Cast
Nicole Heaston
Soprano
Mary (Highway 1, USA)
From: Chicago, Illinois.
LA Opera: Musetta in La Bohème (2007, debut)
About: She has appeared with opera companies throughout the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Dallas Opera, Washington National Opera, Semperoper Dresden and the Glyndebourne Festival in England. Her 2023/24 season includes Alice Ford in Falstaff with Houston Grand Opera, the unique combination of Anna/Dido in Errollyn Wallen’s Dido’s Ghost and Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with Philharmonia Baroque, and the title role of Thaïs with Utah Opera. Further ahead, she will sing leading roles with Lyric Opera of Chicago and Opera Philadelphia. She began the 2022/23 season with the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s The Listeners at the Norwegian Opera. She also sang Amore in Orfeo ed Euridice with San Francisco Opera and the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro with Houston Grand Opera. NicoleHeaston.com
Norman Garrett
Baritone
Bob (Highway 1, USA)
From: Lubbock, Texas.
LA Opera: Abdul in Omar (2022, debut).
About: This season’s appearances include his San Francisco Opera debut as Abdul and Abe in Omar, Masetto in Don Giovanni in a return to Houston Grand Opera, and Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall. In the 2022/23 season, he appeared in the world premieres of The Factotum and Proximity, both at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, as well as Ned in a new edition of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha with Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Additional highlights of recent seasons include the Count in The Marriage of Figaro with Seattle Opera, Ríolobo in Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas with Houston Grand Opera, the title role in Chausson’s Le roi Arthus with Bard SummerScape, and the Foreman/Adult James in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones with Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Metropolitan Opera, where he also appeared as Jim in Porgy and Bess.
Chaz'men Williams-Ali
Tenor
Nate (Highway 1, USA)
From: St. Louis, Missouri.
LA Opera: debut.
About: This season’s appearances include Cavaradossi in Tosca at Cedar Rapids Opera and Rodolfo in La Bohème at Florentine Opera in Milwaukee. Recent highlights include his Metropolitan Opera debut as Zorn in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, also covering the role of Spinner in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones, which he created in the 2019 world premiere at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. He sang Narraboth in Salome at Madison Opera, Rodolfo in La Bohème at Kentucky Opera and the Prince in Rusalka at Opera Idaho. As principal tenor at Theater und Orchester Heidelberg in Germany, his roles include Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Florestan in Fidelio, Canio in Pagliacci and the Prince in Rusalka. He made his international debut as Robbins and the Crab Man in Porgy and Bess with English National Opera, where he also appeared in a staged production of Britten’s War Requiem. ChazmenWilliamsAli.com
Deborah Nansteel
Mezzo-Soprano
Aunt Lou (Highway 1, USA)
From: Havelock, North Carolina.
LA Opera: debut. She will return in June for Fire and Blue Sky.
About: She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor, her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Gertrude in Roméo et Juliette, her Carnegie Hall debut in Mozart’s Coronation Mass and her New York Philharmonic debut in In Their Footsteps: Great African American Singers and Their Legacy. This season, she debuts with the Atlanta Opera as Rossweisse in Die Walküre, and performs Azuecena in Il Trovatore with Opera Santa Barbara and Gertrud in Hansel and Gretel with Opera San Antonio. She recently returned to the Met as Annina in La Traviata and for a concert tour of Otello, debuted with San Francisco Opera in Eugene Onegin and Dialogues des Carmélites, and performed Amneris in Aida for both Opera Grand Rapids and Finger Lakes Opera, and Gertrud in Hansel and Gretel for New Orleans Opera.
DeborahNansteel.com
Alan Williams
Bass
Sheriff (Highway 1, USA)
From: San Bernardino, California.
LA Opera: several roles including Abe in Omar (2022, debut); Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia (2023); Masetto in Don Giovanni (2023). Upcoming roles include Dr. Grenvil in La Traviata and the Mandarin in Turandot. He is a member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program.
About: In August, he appeared with Aspen Opera Theater as Neptune in Idomeneo. He was a 2022 apprentice at Des Moines Metro Opera, where he performed Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He will return there this summer as the First Soldier in Salome and the Physician in Pelléas et Mélisande.
