Frederick Burchinal (Dramatic Baritone/Germont), began his 22-year association with the Metropolitan Opera with his debut as Macbeth in 1988. Burchinal's performances at the Metropolitan Opera have also included the title roles in Simon Boccanegra, Nabucco, and Rigoletto; Iago in Otello, Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana, Tonio in Pagliacci, Amonasro in Aida, Gerard in Andrea Chenier, Golaud in Pelleas et Melisande, and Baron Scarpia in Tosca. Burchinal has performed with such notable operatic artists as Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland, Renato Bruson, Cornell MacNeil, James MacCracken, Jon Vickers, Marilyn Horne, Regina Resnick, Marcello Giordani, Nicholai Ghiarov, Anna Netrebko, Ben Heppner, James Morris, Maria Gulighina, June Anderson, Rolando Villazon, and conductors James Levine, Julius Rudel, Maurizio Arena, Placido Domingo, James Conlon, and Pierre Boulez. At the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony he sang Iago in Otello and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly. He has performed extensively with major opera houses throughout the USA, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, Scandinavia, and Asia. Since 2006, in addition to continuing his operatic and concert career, he has served as the first recipient of the Wyatt and Margaret Anderson Professorship in the Arts and Director of Opera at the University of Georgia's Hugh Hodgson School of Music. He has also presented Master Classes with the Franco American Vocal Academy in Periqueux, France, and has been a regular adjudicator for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Josephine Delledera (Annina) soprano, is a first year master's student and Graduate Assistant majoring in vocal performance at the University of Georgia studying with Frederick Burchinal. From Babylon, NY, she is an active member of the Opera Ensemble and the Concert Choir. Prior to her studies at UGA, Josephine completed her BS in Music Education at Hofstra University where she studied with Donna Balson. In 2009 she received the William Rosencrans Honors Scholarship for excellence in opera performance. She performed the role of Josephine in the UGA Opera Ensemble production of H.M.S. Pinafore and sang Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus at the Fine Arts Theater.
Mimi Denissi (Actress) is a prominent force in the Greek theatre. She is probably the most popular actress in the Greek stage, as well as the most acclaimed translator of her generation, a major producer and theatre-owner, and the author of two extraordinarily popular historical dramas. She has produced, translated and starred in "Look Back in Anger" (Osborn), "The Real Thing" ((Stoppard), "Amadeus" (Schaffer), "Black Comedy" (Schaffer), "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" (Hampton), "Cat among the Pigeons" (Feydau), "Cactus Flower" (Barrilet et Gredy), "Philadelphia Story" (Barry), "Anna Karenina" (after Tolstoy), "Isn't it Romantic" (Wasserstein), "Brief Encounter" (Noel Coward), "The King and I" (Rogers and Hammerstein), "Victor/Victoria" Blake Edwards, and "Funny Girl" and "Cactus Flower" (Barillet et Gredy). Her own plays, "Theodora" and "Laskarina Bouboulina," both played for three sold-out seasons throughout Greece. She has also produced and translated over 80 plays, for her own as well as for other companies, including "Bent" (Sherman), "Rose" (Sherman), "Oscar et la dame Rose" (Schmith), "They're Playing our Song" (Neil Simon), "The Star Spangled Girl" (Neil Simon), and "Talking Cure" (Hampton). In 2009 she received from the French government one of the greatest European honors, becoming a Dame Chevalier de la Legion d' Honner. She now owns the Ilisia Denissi Theatre in Athens, which encompasses two stages. As a producer she has brought some of the top European directors, dancers, and musical directors to work in her productions. Mimi Denissi has also starred in over twenty television series, ten films and her own talk shows on television, interviewing her guests in four languages. She is dedicated to both exploring the riches of her Nation's theatrical heritage and at the same time expanding its horizons as part of a wider European artistic community.
Olympia Dukakis (Rose) New York appearances include Rose (Outer Critics Circle Award), Social Security directed by Mike Nichols, Who's Who in Hell, The Aspern Papers, Night of the Iguana, Christopher Durang's The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Obie Award), Sam Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class, Peer Gynt, Titus Andronicus, Electra, Vaclav Havel's The Memorandum, Brecht's A Man's a Man (Obie Award), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and A View From the Bridge (Theatre World Award). She has appeared in over 150 regional theatre productions and has been founding member and Producing Artistic Director of the Whole Theatre in Montclair, NJ for 19 years, where she directed and appeared in many productions. London: Rose (world premiere at the Royal National Theatre). She has appeared in numerous films, including Moonstruck (Academy Award, Best Supporting Actress; NY Film Critics, L.A. Film Critics, and Golden Globe awards); Mr. Holland's Opus with Richard Dreyfus; Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite; I Love Trouble with Nick Nolte and Julia Roberts; Look Who's Talking 1, Too and Now! with John Travolta and Kirstie Alley; The Cemetery Club; Steel Magnolias directed by Herbert Ross; Dad co-starring Jack Lemmon; and most recently Away From Her with Julie Christie, Three Needles, and The Intended. Her television experience includes three mini-series based on Armistead Maupin's novels (Emmy, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA nominations); "Young at Heart" co-starring Frank Sinatra and Louis Zorich (Emmy nomination); "Lucky Day" co-starring Amy Madigan (Emmy nomination); "A Match Made in Heaven," "The Last Act Is Solo" (ACE Award); the mini-series "Sinatra," as Frank Sinatra's mother (Emmy nomination); and for British TV "A Life for a Life" (BAFTA nomination). Other: NJ Governor's Walt Whitman Creative Arts Award; was active in cousin Michael Dukakis' 1988 presidential campaign; and founding member of The National Museum of Women in the Arts. She is married to actor Louis Zorich, and they have three children, Christina, Peter, and Stefan and four grandchildren.
