Carmen

Stage Director Tara Faircloth’s work has been seen in opera houses around the nation. Critics hailed Faircloth's recent directorial debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago: a “wickedly funny, elegantly sung, cleverly directed production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.” In recent seasons, Faircloth created new productions of The Little Prince (Utah Opera), Ariadne auf Naxos (Wolf Trap Opera), Il re pastore (Merola Opera), Agrippina (Ars Lyrica Houston), and The Coronation of Poppea (Boston Baroque).

The 2021/22 Season found Faircloth working on several new productions, including Emmeline with Tulsa Opera, La Traviata at Opera Santa Barbara and The Merry Wives of Windsor with The Juilliard School, as well as a program with Ars Lyrica Houston entitled “Eternity and the Underworld” which paired Jonathan Dove’s The Other Euridice and Bach’s Ich habe genug. In addition, Faircloth revisited her old favorite The Barber of Seville in a debut at The Dallas Opera.

Faircloth has a thriving career in regional houses such as Utah Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Arizona Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Atlanta Opera (The Barber of Seville, Rigoletto, The Magic Flute, Hansel and Gretel, etc.). The baroque repertoire is of special interest to Faircloth, who made her directorial debut with Ars Lyrica Houston’s production of Cain: Il primo omicidio in 2003 and has since designed and directed a number of shows for the company including Charpentier’s Actéon and La descente d’Orphée aux enfers. Faircloth created productions of Dido and Aeneas for Ars Lyrica at the Festival di Musica Barroca in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and for Mercury Baroque in collaboration with the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater.

Recent seasons for Faircloth have included new productions of Il re pastore with Merola Opera, Agrippina with Ars Lyrica Houston, The Little Prince with Utah Opera, The Coronation of Poppea with Boston Baroque, Eugene Onegin with Arizona Opera, and Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Boston University. Additionally, Faircloth has directed new productions of Madame Butterfly with Wolf Trap Opera, L’enfant et les sortileges with Utah Symphony & Opera, Don Giovanni with Arizona Opera, and a reconfiguration of her 2014 Wolf Trap Carmen for Arizona Opera.

Faircloth has worked extensively on the directing staff of such companies as Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Central City Opera, and Dallas Opera, and as such, has worked on some of the most complicated operas in the repertoire, assisting international directors and preparing cover casts of some of the best performers in our industry. Passionate about dramatic training for young singers, Faircloth is the Drama Instructor for the Houston Grand Opera Studio and HGO's Young Artists’ Vocal Academy and has served as a guest coach at Wolf Trap Opera Studio, Des Moines Metro Opera, University of Michigan, and Rice University. Faircloth splits her time between Austin and Houston, Texas, where she enjoys restoring her 1935 Craftsman Bungalow.

Mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack has been acclaimed for her “caramel timbre, flickering vibrato, and crisp articulation” (Opernwelt) as she “hurls fast notes like a Teresa Berganza or a Frederica von Stade” (San Francisco Chronicle).

In the 2016/17 season, Daniela Mack made her Royal Opera House-Covent Garden debut as Rosina in The Barber of Seville with Javier Camerena and will make her Metropolitan Opera debut in Mary Zimmerman’s new production of Rusalka as the Kitchen Boy. She debuts with the New York Philharmonic in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under Alan Gilbert and the Florida Grand Opera as the title role in Carmen. Ms. Mack also returns to Arizona Opera as Angelina in Cinderella and Santa Fe Opera as Bradamante in David Alden’s production Alcina conducted by Harry Bicket.

Daniela Mack returned to the San Francisco Opera to reprise her performances as Rosina in The Barber of Seville and created the role of Jacqueline Kennedy in the world premiere of David T. Little and Royce Vavrek’s JFK at the Fort Worth Opera in the 2015/16 season. She also made her Arizona Opera debut in the title role of Carmen and was seen in recital with tenor Alek Shrader at the Tucson Desert Song Festival. On the concert stage, Ms. Mack debuted with three orchestras under Charles Dutoit: Orchestra de la Suisse Romande in Ravel’s L’heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilèges, Boston Symphony Orchestra in L’heure espagnole, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Falla’s Three-Cornered Hat. She also debuted with the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk in Rossini’s Giovanna d’Arco under James Gaffigan and performed Vivaldi’s Judith triumphans with Boston Baroque.

