MORE Opera - Artists

FRANCISCO MORALES QUIROGA (Ernani) Venezuelan tenor Francisco Morales Quiroga has sung in his native Venezuela with the Teresa Carreño Opera, Opera de Oriente, Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela, Orquesta Sinfónica Municipal de Caracas, Orquesta Nacional Juvenil, Orquesta Sinfónica Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho. He also has sung in Colombia with Fundación Camarín del Carmen from Bogotá, and Riverside Opera NY in New York City. Mr. Morales' professional credits include such roles as Alfredo in La Traviata, Macduff in Macbeth, Tamino in The Magic Flute, and Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore. He has been featured as the tenor soloist in Mozart's Requiem, Bach's Magnificat and Cantata 142, and Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle.

CHERYL WARFIELD (Elvira) Cheryl Warfield opened the 2000 - 2001 season in the role of Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore. Miss Warfield's voice is one of exceptional beauty, size, and versatility coupled with a dark, rich dramatic quality. Miss Warfield made her European debut in the role of Fiordiligi in with the Rome Festival Orchestra, followed by her New York debut as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. In 1998, she returned from a two summer engagement at Europe's renowned Bregenz Festival, where she earned accolades for her unique interpretation of Strawberry Woman in Porgy and Bess. Other operatic roles performed include Violetta (La Traviata), the Countess (The Marriage of Figaro), Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera), Aida, Cio-Cio San, Euridice, First Lady, Santuzza, Third Maid (Elektra), and Tosca. Prepared roles include Liu in Turandot, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and Clara and Serena in Porgy and Bess. Miss Warfield's concert repertoire includes Mozart's "Requiem" and "Exsultate Jubilate," Vivaldi's "Gloria," Handel's "Messiah," Brahms' "German Requiem" and "Britten's "Les Illuminations." Miss Warfield's musical theater credits include the Broadway smash revival, "SHOWBOAT," directed by Harold Prince. She is noted for her concerts of American Negro Spirituals, and has written, produced, and starred in numerous special event concerts, including Paul Robeson: A Celebration of Culture; Langston Hughes: A Poet Sings; and Elite Syncopations: African Origins of American Song. Miss Warfield is a graduate of Ohio State University, where she studied with Professor Mario Alch. Cheryl Warfield is also founder and General Director of MORE Opera.

JASON STEARNS (Carlo) Praised in Opera News as well as in the Washington Post for his "dark, rich and powerful voice Metropolitan Opera baritone Jason Steams has appeared in opera, operetta, concert and"cross-over" engagements throughout the United States and abroad. Currently a member of the Metropolitan Opera Regular Chorus, Jason Steams has appeared in leading and supporting roles with the Washington Opera, where, at the request of its director, Placido Domingo, he sang the principal baritone role in Massenet's opera, Le Cid. He also appeared there in Boris Godunov, I Puritani, and Wolf-Ferrari's Sly. Last year he appeared with the DiCapo Opera in New York as Scarpia in Tosca, with the Mississippi Opera as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, with Gold Coast Opera as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, and with the Boston Pro Musica in the titlerole of Macbeth. Last year he also appeared with the Capital City Opera in Washington D.C. as the Father in Hansel and Gretel, with the Cleveland Opera as Montano and the Herald in Otello where he also covered Iago and sang the role in their school outreach program. With the Illinois Opera he was Billy Bigalow in their highly successful Carousel. A specialist in the Bel Canto operas of Donizetti, Stearns has sung the baritone leading roles in his operas Don Pasquale, Poliuto, Lucrezia Borgia, Maria di Rohan and Marino Falierowith the Opera Camerata of Washington, also appearing in the baritone leads there in Adriana Lecouvreur and Arieta's Marina. He has performed leading operatic roles in Falstaff, Pagliacci, La Traviata, II Tabarro, Die Fledermaus, La Vida Breve, Goyescas, La Boheme, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Manon, Le Villi, Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte and Carmen. Stearns made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2000 as soloist in the Brahms German Requiem, and sang Handel's Messiah in Avery Fisher Hall with the National Chorale. With the National Symphony Orchestra he sang the baritone part in Weill's 7 Deadly Sins with Ute Lemper. Recording credits include the baritone solos on the 1996 Grammy Award winning recording of John Corigliano's Of Rage and Remembrance, also with the National Symphony. Six feet tall with leading man looks, Stearns is equally at home with cross-over engagements. He sang in Haifa, Israel recently in an all Rogers and Hammerstein Show to the delight of theatre-goers, and has appeared country-wide in Broadway and Operetta, and was the featured leading singer in Las Vegas' Lido Di Paris at the Stardust Hotel. As a former member of the United States Army Chorus, he appeared regularly at the White House and as a featured soloist with the U.S. Army Band entertaining the president, dignitariesand foreign heads of state. Upcoming engagements include the Washington Opera tour of Japan in July, 2002, where he is covering Iago in Otello and Westmoreland in Sly, and an evening of opera scenes with the Greenville S.C. Symphony in May.

