Wuthering Heights Artist Biographies Jesse Blumberg (Mr. Lockwood)
Baritone Jesse Blumberg is an artist equally at home on opera, concert, and recital stages. Last season, he performed the role of the Celebrant in Bernstein's Mass at London's Royal Festival Hall under the baton of Marin Alsop, debuted with Boston Lyric Opera as Harlekin in Ariadne auf Naxos, and performed recitals in Paris with the Mirror Visions Ensemble. In 2007, he created the role of Connie Rivers in The Grapes of Wrath (recorded by P.S. Classics) at the Minnesota Opera, and later made his Utah and Pittsburgh Opera debuts in the same production. Other recent appearances include leading and featured roles with Annapolis Opera, Opera Delaware, Opera Vivente and the Boston Early Music Festival.
In concert, Jesse has been a featured soloist with American Bach Soloists, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Sacred Music in a Sacred Space and the Berkshire Choral Festival. He has also given the world premieres of two important chamber works: Ricky Ian Gordon's Green Sneakers (recorded by Blue Griffin Recording) and Lisa Bielawa's The Lay of the Love and Death, the former at the Vail Valley Music Festival, and the latter at Alice Tully Hall. He has toured with the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Waverly Consort, and given recitals for the Marilyn Horne Foundation. Last season, he and pianist Martin Katz performed Schubert's two monumental song cycles, Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise, over one weekend in Ann Arbor, and will soon repeat this pairing in New York City. Jesse has been recognized in many song and opera competitions, and in 2008 was awarded Third Prize at the International Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau, becoming its first American prizewinner in over thirty years.
His 2010–2011 engagements include song recitals in New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., debuts with New York Festival of Song, Clarion Society, University Musical Society, Green Mountain Project and Apollo's Fire, and returns to American Bach Soloists, Minnesota Opera and the Boston Early Music Festival. Jesse received a Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and undergraduate degrees in history and music from the University of Michigan. Jesse is also the founder and artistic director of the Five Boroughs Music Festival, a new concert series in New York City.
Michael Christie (conductor)
Michael Christie is the Music Director of the Colorado Music Festival (Boulder, CO) and the Virginia G. Piper Music Director of the Phoenix Symphony. He has served as Music Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and Queensland Orchestra (Brisbane, Australia). With his orchestras, he has embarked on a series of ambitious projects focusing on symphonic cycles and interdisciplinary collaborations with visual artists, dance companies and theater groups, as well as on contemporary composers such as Gorecki, Ligeti, Adams, Goijov, Tan Dun, Rouse and Higdon, among many others.
Perhaps the most enduring legacy of his work since coming to international attention in 1995 when he was awarded a special prize for "Outstanding Potential" at the First International Sibelius Conductor's Competition in Helsinki, has been the extraordinary audience development initiatives he has undertaken. His "variety is key" approach to programming along with an infectious enthusiasm for communicating with patrons has yielded industry leading increases in participation and attendance in Boulder and Phoenix in particular.
He has enjoyed performing with the great orchestras of the world, including the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and St. Louis Symphony in the United States and the radio orchestras of Scandinavia and orchestras in almost every European country. He began his professional conducting training at the Zurich Opera and is looking forward to a full schedule of opera engagements in the coming seasons, including his debut performances with the Minnesota Opera this spring.
Sara Jakubiak (Catherine)
The young American soprano Sara Jakubiak has been described as "a singer who is going places and should delight audiences for years to come" by the New Haven Register and possessed of a voice which is "rich and resonant, highly expressive and solid from top to bottom" by Tulsa World.
In 2010–2011, Sara Jakubiak makes her New York City Opera debut as Dede in Bernstein's A Quiet Place, also appearing in concert in "Lucky to Be Me" for NYCO; debuts with Virginia Opera as Eurydice in Orphée; sings as soloist in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra; and appears in recital with baritone Ross Benoliel for Music at Bunker Hill.
In the 2009–2010 season, she made her debut with Chicago Opera Theater as Beatrice in Jake Heggie's Three Decembers, sang Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Strauss' Vier letzte Lieder with Symphony Pro Musica, performed as soloist in Schumann's Scenes from Goethe's Faust with the American Symphony Orchestra, and reprised the role of Mimì in La bohème with Syracuse Opera.
