Rusalka
An opera in 3 acts
By Antonin DvoÅ™ák
October, 19, 2025, 2pm
Conductor
Stage Director
Artistic and General Director
Student Stage Manager
Jackson McKinnon *
Dennis Oliveira
Joseph Mayon
Carter Witas
Cast
Rusalka
Prince
Vodnik, a Water Spirit
Foreign Princess
Ježibaba, a Witch
1st Wood-sprite
2nd Wood-sprite
3rd Wood-sprite
Gamekeeper
Huntsman
Turnspit
Elizabeth Perryman
Joseph Mayon
Charles Schneider
Tara Jamshidian
Michelle Blauman *
Elizabeth Honer *
Gigi Lin *
Brittany Walker
Mathew Tartza
Allen Adair *
Alize Rozsnyai
Ensemble​
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Laura Ann Heckmann, Sarah Nalty *, Sydney Pérez *,
Lori Rohrs, Brittany Walker, Kelly Wenz
Tonight’s Program
Act I & II
20 Minute Intermission
Act III
Instrumentalists
Piano
Keyboard
Timpani
Ryan Bridge
Tristan Cano
Jeff Pines
Company Staff
Company Music Director
Company Stage Director
Administrative Director
Digital Media Coordinator
Outreach and Educational Coordinator
Richard Nechamkin
Dennis Oliveira
Anita Lyons
Michelle Tolentino
Kelly Wenz
* New Jersey Opera Theater Mainstage Debut
Synopsis
(As printed on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusalka_(opera)#Synopsis)
​
Act I
A meadow by the edge of a lake.
Three wood sprites tease the water goblin, Vodník, ruler of the lake. His daughter Rusalka, a water nymph, tells him that she has fallen in love with a human prince who
comes to hunt around the lake, and she wants to become human to embrace him. He tells her it is a bad idea, but nonetheless steers her to a witch, Ježibaba, for assistance. Rusalka sings her "Song to the Moon", asking it to tell the prince of her love. Ježibaba
tells Rusalka that, if she becomes human, she will lose the power of speech and immortality; moreover, if she does not find love with the prince, he will die and she will be eternally damned. Rusalka agrees to the terms and drinks a potion. The prince, hunting a white doe, finds Rusalka, embraces her, and leads her away, as her father
and sisters lament.
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Act II
The garden of the prince's castle
A gamekeeper and his nephew, the kitchen boy, note that the prince is to be married to a mute and nameless bride. They suspect witchcraft and doubt it will last, as the prince is already lavishing attentions on a foreign princess who is a wedding guest. The foreign
princess, jealous, curses the couple. The prince rejects Rusalka.
Act II cont.
Rusalka then goes back to the lake with her father the water goblin. Though she has now won the prince's affections, the foreign princess is disgusted by the prince's fickleness and betrayal and she scorns him, telling him to follow his rejected bride to Hell.
Act III
A meadow by the edge of a lake.
Rusalka returns to the lake and laments about her fate. She meets Ježibaba and asksfor a solution to her woes. Ježibaba gives her a knife and tells her that she can saveherself if she kills the prince with it. Rusalka rejects this, throwing the dagger into thelake. Rusalka becomes a will-o'-the-wisp, a spirit of death living in the depths of thelake, emerging only to lure humans to their deaths. The gamekeeper and the kitchenboy are worried about the deteriorating condition of the prince, and go to the lake inorder to get rid of Rusalka. They meet Ježibaba and lash out on Rusalka's betrayal, butare rebutted by the water goblin, who says that it was actually the prince that betrayedRusalka. The wood sprites mourn Rusalka's plight. The prince, searching for his whitedoe, comes to the lake, senses Rusalka, and calls for her. Rusalka appears and is nowable to speak to him. He asks her to kiss him, even knowing her kiss means death.They kiss and he dies; and the water goblin comments that all sacrifices are futile. Inher final song, Rusalka tells the prince, "For your love, for that beauty of yours, for yourinconstant human passion,
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​An avid opera conductor, Jackson currently is Music Director of Undergraduate Opera Theatre at Manhattan School of Music, leading the program through several mainstage productions (“Die Zauberflöte”, “L’incoronazione di Poppea”, “Fairy Queen”, “Princess Ida”). He was Music Director for City Lyric Opera in NYC for multiple seasons, spearheading the company through productions such as The Medium and the NYC premiere of Lori Laitman’s Uncovered. He has served as Music Director for Opera Maine’s Studio Artist Program, leading productions of Laura Kaminsky’s “As One”, Philip Glass’ “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Gareth Williams’ “Rocking Horse Winner”, and a rewritten orchestration of Ricky Ian Gordon’s “Rappahannock County”. Jackson has also been Assistant and Cover Conductor for the American Symphony Orchestra, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Opera Maine, Manhattan School of Music, Grafenegg Academy Orchestra, among others.
