DAVID BALDWIN (Papageno), a native of Toledo, OH, holds a Bachelor in Music Education (voice and piano) from Taylor University and a Master’s in vocal performance from Bowling Green State University, where he currently is a voice teacher and recital accompanist. A busy artist in Chicago’s lively classical music world, David sings regularly with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Holy Name Cathedral, and has appeared with Chicago Symphony Orchestra and The Bailiwick Theatre. He is a polished and exciting performer as well as an experienced music educator, and we’re delighted that he’s joining us for this first season with Opera for the Young.

MELISSA CARDAMONE (Pamina), a native of Plymouth, MN, lives in Kenosha. She holds degrees in vocal performance from Lawrence Conservatory and the Eastman School. Roles include Mimì (La Bohème) with Riverside Opera Co. in New York and with Eastman Opera Theatre; Laurie (The Tender Land), Johanna (Sweeney Todd), and Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro) at Lawrence University; and Suor Genovieve (Suor Angelica) and Mariane (Tartuffe), with Eastman Opera Theatre. Solo concert work includes the Rochester Oratorio Society, The New York Cantata Singers, and Lawrence University. Most recently she performed with the Bronx Opera, Milwaukee Opera Theatre and Music by the Lake. It’s wonderful to have a role like Pamina to offer a singer like Melissa.

MARK CRAIG (Tamino) is originally from Muskegon, Michigan and currently lives in Chicago. Most recently he performed with the Sarasota Opera in Florida as an Apprentice Artist. Mark was also a member of the Anchorage Opera Studio Theatre in 2004 and 2005. After appearing as a Young Artist with the Janiec Opera Company in North Carolina in 1999 and 2003, Mark returned to NC to sing at Brevard Music Center in 2005, appearing as Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville. Some of his other roles include Albert in Albert Herring, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, Frederick in The Pirates of Penzance, Spoletta in Tosca, and Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi. OFY is lucky to have this fine singer/actor join us this season.

SAIRA FRANK (Queen of the Night) is pursuing a Master’s degree at UW-Madison. She received Bachelor degrees in Vocal Performance and French from Northwestern University last spring. As an undergrad, she performed several leading roles, soloed with the NU Symphony Orchestra, and studied and performed in Italy and France. Saira worked as a Cedar Rapids Young Artist and with Music on the Lake. She received the Oconomowoc Festival of the Arts Scholarship and took fourth place in the 2006 Upper Midwest District Metropolitan Opera Auditions. Saira is a three-time recipient of the A. & E. Weber Scholarship for the Arts and Academic Excellence. How exciting for OFY to help launch what promises to be a stellar career for Saira.

VINCENT FUH (Pianist) has been with Opera for the Young since 1998. With a degree in piano performance from UW-Madison, he is a versatile (and, busy!) collaborative pianist, performing classical music with the Oakwood Chamber Players, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and jazz with the salsa ensemble Madisalsa and the Afro-Cuban quartet El Clan Destino. In addition to CD recordings by these ensembles, Vincent's playing and compositions have been featured on Wisconsin Public Radio and Public Television. As an educator, Vincent runs a private teaching studio and participates in music clinics, and his playing will be on the accompanying CDs to three instructional volumes of French horn repertoire, to be released by Hal Leonard in 2008. As our most veteran performer, Vince is one of the threads that holds the OFY fabric together.

JOHN GAUTHIER (Papageno), a Chicagoan, has been performing in North and Central Illinois for nearly ten years. Most recently, John has worked with Sugar Creek Symphony and Song Festival, Opera Illinois, and St Martin’s Chamber Players in Peoria. John has performed several roles with the Western Illinois University Opera Workshop and is currently singing with the Chicago Symphony Chorus and the St. Charles Singers, for whom he recently performed the baritone solo from Durufle’s Requiem, and performed the Brahms German Requiem with the Fox Valley Presbyterian Church. John is currently a student of Maria Lagios. We’re pleased to welcome John into the cast of OFY’s The Magic Flute.

CHAD GRAHAM, (Tamino), an Iowa native, completed a Master of Music degree in Opera from the UW-Madison where he performed roles in eight productions including Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus and Tony in Masterclass. Chad appeared with Cedar Rapids Opera's Young Artist Program, the Lucerne Music Festival and with Stoughton Opera. After finishing his graduate studies Chad moved to NYC where he recently performed Ferrando in Brooklyn Repertory Opera's production of Così fan tutte. Upcoming engagements include chorus in New York City Opera's Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. We’re glad that OFY could lure Chad back to Wisconsin to join our 2008 production of The Magic Flute.

