Act I
A garret shared by four bohemians, Christmas Eve

It is Christmas Eve in the attic apartment shared by four bohemians. Rodolfo, a poet, and Marcello, a painter, are at home, burning Rodolfo’s manuscript in order to stay warm. Colline, a philosopher, enters with some books he unsuccessfully tried to pawn. Soon, Schaunard, a musician, comes in bringing food, money, and fuel he earned playing for an eccentric Englishman. As the friends are celebrating, Benoit, the landlord, comes for the rent. The friends give Benoit wine, and he begins to brag about women he has been with other than his wife. Feigning outrage at his infidelity, they throw Benoit out of the attic without giving him any money for rent. Everyone but Rodolfo, who must write an article, leaves for the Café Momus. As soon as he is alone, Mimì knocks on the door asking for help because her candle has gone out. Collapsing from a fit of coughing, Mimì, after recovering, realizes that she has dropped her key. Soon after Rodolfo lights Mimì’s candle, a breeze extinguishes both candles. Mimì and Rodolfo both search for the key in the dark. Rodolfo finds the key, but he puts it in his pocket so he can spend more time with Mimì. Rodolfo’s friends call him from the street, and the first act ends with Mimì and Rodolfo having fallen in love almost at first sight.

Short Pause

Act II
The Café Momus in the Latin Quarter that same evening

That same evening, Mimì and Rodolfo walk through a joyous Christmas Eve crowd to the Café Momus, where they join Rodolfo’s friends. Musetta, who used to be Marcello’s lover, enters with a wealthy old man, Alcindoro de Mittoneaux. Musetta sings a waltz in order to attract Marcello’s attention and make him jealous. Musetta, in a ploy to get rid of Alcindoro, then pretends that her shoe is hurting her and insists that Alcindoro go to the cobbler to get her a new pair. Before Alcindoro returns, the friends hurriedly leave the cafe.

Intermission (20 minutes)

Act III
The Barriere d’enfer, a toll gate near the edge of the city, later in the winter

At dawn later that winter, Mimì, who is now very frail, makes her way to a toll gate near the edge of the city. She is looking for Marcello. Marcello asks Mimì to join him, Musetta, and Rodolfo inside the tavern. Mimì explains that she is afraid she can no longer be Rodolfo’s lover because he is so jealous. Rodolfo confides to Marcello that he wants to leave Mimì for a variety of reasons. He finally confesses that he is scared because she is so ill. Mimì, who has been hiding but listening to the conversation, coughs, and Rodolfo discovers her. They agree, regretfully, to end their affair. The sad farewell duet of Mimì and Rodolfo becomes a quartet as Musetta and Marcello continue their bickering.

Short Pause

Act IV
The garret, the following spring

That spring, back in the bohemians’ apartment, Rodolfo and Marcello sing about how they miss Mimì and Musetta, from whom they have parted. Schaunard tries to cheer everyone up by pretending to have champagne. Musetta comes in and tells them that Mimì is dying. Mimì is brought to the attic because she wishes to die near Rodolfo. Rodolfo helps Mimì to a cot and tries to warm her hands. Musetta sends Marcello to sell her earrings for medicine. Colline leaves to sell his coat for food. Musetta leaves to get a muff for Mimì, so Rodolfo and Mimì are left alone. They reminisce about their past and how much they love each other. Once their friends return, Mimì falls asleep, then quietly dies.

by Abigail Byrd Glidewell
Ph.D. Musicology Student

At a time when operas based on mythological epics or Shakespearean plays were widely popular, La Bohème, a short opera by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) about impoverished Parisian artists, proved confusing and simplistic to critics when it premiered in Turin, Italy, on February 1, 1896. The opera is based on Henri Murger’s 1851 book, Scènes de la vie de bohème, which in turn was inspired by the 1849 stage adaptation of short stories by Murger that had appeared in the magazine Le Corsaire between 1845 and 1849. The libretto was the result of a laborious collaboration between Puccini and the librettists Giuseppe Giacosa (1847-1906) and Luigi Illica (1857-1919), and it served as Puccini’s primary source of musical inspiration. He subjected the text and music to countless revisions that took over two years. The final version of the opera offers a highly imaginative reinterpretation of Murger’s book, combining the opening and closing chapters with several interwoven episodes to form four vignettes centering on the love story between Rodolfo and Mimì. This central narrative is also somewhat original to the opera, as Puccini’s Mimì is a composite of two women in Murger’s book.

