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Baritone Zacahary
Angus (Pausanias) is excited to appear with EChO
again, having previously created the role of Joseph in Joseph's
Gift in 2016. Besides returning to work with EChO
this spring, Mr. Angus will appear in John Bilotta's Trifles,
presented by Chicago's Thompson Street Opera Company. An
exciting presence on the regional operatic and concert
stages, Mr. Angus recently completed stints as Resident
Artist with Indianapolis Opera and as Emerging Artist with
Fort Wayne Philharmonic, where he was featured in concert,
recital, and outreach, most notably serving as cover for
Lancelot in Indianapolis Opera's Camelot. Other
recent credits include: Friedrich Bhaer (Little Women),
Claudio (Béatrice et Bénédict) with Eugene Opera;
Guglielmo (Così fan tutte, Tuscia Opera Festival);
Alfio (Cavalleria Rusticana, Main Street Opera);
Marco (Gianni Schicchi), Bartley (Riders to the
Sea), Belcore (L'elisir d'amore) with Salt
Creek Chamber Orchestra; Captain Corcoran (H.M.S.
Pinafore, The Savoyaires of Evanston);
Pangloss/Cacambo/Martin (Candide, Opera Notre
Dame); and as bass soloist in The Little Match Girl
Passion (Facility Theatre) and Handel's Messiah
(Salt Creek Chamber Orchestra).
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Soprano Bethany
Brautigam (Gontran) is delighted to be singing
with EChO again, after appearing as Musetta in our recent
concert performances of La Bohème and as Laurette
in last year's Doctor Miracle. Previous roles
include Mimi/La Bohème, Donna Anna/Don Giovanni,
Pamina/The Magic Flute, Donna Elvira/Don
Giovanni, Suor Angelica/Suor Angelica, First
Lady/The Magic Flute, Lauretta/Gianni Schicchi,
and Cinderella/Into the Woods. Ms. Brautigam is a
winner of the Casa Italia Cultural Center competition and a
recipient of the Illinois Arts Council Professional
Development Award. She obtained her master's degree from
North Park University, and her undergraduate degree from
Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, CA.
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Tenor Jake
Hemminger (Trott) made his Carnegie Hall debut in
2018 as a soloist with the New England Symphonic Ensemble
performing Mozart's Regina Coeli in C and
Beethoven's Choral Fantasy. In 2016, Mr. Hemminger
made his international debut in Florence, Italy as a soloist
with the Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina performing Mozart's
Missa Brevis in F and Schubert's Mass in G.
In 2017, Mr. Hemminger was the 2nd Place Winner in The
American Prize Competition for College Men in Opera as well
as a National Finalist in the Art Song & Oratorio
Division. He was also a 2016 National Finalist in the
National Society of Arts & Letters National Musical
Theatre Competition in Phoenix, AZ. Recent operatic and
musical theatre roles include Anthony in Sweeney Todd,
Henrik in A Little Night Music, Bobby Strong in Urinetown:
The Musical!, Fracasso in Mozart's La finta
semplice, and Count Danilo in The Merry Widow.
Mr. Hemminger holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance
and Pedagogy from The University of North Carolina at
Greensboro and a Bachelor of Arts in Music Technology from
The University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has held adjunct
voice instructor positions at Queens University of Charlotte
and Averett University in Danville, VA. Mr. Hemminger is
currently pursuing a Master of Science in Speech-Language
Pathology at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.
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Mezzo-soprano
Julia Rahm (Hélène) has performed
repertoire from Vivaldi to Debussy, and Rossini to Heggie. A
Francophile and travel fanatic, her fondness for French and
Baroque music started while she was living in Paris,
performing solos in Vivaldi’s Dixit Dominus and Gloria
at Chartres cathedral and St. Germain de L'Auxerrois. Her
operatic roles include Ms. Bentson in Lakmé,
Catherine in Offenbach's Pomme d'api, Ellen in Three
Sisters Who Are Not Sisters (Rorem) and Amalie in The
Finishing School by Franz von Suppé. Julia is also a
member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, most recently having
sung in Cavalleria rusticana under the baton of
Riccardo Muti. She teaches piano and voice and is the Alto
Section Leader at North Shore Baptist Church. She earned her
B.A. in Liberal Arts with concentrations in Theater, Music
and French from Sarah Lawrence College and her Master of
Music in Voice Performance from the Chicago College of
Performing Arts, studying under Mark Crayton. Her most
recent projects include launching The Valkyrie Ensemble, an
opera company devoted to promoting and empowering women in
classical music, with six of her fellow graduates from CCPA.
In the ensemble's upcoming all-female production of The
Magic Flute, she will be portraying Papageno. She
currently teaches a workshop she created called Collective
Voice Healing, in which group participants use their own
voice as a modality to cultivate mindfulness, presence and
deeper creativity. A devotee of many art forms, she is also
a poet and songwriter. More...
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Soprano Alannah
Spencer (Luise) hails from Madison, Wisconsin. In
May, she finished a Master’s of Music in vocal performance
from Roosevelt University where she studied with Professor
Mark Crayton. She has performed a number of operatic roles
including Bagatelle in Offenbach’s operetta Bagatelle
with Roosevelt Opera and Antonia in Les Contes
D’Hoffmann with MIOpera. A great lover of song and
new music, Ms. Spencer was a member of the second place team
at the Chicago SongSlam competition last spring. She is also
the second soprano section leader at St. Matthew’s Episcopal
church in Evanston. In her free time, she enjoys visiting
museums, reading books, and attempting to craft the perfect
cheese plate.
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Baritone Jeremiah
Strickler (Gilfen) returns to EChO after
performing as Marcello in our recent concert performances of
La Bohème and is excited to be involved in the
musical community of the greater Chicago area. Originally
from Montana, Jeremiah received his Master of Music in voice
from Roosevelt University's Chicago and his Bachelor of
Music in voice with a minor in piano from Indiana Wesleyan
University. He currently studies with countertenor Mark
Crayton and works for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Mr.
Strickler has been fortunate to participate in staged and
concert performances of such works as Mozart's Die
Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, and La
finta giardiniera, as well as other choral and
chamber works, including Handel's Messiah and the
world premiere of Samuel Pummill's Consanguineal
Requiem. He has also performed solo and collaborative
recitals featuring both classical and modern repertoire. Mr.
Strickler has begun exploring an interest in composition,
including projects based on gothic horror literature, such
as Dracula and the works of Edgar Allan Poe. |
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