Guest Artists
Vanessa Isiguen
Soprano
Lisa Chávez
Mezzo-soprano
Rafael Moras
Tenor
Levi Hernández
Baritone
Andy Anderson
Conductor
Opera Idaho Chorus
Sopranos
Aviana Smith
Heather Ballantyne
Kristen Dittman
Katie Hansen
Hana Jung
Merri Carr
Mezzo-Sopranos
Janell Zuckerman
Hannah Lee
Shelby DeBoard-Ulrich
Naomi Spinelli
Kylie Evans
Rebecca Myers
Tenors
Tim Judy
Anthony Ames
Will Thompson
Geoffrey Parks
Jim Jirak
Alex Lundquist
Basses
Colin Cho
Jesse Kaye
Willis Carr
Erik Noyce
Anders Tobiason
Gregory Watts
Opera Idaho Orchestra
Violin I
Kathy Stutzman1
Lauren Folkner
Anna Marie Vargas
Katherine Dickeson
Violin II
Dawn Douthit2
Paula Stern
Heather Calkins
Alex Hastings
Viola
Dave Johnson2
Marcie Van Heune
Adele Rosen
Lydia Montague
Cello
Micah Claffey2
Stephen Mathie
Jake Saunders
Bass
Chris Ammirati2
Ryan Petriello
Flute
Melanie Keller2
Allison Emerick
Oboe
Ryan Klein
Clarinet
Bryn Huntington2
Carmen Izzo
Bassoon
Janelle Oberbillig
Horn
Brian Vance2
Sean Pogue
Trumpet
Derek Ganong2
Randy Bauer
Trombone
Sarah Paradis
Timpani
Alan Salvador
Percussion
Matthew Grady
Harp (keyboard)
Betsi Hodges
Piano (Keyboard)
Kelly Kaye
Guest Artists Bios
Vanessa Isiguen
www.vanessaisiguen.com
Vanessa made her Opera Idaho debut in the title role of our production of Madama Butterfly, 2018. She recently joined the roster at the Metropolitan Opera to cover the dual role of Kitty/Vanessa in the premiere of The Hours by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Greg Pierce. She began the 2022-2023 season as a soloist with the Oregon Symphony at Portland’s beloved Waterfront Concert, and made her Dublin debut in the title role of Madama Butterfly with the Lyric Opera of Ireland. She also performed Mimì in La bohème with Eugene Opera and the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Portland Youth Philharmonic. This summer she will perform the role of Almera in Dark Sisters by Nico Muhly with Orpheus PDX.
Vanessa looks forward to returning to the Metropolitan Opera in 2024 to cover the role of Liù in Turandot and Kitty/Vanessa in The Hours. Driven by a strong passion for new music, Vanessa was thrilled to create the starring role of Nila in the world premiere of chamber opera Tres Minutos with the Seattle Symphony/Music of Remembrance last summer. She worked closely with composer Nicolas Benavides and librettist Marella Martin Koch singing a tour of performances in Seattle and San Francisco. She began the 2021‐22 season with her New Orleans Opera debut reprising her signature role as Mimì in La bohème with Maestro Joseph Colaneri. Previously Vanessa made her Florida Grand Opera debut in Miami as Cio-Cio-San. She was subsequently featured as a soloist at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, UK singing the famous aria ‘Un bel dÌ, vedremo’, with Maestro Nicola Luisotti for the Insights Program Concert.
Other notable engagements include the starring soprano role of Roberta Alden in An American Tragedy by Tobias Picker and librettist Gene Scheer with Glimmerglass Opera. She also sang the role of Spirit at the Metropolitan Opera workshop of The Sorrows of Frederick by Scott Wheeler and the New York City premiere of the Spanish opera Il Postino by Daniel Catàn as Beatrice Russo.
Vanessa made her debut with the Oregon Symphony as a featured soloist under the baton of Maestro Carlos Kalmar, and her Portland Opera debut as Mimì in La bohème with Maestro George Manahan to rave reviews. Vanessa was scheduled to return to Portland Opera in the 2020 season as Nedda in Pagliacci and after COVID-19 cancellations, she performed the aria ‘Dis-moi que je suis belle’ from Massenet’s Thaïs in the Portland Opera Virtual Benefit Concert in October of 2020.
