Puget Sound Concert Opera presents Verdi’s Falstaff

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5 JUN Fri 2020

7:30 PM 10:00 PM

Event ended

Falstaff, Verdi's comic masterpiece, will be presented by Puget Sound Concert Opera in June, 2020 with performances in Seattle and Bellevue, WA

THE PSCO EXPERIENCE

With custom arrangements for chamber ensemble, performed by the best local talent, our productions are presented at the highest quality. In our intimate venues combined with the innovative concert opera format, you will see, hear and feel every note! No need for opera glasses or the distraction of sets or costumes. Enjoy refreshments at intermission, have an opportunity to win a free door prize and then it’s right back to the glorious music!

CAST

Sir John Falstaff, an aging Knight – Michael Drumheller

Michael Drumheller is originally from Richland, Washington. A favorite bass- baritone in the Pacific Northwest classical music and opera scenes, he has been a soloist with Seattle Symphony, Tacoma Opera, Skagit Opera, Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Boston Lyric Opera, Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestra Seattle, and many other organizations, under the direction of renowned conductors including Robert Spano, Gerard Schwarz, and Leonard Slatkin. As a recitalist, he is especially interested in Russian music, and has been an invited performer of Russian vocal repertoire at the Icicle Creek Music Festival and at Wellesley College. Mr. Drumheller holds a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from Boston University, where he was a student of Phyllis Curtin. He is an alumnus of the Tanglewood Music Center and holds BS and MS degrees from MIT. His diverse musical background includes playing tympani in symphony orchestras and drumming and singing for his own rock bands. Mr. Drumheller has been a featured performer in many productions of the late, distinguished Northwest conductor Hans Wolf, and regularly appears as a soloist for Northwest Chorale, which raises money for Northwest Harvest.

Ford, a wealthy man– Charles Robert Stephens

Charles Robert Stephens’s career spans a wide variety of roles and styles in opera and concert music. His performances show “a committed characterization and a voice of considerable beauty.” (Opera News) At the New York City Opera he sang the role of Professor Friedrich Bhaer in the New York premiere of Adamo’s Little Women, and was hailed by The New York Times as a “baritone of smooth distinction.” Since his debut as Marcello in La Bohème, Mr. Stephens’ New York City Opera roles include Frank in Die Tote Stadt, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, and 43 performances as Germont in La Traviata on tour across the US. Mr. Stephens has sung on numerous occasions at Carnegie Hall in a variety of roles with the Oratorio Society of New York (St. Matthew Passion), the Masterworks Chorus (Messiah), and Musica Sacra (Lord Nelson Mass). Carnegie Hall performances with Opera Orchestra of New York have included roles in Otello, Lucrezia Borgia, and Adriana Lecouvreur. Mr. Stephens’ many operatic roles include Rigoletto (National Theater of Taiwan), Amonasro (El Paso Opera), Germont (Montevideo, Uruguay and Minnesota Opera), Rodrigo (Boston Bel Canto), Count di Luna (Boston Bel Canto), Gianni Schicchi (Buffalo Opera), Tonio ( Di Capo Opera), Enrico (Connecticut Opera), Sharpless (National Theater of Santo Domingo), the Barber in Figaro (Hawaii Opera) and many others, with leading opera companies throughout the U.S. and abroad. Memorable engagements include the role of the blind Tiresias in Niobe, Queen of Thebes with the Boston Early Music Festival, Scarpia in Tosca and Rigoletto in Spokane, Belcore, Sharpless and Escamillio with the Helena Symphony, Britten’s Cantata Misericordia in Tacoma and Seattle, Verdi’s Requiem in Philadelphia, Messiah with the Santa Fe Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony, Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony with the Tacoma Symphony, The High Priest in Samson and Delilah in Birmingham and the Bach St. John Passion with Portland Baroque and the Northwest Sinfonietta. Festival appearances include performances at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts and the Methow Chamber Music Festival, a return engagement at the Spoletto Festival in the Brahms Requiem with the Westminster Choir and TV appearances in New York City as a featured artist with “Regina Resnik Presents.” Notable engagements include Elijah with Seattle Pro Musica and Portland Chamber Orchestra, and the Brahms Requiem with the Bellingham Festival, Choral Arts and Northwest Repertory Singers, Carmina Burana with the Hartford Symphony, Haydn’s Creation with the North Carolina Symphony. Last season opened with his 5th appearance with the Seattle Symphony (opening night concert) and ended with his 11th appearance with the Helena Symphony (Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony). This season will include performances of the Monteverdi Vespers as his 5th engagement with Pacific Musicworks, Messiah with Tacoma Symphony and Bellevue Ballet, Brahms Requiem in Missoula and Olympia, the title role in Rigoletto with Northwest Lyric Opera, Bach B Minor Mass with Seattle Pro Musica and Haydn’s Mass in Time of War with the Northwest Sinfonietta.

