Sarah Olson (art installation), was born in Riverfalls, Wisconsin, and is currently a visual artist residing in New York City. Ms. Olson
received her Bachelors of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Further study was done
at Studio Art Centers International, Florence, Italy, and the Lacoste School of Fine Arts in France. She earned her
Masters of Fine Arts in painting from the New York Academy of Art, New York, NY. In 2004, Ms. Olson received a
fellowship for the creation of and participation in The Divine Body: God, Gender, and the Diversity of Early
Christianity from Columbia University, Union Theological Seminary, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Other
awards include a portrait commission and residency to research the setting of The Veil of Forgetfulness in Shaftesbury
Abbey by The Stanley-Ware Family Foundation. Ms. Olson has be a guest lecturer on Women in Biblical Tradition,
McMaster University, Toronto; a guest lecturer at St. John University, New York; and panelist in Scope Art Fair, Religion and Art, Ethan
Cohen Fine Art, New York.
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Stephen Fraser (Organist) is a native of St. Catharines, Ontario,Canada, and has completed degrees in music at the University of
Toronto, the Eastman School of Music, and Yale University. He is particularly interested in the art of improvisation
and composition and spent of all of last year studying organ improvisation in Paris, France with organist
Sophie-Veronique Cauchefer-Choplin and composer/organist Thierry Escaich. Since September, Mr. Fraser has been
Associate Director of Music and Director of the children's choir at Church of the Holy Trinity in New York City.
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ABBESS MARIE (Abigail Acero/Lorene Phillips)
Abigail Acero's roles include Desdemona, Elsa, Fiordiligi, First Lady, Priestess (Aida) and Freia. New York audiences recently
heard her as Mimi in dell'Arte Opera Ensemble's La Boheme and as Fanny Fern in the Brooklyn Lyceum production of
Susan Stoderl's, AFRAID. Ms. Acero has performed throughout the New York metropolitan area with Pacific Opera,
the dell'Arte Opera Ensemble, DiCapo Opera, Pacific Opera, Amato Opera, Jerome Hines/Opera Music Theater
International, the New York Cantata Singers and the Choral Symphony Society. A native of New Jersey, Ms. Acero
received her B.A. in Spanish Language and Literature from Vassar College, where she minored in Music. She
continued to study music privately in New York and Madrid while attending graduate school at Columbia University,
where she completed her doctoral degree in History. She received additional musical training from Jerome Hines/OMTI,
Pacific Opera, the Mannes College Wagner Theater Workshop and in master classes with Mirella Freni, Chuck Hudson and Deborah
Birnbaum.
Lorene Phillips has performed with Syracuse Opera, Mohawk Valley Opera, Opera Nova, Opera New York, Brooklyn Repertory Opera
and the Syracuse Civic Symphony. She has performed roles including Suor Angelica, Fiordiligi, Antonia, Lily in The
Secret Garden and Dr. Charlotte in Falsettos to name a few. Ms. Phillips has combined her experience as a choral
director and singer into preparing singers for roles and performances. She has over 8 years experience preparing
students for auditions, performances and tours. Her students are professionals and pre-professionals, many of whom
are members of SAG, AEA and AFTRA and perform both regionally and in New York City. As a conductor, Lorene
made her professional conducting debut with the Hendrick's Chapel Choir and members of the Syracuse Symphony in
the Schubert Mass in G. She has conducted and arranged music for the Marble Collegiate Church Children of the World Choir
and performed at Town Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall with the choir. Her early opera conducting experience with Opera
Nova includes the world premiere of Scarlatti's Eraclea as well as Lucia di Lammermoor. Most recently she has worked as the assistant
conductor in Brooklyn Repertory Opera Company's production of Susan Stoderl's A.F.R.A.I.D.
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REGINA (Tracy Bidleman/Gretchen Mundinger (Cover))
Tracy Bidleman, soprano, has delighted audiences with her portrayals of such diverse characters as Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte, the
Mother in Hansel and Gretel, the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Alice Ford in Falstaff and Micaela in
Carmen, to name a few. Ms. Bidleman has performed with the symphony orchestras in Seattle, Phoenix, Colorado,
Colorado Springs, Wyoming and Harrisburg as well as the Boulder Philharmonic, the Martinu Philharmonic, the
Pacific Northwest Chamber Orchestra and the Women’s Philharmonic in San Francisco. Since her arrival to New
York, she has sung as a soloist in Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall. She has worked with such
esteemed conductors as Janos Acs, Jacques Delacote, Julius Rudel, Emerson Buckley, Anton Guadagno, Nan
Washburn, JoAnn Faletta, Stuart Malina, David Lockington and Jack Herriman. She has been a regional winner in the
Metropolitan Opera competition and a finalist in the San Francisco Opera competition. She received a MM from the
University of Colorado at Boulder and a BM from Central Washington University. Of the many reviews she has had over the years, this is
one of her favorites: “…soprano Tracy Bidleman was so stunningly cast as Phyllis that she nearly eclipsed all that
shared the stage with her…” Wayne Johnson, Seattle Times Critic.
