Le Maréchal ferrant (1761)
(The Blacksmith)
Presenting
Artistic Team
Ryan Brown, Music Director/Adaptor/Violinist
Ryan Brown is the Founder and Artistic Director of Opera Lafayette, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary during the 2019-2020 season. Through his work with Opera Lafayette, Mr. Brown has gained an international reputation for his role in the revival and reassessment of significant works from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. His discography of twelve sound recordings for Naxos has focused on the French repertoire, including well-known works by composers such as Lully, Rameau, and Gluck, as well as premiere recordings of operas by Rebel/Francɶur, Monsigny, Philidor, Grétry, Sacchini, and David. Mr. Brown has also created two DVDs with Opera Lafayette for Naxos, including the modern premiere of Gaveaux and Bouilly’s Léonore, ou L’Amour conjugal, the model for Beethoven’s Leonore, the latter which Opera Lafayette will present later this season, as well as Rameau’s Les Fêtes de L’Hymen et de L’Amour, ou Les Dieux d’Egypte, a collaboration with the New York Baroque Dance Company, the Seán Curran Dance Company, and Kalanidhi Dance. Mr. Brown has also led performances of operas by Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Paisiello, and Cimarosa. He regularly appears in Washington, DC and New York with Opera Lafayette and has also conducted in San Francisco, Seattle, and at The Glimmerglass Festival and the Opéra Royal de Versailles. Mr. Brown was raised in a musical family in California and performed extensively as a violinist and chamber musician before turning his attentions to conducting. His teachers included Dorothy DeLay and Gustav Meier. He is a recipient of La Médaille d’Or du Rayonnement Culturel from La Renaissance Française. When not conducting spends his time in southwestern Colorado.
Nick Olcott, Stage Director/Adaptor
Nick Olcott (director and translator/adaptor) has worked with Opera Lafayette for many years. As a director, he mounted Bonsoir, Voisin; L’épreuve villageoise; Il barbiere di Siviglia; and most memorably Cosi fan tutte/Les femmes vengées, which played at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and the Opéra Royale in Versailles. As a writer, he supplied dialogue and narration for Le déserteur, Le magnifique, and Sancho Pança. Other opera credits include Boston Lyric Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Cleveland Opera, Ash Lawn Opera Festival, Saarburg Serenaden, Prague Summer Nights, and the In Series. Theatre credits include Arena Stage, the Kennedy Center, Philadelphia Theatre Company, the Round House Theatre, and Constellation Theatre. His operatic translations and adaptations have been performed by numerous companies, including his Love Potion No. 1 (L’elisir d’amore), Così fan tutte goes Hollywood, The Emperor of New Atlantis, and Fidelio in Latin America. His musical play Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Purloined Patience (or, the Scandal at the D’Oyly Carte) received a Charles MacArthur Award.
Marsha LeBoeuf, Costume Designer
Marsha M. LeBoeuf has over 35 years of experience in costume design and management and has been the costume director for Washington National Opera since 1988, overseeing more than 180 productions. She has many responsibilities related to costuming, but her overall responsibility is to ensure that every costume presented on any WNO stage measures up to the most exacting standards. Before coming to WNO, Marsha worked for Missouri Repertory Theatre, Indiana University School of Music, Chicago Opera Theatre, Central City Opera, and designed costumes for numerous theaters in the Chicago area. She designed costumes for Eugene Onegin and Xerxes at Maryland Opera Studio. In addition to her work at WNO, Marsha has been a guest speaker or lecturer at numerous organizations, including the Renwick Art Gallery, National Museum for Women in the Arts, U.S. Institute for Theater Technology, George Mason University and Towson University. Her essay titled “Apparel and the Opera Singer” was published in the Opera America Perspectives Series. She has been a member of the Opera America Technical/Production Committee since 1995 and serves on the Finance Committee for the U.S. Institute for Theater Technology.