Recently, Daniela Mack has been seen at San Francisco Opera as Rosmira in Handel’s Partenope in a production by Christopher Alden, as well as Rosina. In the summer of 2014, she made important role and company debut: the title role in Carmen at Santa Fe Opera in a new production by Stephen Lawless. She also debuted at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as the Kitchen Boy in David McVicar’s production of Rusalka conducted by Andrew Davis and returned to Madison Opera as Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking. She has been seen at the English National Opera in a new production of Julius Caesar as Sesto under Christian Curnyn, the first time the opera was produced at the ENO since the legendary 1979 production. She also debuted at Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse and Los Angeles Opera as Nancy in Albert Herring, Washington National Opera as the Madrigal Singer in Manon Lescaut, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Verbier Festival as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, Opéra National de Bordeaux as Angelina in L’italiana in Algeri, and Opera Colorado in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's famous production of Cinderella directed by Grischa Asagaroff.

In concert, Ms. Mack has been heard with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Manuel de Falla’s La vida breve under the baton of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Washington Chorus in Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, Hong Kong Philharmonic in Ravel’s Shéhérazade, and with the Sydney Symphony in Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne and Falla’s Siete canciones populares españolas. She also made her Cincinnati May Festival debut in Mozart’s Requiem under James Conlon and in an all-star gala at the Opera Theater of San Antonio.

Daniela Mack is an alumna of the Adler Fellowship Program at San Francisco Opera where she has appeared as Idamante in Idomeneo Siebel in Faust and Lucienne in Die tote Stadt for her house debut. She performed the title role of Cinderella as a member of the Merola Opera Program and made her West Coast recital debut as part of San Francisco Opera’s Schwabacher Debut Recital Series. Ms. Mack was recently a finalist in the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.

Adam Diegel rapidly is establishing international notoriety for an impassioned dramatic sense, powerful voice, and for his classic leading looks in the lyric tenor repertoire. 

Mr. Diegel’s 2013-14 season includes a return to the Metropolitan Opera as BF Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly in two series of performances led by Marco Armiliato and Philippe Auguin and debuts at Opera Philadelphia in the Company’s new production of Nabucco under the baton of Music Director Corrado Rovaris and at Vancouver Opera as Cavaradossi in Tosca led by Music Director Jonathan Darlington. 

Performances of the 2012-13 season included Madama Butterfly with the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre on tour in China at the Guangzhou Opera House in Anthony Minghella’s acclaimed production and the tenor’s signature portrayal of Don José in Carmen at English National Opera and in Sydney in a new production at Opera Australia’s Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour season. 

Adam Diegel’s Metropolitan Opera debut came in 2010 as Froh in the Robert Lepage new production of Das Rheingold conducted by James Levine, a role he repeated for the Met under the direction of Fabio Luisi, and other Metropolitan Opera roles have included Pinkerton conducted by Plácido Domingo and Ismaele in Nabucco led by Paolo Carignani. 

Highlights of recent seasons also include performances of Tosca at the Glimmerglass Festival and Arizona Opera, Madama Butterfly at Fort Worth Opera, Arizona Opera, PORTOpera, and Kentucky Opera, Carmen with the Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Florida Grand Opera, and Madison Opera, as well as La bohème with Opera Omaha and Minnesota Opera. On European opera stages, he has bowed in Adriana Lecouvreur at the National Theatre of Hungary, followed by a re-engagement with the company in Tosca, Madama Butterfly at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, and David Alden’s new production of Luisa Miller for the Opéra de Lyon conducted by Kazushi Ono. 