Kiara Benn
Dancer
Fox (Highway 1, USA)
From: Brooklyn, New York.
LA Opera: choreographer of Omar (2022, debut).
About: A movement artist and producer, she danced with the Brooklyn youth company Dancewave, performing works by Kyle Abraham, Camille A. Brown and Andrea Miller, among others, at venues including the Pocantico Center and Jacob’s Pillow. She has produced the choreographic pieces just for (you), Will You Reminisce For Me?, and tempo take me.... Her artistry often asks how music serves as a portal to privately experienced memories and triggers our bodies to move in ways that reference the past.
Cheyanne Williams
Hare (Highway 1, USA)
From: Los Angeles, California.
LA Opera: debut.
About: Cheyanne Williams (she/ they) is an NYC-based theater artist whose longstanding collaboration with Kaneza Schaal has seen her as technical director for Omar (Carolina Performing Arts, Boston Lyric Opera) and Jack & (BAM, Seattle, Chicago), among others. Cheyanne is resident technical director and designer for Towards a New Collectivity, a summer residency program hosted at NYC’s Performing Garage.
Rodrick Dixon
Tenor
The Dwarf
From: Queens, New York.
LA Opera: Walther von der Vogelweide in Tannhäuser (2007, debut); Recovered Voices concert (2007); title role in The Dwarf (2008).
About: Notable 2023 engagements include 2023 debuts with the Royal Opera House as Froh in Das Rheingold, with the Royal Concertgebouw in The Death of Klinghoffer and in the Nashville Symphony's world premiere of The Jonah People. Other debuts include the Enescu Festival in the title role of The Dwarf and Rai National Symphony and St. Louis Symphony as Erik in The Flying Dutchman. He created the role of the Shaman in the world premieres of One Land, One River, One People and Healing Tones with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Concert highlights include performances with the Cincinnati May Festival, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Sydney Arts Festival, Ravinia Festival, Aspen Music Festival and Choral Arts Society at the Kennedy Center.
TenorRodDixon.com
Erica Petrocelli
Soprano
Donna Clara (The Dwarf)
From: East Greenwich, Rhode Island.
LA Opera: roles include Mrs. Naidoo in Satyagraha (2018, debut); Annina in La Traviata (2019); Musetta in La Bohème (2019); title role in Eurydice (2020); Clorinda in La Cenerentola (2021); Shepherd Boy in Tannhäuser (2021). She will return as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte (2025). She was a member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program (2018-20).
About: Her concert appearances this season include Strauss’s Four Last Songs with the Peoria Symphony, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Florida Orchestra, Fauré’s Requiem at San Diego's Mainly Mozart festival and Puccini concerts with Sarasota Opera. Recent opera appearances include Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Stella in The Tales of Hoffmann with Opernhaus Zürich and Pamina in The Magic Flute and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Sarasota Opera. Concert highlights include Mozart’s Requiem under James Conlon at the Cincinnati May Festival as well as with the Saint Louis Symphony.
Emily Magee
Soprano
Ghita (The Dwarf)
From: New York City, New York.
LA Opera: debut.
About: Emily Magee is internationally celebrated for her operatic interpretations of Wagner, Strauss, Verdi and Puccini. She has brought to life such roles as Elsa, Elisabeth, Tosca, Chrysothemis, Sieglinde, Marschallin, Kaiserin, Ariadne, Arabella and Minnie on leading opera stages in Europe, North America and Asia. She has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden, La Scala, Zurich, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Salzburg and Bayreuth. She has also performed concerts throughout Europe and the USA. Her recordings have been nominated for a Grammy Award and for Gramophone Video of the Year. Her most recent appearances include Turandot at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, Elsa in Lohengrin at Opera Australia in Melbourne, Elsa and Gutrune in Leipzig, the title role of Tosca in Barcelona and The Girl of the Golden West with the Cleveland Orchestra.
EmilyMagee.com
Kristinn Sigmundsson
Bass
Don Estoban (The Dwarf)
From: Reykjavík, Iceland.