As chorus master, Jackson has prepared choruses in both operatic and symphonic repertoire on the international stage. He has prepared the Vienna State Opera Chorus (Krenek’s “Der Diktator”, Hindemith’s “Sancta Susanna” and “Mörder, Hoffunung der Frauen”), the Linz Landestheater Choruses (Strauss’ “Die Tageszeiten”, Szymanowski’s “Stabat Mater”), members of the Bard Festival Chorale (Vaughan Williams’ “Dona Nobis Pacem”), and Manhattan School of Music’s Graduate Opera Theatre Productions (Tobias Picker’s “Emmeline”, Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette”, Puccini’s “La Rondine”, DvoÅ™ak’s “Rusalka”, Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’Amore”, and Ibert’s “Angélique”).
Jackson’s passion for chamber music has led to performances across the United States as well as music festivals in Italy, Austria, Germany, and Czechia. Performances include Brahms’ Piano Trio No. 1a in B Major, Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 3 in E minor, DvoÅ™ak’s “Dumky” Trio, Brahms’ Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor and No. 2 in F Major, Mozart Violin Sonata No. 21 in E minor K. 304, and Copland’s Vitebsk Trio, to name a few. This passion has expanded into large scale concerti as well where he appeared as soloist with The Orchestra Now in Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 as well as conducting several concerti such as Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C Major, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, among others.
Jackson currently lives in Washington Heights in New York City where he serves as Music Director for Manhattan School of Music’s Undergraduate Opera Theatre and as Resident Chorus Master and Assistant Conductor for Manhattan School of Music’s Graduate Opera Theatre. He maintains a private piano and conducting studio when he isn’t exploring new recipes, cocktail bars, books, or keeping an active athletic life.
Jackson McKinnon – Conductor – American conductor Jackson McKinnon maintains an active domestic and international career as conductor, chorus master, pianist, and educator. Equally at home on the podium with repertoire both old and new, Jackson has discovered and premiered works from as early as the 16th Century to premiering and workshopping the new works of today.
He is the recipient of Taiwan’s Grammy equivalent, the 2025 Golden Melody Award, where he conducted for the recording of the “Best Art Music Album”, Blossom, by composer Apple Change. He has also worked with such composers as Pauline Oliveros, Lori Laitman, Ricky Ian Gordon, Philip Glass, Tobias Picker, Kyle Gann, and Nathalie Joachim.
Dennis Oliveira - Stage Director - is a current student at Columbia University's MFA Directing program. He is an alumnus of Florida State University’s Grad Opera Directing program, the Institute for American Musical Theatre, the Stella Adler Studio, and he holds his BFA in Acting from Montclair State University. He thanks his parents and his partner for their constant support of his work. Other directing credits include Norma, Die Walküre and Amahl and the Night Visitors (New Jersey Opera Theater), Drought (New York Theatre Festival), Mavra, The Magic Flute (Florida State Opera), and The Wild Party (Old Library Theatre).