Recent engagements included her company debut at Tulsa Opera as Mimì, singing as Countess in Le nozze di Figaro with both the Seoul Arts Center in Korea and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, and as soloist with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra in an opera gala concert, and covering Patricia Racette as Magda in La rondine with Los Angeles Opera. She spent summer 2007 as an apprentice artist at Santa Fe Opera, where she covered both the title role in Strauss's Daphne and Mimì in La bohème, and performed the title roles in both Jenufa and Rusalka in a program of opera scenes. In addition to Mimì, she has also appeared as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Varvara in Kat'a Kabanova, and Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream with Yale Opera.
Other operatic highlights include the roles of Giorgetta in Il tabarro and appearing in Purcell's The Fairy Queen with the Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, Italy as well as both the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro and Blanche in Dialogues des Carmélites with the Cleveland Institute. During her time as a studio artist at Central City Opera, she appeared in a program of opera scenes as the title role in Floyd's Susannah and Elettra in Idomeneo and performed the role of Musetta in concert excerpts with Maestro Paul Nadler and the Southwest Florida Symphony.
Sara Jakubiak's concert performance credits include appearing as soloist in Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, Britten's War Requiem, Mahler's Symphony No. 2, and Penderecki's Credo conducted by the composer with the Yale Philharmonic. She has also performed as soloist in Beethoven's Mass in C with the Beethoven Festival in Warsaw and sung Messaien's Poèmes pour Mi in recital at Yale. Ms. Jakubiak is featured on the Naxos label's eight-volume collection of Charles Ives songs in the series "American Classics," released in 2008.
Ms. Jakubiak holds master's degrees from both Yale University and the Cleveland Institute of Music. She was a regional finalist in the 2007 National Council Auditions and was also the recipient of the Judith Raskin Memorial Award from Santa Fe Opera in 2007.
Eric Margiore (Edgar)
Lyric tenor Eric Margiore, who was praised by Opera News for his "brilliance and style, brio and high-octane vocalism," is establishing himself as an international contender in the principal Italian bel canto and romantic tenor repertoire. The tenor is quickly becoming known for his uniquely Italianate timbre and his "American Idol looks," with a "real presence, intelligence, and level-10 intensity."
Eric was recently heard as Alefrdo in La traviata and as the tenor soloist in Verdi's Requiem with the Utah Festival Opera. Engagements this season include his debuts with Hawaii Opera Theatre as Alfredo as well as Minnesota Opera as Edgar Linton in Wuthering Heights. He will appear as the featured soloist in a Holiday Pops Concert with the Stockton Symphony Orchestra and will also appear in concert with Mississippi Opera, and sings Verdi's Requiem with Victoria Symphony Canada.
During the past season, Eric performed as a soloist in concert with Marcello Giordani, for the Marcello and Friends encore series. The year 2009 had Mr. Margiore reprising the role of Il Duca di Mantova in Rigoletto with Opera Naples. He was then again commended by Opera News, in his return to the Opera Theatre of St. Louis for his official company debut and role debut as Narraboth in Salome under the baton of Stephen Lord. He also sang gala concerts with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis as well as with the Virginia Opera. Eric also recently made his debut in Asia with Opera Hong Kong in performances of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte in Hong Kong and Beijing, China, with Paul Curran directing and Jari Hamalainen conducting.
The 2008 season saw Eric Margiore making his stage debut with the role of Gérald in Lakmé at Tulsa Opera. He then made his role and house debut of Il Duca di Mantova in Rigoletto with the in Palm Beach Opera. Eric also made his role and house debut with the Sarasota Opera singing Conte Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia and had a further invitation to reprise this role with Baltimore Opera. Other notable appearances included his role debut of Alfredo in La traviata at the Shreveport Opera and Cassio in Otello with the Vero Beach Opera under the baton of Maestro Steven Crawford. Concert appearances included a musical revue at Radio City Music Hall, Mozart's Coronation Mass in his third appearance at Carnegie Hall, The World of Opera: Concert of Arias and Duets for the Vero Beach Opera, and a Sicilian-themed holiday concert with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra in Louisiana.
