In its inaugural season, the newly created Opera Institute at Rutgers benefits from a gracious bequest from Victoria Mastrobuono. Under the combined direction of Pamela Gilmore and Eduardo Chama, faculty include Nancy Gustafson, Richard Leech, Margaret Lattimore, Faith Esham and Dietlinde Maazel under the music direction of Kynan Johns. Recent highlights have included productions of Falstaff, Magic Flute, La Boheme, The Beggar’s Opera, Suor Angelica and Cendrillon (CD release later this year). Productions this season include Handel’s Acis and Galatea with Director David Ronis and Bernstein’s Candide with Director William Florescu.

Jeremy Blossey (Male Chorus), Lyric tenor, is an accomplished singer of opera, concert/oratorio and musical theater on stages all over the United States, Europe and the Pacific Rim. Upcoming engagements include Falstaff with Opera Hamilton (ON) and a German recital debut at the Opern Haus Aschaffenburg. An interpreter of over 40 roles, Jeremy has appeared in leading roles with Hawaii Opera Theater, Opera de Quebec, Opera Cleveland, Shreveport Opera, New Jersey State Opera, IVAI in Tel Aviv, Natchez Opera and Washington Summer Opera Theater amongst numerous others. He has also appeared as a soloist with the Honolulu Symphony, Annapolis Symphony, the United States Naval Academy, the Great Auditorium at Ocean Grove and the Theater Chamber Players at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

Shane Brown (Junius) is in his final year as a Voice Performance major at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University where he studies with Eduardo Chama. While at Rutgers he has sung roles such as Tom Friendly in Neely Bruce’s Flora, Elder McLean in Susanna, Matt of the Mint in The Beggar’s Opera, and Ford in Falstaff. He has twice worked under the baton of Maestro Lorin Maazel at the Castleton Festival and plans to continue his studies in Voice and Opera after his time at Rutgers

Heather Flemming (Bianca), Canadian contralto, is best known for her concert work in Canada and abroad. She performed Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Gustav Klimt Ensemble in Montreal and Luciano Berio’s Folk Songs with chamber ensemble at Carnegie Hall Weill Hall. In opera, Heather recently performed the role of Old Prioress in Francis Poulenc’s opera Dialogue of the Carmelites and premiered the role of Madre in a new Spanish opera Bodas de Sangre by Duarte-Lopez & Eremiasova. She has been selected to perform in master classes with renowned artists Christa Ludwig, Denyce Graves and Bo Skovhus and attended the Tanglewood Music Center where she worked with mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, soprano, Phillis Curtin and performed in opera scenes directed by choreographer Mark Morris. Heather Flemming holds a Master of Music degree from McGill University and is a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts.

Clayton Mathews (Tarquinius), Baritone, a native of St. Louis has been praised for his rich colorful tone and profound character interpretations. In 2005, he won the South Florida Chapter National Association of Teachers of Singing competition. He has performed professionally in opera companies across the US, including On Site Opera, Harlem Opera Theatre, Miami Lyric Opera, Riuniti Opera, Sunday Opera, and the Opera Project. Mr. Mathews’ most distinguished roles include Amonasro (Aida), and Don Alfonso (Cosi Fan Tutte). In 2012 he performed with the Miami Symphony Orchestra in an Opera Gala called A Night of Opera. He has also performed musical theatre roles such as Javert (Les Miserable) and Agwe (Once On This Island). Most recently, Mr. Mathews performed in George Gershwin’s opera Blue Monday as Mike at the legendary Cotton Club for On site Opera/Harlem Opera Theatre. He has also performed at the Manchester Music Festival closing concert “Rising Stars from the Metropolitan Opera”. Mr. Mathews holds a B.M in Voice Performance from Barry University and currently attends Rutgers University’s Opera Institute.

Nadine Robinson (Female Chorus), Soprano, has been praised for the warmth and expressiveness of her singing. She has performed with the Pineda Lyric Opera Company, The Little Opera Company of New Jersey, Rutgers Opera Company, New Jersey Concert Opera, Berkshire Opera, and at the Spoleto Festival dei due Mondi. Her roles have included Micaela in Carmen, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Despina in Così fan tutte, Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore, Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera, Mabel in Pirates of Penzance, and Dido in Dido and Aeneas. A frequent concert soloist, her notable performances have included the Verdi Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Gloria, as well as several works of J.S. Bach, Haydn and Mozart. She currently resides in Highland Park, New Jersey with her husband, pianist and conductor Mark Hyczko and their seven month old daughter, Anna Sophia.

Sahoko Sato (Lucretia), Mezzo-soprano, grew up in her native Japan, Germany and the US and has performed with Baltimore Opera, Syracuse Opera, Tokyo Opera Nomori, Saito Kinen Festival, Seiji Ozawa Ongakujuku Opera, Berkshire Opera Company, Chautauqua Opera, Nevada Opera Theatre in various roles including Suzuki, Cherubino, Dorabella, Orlofky and Hansel. In concert, she has appeared with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields at Carnegie Hall under Sir Neville Marriner, Seattle, Oregon, West Virginia, Chautauqua, Singapore and Sapporo Symphonies performing repertoire including Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Handel’s Messiah and Verdi’s Requiem. She has performed solo recitals in Bangkok, Thailand, sponsored by Nomura Cultural Foundation, and Granada, Spain, upon winning the First Miguel Zanetti International Spanish Song Competition.