Despite its mixed critical reception, La Bohème was loved by audiences and has since become one of the world’s most popular and frequently performed operas. Both Murger’s book and Puccini’s opera have become iconic representations of the bohemian lifestyle, featuring individuals from the upper middle class who are ambivalent towards their upbringing and the broader society. Rather than following in their parents’ footsteps, they embraced the concept of “free living,” with all of its moral, social, artistic, and sexual implications. Many portrayers of bohemia, including Puccini, romanticized the poverty of this lifestyle and ignored its unpleasant aspects. Nevertheless, these real and imagined French bohemians inspired many subsequent movements, including the Beat Generation, hippie culture, and the Broadway musical RENT, which is loosely based on Puccini’s opera.

In the nineteenth century, Italy had its own brand of bohemians, known as the Scapigliatura, which translates roughly to “disheveled young men.” Like many bohemians, this group was known for its unconventional values as well as its members’ distinctive hairstyles, clothing, and drug use. The Scapigliatura’s main goal was to revitalize Italian culture, which they felt had fallen behind regional trends. In music, members such as Arrigo Boito (1842-1918)—best known as the librettist of Verdi’s late operas—advocated increased use of instrumental music and forms in operas, the close union of poetry and music, and the rebuffing of Italian traditions to make opera more realistic both musically and narratively. This movement is seen as a precursor to verismo, a broad term used to describe art that featured non-mythological or non-noble subjects and freer musical practices to be truer to reality. Puccini drew on the key principles of these artistic movements to create La Bohème, and part of what makes this opera so compelling is that it exists somewhere between these differing ideas of what opera should be.

Although Puccini was involved in the Scapigliatura movement early in his career, composing the opera Le Villi (1884) as an explicit attempt to adopt their style, he was exposed to many other influences as an opera composer in the late nineteenth century. The two most prominent competing operatic figures in Italy at this time were Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) and Richard Wagner (1813-1883). Verdi’s final two operas, Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893), evoke the Italian bel canto tradition with their soaring lyricism and tinte—the musical colors and motives that characterize an opera. Meanwhile, Wagner’s operas had recently been imported to Italy and enjoyed great success, particularly due to his tonal experimentation and use of leitmotifs, musical motives associated with characters or themes in a story. Drawing inspiration from both composers, Puccini incorporated their compositional techniques alongside stylistic elements of the Scapigliatura movement to create the distinctive music we know today.

This interplay of influences is evident throughout the opera’s musical language and storyline. The melodic material is remarkably efficient: listen closely to Act I, for example, and you will hear that almost all of the music is used or hinted at at least twice more within the opera, particularly where Rodolfo or Mimì are involved. Although La Bohème’s leitmotifs are associated with characters and themes as in Wagner, Puccini uses them differently, often presenting them as complete themes with varying orchestral accompaniments. Scapigliatura aesthetics also feature in the opera. Large sections of Act IV’s music and plot are quotations or direct repetitions of Act I; this practice of recalling musical themes from the beginning of the work near its end is uncommon in opera but more accepted in instrumental forms like the symphony. In keeping with the tenets of the Scapigliatura movement and Wagner’s gesamtkunstwerk—the uniting of text, visuals, and music to form a complete artwork—Puccini presents distinctly naturalistic features in the score’s composition. In Act III, the sounds of carriages and talking create a realistic, cacophonous atmosphere around the tollgate, while in Act II, an approaching marching band creates a moment of discordant polytonality, where multiple musical keys are present at once. These natural elements are enhanced by the unusual poetic technique of versi rotti (broken verse), in which the repeated and rhymed patterns of operatic texts are broken in favor of patterns that more closely resemble speech.

Much of what makes both Puccini and La Bohème so famous is the way these details come together to form a cohesive whole. This is particularly evident in the portrayal of Mimì, whose earnestness and fragility are depicted musically throughout the opera through vocal breathiness, lower pitches, and shorter phrases. However, Puccini’s iconic melodies, such as in “Mi chiamano Mimì”? (Act I) evoke features of classic Italian opera. These melodies feature conjunct motion with memorable leaps that linger over dissonant notes. Puccini intentionally plays with the plot conventions of Italian opera. The scene at Café Momus in Act II was originally intended to act as a grand concertato finale to Act I, a common trope in Italian opera, but was later expanded into its own act. Acts II and III follow a more typical operatic pattern of rising tension, as additional characters and textures are introduced over the course of the act, building to a satisfying climax. As a woman afflicted by tuberculosis, or consumption, Mimì’s character also knowingly invites comparisons to Violetta in Verdi’s famous opera La traviata (1853), who suffers from the same illness. Musically, however, these characters are treated very differently. At the end of Act IV of La Bohème, Puccini uses understated dynamics and vocal expression to create a more realistic portrayal of Mimì than Verdi presents of Violetta, whose singing is loud and virtuosic.