STEPHEN KIRCHGRABER (Silva) Bass Stephan Kirchgraber began his career at the Greater Miami Opera (now the Florida Grand Opera) after studies at the University of Illinois, and in Munich, Germany. He made his professional debut with the south Florida company in La Gioconda, and has returned there for principal roles in Macbeth, Norma, Turandot, and the American premiere of the final version of Franchetti's Cristoforo Colombo. Mr. Kirchgraber has toured frequently with the New York City Opera National Company, visiting over 70 cities throughout the United States as Colline in La Boheme, and in two different productions of La Traviata, once as Baron Douphol, and once as Dr. Grenville. He created roles in the world premieres of The Woodlanders by Stephen Paulus and Joruri by Minoru Miki for Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Mr. Kirchgraber later travelled to Tokyo for Joruri's Japanese premiere at the Nissei Theatre, a performance that has been released on videodisc. He made his European operatic debut in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Festival dei due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, and has also appeared at the Opernhaus Zürich as the Nazarener in Salome. Other North American appearances include performances with the Augusta, Baltimore, Connecticut, New Orleans, Orlando, Palm Beach, Pittsburgh, and Utah opera companies. In recent seasons, Mr. Kirchgraber has been seen in critically acclaimed perfomances as all the Villains in Les Contes D'Hoffmann, and Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin, with Opera DELAWARE, as Wurm in Luisa Miller for the Sarasota Opera, and in productions of La Fanciulla del West and Street Scene for the Central City Opera. Mr. Kirchgraber is the 1998 recipient of the Robert M. Lauch Memorial Grant presented by the Wagner Society of New York, under whose auspices he made his New York recital debut in May 1998.

STACY COHEN (Giovanna) Mezzo-soprano Stacy Cohen's recent roles include Larina in Eugene Onegin with the Opera San Jose, Mercedes in Carmen and Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte with the Bay Shore Lyric Opera, Zulma in The Italian Girl in Algiers with West Bay Opera, Nancy in Albert Herring, Theresa II in Virgil Thompson's Four Saints in Three Acts , Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Frederika in A Little Night Music, and Shirley Kaplan from Street Scene. Ms. Cohen has appeared with Opera San Jose, the San Francisco Choral Society, the Opera Company of Brooklyn, West Bay Opera, Bay Shore Lyric Opera, Donald Pippin's Pocket Opera, the Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute and the San Francisco Chamber Singers. Recent concert appearances featured Ms. Cohen as a soloist with the San Francisco Choral Society in Benjamin Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb. Other concert appearances include Handel's Messiah and Vivaldi's Gloria. In addition to concert and opera, she has performed solo recitals for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the Bank of Boston Midday Performance Series. Her most recent recital included a program of Shostakovich and Kurt Weill for the San Francisco Jewish Community Center. Originally from New York, Ms. Cohen holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Boston University. She has studied with Phyllis Curtin and now continues her vocal studies with James Toland.
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Barbara Burnham Fox (Giovanna) Barbara Burnham Fox has been praised by critics for her "sumptuous mezzosoprano voice, equally adept in both tragic and comic roles." She hasperformed to acclaim as both Marcellina and Suzuki at the Natchez Opera Festival. Other recent engagements have included Carmen under Michel Singher, Dorabella at New York Opera, Charlotte at Actors Theatre of Nantucket, Zia Principessa at NY Opera and Genesis, Albine and Berginella at State Repertory Opera, Emilia at Regina, Dryade and Frugola at Genesis, Third Lady at Hudson Opera and Pirate Jenny at Seagle Colony. As recitalist, Barbara has appeared at the Plantation Recital Series at Natchez, at Weill Recital Hall (at Carnegie Hall), with the Southfield Symphony in Michigan and at Deutches Haus at Columbia University. Upcoming engagements include 2nd Lady and Berta with Crystal Opera and Azucena with NY Opera, as well as a recital at Donnell Library. Ms. Burnham Fox also appears as alto soloist at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, under conductor Dr. Richard Westenburg.

