Big Fish at Plaza Theatre Company

Megan Callahan has garnered praise for her “rich mezzo-soprano voice with full presence and unique color” by the Palm Beach Daily News. Recently, Ms. Callahan completed her second year as a young artist with Palm Beach Opera where she appeared as Mercédès in Carmen as well as the title role in Dido & Aeneas. Other notable stage credits include Dritte Knabe (Die Zauberflöte), Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito), the title role in Dolores Claiborne, Fox (The Cunning Little Vixen), Olga (Eugene Onegin), Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking), and Mother Marie (Dialogues of the Carmelites). Ms. Callahan received Encouragement Awards in both 2018 and 2021 from the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Megan has performed with Palm Beach Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Charlottesville Opera, Seagle Music Colony, American Opera Projects, and the Seaglass Theatre Company.

Praised for her “velvety mezzo-soprano voice” (Pittsburgh in the Round), Emily Harmon will be an Apprentice Artist with the Glimmerglass Festival for the 2023 summer season. Emily was a 2022 finalist for the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. She was a semifinalist in the 2022 Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition and the 2021 James Toland Vocal Arts Competition, and she won Third Place in the 2020 Mildred Miller International Voice Competition. Some noted past roles include Amastre (Xerxes), Marquise de Merteuil (The Dangerous Liaisons), the Old Lady (Candide), Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro), and Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd). In concert, Emily has performed the alto solos in Beethoven’s Symphony No.9, Handel's Messiah, Purcell’s Come, Ye Sons of Art, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, and Mozart's Requiem and Coronation Mass. Emily holds an M.M. and a B.M. in Voice Performance from Boston University.

Ryan Lustgarten was born in Seattle, and spent this season with Virginia Opera as a Herndon Foundation Emerging Artist. He received his Bachelor of Music in Voice and Opera Performance from Washington State University in 2016, and his Master’s Degree in Voice & Opera from Northwestern University in 2020, during which he performed numerous operatic roles and was a soloist in several concert works ranging from classics like Mozarts’s Requiem to more contemporary projects like David T. Little’s Am I Born. During his operatic training, Ryan developed a persisting passion for contemporary opera performing the role of Pat in the midwestern premiere of David T. Little’s Dog Days At Northwestern University and portraying Miles in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up at the Boston University Opera Institute. Last season, Ryan performed with the Boston University Opera Institute, Symphony New Hampshire, Shreveport Opera, City Lyric Opera, and Des Moines Metro Opera. Ryan, also a lover of early music, performs multiple concerts a year with Upper Valley Baroque, a New Hampshire-based professional choir. This season with UVB, he will be a featured soloist in a performance of Monteverdi’s Vespers. In the next month, Ryan will perform Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites with Bronx Opera, and then will be gearing up for another summer as an Apprentice Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera.

Hailed as “appealing and fresh voiced” (Chicago Tribune) and “the standout…an engaging singer and actor” (The Daily Camera), soprano Kaileigh Riess was seen most recently on the operatic stage in the role of Violetta Valéry in La traviata at Virginia Opera, where she recently completed her tenure as an Emerging Artist. There, she also performed the roles of Annina (La traviata), Lucy (Fellow Travelers), and Isabel/ Mabel cover (The Pirates of Penzance). Kaileigh completed her education at the Boston University Opera Institute (performance certificate), the University of Southern California (MM Opera), and Northwestern University (BM Voice, BA English), spending her summers at Central City Opera, IVAI Tel Aviv, Music Academy of the West, and Des Moines Metro Opera. Favorite roles performed include Anne Trulove (The Rake’s Progress), Maria Bertram (Mansfield Park), Contessa Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Laurie (The Tender Land), and Blanche (Dialogues of the Carmelites). In the competition circuit, Kaileigh has been named a Boston District winner and an LA District Encouragement Award winner in the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition, 3rd place winner of the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition, 1st place winner of the Wilkinson Young Singer's Award, and an award winning finalist in the Lotte Lenya Competition. Kaileigh is thrilled to share her love of crossover repertoire in concert here in her native Massachusetts. Kaileigh is represented by Encompass Arts.

