Charlie Parker’s Yardbird

Bridgette Wimberly is an award winning poet, playwright, and librettist who has been commissioned and produced by a number of prominent theaters Off-Broadway and across the U. S. Among them are Hackney Empire-London, Opera Philadelphia, Apollo Theatre, Madison Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago (Charlie Parker’s YARDBIRD); Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, The Cherry Lane Theatre, St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre, and The Women’s Project (Saint Lucy’s Eyes, starring Ruby Dee, directed by Billie Allen); Kuntu Repertory Theatre (The Separation of Blood); New York’s Ensemble Studio Theatre, where she is a lifetime member (Rally, Modern Romance, Mail, Pluto, and a commissioned reading of The Separation of Blood with James Earl Jones, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Roger Robinson, Linda Powell and Olivia Ford); Cleveland Play House (Forest City), Manhattan Theater Club (The Mark), Karamu Theatre (From Breast Cancer to Broadway); and The Dance Theatre of Harlem (Cool).  

Her celebrated plays have been published by Samuel French and included in the anthologies of “Cherry Lane Theatre Mentor Project, volume One” 2014; Smith and Kraus “Best 10 Minute Plays 2010” and “Best Plays by Women 2001”; and the Women’s Project and Productions “A Theatre for Women’s Voices” 2003. Her poems are published in six anthologies of poetry by the poetry group Cave Canem from 1999 to 2008. Her article, "The Bird in my hand: my journey to Charlie Parker" was published by The Guardian, June 2017.  She has been on the Board of Directors at Cherry Lane Theatre, the longest running Off-Broadway Theatre, for ten years. She is a lifetime member of The Ensemble Studio Theatre, was a New York Foundation for the Arts Artspire Artist, and is a member of The Dramatists Guild.

Bridgette first play Saint Lucy’s Eyes starring Ruby Dee received three AUDELCO Awards, a Kesslering nomination for best new play, and a Lucille Lortel nomination for best actress. Originally part of Cherry Lane Theatre's Mentor Project, she was mentored by playwright Wendy Wasserstein.  For Forest City, commissioned and produced by the Cleveland Play House, she received a Proclamation from the City of Cleveland honoring her for capturing part of the city’s history. The Separation of Blood, commissioned by The Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Science Foundation, production by Kuntu Repertory Theatre in 2007 received the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health’s ‘Healthy Black Family Award’. On April 14, 2011, Tony Award winning actors James Earl Jones, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Roger Robinson with Linda Powell and Olivia Ford performed a reading of The Separation of Blood at The Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York as part of their First Light Festival. It was work shopped at Arena Stage (where Drew's 90+ year-old sisters attended), Cleveland Play House, Karamu House, and Saint Louis Black Repertory Theatre also presented readings of this play. 

Bridgette received an Appreciation Award in 2009 from Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Going to the River.  This award recognized her contribution, continued support and efforts to serve women playwrights. The River Crosses Rivers festival produced fourteen short plays including a new play by Ruby Dee. Bridgette’s short play Rally, part of this production, is published in “The Best 10 Minute Plays of 2010” by Smith and Kraus. Bridgette’s commissioned libretto Charlie Parker’s YARDBIRD about Jazz giant Charlie Parker, Jr., for Opera Philadelphia had its World Premiere in June 2015 to critical acclaim starring world renowned tenor Lawrence Brownlee and soprano Angela Brown.  It opened in New York, Chicago, Madison, and London thus far.  A Radio broadcast of this opera  can be heard at http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/charlie-parkers-yardbird-apollo/

Bridgette was part of the 2006/08 Women’s Project Producers’ Lab; a member of Lincoln Center Theatre’s Directors Lab where she produced four satellite productions in collaboration with the Lab; Manhattan Theatre Club Fellow; Cherry Lane Theatre Mentor Project fellow with Wendy Wasserstein as her mentor; and a member of the poetry group Cave Canem. She is also the recipient of Fellowships/Awards from The New York Foundation for the Arts (Poetry), The New York Urban Arts Initiative, and the Harlem Arts Alliance. 

