W. A. MOZART

BIOGRAPHIESMaestro James Meena,ConductorJames Meena consistentlyearns critical acclaim for hisartistic vision and dynamicpresence on the podium inconcert, opera and ballet.Mo. Meena serves as ArtisticDirector for Opera Carolina(Charlotte) and Artistic Directorfor Opera Grand Rapids.Recent engagements includeacclaimed performances ofTosca at the Luglio Festivale Trapani in Sicilia, a double-bill ofRachmaninoff’s rarely-performed Aleko paired with Pagliacci as wellas La fanciulla del West, both with the restored New York City Opera;Le nozze di Figaro for Teatro Sociale Rovigo Italy, La fanciulla del Westfor five prestigious Italian theaters: Teatro del Giglio, Lucca Italy,Teatro Verdi in Pisa, Teatro Alighieri di Ravenna, Teatro Pavarotti diModena and Teatro Goldoni di Livorno, plus Rigoletto, The MagicFlute, Carmen and Yvgeny Onegin with Opera Carolina, ToledoOpera, and Opera Grand Rapids, plus a Gala concert with ReneeFleming and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra; Porgy & Bess withMargaret Island Open-Air Theatre in Budapest for their SummerFestival, and La bohème with the prestigious Puccini Festival inTorre del Lago, La bohème with Opéra de Montréal, MasterworksConcerts with Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and Il barbiere diSiviglia, La fanciulla del West, and La traviata with Opera Carolina.Next season, Mo. Meena makes his debut with the Shanghai Opera.A guest conductor, Maestro Meena has lead performances in operahouses throughout North America, including Madama Butterfly,Pagliacci/Gianni Schicchi, Le nozze di Figaro, and La traviata forL’Opera de Montreal; Michigan Opera Theatre for Die Zauberflöte;Edmonton Opera for Falstaff, Otello, Macbeth and Yvgeny Onegin;and Manitoba Opera, where he conducted the première of Transitof Venus by the Canadian team of composer Victor Davies andlibrettist Maureen Hunter, recorded for national broadcast on theCBC. His Opera Carolina performances of Faust, Eugene Onegin,and Il trovatore are captured on recording for NPR World of Opera.With extensive experience in opera, ballet, and symphonic music,Maestro Meena held principal and resident conducting posts withthe Cleveland Ballet, Toledo Symphony, and Toledo Opera in additionto guest conducting appearances that include a nationally televisedThanksgiving concert for the Korean Broadcasting System Symphony;performances of Stravinsky’s tour de force La Sacre du printempswith the National Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan; concerts with theCairo Symphony Orchestra in the new Cairo Opera House; andsymphony concerts with the orchestra of the Teatro MassimoBellini in Catania, the Orchestra della Toscana in Italy.6Mo. Meena was has been engaged as guest conductor withorchestras and opera companies in the United States, Italy, Taipei,Korea, Canada and Mexico including the Mexico City Philharmonic,the Washington Opera, Opera Pacific, Portland Opera and theUtah Opera. On opera stages, he has conducted legendary singersincluding Renée Fleming, Denyce Graves, James McCracken,Mignon Dunn, Marilyn Horne, Jerome Hines, Diana Soviero, JerryHadley, Mark Delavan and Marcello Giordani.From Voix des Arts of Mo. Meena’s most recent performances ofTurandot: “Under the baton of James Meena the Charlotte SymphonyOrchestra delivered an awe-inspiring performance of the score.Maestro Meena’s conducting was notable for the manner in which,like the great past interpreters of the operas of Richard Strauss,he coaxed sounds from the orchestra that compellingly fulfilledthe lush late-Romantic promise of the melodic lines while alsoalways sounding like an opera composed in 1924. The influence ofDebussy has almost never been more discernible than in MaestroMeena’s handling of the score. His work in Charlotte has beenconsistently perceptive, but he found in Turandot—a score bywhich many conductors have been defeated—an ideal outlet forthe controlled ecstasy of which he is a master.”Since 2001, Mo. Meena has presented six regional premières inCharlotte, including Cold Sassy Tree and Susannah by Carlisle Floyd,the company’s first productions of Der Rosenkavalier, Nabucco,Macbeth, and Les pêcheurs des perles, and the regional premiere ofRichard Danielpour’s new American opera, Margaret Garner, starringDenyce Graves in April 2006. Mo. Meena is the lead producerfor Douglas Tappin’s new work I Dream, created for the 50thcommemoration of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.James Meena is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University andBaldwin Wallace College Conservatory of Music. His principalconducting teachers include Thomas Mihalak (New JerseySymphony), Robert Page (Cleveland Orchestra), Rudolph Fellner(Pittsburgh Opera), and Boris Halip (Bolshoi Ballet), with whomhe also studied violin.Mr. Meena has served as Assistant Conductor to Andre Previn,Gunther Schuller, Michael Tilson Thomas, Anton Guadagno, andAnton Coppola. For several seasons, he was Associate Conductor ofthe Pittsburgh Opera, where he made his operatic début conductingDie Zauberflöte. He made his professional débutwith the PittsburghSymphony conducting Haydn’s monumental oratorio The Creation.Mo. Meena was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by hisundergraduate alma mater in 1997 for his commitment to visionaryexcellence and growth of cultural institutions.

