Fabio Luisi, conductor
Madama Butterfly in Concert
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Fabio Luisi, conductorFabio Luisi conducts Puccini’s beloved Madama Butterfly in concert, marking the first-ever opera performance by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra at Bravo! Vail and featuring an incredible cast of singers, joined by the Bravo! Vail Festival Chorus.
Program Highlights
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Jennifer Rowley, Cio-Cio-San (Butterfly)
Evan LeRoy Johnson, B.F. Pinkerton
Manuela Custer, Suzuki
Alessandro Luongo, Sharpless
Keith Jameson, Goro
Kidon Choi, Prince Yamadori/Uncle Bonze
Hanyi Lu, Delore (Trouble)
Bravo! Vail Festival Chorus
Duain Wolfe, founder
Taylor Martin, director
PUCCINI Madama Butterfly in concert
Pre-Concert Talk: Join us at 5:10 PM in the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater Main Lobby for a preconcert lecture.
All artists, programs, and pricing subject to change.
Program Notes
MADAMA BUTTERFLY IN CONCERT
Madama Butterfly (1902-03) GIACOMO PUCCINI (1858-1924)
Giacomo Puccini was
expecting that the elite
opera lovers of the Teatro
alla Scala in Milan would
accord a huge ovation to his new opera,
Madama Butterfly, when it opened on
Feb. 17, 1904. It was the culmination of
almost four years of work. He had been
captivated by David Belasco’s oneact play Madame Butterfly, which was
based on a story by the Philadelphia
lawyer John Luther Long that was itself
adapted from a tale by the French naval
officer and novelist Pierre Loti. When
Puccini saw the play in London in the
summer of 1900, he went backstage to
ask Belasco’s permission to develop it
into an opera. The playwright reported,
“I agreed at once ... because it was
impossible to discuss arrangements with
an impulsive Italian who has tears in his
eyes and both arms round your neck.”
Puccini embarked on the project
with his tried-and-true librettists,
Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica, who
had previously joined him on the path
to success with La bohème and Tosca.
He cast himself into researching things
Japanese in order to inject what he
considered a realistic flavor into the
sad tale of the young Japanese girl
who marries an American serviceman
and then find herself deserted by him
and left with a baby, named Dolore
(“Trouble”), as a memento. A terrific cast
was assembled, headed by soprano
Rosina Storchio in the title role, tenor
Giovanni Zenatello as Lieutenant
Pinkerton, and baritone Giuseppe de
Luca as the American consul who
tries to keep things on an even keel
as the sorry tale unfolds. Rehearsals
went smoothly, and the accomplished
conductor Cleofonte Campanini had
everything well in hand in the orchestra
pit. Puccini’s longtime publisher Giulio
Ricordi had some misgivings about
the new work, but La Scala’s general
manager Giulio Gatti-Casazza (who
would later head the Metropolitan
Opera for nearly three decades) was
enthusiastic, and Ricordi’s son Tito had
put together a production that infused
the current craze for Japonisme with
truly operatic opulence.
Nonetheless, Madama Butterfly was
hissed and booed practically from the
moment the curtain went up. According
to Gatti-Casazza, the cast behaved
with admirable poise, singing through
the din as if nothing unusual were
happening. The audience exercised
restraint only at the opera’s end, which,
he recalled, was greeted by “absolutely
glacial silence.” Giacosa launched into a
backstage tirade about the disrespect
the audience had shown for the libretto.
Puccini was flabbergasted; but, being
experienced in the ways of Italian opera,
he was not unfamiliar with the feared
claque, the army of strong-voiced
opera-goers who could be hired to
ensure or deny success.
He withdrew his new opera after
that single performance and subjected
it to drastic revision, altering the division
of its acts, tightening many passages,
and adding a considerable expanse
that included what would become the
evergreen tenor aria “Addio, fiorito asil.”
He introduced the revised version of
Madama Butterfly at the more modest
Teatro Grande in Brescia, forty miles
to the east, before an audience that
had been historically supportive of his
endeavors. Illica termed the success in
Brescia to be colossal, and the audience
demanded encores of seven numbers.
