Music by Matthew Aucoin
Libretto by Sarah Ruhl
Based on the play by Sarah Ruhl
Set Design, Costume Design and Stage Direction by Doug Fitch
January 31 & February 1, 2025 | 7:30 PM
Betty Van Andel Opera Center
After Opera Grand Rapids produced his opera Second Nature in 2021 and brought him to Grand Rapids to adjudicate the VanderLaan Prize in 2022, Matthew Aucoin invited Opera Grand Rapids to partner with the Boston Lyric Opera to co-commission a chamber version of his hit opera Eurydice. The first ever commission project in Opera Grand Rapids’ history, this stunning opera premiered in full-scale at The Metropolitan Opera in 2021, after a world premiere at the LA Opera in 2020. Eurydice reconceives the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, telling the story from the heroine’s perspective. We follow Eurydice into the underworld, where she first passes through the River of Forgetfulness, then encounters her deceased father. By the time Orpheus comes to find her, Eurydice has become a different person and is not sure she wants to return to life.
A new arrangement commissioned by Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Grand Rapids
Original Orchestration Commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera and Los Angeles Opera. Developed by The Metropolitan Opera/Lincoln Center Theater New Works Program with support from the Opera America Repertory Development Grant.
By arrangement with Associated Music Publishers, Inc./G. Schirmer, Inc., Publisher and copyright owner
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Artistic and Production Team
Matthew Aucoin | Composer
Matthew Aucoin is an American composer, conductor, and writer, and a 2018 MacArthur Fellow.
He is a co-founder of the pathbreaking American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), and was the Los Angeles Opera’s Artist in Residence from 2016 to 2020.
As a composer, Aucoin is committed to expanding the possibilities of opera as a genre. His own operas, which include Eurydice and Crossing, have been produced at the Metropolitan Opera, the Los Angeles Opera, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Boston Lyric Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Canadian Opera Company, among others. The Metropolitan Opera’s recording of Eurydice was nominated for a Grammy in 2023.
Aucoin’s newest theatrical work, Music for New Bodies, is a collaboration with the director Peter Sellars, based on the poetry of Jorie Graham. The work has so far been performed in Houston and at the Aspen Music Festival; future productions are planned for New York, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. Aucoin is currently at work on his next full-scale opera for the Metropolitan Opera, an adaptation of Dostoevsky’s novel Demons.
Aucoin’s orchestral and chamber music has been performed, commissioned, and recorded by such leading artists and ensembles as Yo-Yo Ma, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Brentano Quartet. Last year, the MET Orchestra, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, featured Aucoin’s orchestral work Heath on its first European tour in several decades.
His recent conducting engagements include appearances with the Los Angeles Opera, the Chicago Symphony, the Santa Fe Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, the San Diego Symphony, Salzburg’s Mozarteum Orchestra, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the Rome Opera Orchestra, and many other ensembles.
Aucoin’s book about opera, The Impossible Art: Adventures in Opera, was published in 2021 by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. He is a regular contributor to leading publications such as The New York Review of Books and The Atlantic.
Sarah Ruhl | Librettist
Sarah Ruhl is an award-winning American playwright, author, essayist, and professor.
Her plays include Eurydice, In the Next Room, or the vibrator play (Pulitzer Prize finalist, 2010); The Clean House (Pulitzer Prize finalist, 2005; Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, 2004); Passion Play (Pen American Award), Orlando; and Letters from Max (based on her book with poet Max Ritvo). Her plays have been produced on Broadway and across the country as well as internationally, and translated into fourteen languages. Her books include Smile, a memoir, and 100 essays I don’t have time to write. She is the recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award, a PEN Center Award for mid-career playwrights, a Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, and a MacArthur “genius award” Fellowship. She teaches at the Yale School of Drama and lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Doug Fitch | Set & Costume Designer, Stage Director
Doug Fitch has directed and designed multiple projects for the New York Philharmonic.
