Portland Opera Announces 23-24 Resident Artists

Portland Opera has announced the artists selected to join the company's Resident Artist program for the 2023/24 season: returning soprano Judy Yannini, tenor Antonio Domino, tenor Roland Hawkins II, baritone Sankara Harouna, and collaborative pianist Edward Forstman. Portland Opera's Resident Artist (PORA) program, established in 2005, is one of the company's core programs—a rigorous residency and training program centered on the cultivation and support of emerging artists, as a bridge between the academic and professional world of opera. After scaling down and adjusting the program during the pandemic, the company is delighted to welcome a new class of Portland Opera Resident Artists for the season, extending the program back to its 8-month cycle. 

  

“We are so excited to welcome this incredible cohort of artists to Portland Opera,” says General Director Sue Dixon. “This program is at the heart of what we do here at the company, and we are over the moon to ramp it back up to a full season.” 

  

The incoming Portland Opera Resident Artists (PORA) will join the company for 8 months of study with guest faculty, visiting artists, and company members with regular lessons and master classes focused on vocal technique, musical coachings, language instruction, drama and role study, dance and movement, and career development. The Resident Artists will work with Paul Floyd (Opera Coaching), Jason Ferrante (Vocal Studies), Angela Zagarella (Italian Language), Alison Wesley (Yoga), as well as other artists, including Portland Opera's Co-Artistic Advisors Karen Slack and Damien Geter (also the company's Interim Music Director.) Resident Artists will also perform roles in The Marriage of Figaro, Enchanted Woods: Shakespeare & Song, The Snowy Day, and Puccini: In Concert, as well as participate in a workshop of The Factotum, in addition to masterclasses, season preview events, community engagement activities, and leadership development opportunities.  

  

The residency will culminate in two free community performances featuring the Resident Artists, on Thursday, November 9th, 2023 at 7:00 PM and Wednesday, April 10th, 2024 at 7:00 PM at the Hampton Opera Center. The program will feature the resident artists singing a selection of solos, duets, and ensemble pieces in a program curated with faculty and guest artists during their time with the company. Additional details will be released closer to the performance dates. 

   

Mexican soprano Judy Yannini joined Portland Opera's Resident Artist program in 2022, where she made her company and role debut as Frasquita in Carmen. This year, Judy also made her Kennedy Center debut singing the role of Sara Morales in IN Series' world premiere of Brian Arreola and Anna Deeny Morales's opera ZAVALA-ZAVALA. She was also recently seen with IN Series as Mimí in a Spanish-language reimagining of Puccini's La Bohéme, Bohème in the Heights. She will return in 2023 to sing the role of Consuelo in John Adams's I was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky.  

 

A recent graduate of the Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland, Judy performed a number of roles with the university, including Ginevra in Handel's Ariodante and Rima in Hajar. In 2021, Judy was named a District Winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 2020, she won first prize in the American Opera Idol Competition with Opera Connecticut, and she was also named the overall winner of the Hartt Vocal Division Competition in 2018. 

 

Before immigrating to the United Stated, Yannini made a name for herself singing onstage with internationally renowned Mexican tenor Fernando de la Mora in the 122nd Anniversary Concert in her native Tijuana, Mexico. She was also part of Ensamble Lírico Juvenil and Centro Cultural Tijuana's group Opera Ambulante, performing opera flash mobs across Mexico, Canada and the USA. Yannini holds a master's in music in Opera Performance from University of Maryland-Maryland Opera Studio as well as a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from University of Hartford-The Hartt School. 

 

Throughout the course of the 23/24 season, Yannini will sing the roles of Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro; soloist in Enchanted Woods: Shakespeare & Song; Amy in The Snowy Day; soloist in Play On! Shakespeare in Music (at the Walters Cultural Art Center in Hillsboro), soloist in the spring Resident Artist recital; and soloist in Puccini: In Concert. She will also participate in the company's workshop of The Factotum.  

 

“I am incredibly excited to return to Portland Opera because of the unique opportunities they provide to their Resident Artists,” says Yannini. “I'm so excited to work with our wonderful yoga teacher Alison Wesley and our voice teacher Jason Ferrante again this coming year. I am excited to work with and learn from other amazing singers in the program as well. I can't wait to see how many doors are going to open for me after this adventure!”  

 

Antonio Domino, tenor, is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. He received his bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance at the Loyola University School of Music and his master's degree at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, studying with Dr. Robin Rice. As a graduate student at the Shepherd School of Music, Mr. Domino performed as Dick McGann in Street Scene and in a scenes program as Count Almaviva from The Barber of Seville and Don Curzio from Le nozze di Figaro. Last summer, with LAHSOW, he performed the role of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte. He is an alum of Houston Grand Opera's Young Artist Vocal Academy. 

 

Throughout the 2023/24 season, Domino will sing the roles of Don Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro, soloist in the fall Resident Artist recital, soloist in Enchanted Woods: Shakespeare & Song; Jasper/Ensemble Tenor in The Snowy Day; soloist in Play On! Shakespeare in Music (at the Walters Cultural Art Center); and soloist in Puccini: In Concert. He will also participate in the company's workshop of The Factotum. 

 

“I'm really excited to learn from and collaborate with such amazingly talented musicians,” says Domino.  

