Act I
Madame de la Haltière’s Mansion
The Haltière household is busy preparing to go to a grand ball at the King’s palace this evening. The servants are complaining of Madame de la Haltière’s constant badgering, when Pandolfe, her second husband, surprises them. Pandolfe longs for happier times, wondering why he gave up his peaceful, bucolic existence with his daughter, Lucette, to marry the spiteful yet aristocratic Madame Haltière. He also laments over Madame’s conceited and vapid daughters, Noémie and Dorothée, as well as the unfortunate fate that has befallen his own daughter, now dubbed Cendrillon, or “girl of the ashes,” who has been reduced to a mere cleaning woman in this cruel household.

Madame Haltière instructs her vacuous daughters on how to behave at court, so they can attract the young Prince’s attention. A hairdresser, tailor, and designer arrive to prepare the girls for the occasion, though the servants snicker at the outrageous results. They are joined by Pandolfe, now resolved to regain his authority in his household, and the bickering family departs for the ball.
Cendrillon ponders her lonely circumstances and dreams of attending the ball instead of cleaning up after her unappreciative stepsisters. She is suddenly overcome by sleep, as her Fairy Godmother has heard her lament and decided to grant her wish. The Fairy Godmother summons her wild spirits from the far corners of the forest, and they magically conjure a gown and carriage for Cendrillon.

Cendrillon wakes up, excited to attend the ball but concerned that she will be recognized by her family. Her Godmother gives her a magic slipper, which will render her unrecognizable but warns Cendrillon that she must return home by midnight. Cendrillon promises the Fairy she will return on time and departs for the ball.

Act II
The King’s Palace
The ball is about to begin, and the glum Prince refuses to participate, despite the various coercions from the Master of Ceremonies, the Court Doctor, and the Prime Minister. As the Prince pines away, the King enters and demands that his son choose a bride this evening. A parade of eligible suitors attempts to entice the melancholy Prince, who storms off. Pandolfe, Madame Haltière, and her excited daughters finally arrive, having missed the dancing. Pandolfe awkwardly attempts to meet the King, much to the horror of his stepdaughters. Suddenly Cendrillon enters, and Haltière and her daughters scoff at this unknown arrival. The other guests and—especially the Prince—are entranced by her beauty and elegance. The Prince approaches Cendrillon and courts her. Although Cendrillon is initially evasive, love soon blossoms between them. Suddenly, the clock strikes midnight, and Cendrillon quickly departs, abandoning the stunned Prince, as the party rages on.

Act III
Madame de la Haltière’s Mansion
Cendrillon rushes back to the house, troubled that she has broken her promise to return by midnight, and in her haste, she has lost one of the glass slippers. She hears the family coming home and changes out of her gown. The family enters, having a heated argument over the mysterious guest that captivated the Prince. Pandolfe objects to the women’s cruel gossip, defending the unknown guest, causing Madame de la Haltière to defend her entitled heritage. Cendrillon enters, and the women viciously gossip about the ball and suggest the offensive guest should hang for being a trollop. Cendrillon faints, and Pandolfe angrily throws the other women out.

Pandolfe consoles Cendrillon, promising to return to their country home to find peace again. However, Cendrillon believes her stepmother’s lies and decides to run away to die to end her and her father’s suffering.

The Fairy’s Domain
At a great oak tree in an enchanted forest, the sprites inform the Fairy Godmother of the two lovers’ unfortunate predicaments. The Godmother entices Cendrillon and the Prince together, concealing their identities from one another in a shifting hedge maze. The Prince tells of his experience at the ball, in which a mysterious woman captured his heart, only to leave suddenly at midnight. As their conversation unfolds, they both recognize each other’s identities. The Fairy Godmother finally removes the barriers, and they share a passionate reunion. As the sprites gather around, a magic sleep overtakes them.

Act IV
Madame de la Haltière’s Mansion
Pandolfe found Cendrillon in the forest and has been caring for her at home. He tells her that she had been talking during her illness of her adventures at the ball and of Prince Charming. Cendrillon questions if the whole episode was just a dream. Madame de la Haltière, Noémie, and Dorothée enter excitedly, as the King has summoned maidens from all over the land to return to the palace, hoping to discover the unknown beauty whom the Prince had met. Madame de la Haltière is sure that the Prince must mean one of her daughters and is determined to go to the palace. A herald announces that the Prince is insisting that each woman who appears at court must try on the glass slipper left behind by the unknown beauty, for it will only fit perfectly upon her foot. Cendrillon resolves to go to the palace as well.

The King’s Palace
The Prince is desperately searching for his beloved among the young women summoned to the palace. Having not found her, he despairs, until Cendrillon and the Fairy Godmother arrive. The Prince immediately recognizes Cendrillon, and the pair declare their love to the court. Pandolfe and the rest of Cendrillon’s family enter. Everyone rejoices and hails Cendrillon as their future queen.

