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Hansel and Gretel:
Meet the Artists

Steven White

Highly regarded for his inspirational leadership and musical integrity, Steven White (Musical Director) is one of North America’s premiere opera conductors. Future engagements include appearances with L’Opéra de Montréal (Lucia di Lammermoor), Pittsburgh Opera (L’elisir d’amore), Baltimore Opera (Roméo et Juliette and Manon), Fort Worth Opera (Lucia di Lammermoor), Opera Roanoke (Hänsel und Gretel and Fidelio), and the Naples Philharmonic (La bohème and Tosca).

In November 2006 he was widely praised for his conducting of internationally televised concerts at the United Nations and Alice Tully Hall, with Rolando Villazon and the Greek National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Also garnering worldwide attention and critical esteem were his performances of L’assedio di Corinto with Baltimore Opera in October of 2006. Other highlights of the 2006-2007 season included appearances with Vancouver Opera (I puritani), Michigan Opera Theater (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Spoleto Festival USA (Festival Finale Concert), Syracuse Opera (Lucia di Lammermoor), the Naples Philharmonic (Le nozze di Figaro) and Opera Roanoke (La bohème and Macbeth).

Mr. White has conducted at New York City Opera (Don Giovanni, Carmen, La bohème), Baltimore Opera (L’assedio di Corinto, I puritani, La sonnambula) Opera Colorado (La traviata), Arizona Opera (The Merry Widow, Tosca, Don Pasquale), Vancouver Opera (Lucia di Lammermoor, La fille du régiment, I puritani), Sarasota Opera (Werther), Syracuse Opera (Don Giovanni, Les contes d’Hoffmann, Macbeth), New Orleans Opera (Lucia di Lammermoor), Wichita Grand Opera (Lucia di Lammermoor), Nashville Opera (Pagliacci), Opera North Carolina (Madama Butterfly), Wolf Trap Opera (L’elisir d’amore), Madison Opera (outdoor Gala Concerts) and Indiana University Opera Theater (La traviata).

Steven White is Artistic Director of Opera Roanoke. He has conducted nearly all of that company’s productions since 1999 (Fidelio, Macbeth, Aida, Rigoletto, La traviata, Carmen, Roméo et Juliette, La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Le nozze di Figaro, Hänsel und Gretel and Acis and Galatea.) Before his appointment in Roanoke he served for two seasons as Principal Conductor for Opera Birmingham (Madama Butterfly, Le nozze di Figaro, and gala concerts with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.) From 1993 to 1997 he was Chorus Master and Associate Conductor of Florida Grand Opera. 

Mr. White has conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra for a CHANDOS recording of arias featuring soprano Elizabeth Futral. He has also conducted the New World Symphony Orchestra, the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony, the Syracuse Symphony, the Charleston Symphony, the Florida Philharmonic, the North Carolina Symphony, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Naples Philharmonic and many other orchestras.

 


 An actor and director of plays and musicals for over 20 years before focusing her career on opera, Helena Binder (Stage Director) has earned praise for her direction of Ermione, Il ritorno d’Ulisse, and Madame Butterfly for New York City Opera, and was Associate Director and Choreographer of their recent production of Die tote Stadt.  Her production of The Barber of Seville for The Dallas Opera was named one of the Top Ten Classical Performances of 2006 by the Dallas Morning News.  She has directed Tales of Hoffmann for Minnesota Opera, Fidelio for Pittsburgh Opera, Madame Butterfly for Opera Toledo, L’italiana in Algeri and La bohème for Lake George Opera, Madame Butterfly and The Magic Flute for Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, La traviata for Opera Roanoke, and has staged productions for The New York State Theatre Institute, Leatherstocking Theatre, Union College and Home Made Theater, including Noises Off, Foxfire, Wait Until Dark, A Life in the Theatre,  Equus, Ten Little Indians and Charlotte’s Web.  She has been director of the Legislative Correspondents Association show, the oldest political satire revue in the country, for the past 23 years.

Upcoming engagements include Rodelinda and Fidelio for Portland Opera.

As a choreographer, Ms. Binder choreographed Queen of Spades, Luisa Miller and
Le Nozze di Figaro for The Dallas Opera, and Bluebeard and La Calisto for Glimmerglass Opera where she also went on for an ailing countertenor.

