About the Festival
Charles Abramovic
(Piano/Concordia Chamber Players) has won critical acclaim for his international performances as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborator with leading instrumentalists and singers. Mr. Abramovic performs regularly with such artists as Midori, Sarah Chang, Robert McDuffie, Viktoria Mullova, Kim Kashkashian and Jeffrey Khaner.
Brett Algaier
(Camembert/Mirette) A junior Voice Performance major studying voice with Elem Eley. Recent credits include Westminster Choir College Productions of L’enfant et les sortileges (L’horloge comtoise), Oklahoma (Cord Elam), The Music Man (men’s ensemble), and Carmen (Chorus) with Princeton Festival
Maria Alu
(Madame Gateau/Mirette, Musetta cover/La Boheme) Previous Princeton Festival appearances: Laetitia (The Old Maid & The Thief 2006), Johanna cover (Sweeney Todd 2005). Additional Credits: The Queen of the Night, Opera San Jose; Frasquita (Carmen), Center City Opera Theater; Annina (La Traviata), Utah Symphony & Opera; Musetta, Longwood Opera. MariaAlu. com.
Nathan Brewer
(Director/Mirette) Nathan Brewer, Founder and Artistic Director of The Westminster Conservatory Actors Company, Former Teaching Artist for Rosie’s Broadway Kids, director of high school musicals in Arizona, Pennsylvania, and New York City. Other directing and AD credits at TheatreworksUSA, Hedgerow Theatre, Cherry Lane Theatre, Producer’s Club, Manhattan Theatre Source.
Stephen Bryant
(Colline/La Bohème) Bass-baritone. San Francisco Opera, Bonze, Madama Butterfly, Claggart (cover), Billy Budd. New York City Opera, Robert Gonzales, Harvey Milk. Santa Fe Opera, Indiana Elliot’s brother, The Mother of Us All. Mobile Opera, Leporello, Don Giovanni. Berkshire Opera, Don Alfonso, Cosi fan tutte. Madison Opera, Figaro, Le nozze di Figaro. World premiere of Dante in Marco Polo by Tan Dun.
Jason Budd
(Benoit/Alcindoro/La Bohème) Bass-baritone. Michigan Opera Theatre, Bartolo, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Montfleury, Cyrano (world premier). Cedar Rapids Grand Opera, Dulcamara, L’elisir d’amore. Orlando Opera, Bonze, Madama Butterfly, title role, Gianni Schicchi, Major General, Pirates of Penzance. In 2008, Syracuse Opera, title role, Don Pasquale.Orlando Opera, Frank, Die Fledermaus.
Matthew Campbell
(Set Design/Mirette) Off-Broadway: Missing Celia Rose (SPF: Beckett Theatre); Local credits: Underneath the Lintel, Solo Flight Festival 2008 (Passage Theatre), Tilt Angel (NJ Repertory Company), Know Dog (Luna Stage).
Adam Diegel
(Rodolfo/ La Bohème) was a national finalist in the 2003 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Title role in Candide with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Baobab/Hunter in Portman’s The Little Prince Tulsa Opera, Elder Hayes in Susannah Virginia Opera, world première of Thomas Pasatieri’s Frau Margot Ft. Worth Opera.
Michelle Djokic
(Artistic Dirctor, Violoncello/ Concordia Chamber Players) Associate principal cellist for the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra from 2005 to 2007. Philadelphia Orchestra debut at age thirteen. Past engagements include principal cellist of the Denver Symphony, The Aspen Festival Orchestra.
Susan Landis Eley
(Mme.Rouspenskaya/ Mirette) holds degrees from Indiana University and TCNJ. Roles in her repertoire include Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) and Countess (Marriage of Figaro). Past appearances: NJ Opera Theater (Pirates of Penzance, Die Zauberflöte, Romeo et Juliette), NJ MasterChorale, Indiana University, Opera Festival of NJ. www.susanlandiseley.com.
Nicolle Foland
(Mimi/ La Bohème) San Francisco Opera, Musetta, La Bohème, Countess, Le nozze di Figaro, Donna Anna, Don Giovanni, Micaela, Carmen, Tatiana, Eugene Onegin, Rosalinde, Die Fledermaus, Freia, Das Rheingold. New York City Opera, Kitty Hart, Dead Man Walking (premier). Los Angeles Opera, First Lady, Die Zauberflöte. Lyric Opera of Chicago
Carolina Gamboa-Hoyos
(Chorus Master/La Bohème) Princeton University: Glee Club, Assistant Conductor; Library Assistant, Rare Books (Firestone Library). Doctoral Candidate in Choral Conducting, Indiana University. Conducted several choirs at Indiana University, Indianapolis, and Bogotá (Colombia). Faculty appointments in Universidad de los Andes, Javeriana, and Pedagógica Nacional (Colombia).
