Artist Information

Christine Goerke, Leonore

Opera Boston debut

Soprano Christine Goerke, recipient of the 2001 Richard Tucker Award, has established an outstanding reputation with many of the world's leading opera houses and orchestras.

While most critics have taken notice of the size of Ms. Goerke's soprano, she herself has carefully cultivated her vocal resources as her voice matured, singing many Mozart and Handel roles such as Armida in Rinaldo and the title role in Alcina at the New York City Opera, the title role in Agrippina at Santa Fe, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni for the Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera, and the Paris Opera, Donna Anna at Covent Garden, and Elettra in Idomeneo and Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito for the Paris Opera. Maestro Seiji Ozawa cast her in his Mozart/daPonte cycle of Le Nozze di Figaro (Countess), Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira) and Cosi Fan Tutte (Fiordiligi) for his Ongaku-Juku Opera Project in Tokyo, Japan.

Ms. Goerke has been praised as a first-rate comic actress not only as Armida and Rosalinde, but also as Alice Ford in Verdi's Falstaff, and twice as Musettta in Puccini's La Bohème in both Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl and in Pittsburgh. Other roles in Ms. Goerke's repertoire have included Madame Lidoine in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmelites (at the Metropolitan Opera, the Saito-Kinen Fesitval, and at the Santa Fe Opera), the Female Chorus in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia (Glimmerglass Opera and the Opera Theater of St. Louis), and Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes (Saito-Kinen Festival and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino).

For the last few seasons, the music of Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner has steadily moved towards the center of Ms. Goerke's repertoire. In 2005, Ms. Goerke sang her first Chrysothemis in Elektra conducted by Seiji Ozawa at the Saito Kinen Festival in Tokyo, a role which she has recently performed at both Maggio Musical Fiorentino and Washington National Opera to great acclaim. Ariadne auf Naxos, another new Strauss role, became the vehicle for her successful debut at La Scala in June, 2006.

Ms. Goerke's first Wagner performances began as the Third Norn in Götterdämmerung for the Metropolitan Opera (where she is an alumna of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program), with James Levine on the podium. This led to an assignment to an understudy of Elsa in Lohengrin also at the Metropolitan Opera. Her next Wagner assignment was Gutrune, also in Götterdämmerung, first in Sydney with Edo de Waart, and more recently in Los Angeles with John Mauceri in 2005. In March and April of 2006, she sang the role once again in Robert Wilson's controversial staging at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

A busy opera season for Christine Goerke in 2009-2010 season includes Wagner's Lohengrin, performing the role of the Ortrud under Maestro Patrick Summers at Houston Grand Opera, and covering the roles of Chrysothmis and Ariadne in Strauss' Elektra and Ariadne auf Naxos, respectively, at The Metropolitan Opera. Symphony appearances include a return to Japan's Saito-Kinen festival under Seiji Ozawa performing Britten's War Requiem, the St. Louis Symphony under Robert Spano, singing Vaughan-Williams' A Sea Symphony, and a return to the Seattle Symphony under Gerald Schwarz for Mendelssohn's Symphony #2 - "Lobgesang".

Michael Hendrick, Florestan

Opera Boston debut

Tenor Michael Hendrick performs with the world’s most respected opera companies and orchestras.  He most recently appeared as Menelas in Strauss’ Die Ägyptische Helena (debut with The Metropolitan Opera), and as The Stranger in Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane (London Philharmonic).  Other appearances include Don José in Carmen with LIV Festival Ópera de A Coruña (Galicia, Spain), Palacio de Festivales in Santander (Cantabria, Spain), Opera Pacific and New York City Opera, and The Rape of Lucretia (New York City Opera); title roles in La clemenza di Tito (National Symphony at Washington’s Kennedy Center) and Parsifal (Lyric Opera of Chicago);  Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos (Seattle Opera, L’Opera de Montrèal and Pittsburgh Opera); Laca in Janácek’s Jenůfa with Asociacion Bilbaina de Amigos de la Opera (Bizkaia, Spain); Zivny in Janacek's Osud with Bard Summerscape Festival; Midas in Strauss’ Die Liebe der Danae (Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland at Amsterdam’s Concertbebouw); Floyd’s Of Mice and Men (Washington National Opera); Madama Butterfly (Syracuse Opera); Hoffmann and Count Vaudémont in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta (New York City), and Levko in Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night (Sarasota Opera).  In concert appearances: Das Klagende Lied (Rotterdams Philharmonisch and London Philharmonic); highlights from The Nose and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Los Angeles Philharmonic).  Symphony No. 9 (Baltimore Symphony); Kodaly’s Psalmus Hungaricus (Detroit Symphony); Shuisky in Mussorgskij’s Boris Gondunov (Milwaukee Symphony); Glagolitic Mass (Bard Festival); Verdi’s Requiem (Syracuse Symphony); and Das Lied von der Erde (Chautauqua Symphony).  Upcoming: Florestan (Palm Beach Opera); Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos and Mahler’s Das Lied (Manaus, Brazil).