During the 2007 season, Eric joined the New York City Opera to make his State Theater debut in a gala concert Opera for All led by principal conductor Maestro George Manahan. As well in his debut season, he was assigned to cover Le Prince Charmant in Massenet's Cendrillon. The year 2007 also saw Mr. Margiore's collaboration begin with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis where he covered both Arturo and Riccardo in the Malibran version of I puritani. While in residence, he was selected as a soloist for the Colin Graham Memorial Concert and had his unofficial debut with the company when he stepped in last minute to sing Arturo in two important performances of I puritani that were praised by Opera News. Mr. Margiore then joined the Charleston Symphony Orchestra for a concert performance of West Side Story in which he was praised for his singing of Tony. Eric then sang his role debut of Rodolfo in La bohème with the Opera Ischia Festival in Italy, while also performing several concerts in southern Italy. Further projects included a gala concert Tutti in Piazza in Stockton, California as well as a compact disc recording of Thomas Pasatieri's La Divina as the Young Conductor on Albany Records with the Opera Company of Brooklyn.
In 2006, after his transition from baritone, Eric sang Azael in Debussy's L'enfant prodigue for his debut with Opera Naples, a concert of Neapolitan songs and opera arias, Festa Italiana, with the Stockton Symphony Orchestra as well as Alfredo in La traviata, Rodolfo in La bohème, and Il Duca di Mantova in Rigoletto with the New Opera Festival di Roma, in Rome, Italy.
In addition to his performing, Eric has been recognized by many important vocal competitions and foundations. He was the winner of a grant from the William Matheus Sullivan Foundation, the Licia Albanese/Puccini Foundation and was an international quarterfinalist in Placido Domingo's Operalia in both 2007 and 2009. He was also a two-time winner in the Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, a finalist in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's Young Artist Auditions and a Metropolitan Opera National semifinalist.
Eric hails from Long Island, New York, and he is a proud Italian- American coming from a Sicilian and Neapolitan family heritage. Eric finished his professional training at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Glimmerglass Opera and Chautuaqua Opera's young artist programs and holds degrees from New York University and the Mannes College of Music.
Rodolfo Nieto (Joseph)
Bass-baritone Rodolfo Nieto most recently appeared as Don Alfonso for Cedar Rapids Opera Theater's production of Così fan tutte. Other roles for that company include the Imperial Commissioner in Madame Butterfly and Pooh-Bah in The Mikado. During the 2008 season he was a Opera Colorado Young Artist, where he sang the roles of Don Magnifico and Alidoro in Cinderella and Godofredo in La Curandera for its outreach program. In 2007, Mr. Nieto appeared as Gravitas in the world premiere of Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings at Theatre@Boston Court.
Mr. Nieto attended Northwestern University, where he performed as Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte and Simone in Gianni Schicchi. At Luther College, he has sung the title role in The Marriage of Figaro, the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte. As a resident artist for the Minnesota Opera last season, Mr. Nieto appeared as the Third Inquisitor and Spanish Captain in Casanova's Homecoming, the Friend of Nottingham in Roberto Devereux, Colline in La bohème and the First Guard in Salome. This season, he sings Dr. Grenvil in La traviata and Joseph in Wuthering Heights.
Lee Poulis (Heathcliff)
Recently named "Best Young Singer" for the second year in a row by Die Welt's annual survey of German music critics, young American baritone Lee Poulis has already established himself as a fast-rising talent in both North America and Europe. Recently, after Mr. Poulis stepped in at the last minute to perform the role of Renato in Un ballo in maschera at Teatro Municipal de Santiago, critics praised his "beautiful lyric baritone timbre" and "dark, robust voice" adding "with his promising future, it would be advisable to have him in other productions in Chile."
In the 2010–2011 season Lee Poulis makes his debut with both Minnesota Opera as Heathcliff in Herrmann's Wuthering Heights and with Sarasota Opera in the title role of Don Giovanni. He also returns to Theater Bonn as a member of the ensemble to perform the roles of Escamillo in Carmen, Pantalone in The Love for Three Oranges, Ping in Turandot and the Father in Hänsel und Gretel. He returned to the ensemble at Theater Bonn in the roles of Wolfram in Tannhäuser, Father in Hänsel und Gretel, Belcore in L'elisir d'amore and Pantalone in Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges and performed the role of Robert Oppenheimer in Doctor Atomic with Saarländisches Staatstheater in Saarbrücken.