La Bohème has been criticized for its perceived lack of musical depth and repetition of musical ideas. However, fans of the work regard these same features as evidence of consistency and an economical use of excellent material. Both at its premiere and now, La Bohème seems to defy categorization and expectation. It neither fit within Verdi’s conventional approach to opera nor fully aligned with the visionary features in the works of Wagner or the Scapigliatura movement, which was initially considered a negative quality. But just as La Bohème provides a unique perspective on the state of opera at the turn of the twentieth century, it also offers us a sublime glimpse into bohemian life. Despite its many notable qualities, perhaps what makes this opera so timeless is its focus on the emotional lives and shared humanity of its characters and audiences, who experience both love and loss, and who continue to persevere through life’s many trials.

Daniela Candillari has been principal conductor at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) since 2022. Celebrated for her dynamic artistry and insightful leadership, she is equally at home premiering bold new works and interpreting classical repertoire. Her international career spans major operatic and symphonic stages, where she is praised for performances that combine “confidence and apparently inexhaustible verve” (The New York Times) with “incisive leadership” (The Wall Street Journal). Her 2025-26 season includes guest engagements with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Opera Company, London Philharmonic, Liverpool Philharmonic, Cabrillo Festival, and Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal. She will also return to The Juilliard School, Louisiana Philharmonic, OTSL, and her alma mater, the Jacobs School of Music. Candillari’s 2024-25 season included world premieres with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (Nina Shekhar’s Accordion Concerto) and OTSL (This House by Ricky Ian Gordon, Lynn Nottage, and Ruby Aiyo Gerber), debuts with the Kansas City Symphony, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and Louisiana Philharmonic, and a return to New Orleans Opera. Her 2023-24 season opened with rave reviews for her “seamless” leadership (The New York Times) of two world premieres: 10 Days in a Madhouse by composer Rene Orth and librettist Hannah Moscovitch at Opera Philadelphia, winner of the Best New Opera Award by the Music Critics Association of North America, and Jeanine Tesori and George Brant’s Grounded with Washington National Opera at The Kennedy Center, a company debut. In previous seasons, she has conducted with the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Minnesota Opera, Detroit Opera, and Orchestre Métropolitan Montreal. Candillari grew up in Serbia and Slovenia. She holds a Doctor of Musicology from the Universität für Musik in Vienna, Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the Jacobs School of Music, and Master of Music and Bachelor in Piano Performance from the Universität für Musik in Graz.

Michael Shell is associate professor of voice at the Jacobs School of Music, where he teaches acting and opera workshops, and directs mainstage productions. His philosophy is to inform, excite, and empower his students to be the most authentic singing actors possible. His productions have been praised by critics across the nation. A KC Studio Magazine reviewer recently commented on Shell’s new production of Gioachino Rossini’s La Cerentola: “Michael Shell’s inventive direction is evident at every turn, a fairytale formula of precise staging and lighthearted touch.” Shell has directed productions for Atlanta Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Opera Omaha, Opera San José, Opera Tampa, Opera North, Virginia Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Houston Grand Opera. He made his international directing debut at the Wexford Festival Opera in 2010 with a production of Winners by American composer Richard Wargo and returned the following fall to direct Double Trouble– Trouble in Tahiti and The Telephone. He has written and directed three cabarets, including All About Love and The Glamorous Life—A group therapy session for Opera Singers, both for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. He earned a B.M. and an M.M. in Music/Vocal Performance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He was a Corbett Scholar at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and studied acting and scene study at H. B. Studios on an H. B. Studios merit scholarship. Shell has been guest faculty and director at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Florida State University, Oklahoma University, A. J. Fletcher Opera Institute, and Webster University–St. Louis, teaching opera workshops and directing full productions and workshop performances.