Scott Bearden, Don Pizarro

Opera Boston debut

Career highlights have included the title role in Falstaff with Toledo Opera, and at the Tanglewood Music Festival under the baton of Maestro Seiji Ozawa; the title role in Falstaff, Tonio in Pagliacci, the title role in Gianni Schicchi, and Germont in La Traviata with Mississippi Opera; the title role in Rigoletto with Opera Theater of Connecticut and Eugene Opera; Tonio in Pagliacci with Knoxville Opera; Scarpia in Tosca with Opera Theater of Connecticut and West Bay Opera; Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera with Opera Memphis; Germont in La Traviata with Rochester’s Mercury Opera; Amonasro in Aida with Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre; Count Di Luna in Il Trovatore and Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera with California’s Festival Opera; the title role in Falstaff, Scarpia in Tosca, and Michele in Il Tabarro with the International Vocal Arts Institute; Don Alfonso in Cosi Fan Tutte with the Sanibel Music Festival; Marcello in La Boheme with West Bay Opera and Opera San Jose; the Narrator in Il Maestro di Capella with Rockland Opera; the title role in Rigoletto, the title role in Falstaff, Tonio in Pagliacci, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Lescaut in Manon, Don Alfonso in Cosi Fan Tutte, Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Dulcamara in L'Elisir D'Amore with Opera San Jose; and Mr. Peachum in The Threepenny Opera with West Bay Opera. Concert highlights have included Scarpia in Tosca and Marcello in La Boheme with the Midland Symphony; the title role in Rigoletto and Count Di Luna in Il Trovatore with the Monterey Symphony; and Iago in ACT I of Otello with the Oakland East Bay Symphony. His discography includes Albert Herring on the Vox Classics label.

Andrew Funk, Rocco

Previously with Opera Boston: Kaspar, Der Freischutz, 2008

Possessing “a fresh, firm tone and good stage presence” (L’Opera), bass Andrew Funk is generating excitement in opera houses and concerts halls throughout the country. With a large and varied repertoire, he has performed music from the Baroque and classics of Beethoven, Berlioz, Mozart, Puccini, Verdi and Wagner, to works of contemporary composers. He is a frequent guest artist with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, making his debut in the world premiere of the opera Amistad, and since appearing in the companies’ productions of La Gioconda, Roméo et Juliette, Tosca, The Magic Flute, Salome and Aida, among others.

Noted engagements over the past two seasons include Banquo in Macbeth with Opera Lyra Ottawa, First Soldier in Salome at the San Francisco Opera, Kaspar in Der Freischutz with Opera Boston, bass soloist in the L’Opera de Montreal Gala, and three roles with Chicago Opera Theater: Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Besso in Cavalli’s Giasone and Publio in La Clemenza di Tito. He also returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago in performances as Pistola in Falstaff and One Armed Man in Die Frau ohne Schatten, as well as covering Gremin cover in Eugene Onegin, Osmin in Abduction from the Seraglio and King Mark in Triston and Isolde. Next, he performs Rocco in Fidelio at Opera Boston, Osmin in Abduction from the Seraglio with the Arizona Opera, and returns to Lyric Opera of Chicago to cover Heinrich in Lohengrin.
Mr. Funk made his debut with the Los Angeles Opera in 2004 in a John Cox and David Hockney production of Die Frau ohne Schattenunder the musical direction of Kent Nagano. Later that year, he performed the role of Don Pedro with The Santa Fe Opera in Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict, and subsequently made his debut with the Anchorage Opera in Don Giovanni. During the summer 2005, Andrew Funk was engaged by the Seattle Opera for their Ring Cycle where he sang Hagen in Götterdämmerung and covered the role of Fafner in both Das Rheingold and Siegfried. In 2006, Mr. Funk returned to the Santa Fe Opera in the role of Zuniga in Carmen, as well as the First Nazarene in Salome.

In the contemporary repertoire, Mr. Funk was chosen by Philip Glass and the Tony Award winning director Mary Zimmerman to sing the world premiere performances of Glass’ opera Galileo Galilei in both Chicago and New York. For this opera, Andrew Funk portrayed four characters–Pope Urban VIII, Cardinal Barberini, Simplicio and the Father of Merope–and received acclaim from the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times.

In the past, Mr. Funk has sung with the Sarasota Opera in the French version of Il Trovatore, Le Trouvère. Critics described his performance of Fernand as “reverberant” and “sonorous.” He also sang Plutone in the Chicago Opera Theater’s production of Orfeo, which toured to the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Previously with Chicago Opera Theater, he sang the title role in Britten’s Noye’s Fludde. Mr. Funk has performed numerous major bass roles, including Rocco in Fidelio, Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Colline in La Bohème.

