New Works Festival

Lynn Nottage is a playwright and a screenwriter. She is the first, and remains the only, woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world.

Most recently, Nottage premiered MJ the Musical, directed by Christopher Wheeldon and featuring the music of Michael Jackson, at the Neil Simon Theater on Broadway, Clyde's directed by Kate Whoriskey at Second Stage Theater on Broadway and an opera adaptation of her play Intimate Apparel composed by Ricky Ian Gordon and directed by Bart Sher, commissioned by The Met/Lincoln Center Theater.

Her other work includes, Floyd's (retitled- Clyde's) (Guthrie Theater), the musical adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's novel The Secret Life of Bees, with music by Duncan Sheik and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead (The Almeida Theatre/The Atlantic Theater), Mlima’s Tale (Public Theater), By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lilly Award, Drama Desk Nomination- Second Stage/Signature Theater), Ruined (Pulitzer Prize, OBIE, Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics’ Circle, Audelco, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award- MTC/Goodman Theater); Intimate Apparel (American Theatre Critics and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play Center Stage/SCR/ Roundabout Theater); Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine (OBIE Award - Playwrights Horizons/Signature Theater); Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por’knockers; and POOF!

Her play Sweat (Pulitzer Prize, Evening Standard Award, Obie Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Tony Nomination, Drama Desk Nomination) moved to Broadway after a sold-out run at The Public Theater. It premiered and was commissioned by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival American Revolutions History Cycle/Arena Stage. Inspired by her research on Sweat, Nottage developed This is Reading, a performance installation based on two years of interviews, at the Franklin Street, Reading Railroad Station in Reading, PA in July 2017.

She is the co-founder of the production company, Market Road Films, whose most recent projects include the. award winning documentary Takeover (The NY times, Op-doc) by Emma Francis Francis-Snyder, the Peabody nominated podcast Unfinished: Deep South (Stitcher) by Taylor Hom and Neil Shea, The Notorious Mr. Bout directed by Tony Gerber and Maxim Pozdorovkin (Premiere/Sundance 2014), First to Fall directed by Rachel Beth Anderson (Premiere/ IDFA, 2013) and Remote Control (Premiere/Busan 2013- New Currents Award). Market Road Films currently has a first look deal with SISTER. Over the years, she has developed original projects for Amazon, HBO, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Showtime, This is That and Harpo. She was a writer and producer on the Netflix series She's Gotta Have It, directed by Spike Lee and a consulting producer on the third season of Dickinson (Apple +).

Nottage is the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship, Steinberg "Mimi" Distinguished Playwright Award, PEN/Laura Pels Master Playwright Award, William Inge Festival Distinguished Playwright, TIME 100 (2019), Signature One Playwright, Merit and Literature Award from The Academy of Arts and Letters, Columbia University Provost Grant, Doris Duke Artist Award, The Joyce Foundation Commission Project & Grant, Madge Evans-Sidney Kingsley Award, Nelson A. Rockefeller Award for Creativity, The Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award, the inaugural Horton Foote Prize, Helen Hayes Award, the Lee Reynolds Award, and the Jewish World Watch iWitness Award. Her other honors include the National Black Theatre Fest's August Wilson Playwriting Award, a Guggenheim Grant, Lucille Lortel Fellowship and Visiting Research Fellowship at Princeton University. She is a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama. She is also a Professor of Theatre Arts in the Theatre Department at Columbia School of the Arts.

Nottage is a Doris Duke Artist, a board member for BRIC Arts Media Bklyn, Donor Direct Action, Dramatist Play Service, Second Stage and the Dramatists Guild. She recently completed a three-year term as an Artist Trustee on the Board of the Sundance Institute. She is member of the The Dramatists Guild, WGAE, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is currently an artist-in-residence at the Park Avenue Armory.

Yazid Gray has been described as "a vocal chameleon" (Seen and Heard International) with "a baritone voice of fine quality and warmth" (onStage Pittsburgh). In 2022/23, Gray debuted with Intermountain Opera Bozeman as Homecoming Soldier in The Falling and the Rising, Madison Opera as Sam in Trouble in Tahiti, and the New Mexico Philharmonic in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. In summer of 2023, Gray joined the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis singing the role of Luddud, covering Zodzetrick, Simon, and Parson Alltalk in Treemonisha, and covering Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte. He then joined Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra as a soloist singing Letters from Lincoln by Michael Daugherty. In the 2023/24 Season, Gray returns to Madison Opera as Ophémon in Joseph Bologne's The Anonymous Lover. He then makes his Arizona Opera debut at Mercutio in Roméo & Juliette.