An extended engagement ensued in
Brescia, and Madama Butterfly was
instantly added to the calendars of
opera houses throughout Italy. Before
the year was out, it was produced
in Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and
Alexandria. In its first decade it would be
mounted in dozens of productions from
Stockholm to Saigon, from Odessa to
Johannesburg, most often in its original
Italian but also in English, French,
Spanish, German, Czech, Hungarian,
Polish, Slovenian, Swedish, Norwegian,
Danish, and Croatian.
Puccini continued to tinker with
the score, effecting further cuts for a
1905 production at London’s Covent
Garden and a somewhat reconfigured
version for the Paris Opéra in 1906.
Producers today have various options to
choose from, and some opera houses
have come up with their own versions
that combine details from different
early renderings. A curious footnote
emanating from the variety of early
editions is confusion about the name
of the tenor lead. At the disastrous La
Scala opening, his name was given
as Sir Francis Blummy Pinkerton — a
moniker that, to English speakers,
sounds neither dashing nor American. In
the immediately ensuing emendations,
the librettists and composer changed
it to Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton. (That
accords with the name as given in
Long’s story and Belasco’s play.) The
original libretto published by the house
of Ricordi accordingly identifies him as
“B.F. Pinkerton,” but some printings of
their score held on to the “F.B.” initials in
the cast list. You will find him identified
either way in writings about the piece.
Audiences in the United
States adored Madama Butterfly,
notwithstanding that the bad guy is
an American naval officer. The opera
first reached our shores in October
1906, given in English in Washington,
D.C., and it made it to the stage of
the Metropolitan Opera in February
1907, with the starry cast of Geraldine
Farrar, Enrico Caruso, and Antonio
Scotti singing in the presence of
the composer. According to OPERA
America, an organization that tracks
matters related to the lyric stage,
Madama Butterfly is now the third most
frequently performed opera in North
America, outranked only by Puccini’s
La bohème and Bizet’s Carmen. Puccini
was justified in not anticipating his
opera’s failure, but he could hardly have
expected that degree of success either.
© James M. Keller
Presto Club Booklet
Artist Biographies
Fabio Luisi
Jennifer Rowley
Evan LeRoy Johnson
Manuela Custer
Alessando Luongo
Keith Jameson
Kidon Choi
Fabio Luisi
Photo Credit: Clarissa Lapolla
Fabio Luisi
Music Director
Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Directorship
GRAMMY Award-winning Italian conductor Fabio Luisi is set to embark on his sixth season as Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, his ninth as Principal Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and his fourth as Principal Conductor of Tokyo’s NHK Orchestra. Also serving as Music Director of Puglia’s Festival della Valle d’Itria and Emeritus Conductor of Turin’s RAI National Symphony Orchestra, Luisi has previously held key positions at orchestras and opera houses including the Dresden Staatskapelle, Vienna Symphony, Zurich Opera, and Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Luisi’s 2025/26 programming reflects the breadth and scope of his musicianship. Upcoming Dallas Symphony highlights include premieres of works by Angélica Negrón and Sophia Jani, concert performances of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, and Mahler’s Fourth Symphony on tour in California. Luisi’s NHK Symphony season features a new commission from Dai Fujikura and symphonies by Nielsen, Mahler, Bruckner, and Schmidt. To celebrate the Danish National Symphony’s centennial, he and the orchestra perform symphonies by Mahler, Beethoven, and Brahms, alongside two serial works by Schoenberg, whose 150th anniversary falls this year. They mark this milestone with the most extensive collection of the composer’s orchestral works ever released by Deutsche Grammophon, on which label they also issue Scriabin’s complete orchestral music. In high demand as a guest conductor, Luisi returns to Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Vienna Symphony, as well as helming productions of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra and Hindemith’s Cardillac at Dutch National Opera and Zurich Opera respectively.
The conductor’s previous appointments include General Music Director of the Zurich Opera and Philharmonia Zurich; Principal Conductor of New York’s Metropolitan Opera; Chief Conductor of the Vienna Symphony; General Music Director of Dresden’s Staatskapelle and Sächsische Staatsoper; Artistic Director of the Leipzig Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk; Music Director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande; Chief Conductor of Vienna’s Tonkünstler-Orchester; and Artistic Director of the Graz Symphony. He makes frequent guest appearances with the Bavarian Radio Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, China NCPA Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, La Scala Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Saito Kinen Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Vienna Philharmonic, as well as leading productions at the Bavarian State Opera, Berlin State Opera, Bregenz Festival, Deutsche Oper Berlin, La Scala, Salzburg Festival, and Vienna State Opera.
