The Elixir of Love


Set in Spain’s Basque Country, The Elixir of Love tells the story of Nemorino, a peasant in love with the wealthy Amina. After Adina rejects Nemorino’s advances, Nemorino purchases a love potion from a traveling quack doctor named Dulcamara. Dulcamara sells Nemorino a common glass of red wine, which Dulcamara claims to be a potent love potion. Nemorino drinks the “potion,” and with his new-found confidence, Nemorino pursues his love for Adina in competition with the swaggering soldier, Belcore. Will Nemorino’s dreams of love come true, or is he destined to a life as a peasant?


Tickets

Tickets Start at $49
Student Tickets $5 Valid student I.D. must be presented at the door.

Or call the Box Office: 616.451.2741


SEASON SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE

Pick from Advanced Pass or Choose Your Own Subscription. Learn more here.


Elixir Mixer

Join us for the “Elixir Mixer” before each night’s performance!
Starting at 6:00 pm, before both the September 20 & 21 performances of The Elixir of Love, enjoy offerings from our food and mocktail vendors, setting the stage for a delightful night. The doors to the auditorium open at 7:00 pm, with the show beginning at 7:30 pm. This event promises to be a fun and immersive experience, blending the charm of our mixer with the romantic tale of The Elixir of Love. Tickets are just $20. Don’t miss out on this captivating fusion of flavors and melodies!

** This is a separate, ticketed event. Please purchase tickets for the Elixir Mixer in addition to The Elixir of Love tickets.**

++ Advanced Pass subscriptions include the Elixir Mixer. ++

Tickets $20
Buy tickets online for the Elixir Mixer.


Production Team

Eve Summer | Director

Hailed “a rising star of stage directing [whose] approach to directing refreshes hope for the future of opera,” Eve Summer is a director, producer, and choreographer.

Learn more >>

She has been described as having “a gift for translating classic symbolism into familiar detail with just enough flippancy to bring out the fun of the opera without skewing the emotional equation.” This season Eve returns to Opera Grand Rapids and debuts at Boston Baroque, Annapolis Opera, and Amelia Island Opera with new productions of L’elisir d’amore, Ariodante, La traviata, and Hansel and Gretel.

Selected directing credits include Trouble in Tahiti at the Glimmerglass Festival; Cosi fan tutte, Les Mamelles de Tirésias, The Seven Deadly Sins and Albert Herring at Curtis Opera Theatre; Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince at Tulsa Opera; Don Giovanni at Opera Carolina; Rigoletto, Tosca, and Don Giovanni at Opera Columbus; The Barber of Seville at Opera Saratoga; The Tales of Hoffmann and Thomas Albert and Linde Herman’s Lizbeth an opera about alleged murderer Lizzie Borden at Opera Orlando; Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Don Giovanni, The Pirates of Penzance, Così fan tutte, Le Docteur Miracle, and The Mikado at Opera Grand Rapids; John Musto and Mark Campbell’s Volpone at the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at UNCSA; The Pearl Fishers at Opera Tampa; Le nozze di Figaro at Knoxville Opera, dell’Arte Opera Ensemble, Mobile Opera, Kaliope Opera, and Varna International Music Festival, La donna del lago at Resonance Works; Bluebeard’s Castle at Mid Ohio Opera; Xerxes for Connecticut Early Music Festival, La clemenza di Tito, Mark Adamo’s Little Women and John Musto and Mark Campbell’s Later The Same Evening at the Opera Institute at Boston University; Carmen for MassOpera; Aida and Lucia di Lammermoor at Boheme Opera New Jersey; Suor Angelica in concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; Così fan tutte for Connecticut Lyric Opera, Les contes d’Hoffmann, La Bohème, The Pearl Fishers, and The Magic Flute at Opera in Williamsburg, The Magic Flute The Hartt School at University of Hartford, and the world premiere of Larry Bell and Romulus Linney’s opera Holy Ghosts at the Berklee Performance Center.

Eve’s work has been called “eye-poppingly contemporary,” “transfixingly personal,” a riveting, glorious production from beginning to end,” and “can only be described as brilliant.” Critics raved that her production of Xerxes for Connecticut Early Music Festival was “a delight, and a testament to Summer’s gift for banishing stodginess from an art form too often seen as fossilized and elitist”. Her Cosi fan tutte for Commonwealth opera was hailed as “amazing…brilliantly staged, beautifully sung and acted, touching, intimate, and hilarious.” Her style is naturalistic and modern and rooted in the visceral truthfulness of stage plays where she started her directing career. Her theater productions have included The Merry Wives of Windsor, Extremities, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Woolgatherer, ‘Art,Two Gentlemen of Verona, and her own play Neighbors, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Thomas Berger.

