Volpone: Artistic Staff and Cast
Artistic Staff
John Musto (Composer)
Mark Campbell (Librettist)
Michael Barrett (Conductor)
Leon Major (Director)
Scenic Designer: Erhard Rom
Costume Designer: David O. Roberts
Lighting Designer: Robert H. Grimes
Cast
Joshua Winograde (Volpone)
Joseph Kaiser (Mosca)
Ryan Taylor (Voltore)
Wendy Hill (Corvina)
Ross Hauck (Bonario)
Jason Ferrante (Cornaccio)
Sarah Wolfson (Celia)
Adriana Zabala (Erminella)
Mary Gresock (Castrato/Judge)
Karen Mercedes (Epicene/Prison Matron)
William Heim (Police Captain/Judge)
Eugene Galvin (Nano/Judge)
John Musto (Composer) stands at the forefront of contemporary composers writing for the voice. He was a nominee for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for his song cycle Dove Sta Amore, setting the poetry of Sandburg, Agee, and Ferlinghetti. Other recent vocal works are The Book of Uncommon Prayer, commissioned by Carnegie Hall; Rags for the Richest, commissioned by the New York Festival of Song; and Penelope, commissioned by the 92nd Street Y. His vocal compositions also include Encounters, Calypso, Quiet Songs, and Shadow of the Blues: Four Poems by Langston Hughes. Mr. Musto's orchestral and chamber works have been performed by numerous ensembles, including the Dallas Symphony, the Rochester Symphony, the Ahn Trio, and the Janus Ensemble. He has won Emmy Awards for his scores to the documentary films Into the Light and Brick City Lessons, and his most recent film collaboration, George Segal: An American Still Life, was seen on PBS.
Mark Campbell (Librettist) writes lyrics and libretti for musical theater, performance art, opera, and dance. He was honored with the first Kleban Foundation Award for Lyricist, and received two Richard Rodgers Awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Rockefeller Foundation Award, a New York Foundation for the Arts Playwriting Fellowship, and a Drama Desk Award nomination. His works for music theater include: Splendora, The Paradise Project (with Michael Torke), Akin, Ring Around the Rosie (with Richard Peaslee), Therèse Raquin, and Chang & Eng. He is currently writing the lyrics for a song cycle for tenor Michael Winther, a short opera with composer Martin Hennessy, and an evening of three short operatic works with composer Lance Horne. In May, Mr. Campbell joins Michael Torke and A.R. Gurney at the Sundance Theatre Lab to collaborate on a musical adaptation of The House of Mirth.
Michael Barrett (Conductor) previously conducted the Bernstein's Broadway concert at the Filene Center, featuring the National Symphony Orchestra and soloists from the Wolf Trap Opera Company. Recently appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts and General Director of the Caramoor International Music Festival, he is also Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of the New York Festival of Song; Co-Founder of the Moab Music Festival; Co-Founder of BarBer Adventures; and Music Advisor to the Leonard Bernstein Estate. From 1994 to 1997, he was the Director of the Tisch Center for the Arts at the 92nd Street Y in New York. A protégé of Leonard Bernstein, Mr. Barrett began his association with the renowned conductor and composer in 1982. Mr. Barrett has been a guest conductor with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, New York Philharmonic, London Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, National Orchestra of China, and Brooklyn Philharmonic, among others. He has conducted and played premieres by Bernstein, Blitzstein, Bolcom, Danielpour, Kernis, Sellars, Harrison, Takemitsu, Del Tredici, and Musto. Mr. Barrett oversees the education programs of NYFOS and The Moab Music Festival, and is also active in the creation of new educational programs for symphony orchestras in collaboration with Jamie Bernstein Thomas. Born in Guam and raised in California, he is a graduate of San Francisco Conservatory and did post-graduate work at the Hartt School of Music of the University of Hartford.
Leon Major (Director) made his Wolf Trap debut in 1987 with Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Filene Center. Also for the Wolf Trap Opera Company, he directed Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte at The Barns. He is currently Artistic Director of Boston Lyric Opera and Director of the Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland. He has staged a wide range of productions for opera companies across North America, including Boston Lyric Opera, New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Washington Opera, Vancouver Opera, and Opera Company of Philadelphia. Mr. Major has also served as Director of the Municipal Theatre in Toronto as Associate Director and consultant with the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center in Connecticut. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto and studied music at the Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He also holds an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is a Member of the Order of Canada.
Joshua Winograde, bass-baritone (Volpone), was a member of the Wolf Trap Opera Company in 2000 and 2001, performing the roles of Haly in L'italiana in Algeri, Mercurio in L'incoronazione di Poppea, Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Mamm' Agata in Viva la Mamma and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Recent roles include Achillas in Giulio Cesare, Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte and the King in the world premiere production of Rachel Portman's The Little Prince, all with Houston Grand Opera, as well as Melisso in Alcina with New York City Opera. Other roles performed include Colline in La bohème, Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Abimelech in Samson et Dalila and the Friar in Don Carlos (Houston Grand Opera) and Leporello in Don Giovanni (Chautauqua Opera). Upcoming engagements include Pistola in Falstaff and Capulet in Roméo et Juliette with Houston Grand Opera. Mr. Winograde is a graduate of The Juilliard School.
