[FAC] FAC-List Digest: California Opera Characters at Storyland

[Diane Nixon]

Meet the California Opera “Hansel and Gretel” Characters at Rotary Storyland 890 West Belmont Avenue on Saturday, March 17th , 11 AM – 1 PM! 

The California Opera Association is also scheduled to perform the opera at Tower Theater, March 18th at 3 PM and on March 19th and 20th for school children.  Please call (559) 225-6737 for additional information about the Storyland character appearances and the Tower Theater performances. 

Artists scheduled to greet patrons of the park include: 

Hansel, Mezzo-Soprano Montserrat Verdugo 
Tijuana, the Mexican border city has a growing opera community and the city now has its first opera company, graced by Montserrat Verdugo.  Recitals and lectures are frequent, and Tijuana natives like Montserrat are both enjoying and enriching the opportunities afforded by Tijuana's cultural growth. California Opera has been collaborating in offering masterclasses, training and performance opportunities for young artists of the Tijuana area, which is how Montserrat Verdugo came to be cast in California Opera productions.  Most recently, Montserrat debuted in Fresno last summer in the roles of Flora Bervoix in La Traviata and in the opera company’s arrangement of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen.

Gretel, Soprano Jennifer Myers 
Jennifer Myers graduated the Cornish Conservatory in Seattle, WA then performed extensively throughout the Pacific Northwest in Opera, Oratorio, Operetta, and Musical Theater. While in Seattle she performed the role of Lauretta in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Cupid in Purcell’s King Arthur, Lucy in Menotti’s The Telephone, and Monica in Menotti’s The Medium. While singing with Seattle and Portland Operas, she was cast as Cosette in the national ‘Broadway Across America’ tour of Les Miserables.  Recent engagements include Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate with the Nashville Symphony. A Fresno native, Jennifer performed with Bear Valley Music Festival, with The Townsend opera, COS, Good Company Players, Theater 3, Fresno Children’s Playhouse, Center Stage, C.M.T., The Sierra Chamber Opera, Fresno City College, and Opera Fresno. Youth director of California Opera’s young artists and outreach programs, Jennifer’s most recent roles were Mimi in La Boheme and  in the Der Ring des Nibelungen. Jennifer has also performed with the Fresno productions of California Opera’s The Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Jennie Parsons in Weil’s Down in the Valley. Jenny encourages young artists in all musical genres, and directed the youth performances of Menotti’s Chip and His Dog last summer and has been involved with the training of the youth and vocal ensembles for COA productions.

The Dew Fairy, Soprano Ayelet Cohen 
A California Opera Association International Vocal Competition Finalist, Soprano Ayelet Cohen packs a big voice in a little body, performing the Dew Fairy and understudying the role of Gretel which she will perform for Tuesday’s matinees.  From Israel, she is on faculty with the Berkshire Institute of Music and Arts. Ayelet received her Bachelor of Music from the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem, her BA in Musicology from the Hebrew University. She later in this country received a MM from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. At age eleven, Ayelet Cohen was performing in Europe as a soloist with the prestigious Ankor Choir. Ayelet has performed roles in the operas of Puccini, Purcell, Mozart and Menotti. Last year she performed in Le Nozze di Figaro with the New Opera Festival di Roma, in Gianni Schicchi with the Berkeley Opera, and in Johnny Johnson with the Oakland Opera Theater. Her most recent concert engagement in Israel was with the Jerusalem Symphony. Ayelet coaches choral ensembles for the San Francisco Boy’s Choir, Tehiyah Hebrew Day School and for several other Jewish music and arts programs in Israel and in the San Francisco area.  Ayelet performed over the 2006 California Opera Arts and Education Festival in solo concert and as Musetta in La Boheme, and in the Der Ring des Nibelungen.

The Witch, Tenor Zachary Sheely 
Zachary, a resident of Lemoore, returns in the role of the witch.  Zachary is among several Fresno and California artists that accompanied Ms. Garabedian on the world tours of the opera company this year. In Hangzhou at the California Opera production of Carmen last October, Zachary performed the role of Don Jose along with Chinese artists. After graduating from Westmont College with a degree in Biology and Chemistry and minor in Music, Zachary has performed through the region and abroad as he develops his outstanding, unique, rich talent and broadens professional preparations for a very serious, International, operatic career.

The Sandman and Gingerbread Children with special appearances:  Kim Rincon, Graciela Esquivel, Clarkia Cobb, and Deidre Byers among other veteran teen opera leaders. 




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