BECKETT HARTMAN     Amahl
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Beckett Hartman is delighted to appear in Amahl and the Night Visitors. A dedicated seventh-grade student, Beckett has previously performed in The Secret Garden and The Music Man. He has a deep appreciation for the performing arts and enjoys expressing his creativity both on stage and through music. Outside of theater, Beckett studies piano and values time spent with friends and family. He is grateful for the opportunity to be part of this production and extends heartfelt thanks to his directors, teachers, and loved ones for their constant support and encouragement.
RACHELLE WOOLSTON     ​Mother

Dr. Rachelle Woolston, soprano completed a bachelor's degree in voice at Brigham Young University, then master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. A Region Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, some of her favorite stage roles include Angelica (Suor Angelica), Nedda (I Pagliacci), Violetta (La  Traviata), Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly), The Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute), Valencienne (The Merry Widow), and Mother Abbess (The Sound of Music). Orchestral performances include the Varna International Orchestra in Italy, West Texas Symphonic Choir, Indianapolis Symphony Pops, and Kokomo Symphony. Dr. Woolston has a eighteen-year career as a private voice instructor and is an adjunct professor of voice at Ball State University. She has previously served as the Director of Education & Community  Engagement for Indianapolis Opera, and continues to run their Crescendo! Vocal Arts summer camp for high school students. Rachelle enjoys collaborating in recital with her husband PJ, a bassoonist, traveling, and spending time with her four children.
NATHANAEL HEIN    ​Kaspar

Tenor Nathanael Hein has appeared with many regional opera and performance ensembles. Most recently, Mr. Hein was seen in The Civic’s production of Anastasia as Gleb Vaganov. Locally, Mr. Hein's credits include The Carmel Center for the Performing Art’s production of I’ll Be Seeing You: Stories of WWII. The Indianapolis Opera's productions of The Magic Flute as First Armored Man, South Pacific as The Professor, Man of La Mancha as the Barber, and Resident Artist productions of The Stoned Guest by P.D.Q. Bach and Slow Dusk by Carlisle Floyd. Mr. Hein was featured by The Missouri Symphony, where he performed the role of Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus. Hein appeared as Azael in Debussy’s L’enfant Prodigue with the Duke Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Hein studied at The Jacobs School of Music and received his Master’s degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Mr. Hein spent three summers at the Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado where he performed in multiple opera scene programs and events.
THADDAEUS BOURNE     ​Melchior

2022 Latin GRAMMY® Award winning album vocalist Thaddaeus Bourne has been praised for his rich baritone (Brooklyn Discovery), his lyrical and touching singing (Parterre Box) and his suave stage presence (Opera News). Originally training as a flutist, he began voice lessons as a means of studying breath support and quickly discovered the joy of making loud noises in foreign languages while playing with swords. He has sung over forty roles performing in the USA, Europe, Africa, and Latin America. His recent work includes a concert and masterclass for the Conservatorio Profesional de Música Marcos Redondo in Ciudad Real, Spain; soloist in the Schubert Mass in G Major in Nairobi, Kenya with masterclasses at Kenyatta University and Technical University of Kenya; a recital and masterclass for the Rhea Concert Series at Saginaw Valley State University, Conte Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro for the Baroque on Beaver Island Music Festival, and Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen at the Center for Performing Arts in Gainesville, FL. This summer he premiered Traci Mendel’s Evening Ponte al Mar in Bogotà, Colombia for the CMS International Conference and presented research on neuroplasticity in vocal training at the International Congress of Voice Teachers in Toronto, Canada with Dr. Brenda Smith. His previous faculty appointments include the University of Florida, Troy University, Butler University, Earlham College, and the University of Connecticut.
DREW COMER     Balthazar

Praised for his "clear enunciation and powerful steady voice," by Opera Canada, American bass Drew Comer is an accomplished operatic, concert, and recital singer. Comer was recently featured as the Second Soldier in Strauss’ Salome in a recording project with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in Mexico City. In the summer of 2025, he returned for his second season as an Apprentice Artist at The Santa Fe Opera, where he covered the roles of Benoît/Alcindoro (La bohème) and Antonio (Le nozze di Figaro) and appeared in the choruses of Le nozze di Figaro and Rigoletto, as well as Talpa (Il tabarro) in the Apprentice Scenes Program. He is a recipient of the Santa Fe Opera Encouragement Award and was named an Encouragement Award winner at the Indianapolis District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in January 2025. He studied at Indiana University, where he was a student of Jane Dutton.
RAÚL GIOVANETTI     Page

Raúl Giovannetti is a young Venezuelan tenor at the start of his career. Graduated from the University of Florida in 2024, his most recent engagements include performances as Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and the tenor soloist for Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with Varna International Music Academy during the month of July. In August, he held a sold-out recital in Tampa, FL where he performed Spanish art songs and some of his favorite arias. Other engagements include performances with Opera Tampa as part of the chorus in the past year. Now newly based in the Indianapolis area, Raúl looks forward to his Indy Opera debut. He is active on social media platforms as @raul.giovannetti.
ALFRED SAVIA     Conductor

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Alfred Savia is in his seventh season with Indianapolis Opera. No stranger to the Indianapolis musical scene, Maestro Savia served as Associate Conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony and Artistic Director of Symphony On the Prairie for six seasons, and returns each summer to conduct the ISO’s Star Spangled Symphony concerts. He was Music Director of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra for 31 seasons and now serves as their Conductor Laureate. He has guest conducted orchestras all over the US including the symphony orchestras of Saint Louis, Detroit, Phoenix; and Seoul, Florence, Montevideo and Santiago internationally. He has conducted opera with companies from Saint Louis to La Musica Lirica in Tuscany to Orlando where he led their production of Cavalleria Rusticana and Beatrice & Benedict last season. Maestro Savia has taken immense pleasure over the years in leading concerts and productions over the Holiday season including Handel’s Messiah, The Nutcracker, Peppermint Pops concerts each season with Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus, and now…Indy Opera’s Amahl and The Night Visitors!
DAVID CRAIG STARKEY     Director

David Craig Starkey, General Director of Indianapolis Opera & CEO of the Basile Opera Center with 30 years of arts and business experience, champions the time-tested belief that communities are built through the sound disciplines of cultural entrepreneurship. Before arriving in Indianapolis in 2016, Starkey founded and served as General & Artistic Director of the Asheville Lyric Opera for 18 seasons. As Producer and Director, Starkey boasts a diverse career spanning all aspects of opera, operetta, and musical theater performance. His work as a singer, actor, and director, has taken him across the United States and Europe, after which Starkey transitioned from the artistic profession to executive leadership in the cultural arts. He received a distinguished Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from Youngstown State University and a Master of Music degree in opera performance from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
CHARLES MANNING     Pianist

A native of Charleston, West Virginia, Charles Manning earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the renowned Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. An avid advocate for all things opera, Charles was a founding board member of Indianapolis Opera, and has worked with the opera company on many projects over the years. Most recently he served as an accompanist for the company’s Resident Artists in educational outreach programs. He was also the keyboard artist for the Christmas Concert presented by the Indianapolis Opera Chorus in 2024. Other memorable musical moments for Charles include having once served as rehearsal accompanist for the late renowned opera star Luciano Pavarotti, and having appeared in a nationally broadcast television commercial for Wheaton Worldwide Moving Systems and the Steinway Piano Company. Since 2020, Charles has posted more than 700 videos on his YouTube channel, Piano Pizzazz! Currently, he has had over 1.5 million channel views from more than 82 countries. Charles and his wife Zoë reside in Indianapolis and have two adult sons, Jonathan and Christopher.