Hampton Roads, Richmond, Fairfax, VA (August 14, 2024) – Virginia Opera is thrilled to announce the casts for its much-anticipated 2024-2025 season. With a lineup that includes some of the most talented and celebrated artists in the opera world today, this season promises to be a captivating journey for opera enthusiasts and newcomers alike.
Artistic Director and Chief Conductor, Adam Turner, expressed his enthusiasm for the season’s casting and the exciting year ahead – “From cherished and timeless classics to a historic world premiere, the 50th Anniversary Season has something for everyone! I could not be more ecstatic to announce the complete casting for this extraordinary moment in Virginia Opera’s legacy of producing opera as the Official Opera Company of the Commonwealth of Virginia. For 50 years we’ve inspired and enchanted audiences with spellbinding singing and groundbreaking productions, and this season will be no different! Featuring a host of remarkable debuts, including some of the most engaging and promising talents in opera, our 50th will showcase the diversity and beauty of opera in all its forms. I simply can’t wait for our audiences to see and hear these exceptional performers!”
Don Giovanni opens the season in October 2024, directed by the esteemed Kyle Lang, who previously captivated audiences with productions of Cinderella (2020), The Marriage of Figaro (2022), and The Pirates of Penzance (2022). The cast features Ethan Vincent as Don Giovanni, making his Virginia Opera mainstage and role debut, alongside Alexandra Loutsion as Donna Elvira, who previously shone as Brünnhilde in The Valkyrie (2022) and Siegfried (2023). Symone Harcum, a beloved alumna of the Herndon Foundation Emerging Artists Program, will play Donna Anna, and Wm. Clay Thompson, making his mainstage debut, will portray Leporello. Jordan Costa, another former Emerging Artist, takes on the role of Don Ottavio, while Ricardo Lugo will play Commendatore. Current Emerging Artists Chase Sanders and Patrick Wilhelm will appear as Zerlina and Masetto, respectively.
Following Don Giovanni, a new production of Carmen will grace the stage, also directed by Kyle Lang. In her Virginia Opera mainstage debut, Lisa Marie Rogali stars as Carmen, with Zach Borichevsky as Don José and Rolfe Dauz as Escamillo, both also making their mainstage debuts. Alicia Russell Tagert, who enchanted audiences in Siegfried (2023), returns as Micaëla. The cast is rounded out by current Emerging Artists Chase Sanders as Frasquita, Aria Minasian as Mercédès, Daniel Lugo as Le Remendado, and Patrick Wilhelm as Le Dancaire, with former Emerging Artist Jeremy Harr as Zuniga and Virginia-native Brandon Bell, in his mainstage debut, as Moralès.
In February, Virginia Opera will present Così fan tutte, a work not seen on our stages in 15 years. Directed by Mo Zhou, returning after her triumphant directorial debut in Madama Butterfly (2024), the cast includes Keely Futterer as Fiordiligi, in her mainstage debut, and former Emerging Artist Kristen Choi as Dorabella, last seen as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly (2024). Terrence Chin-Loy, who made his mainstage debut in Sanctuary Road (2024), will play Ferrando, with Ethan Vincent, also starring in Don Giovanni, as Guglielmo. Joseph Barron returns as Don Alfonso, last seen at Virginia Opera as Kaspar in Der Freischütz (2017), and Ashley Fabian will make her mainstage debut as Despina.
The season will conclude with the world premiere of Loving v. Virginia, with music by Damien Geter and a libretto by Jessica Murphy Moo, co-commissioned with the Richmond Symphony. Directed by the internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, the cast includes Flora Hawk as Mildred Jeter Loving and Jonathan Michie as Richard Loving, both making their mainstage debuts. Former Emerging Artist Troy Cook, a fan favorite from The Pirates of Penzance (2022), will play Bernard Cohen, with Christian Sanders making his mainstage debut as Phillip Hirschkop. Another former Emerging Artist, Benjamin Werley, will return in the dual roles of Sherriff Brooks and Judge Leon M. Bazile. Adam Richardson, who made his mainstage debut last season in Sanctuary Road, will play Raymond Green. A native of Smithfield, Virginia, Richardson will be joined by his fellow Sanctuary Road cast member Tesia Kwarteng as Annette Byrd, former Emerging Artist Phillip Bullock as Theoliver “Jake” Jeter, Karen Slack, making her mainstage debut as Musiel Byrd Jeter, and Alissa Anderson as Lola Allen Loving, who debuted last season in Siegfried.
For more information on the season and to purchase tickets, please visit www.vaopera.org or contact the Virginia Opera Box Office at (866) 673-7282.
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About Virginia Opera
Virginia Opera, the official opera company of the Commonwealth of Virginia, is one of the finest regional opera companies in the nation and is the only company to perform regularly in three separate main stage venues: the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk, the Carpenter Theatre at the Dominion Energy Center in Richmond, and Center for the Arts at George Mason University in Fairfax. Organized in 1974, Virginia Opera is respected nationwide for the identification and presentation of the finest young artists, for the musical and dramatic integrity of its productions, and for the ingenuity and variety of its education and outreach programs.
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