Scipio’s Dream (Il Sogno di Scipione)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) is often referred to as the greatest composer the world has ever known. He was also the finest pianist, organist, and conductor of his time.

As a child prodigy he traveled a great deal, performing in the courts of Europe and absorbing the culture and musical ideas of the continent. These influences inform his mature compositions, which combine German depth, Italianate melody, and French elegance into deeply human works.

A highly prolific composer (in his short lifetime he composed over 600 works), he created supreme masterworks in all genres: opera, chamber, symphonic, and choral music. His works are examples of perfection of form and classicism, influencing poets, philosophers, and musicians over the past two centuries.

We know from his letters that he was always eager to compose the next opera. Particularly skilled at musical characterizations and dramatic truth, his operas such as Idomeneo, The Abduction from the Seraglio, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan Tutte, La Clemenza di Tito, and The Magic Flute are endlessly fascinating works, well-loved by both the general public and professional musicians, and performed regularly throughout the world.

Pietro Metastasio (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782) was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti. As a boy, his poetic and oratorial talent was soon discovered by Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, then director of the Pontifical Academy of Arcadia, who adopted him and offered him a formal education and exposure to the highest intellectual circles of Rome and Naples. Pietro’s education, the obligatory studies of law aside, included a comprehensive training in Latin and Greek and the ability to translate the classical works into poetic modern Italian – a skill which laid the foundation for Metastasio’s entire professional future.

Metastasio’s heritage consists of 28 opera librettos, 8 librettos for oratorios, 36 for serenades and 37 for cantatas and is completed by a large number of songs, compliments, or works not intended for music like 32 sonnets, translations from Greek, spiritual poems or odes for weddings, as well as his over 2600 published letters. If these numbers are impressive in themselves, the wealth of musical production Metastasio’s poetry inspired in the composers of his century is simply staggering and made of him the by far most influential librettist not only of his but very likely of all times: these 28 opera librettos were set to music as unthinkable 1050 operas (that we know of today, there might still be many more stacked in some attic or in the chronically understaffed Italian libraries!). In other words: a Metastasio libretto was on average made into almost 40 individual operas, the most successful one being Artaserse which inspired 90 composers to set this libretto to music.

Article by Sebastian F. Schwarz
February 2023

Canadian tenor Charles Sy has received international recognition for his “rich tenor” voice. Recent successes include winning a 2019 George London Award and appearing as a finalist in the inaugural Glyndebourne Opera Cup.

In the 2024-2025 season, Sy debuts with Boston Lyric Opera as Marzio in Mozart’s Mitridate, re di Ponto; appears at the Staatsoper Stuttgart as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte and Arbace in Idomeneo, as well as in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen; and joins I Barocchisti for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Milan and Lugano. He concludes the season with a return to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Ernesto in Don Pasquale as part of their 50th Anniversary Season.

An Ensemble member in Stuttgart since 2021, Sy’s roles have included Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Elvino in La sonnambula, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola. As a member of the Stuttgart Opernstudio from 2019-2021, he was heard in productions of Boris Godunov, Les contes d’Hoffmann, and Purcell’s King Arthur.

He has appeared as a guest at Nationaltheater Mannheim in the title role of Hippolyte et Aricie; at Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe as Belfiore in La finta giardiniera; at Vancouver Opera as Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, and at Deutsche Oper am Rhein as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni.

Notable concert performances include Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Mozart Requiem with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Barbara Hannigan as well as with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Sir Andrew Davis. He made his Carnegie Hall debut as the Evangelist and Tenor Soloist in Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium, and has appeared at festivals including the Messiaen Festival au Pays de la Meije and Aix-en-Provence.

Sy is an alumnus of The Juilliard School and the University of Toronto.

Soprano Jana McIntyre is a George and Nora London Foundation Competition Award Winner as well as a Finalist in The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. In the 24/25 season, Jana debuts at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Tytania) and returns to Opera Santa Barbara for La fille du régiment (Marie). On the concert stage, she debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as the soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with performances in Los Angeles, New York, and Bogotà conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. She will also make her debut with the New York Philharmonic singing Pierre Boulez’ Pli selon pli: Improvisations sur Mallarmé, I and II conducted by David Robertson. Additionally, she returns to Bard College for performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Strauss’ Four Last Songs with The Orchestra Now.