Lisa Schlenker, Scenic Designer
Ms. Schlenker is excited to debut with Opera Lafayette on the creative team for THE BLACKSMITH, as Nick and the entire ensemble dive into the fusion of French opera and cowboy folk song! Lisa enjoys a diverse professional life with a variety of Wisconsin based theaters as a scenic designer, and also serves as Florentine Opera Company’s Production Manager. Avocationally, Lisa can be found giving care to Wisconsin’s native bats at Wisconsin Humane Society Wildlife Center, where she is an active wildlife rehabilitator. Lisa’s book with co-author Sandra Strawn: The Properties Director’s Tool Kit is available on Amazon.com. Recent design work: WINDJAMMERS, DAIRY HEIRS,WE LIKE IT WHERE, DAD’S SEASON TICKETS (Northern Sky); MARY JANE (Forward Theatre); FIRES IN THE MIRROR (MCT); NUNSENSE (Milwaukee Rep); HAPPY DAYS (Renaissance Theaterworks). Upcoming design projects: THE TRAGEDY OF CARMEN (Florentine Opera); LEONA LIONHEART (Kohl’s Wild Theatre); DOC DANGER (Milwaukee Opera Theatre). Thank you for supporting live local theatre!
Keri Thibodeau, Lighting Design
More coming soon.
Cast
Pascale Beaudin, Claudie
Pascale Beaudin began her career on stage with the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opera de Montreal. She appears on operatic stages in Canada (Opéra de Montréal, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Opéra de Québec), in France (Angers-Nantes Opéra, Opéra de Marseille, Opéra National de Lorraine, Opéra de Metz) and the United States (Opera Lafayette) in roles such as Zerlina, Papagena, Fiordiligi, Oscar, Adèle de Formoutiers and Nannetta. The New York Times praised her shimmering voice and girlish sassiness, while the Washington Post music critic reported that she sang « the aria “Per pietà” with such deliberate quiet elegance and restraint that it was a highlight not just of the evening, but also of my year. »
Beaudin’s incomparable diction, intelligent musicality and expressivity make her ideal for concert and recital work. In addition to being a permanent member of the Four Nations Ensemble, Mrs. Beaudin collaborates with many orchestras, namely the Orchestre Métropolitain, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Les Violons du Roy, I Musici de Montréal, the Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal, the McGill Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Francophonie, the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, Les Idées Heureuses, Montréal Baroque, the Société d’art vocal de Montréal, the Centre international de mélodie française de Tours and the Orchestre régional de Cannes. She has been invited to perform in music festivals such as the Festival de Lanaudière, the Festival d’opéra de Québec, the Montreal Bach Festival, the Festival des musiques sacrées de Marseille, the Festival du Domaine Forget.
Mrs. Beaudin is one of 6 singers featured on the critically acclaimed 5-disc release « Mélodies complètes de Francis Poulenc » with pianist Olivier Godin, on the Atma label. She is also featured on the world premiere recording of Les femmes vengées, an opera by Philidor, with Opera Lafayette on the Naxos label.
Proud of her Acadian heritage, Pascale Beaudin frequently performs at home, with Symphony New Brunswick and Opera New Brunswick, as well as at the Lamèque International Baroque Music Festival, the Indian River Chamber Music Festival and the Barachois Summer Music Festival.
Pascale Beaudin has received national recognition with government grants from the Canada Arts Council, the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec and the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation.
Joshua Conyers*, Eustis
Baritone Joshua Conyers has been hailed by Opera News with “a deliciously honeyed baritone that would seduce anyone” and The New York Times as having “a sonorous baritone” that “wheedled and seduced.” Mr. Conyers, a native of Bronx, NY, is quickly being championed for his captivating performances as he continues to be recognized as one the promising young dramatic voices of today. Equally active in contemporary opera, Mr. Conyers performed the role of Jason in the world premiere of Matt Boehler’s 75 Miles, and Uncle Wesley in Carlos Simon’s Night Trip for Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative. Mr. Conyers covered the roles of Mr. Umeya in the American premiere of Huang Ruo's Dr. Sun Yat-Sen in Mandarin Chinese, and Walt Whitman in the world premiere of Theodore Morrison's Oscar, both with the Santa Fe Opera.