Ridiculous Theater, Scourge of Human Folly
by Charles Ludlam

Aim: To get beyond nihilism by revaluing combat.
Axioms to a theater for ridicule:
1. You are a living mockery of your own ideals. If not, you have set your ideals too low.
2. The things one takes seriously are one’s weaknesses.
3. Just as many people who claim a belief in God disprove it with their every act, so too there are those whose every deed, though they say there is no God, is an act of faith.
4. Evolution is a conscious process.
5. Bathos is that which is intended to be sorrowful but because of the extremity of its expression becomes comic. Pathos is that which is meant to be comic but because of the extremity of its expression becomes sorrowful. Some things which seem to be opposites are actually different degrees of the same thing.
6. The comic hero thrives by his vices. The tragic hero is destroyed by his virtue. Moral paradox is the crux of the drama.
7. The theater is a humble materialist enterprise that seeks to produce riches of the imagination, not the other way around. The theater is an event and not an object. Theater workers need not blush and conceal their desperate struggle to pay the landlords their rents. Theater without the stink of art.

Instructions for use:
This is farce, not Sunday school. Illustrate hedonistic calculus. Test out a dangerous idea, a theme that threatens to destroy one’s whole value system. Treat the material in a madly farcical manner without losing the seriousness of the theme. Show how paradoxes arrest the mind. Scare yourself a bit along the way.

by Drew Diekmann
Ph.D. Musicology Student

Few fairy tales are as beloved and ubiquitous as the story of Cinderella. From its earliest known origins in antiquity with the tale of Rhodopis, a young Greek courtesan who became the wife of an Egyptian pharaoh due to her lost sandal, various versions of the story have emerged across the globe. In one version from Tang Dynasty China, Ye Xian overcomes her wicked stepmother and weds a king after her lost golden shoe eventually ends up in his possession. Similar tales evolve during the Islamic Golden Age, with various renditions appearing in the collected stories comprising One Thousand and One Nights. However, our modern conception of the Cinderella story comes into being with the publication of Mother Goose Tales (Contes de ma mère l’Oye) in 1697, a book of literary fairy tales by French writer Charles Perrault (1628-1703). Perrault’s tale “Cendrillon ou la petite pantoufle de verre,” from this collection, served as the basis for Jules Massenet (1842-1912) and librettist Henri Cain’s (1857-1937) operatic rendition of the classic story.

Most modern audiences are well acquainted with Perrault’s version of Cinderella—even if they have never encountered his rendition directly. Our main heroine is a beautiful and virtuous young woman whose father remarries to a haughty socialite with two daughters. The new stepmother and stepsisters force the young woman into servitude, nicknaming her “Cinderella,” as she is often covered in ash due to her habit of sleeping by the hearth. One day, the kingdom’s prince announces that a royal ball is to be held. While her stepmother and stepsisters attend, they forbid Cinderella from joining them. Alone, Cinderella meets her fairy godmother, who transforms her rags into a beautiful gown with glass slippers. She transforms a pumpkin into an ornate carriage, along with mice as horses to transport her to the ball. The catch: all of these transformations are temporary—they will revert at the stroke of midnight. After arriving at the ball and stunning the court with her refinery and grace, the prince falls in love with her and gives chase as she tries to leave the ball before the transformation wears off, inadvertently leaving one of her glass slippers behind in the process. The prince, in a desperate attempt to locate the mysterious girl from the ball, later sends out a royal official to find the woman who fits the slipper. After her two stepsisters fail to convince the official that they are the match, Cinderella tries on the slipper. It is, naturally, a perfect fit. Everyone then lives happily ever after: Cinderella and the Prince are reunited and wed shortly after, while in her grace, she forgives her stepfamily.

Perrault’s version would go on to serve as the basis for many of the most famous retellings of this fairy tale. The famous Disney animated feature Cinderella (1950) and Rogers and Hammerstein’s 1958 musical of the same name both draw heavily on Perrault’s version. However, the Cinderella story on the nineteenth-century opera stage was a different matter. Although some straightforward adaptations of Perrault’s Cendrillon were produced, such as Nicolas Isouard’s 1810 opera of the same name, with a libretto by Charles-Guillaume Étienne (1777-1845), their popularity and acclaim paled in comparison to Gioachino Rossini’s La Cenerentola (1817). Rossini’s libretto, written by Jacopo Ferretti (1784–1852), was not based directly on Perrault’s work but was heavily adapted from Étienne’s libretto. La Cenerentola famously removes the “fairy” from the “fairy tale,” writing magical intervention and glass slippers out of the plot entirely. The opera eventually became one of Rossini’s most popular works and has been widely performed into the present day. Over 75 years after the premiere of La Cenerentola, Massenet, fresh off a string of highly successful operas such as Werther (1892) and Le portrait de Manon (1894), began working with librettist Henri Cain on a more faithful adaptation of Perrault’s original fairy tale.

On May 24, 1899, Massenet’s Cendrillon premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, receiving immediate critical acclaim and commercial success. Forty-nine more performances were staged in Paris through the remainder of 1899, as well as an additional 20 performances the following year. Prominent French music critics such as Arthur Pougin (1834-1921) praised it as a national triumph for French opera, not only for its exquisite score and grandiose production design, but also for its general adherence to Perrault’s original tale, thus honoring the rich legacy of French literature. Indeed, many reviews from that period positioned Massenet’s version against Rossini’s, portraying it as a rescue of the courtly French literary classic from the bourgeois interpretation that had long been a staple of the opera stage.

