ELLEN CHICKERING - Director

Ellen Chickering, Director of Maine’s Emerging Artists for PORTopera, has been in this position since its inception and before that was the creator of the Young Artists program for PORT. A singer in her own right, she is Director of the Opera Workshop at the University of Southern Maine where she also teaches voice. Her singing credits are numerous. She has sung at Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall in Boston and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Sunturi Hall in Tokyo, as well as with orchestras and choruses in Japan and around the Boston area. She has sung opera with Boston Academy of Music, Santa Fe Opera and Minnesota Opera in such roles as Vanessa, Arabella, Donna Anna, Leonora in La Forza del Destino and Leonora in Il Trovatore, Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera and Minnie in La Fanciulla del West, First Lady in The Magic Flute among others. She has been a frequent soloist with orchestras such as the Portland (Me.) Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Civic Symphony of Boston, the Boston Philharmonic and the Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra in repertoire as diverse as Strauss’Vier Letzte Lieder, Beethoven’s Symhony #9, Mahler Symphony #8, Britten’s War Requiem and Verdi’s Requiem. Reviewers have hailed her as “sensational” with a “huge voice of pinpoint precision” (The Denver Post) and “Chickering responded with power, conviction, breadth of phrasing, technical sophistication, and more than a hint of Prima Donna grandeur. Chickering nailed all the tricky passages, attacking soft high notes with purity and poise, and navigating the cadenzas with skill”. (The Boston Globe).

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AARON ROBINSON - Pianist

As conductor, Mr. Robinson has conducted several premiere works for the concert stage including Scott Joplin’s opera Treemonisha, in association with the Scott Joplin Foundation in Sedalia Missouri, Leonard Bernstein’s Candide - The Concert Version, and also Sondheim and Co. - A Gala Celebration, honoring the music of Stephen Sondheim. Recently he received critical acclaim for his work as conductor and musical arranger for Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity. He has lectured extensively on the history of American music, including Jazz and Ragtime: Ragtime - 100 Years of an American Musical Heritage, the music of George Gershwin: Gershwin - A Life in Music, and American music, celebrating American Broadway and film composers. Mr. Robinson served as Artistic Director of the MCM Children’s Theater for several years, and was director of the acclaimed children’s chorus Cantiamo! He has performed On- and Off- Broadway and was recently musical supervisor, conductor and arranger for the Broadway musical Islands at the New Victory Theater on 42nd Street. Mr. Robinson studied composition at the Boston Conservatory with composer John Adams, and film scoring at Berklee with Maestro John Williams. He has written for television, film and theater, and produced several musicals for the stage. Many of his classical works have been performed throughout the world, including Peter and Wendy - A Fantasy Ballet, and An American Requiem for orchestra and chorus, which recently had its New England premiere under the direction of Dr. Robert Russell. He has released several recordings including They All Played Ragtime, along with the original cast recording of Treemonisha - The Concert Version and Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity; as well as the PBS documentary (now on DVD - due for release this Christmas) of the creation: Black Nativity – In Concert: A Gospel Celebration. Currently Mr. Robinson serves as Artistic Director of Music for MUSIC AT IMMANUEL in Portland, Maine where he also works as choirmaster and renowned organist; in addition to serving as vocal coach and staff/faculty performance accompanist at the University of Southern Maine School of Music.

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DANIEL CYR - St. Peter

Bass-baritone, Daniel Cyr, hails from Bucksport, Maine and is a graduate student in Voice performance at the University of Southern Maine studying with Malcolm Smith. Dan has performed the roles of Sempronio in Haydn’s The Apothecary and Chichibio in Mozart’s L’Oca del Cairo as a member of the PORTopera Maine’s Emerging Artists. In 2007, he appeared in the mainstage production of PORTopera’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia as Fiorello. Other roles include Falke in Die Fledermaus and The Speaker in The Magic Flute as well as Figaro and Colline in Opera Scenes at USM. He recently sang the solo part of Elijah in the USM Choral presentation of Mendelssohn’s Elijah. He has won the coveted Lillian Nordica Award and the Ezra Rachlin Fun with Music Award in the Bay Chamber Young Artists Competition. This season he will sing Gregorio in PORTopera’s mainstage production of Romeo and Juliet.