Opera News called Fenlon Lamb “moving and convincing” and Seen and Heard International complemented her “well-honed theatrical sensibility.” Lamb brings these qualities of experience and perspective as an outstanding singing actress to her work as a stage director.

Lamb directed the world premiere of Riders of the Purple Sage with Arizona Opera in a production that BroadwayWorld.com called “epic” and “memorable…literally and figuratively blazing trails.” She returned to Finger Lakes Opera for her first Tosca in a new prodution created with her artistic partner, Jeff Ridenour. They continued their collaboration this past fall for a “lovingly crafted” Hänsel und Gretel at UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. Fenlon returned to Palm Beach Opera for her 5th season to direct Tosca with “lively stage direction [which] provided a stream of effective touches that spiced up the drama.” (South Florida Classical Review)

In the past few seasons, Lamb led Dayton Opera’s Carmen and directed the oratorio To Be Certain of the Dawn (Stephen Paulus) with the Lexington Philharmonic. She created a unique production of The Juliet Letters with the Resident Artists of Lyric Opera Kansas City which the Kansas City Star hailed as “a successful, intimate show [that] delighted the audience in a noteworthy production.” In another new production and collaboration with Jeff Ridenour, she debuted with Finger Lakes Opera directing La Traviata. Lamb made her company debut with Opera Santa Barbara directing a double-bill of Suor Angelica/Gianni Schicchi and returned to Palm Beach Operafor her fourth season to direct a “delightful, energetic” Don Pasquale.

Currently, Lamb is the Director of Opera and Vocal Programming at Bar Harbor Music Festival. She has designed and directed engaging productions of Carmen, L’Elisir d’Amore, Madama Butterfly, The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro, La Bohème, Cinderella, and Don Giovanni while she continues to program innovative recitals and pops concerts each summer. This summer she brought her production of Hänsel und Gretel to the Criterion theater in a collaboration with Papermoon Opera Productions. As the Director of Opera at UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance Ms. Lamb directed The Magic Flute,The Turn of the Screw, Suor Angelica/Gianni Schicchi, Hänsel und Gretel, La voix humaine/L’enfant et les Sortièges along with Cendrillon and Little Women.

Previously, Lamb made her debut at Dayton Opera directing The Pearl Fishers, joined Mobile Opera for Werther with Gran Wilson in the title role and returned to Arizona Opera as stage director for a “grand and gripping” Rigoletto. She directed the young artists of the Crested Butte Music Festival in a production of Don Pasqualeand a new production of Hansel and Gretel for Nightingale Opera Theatre that was hailed as “fresh and alluring from curtain to curtain.” For Palm Beach Opera‘s 2013 International season Fenlon directed a “fizzing and delightful” The Barber of Seville “displaying theatrical ingenuity and artistic taste.” Lamb also directed Our Townand Alcina with the young artists of that company to critical acclaim. She returned to Opera Carolina as Stage Director for The Flying Dutchman with Greer Grimsley in a production lauded for its “intriguing visuals, startling set contexts and projections…balancing operatic polish, romantic beauty and feminist critique.”

Upcoming, Fenlon leads a new production of Charlie Parker’s Yardbird for Arizona Opera and two productions of Carmen with North Carolina and Annapolis Opera companies along with a new production of Scalia/Ginsburgfor Opera Delaware.