Elizabeth Perryman – Rusalka, is delighted to be returning to New Jersey Opera Theater. She received her bachelor’s degree in music education from Eastern Illinois University, a master’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and professional studies diploma from Mannes School of Music. She completed three years of study at Louisiana State University toward a doctorate of musical arts. Ms. Perryman has appeared with Mid Ohio Opera, Bronx Opera, Chelsea Opera, Pensacola Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Amore Opera, Opera Brooklyn, Opera 691, BRAVO Alliance, Plainfield Symphony, New York Opera Alliance, New York Lyric Opera Theater, Green Mountain Mahler Festival Orchestra, and the Altamura Summer Festival. Ms. Perryman has been a three-time regional finalist with the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and has won the audience-choice award at the Altamura/Caruso International Competition. She was a finalist in the American Institute of Musical Studies Meistersinger competition, a semi-finalist in the Chicago Bel Canto competition, and she won first place in the Sigma Alpha Iota graduate performance awards. Some reviews of her performances include her performance
as the Mother in Hansel and Gretel with Bronx Opera: “Elizabeth Perryman’s interpretation of Gertrude, the mother, lived up to every expectation in terms of vocal flair. However, it was her acting ability that truly shined, simultaneously able to portray an aggravated old shrew and a deeply concerned parent.” A reviewer speaks of her Amelia with Amore Opera’s Un Ballo in Maschera: “Elizabeth Perryman’s impassioned outbursts were quite striking. Ms. Perryman sang with abundant tone and emotional fervor. She used her vocal gifts with clarity and precision. Ms. Perryman made this reviewer a merryman with her truly outstanding performance.” Ms. Perryman has sung the soprano solos in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Mozart’s C Minor Mass with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Newark Basilica Cathedral Choir. Ms. Perryman teaches voice to students to all levels as an adjunct voice professor at Wagner College to elementary music in North Brunswick, New Jersey. She is a soprano section leader at the Newark Cathedral Basilica. Elizabeth sang Sieglinde in Die Walküre with the Green Mountain Mahler Festival in Vermont and Brunnhilde in Die Walküre in the summer of 2024 at UCPAC. A review of her Brunnhilde included: “This demanding role suits Elizabeth Perryman, to which she brings an unusually beautiful voice.” Ms. Perryman sang excerpts this season from Andrea Chénier with the Vermont Philharmonic. From a review, “In excerpts from Andrea Chénier with Vermont Philharmonic, Perryman delivered with fine warmth and color all the emotion and then some.” From a review of her Coronation Mass solos “Ms. Perryman’s effortless, radiant, and graceful tone left the room in awe.” Ms. Perryman teaches elementary music in North Brunswick, New Jersey and is an adjunct voice teacher at Wagner College. This season, Ms. Perryman looks forward to singing the Verdi Requiem Soprano Solos with Summit Chorale, Beethoven Mass in C Soprano Solos with Oratorio Society of New Jersey, and Mozart’s C Minor Mass Solos with St. Joseph’s concert series in Bronxville, NY.
Joseph Mayon – Prince – Tenor Joseph Mayon has performed in opera, concerts, oratorios, recitals, and musical theater internationally and throughout the United States. A Rahway, NJ resident and Louisiana native, Mayon attended Interlochen Arts Academy, Louisiana State University, University of Denver, and Brooklyn College Conservatory. Mayon has performed with New Jersey Opera Theater, Taconic Opera, Rome Festival Opera, Hudson Opera Theater, New York Dramatic Voices, TUNDI’s Wagner in Vermont Festival, New York Opera Forum, West Side Opera, Underworld Opera, Harmony Project NYC, and Vera Musica. Roles include Siegmund (Die Walküre), Florestan (Fidelio), Parsifal (Parsifal Act 2), Pollione (Norma), Siegfried (Götterdämmerung Prologue), Luigi (Il Tabarro), Idomeneo (Idomeneo), Carlo (Giovanna D’Arco), & Loge (Das Rheingold). Upcoming performances include Siegfried in Siegfried in New Jersey Opera Theater’s production in May of 2026. Mayon is the Founder and Artistic Director of New Jersey Opera
Theater at the Union County Performing Arts Center. He is also the founder of The Mayon School of Performing Arts, LLC, teaching musical theater after school programs and private voice.