Joseph Kaiser, tenor (Mosca), has performed with companies including New York City Opera, Opera Festival of New Jersey, Glimmerglass Opera, Calgary Opera, and the Lincoln Center Festival. Recent roles include Anthony in Sweeney Todd (Calgary Opera) and Schaunard in Baz Luhrmann's Broadway production of La bohème. His other roles performed include Morales in Carmen and Lefty in The Glass Blowers (New York City Opera). As a recitalist Mr. Kaiser has appeared with the New York Festival of Song, the Debut Series of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, the Chicago Humanities Festival, and in Montréal under the auspices of the André Turp Society. A graduate of McGill University, Mr. Kaiser joins the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists at the Lyric Opera of Chicago [this spring] .
Ryan Taylor, baritone (Voltore), was a member of the Wolf Trap Opera Company in 2001 and 2002, performing the roles of Maestro in Viva la Mamma, Starveling in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale and Harry Easter in Street Scene. He returned to The Barns at Wolf Trap in 2003 for a recital of the Italienische Liederbuch. Other recent roles include Marcello in La bohème with Dayton Opera and Schaunard in La bohème with San Francisco Opera's Western Opera Theater. Mr. Taylor's recital performances include the New York Festival of Song and the Southeastern Festival of Song, of which he is Co-Artistic Director with mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala. Upcoming engagements include Morales in Carmen with Atlanta Opera and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Minnesota Opera. Mr. Taylor is a graduate of the University of the South and San Francisco Conservatory.
Wendy Hill, soprano (Corvina), has performed with such companies as Houston Grand Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Washington Opera, Seattle Opera, New York City Opera, the EOS Orchestra, Netherlands Opera, Göttingen Festival, and London Symphony. Recent roles include Constance Fletcher in The Mother of Us All with San Francisco Opera, and First Flowermaiden in Parsifal with Seattle Opera. She has created roles in the world premieres of Meredith Monk's Atlas, Philip Glass's Orphée, David Del Tredici's Dracula and Carly Simon's Romulus Hunt, as well as in the Off-Broadway premiere of Jonathan Sheffer's Blood on the Dining Room Floor. Ms. Hill's upcoming engagements include a return to Seattle Opera for the title role in Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas, and Woglinde/Forest Bird in the 2005 Ring Cycle. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Ross Hauck, tenor (Bonario), was a member of the Wolf Trap Opera Company in 2002 and 2003, performing the roles of Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Lippo Fiorentino in Street Scene, and the title role in Dardanus. Other roles performed include Voice of the Child in Libby Larsen's Dreaming Blue (Attic Theatre, Appleton, Wisconsin), Gastone in La traviata (Indianapolis Opera), and Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Aspen Opera Theatre Center). He has also performed in recital with the New York Festival of Song. Mr. Hauck is a graduate of DePauw University and University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Jason Ferrante, tenor (Cornaccio), last performed at Wolf Trap in 2002 as Daniel Buchanan in Street Scene. Other roles performed include Paolino in Il matrimonio segreto (Berkshire Opera), Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos (Aspen Opera Theatre Center), Ximenes in Der Kuhhandel (The Juilliard School), Dr. Caius in Falstaff and Spalanzani in Les contes d'Hoffmann (Sarasota Opera), Torquemada in L'heure espagnole (Tanglewood Festival), and Blind in Die Fledermaus (Annapolis Opera). Upcoming engagements include Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw (Sideshow Opera, Charlottesville, Virginia). Mr. Ferrante is a graduate of The Juilliard School, and has been a panelist on the ChevronTexaco Metropolitan Opera Quiz.
Sarah Wolfson, soprano (Celia), was a member of the Wolf Trap Opera Company in 2001, performing the role of Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro. Other roles include Zerlina in Don Giovanni (IN Series, Washington, DC), Bacchis in La belle Hélène (Santa Fe Opera), the title role in L'incoronazione di Poppea (Opera North), and Lucy in The Telephone (Florida Grand Opera). A Washington, DC native and graduate of The Juilliard School, Ms. Wolfson has also performed at The Spoleto Festival USA, Brevard Music Festival, and Ravinia Festival. Other engagements this season include a concert of Mozart opera excerpts with the Ridgefield, Connecticut, Symphony and her Carnegie Hall (Weill Hall) debut performing songs by Jack Beeson.
Adriana Zabala, mezzo-soprano (Erminella), was a member of the Wolf Trap Opera Company in 2001 and 2002, performing the roles of Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Amastre in Xerxes, and Emma Jones in Street Scene. She returned to The Barns at Wolf Trap in 2003 for a recital of Hugo Wolf's Italienische Liederbuch with baritone Ryan Taylor and pianist Kim Pensinger Witman. Recent roles include Pitti-Sing in The Mikado (Arizona Opera), Rosina in The Barber of Seville (Wildwood Festival), Mercedes in Carmen (Jacksonville Symphony), and Meg in Little Women (Minnesota Opera). Upcoming performances include Bernstein's Arias and Barcarolles and Respighi's Il Tramonto with the Spokane Symphony, and Men, Women and Food with the New York Festival of Song. Ms. Zabala is a graduate of Louisiana State University and University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and attended the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria under a Fulbright Study Grant.
Bios as of March 2004