Besides the companies already mentioned, Andrew Funk has sung with the Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Virginia Opera, and Glimmerglass Opera.
In addition to his opera engagements, Mr. Funk is a frequent orchestral soloist. He has sung Berlioz with Maestro Zubin Mehta and Deborah Voigt with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at Carnegie Hall, Messiahwith the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, and performances of Kurt Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins at the Aspen Music Festival.

Mr. Funk is a graduate of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s prestigious Ryan Opera Center, and has participated in distinguished training programs at the Juilliard School, Music Academy of the West, the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the Santa Fe Opera. Andrew Funk received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of California in Los Angeles and completed his Master’s degree at The Juilliard School in New York.

Robert Honeysucker, Don Fernando

Previously with Opera Boston: Miller, Luisa Miller, 2004; Siroco, L'étoile, 2006; Zurga, The Pearl Fishers, 2007

Robert Honeysucker's opera performances have included the roles of Don Giovanni, Amonasro, Escamilio, Ezio, Figaro, Germont, Miller, Iago, Renato, Rigoletto, Sharpless, and Porgy. He has appeared with such companies as Boston Lyric Opera, Connecticut Opera, Delaware Opera, Eugene Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Boston, Opera Company of Boston, Sacramento Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Utah Opera. Overseas, he has performed in Auckland, New Zealand; in Berlin, Germany; and in the world premiere of Icarus, by Paul Earls, at Brucknerfest in Linz, Austria. Additionally, he has appeared in opera concerts in the Persian Gulf directed by Cesare Alfieri (assistant conductor at La Scala, Milan), as well as numerous concerts in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Robert Honeysucker has appeared as soloist in: Elijah with Handel and Haydn Society, directed by Christopher Hogwood; world premiere of Howard Frazin’s The Voice of Isaac with PALS Children’s Chorus (Boston, MA); Missa Solemnis with the Northwest Bach Festival Orchestra (Spokane, WA), directed by Gunther Schuller; Charles Ives' General William Booth Enters into Heaven, with the Pittsburgh Symphony, directed by Michael Tilson Thomas at Great Woods Performing Arts Center; Aaron Copland's Old American Songs with Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, Harold Weller, conductor; Carmina Burana with Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of David Wiley, and with Omaha Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Bruce Hangen; and Hodie (Ralph Vaughan Williams) with the Utah Symphony Orchestra and Mormon Tabernacle Choir, directed by Keith Lockhart, which was televised on PBS. He has also performed with Detroit Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Raymond Harvey, St. Louis Symphony, Long Island Philharmonic, Portland (ME) Symphony Orchestra (Maine), and Sacramento Symphony Orchestra. Engagements in Japan have featured him as soloist with Sapporo Symphony, Osaka Philharmonic, and Tokyo Philharmonic in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony; soloist with the Tokyo Symphony in Georg Frideric Handel's Messiah; The Telemann Chamber Orchestra in Osaka in J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248), with Jeffrey Rink, conductor; and the Kansai Chamber Orchestra in Kobe and Kyoto in performance of G.F. Handel’s Messiah and Bach cantatas

Robert Honeysucker has enjoyed many performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, including an appearance as soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, in celebration of Seiji Ozawa’s 25th season as Music Director. He has most recently appeared as Second Prisoner, in Beethoven’s Fidelio, conducted by James Levine. He was the baritone soloist in All Rise (Winton Marsalis), conducted by Kurt Masur at Symphony Hall, with a repeat performance at Tanglewood, and has sung Copland’s Old American Songs, conducted by Marin Alsop. Among his many appearances with the Boston Pops, he has sung at the Fourth of July concerts on the Esplanade, conducted by John Williams, and Keith Lockhart. He has also performed under the directions of Harry Ellis Dickson and Grant Llewellyn.

Robert Honeysucker is a member of Videmus, as well as member and co-founder of the Jubilee Trio, which presents American art songs, including those of under-performed African American composers.

Discography includes performances on five Videmus discs: "Music of William Grant Still" (New World), "Watch and Pray" (Koch International), "More Still" (Cambria), Highway 1, USA (Wm. Grant Still), (Albany Records), and “Good News” (Videmus Records). “Let’s Have a Union,” with The Jubilee Trio, has recently been released by Brave Records. Robert Honeysucker is also featured on the Centaur, Ongaku and Titanic labels.

