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N O V E M B E R 1 7 - D E C E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 4
Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and
the North Carolina School of the Arts.
JERMAINE BROWN,
JR.
(
Crab Man
)
Lyric Opera debut
The tenor began his training
at the Youth Performing
Arts High School in
Louisville, Kentucky. He
then studied at University
of Kentucky, where he was a vocal performance
major and portrayed Robbins and the Crab
Man/
Porgy and Bess
(he also appeared in
Gershwin’s opera at the Royal Danish Opera)
and Bardolfo/
Falstaff.
He has been seen as
Seaweed J. Stubbs/
Hairspray
and the Lion/
The
Wiz
at Music Theatre of Louisville.
WILL LIVERMAN
(
Lawyer Frazier
)
Previously at Lyric Opera:
Seven roles since 2012-13,
most recently Servant/
Capriccio
(2014-15):
Figaro/
The Family Barber
,
Fiorello/
Il barbiere di Siviglia
(both 2013-14).
The Virginia-born baritone, a third-year Ryan
Opera Center member, won critical praise as
the Husband/Poulenc’s
Les mamelles de Tirésias
last season with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
Liverman has also been heard at Utah Festival
Opera (title role/
Il barbiere di Siviglia
), The
Santa Fe Opera, The Juilliard School (of which
he is an alumnus), the Glimmerglass Festival,
and Brevard Music Festival. Major highlights
of his 2014-15 season includes
Charlie Parker’s
Yardbird
(Opera Philadelphia) and
Il barbiere di
Siviglia
(Madison Opera). A 2012 Metropolitan
Opera National Council Auditions grand finalist
and first-place winner in the 2012 Gerda Lissner
Competition, Liverman has won three first-prize
awards from the Chicago National Association
of Teachers of Singing Competition and
recently received a Sara Tucker Study Grant
from the Richard Tucker Foundation.
Will
Liverman is sponsored by and
Debbie K. Wright
and an
Anonymous Donor.
LEAH DEXTER
(
Annie
)
Lyric Opera debut
The mezzo-soprano’s
portrayal of Annie has
previously been heard at
Michigan Opera Theatre
(where she has also
appeared in
La traviata
,
La
rondine
,
Le nozze di Figaro
, and
Turandot
) and on
several European tours with New York Harlem
Theater. Among her most important credits
are Mae Jones/
Street Scene
(Opera Theatre
of Saint Louis), Kate Pinkerton/
Madame
Butterfly
(Sarasota Opera), and the title role/
Carmen
(with Opera North and Arbor Opera
Theater). Later this season, Dexter returns to
Michigan Opera Theatre for performances of
Frida
. Among her concert engagements have
been recent appearances with the Cincinnati
Pops Orchestra and the Detroit Symphony
Orchestra.
CURTIS BANNISTER
(
Peter
)
Lyric Opera debut
Among the tenor’s many
leading roles throughout
America have been the
title role/
Otello
(Utah
Festival Opera), Pinkerton/
Madama Butterfly
(American Chamber Opera),
Rodolfo/
La bohème
(Repertory Opera Theater
of Washington), Monsieur Vogelsang/
The
Impresario
(Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival),
and Pirelli/Sweeney Todd (OFY Productions,
off-Broadway). He has also been heard as
Arturo/
Lucia di Lammermoor
at Sarasota Opera
and Washington Summer Concert Opera.
His extensive concert experience includes
performances with the Metropolitan Opera
National Council and the Waukesha Choral
Union, as well as his European concert debut
with the Musiques de Chambre/Musée du
Louvre. He is an alumnus of the Peabody
Conservatory of Music and the Sarasota Opera
apprentice program.
VERONICA
CHAPMAN-SMITH
(
Lily
)
Previously at Lyric Opera:
Lily/
Porgy and Bess
(2008-09)
In addition to Lyric Opera,
the soprano’s association
with
Porgy and Bess
includes the role of Clara,
which she has sung at Opera Birmingham and
Opera Delaware. With the latter company she
has been heard as the First Lady/
DieZauberflöte,
and with the former she has sung Liù/
Turandot
and the Priestess/
Aida.
She has also appeared
at Opera Colorado (Berta/
Il barbiere di Siviglia
),
Sycamore Opera (Nedda/
Pagliacci
), Concert
Opera of Philadelphia (title role/
Lakmé
), Opera
Philadelphia, Ash Lawn Opera Festival, New
York Opera Project, and Opera Theater of the
Rockies. Next year Chapman-Smith will sing the
“
Porgy and Bess
Suite” at the Shenandoah Bach
Festival, where she appeared in a Verdi opera
concert in 2013.
ANTHONY P.
McGLAUN
(
Nelson
)
Lyric Opera debut
The tenor’s varied operatic
repertoire includes such
varied roles as Sportin’ Life/
Porgy and Bess
(Milwaukee’s
Skylight Theatre), Robert/
Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line
to Freedom
(New York’s American
Opera
Projects), Tamino/
Die Zauberflöte
(Detroit’s
Arbor Opera Theater), Remendado/
Carmen
(Michigan Opera Theater), Robert/Hindemith’s
Hin und Zurück
(Tanglewood Music Center, and
both Don Basilio and Don Curzio/
Le nozze di
Figaro
(Rome Festival). He has given many solo
recitals, and among his concert appearances are
“Too Hot to Handel” (Detroit Opera House) and
Messiah
(broadcast nationally from New York’s
Abyssinian Church). In 2015 McGlaun will make
his debut at Spoleto USA in Charleston, South
Carolina, as Mingo/Porgy and Bess.
EARL HAZELL
(
Jim
)
Previously at Lyric Opera:
Nelson/
Porgy and Bess
(2008-09).
The
basso
cantante
,
executive
director
of
Jazzoperetry, Inc. and a
native New Yorker, has
debutedwithSanFranciscoOpera, TulsaOpera,
Arizona Opera and Phoenix Opera in roles
that include Jim/
Porgy and Bess
, the Farmer/
Pagliacci
, the Old Gypsy/
Il trovatore
, Sarastro
and The Speaker/
Die Zauberflöte
, and Zuniga/
Carmen
. His concert performances include “The
100th Anniversary of Carnegie Hall” with the
New York Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin
Mehta and James Levine of the Metropolitan
Opera. He has also performed a variety of roles
in numerous productions of
Porgy and Bess