Raquel Gonzalez Replaces Joyce El-Khoury in Lyric Opera of Kansas City's EUGENE ONEGIN

Soprano Raquel González will make her Lyric Opera of Kansas City debut in the new production of Eugene Onegin in the role of Tatyana, replacing Joyce El-Khoury who has withdrawn for personal reasons.

This new staging of Eugene Onegin opens the Lyric Opera's 60th Anniversary season Sept. 30, Oct. 4, 6 and 8 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The production will be sung in Russian with English subtitles.

Soprano Raquel González is a native Kansan, having lived in Lawrence, Kansas where she attended Lawrence Free State High School. She begins her 2017-18 season with these performances of Eugene Onegin at Lyric Opera of Kansas City, followed by her debut at the West Virginia Symphony as the soprano soloist in Verdi's Requiem and returns to the Washington National Opera for performances of The Water and The Rose in Rachel Portman's The Little Prince. With the Syracuse Opera, she will make her role debut as Violetta in La traviata and sing her first performances of Tchaikovsky's Iolanta with Queen City Opera in Cincinnati.

Ms. González first sang at The Glimmerglass Festival as First Lady in The Magic Flute then returned as a guest artist in 2016 as a Mimì which was acclaimed by Opera News as "remarkable". While a member of the Washington National Opera's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, Ms. González sang the role of the Countess in the Emerging Artist Performance of Le nozze di Figaro and the title role in the Emerging Artist Performance of Madama Butterfly. She also appeared as soprano soloist in Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, and in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with the Los Angeles Master Chorale. She debuted with Syracuse Opera as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin.

In concert, she has appeared with The New York Festival of Song at Alice Tully Hall where she also appeared several times with William Christie and Juilliard415. Ms. González was the soprano soloist in Handel's Messiah with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and made her debut with the New York Philharmonic as soprano soloist in Beethoven's 9th Symphony at Avery Fisher Hall. A 2016 Mid-Atlantic Region Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, she has also been awarded prizes from the Liederkranz Foundation and the Gerda Lissner Foundation. She earned her master's degree as a Toulmin Scholar from The Juilliard School, where she also completed her undergraduate studies studying with Marlena Malas.

Principal Cast

Tatyana: Raquel González*

Eugene Onegin: Morgan Smith*

Lensky: JoNathan Johnson

Olga: Megan Marino

Prince Gremin: Paul Whelan*

Filipyevna: Jane Bunnell*

Madame Larina: Alice Chung~

Monsieur Triquet: Steven Cole

Zaretsky/Captain: Tim Murray+*

Artistic Staff

Director: Tomer Zvulun

Conductor: Ari Pelto*

Set Designer: Erhard Rom

Costume Designer: Ray Diffen and Isabella Bywater

Lighting Designer: Robert Wierzel

Dance Choreographer: Logan Pachciarz

Wig and Make-up Designer: Alison Hanks

Chorus Master: Mark Ferrell

Stage Manager: Sadie DeSantis

~ UMKC Apprentice
+ Resident Artist
* Lyric Opera Debut

Tickets start at just $29 and availability varies by performance. To purchase tickets, call Ticketing & Patron Services (816) 471-7344. Patrons can select their own seat and print their tickets at home by visiting www.kcopera.org. Limited student rush tickets are available for $15 90 minutes before the performances, with a valid student ID.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City was founded in 1958; it is one of the nation's premier regional opera companies and brings high quality live operatic performances to the people of the Kansas City area and a five-state region. Repertoire choices encompass original language performances of standard repertory as well as contemporary and American operas. The Company mounts productions that enrich the community it serves, as well as reflect the highest artistic standards of the profession. Lyric Opera offers innovative and award-winning programs designed to further music and arts education both in schools and in the community, and serves more than 18,000 students and educators each year.

Opera lovers can be fans of Lyric Opera of Kansas City on Facebook or follow us on Twitter at @kcopera.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City is a member of OPERA America and this season is made possible with funding from Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts, and the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation.

To post a comment, you must register and login.