Gray recently finished a summer with The Glimmerglass Festival as a young artist where he sang Le Dancaire in Carmen, Baloo in the World Premiere of The Jungle Book (Sankaram/Rourke), and covered the role of Cedric/Matteo in the World Premiere of Tenor Overboard (Rossini/Ludwig). He is a former Resident Artist with Pittsburgh Opera where he performed The Woodcutter/The Outlaw in the World Premiere of In a Grove (Cerrone/Fleischmann), Le Dancaire in Carmen, Policeman #3 in Blue, and Second Priest in The Magic Flute in the 2021/22 Season.

In the summer of 2021, Gray performed with Chautauqua Opera as an apprentice artist where he appeared as the baritone soloist in As the Così Crumbles: A Company Developed Piece. In Pittsburgh Opera's 2020/21 Season he performed in all four main stage productions which included Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Soldier in David T. Little’s Soldier Songs, Dizzy Gillespie in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, and Athamas in Semele. During the summer of 2020, Gray participated as a featured young artist in Chautauqua Opera's digital season and in 2019, he made his debut with the company singing Fiorello in The Barber of Seville.

In the 2018/19 Season, Gray sang the role of Bello in La fanciulla del West with Maryland Lyric Opera. He then went on to join Opera Santa Barbara as a member of their Chrisman Studio Artist program, where he performed the roles of Schaunard in La Bohème, Zaretski in Eugene Onegin, Le Podestat in Le docteur Miracle, and Thomas Putnam in The Crucible.

Gray made his professional debut in the summer of 2018 as Charlie in Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers with Opera Maine. Also comfortable on the musical theater stage, Gray has performed roles such as Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Ragtime, Jim Conley in Parade, Hunter Bell in [title of show], and Al in The Most Happy Fella.

Yazid received his Bachelor of Music in Voice from DePauw University in Greencastle, IN and is a graduate of University of Michigan - School of Music where he received his Master of Music in Voice. His academic credits include Oliver Jordan in the Michigan premiere of Dinner at Eight (Bolcolm/Campbell), Mercutio in Roméo & Juliette, and Demetrius in A Midsummer’s Night Dream.

“Armienta’s score is lush with cultural influences that highlight the vast musical palette of Latin and Hispanic artistic traditions.” – The Classical Review (Review of Armienta’s Zorro)

Composer Héctor Armienta considers himself neither Mexican nor American, but Mexican American. His work exists in and in between these two worlds. Drawing on his training as a classical composer, his mission is to reinvent classical music by incorporating musical forms from both sides of the border. Whether it be Mariachi, music Azteca, or corridos (folk songs) from the fields of central California, you can find elements of this music in much of his work. This approach allows him to explore what it means to be Mexican American through the lens of classical music and opera.

Armienta’s notable projects include Bless Me Ultima at Opera Modesto, Zorro at Fort Worth Opera and Opera Santa Barbara, La Muerte at Ópera Cultura, and Mi Camino – an animated opera film that premiered at Ópera Cultura. Upcoming engagements include two new productions of Zorro at Opera San Jose and Arizona Opera, The Coyotes and Rabbits - A Bilingual Children's Opera with Arizona Opera, as well as an immersive VR opera project titled Campesinos.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Armienta is one of the few Chicano opera composers to have had his work performed nationally and internationally. His awards and commissions include those from Meet the Composer, the National Endowment for the Arts, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Pacific, Arts International, the Pacific Symphony, Opera Southwest, Oakland East Bay Symphony, and Western Stage Theater. His work for orchestra, theater, and opera has received support from six NEA grants in artistic excellence. He was recently awarded a 2022 CCSRE Arts Mellon Fellowship at Stanford University and a 2021 Map Fund award.

Armienta is also the founder and director of Ópera Cultura whose mission is to explore music theater and opera through a cross-cultural lens. He holds a B.M. degree in composition from California Institute of the Arts and an MM degree in composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He also holds a seat on the board of Opera America as Vice Chair and is Co-Chair of the Civic Practice Committee.