Janet Galván (Conductor), professor of music at Ithaca College, conducts the Women's Chorale and Ithaca College Chorus, and is Artistic Director for the Ithaca Children's Choir. She has prepared choruses for notable conductors including Lukas Foss, Carl St. Clair, Eji Oue, Gisele Ben-Dor, Richard Westenberg, and Grant Llewellyn. She was the conductor of the North American Children's Chorale which performed annually in Carnegie Hall from 1995 until 2005. In 2002 she conducted the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Her own choral groups have been chosen to perform at national, regional, and state music conferences, in Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, at invitational choral festivals, and in the United Kingdom and Europe. Her contribution to choral music was recognized by her New York colleagues in 1995 when she received the New York Outstanding Choral Director Award. In 2007 she received Ithaca College's Excellence in Service Award. She was a member of the Grammy Award-winning Robert Shaw Festival Singers during Mr. Shaw's final years.
Maria Kousouni (Greek National Ballet/Medea) was born in Athens-Greece. She trained at the Grigoriadou professional dance school where she studied the Vaganova System. From 1999-2004 she was member of the Vienna State Opera Ballet, and in 2004 John Neumeier invited her to join the Hamburg Ballet. In 2006, she returned to Greece and became a Principal Dancer of the Greek National Ballet. Her large repertory includes leading roles such as Juliet in Cranko's Romeo and Juliet, Phrygia in Spartacus, Zanella's Bolero, Nijinska in Nijnsky, and Audrey in John Neumeier's As You Like It and Requiem. She has also performed in works by Natalya Makarova, Lorca Massine, Irek Muchamedov, and George Balanchine, among others. For the Festival of the Aegean she will perform William Forsythe's Slingerland, and Renato Zanella will create for her Medea with music by Theodorakis.
Eilana Lappalainen (Soprano/Artistic Director, GOS), Finnish-Canadian soprano, has performed title roles to critical claim in the world's premier opera venues which include Teatro alla Scala, Opera di Roma, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra de Montréal, Bellas Artes, Teatro Verdi Trieste, New Israeli Opera, Lithuanian National Opera, Finnish National Opera, Polish National Opera, Opera North, Staatstheater Essen, Prague State Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, New York City Opera, Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Michigan Opera, Minnesota Opera, Nashville Opera, Kentucky Opera, Portland Opera, Virginia Opera, Opera Hamilton, Opera Ottawa, Marin Opera, Arizona Opera, and Opera San Jose, and in cities such as Wiesbaden, Dessau, Halle, Mannheim, Bremen, Würtzburg, Bielefeld, Liceu, and Winterthur. Her extensive repertoire has grown to include leading roles in such operas as Salome, Der Rosenkavalier, Arabella, Der Fliegende Holländer, Lohengrin, Fidelio, Peter Grimes, Wozzeck, Der Freischütz, Jenufa, Giovanna D'Arco, Un ballo in maschera, I masnadieri, Il trovatore, Pagliacci, Cavalleria rusticana, Medea, Andrea Chénier, Madama Butterfly, Suor Angelica, Il tabarro, La fanciulla del West, Turandot, and Tosca. At Carnegie Hall, Eilana has sung Verdi's and Mozart's Requiems, Zanetto, and a recital in Weill Recital Hall. Others concert performances have taken place in Germany, Mexico, Finland, Israel, Greece, and the UK. Her recording of Zanetto was released by Elysium Recordings in 2008.
Israel Lozano (Tenor/Alfredo)
"He who hears tenor Israel Lozano...stays deeply immersed in his beautiful singing."
Vailinger Kreiseitung, Germany
Israel Lozano, tenor, was born in Madrid, and began his studies with Emelina Lopez and Alfredo Kraus. Studying at the Superior School of Music and Queen Sofia Superior School of Music in Spain, he made his operatic debut at the age of 22 as Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia in Madrid's National Symphony Auditorium. In the U.S., he received a degree in opera from the Peabody Conservatory of John Hopkins University. He has performed with Baltimore, Sarasota Opera, Washington National, Los Angeles, and Palm Beach operas in the U.S. He also sang Belfiore in Il viaggio a Reims at Teatro Real in Madrid, Alfredo in La traviata at the Ludwigsburg Festival in Germany, and Javier in Lusia Fernanda at Theater an der Wien and Teatro Liceu of Barcelona. Recent appearances have included Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Florida Grand Opera and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly in Boston. He sang the title role in Daniel Catan's Il Postino in its European premiere at Theater An Der Wien.
Myrsini Margariti (Soprano) was born in Larissa, Greece. She studied in Athens and at the University Mozarteum Salzburg. She was granted Onassis Foundation and Juergen Ponto Stiftung scholarships. In Salzburg she has performed the roles of Gretel, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Serpetta in La finta giardiniera with the Landestheater Salzburg in cooperation with the Salzburg Festival. From 2006 to 2009, she was a soloist at the Opera of Halle, Germany, appearing as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Gretel , Zerlina, Euridice, Wellgunde in Das Rheingold, Xenia in Boris Godunov, Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica, and Tebaldo/Voce dal cielo in Don Carlo. Her performance on a recording of Handel's cantata Apollo e Dafne received critical acclaim.
Marissia Papalexiou (Mezzo-soprano) was born in Athens and studied Law at the University of Athens. In 1996 she began her musical studies at the Conservatory of Athens from which she graduated in June 2002 with top honors. From 2000-03, she joined the National Opera in Athens, appearing in operas, concerts, recitals, and seminars. She continued her studies in Paris with Elisabeth Vidal and Michel Comande and in Germany with Jane Henschel, with whom she is still studying. While in Germany, she performed in such operas as Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Ravel's L'Enfant et les sortilèges, and sang lieder recitals and oratorios. At the Festival of Nice in France, she performed the title role of Carmen in 2006. In 2008, she performed with the Opera of Thessaloniki as Flora in La traviata. More recently in Athens she performed Suzuki in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Maddalena in Verdi's Rigoletto.
