Giuseppe Verdi's
Falstaff
CANCELLED
Our exciting season begins with Giuseppe Verdi’s comic masterpiece, Falstaff. Our unique roving production will be staged on the grounds of an historic Dublin estate. This production will be presented in Italian with English supertitles. Seating is limited get your tickets today.
Andy Papas (Falstaff)
Native Bostonian Andy Papas has been applauded by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel for being “delightfully ridiculous”, and by the Albany Times-Union for his “irresistible hijinks”. He was last seen with Raylynmor as Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, and sang Tonio in I Pagliacci in 2020. This performance marks his debut as Falstaff, after covering the role for Opera Saratoga in 2017. This season, Andy has performed Dr. Bartolo in The Barber of Seville three times: in St. Louis for Union Avenue Opera, for Pacific Northwest Opera, and for The Opera Theater of Connecticut alongside Falstaff castmates Spencer Hamlin & Amy-Maude Helfer. He was fortunate to make his Alaska debut singing Bartolo for Anchorage Opera in 2019, and he returns to the land of the midnight sun next fall as The Major General in The Pirates of Penzance. A frequent performer in Washington State, Andy has appeared there as Magnifico, Alberich (Der Ring an einem Abend), Don Pasquale, Spalanzani (Les Contes D’Hoffmann), Benoit/Alcindoro (La Boheme) and as soloist in Beethoven No. 9. He is back in the Evergreen State late this summer for his first Music Master in Ariadne auf Naxos on Vashon Island. Last month, Andy performed John Styx in Orphée Aux Enfers for The Opera Company of Middlebury, where the Montpelier Times-Argus lauded his “richly satisfying baritone”. In his hometown, he has appeared as Mr. Bumble (Oliver) with The New Rep, in My Fair Lady with The Lyric Stage Co. of Boston, and in The Threepenny Opera with Boston Lyric Opera. Andy had the great honor of performing for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at The 2nd Circuit Judicial Conference in 2018, where she remarked “Your Major-General was terrific.” He teaches students around the globe in opera appreciation courses such as And The Tony Award Goes to… and The British Operas are Coming, and recently welcomed operatic greats Christine Brewer, Susanne Mentzer, and Anthony Dean Griffey as special guests to class. Andy has sung leading and featured roles for Odyssey Opera, Painted Sky Opera, Pacific Opera Project, and The Boston Youth Symphony, among others.
MEET THE CAST
Sarah Beckham-Turner (Alice) SUNDAY 6/26 PERFORMANCE
A true singing actress, soprano Sarah Beckham-Turner has earned critical acclaim for being “soulful and affecting. . . with a bright and gorgeous controlled soprano.” For her performance in New York City Opera’s Angels in America, The New York Times hailed her as “best. . . wry even in desperation as Harper, her voice cool yet vibrating with vulnerability,” and The Observer said, “the only singer who scaled the requisite peak of greatness was Sarah Beckham-Turner. . . Ms. Beckham-Turner is both an artist and a star.”
Upcoming singing performances for Beckham-Turner include Nella in Gianni Schicchi with Opera Ithaca; Woman 3 in the world premiere of Letters you will not get: Women’s Voices from the Great War with American Opera Projects, the title character in Suor Angelica with West Texas A&M Opera and Barber’s beautiful Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with Chamber Music Amarillo.
Sarah has performed with companies throughout the United States including, Rosalba (Forencia en el Amazonas) with New York City Opera; Nedda (I Pagliacci), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and Baroness (La Vie Parisienne) with First Coast Opera; Josephine (H.M.S. Pinafore) with Opera New Jersey; Fiordiligi (Cosi fan Tutte) and Desdemona (Rossini’s Otello) with Opera in the Heights; Mabel (Pirates of Penzance), Antonia (Man of La Mancha), Fiordiligi and Elena (The Italian Straw Hat) with Amarillo Opera; Fiordiligi with Asheville Lyric Opera, Mimi (La Bohème) with Center City Opera Theater Philadelphia; and Frasquita (Carmen) with Lyric Opera Virginia.
Sarah is a member of Opera Cowgirls, an all-female performing group that makes opera more accessible to those who might not normally attend an opera performance. Opera Cowgirls make appearances with opera companies, festivals and bars throughout the United States.
Beckham-Turner is Assistant Professor of Voice and Opera at West Texas A&M University where earlier this year she directed Ned Rorem’s Our Town to great critical acclaim. In 2021 she will direct Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore.
http://sarahbeckham-turner.com/index.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8J4S2Lodcc
Katy Lindhart (Alice) FRIDAY 6/24 PERFORMANCE ONLY
Bio to be added soon.
