Barbara Shirvis, soprano (Alice Ford)
Toledo Opera audiences will remember Barbara Shirvis for her portrayal of Juliette in our production of Roméo et Juliette during the 2007-2008 season and her Nedda in Pagliacci. Last season she was Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly with Utah Opera, Desdemona in Otello with Opera Roanoke, and Liù in Turandot with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. This season includes Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Rochester Philharmonic. On concert stages she has performed as soloist in the Brahms Requiem with the New Mexico Symphony, Carmina Burana with the Rochester Philharmonic, Schubert’s Mass in G with the American Symphony Orchestra, and Hadyn’s Lord Nelson Mass at Carnegie Hall. Past operatic highlights include Pamina in The Magic Flute with New York City Opera, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte at both San Diego Opera and the Opera Company of Rio de Janeiro, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus with Boston Lyric Opera and Violetta in La traviata with Syracuse Opera.

Joanna Mongiardo, soprano (Nanetta Ford)
During the 2008-2009 season, Joanna Mongiardo made her debut at Boston Lyric Opera as Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos and went on to sing the First Wood-Sprite in Rusalka. With the National Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra she was the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana. She performed at the Deutsche Opera am Rhein as Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, and in Haydn’s Creation with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico. Performances in Düsseldorf include Nannetta in Falstaff, Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Gianetta in The Gondoliers, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro and Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier. The American-born soprano of Italian, Greek and Armenian heritage earned a Master of Music degree at Yale University and is a 2003 Sullivan Foundation Award winner.

Priti Gandhi, soprano (Meg Page)
A native of India, Priti Gandhi’s career spans both the mezzo-soprano and soprano repertoire. Performances include Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre in Prague, Cinderella in La Cenerentola with the opera companies of Dayton and San Diego, Dorabella in Così fan tutte with Austin Lyric Opera, and Mallika in Lakmè with the Michigan Opera Theatre. Her most recent engagements include Waltraute in Die Walküre at the Théâtre du Chatelet of Paris, The Fox in The Little Prince at Tulsa Opera, Varvara in Kat’a Kabanova at San Diego Opera and Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos with Seattle Opera. Ms. Gandhi has merited awards and recognition at home and internationally; she was a finalist in the International Antonin Dvorák Competition of the Czech Republic and a Western Regional Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, as well as First Place winner in the Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition.

Michele Angelini, tenor (Fenton)
Michele Angelini opened the 2007-2008 season at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome as Ferrando in Così fan tutte. The following season he made his debut at Austin Lyric Opera and at the Fort Worth Opera Festival as Ramiro in La Cenerentola. Last season he joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera, covering Juan Diego Florez as Tonio in the role of Rinaldo in Armida. Mr. Angelini made his European debut in 2006 as the Conte di Libenskof in Il viaggio a Reims at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Italy. In 2007 he performed with the Opera Orchestra of New York in the role of Roderigo in Otello, which was followed by his debut at the Théåtre de la Monnaie in Brussels in the world premiere of Frühlings Erwachen in the role of Hänschen Rilow, and his debut as Lindoro in L’Italiana in Algeri at the Teatro Communale in Bologna. This seaon he will debut at Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florence, Italy as Conte Liebenskoff in Viaggo a Reims. He is a graduate of Ohio State University with degrees in both Vocal and Bassoon Performance.

John Tiranno, tenor (Dr. Caius)
Tenor John Tiranno’s 2008 engagements included Alfredo in La Traviata with Granite State Opera, Frederic in Pirates of Penzance, Beethoven’s No. 9 Symphony, and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Vermont Mozart Festival, and a return performance with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada in Hamilton as tenor soloist. His 2007 engagements included Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in Hamilton, Ontario, his Avery Fisher Hall debut singing L’Indovino in Leoni’s L’Oracolo, a return to Carnegie Hall as tenor soloist in Imant Raminsh’s The Peace of Wild Things, Marco in The Gondoliers with the Vermont Mozart Festival, Handel's Messiah in Wheeling and Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Connecticut Grand Opera. Other career highlights include Lord Tolloller in Iolanthe with Nashville Opera, Beppe in Pagliacci with New York Grand Opera, Mozart’s Missa Brevis with MidAmerica Productions, and Giacomino in La Farsa Amorosa with Teatro Grattacielo. Mr. Tiranno was heard last season in Toledo Opera’s production of Salome.

Scott Bearden, baritone (Sir John Falstaff)
Baritone Scott Bearden is the First Prize winner as well as the Audience Prize winner in the 2008 Irene Dalis Vocal Competition. His upcoming performances include Germont in La traviata with Mercury Opera in Rochester, New York, Iago in a concert performance of Otello with the Oakland/East Bay Symphony and Tonio in Knoxville Opera’s production of I Pagliacci. In 2008, Mr. Bearden was seen in the title role of Rigoletto, Amonasro in Aïda with Cedar Rapids Opera Theater, Conte di Luna in Il trovatore, and as Scarpia in Tosca with Opera Theatre of Connecticut. Other past engagements include the title role in Gianni Schicchi with Mississippi Opera, and Falstaff at the Tanglewood Music Festival. He recently joined the roster of San Francisco Opera. Mr. Bearden earned a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music.