Jana began last season with a return to Opera Santa Barbara for La Divina: The Art of Maria Callas. Additional season engagements included debuts with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for Carmina Burana, and Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra for Rodgers and Hammerstein Celebration. Additionally, she joins the roster of the San Francisco Opera for Die Zauberflöte and Innocence.

In the 22/23 season, Jana returned to Opera Santa Barbara for Rossini’s comic one-act La scala di seta (Giulia) and Tulsa Opera for Into the Woods (Cinderella). She debuted Carmina Burana with the Santa Barbara Symphony and the Seattle Symphony. Additional concerts included her Carnegie Hall debut with the American Symphony Orchestra in Richard Strauss’ rarely heard Daphne (Title Role) conducted by Music Director Leon Botstein. In 21/22, Jana sang the title role in Semele with Opera Santa Barbara as well as Die Schweigsame Frau (Aminta) in a new production with Bard SummerScape Festival. With The Rally Cat in New York City, she created the role of Marianne in recording and workshop of Aferidan Stephens and Marella Martin Koch’s Elinor and Marianne based on the Jane Austen novel Sense and Sensibility. She also performed in chamber concert with Jerod Impichchaachaaha Tate and Tulsa’s Signature Symphony.

Other recent engagements include her hometown debut with Opera Santa Barbara in Don Pasquale (Norina) as well as joining the rosters of Palm Beach Opera (Die Zauberflöte) and Tulsa Opera (Rigoletto). She was scheduled to make company debuts with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Canadian Opera Company among other notable returns to theaters which were postponed/canceled due to the pandemic. Jana performed in Heartbeat Opera’s new production of Der Freischütz (Ännchen) and joined The Santa Fe Opera for their workshop of the completed version of M. Butterfly in New York City and for whom she was to return as Sister in Mark Adamo and John Corgliano’s newly commissioned Lord of Cries which was canceled due to the pandemic. She also debuted with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera singing selections from Così fan tutte and Le nozze di Figaro in their “Mozart Favorites” Concert.

Ms. McIntyre made debuts with Toledo Opera and Opera Grand Rapids in Die Zauberflöte (Die Königin der Nacht), Arizona Opera in Le nozze di Figaro (Barbarina), The Santa Fe Opera in Jenůfa (Jano), and Tulsa Opera in Don Giovanni (Zerlina) and Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince (Water).

Jana has won awards from the Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Jensen Foundation, and the Shoshana Foundation and was a Young Artist with the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera and an Apprentice Artist with The Santa Fe Opera.

Holly Flack is a coloratura soprano with a unique range that extends beyond an octave above high C. Praised as an “explosive talent” with her warm, flowing middle voice, rippling coloratura, and effortless trills, she “wields an impressive range, effortlessly reaching higher than high notes” with her stratospheric vocal extension.

Ms. Flack’s operatic roles include the title role in SEMELE, Gilda in RIGOLETTO, Queen of the Night in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE, Ophélie in HAMLET, Morgana in ALCINA, Elvira in L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI, and Dinorah in DINORAH (Le Pardon de Ploërmel) for which she received a “Star-Making Performance” award from Mr. Fred Plotkin in his Seventh Annual “Freddie” Awards for Excellence in Opera, stating she, “sang the title role with astonishing fluidity and confidence… as if it was her birthright.”

Internationally, Ms. Flack made her debut at the Trentino Music Festival in Mezzano, Italy singing the role of the Vixen in THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN. She has traveled multiple times to China with the iSing International Young Artists Festival for concerts in different cities around the country, and has performed on CCTV, Dragon TV, and Jiangsu Weishi TV for China’s National Day Celebration and the Chinese New Year. In 2022, she singularly represented the USA singing in a promotional video for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

In orchestral concert, Ms. Flack has sung soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Magnificat, and Orff’s Carmina Burana, where she “delighted, flawlessly climbed to the extremes of her register, and continued with effortless coloratura”.