A former professional ballet dancer and choreographer, Eve’s choreography credits include a commission to choreograph a new ballet, Jeanne’s Fantasy, by composer Mark Warhol for the premiere with Contrapose Dance and Fort Point Theatre Channel, Elektra at Des Moines Metro Opera, Falstaff at Opera Colorado, and Don Giovanni for Boston Opera Collaborative. She collaborated with renowned choreographer Karole Armitage on her critically acclaimed American premiere of Philip Glass’ Opera-Ballet The Witches of Venice at Opera Saratoga. Notable assisting engagements also include Francesca Zambello on the world premiere of Ben Moore’s Robin Hood at The Glimmerglass Festival, Julia Pevzner on her widely acclaimed production of Shostakovich’s The Nose at Opera Boston, and Tim Albery on Janáček’s Katya Kabanova at Boston Lyric Opera. Eve has been on staff as an assistant director and choreographer at The Glimmerglass Festival, Boston Lyric Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Colorado, Tulsa Opera, Opera Saratoga, and Opera Boston.

Full Biography >>

Hide more >>

Alexandra Enyart | Conductor

Alexandra Enyart has been called “one of Chicago’s greatest operatic gifts” (Chicago Theatre Review) and “a podium talent to watch” (Chicago Classical Review).

Learn more >>

She’s performed with The Atlanta Opera, Australian Contemporary Opera Company, Opera Santa Barbara, and many others around the country and globe. She has served as a Chicago Sinfonietta Fellow and as a “Turn the Spotlight” fellow with Chicago Opera Theatre music director, Lidiya Yankovskaya. In 2017 Alexandra won the CODA conducting competition and in 2018 she won CCM’s Mozart Overture Conducting Competition. Alexandra served as a panelist at the Opera America conference in 2021 and serves currently on the Artistic Advisory Council for American Opera Projects.

Alexandra is as comfortable on the podium as she is in the opera pit having made her international debut in Tomsk Russia with the Tomsk Philharmonic Orchestra in 2016 while finishing her Master’s in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Louisville. At the same time she also worked as the apprentice conductor with the Louisville Orchestra and Kentucky Opera as well as the Assistant Conductor for the Louisville Youth Orchestra. Alexandra works as a champion of new music and helped to bring As One, When Adonis Calls, Patience and Sarah to the stage, among many others. She also champions young singers and advocates for every voice in her work with Chicago Vocal Arts Consortium which includes productions of La finta giardiniera, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and L’elisir d’amore with many more to come!

As a transgender conductor Alexandra strives to create a more equitable and diverse musical world. As such she has successfully chartered “Faulty Systems,” an annual program in which activists and artists come together to share stories of underrepresented communities or ideas through music, speech, poetry, dance and other mediums. Alexandra also helped to launch the Chicago Vocal Arts Consortium’s sing–thru program, which functions to create an accessible space for young artists to experiment with musical styles and traditions following their education. Alexandra believes that to conduct is an honor and privilege, and continues to work to support and strengthen the musical community of which she is privileged to be a part.

Hide more >>

William Bokhout | Chorus Master

Operatic baritone William Bokhout’s performance career has taken him coast to coast in as many as 35 different operatic roles, countless solo appearances and directing of over 40 different stage productions.

Learn more >>

He has been featured with Opera Grand Rapids, the Grand Rapids Symphony, Durufle’ Requiem in Carnegie Hall, the Pine Mountain Music Festival, and the Blue Lake Festival Orchestra. His operatic roles include Barone Douphol in Verdi’s LaTraviata, Count Ceprano and Marullo in Verdi’s Rigoletto, the Sacristan in Puccini’s Tosca,Dr. Bartolo in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, El don Cairo in Bizet’s Carmen, Gregario in Gounod’s Romeo and Juliette, Slim in Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men, and Father in Humperdink’s Hansel and Gretel. He also appeared as the title role in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi with the Blue Lake International Repertory Opera. In concert Mr. Bokhout has been featured with the Blue Lake Festival Orchestra for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony,the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra as soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, and The Music of Final Fantasy. In 2003, Mr. Bokhout founded The 2nd Act opera company, a professional touring group dedicated to promoting Opera as an art form to young people, performing in many of the schools in the area as well as touring with his wife Hollis presenting Children’s Opera Workshops in elementary schools across the country. Mr Bokhout is the composer of 6 original children’s operas and is also known as The Opera Farmer, the tile role of a feature length independent family film.