These include Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre, Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, and A Dancer’s Dream (combining Stravinsky’s ballet scores for The Fairy’s Kiss and Petrushka), as well as HK Gruber’sGloria — A Pig Tale, which the NY Phil co-presented with MetLiveArts and The Juilliard School.
He has also directed NY Phil Young People’s Concerts and Very Young People’s Concerts. Fitch’s career highlights include designing and directing Puccini’s Turandot at Santa Fe Opera; Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel at Los Angeles Opera; and Peter and the Wolf in Hollywood at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which became an award-winning app narrated by Alice Cooper. He designed sets and costumes for the PBS Great Performances broadcast of Black Lucy and the Bard for the Nashville Ballet with music by Rhiannon Giddens, and Suzanne Farrin’s Dolce la Morte for at the Metropolitan Art Museum. His Tanglewood’s production of Carter’s What Next? was filmed and screened at The Museum of Modern Art. Fitch’s production of Orphic Moments (comprising works by Matthew Aucoin and Gluck) was premiered at National Sawdust and reprised at Salzburg’s Landestheater and The Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Le Grand Macabre was remounted at Hamburg’s ElbPhilharmonie. Fitch devised a puppet production titled Punkitititi, featuring the Salzburg Marionette Theater that was presented by Mozart Woche 2020. Currently, his show Human/Nature: sculptures made of tree trunks wearing ladies shoes is on display at Turn Park Art Space. He is developing several new music/theater projects with composers Shih-hui Chen, Scott Wheeler, and Victoria Bond.
Tyson Deaton | Conductor
Known for his broad range of repertoire and versatility of style, American conductor Tyson Deaton has established a reputation for leading energetic and inventive performances.
With his musical roots firmly planted in the traditions of the standard operatic repertoire from the Baroque Era to Puccini and beyond, his affinity for contemporary works is also acclaimed by audiences and critics.
Deaton is frequently entrusted with the development and premieres of new works as a musical authority, specifically with vocal and orchestral writing. He led workshops for The Falling and the Rising, by Zach Redler and Jerre Dye, co-commissioned by the United States Army Soldiers’ Chorus and Field Band, and conducted the premiere of this work along with subsequent performances in New York City earlier this season. He has also worked on Matthew Peterson’s Voir Dire and Libby Larsen’s technologically innovative operatic version of Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. Other recent premieres include The Companion and Safe Word from Robert Paterson and David Cote’s opera triptych, Three Way, and Tarik O’Regan and Anna Rabinowitz’s The Wanton Sublime, both with American Opera Projects at Roulette in New York City.
Additional highlights include Hal Prince’s production of Candide with New York City Opera, American Modern Ensemble’s productions of Robert Paterson and Mark Campbell’s The Whole Truth, and Stewart Copeland and David Bamberger’s version of The Cask of Amontillado. Deaton has opened the Anchorage Opera season conducting Lucia di Lammermoor with the Anchorage Symphony while two other pinnacles of the Bel Canto canon, Norma, and Guillaume Tell, rounded out his season.
He joined San Francisco Opera for their production of Sweeney Todd, soon followed by his debut at Opera Birmingham with L’elixir d’amore. As guest conductor, he also played continuo for Le Nozze di Figaro at The Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center. He reprised this opera for his Kentucky Opera debut in 2020, following soon after the initial workshop of The Snowy Day for Houston Grand Opera.
Tyson Deaton made his Fort Worth Opera debut in the inaugural production of the “Opera Unbound” series with Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied, and is heard conducting the premiere recording of this work on the Albany label. Lauded as “Best of 2013” in the Washington Post, it was also rated among the “12 Best Full-Length Opera Recordings of 2014” by OperaNews. Other digital releases include the Offenbach rarity L’île de Tulipatan (Albany), and with Julia Kogan, “In Jest,” (First Hand Records – UK) recorded at Champs Hill.
