THE MAGIC FLUTE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM
Charles Calotta
Tamino
Charlie, a native of New York City, is currently a master’s student in the Maryland Opera Studio. He graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2017, having won awards in collaborative and operatic performance. During the 2018-2019 season, he performed several roles in the world premiere of Elizabeth Mehl Greene’s Hajar, Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Fiorentino in Weill’s Street Scene, and was a resident artist at Opera North. In addition to the operatic stage, Charles was a soloist in several orchestral concerts including Beethoven’s Mass in C with the National Music Festival, an evening of Italian arias with the Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra, and others. During the 2019-2020 season, he played the role of Lurcanio in Handel’s Ariodante and the Schoolmaster in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen. He is currently studying under tenor, Gran Wilson.
Sean Stanton
Papageno
Sean started his 2019 season as an Apprentice Artist with Central City Opera and Opera Southwest. Sean is the recipient of the Lola Fletcher Award from the American Opera Society. He has received accolades from the James Toland Vocal Arts, New York Lyric Opera Theatre, Classical Singer, National NATS, Bel Canto Foundation, and Luminarts Cultural Foundation. He also placed first at the Central Region, Illinois, Chicago, and Northern NATS competitions. Previous opera credits include Orsocane (Opera Southwest), Bosun (Central City Opera), Imperial Commissioner (Central City Opera), Sam (Opera on the James), Papageno (American Chamber Opera), and Prince Yamadori (DuPage Opera). He is a member of the Lyric Opera Chorus, Chicago Symphony Chorus, and Grant Park Chorus, and is a teaching artist with Music of the Baroque’s Strong Voices program.
Avery Boettcher
Pamina
Avery is currently approaching her second year as a resident artist with Michigan Opera Theatre. She has performed an array of roles in the United States and abroad, ranging from Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and Clorinda in La Cenerentola to the lighter operetta roles of Yum-Yum in The Mikado and Sieglinde Lessing in Jerome Kern's Music in the Air. At Indiana University where she received her master’s degree, she performed Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore by Donizetti. Most recently in the 2019/2020 season with Michigan Opera Theatre she sang the roles of Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi by Puccini.
Krista Renee Pape
Queen of the Night, First Spirit
Krista is a native of Rockport, Texas, Krista is already sparking national interest from opera directors and producers. Recently graduated with a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Houston, she performed numerous roles at the Moores Opera Center, including Eurydice in Orpheus in the Underworld, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Sarah in The Ballad of Baby Doe, and Kitty Packard in the regional premiere of William Bolcom’s opera, Dinner at Eight. In the summer of 2019, she made her role debut as Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Opera in the Ozarks. A popular performing and recording artist with the Moores School of Music Symphony Orchestra, in 2019 she was the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana, and in 2018 she was featured in a Bernstein centennial concert as Cunegonde in Candide.
Andrew Boisvert
Sarastro
Andrew is a graduate of the Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland (MM); he previously attended the University of Hartford, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance. He has recently performed with Sarasota Opera in the Spring, where he covered Il Pedone in Catalani’s La Wally and Count Capulet in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. Other recent engagements include covering Il Conte di Ceprano in Verdi’s Rigoletto with Sarasota Opera (Fall 2019), performing as Olin Blitch in Floyd’s Susannah and covering Count Capulet in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette with the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center (Summer 2019), and performing as Frank Maurrant in Weill’s Street Scene with the Maryland Opera Studio (Spring 2019). Boisvert is a student of Kevin Short.
Robin Clifford
First Lady, Papagena
Robin is a recent Professional Studies graduate of the Mannes School of Music at The New School in New York. In her latest performance, Ms. Clifford performed the role of La Contessa in the Mannes Opera production of Le nozze di Figaro. In the 2016-2017 Mannes Opera season, Ms. Clifford covered the roles of Fiordiligi in Cosí fan tutte, and the title role in Barber’s Vanessa. In the summer of 2017, Ms. Clifford joined the Crested Butte Opera Studio as La Ciesca in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. She has previously appeared as Abigail Williams in the 2016 Purchase Opera Production of The Crucible, Countess Almaviva in the 2015 Purchase Opera Production of Le nozze di Figaro, as Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2014), Gretel in Hansel und Gretel (2013), and Adele in Die Fledermaus (2013). Ms. Clifford is a student of Dr. Sherry Overholt.
Alexandra Burkot
Second Lady, Second Spirit
Alexandra is a graduate of Amherst College and received her MM in Vocal Performance for the University of North Texas. She is thrilled to be returning to Opera North for her second production of The Magic Flute. A native of Vermont, this fall she will begin her studies at Brandeis University for her PhD in Musicology, focusing on popular music of the Soviet era. Next summer, she will be performing the role of Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with the Vocal Academy of Orvieto.
Chelsea Laggan
Third Lady
Chelsea is a Resident Artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia where she has been seen in a variety of operas. This season they included Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, as Ulrica, and Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, where she “turned the secondary role of Marcellina—Figaro’s nemesis turned long-lost mother—into a comic tour de force.” Previously at AVA, she has portrayed La Zia Principessa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Ježibaba in Dvořak’s Rusalka, and Stéphano in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. Outside Philadelphia, she has been seen with Capitol Opera Harrisburg as Flora in La Traviata, and with the New York Opera Exchange in their productions of Lucia di Lammermoor (as Alisa), and Die Fledermaus (as Prince Orlofsky), in which her voice was described as “velvety, and her singing fluid and nuanced.”