Luisi has amassed a sizeable and distinguished discography. Recorded with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon, his complete Nielsen symphonic cycle was recognized with both Limelight and Abbiati Awards for Best Orchestral Recording of 2023. His account of the composer’s Fourth and Fifth Symphonies was named 2023 Recording of the Year by Gramophone, which featured all three volumes in its list of the top 20 Nielsen recordings of all time. Luisi and the Danish National Symphony subsequently released a complementary recording of Nielsen’s concertos for violin, flute, and clarinet.
The conductor previously received a Grammy Award for his leadership of the last two operas of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, when Deutsche Grammophon’s DVD release of the full cycle, recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera, was named Best Opera Recording of 2012. His output also includes operas by Salieri, Verdi, and Bellini; orchestral works by Berlioz, Wagner, Verdi, Rachmaninov, and Bruckner with the Philharmonia Zurich; symphonies by Schumann, Brahms, Liszt, Respighi, Honegger, and Austria’s Franz Schmidt; and award-winning recordings for Sony Classical with the Staatskapelle Dresden.
A native of Genoa, Fabio Luisi studied at the city’s Conservatorio Niccolò Paganini and the University for Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. His honors include the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, Italy’s Cavaliere della Repubblica Italiana and Commendatore della Stella d’Italia, Genoa’s Grifo d’Oro, Denmark’s Knight’s Cross, and an honorary doctorate from New York’s St. Bonaventure University. Off the podium, he is an accomplished composer and maker of perfumes, which he produces for his own company: www.flparfums.com
Jennifer Rowley
Photo Credit: Matthew Holler
Soprano Jennifer Rowley is acclaimed worldwide for her unforgettable voice and remarkable stage presence, singing a richly varied repertoire that includes many of opera's greatest heroines.
Ms. Rowley’s 2025/26 season features exciting house and role debuts, beginning with her season-opening Washington National Opera debut as the title role in Aida. She sings the title role in Madama Butterfly, conducted by Fabio Luisi, with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, including a summer performance at Bravo!Vail, and joins beloved Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli in concert at The Metropolitan Opera. The spring season includes role debuts at Teatro Carlo Felice (Genoa) as Verdi’s Lady Macbeth, and the title role in Turandot at Florida Grand Opera. Ms. Rowley also returns to The Met to cover Maddalena in Andrea Chénier.
The soprano began the 2024/25 season as Minnie in La Fanciulla del West at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China in a production by Thaddeus Strassberger and maestro Carlo Rizzi. Ms. Rowley followed this with a reprisal of a signature role, Amelia Grimaldi in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra with Opernhaus Zürich, and her house debut at Buenos Aires' Teatro Colón, as the title role in Verdi's Aida. She also returned to Teatro Lirico di Cagliari for additional performances of the role. Other engagements included her house debut with Teatro Petruzzelli Bari as the title role in Puccini's Tosca, followed by further performances of the role with the Richmond Symphony.
The past several seasons have introduced Ms. Rowley to new audiences across the globe: the Bayerische Staatsoper, for a concert performance of Italian and Zarzuela operatic favorites; Teatro Carlo Felice, for the title role of Madama Butterfly, under the baton of maestro Fabio Luisi; Teatro Regio Torino, as Minnie in La Fanciulla del West; Staatsoper Berlin Unter den Linden, for the title role in Tosca and Leonora in Il Trovatore; and Semperoper Dresden, as Valentine in Les Huguenots and Tosca.
On the concert stage, Ms. Rowley performed concert performances of Tosca with the Israel Philharmonic led by maestro Zubin Mehta. She was the soprano soloist in Beethoven's colossal Missa Solemnis with the Philadelphia Orchestra both in Philadelphia at the Kimmel Center, and New York City’s Carnegie Hall, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and sang Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with the Richmond Symphony.
Other recent and career highlights include the title role of Adriana Lecouvreur, Tosca and Leonora in Il Trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera; Leonora at Opéra de Paris and Maggio Musicale Florentino; her house and role debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona as the title role of Aida; the title role in Tosca at Opéra de Marseille; her house and role debut at the National Theatre Prague as Amelia in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera; and Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly and Hannah Glawari in Lehár's The Merry Widow for Palm Beach Opera.
