Tosca | September 2022

Felicia Lundie is a lyric soprano from Farmington, New Mexico, with degrees from Northern Arizona University (BM), and the University of Utah (MM). She has had a passion for singing from the early age of 6. Felicia has performed with the Utah Opera, Utah Opera Chorus, University of Utah's Lyric Opera Ensemble , West Jordan Symphony, as well as Lyrical Opera Theater. She has also performed internationally in Italy. She is an active recitalist and loves to perform in many venues. Her most recent roles include Madame Butterfly in Madama Butterfly, Violetta in La Traviata, Alice in Falstaff, Suor Angelica in Suor Angelia, Beth in Little Women, The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Dido in Dido and Aeneas, and scenes from La Boheme (Mimi) and Cosi fan Tutte (Fiordiligi). Felicia loves to perform as Little Red with Lyrical Opera Theater in their current school outreach program of Little Red Riding Hood. She and her husband Steve live in West Jordan and are proud parents of their amazing daughter, Elise. Felicia currently spends her days as a reading aide at Channing Hall.

Heather Hillstead began performing at the age of twelve with the Bigfork Summer Playhouse in Kalispell, Montana where she grew up. She received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Idaho and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance at the University of Northern Colorado. She has performed various mass and choral works with the Greeley Philharmonic, the Glacier Symphony Orchestra, and even performed as part of a quartet for a promotional tour for Disney's A Christmas Carol. Favorite past roles include Cherubino in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Mercedes in Bizet's Carmen, and Helen in Hindemith's one act opera Hin und zurück. She currently works as a Business Analyst in addition to singing and teaching voice lessons.

Daniel Perez, tenor, is originally from Mexico, now resides in Provo, Utah. He's currently a Vocal Performance student at Utah Valley University. Daniel's most recent roles include Arturo and Normano in Lucia di Lammermoor, Algernon Moncrief in the American premiere of The Importance of Being Earnest, Camille de Rossillon in the Merry widow, and Alfred in Die Fledermaus. He also has performed as an ensemble member for multiple performances with Utah Opera, Utah Lyric Opera and Utah Vocal Arts Academy. For his next upcoming role he will be singing Rodolfo from La Boheme in 2022. Daniel also works for the Hale Center Theater as a hair and makeup crew, and has designed for UVUs theatrical shows as well.

Christian Holden, tenor, is thrilled to make his Tosca debut with Lyrical Opera Theater and is extremely grateful for the opportunity. Originally from Maple Valley, Washington, he has studied voice for over 11 years in both Idaho and Utah, currently training with Christopher Holmes at Utah Valley University. He has participated in many scenes shows, performing roles spanning from Canio in Pagliacci to Hoffmann in Tales of Hoffmann to Don José in Carmen. However, this is his first opportunity to study a role in full, and he is excited to test his vocal mettle as Cavaradossi. He will also perform Hoffmann in full later this year with the UVU opera program.

John Knight Allen has performed internationally both as a violinist and singer, and enjoys interpreting the standard repertoire as well as championing newer works. From Provo, UT, John has studied music at BYU, the U of U, and abroad in New York and Italy. Recent operatic credits include the title roles in Rigoletto and Gianni Schicchi, Germont in La Traviata, Leporello in Don Giovanni, and Bob in The Old Maid and the Thief. Upcoming roles include Scarpia in Tosca with Lyrical Opera Theater, and the title role in Sweeney Todd at Kingsbury Hall this April.

Daniel Tuutau, Baritone, is originally from Los Angeles, California. He holds BA & MM degrees in music from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Utah in Vocal Performance. He frequently sings with the Lyrical Opera Theater in Midvale, Utah, and is currently a regular member of the Utah Opera Chorus. He has worked as an adjunct professor in voice at the University of Utah in the Theater Department and also teaches private studio voice lessons throughout the Salt Lake Valley. He lives in Salt Lake City with his wife, Brandy, and their four children.

As a country kid from a farm in rural Idaho, Michael Murray gained an appreciation and love for music through religious practice. That fascination grew with him as he participated in high-school, college, and community choirs. Having had music lessons on and off all his life, using his voice to artistically express himself has become second nature. After receiving a degree in Business from Brigham young University, he attended the Violin Making School of America and now works as a Luthier at CMC Strings in Millcreek Utah. He's excited to dip his toes into theatre and being on stage with Lyrical Opera.