Musically, Cendrillon retains many of the influences and characteristics that can be heard in Massenet’s earlier operas—graceful melodicism, vibrant orchestration, the Romantic lyricism reminiscent of Gounod—while incorporating some Baroque idioms to fit the courtly, fairy-tale setting of Perrault’s narrative. Contemporary audiences of Massenet immediately noticed a shift in his approach to comedy in this opera. While Massenet was no stranger to musical humor, critics found it to be especially well-executed in Cendrillon. Madame de la Haltière, the “evil stepmother,” and her daughters, Noémie and Dorothée, are highlights in this respect. Their Act I trio and the Madame’s comically exaggerated invocation of her distant noble heritage following the ball (“Lorsqu’on a plus de vingt quartiers”) demonstrate Massenet recalling earlier opéra comique and buffa influences with a sense of wit less overt in his earlier comedic operas.

At the same time, there is a deep sincerity and heart with which Massenet approaches his characters. In her introductory aria, Lucette—our Cendrillon—busies herself at home after everyone has left for the ball. Despite her simple and melancholic refrain urging her to “resign herself” to her station in life (“Reste au foyer, petit grillon, résigne-toi, Cendrille”), accompanied by a cyclical string motif reminiscent of a spinning wheel, her strong sense of hope and sunny optimism are still able to break through the gloom, lyrically and musically, if only temporarily, before her melancholy reemerges. Her Act III duet with Pandolfe (“Viens, nous quitterons cette ville”) is one of the opera’s most heartrending moments, as her father expresses regret for his new marriage and the suffering it has caused his daughter. As they both yearn to leave town behind to return to their past life in the countryside, the combined emotional intensity of the swelling string accompaniment, pastoral fluttering woodwinds, and the simple, folksong-like melody reach an almost arresting level of sentimentality. The performance of this duet deeply struck the audience on the night of the opera’s premiere in 1899, receiving a standing ovation and an immediate encore.

The most significant departure from Perrault’s original version is the way in which Cain’s libretto plays with the idea of dreams. Musically and narratively, the line between dream and reality is called into question at several points throughout the opera. A prime example of this is the eerie finale of Act III at the Fairy’s Oak, a scene unique to Cain’s libretto, in which the two lovers meet in an enchanted forest and are able to reunite after the Prince offers his heart and hangs it upon a branch. Much like Cendrillon’s initial encounter with the Fairy in Act I, Massenet’s musical setting here is a distinct sonic departure from the surrounding material. The pomp of Madame de la Haltière, the Baroque-tinged courtly dances of the ball, and the grounded sentimentality of Pandolfe are absent. Massenet drags us into the fairy world, where intense, shimmering harmonies, an eerie chorus of spirits, and the Fairy’s dramatic coloratura all serve to convey a mystical unreality. When Cendrillon is put to sleep and wakes up back at her home beside her father, we are left to wonder whether these events truly happened. Did she and the Prince both physically venture into the woods and meet at the Fairy’s Oak, or was it some sort of a shared dream? Their reunion in the final act is facilitated by the return of the Fairy and their shared memory of the moment in the forest, rather than matching the lost slipper. Ultimately, it is the enduring hope and longing for their reunion (represented in the opera by the Fairy’s Oak scene) that leads to their “happily ever after”—a broad message about the power of hope and dreams that the opera shares with Perrault’s version, as well as countless other retellings of the Cinderella story.

Arthur Fagen has been professor of orchestral conducting at the Jacobs School of Music since 2008. Additionally, he was music director of the Atlanta Opera from 2010 to 2024, where he recently conducted highly successful productions of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre; he is now music director emeritus. He has conducted opera productions at the world’s most prestigious opera houses and music festivals. From 1998 to 2001, he was invited regularly as guest conductor to the Vienna State Opera, in addition to performances at the Metropolitan Opera, Staatsoper Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper, and many more. On the concert podium, he has appeared with numerous internationally known orchestras. Fagen has an opera repertoire of more than 100 works. He has served as principal conductor in Kassel and Brunswick, as chief conductor of the Flanders Opera of Antwerp and Ghent, as music director of the Queens Symphony Orchestra, and as a member of the conducting staff of Lyric Opera of Chicago. From 2002 to 2007, he was music director of the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dortmund Opera. He and the Dortmund Philharmonic were invited to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Palais de Beaux Arts in Brussels, and to Salzburg, Beijing, and Shanghai. Fagen conducted a new production of Turandot at the Atlanta Opera in 2007, opening the season and inaugurating the new opera house, the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. He was a regular guest conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra and guest conducted the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Schleswig-Holstein Festival, and many others. Fagen has recorded for BMG, Bayerischer Rundfunk, SFB, and WDR Cologne. His Naxos recording of Martinů’s piano concertos was awarded an Editor’s Choice award in the March 2010 issue of Gramophone magazine. His recording of the Negro Folk Symphony by William Dawson Levi was nominated as one of the best classical CDs of 2020 by NPR. His Naxos recording of Voci di Hebron by Cristian Carrara was recently released.