Audiences will remember Jennifer Rowley’s triumphant Metropolitan Opera role debut as Roxane in Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac (2017) with Roberto Alayna in the title role, which inspired universal critical praise. The New York Times raved that this was a “break-through moment,” further adding that for the heartbreaking final scene, “Ms. Rowley sang with an intensity of expression and a subtly embittered sound that suggested a singer for enormous gift and promise.” The New York Classical Review echoed these statements, also calling this “a breakout night for Ms. Rowley.” Operawire called her Roxane “the heart of the production,” The Observer said she is “a superb artist,” while ConcertoNet called her Roxane “a revelation.” Ms. Rowley previously made her Metropolitan Opera stage debut in a sparkling portrayal of Musetta in La bohème.
Ms. Rowley is an avid mentor to the next generation of opera’s young artists, taking the torch from her mentor Martina Arroyo. During the summer of 2022, she created and implemented the inaugural season of Jennifer Rowley’s Aria Bootcamp in Sarasota, FL, which became a fully formed young artist training program and nonprofit in 2023. Ms. Rowley holds an annual artist residency at her alma matter, Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music. Ms. Rowley led an internationally acclaimed Virtual Artist Residency with Fort Worth Opera during the COVID-19 pandemic, where she held weekly themed Zoom masterclasses, engaging lectures, and casual Instagram Live chats with other singers, directors, coaches, and opera industry professionals. The success of that series led her to create an exclusive, six-week Virtual Audition Intensive.
Ms. Rowley’s calendar includes an active seminar and masterclass series for colleges and universities internationally. She has taught masterclasses and seminars for NATS NY and Tampa chapters, Penn State University, SUNY Potsdam, Bowling Green State University, the University of Miami, and for the young artist programs at Shreveport Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Fort Worth Opera, and Toledo Opera. Ms. Rowley has served as voice faculty for several international festivals including Vincero Academy, Camerata Bardi Academy, the International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia, and Vienna Summer Music Festival. She is also a recommended judge for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.
Ms. Rowley is a highly decorated soprano who has been recognized by many international competitions. She was awarded the 2012 Richard Tucker Career Grant, was one of the top prize winners in the 2013 Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation Competition and the 2011 Opera Index Vocal Competition, a winner of the 2011 William Mattheus Sullivan Musical Foundation awards, a first prize-winner of the 2011 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, a grant winner of the 2011 Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Competition, and the winner of the 2010 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition for the Michigan District.
Ms. Rowley holds a Master of Music degree from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music. She holds a Certificate of Performance Achievement from the Instituto Superior del Arte of the Teatro Colón and was a Max Kade Scholar at Middlebury College’s German for Singers Program. Ms. Rowley serves as an advisory board member for Classical Singer Magazine.
Evan LeRoy Johnson
American tenor Evan LeRoy Johnson’s 25/26 season includes debuts at The Metropolitan Opera for Arabella (Count Elemer) and Lyric Opera of Chicago for Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton) and a return to National Theatre in Prague for Idomeneo (Title role). Evan will also debut with the Dallas Symphony for concert performances of Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton) conducted by Mo. Fabio Luisi.
Evan began his last season with a hometown debut at Minnesota Opera in Roméo et Juliette (Roméo) followed by returns to San Francisco Opera for La bohème (Rodolfo), and National Theatre in Prague for Medea (Giasone). Evan also debuted with the Canadian Opera Company in Eugene Onegin (Lenski). In 23/24, Evan made debuts at the National Theatre in Prague for Rusalka (Prince) and Royal Danish Opera for Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton) with returns to Glyndebourne Festival and BBC Proms for Carmen (Don José) and Bayerische Staatsoper for Otello (Cassio) and Tannhäuser (Walther).
Recent engagements include his debut with San Francisco Opera in Eugene Onegin (Lenski) followed by a return to the Ensemble at Bayerische Staatsoper where he was seen in Dialogues des Carmélites (Chevalier de la Force), Ariadne auf Naxos (Brighella), Salome (Narraboth), Manon Lescaut (Edmondo), Die Zauberflöte (Erster Geharnischter), and Otello (Cassio). Evan made debuts at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and Berliner Philharmoniker in Die Frau ohne Schatten (Die Erscheinung eines Jünglings) conducted by Kirill Petrenko, Salzburger Festspiele for a new Krzysztof Warlikowski production of Macbeth (Malcolm) conducted by Philippe Jordan, and a concert of Bizet and Bernstein at Musikfest Bremen with the Bremer Philharmoniker.