As an actor, she has performed in regional theatre in the United States and abroad in
roles ranging from Peter Pan to Shakespeare’s Juliet, and was singer in the rock n’ roll group, Blotto, that recorded the hit I Wanna Be A Lifeguard. A committed arts educator, Ms. Binder taught acting at Union College and founded The Acting School, a studio for children and adults, in Schenectady, New York where she was the Performing Arts Specialist for the city’s first Magnet School Program.  Along with coaching singers and actors she has worked with the University of Maryland Opera Theatre Program, the young artist programs of Minnesota Opera and Glimmerglass Opera and has taught classes and workshops all over New York State.


  American mezzo-soprano Emily Langford Johnson (Hansel) has been hailed as “extremely stage savvy and sporting a fine chestnut-hued mezzo” by Opera News. In the 2006-2007 season she performed the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors with the Western NY Chamber Orchestra and the role of Marianna in Gotham Chamber Opera’s Il Signor Bruschino for which The New York Times called her “a sexy, Sophia Loren-like flirt.” Concerts include Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, Copland’s Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson with the Newport Symphony, New Jersey Opera Theatre’s gala concert with Sharon Sweet and an evening of American songs with the Boca Raton Philharmonic Symphonia. Future engagements include Jo March in Little Women for Dell’Arte Opera Ensemble, a cover of the role of Dorothee in Cendrillon at New York City Opera, the title role in Ariadne Unhinged with Gotham Chamber Opera, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, and a recital of contemporary music at Weill Recital Hall.

In 2005-2006 Ms. Johnson returned to Palm Beach Opera as a resident artist and made her main stage debut as the Zweite Dame in their spring production of Die Zauberflöte. Throughout the season she performed the roles of Angelina and Tisbe in the tour of La Cenerentola, as well as the role of Amneris in the family matinee performance of Aida. Her 2004-2005 season began singing the role of Hansel with Palm Beach Opera’s family matinee performance of Hansel and Gretel. She was the resident mezzo in the Cincinnati Opera education ensemble and a member of the Glimmerglass Opera Young American Artist Program where she covered the role of Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte and performed and covered several roles in the production of Death in Venice. Concerts included the orchestral world premiere of the solo song cycle …In Dreams, with the Western New York Chamber Orchestra and the New Year’s Eve Concert for Peace at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York where she was a soloist in the world premiere of A Dream of Peace, a commissioned work for the cathedral.

Other operatic engagements include Maddalena in Rigoletto and Meg Brockie in Brigadoon with Utah Festival Opera, Elisabeth Proctor in The Crucible with the Liederkranz Opera Theatre, and Alice B. Toklas in a workshop production of the new work Gertrude Stein Invents a Jump Early On with New Opera Theatre. On the concert and recital platform Ms. Johnson has been seen as a soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Utah Festival Opera, Mozart’s Requiem at the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea on Palm Beach, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine’s New Year’s Eve Concert for Peace, and Fairy Tales and Legends: a concert of Opera arias with The Oregon Mozart Players, as well as in her New York debut recital featuring contemporary American composers and poets.

Ms. Johnson earned her BM from The Manhattan School of Music and MFA from The Actors Studio Drama School. She was a winner in the 2003 Liederkranz Foundation Competition, the 2004 Joyce Dutka Foundation Competition, the 4th place prizewinner in the 2005 Palm Beach Opera Competition, and a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions.

 

Soprano Kathleen Magee (Gretel) has consistently caught the attention of critics with her "sparkling characterizations and her sweet singing" since her 1996 professional debut as Adele with Indianapolis Opera in Die Fledermaus.

Her most recent engagements have included Ella in Patience with New York City Opera, Amy in Little Women in Japan with New York City Opera, and Adina in L'Elisir d'amore with Bob Jones University. In the spring of 2006, she returned to New York City Opera to sing Zerlina in their production of Don Giovanni. Ms. Magee made her debut with New York City Opera singing Yvette in Puccini's La Rondine, sang Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro, and covered First Maid in Daphne.

Other engagements have included Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto with Mobil Opera, Florida Grand Opera, and Livermore Valley Opera, Frasquita in Carmen and Clorinda in La Cenerentola with Florida Grand Opera, Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Westfield Symphony, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with Ash Lawn-Highland Festival, Marzelline in Fidelio and Miss Silverpeal in The Impresario with Pacific Repertory Opera, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance with Lamplighters Musical Theatre, and Gianetta in L'Elisir d'amore with Virginia Opera.

Ms. Magee has also appeared with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater, and Music of the Baroque as well as performing in Young Artist programs with Indianapolis Opera, Virginia Opera, Chautauqua Opera and Glimmerglass Opera. Solo concert role highlights have included Carmina Burana, Bach's Cantata 199, Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Coronation Mass, Poulenc's Gloria, Rutter's Magnificat and Beethoven's Mass in C Major.