Gregory Keller has created original opera productions across the United States. His background in acting and theater informs his dynamic directing style, allowing him to craft engaging performances with his singers. His degree in art history/architecture from Columbia University strongly informs his collaborations with set and costume designers, creating elegant, sophisticated and powerful stage images. His most recent productions include Elizabeth Cree and Hansel and Gretel for the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance (SMTD); Gianni Schicchi and Madama Butterfly for Hawai’i Opera Theatre; Carmen and La Bohème for the Jacksonville Symphony, with 30-foot-high video installations by Brittany Merenda. He has created multiple productions for Wolf Trap Opera, Berkshire Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera, and Eos Orchestra. He has worked on over 130 productions at the Metropolitan Opera and directed over 30 revivals, including La fille du régiment with Lawrence Brownlee, Erin Morley, Susan Graham, and Sandra Oh; La fanciulla del West with Jonas Kaufmann and Eva-Marie Westbroek; Rigoletto with Nadine Sierra; Salome with Patricia Racette; Luisa Miller with Sonya Yoncheva and Piotr Bezcala; The Marriage of Figaro with Isabel Leonard and Gerald Finley; Wozzeck with Alan Held, Waltraud Meier, and Katarina Dalayman; John Dexter’s groundbreaking production of the first complete version of Alban Berg’s Lulu, with Marlis Petersen and Christina Schäfer; and multiple revivals of Franco Zeffirelli’s iconic production of La Bohème, starring Ayleen Perez, Angel Blue, Anita Hartig, Maria Agresta, Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, Charles Castronovo, and Russell Thomas. Keller has been a guest faculty member at the University of Michigan’s SMTD, the Lindemann Young Artist Program, Houston Grand Opera Studio, Santa Fe Opera, and the New England Conservatory of Music. A native of Los Angeles, he is an alumnus of Columbia College in New York City, where he lived for over 40 years. He recently relocated to the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, where he enjoys swimming daily in the Pacific Ocean and perfecting his Mai Tai recipe.

Born in Bloomington, Indiana, and raised not two blocks from campus, C. David Higgins started his theatrical studies at IU intent on becoming an actor/dancer before he discovered his love for scenic design. He studied with the famous C. Mario Cristini and became proficient in the Romantic-Realist style of scenic design and painting. After earning his master’s degree, Higgins joined the staff of Indiana University Opera Theater and worked as master scenic artist from the time the Musical Arts Center opened in 1971 until his retirement in December 2011. He was appointed to the faculty in 1976 and served as chair of the Opera Studies Department and principal designer for Opera Theater. His design credits throughout the United States include the San Antonio Festival, Memphis Opera, Norfolk Opera, Louisville Opera, Detroit Symphony, Canton Ballet, and Sarasota Ballet as well as many other venues. His Indiana University productions have been seen throughout North America as rentals by major regional opera companies. His many international credits include the Icelandic National Theater; Ballet San Juan de Puerto Rico; Korean National Opera; Seoul City Opera; Korean National Ballet; Dorset Opera (England); Teatro la Paz de Belém, Brazil; and the Teatro National de São Paulo, Brazil. He designed the scenery for the world premiere of Our Town (Ned Rorem), the American premieres of Jeppe (Sandström) and The Devils of Loudun (Penderecki), and the collegiate premieres of Nixon in China (Adams) and The Ghosts of Versailles (Corigliano) as well as many other operas and ballets. Known for his Italianate painting style, Opera News magazine has referred to Higgins as one today’s finest American scenic artists.

Elizabeth Licata is an award-winning costume artist and head of costumes at IU Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theater. Previously, she worked for the Santa Fe Opera, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Constellation Stage & Screen, and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. She was an M.F.A. student under Heather Milam, head of the Costume Technology program at IU. Additionally, she has studied haute couture at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and embroidery from the London School of Embroidery and at Chanel’s École Lesage in Paris. Licata earned a B.A. from Dartmouth and an M.A. from Stanford.

Russell Long is the lighting specialist for the Musical Arts Center, where he has designed lights for Carmen, Suor Angelica, Trouble in Tahiti, Silence, Die Fledermaus, Eugene Onegin, An American Dream, Autumnsong, Roméo et Juliette, La Finta Giardiniera, and The Merry Widow. Long’s most recent regional design credits include Jersey Boys (QCT), High School Musical Jr. (SYP), Dial M for Murder, Forever Plaid (IUST), Newsies (QCT), The Music Man (QCT), Lunch Bunch (Clubbed Thumb), 45 Seconds from Broadway (Hudson Guild), and Aladdin Jr. (SYP). He has also worked as the lighting supervisor/resident lighting designer for the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he designed lights for Uncommon Ritual (Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, and Mike Marshall), ¡De Colores!, and Matthew Whitaker. Originally from Southern Arizona, Long studied at Pima Community College and Northern Arizona University and has worked with Arizona Theatre Company, Peaks Productions, University of Arizona Opera, Aspen Opera, and Vail Ballet Festival. He has also toured nationally as a lighting director, lighting designer, and production manager. He earned an M.F.A in Lighting Design from the IU Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance.

