OPERA DELAWARE PRESENTS:

Performances take Place at The Grand, 818 N Market Street, Wilmington Delaware.
Click on the date to order ONLINE tickets

 

 

Il Trovatore Cast Members

• 

  Kirk Dougherty, tenor — Manrico

  Tenor Kirk Dougherty has a vibrant career in concert and opera in the United States. From Mozart’s most sublime lovers to Verdi’s grandest heroes, his performances are acclaimed for their versatility, strength, and elegance. Opera Magazine (UK), Operapulse.com, and Opera News describe his voice as ‘a tenor on the rise’, ‘an exceptionally beautiful tenor’, and ‘a limitless, iridescent instrument’. 

  This season in March at Opera Naples, he appears as Obadiah in a staged production of Mendelssohn’s Elijah. In May with theGreenwich Choral Society. In the summer, he sings at the 2013 Castleton Festival in Puccini’s Fanciulla del West and Verdi’s Othello at Castleton, Virginia and in A Coruña, Spain. He also has upcoming appearances at Salt Marsh Opera andTownsend Opera Players in 2013-14.

  Earlier this season, Kirk Dougherty appeared as a principal character in Victoria Bond’s opera Mrs. President atAnchorage Opera. He also performed four featured roles in Montemezzi’s La Nave with New York City’s Teatro Grattacielo. In Tri-Cities Opera’s acclaimed Il Trovatore, he sang the role of Manrico with ‘exquisite lyric and dramatic power’. 

  As a 2011-2012 guest artist at Tri-Cities Opera he sang Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), and Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor). In 2011-2012 he also performed Tamino at Salt Marsh Opera, the title role of Faustat Opéra Louisiane, Amaryllus (The Poisoned Kiss) and Fra Diavolo (Fra Diavolo) with Bronx Opera, and Rodolfo (La Bohème) at 2012 Belleayre Music Festival. Highlights of 2009-2011 included Alfredo (La Traviata), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Nemorino (L’Elisir d’Amore), Ferrando (Cosi fan tutte), and Hoffmann (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) with Tri-Cities Opera.

  Kirk Dougherty is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music. He was a Festival Artist at Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre, an Apprentice Artist at Central City Opera, and a Resident Artist at Tri-Cities Opera. At Tri-Cities Opera, he was the recipient of the 2009 Carlotta Savoca Award. He currently lives in Sleepy Hollow, NY (a suburb of New York) and is married to mezzo-soprano Cabiria Jacobsen.

• 

  Timothy Mix, baritone — Count di Luna

  Recipient of a 2008 Richard Tucker Foundation Career Grant, Timothy Mix is recognized for the beauty of his voice and his compelling stage presence.  He received critical acclaim for his pivotal role as Edward Gaines in the New York premiere of Richard Danielpour and Toni Morrison’s Margaret Garner, in a new production by Tazewell Thompson, for which the American baritone received New York City Opera’s 2008 Christopher Keene Award.

  The 2010/11 season brought Timothy Mix back to Washington National Opera in the role of Renato in James Robinson’s production of Un Ballo in Maschera conducted by Daniele Callegari, to the San Francisco Opera to sing in the company premiere of Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac as Le Bret in a new production by Petrika Ionesco and conducted by Patrick Fournillier as well as Prus in Janácek’s The Makropolus Case, conducted by Jiri Belohlávek and directed by Olivier Tambosi.  The artist then joined Portland Opera as Ping in Turandot under Leonardo Vordoni and directed by Christopher Alden.  Timothy Mix will wrap up his season by singing Albert in Werther with the Washington Concert Opera, conducted by Antony Walker.  Highlights of the 2011/12 season include Dancairo in Bizet’s Carmen, conducted by Nicola Luisotti as well as a debut at Dallas Opera as Baron Duphol in Verdi’s La Traviata, conducted by Marco Guidarini.  Orchestral highlights include a night of arias for the opening gala of the Orlando Philharmonic, conducted by Christopher Wilkins. 

