Opera in the Press

Opera in the Park previews have all been published, here is a master list of links:

Plus, check out The Isthmus in print: “Bold Choices: Classical groups innovate with 2010-11 seasons,” or tune into WISC-TV today at Noon and WKOW27 today at 5 and 6 p.m.

UPDATE:  Click here to watch General Director Allan Naplan on “Wake Up Wisconsin” discussing Opera in the Park, or here to watch soprano Anya Matanovich on News at 12 on WISC-TV.

OITP Preview: Barbara Shirvis

Last but not least in our “Preview” series is Barbara Shirvis, an “authentic blonde beauty” (Opera News) and powerhouse soprano. Ms. Shirvis will be performing excerpts from The Marriage of Figaro, Rusalka, Phantom of the Opera, and A Little Night Music at Opera in the Park, and we couldn’t be more excited to have her with us in Madison.

In addition to her performance with Madison Opera this summer, Ms. Shrivis will sing the title role in Tosca in concert performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, opposite her husband and fellow OITP guest artist Stephen Powell as Scarpia. Throughout her career, Mozart has been her calling card, with triumphs around the country as Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte in particular. But Ms. Shirvis’s range of repertoire is wide, having conquered everything from Verdi to Ricky Ian Gordon. A frequent concert artist and recitalist, she has partnered with Powell for programs spanning the American songbook, and the Opera in the Park audience will be treated to her rendition of “Do, Re, Mi” come Saturday.

Click here to listen to a sample of Barbara Shirvis singing “Come Scoglio” from Cosi fan Tutte.

Madison Opera on TV

Madison Opera’s General Director Allan Naplan and our Opera in the Park guest artists will be making the rounds on local news channels over the next few days. Here’s where you can find them:

  • Thursday, July 15, 4 p.m. /  News with Carleen Wild on NBC15
  • Friday, July 16, 6:40 a.m. /  Wake Up Wisconsin on WKOW27
  • Friday, July 16, 12:20 p.m. / News 3 at Noon on WISC-TV
  • Friday, July 16, 5 & 6 p.m. / News at 5 and News at 6 on WKOW27

Text to donate at Opera in the Park

Madison Opera is excited to announce a mobile giving option to support Opera in the Park 2010. The free event annually attracts over 13,000 people to Garner Park and offers the company a unique opportunity generate new support. Through a partnership with Give by Cell and the Mobile Giving Foundation, those interested in donating to Madison Opera can now text the word “OPERA” to the number 20222 to make a contribution of $10 in support of the Opera in the Park Fund.

Visit the Madison Opera website for details, or read below:


Here’s how it works: on your mobile phone, prepare to send a text message to the number 20222, and enter the word “OPERA” as the message. After the message is sent, you will receive a confirmation text in return, prompting you to reply “YES” to finalize the transaction. Once you reply “YES,” the donation is entered!

A one-time donation of $10 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. Messaging and Data Rates May Apply. All charges are billed by and payable to your mobile service provider. Service is available on most carriers. Donations are collected for the benefit of Madison Opera by the Mobile Giving Foundation and subject to the terms found at www.hmgf.org/t. You can unsubscribe at any time by replying STOP to short code 20222; Reply HELP to 20222 for help. 
 
Madison Opera will not use your phone number for future SMS solicitation. View our privacy policy.

OITP Preview: Anya Matanovic

Soprano Anya Matanovic has been called “radiant”, “sweetly winning”, and “glorious” by critics from Seattle to Cleveland to Jerusalem. And you can hear her at Opera in the Park this Saturday.

Born in Madison, Wisconsin and raised in Issaquah, Washington to a Slovenian father and American mother, Anya now calls New York City her home. From there, she brings her “thrilling” voice to opera stages across the country. Anya made her professional opera debut, directly from her undergraduate studies at USC, as Mimì in the Los Angeles commercial engagement of Baz Luhrmann’s Tony Award-winning production of La Bohème. More recent engagements include work with the New Israeli Opera, Seattle Opera, Kentucky Opera and Opera Cleveland. 

At Opera in the Park, Anya will sing highlights from The Marriage of Figaro as Susanna, a role she’ll reprise with Madison Opera in the fall, in addition to displaying the vocal fireworks of Violetta’s “Sempre libera” aria from La Traviata.

Welcome back to Madison, Anya! 


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);