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Jay Meetze-Artistic Director & Conductor, William Hicks-Assistant Artistic Director & Pianist

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Opera Company of Brooklyn (OCB), founded in 2000, has gained international attention for cultivating a new
generation of opera lovers by offering cheap tickets and performing in unconventional venues.

The Company:
The Opera Company of Brooklyn, founded in 2000, has gained international attention for cultivating a new generation of opera lovers by offering affordable tickets and performing in unconventional venues. OCB draws talented diverse artists from the rich resources of the New York metropolitan area, allowing them to share their enthusiasm and love for the art form with audiences in intimate, dynamic settings.  Through its Resident Artists Program, Opera Company of Brooklyn nurtures singers at the beginning of their careers, giving them the performance opportunities they need to learn roles, familiarize themselves with the process of putting on a professional quality performance, and spend enough time onstage to be ready to perform anytime, anywhere. Opera Company of Brooklyn also operates an education outreach program that brings opera to New York City’s schools.

Detailed information on soprano Lucretia Fleury can be found at www.lucretiafleury.com.  Ms. Fleury most recently appeared as Monica in The Medium with Willamette Concert Opera. Upcoming engagements include Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier (New York Opera Forum), Niece in Peter Grimes (One World Symphony), and Beatrice di Tenda (title role, Amici Opera). Past roles performed include Tebaldo in Don Carlo, Gilda in Rigoletto, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte. Her recording of songs by University of Michigan composers will be released on the Block M record label later this year.

A recent graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, Lyric Baritone Jonathan Hare studies under the professional guidance of Mark Oswald. He has appeared in various operas such as La Traviata, Carmen, The Magic Flute, The Merry Widow and L'elisir d'amor.  Aside from his opera experiences Mr. Hare has been involved in various charitable events such as the Choir School at St. Peters annual fundraiser and the POZ AIDS Walk benefit concert. His future engagements involve the roles of Gulielmo in Cosi fan tutte, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, Figaro in Barber of Seville and also Morales and Dancairo in Carmen.

William Hicks - Assistant Artistic Director , Conductor, Pianist, and Voice Coach, served as Assistant Conductor and Voice Coach for Maestro Lorin Maazel's May, 2006 production of Britten's TURN OF THE SCREW, which took place at Castleton, Virginia and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He also served as Assistant Conductor and is the pianist on the recent Albany Records release of Thomas Pasatieri's LA DIVINA and SIGNOR DELUSO, which was supervised by the composer. On June 14, 2006, William appeared with soprano Harolyn Blackwell at the new Morgan Library Concert Hall in a program entitled GIVE MY REGARDS: LANDMARK SONGS OF THE AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATRE. Maestro Hicks has collaborated with many of the leading singers of our time, and has worked for many of America's prominent opera companies; he served as Assistant Conductor for the Metropolitan Opera from 1995 to 2001.

Candice Hoyes is pleased to make her debut as Despina in Cosi fan tutte with Opera Company of Brooklyn.  This season, Ms. Hoyes also performs Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro this summer with both the Amadeus Opern Ensemble and the Brooklyn Conservatory Summer Opera Orchestra.  Recently, she has sung Adele in Die Fledermaus for St. Petersburg Opera Company and Zerlina in Don Giovanni at Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall.  Ms. Hoyes has won the 2006- 7 Paul Robeson Vocal Competition, and the 2005 Westminster Voice Scholarship Competition.  She is a graduate of Harvard University and Westminster Choir College at Rider University.

Robert Hughes is a native of Houston, Texas and now resides in New York.  He holds degrees from the Univesity of St. Thomas (BA) and the Conservatory of Music at UMKC (MM).  Mr. Hughes' opera credits include Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere, Don Octavio in Giovanni, Fenton in Falstaff, Edmondo in Manon Lescaut, Monostatos in Flute, and Flute in A Midsummer's Night Dream.  Robert has performed with DiCapo Opera, Long Leaf Opera, Opera in the Heights, Houston Ebony Opera Guild, and the Civic Opera Theatre Of Kansas City.  He is a Resident Artist with the Opera Company of Brooklyn.

Kathryn Krasovec has performed throughout Europe, the USA and Israel after winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and making her Metropolitan Opera debut.  Kathryn has been widely acclaimed for her portrayal of Anne Frank in Frid's Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank at the Staatsoper Prague. She was the first American to sing the title role in Janá?ek’s The Cunning Little Vixen with The National Theater of Prague. She has been heard on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Israel Vocal Arts Institute, San Francisco Opera Center, Hawaii Opera, Bremer Theater and The Center for Contemporary Opera.She is a graduate of the Juilliard Opera Center, San Francisco Opera’s Merola Young Artist Program and holds a Masters degree from Indiana University.

Linnea Leonard, mezzo-soprano, has performed Carmen, Principessa in Adriana Lecouvreur, the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Mercedes in Carmen, Second Norn in Götterdämmerung, Miss Todd in Old Maid and the Thief, Annina in La Traviata, and Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto with companies such as the Chattanooga Opera, Lyric Opera of Waco, Delphi Theatre, and New York Opera Forum. She has also frequently sung as a concert soloist in The Messiah, Serenade to Music, Rutter’s Requiem, Vivaldi’s Gloria and others with the Chattanooga Symphony, the Brentwood Symphony, Schloss Mittersill Arts Series (Austria), Kirk of the Hills Orchestra and more.