Charles Schneider – Vodnik - New Jersey native baritone Charles Schneider has performed more than 30 operatic roles throughout the country since his professional debut (La Traviata) in the summer of 1999. Some of his favorite roles include: Figaro (The Barber of Seville), Conte du Luna (Il Trovatore), and Schaunard (La Boheme). In Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus with Boheme Opera NJ, he was hailed as a “flawless baritone“ in his “charmingly malicious portrayal of Dr. Falke” (Toby Grace, Out in Jersey). Most recently Charles performed his first Wagnerian role, Wotan (Die Walküre), under the baton of Hugh Keelan with New Jersey Opera Theater. The Wagner Journal UK described his Wotan as: powerful...he was 'to the manner born' for this extremely demanding assignment. The elements of a commanding Lord of Valhalla are all present in his attractive, well-produced Heldonbaritone. Finishing up the 2024/25 opera season, Charles performed the roles of Ferrando (Il Trovatore) Boheme Opera NJ, Germont (La Traviata) NJ Opera Theater and also making his Tundi Productions debut as Der Wanderer (Siegfried).
Outside of the world of opera, Charles spends his days on the voice faculty of Rider University, where he has been on staff in the Musical Theater Department for the past fifteen years. He is also the director of the Covenant Choir at Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church in
Tara Jamshidian – Foreign Princess – Soprano Tara Jamshidian recently performed the title role in Tosca with Regina Opera. She also appeared as Gerhilde in Die Walküre with New Jersey Opera Theater, a performance that earned her recognition in The Wagner Journal. Tara was selected to sing Cio-Cio-San in a concert presentation of Madama Butterfly with the Metropolitan Opera Guild, and joined Heartbeat Opera in New York City for a concert of selections from Tosca. She returns to New Jersey Opera Theater in 2026 to take on the role of Brünnhilde in Wagner’s Siegfried, and will revisit the role of Tosca again this November with the Somerset Symphony Orchestra.
In concert, Tara has portrayed Sieglinde in Act I of Die Walküre with the Boston Wagner Society. Her repertoire reflects a strong affinity for both the German and Italian spinto-dramatic canon, including roles in Il Tabarro, Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly, Simon Boccanegra, and Tosca, which she has also sung at the Natchez Festival of Music. A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, Tara has been recognized in several major competitions. She was a
semifinalist in the Premiere Opera Foundation Competition and a finalist in NYIOP’s Anonymous Audition Project (German repertoire), New Hampshire Opera Idol, MIOpera International Vocal Competition, and the SAS Performing Arts Company Competition.
Michelle Blauman - Ježibaba, a Witch - Described as possessing a “…sultry mezzo tone…” (Opera News), American mezzo soprano, Michelle Blauman, is establishing herself as a versatile emerging artist. Ms. Blauman is making her New Jersey Opera Theater debut in this production. In 2025 Ms. Blauman performed the role of Carmen (Carmen) with Opera Palisades. In 2024 and 2025 Ms. Blauman returned as a Principal Artist with New York Opera Forum. She performed the roles of Dalila (Samson et Dalila), Waltraute (Götterdämmerung), Principessa (Adriana Lecouvreur), and Ulrica (Un Ballo in Maschera).
In 2023 and 2024 Ms. Blauman was a Principal Artist with Opera Steamboat. She performed the roles of Marjorie Perry, in the world premier of Welcome to the Madness by Leanna Kirchoff and Zita (Gianni Schicchi). Ms. Blauman premiered the role of Alice Paul, from a new composition Forward Into Light by Stephen Variames. For the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Ms. Blauman was a Studio Artist with Sarasota Opera. During her tenure there she performed the role of Giovanna (Rigoletto) and covered the roles of
Maddalena/Countess Ceprano (Rigoletto), Afra (La Wally) and Gertrude (Roméo et Juliette). Ms. Blauman’s recent performance credits include La Principessa (Suor Angelica), Czipra (Der Zigeunerbaron), Mrs. McClean (Susannah), The Mother (A Childhood Miracle), Cantadora (La Verbena de la Paloma), Dame Quickly (Falstaff), the Voice of Antonia’s Mother (Erzählungen), Nancy (Martha), Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Dido (Dido and Aeneas), Olga Olsen (Street Scene), and the Mother/Dragonfly (L’enfant et les Sortilege). From 2016 to 2018, Ms. Blauman was awarded a scholarship to undertake a Masters of Music at the Manhattan School of Music, New York. In addition to being a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, Ms. Blauman holds a degree from Pacific Lutheran University, WA, where she was awarded the Mary Baker Russell Music Scholarship. Ms. Blauman grew up in Wenatchee, WA but currently resides in New York City.