Erin Schwab (Lucia), is about to complete her undergraduate degree in Vocal Performance at Mason Gross School of the Arts. Previous roles include Nanetta (Falstaff), Noémie (Cendrillon), and Lucy Lockitt (The Beggar’s Opera). Erin attended the Castleton Artist Training Seminar in 2012 & 2013. She was a national semi-finalist in the Classical Singer Competition in 2012 and a national finalist in the New York Lyric Opera Theatre Competition in 2013.

Curtis Streetman (Collatinus) performing credits include the Salzburg Festival’s touring production of Handel’s Radamisto, Kennedy Center’s National Symphony in Handel’s Messiah, The Cleveland Orchestra in Schumann’s Szenen aus Goethe’s Faust, Mozart’s Requiem with San Diego Symphony as well as Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in cantatas of CPE Bach. Recording credits include Monteverdi’s Vespers (Musical Heritage Society), Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Romanciero Gitano (New World Classics), Charpentier’s Christmas Cantatas (Naxos), Clérambault’s Cantatas (Dorian), Handel’s Ricardo Primo (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi) and Monteverdi’s Orfeo with Andrew Parrot. Mr. Streetman performed the role of Christus in Sir Jonathan Miller’s acclaimed production of The Saint Matthew Passion, produced by the Brooklyn Academy of Music and performed the title role in Lalo’s Le Roi d’Ys with the American Symphony Orchestra, making his Lincoln Center debut. www.curtisstreetman.com

Pamela Gilmore (Producer, Director, Vocal Coach) has taught on the faculties of the Israeli Vocal Arts Institute, Mannes College of Music, Brooklyn College Conservatory, The Bel Canto Foundation of Northwestern University, the Spoleto Vocal Arts Symposium, and the Intermezzo Festival. She has served as director of Opera at Rutgers, now the Opera Institute at Rutgers, for 12 seasons, producing for the mainstage The Merry Wives of Windsor, Die Zauberflöte, La Traviata, Roméo et Juliette, Street Scene, Die Lustige Witwe, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Suor Angelica, Il Campanello, Susannah, Cendrillon, The Beggar’s Opera, and Falstaff and in collaboration with the Mason Gross Baroque period-instrument ensemble; Dido and Aeneas, Athalia, The Fairy Queen, Flora, The Tempest and the U.S. premiere of Haydn’s Le Pescatrici. She has been affiliated with the Utah, Portland, Bronx and the Metropolitan Opera Companies.

Hailed by the NYTimes as ‘Incisive…first rate…brilliant’ and in Europe “his direction breathes theater…attentive to the singer, lively, aerial and sensual”. A protégé of Maestro Lorin Maazel, he has conducted over 100 orchestras including the Israel Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonica della Scala, Netherlands Radio Symphony, Sydney Symphony and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestras. He has worked at Covent Garden and conducted at La Scala. Four seasons at the Palau de les Arts (Opera House), Valencia working with Maazel and Mehta, two seasons at New York City Opera and frequently in France and Germany his opera credits include Don Giovanni, Madame Butterfly, Luisa Miller, Don Carlos, Turn of the Screw, La Boheme, Traviata, Faust, Adés’s Powder Her Face & Offenbach’s Perichole, He was awarded the inaugural ‘Centenary Medal’ from the Australian Government for his services to music.
 

Kynan Johns official site
Kynan Johns on Youtube

Anne Liberman (Costume Designer) MFA Rutgers University. Recent New York credits include Hurricane Ethel with Tonya Pinkins, Nothing’s Going to Happen (premiere) and The Forge’s Immortal: The Gilgamesh Variations (premiere.) Regional credits include Intimate Apparel at Rutgers, The Laramie Project at Ramapo College of NJ, and Dorothy Meets Alice at the Darress Theater.
 
Anne Liberman official site

Franklin E. Porath’s (Designer) mentors include Doctor Dina Rees Evans (America’s first PhD in drama), Benno Frank, (protégé of Max Reinhardt), Anthony Addison, and Boris Goldovsky. He attended Oberlin College, Case Western Reserve University, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. At CIM he designed sets for operas conducted by James Levine, and was Opera Director of Karamu House. He worked with MusicCarnival, the Cleveland Play House, and the Cleveland Orchestra. Frank was also a Board Member of Cleveland’s Lyric Opera. Frank has degrees in opera, business, and theoretical physics. He is a Mission Pilot and Major in the Civil Air Patrol, the US Air Force Auxiliary. For Opera at Rutgers he played Njegus in The Merry Widow, designed sets for Tales of Hoffman, and collaborated on the recent productions of Le Pescatrici, Fairy Queen, and Flora. In 2011 he directed the “Mack The Knife Meets The Sopranos” production of Britten’s The Beggars Opera.

Jerome Smith (Stage Manager) is from Rockaway, New Jersey and is currently in his fourth and final year as a BFA Production/Stage Management major at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts. Seagle Music Colony: 2013 Summer Season (Theater Crew). Mile Square Theater: 7th Inning Stretch (Assistant Stage Manager). Rutgers Theater Company credits: Another Part of the Forrest (Sound Designer), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Assistant Stage Manager), Uncle Vanya (Sound Designer), and Intimate Apparel (Assistant Stage Manager). Jameson Project credits: Under Construction (Run Crew), and Doubt: A Parable (Assistant Stage Manager). Other overhire work includes the Opera at Rutgers, George Street Playhouse (New Brunswick, NJ), Bucks County Playhouse (New Hope, PA), and The Princeton Festival (Princeton, NJ).
 
Jerome Smith official site