Nodoka Okisawa

Conductor
Nodoka Okisawa is winner of the Grand Prix, Orchestra Prize, and Audience Prize at the renowned Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors 2019. In 2018, she won the Tokyo International Music Competition for Conducting.
In the 2020/21 season, she has been a scholarship holder at the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker and assistant to principal conductor Kirill Petrenko in concert and opera. The scope of her two-year scholarship also includes conducting her own concert projects with Berliner Philharmoniker academy members. Together with Petrenko, she will conduct the 50th anniversary concert of the Karajan Academy in May 2022.
Highlights of the current season include subscription debuts with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta de València, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, and City of Kyoto Symphony Orchestra. She also regularly conducts the NHK Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, and the Noord Nederlands Orkest.
She has attended numerous master classes, amongst others with Neeme and Paavo Järvi and Kurt Masur. In 2019 and 2020 she was selected for the Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy in Tokyo. She gained further experience as assistant conductor of the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa and in opera productions in Japan and Europe. In 2020, she conducted The Merry Widow at the Tokyo Nikikai Opera Theatre.
Born in 1987 in Aomori, she learned piano, cello, and oboe since childhood. She studied conducting at the Tokyo University of the Arts with Ken Takaseki and Tadaaki Otaka and graduated with a master’s degree. In 2019 she obtained her second master’s at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin under Christian Ehwald and Hans-Dieter Baum. She lives in Berlin.

Laurent Pelly

Director, Costume Designer
French director Laurent Pelly is sought after globally. Well-known at opera houses including Opéra national de Paris, Royal Opera House, Metropolitan Opera, Teatro Real, La Monnaie, and Glyndebourne, he is equally renowned in the theatre—he was Co-Director of Théâtre national de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (2008—18). In 2022 he received the Grand Prix du Plaisir du Théâtre and named Best Director at the Opera XXI awards in Spain.
With a natural affinity for Italian and French repertoire, his creative curiosity has also led him towards other composers, including Russian and Czech. French repertoire includes Manon, Cendrillon, Pélleas et Mélisande, L’étoile, L’enfant et les sortilèges, while Italian works feature La fille du régiment, Don Pasquale, L’elisir d’amore, La Cenerentola, La traviata, Falstaff. His Russian and Czech catalogue includes The Golden Cockerel, The Love for Three Oranges, Cunning Little Vixen. He is also drawn to musical theatre; stagings include Candide, Threepenny Opera, and Mahagonny.
A renowned Offenbach specialist, he has directed Barbe-bleue, Le roi carotte, La vie parisienne, La belle Hélène, La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein, Orphée aux enfers, Les contes d’Hoffmann, and Le voyage dans la lune.
2021/22 saw new productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Lille, Cosí fan tutte at Théâtre des Champs Elysées, a Poulenc double bill for Glyndebourne Festival 2022, and the French-language première of Harvey by Mary Chase. 2022/23 plans include Lakmé (Opéra Comique), La périchole (TCE), Eugene Onegin (La Monnaie) and Il Turco in Italia (Teatro Real Madrid). Other recent work: La Cenerentola (Amsterdam, Geneva, Valencia, Los Angeles), Falstaff (Brussels, Bordeaux, Tokyo), and revivals of Platée and L’elisir d’amore (Paris) and Cendrillon (Chicago, NY).

Il Conte di Almaviva / Samuel Dale Johnson

Baritone
Acclaimed Australian baritone Samuel Dale Johnson is a member of the ensemble of the prestigious Deutsche Oper Berlin. His numerous appearances for the company include Marcello La bohème, Figaro Il barbiere di Siviglia, Count Le nozze di Figaro, Escamillo Carmen, and Angelotti Tosca. Other recent highlights include Silvio Pagliacci for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Zurich Opera, Belcore L’elisir d’amore for the Bordeaux Opera and Zurich Opera, the title role of Eugene Onegin for Scottish Opera and Opera Holland Park, and his United States debut as Count Nozze at the Santa Fe Opera in 2020.
He is a former member of the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Program and a graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium at Griffith University, where he was a recipient of the RJ Hamer Opera Scholarship with the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust.