Evan joined the Ensemble at the Bayerische Staatsoper in 21/22 and was seen in La bohème (Rodolfo), Die tote Stadt (Graf Albert), Der fliegende Holländer (Steuermann), Il trovatore (Ruiz), and Die Frau ohne Schatten (Der Bucklinge). Additional engagements included Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton) for his debut at The Dallas Opera, and his return to Oper Frankfurt in a new production directed by R. B. Schlather. Other recent engagements include a debut at Lyric Opera of Kansas City in Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo) and the Verdi Messa di Requiem with Opera Philadelphia.
Evan made his Bayerische Staatsoper debut in a new production of Otello (Cassio) conducted by Kirill Petrenko, Oper Frankfurt debut in Barrie Kosky’s production of Carmen (Don José), and Glyndebourne Festival debut in Rusalka (Prince) conducted by Robin Ticciati. He also returned to Opera Philadelphia for La bohème (Rodolfo) and performed Der fliegende Holländer (Steuermann) in concert with the Milwaukee Symphony conducted by Edo de Waart. Mr. Johnson made his debut at Opernhaus Zürich in Salome (Narraboth), at Opera Philadelphia in Carmen Don José, and Des Moines Metro Opera in Rusalka (Prince). He made his German debut at Oldenburgisches Staatstheater in a new production of Carmen (Don José) and sang the Verdi Messa di Requiem with the Columbus Symphony. Evan made his European debut at the Norwegian National Opera in Calixto Bieto’s production of Britten’s War Requiem conducted by Lothar Koenigs.
Manuela Custer
Manuela Custer
Mezzo-Soprano
Born in Novara, Manuela Custer made her debut at the Teatro Regio in Turin and since then appeared regularly in the most prestigious venues in the world including: La Scala, Montecarlo, Verona, Genoa, Venice, Salzburg, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Detroit, Dallas, Rome, Paris, Seville, Pesaro, London, Granada, Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Cordoba, Palma de Mallorca, Bilbao, Tenerife, Florence, Leipzig, Wien and San Sebastian in a wide repertoire raging from baroque music (Incoronazione di Poppea, Orlando furioso, Giustino, Griselda, Tamerlano, Didone), to Italian belcanto (Barbiere di Siviglia, Cenerentola, Capuleti e Montecchi, Tancredi, Italiana in Algeri, Anna Bolena) to contemporary composers. She has been conducted, among others, by: Abbado, Abel, Armiliato, Balsadonna, Battistoni, Bernàcer, Bignamini, Biondi, Bisanti, Bonynge, Callegari, Carella, Ceccato, Chailly, Chung, Curtis, Fasolis, Fogliani, Gardiner, Gelmetti, Harding, López-Cobos, Luisi, Marcon, Mariotti, Matheuz, Mazzola, Montanari, Noseda, Olmi, Oren, Palumbo, Pidò, Renzetti, Rousset, Rustioni, Santi, Scappucci, Scimone, Stenz, Valcuha, Villaume, Viotti and Wellber and directors such as: Abbado, Carsen, Cigni, Copley, Crivelli, Curran, de Ana, Del Monaco, Fo, Gandini, Joel, Kokkos, Ligorio, Livermore, Maestrini, Martone, Michieletto, Miller, Pizzi, Rechi, Rigola, Ronconi, Sagi, Talevi and Vick. Her extensive discography includes CDs and DVDs of complete operas and recitals for Opera Rara, Naïve, Warner Fonit, Virgin Classics, Dynamic, Tactus, Bongiovanni. Among her recent and future engagements: Dorilla in Tempe in Venice and Wexford; A hand of bridge, Satyricon, Anna Bolena and Wozzeck in Venice; Madama Butterfly in Venice, Verona, Nantes, Angers, Rennes, Genova, Nice, Antibes, Vichy, Ancona and Dallas; Lady, Be good, Otello and La sonnambula in Naples; Andrea Chénier in Bologna, Monte-Carlo, Genova, Parma and Turin; Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi in Bologna; La fille du régiment and Leoncavallo’s La bohème in Turin; Jenufa in Rome; Cavalleria rusticana in Genova and Valladolid.
