Carousel
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel in Concert
Friday, July 15th & Sunday, July 17th
Gate opens at 5:30 pm, show starts at 7:00 pm
to purchase tickets to Carousel in Concert.
Carousel in Concert will continue the tradition of a concert performance of a musical at an outdoor venue begun by South Pacific in Concert in Opera Idaho’s 2009-2010 season. Please join us at the Idaho Botanical Garden on Friday, July 15th at 7:00pm and Sunday, July 17th at 7:00pm. Bring a picnic, blanket, and your whole family out for this wonderful outdoor operatic event!
Synopsis
Act I: Freed from labor, mill girls joyously meet their boy friends at an amusement park (Prologue: The Carousel Waltz). Among them are the effervescent Carrie and the moody Julie, who infuriates Mrs. Mullin, the carousel owner, by arousing the interest of her barker (and lover, we infer), Billy. In the ensuing quarrel, Billy is fired. Carrie thinks Julie is attracted to Billy (You’re a Queer One, Julie Jordan) and fittingly chooses this as the moment to reveal that she, too, has a beau (Mister Snow). Billy returns, chases Carrie off, and romances Julie (If I Loved You).
Two months later, Julie and Billy are married and living with Julie’s cousin Nettie. Preparing for that evening’s clambake, the girls and boys indulge in a bit of gender scuffling, then, with Nettie presiding, celebrate the erotic liberation of spring (Give it to ‘em good, Carrie… / June Is Bustin’ Out All Over). Julie confides to Carrie her marital problems: Billy is out of work and angry. He has even hit Julie. Carrie’s news is happier – Mister Snow and she are engaged. The eavesdropping girls are thrilled, not least when Snow himself shows up (Mister Snow (Reprise)). Snow and Carrie look forward to married life: a big family and a thriving business in canned sardines (When the Children Are Asleep).
Whalers on shore leave pile into a waterfront dive (Blow High, Blow Low) and get into a brawl. One whaler, the infinitely sleazy Jigger, tries to interest Billy in a robbery, which they can pull off during the clambake. Billy is leery – but the Julie tells him she is pregnant. Overjoyed at the thought of fatherhood as he walks along the beach (Soliloquy), Billy decides to turn thief with Jigger after all. Nettie, Billy and Julie, Carrie and Mister Snow, Jigger and the rest of the gang sail off to the clambake.
Act II: That evening, resting up after the cookout (A Real Nice Clambake), everyone prepares for the annual treasure hunt. Jigger, pretending to show Carrie self-defense maneuvers, gets her into a compromising position just as Mister Snow appears. Now the gender scuffling turns serious, as Snow walks out on Carrie, Billy heads off with Jigger for their robbery despite Julie’s protests, and the women lament their lack of power (Geraniums in the Winder / Stonecutters Cut It On Stone / What’s the Use of Wond’rin’).
Back on the mainland, Billy and Jigger await the arrival of their intended victim by playing twenty-one. Jigger, dealing, cheats Billy out of virtually all his share of the coming boodle. But the robbery is foiled, Jigger escapes, and Billy, seeing his whole life as a failure, kills himself crying, “Julie!” The clambake attendees arrive, Julie only just in time to trade a few words with Billy before he dies. “I love you,” she tells him, for the first time in her life, after he has died. Nettie comforts her (You’ll Never Walk Alone).
It’s not over yet. A Heavenly Friend shows up to take Billy “Up There,” where, in a scene suggestive of some advanced Protestant sect’s open-air meeting house, an austere Starkeeper allows Billy to go back and resolve problems he left “Down Here” – for instance, his daughter, Louise, who is now fifteen and as wild and resentful as Billy was. The Starkeeper gives Billy a star to take to her as a present. A ballet reveals Louise to us: as a tomboy cut-up, then as a young woman tasting love with a boy she meets in the ruins of her father’s carousel (Ballet: Pas de Deux). She is, in effect, recreating her mother’s experience, breaking out of a drab life in a dangerous yet wonderful relationship. But the boy wanders off, leaving Louise heartbroken and destructively defiant. Back on earth with the Heavenly Friend, Billy tries to give Louise the star, she suspiciously resists, and he slaps her face – once again, in his inarticulate rage, failing to express his true feelings to those he loves (If I Loved You (Reprise)).
