jeremiah Sanders

Leporello, Don Giovanni

Hometown: Marian, IN
Madison Opera Debut

Recently: Marcello, La Bohème; Beau, Service Provider; Jazz Trio, Trouble in Tahiti;
Hortensius, The Daughter of the Regiment; Mago, Rinaldo;
Abilenes's Father / Bryce's Father, Edward Tulane (Minnesota Opera);
Colline, La Bohème (Lyric Opera of the North); Lackey, Ariadne auf Naxos (Lakes Area Music Festival);
Charlie, Three Decembers (South Bend Lyric Opera); The Villains, The Tales of Hoffmann (Union Avenue Opera)


Ashraf Sewailam

The Commendatore, Don Giovanni

Hometown: Cairo, Egypt / San Francisco, CA
Madison Opera Debut:
Captain, Florencia en el Amazonas (2018)

Recently: Dr. Bartolo, The Barber of Seville (Des Moines Metro Opera, Seattle Opera);
Dr. Bartolo, The Marriage of Figaro (New Orleans Opera); Sparafucile, Rigoletto (Opera San Jose);
Giove, La Calisto (Opera Memphis)

Upcoming: Dr. Bartolo, The Barber of Seville (Lyric Opera of Kansas City);
Dulcamara, The Elixir of Love (New Orleans Opera)


Andrew Stenson

Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni

Hometown: Rochester, MN
Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2021

Recently: Pong, Turandot (Metropolitan Opera); Bill, Flight; The Steersman, The Flying Dutchman (Dallas Opera);
Pang, Turandot (Houston Grand Opera); Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni (Seattle Opera);
Nemorino, The Elixir of Love (Seattle Opera, Minnesota Opera, Florentine Opera);
Count Almaviva, The Barber of Seville (Opera Colorado, Garsington Opera);
Nikolaus Sprink, Silent Night; Tamino, The Magic Flute (Utah Opera);
Fadinard, The Italian Straw Hat (Minnesota Opera); Danny Chen, An American Soldier (Opera Theatre of St. Louis)

Headshot of Hailey Cohen
Hailey Cohen

Berta, The Barber of Seville

Hometown: Edgemont, NY
Madison Opera Debut: Dorothée, The Anonymous Lover (2024)
Also with MO: Paquette, Candide
Madison Opera Studio Artist

Recently: Zita, Gianni Schicchi (Finger Lakes Opera); Hattie, American Gothical (Cedar Rapids Opera);
Sally, The Boy Who Wanted to be a Robot; K., Would You Eat Me? (Thompson Street Opera)


Lifan Deng

Fiorello, The Barber of Seville
Masetto, Don Giovanni

Hometown: Shenzhen, China
Madison Opera Debut
Madison Opera Studio Artist

Recently: Voce 2, Il Nostro Posto nel Mondo (Thompson Street Opera Company);
The Police Agent / Mr. Kofner, The Consul (Third Eye Ensemble);
Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte; Kaiser Overall, Der Kaiser von Atlantis (Northwestern Opera Theater);
Old Adam Goodheart, Ruddigore; Carpenter's Mate, H.M.S. Pinafore (The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company);
Olin Brett, The Music Man (Metropolis Performing Arts Centre)

Upcoming: Papageno, The Magic Flute (Opera for the Young)


Laureano Quant

El Payador, María de Buenos Aires

Hometown: Barranquilla, Colombia
Madison Opera Debut

Recently: Schaunard, La Bohème (Wolf Trap Opera); Foreman, Jenufa; Dancaïre, Carmen;
Count of Lerma, Don Carlo (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Escamillo, Le tragedie de Carmen;
Guglielmo, Così fan tutte (The Opera Next Door); Betto, Gianni Schicchi (Ópera de Colombia);
Demetrius, A Midsummer Night's Dream; Captain / Ragotsky, Candide (Orquestra Filarmónica de Bogotà)

Upcoming: Belcore, The Elixir of Love (New Orleans Opera);
Bill, Aufsteig und Fall der Stadt Mahgonny (Staatsoper Stuttgart)


Kelly Guerra

María, María de Buenos Aires

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Madison Opera Debut

Recently: María, María de Buenos Aires (Kentucky Opera); Lupita, Cruzar la Cara de la Luna;
Carlotta de Obragón, Zorro (Opera Santa Barbara); Renata, Cruzar la Cara de la Luna (West Edge Opera);
Rosina, The Barber of Seville (Princeton Festival); Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Scalia/Ginsburg (Chautauqua Opera);
Luisa Fernanda, Luisa Fernanda (Opera Hispánica, Opera Williamsburg)

Upcoming: Una Niña, Ainadamar (Metropolitan Opera); Jo, Little Women (Fort Worth Opera);
Isabella, L'Italiana in Algeri (Opera in the Heights); Mrs. Fox, Fantastic Mr. Fox (Opera Omaha)


Alex Taylor

Don Basilio, The Barber of Seville

Hometown: Beloit, WI
Madison Opera Debut: Mother, The Seven Deadly Sins (2023)

Recently: Green Shirt Guy, Mel Rides the Bus Alone (Pittsburgh Opera);
Sarastro, The Magic Flute; Dr. Bartolo, The Marriage of Figaro (Carnegie Mellon University)


Levi Hernandez

Dr. Bartolo, The Barber of Seville

Hometown: El Paso, TX
Madison Opera Debut: Papageno, The Magic Flute (2006)
Recent at MO: Alvaro, Florencia en el Amazonas; Opera in the Park 2018

Recently: Diego Rivera, El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego (Opera Omaha);
Tonio, Pagliacci (Hawaii Opera Theatre); Dandini, La Cenerentola (Boston Lyric Opera);
Peter, Hansel and Gretel (Opera San Antonio); Lescaut, Manon Lescaut (North Carolina Opera)

Upcoming: Lescaut, Manon Lescaut (Washington National Opera); Benoit/Alcindoro, La Bohème (Lyric Opera of Chicago);
Alvaro, Florencia en el Amazonas (North Carolina Opera)


Benjamin Taylor

Figaro, The Barber of Seville

Hometown: Waldorf, MD
Madison Opera Debut:
Silvio, Pagliacci (2018)

Recently: Bello, La Fanciulla del West (Bayerische Staatsoper); Moralès, Carmen (Metropolitan Opera);
Guglielmo, Così fan tutte (Princeton Symphony); Jan Nyman, Breaking the Waves (Detroit Opera);
Silvio, Pagliacci (Austin Opera)

Upcoming: Marcello, La Bohème (Arizona Opera); Jake, Porgy and Bess (Washington National Opera);
Schaunard, La Bohème (Charleston Opera Theater)


Katerina Burton

Donna Anna, Don Giovanni

Hometown: Ocean City, MD
Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2024

Recently: Mimì, La Bohème; Verna/Young Lovely/Evelyn, Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis); JFK: The Last Speech
(National Symphony Orchestra); Britten’s War Requiem (Strathmore Music Center);
Russian Chamber Art Society; Postclassical Ensemble Concert (The Kennedy Center); Girlfriend 2, Blue;
Micaëla, Carmen (Washington National Opera); Alice Ford, Falstaff (Aspen Music Festival);