In 2019, she performed the highest note ever sung at Lincoln Center, a B-flat above high C, as a featured soloist in a Golden Night Concert celebrating China’s Mid-Autumn Festival at David Geffen Hall in New York City. In 2021, she surpassed this record singing a B natural above high C in the East/West: A Symphonic Celebration concert at David H. Koch Theater.

Originally from Portland, Oregon, she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Vocal Performance from St. Olaf College, and a Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Kentucky, where she studied with renowned soprano Cynthia Lawrence.

American Tenor Norman Shankle is currently enjoying worldwide acclaim for his portrayals of Mozart and Rossini’s most famous tenors. The Boston Globe called Shankle, “a real find, a singer of elegance, grace and conviction,” and the San Francisco Chronicle praised him equally as “clearly a singer to watch.”

The 2024-2025 season brings Mr. Shankle’s debut with Buffalo
Philharmonic Orchestra for Sanctuary Road, his debut with South Florida Symphony in Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem, and a return to National Philharmonic for their Messiah. Previous seasons’ engagements of note include his return to Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra for Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël and Handel’s Messiah and the National Philharmonic for their Messiah, in addition to Elijah with the Washington Chorus. Mr. Shankle has also been featured in the National Philharmonic’s performances of Berlioz’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, and Adolphus Hailstork’s Symphony No. 5; Mozart’s Requiem with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra; Messiah with Glacier Symphony Orchestra; Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra’s Classical Christmas concert; and Sanctuary Road with Penn Square Music Festival.

Other notable engagements for Mr. Shankle have included the tenor solo in Mozart’s Requiem, Adolphus Hailstork’s A Knee On a Neck, and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis for the National Philharmonic; Sanctuary Road with North Carolina Opera; it all falls down and The Rift for the Washington National Opera; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 for Helena Symphony; Cassio in Otello for Pacific Symphony; and the performance and recording of Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem at the Kennedy Center with the Choral Arts Society of Washington. Shankle also returned to Northern Lights Music Festival as Ramiro in La Cenerentola and performed a gala concert for Knoxville Opera. He sang Lindoro in L’italiana in Algeri with Opera Memphis and Piedmont Opera, Ferrando in a concert performance of Così fan tutte with the National Philharmonic at the Kennedy Center, Remus in Treemonisha with the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice, Nick in La fanciulla del West with Opera Colorado, Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Northern Lights Music Festival, the tenor soloist in Atlanta Symphony’s performances of Bach’s Cantata No. 29 and Vaughn Williams’ Serenade to Music, and Handel’s Messiah with Boston Baroque, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, and the National Philharmonic. He also reprised the role of Elder Barber/Gus Greenlee in The Summer King, a new opera that explores the life of Josh Gibson, “one of the greatest Negro League baseball players,” with Michigan Opera Theatre — a role he had previously created for Pittsburgh Opera.

Norman’s vast international concert experience includes Carlo in Rossini’s Armida and Laïos in Enescu’s Œdipe at the Edinburgh International Festival; Handel’s Saul conducted by René Jacobs at Palais de Beaux Arts, Brussels; Tito in La clemenza di Tito with the Münchener Kammerorchester in Amsterdam; and Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings with the International Bach Akademie. US symphonic engagements include Messiah with the Cincinnati Symphony and Houston Symphony Orchestra; Britten’s War Requiem with the San Francisco Choral Society; as well as appearances with the Essen Philharmonic, Choral Arts Society of Washington, and New Century Chamber Orchestra.

Norman began his career with San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program and as an Adler Fellow. He made his company mainstage début as Valletto in L’incoronazione di Poppea, and he subsequently appeared in SFO’s productions of Tristan und Isolde, Don Carlo, Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery, Louise, Lucia di Lammermoor, Idomeneo, and Don Giovanni. Norman was selected as a winner of the distinguished ARIA award; other awards include a Richard Tucker Career Grant and the McAllister Award.

Powerfully compelling, Deanna Tham is known for her captivating and tenacious spirit on and off the podium. She is currently Associate Conductor of the Oregon Symphony and Music Director of the Union Symphony Orchestra.

