Rene de la Garza is a versatile and talented baritone who has studied voice with Richard Highes, Phyllis Curtin and vocal coach Steven Bleier. He has performed with the Albany Symphony, New Haven Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic and the American Symphony Orchestra. His diverse operatic repertoire includes roles in Lully’s Alceste, Rameau’s Platee and the title role in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, as well as leading roles in the operas of Britten and Henze.

Frequently in demand as a solo recitalist, Mr. de la Garza has appeared at Avery Fischer Hall, the Newport Festival, the Gardner Museum, and the Kennedy Center and on concert tours in California, Texas and Michigan. An active orchestral and choral soloist, he has held leading baritone roles with New York’s OBIE award winning Spanish Repertory Company and Boston’s Charles Street Playhouse.

He has performed with the Boston Camerata and is an experienced soloist of early music and the music of contemporary American composers. Mr. de la Garza is director of URI Opera Workshop, an annual staged production of famous opera featuring URI voice and music students.

American Bass-Baritone T. Steven Smith has a reputation as a sensitive and intelligent interpreter of a wide variety of operatic roles. Mr. Smith appeared in summer 2000 as Zuniga in Carmen at the Opera Festival of New Jersey and made his debut with Austin Lyric Opera in March 2001, performing Hunding in Die Walküre. He sang Dr. Bartolo in The Barber of Seville with Boston’s Opera Aperta in summer 2001. In the 2001-2002 season, he sang Basilio in The Barber of Seville at Mississippi Opera and appeared with L’Opéra de Montréal and Opera Grand Rapids as the Sacristan in Tosca. In summer 2002 Mr. Smith sang the Commendatore in Don Giovanni at the Pine Mountain Music Festival in Michigan. In the 2002-2003 season his engagements included debuts with Portland Opera as Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore, Cleveland Opera in the title role in Don Pasquale and Canadian Opera Company as the Bonze in Madama Butterfly, and his return to Austin for performances of Dead Man Walking. In 2003, Mr. Smith returned to Portland Opera to perform the role of Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro. In spring of 2004, Mr. Smith made his Atlanta Opera debut singing the role of Il Bonzo in Madama Butterfly, and in 2005 Mr. Smith returned to Cleveland Opera for performances of Madama Butterfly, as well. In December of 2005 Mr. Smith made his solo debut with the Sippican Choral Society for their Christmas concert and returned as soloist in their 2006 Christmas and 2007 spring concerts. Mr. Smith also made his debut with Opera Providence in 2007 singing the title role in Don Pasquale, which was met with great critical acclaim.

Michael has been a regular performer with Opera Providence for several years as well as performing with other companies around New England. His operatic portrayals include Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro, Gianni Schicci in Gianni Schicci, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Uncle Bonzo in Madama Butterfly and Sarastro in The Magic Flute. Committed to teaching young people about opera, Mr. Wrobleski belongs to two separate organizations.

Mezzo-soprano Monika Krajewska is described as an artist who is capable of giving “…full range to the inherent drama of her voice…” and possessing the “…skills with which to emphasize its luscious, full beauty.” At home in opera as well as on the concert stage, Ms. Krajewska has appeared with the, Aspen Opera Theater, Utah Opera, Chattanooga Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Palm Beach Opera, the Opera Theater of Connecticut, Yale Opera, Connecticut Lyric Opera, New Jersey State Opera, Caramoor Festival, Belcanto Festival(Holland), Poznan Spring Festival (Poland), Vratislavia Cantans, the Weimar Festival (Germany), the Hartford Symphony, the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic, Washington National Philharmonic, among others.

Opera credits for Monika Krajewska include Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, the title role in Carmen, Angelina in Cenerentola, Marina in Boris Godunov, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, Madelon in Andrea Chenier, Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Idamante in Idomeneo, Pierotto in Linda Chamounix, Judith in Bluebird’s Castle, Charlotte in Werther, Nicklausse in Tales of Hoffman, Der Trommer in Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Meg Page in Falstaff, Laura in Tchaikovsky’s Yolanta, and Siebel in Faust. Upcoming are assignments for Palm Beach Opera including Lola in Cavlaleria Rusticana, Albine in Thais, and Charlotte in Werther.

In concert, Monika Krajewska has sung the Alto Solos in the works of Bach, Beethoven, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Schubert, and Verdi. As an exponent of Slavic music, she has performed recitals of the works of Chopin, Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Paderewski, and Szymanowski, among others. Ms. Krajewska made her Carnegie Hall debut as a soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with Hartford Symphony and Hartford Chorale and her European debut as Carlotta in Donizetti’s Il Borgomastro di Saardam at Belcanto Festival (Holland). Last season, Ms. Krajewska performed recital of Szymanowski’s songs at Carnegie Hall in the program Two Nations One Love.