Elizabeth Honer - 1st Wood-sprite – Soprano Elizabeth Honer received both her Bachelor of Arts and her Master of Music degrees from Northern Arizona University. She has performed diverse roles in both opera and musical theater. Ms. Honer has appeared with the American Singers Opera Project, the Summer Opera Theatre Company in Washington DC, the Bronx Opera concert series, and the Szabó Chamber Music Society. She has sung the roles of the Queen of the Night, Zerbinetta, Fiordiligi, and Silverpeal. In musical theater, she has performed the roles of Ms. Hannigan, The Witch (from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), The Witch (from Into the Woods), Lucy, and Desiree Armfeldt. Currently, Ms. Honer is the soprano section leader at First Congregational Church of Montclair. She is also a freelance animator and virtual reality artist. In 2023, she hosted an international animated film festival in virtual reality. Elizabeth’s freelance animation work for independent filmmaker Cara Perlman was projected on several buildings in NYC in 2019, including the Guggenheim. Ms. Honer is passionate about bringing her love of music into cutting-edge technology, and finding new ways to perform and experience the arts. This production is Ms. Honer’s debut performance with New Jersey Opera Theater.
Gigi Lin – 2nd Wood-sprite - is a soprano, actor, and visual artist based in New York City. She is delighted to be making her New Jersey Opera Theater debut this afternoon. Most recently, she was seen in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld with Lyric Opera of Orange County as Cupid, and as 2nd Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with New York Opera Forum. In the 2024-2025 season, Gigi made her role debut as Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale with Taconic Opera as well as Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen at the historic Tarrytown Music Hall alongside Taconic Opera’s main season. Since her operatic debut in 2022, her credits include Poussette (Manon), Naiad (Ariadne auf Naxos), Giannetta (L’elisir d’amore), Suor Osmina/Lay Sister (Suor Angelica), and in scenes as Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) and Contessa (Le nozze di Figaro.) Gigi is currently in her graduate studies at New York University.
Brittany Walker – 3rd Wood-sprite / Ježibaba Cover – Brittany Walker is a Mezzo-Soprano and a Speech-Language Pathologist currently based in upstate New York. Previous roles have included Siegrune, Grimgerde and Schwertleite in Die Walküre with Manhattan Opera Studio, New York Dramatic Voices, New Jersey Opera Theater, and Dramatic Voices Berlin, Ruth in Dark Sisters by Muhly with Miami Music Festival, and La Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica with Greater Worcester Opera. She has also performed as Ruth (Pirates of Penzance) and Dame Carruthers (Yeomen of the Guard) with Ridgewood Gilbert & Sullivan, Klytaemnestra (cover) and Erste Magd in Elektra with Dramatic Voices Berlin, Erste Norn and Flosshilde in Götterdämmerung with New York Opera Forum, and she was a member of the ensemble in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta with Yale University. Later this season she will be reprising her role as Mercédès in Carmen with Palisades Opera in November.