Eno Peci (Vienna State Opera/Aegeus) was born in Tirana, Albania. He received his training at the Ballet Academy in Tirana and at the Vienna State Opera Ballet School. He became a member of the Vienna State Opera Ballet in 2000, advanced to a demi-soloist in 2003, and was named in 2009 a solo dancer at the Vienna State Opera and Volksoper (Vienna People's Opera). Among his most important roles are the title roles in John Cranko's Onegin, Renato Zanella's Spartacus, Ivan Cavallari's Tchaikovsky Impressions, Puss in Boots and Pas de quatre in Peter Wright's Swan Lake, Tybalt in John Cranko's Romeo and Juliet, Lenski in Cranko's Onegin, and Lescaut in Kenneth MacMillan's Manon. He was awarded the title of "Honorary Ambassador" of the Republic of Albania (2008). For the International Festival of the Aegean, Renato Zanella created for him and Olga Esina the "Balcony Pas de deux" from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet.
Sofia Pintzou (Deutsche Opera Berlin/Choriphee) was born in Athens, Greece. She received diplomas from the Greek State School of Dance, the professional dance school "Rallou Manou," and the department of Sports & Science of the University of Athens. In 2004, she was honored with the Koula Pratsika Foundation scholarship. Her professional career began at the Greek Choreodrama of Rallou Manou and continued with the Hellenic Dance Company in works by Martha Graham, José Limon, Pascal Rioult, and Jasmin Vardimon. She was a member of the modern dance companies, appeared as a dancer in the Athens Olympic Games of 2004, and danced in numerous opera productions before becoming a member of the Opernballet of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Now living in Berlin, she performs, gives modern/contemporary dance training, and choreographs. Her first work, "For example, a productive day. Solo II," was presented in the Third Arc for Dance Festival in Athens, Greece.
Earl Rivers (Conductor), director of music of Knox Church since 1974, is professor of music, director of choral studies and head of the Division of Ensembles and Conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. As the music director, from 1988-2008 of Cincinnati's Vocal Arts Ensemble, a professional chamber choir, he has led choirs before American Choral Directors Association conventions; guest conducted, adjudicated, and held master classes in China, Korea, and Taiwan; and received Chorus America's "Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Choral Art," honoring a lifetime of significant contributions to the professional choral arts. He is Artistic Director USA for the World Choir Games Cincinnati 2012.
Tim Sharp (Conductor) is Artistic Director/Conductor of the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, Tulsa, Oklahoma (USA), Now in his third season in Tulsa, critics have taken note of Sharp's interpretive work with the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus and Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, characterizing performances with reviews of "stunning power" and "great passion and precision." Prior to coming to Tulsa, Sharp was conductor of the MasterSingers Chorale and Rhodes Singers, Memphis, Tennessee. In Memphis, his choirs toured domestically and abroad, singing in the world's premiere concert and acoustic settings including St. Mark's Cathedral, Venice; Washington D.C.'s National Cathedral; St. Paul's Cathedral, London; and New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral. Sharp has conducted four major performances in New York's Carnegie Hall through MidAmerica Music's Carnegie Hall Series. In 2003, Sharp's conducting of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi won an Ostrander Award, Memphis' Annual Award for excellence in theater performance. Before coming to Memphis, Sharp was conductor of the Belmont Oratorio Chorus and Belmont Chorale, Nashville, Tennessee, with choral credits on the Grammy Nominated and a Dove Award winning recording, A Glen Campbell Christmas. Dr. Sharp is Executive Director of the American Choral Directors Association, the national professional association for choral conductors, educators, scholars, students, and choral music industry representatives in the United States. Sharp represents choral activity in the United States to the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM), and appears regularly as guest conductor and clinician. As an active conductor, researcher, and writer, he has balanced his career with positions in higher education, recording, and publishing. Prior to his leadership of ACDA, Sharp was Dean of Fine Arts at Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, and earlier, Director of Choral Activities at Belmont University, Nashville, TN (USA). Tim's research and writing focuses pedagogically in conducting and score analysis, and various published essays betray his eclectic interests in regional music history, acoustics, creativity, innovation, and aesthetics.
Peter Tiboris (General Directo and Artistic Director/Conductor), Greek American music director, conductor, and producer has enjoyed a worldwide career for more than forty years of which the past thirty have been in New York City as founder and artistic director of MidAmerica Productions, with concerts in Carnegie Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall; and founder of the Manhattan Philharmonic, Elysium Recordings, and the Festival of the Aegean in Syros, Greece. Since 1983 in New York City, he has presented more than 1000 concerts worldwide, including 500 in historic Carnegie Hall, and conducted many of them. He is also Music Director of the Pan-European Philharmonia, in Warsaw, Poland, and Principal Guest Conductor of Collegium Symphonium Veneto in Padua, Italy. He made his European conducting debut on July 1, 1983, in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, with the Moscow Philharmonia as part of the Dubrovnik Festival; and his New York conducting debut on January 7, 1984, with the American Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center. He has conducted in 20 countries, among them Mexico; Russia, in St. Petersburg and Moscow at Column Hall, Tchaikovsky Hall, and Shostakovich Hall; Great Britain, in London at the Barbican and Royal Festival Hall; Austria, at Vienna's Konzerthaus; Poland, in 11 different cities including Warsaw; Czech Republic, in Prague's Rudolfinium and Smetana Hall with Virtuosi di Praga and the North Czech Philharmonic; Italy, at Teatro di Roma, Teatro Filarmonica di Verona, Regio di Parma, and 20 other locations; Portugal; Turkey; and Egypt, at Cairo's National Opera House. Among the distinguished orchestras he has conducted are the Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonia, Oxford's Philomusica, Niedersächsische Orchester Hannover, the Prague and Brno philharmonics, National Opera Orchestra of Cairo, American Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, Société Philharmonique de Montréal, Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon Le-Zion, Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, and Orchestra di Siciliana di Palermo. He has conducted nearly every major choral work as well as countless symphonic works, selected operas, and ballet. On his Carnegie Hall series, he has showcased over 600 guest conductors and thousands of visiting ensembles who have come from throughout the world. As a conductor on his series, he has presented hundreds of works with numerous and significant world and American premieres, including works by Rossini, Mozart, Beethoven/Mahler, Taneyev, Cherubini, and Theodorakis. The concerts have been hailed by The New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, and The New Yorker. He is also responsible for the founding and development of Elysium Recordings, which is distributed worldwide by Qualiton Imports International. The catalog has nearly 30 releases of which he can be heard on 10 of the recordings. Most recordings in the Elysium catalog are premiere and first-time commercial releases. His most recent endeavor is the International Festival of the Aegean on the idyllic island of Syros, in the Aegean, Cyclades, Greece. There each July for two weeks, he presents performances of one major opera, oratorios, concerti, symphonic works, Greek folk music, jazz, theater, and ballet - all on an international scale. The central venue of the festival is the historic Apollo Theater, also known as "la piccola Scala" because it is a 400-seat replica of Milan's world-renowned Teatro alla Scala. The theater was built by resident Italians in 1864. Peter Tiboris studied music at the University of Wisconsin and received a doctorate from the University of Illinois, but he credits his move to New York City 30 years ago as the most important event in his musical and professional life. He is married to soprano Eilana Lappalainen, and they reside in Germany, Greece, and the U.S.