Eve Summer, DirectorHailed “a rising star of stagedirecting [whose] approachto directing refreshes hopefor the future of opera,” EveSummer is a director, producer,and choreographer. She hasbeen described as having“a gift for translating classicsymbolism into familiar detailwith just enough flippancy tobring out the fun of the operawithout skewing the emotionalequation.”In the 2018-19 season Ms. Summer directs The Little Prince at TulsaOpera, The Pearl Fishers at Opera Tampa, The Tales of Hoffmannat Opera Orlando, Aida at Boheme Opera New Jersey, The MagicFlute at Opera in Williamsburg, and serves as Staging Advisor atthe Boston Symphony Orchestra for a concert performance ofSuor Angelica at Symphony Hall starring Kristine Opolais.Selected directing credits include Trouble in Tahiti at theGlimmerglass Festival, Così fan tutte at Connecticut LyricOpera, Lucia di Lammermoor at Boheme Opera New Jersey andCommonwealth Opera, Xerxes at Connecticut Early Music Festival,Carmen at MetroWest Opera, The Magic Flute for University ofHartford, L’elisir d’amore for Opera del West, the world premiere ofLarry Bell’s opera Holy Ghosts at the Berklee Performance Center,Suor Angelica for Boston Opera Collaborative, and Le nozze diFigaro for dell’Arte Opera Ensemble and Kaliope Opera.Ms. Summer’s work has been called “eye-poppingly contemporary,”“a riveting, glorious production from beginning to end,” and “canonly be described as brilliant.” Critics raved that her productionof Xerxes was “a delight, and a testament to Summer’s gift forbanishing stodginess from an art form too often seen as fossilizedand elitist.” Her style is naturalistic and modern and rooted in thevisceral truthfulness of stage plays where she started her directingcareer. Her theater productions have included The Merry Wives ofWindsor, Extremities, A Midsummer night’s Dream, The Woolgatherer,‘Art,’ Two Gentlemen of Verona and her own play Neighbors, anadaptation of the novel of the same name by Thomas Berger.A former professional ballet dancer and choreographer, Ms. Summer’schoreography credits include a commission to choreograph anew ballet, Jeanne’s Fantasy, by composer Mark Warhol for thepremiere with Contrapose Dance and Fort Point Theatre Channel,Elektra at Des Moines Metro Opera, Falstaff at Opera Colorado,and Don Giovanni for Boston Opera Collaborative. She recentlycollaborated with renowned choreographer Karole Armitage onthe critically acclaimed American premiere of Philip Glass’ OperaBallet The Witches of Venice at Opera Saratoga. Ms. Summer’snotable assisting engagements also include Francesca Zambelloon the world premiere of Ben Moore’s Robin Hood at TheGlimmerglass Festival, Julia Pevzner on her widely acclaimedproduction of Shostakovich’s The Nose at Opera Boston, and TimAlbery on Janáček’s Katya Kabaonova at Boston Lyric Opera.Austin McWilliams,Assistant ConductorAustin McWilliams, conductorand countertenor, strives topresent compelling, intriguingmusic that is directly relevantto the communities in which itis performed. He is an AdjunctProfessor at Western MichiganUniversity, where he conductsthe university operas and assiststhe choral division. Austin is theCo-Artistic Director of theAd Astra Music Festival, aclassical music festival in Russell, Kansas, known for its innovativeand unique programming. In 2019 at Ad Astra, Austin conducted theoutdoor premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s new opera Proving Up, and hewill conduct the world premiere of Anna Pidgorna’s opera aboutthe life of Trudy Furney in 2021. He is a faculty member at MissouriScholars Academy, an annual, month-long governor’s school forgifted high school juniors. In 2019, Austin earned a Master of Musicdegree in choral conducting at WMU under Kimberly Dunn Adams.There he designed a recital on HIV/AIDS awareness in collaborationwith several community organizations. Austin graduated in 2017from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelorof Science in computer engineering with highest honors. He hailsfrom the illustrious micropolitan hub of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, wherehe received his formative training from Rachael Bonk.Johnathan White, FerrandoTenor, Johnathan StanfordWhite began his Operaticstudies at the College ofCharleston in 2004 whileworking on his BA in VocalPerformance. As a celebratedyoung artist, Johnathanperformed in many leadingOperatic roles with the Collegeof Charleston Opera/ MusicalTheatre productions and wasboth a State and RegionalWinner in several competitions.continued next page7