Minnesota born and raised; tenor Roland Hawkins II is educated not only in the classroom but on the stage. Roland has gained a wide range of musical experiences both in the Midwest as well as nationally. On the operatic stage, he has recently been seen in Minnesota Opera's production of La Fille du Régiment Opera Reading Project's performances of Once Upon a Wind and Balls, Mixed Precipitation's Pickup Truck Opera performances of The Magic Flute, and in Des Moines Metro Opera's production of Porgy and Bess. On the musical theater stage, he has recently been seen in Theater Latté Da's We Shall Someday, as well as in Minneapolis Musical Theater Company's productions of Analog and Vinyl and Hands on a Hard Body.  

 

Crediting early operatic training, Hawkins has worked with international directors and conductors on personal vocal coaching and character development. Hawkins has performed at concert venues and theater halls around the nation, and has been awarded contracts, medals, and accolades in a variety of musical styles from classical to karaoke competitions.  

 

This season, Hawkins will perform the roles of Don Basilio in The Marriage of Figaro; soloist in Enchanted Woods: Shakespeare & Song; Papí/Ensemble Tenor in The Snowy Day; soloist in Play On! Shakespeare in Music (at the Walters Cultural Art Center); soloist in the spring PORA recital; soloist in Puccini: In Concert; and will participate in the spring workshop of The Factotum.  

 

“Portland Opera has been a well-known name in the operatic circles I frequent and I was able to speak with a representative while I was performing in a summer festival,” shares Hawkins. “Upon doing some research I was captivated by its initiative for not only new American operatic works but also diversity and inclusion as well. I am excited and honored to be a part of such an innovative company and am looking forward to this wonderful experience.” 

 
Baritone Sankara Harouna hails from the Southside of Chicago, Ilinois and studied music at Kentucky State University. He began his musical journey in the traditional arts of West African culture, music and drumming, and has had the opportunity to perform across the country singing different styles of music from jazz to gospel to classical.
 

Recently, in the summer 2023, he portrayed the roles of Moralès in Bizet's Carmen and Homecoming Soldier in Redler's The Falling and the Rising with Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO). He also was a part of the Frank R. Brownell III Apprentice Artist Program with DMMO. He has had the great pleasure of joining several wonderful companies across the country: Atlanta Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Kentucky Opera, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and Dayton Opera.   

 

In the 2023/24 season, Harouna will sing the roles of Antonio in The Marriage of Figaro; soloist in the fall Portland Opera Resident Artist recital; soloist in Enchanted Woods: Shakespeare & Song; Daddy/Ensemble Bass in The Snowy Day; soloist in Play On! Shakespeare in Music (at the Walters Cultural Art Center); soloist in Puccini: In Concert. He will also participate in the spring workshop of The Factotum.  

 

“They say music is the food of the soul, life is a never-ending journey, and home is where the heart is,” shares Harouna. “Being a Resident Artist with Portland Opera is super exciting because it is the embodiment of these things. Not just being able to do what I love professionally but having the ability to continue to advance mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I feel so blessed and honored this life journey has brought me to Portland Opera where I can continue to grow into the person I am called to be!” 

  

Edward Forstman is a pianist and vocal coach passionate about bringing new stories to the operatic stage. Drawn to contemporary opera, they have worked on premieres by Nicolas Benavides, Carla Lucero, Whitney George, Andrea Clearfield, and Leanna Kirchoff, in addition to productions of works by Missy Mazzoli and Julian Wachner. Forstman has held studio residencies at the Florentine Opera ('21-'23), Opera Steamboat ('23), and Finger Lakes Opera ('21) and coached at Chicago Summer Opera (CSO) ('23, '22), dell'Arte Opera Ensemble ('22, '20, '19), and Sarah Lawrence College ('19-'21).  

 

In the traditional operatic repertoire, they have enjoyed coaching and playing for productions of Rigoletto (Florentine), Massenet's Cendrillon (Chicago Summer Opera), L'enfant et les sortilèges (Florentine), La bohème (Florentine), Gianni Schicchi (Opera Steamboat), Roméo et Juliette (Florentine), Agrippina (CSO), and Il barbiere di Siviglia (Florentine; Finger Lakes Opera), among others. They earned their M.M. in Contemporary Performance from the Manhattan School of Music and a B.M. in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music. 

 

This season, Forstman will be the chorus rehearsal pianist for The Marriage of Figaro and Puccini: In Concert and will accompany vocal lessons, coachings, and rehearsals in preparation for performances and events. They will train with Nicholas Fox, Portland Opera's Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master, emphasizing the colorful, narrative, orchestral, collaborative style of music-making that is unique to the pianist working in the field of opera.

“I'm so excited to do my first Le Nozze di Figaro with Portland Opera (it's one of my favorites in the traditional repertoire!) and dive into the sweet, ground-breaking story of The Snowy Day,” says Forstman.  

 

The Portland Opera Resident Artist program is generously supported by the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington, James Cox and Brenda Nuckton, Eleanor Lieber Auditions Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation, Drs. Fernando and Dolores Leon, George Rowbottom, Drew and Sue Snyder, The Monday Musical Club of Portland, and Carol Turtle. 

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