Meredith Hansen, Marzelline

Opera Boston debut

Hailed a "Standout” by Ted Medrek of the Boston Herald for her performance of Antonia in "Les Contes d'Hoffmann”, Meredith Hansen has scored many recent successes with notable competitions, both domestically and internationally. In addition to receiving Grant support from the prestigious Gerda Lissner Foundation Competition, she recently received the honor of being chosen for the Final Rounds of The 45th Annual Francisco Viñas Singing Contestin Barcelona, Spain. Ms. Hansen was also named First Place Winner in both the Charles Lynam Competition and the Violetta DuPont Vocal Competition as well as both First Place Winner and Audience Favorite in the Opera Birmingham Competition. Ms. Hansen has scored other successes in competitions including Third Place in The New Jersey Verismo Opera Competition, and Honorable Mention in the Irma Cooper Opera Columbus International Vocal Competition. She has also been named a Finalist in competitions such as The Classical Singer Competition Emerging Professional Division (prompting one judge to name her "Someone to keep an eye on”). Ms Hansen has also been honored as a Regional Semi-Finalist, District Winner and Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Recent career highlights include Gilda with the Newton Symphony Orchestra, and Rosalinda with Opera by the Bay.

Other highlights of the 2008/2009 season included the role of Miss Silverpeal in Mozart's "The Impresario” with MetroWest Opera, a concert of duets and arias with Boston Lyric Opera and the Landmarks Orchestra, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with the Quincy Choral Society, and Verdi's Requiem with the Paul Madore Chorale.

Ms. Hansen's 2009/2010 season opens with a repeat engagement for the Boston Lyric Opera and Landmarks Orchestra in a concert of arias and ensembles to preview the Boston Lyric 2009/2010 season. The Johnstown Symphony Orchestra Opera Gala follows, and the season continues with her Mainstage Debut as Frasquita in Carmen with Boston Lyric Opera (under the baton of Keith Lockhart). She will also perform Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem with Plymouth Philharmonic in March 2010.

Jason Ferrante, Jaquino

Opera Boston debut

Jason Ferrante is recognized as one of the leading character singers of his generation. Praised by Opera News for “singing up a stylish storm” and for getting “the gold star for trills”, the American tenor sings both comedians and protagonists on the operatic stage, and in concert, a repertoire of a wide range of composers from Bach and Handel to John Musto and Lowell Liebermann.

Jason begins the 2010-2011 season as Jacquino for his debut with Opera Boston in Thaddeus Strassberger's new production of Fidelio. He will also appear in his most frequently performed role, Goro in Madama Butterfly, for debuts at Opera Omaha and Kentucky Opera. In December he will return to the Jacksonville Symphony for performances of Handel's Messiah.

In the 2009-2010 season, Jason made debuts at the New York City Opera as King Ouf in L’etoile, the Wexford Festival as the Tenor Opera Box Ghost in The Ghosts of Versailles, the Eugene Opera as Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro, and he returned to Italy as the Beadle in Sweeney Todd at Teatro Comunale di Bologna and Teatro Municipale di Piacenza. He also traveled to Guangzhou, China to sing Pong in Turandot under the baton of Lorin Maazel to open Guangzhou Opera House.

While a student at Juilliard from 1993-2000, Jason appeared in many roles including Ximenes in the U.S. stage premiere of Weill’s Der Kuhhandel. He has been heard in concert and recital on five continents and holds both the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School. He has been heard and seen on NPR, PBS, WNYC, and WQXR, and has been a panelist on the Metropolitan Opera Quiz.

Gil Rose, Conductor

Music Director for Opera Boston

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Thaddeus Strassberger, Director and Scenic Designer

Opera Boston debut

Thaddeus Strassberger, the first prize winner of the 2005 European Opera Directing Prize, has directed and designed new productions of LA CENERENTOLA (Opera Ireland, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden), Ambroise Thomas' HAMLET, and AIDA (Lyric Opera of Kansas City), ORFEO ED EURIDICE (Theater Augsburg), LA TRAVIATA (Arizona Opera), ARIADNE AUF NAXOS (Wolftrap Opera), LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST (l'Opéra de Montréal) and of the rarely-heard LA GAZZETTA (Rossini in Wildbad Festival, Germany) which was nominated for both Best Direction and Best Production by Opernwelt Magazine in 2007. His widely-acclaimed DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE has been produced by Utah Opera, Madison Opera, and the Arizona Opera.

In 2009-2010, new productions included LES HUGUENOTS (Bard Summer Festival) as well as company debuts with the Norwegian National Opera with a new production of LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, Washington National Opera with HAMLET conducted by Placido Domingo. In 2010-2010, his production of FIGARO returns to Oslo for a new run with a new cast, and he debuts with FIDELIO at Opera Boston, and will create an entirely new production of LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST for the Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck, Austria. He returns to the Norwegian National Opera for a new production of THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA as well.

As an assistant director, Strassberger has worked with the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Teatro la Fenice in Venice, the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari, Sardegna and the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe. In the USA, he has worked for the Houston Grand Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Santa Fe Opera and Opera Colorado among others.

Strassberger received his degree from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City and further studies were supported by a Fulbright Fellowship to complete the Corso di Specializzazione per Scenografi Realizzatori at Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 2001.