Dawn Golding (Children’s Chorus Master/La Bohème ) Teacher, general music and chorus, Barley Sheaf Elementary School (Flemington, NJ). Director, Rutgers Children’s Choir. Guest conductor, 2007 NJMEA Elementary Honor Choir. Bachelor of music education, Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. Masters of Music, Ithaca College.
Benny Gomes (Lighting Designer/ La Bohème ), Over 300 productions in Trinidad and Tobago, his native country, and across the Caribbean, Venezuela, the Czech Republic, Germany and the US. Credits include 9 premieres of Derek Walcott’s plays, Sweeney Todd, Carmen (Princeton Festival,) Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi (Illinois Opera Company).
Rodney Green
(Drums/Mulgrew Miller Trio)Drummer Rodney Green started playing in church, and only began formal training at 14. He rapidly absorbed the Philadelphia jazz scene, and by 17 was already developing a serious reputation. Today he is a leader on his own and the drummer of choice in many groups in New York and beyond.
Marcelo Guzzo
(Marcello/La Bohème) Made his operatic debut in 1995 under the baton of Maestro Piero Gamba in Montevideo. He has performed at the Theater Rosetum in Milan; the Regio di Torino; Theatre Colon in Buenos Aires, and the Theatre Solis in Uruguay, among others. Marcelo has also appeared at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in South Carolina and performed numerous concerts in Spain, France and Italy.
Brad Harris
(Tabac/Mirette) Pursuing his MFA at the Actor’s Studio at Pace University. At Baylor University Brad appeared as El Gallo in The Fantasticks, Gordon in A New Brain, Simon Stimson in Our Town, and a self written and produced one man cabaret show.
Matthew Hayward
(Schaunard/ La Bohème) Baritone. Michigan Opera Theatre, Marquis de Brisaille, Cyrano (world premiere), Figaro, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Papageno, Die Zauberflöte, Sam , Trouble in Tahiti, Tom/John,The Face on the Barroom Floor, Maximilian , Candide, Mr. Gedge, Albert Herring. In 2008, Baltimore Opera, Gregorio, Roméo et Juliette. Washington East Opera, Count, Le nozze di Figaro.Skagit Opera, Marcello, La Bohème.
Ben Houghton
(Clouk/Mirette) is a rising junior at Westminster Choir College of Rider University as a Music Theater and Piano Major. He has been a part of Westminster and Rider productions including Oklahoma, Sweet Charity, Les Miserables, The Music Man, and The Baker’s Wife.
Frank Huang (Violin/Concordia Chamber Players) First Prize Winner of the 2003 Walter W. Naumburg Foundation’s Violin Competition and the 2000 Hannover International Violin Competition, Frank Huang has now embarked on a major career as a violin virtuoso. At the age of eleven he performed with the Houston Symphony Orchestra in a nationally broadcast concert and has since performed with orchestras throughout the world
Righteous Jolly
(Bellini/Mirette) Trained at Circle in the Square Theatre Conservatory ’03. He has been seen on stage regionally, in NY, as well as locally. Last seen on stage in The Princeton Festival’s Sweeney Todd. Righteous is the star of the award winning Film “Gemini Rising”, which can be seen playing at festivals across the Country. Also The Frontman of the Rock Band “SYRRAH”.
Peter Kauzmann
(Max/Mirette) Peter has been involved in local theater for 40 years. He appeared last season in The Princeton Festival's production of Man of La Mancha. Favorite roles have been Jack Chesney in “Where’s Charlie?, The Scarecrow in Wizard of Oz, and The Boy in The Fantasticks.
Marilyn Keiser
(Organ/Organ Concert) performs in recitals and orchestral concerts around the world and is a professor of music at Indiana University where she teaches courses in sacred music and applied organ. She has been heard in performance on National Public Radio and has recorded for Loft Recordings (Music of Paris in the 1920s and 1930s) and Pro Organo (The People Respond—Amen).
Yoon Kwon
(Violin/Concordia Chamber Players)The youngest first violinist of the MET Orchestra, she has performed as soloist with the Cologne Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Vancouver, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, New Jersey, and St. Louis symphonies. An avid chamber musician, she has performed at the festivals of Marlboro,and Tanglewood and is a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two.
Steven LaCosse
(Director/La Bohème) Director Madama Butterfly, Carmen for The Princeton Festival. Recent projects include Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Dvorak’s The Devil and Kate, and the southeastern premiere of Ned Rorem’s Our Town. He is the Managing Director for the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at the North Carolina School of the Arts.
Taotao Liu
(Répétiteur/Mirette) Taotao Liu attends Princeton University studying mathematics with a certificate in collaborative piano. Past credits: continuo and rehearsal pianist for The Marriage of Figaro; recital with baritone Adam Fox; conducted Ravel's Pavane pour une infante défunte; accompanied john & jen, A New Brain, Nunsense.
Amanda Miller (Wig and Makeup Design/La Bohème) Partial client list: Brooklyn Academy of Music, Mannes School of Music, the Pearl Theatre Company, NBC Studios: Saturday Night Live, David Blaine Productions, Curtis Institute of Music, The Princeton Festival, Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart Festival, Metropolitan Opera Company, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Boston Lyric Opera.
