Lyric Opera 2024-2025 Issue 10 - Rising Stars in Concert

13 | Lyric Opera of Chicago GEMMA D e CETRA STAGE MANAGER Previously at Lyric: The Listeners, The Marriage of Figaro , and Fidelio (all 2024/25) . A first-year Ryan Opera Center member and the second person to hold the Ensemble Stage Manager position, DeCetra is an alumna of Northwestern University’s theater program, where she received a 2023 Prague Quadrennial Grant for costume construction. Recent projects include L’incoronazione di Poppea (Chicago College of Performing Arts Opera, 2024), Jason and the Argonauts (Lyric Unlimited, 2023), The Nose (Wardrobe, Chicago Opera Theater, 2023), and Indecent (Wirtz Center, 2023). DeCetra was also on the stage management team at the 2023 Grant Park Music Festival. She is originally from Madison, Wisconsin, where she worked with students at Children’s Theater of Madison and Shorewood Drama. Gemma DeCetra is sponsored by Roberta L.Washlow & Robert J.Washlow. DANIEL ESPINAL TENOR Previously at Lyric: Don Curzio/ The Marriage of Figaro and Jaquino/ Fidelio (both 2024/25). A first-year Ryan Opera Center member, the Cuban-Dominican tenor from Sarasota was a national winner of the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. This summer he will take part in the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence Académie. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, Espinal continued his studies at Yale University, where he recently received a Master of Musical Arts degree. His roles there included Tom Rakewell/ The Rake’s Progress , Rinuccio/ Gianni Schicchi , and Male Chorus/ The Rape of Lucretia . Espinal previously participated in San Francisco’s Merola Opera Program for two summers, where he sang the Duke/ Rigoletto , David/ Die Meistersinge r, and Arcadio/ Florencia en el Amazonas . His repertoire also includes Alfredo/ La traviata and Tamino/ Die Zauberflöte . Daniel Espinal is sponsored by Lead Sponsor the J.Thomas Hurvis Endowment, in loving memory of Dick Kiphart and cosponsors Fred & Phoebe Boelter and Margo & Michael Oberman & Family. ADIA EVANS SOPRANO Previously at Lyric: Theresa Alvarez/ The Listener s , Girlfriend 2/ Blue , and Countess Ceprano/ Rigoletto (all 2024/25). A first-year Ryan Opera Center soprano from Baltimore, Evans is a recipient of the 2024 Richard F. Gold Career Grant. In the 2023/24 Season, the soprano debuted at The Cliburn in Recital with Jake Heggie, the Dayton Philharmonic (Handel’s Messiah ), and Annapolis Opera (First Lady/ The Magic Flute ). Other recent highlights include Mimì/ La Bohème with the Borderland Arts Foundation and Beethoven’s 9th with the National Orchestral Institute and Marin Alsop. Evans has performed with Santa Fe Opera, Merola Opera Program, Fort Worth Opera, Dallas Opera Guild, Opera Columbus, Tulsa Opera, and Knoxville Opera, among others. Her numerous honors include an Encouragement Award from the 2024 London Foundation Competition, third place in the 2023 and 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Midwest Region, second place and the soprano prize in the 2023 George Shirley Vocal Competition, and first place in the 2023 Dallas Opera Guild Lonestar Vocal Competition. Adia Evans is sponsored by Lead Sponsor the H. Earl and Miriam U. Hoover Foundation and cosponsors Ron & Peggy Beata, Margo & Michael Oberman & Family, and Sheila & David Ormesher. MARINETTE GOMEZ STAGE DIRECTOR Previously at Lyric: La Bohème, The Marriage of Figaro , and Fidelio (all 2024/25) . Gomez is a first-year Ryan Opera Center member in the recently created Ensemble position of Stage Director. She was a Directing Fellow at the Metropolitan Opera in 2024, and last summer was a Young Artist Assistant Director for Glimmerglass Festival’s Pagliacci . As part of an emerging artist team, Gomez recently received a Robert L.B. Tobin Director- Designer Prize from OPERA America, for a production concept for Breaking the Waves (Missy Mazzoli/Royce Vavrek). The Orlando, Florida, native assisted at Rice University for Eugene Onegin in Fall 2023. Her most recent staging was for Bold City Opera’s production of Puccini’s Suor Angelic a at St. John’s Cathedral in Jacksonville, Florida. As Assistant Director for University of North Florida’s opera program, she directed various opera scenes for both the 2021 UNF Opera Scenes Program and the 2020 UNF Virtual Opera Gala. Her credits there also include a double-bill of Menotti’s The Telephone and The Old Maid and the Thief , Dido and Aeneas , Così fan tutte , and Die Fledermaus . Gomez worked with the Jacksonville Symphony for their staged concerts of La Bohème and The Magic Flute . Marinette Gomez is sponsored by Lead Sponsor an Anonymous Donor and cosponsors Donna Van Eekeren & Dale Connelly and Drs. Joan & Russ Zajtchuk. SANKARA HAROUNA BARITONE Previously at Lyric: Marullo/ Rigoletto (2024/25) and Benny Paret and Benny Jr./ Champion (2023/24). A first-year Ryan Opera Center baritone and a Chicago native, Harouna joined Portland Opera as a Resident Artist in the 2023/24 Season, where he was seen in Le nozze di Figaro and The Snowy Day . This summer he will make his company debut with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in This House and perform with the Grant Park Music Festival. A former apprentice artist at Des Moines Metro Opera, Harouna performed there as Moralès/ Carmen and Homecoming Soldier/Redler’s The Falling and the Rising . Other previous engagements include Greensboro Opera, Atlanta Opera, Dayton Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Cincinnati Opera. In concert, he performed Mozart’s Missa Brevis with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Harouna previously participated in the artist-development programs of Atlanta Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Dayton Opera. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Music in Vocal Performance