Previously, Tham was the Assistant Conductor of the Omaha Symphony, following her tenure as Assistant Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony and Principal Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras. She has performed at the Proms in Royal Albert Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and Seiji Ozawa Hall at the Tanglewood Music Center working with Maestros James Ross, Joseph Young, and Sir Antonio Pappano, as well as renowned artists Isobel Leonard and Joyce DiDonato. Highlights of the 2019-2020 season included leading the Jacksonville Symphony’s first educational Martin Luther King Jr. tribute concert and the Union Symphony’s first city-community Pops on the Plaza collaboration of Latin American pop and classical music. Additional recent engagements include Assistant Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra (NYO-USA and NYO2) and Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta with Maestro Mei-Ann Chen. Tham has also regularly guest conducted with the Boise Philharmonic and Ballet Idaho, is a cover conductor for the San Francisco Symphony, and has worked with world-renown soloists in a variety of genres including Melissa White, Capathia Jenkins, and Cherish the Ladies. Her past positions include those with the Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Louisville Youth Orchestras, and American Chamber Opera.

Tham is also equally at home with a variety of musical genres. These projects include full-feature blockbuster movie scores, collaborations with Cirque Musica, Broadway artists, pop cover groups like Jeans ’n Classics, and independent artists like Silent Film Score connoisseur and composer, Ben Model.

Tham is a staunch advocate of music education from school education engagement and youth orchestral performing opportunities to lifelong learning. In 2018, Tham and the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras made their debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California. Previously, she has worked with the Louisville Youth Orchestras and the Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Tham has also created and presented educational concert series in a variety of formats. She has written original school-curriculum-based programs for numerous symphony orchestras and collaborated with organizations including Really Inventive Stuff, the Louisville Ballet Academy, and the International Culinary Arts and Sciences Institute.

Tham is a second-place winner in the Youth Orchestra Conductor division of the American Prize. She was invited as a scholarship participant to the 2015 Conductors Guild Conductor/Composer Training Workshop at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music working with renowned conductors Marin Alsop and James Ross. Additionally, she was the recipient of the 2015 Wintergreen Summer Music Academy Conductor’s Guild Scholarship where she worked with Master Teacher Victor Yampolsky. In 2013, Tham’s work with the National Music Festival was featured on National Public Radio as well as American Public Media. She has also made appearances at the Cadaques Orchestra International Conducting Competition.

Tham has been the Music Director of the American Chamber Orchestra. Her work with the company includes a groundbreaking semi-staged version of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Mozart’s Don Giovanni, staged in English for the South Chicago community. During her time with the company, she worked with many talented musicians, including those who sing with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She made great strides making the company a strong presence in the Chicago area and has sold recordings of her work with the company on iTunes.

Tham holds a Professional Studies Certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music in Orchestral Conducting studying with Maestro Carl Topilow. She received her Master of Music in conducting with conducting program honors from Northwestern University studying with Dr. Mallory Thompson. There, she additionally worked with Dr. Robert Harris, Victor Yampolsky, and Dr. Robert Hasty, making her equally at home in wind, orchestral, and vocal settings. Tham received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in horn performance studying with Dennis Abelson, Zachary Smith, Bob Lauver, and Steven Kostyniak at Carnegie Mellon University.

NYC born director Christopher Alden’s work has been seen across the globe. His production of Handel’s PARTENOPE at English National Opera won the Olivier Award in 2009 and was subsequently presented by Opera Australia, San Francisco Opera and Teatro Real in Madrid. His other ENO productions include TURANDOT, THE MAKROPULOS CASE, NORMA and Britten’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, which won the Golden Mask Award when presented at the Stanislavsky Theater in Moscow. For San Francisco Opera, Mr. Alden directed LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN, L‘INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA, I VESPRI SICILIANI, Henze’s DAS VERRATENE MEER, THE MOTHER OF US ALL and the premiere of Stewart Wallace’s HARVEY MILK, which also traveled to New York City and San Francisco. At the Festival d’Aix en Provence, his staging of IL TURCO IN ITALIA was presented as a co-production with Torino, Dijon and Warsaw, and his Glimmerglass Opera production of Monteverdi’s ORFEO travelled to Oslo and Opera North in the UK.