Natalia Ushakova (Soprano/Violetta)
"A passionate woman, with an exquisite soprano sound whose impressive piani and delicate coloraturas transform despair and happiness into song. [Ushakova created] an unforgettable evening."
— Die Welt, re performance in La traviata at Staatsoper Wien
Natalia Ushakova received her vocal training from Tamara Novitshenko at the "Rimsky-Korsakov-Conservatory" in St. Petersburg. In 1998 she won a scholarship to the "Accademia di perfezionamento" of the Teatro alla Scala (Milan), where she studied with Leyla Gencer, Mieta Sieghele, and Virginia Zeani. In 2000 Ms. Ushakova won first prize in two Italian opera competitions, the "Concorso Internazionale Riccardo Zandonai" at Rovereto and the "Concorso delle voci verdiane" at Busseto,the birthplace of Verdi. There she made her opera debut as Violetta in Verdi's La traviata and portrayed Giuseppina Strepponi (Verdi's second wife) as well as Violetta Valery in the BBC television film, "The Private Life of Giuseppe Verdi". In the same year she sang the role of Mimi in Franco Zeffirelli's production of La bohème at La Scala in Milano.
Nicky Vanoppen (Deutsche Oper Berlin/Creon) is from Antwerp, Belgium, where he studied at the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp. After working with Joachim Schlömmer at Theater Basel (2000-2001) and Martin Stiefermann at Staatstheater Oldenburg (2001-2003), he moved to Berlin and worked with Livia Patrizi, Bernard Baumgarten, Efrat Stempler, MS Schrittmacher, Antje Rose, Marco Santi and Phase7 performing arts. He performs regularly at Deutsche Oper Berlin and specializes in modern technique and experimental work. With Renato Zanella, he worked in a production of Berlioz's "The Trojans."
Franziska Wallner-Hollinek (Vienna State Opera/Glauce), a native of Vienna, she was educated at the Vienna State Opera; she joined their ballet as an apprentice at the age of 17. She has performed in most of the great classical and contemporary repertoire and has worked with choreographers including Nureyev, Ashton, van Manen, Neumeier, Kylian, and Forsythe. With Renato Zanella, she has participated in the ballets of "Le Sacre du Printemps," "Alles Walzer," "Kadettenball," Wolfgang Amadé," and "Petrushka." She was a member of the Royal Danish Ballet from 2000-2002, and has made guest appearances in Copenhagen, at the Reggio Parma Festival 2007, and at the Ravenna Festival 2011. She often takes part in the annual opening ballet ceremony at the Vienna Opera.
Paul Zachariades (Male Contralto), a native of Athens, studied music at Athens National Conservatory, Vienna Music and Arts University, the Actors Studio for Theatre and Opera in Athens. He is a soloist and the first male contralto to perform at the Athens State Opera where he debuted as Prince Orlofsky in Strauss' Die Fledermaus. He made his Vienna debut as a principal in P.M. Davies' Resurrection (world premiere in the original language). Appearances followed in Antwerp, Belgium, at Theatre de Singel; Glasgow, Scotland, at the Scottish Opera House; and in Amsterdam, Holland, at the Staadschowbourg Theatre. He appears frequently with Corfu Civic Theatre, where he performed Sorceress in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and Orlofsky; and at Thessaloniki Opera in the title role of Amahl and the Night Visitors. In 2008 he created the title role of Vangelis Katsoulis' Orfeo at the Athens State's Opera House. Recently he appeared as Prince Athamas in the Greek Premiere of Handel's Semele in Athens, and as John Styx in Offenbach's Orphée aux Enfers in Thessaloniki.