Alice Ford, his wife – Regina Thomas

Noted for her portrayal of Alice Ford (Falstaff) for Repertory Opera Company, Los Angeles, Regina Thomas is described as a "buoyant soprano with solid technique". A high honors recipient in both Opera and Art Song divisions at the Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside(Bellevue, WA) and a semi-finalist at Il Concorso Internationale di Canto Lirico (Siena, Italy), Regina completed her Vocal Performance Masters’ Degree at the University of Washington, where she studied with renowned Wagnerian soprano, Jane Eaglen. An outstanding member of the Northwest Musical community for over 20 years, Regina Thomas has performed with a variety of companies including Kitsap Opera, Willamette Concert Opera, Bellevue Opera, Puget Sound Concert Opera, Seattle Opera and the Seattle Opera Guild. She is currently the Opera Director and is a Past President of the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle. Operatic roles include Suor Angelica, Tosca, Marguerite (Faust), Lady MacBeth (MacBeth), Leonora (Il Trovatore), Vitellia (La Clemenza di Tito), Prince Orlovsky (Die Fledermaus), The Mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Dorabella (Cosi Fan Tutte), Mother (Hansel and Gretel) and Judith (Bluebeard's Castle). In concert, she has performed soprano solos from Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Ein Deutches Requiem and Fauré Requiem as well as Berio's Folk Songs for Mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble. Regina is also the founder and general director of Puget Sound Concert Opera - she is the lady who makes all our wonderful productions possible!

Nanetta, their daughter – Serena Eduljee

Soprano Serena Eduljee’s current season includes a full schedule in the Pacific Northwest, including performances as Queen of the Night/First Lady (Die Zauberflote), Katya (Katya Kabanova), Violetta (La Traviata), and Gretel (Hansel und Gretel) for the Seattle Opera previews, Frasquita (Carmen) with Pacific Northwest Opera, and the title role of Cinderella in Seattle Opera's touring production of Cinderella in Spain. As a recipient of the Seattle Opera Guild/OperaPlus Artist Scholarship for 2016, she recently performed as Frasquita in Pacific Northwest Opera's production of Carmen; and Alitsa and Raccoon for Seattle Opera’s commissioned cycle Our Earth, as well as in recital, gala, and chorus performances for Seattle Opera. Entertainment News Northwest calls Serena “magnetic,” claiming “Eduljee has one of those luminous stage presences that make me want to see much more of her in the future.” Among the roles in her repertoire, Ms. Eduljee has performed as the title role in Semele,Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), Marie (La Fille du Régiment), Alkandre (Faure's rarely done, Penelope), and Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) as well as covering the roles of Gilda (Rigoletto) and Adele (Die Fledermaus). In previous seasons, Serena appeared with Skagit Opera, OperaBend and the Central Oregon Symphony, Opera Mariposa, Portland Summer Opera Workshop, and Ensign Symphony, for whom she was the soloist for the US premiere of Tommasso Traetta’s lost motet, In nocte plena, performed at Benaroya Hall, Seattle. This spring, Serena returns as a featured soloist for the ten-year anniversary of the Ten Grands Gala at Benaroya Hall. Serena is thrilled to make her debut with Puget Sound Concert Opera as Walter in La Wally; and with Vashon Opera as Olympia (Les Contes d'Hoffmann) in 2018. Serena was a participant in the OperaWorks Advanced Artist Program in 2013 and holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. She currently resides in Issaquah.

Meg Page – Rachelle Moss

Contralto Rachelle Moss made a notable debut as Kate Pinkerton in Sarasota Opera’s production of Madama Butterfly. Sarasota newspaper Your Observer, praised her portrayal as “regal”. In the 2018-2019 season Ms. Moss portrayed the title role in Carmen and Commendatora in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Operamuse, Bianca in The Rape of Lucretia with Tacoma Opera, and Fire in Seattle Art Song Society’s Elemental Recital. She will return to Puget Sound Concert Opera as Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia and make her debut at St. Petersburg Opera singing Maestra delle Novizie and covering La Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica as an Emerging Artist. Rachelle also enjoys singing both operetta and concert repertoire. She has performed the roles of Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd with the University of North Texas and Effie in The Ballad of Baby Doe with the Spotlight on Opera; as the Alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Federal Way Symphony; and as the Alto soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass with Kansas City Kansas Community Chorus. Ms. Moss was an 2016-2017 Apprentice Artist at Sarasota Opera. She has received numerous awards including: a Career Grant from the Seattle Opera Guild, an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the Mary Cook Memorial Award for Outstanding Apprentice Artist from Sarasota Opera Guild, and the Stuart R. Silver Scholarship from Sarasota Opera. She holds a Bachelor's in Music History and Master's in Vocal Performance from the University of North.

Fenton, one of Nanetta’s suitors – Luke Norvell

Luke Norvell is a tenor studying voice and music education at The Master's University, where he also sings actively in the Los Angeles area. After having sung various bass and baritone roles such as Frank Maurrant in Street Scene, Sprecher, Second Priest, and Second Man in Armor in Die Zauberflöte, Ben in The Telephone, and Vater in Hänsel und Gretel, he has made the transition to tenor. He made his operatic tenoral debut singing Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus in July 2019 and has since sung Monostatos, First Priest, and First Man in Armor in Die Zauberflöte. On the concert stage, he has sung the tenor solos for Mozart's Requiem and in competition, he has both a first and a second place finish in the NATS LA Collegiate Auditions.

