The DISAPPEARED & DISPOSSESSED
Adam Bourquet, Josh Bourquet, Kenneth Davis, Paula Emke, Amy Homer, Hillary Hopkins, Eden Hughes, Kevin Kampscror, Jennifer Kotik,
Leanne Lawson, Chris Magnusson, Sarah Marshall, Kelly Martinez, Jolene Myers, Tawney Noreen, Brad h, Morgan Starr,
Roseanne Thorpe, Isaiah Urrabazo, Aleem Wali, Claudine Winter

THE FEMALE SPIRITS
Jennifer Earl, Tara Hart, Jaime Hartman, Suzana Kotur, Dore Lunsford, Kathleen Marx, Lillian Roberts, Leslie Summerville

Mark Thomsen (Miguel Morales) has sung leading roles with American opera companies including New York City Opera, Washington, Santa Fe, St. Louis, Dallas, Atlanta, Boston and Austin. His European engagements have included numerous roles in Vienna, with both the Staatsoper and Volksoper. He made his debut at La Scala in Leonard Bernstein’s A Quiet Place, and his debut in France at the Opera de Nantes. Mr. Thomsen has performed Lenski in Eugene Onegin in Indianapolis, Lennie in Of Mice and Men in Edmonton, and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor. He has sung the husband in Garrison Keillor and Andrew Stein’s Mr. and Mrs. Olsen with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and on Prairie Home Companion.

Paul Kreider (James Kane) serves as Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at Western Illinois University. His prior appointments include Chair of the Department of Music at Northern Kentucky University, Chair of Music and also Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is also co-founder of the Southern Nevada Opera Association and Opera Las Vegas. Kreider’s many performing credits include numerous roles with the Lyric Opera of Chicago for six seasons, and as principal baritone with the Landestheater Salzburg for three years. Kreider has appeared on opera stages throughout the world with world-renowned singers, conductors, and stage directors including Leonard Bernstein, Claudio Abbado, Jean Pierre Ponnelle, Placido Domingo, and Kiri Te Kanawa. These opera stages include the Vienna State Opera, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Rome, Santa Fe, Atlanta Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, National Opera of Slovenia, and Tokyo, Japan. Symphonic credits include the Great Woods Festival, under Michael Tilson Thomas, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Austria's Mozarteum Orchestra, Tucson Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, the New Mexico Symphony in performances of Off’s Carmina Burana, the Illinois Symphony in Brahms’ Requiem, and most recently with the Kentucky Symphony.

Darynn Zimmer (Mona Morales) made her New York recital debut in 1989 as winner of the prestigious Joy in Singing award. In subsequent appearances at the Spoleto Festival and in such major American cities as New York and Washington, DC, Ms. Zimmer has drawn particular notice for the dramatic immediacy distinguishing her performances on both the recital and operatic stages. She has appeared with opera companies throughout the United States, singing such roles as Gilda (Rigoletto), Juliett (Romeo et Juliette), Nannetta (Falstaff), Marguerite (Faust), Melisande (Peleas et Melisande) and Adina (L'Elisir d'amore). Ms. Zimmer has been especially recognized for her performances of a wide range of contemporary music, and has been chosen to perform operas and concert works by such composers as Hugo Weisgall (The Stronger), Robert Moran (Desert of Roses), and Somei Satoh. Ms. Zimmer is a graduate of the Juilliard School and Mannes College of Music, and had been a recipient of awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council and The Center for Contemporary Opera.

James Demler (Jake Lopez) debuted with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and has appeared with the Houston Grand Opera, Mississippi , Rochester, Chautauqua, Opera Festival of New Jersey, Aspen Festival, Arizona Opera, Opera Orchestra of New York in Carnegie Hall, Berkshire Opera, Long Beach Opera, the world premiere production of Shining Brow with the Madison Opera, West Virginia Symphony, Anchorage Opera, Portland Opera Repertory Theater, Edmonton Opera and many others. Mr. Demler made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1991, studied at the University of New Mexico, Arizona University, the Eastman School, and was a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio.

