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I recently returned from the Astoria Music Festival, where my main activity was singing Count Almaviva in "Le nozze di Figaro". As a part of the Festival program, I also had the opportunity to have masterclasses with Ruth Ann Swenson and David Burnakus in addition to meeting a number of wonderful new singers. We stayed very busy for the 2 1/2 weeks that we were there, singing chorus for "Il trovatore" (which starred Angela Meade and Richard Zeller) and several other concerts, taking some Italian classes (long overdue for me....an opera singer who's never taken Italian??!), preparing "Figaro" and when we could, attempting to take in as much of the local flavor as possible. Astoria's a great place, and I look forward to returning sometime soon.

The rest of the summer is going to be spent working at the hospital quite a bit, spending time in Spokane with family, an August trip to Las Vegas, and working on music for the season ahead. I'll try to be better about updating this more often :)

Almaviva in Astoria (but not in August :)

I am pleased to report that I will be performing the role of Count Almaviva in "Le nozze di Figaro" in Astoria, Oregon this summer as part of the Astoria Music Festival. The production will be directed by Noel Koran, who directed my first performance as the Count (with Lyric Opera Northwest in 2009) and it will be great to have the opportunity to work with him again. I will be singing with a cast of singers mostly new to me, and it's always enjoyable meeting and performing with new colleagues. I will be in Astoria from mid-June until July 3rd, and Heather even gets to join me for the last few days, which will be wonderful. I look forward to a great time!

Returning to Tacoma Opera in 2011-12 Season!

I am very excited to share that I will be singing Schaunard in La Boheme with Tacoma Opera next season! Performances will be taking place on March 30 and April 1, 2012 at the Rialto Theater in Tacoma. I have been awaiting an opportunity to sing with this company again, after having sung several pieces with them right at the close of my undergraduate degree at the University of Puget Sound. I will post as more details become available, but for specifics you may visit http://www.tacomaopera.com/ as we get closer to next season. Stay tuned for another exciting announcement, hopefully by the end of this week......

La commedia e stupenda!

Just had our one and only performance of "La Boheme" with Lyric Opera Northwest last evening. It went very well, and it was great to have the chance to sing the role again! I really enjoyed singing with the cast, several of which this was the first time we'd worked together. Our Rodolfo was Gino Lucchetti, who I sang with the first time I performed Schaunard. Jason Fowler and Carissa Castaldo are two singers new to the local scene (Marcello and Musetta) and Craig Nim (Colline) and Dohee Kim (Mimi) rounded out the cast. Looking forward to joining LONW for a show sometime in the future. Next up is previews as Papageno for Seattle Opera Guild, followed by Yamadori in "Butterfly" in Vashon. More updates as they become available!!

Two more exciting events!

Friday March 18
7:00pm
Arias/Duets from Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflote, La Boheme, and Werther with Kim Giordano
McCaw Residence

Friday April 8
7:30pm
Jacobsen Series Concert
Operatic Selections with Christina Kowalski, Dawn Padula, Michael Delos, and Gino Lucchetti
Schneebeck Concert Hall - University of Puget Sound

Alza!

This past weekend brought the opening of Massenet's "Don Quichotte" with Seattle Opera, and I am very impressed with such a great group of singers! John Relyea and Nicolas Cavallier share the title role, with Malgorzata Walewska and Daniela Sindram as Dulcinee. Both Eduardo Chama and Richard Bernstein are equally responsible for Sancho Panza's final aria "Riez, allez" being one of my new favorites :) Please come and see the show, which runs through Saturday, March 12. I can assure you won't be disappointed! Tickets and information at www.seattleopera.org

Upcoming Events

February 26-March 12
Don Quichotte (Chorus)
Seattle Opera - McCaw Hall
www.seattleopera.org

March 18
Handel Vespers (Baritone)
Our Lady Of Fatima Parish - Seattle, WA
www.olfatima.org

May 13 & 15
Madama Butterfly (Yamadori)
Vashon Opera
www.vashonopera.org