“Common sense may tell you that the endin’ will be sad” – but, at Louise’s high- school graduation, Billy heartens his daughter and tells Julie, “I loved you.” As the congregation clusters in socio-religious community, Billy, in the distance, climbs a great stairway to heaven (You’ll Never Walk Alone (Reprise)).
~ Courtesy of allmusicals.com
Cast
Julie Jordan – Betsy Uschkrat
Billy Bigelow – Jason Detwiler
Nettie Fowler – Tiffany Calás
Enoch Snow – Andrew Peck
Carrie Pipperidge – Rebecca Duggan
Jigger Craigin – Tim Judy
Narrator/Mr. Bascombe/Starkeeper/Dr. Seldon – Jim Poston
Mrs. Mullin – Martha Miles
Louise – Allie Ogden
Enoch Snow, Jr. – Zachary Berreth
Creative Team
Music Director – Stuart Weiser
Chorus Master – Kelly Kaye
Chorus
Sopranos
Katie Morell
Bonnie Salewski
Holly Salewski
Mezzos
Jamie Derry
Lisa Hecht
Tessa Anne Huber
Ellen McKinney
Kelly Moylan
Tenors
Tim Judy
Alexander Lundquist
Wally Tuck
Basses
Kyle Christensen
Nik Dumas
Michal Jarolimek
Bob Wallace
Cast
Betsy Uschkrat (Julie Jordan)
Betsy Uschkrat is pleased to debut with Opera Idaho as Julie Jordan in Carousel. Acclaimed for her recent stage performances as Musetta in La bohème with Shreveport Opera, Marian Paroo in The Music Man with Tulane Summer Lyric, First Lady in Die Zauberflüte and Adele in The Awakening (a new composition based on the novel by Kate Chopin) with New Orleans Opera, her other leading operatic performances include Manon, Romeó et Juliette, Susannah, L’elisir d’amore, Orpheus in the Underworld, Die Fledermaus, and A Room with a View (released on DVD with Newport Classic). Latest oratorio works include Poulenc’s Gloria, Haydn’s Mass in Time of War, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and the New Orleans premiere of Howard Goodall’s Eternal Light Requiem. In 2009 she was named Shreveport Opera’s Singer of the Year as well as the grand prize winner of Birmingham Opera’s Vocal Competition. Two-time Regional finalist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Betsy is a graduate of Indiana University and The University of Houston. Previous engagements also include: The Kennedy Center in Washington D. C.; Des Moines Metro Opera; Opera Louisiane, Baton Rouge; Caritas Chorale, Ketchum, Idaho; Greater Mobile Choral Society; St. Cecilia Chamber Music Society, Houston; University of Louisiana- Monroe; Bloomington Symphony; and the St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans.
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Jason Detwiler, Baritone (Billy Bigelow)
With over thirty lead roles to his credit, Jason Detwiler is becoming well-known for his magnetic and energizing performances on the opera stage. His voice and acting have been described as “emotionally fervid”, “richly expressive” and “commanding”, with a diverse repertoire ranging from the comedic Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) and Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte) to the dramatic Germont (La Traviata) and Escamillo (Carmen). Among his most widely acclaimed roles are Figaro (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), the title role in Eugene Onegin, Malatesta (Don Pasquale), Zurga (Les Pechêurs de Perles), and John Proctor (The Crucible). His concert credits include: Bach’s St. John’s Passion, Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Saint-Säens’ Christmas Oratorio, Einhorn’s Voices of Light, and Faure’s Requiem.
Jason began the 2010-2011 season by debuting with Sonoma City Opera as Silvio (I Pagliacci). He then returned to Opera Idaho to debut Mr. Webb in Ned Rorem’s Our Town and made his company debut with Opéra Louisiane as the The Barber of Seville. Following a reprise of Melchior (Amahl & the Night Visitors) with Opera Idaho, Mr. Detwiler sang with the Boise Philharmonic in Handel’s Messiah. In addition to debuting Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), he will be singing in a number of concerts throughout the spring and summer: Mollicone’s Beatitude Mass with Cadenza, Ahab in Herrmann’s Moby Dick with the American Philharmonic Sonoma County, Haydn’s Creation with the Idaho State-Civic Symphony, and Billy Bigelow in Opera Idaho’s summer production of Carousel.