Victor Benedetti, baritone (Mr. Ford)
Baritone Victor Benedetti’s 2008-2009 season included Scarpia in Tosca and Peter in Hansel und Gretel with Indianapolis Opera and the title role in Falstaff with the Théâtre Castres in France. He made his debut with New York City Opera in the title role of Don Giovanni, a performance that awarded him NYCO’s Debut Artist of the Year. His many appearances with City Opera have included the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro, Papageno in The Magic Flute, Peter in Hansel und Gretel, Slim in Of Mice and Men, and Escamillo in Carmen – a role that has taken him to both the Singapore Lyric Opera and to his European debut with Oper der Stadt Bonn. With Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, he has appeared as Nardo in La Finta Giardiniera, Slim in Of Mice and Men, John Proctor in The Crucible, and John Sorel in The Consul. Other recent performances include Peachum in The Threepenny Opera with Arizona Opera, the title role in Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis in Seattle, and Henry in Jake Heggie’s The End of the Affair in Kansas City which was recorded for an upcoming release.

Jeffrey Tucker, bass (Pistola)
This past season, Jeffrey Tucker made his New York City Opera debut as Judge III in Margaret Garner and appeared as Lesbo in Agrippina. He returned to Sarasota Opera to participate in the grand re-opening of their new hall during the 2008 season where he sang Sparafucile in Rigoletto and Loredano in I due Foscari. He made his international debut in Katowice, Poland, singing the title role in Taneyev’s Agamemnon with the Silesian Philharmonic. Other performances included Banco in Macbeth, the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Bartolo in The Marriage of Figaro, Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette and Sarastro in The Magic Flute. Mr. Tucker has appeared with Opera Omaha, Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, Central City Opera, and New Jersey State Opera. On the concert stage he has performed Schubert Mass in Ab with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra and the Mozart Requiem and Solemn Vespers with Mid-America Productions at Carnegie Hall.

James Marvel, stage director
In 2008, James Marvel was named Classical Singer Magazine’s Stage Director of the Year. Since his professional directing debut in 1996, he has directed over 60 productions in the United States, England, Scotland, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. He recently made his Italian debut directing La bohème at Teatro Communale in Sulmona, Italy, and he made his South Korean debut in Seoul in the summer of 2009. Mr. Marvel has served as Co-Director with Henryk Baranowski at Teatr Wielki in Lodz, Poland for Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, which won two Golden Mask Awards for Best Direction and Best Production of the Year. Other career highlights include new productions of Les pêcheurs de perles for Opera Boston, La Voix Humaine at Florence Gould Hall in New York City, The Telephone for the Royal conservatory in Brussels, and Tosca at The Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. International credits include work at the Fifth International Theatre Festival in Budapest, the Istropolitana Theatre Festival in Bratislava, the Viola Stage in Prague, the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, and at the Wadham Theatre and Burton-Taylor Theatre in Oxford, England. In the 2007 season Mr. Marvel directed Lucia di Lammermoor for Syracuse Opera, New Orleans, Opera, Opera Company of North Carolina and Asheville Lyric Opera, Carmen for Opera Grand Rapids, Il trovatore for Utah Festival Opera, and Aida for Sacramento Opera. In addition to his work as an actor and director, Mr. Marvel has played violin in numerous orchestras, composed original music for professional theater productions, danced in pieces choreographed by members of the Martha Graham Company, and published works in a variety of international journals. For Toledo Opera he staged productions of Cavalleria Rusticana and Salome.

Thomas Conlin, conductor
Thomas Conlin is a regular guest conductor with symphony orchestras, ballet companies and opera companies on five continents, most recently in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey and throughout the United States. Many of Conlin’s programs feature works by Barber, Bernstein, Copland, Gershwin and other fellow Americans, and he is a champion of music of our time, but his international career includes conducting Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov in Russia, Beethoven and Brahms in Germany, Mozart and Mahler in Austria, Debussy and Ravel in France, Verdi and Puccini in Italy, Grieg in Norway and Sibelius in Finland. In 2006 he led the Eastern European premiere of Bernstein’s West Side Story at the National Opera of Croatia, in Zagreb.  

Maestro Conlin’s recording of George Crumb’s Star-Child, on which he conducts the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. His music video, Symphonic Wonderworks, won the Gold Award (1st Prize) at the 1992 Houston International Film Festival and was nominated for a Telly Award. His CD of Crumb’s A Haunted Landscape was nominated for an Indie Award as Best Orchestral Recording of 2002, and his latest CD on the Bridge label, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Echoes of Time and the River, was released in 2004 to great acclaim. The first in a series of recordings of works by the Brazilian composer Camargo Guarnieri was released on the Naxos label last year and Volume II will be available in May.

Conlin has collaborated in opera and concert with renowned vocalists Kathleen Battle, Marilyn Horne, Robert Merrill, Sherrill Milnes, Roberta Peters, Giorgio Tozzi and Frederica von Stade, in ballet with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Edward Villella and Violette Verdi, and with instrumentalists Emanuel Ax, Alicia de Larrocha, James Galway, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and Isaac Stern. For Toledo Opera he has conducted recent productions of Romeo and Juliet, Don Pasquale, The Turn of the Screw, La traviata, Sweeney Todd, Don Giovanni, La bohème, The Crucible, The Barber of Seville, Faust, Madama Butterfly, Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana, Il trovatore, Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Marriage of Figaro, Tosca, Così fan tutte, Rigoletto, Candide and Salome, and eight of TO’s Opera Galas: Three Tenors! – the Next Generation, A Night in Old Vienna, The Greatest Wagner Concert Ever!, Opera Goes to the Movies, From Russia with Love, Richard Strauss: the Last Great Romantic, From Broadway to the Met and Viva Verdi!.