Jennifer Braun, Soprano
Jennifer Braun (Toledo, OH) returns to Center City Opera Theater as a studio artist for the 2012- 2013 season. She has been a soloist with the Toledo and Westerville Symphonies and has performed with both Opera Columbus and the Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio. She has appeared with Opera in the Ozarks, Colorado Light Opera, and Oberlin in Italy. Ms. Braun's recent operatic credits include Beatrice Russo in the east coast premiere of Il Postino and Musetta (La Bohème) with Center City Opera Theater. Last June, she created the role of Reverend Ava Gray in Michael Ching's new opera Slaying the Dragon. Ms. Braun is a graduate of Otterbein College and received her Master's degree from the University of Colorado-Boulder. Upcoming engagements include Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Gulf Coast Symphony, Violetta (La Traviata), and Maren in the world premiere of Jeff Myers's Satan's Bride with CCOT.
Paul Corujo, Baritone
Paul Corujo (Los Angeles, CA) made his opera debut playing the role of Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen with the University of California-Davis. He has since performed roles including Ramiro in Ravel's L'heure Espagnole with the Baltimore Opera Company, the title role in Don Giovanni with Center Stage Opera, Marcello and Guglielmo with Opera Lancaster, Escamillo with Concert Opera Philadelphia, as well as many roles as a studio artist for Center City Opera Theater in Philadelphia. In 2009 Mr. Corujo appeared as a Studio artist in the Central City Opera summer festival in Colorado. Most recently, he sang the role of Bud Connor in CCOT's world premiere of Michael Ching's Slaying the Dragon, and is back with the company for the 2012-13 season. Upcoming engagements include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Gulf Coast Symphony and Satan in the world premiere of Satan’s Bride. Mr. Corujo currently lives in Philadelphia, PA.
Luke Grooms, Tenor
Luke Grooms (Newport, TN) joined the Metropolitan Opera Roster covering in their production of Prokofiev’s The Gambler, and made his Carnegie Hall debut as Fante in Opera Orchestra of New York’s concert of Verdi’s I Due Foscari. Other roles include: Tonio, Rodolfo, Belmonte, Albert Herring, Riccardo Percy, Tebaldo, Des Griex, and Lindoro, taking him to companies such as The Baltimore Opera, Lyric Opera Baltimore, Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera, Opera in the Heights, among others. Luke is equally at home in musical theater. He performed in the New York premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera, at Carnegie Hall, singing the dual roles of Dwight and God. Recent engagements include The Duke in Rigoletto with St. Petersburg Opera Company, the title role in Mozart's Mitridate with little Opera Theatre of New York, Ferrando in Così fan tutte with Opera Lancaster, Almaviva with Baltimore Lyric Opera's educational tour, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore at Mississippi Opera, and of Roderigo in Rossini’s version of Otello at Opera in the Heights in Houston. Upcoming engagements include Giannetto in La Gazza Ladra.
Jennifer Holbrook, Soprano
Jennifer Holbrook (Guy, Arkansas) has appeared as a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Sioux City Symphony, Bel Cantanti Opera, the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program, and at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. She is a recent graduate of the Peabody Institute where she performed the title role in Massenet’s Manon, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and Violetta in La Traviata. Other recent operatic roles include Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, Konstanze (cover) in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos. Most recently, Ms. Holbrook made her debut at the Model Performing Arts Center at The Lyric, performing as soprano soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Concert Artists of Baltimore. Ms. Holbrook is a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas and received her Master’s degree and Graduate Performance Diploma in Opera from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.
www.jenniferholbrookmusic.com/
William Lim, Tenor
William Lim (Phillippines) obtained a Bachelor's degree in Psychology before moving to the US to pursue vocal studies. He recently earned his Master of Music degree at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he also obtained his Bachelor of Music degree, with distinction. Mr. Lim was a featured Young Artist in the 2009 season of Opera in the Ozarks and, served as Studio Artist in the 2011 Opera New Jersey Victoria Mastrobuono Emerging Artist Program. His roles include Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi, Guillot de Morfortaine in Manon, Mayor Upfold in Albert Herring. He created the roles of After de Monk and BeaNash in Julian Livingston's Napa de Monk, Queen of the Lost Waters, and Beau Bath. He was a featured performer in the 2010 American Musicological Society conference.
Christopher Lorge, Tenor
Christopher Lorge (Camden, NJ) has appeared as a soloist for numerous ensembles in New Jersey, as well as with the Ocean City Pops Orchestra. The 2012-2013 is his third with Center City Opera Theater. Previous roles include Ferrando in Così Fan tutte, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Stravinsky in Danse Russe, and Jerry Krieg in the world premiere of Michael Ching’s Slaying the Dragon. Upcoming engagements include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Gulf Coast Symphony in Fort Myers, Florida and Alfredo in La Traviata with CCOT.
Patrick McNally, Baritone
Patrick McNally (Newton, MA) sings Germont in La Traviata and Satan in the world premiere of Satan’s Bride during CCOT’s 2012-2013 season. Mr. McNally will also make his debut this season with Tri-Cities Opera as Marcello in La Bohème and rejoin Tri-Cities for the roles of Alfio and Silvio in a double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. Mr. McNally most recently made his international debut with the Neue Eutiner Festspiele and was winner of the Shoshana Foundation Award. Other opera companies with which Mr. McNally has performed include: Dayton Opera, Central City Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera New Jersey, and Des Moines Metro Opera.
