Boheme associates with several of Manhattan’s prestigious artist management agencies, and presents many of the emerging stars of opera’s national circuit. Exciting debuts have dotted Boheme’s history from the very start, with remarkable careers thus blossoming: baritones Mark Delavan, Daniel Sutin and Constantinos Yiannoudes; tenors Allan Glassman, Antonio Nagore and Benjamin Warschawski; sopranos Paula Delligatti, Lorraine Ernest, Adina Aaron, Othalie Graham and Olga Chernisheva; and mezzos Grace Echauri and Mika Shigematsu; among others. Legendary 20th century artists from the Metropolitan Opera have graced Boheme’s stage and have collaborated in gala and special events, including bass Jerome Hines, tenor Franco Corelli, sopranos Licia Albanese and Roberta Peters.
CAST OF DON PASQUALE:
Bass-Baritone Edward Bogusz as Don Pasquale
Edward Bogusz’s career began in Italy for two years of study and performance, where he was a coaching and opera student of the incomparable basso Italo Tajo. Returning to this country, he began singing as guest artist with many of the prestigious orchestras and opera companies in the USA. He has appeared with San Francisco Opera, Virginia Opera, Mississippi Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Opera Delaware, Pennsylvania Opera Theater, Buffalo Opera, and, for twelve seasons , with Des Moines Metro Opera, where he sang over 25 roles in well over 150 performances. One of the popular singers to appear with Boheme Opera, he has sung in 14 productions with that company including a record four portrayals of “Sacristan ” (Tosca) in 4 different venues. This year, he returns to the title role Don Pasquale, which he first sang in 1991 with Boheme. Mr. Bogusz’s repertoire encompasses over 100 operatic as well as nearly 80 oratorio-concert roles. In addition to his continued singing career, he is a producer (Philadelphia’s Ed Bogusz and Friends), coach, teacher and adjudicator within the opera field.
Soprano Sungji Kim as Norina
Emerging artist Sungji Kim has appeared in leading roles in numerous performances in Japan, Korea, Germany, Canada and throughout the United States. She is a much sought after artist with a repertoire ranging from Renaissance and Early Music to contemporary pieces. As an active contemporary singer, she has been featured in premiere performances with the Telesis Music Ensemble, Sound Clock Ensemble and at the Universities of Pennsylvania, New York, Princeton (sponsored by Novel Laureate Toni Morrison), at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. Currently a doctoral candidate at Rutgers University, she is being featured in the role of Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff.
Baritone Kevin Grace as Dr. Malatesta
Kevin Grace appeared as Escamillo (Carmen) with Hudson Opera Theatre, as Happy (La Fanciulla del West) with the New York City Opera, as Schaunard (La Boheme) with New Rochelle Opera, as Elder Ott (Susannah) Sharpless (Madama Butterfly) with Boheme Opera New Jersey; as the Marchese/Barone (La Traviata) with Caramoor International Festival; as the Baritone Soloist in Mozart’s Missa Brevis in D with the Connecticut Master Chorale; as the Baritone Soloist in the Bach Christmas Oratorio with the Greater Trenton Choral Society, and as Melchior (Amahl and the Night Visitors) with NJ Artist Performance Alliance. Other roles have included: Ben (The Telephone), Wolf (Little Red Riding Hood), Fiorello (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Morales (Carmen), Cascada (The Merry Widow) Old Man (The Fur Tree) Bob (The Old Maid and the Thief) and Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro).
Tenor David Gagnon as Ernesto
David Gagnon appeared with Boheme Opera NJ as Frederic in its 2010 The Pirates of Penzance. He appeared in the world premieres of Grendel at LA Opera directed by Julie Taymor and in John Brown at Lyric Opera Kansas City. Other credits include Nemorino in The Elixir of Love with Cedar Rapids Opera, Tamino in The Magic Flute with Townsend Opera, Alfredo in La Traviata and Belmonte in Abduction From the Seraglio, both with Skylight Opera, Camille in The Merry Widow and the title role in The Student Prince, both with Opera Columbus. With New York’s Dicapo Opera, he has sung Rev. Paris in The Crucible, Hooker in Emmeline, Medvedenko in The Seagull and The Magician in The Consul. Mr. Gagnon made his European debut as Ferrando in the Giorgio Strehler production of Cosi Fan Tutte in Moscow and in Recanati, Italy. David appeared in the first national tour of Ragtime and on Broadway as Enjolras in Les Miserables.