Mr. Conyers was a member of the Cafritz Young Artist of Washington National Opera, a program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons. Joshua performed the roles of First Priest in The Magic Flute, John Sorel in The Consul, covered the Reverend in Jeanine Tesori’s Blue, Jim and Jake (cover) in Porgy and Bess, Giorgio Germont in La traviata, British Major in Silent Night, Donkey in The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me, and Zaretsky in Eugene Onegin. Mr. Conyers performed Le Roi Marc in Frank Martin’s Le Vin Herbé, a collaboration with Wolf Trap Opera and Washington Concert Opera. In the summer of 2020, Mr. Conyers will be a Fleming Artist at the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS making his role debut as Tom Joad in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath. As a Filene Artist at Wolf Trap Opera, he performed Porgy in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess: A Concert of Songs, Ramiro in Maurice Ravel’s L’heure espagnole, Musiklehrer in Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, Monterone in Rigoletto, Count Capulet in Roméo et Juliette, and the Baritone Soloist in Bernstein’s Songfest which was recorded by Naxos Records. Mr. Conyers fulfilled his residency as a Benenson Young Artist at Palm Beach Opera performing Yamadori in Madama Butterfly, Marullo in Rigoletto, Sciarrone in Tosca, Captain in Candide, and covering the Conte Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro. Upcoming performance include performing the role of Eustis in François-André Danican Philidor's Le Maréchal ferrant (The Blacksmith) with Opera Lafayette.
Dominique Côté, Marcel
Québec baritone Dominique Côté maintains a flourishing career in North America and in France. Praised for his warm tone, stage presence and skill as an actor, he has won several first prizes including the Concours International de chant de Canari and for operetta at the Concours International de chant de Marmande. He also received the first prize and the grand prize from the Voice Festival of McGill University. Trained as an actor at L’école de théâtre de St-Hyacinthe, he completed his vocal training at Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal.
Of particular note for his 2020-2021 season are Le maréchal ferrant and Bonsoir Voisin, projects for Opéra de Lafayette which will take him to Colorado, Washington, D.C. and New York City and he looks forward to projects with Théâtre du Rideau Vert and an international tour with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. His 2019-2020 season featured Carmina Burana for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the title role of Nelligan for Théâtre du Nouveau Monde and Messiah for L’orchestre Philharmonique et Choeur des Mélomanes. A production of Die Fledermaus for Opéra de Québec went into hiatus due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Earlier, he was at Opéra de Lille for Offenbach’s rarely heard Le roi Carotte with further performances for Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) in Berlioz’s Lelio conducted by Nagano, Dancairo in Carmen for Opéra de Montréal, performances of Footloose in Québec City and his wildly-applauded appearances at Maison Symphonique with the OSM and Les Cowboys Fringant. Further credits include Opera de Lafayette’s Leonore Project in D.C., Edmonton Opera’s Les Feluettes, Nicandro e Fileno with le Nouvel Opéra de Montréal and Les Boréades, Ireland’s Wexford Festival in Le pre aux clercs and Le chauve souris for le Grand Théâtre de Genève. Cote has been nominated for three Prix Opus awards: Berlioz’ Lélio with OSM – Best concert musique classique, romantiques; Bal des Enfant de l’OSM – Best production for Kids; Nicandro e Fileno – Best recording - musique baroque.
Frank Kelley, Slim MacBride / Banjo
Mr Kelley sings a wide variety of music throughout North America and Europe. He has performed many roles with the Odyssey Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Boston, Flo- rentine Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, and the San Francisco Opera Company, and has appeared at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels, The Frankfurt Opera, Opera de Monte Carlo, Dallas Opera, Nashville Opera and in the Peter Sellars productions of Die Sieben Todsünden, Das Kleine Mahagonny, Cosi fan tutte, and Le nozze di Figaro. The Mozart operas were recorded by Decca and Austrian Public Television, and were broadcast on PBS's "Great Performances". They are available on London DVD as is Weill's Die Sieben Todsünden. His recording of Elmer Gantry, with the Florentine Opera Company and the Milwaukee Symphony for Naxos records, has won two Grammy awards including best original composition. The most recent recording, Carlisle Floyd’s Wuthering Heights, (Florentine Opera and Mil- waukee Symphony) has been highly acclaimed. In concert performances Mr. Kelley has sung with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, Orquesta Sinfónica de Mineria, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. He has performed medieval and renaissance music with Sequentia, the Boston Camerata, and the Waverly Consort, and he performs baroque music with the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, Emmanuel Music, Music of the Baroque, and Aston Magna. Mr. Kelley has participated in the Blossom Festival, the Tanglewood Festival, Ravinia Festival, Marlboro Music Festival, Pepsico Summerfare, the New England Bach Festival, Next Wave Festival, Wexford Festival Opera, and the Boston Early Music Festival. He has recorded for Naxos, London, Decca, Erato, Har- monia Mundi France, Teldec, Telarc, Koch International, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, and Centaur.