Walter Huff is professor of choral conducting and faculty director of opera choruses at the Jacobs School of Music. He served as chorus master for at Atlanta Opera for more than two decades, leading the renowned ensemble in more than 125 productions, with critical acclaim in the United States and abroad. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory and a Master of Music degree from Peabody Conservatory. After serving as a fellow at Tanglewood Music Center, he received Tanglewood’s C. D. Jackson Master Award for Excellence. Huff served as coach with the Peabody Opera Theatre and Washington Opera and has been musical director for The Atlanta Opera Studio and Georgia State University Opera. He also has worked as chorus master with San Diego Opera. He served on the faculty at Georgia State University for four years as assistant professor, guest lecturer, and conductor for the Georgia State University Choral Society. He has served as chorus master for many IU Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theater productions, including L’Étoile, Lucia di Lammermoor, West Side Story, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Bernstein’s Mass, Parsifal, La Traviata, La Bohème, The Magic Flute, Falstaff, Highway 1, USA, La Rondine, H.M.S. Pinafore, Ainadamar, Anne Frank, Candide, The Merry Widow, Eugene Onegin, and Sweeney Todd. For five years, Huff served as choral instructor/conductor for the Jacobs School’s Sacred Music Intensive. He conducted the Jacobs Summer Music series presentations of Honegger’s King David, Paulus’s The Three Hermits, and The World of William Billings. This past summer, he returned for his seventh year as faculty coach at Ravinia Festival’s Steans Music Institute and in 2024, made his debut as guest chorus director with the Chicago Symphony Chorus in concert performances of Mozart’s Idomeneo with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (James Conlon, conductor). This season, Huff continues to serve as principal guest coach for the Atlanta Opera Studio Artists Program and will be guest chorus master for Atlanta Opera’s Götterdämmerung in 2026.

Sarah Wroth is chair of the Ballet Department and professor of music in ballet at IU Jacobs School of Music. She began her training at the Frederick School of Classical Ballet in Frederick, Maryland. In 2003, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance with an Outside Field in Education from the Jacobs School of Music. That same year, she joined Boston Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet. While dancing with the company for 14 years, Wroth performed principal roles in works by William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Marius Petipa, Jerome Robbins, Helen Pickett, and Mikko Nissinen, and soloist roles in ballets by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, and August Bournonville. She has performed with Boston Ballet internationally in Spain, England, South Korea, and Finland. In 2009, she was awarded the E. Virginia Williams Inspiration Award for her unwavering dedication to ballet and the Boston Ballet Company. Wroth earned a Master of Science in Nonprofit Management from Northeastern University in 2015 and retired from Boston Ballet in May 2017. While at Indiana University, Wroth has graduated dancers into professional positions with over 18 companies around the United States. Wroth has also choreographed a variety of works, including operas such as Ainadamar, Eugene Onegin, Mansfield Park, and now, Cendrillon.

Alison Calhoun, Ph.D., hails from Baltimore, Maryland, where she grew up speaking French. She has since lived some six years in France, as pensionnaire étrangère at the Ecole normale supérieure (Ulm), studying at the Sorbonne (Paris IV), teaching in the TAPIF program, conducting research in Paris, working as a lecturer at Paris 7–Diderot, and, most recently, as resident academic director of IU’s Study Abroad Immersion Program in Aix-en-Provence. A trained singer, she studied under Hilda Harris at Manhattan School of Music, Phyllis Bryn-Julson at the Peabody Institute, and Peggy Bouveret and Jeff Cohen in Paris. In Baltimore, she served as assistant director for Peabody Opera under Roger Brunyate and directed early music performances and works by emerging composers like the world premiere of Amy Beth Kirsten’s chamber opera Ophelia Forever. At IU, she is associate professor of French and Francophone Studies in the Department of French and Italian in the College of Arts and Sciences as well as affiliated faculty in Theatre and Dance, Renaissance Studies, Cultural Studies, and the Historical Performance Institute.

Cori Ellison, a leading creative figure in the opera world, has been staff dramaturg at Santa Fe Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival, and New York City Opera. She is currently production dramaturg for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Ring cycle, and has also served in that capacity for The Magic Flute (St. Louis Symphony), L’incoronazione di Poppea (Cincinnati Opera); Orphic Moments (Salzburg Landestheater, National Sawdust, Master Voices); Dialogues of the Carmelites (Wolf Trap Opera); Aci, Galatea, e Polifemo (National Sawdust, Philharmonia Baroque); Washington National Opera’s Ring cycle; Opera Boston’s The Nose; Offenbach!!! (Bard Summerscape); and La finta giardiniera (Indiana University). Active in developing contemporary opera, she is a founding faculty member and mentor at American Lyric Theater’s Composer Librettist Development Program and has developed new operas for companies including Glyndebourne, Canadian Opera, Norwegian Opera, Icelandic Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Chicago Opera Theater, Arizona Opera, Opera Birmingham, Pittsburgh Opera, Beth Morrison Projects, Miller Theater, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Opera Theater, and Crane School of Music. Her English singing translations include Hansel and Gretel (NYCO; published by Schott), La vestale (English National Opera) and Shostakovich’s Cherry Tree Towers (Bard Summerscape). She creates supertitles for opera companies worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera. Her feature articles have appeared in publications including The New York Times and Opera magazine, and she has contributed to books including The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. She serves on faculty at The Juilliard School (Vocal Arts) and the Ravinia Steans Music Institute Program for Singers, where she curates and prepares an annual themed concert program. She has led seminars and taught master classes at schools including Indiana University, Cincinnati College-Conservatory, University of Toronto, University of Texas/Austin, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Boston University, Boston Conservatory, and DePaul University. She adjudicates vocal competitions including the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Concurso San Miguel in Mexico, Opera Index, and the Wagner Society of New York.

