By DiDi Turley
After nearly three years away from Music Hall and SCPA, we’re all thrilled to be coming home to the stages we love. For many of our artists, though, our 2022 Summer Festival Season isn’t a homecoming event, but a grand debut! Some of these artists have been awaiting their Cincinnati Opera debut since our canceled 2020 season, and others are making their first venture into the professional opera world. Keep reading to get to know some of our amazing debuting artists for this season:
Zachary
James
The Pirate King, The Pirates of Penzance
Where are you from? “Spring Hill, Florida”
Where do you call home? “New York, New York”
Do you have any pets? “Yes! Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan, a miniature Pinscher named after the composer of Pirates of Penzance.”
Did you plan on pursuing a career in opera? “Absolutely not! I wanted to be a dog groomer.”
Marlen
NaHhas
Edith, Fierce
Where are you from? “Houston, Texas”
Where do you live now? “Washington, D.C.”
Did you plan on pursuing a career in opera? “My dream was to be Patti Lupone’s protégé. Needless to say, it went in a slightly different direction.”
What has been your most significant performing experience so far? “Performing in the Supreme Court (with Justice Ginsburg inches away from us) as we sang Menotti’s The Consul.”
Do you have a dream role that can never be? “TOSCA! She is, in my mind, the quintessence of feminine power!”
Mark
Diamond
Samuel, The Pirates of Penzance
Where are you from? “Augusta, Georgia”
Where do you live now? “Waco, Texas”
What’s your favorite pastime when you aren’t singing or traveling for work? “I am an avid mountain biker. I also enjoy camping and anything outdoors-related.”
What’s your favorite thing about Cincinnati (if you’ve been here before, of course)? “When I was at CCM for a year, I thoroughly enjoyed going to Reds games with friends. Hoping to catch a few this summer!”
Christina
Hazen
Isabel, The Pirates of Penzance
Where are you from? “Loveland, Colorado”
Where do you live now? “Cincinnati, Ohio, for right now but I will be moving to Minneapolis in August!”
What has been the most significant experience you've had during your career so far? “Working in the arts, I've had the pleasure of meeting some of the most authentic and unique people. Being a part of the opera community has given me the confidence and security to finally embrace my own queer identity”
Do you have a dream role that can never be? “I would loooove to sing Scarpia. Who doesn't want to sing the ‘Te Deum!’?'”
Any news that you'd like to share? “Starting this fall, I'll be joining Minnesota Opera as an incoming Resident Artist!”
Where are you from? “Louisville, Kentucky”
Where do you live? “Lexington, Kentucky”
Did you plan on pursuing a career in opera? “I didn't necessarily plan on pursuing a career in opera when I was young, but I knew that whatever I would do, it would involve performing. I would say the same is still true now. I am not pursuing a career in opera; I am pursuing a career in performance. I love opera, but I also love conducting orchestral and choral music, performing in musicals, singing jazz, acting in plays, and dancing! They are all interconnected to me and I would be silly to just focus on one of them.”
Do you have a dream role that can never be? “I would love to perform Mama Rose from Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim's Gypsy, but I just don't know how or when that would ever happen!”
What’s your favorite things about Cincinnati (if you’ve been here before, of course)? “I have been in Cincinnati for two weeks now, and my favorite part about the city is Eden Park! I have enjoyed a morning walk almost every morning since I have been here and it is truly stunning. The birds sing their little hearts out, the people are always very kind, and the view at the top of the hill is to die for!”
Jasmin
White
Kate, The Pirates of Penzance
Where are you from? “Grande Ronde, Oregon”
Do you have a favorite pastime when you aren’t singing or traveling for work? “I regularly practice my heritage arts: beadwork and quillwork. I also love to paint and read.”
What has been your most significant experience in your performing career so far? “Singing in Porgy and Bess at The Metropolitan Opera has been the most impactful experience to me so far because of the incredible connections I made there, which launched my career.”
Any news that you’d like to share? “I will be getting married next week, and we’re moving to Austria in September as I join the Opernstudio (young artist studio) at Volksoper Wien.”
Patrick
Carfizzi
Major-General Stanley, The Pirates of Penzance
Where are you from? “Newburgh, New York”
Where do you call home now? “My suitcase.”
Did you plan on pursuing a career in opera? “Originally the plans were navy officer, but I am prone to seasickness; National Parks ranger, still a possibility later in life; or pediatrician. Saw my first opera on video at age 11 and my first live performance at the met when I was 14,; by age 16, it was my dream job.”
What has been your most impactful experience in your career so far? “So many, thankfully. Most all the many collaborations I have been fortunate enough to take part in. Meeting Arthur Ashe and Bob Merrill on the same night. Lyme disease for about 3 years when I was a teenager and just starting to get into singing. A not so wee car accident in 1997; two broken legs - hit as a pedestrian by a drunk driver. Singing is what kept me sane through it all.”
What is your favorite things about Cincinnati (if you’ve been here before, of course)? “I last came to Cincinnati 25 years ago for an audition, so it has been a while. I look forward to exploring the city and meeting the flying pigs.”