Adept on the concert stage as well as in the orchestra pit, Tyson Deaton has worked with musical forces ranging from intimate to those including the Louisville Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Anchorage Symphony, and The American Modern Orchestra. He has partnered with artists including Denyce Graves, Michael Norsworthy, Talise Trevigne, Linda Wang, Judith Kellock, Julie Landsman, Victoria Livengood, Craig Mumm, Othalie Graham, and Sherrill Milnes, among many others. Along with Steven LaBrie, he collaborated with the Jessica Lang Dance Company on a staged version of Die Schöne Müllerin at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, “render[ing] the score with compelling artistry,” according to the New York Times.
Deaton has been presented in recital alongside Matthew Grills at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which included Benjamin Britten’s Canticle I, one of the featured events celebrating that composer’s centenary. He performs regularly with baritone Matthew Worth: their most recent program touches three centuries of the American musical heritage. A fervent advocate for the music of our time, Deaton has commissioned a number of works including David T. Little’s setting of To a Stranger, co-commissioned by The Walt Whitman Project of New York.
Deaton’s academic appointments have included those at the University of the Pacific and Lawrence Conservatory, and as an Artist-in-Residence at McGill University in Montreal. He has been a guest at Yale, Rice, and Carnegie-Mellon Universities, and others. The singers he has coached occupy the rosters of The Metropolitan Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, San Francisco Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Houston Grand Opera, Liceu-Barcelona, Paris Opera, The Barbican, Oper Frankfurt, La Scala and other major venues throughout the world.
As a clinician for both pianists and singers, he is often invited to give masterclasses and lectures on collaborative and operatic literature. For Opera America he has served as a panelist for Making Connections and Career Blueprints workshops, commissioning grants, and is a featured contributor to their ArtistLink publication. Included among Deaton’s adjudication activity, are the ASCAP Plus Composer Awards, the HGO Bauer Family Competition, Opera at Florham, and Sam Houston State Song Festival. He was a primary interviewee for an article centered around post-secondary classical vocal music education for ClassicalSinger magazine in the September 2013 issue.
Deaton’s extensive experience as a pianist, coach, recitalist, chamber musician, and his training and work as a singer, give him a unique perspective in understanding the demands of the whole performance as a conductor: above all, encouraging individual artistry at the highest level.
Tyson Deaton maintains his primary residence in New York City.
Cast
Britt Hewitt | Eurydice
Britt Hewitt is a New York City based soprano and composer.
Her work as a performer has been described as “poignant,” “brilliant,” (OperaWire), “vocal alchemy” (Parterre Box), and “charismatic” (New York Classical Review). A devoted experimentalist, she is often working with composers on new pieces, or writing herself.
Hewitt’s recent performances include Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute with the Little Orchestra Society and Marina in Katie: The Strongest of the Strong under Mary Birnbaum’s direction at Opera Saratoga. She also created the title role in Everything for Dawn with Experiments in Opera.
At Juilliard, she performed as Miles in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, the Spirit in Dido and Aeneas during its French, English, and American tours, Blanche de la Force in There’s Blood Between Us (a reimagining of Dialogues of the Carmelites), and Mistress Quickly in Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor.
She has appeared in venues such as National Sawdust, The Stone, Stamford Palace, Green Room 42, and Le Château de Versailles. Hewitt also sings regularly with the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Choir.
Hewitt recently composed the score for the Italian short film Transumanza and Juilliard Drama’s Dreamcrossed, written by Noah Haidle and directed by Zoey Martinson. Her score for Old Times premiered at Film at Lincoln Center and won awards at the Soho International Film Festival. Her song Dì Mi L’Amore, created with Corsican artist Petru Canon, was featured in Conversations that #OfferPeace. A member of the New York Songwriters Circle, Hewitt released her debut EP, Unfastened, in 2021.
Hewitt began her musical journey in Jacksonville, Florida, attending LaVilla Middle School of the Arts, where she studied music theory, classical and jazz styles, and musical theater. She continued at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas, before earning her Bachelor of Music from Juilliard. Her senior recital celebrated female composers, including her own work.
When not working, she enjoys cooking, maintaining her Duolingo streak, and rewatching Fleabag.
