45th Anniversary Sapphire Celebration

Described by the New York Times as “one of America’s finest artists and singers,” Frederica von Stade continues to be extolled as one of the music world’s most beloved figures. Known to family, friends, and fans by her nickname “Flicka,” the mezzo-soprano has enriched the world of classical music for three decades.

Miss von Stade’s career has taken her to the stages of the world’s great opera houses and concert halls. She began at the top, when she received a contract from Sir Rudolf Bing during the Metropolitan Opera auditions, and since her debut in 1970 she has sung nearly all of her great roles with that company. In January 2000, the company celebrated the 30th anniversary of her debut with a new production of The Merry Widow specifically for her, and in 1995, as a celebration of her 25th anniversary, the Metropolitan Opera created for her a new production of Pelléas et Mélisande. In addition, Miss von Stade has appeared with every leading American opera company, including San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Los Angeles Opera. Her career in Europe has been no less spectacular, with new productions mounted for her at Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, and the Paris Opera. She is invited regularly by the finest conductors, among them Claudio Abbado, Charles Dutoit, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, André Previn, Leonard Slatkin, and Michael Tilson Thomas, to appear in concert with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Washington’s National Symphony, and the Orchestra of La Scala.

With impressive versatility, she has effortlessly traversed an ever-broadening spectrum of musical styles and dramatic characterizations. A noted bel canto specialist, she excelled as the heroines of Rossini’s La Cenerentola and The Barber of Seville and Bellini’s La sonnambula. She is an unmatched stylist in the French repertoire: a delectable Mignon or Périchole, a regal Marguerite in Berlioz’ The Damnation of Faust, and, in one critic’s words, “the Mélisande of one’s dreams.” Her elegant figure and keen imagination have made her the world’s favorite interpreter of the great trouser roles, from Strauss’ Octavian and Composer to Mozart’s Sesto, Idamante and - magically, indelibly - Cherubino. Miss von Stade’s artistry has inspired the revival of neglected works such as Massenet’s Cherubin, Thomas’ Mignon, Rameau’s Dardanus, and Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. Her ability as a singing actress has allowed her to portray wonderful works in operetta and musical theater including the title role in The Merry Widow and Desirée Armfeldt in A Little Night Music. Her repertoire is continually expanding with the works of contemporary composers. She created the role of Tina in Dallas Opera’s world premiere production of Dominick Argento’s The Aspern Papers (a work written for her) as well as the role of Madame de Merteuil in the Conrad Susa’s Dangerous Liaisons and Mrs. Patrick De Rocher in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, both for San Francisco Opera.

Frederica von Stade continues to create compelling new stage portrayals. In 2005, Los Angeles audiences saw her first-ever performances of the title role in La Grand Duchesse de Gerolstein in a new production directed by famed movie director Garry Marshall for Los Angeles Opera. Later that season, she gave her first performances as Ottavia in L’Incoronazione di Poppea with Houston Grand Opera, a role she reprised for Los Angeles Opera in the 2006/07 season.

Frederica von Stade’s orchestral repertoire is equally broad, embracing works from the Baroque to those of today’s composers. She has garnered critical and popular acclaim in her vast French repertoire as one of the world’s finest interpreters of Ravel’s Shéhérazade, Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été, and Canteloube’s Les chants d’Auvergne as well as the orchestrated songs of Debussy and Duparc. She is continually in demand for the symphonic works of the great Austrian and German composers including Mozart and Mahler, as well as the new works of American composers.

It was the American composer Richard Danielpour who in 1998 helped Frederica von Stade to realize an artistic and personal dream when he wrote Elegies. The work, scored for orchestra, mezzo-soprano and baritone, is a tribute to Miss von Stade’s father, Charles von Stade, who was killed in the final days of World War II, and is based on the text of letters Mr. von Stade sent to his wife during the war. It is through these letters that Frederica von Stade came to know her father, who died two months before her birth. In January 1998 the Jacksonville Symphony, led by Roger Nierenberg, offered the world premiere of Elegies with performances in Florida and in New York’s Carnegie Hall. Elegies is available on SONY Classical and has been performed throughout North America and Europe.

