Ms. Chianakas’s voice has been described as “an appealing dark sound that seemingly knows no bound.” She has performed such leading roles as Carmen in Carmen, Angelina/Cenerentola in La Cenerentola, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Sesto inGuilio Cesare. She has performed with Cleveland Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Virginia Opera, and the Richard Wagner Bayreuth Festival. Ms. Chianakas was named Artistic Ambassador of the United States, performing in Colombia, Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala and Jamaica.
A native of Ohio, Ms. Karam has been praised by audiences and critics alike. Recent reviews have described her voice as “angelic,” “sumptuous,” “gorgeous,” and “a mixture of silver and cream.” Ms. Karam has performed opera, oratorio and the musical theater repertory with Cleveland Opera, Opera Memphis, Mississippi Opera, Des Moines Opera, Opera Iowa, Lyric Opera Cleveland and Aspen Opera Theatre. Solo orchestral appearances include the Cleveland Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Saginaw Bay Symphony, Canton Symphony, Cleveland Pops Orchestra and the Graz (Austria) Festival Orchestra. Ms. Karam has been a scholarship recipient to the Tanglewood Festival, the Ravinia Festival, and a soloist on the chamber music series of the Blossom Festival.
Ms. Lamb continually receives great reviews throughout the country for her multi-faceted portrayals of operatic characters such as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, which she has performed with the Caramoor International Music Festival and Opera Santa Barbara. She made her concert debut as Angelina/Cenerentola in La Cenerentola with the world renowned Cleveland Orchestra. She recently performed as the Beggar Woman in Cleveland Opera s production of Sweeney Todd. Upcoming engagements include Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Sacramento Opera, among others.
Eric Shaw’s glorious high notes and ease of singing have recently been heard at the Wexford Festival in Ireland as Gaston in Die Drei Pintos by Weber/Mahler. His Italian debut in Bologna followed with his debut in Schubert s Die Freunde Von Salamanca. Recent engagements include the title role in Candide for Genoa and The Seven Deadly Sins by Weill for Calgary Opera. Mr. Shaw has often performed with Utah Opera, taking on such roles as Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia and St. Brioche in The Merry Widow.
Shon Sims, long recognized for his vocal artistry and accomplished stagecraft, recently made his Houston Grand Opera debut as the Pilot in The Little Prince. He has performed the role of Figaro in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia with Seattle Opera, New York City Opera (National Company) and in his European debut with Teatro Nacional de San Carlos in Lisbon. He also recently appeared with Teatro dell Opera di Roma and Teatro Massimo in Palermo. He recently performed the role of Dandini in La Cenerentola at Utah Festival Opera.
One of the most versatile basses in American opera theatre, Matthew Lau is known for wide variety of roles ranging from the serious operas of Verdi, Wagner, and Gounod, to his comedic roles in the music of Rossini and Mozart. Matthew has sung the title role in Don Pasquale and Sulpice in La Fille du Régiment; Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, Padre Guardiano in La Forza del Destino, Mustafà in L’Italiana in Algeri, Ramfis in Aïda, and Osmin in Die Enführung aus dem Serail among others. Mr. Lau has also performed the role of Dr. Bartolo in Sugar Creek’s production of The Barber of Seville — a role he’s performed with Minnesota Opera, Kentucky Opera and Lake George Opera. He’s brought many other roles to life at these and other opera companies across the US including: Lyric Opera of Chicago, Boston Lyric Opera, New York City Opera, Washington Concert Opera, Arizona Opera, Sarasota Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, New Jersey Opera, Atlanta Opera, Des Moines, Metro Opera, Opera North, Seattle Opera and Opera Pacific. Mr. Lau recently took on the role of Dr. Bartolo with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and the role of Rev. Baines in Elmer Gantry with the Florentine Opera Company of Milwaukee.
Opera News“...and of all the principals bass Matthew Lau gave the most pleasure vocally...”
The Boston Globe“Matthew Lau....has a really good voice, terrific sense of text, great comic timing...”
Journal Sentinel“Lau hit just the right notes of befuddlement, affection, duplicity, lust, wounded pride and officiousness, and he didn't hit them with a hammer.”
The Star-Ledger“Matthew Lau commands a bass-baritone of unusual warmth and suppleness...Lau pours out his sound like a fine claret.”
Christopher Hutton recently performed the title role in Gianni Schicchi with Lyric Opera Theater at Arizona State University, and Marullo in Verdi’s Rigoletto with Arizona Opera. Christopher also performed the role of Baron Douphol in Verdi’s La Traviata with Sugar Creek Symphony & Song, and also with Akron Symphony’s concert version of La Traviata. He recently made his debut as Donner in Opera Theater Pittsburgh’s production of Das Rhinegold by Jonathan Dove. Other recent productions include Schaunard in La Bohème with Salt Marsh Opera, Alidoro in La Cenerentola and the Old American Songs by Aaron Copland with Sugar Creek Symphony & Song. Mr. Hutton has been engaged byBoston Lyric Opera for the roles of Zaretski in Eugene Onegin; the Businessman, Baobab, and Hunter in Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince; Ali in L’Italiana in Algeri; Marullo in Rigoletto and Sciarrone in Tosca. 2004 also marked his debut with Opera Theater Saint Louis playing Dancairo in Carmen and covering the role of Richard Nixon in Nixon in China. Memorable roles include Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with Asheville Lyric Opera, Marullo in Rigoletto and Curio in Giulio Cesare with Cleveland Opera, Schaunard in La Bohème and Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus with Annapolis Opera, Schaunard in La Bohème with Opera North (New Hampshire) and with the Firelands Symphony Orchestra, Sulpice in The Daughter of the Regiment with Lyric Opera Cleveland, and Tarquinio in Resphigi’s opera Lucrezia with Opera Theater Lucca, Italy.
Antony Walker stole our hearts last summer when he conductedRoméo et Juliette. He returns this summer not only conducting La Cenerentola, but also conducting Sugar Creek’s first symphony concert, which features Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. Mr. Walker is a frequent guest conductor for Minnesota Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Cincinnati Opera, and Pittsburgh Opera Center, among others. This season, Antony made his New York City Opera debut conducting a new production of Orlando by Handel. Mr. Walker, originally from Australia, returns home often to conduct at Opera Australia and Pinchgut Opera.
Ms. McIntyre comes to Sugar Creek after stage directing Il barbiere di Siviglia at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, where she is a member of the stage directing staff. Recently she directed Lucia di Lammermoor and La traviata with Portland Opera and Monteverdi s Il ritorno d Ulisse in patria for the Pittsburgh Opera Center. She has directed for San Francisco Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Pacific, and many others. Upcoming projects include the Met’s production of Luisa Miller, which will tour in Japan.