Pianist Elizabeth Chua received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in collaborative piano and coaching from the University of Minnesota, and a Masters of Music in collaborative piano and piano performance from Middle Tennessee State University. This season, Elizabeth is the pianist and music director for the 2019 Mary Ragland Emerging Artist Program with Nashville Opera, and she is also the 2018-2019 resident artist pianist with Toledo Opera. Elizabeth was the 2018 Pittsburgh Festival Opera Resident Artist pianist for La Bohème. Her previous productions include The Consul by Menotti with Arbeit Opera Theatre in Minneapolis; Carlisle Floyd's Susannah, Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark, Benjamin Britten's Rape of Lucretia, Mozart’s Idomeneo, and Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld with the University of Minnesota; Strauss' Capriccio with Apotheosis Opera in NYC; Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel with Garden of Song Opera in St Paul, MN; and Jonathan Dove's The Enchanted Pig with Opera Steamboat in Colorado.
Born in El Paso, TX, Sebastian Armendariz is an exciting upcoming Mexican-American tenor. Recently, Sebastian spent two seasons (Fall 2018, Winter 2019) with Sarasota Opera as an Apprentice Artist and performed at the Chautauqua Institution in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Flute), and Romberg’s The Student Prince (Prince Karl Franz). In June 2018, he received his MM from DePaul University in Chicago where he performed in Lehar’s The Merry Widow (Camille), Britten’s The Turn of the Screw (Prologue/Peter Quint) and joined the DePaul Concert Orchestra in Rossini’s Stabat Mater as the tenor soloist. He is excited to join Indianapolis Opera as a tenor Resident Artist covering the role of Nemorino.
Soprano Kathleen Farrar Buccleugh, described as “purely lovely” and “delightfully touching” by The Tuscaloosa News and praised for her “light, pure tone” and “totally natural” comedic acting by artsBHAM.com, is an accomplished young artist with a performance history reflecting her versatility in opera, oratorio and musical theatre. Ms. Buccleugh’s upcoming engagements include a return to the role of Younger Alyce in Glory Denied, this time in her debut with Penn Square Music Festival; and a return to Opera Birmingham as Noémie in Cendrillon. Last season she performed concerts in Germany and Italy, and was in Glory Denied with Opera Birmingham and Candide with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra/Alliance Theatre.
Bass-Baritone Cameron Jackson, of Albemarle North Carolina, is a recent graduate of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he was a student of Dr. Marilyn Taylor. During his tenure as a Fletcher fellow, Mr. Jackson portrayed the roles of Don Magnifico in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Goloud in Peter Brooks’ adaptation of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Der Musiklehrer in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, and Alvaro in Catan’s Florencia en el Amazonas. Mr. Jackson’s 2017/2018 season included debuts with Piedmont Opera (Haly, L’italiana in Algeri) and the Princeton Festival Opera (Don Fernando, Fidelio); as well as winning the North Carolina District Encouragement Award in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Described as possessing a “rich and powerful voice” (CVNC), Mr. Jackson has also performed with Opera Wilmington, the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, and Magnolia Baroque. Presently, Cameron is seeking a Performer’s Diploma in Solo Performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as a student of Mr. Timothy Noble.
Mezzo soprano Katherine Fili is a graduate of The Maryland Opera Studio. During her master’s degree, Katherine performed the Nurse in Lee Hoiby's "Romeo & Juliet", both Nancy and Florence (Albert Herring), and Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus). During her undergraduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University, she performed roles including The Sorceress (Dido & Aeneas), Bessie (Das Kleine Mahagonny), and studied with Mildred Miller. Katherine spent the 2015 – 2016 season as a Young Artist with The Florentine Opera Company before returning to The University of Maryland as a guest alumni artist to sing Bianca in “The Rape of Lucretia.” Katherine debuted with the In-Series Company as Puck (Oberon) and returned as Second Lady (The Magic Flute) during their 2017 season and most recently returned as Rita (La Paloma) this past March. Katherine spent the 2018 - 2019 season as the Mezzo Soprano Resident Artist with Toledo Opera and sang the title role in "Carmen" this past July with The Utah Summer Opera Festival. Katherine makes her debut with Indianapolis Opera as "Giannetta" in The Elixir of Love this November.
Born in El Paso, TX, Sebastian Armendariz is an exciting upcoming Mexican-American tenor. Recently, Sebastian spent two seasons (Fall 2018, Winter 2019) with Sarasota Opera as an Apprentice Artist and performed at the Chautauqua Institution in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Flute), and Romberg’s The Student Prince (Prince Karl Franz). In June 2018, he received his MM from DePaul University in Chicago where he performed in Lehar’s The Merry Widow (Camille), Britten’s The Turn of the Screw (Prologue/Peter Quint) and joined the DePaul Concert Orchestra in Rossini’s Stabat Mater as the tenor soloist. He is excited to join Indianapolis Opera as a tenor Resident Artist covering the role of Nemorino.
Soprano Kathleen Farrar Buccleugh, described as “purely lovely” and “delightfully touching” by The Tuscaloosa News and praised for her “light, pure tone” and “totally natural” comedic acting by artsBHAM.com, is an accomplished young artist with a performance history reflecting her versatility in opera, oratorio and musical theatre. Ms. Buccleugh’s upcoming engagements include a return to the role of Younger Alyce in Glory Denied, this time in her debut with Penn Square Music Festival; and a return to Opera Birmingham as Noémie in Cendrillon. Last season she performed concerts in Germany and Italy, and was in Glory Denied with Opera Birmingham and Candide with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra/Alliance Theatre.
Bass-Baritone Cameron Jackson, of Albemarle North Carolina, is a recent graduate of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he was a student of Dr. Marilyn Taylor. During his tenure as a Fletcher fellow, Mr. Jackson portrayed the roles of Don Magnifico in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Goloud in Peter Brooks’ adaptation of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Der Musiklehrer in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, and Alvaro in Catan’s Florencia en el Amazonas. Mr. Jackson’s 2017/2018 season included debuts with Piedmont Opera (Haly, L’italiana in Algeri) and the Princeton Festival Opera (Don Fernando, Fidelio); as well as winning the North Carolina District Encouragement Award in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Described as possessing a “rich and powerful voice” (CVNC), Mr. Jackson has also performed with Opera Wilmington, the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, and Magnolia Baroque. Presently, Cameron is seeking a Performer’s Diploma in Solo Performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as a student of Mr. Timothy Noble.
Mezzo soprano Katherine Fili is a graduate of The Maryland Opera Studio. During her master’s degree, Katherine performed the Nurse in Lee Hoiby's "Romeo & Juliet", both Nancy and Florence (Albert Herring), and Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus). During her undergraduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University, she performed roles including The Sorceress (Dido & Aeneas), Bessie (Das Kleine Mahagonny), and studied with Mildred Miller. Katherine spent the 2015 – 2016 season as a Young Artist with The Florentine Opera Company before returning to The University of Maryland as a guest alumni artist to sing Bianca in “The Rape of Lucretia.” Katherine debuted with the In-Series Company as Puck (Oberon) and returned as Second Lady (The Magic Flute) during their 2017 season and most recently returned as Rita (La Paloma) this past March. Katherine spent the 2018 - 2019 season as the Mezzo Soprano Resident Artist with Toledo Opera and sang the title role in "Carmen" this past July with The Utah Summer Opera Festival. Katherine makes her debut with Indianapolis Opera as "Giannetta" in The Elixir of Love this November.