Do you have any pets?
“Charlie the Chihuahua! He is 4 months old, and I am his godfather/uncle.”
-Patrick Carfizzi
Ethan
Vincent
Schaunard, La Bohème
Where are you from? “Kansas City, Missouri”
Where do you live now? “Los Angeles, California”
When did you start singing? “I started taking voice lessons when I was 16.”
Did you plan on pursuing a career in opera? “I didn't know anything about opera or operatic singing when I started taking voice lessons. I wanted to be a pop star.”
What’s your favorite pastime when you aren’t singing or traveling for work?“I enjoy pulling out my guitar once in a while.”
Megan
Graves
Rumer, Fierce
Where are you from? “Fort Worth, Texas”
Where do you live now? “Cincinnati, Ohio! Though I’m about to relocate to Oslo, Norway, in August!”
Did you plan on pursuing a career in opera? “When I was growing up, I really wanted to be a professional violinist. Although I sang, I didn’t see my first opera until my senior year of high school. I started my undergraduate in music education hoping to be a choir and/or orchestra teacher. After falling in love with opera halfway through my degree, I switched to vocal performance full time!”
Do you have a dream role that can never be? “I would LOVE to be Figaro in The Barber of Seville if I could!”
What is your favorite thing about Cincinnati? “I love being in a city where there’s such a strong art community! I spent most of my time in Cincinnati during the pandemic and would love to explore more while I’m here this summer.”
Lauren
McAllister
Vesta, Fierce
Where are you from? “Cincinnati, Ohio”
Did you plan on pursuing a career in opera? “No, I was an instrumentalist most of my life (piano, oboe, English horn) and considered a major in brain and cognitive science.”
What is your favorite pastime when you aren’t singing or traveling for work? “Woodworking with my husband, Josh.”
Do you have a dream role that can never be? “Sarastro in The Magic Flute”
Benjamin
Taylor
West, Castor and Patience
Where are you from? “Waldorf, Maryland”
Where do you live now? “Philadelphia, Pennsylvania”
When did you start singing? “Since the third grade. I took the elective to get out of PE, and the rest is history!”
Did you plan on pursuing a career in opera? “I was into heavy metal and prog-rock when I was young, so I wanted to tour and have a skateboard shop/park when I was home.”
Do you have a dream role that can never be? “Carmen is such a great role!”
Mary Elizabeth
Williams
Aida, Aida
Where are you from? “Philadelphia, Pennsylvania”
Where do you live now? “(Just outside of) Milan, Italy”
Did you plan on pursuing a career in opera? “I always sang, but I was reluctant to become a professional singer. I had been warned by many that it would be a rough road, and I tried many times to choose a different path — but the stage kept roping me back in! I considered being a lawyer (with the hopes of one day being a judge) — that was what my father wanted me to be, not really what I wanted. I also considered becoming a therapist, a teacher, an agent...and, in my own way, I do all of these things anyway!”
What has been your most significant experience in your career so far? “This question is very hard to answer. I don't know if there is any one experience I would hold up as being *the most* impactful or important. Every experience, good or bad, has led to other experiences which would not have been possible without what came before. I guess I can say this: every time I have a positive experience singing — every time I feel useful to humanity by providing an emotional outlet to an audience through music — that is the validation that spurs me forward, and that keeps me invested in this career. I guess what I am trying to say is that the impactful experiences in my career are constant — and if they weren't, I wouldn't be doing this for a living, because it absolutely would not be worth it.”
Do you have a dream role that can never be? “No, not really...maybe the Dutchman… but the roles I get to sing are pretty fantastic.”
Any news that you’d like to share? “I am making my debut in a Wagner opera this year, and am currently studying German. I already speak French and Italian (in addition to English) and want to speak all four languages well enough to pick up any score, newspaper, or magazine, and read it. I'm giving myself until the end of this 2022 to become quadrilingual!”
Lauren
Snouffer
Mabel, The Pirates of Penzance
Where are you from? “Austin, Texas”
Where do you live now? “Waco, Texas”
Do you have any pets? “Two rescues: Lulu and Wednesday, both chihuahua mixes.”
What has been your most significant experience in your career so far? “I was very close with my grandfather and he was a professional trumpet player. Many working trumpeters know of him or have studied with him, so one of the great joys of my job is meeting the trumpet section in each orchestra, chatting about my grandpa, and meeting some of his former students who knew him well.”
What is your favorite thing about Cincinnati (if you’ve been here before, of course)? “Cincinnati has great parks!”
Victoria
Ellington
Nyomi, Fierce
Where are you from? “Washington, D.C.”
Where do you live now? “Cincinnati, Ohio”
When did you star singing? “Age 2, but I found my opera voice my junior year of high school!”
Did you plan on pursuing a career in opera? “I always knew I wanted to sing, although I did want to be the first Black female president at one point (still could happen...). I fell in love with opera after hearing recordings of Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman in high school.”
What is your favorite thing about Cincinnati? “Eden Park is beautiful! I love walking around there, and I look forward to getting married at the Cincinnati Art Museum in August!”