Hide more >>

Caleb Wenzel | Pianist

Winner of the 2019 Respighi Prize in Conducting, conductor and pianist Caleb Wenzel leads with a vibrant and collaborative energy that is equally at home with orchestra, vocal ensemble, historical instruments, opera, and musical theatre.

Learn more >>

He has presented solo recitals in every region of the USA and has recently led performances with the Chamber Orchestra of New York, American Bach Society, Chicago Latino Music Festival, University of British Columbia Chamber Orchestra Festival, and Ensemble CONCEPT/21. He served as Director of Choral Activities at Grand Rapids Community College from 2020-2024 and previously served on the musical threatre staff at University of Notre Dame and as Conducting Area Coordinator for the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium. He holds a doctorate in conducting from University of Notre Dame under the mentorship of acclaimed Venezuelan maestra Carmen-Helena Téllez.

Hide more >>

Lauren Lenz | Stage Manager

Lauren Lenz (she/her) works as an opera director based in Detroit, MI.

Learn more >>

Passionate about creating provocative and unique productions that are accessible to audiences of all kinds, her background has led to an appreciation for contemporary opera and modern reconstructions of classic works.

As part of working toward an inclusive process, she is also a trained intimacy choreographer and approaches directing as a collaborative, consent-based practice.

Hide more >>

Adeo Breaux | Assistant Stage Manager & Props Manager

Adeo Breaux joins Opera Grand Rapids for their production of The Elixir of Love, his fourth with the company.

Learn more >>

He was previously seen touring with The Grand Ol’ Production Company, in Oakland for West Edge Opera’s summer festival, as well as productions in Baton Rouge, Florida, and his home, Albuquerque New Mexico.

Hide more >>

John A C Despres | Technical Director

John has been working with Opera Grand Rapids for over 25 years as Set Designer and Technical Director.

Learn more >>

He attended The Banff Center, School of Fine Arts studying set, lighting and costume design. In 1982 he hung out his professional shingle as Scene It All Productions and has been working in the entertainment industry ever since. Past design projects include companies such as Heritage Theatre Group, The Robeson Players, Actors’ Theatre, Aquinas College, Grand Rapids Community College Players, Jewish Theatre Grand Rapids. Corporate events and projects include Steelcase, Haworth, Stow & Davis, The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, Gordon Food Service, KBO Group, and, the coolest of them all, designing the unveiling of the daVinci horse ”Il Cavallo” at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. There have been feature films, indy films, television shows and a Michigan EMMY for Art Direction on the TV show “Come On Over!”

John is married to Lea Sevigny and they have one son, Nicolas. John roasts his own coffee at home and spends much time racing one of many bicycles around the country in 100 mile endurance gravel road races and in winter ultra races where temperatures can drop as low as -35°. John also owns a custom bag company building bags for bicycles adventures and bike packing.

Hide more >>

Catherine Marlett Dreher | Lighting Director

Catherine Marlett Dreher has designed lights for over 300 productions in the West Michigan area.

Learn more >>

Productions include shows for Grand Rapids Civic Theatre, Circle Theatre, Actors’ Theatre, Jewish Theatre Grand Rapids, Opera Grand Rapids, Aquinas College, GVSU, Grand Rapids Community College and Cornerstone University. Theatre credits include: Shakespeare in Love, Mamma Mia!, Burnt Part Boys, Fun Home, Into the Woods, The Little Mermaid, Dracula, My Fair Lady, It Shoulda Been You, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. She also designs lights for corporate events and teaches Theatrical Design at Aquinas College. She works as the Production Manager and Resident Lighting Designer at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre.

Hide more >>

Erica Monroe | Costume Coordinator

Erica Monroe attended Kootenay School of the Arts in British Columbia for coursework in pattern drafting, tailoring, and advanced garment detailing.

Learn more >>

She received her undergraduate degree in Literature from Calvin University and her masters degree in Speech Language Pathology from Grand Valley State University. She has worked for The House Theater Company and The Albany Park Theatre Project in Chicago, Illinois and Calvin University’s theater department as the costume shop manager. She has assisted as costume coordinator and head of wardrobe at OGR during productions of Aida, Cosi fan Tutti, Don Giovanni, Turandot, The Pirates of Penzance, and costume designer for Stinney: An American Execution, The Last American Hammer and The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Additionally, she has served as the costume designer for Grand Valley State University’s productions of A Minister’s Wife and The Importance of Being Earnest as well as the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre’s musical, Once on This Island.