Jay Meetze - Artistic Director - Conductor, Recent operatic engagements include: Tosca, Un Ballo in Maschera, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Bohème, Carmen, Così Fan Tutte, Don Giovanni, L’Elisir d’Amore, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Eugene Onegin, Giulio Cesare, L’Italiana in Algeri, Madama Butterfly, Le Nozze di Figaro, I Pagliacci, Rigoletto, Roméo et Juliette, La Rondine, Suor Angelica, La Traviata, Die Zauberflöte. Contemporary Works and World Premieres: Signor Deluso and La Divina (Pasatieri’s original score and newly reduced orchestration), The Medium (Menotti), The Impresario (Mozart, in a new English translation), Korczak’s Orphans (A. Silverman). Upcoming: Die Fledermaus, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Korczak's Orphans, Carmen. Jay is the founder and Artistic Director of the Opera Company of Brooklyn.

Djoré Nance, Bass-Baritone, hails from Dallas, TX. He has been a finalist in the Young Artist competitions at the Palm Beach and Florida Grand Opera companies, and a national winner of the Leontyne Price Vocal Arts Competition. In 2004 he made his operatic debut as Porgy at the Landestheater Linz in Linz, Austria. He has performed Crown in Porgy and Bess numerous times at the Dalhalla Festival in Sweden, and in Tokyo, Japan. At Juilliard, he has performed the roles of Dr. Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro, Sarastro and Die Sprecher in Die Zauberflote, and Blitch in Susannah.

Murat Cem Orhan – Baritone, born in 1981 in Izmir, Turkey. He began his musical education on piano. In 2004 he started his master degree in Istanbul Conservatory as a student of Güzin Gürel. Currently, a master student in Brooklyn College of Music.His repertory includes, Guglielmo in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, Figaro in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia , Escamillo and Morales in Bizet’s Carmen, Albert in Massenet’s Werther.1st prize winner in Edirne Voice Competition and 3rd prize in 7th Voice Compeition of Siemens in Istanbul. He joined the masterclasses of Renato Bruson in Italy and Raina Kabaivanska in Bulgaria. He speaks French, Italian and English.

Mezzo-Soprano, Mary Rauh, made her operatic debut in the role of Zita in Gianni Schicchi, she has since performed roles of Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Dritte Dame (Die Zauberflöte), and Nicklausse (Les Contes d’Hoffmann).  She has performed with such New York City groups as Regina Opera, Chelsea Opera, Opera Company of Astoria, Astoria Symphony, One World Symphony and the New York Downtown Symphony.  Having received her Bachelorof Fine Arts in Music from Purchase College Conservatory in 2001, her 2008 engagements include performing Stefa Wilczynska in Korcak’s Orphans and Mercedes in Carmen with The Opera Company of Brooklyn.

Gina Vanacoro, soprano, holds an MM from the Peabody Conservatory and a BM from Shenandoah Conservatory.  She most recently appeared as the Guest Artist for The Male Glee Club of Yonkers in their Spring 2007 Concert.  Roles include Esmeralda in The Bartered Bride for Opera Anne Arundel, Lucy in The Threepenny Opera at The Theatre Project in Baltimore, Monica in The Medium at Shenandoah, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro.  She also recently made her independent film debut as the "Random Opera Singer" for a Pasquinade Films feature called 711 - The Hit Musical! 

Stage Director Judy Weinstein has worked on a variety of operas and music theater pieces.  With extensive experience working in Baroque opera, among her productions are Handel’s Semele and Giulio Cesare, Purcell’s King Arthur, and Vivaldi’s Tamerlano and L’Olimpiade.  For the Israeli Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv she directed the world premiere of a new performing edition of Monteverdi’s Orfeo. Other productions have included Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, the Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, Cosi Fan Tutte, Hayden’s La Canterina, The Happy Prince, and La Traviata.  Additionally, she served as a consulting director on an episode of the NBC television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent based on an opera theme.

GETTING INVOLVED WITH OCB

The Opera Company of Brooklyn is a grassroots organization primarily consisting of professional working artists who donate their time, resources and talents to this exciting and rapidly expanding company. To apply for the following positions, please submit your cover letter and resume to info@operabrooklyn.com. College credit is available for all interns with a minimum commitment of 2 days and/or 16 hours/week. All interns receive free tickets to all performances and first priority to extra tickets for special events.

And if you're beyond college-age and still want to help - please VOLUNTEER in these same areas! While the pay is pure gratitude, the rewards of getting onvolved on the ground-floor are great!The Opera Company of Brooklyn is currently seeking two key staff members.

Artistic Administrator: In consultation with the Artistic Director, Assistant Artistic Director, General Manager (Primary Staff), and other key constituents, the Artistic Administrator coordinates and facilitates all of the artistic elements of the Opera Company of Brooklyn. The Artistic Administrator provides leadership and direction for designated projects, ensuring that they are completed on time, on budget, and to Opera Company of Brooklyn's quality standards.

Administrative: Assist in the day-to-day operations of growing non-profit organization. Phones, office machines and computer literacy a must. Musical and/or singing background a major plus.

Production: Assist in the development of our production season: fully-staged operas, workshops, concert performances, master classes and cabaret series. This internship can be done away from the office and can be catered to your specific areas of interest: i.e. Set & Costume Design, Prop Construction, Make-up & Hair.

Development: Assist in the areas of financial development of the organization; such as planned giving, prospect research, donor/audience cultivation, grant writing and maintaining membership database. Participate in long-range strategy and provide support for special projects.

Marketing: Provide assistance with audience building strategies, publicity, ticket sales, ongoing customer relations and database maintenance.

Education & Outreach: Provide support for our year-round educational tour. Liaise with public and private school officials, develop study guide materials to coincide with each new opera production, cultivate new relationships in the NYC metropolitan area.