No Bad Deed Goes Unpunished

Bruno Taddia, born in Pavia, Italy, began his musical training with the violin. After his stage debut at the prestigious Rossini Opera Festival in Il viaggio a Reims (Don Alvaro) he began to collaborate with many of the top musical institutions in the world. Recently, he starred in Iphigénie en Tauride, Winterreise, The Daughter of the Regiment, L’Elisir d’amore, Don Pasquale, and made a role debut in Falstaff. He also sang Gianni Schicchi at the Puccini Festival in 2020; The Barber of Seville (Figaro) at Grand Theatre de Geneve; Italiana in Algeri (Taddeo) and Der Vampyr (Lord Ruthven) at Hungarian State Opera Budapest; The Barber of Seville (Figaro) and La bohème (Marcello) at Teatro La Fenice di Venezia; Le gare generose (Bastiano) at the Giovanni Paisiello Festival; and debuted the title role in Don Pasquale at Opera Montpellier in 2019. He also appeared in the new recording of Vivaldi edition’s Tamerlano as Bajazet, under the baton of Ottavio Dantone. His interpretations combine a wide range of characters in the baroque, classical, and contemporary operatic repertoire as well as in the symphonic and vocal chamber music.

Australian-American bass Joshua Bloom is frequently praised for his “resplendent bass” and “huge vocal capacity” alongside an “outstanding dramatic precision and power” (New York Times, Independent) across a remarkable variety of repertoire from Mozart, Wagner, and Strauss, to world premiere works by Gerald Barry and Richard Ayres. He has sung principal roles with Oper Köln, English National Opera, Garsington Opera, the Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, LA Opera, Opera Australia, New York’s Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Badisches Staatstheater, Irish National Opera, and New Israeli Opera, among others. In the 2022-23 Season, Bloom will make multiple house debuts in Semele (Cadmus) for Opera de Lille, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bottom) for Opéra de Rouen Normandie, and Nixon in China (Kissinger) for Opéra national de Paris. On the concert platform, he will perform Handel’s Messiah with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and The Death of Klinghoffer (Rambo) at The Concertgebouw. Highlights from past seasons include Die Vögel (Ratefreund) and Rusalka (Vodnik) for Opera Köln, Aida (Ramfis and the King) for New Israeli Opera, and Don Giovanni (Leporello) for Welsh National Opera.

Quoted as having “a lovely demeanor and irresistible creamy timbre” by Opera News, American soprano Danielle Pastin is gaining accolades from opera houses around the country.  In the 2021-22 Season, Pastin returned to Pittsburgh Opera in Carmen (Micaëla) and made her house and role debut in Gianni Schicchi (Nella) with Tulsa Opera. On the concert stage, she joined the Glacier Symphony for their Mozart and Mahler Spring Festival, with repertoire including Mozart’s Requiem and Mahler’s Liebst du um Schönheit. This season, she will also return to her role in Pagliacci (Nedda). She made her mainstage Metropolitan Opera debut in The Queen of Spades (Masha/Chloë, cover) and has since been invited back to perform in Pagliacci (Nedda), a new production of Massenet’s Manon (Javotte), Carmen (Frasquita), a role she also performed in her debut with the Dallas Opera, and Francesca da Rimini (Samaritana, cover).

American soprano Ellie Dehn has been praised by critics as “a revelation” (Chicago Sun-Times), acclaimed for her “great stage presence and a voice combining metallic clarity and sensual richness” (Wall Street Journal). In the 2022-2023 Season, Ms. Dehn will perform Messiah with the New Jersey Symphony, Elijah with the Florida Orchestra, and return to the Metropolitan Opera in Falstaff (Alice Ford, cover). In the 2021-2022 Season, she made her debut at Seiji Ozawa Music Academy in Die Fledermaus (Rosalinde) and returned to the Metropolitan Opera in La bohème (Musetta, cover) and Le nozze di Figaro (Countess). On the concert stage, she sang Britten’s Spring Symphony with the Grant Park Music Festival. Pandemic highlights included Albert Herring (Lady Billows) in a filmed version with Minnesota Opera.