A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Adam Diegel received his formal musical training at Yale University and is a graduate of the University of Memphis, where he studied Philosophy and Theology. Mr. Diegel worked in the corporate sector for a leading international investment firm before he began his operatic career.

Bass-Baritone Ryan Kuster gained vast attention on the west coast for his accolades in San Francisco, where he recently completed a two-year residency and over 80 performances with the prestigious Adler Fellowship at San Francisco Opera. His performance as Escamillo in their production of Carmen was called “pure bravado.” The Classical Voice said of his performance as Masetto in Don Giovanni, “Handsome Ryan Kuster sang beautifully, and acted so convincingly that it was hard to believe he’s an Adler Fellow.”

This season, North State Symphony will feature Mr. Kuster in a concert with orchestra of his signature repertoire. He will then sing the title role in Don Giovanni at Opera Memphis, Escamillo in Carmen at Opera Grand Rapids and Knoxville Opera, Angelotti in Toscawith Orlando Philharmonic, Alidoro in La Cenerentola at Opera Saratoga, and makes a triumphant return to Dallas Opera in late 2015.

In recent seasons, Kuster made his symphonic début with the Los Angeles Philharmonic singing the role of Masetto in their highly acclaimed production of Don Giovanni, directed by Christopher Alden, with costumes by Rodarte, and led by Mo. Dudamel.  He then returned to Wolf Trap Opera to début the title role of Don Giovanni and made his National Symphony début performing Beethoven’sNinth Symphony. Additionally, Ryan sang Alidoro in Nashville Opera’s production of La Cenerentola; sang Masetto in Don Giovanniwith Cincinnati Opera; appeared in Dallas Opera’s production of Turandot; performed Angelotti in Tosca with Madison Opera and Pacific Symphony; Colline in La bohème with Arizona Opera; Escamillo in Carmen with both Opera Colorado (company début) and Virginia Opera; and two roles at Bard SummerScape Opera: Lysiart in Weber’s seldom performed Euryanthe and Brutamonte in Schubert’s hidden gem Fierrabras.

Previous engagements also include Rambaldo in La rondine with Oberlin in Italy; Pantalone in Le donne curiose with Wolf Trap Opera Company; Samin Trouble in Tahiti with Opera Santa Barbara; covering Samuel Ramey in the title role of Bluebeard’s Castle at the Chicago Opera Theater; The Parson, Badger and Woodpecker in The Cunning Little Vixen, Doctor Grenvil in La traviata and Carl Olsen in Street Scene with Chautauqua Opera; Count Ceprano in Rigoletto and Betto in both Gianni Schicchi and Ching’s Buoso’s Ghost with Opera New Jersey; and Ferrando in Il trovatore, Snug in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette at Opera North.

On the concert stage, Mr. Kuster performed the bass solos in the Fauré Requiem with the Bucks County Symphony, the MozartRequiem with the Neumann College Choir, the bass solos in the Messiah with the Tindley Temple Choir, the title role of Händel’s oratorio Saul with the Marsh Chapel Choir and Collegium, andAdam in Haydn’s The Creation with the Boston University Symphonic Chorus. He also appeared as a featured soloist with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Ocean City Pops, New Jersey Master Chorale, and Concert Operetta Theater of Philadelphia.

Mr. Kuster recently sang on the Metropolitan Opera stage as a National Council Semi-Finalist.  He received a 3rd place prize in the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition and received a Grant from the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Competition. He also was given the Encouragement Award in the Philadelphia region of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Harmon Award from Chautauqua Opera.

His strong relationship with San Francisco Opera began when he joined the Merola Program, where he appeared as Garibaldo inRodelinda, Don Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Dr. Cajus in Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor in the Schwabacher Scenes Program.  Mr. Kuster earned an Artist Diploma at the Academy of Vocal Arts where he performed the roles of the Governor in the world première of Margaret Garwood’s The Scarlet Letter, Schaunard in La bohème, Enrico in Anna Bolena, Oroveso in Norma, the title role in Don Pasquale, Doctor Grenvil in La traviata, Dikoj in Kát’a Kabanová, and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte.