A Bloomington-based designer and scenic artist, Mark Frederic Smith is director of scenic painting and properties for IU Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theater, where he has contributed to more than 200 productions during the past 29 years. Design work for Jacobs Opera and Ballet Theater includes The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, La Finta Giardiniera, The Coronation of Poppea, Hansel and Gretel, Bernstein’s Mass, An American Dream, Sweeney Todd, Trouble in Tahiti, Turn of the Screw, the world premiere of Shulamit Ran’s Anne Frank, and the premiere of A Star on the Rise: La Bayadere . . . Reimagined. His design for Florencia en el Amazonas was featured in San Diego Opera’s 2017-18 season. Smith earned a Master of Fine Arts in Scenic Design from the IU Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance and was a student of former Jacobs faculty C. David Higgins and Robert O’Hearn.

Sarah Bahr is a Minneapolis-based costume and scenic designer working in opera, theater, and dance. Opera credits include Minnesota Opera: Don Giovanni (costume design), Albert Herring (scenic design), Roméo et Juliette (costume design), and Carmen (assistant costume design); Mill City Summer Opera: Carmen (costume design); A Picnic Operetta: Don Giovanni in Cornlandia (costume design); and Santa Fe Opera: Carmen (assistant costume design). Theater and dance credits include Guthrie Theater, Children’s Theater Company, Jungle Theater, Ten Thousand Things Theater, Trademark Theater, Theater Latte Da, Penumbra Theatre, Great River Shakespeare Festival, BRKFST Dance Company, Threads Dance Project, and Vail Dance Festival. Teaching credits include the University of Minnesota, Augsburg University, and Macalester College. Bahr was recognized by American Theatre Magazine in “Roll Call People to Watch: Twin Cities” in 2024 and was awarded an MN Theatre Award for Exceptional Overall Production for costume design for This Bitter Earth at Penumbra Theatre in 2018. As a proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829, Bahr is a Central Region board member and activist for equity for theater designers and technicians. She holds an M.F.A. in Design and Technical Theatre from the University of Minnesota and an M.A. in Studio Art from New York University.

Driscoll Otto recently designed projections for a new production of Turandot (Bari Italy), lighting for Encores! production of The Life, reimagined and directed by Billy Porter, lighting and projections for Chicago Opera Theatre’s production of Becoming Santa Claus, lighting and projections for Houston Grand Opera’s Marian’s Song, lighting for Turandot at Oper Im Steinbruch (Austria), projections for The Flying Dutchman (Florence and Bologna Italy), and lighting and projections for Iolanta at Chicago Opera Theater. Otto’s design work is seen frequently in New York City and on regional theater and opera stages, including The Huntington Theatre Company, Utah Opera, Old Globe Theatre, Opera Omaha, Opera Philadelphia, Dallas Theater Center, Drury Lane Theatre, The Dallas Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Trinity Repertory Company, Hangar Theatre, Flat Rock Playhouse, and Lyric Opera Kansas City as well as productions of Legally Blonde and Rock of Ages for Norwegian Cruise Lines. Highlights to his resume include projection design for Santa Fe Opera’s production of The Golden Cockerel and the Metropolitan Opera’s production of La Donna Del Lago. He earned an M.F.A. from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

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.

Brent Gault is professor of music education at the Jacobs School of Music. He specializes in elementary general music education, early childhood music education, and Kodály-inspired methodology. He also has training in both the Orff and Dalcroze approaches to music education. He has presented sessions and research at conferences of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, Dalcroze Society of America, International Kodály Society, International Society for Music Education, Organization of American Kodály Educators, and the National Association for Music Education. In addition, he has served as a presenter and guest lecturer for colleges and music education organizations in the United States, Canada, China, Ireland, and Singapore. Articles by Gault have been published in various music education periodicals, including the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Journal of Research in Music Education, Music Educators Journal, General Music Today, Kodály Envoy, Orff Echo, and American Dalcroze Journal. He is the coeditor (with Carlos Abril) of Teaching General Music (2016, Oxford University Press) and General Music: Dimensions of Practice (2022, Oxford University Press), and the author of Listen Up! Fostering Musicianship Through Active Listening (2016, Oxford University Press). In addition to his duties with the Jacobs School Music Education Department, Gault serves as the program director for the IU Children’s Choir, where he conducts the Allegro Choir. He is a past president of the Organization of American Kodály Educators.

