The Falling and the Rising

Jerre Dye is a Chicago-based librettist and playwright. He is the recipient of the Award for Dramatic Literature from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Current opera commissions include: an upcoming commission for Opera Philadelphia with composer Jennifer Higdon ; Taking Up Serpents for Washington National Opera with composer Kamala Sankaram; The Falling and The Rising for the U.S. Army Field Band Chorus, Seattle Opera, Arizona Opera, San Diego Opera, Texas Christian University, and Opera M phis with composer Zachary Redler; Chautauqua Stories for Chautauqua Opera; BY/IN for Opera M phis with composers Kamala Sankaram, Sam Shoup, Zach Redler, and Robert G. Patterson; and The Parksville Murders, a filmed, episodic, virtual reality opera for Opera On Tap/New York with composer Kamala Sankaram. In 2014, Dye completed the libretto for Ghosts of Crosstown, a new short opera cycle in collaboration with Opera M phis; Movin Up in the World with composer Zachary Redler (subsequent performances at the National Civil Rights Museum and Missouri State University); Abandoned with composer Kamran Ince (featured at the Opera America Annual Conference in San Francisco as part of the New Works Sampler 2014); Ivonne with composer Nathaniel Stookey (featured at the Opera America Annual Conference in D.C. as part of the New Works Sampler 2015); and Mitch and the Moon with composer Jack Perla. Dye play, Cicada, had its Chicago premiere in 2014 with Route 66 Theatre Company while Distance, premiered in 2016 with Strawdog Theatre Company; both works were Jeff nominated. Other works for the stage include: Short/Stories, Threads, The New Adventures of Hansel and Gretel, Wild Swans, and Live Studio Audience. His adaptation of Stravinsky's A Soldier Tale with Iris Orchestra was praised by the San Francisco Classical Voice for music that harnesses considerable expressive power.

Noted for her “particularly soulful” interpretations (L.A. Times) and a "captivating combination of skilled singing and magnetic acting" (Pioneer Press), soprano Tess Altiveros is equally at home in a wide range of repertoire from the 17th century to the 21st.

Recent roles include Angela in In Real Life (Opera Memphis), Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro (Kentucky Opera), and Female Soldier in The Falling and the Rising (Seattle Opera), a portrayal described as “a triumph” by Classical Voice North America and “enthralling” by the Seattle Times. Other recent credits include E in Seattle Opera’s O + E, L'enfant in L'Enfant et les Sortilèges (Pacific Symphony), Clorinda in Seattle Opera's acclaimed production of The Combat, Fiordiligi in Così fan Tutte (Skylark Opera Theatre), Hannah in The Merry Widow (Inland Northwest Opera), Pamina in Die Zauberflöte (Pacific Symphony), Maria in West Side Story (Central City Opera/Boulder Philharmonic), Musetta in La Bohème with Mo. Andrew Litton (Colorado Symphony), Miss Jessel in Turn of the Screw (Eugene Opera), and Elle in La Voix Humaine (Vespertine Opera).

On the concert stage, her voice has been hailed as “darker, creamy, sensuous…sprezzatura personified” (Opera Today) and “pure gold” (Opera Magazine). Engagements have ranged from the American Prize-winning world premiere of Muehleisen’s Borders at Carnegie Hall to the critically acclaimed West Coast tour of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo with Grammy winning conductor Stephen Stubbs. Ms. Altiveros has been featured with the Colorado Symphony, Pacific Symphony, the Boulder Philharmonic, Portland Baroque, Early Music Vancouver, Shreveport Symphony, San Francisco Early Music Society and the Vancouver Bach Festival, to name a few.

During these unprecedented times, Ms. Altiveros has had the pleasure of singing for a number of virtual performances, including an at-home recital for Seattle Opera’s Songs of Summer series, an appearance on Long Beach Opera’s Artist Afternoons, Navidad with Pacific MusicWorks, and Rodas Recordada (Music of Remembrance), as well as virtual concerts with the Whidbey Island Music Festival and Opera on the James. Full digital productions include Giannetta in L’Elisir d’Amore (Seattle Opera), and the role of Rockstar in Resonance Works & Decameron Opera Coalition’s Tales from a Safe Distance, a project described by The Wall Street Journal as “ingenious” and ranked fifth on Operawire's "Best of 2020: Top 11 Industry-Defining Moments of the Year”.

Upcoming engagements include Le Nozze di Figaro (Intermountain Opera), the world premiere of Romeo (Orpheus Project), and appearances with Evansville Philharmonic, Opera on the Lake, Harmonia Orchestra, Symphony Tacoma, the Great Bend Center for Music and a recital of new compositions with The Aria Institute in Paris.

A native Seattleite, Ms. Altiveros has been a regular anthem singer for the Seattle Mariners for over a decade, and was proud to be among the first to sing the national anthem for Seattle’s Kraken in their inaugural NHL season this November.