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Gretchen Mundinger has been seen and heard in such venues as Carnegie Hall to the Emmy Award winning daytime drama “All My
Children”. Most recently, she was heard this season in the world premiere of Tom Cipullo’s opera Glory Denied in
the role of Old Alyce to rave reviews “Clearly ready already for a bigger stage”, including mention in The New
York Times. Recent roles have included The Mother (Amahl and The Night Visitors) Amor (L’Incoronazione di
Poppea) The 3rd Lady (Magic Flute), Frasquita (Carmen), Bridget O’Malley (A.F.R.A.I.D, world premiere) and
Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus). A proponent of new music and bringing music to children, she is an active singer with the
Remarkable Theater Brigade (RTB), a not-for-profit organization that focuses on providing at-risk and special-needs
children with an opportunity to experience theatrical and musical productions. This season she can be heard in the
RTB/Vox Novus New Composer Concert Series, as Carmen in Figaro’s Last Hangover and Old Alyce in the NYC premiere of
Glory Denied. In addition, her private vocal studio is very active and her students have performed off-Broadway, in the Fringe Festival
(NYC) and in the Cabaret circuit.
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BRIGID (Amanda White/Elizabeth Munn)
Amanda White relocated to New York in 2004, after two years of performing and studying in Paris. A stage animal with a flair for
contemporary music, White’s musical performances run the gamut from opera to musical theatre to rock, and she has
performed with such varied organizations as the New York Grand Opera, the MIT Gilbert and Sullivan Players, and
the Boston Rock Opera. Recent performances have included the role of Mary Lee in the Stoderl’s opera A.F.R.A.I.D.
with the Brooklyn Repertory Opera, the Queen of the Night in concert with the New York Chamber Players, La
Charmeuse in Thaïs with Amici Opera, and a solo recital entitled La Diva de l’Empire, featuring music of Prokofiev,
Ravel, Rossini, and Satie. Upcoming performances include Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Brooklyn
Repertory Opera, Luigia in Viva la Mamma with Amici Opera, and a solo recital entitled Mozart Bonus Features:
Extras, Deleted Scenes, and Bloopers. White is also a writer for Classical Singer Magazine. Amanda White holds a BM in Vocal
Performance with an Emphasis in Opera from The Boston Conservatory, having graduated Magna cum Laude. Her popular and
entertaining website can be accessed at www.notjustanotherprettyvoice.com.
Elizabeth Munn recently appeared as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro with New York Metro Arts Vocal Ensemble. She performed the
roles of Belle Fortune and Rachel Stitcher in Susan Stoderl's A.F.R.A.I.D at the Brooklyn Lyceum Theater. Her work
as a concert soloist includes Handel's Messiah and Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, Faure's Requiem, the Schubert Mass in G,
and the Vivaldi Magnificat and Gloria. Ms. Munn has been a performer in the Composer/Librettist Studio. Other
performances range from Monteverdi to Reich, including appearances with the Lyra Baroque Orchestra, Nautilus
Music-Theater, St. Mark's Choral Society & Orchestra, North Star Opera, Theatrical Music Company, Capella, Virgin
Ground, The Rose Ensemble, New and Slightly Used Dance, Orchestra Dancing in Your Head, Regina Opera and Empire Opera.
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DYMPHA
Ilya Speranza is a graduate of The New England Conservatory and The Juilliard School. At home in both Opera and Concert, she
appeared in the world premiere of Robert Kapilow's New Moon with the New Jersey State Opera in which she sang the
role of the "Royal Mathematician" and "Barbara de la Guerra" in Victor Herbert's only opera, Natoma at the White
Barn Theater in Westport, CT. Ms. Speranza created the title role of "Ondine" in Seymour Barab's new opera Ondine
for the Center for Contemporary Opera and sang "Marenka" in Smetana's Bartered Bride with The State Repertory
Opera of New Jersey. She sang in the world premiere of Anthony Davis' Tania with the American Music Theater
Festival in Philadelphia and toured with the New York City Opera National Company as “Frasquita” in Bizet’s Carmen.
