Florentine Opera Names 2012-2013 Season Studio Artists
The Florentine’s Artist-in-Residence program returns for fifth season
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin—June 11, 2012—The Florentine Opera Company names Alisa Suzanne Jordheim (soprano) of Appleton, WI; Kristin DiNinno (mezzo soprano) of Pittsburgh, PA; Kevin Newell (tenor) of Edgar, WI; and Carl Frank (baritone) of Normal, Illinois, as resident artists for the 2012-2013 Season’s Florentine Opera Studio Program. Ms. Jordheim, Mr. Frank and Mr. Newell are new to the Studio Artist Program, while Ms. DiNinno returns for a second year.
Hundreds of applicants audition for the Florentine Opera Company’s four final residency positions. For the four selected, the Studio Program offers a full season of artist-in-residence employment for these talented singers beginning their professional careers, and will run from September 2012 through May 2013, to provide performing experience and training essential to career development in the opera art form.
“I am delighted that this fifth group of exceptional artists will join the Florentine for the 2012-2013 season in the Studio Artist Program as we continue this important professional development initiative,” notes General Director William Florescu. “Along with returning Studio Artist mezzo soprano Kristen DiNinno, we are happy to welcome soprano Alisa Suzanne Jordheim, tenor Kevin Newell, and Baritone Carl Frank, all of whom bring their well-honed artistic abilities and experience to the Florentine. These young artists demonstrate the very best talent present among up-and-coming singers today. The Florentine’s artistic team looks forward to leading these artists to the next level in their career path during the coming season.”
The 2012-2013 Studio Artists will sing supporting and comprimario roles during each of the Florentine Opera’s mainstage performances; Bizet’s Carmen, Britten’s Albert Herring and Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. They will also serenade audiences with classic love songs in their own concert, That’s Amore, in February 2013.
A major focus of the Studio Artists will be to bring the Florentine’s 2012-2013 season children’s touring opera program, Little Red’s Most Unusual Day, to over 70 schools and community venues throughout southeastern Wisconsin. In addition to educational programs for younger students, the Studio Artists will also be featured in those targeting older students. Throughout the season the studio artists will work with artists and conductors from our mainstage performances in a special "Get Opera" Program. This one-hour program is geared towards 8th grade and high school students, fostering an appreciation for the arts and providing cross-curricular opportunities for teachers in English, Language Arts, History, Music and Theatre. Participants will be introduced to the operatic art form, have their learning environment enhanced through the arts and will be eligible to receive tickets to the mainstage performances.
ABOUT THE 2012-2013 STUDIO ARTISTS:
Alisa Suzanne Jordheim ~ Soprano
A native of Appleton, Wisconsin, Alisa Suzanne Jordheim’s lyric coloratura soprano “has that measure of quick spin that keeps it rock steady in all registers” (Northeast Wisconsin Music Review). Alisa is a doctoral student at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), and her cognate field of specialization is Scandinavian Vocal Music and Diction. At CCM, Alisa has performed the roles of Lucia in The Rape of Lucretia, Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. For Cincinnati Opera’s 2011 summer season, Alisa appeared as the Page in Verdi’s Rigoletto and 2nd Knabe in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Alisa sang with Central City Opera for their 2010 Regional Tour and, as a studio artist with Central City Opera in summers 2009 and 2010, she performed the roles of Fredrika in A Little Night Music and Sirena in Rinaldo, as well as the partial roles of Gilda in Rigoletto, Lakmé in Lakmé, and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, among others. Alisa has appeared as soloist with the Hilton Head Symphony, the Dayton Philharmonic, and the Fox Valley Symphony. Alisa was the recipient of the Audience Favorite Award at the 2009 Tri-State College Vocal Competition, and a 2009 Central City Opera Bonfils-Stanton Young Artists Award. Most recently, she was named a finalist in the Kurt Weill Foundation’s 2011 Lotte Lenya Competition in New York. Upcoming engagements include the role of 1st Fairy in a staged production of Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Columbus Symphony, and Zerlina in CCM’s upcoming production of Don Giovanni.
Kristen DiNinno ~ Mezzo Soprano
Kristen DiNinno, mezzo soprano, was most recently a Gerdine Young Artist with The Opera Theater of Saint Louis where she covered the three roles of Swiss Grandmother, Austrian Woman, and British Dancing Girl in John Adam’s The Death of Klinghoffer. She was a Young Artist at The Shreveport Opera Company, where she performed in Don Giovanni as Zerlina, The Fantasticks as The Mute, Man of La Mancha as The Moorish Girl Dancer and covered The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors. Ms. DiNinno received Third Prize in the Mary Jacobs Smith Singer of the Year Competition in 2010. While obtaining her Masters Degree at The Manhattan School of Music in New York City, Ms. DiNinno was involved in a new contemporary chamber opera through American Opera Projects called Love/Hate by Jack Perla where she debuted the role of Laura. She performed the role of The Girl in Manhatten School of Music’s Griffelkin by Lukas Foss. The New York Times praised her performance saying, “Kristen DiNinno, as the girl who has a humanizing effect on Griffelkin, contributes a directness and simplicity that makes her persuasively childlike.” She is currently studying under the direction of Hilda Harris.
Kevin Newell ~ Tenor
A native of Wisconsin,
Kevin Newell is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire with a
Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance, and he recently received a Master of
Music degree in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor.
Newell attended the Seagle Music Colony in Schroon Lake, New York in the
summers of 2009-10, and in the summer of 2011 he sang as a studio artist with
the Central City Opera House Association, in Central City, CO. Opera roles
include Laurie in Adamo’s Little Women and Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff with the
University of Michigan (2011), Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette with Seagle
Music Colony (2010), Albert in Britten’s Albert Herring (2009), Camille de
Rosillon in Lehar’s The Merry Widow (2007), and Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido &
Aeneas (2007) with the University of Wisconsin. Additionally, Newell has been a
tenor soloist for Hayden’s Messe in tempore belli, Ariel Ramírez’s Missa
Criolla, Handel’s Messiah, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, a well as a recital of
Benjamin Britten's Five Canticles. He was also a soloist on the Michael Joncas
album In the Sight of the Angels (2008). Newell currently studies with Prof.
Stephen Lusmann in Michigan. Newell most recently appeared as Tom Rakewell in
the University of Michigan’s production of The Rake’s Progress, and will appear
with the Fort Worth Opera this spring as a festival artist. Newell will then
travel to Chautauqua Opera for the summer as a studio artist, and then to the
Florentine Opera in Milwaukee, WI, as a young artist.
Carl Frank ~ Baritone
Baritone Carl Frank has proven himself a versatile
performer in both opera and oratorio.
Carl is thrilled to be joining the Florentine Opera Studio for the
2012-2013 season. Most recently
Carl has appeared as Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) with the Arbor
Opera Theater Training Workshop.
Other roles include Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte), John Brooke (Little
Women), Der Tod (Der Kaiser von Atlantis), Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus)
and Ford (Falstaff). He has
also recently appeared as soloist for both Messiah and the Fauré Requiem. Carl holds degrees in both Political
Science and Vocal Performance from DePauw University. Carl received his Masters of Music from the University of
Michigan where he studied with Stephen Lusmann.
INFORMATION / INTERVIEWS
For additional artist information
or to schedule an interview, please contact Richard Clark, Marketing Manager,
by telephone at 414/291.5700 ext 213, or via email
at rclark@florentineopera.org.