Ricky's eclectic musical endeavors have taken him from a cappella groups (BYU Vocal Point, ICCA champions in 2006) to opera (Utah Opera Chorus) to early music (5 seasons with Utopia Early Music Ensemble) to musical theater. He has performed in musical theater productions at Pioneer Theater Company as Olin Britt in The Music Man, Hale Center Theater in Sandy as Smudge in Forever Plaid and Orem as Javert in Les Miserables, and Centerpoint Legacy Theater as Adam in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Adam in Children of Eden. He was most recently seen as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, and Ladahlord in James and the Giant Peach.

Matthew Thomas Castleton (Salt Lake City, Utah) is delighted to appear with Lyrical Opera Theater. While Mr. Castleton has a large swath of operatic and musical theatre experience, recent credits include La Bohème (Utah Opera 2017), Chabrier's L'Étoile (Sin City Opera 2017), and Lucia di Lammermoor (Utah Opera 2017). Mr. Castleton also was a young artist at the 2009 La Musica Lirica Opera Young Artist Program (Novafeltria, Italy). He holds both Bachelors (2010) and Masters (2014) Degrees in Music-Vocal Performance from the University of Utah. When he is not performing, Matthew also works as a head cashier at The Home Depot while making his home in Midvale, Utah.

José Miguel is a promising, eclectic, young Chilean tenor. He is currently pursuing his D.M.A. at the University of Utah. Past credits include Rodolfo in Puccini's La bohème, the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto, Pirelli in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, Arturo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, among others. In October, 2021 José Miguel made his official directorial debut with De Falla's El retablo de Maese Pedro. This past summer, he launched his own summer series: "Arias of the Vine." His voice has been heard internationally in Chile, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, Austria, Italy, and Canada. José Miguel is a native of Santa Cruz, Chile and holds a B.A. in Music from St. Lawrence University and a M.M. in Voice Performance from the University of South Florida.

Jordon LeBaron, baritone, has enjoyed performing since he was very young. He studied voice at Utah State University where he received his bachelor of music degree for vocal performance. Since then, he has enjoyed performing in many opera, oratorio, musical theatre, and jazz productions. Some of his recent credits include: Pharaoh (Joseph), Bass Soloist (Handel's Messiah), Frollo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), and singing with his family, The LeBaron Singers, on YouTube. He is grateful for a supportive family that encourages him to pursue his love for singing, especially his wife, Angela, with whom he often shares the stage.

Smera Nair takes vocal and piano lessons privately with Lynnette Owens. She is a talented singer and pianist and enjoys performing songs in English, Latin and Italian. She recently sang "Nella Fantasia" at the 2021 Italian festival in Salt Lake City. In her free time, Smera loves to go swimming, biking and spend time with her family and her pet dog, Buddy.

Anja Lee is a talented aerial silk and hoop dancer; actress; singer; and visual artist. She recently performed the role of young Raya in Raya and the Last Dragon with Up With Kids. She studies voice privately with Melou Cline.

Lauren (Cartwright) Bohannan began singing around the age of 10 when she joined a children's choir and with them toured Europe, Israel, Jordan and performed in Donny Osmond's last Broadway production of Joseph. She received a Bachelor of Music from the U of U and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance at Louisiana State University. She has performed around the country and in Italy in a variety of roles and rep. She currently performs with the Utah Opera Chorus and various local companies. Apart from singing, Lauren finds passion in cooking and event planning, in which she has forged a career. She has also recently become a mama and she loves her baby boy and family "to the moon and back!"

Deborah Siddoway,soprano, has worked collaboratively and individually on a variety of concerts. As a classically trained musician, her primary performance focus is Opera and Broadway. Her performances include Kate Pinkerton and Mama in Lyrical Opera Theater's Madama Butterfly, chorus in Carmen, Tosca, and Falstaff and Gretchen in Beth Bruner's, The Grand Duke. Her concert soloist performances include singing Puccini's "O mio babbino caro" and Rossini's "Duetto buffo di due gatti" with Lyrical Opera Theater soloing in the Matsumoto, Japan/Salt Lake City sister city Gala and Lyrical Opera Theater Heart Song concert, and annual Masquerade party. She has been featured in the Italian festival "Ferragosto" and West Valley City, Mayor Mike Winder's Gala concert and enjoys singing at local church events and senior living centers. Her vocal repertoire includes, English, Italian, German, French and Latin. Although she holds a Master's in Business and certification in Human Resources her passion is in the arts. She is living proof you are never too old to follow your dreams.

Idaho-raised soprano Jocelyn van Wyk is an actress, operatic stage director, private voice teacher, and owner of Sego Studios. She completed her Masters of Music in Opera Performance in the spring of 2020, from Longy School of Music of Bard College. Jocelyn specializes in character development and loves telling beloved stories in new meaningful ways. She has held a variety of operatic roles with her most recent being; Helen from Three Sisters Who are Not Sisters, Pamina from Die Zauberflöte. Jocelyn is thrilled to be joining Lyrical Opera Theater for their production of Lucia di Lammermoor.