Stefano de Peppo was born in Italy, where he graduated from Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado in Milan. As a young boy, he was a part of the Children’s Chorus of Teatro alla Scala in Milan for seven years. He has performed in many theaters throughout the U.S., Europe, North and South America, Israel, and Japan, acclaimed for his powerful bass-baritone, his crisp diction, and skills as an actor in the Italian and French comedic repertoire of late eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth century. De Peppo also holds many years of experience as an Italian diction and repertoire coach for singers, often invited to hold private lessons and/or master classes in renowned music schools and young artists programs. He has held master classes for the young artist programs of Arizona Opera, Colorado Opera, Sarasota Opera, Atlanta Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Naples Opera, Opera de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Opera de Costa Rica, Memphis University, and Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, among others. He holds the position of Italian coach at the Lamont School of Music of the University of Denver, Colorado. He has recently served as the Italian diction coach for several online programs for singers, such as Vincerò, Dandelion Institute, Atelier d’Excellence, CSMusic, Teatro Grattacielo of New York, and Camerata de’ Bardi. In 2023 and 2024, he was the Italian coach for Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera and Puccini’s La Rondine at Manhattan School of Music, where he also held the position of professor of Italian recitative during the winter of 2024. He will return this fall and next winter for its productions of The Elixir of Love and La clemenza di Tito. He resides in New York City.

Andrew Elliot is a makeup artist, wig designer, and stylist. His work can also be seen with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre, Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre, Actors Theatre of Indiana, Phoenix Theatre, Zach & Zack Productions, Summer Stock Stage, and others. His work as a makeup artist and stylist can be seen locally and nationally in various publications, commercials, and editorials. The facade of the Palladium in Carmel, Indiana, showcases his work as a part of the Blockhouse Studios productions of Eos and Frost. He spent 2020 recreating icons of film, fashion, and theater, which gained national attention, with features in The New York Times, NowThis News, The Indianapolis Star, and Indianapolis Monthly.

Cori Ellison, a leading creative figure in the opera world, has served as staff dramaturg at Santa Fe Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival, and New York City Opera (NYCO). 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 operatic works for companies including Glyndebourne, Icelandic Opera, Canadian Opera, Norwegian Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Chicago Opera Theater, Arizona Opera, Opera Birmingham, Pittsburgh Opera, Beth Morrison Projects, On-Site Opera, the Miller Theater, IU Jacobs Opera Theater, and Crane School of Music. She has served as production dramaturg for projects including Das Rheingold at Los Angeles Philharmonic; The Coronation of Poppea at Cincinnati Opera; Orphic Moments at the Salzburg Landestheater, National Sawdust, and Master Voices; Aci, Galatea, e Polifemo at National Sawdust and Philharmonia Baroque; Washington National Opera’s Ring cycle, Opera Boston’s The Nose, Offenbach!!! at Bard Summerscape; and La Finta Giardiniera at Indiana University. At The Juilliard School, she serves on the Vocal Arts faculty and is also a faculty member at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute Program for Singers. She has coached and taught master classes for singers at schools including the Jacobs School of Music, Cincinnati College-Conservatory, University of Toronto, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Texas at Austin, Boston University, Boston Conservatory, Mannes College, DePaul University, University of Illinois, Loyola University, Montclair State University, University of Utah, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Florida International University, and Oklahoma State University, as well as the Crested Butte Opera Studio and Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance program. Ellison regularly serves as a judge for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Concurso San Miguel in Mexico, and many other vocal competitions. She creates supertitles for opera companies worldwide and helped launch Met Titles, the Met’s simultaneous translation system. Her English singing translations include Hansel and Gretel (NYCO), La vestale (English National Opera), and Shostakovich’s Cherry Tree Towers (Bard Summerscape). She has often written for The New York Times and has contributed to books including The New Grove Dictionary of Opera and The Compleat Mozart.

Gina Cerimele-Mechley is a nationally recognized movement/acting coach and Shakespearean teacher as well as one of the few female fight directors in the country with the Society of American Fight Directors. Her work as a performer, fight/intimacy director, and dance choreographer has been seen across the country at theaters such as the Tony Award-winning Denver Center Theatre Company, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Sterling New York Renaissance Festival, Alaska Cabin Nite Dinner Theatre, Busch Gardens, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, and the Human Race Theatre in Dayton. Before deciding to have two children, she spent time in the stunt world as a motion capture artist for Nintendo. Cerimele-Mechley has taught in the theater departments of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Xavier University, Northern Kentucky University, and Miami University, and at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, where she also served as the resident dance choreographer. She prefers coaching students rather than being onstage herself, so she focuses much of her time on her nationally recognized educational theater company, Cincinnati Actor’s Studio & Academy, where students get the chance to work and perform next to professional artists on more mature material in preparation for college and beyond. Cerimele-Mechley was the first recipient of the Cincinnati Arts Association Arts Educator Award, awarded the U.S. Distinguished Teacher Award, nominated for the Excellence in Theatre Education Award from the Tony Awards, and knighted by the order of the Knights of Madoc in honor of her “work in the art of stage combat and in recognition of her fine character and enduring good will.”