BIOGRAPHIESIn 2011, he was selected to sing at the Jussi Bjorling CentennialCelebration at Gustavus College at the Jussi Bjorling Concert Hall.Since moving to Charlotte and joining Opera Carolina as a ResidentCompany Member in 2013, Johnathan has become a staple inthe classical music scene. After making his Opera Carolina debutin Turandot as the Emperor in 2015, Johnathan has performednumerous Comprimario roles in productions with Opera Carolina,Toledo Opera, and Opera Grand Rapids: Carmen (2019), I Dream(2018), Le Nozze di Figaro (2018), Rigoletto (2018), Cyrano deBergerac (2017), Fanciulla del West (2017), Cosi fan Tutte (2016),La Canterina (2016), Fidelio (2015) , Lucia di Lammermoor (2015),and Turandot (2015). Apart from his Operatic pursuits, Johnathan isalso an accomplished Symphonic soloist performing: The Messiah(CSO), Saint Saens Christmas Oratorio (CSO), and The Seven LastWords of Christ (CSO). He was selected as the tenor soloist for theAndrew Lloyd Webber Requiem with the Anchorage SymphonyOrchestra (2018). He most recently performed the operatic roles ofRemendado (Carmen, Toledo/Opera Carolina), Jerry (Nemorino) inThe Magic Potion (adapted from The Elixir of Love, Opera Carolina)and as Triquet in Eugine Onegin (Opera Carolina).Steven Condy enjoys acareer filled with notorietyand acclaim for his creativeportrayals of the great “buffo”roles and is admired not onlyfor his robust and nuancedvoice, but also for his naturalacting ability.Michael Colman, GuglielmoThe Washington Timesenthused that he has “thecomic timing of John Candyand a voice that remainsflexible, rich and true through every intricacy,” and AnthonyTomassini of the New York Times offered that he would “vote theprize for the most naturally clear diction of the cast to the hardybaritone Steven Condy.” Most recently, Mr. Condy performed as asoloist in concert with Opera Delaware and MidAtlantic Symphony,performed the role of Ko-Ko in The Mikado with Opera Grand Rapids,as well as the role of Inspector Lestrade in Sherlock Holmes and theCase of the Fallen Giant with American Lyric Theater. Upcoming,Mr. Condy joins Opera Grand Rapids for their presentation of CosiFan Tutte in the role of Don Alfonso and returns to Opera Delawareto sing Scarpia in Tosca.Michael Colman, recently hailedby Opera News for “fielding afine, dark bass-baritone,” hasperformed with many premierregional opera companiesthroughout the country.In recent seasons, Mr. Condy performed the role of Bartolo in Ilbarbiere di Siviglia with Boston Lyric Opera and Manitoba Operaand performed as a soloist in concert with Opera Delaware andMid-Atlantic Symphony. He also returned to the MetropolitanOpera for their production of Gianni Schicchi after his successfulappearance there for their production of La bohème.He is currently slated to perform as the Chief of Police in OperaCarolina’s I Dream, and Pang in Opera Grand Rapid’s Turandot.Michael made his professionaldebut singing the ImperialCommissioner (MadamaButterfly) as an ApprenticeArtist with the Lyric Operaof Kansas City and wenton to perform roles including Basilio (Il barbiere di Seviglia)with Chautauqua Opera and Virginia Opera, The Commentator(Scalia/Ginsburg) with Opera Carolina and Opera Grand Rapids,Schaunard (La bohème) with Indianapolis Opera, Sergeant ofPolice (The Pirates of Penzance) with Dayton Opera, Ceprano(Rigoletto) with Toledo Opera, Dottore Grenvil (La Traviata)with Opera on the James and Indiana University, Leporello (DonGiovanni) with Janiec Opera Company, and Figaro (Le nozze diFigaro) with the University of Kansas. An avid concert singer,Michael has performed as the Bass Soloist (Messiah) with theDayton Philharmonic, the Bass Soloist (Mozart Requiem) with TheVirginia Consort, and recently sang in recital with Warren Jonesat the Manchester Music Festival. Upcoming engagements includeKing of Egypt (Aida) with Toledo Opera, and Guglielmo (Così fantutte) with Opera Grand Rapids. Michael is currently a student atIndiana University studying with Professor Peter Volpe.8Steven Condy, Don AlfonsoRenowned for his interpretation of Dr. Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia,the Boston Music Intelligencer raved of his “most delightfullysurprising and truly brilliant performance the agility of his voice,not only in negotiating the vocal roller-coasters, but also in creatingcomically nuanced coloring, combined with his clumsily agilephysicality and an edgy-but-not-threatening delivery of the roleas a whole, stole the show. Based on his performance, the operamight well be re-titled Don Bartolo.” He performed the role atHouston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington NationalOpera, Boston Lyric Opera, Toledo Opera, Portland Opera, MadisonOpera, Opera Memphis, Virginia Opera, Sarasota Opera, AustinLyric Opera, and Lyric Opera Baltimore among many others. Mostrecently, he performed the role in his house début at Opera Carolina.The title role in Verdi’s Falstaff is another signature role in Mr. Condy’srepertoire, which he performed at companies such as Utah Opera,Indianapolis Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Kentucky Opera, OperaSan José, and most recently, Opera Delaware. Of his Falstaff, OperaNews hailed: “Dominating the proceedings was Steven Condy’shilariously larger-than-life yet totally believable and sympatheticSir John. Condy never let his skillful embodiment of the fat knight’sphysical and behavioral grotesqueries affect the inherent beauty

of his singing; his warm, manly tone, fine legato and ready mezzavoce reminded one just how squarely within the bel canto traditionthe role of Falstaff lies.” He is also in demand as Don Magnifico inLa cenerentola, a role he performed at Madison Opera, PortlandOpera, Opera Delaware Utah Opera, Memphis Opera, FlorentineOpera, Lyric Opera Kansas City, and Austin Lyric Opera.Other notable engagements from his extensive career include:Sacristan in a new production of Tosca with the Houston GrandOpera; Betto in Gianni Schicchi in a new production with Los AngelesOpera directed by Woody Allen, followed by his European operadébut in the same production with the Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi;the title role in Don Pasquale with Opera New Jersey, Utah Opera,Calgary Opera, Opera on the James, Opera Naples, and EdmontonOpera; Benoit/Alcindoro in La bohème with Dallas Opera and OperaCompany of Philadelphia; Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore withChautauqua Opera, Washington National Opera, Arizona Opera, andLyric Opera of Guatemala among others; Baron Zeta in The MerryWidow with Washington National Opera; Sulpice in La fille du régimentwith the San Francisco Opera and Opera Lyra Ottawa; Don Alfonsoin Così fan tutte with Arizona Opera and Hawaii Opera Theater; Tevye,the lead role of Fiddler on the Roof with Shreveport Opera; andMajor General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance with Arizona Opera.As a concert artist, Condy graces stages throughout the countryearning critical acclaim. From his recent appearance as a soloist inBeethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Lincoln Symphony, The LincolnJournal Star wrote: “Baritone Steven Condy began the poem thatinspired the Ninth, his powerful voice booming through the hall.”He later performed the bass solo again with Asheville Symphony.Additional highlights of concert appearances include Handel’s Messiahwith the Columbus Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, MasterworksChorus at Carnegie Hall, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, andLa Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias in Oviedo, Spain;the role of Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro with the Minnesota Orchestra,conducted by Jeffrey Tate; Belshazzar’s Feast and Gordon Getty’sPlump Jack with New Mexico Symphony Orchestra; and gala concertswith the Indianapolis Symphony and the Orquesta Sinfónica Sinaloade las Artes in Mazatlán, Mexico.Mr. Condy earned accolades and awards from some of the industry’smost prestigious organizations including: The Luciano PavarottiInternational Voice competition, The Sullivan Foundation, TheRichard Tucker Music Foundation competition, Pope Foundationcompetition, MacAllister