25, 28 February & 5, 7 March 1999
The University of Texas Opera Theater ~ Austin, Texas
Conductor: Michael Haithcock
Stage Director: Robert DeSimone

William Lewis (Miguel Morales) was educated at the University of Colorado, Texas Christian University and New York University, and became a professor of voice and opera at Penn State University, New York State University at Binghamton and the University of Texas. He is the Artistic Director of the Austrian American Mozart Academy in Salzburg, Austria. Lewis enjoys a highly regarded reputation as a tenor whose versatility spans the operatic repertoire from Mozart to Schoenberg, having performed over one hundred thirty major operatic roles in ten languages. At the Metropolitan Opera in New York City he has been heard as Rodolfo, Cavaradossi, Pinkerton, Macduff, Arrigo, Alfredo, Gabriele, Turiddu, Hoffmann, Don Jose, Romeo, Aeneas, Dimitri, Gbermann, Stewa, IdomeneG, Alwa, the Tambourmajor, Oedipus Rex, Alwa, and in the dual role of Steuermann/Erik. Lewis made his San Francisco Opera debut in 1975 as Steuermann/Erik and appeared there in subsequent seasons as Stewa (Jenufa), Albert Gregor (The Makropoulos Affair), Boris (Katya Kabanova), Frank Sargent (Angle of Repose - world premier), Le Cid, Sergei (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Golitsin (Khovantschina), Eumete (Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria) and Loge (Das Rheingold). In Europe the renowned tenor bas received critical acclaim at Teatro alia Scala (Milan), Teatro Comunale (Florence), Teatro fa Fenice (Venice), Teatro Regia (Torino), Theatre Nationale de Paris, Opera Lyon, Opera Toulouse, Royal Opera Covent Garden (London), English Opera North, Glasgow Opera, Hamburg Staatsoper, Vienna Staatsoper, Sao Carlo Op~ra (Lisbon), Cologne Opera, as well as the festivals at Salzburg, Spoleto, Italy and Wexford, Ireland. His performed Straus repertoire is vast: Matteo in Arabella, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos, Der Kaiser in Die Frau obne Schatten, Midas in Die Liebe der Danae, Apollo in Daphne, Der Baron in Intermezzo. He has received rave reviews as Herod at the Teatro Carlo Felice (Genoa), Teatro Nuovo (Spoleto), Baltimore Opera, Denver Opera and made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as the young Syrian, Narraboth. Some of Mr. Lewis's recent engagements have included the role of King Pollux in Richard Strauss's Die Liebe der Danae with the American Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Leon Botstein at Avery Fisher Hall. The performance was recorded live and released on the Telarc label. Last year he sang the role of Prince Shuisky in a concert performance of Boris Godunov with the Austin Symphony under the direction of Peter Bay. Mr. Lewis also repeated his definitive role of Herod in Salome with the Nashville Opera in April 2004 and received a glowing review, which said that he "literally inhabited his role and was magnificent".

Robert DiSimone (Stage Director) is the Director of U.T. Opera Theatre and a Professor of Music. Originally a pianist, he pursued his musical studies in Switzerland, Italy and the United States. A protege of Norah Quarrie of the Sadlers Wells Theatre in London, he spent four years training in the tradition of England's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. His opera studies included work with Herbert Graf, coach/conductors Luigi Ricci, Sergius Kagen and Hans Willi-Hausselein. In Europe he has worked with major opera theatres and in the U.S., his work has been seen at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Los Angeles Music Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and numerous regional theatres and universities. Dr. DeSimone's administrative posts have included Administrative Director of the Music Center Opera Association, Director of City of the Angels Opera, Executive Director of the Visual Arts Center of Alaska, and Co-Director of the Academia Vocale di Lucca in Lucca, Italy. He has been honored by the National Thespian Society, the Adolph Foundation, the National Association of Piano Teachers and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. He presents lecture and master classes in opera. His recent productions include the world premiere of Bandanna by Daron Aric Hagen; Elixir of Love, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts; and Die Fledermaus, Austrian Mozart Academy, Salzburg.

Michael Haithcock (Conductor) is Director of Bands and of Instrumental Studies at the University of Michigan, following 23 years on the faculty of Baylor University. He conducts the Symphony Band, guides the graduate band and wind ensemble conducting program, and provides administrative leadership for all aspects of the U-M band program. Ensembles under Professor Haithcock’s guidance have received a wide array of critical acclaim for their high artistic standards of performance and repertoire. These accolades have come through concerts at national and state conventions and recordings on the Albany, Arsis, and Equilibrium labels. He has earned wide praise for his innovative approaches to developing the wind ensemble repertoire and is in constant demand as a guest conductor and presenter at symposiums and workshops. Recent appearances included the University of Kansas, University of North Dakota, Hart College, Texas A&M-Commerce, and the Interlochen Arts Academy, as well as festival and all-state appearances throughout the country. Recipient of the 1996 Outstanding Alumni Award from the East Carolina University School of Music, Mr. Haithcock has completed additional studies at the Herbert Blomstedt Orchestral Conducting Institute. His articles on conducting and wind literature have been published by The Instrumentalist, the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association, the School Musician, the Southwest Music Educator, and WINDS magazine. Mr. Haithcock is active in a variety of professional organizations including the music honor society Pi Kappa Lambda, the American Bandmasters Association, the College Band Directors National Association (currently National Immediate Past President), the Conductors Guild, the Music Educators National Conference, the Texas Music Educators Association, and the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles.