Marcus DeLoach (Ford)
Following his debut at Opera Philadelphia in the East Coast premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain in 2016, Marcus DeLoach received critical acclaim for his creation of the roles of Senator Joseph McCarthy in Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers at Cincinnati Opera, and the Minister in Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves at Opera Philadelphia. He reprised both roles for their New York premieres at the PROTOTYPE festival in 2017 and 2018, and went on to make his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Senator McCarthy in Fellow Travelers in the spring of 2018.
Marcus was hailed as “powerfully convincing” in his Opera Ireland (Dublin) debut as Joseph De Rocher in Dead Man Walking in 2007. And in 2009 he received critical acclaim for his debut at Teatro Comunale di Bolzano (Italy) as Jean in Philippe Boesmans’ Julie. From 2000-2006, as a principal artist of New York City Opera, he sang the roles of Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Satyr and Cithéron in Platée, Slim in Of Mice and Men, and many others. He has also appeared with Boston Lyric Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Seattle Opera, Utah Opera, and many others.
Erin O'Rourke (Nannetta)
Soprano Erin O’Rourke, from Bronxville NY, is a first-year M.M. student in the Vocal Arts Department at The Juilliard School. She is studying under soprano Amy Burton.
As soon as she set foot at the Juilliard School, Ms. O’Rourke became involved with many concerts and productions. Erin started working with incredible coaches like Adam Nielsen, David Moody, Marianne Barrett, Kathryn LaBouff and many others.
Recently, she was the cover of Giunone, in Rossi’s L’Orfeo. Erin thoroughly enjoyed her experience working on early baroque music with Avi Stein and Kenneth Merrill. Erin performed with new composers in Juilliard’s Opera Lab, the Aria Showcase with Director Mary Birnbaum, and Dr. Lydia Brown’s Liederabend in Juilliard’s Paul Hall. Ms. O’Rourke’s upcoming performances include Juilliard’s Focus Festival with Joel Sachs and the New Juilliard Ensemble and CPE Bach concert at the Bruno Walter Theater at Lincoln Center.
Ms. O’Rourke earned two degrees from the Ithaca College School of Music. She performed with the Ithaca College Choir and the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Erin was selected to participate in Ithaca College’s Opera Workshop and Opera Theatre programs. She worked with many of today’s important artists and teachers.
During 2020-2021, before her time at Juilliard, Ms. O’Rourke began studying under Mezzo-Soprano Dawn Pierce. Ms. O’Rourke became a Young Artist with Opera Ithaca, and a Global Artist with the International Performing Arts Institute. During her time with Opera Ithaca, Ms. O’Rourke covered roles, performed in concerts and masterclasses with today’s professionals. In the 2021 NATS Competition Central NY, she won first place in the Finger Lakes Division. And during the summer of 2021, 2nd in the Voices of Summer Competition at IPAI in Fairhope, Alabama. Her Ithaca College Credits include Mrs. Gobineau in Menotti’s The Medium and Meg from Adamo’s Little Women. Her Opera Ithaca Credits include La Fée (cover) in Viardot’s Cendrillon and Maggie in Sally Lamb McCune’s new work We Wear the Sea like a Coat.
Amy Maude Helfer (Meg Page)
Raylynmor Debut!
Hometown: Cheshire CT
Amy Maude Helfer, mezzo-soprano, is gaining attention as a versatile singing actor of opera, operetta, and musical theatre, especially noted for her comedic timing and "gorgeous voice." She is delighted to make her role and company debut at Raylynmor!
Opera/oratorio: Rosina (Barber of Seville) at New York City Opera, Carmen at Narnia Festival, Dinah (Trouble in Tahiti) at Boheme Opera-NJ, Baba (Rake's Progress) with String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Vera (Consul) and Nancy (Albert Herring) at Bronx Opera, Berta (Barber) and Mercédès at Opera Theater of CT, Cherubino and Artist-in-Residence at Dayton Opera, Cenerentola at Quisisana, Hansel with Boston Lyric Opera–New England, alto soloist (Haydn Lord Nelson Mass; Stroope American Rhapsody) at Carnegie Hall.
Operetta/musical theatre: Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd) at Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, Phoebe (Yeomen of the Guard) at Winter Opera St. Louis, Ruth (Pirates) at Utopia Opera. NY G&S Players: Iolanthe, Phoebe, Tessa (Gondoliers), Angela and Saphir (Patience), Melissa (Princess Ida), over 45 performances as Pitti-Sing (Mikado) and over 85 performances as Kate (Pirates) in NYC and on national tours.
Upcoming: Petra (A Little Night Music) at Union Avenue Opera, Witch (Hansel and Gretel) at Opera Theater of CT. Lotte Lenya Competition semifinalist. NYC/CT-based.