Mathew Tartza – Gamekeeper / Prince Cover - Mathew Tartza is a tenor and music teacher in Central and Northern New Jersey. A graduate of Kean University with a degree in Music Performance, he has sung Gastone in La Traviata with New Jersey Opera Theater, Remendado in Carmen and King Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors with Boheme Opera NJ and with New Jersey Opera Theater, and Alfred in Die Fledermaus with Light Opera of New Jersey. He has also sung Monostatos in The Magic Flute, Beadle Bamford in Sweeney Todd, Ruiz/Messenger in Il Trovatore, the Registrar in Madama Butterfly, and was the tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem and Mendelssohn’s Elijah,
Allen Adair – Huntsman / Vodnik Cover - Allen Adair is a bass-baritone, tuba player, and piano technician born and raised in Colorado. He holds music degrees in Vocal Performance from the University of Northern Colorado and Carnegie Mellon University. Mr. Adair has been working as a freelance vocalist across the country and has performed with ensembles such as Inland Northwest Opera (Spokane, WA), Roswell Symphony (NM), Opera Colorado, and many more. Recent performances of his include performing as Quinault in Adriana Lecouvreur with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, and singing the role of Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette at the Quisisana Resort. Mr. Adair currently resides in Philadelphia working as a piano technician and freelance vocalist. Upcoming engagements of his include singing the role of Henry in The Gift of the Magi with Delaware Valley Opera Company, performing the role of Uberto in La serva padrona with Garden State Opera, and being a young artist with Opera on the James in the spring of 2026.
Alize Francheska Rozsnyai – Turnspit / 1st Wood-sprite Cover – Alize Francheska Rozsnyai is a soprano graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music “displaying profound imagination and control” (Philadelphia Inquirer). Alize's recent engagements include her role debut in Carmen as Frasquita, directed by Stefano Koroneos with Boheme Opera Company New Jersey, joining St. Petersburg Opera as an Emerging Artist covering the role of Morgana in Handel's Alcina, and creating multiple roles including Minerva and Cookie in Experiments in Opera's Five Ways To Die, in which she is a part of the project through all workshopping phases, and the World Premiere, and making her debut with Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra of Los Angles in repertoire by Schoenberg and Nina Shekhar. She portrayed the role of Rivka in the World Premiere of Misha Dutka's Liebovar with Boheme Opera NJ, and was, the Soprano Soloist in Joseph Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne with New City Sinfonia San Diego, soloist in Der Durchzug durchs Rote
Meer, S. 33 a rare Oratorio by Johann Nepomuk Hummel, the role of Evelyn Hutchinson in Silk City with Garden State Opera, and Serpina in Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona with Hub City Opera Company. A frequent artist with Hub City Opera, she returns for the roles of Heather in her very own (as librettist) Phony, a satirical opera which chronicles smartphone addiction, music by David Brown, and her adaptation of Bach's Coffee Cantata, and Ivy Sweet in The Cook-Off by Shawn E. Okpebholo in 2025. She continues 2025 as Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata in her company debut with New Jersey Opera Theatre, and making her role debut as Zerbinetta in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos at the Trentino Music Festival, under the baton of Arthur Fagan and stage direction by David Gately, as well as a return to one of her favorite roles, Morgana in Handel’s Alcina, conducted by Neal Goren and directed by José Maria Condemi. Other recent performances include a debut with Opera Fayetteville as Zina in Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters, Phyllis in Iolanthe at the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Harrogate, England, returning after portraying Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, the world premiere and recording of Will Brobston’s Woven Images with ENA Ensemble, and the lead role of Zohara in the world premiere of Meira Warshauer’s opera Elijah’s Violin at the Presidio of San Francisco, performing a virtually streamed concert with Beth Morrison Projects at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, for the Next Gen series, and Morgana in Handel's Alcina REVAMPED with Alter Ego Chamber Opera/Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Alize’s concert performances include performing for George Crumb himself in October of 2019, for his 90th birthday at the Annenberg Center, in Apparition, Soprano Solos in Carmina Burana, her debut with the Cape Cod Symphony, at Carnegie Hall as soprano soloist in Berio’s Sinfonia, and the Kennedy Center Schonberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, set to her original English adaptation, with the Curtis 20/21, Königin der Nacht with Den Nye Oper, in Bergen, Norway. Alize performed the Soprano Solos with in Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert, a stylistic fusion of opera and jazz, to open the Wilmington Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, and guest recitalist in Saigon’s Performance Complex at the Soul Music and Performing Arts Academy in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. A sought after interpreter of new music and atonal works, Ms. Rozsnyai covered the Title Role in the World Premiere of Louis Karchin’s Jane Eyre with the Center for Contemporary Opera, created the role of Andy #1, in Andy: A Popera, world premiere with Opera Philadelphia, and reprising with the Seattle Symphony [Untitled 3] Series, helped to create several roles including Lila in Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain, and Silvana in Missy Mazzoli’s A Flourish of Green workshop with Opera Philadelphia. Other favorite operatic highlights include Delia in Il Viaggio a Reims with the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. Ms. Rozsnyai received accolades from many prestigious competitions such as First Place and Grand Prize Winner in the Musical Merit Foundation of Greater San Diego, First Place POSA Competition, Career Bridges Grant,Winner, Semi-Finalist, Lotte Lenya Competition, Semi-Finalist American Traditions Competition, Early Music America, Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship, Musical Merit Foundation of Greater San Diego, Lois Alba Aria Competition, and is a recipient of a Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship in Voice. Alize is pleased to be represented by Wade Artist Management.
