Saturday, March 3 & Sunday, March 4, 2012
an opera in one act
Gordon Porth, music director | Michael Arve, stage director
Preceded by a selection of Opera Scenes directed by Cecile Saine

Rochester Association for Performing Arts
Saturday 7:30 pm | Sunday 2:00 pm
Admission: $10

Artist Bios

Director – Michael H. Arvé, a nationally acclaimed, award-winning director and Actor is also a published poet, who has been active on the Rochester, New York theatre scene for over 50 years. He has acted and/or directed for The Greater Rochester Repertory Companies, Inc., Blackfriars, The Shipping Dock Theatre, JCC Center Stage, and The Cobblestone Arts Center. His production of The Belle of Amherst won state, regional, national, and international awards.
For his 2003 performance as Matthew Brady in Auburn Players' production of Inherit the Wind, the Theatre Association of New York State (TANYS) awarded him The Outstanding Actor Award. In May of 2006, he and the entire cast of The Mousetrap were honored with Outstanding Ensemble Acting Merit Awards. In October of 2006 his production of Save Me A Place at Forest Lawn was honored with Excellence in Acting Awards for the two principals in the production and it was chosen to be a contestant at the TANYS Festival 2006.
Among the over 70 plays he has directed in his career are THE SWEET LIFE, BIG SLIDE, PING, THE BOYS IN THE BAND and Edward Albee’s THE ZOO STORY there for the American Playwright series.
His recent productions at MuCCC of Sam Shepard’s TRUE WEST (6/09) and Edward Albee’s WHO’s AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF (6/10) were highly lauded by City Newspaper’s Erik Resznyak.

“Mrs Gobineau” – Tania Beghini currently studies voice and her performance career is just getting started. In the past two years she has held roles in three Gilbert & Sullivan operettas with the Off-Monroe Players, she presented her own solo vocal recital performing works from Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, and Vivaldi’s Gloria. She performed in several recitals of the Rochester Vocal Arts Collaborative and sang in the chorus in ESLT’s production of Il Pagliacci. She is studying and performing works from such roles as Despina in Cosi fan Tutte, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. She has been a soloist in her Ukrainian church and has performed at Ukrainian cultural events her whole life. Tania is a native of Rochester, served in the U.S. Peace Corps, has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Syracuse University and is now married and a stay-at-home Mom.

“Mr. Gobineau” – Don Davis Baritone Don Davis joins the Chamber Opera Festival after having had a successful career singing all over the United States. A 3 time Met Regional Winner, Don started his career with the NYCO Touring Production of La Traviata as Germont. From there, a 15-year career with companies such as Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Indianapolis, Austin Lyric, Fort Worth, Portland and Arizona Opera was born. Amongst his favorite and most frequently performed roles are Figaro in the Barber of Seville, Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Valentin in Faust, and Papageno in The Magic Flute. Still an avid concert performer, Don makes his living as an Engineering Supervisor for Cortland Regional Medical Center.

“Monica” – Kelly Muldowney is a Rochester native who is thrilled to be a part of this production. She previously portrayed Ink the Cat in this past winter’s production of Custard the Dragon, and has performed with the Rochester Oratorio Society. Kelly studied music at Ithaca College, where she performed with the Ithaca College Choir and the a cappella group Premium Blend. Thank you to my friends and family for their support!

“Mrs Nolan” – Ann Rhody has been a frequent performer in the Rochester area for many years. She sang with Madrigalia for 15 seasons, and has appeared in numerous musical theatre and opera productions with Webster Theatre Guild, Off-Monroe Players, NAC, the Gatesinger Company, Rochester Boy Choir, and the JCC. Favorite roles include co-narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Dolly in Hello, Dolly, Golde in Fiddler on the Roof, Miss Hannigan in Annie and Mother Superior in Nunsense, Nunsense II, and Nunsensations! Ann’s next theatre appearance will be with the ensemble in the JCC’s production of “Parade” in May. Ann is in her 33nd year of teaching music in the Greece Central School District.

“Toby” – Evan Thomas is a freshman at Pittsford Sutherland High School and a member of the Sutherland Polyphonic Choir. This is his first Opera. Evan’s past dramatic experience was his lead role as Milo in The Phantom Tollbooth. Evan is up for the challenge of this role as a “deaf mute”. Evan wants to thank his parents, sisters and Susan Cotroneo for their encouragement to try something new.

“Baba” – Allyn Van Dusen, mezzo-soprano, is a versatile professional singer/actor who has appeared as soloist to critical acclaim with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Oratorio Society, Eastman-Rochester Chorus, and many other prominent ensembles. Often appearing onstage in opera and musical theatre productions, she has also co-designed and performed in numerous musical theatre revues. Among her lead operatic roles are Lucretia in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia, Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus, Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica, Ramiro in La Finta Giardiniera, Kirstin in Ratcliff’s Beside the Golden Door: The Story of Ellis Island, the title role in Ratcliff's Eleni, Elmire in Mechem's Tartuffe, The Drummer in The Emperor of Atlantis, and Mother in Menotti's Amahl & the Night Visitors. Ms. Van Dusen is an active recitalist and recording artist, with two solo CDs on Songburst Records (songburst.net) and contemporary works on Albany Records. She won the Audience Prize in CyberSing 2002, a global Internet art song competition, and was a winner in the Jesse Kneisel Lieder Competition at the Eastman School of Music, where she earned a Master’s degree and Performer’s Certificate. A founder and manager of the Rochester Vocal Arts Collaborative, which has recently joined forces with Empire State Lyric Theatre, she also co-directed and performed in the innovative Fortissimo! Chamber Music Series for several seasons, and has sung with Madrigalia since the mid-90s. She enjoys teaching voice privately and on the faculty of Hochstein Music School, adjudicating vocal competitions, and sharing the gift of song – the language of the heart – in a wide variety of public performances.

THE MEDIUM –G. Menotti

Artist Bios