Caitlin McGrail
Third Spirit
Caitlin is a recent graduate of Dartmouth College, where she double majored in Economics and Music. Before Dartmouth, she was a finalist in the New York Lyric Opera National Competition and performed with festivals in Italy. At Dartmouth, she sang with the Glee Club and studied voice under Louis Burkot. As a Music major, she completed a thesis that focused on her performance Schumann’s song cycle Frauenliebe und Leben, for which she received High Honors. Over her sophomore summer, she performed with Opera North in their production of Les contes d’Hoffmann and is thrilled to return this season
Andrew McGowan
Monostatos, Armed Guard
Andrew holds a B.M. in Voice Performance from Towson University and a M.M. in Voice Performance from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, Wales. He recently completed his second year as an Emerging Artist at Seagle Music Colony where he performed the role of Captain Ben Marco in Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s The Manchurian Candidate, Dallas in Christopher Weiss and John De Los Santos’ Service Provider, The Radio Singer in John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby, and the Governor and Vanderdendur in Candide. He recently made his professional debut in the role of Nathanael in The Tales of Hoffmann at Opera Delaware; and sang the role of Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk with Opera Saratoga’s Opera-to-Go outreach program. Other recent roles include The Czarevitch in Lehar’s The Czarevitch with Concert Operetta Theatre and Rodolfo in La bohème with Barefoot Opera in London, England.
Karl Butterman
Speaker
Karl recently made his main stage debut with Virginia Opera, singing Alidoro in La Cenerentola. As a member of the 2019-2020 Herndon Foundation Emerging Artists, he also covered the role of Ramfis in VO’s production of Aïda. Previoulsy, he sang Leporello in North Carolina Summer Opera’s semi-staged production of Don Giovanni in Durham, NC. On the concert stage, Karl debuted as the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Mozart Club of Winston-Salem in 2018. He graduated with a B.M. in Vocal Performance from Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University under the tutelage of Dr. Stanley Cornett and graduated with a M.M. degree in Vocal Performance from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He studies with Dr. Marilyn Taylor.
Louis Burkot, Artistic Director and Conductor
Louis Burkot, Opera North's founding artistic director, studied conducting at the Yale School of Music, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Houston Grand Opera, and served as Music Director of Opera New England. He was appointed Artistic Director of Opera North in 1987, and has conducted more than 35 productions for the company. He is also Director Emeritus of the Dartmouth College Glee Club and Senior Lecturer in the Dartmouth College Department of Music. In addition, he gives master classes in Vocal Repertoire to music schools and conservatories throughout the United States. He is the recipient of the Dartmouth’s Distinguished Lecturer Award in 2000. Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe praised his conducting as “first-rate, capable and stylish,” and Opera News magazine notes his conducting “sparkles with verve and sensitivity to the needs of singers.”
Adam Cioffari, Concert Staging and Stage Manager
Adam Cioffari received acclaim for his production of The Merry Widow last fall for St Petersburg Opera. He also recently directed The Merry Widow and Amahl and the Night Visitors for Opera Project Columbus. As a vocalist, recent appearances include Colline in La boheme with Pacific Opera Project and Papageno in The Magic Flute at Salt Marsh Opera. The previous season, he appeared with Pittsburgh Festival Opera as Fasolt in Rhinegold and Count Lamoral in Arabella, followed by Masetto in Don Giovanni with St. Petersburg Opera, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Arkansas Symphony. He appeared with the Columbus Symphony in performances of Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem. Other engagements included Verdi's Requiem with the Akron Symphony, Ibn-Hakia in Iolanta with Queen City Opera, and Masetto with Salt Marsh Opera.
Tiger Stanley, Lighting Designer and Technical Director
Tiger Stanley returns to Opera North for Summerfest. He started in the arts in Hawaii at age 15 when he started coordinating alternative music shows. When he arrived in the Upper Valley he worked with IATSE Local 919 and joined Opera North as crew and then shop foreman and Assistant Technical Director. Tiger worked for NBC and BlackwalnutTV at the 2018 Winter Olympics, installing three NBC studio sets and then as crew for the Games. This is his fifth season with Opera North.
James McCartney, Sound Design
James McCartney returns to Opera North at Blow-Me-Down Farm for another Summerfest season. He is an audio consultant and designer to several of New England’s well-known cultural organizations including Boston Lyric Opera, The Cape Playhouse and Boston Early Music Festival. Part of the staff of Citi Performing Arts Center in Boston as the audio engineer at the Shubert Theater for 12 years, he is also on the faculty of the College of Fine Arts in the School of theatre Arts at Boston University where he teaches Sound System Design. James spent a decade in New York and on national tours providing production and design work for Chicago, Joseph and the Amazing Dreamcoat, I’m not Rappaport, Ain’t Misbehavin’, The Magic of David Copperfield, The King and I and A Chorus Line.