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2009-2010 Young Artists
Donata Cucinotta, soprano Ms. Cucinotta is thrilled to be returning to Opera Colorado for the 2009-2010 Season. She began the 2008 season with her debut as Adele in Die Fledermaus at Amarillo Opera, as well as being invited back to perform several concerts with Opera New Jersey and Mabel in their touring production of The Pirates of Penzance. Other roles performed include Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Despina (Così fan tutte) and Fiametta (The Gondoliers) which was recorded on Albany Records with the Ohio Light Opera. Ms. Cucinotta completed her Master’s degree at Mannes College of Music. A former Resident Artist at Shreveport Opera, she was honored with the Audience Choice Award at the company’s Singer of the Year Competition. Other honors include Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Finalist, First Place at the NATS Eastern Regional and Empire State Vocal Competitions, and a finalist at the Classical Singer Competition, and an invitation to sing at Weil Recital Hall as a New Jersey Verismo Opera Competition Finalist. This season, she will be performing the roles of Masha (The Music Shop), Juliet (Romeo and Juliet), and Berta (The Barber of Seville, student matinee). Ms. Cucinotta will also be performing roles in some of Opera Colorado’s mainstage productions. She will perform the role of the Dance Muse in The Tales of Hoffmann, Berta in The Barber of Seville and the Shepherd Boy in Tosca.
Julia Tobiska, mezzo-soprano Ms. Tobiska recently portrayed Tisbe in Rossini’s La Cenerentola with The Opera Company of North Carolina and later returned for a third season as a Singer in Residence at the Virginia Arts Festival’s John Duffy Composers Institute where she performed an array of new works. She received her undergraduate degree from Western Washington University and her Masters Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder. In the fall of 2008, as part of the Mary Ragland Young Artists Program, she was seen with Nashville Opera as Princess Stephanie in Romberg’s The Student Prince and The Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors. She has been seen as Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice, and Third Lady in The Magic Flute. Musical theatre credits include The Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd, Hedy LaRue in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Petra in A Little Night Music, Bloody Mary in South Pacific and Antonia in Man of La Mancha. This season, she will be performing the roles of The Wife (The Music Shop), Stephano (Romeo and Juliet), and Rosina (The Barber of Seville, student matinee). Ms. Tobiska will also be performing roles in some of Opera Colorado’s mainstage productions. She will perform the role of the Music Muse in The Tales of Hoffmann.
Brendan Daly, tenor Mr. Daly has sung a wide range of roles on stages across the country, specializing in Mozart, the bel canto works of Rossini and Donizetti, and contemporary opera. As a 2009 Ensemble Artist with Opera Colorado, he appeared on the mainstage as Ferrando in Così fan tutte and toured the state as Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola and Ivan in The Music Shop. At the 2008 Aspen Music Festival, he collaborated with the composer Mason Bates and appeared as the central character in his new opera California Fictions. He was Almaviva in Boston Lyric Opera's 2007 The Barber of Seville tour, and in 2008 he sang Ernesto in Don Pasquale at Longwood Opera. A native of Atlanta, GA, Mr. Daly earned his BA from Harvard in Music and Romance Languages and Literatures before beginning vocal training at the Longy School of Music, where he received his master's degree in 2004. He has been a Tanglewood Fellow and recently completed the Young Artist Program with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. This season, he will be performing the roles of Ivan (The Music Shop), Romeo (Romeo and Juliet) and Almaviva (The Barber of Seville, student matinee). Mr. Daly will also be performing roles in some of Opera Colorado’s mainstage productions. He will sing the role of Nathaniel in The Tales of Hoffmann and Abrogio in The Barber of Seville.
Ted Federle, baritone Mr. Federle is excited to be making his debut with Opera Colorado Young Artists. In 2008, he attained his Master's in Music Voice Performance from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro under a full talent scholarship plus fellowship. In May of 2009, he made his mainstage debut with Greensboro Opera in The Trouble in Tahiti and understudying Ben in Menotti’s The Telephone. Other recent operatic performances include Papageno in The Magic Flute with the Janiec Opera Company, Guglielmo in Capital Opera's Così fan tutte and Kinesias in Mark Adamo's Lysistrata at the Seagle Music Colony. Mr. Federle has been gaining notoriety domestically and abroad through competitions such as the 2009 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, where he was awarded an Encouragement Award as well as being a recipient of a Sosenko Grant this year through the Anna Sosenko Assist Trust. His most recent orchestral work was a very successful production as the featured soloist in Carmina Burana under the baton of Keith Lockhart at the Brevard Music Center. This season, he will be performing the roles of Dimitri (The Music Shop), Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet) and Figaro (The Barber of Seville, student matinee). Mr. Federle will also be performing roles in some of Opera Colorado’s mainstage productions. He will sing the roles of Hermann in The Tales of Hoffmann and Fiorello in The Barber of Seville.
Alexander Scopino, bass Mr. Scopino is very excited to be a member of the Opera Colorado Young Artists program this season. A native of Westchester, NY, he was a resident artist with Tri-Cities Opera for three years where he performed Mephistopheles in Faust, Basilio in The Barber of Seville, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Zuniga in Carmen, and Friar Laurence and Gregorio in Romeo and Juliet. He has been a member of Caramoor Opera and Chautauqua Opera’s young artist programs. Mr. Scopino received his BA in voice from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music and his Master's from Binghamton University. He has performed with Taconic Opera in The Tales of Hoffmann (Crespel), The Barber of Seville (Basilio), and La bohème (Colline). He also performed the role of Morales in Carmen with Rimrock Opera. Comfortable with straight acting as well as singing, he recently had the opportunity to play the role of Oberon in Goodwill Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream under the direction of Rosemary Hay of the Royal Shakespeare Company. This season, he will be performing the roles of Capulet and Friar Lawrence (Romeo and Juliet) and Basilio (The Barber of Seville, student matinee). Mr. Scopino will also be performing roles in Opera Colorado’s mainstage productions. He will sing Wolfram and Schlémil in The Tales of Hoffmann, Basilio and the Officer in The Barber of Seville, and Angelotti and the Jailer in Tosca.
Steven Aguiló-Arbues, Opera Colorado Resident Accompanist Mr. Aguiló-Arbues, a native of Southern California, enjoys the various roles as a collaborative artist, recitalist, repetiteur, and voice coach. He holds a Bachelors of Music from the University of Colorado (Boulder) and a Masters of Music as well as a Professional Studies Certificate from the Manhattan School of Music in Vocal Accompanying. He has given solo and collaborative performances through out the United States, Peru, Spain and Italy. His love for opera has led him to coach and prepare productions such as Madama Butterfly, Don Giovanni, Les Dialogues des Carmelites, Il Tabarro, Gianni Schicchi, The Pearl Fishers, and Don Pasquale. He has also led and coached productions of A Chorus Line, Oklahoma!, and Anything Goes with companies like The Boulder Broadway Co. and Colorado Light Opera. Mr. Aguilo-Arbues has held the position of music director for Manhattan School of Music's Senior Opera Theater and prepared a production of Dido and Aeneas in collaboration with Dona D. Vaughn. He has also served on the coaching staffs of the Manhattan School of Music and Centro Studi Lirica (Italy) as well as the collaborative pianist faculty at the Metropolitan State College of Denver.