Ravinia 2025 Issue 6

Mezzo-soprano Emily Fons has been hailed as one of the best sing- ing actresses of her generation by Opera News and earned a Grammy nomination with the original cast of Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain at Santa Fe Opera. This season she appears as Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte with Detroit Opera, in Music of the Baroque’s perfor- mance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio , and as Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Madison Opera. In the previous season, Fons debuted with Palm Beach Opera as Nicklausse/The Muse in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann and performed in concert with Madison Opera. Other recent highlights include returns to Canadian Opera Company as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro , New Orleans Opera as Hansel in Humper- dinck’s Hansel and Gretel , San Diego Opera for the world premiere of Nicolas Reveles’s Ghosts , and her debut at Cincinnati Opera as Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia . She also created the role of Mrs. Elizabeth Worrall in James Stephenson and Matt Boresi’s Cåraboo with the Interna- tional Chamber Artists. At Haymarket, Fons has previously performed as Irene in Handel’s Tamerlano , Medoro in Handel’s Orlando , and the title role in Cesti’s L’Orontea . Emily Fons is making her Ravinia debut. Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong has developed a reputation as “one of the most intelligent stage perform- ers of her generation” ( Opera News ). She has performed extensively with the Metropolitan Opera, San Fran- cisco Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Teatro San Carlo, Los Angeles Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Royal Opera and Ballet, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, Opéra National de Bor- deaux, and the Glyndebourne and Aix-en-Provence Festivals. In recent seasons, DeShong has made major role debuts as Octavia in the premiere of John Adams’s Antony and Cleopatra , Fricka in Wagner’s Das Rheingold (At- lanta Opera), Azucena in Verdi’s Il trovatore (Oper Stuttgart), and Medoro in Handel’s Orlando (Théâtre du Châtelet). Her repertory also includes Bradamante and Ruggiero (Handel’s Alcina ), Calbo (Rossini’s Maometto II ), Suzuki (Puccini’s Madama Butterfly ), Paulina (Tchaikovsky’s Pikova- ya Dama ), Adalgisa (Bellini’s Norma ), Hansel (Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel ), Juno and Ino (Handel’s Semele ), Maffia Orsini (Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia ), Marilyn Klinghoffer (Adams’s The Death of Klinghoffer ), Fenena (Verdi’s Nabucco ), Sesto (Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito ), Arsace (Rossini’s Semiramide ), Fidès (Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète ), Hermia (Britten’s A Mid- summer Night’s Dream ). Elizabeth DeShong is making her Ravinia debut. Praised for her “lively personali- ty, abundant charm, and luscious vocalism” ( Chicago Tribune ) and “crystalline clarity” ( BBC Music ), soprano Erica Schuller is recog- nized for bringing committed art- istry to a broad musical repertory. She has received acclaim for roles with The Boston Early Music Festi- val, Haymarket Opera, Apollo’s Fire, Odyssey Opera, Florentine Opera, Opera Siam (Bangkok), Skylight Opera Theater, and Intermountain Opera Boseman. Concert appearances include Jacksonville Symphony, Ars Lyrica Houston, Newberry Consort, Incantare, Lincoln Trio, New Trinity Baroque, Great Lakes Baroque, Mil- waukee Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and San Francisco Bach Choir. Recording credits in- clude Marte in Durón’s Salir ed Amor del Mundo, La Guerre in Lully’s opera Psyché (Grammy nominated), and Jeannette in Joseph Bologne’s L’Amant Anonyme (Grammy nominated). Erica Schuller has previously appeared at Ravinia as a soloist with Apollo’s Fire. Highlighting his 2024/25 season, tenor Eric Ferring made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut under Emmanuelle Haïm in a program of Rameau and Handel. He also joined Haïm and Le Concert d’As- trée for performances in Paris and Lille, and he performed as a soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Portland Orchestra and in Handel’s Messiah with the Evansville Philharmonic. Further highlights of Ferring’s recent seasons include his house debut at Opéra de Lille as Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni ; his Opéra national de Paris debut as Lurcanio in Handel’s Ariodante ; Tamino in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at both the Metropolitan Opera and Opéra national du Rhin; and Lysander in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Opéra de Rouen. With The En- glish Concert on a world tour, Ferring made his role debut as Grimoaldo in Handel’s Rodelinda . Previously at Haymarket, Ferring appeared in La de- collazione di San Giovanni Battista by Maria Margherita Grimani. He is an alumnus of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center. Eric Ferring is making his Ravinia debut. Chicago native David Govertsen has been active as a professional singer for nearly 20 years, por- traying a wide variety of opera’s low-voiced heroes, villains, and buf- foons. Govertsen has appeared as a soloist with numerous local and regional opera companies, includ- ing Lyric Opera of Chicago, Santa Fe Opera, Tulsa Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, and the Haymarket Opera Company. As a concert so- loist, Govertsen has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Madison Symphony Orchestra, and many other ensembles. He is a member of the vocal chamber quartet Fourth Coast Ensemble, performing art song in Chicago and throughout the Midwest. David Govertsen is making his Ra- vinia debut. Jory Vinikour is recognized as one of the outstanding harpsichordists of his generation. Born in Chicago, he alighted to Paris on a Fulbright scholarship to study with Huguette Dreyfus and Kenneth Gilbert. Top prizes in the International Harp- sichord Competitions of Warsaw (1993) and the Prague Spring Fes- tival (1994) brought him to the music world’s attention, and he has since been featured on festivals and concert series, and as a soloist with major orchestras, throughout much of the world. Vinikour appears regularly as harpsichordist for Paris Opera, RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 75 MOUNA(FONS);KRISTINHOEBERMANN(DESHONG;SIMONPAULY(FERRING); PAULCRISANTI(GOVERTSON);NUCCIODINUZZO(VINIKOUR)