Jesse Toftum is a composer, vocalist, and plays several musical instruments. He started studying music theory on his own at 16. By midway through high school his band director was deferring to Jesse to answer other students. He studied music composition for four years at Snow College, where he learned his love for Opera. Jesse is now a Junior at the University of Utah studying Computer Science. This is Jesse's fourth consecutive season with Lyrical Opera Theater having sung the Duke in Rigoletto, the Marquis in La Traviata and Remendado in Carmen. He is happy to be working again under the direction of Lynnette Owens and with this stellar cast.

Paul H. Murphy is excited to make his Lyrical Opera Theater debut. Mr. Murphy began his singing career with the Colorado Children's Chorale, performing on tour for the widow of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. Productions of The King and I and 42nd Street with California Theatre in San Bernardino occurred alongside intensive ballet training, followed by contracts with Houston Ballet, Ballet Omaha, Ballett der Komischen Oper Berlin, Ballet South, and Ballet West before directing Sandy's City's resident ballet company, Mountain West ballet until 2008. Mr. Murphy recently performed in Hale Theatre's production of Singin' in the Rain.

Gary Later's love of music is what got him involved in musical theatre and opera nearly a decade ago. Some of his favorite community theatre productions, have been The Music Man, Man of La Mancha, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. His favorite musical theatre role—consistent with his love of music—was the part of the baritone in the barbershop quartet of The Music Man. He has sung with Utah Opera Chorus in the operas Norma and The Barber of Seville. Gary is excited to be singing in Lyrical Opera Theater's production of Madama Butterfly.

Liam Heath has been studying music since he was in first grade and has been playing piano for three years. He has recently decided to add a focus on singing. He has been in a few other productions with small singing roles and is grateful for the opportunity to perform in Tosca. When he is not busy with music, he is navigating grade school, playing baseball or video games, or using his imagination to construct various homemade scenarios, costumes, and contraptions.

Carly Schaub lives in SLC, where she also completed her M.F.A. at the University of Utah in Modern Dance. Before SLC, she lived in ND, dancing and serving as Outreach Coordinator for Northern Plains Dance. She also has a B.F.A. in Theatre/Dance from the University of Wyoming. Carly is an adjunct for Salt Lake Community College, and Westminster College, and teaches Modern and Ballet at Wasatch Arts Center. She teaches Dance for Parkinson's for UofU's Skagg's Wellness Center and RDT. She has choreographed for Deseret Experimental Opera, Snow College, and Cache Valley Civic Ballet, Northern Plains Dance and teaches Baroque and Renaissance dance. Carly directs Dance Balletti, an early Ballet reconstruction ensemble and she also dances with Municipal Ballet.

Megan Fotheringham has been a dancer since she was three years old. She danced with Ballet Center Utah, Inc. from 2006 to 2021 where she performed, choreographed, and taught. Megan had the privilege of working with Oleg Vinogradov and his acclaimed faculty with whom she has danced internationally, including St. Petersburg, Russia for the International Youth Ballet Festival, and Incheon, South Korea with the University of Utah. In 2021, she traveled to Detroit to study with Complexions Contemporary Ballet, where she performed work set by Clifford Williams. Megan is pursuing a BFA in dance at Westminster College where she studies and performs.

Katelynn Killian is a Salt Lake City born and based Dance Artist. A 2020 graduate of Westminster College with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. She was awarded Outstanding Graduating Senior in her cohort and continues to be an active alumni. Killian enjoys freelancing with dance, opera, and theater companies. She is also the artistic director at The Lab dance studio, and works as the Arts for All program coordinator in the Eccles theater with SLCO A&C.

Matilda has been passionate about tech for 5 years now. She has worked on shows such as The Importance of being Earnest, Little Women, and Into the Woods. She also plays the piano, is absolutely nerdy, and has a deep fascination with science and the natural world.

My name is Kyra and I have been able to do tech for theatre for 6 years now. I mainly focus in set building/designing, sound, and backstage work. I have also participated in a tech competition in the mastery of props and was able to score rather high. I love everything with theatre and plan to use it as much as I can in the future. The pictures above are of that before mentioned tech competition, as well as three of many shows I have built sets for. They are Les Mis, Beauty and the Beast, and Seussical which I also designed the set for. I am happy to be a part of this tech crew and all that I get to experience.