Anna Liu is a mezzo-soprano from China pursuing a Doctor of Music degree at the Jacobs School of Music, where she studies with Heidi Grant Murphy. She holds a master’s degree from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Praised for her versatility and expressive stage presence, Liu has appeared in a wide range of trouser and traditional female roles, including Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, Prince Charmant in Cendrillon, Siebel in Faust, and Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus as well as Dorabella in Così fan tutte and Rosina in The Barber of Seville. She has performed with leading ensembles such as the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Her recent honors include being named the 2025 Florida District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and receiving the 2025 Donald Traub Memorial Award from the National Society of Arts and Letters Voice Competition. She also earned second place in the 2023 Peabody Art Song Competition and was awarded the Best Young Singer Award at the 2019 Paolo Coni Vocal Competition.

Originally from Los Angeles, soprano Brittany Rose Weinstock is a Performer Diploma student studying under Carol Vaness at the Jacobs School of Music, where she also earned her M.M. She earned her B.A. from Pepperdine University, studying under Louise Lofquist. This summer, Weinstock will be a resident artist with Teatro Nuovo, covering Zaida in Il Turco in Italia and study covering Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. Jacobs performances include Carmen (Micaëla) and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (Helen). She has sung scenes from Dialogues of the Carmelites (Blanche), The Rake’s Progress (Anne Trulove), Pagliacci (Nedda), and Anna Bolena (Giovanna) in Opera Workshop. Weinstock will travel to Berlin this March as part of the Berlin Experience Program at Jacobs. Past apprenticeships include Music on Site (Contessa, The Marriage of Figaro), Aspen Music Festival (Musetta cover, La Bohème), Central City Opera (Anna Maurrant cover, Street Scene), and the Sherrill Milnes Savannah VOICE Festival. Other credits include H.M.S. Pinafore (Josephine), Into the Woods (Jack’s Mother), and The Marriage of Figaro (Contessa) with Pepperdine University. She has received recognition at the Camille Coloratura Awards (semi-finalist), NSAL Indiana Vocal Competition (third place), Carolyn Bailey Argento and Loren L. Zachary Competitions (finalist), and Laffont Competition (Encouragement Award). Weinstock is also an avid scholar and a 2025-26 recipient of the Georgina Joshi Travel Grant, which allowed her to travel to Central Europe to research Jewish Music of the Holocaust in preparation for her recital this spring.

Yaochen Song, a baritone from China, is in the first year of a master’s degree at Jacobs, studying under the guidance of Kelly Markgraf. This role is his IU Jacobs Opera Theater debut, and he has also been a member of the University Chorale. Song earned a bachelor’s degree from Xi’an Conservatory of Music.

Baritone Patrick Tervo is a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance under the tutelage of Brian Gill. He was last seen with IU Jacobs Opera as Benoit/Alcindoro in La Bohème. He previously appeared as Zuniga in Jacobs’ production of Carmen as well as in the opera choruses of L’Etoile, Roméo et Juliette, Eugene Onegin, Anne Frank, and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (Chorus/Radio Announcer). A lifelong performer and multi-instrumentalist originally based in Portland, Oregon, he transitioned into the study of opera in high school after portraying the role of Major-General Stanley in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance. He is also an alumnus of Oregon Repertory Singers directed by Aubrey Patterson.

Margaret Raupp is a second-year master’s student studying voice performance with Jane Dutton. This is her fifth production with Jacobs, having previously performed as Marcellina in The Marriage of Figaro this past fall and Mrs. Grose in The Turn of the Screw last spring as well as Esther Clayman in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Mason Bates. Some of her other favorite and notable roles include Empress Ottavia in Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea, Cornelia in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Bradamante in Handel’s Alcina, and Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan. This spring, Raupp will perform a master’s recital featuring music by Gustav Mahler and Madeleine Dring as well as graduating with a master’s degree in voice. She will be teaching voice this summer at Belvoir Summer Music Camp.