Other recent highlights include productions of Leonard Bernstein’s PETER PAN for Bard Summerfare Festival, Martinu’s THE GREEK PASSION for Opera North, Peter Eotvos’ THREE SISTERS for The Ural Opera, Laura Schwendinger’s ARTEMISIA for Trinity Church Wall Street, PETER GRIMES and TRISTAN UND ISOLDE for Karlsruhe and Franchetti’s ASRAEL for Bonn. For the Canadian Opera Company, Mr. Alden created productions of DER FLIEGENDE HOLLANDER, DIE FLEDERMAUS, RIGOLETTO and LA CLEMENZA DI TITO, and his stagings for New York City Opera included LE COMTE ORY, L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI, THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA, Sousa’s THE GLASS BLOWERS, DON GIOVANNI, LA PERICHOLE and Bernstein’s A QUIET PLACE. He directed the three Mozart/Da Ponte operas for Gustavo Dudamel and The Los Angeles Philharmonic and for Daniel Barenboim and The Chicago Symphony, in collaboration with his twin brother, David Alden.

Andrew has designed both scenery and costumes for all types of live performance. His work has been seen at the Spoleto Festival USA, Juilliard, Chicago Opera Theater, The Canadian Opera Company, Boston Lyric Opera, The Yale Repertory Theater, Pittsburg Ballet Theatre, The Glimmerglass Festival and a long list of other venues. Mr. Holland has served on the faculties of American University and Hamilton College, among others. He holds an MFA in Design from the Yale School of Drama and lives with his family in Astoria, New York.

A sixteen year Portland resident, Melissa Heller is a native Oregonian, originally from Bend. She received a B.S. in Apparel Design while attending Oregon State University where her interest in costumes for theatre began. She began her work with the Oregon State University Theatres in 2006 as Assistant Costume Designer.

Since then, Melissa has served as the Costume Shop Manager and Resident Designer for Pacific university from 2014-2023, was a founding and current member of Bag & Baggage’s Resident Artist Company beginning in 2011, and has designed for a multitude of local area theatre companies and universities including Oregon Children’s Theatre; Broadway Rose; MHCC; Third Rail; Lakewood Theatre Company; St. Mary’s Academy; Open Hearts, Open Minds; Crave Theatre; Northwest Dance Project; and more.

Melissa currently splits most of her time designing for stage, building costumes as the Costume Craftsperson for Portland Center Stage, and being a partner and parent to her two best guys. She thanks OrpheusPDX for this engaging partnership.

Allen Hahn has designed productions for New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, the Lincoln Center Festival, BAM Next Wave Festival, Chicago Opera Theater, Boston Lyric Opera, Portland Opera, the Spoleto USA Festival and the influential New York company Gotham Chamber Opera.

He has designed world premiere operas Miss Lonelyhearts at Juilliard and Kafka’s Trial for The Royal Danish Opera, where his award-winning Giulio Cesare with Andreas Scholl was recorded for DVD release from Harmonia Mundi.

Other international credits include the national premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s Émilie for Finnish National Opera, La Finta Giardiniera and La Fanciulla del West for Opera Zuid, and Der Freischütz in Bilbao as well as companies and festivals in Australia, South Korea, France, Germany, Norway, and the UK.

He has worked with the cross-media performance company The Builders Association since its inception in 1994 and with artist Tony Oursler on installations at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and ARoS Kunstmuseum in Denmark. His work in the music world has ranged from designing for David Byrne in Central Park, to working with contemporary musical ensemble Alarm Will Sound at the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam.

His dance for camera work as a director and designer has been seen in the short films Breath Light Stone and Mutable Spirals of Ascension, which were featured in festivals in the US and internationally, with Breath Light Stone garnering awards in multiple categories.

Sara has designed wigs and makeup for theatre, opera and dance companies all over the country including Portland Opera, Oregon Ballet Theater, Opera San Jose, Indianapolis Opera , Orlando Opera , New Orleans Opera , Tulsa Opera, Ft. Worth Opera, Chautauqua Opera, The Wildwood Festival, The Western Opera Theatre Tour, TheatreWorks, Marin Theatre Company, The Willows Theatre Company, San Jose Stage Company, Diablo Light Opera Company, and the Aurora Theatre. She has also worked for the San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet, Mark Morris Dance Group, Spoletto Festival USA and on several films and television shows including Metal Lords, Wild, Grimm, Shrill, and Leverage.