Daron Hagen (Composer / Conductor) Hagen's (born 1961, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) compositions have been steadily commissioned and performed internationally by world-class orchestras, opera companies, chamber ensembles and soloists since his debut as a composer (Philadelphia Orchestra, 1983) and as a concert pianist (Denver Chamber Orchestra, 1986). The New York Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, the United States Marine Band, the American Composers Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic, pianist Gary Graffman, the Kings Singers, Sara Sant'Ambrogio, and flautist Jeffrey Khaner are among those who have performed his works. Major awards and fellowships include a 2005 National Endowment for the Arts production grant, two Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio residencies, the Camargo residency in France, the Kennedy Center Friedheim Prize for Orchestral Music, the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Bearns Prize of Columbia University, the ASCAP Nissim Prize for Orchestral Music, and the Barlow Foundation International Chamber Music Composition Prize and Barlow Endowment commission, as well as multiple prizes and grants from ASCAP, BMI, Opera America, and various foundations. In 2004 Hagen was named President of the Lotte Lehmann Foundation in New York City, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging the performance and creation of art song. A passionate educator, ambassador of the arts, and advocate of young composers, he served twice as Composer in Residence for the Princeton University Atelier (1998, 2005); as Artist in Residence at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (2000-2002); Sigma-Chi-William P. Huffman Composer in Residence at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio (1999-2000); Artist in Residence at Baylor University, Waco, Texas (1998-1999); on the musical studies faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music (1996-1998); as an Associate Professor at Bard College (1988-1997); as a Visiting Professor at the City College of New York (1997, 1993-1994); and as a Lecturer in Music at New York University (1988-1990). In the late 1980's, he became a Member of the Corporation of Yaddo, where he has composed many of his works. Hagen wrote music criticism for Ear Magazine in New York during the 1980's. Founding Director of the Perpetuum Mobile concert series on which new works by over fifty young American composers were premiered, he is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and of the Juilliard School. Hagen's principal mentors were Leonard Bernstein, David Diamond, and Ned Rorem. Hagen's numerous commissions from major orchestras and performers between 1981 and 2005 include orchestral works, three symphonies, seven concertos, several massive works for chorus and orchestra, two dozen choral works, ballet scores, concert overtures, showpieces, two brass quintets, two piano trios, a string quartet, an oboe quintet, a duo for violin and cello, solo works for piano, organ, violin, viola, and cello, and seventeen published cycles of art songs on poetry of over fifty poets. His works are recorded on the Albany, Arsis, CRI, and Klavier labels, among others, and his music is published exclusively by Carl Fischer. His catalogue is represented in Europe by Schott. The composer of seven operas, Hagen is currently writing a new one for the Seattle Opera with a libretto by Gardner McFall.

Paul Muldoon (Librettist) was born in 1951 in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, and educated in Armagh and at the Queen's University of Belfast. From 1973 to 1986 he worked in Belfast as a radio and television producer for the British Broadcasting Corporation. Since 1987 he has lived in the United States, where he is now Howard G. B. Clark '21 Professor in the Humanities at Princeton University. In 1999 he was elected Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford. Paul Muldoon's main collections of poetry are New Weather (1973), Mules (1977), Why Brownlee Left (1980), Quoof (1983), Meeting The British (1987), Madoc: A Mystery (1990), The Annals of Chile (1994), Hay (1998), Poems 1968-1998 (2001) and Moy Sand and Gravel (2002). Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Paul Muldoon was given an American Academy of Arts and Letters award in literature for 1996. Other recent awards are the 1994 T. S. Eliot Prize and the 1997 Irish Times Poetry Prize. He has been described by The Times Literary Supplement as "the most significant English-language poet born since the second World War."