Possessed of a voice the New York Times calls “clarion-toned”, the American tenor John Bellemer has gained a reputation for his strong portrayals in a wide range of repertoire. Bellemer has appeared in leading roles at opera houses across North America and Europe and was featured as Gounod’s Faust in the Academy Award-nominated film Lincoln.

In the 2022-23 season, Bellemer took the stage with Onsite Opera as the Soldier in Kaiser von Atlantis at Carnegie Hall. He also joins the Idaho Falls Symphony as the tenor soloist in a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Bellemer recently made his role debut as Fritz in L’amico Fritz with Teatro Grattacielo to great acclaim: “John Bellemer sang gracefully, able to let his tenor ring…” – Opera (London). In the 2020-2021 season, Bellemer was to have made his debut with Teatro Communale di Bologna in Haydn’s Die Schöpfung; and with the Atlanta Master Chorale in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis which were either canceled or postponed due to COVID-19.

Engagements in recent seasons have included Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles with North Carolina Opera; Duca in Rigoletto with Michigan Opera Theater; featured artist with the Salt Bay Chamber Festival, and concert performances of Beethoven’s Mass in C and Verdi’s Requiem. Bellemer made debuts with Teatro Reggio Torino as both the tenor soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana and the Evangelist in the world premiere of Newton’s St. Matthew Passion. He was Lysander in Hawaii Opera’s production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Peter Quint in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw in China (Beijing); and Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer with Austin Opera. He returned to Wexford Festival Opera as Gabriele in Foroni’s Cristina, Regina di Svezia; and to the Berkshire Choral Festival as Gerontius in Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius and Britten’s Spring Symphony; and performed Toni in Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers at Venice’s Teatro la Fenice.

Bellemer has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center works by Schubert, Schumann and Brahms; at Florence’s Maggio Musicale in the The Rape of Lucretia; with Florida Grand Opera as Alfredo in La Traviata; as Nebuchadnezzar in Britten’s The Burning Fiery Furnace and as Herold in the world premiere of Grassl’s Tassilo with Festival Mattseer Diabelli Sommer in Austria; at the Buxton Festival as Riccardo in Donizetti’s Maria di Rohan; and with Boston Lyric Opera as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni as well as Sandy/Officer One in Davies’ The Lighthouse.

Other international appearances include Opéra National de Bordeaux, Opéra National de Lorraine, Opéra de Rouen, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Teatro delle Muse, Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi, Opéra de Rennes, Theater Erfurt, Stadttheater Giessen, Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Estonian National Opera, and Teatro Arriaga among others.

Mr. Bellemer’s extensive North American credits also include performances with New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, Madison Opera, Cleveland Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Vancouver Opera, Arizona Opera, Calgary Opera, Minnesota Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Dayton Opera, Opera Omaha, Opera Grand Rapids, Opera Ontario, Opera Birmingham, Opera San José, and the Berkshire Opera.

As concert artist, Mr. Bellemer has appeared with the Columbus Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony, Pacific Symphony, L’orchestre de Bretagne, Orchestra de Leonardo da Vinci, Toledo Symphony, New York Choral Society, Calgary Philharmonic, Bangor Symphony, American Symphony Orchestra, Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, Choral Arts Society of Washington DC, Oratorio Society of New York, and concerts in Paris and New York City sponsored by UNESCO.

In addition to his appearance in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, Bellemer has appeared on stage in productions led by film directors Werner Herzog and Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Bellemer began choral singing as a young child and continued throughout his school years, eventually choosing to study voice over medicine at James Madison University where he received his Bachelor of Music degree. He went on to complete his master’s degree in music at the University of Illinois.

Bellemer has always derived a joy from singing that is evident to his audiences around the world for whom he has sung throughout his distinguished career. “As long as I continue to grow as a performer and a person and as long as the joy continues,” Bellemer says, “I hope to be singing for a very long time.”

Bellemer lives in New York with his wife, Sarah Blaze and their two Parson Russell Terriers.

Kevin Thompson, acclaimed by the New York Times as a “stentorian bass”, and he “possesses a voice with extraordinary range, depth, color combined with a commanding stage presence…a mountain of a voice, with resonance from the Escorial of Philip II to the throne of Boris Godunov, and the majestic court of Sarastro…” (San Francisco Classical Voice).