A student of heldentenor, Claude Heater, Jason has performed with San Diego Opera, Virginia Opera, Syracuse Opera, Sacramento Opera, Spokane Opera, Shreveport Opera, Festival Opera of Walnut Creek, Opera Coeur d’Alene, Rimrock Opera, Sonoma City Opera, West Bay Opera, Trinity Lyric Opera, Vallejo Symphony Orchestra, the Boise Philharmonic, the Boise Master Chorale, and the Auburn Symphony. From 2002-2006, he was part of Irene Dalis’ Opera San Jose as a Principal Resident Artist. While there, he sang Dandini (La Cenerentola), Falke (Die Fledermaus), Papageno, Valentin (Faust), Silvio, Escamillo, Marcello (La Boheme), John Proctor, and the title roles of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Figaro among others. In 2009-2010, Mr. Detwiler became Opera Idaho’s first Artist-in-Residence, singing lead roles, giving concerts, and leading master classes for the Resident Company. Other major roles include: Yeletsky (Pikovaya Dama), Mr. Gobineau (The Medium), Harlekin (Ariadne auf Naxos), and the title role in Vaughan Williams’ Pilgrim’s Progress.
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Tiffany Calás (Nettie Fowler)
A native of Boise, Tiffany received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Brigham Young University. She also studied at The Manhattan School of Music, where she was the Assistant Director of the Preparatory Division. A frequent concert soloist, she has sung several cantatas and oratorios of Handel, Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi and Haydn.
Tiffany is a member of Opera Idaho’ s Resident Company and has been a soloist for Opera Under the Stars, Auction of Arias, Puccini Martini Blast and Opera Idaho Sings Christmas, among others. With Opera Idaho, she has performed Zita (Gianni Schicchi), Mercedes (Carmen), Katisha (The Mikado), a lead role in Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, and Alisa in 2008′s Lucia di Lammermoor. Tiffany performed the role of Mrs. Gibbs in Opera Idaho’ s recent production of Rorem’ s Our Town. She has also been in Tosca, The Merry Widow, Nosferatu, and La Traviata. Directing the choruses for Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La bohème, and L’elisir d’amore has also been a highlight with Opera Idaho. Other opera credits include Le Nozze di Figaro, Romeo et Juliette, Les contes d’Hoffmann, Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, and the title role of Menotti’ s The Medium. Her Musical Theater performances include Into the Woods, The Pirates of Penzance, A Christmas Carol, The Sound of Music, Evita, and Chess, to name a few.
Tiffany is a regular soloist for many local organizations, community events, and for her church. She has toured Australia, New Zealand, and throughout the United States. An educator as well, Ms. Calás was the Director of Opera Idaho’ s three Children’ s Choruses and Outreach Program from 2005 until 2009. She is Co-Founder and Co-Director of MDT Workshop, a summer music theater program for youth. In addition, Tiffany is an Adjunct Voice Professor at Boise State University and maintains a large private voice studio in Meridian, where she lives with her extremely supportive husband, Luis, and her adorable little boys, Ian, Luke, and Gabe.
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Andrew Peck (Enoch Snow)
A native Idahoan, Andrew Peck (Enoch Snow) completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree specializing in Voice Performance at Brigham Young University-Idaho. He then moved to Texas to complete a Master’s Degree in Voice Performance at the University of Houston, where he was the recipient of the Hirsch scholarship endowment and the John M. Druary endowment.
In addition to teaching privately for over ten years, Andrew has taught voice at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Voice at Brigham Young University-Idaho. He has performed with Idaho Falls Opera, as a soloist with the Idaho Falls Symphony, The Bach Society, Opera Leggera, as an Associate Chorister with Houston Grand Opera, and as a Festival Artist with Utah Festival Opera. Most recently he performed with Opera Idaho’s outreach program, and has been named Artist-in-Residence for the company’s 2011-12 season.
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Rebecca Duggan (Carrie Pipperidge)
Rebecca Duggan teaches K-6 music at Grace Jordan Elementary in the Boise School District. She directs the Grace Jordan Elementary Choir, a 60+ member group comprised of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. As a music director and vocal coach, Rebecca has conducted community productions, including Les Misérables, Jr. and Jesus Christ Superstar. Rebecca holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Boise State University and a Master’s Degree in Arts Education from Lesley University.