Unparalleled in her artistry as a recitalist, Miss von Stade combines her expressive vocalism and exceptional musicianship with a rare gift for communication, enriching audiences throughout the world. Here, too, her repertoire encompasses a rich variety, from the classical style of Mozart and Haydn to the popular songs of Broadway’s greatest musicals; from Italian “Arie antiche” to the songs of contemporary composers - who compose especially for her - such as Dominick Argento and Jake Heggie. She continues to explore new music and recently brought a program of the songs of Pauline Viardot to London’s Wigmore Hall and the Théâtre Musical de Paris.

She has made over seventy recordings with every major label, including complete operas, aria albums, symphonic works, solo recital programs, and popular crossover albums. Her recordings have garnered six Grammy nominations, two Grand Prix du Disc awards, the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Italy’s Premio della Critica Discografica, and “Best of the Year” citations by Stereo Review and Opera News. She has enjoyed the distinction of holding simultaneously the first and second places on national sales charts for Angel/EMI’s Show Boat and Telarc’s The Sound of Music.

Miss von Stade appears regularly on television, through numerous PBS and other broadcasts. In 2002 she was seen on national television in a concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as part of the opening ceremonies of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games. In 2001 she participated in the opening of Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts performing in a concert together with Sir Elton John, Andre Watts, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Other highlights of recent television appearances include a gala concert with the San Francisco Symphony to open the 1998-99 season at New York’s Carnegie Hall and a “Live from Lincoln Center” television event opening the 1999 season of the Mostly Mozart Festival, both broadcast throughout North America. She can be seen in “Live from the Met” performances as Cherubino, Hansel, and Idamante, and through PBS broadcasts of her celebration of the art of American song with Thomas Hampson, Marilyn Horne, Dawn Upshaw and Jerry Hadley in a program at New York’s Town Hall titled “I Hear America Singing,” as well as a program with Tyne Daly which included arias, art songs and popular crossover material. Also seen on PBS were a holiday special, “Christmas with Flicka,” shot on location in Salzburg, “A Carnegie Hall Christmas” with Kathleen Battle, and an evening of operatic and musical theater selections with Samuel Ramey and Jerry Hadley titled “Flicka and Friends.” Her recent portrayals in Dangerous Liaisons andThe Aspern Papers were broadcast throughout North America. She can also be seen in the Unitel film of the classic Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production of La cenerentola.

Frederica von Stade’s 2008/09 season included recital appearances in Denver, Chicago (opposite Barbara Cook and Dianne Reeves) and Cleveland. She toured Asia with the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra with stops in Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo. She reprised her role of Madeline in Jake Heggie’s new chamber opera Three Decembers at San Francisco Opera, a work the composer composed specifically for her. Ms. von Stade also appeared in duo recital and concert with longtime colleague Samuel Ramey at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC, as well as in Seattle, Charleston, Tampa, Providence, RI and Austin, TX. She also honored her beloved colleague Marilyn Horne in the celebration of her 75th birthday at Carnegie Hall.

Frederica von Stade is the holder of honorary doctorates from Yale University, Boston University, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (which holds a Frederica von Stade Distinguished Chair in Voice), the Georgetown University School of Medicine, and her alma mater, the Mannes School of Music. In 1998 Miss von Stade was awarded France’s highest honor in the Arts when she was appointed as an officer of L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 1983 she was honored with an award given at The White House by President Reagan in recognition of her significant contribution to the arts.

Soprano Laquita Mitchell consistently earns acclaim on eminent international opera and concert stages, leading performances with Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Washington National Opera, and Opéra Comique in Paris, New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, among many others.

This season she will perform the role of Countess in The Marriage of Figaro with Toledo Opera, sing in One River, One Land, One People by Hannibal Lokumbe with Maestro Yannick Nezet-Seguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra, sing with Traverse City Symphony as Bess in Porgy and Bess, with Arizona Opera in a gala concert, and with Sheboygan Symphony’s concert “Passion Part Two: Music from the Heart.” Additionally, she performs in recital annually at Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe.