Vanessa is very proud of her multicultural Filipino, Cuban and Russian heritage, and curated a live-stream virtual recital featuring composers who reflect her ancestry, such as Fernando Obradors and Sergei Rachmaninov. This was presented by Portland Opera with pianist Nicholas Fox in the winter of 2020. Other concert engagements include her debut with Chamber Music Northwest as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Notturni for soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone and three basset horns. She was a returning soloist for the Portland Opera Gala concerts with orchestra conducted by Maestro George Manahan singing selections from Pagliacci, by Leoncavallo, Puccini’s La Rondine and Madama Butterfly, and La Wally by Alfredo Catalani.
Other roles include Liù in Turandot, Magda in La Rondine, Nedda in I Pagliacci, Thaïs by Jules Massenet, Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák, Micaëla and Frasquita in Carmen, La Contessa and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Pamina in Die Zaüberflöte and Adina in L’elisir D’amore. Vanessa has performed with companies such as The Metropolitan Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Portland Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera Tampa, Vashon Opera, and Eugene Opera. She has won top prizes from Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, The Gerda Lissner Foundation NYC, Connecticut Opera Guild, Jenny Lind Competition, and the Bel Canto Competition. Vanessa holds a Bachelor of Music from UNC Chapel Hill, a Master of Music from Boston Conservatory, and a Professional Studies in Opera Diploma from Mannes College of Music – The New School in New York City where she studied with the revered soprano Ruth Falcon.
Lisa Chávez
www.lisachavez.com
Lisa is making her Opera Idaho debut. Last season she made three role debuts. She started the fall with Cimarosa’s comedy Il matrimonio segreto singing Fidalma with Sarasota Opera. Then in February Lisa made her company debut with Opera Tampa singing Adalgisa in Norma. Lisa returned to Sarasota Opera to sing the title role in Massenet’s rarely performed Thérèse. In April she returned to Knoxville Opera as Marcellina in their production of Le nozze di Figaro.
Lisa returned to the stage, post covid, in her debut as Dido Queen of Carthage in Sarasota Opera’s Dido and Aeneas in the spring of 2021, then over the summer was featured in a series of concerts with New York City Opera in Bryant Park. She sang the title role in Carmen, was mezzo soloist in the concert Now That’s What I Call Opera, and Maddalena in Rigoletto which was also performed at the Phoenicia Festival of the Voice. The 18/19 season ended with her originating the role of Maggie in the World Premiere of Iain Bell’s Stonewall with New York City Opera. Lisa began that season with a role debut singing Rosina in Sarasota Opera’s production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia. She then returned to Sarasota for the ‘19 Winter Festival in another role debut, Fenena, of Verdi’s Nabucco. Lisa also made an anticipated return to Washington Opera Society in another Verdi debut as Amneris in Aida.
The 19/20 season began with a company debut with Knoxville Opera in the role of Suzuki in Madama Butterfly. She then returned to Sarasota Opera to sing both Gertrude in Roméo et Juliette and Afra in the rarely performed La Wally. Later that season she was to make another role and company debut as Frances Countess of Essex in Britten’s Gloriana with Odyssey Opera, but was canceled due to Covid shutdown. The 17/18 season included many performances of the title role in Carmen which is looking to become a signature role for her. She returned to Sarasota Opera for all 11 sold out performances of Carmen in their winter 2018 season. She immediately followed Sarasota with Carmen performances with Opera in Williamsburg as well as with Washington Opera Society in D.C.
In addition to Stonewall, Lisa has been seen in multiple American modern operas. She was recently seen singing the title role in the New York premiere of Tobias Picker’s Dolores Claiborne with New York City Opera. This was the opera’s first performance since its debut at SFO. Other English language operas include, Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti, Secretary in The Consul, and Madame Volanges in Dangerous Liaisons. In November 2008, Lisa was a finalist in the worldwide Opera Competition with Mezzo TV, and was seen via live telecast performing the role of Elizabeth Proctor in Robert Ward’s The Crucible in over 40 European countries. She was invited to return to the festival in November 2009 to sing the role of Mrs. Bass for the European premiere of Tobias Picker’s dramatic work Emmeline, also televised on Mezzo TV.
Lisa made her debut with Sarasota Opera in the iconic role of Madame de Croissy of Dialogues of the Carmelites as part of their 2017 winter season. In June of 2016 she made her Carnegie Hall debut as alto soloist in Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo. In 2016, she sang the role of Paula in New York City Opera’s production of Florencia en el Amazonas to great acclaim and was the Alto Soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Billings Symphony Orchestra & Chorale.
