Zorro

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.

Mexican-American baritone Octavio Moreno received his Doctorate degree in Music by the University of Arizona. Moreno participated in the young artist program at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, followed by the Houston Grand Opera Studio. Moreno won first place in the Linus Lerner International Opera Competition in 2018, third place in the 2008 Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers and represented Mexico in the 2009 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and the 2010 Paris International competition, as well as third place in the Carlo Morelli Competition in Mexico City. Moreno Made first place in both 2001 Mariana de Gonitch competition in Cuba and 2004 Premio Ciudad Trujillo in Peru.

Moreno has participated with the Chicago Lyric Opera, New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, San Diego Opera, Arizona Opera, Bellas Artes Opera in Mexico City, and the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France among others. Moreno premiered the role of Moncada in Zorro, Xihuitl in the second Mariachi Opera El Pasado Nunca Se Termina, and the role of Laurentino in the first mariachi opera Cruzar la Cara de la Luna. Ha has also sung Marcello in La Bohème, Tonio in Pagliacci, Zurga in Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Vronsky in Anna Karenina, John Proctor in The Crucible, Germont in La Traviata followed by Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor and the title role in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Sourin in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, and Belcore in Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, to name just a few. Moreno made his Symphonic debut performing with the San Antonio Symphony in the Estancia ballet, singing the Baritone Solo.

Latino American director, David Radamés Toro, applies his backgrounds in music and mime to create innovative opera productions with a focus on cultural relevance, diverse representation, and a modern opera experience to engage with new and returning audiences.

Whether through abstraction or realism, from baroque to the modern era, his productions have been recognized for their sincerity and imagination. In response to his recent production of Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, the Star Tribune lauded it as “one of the most exciting and deeply involving productions that Minnesota Opera has presented this Century.” His production of Jonathan Dove’s Flight was praised as showing “that Flight has a beating heart, and something to say.” The San Diego Tribune called his adaption of Cavalli’s La Calisto “a well-sung and cleverly staged production.” And his The Marriage of Figaro at Tri-cities was hailed as “Fresh and delightful…I learned something new about [The Marriage of Figaro] watching that show.”

An admirer of modern era opera, Toro has had the privilege of directing 21st century works such as Cruzar la Cara de la Luna (Minnesota Opera), Dead Man Walking (Opera Idaho), Three Way (Fargo Morehead Opera), Glory Denied (Opera Fayetteville) and Flight (Minnesota Opera), as well as, assisting on the World Premieres of Today It Rains (Opera Parallèle, 2019), Dinner at Eight (Minnesota Opera), and The Shining (Minnesota Opera). In addition to directing new works, Toro aspires to contribute to the American canon through collaborations with designers, composers, and playwrights in creating operas focused on Latino and Latino American experience, history, folklore, and communities.

Along with directing, David Radamés Toro teaches classes and workshops in acting for the opera stage and physical theatre, as well as coaches singers in interpretation and audition preparation. His workshops in Gestural Mechanics are influenced by his own training in Meisner technique, Suzuki/Viewpoints, and classical mime with the goal of empowering singers to effectively combine musical expression and movement. He has taught movement and acting to singers at Minnesota Opera, Opera Neo, Tri-Cities Opera, The University of Texas - Austin, Arizona State University, and Opera Steamboat.

David Radamés Toro holds degrees from The University of Texas (DMA), The Ohio State University (MM/MA), and The University of Colorado at Boulder (BM).