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SARAH MAWN - Just Jeanette

Soprano, Sarah Mawn, has just completed the Masters of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Southern Maine. While at USM, she sang the roles of Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus and Second Spirit in The Magic Flute at USM. In last season’s PORTopera Maine’s Emerging Artists presentation she sang Grilleta in The Apothecary and Don Ettore in La Canterina. She appeared as soprano soloist with the Portland Symphony Orchestra Independence Day POPS concerts. She has sung Mimi in excerpts from Puccini’s La Boheme in the USM Opera Gala and Opera Scenes program. With the Choral Arts Society she sang the Second Witch in Dido and Aeneas and has appeared as soprano soloist with the Lincoln Arts Festival in Mendelssohn’s Elijah as well as in Mozart’s Requiem at USM. Her recent awards include first place in the Portland Rossini Club’s Rand Competition, first place in Maine NATS and recipient of the 2007 Lillian Nordica Award. Miss Mawn studied in Boston with the Handel and Haydn Vocal Apprenticeship Program and won their VAP Award in addition to the Barbara Maze Award. She currently studies voice with Ellen Chickering.

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DANA L. SCHNITZER - Madame Pompous

Ms. Schnitzer is a native of Yorktown Heights, New York. She received a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music in 2005, and a Bachelor of Music degree, also in voice, from the University of Massachuetts Amherst in 2003. Ms. Schnitzer is fast becoming a sought-after performer of opera, oratorio and art song. Her most recent roles were Dido in Dido and Aeneas, and Lola in Gallantry, both with the Weston OperaFest. In the winter of 2007 she sang both the Mother and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel with the Boston Opera Collaborative. Prior to that, she sang two title roles: The Merry Widow at the Quisisana Music Festival and Suor Angelica (cover) with Mass Theatrica. She performed the role of Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the Commonwealth Opera Company and with the Janiec Opera Company of the Brevard Music Center. At the New England Conservatory, she was featured in the roles of Noemie in Cendrillon and First Lady in The Magic Flute.

Highlights of her oratorio solo and art song career include the Mahler Rückertlieder with the Philharmonic Society of Arlington, Schubert ‘s Mass in G and the Mozart Vespers K. 321, both with the Concert Singers of Lynn, Handel’s Messiah with Masterworks Chorale, and the Bach B minor mass with the Belmont Orchestra.

In the summer of 2007, Ms. Schnitzer was a young artist at the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme in England, and a Bel Canto Apprentice Artist with the Caramoor International Music Festival in New York. She has attended many other summer opera programs including the Quisisana Festival in 2006, the Brevard Music Center in 2005, The Atlantic Coast Opera Festival in 2004, and the Florence Voice Seminar in Italy in 2003. No stranger to vocal competitions, Ms. Schnitzer won first place in the Philharmonic Society of Arlington Young Artist Competition this past April. In 2006, she was a Boston District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Competition, and second place winner of the Peter Elvins Vocal Competition in Belmont, MA. She was a finalist in the Palm Beach Opera Competition in 2005, and won first place in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition, Boston, in both 2004 and 2005.

This summer Ms. Schnitzer will be a young artist with PORTopera in Maine. She will sing the role of Madame Pompous in Too Many Sopranos, and cover the role of Juliette in Romeo and Juliette. In September she will present a recital of art song with mezzo-soprano Megan Roth in Boston, and in October she will sing the role of Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica with the Boston Opera Collaborative.

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LORI L'ITALIEN - Dame Doleful

Lori L'Italien, mezzo-soprano, is a master's degree candidate in Opera Performance at Longy School of Music. She is a graduate of the University of Maine where she earned her bachelor's degree in music education with a concentration in voice. She taught general music, band, chorus and dramatic arts for grades K-8 in a public school setting in both Maine and New Hampshire and is now teaching privately in the Cambridge area. Ms. L'Italien's performance experience includes choral music, recital performance, opera and musical theater. She has performed with community theaters and with the professional troupe at Hackmatack Theater (Maine). She participated in the 2007 Key West Symphony Orchestra Young Artist program as a performer and a teacher for the children's program. Her teachers have included Nancy Ogle, Donna Roll and currently Robert Honeysucker. While at Longy she has performed in numerous scenes, and one act operas. Some of her favorite scene performances include: Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Annio (La Clemenza di Tito), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel) and Meg (Little Women). Ms. L'Italien was recently seen as the First Sister in Longy's production of Vittorio Giananni's Beauty and the Beast and as Madame Kierstin in John Duke's Captain Lovelock. This spring she portrayed the humorous Prince Orlofsky in Longy's spring production with orchestra of Die Fledermaus Ms. L'Italien was also recently seen in several recitals in the Boston area and at The University of Maine.

