SAN FRANCISCO OPERA Education Materials THE ELIXIR OF LOVE FOR SCHOOLS

THE ELIXIR OF LOVE FOR FAMILIES PERFORMER BIOGRAPHIES

Ji Young Yang (Adina) made her San Francisco Opera debut as the Young Shepherd (Tannhäuser) and appeared as Pamina (The Magic Flute for Families), Julia Agnes Lee (Appomattox), A Singer (La Rondine), and The Rose (The Little Prince). She was also heard as Giannetta (LʼElisir dʼAmore) at Boston Lyric Opera. A native of Korea, Yang performed Ilia (Idomeneo) and Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) as a participant in the 2006 Merola Opera Program. Last year the soprano appeared as Miss Jessel (The Turn of the Screw) at Lincoln Theater in Yountville and as Frasquita (Carmen) at the Mondavi Center at U.C. Davis. Yang began her formal studies at Seoul National University and holds both bachelorʼs and masterʼs degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, as well as a post-graduate diploma from the

New England Conservatory. She was a New England regional finalist in the 2006 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and that same year received the Frank and Carmela Pandolfi Award from the Connecticut Opera Guild. The former Adler Fellow was most recently seen in the San Francisco Opera roles of Xenia (Boris Godunov) and Adina (The Elixir of Love for Families).

Alek Shrader (Nemorino) made his San Francisco Opera debut as Victorin in Die Tote Stadtand also appeared as Arbace (Idomeneo) and Nemorino (The Elixir of Love and The Elixir of Love for Families). The Oklahoma native made his professional debut as Count Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and returned to that company last summer as Giovanni in Martín y Solerʼs Una Cosa Rara. He appeared in the title role of Le Comte Ory and as George (Our Town) with the Juilliard Opera Center. Other roles in his repertoire include Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Nemorino (LʼElisir dʼAmore), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Fenton (The Merry Wives of Windsor), Le Chevalier (Dialogues des Carmélites), and Tony (West Side Story). An alumnus of the Merola Opera Program and Music Academy

of the West, he sang Don Ramiro in Merolaʼs 2007 production of La Cenerentola. Shrader is a 2008 winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and received a Sarah Tucker Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation.

Eugene Brancoveanu (Belcore), former Adler Fellow, has appeared with San Francisco Opera as Moralès (Carmen), Christian (A Masked Ball), Frank (Die Fledermaus), Marullo (Rigoletto), Fiorello and A Sergeant (The Barber of Seville), and in productions of Manon Lescaut and Fidelio. His performance as Tarquinius in the Merola Opera Programʼs production of The Rape of Lucretia was met with great acclaim. The Romanian baritone received both an honorary Tony Award and an LA Stage Ovation Award for his portrayal of Marcello in Baz Luhrmannʼs production of La Bohème on Broadway and in Los Angeles. Last year he made his New York City Opera debut as Pandolfe (Cendrillon) and sang Escamillo (Carmen) at Festival Opera, Walnut Creek. Brancoveanu sang the title role in the European

premiere of Philip Glassʼs Orphée with the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg orchestra and made his Carnegie Hall debut as Boris Thomashefsky in The Thomashefsky Project, which he reprised in his San Francisco Symphony debut with Michael Tilson Thomas and will perform again this summer in Chicago and Los Angeles. Other recent credits include the title role of Don Giovanni with San Francisco Opera Center; Shostakovichʼs Moskva, Cheryomushki at the Stuttgart State Theater; the title role of Harrisonʼs Young Caesar at the Yerba Buena Theatre, and Brahmsʼs Requiem with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. He recently returned from a concert tour through Germany and will appear this summer in the title role of Le Nozze di Figaro at the Mendocino Festival and in concert with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. Other notable roles include Belcore in The Elixir of Love for Families at San Francisco Opera and Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) in Germany.

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA Education Materials THE ELIXIR OF LOVE FOR SCHOOLS

American bass-baritone Dale Travis (Dulcamara) is a graduate of the Merola Opera Program and a former Adler Fellow. Since 1988 he has sung almost thirty roles at San Francisco Opera, including Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte); Melcthal (Guillaume Tell); Haly (LʼItaliana in Algeri); Quince (A Midsummer Nightʼs Dream); Alidoro (La Cenerentola); Trulove (The Rakeʼs Progress); and most recently Bartolo (Le Nozze di Figaro), Dulcamara (The Elixir of Love for Families), and both Benoit and Alcindoro (La Bohème). Other recent engagements include Geronte (Manon Lescaut) and Nicolao (Gianni Schicchi) at the Met, both of which were broadcast as part of that companyʼs cinema series; the Marquis de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites) and Benoit and Alcindoro at Lyric Opera of Chicago; Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte)

in Santa Fe; Dulcamara (LʼElisir dʼAmore) in Boston; the Sacristan and Périchaud (La Rondine) at Los Angeles Opera; Geronte at Houston Grand Opera; and Daland (Der Fliegende Holländer) in Denver. Travis made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2002 as Louis in William Bolcomʼs A View from the Bridge, a role he created in 1999 at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Travis has sung over twenty roles in Chicago, including Ben Hubbard in Mark Blitzsteinʼs Regina; Starek (Jenůfa); the Sacristan; and Bartolo in both Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Le Nozze di Figaro.