Tenor Patrick Conklin hails from Collins, Ohio, where he spent his early years singing with the Oberlin Choristers, with whom he had many opportunities to sing with groups such as the Cleveland Opera and Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra. He received his bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green Ohio. There, he performed several leading roles, such as Hyllus in G. F. Handel’s Hercules, Basilio in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance, and Camille, Count de Rosillion in Franz Lehar’s The Merry Widow. Conklin is now pursuing a D.M. degree at the Jacobs School of Music, where he has performed the roles of Scaramuccio in Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos and Count Almaviva in Giachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. He has also performed the role of Tamino in Mozart’s The Magic Flute as a young artist at Opera Steamboat, St. Nicolas in Benjamin Britten’s St. Nicolas Cantata, the tenor soloist in Bach’s Magnificat, and the tenor solos in the Messiah with Chicago University at the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. He recently performed the role of Frederic in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance with MIOpera.

Tenor Haocheng Du is pursuing a Doctor of Music in Voice Performance degree at the Jacobs School of Music, studying under the guidance of Heidi Grant Murphy. Originally from Wuhan, China, he completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music, where he received vocal training from Leiming He, Yongxi Chen, and Lecturer Jinping Li. Du has earned several accolades, including being a finalist in the 2023 Hubei Regional Final of the 14th China Golden Bell Award for Music and the 10th Hubei Golden Bell Music Award. He also won first place in the Bel Canto Group of the Wuhan Conservatory of Music Cup Competition. More recently, he was a semifinalist in the 2024 China Little Golden Bell First National Vocal Arts Exhibition.

Soprano Changchang Hao is from China and a second-year doctoral student in voice performance at the Jacobs School of Music, where she studies with Carol Vaness. She previously earned a Master of Music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where she studied with Robin Rice, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Her operatic experience includes Fiordiligi in a scene from Così fan tutte (IU), Barbarina in a scene from The Marriage of Figaro, Musetta in a scene from La Bohème, the First Witch in Dido and Aeneas, and chorus roles in Eugene Onegin and Street Scene at Rice University. At the China Conservatory of Music, Hao appeared as La Contessa in The Marriage of Figaro and performed Donna Anna in a scene from Don Giovanni. She won the 2024 Indianapolis Matinee Musicale (Graduate Division).

Seonyoung Park is a lyric soprano from South Korea, who made her professional debut in Korea as Sandmann in Hansel and Gretel at Seongnam Art Center in 2018. In 2019, she performed as Mimì in La Bohème at the Morellino Classic Festival of the Theater of Scansano in Italy. At Jacobs, she has portrayed Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, Maguelonne in Cendrillon (P. Viardot), and Suor Angelica in Suor Angelica. She was the soprano soloist in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with the Carmel Symphony Orchestra. Her competition achievements include first prize at the Euterpe International Music Competition in Milan (2019), third prize at the Foundation of Korean Classic Vocal Performer International Vocal Competition, and third prize at the 28th Suri Music Competition. Park was also a finalist in the JoongAng Music Competition in Korea in 2018. She holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from KyungHee University in Seoul. After further vocal studies in Italy, she completed a Performance Diploma at Indiana University. Currently, she is pursuing a master’s in voice performance degree at the Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of Jane Dutton.

Baritone Jason Dahbin Hong, born in New York and raised in Seoul, holds dual Korean American citizenship. He is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Voice Performance at the Jacobs School of Music, studying under the guidance of Heidi Grant Murphy. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Seoul National University, where he studied with Samuel Youn. Hong is a recipient of a full-tuition scholarship at the Jacobs School of Music as well as multiple merit-based awards from Seoul National University, including the Lee Dae Woong Foundation Scholarship. During his time at Seoul National University, Hong actively participated in numerous concerts and opera productions, including performances invited by the Embassy of Italy. In 2023, he was selected as a young artist at Min Sangryeol Hall, where he performed in various recital and collaborative projects. Drawing on his bicultural background, he aims to broaden his operatic and concert repertoire throughout his graduate studies at Jacobs.