Mr. Poulis' 2008–2009 season included the role of Valentin in Faust with Theater Chemnitz, appearing as soloist in Hanns Eissler's Deutsche Sinfonie with Beethovenfest Bonn in Germany, and several principal roles as a member of the ensemble at Theater Bonn, including Germont in La traviata, Yeletsky in Pique Dame, Renato in Un ballo in maschera, Michonnet in Adriana Lecouvreur and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte.
Mr. Poulis' frequent appearances at Washington National Opera have included Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Dandini in La Cenerentola, Senator Raitcliffe in the world premiere of Scott Wheeler's Democracy, Masetto in Don Giovanni and De Siriex in Fedora for the company's Trilogy Gala. As a member of San Francisco Opera's prestigious Merola Program he performed the roles of Charlot in Ibert's Angelique and Mr. Gobineau in The Medium, and added the roles of Count in Le nozze di Figaro and Germont in La traviata to his repertoire while at Los Angeles Opera. Mr. Poulis also performed four roles in Shostakovich's The Nose at the Bard Summerscape Festival and Marcello in La bohème in a concert performance with the Newton Symphony Orchestra.
Other international credits on the operatic stage include the roles of Marcello in La bohème with Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Starveling in A Midsummer Night's Dream with Teatro Real in Madrid, Masetto in Don Giovanni with both Opera Bilbao and Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and sang as Wanderer in a scene with Erda from Siegfried for La Fura dels Baus at the British Museum.
Mr. Poulis' concert repertoire engagements include Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the American Youth Symphony, Mozart's Requiem with the Masterworks Chorale, Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem with the Waltham Philharmonic and the Masterworks Chorale, Haydn's Missa in Angustiis with the Reston Chorale, Lord Nelson Mass at the Beijing Concert Hall, Fauré's Requiem with both the Atlantic Union College and the Gemini Youth Orchestra and Handel's Messiah with Commonwealth Opera. Mr. Poulis has also appeared in recital recently with the Marilyn Horne Foundation at Carnegie's Weill Hall as well as in Washington D.C. with the Washington Vocal Arts Society.
Lee Poulis is the first prize winner in the 2008 Liederkranz Foundation Vocal Competition, top prize winner in the 2008 Francisco Viñas International Voice Competition and first prize winner in the 2007 Chester Ludgin International Verdi Baritone Competition, as well as an Encouragement Award recipient in the 2008 George London Foundation Awards competition. In addition to San Francisco Opera's Merola Program, he is an alumnus of Washington National Opera's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, as well as Music Academy of the West. Mr. Poulis is a graduate of Harvard University.
Joshua Ross (Hareton)
Joshua Ross, freshman at Shattuck-St. Mary's School in Faribault, Minnesota and originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, is a member of the school's Vocal Performance Program. A recent graduate of the St. Thomas Choir School, he studies voice with Dr. Christopher Aspaas at St. Olaf College. Joshua is a member of Minnesota Opera's educational program Project Opera. He has performed in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, Carnegie Hall, New York and recently appeared with the St. Olaf Choir and Magnum Chorum in their performance of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. Eric Simonson (stage director and dramaturg)
Writer and director Eric Simonson last directed Rusalka and The Grapes of Wrath for the Minnesota Opera. Also recently, he completed the documentary film A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin, which was nominated for an International Documentary Association Award and won an Academy Award in 2006. He wrote and directed Carter's Way for Kansas City Rep, and Ahab's Tale for Milwaukee Rep. That production was selected as one of the top ten productions of the year by Time magazine. He also directed and co-wrote (with Jeffrey Hatcher) Work Song at Milwaukee Rep, a production which subsequently toured to Missouri Rep, Arizona Theatre Company and City Theatre in Pittsburgh. Mr. Simonson is a company member of Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, where he directed Mother Courage, Slaughterhouse-Five (adaptation also), Nomathemba (co-author also) and The Song of Jacob Zulu (Tony nomination, Perth Arts Festival).