Kathleen Magee has received many awards and was a Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Graphic Design with a Minor in Music from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and her Master of Music degree in voice from Northwestern University. Ms. Magee is originally from Livermore, California, and presently lives in New York City.

 

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer RODERER'S recent back-to-back successes as the Witch in Hansel and Gretel with both New York City Opera and the Phoenix Symphony affirm her unique flair for creating larger-than-life characters. Since her 1999 debut at New York City Opera, she has embodied for that company a diverse gallery of vivid personalities both comic and serious, including Lady Angela in Patience, Junon in Mark Morris’ production of Platee, Jade Boucher in Dead Man Walking, the Third Lady in The Magic Flute, and Sappho in Lysistrata, as well as Cecilia March in Little Women on NYCO’s first tour of Japan. Her recent portrayals range from the zany Théodorine in Offenbach’s L’isle de Tulipatan at the Bard Summerscape Festival to the troubled Mrs. Grose in The Turn of the Screw at Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Toledo Opera, and for Lorin Maazel’s Chateauville Foundation. Her upcoming assignments include the role of the formidable Public Opinion in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld at Nevada Opera, as well as return engagements with both New York City Ballet (in the Liebeslieder Walzer) and the Los Angeles Master Chorale (in Stravinsky’s Les noces at the Ojai Festival.)

In 2005 Ms. Roderer made a critically acclaimed debut at the Teatro Colòn in Buenos Aires as Fricka in Die Walküre, conducted by Charles Dutoit. Her other Wagnerian credits include Waltraute in Die Walküre for Lyric Opera of Chicago and Seattle Opera, Rossweise at Opera Pacific, and a Flowermaiden in Parsifal with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Pierre Boulez, as well as several concerts of orchestral excerpts from Lohengrin and Götterdämmerung presented by the Thomas Stewart and Evelyn Lear Emerging Singers Program of the Wagner Society of Washington, D.C. Her gifts in the German operatic repertoire have also shone in performances of the dramatic role of Klementia in Hindemith’s Sancta Susanna with the American Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center, the Mother in Hänsel und Gretel with New Jersey Symphony and Sarasota Opera, the Second Maidservant at Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, and Virginia Opera, and Die Notarin in Intermezzo at Santa Fe Opera. In addition, she has won grants from the Wagner Societies of New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC.

Ms. Roderer’s versatility extends well beyond the German repertory. She made her European debut at Opern Air Gars in Austria as Amneris in Aida, a role she has also sung for Opera Illinois. She has also appeared as Emilia in Otello at Opera Pacific, l’Ostessa in Zandonai’s I Cavalieri di Ekebu with New York’s Teatro Grattacielo, and the Voice of the Mother in the Tales of Hoffman at Sarasota Opera. She has become a favorite artist of many contemporary composers, participating in New York City Opera’s premieres of works by Mark Adamo and Jake Heggie and in its VOX: Showcasing American Composers program; frequently performing the microtonal works of John Eaton for organizations including the American Composer’s Alliance; and workshopping and covering the title role in the world premiere of Bright Sheng’s Madame Mao at Santa Fe Opera.

Ms. Roderer brings her typical intensity, as well as dynamic musicianship, to her concert performances of such works as Verdi’s Requiem (with both the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and the Peoria Symphony), Handel’s Messiah (under John Rutter at Carnegie Hall with the New England Symphonic Ensemble, and with the Jacksonville Symphony), and Bach’s B-minor Mass and Dvořák’s Requiem (both at the Berkshire Choral Festival). Much in demand on the concert platform, she has also sung Les noces with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Mozart’s Requiem with the New Jersey Symphony and the Berkshire Lyric Theatre; Vivaldi’s Gloria with John Rutter at Carnegie Hall; Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Anchorage Symphony; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Leonard Slatkin and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, as well as with the Jacksonville Symphony, Pacific Symphony, and Florida Symphony.

Ms. Roderer will be heard in Roanoke as both the Mother and the Witch.

Baritone Krassen Karagiozov (Father) was born in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, where he began his musical studies as a pianist. At age eighteen, he started his vocal training, and later completed a degree in piano and voice performance at the Bulgarian State Academy of Music in Sofia. He participated in and won international competitions in both piano and voice, including the "Tz. Diakovich" in Sofia. In addition to concert work as a collaborative pianist in Bulgaria, Turkey, and Maine during his student years, he appeared as baritone soloist for a recital program for the Bulgarian National Radio.