Musical theater credits include The King and I (Anna), Sound of Music (Maria), Beauty and the Beast (Belle), Jekyll and Hyde (Emma Carew), Into the Woods (Rapunzel), Sweeney Todd (Johanna Barker), 1776 (Abigail Adams), Anything Goes (Hope Harcourt), Annie (Grace Farrell), Oliver! (Widow Corney), and Fiddler on the Roof (Hodel). Opera and oratorio credits include Le Nozze di Figaro (Susanna), Mendelssohn’s Elijah (soprano soloist), and Vivaldi’s Gloria (soprano soloist). Rebecca also performed with the Opera Idaho chorus from 2001-2003 in Madama Butterfly, Don Pasquale, and La bohème.
Rebecca is a member of the Opera Idaho Resident Company and currently resides in Boise with her husband, Daniel.
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Tim Judy (Jigger Craigin)
Tim Judy originally hails from Nebraska. His first exposure to opera was at age 12 when he was cast as Amahl in the Menotti opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors. After attending Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, he married and continued to sing in choirs while raising a family. His interest in opera was rekindled a few years ago when he enrolled in an opera workshop and performed in scene selections from Mozart’s Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, and Bizet’s Carmen. Mr. Judy’s first performance with Opera Idaho was in Donizetti’s La Fille du Regiment earlier this year.
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Jim Poston (Narrator/Mr. Bascombe/Starkeeper/Dr. Seldon)
Jim Poston caught the singing bug early in life when he performed the role of Emile in Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s South Pacific in high school. At Simpson College he sang many leading roles, including Billy Bigelow from Carousel, Schaunard from La bohème and Guglielmo from Cosi fan tutte. He received a master’s degree from Boston Conservatory, and participated in three prestigious apprentice programs in Des Moines, Central City, Colorado and in Lake George, NY. He performed excerpts from Rigoletto and Porgy and Bess with the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra and sung the baritone solos in Handel’s Messiah with the Boise Chorale.
For Opera Idaho, Jim most recently appeared as Il Bonzo in Madama Butterfly South Pacific in Concert. He also performed as Luther Billis in South Pacific in Concert, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (2003) and in La Traviata, The Merry Widow and Il barbiere di Siviglia. He also has sung many times with Opera Under the Stars. For the past few years Jim has toured the Treasure Valley singing the baritone character in Opera Idaho’s Opera in a Box performances for thousands of school children. He is an award-winning news anchor and reporter, and worked for KBCI-TV in Boise and KIVI-TV in Nampa. He teaches Theatre Appreciation at the College of Western Idaho and works as a professional voice-over actor.
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Martha Miles (Mrs. Mullin)
Martha Miles received her Bachelor of Music Therapy degree from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music in Winchester, Virginia. She received her Master of Arts degree from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas, with an emphasis in vocal performance. After she graduated, she toured the United States as a professional vocalist with the Norman Luboff Choir.
Martha joined Opera Idaho’s Resident Company in 2009 and has performed in the choruses of Amahl and the Night Visitors, Our Town, and South Pacific. Martha has performed with various choral groups and theatre companies in the Treasure Valley, including Critical Mass, Encore Theatre Carolers, Majors and Minors, Encore Theatre Company, Knock ‘Em Dead Dinner Theatre, and Starlight Mountain Theatre. Favorite roles performed include Golde in Bock, Harnick & Stein’s Fiddler on the Roof, Queen Aggravain in Rodgers & Barer’s Once Upon a Mattress, and Mother Abbess in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music. She is currently the soprano soloist at Boise First Presbyterian Church. Martha is a software training analyst at Micron Technology, Inc. where she has worked for the past 25 years.
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Zachary Barreth (Enoch Snow, Jr.)
Zachary Berreth is a student at South Junior High. He began to sing almost at the same time he began to talk, standing in front of the stereo for hours. To his delight, Linda Berg, director of the All City Elementary Honor Choir, asked him to audition for All City when he was in fifth grade. He was accepted and performed with them for two years.
In 2008 Zachary moved to the Capital City Children’s Chorus, also directed by Ms. Berg. In addition to Capital, Zac is a tenor with the Troubadour Boy’s Choir at South Junior High. The Troubadour’s are directed by Kelly Kaye. Zachary also performed the title role in Opera Idaho’s 2009 & 2010 production of Amahl and the Night Visitors.