In 2013, Lisa won First Place and Audience Choice awards in the Irma M. Cooper Vocal Competition with Opera Columbus, and also placed third in the Irene Dalis Vocal Competition in San Jose. In 2014, she placed 2nd in the Shreveport Singer of the Year Competition, and was also a grant recipient from the Giulio Gari Foundation. In 2015, she was a finalist in the renowned Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition. Lisa has also received Encouragement Awards from the Gerda Lissner Foundation in 2009 and 2011.
Lisa is a graduate of the Master’s Degree Program at the Manhattan School of Music and was a founding member of Opera Collective, an independent opera company making Operatic repertoire accessible to all of the New York City metro area. Lisa is a California Bay Area native and attended California State University Hayward where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Music.
Rafael Moras
rafaelmorastenor.com
Rafael is making his Opera Idaho debut. A graduate of LA Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program and The Santa Fe Opera’s Apprentice Program for Singers, Rafael recently made his Seattle Opera debut as Tariq in the critically-acclaimed world premiere A Thousand Splendid Suns, and made his Minnesota Opera debut as Don José in Carmen, 2022.
Rafael’s 2022-2023 includes debuts with Annapolis Opera as Rodolfo in La bohème, continued performances around the globe with Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, returns to the Houston Grand Opera stage for a reprise of Father Matías in El Milagro del Recuerdo and as Zweite Jude in Salome, a recital with Bethany Self in support of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition’s Houston District, and a return to the Houston Symphony as the featured vocal soloist in Fiesta Sinfónica.
Rafael has performed as a featured soloist with the LA Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, San Antonio Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Fort Worth Opera, Austin Opera, Aspen Music Festival, and as a featured opera singer soloist in the Chris Botti in Concert worldwide tour. Other highlights include debuts with Houston Grand Opera and Arizona Opera as Father Matías in the world premiere of El Milagro del Recuerdo, Utah Opera and Holy City Arts & Lyric Opera as Alfredo in La traviata, and Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera as the Duke in Rigoletto. In 2016, Rafael was heard as Rodolfo in La bohème at the Aspen Music Festival. He is a 2017 and 2018 recipient of The Santa Fe Opera’s Richard Tucker Fund Award, a 2014 Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition Grand Finalist, 2014 Operalia Quarter Finalist, and a 2013 and 2014 Eleanor McCollum Vocal Competition Finalist.
Prior to cancellations in the wake of COVID-19, Rafael’s 2020-2021 was to include a company debut with Arizona Opera as Father Matías in El Milagro del Recuerdo (rescheduled for 2021), a house debut with Opera Philadelphia as Malcom in Macbeth, continued touring around the world as a soloist in Grammy Award-winner Chris Botti’s Chris Botti in Concert, and a return to the Houston Symphony as the Tenor I Soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy under the leadership of Fabien Gabel for “Beethoven + López”.
2018-2019 included a company debut with Dallas Opera as Remendado in Carmen, Nemorino from L’elisir d’amore in Santa Fe Opera’s Apprentice Scene Showcase, YoungArts’ “Pop of Culture with Plácido Domingo”, Lyric Opera of Chicago – Lyric Unlimited’s “Caribe Clásico”, and a return to Santa Fe Opera for “The Santa Fe Opera Winter Concert Tour”.
Other past highlights include Flavio in LA Opera’s Norma, Pong in Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra’s Turandot, Pedrillo in Houston Symphony’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and the tenor soloist in LA Phil’s Beethoven Choral Fantasia under Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and in LA Opera’s Petite messe solennelle under Plácido Domingo.
Rafael obtained his Bachelor of Music Degree at The University of Texas at San Antonio and a Masters in Vocal Performance at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Rafael was a featured singer in the 2010 HBO documentary “Masterclass with Plácido Domingo,” was part of the inaugural class of the Young Artist Vocal Academy with Houston Grand Opera, and is a 2006 YoungArts Silver Medal Award Winner in Classical Voice and 2006 United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts.
Levi Hernández
www.uiatalent.com/levihernandez
In the 2022-2023 season, Levi was featured in our Celebrando a México concert, sang Lescaut in Manon Lescaut with North Carolina Opera, returned to The Metropolitan Opera to cover Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore, and bowed with Kansas City Symphony in Handel’s Messiah. In the 2021-2022 season, Levi returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago as Alvaro in Florencia en el Amazonas, reprised the title role in Gianni Schicchi with Tulsa Opera, debuted with Hawaii Opera Theater as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, and performed Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer with Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra. In recent seasons, he has continued his longstanding relationship with the work of composer Daniel Catan, appearing as Rappaccini in La Hija de Rappaccini with Chicago Opera Theater, sang Tonio in I Pagliacci with Opera Colorado and El Paso Opera, and Aba in El milagro del recuerdo Houston Grand Opera. He has sung Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath with Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Virginia Opera, Nashville Opera, Arizona Opera, and Chattanooga Symphony & Opera. He recently debuted with Opera Colorado as Marcello in La bohème, Inspector Kildare in Elizabeth Cree with Chicago Opera Theater, Alvaro in Florencia en el Amazonas with San Diego Opera and Madison Opera, and Ford in Falstaff with Intermountain Opera. He has covered the title role in The Death of Klinghoffer and productions of Die Frau ohne Schatten and Carmen with the Metropolitan Opera.