Renato Zanella (Director/Ballet Director/GOS), a native of Verona, Italy, he began ballet training in Verona, and in 1981 went to study with Rosella Hightower in Cannes. His made his professional debut in Basel, Switzerland, working with Heinz Spoerli. In 1985, he joined the Stuttgart Ballet and was appointed house choreographer in 1993 by Marcia Haydée. From 1995 to 2005, he was Ballet Director of the Vienna State Opera; in 2001, he added the title of Artistic Director of the Vienna State Opera Ballet School. Since 2005, he has worked as a freelance choreographer. He has choreographed ballets for the Stuttgart Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, Introdans, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Royal Swedish Ballet, Istanbul State Ballet, Hungarian National Ballet, Ballet du Rhin, Vereinigte Bühnen Krefeld/Mönchengladbach, Teatro San Carlo (Napoli), Croatian National Theatre, Badische Staatstheater, Municipal Ballett of Lima, National Ballet of Portugal, Ballett Berlin, Balletto dell'Opera di Rome, and San Francisco Ballet. He created solo works for Marcia Haydée, Carla Fracci, Anastasia Volotchkova, Simona Noja, Shoko Nakamura, Polina Semionava, Dorothée Gilbert, Vladimir Malakhov, Manuel Legris, Roberto Bolle, Giuseppe Picone, Alessio Carbone, Alessandro Molin, and Egon Madsen. At the Vienna State Opera, Renato Zanella was also choreographer for numerous opera productions as at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, New Opera Wien, San Carlos in Lisbon, Teatro alla Scala, Marijnski Theater, Bregenz's festival, London's Royal Opera House, Opera of Zürich, and Chicago Opera Theater. In 1995 "Danza & Danza" magazine named him the "Best Italian Choreographer Abroad." The same publication also conferred the titles "Best Artistic Director" in 2001 and "Best Italian production." In 2000 he received the "Premio Internazionale Gino Tani;" in 2001, for his artistic achievements, he received the "Jakob Prandtauer-Preis" from the city of St. Pölten (Austria); and also in 2001 he was honoured with the Austrian Special Distinction for Arts and Sciences.
Danilo Zeka (Greek National Ballet/Jeason), a native of Tirana, Albania, he began studying at the National Dance Academy of Tirana, from which he received his diploma in 1995. Between 1995 and 1997, he was a member of the National Ballet of Tirana. He furthered his education at National Theater of Geneva, Switzerland, and in 2001 he joined the Greek National Ballet as a soloist. His roles have included Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, the Lover in Canto Generale, Kai in Snow Queen, Lensky in Eugene Onegin, and Albrecht in Giselle. He has also danced in Bolero as choreographed by Renato Zanella.
Frederick Burchinal (Dramatic Baritone/Germont), began his 22-year association with the Metropolitan Opera with his debut as Macbeth in 1988. Burchinal's performances at the Metropolitan Opera have also included the title roles in Simon Boccanegra, Nabucco, and Rigoletto; Iago in Otello, Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana, Tonio in Pagliacci, Amonasro in Aida, Gerard in Andrea Chenier, Golaud in Pelleas et Melisande, and Baron Scarpia in Tosca. Burchinal has performed with such notable operatic artists as Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland, Renato Bruson, Cornell MacNeil, James MacCracken, Jon Vickers, Marilyn Horne, Regina Resnick, Marcello Giordani, Nicholai Ghiarov, Anna Netrebko, Ben Heppner, James Morris, Maria Gulighina, June Anderson, Rolando Villazon, and conductors James Levine, Julius Rudel, Maurizio Arena, Placido Domingo, James Conlon, and Pierre Boulez. At the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony he sang Iago in Otello and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly. He has performed extensively with major opera houses throughout the USA, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, Scandinavia, and Asia. Since 2006, in addition to continuing his operatic and concert career, he has served as the first recipient of the Wyatt and Margaret Anderson Professorship in the Arts and Director of Opera at the University of Georgia's Hugh Hodgson School of Music. He has also presented Master Classes with the Franco American Vocal Academy in Periqueux, France, and has been a regular adjudicator for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Josephine Delledera (Annina) soprano, is a first year master's student and Graduate Assistant majoring in vocal performance at the University of Georgia studying with Frederick Burchinal. From Babylon, NY, she is an active member of the Opera Ensemble and the Concert Choir. Prior to her studies at UGA, Josephine completed her BS in Music Education at Hofstra University where she studied with Donna Balson. In 2009 she received the William Rosencrans Honors Scholarship for excellence in opera performance. She performed the role of Josephine in the UGA Opera Ensemble production of H.M.S. Pinafore and sang Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus at the Fine Arts Theater.
Olympia Dukakis (Rose) New York appearances include Rose (Outer Critics Circle Award), Social Security directed by Mike Nichols, Who's Who in Hell, The Aspern Papers, Night of the Iguana, Christopher Durang's The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Obie Award), Sam Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class, Peer Gynt, Titus Andronicus, Electra, Vaclav Havel's The Memorandum, Brecht's A Man's a Man (Obie Award), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and A View From the Bridge (Theatre World Award). She has appeared in over 150 regional theatre productions and has been founding member and Producing Artistic Director of the Whole Theatre in Montclair, NJ for 19 years, where she directed and appeared in many productions. London: Rose (world premiere at the Royal National Theatre). She has appeared in numerous films, including Moonstruck (Academy Award, Best Supporting Actress; NY Film Critics, L.A. Film Critics, and Golden Globe awards); Mr. Holland's Opus with Richard Dreyfus; Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite; I Love Trouble with Nick Nolte and Julia Roberts; Look Who's Talking 1, Too and Now! with John Travolta and Kirstie Alley; The Cemetery Club; Steel Magnolias directed by Herbert Ross; Dad co-starring Jack Lemmon; and most recently Away From Her with Julie Christie, Three Needles, and The Intended. Her television experience includes three mini-series based on Armistead Maupin's novels (Emmy, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA nominations); "Young at Heart" co-starring Frank Sinatra and Louis Zorich (Emmy nomination); "Lucky Day" co-starring Amy Madigan (Emmy nomination); "A Match Made in Heaven," "The Last Act Is Solo" (ACE Award); the mini-series "Sinatra," as Frank Sinatra's mother (Emmy nomination); and for British TV "A Life for a Life" (BAFTA nomination). Other: NJ Governor's Walt Whitman Creative Arts Award; was active in cousin Michael Dukakis' 1988 presidential campaign; and founding member of The National Museum of Women in the Arts. She is married to actor Louis Zorich, and they have three children, Christina, Peter, and Stefan and four grandchildren.