For Mom.
Alexander Scheuermann (Fenton)
Tenor Alexander Scheuermann grew up surfing the sandy beaches of Merritt Island, Florida. He fell in love with performing while singing and playing guitar in his high school’s production of The Who’s rock opera Tommy, and fell in love with opera while singing in the chorus of Il barbiere di Siviglia as a freshman at Florida State. Alexander has developed a reputation as an innovative and emotional performer, and is a vocal advocate for new and local American opera and performance art.
Alexander’s 2021/22 season includes Fenton in Falstaff with Raylynmor Opera, Polinesso in the world premiere of Jonathan Dawe’s opera Being Ariodante with Columbia University, the cover of Tim Laughlin in Fellow Travelers, at Des Moines Metro Opera. Recent performances include Younger Thompson in Glory Denied, with both Kentucky Opera and Fayetteville Opera, El Remendado in Carmen with Kentucky Opera, and Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette and the cover of Arcadio in Florencia en el Amazonas with Pensacola Opera.
Alexander has been a resident artist with Pensacola Opera and Kentucky Opera. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and a master's degree from the University of Houston.
Brooke Larimer (Quickly)
Bio to be added soon.
Spencer Hamlin (Caius)
Spencer Hamlin has been praised by Opera News for his “scintillatingly smooth” and “dazzling Italianate voice.” Most recently, Hamlin returned to The Glimmerglass Festival where he sang the role of Monostatos in The Magic Flute, and Ruiz in Il Trovatore while covering Manrico. He debuted the role of Don José in a virtual production of Carmen with Brooklyn College Conservatory, and performed as a soloist in Playhouse on Park’s professionally filmed production of All is Calm. He was scheduled to perform the Duke of Norfolk in Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra with Odyssey Opera as well as Max in The Sound of Music and Gunther in Wagner’s Die Feen both with The Glimmerglass Festival.
in 2020, all of which were unfortunately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2021-22 season, he sang Mr. Angel in The Impresario with Syracuse Opera, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Theater of Connecticut and was the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Symphoria. He debuts several roles in the New York City Opera world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Finzi Gardens, returns to Odyssey Opera as Albert in Rachmaninoff’s The Miserly Knight, and joins Tulsa Opera as Second Nazarene in Salome. He makes his York Symphony debut as the tenor soloist in Puccini’s Messa di Gloria in 2023.
A member of The Glimmerglass Festival in 2019, he performed Chekalinsky in The Queen of Spades and covered Bégearss in The Ghosts of Versailles. He was an Apprentice Artist with Sarasota Opera in 2019 singing the role of Il principe di Persia in Turandot. Spencer appeared as Almaviva in New York City Opera’s Bryant Park series production of Il barbiere di Siviglia, after making his NYCO debut as Detective Thibodeau in the New York premiere of Tobias Picker’s Dolores Claiborne. His concert appearances include tenor soloist for Mozart’s Requiem and Bruckner’s Te Deum with the Waterbury Chorale as well as Theofanidis’ The Urgency of Love with the New Haven Chorale.
After hearing Hamlin as Nemorino in UConn Opera Theater’s production of L’elisir d’amore, music critic Tim page wrote: “Spencer Hamlin has a sweetly lyrical high tenor voice, which he deploys with immaculate taste, and his acting is communicative and persuasive.” Other roles include Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Alfred in Die Fledermaus, Tonio in La fille du régiment, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Judge Danforth in The Crucible, Ernesto in Don Pasquale, The Witch in Hansel and Gretel, the title role in Albert Herring, Henrik in A Little Night Music, and Laurie in Little Women.
Spencer has performed with The Glimmerglass Festival, Sarasota Opera, New York City Opera, Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance series, Connecticut Lyric Opera, Opera Theater of Connecticut, Hartford Opera Theater, Wendy Taucher Dance Opera Theater, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, Waterbury Chorale, Pioneer Valley Symphony, Rhode Island College Symphony Orchestra, and various ensembles at the University of Connecticut. An Artist in Residence at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford, CT, he received his master’s degree from the University of Connecticut
Michael Scarcelle (Pistola)
Garnering praise for his combination of vocal beauty, musicality and charisma, bass-baritone Michael Scarcelle has proven his versatility in concert, recital, opera and theatre.
