'Falstaff', a comic opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi
$20 in advance, $30 at the door
- Michael Drumheller, bass-baritone (Falstaff)
- Misha Myznikov, baritone (Ford)
- Regina Thomas, soprano (Alice)
- Dawn Padula, contralto (Quickly)
- Rachelle Moss, mezzo-soprano (Meg)
- Serena Eduljee, soprano (Nanetta)
- Luke Norvell, tenor (Fenton)
- Bernard Kwiram, conductor
- John Burkhardt, piano & chorus master
Based on the Shakespeare character of the same name, Sir John Falstaff is an aging, foolhardy nobleman. He currently owes so much money, his credit is no longer good. To rebuild his fortune, he plans to seduce a wealthy middle-class woman into funding his lifestyle. He writes Alice Ford a romantic letter and believes she will fall swooning into his arms due to his charm and titled status. To hedge his bets, he also writes to Meg Page. Unfortunately, his plan has a few flaws.
Performed concert style with a 12-piece instrumental ensemble. Sung in Italian. Supertitles in English and Italian.
About Puget Sound Concert Opera
Puget Sound Concert Opera's mission is to bring a wide variety of opera to life through passionate performances in intimate settings, fostering a vibrant artistic community. We make these extraordinary works accessible and affordable, ensuring that the joy of great opera is within reach of all.
http://www.pugetsoundconcertopera.org/About Michael Drumheller, bass-baritone (Falstaff)
Michael Drumheller is originally from Richland, Washington. A favorite bass-baritone in the Pacific Northwest opera and classical scenes, he has been a soloist with Seattle Symphony, Boston Lyric Opera, Tacoma Opera, Skagit Opera, Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestra Seattle, and many other organizations, under the direction of renowned conductors including Robert Spano, Gerard Schwarz, and Leonard Slatkin. As a recitalist, he is especially interested in Russian music, and has been an invited performer of Russian vocal repertoire at the Icicle Creek Music Festival and at Wellesley College.
Mr. Drumheller holds a Master's degree in Vocal Performance from Boston University, where he was a student of Phyllis Curtin. He has studied with Armen Boyajian, Robert Honeysucker, Julian Patrick, and several other notable teachers. He is an alumnus of the Tanglewood Music Center and holds BS and MS degrees in engineering and science from MIT. His diverse musical background includes playing tympani in symphony orchestras and drumming and singing for his own rock bands. Mr. Drumheller has been a featured performer in many productions of the late, distinguished Northwest conductor Hans Wolf, and regularly appears as a soloist for Northwest Chorale, which raises money for Northwest Harvest, which fights hunger throughout the Pacific Northwest.
https://michaeldrumheller.com/About Misha Myznikov, baritone (Ford)
About Regina Thomas, soprano (Alice)
An outstanding member of the Northwest musical community for over 20 years, Regina Thomas has performed with a variety of companies including Kitsap Opera, Willamette Concert Opera, Bellevue Opera, Puget Sound Concert Opera, Seattle Opera, and the Seattle Opera Guild. Currently Artistic Director of Puget Sound Concert Opera, Regina has served as Seattle Opera Guild’s VP of Education and is a past President and trustee of concerts for LMC. Favorite operatic roles include Adriana Lecouvreur, Suor Angelica, Tosca, and Judith (Bluebeard's Castle). Concert work includes Schumann's Frauenleibe und-leben, Elgar’s Sea Pictures, and Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder; soprano solos in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Fauré Requiem, and Berio's Folk Songs for voice and chamber ensemble.
https://www.musiccenternw.org/regina-thomasAbout Dawn Padula, contralto (Quickly)
Dawn Padula, mezzo-soprano is a versatile performer of opera, oratorio, musical theatre, jazz, and classical concert repertoire. Opera roles include Carmen (Carmen), Azucena (Il Trovatore), Lady Jane (Patience 2018 Gregory Awards People’s Choice Award Nominee), Lady Blanche (Princess Ida), Ruth (The Pirates of Penzance), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Meg (Falstaff), The Third Lady (The Magic Flute), the Witch (Hansel and Gretel), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Isabella (The Italian Girl in Algiers), Erika (Vanessa), and the Sorceress (Dido and Aeneas). In the Pacific Northwest, she has performed with Tacoma Opera, Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Kitsap Opera, Concert Opera of Seattle, PLU’s Jazz Under the Stars, Puget Sound Concert Opera, the Tacoma Concert Band, the Oregon Symphony, the Portland Symphonic Choir, the Seattle Bach Choir, the Second City Chamber Series, Classical Tuesdays in Old Town Tacoma Concert Series, Lakewood Playhouse, and Opera Pacifica. With Seattle Opera, she is a member of the Supplementary Chorus. In June 2017, she toured to Varna and Sofia, Bulgaria as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the Pazardzhik Symphony. In August 2017, she released her debut classical solo album, Gracious Moonlight, featuring Dominick Argento’s Pulitzer Prize winning song cycle, From the Diary of Virginia Woolf. Dr. Padula is currently the Director of Vocal Studies at the University of Puget Sound School of Music.
http://dawnpadula.com/home.htmlAbout Rachelle Moss, mezzo-soprano (Meg)
About Serena Eduljee, soprano (Nanetta)
About Luke Norvell, tenor (Fenton)
Luke Norvell is a tenor studying voice and music education at The Master's University, where he also sings actively in the Los Angeles area. After having sung various bass and baritone roles such as Frank Maurrant in Street Scene, Sprecher, Second Priest, and Second Man in Armor in Die Zauberflöte, Ben in The Telephone, and Vater in Hänsel und Gretel, he has made the transition to tenor. He made his operatic tenoral debut singing Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus in July 2019 and has since sung Monostatos, First Priest, and First Man in Armor in Die Zauberflöte. On the concert stage, he has sung the tenor solos for Mozart's Requiem and in competition, he has both a first and a second place finish in the NATS LA Collegiate Auditions.
https://avaopera.org/artist/luke-norvell/About Bernard Kwiram, conductor
Bernard Kwiram, a conductor, marked his Puget Sound Concert Opera debut in 2013 with Béatrice et Bénédict. He has since led notable performances like Der Frieschütz, Anna Bolena, and Il Trovatore. Kwiram has also conducted for Tacoma Opera, Pacific Northwest Opera, and Civic Light Opera, presenting works including Orpheus in the Underworld, La Boheme, Rigoletto, and Aida. He's directed the Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society since 2002, overseeing 160+ G&S Canon performances. In 2015, he became music director of Tacoma City Ballet, conducting The Nutcracker, Carmina Burana, and more. A versatile artist, he's sung with Seattle Opera and Everett Symphony, and is a vocal instructor and adjunct professor at Northwest University.
About John Burkhardt, piano & chorus master
John Burkhardt (chorus master/piano) currently serves as chorus master and principal accompanist for Puget Sound Concert Opera. John has arranged and conducted numerous PSCO productions including Lucrezia Borgia, La Damoiselle Elue, Andrea Chenier, Don Giovanni, and I Capuletti ed I Montecchi. John has served as the principal accompanist and chorus master for Bellevue Opera as well. He works for University of Washington Tacoma, managing their communications. He is musically active in the Unitarian Universalist church and has been an opera and musical theater pianist for many years in Seattle and elsewhere.