del West presents La Divina By

Online premiere: Friday, November 13, 2020, 7:00pm www.operadelwest.org La Divina

Comic Opera in One Act

Text and Music by Thomas Pasatieri

Produced by special arrangement with Theodore Presser and Carl Fischer

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Madame Altina – Jennifer Jaroslavsky Cecily, her maid – Christine Field Sinacola Matthew, her manager – Ezra Joshua Sanders Smith A Young Conductor – Fred C. VanNess, Jr.

ARTISTIC AND PRODUCTION STAFF

Music Director – Eve Kochen Budnick Stage Director and Production Designer – Pascale Florestal Publicity Director – Brenda Lynn Huggins Video Editor – Larry Budnick

SPECIAL THANKS

The generous donations of Beth and Simon Kochen, Clarice Budnick, Ann and Mitch Cohen, Carrie and Joe Regenstein, Lewis and Arleen Forsheit, David and Shirley Parish, and Nettie Forsheit, who has supported Opera del West since its beginning.

Grants from the Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Fund.

Artist Biographies

Jennifer Jaroslavsky (Madame Adelina Altina), Argentinian-American , has been praised for her "tireless true tones" (Boston Music Intelligencer) and her "warm soprano,...heart and skill" (Howlround Theatre Commons). Newly based in New York City, Ms. Jaroslavsky was featured as the soprano soloist under the baton of Maestro Rosenmeyer in Beethoven's Mass in C with the Fairfield County Chorale and with City Lyric Opera in their 2020-2021 Season Inaugural Masquerade. She was previously seen as a Resident Artist with the Boston University Opera Institute performing Violetta in La Traviata, the title role in Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen, Mélisande in Pelleas et Mélisande, and other favorites. Ms. Jaroslavsky has had the pleasure of singing many career highlights with Opera del West including the title roles in Alcina and Cendrillon and is thrilled to be rejoining the team for this exciting project.

Mezzo-soprano Christine Field Sinacola (Cecily) is from Boston, MA and is honored to part of another production with Opera del West. Christine has performed throughout the Northeast and Midwest including Sarasota Opera, Toledo Opera, Brevard Music Festival and Lyric Opera Cleveland. Locally, she has performed with the Masterworks Chorale Summer series, Opera del West, Odyssey Opera, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Longwood Opera. Her roles include Madame de la Haltière in Cendrillon, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Ms. Dara in An Embarrassing Position, Third Lady in The Magic Flute, Alma March in Little Women, Quickly in Falstaff, Duchess in The Gondoliers, Mercédès in Carmen, Zita in Gianni Schicchi, and Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti. Christine has a Master’s Degree in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan and currently studies with Freda Herseth.

Ezra Joshua Sanders Smith (Matthew) is a young bass-, native of St. Louis, Missouri. He finished his Bachelor's in Vocal Performance at The Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama, and most recently concluded his dual Masters' program at The Boston Conservatory where he earned his Masters' degrees in Vocal Performance and Vocal Pedagogy.

Fred C. VanNess, Jr. (A Young Conductor)’s recent appearances include Russell Davenport in Freedom Ride (MassOpera/Chicago Opera Theater), Voltaire/Dr. Pangloss (Opera del West), soloist in Samuel Beebe’s Remember the Sea (Castle of our Skins, world premiere), tenor soloist in Geoffrey Gibbs’ Tide Flowers (University of Rhode Island, world premiere), and featured soloist in Reagle Music Theatre’s Christmas Time. He recently debuted his one-man show, When I Think of Home... at McNeese State University. Mr. VanNess holds degrees from McNeese State University, Louisiana State University and The Longy School of Music of Bard College. www.fredvannesstenor.com

Eve K. Budnick (Artistic Director) founded Opera del West fourteen years ago, and has music directed over twenty-five productions for the company. “Eve Budnick’s reputation for excellence is well-known in the business” (Thomas Pasatieri, opera composer). Her performances have taken place at the Boston Center for Arts, The Center for Arts in Natick, Amazing Things Arts Center, among other venues. She previously music directed one virtual opera, The ZOOMpresario.

Eve is the Chair of the Voice Department at Rivers School Conservatory where she teaches lessons, workshops and performance classes, and she was also a Diction instructor for the Voice and Choral Conducting Department at Boston University. Previously she taught Diction and Vocal Literature at University of Connecticut.

She was repetiteur and pianist for MassOpera’s Workshop production of Freedom Ride at The Strand Theater. Eve was trained in the Boston Lyric Opera “Words! Music! Opera!” program to compose and direct original in the classroom. She has been a Music Director and Pianist for Opera Boston and Music Director for Suor Angelica for Boston Opera Collaborative. Ms. Budnick has been the music director for opera scenes programs for the Boston University Opera Institute, New England Conservatory Opera Workshop, and Summer Opera Workshop. She has performed in faculty recitals at the University of Connecticut, Boston Conservatory, and Princeton University.

Eve holds a Bachelor’s degree in Musicology from Princeton, a Master’s degree in Vocal Accompaniment from BU, and a graduate diploma in Collaborative Piano from New England Conservatory.

Pascale Florestal (Stage Director) is a Director, Educator, Dramaturge and Collaborator based in Boston, MA. She has worked with The Huntington, Company One, SpeakEasy Stage, Boch Center, The O’Neill, Boston Center for the Arts, and many others. She is an Assistant Professor of Theater at Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music where she teaches Devised Theater. She serves as the Education Director with The Front Porch Arts Collective and works as The Massachusetts Municipal Arts Response Coordinator with the Barr Foundation and the City of Boston’s Mayors Office of Arts and Culture.

Thomas Pasatieri (Composer) Aside from his work with film scores, Emmy Award-winning Thomas Pasatieri is well known in the classical world as a composer and conductor. He was quite prolific from a young age, studying with Nadia Boulanger. He attended the Juilliard School, where he was the first to graduate with a doctorate. He has since taught at Juilliard, the Manhattan School of Music and the Cincinnati Conservatory. Preferring to write for the voice, Pasatieri has written seventeen operas and over four hundred songs.

Opera del West is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Your tax-deductible contributions are greatly appreciated. If you are interested in becoming a supporter of Opera del West, please contact Eve Budnick by email at [email protected] or visit our website at www.operadelwest.org for more information. Previous Shows by Opera del West

The ZOOMpresario, Spring 2020 Cendrillon, Summer 2019 Freedom Ride (workshop), Spring 2019 The Clever Artifice of Harriet and Margaret, Spring 2019 Candide, Summer 2018 Second Nature, Spring 2018 Alcina, Summer 2017 Le portrait de Manon and Signor Deluso, Spring 2017 Don Pasquale, Summer 2016 The Best of Opera del West, Spring 2016 The Marriage of Figaro, Summer 2015 A Night at the Cabaret, Winter 2015 , Summer 2014 A Night at the Operetta, Winter 2014 Così fan tutte, Summer 2013 An Embarrassing Position and Coffee Cantata, Winter 2013 Little Women, Summer 2012 L’Isola Disabitata, Summer 2012 Amelia goes to the Ball, Winter 2012 The Magic Flute, Summer 2011 The Romances of Mozart, Winter 2011 The Elixir of Love, Summer 2010 La Serva Padrona, The Telephone, Winter 2010 Hansel and Gretel, Summer 2009 Die Fledermaus, Winter 2009 La Cenerentola, Summer 2008 Little Red’s Journey Continues, Winter 2008 Gianni Schicchi, A Game of Chance, Summer 2007 Once upon an Opera, Winter 2007 An Evening of Opera Scenes, Summer 2006

www.operadelwest.org