BRIAN HOTCHKIN (Papageno) returns to OFY for his second season. Brian recently made his role debut as Marcello in La Boheme with the Brevard Music Festival. He also participated in Opera Santa Barbara’s newly founded Young Artist Program where he covered the role of Silvano in Un Ballo in Maschera, and presented a solo recital at Santa Barbara’s Faulkner Gallery. Recent engagements include Schaunard in La Boheme (Millennium Chamber Players) and Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro (Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute, Millennium Chamber Players). Other roles include Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Don Alfonso in Così fan Tutte, Husband in Amelia goes to the Ball, and KoKo in The Mikado. Brian holds degrees from the Chicago College of Performing Arts and DePaul University, and has participated in Young Artist Programs at Aspen, Brevard, BASOTI, and Oberlin in Italy. He is a funny and sympathetic performer, and we’re delighted to have him with us again.

JAMES HOWES (Tamino) is a northern Minnesotan, eh? He studied choral conducting and vocal performance at Minnesota State University-Moorhead and, after singing opera in a brief stint as a performing waiter, became a chorus member of the Minnesota Opera. In the fall of 2007 he will make his role debut as Rodolfo in Theater Latte Da's production of La Boheme. His voice coach is Dr. Clifton Ware, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota. We welcome James to the rigors of an extended tour and know that it will nurture both his dedication to opera and his craft.

KRISTIN JOHNSTON (Queen of the Night) has a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Oklahoma, Master of Music in Opera from the University of Kansas, and Certificate of Performance from Northwestern University. Equally at home in the realm of opera, operetta, and contemporary composition, Kristin has performed with Wichita Grand Opera, Cimarron Circuit Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera Theater, and the Contemporary Music Ensemble of Northwestern. Past roles include the Queen of the Night, Frasquita, Gretel, Yum-Yum, Zerlina, Micaela, Ninetta, First Lady, Madaline, and the Wise Woman. Upcoming performances include the Laetitia with Chamber Opera Chicago in “A Menotti Tribute." We’re so pleased to that Kristin is adding OFY to her busy performing schedule.

EMILY LYDAY (Pamina) is making her debut with OFY, and we’re pleased to have her join us. Recent engagements include Light Opera Works’ Bitter Sweet, Hansel and Gretel with the Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus, and soprano soloist in the Mozart Requiem and Rutter Requiem with the Trinity Church Concert Series. Emily received her Bachelor in Voice from DePauw University, where she sang the role of the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, and recently received her Master’s degree in Voice from Northwestern University. An avid interpreter of contemporary music, Emily premiered the role of Ursula’s Shadow in the newly-composed opera Ursularia with Opera Cabal at the Collusions Festival in Chicago. In addition to performing, Emily teaches voice privately and is the soprano soloist at Trinity Church in Wilmette.

JESSICA MEDOFF (Pamina) is a native of Las Cruces, NM and currently resides in NYC. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Colorado and a Master of Music from the University of Michigan. Jessica has been a member of the Aspen Opera Theater Center, Lake George Opera, and most recently, Ash Lawn Opera where she sang Elsa (The Sound of Music) and covered Musetta (La Bohème). Jessica was the 2004 winner of the Harold Haugh Light Opera Competition and was awarded “Audience Favorite.” She was a finalist in the American Traditions Competition, the Denver Lyric Opera Guild competition and the Rocky Mountain region Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions. Jessica recently made her Carnegie Hall debut as soprano soloist in the Fauré Requiem. She and husband and pianist Michael Bunchman collaborate as recitalists, performing programs ranging from classical selections to standards and musical theater cabaret. Jessica brought terrific energy and humor to her performances as Persephone in OFY’s 2007 production of Orpheus Returns, and we’re happy to have her back in 2008.

JULIET PETRUS (Queen of the Night), is joining OFY for her third season, and we’re delighted to see her continue to grow and flourish in her singing career. She recently completed the Young American Artist Program at Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, NY where she stepped in as understudy for Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld on opening night, as well as singing La Musica in Monteverdi’s L’Orefeo. Credits include Lisaveta in A Month in the Country and Amy in Little Women with OperaModa in Chicago. She was recently seen as Violet Beauregard in a new music workshop of Peter Ash’s The Golden Ticket with the American Lyric Theatre in NYC, and she originated the role of Realist in Stephen Rush’s electronic opera, vidGod, as a guest artist at the University of Michigan and at the Landestheatre Tübingen in Germany. She premiered Steven Dembski’s chamber work Fool’s Paradise at the Performing Imagination Festival in Evanston, IL. Juliet was an apprentice with Sarasota Opera and Opera Carolina. She received Bravo Awards from the Bel Canto Foundation in 2006 and 2007. She received her Master of Music from Northwestern University in 2003, a Bachelor of Music from the University of Michigan in 2001.

