SAN FRANCISCO OPERA Education Materials LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR

LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR

PERFORMER BIOGRAPHIES

Nadine Sierra (Lucia di Lammermoor) Former San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow Nadine Sierra made her Company debut in 2011 creating the roles of Juliet and Barbara in the world premiere of Heart of a Soldier and returned as Papagena in The Magic Flute (2012) and Musetta in La Bohème (2014). Sierra most recently appeared with the Company as Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro(2015). She is an alumna of the 2010 Merola Opera Program, where she was heard as Adina in LʼElisir dʼAmore. Winner of the 2009 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Sierra has appeared in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor in Zurich; Musetta with the Israeli Opera; Euridice (Orfeo ed Euridice) with Palm Beach Opera; Gilda (Rigoletto) with the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Florida Grand Opera, Boston

Lyric Opera, Atlanta Opera, and Seattle Opera; and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) at Virginia Opera. Her engagements this season include debuts with the Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, and Berlin State Opera, and Gilda with Atlanta Opera. She holds first prizes from the George London, Gerda Lissner, Loren Zachary, and Marilyn Horne Foundation Competitions and is a recipient of the Richard Tucker Music Foundationʼs Study and Career Grant.

Piotr Beczala (Edgardo) Polish tenor Piotr Beczala made his American opera debut with San Francisco Opera in 2004 as Lensky (Eugene Onegin) and returned in 2007 as Tamino (The Magic Flute) and Rodolfo (La Bohème) in 2009. His engagements in the 2014–15 season include the Prince (Rusalka) and the Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto) with the Vienna State Opera; Count Vaudémont (Iolanta) and King Gustavus (Un Ballo in Maschera) with the Metropolitan Opera; the title role of Faust with Paris Opera; and Rodolfo at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. A regular guest at the Met, his roles with that company include the Duke of Mantua, Roméo (Roméo et Juliette), Faust, Edgardo, Rodolfo, and Lensky, among others. His other career highlights include the Duke of Mantua, Rodolfo, and Alfredo Germont (La Traviata)

with Milanʼs La Scala; Roméo, Faust, Edgardo, and Rodolfo with the Vienna State Opera; the Prince, Alfredo, the Italian Singer (Der Rosenkavalier), and the title role ofWerther with Munichʼs Bavarian State Opera; and The Italian Singer, Faust, the Duke of Mantua, Lensky, Rodolfo, Roméo, and Alfredo with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, Beczalaʼs discography includes Faust (Orfeo), La Traviata (Farao, nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award), Lucia di Lammermoor (Mariinksy Theatre), three solo CDs and a number of DVD recordings.

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA Education Materials LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR

Brian Mulligan (Enrico), American baritone Brian Mulligan made his San Francisco Opera debut as Marcello (La Bohème) with Maestro Nicola Luisotti in 2008 and has since returned as Valentin (Faust), Albert (Werther), Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), the Kingʼs Herald (Lohengrin) and as the title role in Nixon in China. He returned in 2014 as Count Anckarström (Un Ballo in Maschera), as well as Marcello, and he recently appeared as Chorèbe (Les Troyens) with Maestro Donald Runnicles during the summer of 2015. In San Francisco Operaʼs 2015-16 season he appears in the title roles of Debussy's La Chute de la Maison Usher and Getty'sUsher House, as well as Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor). Brian has recently appeared as Amfortas (Parsifal) and Prospero (Adèsʼs The Tempest) both at Oper Frankfurt;

Yeletsky (The Queen of Spades) with Jiři Bělohlávek at Opernhaus Zürich; Carmina Burana with Gustavo Dudamel at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, André Thorel (Massenetʼs Thérèse) at Wexford Festival Opera; Peter (Hänsel und Gretel) with Lyric Opera of Chicago; Enrico with Canadian Opera Company, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Washington National Opera; the title role of Hamlet with Minnesota Opera; and Amonasro (Aida) and Balstrode (Peter Grimes) both at the Aspen Music Festival. Other recent engagments include Valentin at the Metropolitan Opera with conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin; the title role of The Death of Klinghoffer with Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Prometheus (Die Vögel) at Los Angeles Opera; Marcello at Houston Grand Opera and New York City Opera; Ford (Falstaff) at Japanʼs Saito Kinen Festival with Seiji Ozawa; and the title role in Der Kaiser von Atlantis with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Grand Opera, and at the Ravinia Festival. Upcoming enagements include Paolo Albiani (Simon Boccanegra) at the Metropolitan Opera with James Levine; creating the role of Jack Torrance in the world premiere of Paul MoravecʼsThe Shining at Minnesota Opera; Yeletsky at Opernhaus Zürich; and John Proctor in a new production of The Crucible by Francesca Zambello at the Glimmerglass Festival.