Janet Galván (Conductor), professor of music at Ithaca College, conducts the Women's Chorale and Ithaca College Chorus, and is Artistic Director for the Ithaca Children's Choir. She has prepared choruses for notable conductors including Lukas Foss, Carl St. Clair, Eji Oue, Gisele Ben-Dor, Richard Westenberg, and Grant Llewellyn. She was the conductor of the North American Children's Chorale which performed annually in Carnegie Hall from 1995 until 2005. In 2002 she conducted the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Her own choral groups have been chosen to perform at national, regional, and state music conferences, in Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, at invitational choral festivals, and in the United Kingdom and Europe. Her contribution to choral music was recognized by her New York colleagues in 1995 when she received the New York Outstanding Choral Director Award. In 2007 she received Ithaca College's Excellence in Service Award. She was a member of the Grammy Award-winning Robert Shaw Festival Singers during Mr. Shaw's final years.
Maria Kousouni (Greek National Ballet/Medea) was born in Athens-Greece. She trained at the Grigoriadou professional dance school where she studied the Vaganova System. From 1999-2004 she was member of the Vienna State Opera Ballet, and in 2004 John Neumeier invited her to join the Hamburg Ballet. In 2006, she returned to Greece and became a Principal Dancer of the Greek National Ballet. Her large repertory includes leading roles such as Juliet in Cranko's Romeo and Juliet, Phrygia in Spartacus, Zanella's Bolero, Nijinska in Nijnsky, and Audrey in John Neumeier's As You Like It and Requiem. She has also performed in works by Natalya Makarova, Lorca Massine, Irek Muchamedov, and George Balanchine, among others. For the Festival of the Aegean she will perform William Forsythe's Slingerland, and Renato Zanella will create for her Medea with music by Theodorakis.
Eilana Lappalainen (Soprano/Artistic Director, GOS), Finnish-Canadian soprano, has performed title roles to critical claim in the world's premier opera venues which include Teatro alla Scala, Opera di Roma, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra de Montréal, Bellas Artes, Teatro Verdi Trieste, New Israeli Opera, Lithuanian National Opera, Finnish National Opera, Polish National Opera, Opera North, Staatstheater Essen, Prague State Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, New York City Opera, Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Michigan Opera, Minnesota Opera, Nashville Opera, Kentucky Opera, Portland Opera, Virginia Opera, Opera Hamilton, Opera Ottawa, Marin Opera, Arizona Opera, and Opera San Jose, and in cities such as Wiesbaden, Dessau, Halle, Mannheim, Bremen, Würtzburg, Bielefeld, Liceu, and Winterthur. Her extensive repertoire has grown to include leading roles in such operas as Salome, Der Rosenkavalier, Arabella, Der Fliegende Holländer, Lohengrin, Fidelio, Peter Grimes, Wozzeck, Der Freischütz, Jenufa, Giovanna D'Arco, Un ballo in maschera, I masnadieri, Il trovatore, Pagliacci, Cavalleria rusticana, Medea, Andrea Chénier, Madama Butterfly, Suor Angelica, Il tabarro, La fanciulla del West, Turandot, and Tosca. At Carnegie Hall, Eilana has sung Verdi's and Mozart's Requiems, Zanetto, and a recital in Weill Recital Hall. Others concert performances have taken place in Germany, Mexico, Finland, Israel, Greece, and the UK. Her recording of Zanetto was released by Elysium Recordings in 2008.
Israel Lozano (Tenor/Alfredo)
Myrsini Margariti (Soprano) was born in Larissa, Greece. She studied in Athens and at the University Mozarteum Salzburg. She was granted Onassis Foundation and Juergen Ponto Stiftung scholarships. In Salzburg she has performed the roles of Gretel, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Serpetta in La finta giardiniera with the Landestheater Salzburg in cooperation with the Salzburg Festival. From 2006 to 2009, she was a soloist at the Opera of Halle, Germany, appearing as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Gretel , Zerlina, Euridice, Wellgunde in Das Rheingold, Xenia in Boris Godunov, Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica, and Tebaldo/Voce dal cielo in Don Carlo. Her performance on a recording of Handel's cantata Apollo e Dafne received critical acclaim.
Marissia Papalexiou (Mezzo-soprano) was born in Athens and studied Law at the University of Athens. In 1996 she began her musical studies at the Conservatory of Athens from which she graduated in June 2002 with top honors. From 2000-03, she joined the National Opera in Athens, appearing in operas, concerts, recitals, and seminars. She continued her studies in Paris with Elisabeth Vidal and Michel Comande and in Germany with Jane Henschel, with whom she is still studying. While in Germany, she performed in such operas as Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Ravel's L'Enfant et les sortilèges, and sang lieder recitals and oratorios. At the Festival of Nice in France, she performed the title role of Carmen in 2006. In 2008, she performed with the Opera of Thessaloniki as Flora in La traviata. More recently in Athens she performed Suzuki in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Maddalena in Verdi's Rigoletto. 
Eno Peci (Vienna State Opera/Aegeus) was born in Tirana, Albania. He received his training at the Ballet Academy in Tirana and at the Vienna State Opera Ballet School. He became a member of the Vienna State Opera Ballet in 2000, advanced to a demi-soloist in 2003, and was named in 2009 a solo dancer at the Vienna State Opera and Volksoper (Vienna People's Opera). Among his most important roles are the title roles in John Cranko's Onegin, Renato Zanella's Spartacus, Ivan Cavallari's Tchaikovsky Impressions, Puss in Boots and Pas de quatre in Peter Wright's Swan Lake, Tybalt in John Cranko's Romeo and Juliet, Lenski in Cranko's Onegin, and Lescaut in Kenneth MacMillan's Manon. He was awarded the title of "Honorary Ambassador" of the Republic of Albania (2008). For the International Festival of the Aegean, Renato Zanella created for him and Olga Esina the "Balcony Pas de deux" from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet.