Mezzo-soprano Esther Jo, a native of Seoul, South Korea, is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of Jane Dutton, supported by a Performance Fellowship and full scholarship. She recently completed her Performer Diploma, earning a Performer’s Certificate under the same support. With IU Jacobs Opera Theater, she has portrayed the title role of Carmen, La Zia Principessa (Suor Angelica), and Olga (Eugene Onegin). She has also appeared in opera workshops as Reine Gertrude (Hamlet), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), and Carmen. Jo was named a finalist in the prestigious Georgina Joshi Foundation Graduate Fellowship Competition and was also selected for a master class with Stuart Skelton. She will broaden her artistic career in Europe as a faculty-nominated participant and competition winner in the Berlin Performance Program. This summer, she joins Opera Maine as a studio artist, covering Gertrude (Roméo et Juliette) and performing Khanh (Bound). In Korea, Jo studied with Locky Chung and Su-gil Park, performing Maddalena (Rigoletto, a coproduction of Hanyang University and the Seongdong Cultural Foundation), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), and Dritte Dame (Die Zauberflöte), among other roles. As an alto soloist, she has appeared in Charpentier’s Te Deum, Vivaldi’s Gloria in D Major, Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, and Schütz’s Die sieben Worte Jesu Christi am Kreuz. She further refined her artistry through master classes with Mutsumi Moteki and as a voice fellow at Yewool Music Stage. At Hanyang University, she graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music, receiving multiple merit-based full scholarships, an exclusive teaching certification, and ranking among the top three students in the voice department. She subsequently earned her Master of Music with full scholarship and research assistantship.

Soprano Katharine Schwab, a native of Austin, Texas, is pursuing a Master of Music degree with the guidance of Michelle DeYoung. She is a graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches,Texas, where some of her roles included Mařenka in Bartered Bride, Greta Fiorentino in Street Scene, and Frasquita in Carmen. With Jacobs, she has performed in a master class by tenor Stuart Skelton, as a chorus member of La Bohème, and as a featured soloist in Handel’s Messiah. She has an enduring enthusiasm for art and literature, which informs her interpretive approach and sense of storytelling on stage. She is also passionate about promoting accessibility of classical music to broader modern audiences, and creative collaborations surrounding reimagined productions that shed new light on established classics. This spring, Schwab will perform a master’s recital featuring works by Gabriel Fauré and Clara Schumann.

Kirsten Kidd is originally from Eaton Rapids, Michigan. She is currently in her first year of the Performance Diploma program, studying with Kelly Markgraf. Most recently, she portrayed Blanche in a scenes production of Dialogues of the Carmelites, directed by Carol Vaness. She previously performed the title role in Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon at Bowling Green State University, where she earned a Master of Music in Vocal Performance.

Yuhua Sun is a mezzo-soprano from Nanjing, China, pursuing a Doctor of Music under the tutelage of Carol Vaness. She graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music as an outstanding graduate and completed her master’s degree with distinction from the Royal Academy of Music in the U.K. She performed in the Jose Cura Concert at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center and participated in the recording and shooting of the opera film He Luting. Other highlights have included participation in operas such as The Marriage of Figaro, The Sentinel Under the Neon Light (Lin Naixian), and The Rake’s Progress. She also performed at the Beijing International Music Festival, participated in the crew of La Traviata and the national tour of Long March Suite, and played numerous roles in various opera scenes concerts. Most recently, she performed in Academy Voices: Opera Gala in David Josefowitz Recital Hall and played Pilgrim from L’amour de loin by Sariaaho in RAM Summer Opera Scenes in 2025. She won the silver prize in the 2024 Classical Voice International Vocal Competition and the Vocal Recital Prize in the concert “From Huang Zi to Ding Shande to modern works—Chinese art songs from Shanghai Conservatory of Music” at St Marylebone Parish Church in London.

Soprano Anna Seda Ambartsumian has versatile experience onstage and behind the scenes. Recent performance credits include L’écureuil in L’enfant et les sortilèges and La Suora Infermiera in Suor Angelica with IU Jacobs Opera Theater as well as scenes performances as Adriana in Adriana Lecouvreur. In 2023, Ambartsumian performed the Mozart Requiem with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, and she was the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Columbus Philharmonic Orchestra. Previous IU Jacobs Opera Theater credits include the opera choruses of Carmen, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, the world premiere of Anne Frank by Shulamit Ran, Falstaff, and La Rondine. This spring, she will perform scenes from Eugene Onegin in the role of Tatiana as well as Adalgisa in Norma. Last summer, Ambartsumian completed the Metropolitan Opera summer internship program in New York City, working in the Production and Season Planning department. She is a second-year M.M. student studying under the tutelage of Jane Dutton. She recently earned a B.M. in Voice Performance from Jacobs and is in her third year as the administrative production assistant with IU Jacobs Opera and Ballet Theater.

Clara Dahmer is in her first year pursuing an M.M. in Voice at the Jacobs School of Music, studying with Kelly Markgraf. She is originally from Olympia, Washington, and completed her B.M. at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She appeared with Oberlin Opera Theater as Berenice in Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro, Professor in the world premiere of Act 1 of Stephen Hartke’s Rhino!, and Mrs. Gonzalez in the world premiere of Rachel Peter’s The Wild Beast of the Bungalow.

From Orlando, Florida, soprano Issana Yaguda is a first-year master’s student studying voice performance under the tutelage of Heidi Grant Murphy. She recently earned a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the Jacobs School of Music. This past July, Yaguda made her international debut as Pamina in The Magic Flute with Prague Summer Nights in Vienna, Austria. She has also performed opera scenes with IU Opera Workshop, as Marie from La fille du régiment and Nannetta from Falstaff. In previous IU Jacobs Opera Theater seasons, she has performed the roles of Suor Genovieffa from Suor Angelica and Johanna Barker from Sweeney Todd. With Opera Lucca, she performed the role of Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi. Yaguda has also performed in the ensembles for several opera productions, including L’enfant et les sortilèges, Suor Angelica, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (a coproduction with the Metropolitan Opera), Roméo et Juliette, The Merry Widow (featured as Lolo the Grisette), Candide, and Don Giovanni.