American tenor Joshua Stewart, “strikingly good” (The Guardian), has been praised for his “big, warm, confident” voice (Palm Beach Arts Paper) and “interpretive conviction” (Philadelphia City Paper). Displaying compelling artistry and versatility, he is quickly making a name for himself in the world of opera without losing touch with his jazz roots. In the 2016-17 season, Joshua Stewart made his Madison Opera debut in the title role in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, a role which he
subsequently covered at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and he also performed several jazz concerts with the „Bourbon Street Stompers“ brass band in Spain.
The tenor appeared in August 2017 as the Shepherd in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and directed by Peter Sellars at the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm with the Royal Opera Orchestra of Stockholm. Later in the season 2017-18 he takes over the role of the Narrator in Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the directional team of Gustavo Dudamel and Peter Sellars. Recent debuts include Trin in La Fanciulla del West at the Hamburg State Opera, Belmonte in The Abduction from the Seraglio with Opera de Lausanne and Opera de Fribourg, Don Ottavio in
Don Giovanni with Toledo Opera, Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Opera Carolina, Abdallo in Nabucco at the Oberammergau Passionstheater, as the tenor soloist in Carmina Burana with the Toledo Symphony, and as the Erzengel in Das Spiel von der Auferstehung des Herrn by Walter Braunfels with the Muenchner Rundfunkorchester. He also performed the Shepherd in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and at the Royal Festival Hall in London under the musical direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen. As a member of the Bavarian State Opera’s studio, Joshua Stewart made his debut in 2012 as the
Priester in the world premiere of Babylon by Jörg Widmann. Additional roles as a studio member include Conte d’Albafloria in Mirandolina, Joe in Gershwin’s Blue Monday, Jeppo Liverotto in Lucrezia Borgia, Albazar in Il Turco in Italia, and Capitano in Simon Boccanegra. Other notable roles in his repertoire include Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress, Nemorino in Elexir of Love, Prunier in La Rondine, Tebaldo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Toni Reischmann in Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers and the title role in Idomeneo. Joshua Stewart has performed at numerous festivals including Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (France), Rossini Opera Festival (Italy), Marlboro Music Festival (USA), Boyne Music Festival (Ireland), New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (USA), and Saint Bart’s Music Festival
(Caribbean). He has worked with renown conductors including Paolo Carignani, Bertrand de Billy, Paolo Arrivabeni, Marco Armiliato, Maurizio Benini, Constantin Trinks, Kent Nagano, Corrado Rovaris, Andrea Battistoni, George Manahan, and James Meena, He has had the honor of performing for several world leaders, including Ex-President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Ex-President George H.W. Bush. A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Joshua Stewart is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Opera. He was a prize winner in the 2013 Internationaler Voice Competition „Vokal genial“ in addition to other awards.

Praised for her “sizeable voice that captured all of the vacillating emotions” (The New York Times), Karen Slack is "not only one of the nation's most celebrated sopranos, but a leading voice in changing and making spaces in classical music” (Trilloquy).

In the high point of her 2024/25 Season, Slack embarks on a nationwide tour of her new commissioning project, African Queens, an evening-length vocal recital of new art songs celebrating the history and legacy of seven African queens revered as rulers but not widely heralded in the Western world. Featuring new works by acclaimed composers Jasmine Barnes, Damien Geter, Jessie Montgomery, Shawn Okpebholo, Dave Ragland, Carlos Simon and Joel Thompson Slack performs the world premiere of African Queens at the Ravinia Festival, followed by performances at co-commissioners Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, 92NY, Washington Performing Arts, Denver Friends of Chamber Music, and Newport Classical Festival.

During the season, Slack will perform in the World Premiere of Damien Geter’s Loving V. Virginia with the Virginia Opera and Richmond Symphony; reprise the role of Mama in Minnesota Opera’s production of The Snowy Day; and feature as soloist with the Fresno Philharmonic. Beyond the Years, her debut recording project featuring unpublished songs by Florence Price, developed in collaboration with ONEcomposer and pianist Michelle Cann, is out on Azica Records in summer 2024.

Over recent seasons, Slack has amassed a body of work reflecting her dedication to premiering works by living composers, with particular focus on using her platform to elevate works by Black artists. When the pandemic limited live performances during the 2020/21 Season, Slack made premiere digital performances with Houston Grand Opera, Madison Opera, and Minnesota Opera. She starred in a new production of the opera Driving While Black, presented by UrbanArias, and launched a digital talk show, #kikikonversations, drawing acclaim from Opera News and The New York Times.

Karen Slack has performed on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, Scottish Opera, San Francisco Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Austin Opera, New Orleans Opera, Minnesota Opera, Vancouver Opera, Edmonton Opera, Sacramento Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Madison Opera and Arizona Opera, among others. Abroad, she has appeared with the Melbourne Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Slack made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and performed as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra in the World Premiere of Hannibal Lokumbe’s Healing Tones with conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

A recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, Slack is an Artistic Advisor for Portland Opera, serves on the board of the American Composers Orchestra and Astral Artists, and holds a faculty position at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta, Canada. She has been named Lyric Unlimited Artist-in-Residence at Lyric Opera of Chicago for the 2024/25 Season as well as Artist-in-Residence at leading entrepreneurial institution Babson College.