Sofia Pintzou (Deutsche Opera Berlin/Choriphee) was born in Athens, Greece. She received diplomas from the Greek State School of Dance, the professional dance school "Rallou Manou," and the department of Sports & Science of the University of Athens. In 2004, she was honored with the Koula Pratsika Foundation scholarship. Her professional career began at the Greek Choreodrama of Rallou Manou and continued with the Hellenic Dance Company in works by Martha Graham, José Limon, Pascal Rioult, and Jasmin Vardimon. She was a member of the modern dance companies, appeared as a dancer in the Athens Olympic Games of 2004, and danced in numerous opera productions before becoming a member of the Opernballet of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Now living in Berlin, she performs, gives modern/contemporary dance training, and choreographs. Her first work, "For example, a productive day. Solo II," was presented in the Third Arc for Dance Festival in Athens, Greece.
Earl Rivers (Conductor), director of music of Knox Church since 1974, is professor of music, director of choral studies and head of the Division of Ensembles and Conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. As the music director, from 1988-2008 of Cincinnati's Vocal Arts Ensemble, a professional chamber choir, he has led choirs before American Choral Directors Association conventions; guest conducted, adjudicated, and held master classes in China, Korea, and Taiwan; and received Chorus America's "Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Choral Art," honoring a lifetime of significant contributions to the professional choral arts. He is Artistic Director USA for the World Choir Games Cincinnati 2012.
Tim Sharp (Conductor) is Artistic Director/Conductor of the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, Tulsa, Oklahoma (USA), Now in his third season in Tulsa, critics have taken note of Sharp's interpretive work with the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus and Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, characterizing performances with reviews of "stunning power" and "great passion and precision." Prior to coming to Tulsa, Sharp was conductor of the MasterSingers Chorale and Rhodes Singers, Memphis, Tennessee. In Memphis, his choirs toured domestically and abroad, singing in the world's premiere concert and acoustic settings including St. Mark's Cathedral, Venice; Washington D.C.'s National Cathedral; St. Paul's Cathedral, London; and New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral. Sharp has conducted four major performances in New York's Carnegie Hall through MidAmerica Music's Carnegie Hall Series. In 2003, Sharp's conducting of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi won an Ostrander Award, Memphis' Annual Award for excellence in theater performance. Before coming to Memphis, Sharp was conductor of the Belmont Oratorio Chorus and Belmont Chorale, Nashville, Tennessee, with choral credits on the Grammy Nominated and a Dove Award winning recording, A Glen Campbell Christmas. Dr. Sharp is Executive Director of the American Choral Directors Association, the national professional association for choral conductors, educators, scholars, students, and choral music industry representatives in the United States. Sharp represents choral activity in the United States to the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM), and appears regularly as guest conductor and clinician. As an active conductor, researcher, and writer, he has balanced his career with positions in higher education, recording, and publishing. Prior to his leadership of ACDA, Sharp was Dean of Fine Arts at Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, and earlier, Director of Choral Activities at Belmont University, Nashville, TN (USA). Tim's research and writing focuses pedagogically in conducting and score analysis, and various published essays betray his eclectic interests in regional music history, acoustics, creativity, innovation, and aesthetics. 
Peter Tiboris (General Directo and Artistic Director/Conductor), Greek American music director, conductor, and producer has enjoyed a worldwide career for more than forty years of which the past thirty have been in New York City as founder and artistic director of MidAmerica Productions, with concerts in Carnegie Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall; and founder of the Manhattan Philharmonic, Elysium Recordings, and the Festival of the Aegean in Syros, Greece. Since 1983 in New York City, he has presented more than 1000 concerts worldwide, including 500 in historic Carnegie Hall, and conducted many of them. He is also Music Director of the Pan-European Philharmonia, in Warsaw, Poland, and Principal Guest Conductor of Collegium Symphonium Veneto in Padua, Italy. He made his European conducting debut on July 1, 1983, in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, with the Moscow Philharmonia as part of the Dubrovnik Festival; and his New York conducting debut on January 7, 1984, with the American Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center. He has conducted in 20 countries, among them Mexico; Russia, in St. Petersburg and Moscow at Column Hall, Tchaikovsky Hall, and Shostakovich Hall; Great Britain, in London at the Barbican and Royal Festival Hall; Austria, at Vienna's Konzerthaus; Poland, in 11 different cities including Warsaw; Czech Republic, in Prague's Rudolfinium and Smetana Hall with Virtuosi di Praga and the North Czech Philharmonic; Italy, at Teatro di Roma, Teatro Filarmonica di Verona, Regio di Parma, and 20 other locations; Portugal; Turkey; and Egypt, at Cairo's National Opera House. Among the distinguished orchestras he has conducted are the Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonia, Oxford's Philomusica, Niedersächsische Orchester Hannover, the Prague and Brno philharmonics, National Opera Orchestra of Cairo, American Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, Société Philharmonique de Montréal, Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon Le-Zion, Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, and Orchestra di Siciliana di Palermo. He has conducted nearly every major choral work as well as countless symphonic works, selected operas, and ballet. On his Carnegie Hall series, he has showcased over 600 guest conductors and thousands of visiting ensembles who have come from throughout the world. As a conductor on his series, he has presented hundreds of works with numerous and significant world and American premieres, including works by Rossini, Mozart, Beethoven/Mahler, Taneyev, Cherubini, and Theodorakis. The concerts have been hailed by The New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, and The New Yorker. He is also responsible for the founding and development of Elysium Recordings, which is distributed worldwide by Qualiton Imports International. The catalog has nearly 30 releases of which he can be heard on 10 of the recordings. Most recordings in the Elysium catalog are premiere and first-time commercial releases. His most recent endeavor is the International Festival of the Aegean on the idyllic island of Syros, in the Aegean, Cyclades, Greece. There each July for two weeks, he presents performances of one major opera, oratorios, concerti, symphonic works, Greek folk music, jazz, theater, and ballet - all on an international scale. The central venue of the festival is the historic Apollo Theater, also known as "la piccola Scala" because it is a 400-seat replica of Milan's world-renowned Teatro alla Scala. The theater was built by resident Italians in 1864. Peter Tiboris studied music at the University of Wisconsin and received a doctorate from the University of Illinois, but he credits his move to New York City 30 years ago as the most important event in his musical and professional life. He is married to soprano Eilana Lappalainen, and they reside in Germany, Greece, and the U.S. 
