Vashon Opera: Rigoletto

Daniel O'Hearn, tenor (The Duke of Mantua)
Andrew Krikawa, baritone (Rigoletto)
Ksenia Popova, soprano (Gilda)
Michael Colman, bass (Sparafucile)
Dawn Padula, mezzo-soprano (Maddalena)
Rachelle Moss, contralto (Giovanna)
Michael Drumheller, bass-baritone (Count Monterone)
Mark Davies, baritone (Marullo)
Jesse Nordstrom, tenor (Borsa Matteo)
Alexander R Adams, bass-baritone
Anika Hille, mezzo-soprano (Countess Ceprano)
Sophia Emanuel, soprano (The Page)
James L. Brown, conductor

Giuseppe Verdi — Rigoletto

With Rigoletto, Giuseppe Verdi weaves a richly illuminated tapestry around traditional themes of vanity, pride, avarice, spiritual corruption, and festering recrimination. In this cautionary tale, compromised morals are the order of the day. It's hard to predict where fate's fickle finger will point when there's a reconciliation of past sins. The hunchback jester, Rigoletto, hires an assassin to knock off his boss, but things don't go as planned and there's no telling where fate's fickle finger will point when there's a reconciliation of past sins.

But as any Verdi fan will tell you, those books always get balanced, and nobody escapes palace intrigue without a florid, dramatically scored comeuppance! From the Duke's opening salvo bragging about his romantic conquests, "Questa o quella" ("This woman or that one"), to the famous quartet from Act III, "Bella figlia dell'amore" ("Beautiful daughter of love"), Verdi's Rigoletto stitches together a revolutionary evening at the palazzo that will keep you on the edge of your seats.

Don't curse your chance to attend this inspired performance!

Run Time: 2 hours, 40 minutes (including one 25-minute intermission and one 15-minute intermission)

About Dawn Padula, mezzo-soprano (Maddalena)

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.html

About Rachelle Moss, contralto (Giovanna)

http://rachellemoss.com/

About Michael Drumheller, bass-baritone (Count Monterone)

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 Mark Davies, baritone (Marullo)

http://www.operaexperiencesoutheast.org/emerging-artists/bio/mark-davies/

About Jesse Nordstrom, tenor (Borsa Matteo)

Jesse Nordstrom is a Seattle native with a leggiero tenor voice that "excites the listener with easy highs and captivates with surprising power." Jesse has sung Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Pacific Northwest Opera, and also performed the lead roles of Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore and Tamino in The Magic Flute. When he's not performing or at his day job, Jesse can be found spending time with his wife Melody and two young daughters, Ruby and Willa.

About Alexander R Adams, bass-baritone

Alexander R Adams is a classically trained bass-baritone singer and voice teacher, born and raised in the Seattle area. He received his Master of Music from the University of Southern California and his Bachelor of Music from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. Alexander's opera roles include King Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos, Publio in La clemenza di Tito, Minister in Iphigénie en Tauride, Mr. Plunkett/Judge in The English Cat, and Sprecher/Armored Man in Die Zauberflöte, and Sergeant of the Police in Pirates of Penzance. The latest engagement was the role of Doctor Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro at Vashon Opera.

In 2018 Alexander started a private voice studio where he currently teaches online lessons to students of a variety of ages and skill levels. Alexander is also a composer. His most recent project is a collection of art songs based on poems by Edgar Allan Poe.

https://adams-voice.com/aboutme

About Anika Hille, mezzo-soprano (Countess Ceprano)

Originally from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, mezzo-soprano Anika Hille earned her Bachelors of Music Education from Pacific Lutheran University, where she studied voice with Soon Cho, composition with Gina Gillie, and conducting with Richard Nance. In her time at PLU, Anika sang with Choir of the West for four years, served as Assistant Conductor for the PLU University Singers, participated in the 2022 NW ACDA Conducting Masterclass with Edith Copley, and completed her student teaching with Jon Stenson at Auburn Riverside High School. Anika is excited to be making her Vashon Opera debut, and hopes to take advantage of the professional opportunities available in the Seattle/Tacoma area before pursuing a master's degree in choral conducting at Georgia State University. She hopes to one day earn a DMA in conducting and teach at the collegiate level. Recent performances include Carmina Burana with the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Usher in Trial by Jury, and Simply Symphonic "the Orchestra Rocks!" with the Tacoma Symphony. Anika is a current member of Choral Union and the PLU Alumni Steel Pan Band, and she enjoys hiking, skiing, traveling, and composing in her free time.

About Sophia Emanuel, soprano (The Page)

Coloratura soprano Sophia Emanuel is a young artist on the rise. As a 2022 Festival Artist with Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, she covered 1st Lady (The Magic Flute), Micaëla (Carmen), and Mrs. Jenks (The Tender land). Sophia will be a 2022-2023 Studio Artist and Amina (La sonnambula) cover with Puget Sound Concert Opera. She was the 2021 winner of the Seattle Opera Guild Ernesto Alorda Encouragement award, as well as a semifinalist in the Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition. Sophia made two role debuts in the 2020 season as Queen of the Night and 1st Lady (The Magic Flute) with Northwest Opera in Schools Etc. She has made appearances in several productions with Pittsburgh Festival Opera including the chorus of La Bohème and Arabella, covering The Fiakermilli (Arabella), and premiering the role of Minnie in a workshop of Night Flight for Minerva's Owl. With San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Sophia performed Ortensia, Ettalina, and Eustacia in Musto's Bastianello, as well as Prima Conversa (Suor Angelica). At Carnegie Mellon University, Sophia was seen as Soprano II in Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox and Lucy Lockit (The Beggar's Opera), as well as premiering roles in two short operas through Carnegie Mellon's CO-OPERA project.

About James L. Brown, conductor

https://www.northwestartists.org/jb.html

About Vashon Opera

About Daniel O'Hearn, tenor (The Duke of Mantua)

About Andrew Krikawa, baritone (Rigoletto)

About Ksenia Popova, soprano (Gilda)

About Michael Colman, bass (Sparafucile)