Additionally, Levi has sung Alvaro in Florencia en el Amazonas with Arizona Opera, Sonora in La fanciulla del West with Opera Omaha, Music Master in Ariadne auf Naxos with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Don Magnifico in La cenerentola with Opera Omaha, Dandini in La cenerentola with Opera Roanoke and Opera North, Papageno with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Madison Opera, Gianni Schicchi with Intermountain Opera, Germont in La traviata with Opera Roanoke and Intermountain Opera, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Pine Mountain Music Festival, Guglielmo in Puccini’s Le Villi with the Spoleto Festival, USA, his European debut with Komische Oper Berlin’s Pique Dame in the role of Tomski, Guglielmo/Remigio in Le villi/La Navarraise at Bard Music Festival Tobias Mill in Rossini’s La cambiale di matrimonio with Opera Omaha, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Arizona Opera, Nashville Opera, Minnesota Opera, Intermountain Opera, Virginia Opera, Lake George Opera and Cedar Rapids Opera, his debut with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis as Leporello in Don Giovanni, Marcello in La bohème with Opera Memphis, San Antonio Opera, and El Paso Opera, Schaunard in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s La bohème, Valentin in Faust with the Kalamazoo Symphony, Count Ceprano in Rigoletto, Moralès in Carmen, and Haly in L’italiana in Algeri, all with Opera Company of Philadelphia, and Don Lucas in Luisa Fernanda, Sciarrone in Tosca, and Crébillon in La rondine with Los Angeles Opera.
Levi has been seen on the concert platform as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the El Paso Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, the Phoenix Symphony, the Pennsylvania Ballet, and Cheyenne Symphony and others, in Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer with Cheyenne Symphony, in Handel’s Alexander’s Feast with Music of the Baroque, Dvorak’s Te Deum with Shippensburg Music Festival, and in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Pennsylvania Ballet. A 2002 Metropolitan Opera National Council Awards finalist, his many awards include a Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation grant as well as being a 2002 OPERALIA competition finalist. After receiving his undergraduate degree at Westminster Choir College, Levi attended the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.
Andy Anderson
andersonandy.com
Maestro Andy Anderson has emerged as a prominent conductor in the world of opera and musical theater. Based in New York, Andy’s expertise in a vast repertoire ranging from Sondheim to Wagner has garnered critical acclaim. Andy’s exceptional talent and experience have recently earned him the appointment as the Principal Conductor for Opera Idaho. This will be Andy’s third year conducting Opera in the Park for Opera Idaho and will also be conducting Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette for the same company in February 2024. As a guest conductor, Andy is highly sought after and has made significant contributions to the artistic output of many companies, including Rimrock Opera, Amarillo Opera, Raylynmor Opera, Charlottesville Opera, and Anchorage Opera. Andy conducted his highly anticipated international debut in 2017, conducting Don Giovanni with the Stara Zagora State Opera in Bulgaria.
Andy’s “youthful vitality” (Kansas City Star) has brought him into many senior leadership roles, including Artistic and Music Director of Mobile Opera and Assistant Conductor of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. As Artistic Director of the Civic Opera Theatre of Kansas City, Anderson conducted a diverse range of productions, including Our Town, Everlasting Universe, The Medium, The Mikado, Street Scene, Edgar, Passion, Falstaff, and Le Nozze di Figaro.
In Andy, “there is no shortage of talent on display” (Kansas City Star). He has an affinity for “skillfully eliciting a lush sound from his pit orchestra and shaping the songs with the actors, rather than merely accompanying them”, as observed by The Sondheim Review. Andy’s recent company debut with Opera Ithaca in 2022 with Le Nozze di Figaro and his conducting of Marble City Opera’s production of Floyd’s Susannah have only reinforced his standing as a passionate and talented conductor.
In addition, Andy conducted the 150th Birthday celebration for Holland America Cruise Lines in September 2022, and recently conducted a workshop for a new musical, Dear Edvard.