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DORI M. SMITH - Miss Titmouse

Dori M. Smith, Soprano, a native of Presque Isle Maine, graduated with honors in music from Colby College in Waterville Maine in May, 2008. At Colby, she studied voice with Elizabeth Erskine Patches and was the recipient of the 2007 Music Department Performance Prize, winner of the 2006 and 2008 Colby College Concerto Competitions and has appeared as a soloist with Colby Symphony Orchestra, Colby Wind Ensemble, College Chorale, Collegium Musicum and as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Vesperae Solemnes. Dori has held an internship at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and has sung at the Rainbow Room in NYC, Casa di Risposto di Giuseppe Verdi, Auditorium Lattuada and Il Castello Sforzesco in Milan, Italy. A finalist with the U.S. Fulbright Program, Dori studied bel canto with Patrizia Zanardi at L’Accademia Internazionale della Musica and sang with Il Coro Civico da Camera di Milano. Dori will continue her musical studies at The Longy School of Music in the fall for her M.M. in Opera Performance.

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JOHN COONS - Enrico Carouser

Tenor John Coons, of Corinna, Maine, is a recent graduate of the University of Southern Maine with a double degree in Vocal Performance and Music Education. With PORTopera’s Maine’s Emerging Artists, John has sung the roles of Don Pelagio in La Canterina and Calandrino in L’Oca del Cairo. At USM, he has sung Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, and Monostatos in The Magic Flute, and in the critically acclaimed Orfeo as Apollo. He has appeared as tenor soloist with the Portland Symphony Independence Day POPS concert, the Choral Art Society in Rachmaninoff’s All Night Vigil and the Granite State Choral Society as St. Nicholas in Britten’s St. Nicholas. He was named USM’s Presser Scholar for the 2007-2008 academic year. He studies voice with Malcolm Smith.

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J. THOMAS C. MORRIS - Nelson Deadly

J. Thomas C. Morris, Tenor, received his Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from Ithaca College School of Music in 2006. Thomas has received rave reviews for his work in professional theatre productions in New York in such shows as Shakespeare’s As You Like It and the musical comedy Hello Dolly! as well as in IC Opera productions singing the roles of Danilo in The Merry Widow, Tamino in The Magic Flute, and the Maestro in The Impresario. Thomas sold over 30,000 CDs while touring with the professional a cappella group, the Sons of Pitches. His vast and varied performances with Sons of Pitches helped hone his powerful stage presence. He is currently the lead singer of a new a cappella group, The Fault Line. He currently studies voice with Bonnie Scarpelli.

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NICHOLAS CONNOLLY - Orson

Baritone, Nicholas Connolly is a New Jersey native with strong ties to the state of Maine. Nicholas is a 2007 graduate of Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Prior professional engagements include: Aeneas in The College of New Jersey’s Lyric Theatre production of Dido and Aeneas; Gloster Hemming and Herman Atlan in the Susan B. Anthony Legacy Centennial’s production of Virgil Thomson’s The Mother of Us All; chorus of the 2006 Bard Summerscape Festival production of Schumann’s Genoveva--the first fully staged American production of that work—under the baton of Leon Botstein. While at Rutgers, Nicholas appeared as Vicomte Cascada in Die Lustige Witwe, George Jones in Street Scene (under the direction of Dona Vaughan), the servant and Commissionario in La Traviata. He was an active member of the Rutgers University Kirkpatrick Choir and Glee Club. Nicholas teaches voice and piano with several studios near his home in Little Silver, New Jersey. He is a student of Eduardo Chama.

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LAUREN ONSRUD - Gabriel/Sandman

Soprano, Lauren Onsrud, from Orono, Maine graduated in May 2008 from the University of Southern Maine with a Bachelor’s of Music in voice performance. Miss Onsrud has performed Adele in Die Fledermaus at USM, and Pamina in Die Zauberflote with the Halifax Summer Opera Workshop. She was selected to sing Susanna for the USM Opera Gala in a scene from The Marriage of Figaro. She has performed extensively with the USM Opera Workshop, most recently as Magda in Puccini’s La Rondine and Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen. She will be attending graduate school this fall at the University of Missouri-Kansas City to pursue a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance.

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