When not singing or studying, Zac is a voracious reader, enjoys his Karaoke machine, and, like almost all boys his age, is a “game boy” and WII aficionado. He loves to fish and camp and enjoys spending time with his family, including his younger brother Samuel and Mom and Dad (Erin and Ryan Berreth.)
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Chorus
Sopranos
Katie Morell
As a recent graduate of the College of Idaho’s Vocal Performance program, Katie Morell has been involved in a wide array of productions and performances within the Treasure Valley musical community including such roles as Louisa in The Fantasticks, Judy Haynes in White Christmas, and Belinda in Dido & Aeneas. Katie also sings with the Katie Morell Jazz Combo throughout the Treasure Valley. Her passion for sharing the delights of music with others wouldn’t have been possible without the love and support of her family. Love you, Mom, Dad, and Jason.
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Bonnie Salewski
Music has been Bonnie Salewski’s life-long passion. She has enjoyed performing in many Opera Idaho productions, including Gounod’s Faust and most recently in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Bonnie has entertained and inspired audiences in solo concerts and in many community, church, and university events. As a professor at College of Western Idaho, as well as a voice instructor with a private studio in Boise, Bonnie uses her teaching skills to challenge and encourage students to discover and enhance their own musical talents.
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Holly Salewski
Holly Salewski is an Idaho native and has a long-time association with Opera Idaho. Holly initially began with the Opera Idaho Children’s Chorus under the direction of Linda Berg and has been a part of the Resident Company since 2005. Past performances include operas such as Bizet’s Carmen, Puccini’s La bohème, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Gounod’s Faust, and Bernstein’s Candide. Holly holds a BBA in Management and Marketing from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, and currently works in the non-profit sector both in professional and advisory positions.
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Mezzos
Jamie Derry
Jamie Derry, 22, graduated cum laude from The College of Idaho in 2010, majoring in Vocal Performance as well as Secondary Music Education Pre-certification. Ms. Derry performs with the Opera Idaho Resident Company and was in their Christmas performance of Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors. She has sung in numerous musical theater productions and in operatic roles throughout college and was recently Rosie in Boise Music Week’s Bye Bye Birdie. Her passion is music, and she strives to make it her full time career!
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Lisa Hecht
Lisa Hecht has sung with Opera Idaho since the 1980’s and has been a member of the Resident Company since its inception. She has enjoyed performing at the Velma Morrison Center for the Performing Arts, the Egyptian Theatre, the Idaho Botanical Garden, and elsewhere in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Suor Angelica, Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment, and now Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, as well as in Christmas and New Years’ shows, Opera Under the Stars, and many others. Her roles have included geishas, nuns, villagers, society women, and Disney characters. Outside of Opera Idaho, Ms. Hecht has sung with the Boise Baroque Orchestra, as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah, with the Hewlett-Packard jazz band (Boise Straight Ahead) for over a decade, and has twice had the pleasure of singing at Carnegie Hall.
Ms. Hecht has had a demanding but rewarding day job at Hewlett-Packard for 31 years and has two wonderful daughters who support her singing habit!
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Tessa Huber
Tessa Huber became a member of Opera Idaho’s Resident Company in the spring of 2010 at the age of thirteen. She was a member of the chorus for Opera Idaho’s production of Ned Rorem’s Our Town in 2010 and in the chorus for Starlight Theatre’s 2010 I’ll Be Home for Christmas. This past year, Ms. Huber performed in multiple choirs, including the award winning Cantus Youth Choirs. She has also performed solos for community events. Tessa is excited to be a part of the chorus for Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel and to work with such an amazing, talented cast.
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Ellen McKinney
Ellen McKinney is a local engineer, technical writer, and educator who uses the rewards of these daily pursuits to support the activity from which she derives her greatest pleasure: singing fine music with respected organizations. To that end, she is currently an active member of the Opera Idaho Resident Company and the Boise Philharmonic Master Chorale and has sung in the past with Boise State’s University Singers, the Boise Choristers, and various local musical theater performing organizations. It has been a particular pleasure for her to collaborate with the talented staff, performers, and crew of this production. And, she would like to thank the members of the audience for supporting this “real nice clambake” that is Opera Idaho’s Carousel in Concert, and she hopes you have a “real good time.”