A native Philadelphian, Slack is a graduate of the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, as well as the Adler Fellowship and the Merola Opera Program at the San Francisco Opera.

A former Marion Roose Pullin Arizona Opera Studio Artist, Louisiana-born soprano Cadie J. Bryan has been praised by Opera News as “sparkling” and “pertly pealing”. Recent highlights include a number of house debuts including The Dallas Opera in concert for the Hart Institute for Women Conductors, Opera Las Vegas as Addie Mills in the west coast premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s The House Without a Christmas Tree, and The Atlanta Opera as Berta in The Barber of Seville, as well as a return to Arizona Opera to reprise the role of Despina.

In the summer of 2021, she debuted the roles of Clarine in Rameau's Platée under the baton of Gary Thor Wedow, and Prilepa in Queen of Spades as an Ensemble Artist at Des Moines Metro Opera. Prior to the COVID-19 shut down, she was slated to sing the role of Naiade in Ariadne auf Naxos at Arizona Opera where she completed two years as a Marion Roose Pullin Studio Artist (2018-2020). In her final season, she performed four main stage roles including Bess in Craig Bohmler’s Riders of the Purple Sage, Musetta in La Bohème, Lucy in Fellow Travelers, and Maid in the Taliesin West Premier of Daron Hagen’s Shining Brow.

In her 2018-2019 season, she made her main stage debut at Arizona Opera as Chan Parker in Daniel Schnyder's and Bridgette Wimberly’s Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, as well as Annina in La Traviata, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. As an apprentice artist at Des Moines Metro Opera, she made her main stage debut as the Second Wood Sprite in an Emmy Award-winning production of Rusalka (2017).

Bryan is an alumnus of Ravinia’s Steans Institute for singers (2017, 2018) where she studied and performed in a variety of art song and Lieder recitals with world-renowned pianists and coaches. Other career highlights include Clara in Jake Heggie’s and Gene Scheer's It’s A Wonderful Life (2017), Marian in The Music Man (2017), Zerlina in Don Giovanni (2014), and Lisette in La Rondine (2014).

She received a Master of Music and a Performance Diploma from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of soprano Heidi Grant Murphy and her Bachelor of Music from Louisiana State University with baritone Dennis Jesse.

American soprano and Phoenix resident Kaitlyn Sabrowsky (nee Johnson) is at home in operatic repertoire ranging from classical to contemporary. Sabrowsky completed two seasons as a Marion Roose Pullin Arizona Opera Studio Artist from 2018-20, highlighted by back-to-back main stage leading roles as Musetta in La Bohème and Jane Withersteen in Riders of the Purple Sage in the company’s 2020 season. Her Jane garnered praise for her “strong dramatic voice and the kind of acting skills that showed her character’s growth from one scene to the next” (Operawire). Other Arizona Opera role highlights include Miss Lightfoot in Fellow Travelers and Doris Parker in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird. Additional notable engagements include her debut with The Phoenix Symphony and as Frasquita in the Atlanta Opera’s Carmen. Often celebrated on the operatic stage for her "powerful and dramatic soprano," (The Bloomington Herald-Times), Sabrowsky has appeared in such roles as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and the title role in Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas. Kaitlyn Sabrowsky is the recipient of awards from the Orpheus Vocal Competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Georgina Joshi International Fellowship from Indiana University and the Farb Family Outstanding Graduate Award from Rice University. She is a graduate of Indiana University (MM) and Rice University (BM, cum laude), and is an alumnus of the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, Aspen Opera Center and Houston Grand Opera’s Young Artist Vocal Academy. Sabrowsky is currently completing her doctoral degree at Arizona State and is an active voice teacher throughout the Valley, teaching students at Grand Canyon University and privately through the Sabrowsky Song Studio.