Erich Simo (Ricardo) Tenor Erich Simo recently moved to New York City from North Carolina where he attended the North Carolina School of the Arts. Since his arrival, he has performed with the NY Choral Symphony Society, Liederkranz Opera, and Amato Opera. Some of this season's credits include: Monostatos in The Magic Flute, Spoletta in Tosca, The Messenger in Aida, and Borsa in Rigoletto. This May 2002, Mr. Simo will be performing El Remendado in Carmen with Amato Opera. Also next month, he has been invited to sing for the New York Conductor's Club.

Paul Goodwin-Groen (Jago) Paul Goodwin-Groen's recent New York appearances include Mr. Olsen in Street Scene with DiCapo Opera and Caspar in Der Freischütz and Don Pasquale with the Bronx Opera. Recent seasons include: Colline in La Bohême and Don Inigo Gomez in Ravel's Spanish Hour with Opera North and Bottom in Midsummer Night's Dream at the Aldeburgh Festival in England. He has been described by The New York Times as a "promising dramatic bass" and was recently awarded a scholarship from the Ezio Pinza Foundation to study in Italy.

Gregory Ortega (Conductor) Cuban born conductor Gregory Ortega has conducted in opera houses in New York City, Boston, and Florida, including the Opera Company of Boston (Opera New England), Treasure Coast Opera, the Brooklyn Opera Society, and the Bel Canto Opera, where he conducted two U.S. premieres: Rossini's La Pietra del Paragone and Glinka's A Life for the Tsar, in addition to Meyerbeer's Les Hugenots, Halevy's La Juive, and Offenbach's Les 66 and Une Demosielle en Lotterie. Most recently he has conducted Regina Opera's productions of Verdi's La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Puccini's La Boheme, Tosca and Madama Butterfly, Bizet's Carmen, (which he also directed), Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci, Lehars' The Merry Widow and J. Strauss's Die Fledermaus. Gregory Ortega has conducted for the Long Island Lyric Opera, the Korean-American Opera, the New Rochelle's Opera, and the New York Lyric Opera in it's new home in the Purchase Performing Arts Center, Purchase N.Y, the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera, the Brooklyn Lyric, the Treasure Coast Opera, and Piccolo Teatro dell'Opera (Danny Kaye Playhouse). He has been guest conductor of the Purchase College Choirs performing Dvorak's Mass in D Major at the Purchase Performing Arts Center (Theatre A) in Purchase, New York. Maestro Ortega has conducted several symphonic groups, including R. Vaughn-Williams' Third Symphony and the Mussorgsky-Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition with the New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble; a double bill with the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra, the first half of which consisted of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, and selections from Rodgers' Oklahoma and Bernstein's West Side Story; and Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer, Kodaly Symphony #1 and Beethoven Symphony No. 2 for the Greenwich Village Symphony. With the Brooklyn Chamber Ochestra he has appeared as piano soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17, K.453 in G Major; Piano Concerto No. 21, in A Major and pianist in Mozart's Woodwind Quintet, K.452 ; Beethoven's Piano Quintet (Eb); and Schumman's Piano Quintet(Eb) at the Brooklyn Museum (BACA program). While studying at Hunter College, he founded the Hunter College Opera Theatre in cooperation with the Hunter College Concert Bureau (Omus Hirschbeim, Director) and Hunter Arts, and produced and conducted Puccini's La Boheme and Manon Lescaut and Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio. Maestro Ortega will conduct The Student Prince and Carmen for the New Rochelle Opera in the 2001-2002 season, and a new production of The Student Prince for the Treasure Coast Opera in Fort Pierce.