In her compelling début as Bess in Porgy and Bess with the San Francisco Opera, Opera News said “Laquita Mitchell, in her first outing as Bess, dazzled the SFO [San Francisco Opera] audience with her purity of tone and vivid theatrical presence.” She has since reprised the role with The Atlanta Opera, The Tanglewood Festival, Madison Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Toledo Opera, Springfield Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Sheboygan Symphony, and as the season opener for the Energa Sopot Classic Festival with the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra. Additionally, PBS invited Ms. Mitchell to perform a solo recital including excerpts from Porgy and Bess with pianist Craig Terry for the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Los Angeles in preparation for the broadcast and DVD release of SFO’s Porgy and Bess.

In recent engagements, she joined Beth Morrison Projects and NPR for a production and recording of David Lang’s The Difficulty of Crossing a Field in the role of Virginia Creeper; performed Strauss’ Four Last Songs in Classical Roots: A Tribute to Jessye Norman with Detroit Symphony Orchestra; sang a special Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute Concert with Philadelphia Orchestra; sang the soprano solo in Verdi’s Requiem at Waterbury Symphony; sang in two recitals with Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, performing works by Samuel Barber, John Carter and Lee Hoiby; sang Elijah with Princeton Music Festival; and was a featured soloist in a Gala Concert with Jerry Steichen and Friends in Tonkawa, OK. She made her début with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Maestro Yannick Nezet-Seguin in the 2015 Salute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Girard College and her New York Philharmonic début alongside Eric Owens in In Their Footsteps: Great African American Singers and Their Legacy. 

In her role début as Violetta in La traviata with New York City Opera, she was labeled “extraordinary,” thanks to her “wide expressive range and big-hearted sound that contains just a hint of sexy smokiness. Her “Sempre libera” was enlivened by a rhythmic clarity that made it seem almost danceable.” Other notable appearances include Leonora in Il trovatore in South Carolina as well as with Nashville Opera; the role of Sharon in Terrance McNally’s Master Class at the Kennedy Center; Musetta in La bohème in a return to the Los Angeles Opera; Mimì in La bohème with Cincinnati Opera, and at the Utah Symphony and Opera; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Florentine Opera, Portland Opera, and Opera New Jersey; Clara in Porgy and Bess with Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, Opéra Comique in Paris and on tour in Caen and Granada, Spain; and Micaëla in Carmen with New York City Opera, Opera Pacific, and most recently, Cincinnati Opera, where the Cincinnati Enquirer hailed “Mitchell shone in the role of Micaëla, the peasant girl who loves Don José. She was a natural actress, and sang with expressive beauty whenever she was onstage.”

Also an active concert artist, Ms. Mitchell recently performed Over the Rainbow – an evening honoring Harold Arlen at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Additional performances include Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Louisville Orchestra, a début with the New World Symphony in Alberto Ginastera’s Cantata para la América Mágica, the world première of composer Steven Stucky’s August 4, 1964 with Dallas Symphony Orchestra, her Boston Symphony Orchestra début as the soprano soloist in Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise under the direction of Kurt Masur, and the soprano solo in Tippett’s A Child of our Time with the Washington Chorus at Kennedy Center. She has also performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, the New York Symphonic Ensemble at Alice Tully Hall, and with Branford Marsalis and the Garden State Philharmonic.

Ms. Mitchell is an alumna of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, where she performed a variety of roles including stand-out performances in contemporary operas such as Orquidea in Daniel Catán’s Salsipuedes (world première), Myhrrine in Mark Adamo’s Lysistrata (world première), Barena in David Alden’s production of Jenůfa, and The Water in Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince (world première) directed by Francesca Zambello and conducted by Patrick Summers.

Ms. Mitchell was previously a member of the San Francisco Opera’s world-renowned Merola Program. She then joined Wolf Trap Opera in performances as Alice Ford in Antonio Salieri’s Falstaff, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and presented a recital with renowned pianist Steven Blier.

A native of New York City, Ms. Mitchell was a 2004 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Prize Winner, and was awarded a Sara Tucker Award. She was also the First Prize Winner of the Wiener Kammer Oper’s Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition, making her the first American to win this competition in over twenty years. Additionally, Ms. Mitchell was the First Prize Winner of the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, as well as the winner of the Audience Choice award. Ms. Mitchell holds a Master of Music degree and the Professional Studies Certificate at the Manhattan School of Music, and completed undergraduate studies at Westminster Choir College.