Hide more >>

Brittany Rappise | Wig & Makeup Designer

Brittany Rappise is a freelance Wig & Makeup designer based in Pensacola, FL.

Learn more >>

She earned her MFA in Wig & Make-up Design from The University of North Carolina School for the Arts in 2016, and received her B.A. in Theatre from The University of West Florida in 2006 focusing on Musical Theater Performance, Choreography, and Wigs.

As a freelance wig and makeup designer, Brittany has had the privilege of working professionally in Theater, Opera, and Film since 2008, and has a wide variety of experience to bring to any production. While specializing in opera and theater, she also has extensive experience in wig and makeup for theme parks & live events. She has done projects and taught workshops for Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise line, and also spent over a year as the Wig & Makeup Specialist at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA, where she was responsible for the build and maintenance of all shows on property and the makeup looks for 400+ performers for Howl-O-Scream.

Brittany also has a passion for educating future generations of wig & makeup technicians. She has been lucky enough to teach college level classes, wig building and styling workshops, and has also trained interns and young artists everywhere she works. She is a skilled maker of theatrical and medical wigs, she is also a makeup artist for weddings, headshots, etc.

As a jack of all strange trades, she also makes amazing meatballs, and in 2020 built and run her own Italian food truck “Not Ya Nonna’s”. In a past life she was also a full-time Zumba instructor in her home state of NJ, and a face painter for children’s parties and at FAO Schwarz in NYC. She is also known to help build and decorate haunted houses in her spare time.

Hide more >>

Cast

David Blalock | Nemorino

Praised for his “fine tenor voice” (Winston-Salem Journal), David Blalock is becoming widely known for his beautiful lyric tone and his varied repertoire.

Learn more >>

In the 2023-2024 season, Mr. Blalock rejoined the Metropolitan Opera’s roster to cover Pong in Turandot, made his highly anticipated return to Madison Opera as Valcour in The Anonymous Lover with Madison Opera, and joined MidAmerica Productions, Inc as the tenor soloist in Schubert’s Mass in G and Forrest’s The Dawn From On High. In the previous season, Mr. Blalock joined Madison Opera as Second Jew in Salome, sang the Duke in Rigoletto with Opera Columbus, and covered Anthony in Sweeney Todd with Opera Tampa. In the 2024-2025 season, he makes his debut with Opera Grand Rapids as Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, as well as returning to the Metropolitan Opera in their productions of Il barbiere di Siviglia and Salome.

In 2021-2022, he made a thrilling house debut with Bar Harbor Music Festival as Ferrando in Così fan tutte, returned to the Metropolitan Opera for their productions of Turandot and Ariadne auf Naxos, debuted the role of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with Pensacola Opera, made his Opera Columbus debut as Alfredo in La traviata and performed a recital with Madison Opera. In the summer of 2022, he joined St. Croix Valley Opera for a concert and reprised Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with the Northern Lights Music Festival. A champion of contemporary works, he performed Macduff in Working for the Macbeths at the American Lyric Theatre and in early 2021, he joined Atlanta Opera as Young Thompson in a recorded production of Glory Denied. Additional engagements at the Metropolitan Opera in his role debut as Gastone in La traviata and covering Thierry and Chaplain in Dialogues des Carmélites.

Hide more >>

Aubry Ballarò | Adina

Aubry Ballarò is quickly gaining attention as a lyric coloratura soprano with exceptional bel canto technique.

Learn more >>

She makes several role and house debuts this season including Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Opera Grand Rapids, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with The Princeton Festival, Mozart’s Requiem in D minor with Sofia Philharmonic, and Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor with Columbus Symphony. Ms. Ballarò looks forward to returning to Opera in the Park Portland to reprise the role of Violetta in La Traviata, and to Opera Grand Rapids to debut the role of Adina in L’elisir d’amore. Making her Spanish debut, Ms. Ballarò will be singing a solo gala at the Auditorio Nacional de Madrid with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra this fall.

