Inaugural Season

Educated in the rich musical tradition of the Rome’s Conservatory as a conductor, composer, and pianist, Maestro Andrizzi, whose conducting has been praised as “admirable” by the Chicago Tribune and full of “spirit and thoughtfulness” by the San Diego Union Tribune, has become a versatile musician with a vast experience in the symphonic and operatic repertoires and a passion for the many areas of the musical arts. As a conductor, he has worked with world-class companies such as the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Diego Opera, Chicago Philharmonic, Orchestra della Città di Ravenna, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Chicago Opera Theater, and New Philharmonic. He has also collaborated with important music festivals, including Millennium Park, Pitchfork, Ravinia, and Latino Music Festivals. Many international artists, including Ferruccio Furlanetto, Frederica Von Stade, Maurizio Baglini, Frank Almond, and Joyce Castle have performed as soloists with Maestro Andrizzi in concertos, operas, recitals, and recordings.

In addition to being a passionate conductor, Maestro Andrizzi is a dedicated educator. In fact, he has led the Orchestral Program at the prestigious Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University for several years and has often collaborated with international artist programs, including the Ryan Opera Center, Mediterranean Opera Festival and Studio, and the Chicago Opera Theater Young Artist Program. In addition, he has guest conducted in various university music programs, such as at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. Finally, Maestro Andrizzi has collaborated with several orchestras to create and lead their Family, Education, and Holiday programs, ultimately creating a special relationship with the Chicago Philharmonic and conducting the orchestra’s outreach and side-by-side programs for several years.

Mo. Andrizzi is a recipient of the Illinois Council of Orchestras’ 2021 Conductor of the Year Award (college/university), Honorable Mention Award at the International Competition for Conductors of Contemporary Music “4X4 Prize,” and a winner of the “P. Barrasso” International Competition for Chamber Music. Previous positions include: Music Director and Conductor of the Cervantes Orchestra of Chicago, an orchestra dedicated to the divulgation of Hispanic and Spanish Classical music. He also served as assistant conductor of Maestros Andrew Davis and James Conlon. He has recorded for Albany records.

Beloved by critics and audiences alike, American soprano Emily Birsan has shared her engaging skills with many of the world’s finest opera houses and orchestras, including the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Welsh National Opera, Edinburgh Festival, Boston Lyric Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Rochester Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Hailed for her versatility and “radiant delicacy” of tone, she takes on exceptionally broad repertoire, and has emerged as a specialist in works by Mozart and Italian repertoire.

Christopher Colmenero, tenor, is based in San Francisco and is a current member of the prestigious Adler Fellowship at San Francisco Opera. He made his San Francisco Opera debut in the fall of 2019, singing the role of Maintop in Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd. During his first year in the Adler Fellowship, he also covered the roles of Edmondo (Manon Lescaut), Captain Vere (Billy Budd), and Don José (Carmen) at San Francisco Opera. As a member of the 2018 Merola Opera Program, Christopher Colmenero was featured as Luigi in Puccini’s Il Tabarro for the Schwabacher Summer Concert, and performed a scene in the title role of Verdi’s Don Carlo for the Merola Grand Finale concert.

Frank has been active in oratorio and opera for the past 20 years. Frank’s most recent performances include South Shore Opera’s production of Opera at the Movies where he performed classic roles including Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni and Sparafucile in Rigoletto. Prior to that, Frank was active with Light Opera Works of Chicago, performing in  productions of Pirates of Penzanceand Iolanthe where he played the Police Sergeant and Private Willis respectively. His performances were heralded by the Chicago Tribune and Sun Times saying that he was “both vocally and comically perfect.”

His additional performance credits include, Germont in La Traviata, Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd, Seneca in L’incoranazione di Poppea, and Cinderella’s Prince in Into the Woods.  Frank has had the pleasure of working with such renowned conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta and Christoph Eschenbach. He continues his studies under the tutelage of Carl Lawrenz, and is a founding member of the Three Baritones.

Baritone Franco Pomponi made his European debut in the title role of Hamlet at the Liceu in Barcelona and success followed worldwide. He created a sensation in Paris as Pentheus in The Bassarids by Henze at the Théâtre du Châtelet and has returned to sing the title roles in new productions of Nixon in China (broadcast on Mezzo) and Sweeney Todd. His Italian debut came at Teatro Massimo, Palermo, as Nick Shadow in Cesare Lievi’s production of A Rake’s Progress. He debuted at Opernhaus Zürich in a new production of Les pêcheurs de perles as Zurga (dir. Rizzi), the title role of Don Giovanni for his debut at Bolshoï Opera (dir. Currentzis) and in Budapest in a new production of The Tempest as Prospero at Hungarian State Opera.