A baritone from Asmara, Eritrea, Benhur Mosazghi is a second-year M.M. in Voice Performance student at Jacobs studying under the tutelage of Russell Thomas. Praised by the Cleveland Classical as “a name and gift predictive of success,” he appeared in operatic roles singing Sid in Albert Herring, Geronimo in Matrimonio Segreto, Polyphemus in Acis and Galatea, and Il Commissario di Polizia in Amelia al Ballo with Oberlin Opera Theater, and Simone in Gianni Schicchi and Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville with the Janice Opera Company at Brevard. He made his IU Jacobs Opera Theater debut last spring as Dancaïre in Carmen. Mosazghi earned a B.M. in Voice from Oberlin College and Conservatory, where he studied with Salvatore Champagne. He was a prizewinner in the Crescendo Competition of Union Avenue Opera and the Lunigiana International Music Festival. A versatile performer in both concert and chamber music, he was also a soloist with CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra and bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Oberlin College Choir and Orchestra.

Nathalie Friederich is a soprano from Phoenix, Arizona, pursuing an M.M under the tutelage of Jane Dutton. Recent engagements include the chorus of The Marriage of Figaro with IU Jacobs Opera Theater, Erste Dame in the Trentino Music Festival’s 2024 production of The Magic Flute, the Dew Fairy in IU Jacobs Opera’s 2022 production of Hansel and Gretel, and several Jacobs Opera ensembles, including the choruses of Don Giovanni, Candide, The Merry Widow, and Sweeney Todd. Her achievements in vocal competitions are notable, with first-place wins in the 2019 Atlanta Music Club Competition, 2021 National Association of Teachers of Singing competition in the undergraduate voice category, and the 2022 undergraduate division of the Indianapolis Matinee Musicale. In 2024 she placed first place in the Peabody art song competition in the graduate division and competed in the Laffont Metropolitan Opera Competition. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.M. in Voice Performance from the Jacobs School under Dutton’s instruction.

Soprano Carson Hardigree is a Performance Diploma student at the Jacobs School of Music, where she studies with Michelle DeYoung. She is originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina, where she received a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Music Education degree from Furman University in 2023. She received a Master of Music degree from the Jacobs School earlier this year. Her most recent roles include Diana in Orpheus in the Underworld (2025), Lady Capulet in Roméo et Juliette (2025), Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus at Jacobs (2024), and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Music on Site (2024). Some of her pervious roles include Armida in Rinaldo (2023), Edith in The Pirates of Penzance (2023), Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni (2022), Romilda in Xerxes (2021), and Jack’s Mother in Into the Woods (2021) as well as being slated to sing as a Spirit in Cendrillon (Massenet) in the spring of 2020.

Hailing from Richmond Virginia, bass-baritone Aiden Collawn is in his fourth year of studies pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance under the tutelage of Brian Horne. He made his IU Jacobs Opera Theater debut as the Duke in the 2023 production of Roméo et Juliette. He also debuted the role of Sheldon Anapol in the Jacobs School of Music coproduction with the Metropolitan Opera, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. His international performances include Sarastro in Berlin Opera Academy’s production of The Magic Flute and featured soloist in the Berlin Summer Nights Soirée. Collawn’s choral performances include ensemble member and featured soloist in Jacobs’ productions of Sweeney Todd and Carmen.

A bass from Louisville, Kentucky, Theo Harrah is a second-year master’s student studying under the tutelage of Jane Dutton. His previous credits at Jacobs include the Second Armed Man in The Magic Flute, Dick Deadeye in H.M.S. Pinafore, Siroco in L’Étoile, José Tripaldi in Ainadamar, Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette, Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd, Zuniga in Carmen, and Sheldon Anapol in the world premiere of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay in collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera. Additionally, he performed in the choruses of Falstaff, Highway 1, USA, Candide, The Merry Widow, and The Marriage of Figaro. He has also been featured as a soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien, and the Howells Requiem. Outside of Jacobs, Harrah has been seen as Colline in La Bohème and Simone in Gianni Schicchi at the Canto Program, Dean of the Faculties in Massenet’s Cendrillon at Cedar Rapids Opera and on concert stages worldwide performing everything from Schubert to Verdi. In 2024, he was a finalist in the Meistersinger competition in Graz, Austria. In 2025, Harrah was in the Santa Fe Opera apprentice program for singers, where he sang in the choruses of La Bohème and Rigoletto and sang the role of Count Ceprano. This summer, he looks forward to participating in the Merola Opera program in San Francisco, where he will be singing Lakai in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos as well as covering Truffaldino in the same production.