Andrew Garland | Orpheus
Baritone Andrew Garland is hailed as a performer whose artistry is a perfect combination between “baritone of strength and vocal opulence” (Opera News) and “cosmic energy and suavity” (Opera News).
He is widely recognized as a leader in recital work with dozens of performances around the country including Carnegie Hall with pianist Warren Jones and programs of modern American songs all over the Unites States and in Canada. Jones, Marilyn Horne, Steven Blier, many American composers, and major music publications all endorse him as a highly communicative singer leading the way for the song recital through the 21st Century.
He brings his highly communicative style to the concert stage with orchestras including the Atlanta Symphony, Boston Baroque, The Handel and Haydn Society, Nashville Symphony, Emmanuel Music, Boston Youth Symphony, National Philharmonic, Albany Symphony, Houston Symphony, UMS Ann Arbor, Washington Master Chorale at the Kennedy Center and National Chorale at Lincoln Center.
Garland has been a regular with the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) and has given multiple recitals at Carnegie Hall, the Ravinia festival as well as Vocal Arts DC, Marilyn Horne Foundation, The Bard Festival, Camerata Pacifica, the Moab Music Festival, Andre-Turp Society in Montreal, Voce at Pace, Huntsville Chamber Music Guild, Fort Worth Opera, Seattle Opera, Fanfare in Hammond, LA, Cincinnati Matinee Musicale, Cincinnati Song Initiative, Tuesday Morning Music Club and dozens of college music series around the country. In 2014, he was the featured recitalist for the NATS National convention where that organization’s president declared him “the next Thomas Hampson.” (Mr. Garland prefers to think of himself as “the first Andrew Garland.”)
In addition to numerous song and concert premieres, Garland has created operatic roles in the world premieres of Dinner at Eight – William Bolcom/Mark Campbell – Minnesota Opera, Steal a Pencil For Me – Gerald Cohen/Deborah Brevoort – Opera Colorado, The Book Collector – Stella Sung/Ernest Herbert – Dayton Opera, and Artemisia – Laura Schwendinger/Ginger Strand – Prototype Festival. He has also sung with Opera Philadelphia, New York City Opera, Seattle Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Hawaii Opera Theater, among others.
His latest CD recorded at CU with Jeremy Reger El Rebelde: Gabriela Frank | Dmitri Shostakovich has received rave reviews from the BBC, Opera News, Voix des artes, San Francisco Classical Voice, Earrelevant, and many other music publications. His previous solo CD American Portraits (with Donna Loewy, piano) went to Number 1 on Amazon classical. Garland has six other recordings on the Telarc, Naxos, Roven Records, and Azica Labels.
Chamber music appearances have included the Ravinia Festival, Camerata Pacifica, Maverick Concerts, Huntsville Chamber Music Society, and he has sung with the Takács, Dover, Calder, Amernet, and Daedalus string quartets.
Garland is the winner of the Lavinia Jensen, NATSAA, Washington International, American Traditions, NATS and Opera Columbus Competition and was a prize winner in the Montreal International, Jose Iturbi, Gerda Lissner, McCammon, and Palm Beach International Competitions. He was an apprentice at the San Francisco Opera Center and the Seattle Opera and Cincinnati Opera Young Artists programs.
An avid cyclist, Andy has ridden the Pan Mass Challenge for 32 years.
Garland is a mentor with Bel Canto Boot Camp, on tonebase.com and is an Associate Professor of Voice at The University of Colorado, Boulder.
Suchan Kim | Father
Suchan Kim (Baritone), a native of Busan, South Korea, recently sang the role of Enrico in Opera in Williamsburg’s production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor.