Venezuelan soprano María Brea has been called a “fantastic soprano,” by Opera Wire, showcasing “virtuosity as a singer” and imbuing her performances with “luxurious polish.” Opera News celebrated her appearance in Cav+Pag with New Camerata Opera, saying “Maria Brea was an absolute delight as Nedda, ...demonstrating a natural theatrical instinct. She also has a lovely voice.”

In the 2023/24 Season, the “vocally thrilling” (ConcertoNet) soprano makes her debuts with the Phoenix Symphony as the soprano soloist in Handel’s Mesías [Messiah in Spanish] and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra singing Odaline de la Martinez’s Four Afro-Cuban Poems. She also makes her debut with Arizona Opera in the role of Ana Maria in Zorro, and with Vero Beach Opera in the role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. In the fall, she returns to American Ballet Theatre as the soprano soloist in performances of Charpentier’s Depuis le Jour at the David H. Koch Theater in New York.

Brea’s most recent performances have included the roles of Micaëla in CarmXn with Hogfish Opera, Gilda in Rigoletto with Resonance Works, Norina in Don Pasquale with The Barn Opera in Vermont, and as Olga in Giordano’s Fedora with Teatro Grattacielo, where she “conquer(ed) the entire stage with her every appearance” with her “seemingly unfettered vocal abilities” (Opera Wire). She performed the role of Elena in the Zarzuela El Barbero de Sevilla, for which the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors awarded her “Best Musical Actress”; and in 2019, created the title role of Anton Coppola’s Lady Swanwhite in a production with Opera Tampa. Her other operatic roles have included Raquel in the world premiere of José Luis González Moya’s El Rey Nació with PuntaClassic, Musetta in La Bohème with the New York Concert Opera, and Micaëla in Carmen and Adina in The Elixir of Love with West Bay Opera. With Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance, she performed the roles of Nannetta in Falstaff, Giannetta in The Elixir of Love and Marie in La Fille du Regiment.

As a concert soloist, Brea has recently been seen with the Indianapolis Symphony, the Oratorio Society of New York, Tucson Symphony, Boston Philharmonic Youth Symphony, Richmond Symphony, and the Queens Symphony Orchestra performing works including Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, and Haydn’s Creation. She also recently sang as the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana with the Cecilia Chorus of New York at Carnegie Hall. She regularly performs in recital, with recent engagements for the Metropolitan Opera Guild, at the Schubert Club, and as the headliner of Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid’s “A Song for Venezuela” concert. In 2023, she made her debut as a soloist with the American Ballet Theatre in their US premiere of Like Water for Chocolate in Costa Mesa at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts and in New York at The Metropolitan Opera House.

Brea was chosen to represent Venezuela in the 2022 Operalia Competition in Latvia, was a finalist in the 2022 Paris Competition, and sang for the 2021 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. She previously won 6th prize in the Tenor Viñas Contest, where she also received a special award for the best interpreter of Zarzuela and a contract to perform with the orchestra at Teatro Liceu de Barcelona. Brea has been the recipient of awards in the Opera Cultura, Gerda Lissner, Giulio Gari, Mary Truman Art Song, and New York Lyric Opera Competitions, and received an encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Connecticut District Auditions.

Brea earned her bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, where she was the recipient of the Mae Zenke Orvis Scholarship; and her master’s degree at the Juilliard School as a Kovner Fellow. Along her professional path, Brea participated as a studio artist with Wolf Trap Opera, where she performed the role of the Bird in Philip Glass’s Juniper Tree. She was an apprentice artist with Palm Beach Opera, was the Eva and Marc Stern Fellow at Songfest and has been the beneficiary of a Novick Career Advancement Grant.

Brea credits her father, a music teacher and Cuatro player, for instilling in her a love of Venezuelan folk music from an early age. María Brea is a co-founder of the Instagram platform Latina Women in Opera and is a Spanish diction expert at DictionBuddy.com.

Stephanie Sánchez has been praised by Opera News for her “polished, Italianate mezzo” and by ReviewSTL for her “exquisite singing.”