Natalia Ushakova (Soprano/Violetta)
Nicky Vanoppen (Deutsche Oper Berlin/Creon) is from Antwerp, Belgium, where he studied at the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp. After working with Joachim Schlömmer at Theater Basel (2000-2001) and Martin Stiefermann at Staatstheater Oldenburg (2001-2003), he moved to Berlin and worked with Livia Patrizi, Bernard Baumgarten, Efrat Stempler, MS Schrittmacher, Antje Rose, Marco Santi and Phase7 performing arts. He performs regularly at Deutsche Oper Berlin and specializes in modern technique and experimental work. With Renato Zanella, he worked in a production of Berlioz's "The Trojans."
Franziska Wallner-Hollinek (Vienna State Opera/Glauce), a native of Vienna, she was educated at the Vienna State Opera; she joined their ballet as an apprentice at the age of 17. She has performed in most of the great classical and contemporary repertoire and has worked with choreographers including Nureyev, Ashton, van Manen, Neumeier, Kylian, and Forsythe. With Renato Zanella, she has participated in the ballets of "Le Sacre du Printemps," "Alles Walzer," "Kadettenball," Wolfgang Amadé," and "Petrushka." She was a member of the Royal Danish Ballet from 2000-2002, and has made guest appearances in Copenhagen, at the Reggio Parma Festival 2007, and at the Ravenna Festival 2011. She often takes part in the annual opening ballet ceremony at the Vienna Opera.
Paul Zachariades (Male Contralto), a native of Athens, studied music at Athens National Conservatory, Vienna Music and Arts University, the Actors Studio for Theatre and Opera in Athens. He is a soloist and the first male contralto to perform at the Athens State Opera where he debuted as Prince Orlofsky in Strauss' Die Fledermaus. He made his Vienna debut as a principal in P.M. Davies' Resurrection (world premiere in the original language). Appearances followed in Antwerp, Belgium, at Theatre de Singel; Glasgow, Scotland, at the Scottish Opera House; and in Amsterdam, Holland, at the Staadschowbourg Theatre. He appears frequently with Corfu Civic Theatre, where he performed Sorceress in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and Orlofsky; and at Thessaloniki Opera in the title role of Amahl and the Night Visitors. In 2008 he created the title role of Vangelis Katsoulis' Orfeo at the Athens State's Opera House. Recently he appeared as Prince Athamas in the Greek Premiere of Handel's Semele in Athens, and as John Styx in Offenbach's Orphée aux Enfers in Thessaloniki. 
Renato Zanella (Director/Ballet Director/GOS), a native of Verona, Italy, he began ballet training in Verona, and in 1981 went to study with Rosella Hightower in Cannes. His made his professional debut in Basel, Switzerland, working with Heinz Spoerli. In 1985, he joined the Stuttgart Ballet and was appointed house choreographer in 1993 by Marcia Haydée. From 1995 to 2005, he was Ballet Director of the Vienna State Opera; in 2001, he added the title of Artistic Director of the Vienna State Opera Ballet School. Since 2005, he has worked as a freelance choreographer. He has choreographed ballets for the Stuttgart Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, Introdans, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Royal Swedish Ballet, Istanbul State Ballet, Hungarian National Ballet, Ballet du Rhin, Vereinigte Bühnen Krefeld/Mönchengladbach, Teatro San Carlo (Napoli), Croatian National Theatre, Badische Staatstheater, Municipal Ballett of Lima, National Ballet of Portugal, Ballett Berlin, Balletto dell'Opera di Rome, and San Francisco Ballet. He created solo works for Marcia Haydée, Carla Fracci, Anastasia Volotchkova, Simona Noja, Shoko Nakamura, Polina Semionava, Dorothée Gilbert, Vladimir Malakhov, Manuel Legris, Roberto Bolle, Giuseppe Picone, Alessio Carbone, Alessandro Molin, and Egon Madsen. At the Vienna State Opera, Renato Zanella was also choreographer for numerous opera productions as at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, New Opera Wien, San Carlos in Lisbon, Teatro alla Scala, Marijnski Theater, Bregenz's festival, London's Royal Opera House, Opera of Zürich, and Chicago Opera Theater. In 1995 "Danza & Danza" magazine named him the "Best Italian Choreographer Abroad." The same publication also conferred the titles "Best Artistic Director" in 2001 and "Best Italian production." In 2000 he received the "Premio Internazionale Gino Tani;" in 2001, for his artistic achievements, he received the "Jakob Prandtauer-Preis" from the city of St. Pölten (Austria); and also in 2001 he was honoured with the Austrian Special Distinction for Arts and Sciences.
Danilo Zeka (Greek National Ballet/Jeason), a native of Tirana, Albania, he began studying at the National Dance Academy of Tirana, from which he received his diploma in 1995. Between 1995 and 1997, he was a member of the National Ballet of Tirana. He furthered his education at National Theater of Geneva, Switzerland, and in 2001 he joined the Greek National Ballet as a soloist. His roles have included Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, the Lover in Canto Generale, Kai in Snow Queen, Lensky in Eugene Onegin, and Albrecht in Giselle. He has also danced in Bolero as choreographed by Renato Zanella.