Award competition, the Metropolitan OperaNational Council auditions, and the Mario Lanza Institute Scholarshipcompetition. Mr. Condy holds a Bachelor of Music degree fromthe University of Hartford and a Master of Music degree from YaleUniversity’s School of Music. He is also the Artistic Director of theCairn University Opera Theater in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.Katherine Whyte, FiordiligiKatherine Whyte hasperformed on opera andconcert stages across hernative Canada, the UnitedStates and Europe. OperaToday has hailed her for her“keen artistic sensibility” whilethe San Francisco ClassicalVoice has praised her “herglamorous, vibrato-rich voice”Last season includedBeethoven’s Ninth with theLouisiana Symphony, joining Opera Hong Kong as Donna Annain Don Giovanni, Adina in L’elisir d’amore with Grand JunctionSymphony Orchestra, and returning to the Metropolitan Opera forproductions of Suor Angelica and Don Giovanni. The 2019-2020season will see her return to the Metropolitan Opera to coverDespina in Così fan tutte and her debut with Intermountain OperaBozeman as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro.The 2017-2018 season saw Ms. Whyte’s return to the MetropolitanOpera for Parsifal as well as appearing in concert with theMountain View International Festival of Song and the OrquestaSinfonica Mineria for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Additionally,she appeared with both Charlottesville Opera and the NorwalkSymphony as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro. The 2016-2017season included her return to the Metropolitan Opera for productionsof Jenufa and Rigoletto, a debut with the Edmonton Symphonyfor Handel’s Messiah, Fauré’s Requiem with Manhattan ConcertProductions at Carnegie Hall, and her debut with the QingdaoSymphony Orchestra in China. The 2015-2016 season saw herdebut with the Dallas Opera as Pousette in Manon, a return to theMetropolitan Opera Company for their production of Rigoletto, theCountess in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Saratoga, and concertswith the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra ofChina’s National Opera at the Meet in Beijing Arts Festival.Following her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2007 in Strauss’ Dieägyptische Helena, she has returned to the company for productionsof Iolanta, Rigoletto, Jenufa, The Gambler, The Enchanted Island,Two Boys, and Parsifal. Her other recent operatic appearancesinclude the title role of Iphigénie en Tauride and Iris in Semele withCanadian Opera Company, the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro withthe Princeton Festival, her Vancouver Opera debut as Donna Annain Don Giovanni, Gilda in Rigoletto with English National Opera,the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro with Virginia Opera and OperaHamilton, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Michigan Opera Theatre,Euridice in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice with Atlanta Opera, and Iphisin Handel’s Jephta with Opéra National de Bordeaux.continued next page9

BIOGRAPHIESMs. Whyte’s appearances on the concert stage include Beethoven’sMass in C Major, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, Mozart’s Requiem, and Handel’sMessiah with the Houston Symphony, Neilsen’s Symphony No. 3with the San Francisco Symphony, Carmina burana and Beethoven’sSymphony No. 9 with the National Chorale, Beethoven’s SymphonyNo. 9 with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Mozart’s Mass inC-minor with the Vancouver Symphony, Brahms’ Ein deutschesRequiem with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica,Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the ColoradoSymphony, Handel’s Messiah with the National Symphony Orchestra,Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional,Mozart’s Requiem with the Alabama Symphony Orch

Turandot: “Under the baton of James Meena the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra delivered an awe-inspiring performance of the score. Maestro Meena’s conducting was notable for the manner in which, like the great past interpreters of the operas of Richard Strauss, he coaxed sounds from the orchestra that compellingly fulfilled