Christina Rivera, Soprano
Christina Rivera (Ocean, NJ) is a Puerto Rican-American lyric coloratura soprano from Ocean Township, New Jersey. In 2011, she performed the role of “Amy” in Mark Adamo’s Little Women as an apprentice artist of the Sugar Creek Symphony & Song Festival. She also performed a wide range of leading roles between 2004 to 2009, including Alcina (Händel’s Alcina), Marion (Meredith Willson’s The Music Man), Suor Genovieffa (Puccini’s Suor Angelica), Anne Egerman (Sondheim’s A Little Night Music), Mabel (Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance), Laetitia (Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief), and others. She has received accolades from such competitions as the Florence Boughton Competition of Young Artists in New Jersey and the Little Italy Soprano Competition of New York City. She holds a Master of Music degree in Opera Performance from Arizona State University and Bachelor of Music in Music Education from The College of New Jersey.
christinamrivera.wix.com/christina-rivera
Allison Sanders, Soprano
Allison Sanders (Memphis, TN) is a recent graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, where she performed roles such as Dido (Dido and Aeneas), Lisak (The Cunning Little Vixen), Elettra (Idomeneo), Marguerite (Faust) and Cleopatra (Antony and Cleopatra). She has also performed numerous roles with the Opera Company of Philadelphia which include Giovanna (Rigoletto), Clotilde (Norma), Bianca (The Rape of Lucretia), and Flora (La Traviata). She performed concert and operas with Opera North of Philadelphia. Recently, she was seen as the title role in Joplin’s Treemonisha with New York City Opera. Her upcoming performances include The Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia with Opera Memphis.
Karina Sweeney, Mezzo-Soprano
Karina Sweeney (Annapolis, MD) is a lyric mezzo-soprano who hails from Annapolis, Maryland. Her recent opera roles include Cherubino and Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro), Mother (Hansel and Gretel), Rosemary (Summer and Smoke) and Drei Knabe (Die Zauberflöte). Ms. Sweeney graduated from Towson University with a Bachelor of Science in Music and received her Masters in Vocal Performance with honors from West Virginia University. Equally comfortable on the concert stage, Ms. Sweeney has been a featured soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, as well as a soloist in Britten’s “Rejoice in the Lamb” with the Napier University Chamber Choir in Edinburgh, Scotland. She was a resident artist at the CoOPERAtive Program of Westminster Choir College and the American Institute for Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, where she performed in Lieder recitals as part of Graz’s summer music festival. Ms. Sweeney was a first place winner at the Tri State NATS competition in Pittsburgh, and a regional finalist in the Classical Singer Magazine competition.
Brynn Terry, Soprano
Brynn Terry (Los Angeles, CA) grew up surrounded by music and knew from a young age that she wanted to be a performer. Brynn went to Chapman University in Orange County, California for her BM in Voice Performance. She then went onto receive her MM from Boston University. While there she was able to grow as a singer and perform the roles of Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute and Lucy in The Telephone. Brynn recently returned from spending the summer with Opera Theater Pittsburgh where they fully staged and performed The Magic Flute and Candide. In Pittsburgh Brynn was also apart of a group of singers that World Premiered six mini operas.
Alan E. Hicks, Resident Director
Alan E. Hicks began his operatic career as a lyric baritone singing contracts with Minnesota Opera, Virginia Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Lake George Opera, and Opera Northeast. After teaching stints at two internationally acclaimed theatre conservatories in New York City, Alan turned his attention to stage direction immediately making his mark by winning a national opera award for his first production. He has served on the staffs of Central City Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, and Tulsa Opera, and directed shows for Palm Beach Opera, Tulsa Opera, Opera in the Ozarks, the University of Iowa, and the University of Texas at Austin. In 2013, he will serve as Assistant Director for The Turn of the Screw at New York City Opera and direct Faust at Manhattan School of Music. Alan’s book, Singer and Actor: Acting Technique and the Operatic Performer, was published in 2011 by Amadeus Press.
Ting-Ting Wong, Resident Coach
Ting-Ting Wong (Hong Kong) is a collaborative pianist residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she is currently the accompanist at Temple University Women’s Chorus and Philadelphia University Singers. Along with the resident coach position with CCOT, she serves as staff accompanist for ConcertOpera Philadelphia. Last summer, Ms. Wong was a resident artist with Opera Theater Pittsburgh and assistant music director for Hansel and Gretel with Delaware Valley Opera Company. Recently, she accompanied Falstaff for Poor Richard’s opera. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Ms. Wong holds two master degrees: one in piano performance from Carnegie Mellon University where she also earned the Piano pedagogy certificate, one in piano accompanying and opera coaching from Temple University. Upcoming season includes CCOT’s La Traviata, Satan’s Bride: Maren of Vardø (World Premiere), ConcertOpera Philadelphia’s Un ballo in maschera, and numerous recitals in the Philadelphia area.