Recent performances include Figaro THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO with Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh, Papageno THE MAGIC FLUTE and The Pirate King THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE with Anchorage Opera, Herrmann Augustus CANDIDE with Leipzig MDR Symphony Orchestra, Poo-Bah MIKADO with Mobile Opera, HYDROGEN JUKEBOX with Skylight Music Theatre, Poo-Bah MIKADO with Shreveport Opera. Other performance highlights include Demetrius A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM with Opera Naples, King Melchior AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS, Beaupertuis in Nino Rota's THE ITALIAN STRAW HAT and Don Pedro LA PÉRICHOLE with Amarillo Opera, Alidoro LA CENERENTOLA and Ceprano RIGOLETTO with Salt Marsh Opera, and the role of Death in Holst’s SAVITRI with Little Opera Theater of New York, for which The New York Times praised his “forbidding, resonant bass-baritone.”
In 2015 he made his Carnegie Hall debut as Masolino in American Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Schillings’ MONA LISA, then performed at the hall again with New York City Chamber Orchestra as soloist for both Duruflé Requiem and Fauré Requiem.
For his performance as Elviro in Boston Baroque’s production of SERSE, Opera News wrote "bass Michael Scarcelle possessed an appealing, charismatic stage presence and a spot-on sense of comic timing reminiscent of a young Cary Grant" and Boston Globe noted his "fluidly sung comic relief."
He holds a Master of Music degree from Yale University and a Bachelor of Music degree from Hunter College. He additionally studied at The Catholic University of America and The American Musical and Dramatic Academy focusing on dancing and acting.
Brent Reilly Turner (Bardolfo)
American tenor Brent Reilly Turner has been critically acclaimed across the United States. His appearances in opera, concert and recital have been characterized as having a full, dramatic timbre, energetic personality and unique honesty. Recent engagements for Mr. Turner include multiple company debuts: with West Bay Opera as Florestan in Fidelio, Heartbeat Opera as Don Jose in Carmen, Opera Birmingham as Don Jose in The Tragedy of Carmen, and Pacific Opera Victoria as Florestan in Fidelio.
Other recent engagements include debuts with Austin Opera as Carlson in Of Mice and Men, Atlanta Opera as the Kronprinz in Silent Night, and his return to Austin Opera for their production of Bizet’s Carmen. Mr. Turner's Wagnerian repertoire includes roles such as Siegmund in Die Walküre, the title role of Lohengrin, Erik in Der fliegende Holländer, and Froh/Loge in Das Rheingold. Other roles include Max in von Weber's Der Freischütz, Bacchus in R. Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, Florestan in Beethoven's Fidelio, Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen, Sam Polk in Floyd's Susannah, and Eisenstein in J. Strauss' Die Fledermaus.
https://www.brentturner.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/theeoperaboy/featured
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Maria Sensi-Sellner (Conductor)
https://www.mariasensisellner.org
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM0apXwVYJOzTDuyhIGlY8Q
Joe Turbessi (Pianist)
Raylynmor Debut: Macbeth (2016)
Hometown: Boston, MA
Two Recent Performances: Sweeney Todd (conductor) Hansel and Gretel (conductor)
One Upcoming Performance: Beethoven, Piano Concerto #4 Soloist with the Boston Conservatory players
Favorite Opera: Falstaff
Joe Turbessi is a versatile musician in the greater Boston area, maintaining a career as an opera conductor, collaborative pianist and vocal coach. His piano playing has been described by composer Craig Hella Johnson as an "independent, probing musical voice" with "clear and expressive, singing tone.” He is the founder and artistic director of Opera Theater of Cape Cod, which debuted in 2018; as well as assistant conductor for Lowell House Opera, the accompanist for the choirs of the Boston Conservatory and the Radcliffe Choral Society of Harvard; and Music Director at Old South Union church in Weymouth, MA. Notable recent projects include Sweeney Todd (Sondheim) Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck), Cosi fan tutte (Mozart), La Tragédie de Carmen (Brooks), Le Comte Ory (Rossini), Ariadne auf Naxos (Strauss), Requiem (Faure), Jesu, meine Freude (Bach), Macbeth and Requiem (Verdi), Amahl and the Night Visitors (Menotti), part I of Messiah (Handel), and several other projects.
Vladimir Odinikikh (Chorus Master)
Vladimir has worked with the Raylynmor as both rehearsal pianist and accompanist. Vladimir began lessons at an early age and received training at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory and Gnessin Institute of Moscow where he earned both Bachelors and Masters degrees, He participated in the first Rachmaninov International Piano Competition, The International Ponce-Scriabin Festival, and the first Bach Festival in Peru, as well as the Isadora Duncan Festival in London, England. In addition to current college appointments with Keene State College, as collaborative pianist, and Franklin Pierce University as piano teacher, Mr. Odinokikh has taught at the Ippolitov-Ivanov College of Music in Moscow, the Alicia Urreta Center for the Arts in Mexico City and the Conservatorio de las Rosas in Morelios, Mexico.
