Premiering Tuesday, October 25, 2022.

Opera singer and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and the Opera Company & Conservatory offers a special master class.

Program:

Presentation of the Rose (Der Rosenkavalier)
- Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Shan Hai, soprano
Martin Dubé, piano

Sein wir wieder gut (Ariadne auf Naxos)
- Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Hope Nelson, mezzo-soprano
Martin Dubé, piano

"Ah! mes amis/Pour mon âme" from La Fille du Regiment
- Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
Eric Botto, tenor
Dottie Randall, pianist

"Come master" from The Rake's Progress
- Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Phillip Lopez, bass-baritone
Allison Voth, pianist

Tenor Eric Botto, a Houston native, is best known for his vocal and dramatic versatility onstage. He has triumphed in leading tenor roles such as Alfredo (La traviata), Rodolfo (La bohème), Roméo (Roméo et Juliette), and Nadir (Les pêcheurs de perles), but also thrives in comic and character roles such as Earl Tolloller (Iolanthe), the Magician (The Consul), and Le petit vieillard (L’enfant et les sortilèges). He has performed in Italy, as well as across the United States – in New York, California, Texas, Florida, Colorado, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. In the summer of 2020, Eric experienced his first season with Chautauqua Opera, and was honored to be part of the world premiere of In Our Silence, an a cappella song cycle composed by Frances Pollock with text by Jerre Dye, drawing on interviews with each of the company’s young artists about their experiences during the COVID-19 isolation. Eric equally enjoys performing concert repertoire, and has credits as a soloist in Heinrich Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien, Uriel in Haydn’s The Creation, and as the tenor soloist in Christopher Powell’s 2021 world premiere of Rest: A Requiem. Eric holds music degrees from Colorado State University and the University of Mobile, and is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the University of Colorado Boulder under the tutelage of Dr. John Seesholtz.

Chinese soprano Shan Hai just graduated from Manhattan School of Music for her master's degree. Her previous opera credits include Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro 2022, Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld 2021, with Manhattan School of Music Graduate opera theater; Romilda from Handel’s Serse with Chautauqua voice program 2020. She will be continuing her Professional Studies at Manhattan School of Music this fall under the tutelage of Marlena Malas.

Bass-baritone Phillip Lopez is from Avon, IL, and is a graduate of the Yale School of Music. He also holds degrees from Wichita State University and Millikin University. Recently performed roles include Monterone (Rigoletto), Masetto (Don Giovanni), Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress), Sancho (Don Quichotte), and Riolobo (Florencia en el Amazonas). He was also featured in Schubert’s complete Winterreise cycle. With Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, he has been seen as Antonio (Le nozze di Figaro), Major Rose/Spc. Austin Haldemann (An American Soldier), Traffic Cop/Peach Checker (The Grapes of Wrath), and the Imperial Commissioner (Madama Butterfly). Other roles include the title role in Gianni Schicchi, Frank Maurrant (Street Scene), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Dulcamara (L’elisir d’amore) and Polyphemus (Acis and Galatea). Phillip was a member of the Artist-in-Residence Program at Opera Colorado for the 2021-22 season, during which he performed in touring productions of The Barber of Seville as Don Bartolo, and in The Pirates of Penzance as the Sergeant of Police, as well as in roles for the company’s main stage productions – Angelotti (Tosca), Senator (The Shining) and Zuniga (Carmen).

San Francisco-born mezzo-soprano Hope Nelson received her Master of Music degree in May of this year from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied with soprano Rhoslyn Jones. During her time at SFCM, she sang the role of Sesto in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito on the main stage, as well as Sesto in Handel’s Giulio Cesare with the SFCM Baroque Ensemble, and Jeanette in Joseph Bologne’s L’amant Anonyme. She was thrilled to perform in masterclasses with Joyce DiDonato, Patricia Racette, and Martin Katz. Another highlight of the past year was receiving an encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition.

She earned her Bachelor of Music from the University of British Columbia, where she was a recipient of the Karen McKellin International Leader of Tomorrow award and studied with soprano and director Nancy Hermiston. With the UBC Opera Ensemble, she performed as Nicklausse in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Third Lady in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, and Madeleine in Kevin Puts' Silent Night. She was proud to represent UBC on tour in the Czech Republic, at Vancouver’s annual Bard on the Beach festival, and as a soloist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in their annual Traditional Christmas Concerts.

She feels forever indebted to the artistic community at the Spindrift School of Performing Arts in Pacifica, California, that educated, supported, and raised her.

She is a voracious consumer of art song, and an eager collaborator.

She looks forward to starting her Artist Diploma at SFCM in the fall, and continuing her studies with Rhoslyn Jones.

About Chautauqua Institution: Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. As a community, we celebrate, encourage and study the arts and treat them as integral to all of learning, and we convene the critical conversations of the day to advance understanding through civil dialogue. CHQ Assembly is the online expression of Chautauqua Institution's mission.