Other credits include: Hamlet, The Last Hurrah (adaptation also) and Bang the Drum Slowly (adaptation also) at The Huntington Theatre; Othello at Court Theatre; Orazi e Curiazi, The Handmaid's Tale, La bohème, Bok Choy Variations and The Magic Flute at the Minnesota Opera; as well as work at The Kennedy Center, Crossroads Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, LA Theatre Works and Angels in America at Milwaukee Rep. Mr. Simonson's first film, a documentary called Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom, received an Academy Award nomination, an Emmy nomination, and the 2001 IDA Distinguished Achievement Award. Other film credits include Hamlet (co-directed with Campbell Scott) for Hallmark Entertainment and Topa Topa Bluffs, an independent feature. As an actor, Mr. Simonson appeared in the Chicago, London and Broadway productions of The Grapes of Wrath, and on television on Seinfeld, The Untouchables and The Ben Stiller Show. He is the recipient of the Princess Grace Award, the NCCJ Media Arts Award and the Princess Grace Statue for sustained achievement.
Mr. Simonson recently directed Korczak's Children for Children's Theatre Company. He is currently writing a new play called When Pride Still Mattered for Madison Rep and a pilot television series for HBO called Homeland. Victoria Vargas (Nelly)
Mezzo-soprano Victoria Vargas completes her master of music degree from Manhattan School of Music this May, where she appeared as Euryclée in Fauré's Pénélope, and the Beggar and Mrs. Peachum in The Beggar's Opera. Other credits include Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro for Ash Lawn Opera and Martina Arroyo's Prelude to Performance; the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, the title role in Carmen and Dorabella in Così fan tutte for Hillman Opera; Madame Armfeldt in A Little Night Music for Lyric Arts International; and Miss Todd in The Old Main and the Thief for Fredonia Opera Theater.
Ms. Vargas has been a young artist at Sarasota Opera, where she covered the role of Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria rusticana. She covered the same role at Chautauqua Opera last summer, won the opera company's Guild Studio Artist Award and has been invited back as an Apprentice Artist, where she will perform Laura in Luisa Miller and the Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte. For her first season as a Minnesota Opera Resident Artist, Ms. Vargas will sing Tisbe in Cinderella, Anna in Mary Stuart, Flora in La traviata and Nelly in Wuthering Heights.
Ben Wager (Hindley)
Ben Wager is a 2009 graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, where his roles included: Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Enrico in Anna Bolena, the title role in Mendelssohn's Elijah, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte and Padre Guardiano in La forza del destino.
In the 2010–2011 season, Ben will make his debuts at Opera Cleveland as Nourabad in Les pêcheurs de perles and at Dallas Opera for Masetto in Don Giovanni, as well as a return to Minnesota Opera the role of Hindley Earnshaw in Bernard Herrmann's Wuthering Heights. As a member of the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, which he joined in 2009, he will sing Panthus in Les Troyens, Doctor Grenvil in La traviata, Angelotti in Tosca, and Escamillo in Carmen.
For the 2009–2010 season, as a member of the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin he performed a number of roles, including Zuniga in Carmen, Angelotti in Tosca and Sarastro in an abridged version of Die Zauberflöte. Additional engagements included Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Mozarteum of Salzburg under Ivor Bolton, Rossini's Stabat mater with the Oregon Symphony and his debut at Los Angeles Opera as Julian Pinelli in Schreker's Die Gezeichneten.
During the 2008–2009 season, he concluded his residency at AVA with Enrico in Anna Bolena, Il Vescovo in La fiamma, and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, joined Minnesota Opera to sing the bass roles in the North American premiere of Jonathan Dove's The Adventures of Pinocchio and made his debut at Opera Company of Philadelphia as Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia.
Mr. Wager spent the summer of 2008 as a member of the prestigious Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera, where he sang the role of Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni. In February 2008, Mr. Wager sang Monterone in Rigoletto with Opera New Jersey, followed by Masetto in Don Giovanni for his debut at Chicago Opera Theatre under the baton of Jane Glover.