Praised for his “healthy and soaring tenor voice” (The Herald Times), Korean American Brad Bickhardt is a vibrant and versatile performer in both the operatic and musical theatre canon. Highlight performances have included Nemorino (The Elixir of Love), Tony (West Side Story), and Alfredo (La Traviata), as well as originating the role of Colin in We Wear the Sea Like a Coat. Additional 2021/22 appearances have included filming Stone Soup for Tri-Cities Opera, appearing in recital with Chelsea Opera and Maryland Opera, and as a guest artist at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory. Bickhardt has previously appeared with Opera Saratoga in their critically acclaimed production of Man of La Mancha under the baton of Broadway conductor, Laura Bergquist, as well as in Opera Naples’ productions of West Side Story and La Traviata.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bickhardt was on the roster of The Glimmerglass Festival in productions of Wagner’s Die Feen as well as The Sound of Music, and in 2019, was a member of the prestigious Wolf Trap Opera Studio in which he covered and performed principal roles in L’heure espagnole, Lîle de Merlin, Der Kaiser von Atlantis, and Ariadne auf Naxos. On the concert stage, he has appeared as the tenor soloist in Schubert’s Mass in G, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, and Mozart’s Miss Brevis in Bb.

Bickhardt received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Vocal Performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he appeared in 13 productions with IU Opera Theater as well as serving as an Associate Instructor of Voice. Bickhardt's graduate thesis consisted of compiling an anthology of musical theatre repertoire for undergraduate tenors and their pedagogical applications, and he was named an Encouragement Award from the Central Region of the Metropolitan Opera National Council. Bickhardt is a proud alumnus of the rosters of Tri-Cities Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Naples, Wolf Trap Opera, Opera Saratoga, and Charlottesville Opera. Bickhardt's primary vocal instruction has been under renowned baritone Andreas Poulimenos and husband and wife team Kevin and Heidi Grant Murphy.

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.

Conductor Michael Sakir has been praised for his "artistic authority," "fluidity of expression," and "great delicacy of feeling." He serves as the Artistic Director of Intermountain Opera Bozeman which was recently praised by the London-based Opera Now magazine as "a small but thriving opera company that it not restrained by convention." He recently completed his fourth and final season as Music Director of Opera Memphis with whom, in addition to conducting nearly two dozen production, he was deeply involved in the company's groundbreaking civic practice programs, community partnerships, and commissioning projects.

In the 2021/22 Season, Sakir conducted The Barber of Seville and Le nozze di Figaro with Intermountain Opera Bozeman and Tchaikovsky's rarely-heard masterpiece The Maid of Orleans with the Opera Company of Middlebury. He made his guest debut with Opera Idaho conducting Carmen and with Temple University conducting Le nozze di Figaro.

In the 2019/20 Season, Sakir made his Seattle Opera debut conducting Jerre Dye and Zachary Redler's The Falling and the Rising - a new opera co-commissioned with the United States Department of Defense and based on interviews with wounded American veterans.

Other recent conducting engagements include the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Bernstein's Candide, Carlisle Floyd's Susannah, and Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus, Opera Company of Middlebury in Bernstein's Candide, Massenet's Cendrillon, Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire, and Puccini's Il tritti-co, Des Moines Metro Opera in Philip Glass’ Galileo Galilei and Mark Campbell, Kimberly Reed, and Laura Kaminsky's As One, Opera Orlando in Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Mozart’s The Impresario, and Poulenc’s Les mamelles de Tirésias, Shreveport Opera in Mozart's The Magic Flute, Eugene Opera in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, Northwestern University for Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, American Opera Projects for As One, Opera in the Ozarks for Rossini's La Cenerentola, and Opera North (NH) for Copland's The Tender Land.

Sakir has held chorus master, assistant conductor, and coach positions for nearly three dozen productions with Santa Fe Opera, Washington National Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Sarasota Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Pensacola Opera, and Opera Boston.

Sakir holds bachelor degrees in Piano Performance and Music History from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and a graduate degree in Orchestral Conducting from The Boston Conservatory. He was a participant in the 2017 OPERA America Leadership Intensive. He is a native of Northern California.

Gregory Allen Hirsch is a Lighting Designer who works extensively in the worlds of Broadway, Off-Broadway, National Tours, and Opera. He's won two Drama-logue Awards, a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award, and an Emmy Award for his lighting designs. He has lit such luminaries as Richard Kiley, Robert Goulet, Yul Brynner, Joan Diener, John Cullum, Raul Julia, Tommy Chong, Sammy Davis, Jr., Beverly Sills, The Kids in the Hall, Gilda Cruz-Romo, Julius LaRosa, and Theodore Bikel. For Arizona Opera he has designed Carmen, A Little Night Music, Riders of the Purple Sage, La Bohème, La Traviata, Tosca, Barber of Seville, La Cenerentola, Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, and Madame Butterfly.

Joshua Reid is a sound & systems designer based in New York City, with extensive work on Broadway, Off-Broadway, National Tours, International Productions, & Sound Installations. Design selections include A Christmas Carol (Broadway, Geffen Playhouse, LA Drama Critics Circle Award, LA Ovation Award), Ragtime (Calgary Philharmonic), Million Dollar Quartet (Theatre Calgary), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Tour), Girlfriend (TheatreWorks Hartford, Connecticut Critics Circle Award), A Time Like This (Carnegie Hall). Additional Broadway credit selections include: Flying Over Sunset, The Ferryman, The Iceman Cometh, Falsettos, American Psycho, The Visit, & Act One.