Mr. Kelley has directed productions for the Florentine Opera (Elmer Gantry, 2015) and for Odyssey Opera (Patience, 2017 and La Belle Hélène, 2019).
A resident of Boston, Mr. Kelley sings there regularly with Emmanuel Music, both in the ongoing series which presents the complete Bach cantatas and in special projects, in- cluding the complete piano/vocal works of Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms, Schu- bert lieder, Don Giovanni, Alcina, The Magic Flute, The St. John Passion, The Rake’s Progress, Susanna, Die Schöne Müllerin and Dichterliebe with Russell Sherman, Die Sieben Todsünden, and most recently, The St. Matthew Passion.
Arnold Livingston Geis, Cody
Praised by Opera Today for his “sizable lyric instrument” and “honeyed tone on all registers”, Arnold Livingston Geis is a recent graduate of Washington National Opera’s prestigious Cafritz Young Artist Program. In the 2019/20 season he makes his Lincoln Center debut creating the role of Mr. Marks in Lynn Nottage and Ricky Ian Gordon’s Intimate Apparel. He also sings Agamemnon in a workshop of Wayne Shorter & Esperanza Spalding’s Iphigenia at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C., and Obadiah in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with St. George’s Choral Society in New York City.
Last season, Mr. Geis joined Washington National Opera for Jonathan Dale in Silent Night, Gastone in La Traviata, and Busdriver/New Preacher in Kamala Sankaram and Jerry Dye’s world premiere and Washington Classical Reviews Best New Opera (2019), Taking Up Serpents. He also sang Nikolaus Sprink in Silent Night with Glimmerglass Opera, Arnold Murray in The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing with Chicago Opera Theater, and Tamino in The Magic Flute with Pacific Opera Project. While a Young Artist at Washington National Opera, he also sang Oronte in Alcina (Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Performance), Snake and Vain Man in The Little Prince, Miles in the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Proving Up, and Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Domingo Cafritz Young Artist Performance). Mr. Geis created the role of Corpsman Harris in the world premiere of Heather Raffo and Tobin Stokes’ Fallujah with Long Beach Opera, and later reprised the role with New York City Opera.
His other recent performances include Ernesto in Don Pasquale and Apollo in L’Orfeo with Chautauqua Opera, Parpignol in La bohème and First man in I pagliacci with Los Angeles Opera, George Power in the world premiere of A Touch of Poetry with Opera A La Carte, Satyaván in Holst’s Savitri with Pasadena Pro Musica, Vanderdendur/King in Candide with Long Beach Opera, Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw with Opera on the Avalon, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Pasadena Schubertiade, and Duck in Alice in Wonderland with L.A. Philharmonic and L.A. Opera, Count in I due Figaro with UCLA Opera Theater, and Ferrando in Cosí fan tutte with the Paul Delgado Singers.
On the concert stage, Mr. Geis has performed Gitzy Razaz in the world premiere of Flight of Faith with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Pasadena Symphony, Handel’s Messiah with Salastina Music Society, and Britten’s Canticle III with Pacific Palisades Chamber Ensemble. He has also sung Handel’s Alexander’s Feast, Messiah, and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with the L.A. Master Chorale. In addition to his work in the classical sphere, Mr. Geis is a member of both SAG-AFTRA and Actors' Equity unions, and has recorded solo vocals for many television projects, including popular shows like Tom and Jerry and Family Guy, and has also sung for such blockbuster film soundtracks as The Jungle Book, Sing, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Rogue One, Fifty Shades of Grey, Minions, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and Disney’s new live-action film of The Lion King.
Mr. Geis is a graduate of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, has been an Apprentice Artist with Chautauqua Opera, a Young Artists with Opera on the Avalon, and an Apprentice Artist with Bel Canto at Caramoor. He received his Master of Music from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California and his Bachelor of Music from Biola University.
