Power, Glory, and Betrayal

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.

Mr. Dubin has performed multiple leading roles throughout the United States and Europe, which include the title roles of Rigoletto and Eugene Onegin, Marcello in La bohème, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Germont in La traviata, Lescaut in Manon, David in L’amico Fritz, Donner in Das Rheingold and many others. Mr. Dubin has made many significant debuts with Opera Philadelphia, Nashville Opera, Fresno Grand Opera, Opera Cleveland among others, including Opera NJ where he performed Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, in which Opera News said, “Eric Dubin’s impressive Enrico displayed an ardent, youthful baritone that nearly turned ‘Cruda, funesta smania’ into a sympathetic moment for his character.” Mr. Dubin has also held teaching positions with Mediterranean Opera Studio in Sicily, Italy, and The New Jersey MasterChorale. Mr. Dubin lives in Austin, Texas, with his wonderfully supportive wife and two lovely children.

Praised for her “rich, vibrant tone” (Opera News), mezzo-soprano Anna Laurenzo is a wide-ranging performer known for her “poignancy and realism.”  Her passion for contemporary opera  and art song permeates her varied career. Her 2025-26 season includes a return to the roster of Chicago Opera Theater for Salieri’s Falstaff, and performances with Brooklyn Art Song Society in Rorem’s Evidence of Things not Seen, a reprise of Berlioz’s Les nuits d’ete in New York, and a curated recital French female poets in Minneapolis and Chicago.

In 2024-25, Anna debuted with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra in Handel’s Messiah and Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra in Mendelssohn’s Ein Sommernachtstraum and returned to Brooklyn Art Song Society to perform Dvořak’s Biblické písně. In the 2023-24 season, Anna debuted with the American Lyric Theater in the orchestral workshop of Working for the Macbeths and Opera Festival of Chicago as Second Coryphée/Assassinio nella Cattedrale. She continued her working relationship with Brooklyn Art Song Society as a soloist in Les Six and returned to Lincoln Center as a soloist in Marshall Opera’s Oral History Project.

The 2022-23 season featured multiple exciting debuts, including her Off-Broadway debut as Mrs. Van Buren in Ricky Ian Gordon’s Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center Theater.  She joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera for Brett Dean’s Hamlet, made her Asian debut with Musica Viva Hong Kong as Elisabetta/Maria Stuarda, debuted with the Brooklyn Art Song Society in Erwin Schulhoff’s 3 Stimmungsbilder, and debuted with the Carolina Philharmonic in A Night at the Opera.

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

Baritone Jeffrey Ray has performed in operatic and concert halls throughout the United States and Europe.  Highlights from his operatic career have included numerous performances with Lyric Opera of Chicago and Berlin’s Deutche Oper.   He has been heard frequently in the roles of Don Giovanni, Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Marcello in La Boheme, Valentin in Faust, Lescaut in Manon, and as the Father in Hansel und Gretel. Baritone Jeffrey is an alum of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center. He did his Master’s studies at Manhattan School of Music and received his Bachelor’s degree from DePaul University.

Jeffrey has been heard often on the concert stage as well, singing Handel’sMessiah, the works of Bach, Mendelssohn and Rossini, Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony, Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony, as well as Mozart, Brahms and Verdi’s Requiems.  He has sung with the Berlin Rundfunks Orchester, the Munich Bach Festival, and has been featured at the Ravinia Festival where he is also an alum of the Steans Institute.

Jeffrey is passionate about song repertoire and in constant demand as a recitalist and clinician. He has been heard Live from the Levin Studio on WFMT, and in recital from Atlanta’s Spivey Hall to The Schubert Festival, to Jimmy Stewart’s hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania.  In addition to singing recitals and concerts he enjoys working with students in master classes as well as in the studio. Mr. Ray has an extensive voice studio which includes teaching at DePaul University where he received the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2022, as well as The University of Chicago where he was named to the prestigious New Music Ensemble along with the acclaimed Spektral Quartet.

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.