Mr. Pomponi was a member of Lyric Opera of Chicago and made his Chicago debut as Germont in Verdi’s La traviata. He made his New York debut as Escamillo in Carmen at New York City Opera. Other debuts: Ford in Falstaff for The Santa Fe Opera (dir. Arrivabeni), ‘Four Villains’ in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Finnish National Opera (dir. Fournillier). He made his Carnegie Hall debut as Pater Ecstaticus in Symphony Nº 8 of Mahler with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Additional highlights include: Ezio, Attila, Seïd, Il Corsaro, OFC Chicago; Tebaldo, Giulietta e Romeo (Zandonai), New York; Prigioniero, Il Prigioniero (Dallapiccola), Chicago; Pangloss, Candide, Metternich, L’Aiglon, Lausanne; Hamlet, Barcelona, Marseille, Brussels, Kansas City; Don Giovanni, Bolshoi, Moscow, Geneva, Athens, Montpellier, Guangzhou; Eugene Onegin, FGO, Miami, Spoleto Festival; Escamillo, Carmen, L.A. Opera, NYCO, Helsinki, Bremen; ‘Four Villains,’ Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Golaud, Pelléas et Mélisande, Reisopera Netherlands; Paolo, Simon Boccanegra, Grand Théâtre de Genève; Germont, La traviata, Grant Park Music Festival; Ford, Falstaff, Canadian Opera; Count di Luna, Il trovatore, Austin Lyric; Michele, Il tabarro, Opera Festival of Chicago; Jack Rance, Fanciulla del West, KYO; Marcello, La bohème, Opéra de Lausanne, Opéra Vichy; Schaunard, La bohème, Count Dominik, Arabella, Metropolitan Opera, New York; Valentin, Faust, Opéra de Toulon; Hérode, Hérodiade, Silvio, Pagliacci, Dorset Opera; Frank/Pierrot, Die tote Stadt, Teatro Massimo, Palermo; Guglielmo, Così fan tutte, Belcore, L’elisir d’amore, Opéra National du Rhin, Strasbourg; Argante, Rinaldo, NYOpera Fest; Ping, Turandot, Mercutio, Roméo et Juliette, Malatesta, Don Pasquale, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Carbon, Cyrano, Teatro Real, Madrid. Mr. Pomponi has sung leading roles under Abell, Abbassi, Andrizzi, Bartoletti, de Billy, Eschenbach, Gergiev, Guidarini, López Cobos, Luisotti, Mehta, Minkowski, Levine, Mazzola, Nagano, Nelson, Niquet, Olmi, Ōno, Pappano, Pidò, Schwarz, Soltész, Villaume, de Waart.

Franco is the Artistic Director and co-founder of the Opera Festival of Chicago

Stephen Powell enters his fourth decade as a leading baritone in opera companies and orchestras around the globe. In addition to being a renowned performer, he has been a member of the voice faculty at Mannes School of Music in The New School in New York City for the past six years, teaches privately out of his home outside of Philadelphia, and is a recurring guest instructor at the Potomac Vocal Institute in Washington, DC.

Ola Rafalo, dramatic mezzosoprano, has been called a “Vocal Powerhouse”, and “the next Cossotto”. She has earned critical acclaim in a variety of roles and venues with her “voluptuous”, “contralto like sound” and mesmerizing acting. Ola has performed numerous stirring roles, such as Azucena in Il Trovatore, and Maddalena in Rigoletto, but her most celebrated role is Carmen, which she has sung with Syracuse Opera, the Lyric Orchestra, Gulfshore Opera, New Jersey Verismo Opera, and highlights with the Pacific Symphony. She has been featured at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Opera Tampa, Springfield Symphony, Orlando Opera, Baltimore Lyric, Opera Carolina, Teatro Curci di Barletta, Paderewski Symphony, Chicago Opera Theater, and she received an award from UNESCO for her performance as Alkmene in the Olympic Torch.

Soprano Jenny Schuler has earned high praise for her powerful vocalism and compelling stage artistry. She has been hailed as a “sumptuous soprano,” with a voice “rich in nuance” and “a vivid presence on the stage.”

Recent season highlights include Wagner’s Liebestod, (Tristan und Isolde) with the CCPA Symphony Orchestra at Orchestra Hall, Symphony Center Chicago, Odabella in Verdi’s Attila with Opera Festival of Chicago, Passionate Puccini anniversary concert with Symphony San Jose, Isabela in La Hija de Rappaccini with Chicago Opera Theater (originally Matilde in Catan’s Il Postino), Giorgetta in Il Tabarro with Opera Festival of Chicago, soprano soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Mother in Hänsel und Gretel with Oregon Symphony, the title role of Tosca with New Jersey Festival Orchestra, the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos as a guest artist with Indiana University, Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Sugar Creek Opera, the title roles of Ariadne auf Naxos and Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, both with the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, and Leonore* in the Princeton Festival’s production of Fidelio.

Ms. Schuler was nominated as finalist for the 2019 Richard Tucker Career Grant, she was the second place winner in the 2019 Classical Singer Competition, first place winner of the 2018 Lyra New York International Vocal Competition, a semi-finalist in the 2017 Premier Opera Foundation International Vocal Competition, a semi-finalist in Shreveport Opera’s 2017 Mary Jacobs Smith Competition, a finalist in the 2017 Marcello Giordani International Voice Competition, and first place winner in the 2016 Heafner–Williams Vocal Competition. Ms. Schuler earned her Artist Diploma from the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute and her Master of Music from Roosevelt University Chicago College of Performing Arts.

Mr. Tao Tong, a rising star in operatic circles in the United States and Europe, began his study of vocal music with Professor Guonong Gan at Sichuan Conservatory of Music in 2000. Four years later, as the tip-top B.A. of his class, and because of his remarkable onstage performance, he was hired to teach at his alma mater on the vocal faculty. In 2007, he was sent to the Amsterdam Opera House of the Netherlands on a Royal Scholarship for four-year rigorous training and working. He had been handpicked to attend operatic productions with famous opera singers such as Mr. Lotfi Mansouri, Mr. Eric Weimer, Mme. Ljuba Kazarnovskaya, and Mr. Allan Glassman.