Ms. Krajewska has successfully competed in numerous vocal competitions, is the winner of the Giuseppe Verdi Prize from the Palm Beach Opera, a 1st place winner in the Rosa Ponselle Vocal Competition, MacAllister Award winner, winner of Sembrich Kochanska Vocal Competition, winner of Music Teacher National Competition, and New Jersey State Opera Vocal Competition, and 1st place of the Amici Competition. Ms. Krajewska holds a Master of Music degree from Yale University and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Connecticut. She is proficient in English, Italian, and Russian.

This young, versatile soprano is an artist whose consummate skills as both a singer and an actress have made her highly visible in opera, oratorio and as soloist with symphony orchestras. The beauty of her voice and intelligent artistry has also made her a much sought after artist for both the standard repertoire and new works. She has appeared as soloist with the Florida West Coast Symphony, the Longwood Symphony, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the Albany Symphony, and the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra, among others. She has sung leading roles with Opera Columbus, Ocean State Lyric Opera, the Salt Marsh Opera Company, Boston Academy of Music, Rhode Island Philharmonic and Opera Providence. Her many roles include Musetta in La Boheme, Despina in Così Fan Tutte, Constanze in The Abduction from the Seraglio, Adalgisa in Norma, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Olympia in The Tales of Hoffman, and Gretel in Hansel and Gretel to name a few. She was an apprentice artist with both the Sarasota Opera Company, where she covered the role of Olympia in The Tales of Hoffman, and the Lake George Opera Festival where she covered the role of Constanze in The Abduction from the Seraglio. In 2003, Ms. McVey was a finalist in the New England Regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was heard on WGBH, Boston.

Recent engagements include a Carnegie Hall debut in June 2006 singing Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Stonington Choral Society, a concert appearance with the Albany Symphony, a production of L’Italiana in Algieri with the Lake George Opera Festival and a production of La Boheme with the Salt Marsh Opera. Upcoming engagements include a production of La Traviata with the Salt Marsh Opera, an Opera Gala with the Pioneer Valley Symphony, and the Brahm's Requiem and The Four Last Songs of Strauss with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra.

Hailed for her dramatic and passionate performances, Lauren Woody has been thrilling opera audiences from coast to coast with her silvery soprano voice. Her recent credits include portraying Lepido in the U.S. premiere of Handel's opera, Silla with BASOTI in San Francisco, and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel with Opera Theater of Connecticut.

Ms. Woody made her debut performing scenes from La Bohème as Mimì, and La Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro, with the Hartford Festival Orchestra’s Opera al Fresco concert series. Additional operatic roles include Rosina in Haydn’s La Vera Costanza, the Second Lady in The Magic Flute, and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel. She has also sung the title roles of Patience and Iolanthe, as well as Buttercup in HMS Pinafore.

In December 2005, Ms. Woody was invited to reprise her signature role of the Witch at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts’ Bank of America™ Children’s Series. In the same year, she was a winner in the Advanced Division of the NATS Vocal Competition. Her partial roles include Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Thaïs in Thaïs, Cunegunde in Candide, Mrs. Fiorentino in Street Scene, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, and Fiordiligi in Così Fan Tutte.

Ms. Woody holds both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Vocal Performance from the University of Connecticut.

Ethan received his master degree in voice at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has performed with UW opera as Dr. Caius in Falstaff, Alfred in Die Fledermaus, Don Curzio in Le Nozze die Figaro and Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors. He has also performed with the Madison Savoyards playing Luiz in The Gondoliers, Richard in Ruddigore, and Fredrick in The Pirates of Penzance. He hails from Athol, Massachusetts and got his bachelor’s degree in music at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY where he performed as Tamino in The Magic Flute and Jack Madden in Scott Gendel’s A Song That’s True and where he performed with the American Symphony Orchestra. Since moving to Boston, Ethan performed the role of Achilles in Gluck's Iphigenie en Aulide and Rodolfo in La Boheme with the Boston Opera Collaborative, Idomeneo in Idomeneo with Opera Hub, Giorgio and Poliziano in the premier of Michelangelo with Opera Providence, and Alfred in Die Fledermaus with Longwood Opera and Providence Opera. Most recently he performed as Canio in Pagliacci with Lakes Region Opera.
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