In 2007, Mr. Wager bowed as Der Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte with Opera New Jersey, Der Freischütz with and Kaspar in AVA Opera Theatre. The 2006 season found Mr. Wager performing at AVA Opera Theatre as Gremin and Zaretsky in Eugene Onegin, Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Sparafucile and Monterone in Rigoletto. Mr. Wager enjoys a strong relationship with Opera Delaware, where he has sung Monterone in Rigoletto, Spinelloccio and Il Notaro in Gianni Schicchi, Un mandarino in Turandot and Second Armored Man in Die Zauberflöte.
In concert, Mr. Wager has performed Handel's Messiah with Tindley Temple UMC, as well as Rossini's Stabat Mater and Mozart's Mass in C Minor at the Academy of Vocal Arts.
Ben Wager studies with world-renowned voice teacher Bill Schuman.
Adriana Zabala (Isabella)
As the title character in the American premiere of Dove's The Adventures of Pinocchio at the Minnesota Opera, Adriana Zabala was recently praised by The Wall Street Journal as showing "tremendous stamina and boy-like flair." The New York Times hailed her as "a vivid, fearless presence," and the L.A. Times as "extraordinary" for her portrayal of the Barbarian Girl in the American premiere of Philip Glass' Waiting for the Barbarians with the Austin Lyric Opera. Ms. Zabala enjoys a vibrant and unique career that includes opera, song repertoire, new works, concert, oratorio and cabaret. She performs extensively throughout the United States and internationally, and served for five years as Artistic Director of the Southeastern Festival of Song.
Within the last few seasons Ms. Zabala has been seen on the stages of Seattle Opera, Minnesota Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, the Wildwood Festival, Syracuse Opera, Arizona Opera, Lyric Opera of San Antonio, Opera Carolina, Lake George Opera, and Opera Pacific. She has also been a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Spokane Symphony, the Syracuse Symphony, the Virginia Symphony, the Madison Symphony, the New York Festival of Song and at the Caramoor International Music Festival with the Orchestra of St. Luke's. She has appeared in recital in the Barns at Wolf Trap, the The Kennedy Center's Millenium Stage, The Dallas Museum of Art, Ventford Hall in Lenox, MA, and in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
Recent highlights include Ms. Zabala's European debut under Maestro Lorin Maazel as Mercédès in Carmen at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain, her Carnegie Hall debut on a concert with pianist and composer Gregg Kallor, premiering Exhilaration, Kallor's settings of nine Emily Dickinson poems, her critically acclaimed portrayal of the Barbarian Girl in the American premiere of Phillip Glass' Waiting for the Barbarians with the Austin Lyric Opera, and appearing as the alto solist with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with Bryn Terfel as Elijah.
She also made her Canadian debut with Opera Lyra Ottawa as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, sang the title role in La Cenerentola with the Atlanta Opera, returned to Opera Carolina as Rosina in The Barber of Seville and celebrated the release and critical success of the compact disc Exhilaration: Dickinson and Yeats Songs. Opera News Online raved "Kallor has found a wonderful exponent in Adriana Zabala, a gifted, agile mezzo-soprano. Kallor knows how to make these words sing, and Zabala gives perfect flight to them. Singing with uncommon clarity and natural beauty, she seems to be deep inside both the poems and Kallor's musical realizations."
Upcoming engagements include an appearance as featured soloist with the United Nations Association International Choir in the world premiere of Jan Gilbert's That The Dove May Rest, Cherubino with Vermont's Green Mountain Opera Company and Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with the Austin Lyric Opera.
Adriana Zabala was born Georgia and raised in Miami, Caracas, Venezuela and Lake Jackson, Texas. She received her undergraduate degree from Lousiana State University, was a Fulbright Scholar in Salzburg, Austria, studying German Lieder at the Mozarteum, and earned her masters degree at the University of Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music. Ms. Zabala was a Resident Artist for two seasons with Minnesota Opera, where she performed the roles of Cherubino, Annina and Rosina, among others. She spent the following season as a Young Artist with the Seattle Opera, singing the title role in La Cenerentola. Ms. Zabala is an alumna of the apprentice programs at the Berkshire Opera, the Santa Fe Opera, Operafestival di Roma and the Wolf Trap Opera Company.