A Downfall of Biblical Proportions

Recent engagements for Puerto Rican tenor Rafael Dávila include his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Carmen (Don José), Manon Lescaut (Des Grieux) for San Francisco Opera, Liceu de Barcelona and Opera de Valencia, the world-premiere of Jimmy Lopez’s Bel Canto for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci at the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli and the Macerata Festival in Italy, Aida for Valencia, and his debut at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg in a Zarzuela Gala Concert. In the 2021-22 Season, he performed in Tosca (Cavaradossi) with Opera Colorado, Turandot (Calàf) for the Evansville Philharmonic, Carmen (Don José) for Opera de Puerto Rico opposite Puerto Rican diva Ana Maria Martinez, and returned to the Metropolitan Opera for productions of Tosca and Don Carlos. His engagements in the 2022-23 Season include a return to Sarasota Opera for Ernani, the Metropolitan Opera for Don Carlo, a new production of Cherubini’s Medea, Pagliacci for the Pittsburgh Festival Opera, and Tosca with Opera Memphis. Rafael has appeared in Los Gavilanes, Luisa Fernanda, Maria La O, Cecilia Valdés, and El Huesped del Sevillano. He has been nominated two times at the Grammy Awards for the recordings of Ariel Ramírez’s Misa Criolla and Rafael Hernández’s operetta Cofresi.

Katharine Goeldner’s unique gifts have taken her to stages and concert platforms throughout the U.S. and Europe in an astonishing range of repertory. Katharine’s performances in recent seasons include Samson and Delilah (Dalilah) at Virginia Opera; Das Rheingold (Fricka) at Minnesota Opera; Der Rosenkavalier (Annina) at The Metropolitan Opera; Salome (Herodias) with the Minnesota Orchestra, Tulsa Opera, and at Bard College; Eugene Onegin (Madam Larina) at the Santa Fe Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago; Die tote Stadt (Brigitta) in Toulouse; and Le nozze di Figaro (Marcellina) at the Dutch National Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago; and Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael Korie’s The Grapes of Wrath (Ma Joad) at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. She created the role of Jackie Onassis in JFK at Fort Worth Opera and later at Opéra de Montreal. An Iowa native, Katharine studied at Salzburg’s Mozarteum.

Panamanian-American baritone Nmon Ford’s recent highlights include his exceptionally reviewed performances as Don Giovanni at Dorset Festival Opera in the UK, and in the new Metropolitan Opera production of Porgy & Bess (Crown) in which he appeared at London’s English National Opera and at Dutch National Opera in The Netherlands. In Denver, he joined Opera Colorado’s Carmen (Escamillo), a role he also sang at Calgary Opera in Canada and in London at English National Opera. Recent career highlights include Salome (Jochanaan) with Patricia Racette at Pittsburgh Opera, Fidelio (Don Pizzaro) with Christine Goerke at Cincinnati Opera, and Otello (Iago) in concert with Atlanta Symphony with Russell Thomas in the title role. Earlier in his career, Mr. Ford sang often at Hamburg State Opera in Germany and appeared in Tosca (Scarpia), Il trovatore (Di Luna), the title role in Billy Budd, Death in Venice (The Traveler), and Iphigenie et Tauride (Thoas) under the baton of Simone Young; future engagements include Madama Butterfly (Sharpless) at Detroit Opera.

French-American bass Christian Zaremba, hailed for “stealing the evening” (The Washington Post) and being “ideally cast as the assassin Sparafucile, emerging from the shadows with his seething bass-baritone,” is equally at home under the lights of an operatic drama and concert stage. In the 2022-2023 Season, Mr. Zaremba will made debuts with Opera Colorado in Rigoletto (Monterone and Sparafucile), Seattle Opera in La traviata (Marchese d’Obigny), and with Bard Festival in Saint-Saëns’ Henry VIII (“Le Legat” Campeggio). In the 2021-2022 Season, Christian Zaremba debuted the title role in Le nozze di Figaro with Austin Opera, made company debuts with L’Opéra de Montréal and Des Moines Metro Opera in Die Zauberflöte (Sarastro), Berkshire Opera Festival in Don Giovanni (Leporello), and La bohème (Colline) with New Orleans Opera. In Europe, he sang in The Magic Flute (Sarastro) with the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, and, in concert, Verdi’s Requiem with the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra and Taneyev’s At the Reading of a Psalm with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