Dawn Padula ( Mistress Quickly)

Dawn Padula, mezzo-soprano, is a versatile performer of opera, oratorio, musical theatre, jazz, and classical concert repertoire. Opera roles include Carmen (Carmen), Azucena (Il Trovatore), Lady Jane (Patience 2018 Gregory Awards People’s Choice Award Nominee), Lady Blanche (Princess Ida), Ruth (The Pirates of Penzance), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Meg (Falstaff), The Third Lady (The Magic Flute), the Witch (Hansel and Gretel), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Isabella (The Italian Girl in Algiers), Erika (Vanessa), and the Sorceress (Dido and Aeneas). In the Pacific Northwest, she has performed with Tacoma Opera, Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Kitsap Opera, Concert Opera of Seattle, PLU’s Jazz Under the Stars, Puget Sound Concert Opera, the Tacoma Concert Band, the Oregon Symphony, the Portland Symphonic Choir, the Seattle Bach Choir, the Second City Chamber Series, Classical Tuesdays in Old Town Tacoma Concert Series, Lakewood Playhouse, and Opera Pacifica. With Seattle Opera, she is a member of the Supplementary Chorus. In June 2017, she toured to Varna and Sofia, Bulgaria as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the Pazardzhik Symphony. In August 2017, she released her debut classical solo album, Gracious Moonlight, featuring Dominick Argento’s Pulitzer Prize winning song cycle, From the Diary of Virginia Woolf. Dr. Padula is currently the Director of Vocal Studies at the University of Puget Sound School of Music.

Dr. Caius – Stuart Lutzenhiser

Stuart Lutzenhiser hails from Seattle and is a frequent soloist in arts organizations around the Northwest. He has appeared with Tacoma Opera, North Bay Opera, the renowned Pocket Opera of San Francisco, Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Vancouver Opera and Seattle Opera, as a member of their Preview Artists program, and as far away as Maracaibo, Venezuela. A regular with local symphonies and choral groups, he has performed with the Yakima Symphony, Thalia Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Whatcom Symphony, Bremerton Symphony and can be heard on the Seattle Pro Musica recording of the Rachmaninov Vespers. Mr. Lutzenhiser holds a Masters Degree from Indiana University where he was also awarded a Performer's Certificate as an outstanding recitalist. An advocate of contemporary, he has performed the world premieres of Corigliano's Of Rage and Remembrance and McGary's St. Mark's Passion. When not busy singing, Stuart keeps his hands full with his wonderful wife Melissa and their two children, Helen and Alice.

Pistola, a follower of Falstaff – Adam Sterling

(bio coming soon)Bardolfo, a follower of Falstaff – Namarea Randolph- Yosea(bio coming soon)Conducted and Arranged by David McDade

David McDade is the Head of Coach/accompanists for Seattle Opera, also serving as a musical advisor for the Young Artists Program. He has been active as an accompanist and conductor of opera, and has been a member of the music staff of Portland Opera and Washington National Opera. He has been both an accompanist (Seattle) and judge (Spokane) for the MONC auditions, and a judge for the Sun Valley Opera Vocal Competition. His varied background includes credits as french hornist, vocalist, and actor. He is a graduate of Portland State University (BM, vocal performance) and The Peabody Conservatory (MM, conducting).

Chorus Master/Piano – John Burkhardt

John Burkhardt (chorus master/piano) currently serves as chorus master and principal accompanist for Puget Sound Concert Opera. John has arranged and conducted numerous PSCO productions including Lucrezia Borgia, La Damoiselle Elue, Andrea Chenier, Don Giovanni and I Capuletti ed I Montecchi. John has served as the principal accompanist and chorus master for Bellevue Opera as well. He works for University of Washington Tacoma, managing their communications. He is musically active in the Unitarian Universalist church and has been an opera and musical theater pianist for many years in Seattle and elsewhere.

Contact Information & Social Media

Email: info@pugetsoundconcertopera.org

Falstaff

An opera by Giuseppe Verdi

Libretto by Arrigo Boito based on the work of William Shakespeare, presented concert style with a chamber orchestra

Additional performance Sunday, June 7th, 6:00 PM at Resonance at Soma Towers in Bellevue. Tickets for the Bellevue performance are available HERE

Price: $20 in advance, $30 at the door

SYNOPSIS

Sir John Falstaff is an aging, foolhardy nobleman. He currently owes so much money, his credit is no longer good. To rebuild his fortune, he plans to seduce a wealthy middle-class woman into funding his lifestyle. He writes Alice Ford a romantic letter and believes she will fall swooning into his arms due to his charm and titled status. To hedge his bets, he also writes to Meg Page. Unfortunately, his plan has some flaws.