Mr. Kuster also holds a Master of Music degree from Boston University where he performed the roles of A Man with a Cornet Case in Argento’s Postcard from Morocco, Benoit in La bohème, Garrido in Massenet’s La Navarraise, and Amantio DiNicolao in Gianni Schicchi. Mr. Kuster earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Westminster Choir College.

Praised by Opera Today for “pure, clear tones” and lauded by the Arizona Republic for “purity and vivacious charm,” young soprano Sarah Tucker is demanding attention for her captivating vocal timbre and engaging stage presence. Tucker was a National Semifinalist in the 2014 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and recently completed her second year as a member of the Arizona Opera Studio. She was recently heard as Nelly Nettleton in Arizona Opera’s innovative, multi-lingual production of Arizona Lady, in which she not only sang, but also “danced like a flapper” (Opera Today).

The 2019/20 Season included several company debuts: as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Pensacola Opera, Mimi in La bohème with Gulfshore Opera, and Tatyana in Eugene Onegin with Opera in the Heights. This season, she returns to Gulfshore Opera for a reprise of her Mimi in La bohème.

The 2018/19 Season for Tucker included debuts with The Dallas Opera as Frasquita in Carmen, San Diego Opera as Micaëla in Carmen, and Intermountain Opera Bozeman as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin. In the 2017/18 Season, Tucker made her Opera Philadelphia debut where she reprised First Memory in Lembit Beecher’s War Stories, a role which she first premiered with Gotham Chamber Opera in New York City. Additionally, she sang Gilda in Rigoletto with Opera Connecticut and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi with the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival. The 2016/17 Season brought her debut with Utah Opera as Micaëla in Carmen, her return to Texas State University as a guest soloist in Stravinsky’s Les Noces, and covering the title role in The Golden Cockerel at Santa Fe Opera. Her 2015/16 Season included several more role debuts with Arizona Opera including Micaëla in Carmen, Rosalba in Florencia en el Amazonas, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni as well as her San Francisco Opera debut as Jano in Jenufa.

Passionate about uncommon works as well as traditional operatic repertoire, Tucker collaborated with conductor Scott Terrell in Lexington Philharmonic’s 2015 Holiday Series, which included the rarely performed “Song of the Angel” by John Tavener. The piece’s haunting duet for soprano and solo violin requires great musical and vocal versatility, which was “stunningly realized by Tucker” (Tedrin Blair Lindsay, Contributing Music Critic, www.kentucky.com). She was also the star of a cutting-edge workshop of composer Clint Borzoni’s The Copper Queen in which she performed the role of Julia Lowell as part of Arizona Opera’s “Arizona Spark” initiative.

Other recent appearances include Norina in Don Pasquale with the Crested Butte Music Festival, and the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah with both Lexington Philharmonic and the Christ Cathedral (Crystal Cathedral) in Orange County, CA. Additional past credits include the roles of Contessa Ceprano and Paggio in Rigoletto, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at Arizona Opera, for which she received high acclaim. In 2014, Tucker performed Suor Dolcina in Suor Angelica and Contessa Ceprano in Rigoletto with the Crested Butte Music Festival, and the role of Tina in Flight with Opera Fayetteville.

In addition to her success in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Tucker has received numerous awards in several nationwide vocal competitions. She was a finalist in the Fritz & Levinia Jensen Foundation Voice Competition, in the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation Competition she was a finalist and winner of the Encouragement Award, and she competed in the semifinals of the Dallas Opera Guild and Fort Worth Opera McCammon Vocal Competitions. Tucker is a recent graduate of the University of Cincinnati College‐Conservatory of Music (CCM).

Andrew Penning, originally from St. Paul, MN, is a tenor in the Arizona Opera Studio. During the 2015-16 season he returned to the Arizona Opera Studio to make leading role debuts as Arcadio (Florencia en el Amazonas) and Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni). He will also sing the supporting roles of Remendado (Carmen), Chester Kingsbury (Arizona Lady), and Bardolfo (Falstaff). Assignments from the 2014-15 season with Arizona Opera included Triquet (Eugene Onegin), Borsa (Rigoletto), and 1st Armored Man/Second Priest (Die Zauberflöte).