The 2022-23 Season engagements include house debuts with Washington National Opera in Elektra (Der Pfleger des Orest and Ein Alter Diener) and in Aida (Il Re) with Fort Worth Opera. Mr. Thompson will also return to Opera Omaha for an Opera Outdoors concert, where he will perform scenes from Boito’s Mefistofele (Mefistofele), and to Roanoke Opera for their Opera Gems Gala Concert, and with Odyssey Opera for Rachmaninoff’s Troika: Aleko (Old Gypsy), The Miserly Knight (Ivan), and Francesca di Rimini (The Ghost of Virgil). Future engagements include house debuts with Opera Colorado and Dallas Opera.

Kerby originally hails from Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated from East Carolina University with her Master of Music in voice performance and pedagogy. Previously, she graduated from Furman University in South Carolina. This season with Opera Colorado, she looks forward to singing in the mainstage production of Don Giovanni (Zerlina), and in the touring productions of The Elixir of Love (Adina) and Cinderella (Tisbe). She has performed in The Coronation of Poppea (Poppea) and Dialogues of the Carmélites (Blanche) with ECU Opera Theatre, and Dido and Aeneas (Belinda) with Furman Lyric Opera. Kerby is delighted to be joining the company and to trade her east coast views for the Colorado mountains!

Turner Staton (bass-baritone) is a native of Kansas City, Missouri. His degrees include an Artists Diploma from William Jewell College, a master’s from Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and a bachelor’s from Pepperdine University. In 2022, Turner finished his tenure as an Apprentice Artist with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City where he performed in Amahl and the Night Visitors, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, and Tosca, and was featured in the premiere of Baseball: a Musical Love Letter. In Opera Colorado’s 40th Anniversary Season, Turner appeared in the mainstage productions of Rigoletto (Ceprano, Monterrone cover), and in the touring productions of The Pirates of Penzance (Pirate King) and Romeo & Juliet (Capulet/Tybalt). Additional performance credits include Le nozze di Figaro (Figaro), Così fan tutte (Don Alfonso), La Calisto (Mercurio), and Petite messe solennelle. Festivals include Opera Saratoga as a 2022 Festival Artist and Tanglewood Music Festival as a 2020, and 2021 Vocal Fellow. Turner is elated to be returning to Opera Colorado for his second season as a 2023-24 Artist in Residence and will be featured in the mainstage productions of Don Giovanni (Masetto/Leporello cover) and Samson and Delilah (Old Hebrew), and touring productions of The Elixir of Love (Dulcamara) and Cinderella (Alidoro/Don Magnifico).

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.

David Lefkowich is an accomplished stage director and fight choreographer who has enjoyed success with different companies including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatre alla Scala, San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Minnesota Opera, and Glimmerglass Opera. Recent directing engagements include a site-specific Acis and Galatea for Out of the Box Opera, an immersive Pagliacci at Boston Lyric Opera, a site-specific Tosca for Austin Opera, Tosca and La Cenerentola at Annapolis Opera, and Pagliacci at Opera Colorado. Also, Don Giovanni at L’Opéra de Montréal, Don Giovanni, Idomeneo, Le Nozze di Figaro and L’Histoire du Soldat at the Ravinia Music Festival with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Maestro James Conlon. David made his European debut directing Le Portrait de Manon at the Gran Teatre Liceu in Barcelona and followed with The Rake’s Progress at La Monnaie in Brussels. David is a guest artist and performs master classes at several young artist programs and universities including the San Francisco Opera Center Adler Fellowship Program, Atelier Lyrique at L’Opéra de Montréal, Maryland Opera Studio and Ithaca College. David is a graduate from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science in Theatre and has a certificate from École Jacques-Lecoq in Paris, France. David served as the Artistic Director of the Mill City Summer Opera in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he directed the annual summer offerings. Currently, he is the Artistic Director of Out of the Box Opera in Minneapolis, a company dedicated to creating high-quality operatic experiences in site-specific locations, most notably with Diva Cage Match, an epic battle of voices, egos, and talent in a boxing gym.