Nicolas Testé (Raimondo) French bass-baritone Nicolas Testé makes his San Francisco Opera debut in a role he has performed in Munich and Marseille. Engagements in the 2014–15 season include Frère Laurent (Roméo et Juliette) in Montreal, Nourabad (Les Pêcheurs de Perles) with Viennaʼs Theater an der Wien, Colline (La Bohème) with Munichʼs Bavarian State Opera, Des Grieux (Manon) with the Metropolitan Opera, Claudius (Hamlet) in Avignon, and Ferrando (Il Trovatore) in Orange. Testé regularly performs at the worldʼs great venues such as the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Netherlands Opera, Paris Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival, and in Lausanne, Leipzig, Naples, Bilbao, Geneva, Lyon, Venice, and Vienna. Career highlights include Colline at the Met; the title role of Le Nozze di Figaroin

Warsaw; Léandre (The Love for Three Oranges) in Geneva; Giorgio Germont (La Traviata) and Abimelech (Samson et Dalila) with Paris Opera; Frère Laurent and Ferrando in Marseille; Abimelech (Samson et Dalila); Panthée (Les Troyens), Agamemnon (Iphigénie en Aulide), and Frere Laurent in Amsterdam; Jupiter (Castor et Pollux) and creating the roles of the Coach Driver, Officer, and Jailer in the world premiere of Bellʼs A Harlotʼs Progress in Vienna; and Nourabad in Paris. On the concert stage, he has appeared with Orchestre National de France, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Talents Lyriques, Accademia Santa Cecilia Rome, RAI Torino, Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon and Lille, and Bayerischer Rundfunk. He frequently collaborates with his wife, soprano Diana Damrau.

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA Education Materials LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR

Zanda Svede (Alisa) Latvian mezzo-soprano Zanda Švēde is a second-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow and an alumna of the 2013 Merola Opera Program. She made her Company debut this past summer as Flora Bervoix in La Traviata and returned this fall as Tisbe (La Cenerentola).Roles in her repertoire include the title role of Piazzollaʼs María de Buenos Aires, Endimione (Cavalliʼs La Calisto), and the title role of Massenetʼs Cléopâtre. On the concert stage she has appeared as a soloist in Pergolesiʼs Stabat Mater, Vivaldiʼs Gloria, and Lisztʼs Missa Coronationalis. Švēde has studied at the Latvian Academy of Music in Riga; the Manhattan Summer Voice Festival in New York; Scuola Italiana in Urbania, Italy; and the Tyrolean Opera Program in Austria.

AJ Glueckert (Normanno) Tenor AJ Glueckert is a former San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow who made his Company debut in various roles in the world premiere of The Gospel of Mary Magdalene in 2013. Other Company appearances include Mr. Knox in Dolores Claiborne, the Steersman in Der Fliegende Holländer, Ambrogio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and The Barber of Seville for Families, Flavio in Norma, Elder Gleaton in Susannah, and the Chief Magistrate in Un Ballo in Maschera. In San Francisco Operaʼs 2015–16 season he appears as Normanno (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Kunz Vogelgesang (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg). Glueckert is an alumnus of the 2012 Merola Opera Program, where he performed Mr. Owen in ArgentoʼsPostcard from Morocco. Upcoming engagements include Bacchus (Ariadne auf

Naxos) with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and roles with the Glyndebourne Festival and English National Opera. In the 2014–15 season he was seen as the Prince (Rusalka) with Frankfurt Opera. As a former resident artist with Minnesota Opera, he was heard as Arturo (Lucia di Lammermoor) and also created the role of the Crown Prince in the world premiere of PutsʼsSilent Night with Opera Philadelphia. He is a graduate of the young artists programs at Santa Fe Opera and Utah Opera. A two-time winner of the regional Metropolitan Opera National Auditions, he holds a degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and appeared as the Drum Major (Wozzeck) with Opera Parallèle in San Francisco.

Chong Wang (Arturo) An alumnus of the 2014 Merola Opera Program, tenor Chong Wang is a first-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow. His repertory with the Merola Opera Program included Goro (Madama Butterfly), Don José (Carmen), and the Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto). He has performed a number of roles at Beijingʼs National Centre for the Performing Arts, including the Steersman (Der Fliegende Holländer), the Messenger (Aida), Dr. Caius (Falstaff), Ruiz (Il Trovatore), and Rodolfo (Guglielmo Tell). He is a graduate of the Conservatory of the Peopleʼs Liberation Army in China.