March 14, 2024
City Flats Hotel
83 Monroe Center St NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
… literature, that is!
Did you know that opera had its birth in Greek drama? Join local musicologist Camellia Adams as she explores the relationship between ancient Greek stories and the world of opera. Opera Grand Rapids artists will delight audiences by bringing to life beloved Greek myths and legends!
Tickets
$20 General Admission
Or call the Opera Grand Rapids Box Office: 616.451.2741
Artists
Camellia Adams | Host and Curator
Storytelling is infused into every aspect of Camellia Adams’ life.
As a child she had an imaginary friend named Spot, a little black and white cat. With Spot’s guidance, she would daydream and make up simple stories. As Camellia grew and her family opened her eyes to the wonderful cultures of the world, Spot took on various cultural identities and the stories evolved.
Camellia has traveled extensively throughout Asia, North America, the South Pacific, and Europe. Those travel experiences set her on a path to make an in-depth study of the folk stories, music, and cultures she had experienced. She graduated from the University of Kentucky with a B.A. in Music (Musicology/Ethnomusicology, Opera Performance). Her university musicology studies were primarily focused on the hymns, ballads, and folk music traditions of the United Kingdom and Ireland and how these immigrant groups affected the musical traditions of the Southern Appalachian mountains. Her love of ethnic music, folktales, and dance extends beyond the Southern USA into exploring the intersection of classical music, world folk cultures, and literature.
Storytelling is at the core of human creativity. Every culture has a form of storytelling, whether it be written down as formal literature, sung in songs, or passed on via oral traditions. Stories inspire, warn, comfort, and make us cry or laugh. Camellia is blessed to come from a family of storytellers and writers. Their influence on her life applies to everything she does, including curating Opera is Lit, directing church and community choirs, and raising her four children. Even though she’s an adult, Spot is still a part of Camellia’s life. Closing her eyes, she can still see Spot’s whiskered face looking back over a wiggly tail beckoning her to come follow her old imaginary friend down a path to learn about a new culture, a new form of music, and to create a new story!
Avalon Cutts-Jones | Soprano 1
Avalon Cutts-Jones is Grand Rapids, MI native who comes from two musical families who made their mark in the gospel quartet music industry.
Avalon is known for her vocal versatility performing different genres such as R&B, gospel, jazz, and classical. She is a graduate of Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance. She’s had the privilege of touring through Spain and Portugal on the Oh Happy Day Tour with the Alabama Gospel Choir as a featured soloist. Her voice could also be heard in the role of Rosa Parks in Douglas Tappin’s opera I Dream: The Story of a Preacher from Atlanta with both Toledo Opera and Opera Carolina. Avalon currently serves as the Artistic Director of the Girls Choral Academy of Grand Rapids. Avalon Cutts-Jones Music (AVCJ Music) can be found performing throughout the Midwest.
Anna Hallwood | Soprano 2
Anna Hallwood is a vocal music student.
She studies at Michigan State University.
Jon Lovegrove | Tenor
Jon Lovegrove has performed with opera companies and ensembles for several years.
He has performed such roles as Cavaradossi (Tosca) with the Hawaii International Music Festival; B. F. Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Father (Hansel and Gretel), Sam (Susannah) with West Michigan Opera Project and Kalamazoo Philharmonia; 2nd Priest/Man in Armor (The Magic Flute), Shem (Noah’s Flood), Remendado (Carmen) with Opera Grand Rapids, along with numerous productions as a member of the OGR chorus; Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi) with GVSU Opera Theatre; Rodolfo (La Bohème) with the Kent Philharmonic Orchestra; Timothy (Help, Help, the Globolinks!) with 2nd Act Opera; Mr. Bumble (Oliver! In Concert) and Ewart Dunlop (The Music Man) with Shadblow Theatre. He has also performed as the tenor soloist for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Kalamazoo Philharmonia, the Elkhart County Symphony, and the Holland Symphony Orchestra; Handel’s Messiah with the Zeeland Civic Chorus; Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Grand Rapids Community College Choirs and Percussion Ensemble; Mozart’s Requiem with the Baroque on Beaver music festival; Rossini’s Stabat Mater with Opera Grand Rapids.
Dan Ewart | Baritone
Dan Ewart has sung a wide variety of roles. Most recently he sang Horace Tabor in the Ballad of Baby Doe with Toledo Opera.
Previous to this he was Dancaïro in Carmen with Prelude to Performance in Manhattan where “he provided fine support” ~ Opera News. He also performed Escamillo in the High Lights concert that same summer in Manhattan.
Previously, Dr. Ewart performed the role of Owen Hart in Dead Man Walking and Zuniga Carmen with Shreveport Opera. He covered the leading baritone roles Joseph DeRocher and Escamillo with the same company. Other roles performed include Germont in La Traviata, Don Alfonso in Cosi Fan Tutte, Marcello in La Boheme, Editor Webb in Our Town, His Father-in-law in The Poor Fisherman, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, and Dr. Miracle in Les Contes d’Hoffmann.
Dr. Ewart has also sung with several orchestras as a soloist. Dr. Ewart has performed on several occasions with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra where he was the baritone soloist in Schubert’s Mass in G as well as the baritone soloist in Bruckner’s Te Deum. He has also sung and hosted a variety show with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra’s Linked-in concert series. He was also the baritone soloist in Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor with the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra, as well as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with members of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra where he was also the baritone soloist in Mozart’s G major mass that same year.
Dan Ewart has a B.M. in vocal performance from Michigan State University, a M.M. in vocal performance from DePaul University, and a D.M.A. in vocal performance with Michigan State University.
Faywen Adams | Reader
Faywen Adams is excited to be participating in her third Opera is Lit program.
Faywen is a sophomore at Grandville High School (GHS) where she is involved in the music and theatre programs. Recently, she played the Cook/Singing Telegram Girl in Clue at GHS. Other notable roles include Gracie Shinn in The Music Man at GHS, Tweedledum in Alice in Wonderland and Mrs. Gloop in Willy Wonka at StageGR, and the lead character, Deloris van Cartier, in Sister Act Jr at Grandville Middle School. Faywen has been a violist for almost 7 years and plays in Grandville High School’s Symphony Orchestra.
Besides a love of music and theatre, travel has been important in shaping Faywen’s outlook on life. She is grateful to have explored countries such as the United Kingdom, Italy, Slovenia, France, Germany, Hungary, and Japan! She lived in Graz, Austria in 2019, which fostered a love of learning about other cultures, their history, music, literature, language, and gave her insight into how other people live.
She plans on attending Grand Valley State University to pursue a degree in Theatre and a minor in Archeology/History. Faywen would like to thank her family for their loving support, and Opera Grand Rapids for, once again, an amazing opportunity to be a part of Opera is Lit.