Baritone Paul Soper is delighted to return to Seaglass Theater Company. He made his operatic debut with Houston Grand Opera as the Innkeeper in Manon and has sung principal and comprimario roles with Boston Lyric Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Naples (FL) and the National Touring Company of New York City Opera. Known for his wide range of repertoire, recent seasons include the title role of Rachmaninoff's Aleko with Commonwealth Lyric Theater, the Verdi Requiem with the Paul Madore Chorale, Bach's St. John Passion with the Pioneer Valley Symphony and St. Matthew Passion with Gulfshore Opera. Theater credits include Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd with Lyric Stage Company , Emile DeBecque in South Pacific with Seacoast Repertory Theater , and Signor Naccarrelli in The Light in the Piazza with Nextdoor Theater. Mr. Soper has also been a frequent guest with Charleston Chamber Opera, Falmouth Chorale, Cape Cod Opera, Opera Providence, Connecticut Early Music Festival and Intermezzo Opera. Twice a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, Mr. Soper currently is a Choral Fellow at the historic Old South Church.

Chris Hunter is a tenor based in Boston. Selected credits include Zuniga in La Tragédie de Carmen (Seaglass Theater Company), Dr. Baglioni in La hija de Rappaccini (BU Opera institute), Ferrando in Cosí fan tutte (Salastina), Rapunzel’s Prince from Into the Woods (Pacific Opera Project), Tamino in The Magic Flute (UCSB), Orpheus (LA Opera Connects), Rodolfo in La Boheme (Guild Opera), The Music Man (5 Star Theatricals), The Secret Garden (3D Theatricals), The Little Mermaid (MTW), South Pacific (San Diego Musical Theatre), Sweeney Todd in Budapest, Hungary, Lost in the Stars (Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra), and he has also participated as a soloist in numerous concerts in both opera and musical theatre internationally. He is also a faculty member and Music Director at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. Chris is currently pursuing his Masters degree in Vocal Performance at Boston University.

Soprano Patrice Tiedemann’s performance highlights include Holiday concerts with the Boston Pops, Boston Lyric Opera (The Little Prince), Pioneer Valley Symphony (Cavalleria Rusticana), Piccolo Spoleto Festival (L’enfant Prodigue), Opera Boston (The Consul), Central City Opera (Madama Butterfly/Susannah), Rhode Island Philharmonic (Hansel & Gretel), University Chorale of Boston College (Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Dubois’ Seven Last Words of Christ), Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra (Beethoven’s Mass in C, Mozart Requiem), Indianapolis Opera (Otello), Boston Civic Symphony (Verdi Requiem), the Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music at Theatre by the Sea and New Bedford Festival Theatre, and appearances with the New Bedford Symphony, Opera Providence, Cape Cod Opera, North Shore Philharmonic, Shenandoah Symphony Orchestra, Symphony by the Sea, and many others in classical, sacred and theatrical repertoire.

He received his Doctorate in Collaborative Piano from Arizona State University under the tutelage of Eckart Sellheim. An accomplished recitalist, Dr. Larson has played over 700 concerts in the U.S. and Europe. He has worked with s 34uch varied artists as Metropolitan Opera stars Carol Vaness, Lawrence Brownlee, Jennifer Larmore and Sherrill Milnes; Academy of Ancient Music director Christopher Hogwood; vocal pedagogy pioneer Richard Miller; and the eminent collaborative artist Dalton Baldwin, with whom Matthew was invited to study in New York. He has served as Assistant Conductor for Boston Lyric Opera; Music Director of University of Connecticut’s Opera Program; Pianist/Coach for Yale University’s Opera Program; Vocal Coach and Music Director for Arizona State University’s Lyric Opera Theater; Staff Pianist for The American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria; Music Director of Opera Providence; Vocal Coach at Walnut Hill School for the Arts; Staff Pianist for Opera New England; Pianist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra Tanglewood Festival Chorus; and Music Director of Cape Cod Opera. As a clinician, Dr. Larson has been a guest artist or artist-in- residence at Yale University, Brown University, Harvard University, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Arizona State University, Wheaton College, University of Connecticut, and Eastern Mennonite University. Currently, Dr. Larson serves on the Faculty of the Boston University Opera Institute; as Music Director for Seaglass Theater Company; and as Minister of Music at First Congregational Church of Milton, Massachusetts.