He has performed as a resident in San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program as well as with The Metropolitan Opera Education, The Metropolitan Opera Guild, Opera Philadelphia, The Atlanta Opera, Carnegie Hall, Mannes Opera, Dallas Opera’s The Hart Institute for Women Conductors, Opera Grand Rapids, Sarasota Opera, The Phoenicia International Festival of The Voice, Opera in Williamsburg, Tacoma Opera, First Look Sonoma, Paul Dresher Ensemble, Presidio Theater, Bare Opera, Opera Vezimra, New Rochelle Opera, Teatro Grattacielo, New Amsterdam Opera, Decameron Opera Coalition, Light Opera of New Jersey, Loft Opera, Opera Ithaca, Barn Opera, Teatro Lirico D’Europa, The Palmetto Opera, Amore Opera, Sinfonietta of Riverdale, The New York Concert Opera, New York Grand Opera, New York Lyric Opera, Jamestown Concert Association, Fairfield County Chorale, Lyric Chamber Music Society of New York, Sign & Sing, NYU IMPACT Conference, MidAmerica Productions, National Theater of Korea, Seoul Arts Center and several opera companies in South Korea.
His role credits include Don Giovanni and Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Count and Figaro in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Guglielmo in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Hoël in Meyerbeer’s Dinorah, Enrico in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Belcore in Donizetti’s L’Elisir D’amore, Marcello and Schaunard in Puccini’s La Bohéme, Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff, Alfonso in Donizetti’s La Favorita, Silvio in Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci, David in Mascagni’s L’Amico Fritz, Roberto in Verdi’s I vespri siciliani, Marullo in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Giorgio Germont and Barone Douphol in Verdi’s La Traviata, Tarquinius in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Dandini in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Germano in Rossini’s La Scala di Seta, Tobia Mill in Rossini’s La cambiale di matrimonio, Yamadori and Bonzo in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Escamillo and Dancaïre in Bizet’s Carmen, Le Marquis de la Force and Jailer in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, Hermann and Schlemil in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann, Salieri in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri, Paquiro in Granados’ Goyescas, Fiorello and L’Ufficiale in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Le chat and L’horlage comtoise in Ravel’s L’Enfant et Les Sortilèges, Simeon from Debussy’s L’Enfant Prodigue, Payador from Piazzolla’s María de Buenos Aires, Father in Kamala Sankaram’s Thumbprint, Bass in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Tibetan Book of the Dead, King Solomon in Dina Pruzhansky’s Hebrew opera ‘Shulamit’, Jinzo Matsumoto in Max Giteck Duykers and Philip Kan Gotanda’s Both Eyes Open, Lum May in Gregory Youtz and Zhang Er’s Tacoma Method. The Critic in John Gilbert’s multimedia opera ‘Rotation’, Strange Man in Faye Chiao’s ‘Island of the Moon’ and Leonitis in 5th Grader of St. David’s School and Thomas Cabaniss’ ‘A Hero’s Journey’.
He was an Eastern District Winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2011 and he received the Opera Award from Mannes Opera in 2013. Mr. Kim holds a Bachelor of Music from Korea National University of Arts and a Master’s Degree and a Professional Studies Diploma from Mannes College, the New School for Music. He studies with Arthur Levy.
Cody Bowers | Orpheus Double
In previous seasons, Mr. Bowers has performed with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, The Houston Symphony Orchestra, The Metropolitan Opera, St. Petersburg Opera, and Merola Opera Program in venues like the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, San Diego Opera, Minnesota Opera, Utah Opera, The Atlanta Opera, Boston Early Music Festival, Opera Neo, Tanglewood Music Center, and Cantos Para Hermanar al Mundo in Torreón, Mexico. In the upcoming 24-25 season, Mr. Bowers anticipates performances with Boston Early Music Festival in Telemann’s Don Quichotte, a solo debut with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and a Carnegie Hall debut with Oratorio Society of New York as alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah.