A graduate of San Francisco Opera's prestigious Adler Fellow Program, American Daniel Montenegro is recognised for a flexible and distinctive tenor voice and a varied repertoire of bel canto, verismo and contemporary roles. 

Recent seasons have seen Daniel make his European opera debut at the Théâtre du Châtelet as Mario in Daniel Catán’s Il Postino alongside Plácido Domingo, as well as a number of significant role and company debuts including Roderigo (Otello) with San Francisco Opera under Nicola Luisotti, Alfredo (La traviata) with Minnesota Opera, Nemorino (Elixer of Love) with Washington National Opera, Pang (Turandot) at the Hollywood Bowl conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and most recently Romeo (Roméo et Juliette) for Tulsa Opera and at the Castleton Festival. This season Daniel makes his role and company debut reprising the role of Mario in Il Postino with Opera Saratoga. 

As a San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow and former Resident Artist of the Minnesota Opera, Daniel has sung a wealth of roles including Liverotto and Rustighello (Lucrezia Borgia), Pong (Turandot), Remendado (Carmen), Tamino (The Magic Flute), Nick (The Handmaid’s Tale) and Flavio (Norma). He has also sung Steuermann (The Flying Dutchman) with both Portland and Arizona Operas and the Shepherd in Peter Sellars’ production of Oedipus Rex at the Sydney Festival under Joana Carneiro. An ongoing collaboration with Los Angeles Opera has brought appearances in several productions including the world premiere of Lee Holdridge’s Concierto para Mendez, La traviata (released on DVD), Carmen, Luisa Fernanda and Il tabarro.

Daniel features on ‘Great Voices Sing John Denver’ alongside Plácido Domingo and many other key operatic names; produced by legendary arranger and music producer Milt Okun, the disc was released on the MRI Associated label in June 2013. 

http://www.daniel-montenegro.com/

Thomas Cannon has been acclaimed for his “focused tone, keen dramatic sense and vocal powerhouse”. Skilled across diverse genres, he has performed works by Verdi, Mozart, Puccini, Gounod, John Corigliano, Meredith Wilson and George Gershwin.

Recent: Thomas Cannon was Scarpia at Opera Roanoke; sang the role of Figaro in Ghost of Versailles with the Miami Music Festival; was Senator Potter and General Arlie in George Spears’ Fellow Travelers with Arizona Opera; Porgy in Porgy and Bess at Fort Worth Opera; and was guest soloist with The Lied Society of Minneapolis. This season: Sharpless with Indianapolis Opera; Germont with Orlando Opera; Porgy to Rhiannon Gideons’ Bess with Greensboro Opera with symphony engagements with the Colorado Symphony and Walla Walla Symphony. He is the Colonel and the Doctor in Arizona Opera’s The Rising and the Falling next season.

He has been heard as Albert in Werther at Merkin Hall and has sung the role of Escamillo with Music Academy of the West. Among the roles in his repertoire include; Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor), Giorgio Germont (La traviata), Count di Luna (Il trovatore) Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), Ford (Falstaff), Sprecher (Die Zauberflöte) and Nettuno (Idomeneo). Mr. Cannon has sung extensively with Arizona Opera where he was engaged as a young artist. In addition, he has been a member of The Glimmerglass Festival, Chautauqua Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Dallas Opera and Music Academy of the West young artist programs.

Thomas Cannon regularly appears on the concert stage. In 2019 he performed Haydn’s Harmonie Messe at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna and Mozart’s Requiem at the Esterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt, Austria; was soloist with the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt in Die Schöphfung (The Creation) under the baton of Richard Zielinsky and sang Messe des Lebens by Frederick Delius with the American Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Leon Botstein. Additional concert repertoire includes; Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Handel’s Messiah.

Cannon has been honored for his artistry by The Dallas Opera Guild, Chautauqua Opera, The Anna Sosenko Foundation, West Palm Beach Opera, Opera Birmingham, and The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

He is a graduate of Baylor University where he earned a Bachelor of Music; The Juilliard School, Master of Music in Voice; and most recently a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Oklahoma University. Notable teachers including Nico Castel, Mignon Dunn, Marlena Malas, Dr. John Van Cura and Marilyn Horne and Kim Josephson of the Metropolitan Opera.