  During the 2009/10 season, Timothy Mix made his Washington National Opera debut as Ford in Falstaff, conducted by Sebastian Lang-Lessing, as well as his San Francisco Opera debut in La Fanciulla del West, under the baton of Nicola Luisotti. He also sang his first performances with Arizona Opera as Marcello in La Bohème, brought his Belcore to Toledo Opera’s L’elisir d’amore, joined Opera Southwest as Escamillo in Carmen, and sang Handel’s Messiah with the Pacific Symphony.

  The 2008/09 season featured a pair of notable house debuts: at Dallas Opera as the Duke of Nottingham in the Stephen Lawless production of Donizetti’s Roberto Devereaux, conducted by Graeme Jenkins, and at Michigan Opera Theatre as Edward Gaines in Kenny Leon’s production of Margaret Garner. Mr. Mix also sang the role of Marcello in La Bohème at both Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Palm Beach Opera. His concert calendar included Fauré’s Requiem with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Beethoven’s Mass in C and Dvorák’s Te Deum with Voices of Ascension, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, and an opera gala with the Springfield Symphony.

  Career highlights include his Boston Lyric Opera debut as Marcello; Escamillo in Carmen for his Opera Colorado debut, conducted by Stephen Lord; his role debut as Yevgeny Onegin at Virginia’s Todi Music Fest; Ford in Falstaff at New York City Opera; Belcore in a new James Robinson production of L’elisir d’amore at Opera Colorado; Clayton McAllister in Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree at Atlanta Opera; Monterone in Rigoletto and Mr. Flint in Billy Budd, both with Pittsburgh Opera; and his Baltimore Opera debut as Krušina in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride.

  A former Pittsburgh Opera Center artist, Timothy Mix has sung with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Asheville Symphony, the Yaraslavl Symphony in Russia, and the Finnish National Opera Orchestra.

  With Pittsburgh Opera, his performances include Baron Douphol (also covering Germont) inLa Traviata, Don Fernando in Fidelio and Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro.  He was singled out for his outstanding performance as Henry Cuffe in a new Colin Graham production of Britten’s Glorianaconducted by Steuart Bedford at Opera Theatre of St. Louis in their 2005 season. He has also sung the title role in Gianni Schicchi and Michele in Il Tabarro with Peabody Opera and Stankar in Stiffelio at Sarasota Opera.  Other roles in his repertoire include Valentin in Faust and Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress.   In concert, he has performed the Fauré Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Handel’sIsrael in Egypt.  He also has appeared in recital on tour in Russia.

  Having received the Founder’s Award from the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the Helen Jepson Dellera Award from the Bradenton Opera Guild, he has also received awards  in several competitions, most notably the Mirjam Helen International Singing Competition, the Palm Beach Opera Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.  In addition to being a 2007 recipient of a Sullivan Foundation grant, he was a first prize winner in the Rosa Ponselle All Marylanders Competition, the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts and the Catherine Filene Shouse Youth Scholarship Competition.

• 

  Conductor — Maestro Giovanni Reggioli

  “From the intense, expansive way he shaped the sorrowful opening of the opera, it was clear that conductor Giovanni Reggioli would be a star of the production. His unflaggingly elegant phrasing and ear for subtle details paid off handsomely all night, revealing the soulful beauty in the score.” (Opera News)

   

  “Giovanni Reggioli …led the Washington National Opera Orchestra with sure lyricism and stage-to-pit synchronicity” (Washington Post)

   

  “Reggioli had a sound instinct for balancing control and forward movement with moments where a phrase or note was allowed to open out and drift free.” (Sydney Morning Herald)

  Elegant phrasing, eloquent, intense, disciplined, incandescent are but a few of the words used to describe the conducting of young Italian Giovanni Reggioli.  

  Giovanni has quickly established an impressive international career having conducted Falstaff in Sydney and Caracas, Carmen, La Bohème and Don Giovanni at the Washington Opera, Un Giorno di Regno at the Caramoor International Music Festival of New York, Un Ballo in Maschera and Turandot in Quebec City, as well as I Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana for Port Opera. He has led the Metropolitan Opera, Washington Opera and Los Angeles Opera orchestras, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of Saint Luke’s, the Orchestra Filarmonica Mediterranea, the Orchestra Filarmonica di Sanremo.