On the Operatic stage, Mr. Bowers continues to expand a broad and contrasting list of characters that range from Tolomeo, Handel’s Cesarian foil, and prince of Egypt; the lost and mysterious Refugee from Jonathan Dove’s Flight;Federico García Lorca, the celebrated 20th century poet and playwright in Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar, who was martyred during the Spanish Civil War; Leonardo, the ghostly Greta Garbo impersonator who inspires Frida Kahlo to make peace with her troubled life in Gabriela Lena Frank’s new Opera El último sueño de Frida y Diego; the stubborn child who, after being disobedient, is scorned by his own furniture as it comes to life in Ravel’s L’Enfant et Les Sortilèges; and Orlando, the conquering hero of antiquity who’s desire to love and be loved drives him into the pits of insanity—and the underworld.
Mr. Bowers is an active member of internationally celebrated ensembles like Gramophone Award-winning Blue Heron Renaissance Choir, The Handel & Haydn Society, Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra, The Thirteen, Bach Society Houston, VAE: Cincinnati, Tenet Vocal Artists, and Washington Bach Consort where he has performed numerous concert works by J. S. Bach including St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion, Magnificat, Christmas Oratorio, and Mass in B minor. Other concert credits include Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri, Ralph Vaughn William’s Mass in G Minor, Vivaldi’s Gloria,and Mozart’s Mass in D Major.
Permanently based in New Haven Connecticut, when he isn’t singing, Mr. Bowers enjoys tending to his many houseplants and exploring recipes with his loved ones.
Morgan Mastrangelo | Hades
Morgan Mastrangelo’s tenor has been hailed as “Fascinating and flexible” by Operawire, and “ringing and clear” by the Toledo Blade.
As an Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera, they recently covered Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Marzio (Mitridate) and Hades in Matt Aucoin’s Eurydice — a role they will reprise at Opera Grand Rapids in 2025. They are currently completing their Masters’ degree at New England Conservatory, where they sang Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, and Jimmy in John Musto’s Later the Same Evening. In 2023, Morgan made role and company debuts with Wichita Grand Opera (Count Almaviva, Il Barbiere di Siviglia), The New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players (Frederic, The Pirates of Penzance) and Opera Saratoga, where they sang Tobias in Sweeney Todd “with clarity and much feeling” (The Daily Gazette). At home on the concert stage, they recently won 2nd place at the 2024 Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Competition. Recent concert credits include the tenor solos in Bach’s BWV 5, 78, 93, 148, 188, 60 with Emmanuel Music in Boston, Handel’s Messiah, (Hudson Valley Philharmonic), Rossini’s Petit Messe Solenelle (Opera Saratoga), and Orff’s Carmina Burana — their solo debut at Carnegie Hall — with the New England Symphonic Ensemble. An avid interpreter of cross-genre projects and contemporary music, Morgan recently appeared in Grey Grant and Karl Ronneburg’s The Precipice, led by David Bloom and Contemporaneous, and originated the role of Michael in Bryce McClendon’s musical play “The Smallest Sound, in the Smallest Space” at the Clark Studio Theatre at Lincoln Center. They are the recipient of the Dean’s Scholarship at New England Conservatory for 2023-2025, studying with Bradley Williams.
Rachel Mills | Little Stone
She has performed in operatic performances in the United States, Europe, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. Rachel frequently performs with Opera Grand Rapids and appears this year as Giannetta in L’elisir d’amore and Little Stone in Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice. Other recent roles include Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Yum-Yum (The Mikado), Papagena (The Magic Flute), and Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro). In 2015, Rachel sang First Boy in The Magic Flute with Welsh National Opera and Polly in Beggar’s Opera with Opera’r Ddraig in Cardiff, UK. She has also sung leading roles with Opera Carolina and Toledo Opera.
Rachel enjoys concert singing, and has been invited as a guest soloist for the Calvin University performance of Handel’s The Messiah in December 2024. She has previously performed The Messiah with Dubai Opera Festival Chorus and recently with Holland Chorale. Rachel also sang Villa Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras with members of the Welsh National Opera Orchestra in 2015 and a year later as a guest soloist at New York University Abu Dhabi with French cellist Yan Levionnois. Internationally, she has performed in recitals in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sopron, Budapest, and throughout the UK.
