VOICE OF THE LAKE SOLOISTS
DOMENICO BOYAGIAN - CONDUCTOR
Maestro DOMENICO BOYAGIAN, Music Director of Cleveland Opera Theater and Heights Chamber Orchestra, is an “impressive conductor” (ClevelandClassical.com) whose impeccable musicality inspires audiences and critics alike. His most recent successes include performances of Mozart, Puccini and Verdi with Cleveland Opera Theater, Florida Grand Opera, Opera North, and the Manhattan School of Music. Upcoming engagements for the 2017-2018 season include performances of Weill's Threepenny Opera and Puccini's Madama Butterfly in Cleveland. Under his musical leadership, Cleveland Opera Theater has grown to be the primary destination for opera audiences in Northeast Ohio, what "Cleveland has endured so long without." (The Plain Dealer). Highlights from previous seasons include Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, Puccini’s La Bohème. and La Rondine, and Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.
ANGELA MORTELLARO - SOPRANO
Praised for her captivating stage presence and recognized for her versatility, Soprano Angela Mortellaro excels in diverse vocal styles and consistently delivers quality performances in demanding roles. “The luscious tonal and physical beauty, fluent coloratura and vivacious stage presence Mortellaro brings to the title role makes us root for [her] right out of the gate.” (Chicago Tribune) Mortellaro has performed more than twenty principle roles from the standard operatic repertoire, such as Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Juliette in Romeo et Juliette, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and more.
She has participated in the creation of several notable World Premier productions including Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, Silent Night, and The Manchurian Candidate with companies such as the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Minnesota Opera, and Opera Philadelphia, and appeared in Silent Night’s television premier on PBS. As Soprano Soloist, Mortellaro recently performed in concert with Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra in Vaughn Williams A Sea Symphony and Orff’s Carmina Burana, and with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy.
SARAH BEATY - MEZZO
Hailed as “the model of bel canto clarity and brilliance” by Cleveland Classical, mezzo-soprano Sarah Beaty specializes in contemporary opera. She was recently named a Company Member of The Industry, director Yuval Sharon’s avant-garde opera company in LA. Sarah sang in the world premiere productions of “Hopscotch,” “Galileo,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” and the Pulitzer Prize finalist opera “Invisible Cities” with The Industry, “Prometheus Bound” with the Center for New Performance, and is a founding member of the contemporary chamber ensemble, Blue Streak. She premiered the title role in Clara, a new opera by Victoria Bond about the life of Clara Schumann, on the Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival in NYC’s Symphony Space. Also a lover of (very) early music, Sarah recently reprised her role as Castitas in Hildegard’s rarely performed “Ordo Virtutum” with Vocatrix on the Berkeley Early Music Festival, and has been seen as Diana in Cavalli’s “La Calisto.” Other opera roles include Dryad in Ariadne auf Naxos, Maddalena in Rigoletto, Mozart’s Serpetta, Dorabella, Second Lady and Cherubino, Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor, Flora in La Traviata, among others. Sarah has been a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, CityMusic Cleveland Orchestra, wild Up, the Camerata of LA, National Chorale, and has performed at the Hollywood Bowl, Disney Concert Hall, Symphony Space, the National Opera Center, and Avery Fisher Hall. In 2012, she spent 6 months performing in Macao, China, as a featured opera singer at The Venetian. She is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music. When she’s not performing, Sarah teaches private voice lessons.
BRIAN SKOOG - TENOR
BRIAN SKOOG is an American tenor known for his "strong voice" and "lovely vocal quality.” He will make his Nashville Opera debut in 2018, singing Theseus in Patrick Morganelli's Hercules vs. Vampires and Elder Hayes in Carlisle Floyd's Susannah. Last season, Skoog made company debuts with the Utah Festival Opera, Dayton Opera, and Toledo Opera. In 2016, Skoog was acclaimed for his portrayal of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with The Cleveland Opera. This season, he will return to The Cleveland Opera to perform a staged version of Schumann’s Dichterliebe in the production Two Portraits. Skoog is an active performer of oratorio and concert repertoire across the United States. Having made his debut with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra in December 2016 as the tenor soloist for Handel's Messiah, Skoog was again featured on the 2017-2018 DPO season, singing solos for Bach's Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott as well as Beethoven's Choral Fantasy.
BRYANT BUSH- BASS
BRYANT BUSH, bass, completed his Master of Music degree at Cleveland Institute of Music, studying with Dr. Dean Southern. Bush attained his undergraduate degree in vocal performance from The University of Alabama where he performed the roles of Don Alfonso from Cosí fan tutte and the Mikado from The Mikado. As a graduate student of CIM, Bush has performed the role of Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro as well as reprised his role of Don Alfonso in Cosí fan tutte. Recently, Bush made his professional debut with The Cleveland Opera as Colline in their production of La Bohème. Following this, Bush traveled to Italy to participate in La Musica Lirica, where he performed the roles of Colline, Alcindoro, and Il Commendatore in La Bohème and Don Giovanni. This spring, Bush will once again join The Cleveland Opera in their production of La Traviata as the Marchese d’Obigny.