Opera San José Announces New 2017-18 Resident Company

Opera San José is pleased to announce its new resident company for the 2017-18 season. The new company includes soprano Amanda Kingston, soprano Katherine Gunnink, former guest artist and tenor Mason Gates, tenor Dane Suarez and baritone Trevor Neal.

Soprano Amanda Kingston joins the resident company and will perform the role of Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Magda in La rondine and Violetta in La traviata. She has been praised for her "soaring soprano voice" and "impressive dramatic versatility." Ms. Kingston made her professional debut as Josephine in HMS Pinafore with Nevada Opera. Recent performances include Violetta (La traviata), Despina (Così fan tutte), Mimì (La bohème), Helena (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Gilda (Rigoletto), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni.)

Soprano Katherine Gunnink returns to Opera San José as an associate member of the resident company. Ms.Gunnink recently made her debut as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with Tacoma Opera, for which she was hailed as "a perfect blend of childish enthusiasm and regal composure, singing with a rich, glittery soprano and real conviction." She has also quickly made a specialty of some of opera's most demanding roles, rising to the challenge of singing both Santuzza and Nedda in Opera San Luis Obispo's Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. Ms. Gunnink performed the role of Suor Osmina (Sour Angelica) with Opera San Jose during the 2012-13 season.

Tenor Mason Gates returns to Opera San José as member of the resident company for the 2017-18 season. He will appear as Prunier in La rondine, the steersman in The Flying Dutchman, and Gaston in La traviata. Mr. Gates most recently appeared as Jonathan Dale in Puts and Campbell's Silent Night and made his company debut in the role of Don Curzio in last season's The Marriage of Figaro. Mr. Gates is a two-time recipient of the encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Recent roles include the title role in Albert Herring, El Remendado (Carmen), The Man with Old Luggage (Postcard from Morocco), Spoletta (Tosca), Grigori (Boris Godunov), Rodolfo (La bohème), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Monostatos (Die Zauberflöte), and Edwin the Defendant (Trial by Jury).

Another tenor joining Opera San José's resident company this season is Dane Suarez. Mr. Suarez was pictured on the front page of the Arts Section of the New York Times for his "beautiful, soaring, and moving" performance as Cavaradossi (Tosca) with LoftOpera. This past season, he made his John F. Kennedy Center debut with Washington National Opera as Ely Parker (Appomattox)and returned to Opera in the Heights to perform Rodolfo (La bohème). A regular at Opera Memphis, his recent performances include Don José (Carmen), Beppe (I Pagliacci), and Borsa (Rigoletto).

Baritone Trevor Neal makes his Opera San José debut this season as a member of the resident company. He will be performing the roles of Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, Rambaldo in La rondine, and Germont in La traviata. Mr. Neal was a member of the Herndon Foundation Emerging Artist program at Virginia Opera for the 2015/2016 season, where he covered the Dutchman (The Flying Dutchman). This season he returned to Virginia Opera to sing Killian (Der Freischutz).

For more information, please visit https://www.operasj.org/artists/.

About Opera San José

Opera San José, performing at the beautiful California Theatre in downtown San José, is a professional, regional opera company that is unique in the United States. Maintaining a resident company of principal artists, Opera San José specializes in showcasing the finest young professional singers in the nation. In addition to mainstage performances, Opera San José maintains extensive educational programs in schools and in the community at large, and offers preview lectures and Introduction to Opera talks for all mainstage productions.

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