  His critically acclaimed conducting debut with Opera Australia of Verdi’s Falstaff assured his return for subsequent years: “The lion’s share of the credit for that triumph simply must be awarded to the conductor, Giovanni Reggioli, whose intimate and loving knowledge of the detail of this wonderful work inspired the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra to give consistently of its very best, providing a reading of the music so incandescent it rendered all but irrelevant slight shortfalls in other areas of the premiere performance. May Reggioli return soon, and often, to adorn the future performance rosters of Opera Australia.” (Opera~Opera, February 2006).

  Now a perennial favorite with Australian audiences and press alike, Giovanni has led performances of Rigoletto, Falstaff, La Traviata, Otello, Nabucco, La Boheme and Turandot.

  Recent highlights feature acclaimed performances of Le Nozze di Figaro with the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, his debut with the Minnesota Opera conducting Il Trovatore,the special New Year’s Gala Bravissimo! at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, his debut in Ottawa, Canada, conducting the National Arts Centre Orchestra for the Black and White Opera Gala, performances of Madama Butterfly and Un ballo in maschera for the Opéra de Québec, Il barbiere di Siviglia for PortOpera and at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome where he conductedAida. A favourite at the Washington National Opera, he has conducted I Vespri Sicilani, Samson et Dalila and La Traviata and, in September 2006, he was asked, at short notice, to step in and take over the season opening productions of the Washington National Opera:Bluebeard’s Castle and Gianni Schicchi.

  Giovanni has served as assistant conductor and vocal coach at the New York City Opera, Juilliard Opera Center, the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Donizetti Festival in Bergamo, the Barga Opera Festival and the Settimana Musicale Senese at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena working with such celebrated conductors as Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Chailly, Gerard Schwartz, Julius Rudel, Bruno Bartoletti, Edoardo Muller and Peter Maag. He also served as head coach and music administrator for the Washington Opera’s Vilar Young Artist Program from 2001 to 2004, working directly with Placido Domingo. During his tenure there, he conducted the “Operalia Gala”, featuring Placido Domingo, and the Washington Opera Gala, televised for PBS, working alongside Valery Giergiev.

  A versatile musician, Maestro Reggioli has accompanied in recital such renowned opera singers as Renata Scotto, Shirley Verrett, Placido Domingo, Cecilia Bartoli, Rolando Paneraï, Anna Moffo, Carlo Bergonzi and Jennifer Larmore.

  He was the recipient of the conducting scholarship at the Laboratorio Lirico di Alessandria in Italy and the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship at the Juilliard School in New York in 1991, 1992, and 1993. He also spent 6 years as Assistant Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, working with James Levine, among others.

  Giovanni Reggioli makes his home in Washington, DC with his wife Alizon and daughter Camilla.

• 

  Stage Director — Marc Astafan

  MARC ASTAFAN, Stage Director, returns to OperaDelaware to direct this production of Il Trovatore after directing Tosca and La Traviata here.  Recently Marc was at Amarillo Opera for Lucia di Lammermoor and Central City Opera for a new production of The Barber of Seville.  His work has also been seen at Virginia Opera, Opera Birmingham, Syracuse Opera, Anchorage Opera, Opera Illinois, Eugene Opera and Center City Opera in Philadelphia.  Career highlights also include The Magic Flute on the site of the Egyptian Temple of Dendur at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, directing revivals of Tosca and Le Nozze di Figaro at The Metropolitan Opera and his production of Summer and Smoke was a highlight of the Tennessee Williams Festival in Provincetown, Massachusetts in 2008.  Dedicated to the training of young singers Marc spent 12 years on the faculty of the New England Conservatory in Boston and has been a guest director at Santa Fe Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, The Juilliard School, Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West and Temple University.  He is currently the Director of the Young Artist Program at Central City Opera.  Recent productions included return engagements at Opera Birmingham for Rigoletto, a debut at Mobile Opera with Madama Butterfly and in 2015 he returns to Syracuse Opera for a new production of Turandot to celebrate that companies 40^th Anniversary Season.