LA Opera: King Marke in Tristan und Isolde (2007, debut); King Heinrich in Lohengrin (2010), King Louis XVI in The Ghosts of Versailles (2015); Basilio in The Barber of Seville (2015); Bartolo in The Marriage of Figaro (2015, 2023); St. Matthew Passion (2022)..
About: One of the world’s most sought-after basses, he has sung nearly his entire repertoire with the Opéra National de Paris. His many Metropolitan Opera roles include Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier and Osmin in The Abduction from the Seraglio. He has regularly sung with the Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera and Semperoper Dresden. Recent appearances include La Roche in Capriccio in Munich, Vodnik in Rusalka in San Francisco, Daland in The Flying Dutchman with Utah Opera and Fasolt in Das Rheingold in Atlanta. His engagements this season include appearances with San Francisco Opera as King Heinrich in Lohengrin and in Kaija Saariaho’s Innocence.
Kathleen O'Mara
Soprano
First Maid (The Dwarf)
From: Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.
LA Opera: Berta in The Barber of Seville (2023, debut). She is a member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program.
About: A Juilliard graduate, she covered the role of Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte for both Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Palm Beach Opera last year, after performing the role at the Juilliard School in 2019. Other recent appearances include Zemire in Grétry’s Zemire et Azor with Westminster Opera Theater. She has participated in the Gerdine Young Artist Program at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Palm Beach Opera’s Apprentice Program, Houston Grand Opera’s Young Artist Vocal Academy, and Music Academy of the West. This summer, she will be a Gaddes Festival Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where she will appear as Duchess Christina in Galileo Galilei by Philip Glass. KathleenOMaraSoprano.com
Deepa Johnny
Mezzo-Soprano
Second Maid (The Dwarf)
From: Alberta, Canada.
LA Opera: roles including Eliza in Omar (2022); Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro (2023). She is a member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program.
About: She began the current season singing the title role in Carmen with Opéra de Rouen Normandie, followed by Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro with Portland Opera. She has also recently performed at the Manchester International Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Bregenzer Festspiele and London’s Southbank Centre. This summer, she will perform Penelope in Il Ritorno d’Ulisse at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. DeepaJohnny.com
Sarah Saturnino
Mezzo-Soprano
Third Maid (The Dwarf)
From: Grass Valley, California.
LA Opera: roles including Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia (2023); Emilia in Otello (2023). She will return as Flora in La Traviata and Maddalena in Rigoletto. She is a member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program.
About: She was a 2023 grand finals winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition. In May, she will perform Fricka in excerpts from the Ring cycle in concert with Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Recent performances include the title role of Carmen with Opera Santa Barbara, Mistress Ford in Sir John in Love by Ralph Vaughan Williams at the Bard Music Festival and Dorabella in Così fan tutte with the Tel Aviv Summer Opera Festival. (SarahSaturnino.com) SarahSaturnino.com
Tiffany Townsend
Soprano
First Companion (The Dwarf)
From: Jackson, Mississippi.
LA Opera: roles including Léontine in The Anonymous Lover (2020); Ines in Il Trovatore (2021); Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni (2023). She was a member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program (2019-22).
About: Last season, she made her role debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Wolf Trap Opera and she also appeared in Kate Soper’s The Romance of the Rose with Long Beach Opera. Other recent appearances include Fauré’s Requiem and George Walker’s Lilacs with the New Jersey Symphony and Verdi’s Requiem with the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra. Upcoming performances include a workshop of Shelley Washington's The Passion of Nell with Long Beach Opera and Verdi's Requiem with the Artosphere Festival Orchestra.TiffanyTownsendSoprano.com
Madeleine Lyon
Mezzo-Soprano
Second Companion (The Dwarf)
From: San Marcos, Texas.
LA Opera: roles including Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor (2022); Bianca in The Rape of Lucretia (2023); Geneviève in Impressions de Pelléas (2023). She is a member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program.
About: She spent the summer of 2023 as a Fellow with the Ravinia Steans Music Institute’s Program for Singers. In the 2021/22 season, she performed Zerlina in Don Giovanni for the grand opening of the Brockman Hall for Opera at Rice University, where she earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees. This summer, she will perform the role of Nireno in Julius Caesar with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as a Gerdine Young Artist. (MadeleineLyonMusic.com) MadeleineLyonMusic.com