Marie Miller
(Costumer/La Bohème/ Mirette) Costume Curator, McCarter Theatre for over 20 years. Designer/ Costumer, Opera Festival of NJ for 10 years. Princeton Festival designs: Sweeney Todd, The Old Maid and the Thief, Man of La Mancha. McCarter designs: The Boys Next Door (world premiere), The Middle Ages. OFNJ designs: The Lighthouse, Turn of the Screw.
Mulgrew Miller
(Piano/Mulgrew Miller Trio) Mulgrew Miller appears all over the world as a jazz pianist, and can often be heard in New York. He is surely one of the most widely recorded artists on the jazz scene today and is active in jazz education. He is the current Director of the Jazz Studies Program at William Patterson University.
Robert Rinehart
(Viola/Concordia Chamber Players)Robert Rinehart joined the New York Philharmonic’s viola section in September 1992. As a founding member of the Ridge String quartet, be toured extensively in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America beginning in 1979. The quartet was featured on all of New York’s major chamber music series as well as the Spoleto, Schleswig-Holstein and Helsinki festivals.
Jared Salwen
(Parpignol/La Bohème) is currently a student of Westminster Choir College where he studies with Mark Moliterno. Jared recently sang the role of Joseph in La Traviata, and has sung the role of the customs guard in La Boheme while singing with Boheme Opera New Jersey.
Lynda Saponara
(Répétiteur, Coach/La Bohème). AIMS in Graz (Austria), Megremis Studios (NYC), Opera at Florham, Opera Festival of NJ. Master Classes: Paul Plishka, Bodo Igesz, John Corigliano. Former faculty: The College of NJ, New Jersey City University, Wagner College. DMA., MM Rutgers; BM Westminster Choir College.
Reed Schmidt
(Mirette/Mirette) Young Cosette, Les Miserables; Maryke, Miracle on 34th Street; Ensemble, Beauty and the Beast; Zuzu Bailey, It’s A Wonderful Life; Grace Smythe, A Christmas Carole; The Music Man; Tessie, Annie Jr.; Seussical; Marta Von Trapp, The Sound of Music.
Stella
(Musetta’s Dog/La Bohème) Stella is making her debut performance on the McCarter stage. Originally from Belgium, this Brussels Griffon's ancestral roots are in the acting profession, having appeared in the movie, As Good as it Gets in the challenging role of Verdell. Stella's day job is as a therapy dog for residents and employees at Stonebridge at Montgomery.
Richard Tang Yuk
(Artistic Director/The Princeton Festival; Conductor/La Bohème) Sweeney Todd, Madama Butterfly, Carmen for The Princeton Festival, Carmen, Die Zauberflöte for Opera Festival of New Jersey. Devils of Loudon, Rigoletto, Bartered Bride, IU Opera Theater; Messiah at Lincoln Center; Music faculty, Princeton University.
Jennifer Tao
(Adjudicator/Piano Competition) Performances in Europe: Philharmonic Hall in Lublin, Poland, the Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw. In the United States: Merkin Hall, Weill Hall at Carnegie Recital, Lincoln Center. In Singapore Esplanade Theatre . Prizewinner Maryland International Piano Competition, New York Young Artists in Recital. Recordings: Centaur, Eroica.
Ivan Taylor
(Bass/Mulgrew Miller Trio)
The Chicago native was a star performer at the 2002 Essentially Ellington competition before enrolling at Juilliard. In addition to touring with Mulgrew Miller, he plays with Soul Cycle, the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, and studies with Ron Carter.
Elizabeth Wolff
(Adjudicator/Piano Competition) Director Music at Lake Willoughby, Co-Director CMR- Vassar; Pro Musicis International Award, Belsky Music Award, Music La Gesse Fellowship, Jerome Foundation; master classes/ performances/ faculties/ Hunter, SUNY/ Purchase, NYU; presentations College Music Society, World Piano Pedagogy Conference, Piano Teachers Congress Juilliard MS.
Rachel Zatcoff
(Claire/Mirette)Stella, Les Contes D’Hoffmann; Virgin, Athalia; Wife #3, Moscow Cheryomushki; Dodo (Grisette), Die Lustige Witwe; Chorus, Street Scene - Opera at Rutgers. Daniel Ferro Vocal Program (Tuscany, Italy - Summer ‘07). Vocal Performance major at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers.
Jennifer Zetlan
(Musetta/La Bohème) MET Opera, 2nd French Actress, War and Peace. New York City Opera, Frasquita, Carmen, Zerlina (cover), Don Giovanni, La Fée (cover), Cendrillon, Nanetta (cover), Falstaff. Juilliard School, Diana, La Calisto, Tytania, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Aspen Music Festival, Vixen, The Cunning Little Vixen. In 2008, MET, 1st Madrigal Singer (cover), Manon Lescaut, Juilliard Opera Center, Emily, Our Town.