Rachel holds a Master of Arts in Opera Performance from Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, a Master of Music in Voice and Opera Literature from Northwestern University, and a Bachelor of Music in Musical Theatre from Arizona State University.
Katie Markus | Big Stone
Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, rising mezzo-soprano Kaitlyn (Katie) Markus is captivating audiences with sophisticated style, authentic expression, and flexible range as a performer.
Originally from Sturgis, Michigan, Katie discovered the joy of singing while studying Piano Performance at Grand Valley State University. Passionate about exploring characters and connecting with audiences, Katie believes in singing roles and repertoire she loves, and enjoys singing opera, musical theater, and jazz.
Katie graduated from Grand Valley State University with double emphasis in Voice and Piano in April 2023, where she studied with Professor Dale Schriemer and Dr. Sookkyung Cho. While at Grand Valley, Katie performed a variety of roles in Opera Theatre productions, including the chamber musical A Minister’s Wife and contemporary The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. One of Katie’s favorite singing experiences while at Grand Valley was singing as the mezzo-soprano in the festive Snow Scene for Grand Rapid Ballet’s The Nutcracker in December of 2021-2024.
In the summer of 2022, Katie was an opera studio artist at the Trentino Music Festival where she performed the role of Second Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (based in Mezzano, Italy). In the summer of 2023, Katie attended the Taos Opera Institute (TOI) in Taos, New Mexico, a holistic opera training intensive. She returned to TOI in summer of 2024 to work as their Artistic Coordinator, in addition to singing as a Young Artist. Katie looks forward to returning as Artistic Coordinator for TOI in Summer 2025.
An active musician in the Grand Rapids area, she performs as a collaborative artist and with the professional choral ensemble Vox GR. In addition to performing, Katie is an experienced teacher and enjoys building connections with her growing student base in the Grand Rapids area. She is passionate about sharing the joy of music with students of all levels, backgrounds, and musical interests. Katie is grateful for everything her teachers have invested in her, and values the opportunity to pass that along to her students. Katie teaches Voice at Grand Rapids Voice Collective and Piano at Ada Conservatory of Music. Katie is the 2023 recipient of the Betty Van Andel Scholarship from Opera Grand Rapids.
John Kun Park | Loud Stone
John Kun Park, a Korean-American Tenor from Los Angeles, California, has been described as “a clarion tenor voice…that floats its high notes with ease and emotional fervor.”
The 2024/25 season starts with John debuting as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème with Opera on the James. He will then return to Opera Grand Rapids to sing Loud Stone in Aucoin’s Eurydice, then join New Performance Traditions for the premiere of Both Eyes Open by Max Duykers, singing the role of Daruma. To conclude the season, John will be returning to West Bay Opera to debut as the title role of Otello in Verdi’s Otello.
John began 2024 reviving Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Tibetan Book of the Dead with Opera Grand Rapids, then joined Penn Square Opera for their “Opera Couples Therapy,” concert, singing highlights from Carmen, Tosca, and Cavalleria Rusticana. He then joined Opera Modesto and debuted as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca. John was a finalist and Encouragement Award recipient of the Wagner Society of New York’s competition, and then made his Carnegie Hall debut with Mid America Productions singing the Tenor Solo of Mozart’s Krönungs-Messe.
Mr. Park is making strides towards the dramatic and Wagnerian repertoire. He has appeared nationally with companies such as Chautauqua Opera, Sarasota Opera, Central City Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, West Bay Opera, and Long Beach Opera.
Draven Forbes | Ensemble
Draven Forbes is delighted to be making his professional debut with Opera Grand Rapids for its production of Eurydice by Matthew Aucoin.
His recent performances include Venus and Adonis by John Blow, and Trouble in Tahiti by Leonard Bernstein with Central Michigan University. He is completing his final year at CMU earning a Bachelor of Science in Music Performance, while studying under Dr. Eric Tucker.
Fun fact! Draven has 2 adorable black cats, Worm & Nina, who are the lights of his life.