Mariya joined the Santa Fe Opera as a member of the Apprentice Singer Program in Summer 2016, and Arizona Opera as a Studio Artist in the 2016-2017 Season. Upcoming roles include Suzuki in Madama Butterfly and Tisbe in La Cenerentola.

A 2015 San Francisco District Winner and Western Regional Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Russian-American Mezzo-Soprano Mariya Kaganskaya makes several role debuts in the 2015-2016 Season, including La Nourrice in Milhaud’sMédée at Mills College, Marta in Iolanta and Hostess in Boris Godunov with New Opera NYC, and Teacher in the workshop of Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs for the Santa Fe Opera, as well as Dorabella in Così fan tutte and Julia Bertram in the West Coast premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she is currently a postgraduate student in the studio of Catherine Cook.

Engagements in the 2014-2015 Season included performing Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti and Ottavia in L’incoronazione di Poppea at the San Francisco Conservatory. She also joined Opera Santa Barbara as a Mosher Studio Artist, performing Mexican Woman in A Streetcar Named Desire, premiered Will You, Won’t You?, a song cycle written for her by acclaimed composer Elinor Armer, and made debuts in Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Shanghai, China, performing with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the Shanghai Philharmonicas a Young Artist with the iSing International Festival.

Highlights of Mariya’s 2013-2014 Season included performing the title role of Handel’s Serse at the San Francisco Conservatory and Olga in Eugene Onegin with the Russian Opera Workshop at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and covering the role of Elena in the American premiere of Adam Gorb’s Anya17 for Opera Parallèle, as well as performances with the SFCM New Music Ensemble, SFCM Opera Workshop, and the San Francisco Opera educational outreach program.

Mariya has also performed full roles including Cornelia in Giulio Cesare and Volupia in L’Egisto, partial roles including Charlotte (Werther), Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Idamante (Idomeneo), Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Angelina (La Cenerentola), The Fox (The Little Prince), and Mme Pernelle (Tartuffe), and various scenes, with favorites including Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier), Polina (The Queen of Spades), Mallika (Lakmé), Auntie (Peter Grimes), Lucretia (The Rape of Lucretia), and the Third Lady and Third Spirit (The Magic Flute). Her chorus work includes John Adams’ A Flowering Tree with Riverside Lyric Opera, and Les pêcheurs de perles, Die Fledermaus, and Il Trovatore with Opera San José.

In addition to opera, Mariya is a frequent concert soloist and chamber music collaborator. She was recently the Alto soloist in Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with the Santa Clara Chorale and Mozart’s Coronation Mass with the San Francisco Master Chorale, and has performed both Alto and Soprano soli in Fauré’s Requiem, Duruflé’s Requiem, Schubert’s Mass in G, Vivaldi’s Gloria, and Handel’s Messiah with the UC San Diego Chamber Singers. She was featured in the late János Négyesy‘s Soirée for Music Lovers series, collaborating with Négyesy and Päivikki Nykter; other notable collaborations have been with Professors John Fonville and Philip Larson.

Mariya is equally passionate about contemporary classical music, and enjoys collaborating with living composers. She has worked in master classes with composers Lembit Beecher and Tobias Picker, and premiered works by Elinor Armer, Ilya Demutsky, Philip Skaller, Diarmid Flatley, Samara Rice, and Frank S. Li.

Recognized as a leader among her peers, Mariya currently serves as the Vice Chairperson of the SF Conservatory Student Council. At UC San Diego, she was the recipient of the Bertram Turetzky Award for exceptional participation within the music department and community by an undergraduate performer, as well as a founding member of the Treble Singers and the founding Artistic Director of Undergrads for Opera. Previously, she held the prestigious role of Chorissima Section Leader in the Grammy-winning San Francisco Girls Chorus, with which she toured nationally and internationally and performed with the San Francisco Symphony.

Mariya is currently a postgraduate student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she earned her Master’s in 2015. She earned her Bachelor’s in three years, magna cum laude, at UC San Diego, where she studied with Philip Larson.