Giovani Malcolm is a Jamaican baritone and doctoral student in voice with Tichina Vaughn at the Jacobs School, where he also earned a Master of Music degree. Recently, he sang in the Trio of Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti. At IU Jacobs Opera Theater, his roles have included Gregorio in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette and Cascada in Lehár’s The Merry Widow. With Bloomington Chamber Opera, he has performed Mr. Gobineau in Menotti’s The Medium and Ned in Joplin’s Treemonisha. Concert performances include Margaret Bonds’ Credo with the University of Delaware Chorale and Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert at the Delaware Arts Festival. He has also sung in the choruses of Liverpool Oratorio, La Traviata, and Don Giovanni with Cincinnati Opera, and Sweeney Todd, and Candide at IU. He received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Delaware, where he sang Baron Pictordu in Cendrillon and performed scenes as Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte. Malcolm was a finalist in the 2025 NSAL Indiana Chapter Voice Competition and the 2024 Carolyn Bailey Argento Vocal Competition of the National Opera Association, received an Encouragement Award at the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont St. Louis District, was a finalist in the 2022 Florida Grand Opera Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition, and was awarded the Art Song Award at the 2022 George Shirley Vocal Competition. He is also an active member of the Elevation Vocal Ensemble.

Born and raised in Bloomington, Indiana, baritone Ethan Upchurch is pursuing a master’s degree in voice performance under the guidance of Brian Horne. With two choir teachers for parents, Upchurch was immersed in music from an early age. Throughout middle and high school, he performed in musicals, choir concerts, and competitions, all while growing up watching productions at Indiana University. He has performed in a range of roles and choruses with IU Jacobs Opera Theater, including three leading roles: as Sam in Trouble in Tahiti, St. Brioche in The Merry Widow, and Masetto in Don Giovanni. He has also participated in opera choruses directed by Walter Huff and taken part in the opera scenes program led by Patricia Stiles, performing as Papageno from The Magic Flute and Osmin from Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Most recently, he participated in an Opera Workshop led by Heidi Grant Murphy, where he performed scenes as Zurga from Les pêcheurs de perles and Marcello from La Bohème. For the past three years, Upchurch has directed Bloomington High School South’s fall musicals, leading productions such as Les Misérables, Beauty and the Beast, and The Phantom of the Opera. After college, he hopes to teach as well as continue to perform.

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 Zuniga in Bizet’s Carmen. He has previously been seen in the opera choruses of L’Etoile, Romeo et Juliette, Eugene Onegin, S. Ran’s Anne Frank, and Mason Bates’s 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 an alumnus of Oregon Repertory Singers directed by Aubrey Patterson.

Evan Tiapula is pursuing an M.M. in Voice Performance with Brian Horne. Originally from California, he earned a B.M. from Oberlin Conservatory. Since coming to Jacobs, he has played Frank in Die Fledermaus, Salvador Dalí in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and Melisso in Alcina.

Tenor Pacino Zongwei Zhang is pursuing his second year of the Master of Music in Voice Performance degree at the Jacobs School of Music, where he studies with Carol Vaness. Originally from Anhui China, he has appeared with IU 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), and Torquemada (L’heure espagnole), and will be performing the Chevalier de la Force (Dialogues of the Carmelites). With IU Jacobs Opera Theater, he performed Le Remendado in Bizet’s Carmen. This past summer, Zongwei performed the Dancing Master and Brighella in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos with Chicago Summer Opera. In spring 2026, he will sing Le Prince Charmant in Massenet’s Cendrillon with IU Jacobs Opera. He is a silver-prize winner of the Prokofiev International Music Competition.

Sam Yoon, a Korean American baritone from Albert Lea, Minnesota, is a first-year master’s student in voice performance under the tutelage of Brian Horne. His past operatic roles include Peter in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel and Falke in Die Fledermaus. Last year, he was featured as a guest soloist in Korea, performing at Seoul Anglican Cathedral. Later this fall, he will be performing the roles of Le Marquis de la Force in Dialogues of the Carmelites and Vicar in Albert Herring in Carol Vaness and Zachary Coates’s Opera Workshop. This production marks his debut with IU Jacobs Opera Theater.

Ethan Sanchez is a junior from Orange County, California, studying under Peter Volpe. He has previously appeared in the choruses of Carmen, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Sweeney Todd, and The Merry Widow. He was also seen in 2024 at Opera Lucca, performing a variety of scenes from beloved operas.