Ms. Ballarò made her international debut in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor with State Opera Stara Zagora in Bulgaria in 2022 and subsequently, joined The Princeton Festival to sing the role of Madame Herz in their production of Mozart’s The Impresario. In 2023, Aubry returned to State Opera Stara Zagora to debut Violetta in La Traviata, and debuted the role of Gilda in Rigoletto with Opera Columbus later that month. Under the baton of Steven Mercurio, she appeared twice at the Festival de Musique de Saint Barthélemy, singing Micaëla in their 2020 production of Carmen, and popular operatic selections in their 2021 concert with orchestra.

Ms. Ballarò is a recent graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts, where she was seen performing roles such as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, and Oscar in Un ballo in maschera. Other roles during her education were Queen in the world premiere of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Lisette in La Rondine, Miss Wordsworth in Albert Herring, Despina in Così fan tutte, and Adele in Die Fledermaus.

Hide more >>

Robert Wesley Mason | Belcore

With his ardent devotion to new music and stories that challenge audiences’ perspectives, American baritone Robert Wesley Mason has given voice to a multitude of characters on the operatic stage and beyond for nearly two decades.

Learn more >>

The 2024/2025 season kicks off with a return to the role of Belcore in L’elisir d’amore in a house debut with Opera Grand Rapids. Wes then makes his Portland Opera debut, reprising his acclaimed portrayal of Jack Torrance in Moravec and Campbell’s The Shining followed by the world premiere of Geter and Moo’s Loving v. Virginia as Richard Loving (Alt cast and cover) with his hometown opera organization Virginia Opera.

Mason’s engagements for the 2023-2024 season have included performances of a new music-theatre production created by Samantha Rose Williams entitled American Patriots with Renegade Opera and Salina Symphony, both the Michigan premiere of Jorge Martín-Buján’s The Glass Hammer and the role of John Cree in Elizabeth Cree at the University of Michigan, as well as a return to Detroit Opera to sing in John Cage’s Europeras: 3 & 4 and cover the role of The Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen.

During the 2022-2023 season, Wes returned to Pensacola Opera for Carousel—reprising his signature role of Billy Bigelow—and made his role and company debut as Jack Torrance in Moravec and Campbell’s The Shining with Opera Parallèle, a performance widely applauded by both audiences and critics with Opera News praising Wes as “an articulate, explosive, first-rate Jack, with his dark, robust baritone and assured physicality.”

Often called upon to learn challenging music and embody emotionally complex characters with short notice, Wes has been passionately interpreting 21st century American opera roles since his tour de force debut as Reinaldo Arenas in the 2010 world premiere of Martín and Koch’s Before Night Falls with Fort Worth Opera. In 2021, Wes returned to Detroit Opera to perform the role of Figaro in Ragnar Kjartansson’s performance piece Bliss, a continuous 12-hour singing marathon based on Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro in which he was the only cast member to remain on stage without taking break. Other contemporary highlights include Dax/Larry in the world premiere of Paterson and Cote’s Three Way with Nashville Opera and American Opera Project, Hannah Before in As One with Pensacola Opera, Eugene Opera, and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Jan Nyman in Breaking the Waves with West Edge Opera, Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire with Kentucky Opera, Jonathan in Siren Song with Hawaii Opera Theatre, Charlie in Three Decembers with Nashville Opera and Fargo-Moorhead Opera, and Father Flynn in Doubt with Union Avenue Opera.

In addition to his contemporary work, Wes has performed a variety of roles throughout the standard repertoire including the title role in Thomas’s Hamlet with Fort Worth Opera, the title role in Guillaume Tell with the Southern Illinois Music Festival, Ping in Turandot with Nashville Opera, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore with Gulfshore Opera, Masetto in Don Giovanni with Opera Philadelphia and Opera Naples, Achilla in Giulio Cesare with Opera Roanoke, Escamillo in Carmen with Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Escamillo in La Tragédie de Carmen with Syracuse Opera, Marcello in La bohème with Hawaii Opera Theatre, Fort Worth Opera, and Norwalk Symphony, Schaunard in La bohème with the Crested Butte Music Festival, Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles with Opera Delaware and Baltimore Concert Opera, Sciarrone in Tosca with Dallas Opera, and Moralès in Carmen with the Glimmerglass Festival and Michigan Opera Theater.

In 2020, he made his Off-Broadway debut as Wotan/Gunther/Hagen in On Site Opera’s production of Das Barbecü. Other noted stage performances include Billy Bigelow in Carousel with Union Avenue Opera and Utah Festival Opera Musical Theater (UFOMT), Curly in Oklahoma! with Maryland Live Arts and UFOMT, Bishop Myriel in Les Misérables with UFOMT, Mac and Frank Butler (cover) in Annie Get Your Gun with the Glimmerglass Festival, and Elvis Costello’s The Juliet Letters with Urban Arias. He also has appeared with Opera Hong Kong as the baritone soloist in a musical theater greatest hits concert, Broadway Extravaganza.