La Contessa di Almaviva / Ailyn Pérez

Soprano
Hailed by The New York Times as “a beautiful woman who commands the stage” and “a major soprano,” Ailyn Pérez is in demand at the world’s leading opera houses and cultural capitals.
Notable engagements of the current season included her title role debut in Tosca at San Francisco Opera. She returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago as Adina in L’elisir d’amore, and sang Alice Ford in Falstaff at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Ms. Pérez reprised Tosca at Teatro Petruzzelli, and sang Massenet’s Manon at Opéra national de Paris. She returned to The Metropolitan Opera to debut as Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, and to the Staatsoper Hamburg as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro. She makes her house debut at Teatro Real de Madrid as Mimì in La bohème and will reprise the role at the Bayerische Staatsoper.

Susanna / Ying Fang

Soprano
Chinese soprano Ying Fang has been praised by the Financial Times for “a voice that can stop time, pure and rich and open and consummately expressive.” This season, Ms. Fang makes her house debut at Opéra national de Paris as Susanna in Le nozze de Figaro and subsequently reprises the role at the Metropolitan Opera. She returns to Lyric Opera of Chicago as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, and to Dutch National Opera for her role debut as Ännchen in Der Freischütz. Concert highlights include Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 Resurrection with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus and her debut at the Tanglewood Festival in Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem.
A native of Ningbo, China, Ms. Fang holds degrees from Shanghai Conservatory of Music and The Juilliard School. She is a former member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

Figaro / Philippe Sly

Bass-Baritone
French-Canadian bass-baritone Philippe Sly has gained international recognition for his “beautiful, blooming tone and magnetic stage presence” (San Francisco Chronicle). He is first-prize winner of the Concours Musical International de Montréal, grand-prize winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and was awarded Concert of the Year in Romantic, Post-Romantic and Impressionist Music at the Gala des prix Opus.
In 2021/22 he debuts with Opéra de Montréal for the world premiere of Bilodeau’s La beauté du monde (Jacques Jaujard), Opéra de Québec for Don Giovanni (title role), and returns to the Wiener Staatsoper for Le nozze di Figaro (title role) and Don Giovanni (Leporello). On the concert stage, he performs St. Matthew Passion (Orchestra of St. Luke’s), St. John Passion and Mozart Requiem (Les Violons de Roy), and Duruflé Requiem (Orchestre National de France).

Cherubino / Angela Brower

Mezzo-Soprano
Hailed by the New York Times for her “plush, full sound, yet also youthful brightness,” American Angela Brower is one of the most sought-after lyric mezzo-sopranos of her generation. An alumna of the Bayerische Staatsoper studio, she continues to bring her compelling artistry and musicianship to the world’s leading opera houses and concert venues.
Highlights this season include Nicklausse / The Muse Les Contes d’Hoffman at Staatsoper Hamburg; the Fox The Cunning Little Vixen and her role debut as Susanna and Zerlina and Dorabella in Mozart’s Da Ponte trilogy under the baton of Mark Minkowski at Gran Teatre del Liceu and Opéra National de Bordeaux. Future plans include her debut at Semperoper Dresden and Opera Royal de Versailles; Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Norwegian National Opera, Sifare Mitridate, re di Ponto at Staatsoper Berlin and returns to the Opéra national de Paris, Dutch National Opera, and Bayerische Staatsoper.

Marcellina / Susanne Mentzer

Mezzo-Soprano
American mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer is an international singer, teacher, and arts advocate who enjoys a significant opera, concert, chamber music and recital career of over 35 years across four continents. She has been a guest artist at the Metropolitan Opera in leading roles since 1989. Best known for her leading roles in operas by Mozart, Richard Strauss, and in bel canto repertoire, Ms. Mentzer now shines in character roles including Larina in Eugene Onegin, Grandma Burya in Jenůfa, Nelly in Wuthering Heights by Carlisle Floyd, Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, and Despina in Così fan tutte.
Projects for the 2021/22 season include a much-anticipated role debut with Opera Saratoga as Danny in the premiere of Sky on Swings, a return to Marcellina with Santa Fe Opera, and a song commission project, Standing Still: Still Standing—over 20 songs by diverse composers based on writings during the COVID-19 quarantine, premiered in March 2022.