Mr. Karagiozov completed a MM at Southeastern Louisiana University in piano with a minor in voice and also served as accompanist as part of his assistantship. While attending Southeastern, Mr. Karagiozov performed Beethoven's fourth piano concerto with the SLU Chamber Orchestra. He has also appeared as the Bass soloist in Mozart's Requiem and received leading roles in the operas Savitri by Gustav Holst and Die Fledermaus by J. Strauss. He was awarded second prize at the southern region of the NATS competition in the graduate men's division. In the summer of 2000, Mr. Karagiozov received a scholarship to attend the Aspen Music Festival where he performed roles in Rake's Progress and Gianni Schicchi at the Aspen Opera Theater.

At the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, Mr. Karagiozov sang several leading roles, including Filippo in Beatrice di Tenda, Peter in Hansel and Gretel, the Title role in Don Giovanni, Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia and Darcy in an Opera Workshop Premiere of Kirke Mechem's Pride and Prejudice. For the Spoleto Festival-USA in Charleston, he sang recitals and understudied the roles of Harlekin in Ariadne auf Naxos and Raven and Prometheus in the American Premier of Die Vögel by Walter Braunfels, conducted by Julius Rudel. He has sung several supporting roles for Piedmont Opera Theater, and for Capital Opera Raleigh and has appeared as the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro, Silvio in I Pagliacci and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly. His Pritschitsch in The Merry Widow was performed alongside world renowned baritone William Stones' Danilo for the Opera Company of North Carolina.

Most recently, Mr. Karagiozov shone as Schaunard in La Bohème for Opera Roanoke and Opera Company of North Carolina as well as Raoul de Gardefeu in La Vie Parisienne for Lake George Opera Festvial. He has also appeared as a soloist for the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, North Carolina Chamber Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra, and Enid Symphony Orchestra in a concert featuring the world- renowned soprano Leona Mitchel. Mr. Karagiozov is a North Carolina district winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and First Prize winner of the Charlotte Opera Guild Competition, as well as a finalist of the Heinz Rehfuss Vocal Competition at Orlando Opera. His upcoming engagements include the Marquis in La traviata for Piedmont Opera and Germont for Capital Opera Raleigh.

Emily Rose Tucker is a member of the Opera Roanoke chorus, and a performer and music director at the Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre. Emily has also composed music for several plays and musicals, directs the Franklin County High School drama program, has taught choral music and drama in the Franklin County Public Schools, and is an adjunct professor of music at Ferrum College.


 LILY HSIEH is an emerging oratorio artist performing as soloist in works ranging from Vivaldi’s Gloria and Handel’s Messiah to Fauré’s Requiem and Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem.  She made her New York operatic debut as Nanetta in Falstaff for the Di Capo Opera and has since performed Amy in Little Women and Sister Constance in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites—the latter for the National Theatre of Taiwan.  Ms. Hsieh holds a Master of Vocal Performance from the Boston Conservatory and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Ohio State University.  When not on stage she can be found as a faculty member at Liberty University as well as in master class and recital performance with such luminaries as composer Bright Sheng.

JudiTH Clark received an undergraduate degree in music from Mary Washington College and a master's degree in piano performance from Northwestern University.  She also pursued postgraduate studies with Eric Larson of North Carolina School of the Arts and received executive training in opera management from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University.  She has taught music in both public and private schools and has served on the faculties of Roanoke College, Hollins University, and Mary Baldwin College.   As an arts administrator, she managed the performing arts facility and community arts program at Roanoke College from 1978-1988.  In 1989, she was invited to serve as Opera Roanoke’s first Executive Director.  During her tenure, the company grew from an all-volunteer to a fully professional entity, presenting two fully staged productions annually with sold-out houses and growth of the cash reserve to the largest held by an opera company of its size in the United States.  From 1999-2004, she served as regional director of Young Audiences of Virginia.  Under her leadership, the organization’s service area expanded from the greater Roanoke Valley to all of western Virginia.  As the founder of Arts Counsel, a consulting service for arts organizations, she has served statewide and beyond as an arts consultant, assisting a variety of nonprofit organizations with marketing, fund raising, and strategic planning.  As a professional accompanist, she has collaborated with such artists as Marilyn Dubow, William Dupré, Ralph Evans, Elizabeth Futral, Steven White, and Jonathan Mack.  Following a performance with Nicholas Loren at the Rossborough Festival, The Washington Post called her “a most impressive accompanist.”   She currently serves as Executive Director and pianist for Opera Roanoke.

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