LINDSAY PHILLIPS (Pamina) is another of our impressive fresh-from-college singers (DePaul University, Bachelor of Music, Vocal Performance) and she makes her professional debut with OFY. While at DePaul, she performed in Carmen, The Marriage of Figaro, L'Egisto, The Beggar's Opera and The Merry Widow. Lindsay was featured as the soloist for the DePaul Community Chorus singing Ralph-Vaughn Williams' Serenade to Music and Dona Nobis Pacem. This fall, she will be singing in the early music group Musicam Sacram.

DANA SCOTT (Pianist) is completing her DMA in Ensemble Arts at Peabody Conservatory. She received her undergraduate degree in classical piano at New England Conservatory. Dana is a much-awarded participant in competitions (Woodmere Voice Society Competition, NY; Vocal Arts Society Competition. D.C.; William Garrison Piano Competition; Sidney DeKnight Piano Competition, PA) Dana has worked at Harbor Opera at the Walters Art Museum, Center Stage, Baltimore, MD, and at the Kennedy Center where she was rehearsal pianist with Jerry Herman, Christine Baranski, and Jeff McCarthy in Mame. She served as the Music Director for FBN Production’s The Three Little Pigs, an opera outreach program based in Columbia, SC. This summer, she was vocal coach for the Little Patuxent Opera Institute (MD). Dana appeared as a soloist with the Imperial Symphony Orchestra in Lakeland, FL and was a recitalist on the Mary Baker Eddy Library Millenium Series and the James George Charitable Trust Series in Boston, MA. Dana is a former faculty member at Brookline High School (MA), and University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. Currently, she privately coaches voice and teaches piano lessons at Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Laurel, MD where she is the organist. We’re so pleased to have this versatile artist join OFY.

MICHELLE SEIPEL (Queen of the Night) completed her Master’s degree in voice performance at Peabody Conservatory. Her undergraduate work, at UW–Milwaukee, earned her a double major in voice performance and mathematics. Between degrees, she maintained an active performance career while working as an actuary at Northwestern Mutual. Career highlights include Trouble in Tahiti with Opera Vivente, Cendrillon with Milwaukee Opera Theatre, The Tender Land with Skylight Opera, and H.M.S. Pinafore with the Theater at Monmouth. Among the operatic roles Michelle has performed, a few favorites are Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Sister Constance (Dialogues of the Carmelites) and Mme. Goldentrill (The Impresario).

NICHOLAS DEAN TOWNS (Pianist) is a native of Princeton, Illinois. He most recently performed under Simon Carrington with the WCDA Next Direction National Conference. As a soloist, Nick won first prize in the Wisconsin state level of the Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Artists Competition and at the Bay View Music Festival Concerto Competition, where he performed the Beethoven Fourth Concerto and the Shostakovich First Concerto. Currently, he is working with multiple composers using mathematics in music, as well as exploring the possibilities of using computers as compositional devices. He participated in the International School for the Musical Arts, where he studied with Ka Kit Tam, Kwang-Wu Kim, Marilyn Engle, and Robert McDonald and the Bay View Music Festival. Nick received his M.M. in piano performance at the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he studied with Victor Rosenbaum and a B.M. from Lawrence Conservatory of Music. Nick is currently a freelance pianist, accompanist, and teacher in the Wisconsin area. We’re pleased to have him back for his third season with OFY.

DAN WEINSTEIN (Papageno)
Having performed as Dr. Bartolo in last season’s The Barber of Seville, this is Dan’s second season with Opera for the Young. He is from Peoria, Illinois, graduated from the University of Iowa, and recently completed his M.M. degree in Opera Performance from UW-Madison. As a student, Dan had leading roles in productions of The Marriage of Figaro (Antonio), The Gondoliers (Guiseppe), Cosi fan Tutte (Guglilelmo), Iphigenia at Aulis (Agamemmnon), Vanessa (Doctor), Die Fledermaus (Dr. Falke). He sang Robin Oakapple in Madison Savoyard’s Ruddigore, and Koko in Cedar Rapids’ Opera Theatre’s The Mikado. We’re glad to make use of Dan’s talents for another season with OFY.

Last Updated: November 25, 2007