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SOPRANO
- Saundra DeAthos
- MEZZO-SOPRANO
- Stephanie Rodousakis
- TENOR
- Michael Boley
- Harold Meers
- BARITONE
- Greg Frens
- Ryan Kinsella
- David Templeton
- BASS
- Bradley Smoak
- CONDUCTOR
- Louis Salemno
- Allan R. Scott
- STAGE DIRECTOR
- Alexander Gelman
Tenor Harold Meers has rapidly established himself as one of the outstanding young American singers currently assaying the romantic Italian and French repertoire. With his foray into the master works of Donizetti, Gounod, Massenet, Puccini and Verdi, Mr. Meers has garnered the sort of critical praise often reserved for opera’s brightest hopefuls.
Since his professional debut as Ferrando in Così Fan Tutte with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Mr. Meers has frequented the principal lyric venues of North America, including bows with the San Francisco Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Baltimore Opera, New Orleans Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Boston Lyric Opera, Cleveland Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Omaha, and Virginia Opera, among others. His successful international debut with the Bangkok Opera as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, resulted in a return engagement as Ferrando in Così fan Tutte.
Of his San Francisco Opera debut in Billy Budd, the San Francisco Chronicle noted, “Cast standouts were many, especially tenor Harold Gray Meers in a heartrending performance as the Novice.” Accordingly, the San Francisco Classical Voice said of the tenor, “It’s easy to predict that future stars of opera will refer to the San Francisco “Billy Budd” as their first role of note, especially Harold Gray Meers, as the outstanding Novice.” Additional assignments with San Francisco Opera include Il Trovatore, Turandot, the American premiere of Arshak Erkrord by Armenian composer Dikran Tchouhadjian and multiple projects with the Opera Center.
Recent engagements for the young tenor include Narraboth in Salome with Opera Cleveland, the Duke in Rigoletto and Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi for Opera Santa Barbara, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore with Chautuaqua Opera and the Helena Symphony, and Alfredo in La Traviata for Piedmont Opera. Past seasons include performances with Chautauqua Opera, Sacramento Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Toledo Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, West Bay Opera, Opera North, Piedmont Opera and the Fremont Symphony. Highlights of Mr. Meers’ current repertoire include the principal tenor roles in Lucia di Lammermoor, Faust, Roméo et Juliette, Werther, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Eugene Onegin, Un Ballo in Maschera and Don Carlos.
The 2009/2010 season will hear Mr. Meers in the role of Charles for the world premier of Anton Coppola’s La Coupe et les Lèvres, Handel’s Messiah with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and Illinois Symphony, the Verdi Requiem and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Sarasota Orchestra. The 2011 season will bring his Roldolfo in La Bohème to Sarasota Opera.