Ashley Marie Robillard
Ashley Marie Robillard has been winning hearts in the opera house and recital hall alike ever since her professional debut with Opera Philadelphia in 2017. An alumna of their Emerging Artist program, credits with the company include Musetta (La bohème), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), a featured member in Stephanie Blythe’s cabaret series (Queens of the Night), and several recitals. This season, Ashley performs with Classical Movements in their recital series Songs of Hope & Harmony. She returns to Opera Philadelphia in the Sounds of Spring orchestral concert, and will participate in ePOP's Valentine's Day concert, Love Notes. Ashley joined the prestigious Merola Opera Program this summer. She was previously accepted in 2020 to sing Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), however performances that summer were unable to occur due to COVID-19. She participated in a fulfilling online enrichment program with the company in lieu of the production in 2020. Previously, Ashley was a Studio Artist with Wolf Trap Opera. She debuted as Echo (Ariadne auf Naxos) and covered Argentine (L'île de Merlin) and Bubikopf (Der Kaiser von Atlantis). She was also a young artist with Music From Angel Fire and presented chamber music by Schubert, Clara Schumann, Mendelssohn, and the world premiere performance of Dai Wei’s The Wind May Know. She also toured the USA as the soprano soloist in Hugo Wolf’s Italianisches Liderbuch with Curtis On Tour from 2016-19. Ashley is a recipient of the Opera Index encouragement award and a Silver Medal Winner of the Manhattan International Music Competition.
Musicians
Grammy and Emmy-award winning banjo artist, Dom Flemons will perform in the ensemble and an opening recital before The Blacksmith.
Dom Flemons, The American Songster, is a two-time EMMY Nominee, 2020 U.S. Artists Fellow, and Grammy Award winning folk, blues and bluegrass artist. He’s known for his repertoire covering 100 years of American folklore, ballads, and tunes. He’s a music scholar, historian, record collector and multi-instrumentalist including banjo, harmonica, quills, and rhythm bones.
In 2020, Flemons re-issued his album Prospect Hill: The American Songster Omnibus on Omnivore Recordings. His original song “I Can’t Do It Anymore” was released on a limited edition wax cylinder recording. That year he also released a cover of the Elmore James classic “Shake Your Money Maker”, recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis, alongside Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band and featured guest, legendary guitarist Steve Cropper. He played his six-string banjo (Big Head Joe), Quills, and Bones on Tyler Childers groundbreaking album Long Violent History, and played jug alongside Brandford Marsalis on the soundtrack to Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom on Netflix.
In 2019, Flemons was chosen to be a "Spotlight Artist" at the Soundtrack of America event curated by the World Renowned Quincy Jones and EMMY Award Winning Director Steve McQueen. Flemons had a successful international solo tour in Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, and served as an U.S representative at the YodelFest in Munich, Germany.
Flemons released Dom Flemons Presents: Black Cowboys in 2018 on Smithsonian Folkways, and received a GRAMMY Nomination for “Best Folk Album” and a Blues Music Award nomination for “Best Acoustic Album.” This recording is part of the African American Legacy Recordings series, co-produced with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.. Black Cowboys spent 55 weeks on the Billboard Bluegrass charts.
Doug Balliet, Contrabass
Doug Balliett is a composer, instrumentalist and poet based in New York City. The New York Times has described his poetry as “brilliant and witty” (Clytie and the Sun), his bass playing as “elegant” (Shawn Jaeger’s In Old Virginny), and his compositions as “vivid, emotive, with contemporary twists” (Actaeon). Popular new music blog I Care if You Listen has critiqued Mr. Balliett’s work as “weird in the best possible way” (A Gnostic Passion) and “light-hearted yet dark…it had the audience laughing one minute and in tears the next…” (Pyramus and Thisbe). He teaches baroque bass and violone at the Juilliard School since 2017. With a constant stream of commissions, many compositional and educational projects produced with his twin brother, and nearly 200 performances per year, Mr. Balliett has been identified as an important and active voice for his generation.
Dylan Kober, Guitarist
Dylan Kober is a Denver based guitarist and dobro player who focuses on jazz, fusion, bluegrass, and country. He records, mixes, and masters his own projects, in addition to pursuing collaborations, with an emphasis on jazz and bluegrass. When not performing and recording, Dylan teaches in the greater Denver area.
In 2021, Dylan obtained a dual bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado, Denver where he studied Jazz Guitar Performance and Audio Engineering.
Dylan is currently working with several ensembles in Denver, including the jazz fusion group Messenger Music Collective and bluegrass band Timberline Troubadours. He has also contributed his musical skills to other artists in the Denver area, including Bonnie Utter: Strange Dame, and pianist Bharat Bhargava.