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Tenors
Alexander Lundquist
A multi-faceted musician, Alexander Lundquist joined Opera Idaho’s Resident Company in the summer of 2010. While his performance in the chorus of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly was his first venture into operatic stage productions, he has an extensive performance history in both trumpet and voice. Mr. Lundquist has been a member of the Boise Master Chorale since 2005 and performed with the group in Carnegie Hall in May 2010. As a trumpet player, he was a member of the 2009 Kappa Kappa Psi Intercollegiate National Invitation Band that performed in Phoenix, Arizona, in July 2009. While earning a minor in music, Mr. Lundquist performed with every major wind ensemble at Boise State and performed at numerous bowl games with the Keith Stein Blue Thunder Marching Band most, notably at the 2004 Tournament of Roses Parade and as a soloist at the 2010 Fiesta Bowl.
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Wally Tuck
Wally Tuck was asked to try out for Opera Idaho by the Chorus Master Dale Ball following a stage production at Promised Valley Playhouse. He debuted with Opera Idaho in the 1997-1998 productions of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Bizet’s Carmen. Since then he has sung tenor in several productions, including Gounod’s Faust, Rossini’s La Cenerentola and Il barbiere di Siviglia, Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, and many others.
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Basses
Kyle Christensen
A lifelong lover of music, Kyle Neil Christensen began studying music in middle school by joining the choir and taking piano lessons. At the age of fourteen, he began studying the guitar and occasionally writes his own songs. Throughout high school Mr. Christensen participated in both a cappella and jazz choirs. During this time he fell in love with a variety of genres including classic rock, folk, jazz, and classical music. After graduating, he went on to study music for a year at Brigham Young University-Idaho and has recently transferred to Boise State University to continue pursuing a degree in vocal performance. He hopes one day to have his own vocal studio. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel will be his first production with Opera Idaho.
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Nik Dumas
Nik Dumas brings to Opera Idaho 20 years of singing and performance experience. Mr. Dumas has performed with the Treasure Valley Chorale, Treasure Valley Men’s Chorus, TVCC Vocal Express, The Northern Utah Choral Society, The Wasatch Singers, and most recently with the Boise State University Singers. Mr. Dumas is also a member of St. Michael’s Cathedral Choir (Boise). He has had the opportunity to perform with the Utah Symphony Orchestra, the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, The National Chamber Orchestra, and the Boise Philharmonic. Mr. Dumas has been a soloist for various performances of Handel’s Messiah and was most recently a soloist for a performance with the Boise State University Singers. Mr. Dumas’ involvement with Opera Idaho began with his debut in 2006 and has had many stage appearances including productions of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado, Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, Donizetti’s L’Elixir d’Amour, and Puccini’s La bohème.
Mr. Dumas is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music with a concentration in choral conducting at Boise State University and is expected to graduate in the fall of 2012. Mr. Dumas has studied voice with Ms. Treva Leonard, Ms. Mardene Francis, and currently with Ms. Tiffany Calas.
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Michal Jarolimek
Michal Jarolimek grew up in Rupert, Idaho, and holds a B.A. in Vocal Performance and Music Theory from the College of Idaho and an M.A. in Vocal Performance from the University of Arizona. Favorite roles performed include Tevye in Bock, Harnick & Stein’s Fiddler on the Roof, Duke of Plaza Toro in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Gondoliers, and Bridegroom in Stravinsky’s Les Noces. Mr. Jarolimek enjoys ensemble singing and is a member of Boise’s Critical Mass vocal ensemble and Opera Idaho’s Resident Company. Recently, Mr. Jarolimek appeared as Frank in Opera Idaho’s production of Ned Rorem’s Our Town. He currently works at Dunkley Music in Boise as the Music Manager.
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Bob Wallace
In his youth, Bob Wallace played jazz, folk, country/rock guitar, saxophone, and upright bass. Singing began in middle age, his first gig the 1988-89 season of the Boise Master Chorale. During the 1990’s, Opera Idaho recruited chorus members from the B.M.C., putting Mr. Wallace in the right place at the right time. He was delighted to experience the important role stage choruses have in many complex, emotionally-rich performances. Through opera, he rediscovered his childhood love of the Broadway musical and met its antecedents bel canto and beyond. Singing and performing compliment Mr. Wallace’s law practice, most of whose 35 years have been and remain in the courtroom.
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