Sánchez opens her 2023/24 Season in her debut with Kentucky Opera performing the role of the Witch in Hänsel und Gretel. She also makes debuts with the Phoenix Symphony, where she will sing as a soloist in Handel’s Mesías [Spanish Messiah], Nettie Fowler in Carousel with Intermountain Opera Bozeman, and with Opera Omaha in the role of as Frida in Gabriela Lena Frank’s El ultimo sueño de Frida y Diego. She returns to Arizona Opera to reprise the role of Carlotta de Obragón in abbreviated performances of Zorro for the company’s New Works Festival. Sánchez made several notable house debuts in the 2022/23 Season, including as Third Spirit in The Magic Flute at Ravinia under the baton of Marin Alsop; as Chief Officer’s Wife in The Knock with Cincinnati Opera, and as Passenger #3 and Chief’s Daughter #2 in the World Premiere of Proximity: Four Portraits at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

As a resident principal artist with Opera San José for two seasons, she performed the roles of Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Hänsel in Hänsel and Gretel, and Azucena in Il Trovatore. She returned to perform the role of Mercedes while covering the title role in Carmen in 2022. She was selected as a Marion Pullin Studio Artist with Arizona Opera where she sang the roles of Persephone in Hercules vs. Vampires, Paquette in Candide, Berta in The Barber of Seville, and Flosshilde in Das Rheingold, and returned to the company to cover the title role in Maria de Buenos Aires and sing Baroness Nica in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird.

Sánchez counts among her notable engagements singing the role of Ines while covering Azucena in Francesca Zambello's 90-minute adaptation of Il Trovatore at The Glimmerglass Festival; and singing the roles of Carlotta in Zorro with Opera Southwest, Abuela in En mis palabras at Atlanta Opera, Maddalena in Rigoletto and Olga in Eugene Onegin with Intermountain Opera, and Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos with Arizona Opera.

She also has been seen in roles with Brava Opera Theater, St. Petersburg Opera, Teatro Nuovo, Sarasota Opera, and Opera Maine. With Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Sánchez performed the role of Third Lady in The Magic Flute, and as a Digital Studio Artist in 2020 played Ruth in Pirates of Penzance, for which KDHX cited her “impressive combination of vocal power and comic flair.”

Sánchez has been the recipient of several prizes, including the "Audience Choice Award" at the 2021 Jensen Foundation competition. She was the recipient of the 2018 Igor Gorin Memorial Award, took first place in the Young Texas Artist Music Competition and second place in Opera Connecticut’s Opera Idol Competition, was a finalist in the Brava Opera Theater Competition, and has received grants from the Anna Sosenko Assist Trust and the Hispanic Scholarship Association.

Born and raised in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Sánchez received her Artist Diploma from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and her master's degree in vocal performance from New Mexico State University.

Kihwa Kim is a versatile collaborative pianist who is well-versed in the areas of vocal and instrumental music. Prior to joining the Marion Roose Pullin Arizona Opera Studio, Kim served on the faculty of Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA. Kim has built a professional career as an opera/vocal coach, working with several opera companies including Dayton Opera, First Coast Opera, Chonnam National University (Gwangju, South Korea), Knoxville Opera, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and Kangsookja Opera Line (Gwangju, South Korea).

Kim is an alumnus of the Music Academy of the West, where she received the Vocal Piano Fellowship Award (2017, 2018) and the Opera NEO (2019). Upon finishing her Opera NEO Apprentice Pianist program, she has been invited by the company to participate as a member of the music staff since 2020.

Kim has also played in a number of master classes given by Warren Jones, Graham Johnson, James Conlon, Martin Katz, Marilyn Horne, Dawn Upshaw, and Simon Keenlyside.

Along with her experience as an opera/vocal coach, Kim held the position of orchestra pianist at City of Mokpo Symphony Orchestra in South Korea (2007-2009) and staff pianist at Northern Kentucky University (2014-2016).

Kim completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano at the University of Texas at Austin, Butler School of Music with Colette Valentine and Tamara Sanikidze. Kim also received her Artist Diploma in Opera Coaching and a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Marie-France Lefebvre and Kenneth Griffiths. Before her studies in the United States, Kim earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance at the Chonnam National University with Hyunok Moon, where she was appointed the Honorary Chancellor’s Award as the top graduate of the College of Arts.

Chris Ignacio is a puppeteer, producer, and educator currently finishing an MFA in Theater/Interdisciplinary Digital Media from Arizona State University. He recently debuted at The Metropolitan Opera as a puppeteer in Florencia En El Amazonas, directed by Mary Zimmerman. He has worked as a puppeteer in New York since 2012, mainly at La MaMa Experimental Theater in the East Village, and is now approaching puppetry through the lens of new and emerging media. In Phoenix, he has worked on Media Designs for Ballet Arizona, Arizona Opera and Childsplay Theater.