Appointed in 2015 as Opera Colorado’s first-ever music director, Ari Pelto’s “breathtaking wizardry in the pit” (The Denver Post) has been widely celebrated, with Pelto in demand at opera houses and concert halls throughout the United States. At the age of 24, Pelto was appointed Assistant Conductor at the Spoleto Festival and he has since gone on to conduct worldwide. International engagements include performances with Bochumer Philharmoniker and opera productions at New National Theatre of Tokyo and the Teatro Nacional Sucre in Quito, Ecuador. In 2004 he made his highly-praised debut with New York City Opera, conducting La Traviata, after which he became a regular, returning for productions of Madama Butterfly, La bohème, and Carmen. Recent successes include Eugene Onegin at Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Lucia di Lammermoor at Virginia Opera, and La Voix Humaine at Chicago Opera Theater.

Iranian conductor and pianist, Sahar Nouri, has been Music Director of Lamont Opera Theater at University of Denver since 2019. She has also served at Opera Colorado as Chorus Master & Assistant Conductor since 2016. Ms. Nouri is the founder/director of Dandelion Opera Institute.

At the University of Denver, Ms. Nouri has conducted productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Die Zauberflöte, Alcina, Cabildo, Les mamelles de Tirésias, and The Little Prince.

Her work with Opera Colorado has included productions of Samson and Delilah, The Flying Dutchman, Don Giovanni, Turandot, Die tote Stadt, Rigoletto, Carmen, The Shining, Tosca, Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, The Marriage of Figaro, La traviata, Falstaff, The Barber of Seville, La bohème, La fanciulla del West, and the world premiere of Steal a Pencil for Me (Gerald Cohen).

Previously, Ms. Nouri has been part of the music staff at San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra at Bravo! Vail, Opera Parallèle, Opera North Carolina, Glimmerglass Festival, Utah Opera, Aspen Opera Theatre, Opera Steamboat, Merola Opera, Boston Conservatory of Music, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

An active performer, she has given numerous recitals around the US including those alongside international stars Mane Galoyan, Heidi Melton, and Matthew Polenzani. A multi-lingual coach, she has studied in Czechia, Italy, and Austria and is frequently in demand as a language coach.

Ms. Nouri is a former violinist who has performed with Tehran Philharmonic Orchestra and has won several prizes, for both violin and piano, in national music festivals and competitions in Iran.

Born and raised in the Midwest, Keturah Stickann had a career as a classical and contemporary dancer, performing extensively in opera. Subsequently, her work as a stage director has been seen in many opera houses across the United States and Canada, as well as in Chile, Japan, France, Germany, Hungary, and Australia. A champion of new American opera, she has worked extensively with director and librettist, Leonard Foglia, and has helped to bring new operas to the stage by Ricky Ian Gordon, Jennifer Higdon, and Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer among others. In a creative solution for the Covid era, some of her more recent productions include the drive-in versions of La bohème and The Barber of Seville for San Diego Opera. Recent and future productions include Salome at Madison Opera, Don Giovanni at Minnesota Opera, and Intimate Apparel at Chautauqua. Keturah is an Artistic Advisor at Knoxville Opera.

For the past twenty-plus years, Rachael Harding has built her career around dance—as a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer. She received her B.F.A. in Dance and a B.S. in Business Management from the University of Arizona and a M.F.A in Dance from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She began her professional career as a dancer in Denver’s Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble. She is currently the resident choreographer for Denver’s professional jazz dance company, Davis Contemporary Dance Company, a performer with Nu-World Contemporary Danse Theatre, co-owner/director of Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop, and owner/director of Miss Rachael’s Dance in Denver, where she is inspired to share her passion for the arts with young dancers every day. She has had the distinct honor of dancing in past Opera Colorado productions, including Nixon in China, The Pearl Fishers, Rusalka, and Josephine, and choreographing for Rusalka, Aida, The Barber of Seville, Josephine, and The Shining.