Other regional appearances include "Liu" (Turandot) and "Frasquita", both with the Cincinnati Opera, "Elisetta" (Il
Matrimonio Segreto) with Berkshire Opera and "Naiade" (Ariadne auf Naxos) with Long Beach Opera. She has
appeared as a featured soloist with the Lake Charles and Alexandria Symphony Orchestras, the Summit Symphony,
the Bronx Arts Ensemble, Bucks County Symphony and Brookhaven Choral Society. Her most recent performances include
a recital of American and German music at the Baroque Concert Hall in Vienna’s Altes Rauthaus and the world premiere of a new
American Opera, “A.F.R.A.I.D.” at the New York Fringe Festival.
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JOAN (Nicole Pantos/Adrienne Patino (Cover))
Nicole Pantos collaborates regularly with composers to perform opera, chamber and recital programs. She has appeared in concert in
Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and in all time zones of the continental US. Her voice has been heard in a variety of
venues: by millions at the Christmas Tree Lighting in Rockefeller Center, the Korean Embassy in Washington, DC, the
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, on WQXR, to the famed Nikolaikirche in Wismar, Germany. She recently
performed a recital of new music, premiering Sarah Dawson's song cycle Reflections on Motherhood, at the Nicholas
Roerich Museum. Other recent solo engagements include Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Flemington Chancel and the
world premiere of the opera A.F.R.A.I.D. by Susan Stoderl at the Soho Playhouse in NYC as part of the NY
Fringe Festival. Ms. Pantos will perform Roberta Piket's jazzy setting of Five Poems by Nabokov in Cornelia Street's
"Schizoid Music" series presented by Frank Oteri of the American Music Center. She will also perform a recital in
Women's Work at the Renee Wailer Concert Hall, a concert series devoted to presenting the new music of living female composers. At this
venue, Ms. Pantos will premiere NYC composer Joyce Hope Suskind's "War and Peace" and Korean composer Hyo-Shin Na's "Song to be
Forgotten." Ms. Pantos has performed the operatic roles of Zerlina, Musetta, Mimi, Gretel, Pamina, and Manon (Massenet). She has been
formally trained as a concert pianist, harpist, and flutist, and Ms. Pantos holds degrees from Princeton University and Manhattan School of
Music.
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Adrienne Patino (Cover) Adrienne Patino, soprano, is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area is happy to live in New York City pursuing
a singing and teaching career. Recently, Adrienne sang the soprano solos in Beethoven's Mass in C, and Bach Cantata's
131, 140, and 105. She sang in the New York International Fringe Festival in the world premier of the one act opera
A.F.R.A.I.D., which she continued to perform at the Brooklyn Lyceum Theater the following winter. Adrienne was a
resident artist with New Jersey Opera Theater and performed in L’Enfant et les Sortileges by Ravel. Adrienne is a
regular member of the One World Symphony and Cornerstone Chorale, in which most notably she has sung Gretel
from Hansel und Gretel, Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro, the soprano solos in Saint-Seans Christmas Oratorio,
Handle's Dixit Dominus and has participated in major sacred Masses and Requiems, including Mozart's Coronation
Mass and Requiem. In May of 2004 Adrienne earned her Master’s Degree at Manhattan School of Music and still studies with
her teacher Arthur Levy. During her tenure at MSM she co-founded and produced the One-Act Opera Company, and performed the
villainous Officer in Milton Granger’s The Proposal. Some of her favorite roles include: Beth in Little Women, Anne Sexton in
Transformations, Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro.
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DEBORAH (Tracy Adele Cooper/Gretchen Mundinger (Cover))
Tracey Adele Cooper has sung with Ithaca Opera, Virginia Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, New Jersey Verismo Opera, Manhattan
School of Music, Natchez Opera, Harlem Opera, Danbury Opera, Norwalk Opera, and the Bregenzer Festspiel (Bregenz,
Austria), among others. Ms. Cooper, whose voice has been described by renowned coach/accompanist Dalton Baldwin as
“a diamond” has sung the title roles of Aida, Adriana Lecouvreur, Alcina and Tosca, as well as Santuzza (Cavalleria
Rusticana), Fiordiligi (Cosi Fan Tutte), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Leonora (Il Trovatore), Amelia (Un Ballo in
Maschera), Ortrud (Lohengrin), Maddalena (Andrea Chenier), Venus (Tannhauser), Sieglinde (Die Walkure) and Baba
(The Medium). Ms. Cooper was hailed as Donna Anna with Cartersville Opera’s Don Giovanni, in which performance a
reviewer described her as a singer with “...a voice of power and beauty... a true young dramatic” and praised her singing as
possessing “marvelous flexibility.” Recent performances for the dramatic soprano have included solo recitals in New York City,
San Francisco, a sold out recital at Williamsburg, Virginia’s historic Kimball Theater; Liza Dulin in Brooklyn Repertory Opera’s A.F.R.A.I.