Tenor Maoshan Cai is in his first year of the Performer Diploma program at the Jacobs School of Music, where he studies under the guidance of Heidi Grant Murphy. Originally from Taiyuan, China, Cai earned his bachelor’s degree from Capital Normal University in Beijing and completed his master’s degree at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. His previous teachers include Haitao Wang, Lin Shi, and Dawei Su. In 2025, he was awarded a full scholarship from the Jacobs School of Music.

Tenor Zongwei Zhang is in the second year of the Master of Music in Voice Performance program at the Jacobs School of Music, where he studies with Carol Vaness. Originally from Anhui China, he has appeared with the Opera Workshop in roles such as Werther (Werther), Fritz (L’amico Fritz), Nemorino (The Elixir of Love), Monostatos (The Magic Flute), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Torquemada (L’heure espagnole), and the Chevalier de la Force (Dialogues of the Carmelites). At the Musical Arts Center, he performed Le Remendado in Bizet’s Carmen and Parpignol in Puccini’s La Bohème. This past summer, Zhang performed the Dancing Master and Brighella in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos with Chicago Summer Opera. He is a silver-prize winner of the Prokofiev International Music Competition and semi-finalist of the Premier Opera Foundation.

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, bass-baritone Stephen Stavnicky is in his third and final year as a double-master’s student in voice and trumpet under the tutelage of Peter Volpe (voice) and Jason Bergman (trumpet). On the MAC stage, Stavnicky has been seen as Escamillo in Carmen, Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin, and in the chorus of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. He has also performed the role of Dottore Grenvil in La Traviata with Michael Shell’s Opera Workshop. His roles outside of IU include Ben in Menotti’s The Telephone, Leporello in scenes from Don Giovanni, and Don Alfonso in scenes from Così fan tutte. Stavnicky has been the bass soloist for various oratorio works, such as Haydn’s The Creation, Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s The Messiah, and both J. S. and C. P. E. Bach’s Magnificat. Last year, he was the first-place winner of the graduate voice division in the Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Competition and placed in the top three in the voice division of the Tuesday Musical Competition in Akron, Ohio, in 2023, a competition in which he won first place in the brass division the previous year. As a trumpet player, he has performed with nearly every full ensemble at Jacobs as well as with various chamber groups. He was also a finalist in IU’s Brass Concerto Competition in fall of 2024. Stavnicky holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Kent State University.

Lane Harden is a baritone from Terre Haute, Indiana. He is in his third year of the B.M. in Voice Performance program, under the tutelage of Kelly Markgraf, and formerly studied with Deanne Meek. Other IU Jacobs Opera credits include L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (fall 2025) and Carmen (spring 2025) as a member of the Opera Chorus and Eugene Onegin (spring 2024) as a supernumerary. He is a former member of the Singing Hoosiers and has performed with the Oratorio Chorus, University Chorale, and Conductor’s Chorus.

Aidan Laidlaw is a classically trained, high, lyric baritone from Royal Oak, Michigan, who is most known for his ability to express a wide range of emotions and perform numerous genres of music. This is his first opera at the Jacobs School of Music. Previously, he has performed a variety of operatic roles, including Bob in Menotti’s Old Maid and the Thief, Father in Humperdink’s Hansel and Gretel, and Guglielmo in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. He also has performed in multiple competitions, winning the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition, the Elizabeth Gardner Voice Award, and the 2025 Oakland University Concerto Competition, where he performed “O vaterland du machst bei tag” from Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow with the Oakland Symphony Orchestra. Laidlaw has been featured in both academic and professional ensembles, with the most recent being as the tenor soloist in Antonín Dvořák’s Mass in D with the University Chorale at Jacobs. He recently graduated from Oakland University with a Bachelor of Music, studying with Drake Dantzler. Laidlaw is pursuing a master’s degree and a certificate of vocology at the Jacobs School, where he is studying with Brian Gill, continuing his training to be a professional opera vocalist as well as a future teacher. This summer, he will be part of Chicago Summer Opera’s Cendrillon, where he will perform the role of Le Surintendant des Plaisirs.

Samuel Wetzel is a P.D.S.P. student from Erie, Pennsylvania, studying with Jane Dutton. At Jacobs, he most recently sang Count Almaviva in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Melisso in Handel’s Alcina, and the baritone solos in Vaughn Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with the University Chorale. He is a regular performer with the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project and the Colorado Bach Ensemble, whose young artist competition he won in 2024. Wetzel received a master’s in voice from the University of Colorado (CU) at Boulder, where he sang such roles as Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff, Pa in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up, and Marcello in La Bohème. While at CU, he also participated in the CU New Opera Works Festival, where he worked with Gene Scheer and Tom Cipullo to workshop their new operas. He received a Bachelor of Music from the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music, where he sang in operas and participated in the annual Bach Festival.