Mr. Penning has been a Young Artist with some of the most prestigious companies and festivals in the United States. In the summer of 2015 he will cover the role of Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) at Des Moines Metro Opera. At the Glimmerglass Festival he performed the roles of Delmonte (King for a Day) and Scaramuccio (Ariadne auf Naxos). With Utah Opera as The Ballad Singer in Of Mice and Men, Opera News said, “cast standouts included … Andrew Penning as the Ballad Singer, whose sweet lyric tenor conveyed the workers’ conscience.” As a Fellow at the 2011 Tanglewood Music Festival, he sang the Second Tenor in performances of Stravinsky’s Renardwith the Mark Morris Dance Group and gave recital performances featuring works by Richard Strauss, Alberto Ginastera and Ralph Vaughn Williams’ chamber song cycle On Wenlock Edge. At CCM Spoleto in the summer of 2010, he performed the role of the Male Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia). As a young artist at Seagle Music Colony in upstate New York, he performed the roles of The Governor and Vanderdendur (Candide).

In addition to his work in opera, Mr. Penning is also an active concert soloist. In performances of Handel’s Messiah with the Tucson Symphony of 2014, the Arizona Daily Star said “Penning…was ashow-stealer, singing at times with richly nuanced vibrato and at other times with such ringing clarity that you just couldn’t take your eyes off him.” Other concert repertoire includes: Arvo Pärt’s Passio, Monteverdi’s Vespers, Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio, J.S. Bach’s Magnificat, J.S. Bach’s

Cantata 12, Haydn’s Grosse Orgelmesse in E Flat, and Bruckner’s Te Deum.

Mr. Penning completed his Master of Music in Vocal Performance at the University of Cincinnati:College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and his Bachelor of Music at Lawrence University.

www.andrewpenning.com

Lauded for her vocal agility and dynamic stage presence, Alyssa Martin is quickly garnering attention as a standout young singer.

Ms. Martin is currently a first-year Marion Roose Pullin Studio Artist at Arizona Opera. This season she will perform Mercédès in Carmen, Meg Page in Falstaff, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni. She will also appear as the mezzo soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Santa Fe Symphony.

Upcoming engagements include a return to The Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist, where she will perform the role of Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette and a return to Arizona Opera in the 2016/17 season singing Kitchen Boy in Rusalka, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and Angelinain La Cenerentola.

Ms. Martin’s 2014/15 season included her tenure as an Apprentice Artist at the Santa Fe Opera where she covered Don Ramiro in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera. While at Santa Fe, Ms. Martin also performed scenes as Dorabella in Così fan tutte, and Desdemona in Rossini’s Otello.  Other recent engagements include covering Flora and Annina in La traviata and The Page in Salome as an Emerging Artist at Virginia Opera. Ms. Martin was also an Apprentice Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera, where she covered Isolier in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory.

This season, Ms. Martin was named a winner in the Arizona District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, where she went on to place 3rd in the Western Region Finals. In the 2014/15 season, she was awarded a Career Grant from the Seattle Opera Guild, an Encouragement Grant from the Career Bridges Grant Foundation, and also 2nd prize at the Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition at Florida Grand Opera. She has been the recipient of numerous awards from organizations such as the Orpheus Vocal Competition, Young Patronesses of the Opera, Opera Guild of Dayton, Indianapolis Matinee Musicale, and Utah Festival Opera.

Ms. Martin completed her studies at the prestigious Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where she obtained both a bachelor’s and master’s degree under the instruction of Patricia Stiles and world-renowned soprano, Carol Vaness. On the IU stage she performed roles such as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, Cendrillon in Cendrillon,  Dorabella in Così fan tutte,  and Prinz Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus.  Ms. Martin is a native of Greensboro, NC.