D; and Gerhilde (Sieglinde cover) with New Jersey Concert Opera’s Die Walkure. Ms. Cooper will next be heard in recitals in San
Francisco and New York City and Eboli in Don Carlo.
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AZENORA (Barrett Cobb/Margaret O'Connell (Cover))
Barrett Cobb has performed as soloist with the National Chorale, the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sine Nomine Singers and
Baroque Orchestra, the Orchester des Landesteater Dessau, and the AIMS Orchestra. She has performed the roles of
Azucena in Il Trovatore, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Enrichetta in I Puritani, Gertrude in Romeo et Juliette, Mrs. Trapes
in The Beggar’s Opera, among others. She is the alto soloist on the Sine Nomine Singers’ recording of Handel’s Israel in
Egypt, on the Newport Classic label. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory and a Master of
Musical Arts degree from Yale University. Originally from Nashville, Ms. Cobb began her musical career as a flutist. She
has performed concerti with orchestras in New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, North Carolina, Hanover (Germany), and
Bogota (Colombia.)
Margaret O'Connell (Cover) enjoys a versatile musical career in opera, contemporary music, musical theatre, oratorio, recordings,
and film. In its January/February 2007 issue, Fanfare Magazine hailed her as a “superb mezzo, who handles the frequent
difficulties with seeming ease.” Recent performances include the title role in Dido and Aeneas (ConcertOPERA
Philadelphia), Mistress of Novices/La Ciesca in Suor Angelica/Gianni Schicchi (Empire Opera, NYC), Mrs. Nolan in The
Medium (Opera Company of Brooklyn), and Annina in La Traviata at Aspen Opera Theater with Julius Rudel. Additional:
Dorabella, Florence Pike, Giulietta (Tales of Hoffman), Flora, Berta, Maman (L’Enfant et les Sortilèges), and Cathleen
(Riders to the Sea). Recordings: Mezzo Soloist in “Traveling West,” a 20-minute atonal work by Randall Snyder for mezzo,
flute, string trio, and piano/celesta (premiered on the North/South label); Lady Thiang and Aldonza (Stage Stars Records). Ms.
O’Connell holds degrees in violin and voice from Oberlin Conservatory and McGill University.
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MARGARETTE (Christine Reimer/Mary Catherine Moroney (Cover))
Christine Reimer has brought her versatile mezzo-soprano voice to a wide variety of venues. She made her international debut in
Ireland as Madame Dufresne in the Wexford Opera Company's production of Leoncavallo's Zaza. She has also
appeared as a featured soloist in Graz, Austria with the Graz Festival Orchestra and spent 3 months performing in
Interlaken, Switzerland as a soloist in a Broadway review. Here in the U.S., she has performed with The Buffalo
Philharmonic, Marin Opera, Oakland Opera, Opera Northeast, Liederkranz Opera, Regina Opera, and the New York
Gilbert and Sullivan Players singing Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte, Cherubino in Le
Nozze di Figaro, Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Maddalena in Rigoletto, Siebel in Faust, Melissa in Princess
Ida, and the title role in Carmen. Her most recent project was performing the role of Luna Simon in Brooklyn
Repertory Opera’s production of A.F.R.A.I.D. Having earned a Bachelor of Music Degree in piano performance
from San Francisco State University, Ms. Reimer continues to work as coach/accompanist as well as a voice teacher. She is
currently on the faculty at New York University, The Steinhardt School as a private voice teacher and a coach.
Mary Catherine Moroney (Cover) has recently completed both a MM and a GPD in Voice Performance at Peabody Institute of
Music of the Johns Hopkins University. Her role repertory include singing Female Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia),
Charlotte (A Little Night Music), La Voix de La Mere (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Hannah (world premiere of The
Alien Corn), Zita (Gianni Schicchi), and Marcellina (Le Nozze di Figaro). An avid recitalist as well, she has
performed various recitals in and around the Baltimore area of music from the eras of Bach up through modern
21st century music. As an oratorio soloist, she has sung with the Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian
Church, Masterworks Chorale, Johns Hopkins Symphony and Chorus, Fairlington United Methodist Church, and
the Left Bank Concert Society. She also participated in a tour of Russia (Transatlantic Dialogues) with two other
singers performing Russian and American opera and art songs at master classes and concerts. Last spring, she
covered the role of the Female Chorus at the Chateauville Foundation's production of The Rape of Lucretia as a
member of their newly founded Young Artist Program. Her upcoming engagements include a Russian Opera Program with
the Opera Camerata of Washington, the Holiday Spectacular with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Artist-In-Residence for Dayton
Opera, and Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Dayton Opera.
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