Bartolo / Patrick Carfizzi

Bass-Baritone
In the 2021/22 season, American bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi marks the 22nd anniversary of his Metropolitan Opera debut by returning as the Sacristan in Tosca, the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte, and the Lackey in Ariadne auf Naxos. Last season, he returned to Santa Fe Opera as both Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro and Starveling in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, returned to San Diego Opera to reprise Dr. Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia.
Notable past engagements include Cecil in Sir David McVicar’s production of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda (Metropolitan Opera), his role debut as Zeta in Lehár’s The Merry Widow opposite Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson (Lyric Opera of Chicago), Henry Kissinger in Nixon in China (San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, and Houston Grand Opera), Paolo in Simon Boccanegra (San Francisco Opera, Metropolitan Opera, and Houston Grand Opera), and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte (Houston Grand Opera and Dallas Opera).

Basilio / Martin Bakari

Tenor
Praised by Opera News as a “vocally charismatic” performer with a “golden tenor,” Martin Bakari’s recent engagements include the title role in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird (Pittsburgh Opera, Atlanta Opera, Arizona Opera), the tenor soloist in Carmina Burana (Carnegie Hall), Don Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro (Seattle Opera), Goro in Madama Butterfly (Dallas Opera), Prince Claus in Becoming Santa Claus (Chicago Opera Theater), and a United Kingdom recital tour with Mirror Visions Ensemble.
Internationally, he has also appeared at major venues in Dresden, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Tel Aviv, and Bari. Upcoming engagements include returns to Seattle Opera and Virginia Opera and debuts with Houston Grand Opera, Opera Colorado, New Orleans Opera, Dayton Opera, and Symphony San Jose. A 2018 George London Competition award winner, Mr. Bakari’s recording of Grigory Smirnov’s Dowson Songs (Naxos) was featured by Opera News as a “Critic’s Choice” album.

Don Curzio / Shuhei Itoga

Tenor
Nikikai member Shuhei Itoga holds BA and MA degrees from Musashino Academia Musicae. He completed the NNT Opera Studio Young Artists Training Programme and studied in Florence as an Agency for Cultural Affairs trainee and Berlin as a Rohm Music Foundation researcher.
At the 1st International Competition Enzo Sordello, he won the role of Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia and sang it at the Cultura del Mondo festival (Cuneo). Roles in Japan: Bob Boles Peter Grimes, Don Curzio Le nozze di Figaro, Bardolph Falstaff, Goro Madama Butterfly, Remendado Carmen (NNT); Merkur Die Liebe der Danae (Nikikai); Jaquino Fidelio, Goro Madama Butterfly conducted by Myung-Whun Chung (ROHM Theatre); Belfiore Il viaggio a Reims (Fujiwara Opera); Pong Turandot (Summer Festival Opera, Spring Festival in Tokyo). Acclaimed for excellent singing skills and gifted voice, he is active as a soloist such as for Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Carmina Burana.

Barbarina / Cheyanne Coss

Soprano
Cheyanne Coss (she/her) is a soprano, recently hailed for her performances as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Toledo Opera. Miss Coss made her mainstage debut with the Santa Fe Opera in 2021 as Barbarina in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, and has been a principal artist in opera houses across the US, including Tulsa Opera and Opera Grand Rapids, among others.
She has previously participated in notable young artist programs such as the Merola Opera Program where she performed the title role in Mozart’s Il re pastore, as well as Michigan Opera Theatre, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Miss Coss also enjoys concert work, and has recently made her concert debut with the Flint Symphony Orchestra singing Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra singing the soprano solo in Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem.

Antonio / Hidekazu Machi

Baritone
From Yoron Island of Kagoshima Prefecture, Hidekazu Machi holds BA and MA degrees from Kunitachi College of Music and completed the 6th course of the NNT Opera Training Programme. Studied in Bologna as an Agency for Cultural Affairs trainee and Munich on a Rohm Music Foundation grant.
Has appeared in numerous operas at: Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto / OMF; Seiji Ozawa Music Academy; NNT; Hyogo Performing Arts Center; Biwako Hall; Suntory Hall, among others. As soloist, he has sung with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, and Japan Century Symphony Orchestra subscription concerts; he was lauded at the PMF 30th Anniversary Premium Concert for Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 conducted by Eschenbach. He engages actively in performing works of all eras and languages in the areas of oratorio and lied, captivating audiences with his intellectual musical interpretation and exquisitely rich, deep voice.