Sarah Nalty – Ensemble / Rusalka Cover - Soprano Sarah Nalty is an adventurous performer whose eclectic repertoire ranges from French Baroque to Yiddish operetta. Her recent highlights include Stella (cover) in Viardot’s Le dernier sorcier at Bard Music Festival, and her Hudson Hall debut in a work-in-progress performance of American Terror, a new opera by Jeffrey Lependorf. From 2022-2024, she was a member of the Graduate Vocal Arts Program at Bard Conservatory, where she performed Rosa in Shir Hashirim with the YIVO Institute, Minerve in Orphée aux enfers, and Saariaho’s From the Grammar of Dreams at Bard’s annual Kurtág Festival. Other operatic highlights include scenes performances as Contessa (Le nozze di Figaro) and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) at Bard, and Elle in La voix humaine at New England Conservatory. An avid recitalist, Sarah often programs under-performed works from the Eastern European canon, and has performed Liederabende in the Hudson Valley, Boston, Ann Arbor, and Graz, Austria. In 2019, she was recognized with the Harold Heiberg Liedersänger Preis at AIMS in Graz for her German Lieder interpretations.
Sydney Pérez – Ensemble / Turnspit Cover – Mexican-American soprano Sydney Pérez is a recent graduate from the Longy School of Music of Bard College with a Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance. Last season, she made her Boston Lyric Opera debut in their production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel and her New Jersey debut in Opera Golightly’s production of Weill’s Down in the Valley. She also joined the Civic Chorale of New Jersey as one of their featured Sonaré Young Artists in her Carnegie Hall debut, serving as a rehearsal soprano soloist and performing in Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de Dominica under the baton of Maestro Marios Papadopoulos and the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra. Her recent role highlights include The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Merécdès in Carmen, the title role in Princess Ida, Gertrud in Hänsel und Gretel, Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito, and El Duende in Maria de Buenos Aires.
Lori Rohrs – Ensemble / Foreign Princess Cover – Lori has performed with American and European orchestras to critical acclaim. Her powerful voice was identified by the Fresno Bee, in the World Premier of the Sisters of Manzanar: “Rohrs, as the younger sister, was strong and sure in the role, and her diction was clear and precise clear to the back of the [3,000 seat theater].” As an actor-singer, Ms. Rohrs’ was praised by Opera News for her performance at Lincoln Center: “Standouts. . . included Lori Rohrs, exuberantly funny as Zita in Schicchi.” Upcoming roles include, among others, Maddalena in Andrea Chénier and a return to the roles of Donna Anna and Turandot. Beyond her many premiers of contemporary operas, past seasons have included the title roles in Aida, Ariadne auf Naxos, Suor Angelica, Turandot and Fidelio, Brünnhilde and Third Norn (Götterdämmerung), Sieglinde, Helmwige, Gerhilde and Siegrune (Die Walküre), Elettra (Idomeneo), Mother and Witch (Hansel and Gretel), Elisabetta (Don Carlo), Alice Ford (Falstaff), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Madama Altina (La Divina), Elisabetta (Roberto Devereux), Vitellia (La Clemenza di Tito), Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier), Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana), Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera) and Kundry (Parsifal).