CAST OF FAUST:
Tenor Daniel Snyder as Faust
Daniel Snyder has been noted as a dramatic performer of innate musicality and powerful presence. He has appeared throughout the United States, as well as Mexico and the Dominican Republic. His recording work has taken him to Berlin, and he has concertized in theaters and halls as far away from his home as Mozambique, and as notable as the Seattle Symphony and Carnegie Hall. Last season featured several debuts, including Cavaradossi in Tosca with Boheme Opera NJ, Manrico in Il Trovatore with the Astoria Oregon Summer Festival, Tom Buchanan in Great Gatsby with Ensemble Parallel in San Francisco, and Dexter in Heart of a Soldier, a world premiere and personal debut at San Francisco Opera.
Soprano Kristin K. Vogel as Marguerite
A Texas native, Kristin fell in love with opera at an early age watching productions at Houston Grand Opera. She received music degrees from the University of Southern California (BM) and from the Manhattan School of Music (MM). She is an advocate for the advancement of contemporary works. She has performed numerous leading roles with such companies as Natchez Festival of Music, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Company of Brooklyn, Utah Festival Opera, Eugene Opera, Opera Manhattan, DiCapo Opera Theater, Bel Canto Northwest and Light Opera of New York, among others. As an artist, she is known for her intensity onstage, work ethic and congeniality.
Bass-baritone Frank Basile as Mephistopheles
Frank Basile sang from a very young age before formally studying at the age of 17 with Todd Duncan and by the time he was 18, he made his debut singing opera. He continued his studies at Indiana University and received his degree in Vocal Performance. Immediately following graduation, he made his European debut in Turandot in Augsburg, Germany. He took a four-year position as soloist and singer with the United States Air Forces Singing Sergeants (1990) and was frequently called upon to sing at the White House and for foreign heads of state as an official ambassador to the United States. Frank sang his debut with Washington Opera in 1991 in The Saint of Bleecker Street directed by Gian Carlo Menotti himself. Upon his departure from the Air Force, he continued his operatic career singing with houses such as the Metropolitan Opera, Baltimore Opera, Utah Opera, Nevada Opera and Sarasota Opera. In 2010, Mr. Basile was featured as a soloist at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul where he sang excerpts from the title role of the new opera Leonardo’s Bridge, specifically written for him to sing in its premiere.
Baritone Daniel Sutin as Valentin
Daniel Sutin made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the 2001-2002 season as the Journalist in Berg’s Lulu with James Levine conducting, and made his Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut in the 2008-2009 season as Sonora in La fanciulla del west. He recently returned to the Lyric Opera of Chicago in the role of Sonora and for his tenth season to the Metropolitan Opera for Wozzeck and Boris Godounov. He has sung leading roles with opera companies across the country, including Boston Lyric Opera, Opera San Antonio, Austin Lyric Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Nashville Opera, Savonlinna Opera Festival, Caramoor Festival, Santa Barbara Opera, Connecticut Grand Opera, Michigan Opera Theater and Sarasota Opera, among others. His major roles abroad include performances in the houses of Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Stuttgart, Monchengladbach, Basel, Zurich, L’Opera de Montreal, Canadian Opera Company and the Netherlands.
Mezzo-Soprano Jessica Renfro as Siebel
Jessica Renfro recently performed the title role in Carmen with conductor Jason Tramm with Stony Hill Players and Angelina in La Cenerentola with Dicapo Opera, for whom she was a resident artist for 2010-2011. Her opera credits include multiple appearances as Angelina in La Cenerentola, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Nancy in Albert Herring and Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, as well as the roles of Carmen in Carmen, Dido in Dido and Aeneas, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Concepcíon in L’heure Espagnole and Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus. In 2011 she reprised the role of Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Vivente in Baltimore and sang Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with Boheme Opera New Jersey.