Mason is featured on the world premiere cast recordings of University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance’s Music from Auschwitz (2023) as Bass/Prisoner A, Three Way (2017) as Dax/Larry under the Naxos label and Before Night Falls (2010) as Reinaldo Arenas with Albany Records. Wes was a recipient of a Career Development Award from the Sullivan Foundation, a Regional Winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, an Encouragement Award Winner in the finals of the Loren L. Zachary Society Competition, a finalist in the Opera Index Competition, a three-time nominee for the Sarah Tucker Study Grant, and the recipient of the Earl V. Moore Award for outstanding contribution to the School of Music, Theater, and Dance at the University of Michigan where he received both his Bachelor’s and Doctoral degrees in Voice Performance. Wes is also a graduate of the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.

Hide more >>

Igor Vieira | Dr. Dulcamara

Chosen by popular vote as “Best Singer” of the 2019 season by the San Francisco Classical Voice, baritone Igor Vieira has been described as “superb,” and “show-stealing,” by Opera News magazine and as “a triumph” by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Learn more >>

Mr. Vieira made his professional debut in his native Rio de  Janeiro, Brazil at age 17 singing the role of Dancaïre in Bizet’s Carmen; subsequent credits have included the title roles in Rossini’s  Il Barbiere di Siviglia,Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro, as well as Verdi’s Rigoletto; also Junius in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff, Tonio in Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci, Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata, and most recently Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca.

Mr. Vieira has performed 112 different operatic roles ranging from the Baroque to World Premieres, with such companies as the San Francisco Opera, the Theatro Municipal of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil,) Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera San Jose, Opera Tampa, Teatro Barakaldo (Spain,) Teatro Solis (Uruguay,) Hawaii Opera Theater, West  Bay Opera, Berkeley Opera, Teatro São Pedro (Brazil,)  Palácio das Artes (Brazil,) Tacoma Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Sacramento Opera, Phoenix Hall (Japan) and the Opera Festivals of Belém and Manaus in Brazil, and the Festival Napa Valley and Mendocino Music Festival in the US, to name a few.

Mr. Vieira had the honor of making his San Francisco Opera debut in the role of Happy in Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West, returning in following seasons in the roles of Gubetta in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia with Renee Fleming in the title role (a production that has been commercially released on DVD by the Euroarts  label) and Il Famigliare in Donizetti’s Roberto Devereaux with Sondra Radnovsky.

In the Concert and Oratorio field, Mr. Vieira has performed with the National Symphonies of Brazil and Colombia, the Marin Symphony, the Peninsula Symphony, the Standford Symphony, as well as the Prague Philharmonic.

Most recently, he has toured Europe singing the soloist parts in Mozart’s Grand Mass in C minor in Hungary and Slovakia as well as the Dvorak’s Requiem at the world famous Dvorak’s Hall in Prague, Czech Republic.

Mr. Vieira has also made his San Francisco Symphony debut at Davies Concert Hall singing the baritone solo in Orff’s Carmina Burana under Ragnar Bohlin and his Kennedy Center debut, singing the baritone solo in Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast with the Washington Chorus and Orchestra under Christopher Bell.

Mr. Vieira holds a Bachelors of Arts in Music from the prestigious Westminster Choir College in New Jersey, as well as a Masters degree in Voice Performance from the University of Missouri in Kansas City.

Hide more >>

Rachel Mills | Giannetta

Praised for her “comedic timing and sense of theatrical flair” (Near North Now) as well as her “lovely, clear voice” (The Rapidian), Rachel Mills is a soprano from Grand Rapids, Michigan, who has performed in operatic performances in the United States, Europe, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.

Learn more >>

In recent seasons, Rachel sang the roles of Veronica in Dr. Miracle (Opera Grand Rapids), and Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Opera Carolina and Opera Grand Rapids). Previously, Rachel performed with Opera Grand Rapids as Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Papagena in The Magic Flute (also with Toledo Opera), and Barbarina in 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.

Rachel also enjoys concert singing, appearing as a soloist in Handel’s The Messiah with the Dubai Opera Festival Chorus and recently with Holland Chorale. She 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.

Full Biography >>

Hide more >>