Alessando Luongo
Photo Credit: Michele Monasta
Alessandro Luongo
Baritone
Alessandro Luongo is a regular guest at some of the most prestigious international opera houses, where he has established himself as one of the leading performers of his generation in the Mozartian repertoire, bel canto, and selected 20th-century works. Among the prominent stages he has had the opportunity to grace are the Teatro Real in Madrid, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, Glyndebourne Festival, NCPA in Beijing, Les Arts in Valencia, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Ravenna Festival, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, ABAO in Bilbao and many others. Noteworthy is his frequent collaboration with Maestro Riccardo Muti in A significant highlight of his career has been his association with the role of Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, performed in major international productions. Equally noteworthy is his participation in the world premieres of Giorgio Battistelli’s latest compositions, including Il Medico dei Pazzi and Le Baruffe as well as Miseria e Nobiltà by Marco Tutino. Among the most notable moments of recent seasons are Roberto Devereux at Teatro La Fenice in Venice conducted by Riccardo Frizza, Pagliacci (as Silvio) at Teatro Regio in Parma under the baton of Andrea Battistoni, Don Giovanni at Teatro Regio in Turin with Riccardo Muti, Madama Butterfly at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa conducted by Fabio Luisi and Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Macerata Opera Festival and Teatro La Fenice in Venice conducted by Renato Palumbo, among others. Born in Pisa, he began his vocal studies with Fulvia Bertoli and went on to win several international competitions, including the first prize at the As.Li.Co. Competition. His discography includes a recording of Roméo et Juliette by Gounod (as Mercutio) for Decca.
Keith Jameson
Keith Jameson has enjoyed a 28-year career as a professional opera and concert singer. He has been heard nationally at the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, New York City Opera, The Santa Fe Opera and many others. Internationally, he has performed Candide with Opera di Firenze at the Maggio Musicale and with the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo; the Novice in Billy Budd with Opera di Roma and Flute/Thisbe in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Valencia, Spain and Palermo, Sicily. He has sung Nanki-Poo in The Mikado at English National Opera in London; he performed at the Sejii Ozawa Matsumoto Festival in Japan in Falstaff, Gianni Schicchi, L’Enfant et les sortileges and Eugene Onegin.
Jameson sang with Boston Baroque, in many performances of Handel’s Messiah and in Haydn’s The Creation and Lord Nelson Mass, both commercially released on CD. He can be seen as Remendado in Carmen, Bardolfo in Falstaff, both on DVD with The Metropolitan Opera, and as Yab the Elf in the world premiere of Mark Adamo’s Becoming Santa Claus, on DVD with The Dallas Opera. He can also be heard as Grandpa Joe in Peter Ash’s The Golden Ticket, recorded live with Atlanta Opera.
Jameson was the Founder and Director of the Greenwood Music Festival from 2007-2013 and he is the composer of the children’s opera Petunia, based on the book by Roger Duvoisin, which received its world premiere with FBN Productions’ Opera for Kids! in South Carolina in 2014. During FBN’s tour that spring, Petunia was seen by more than 11,000 kids and adults. In 2018, Jameson appeared as J.B. Williams in the world premiere of Why is Eartha Kitt Trying to Kill Me?: A Love Story, a one-man opera written for him, with UrbanArias in Washington, DC. After 24 years in New York City, he relocated back to his hometown of Greenwood, South Carolina in May 2020, where he is the Church Music Director at First Baptist Church of Greenwood. Jameson is a graduate of Furman University and the Eastman School of Music.
Kidon Choi
Baritone Kidon Choi’s 25/26 season begins with a return to San Diego Opera for Pagliacci (Tonio) followed by Cavalleria Rusticana (Alfio) / Pagliacci (Tonio) and La traviata (Germont) with Opera San José. On the concert stage he will debut with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Bravo! Vail in Madama Butterfly (Bonze & Yamadori).
Last season, Kidon returned to Opera San Josè for La bohème (Marcello) which was followed by his company debuts with Arizona Opera in Aida (Amonasro) and The Atlanta Opera in La bohème (Marcello). Additionally, he joined the LA Opera to cover the title role in Rigoletto. In 23/24 he debuted with San Diego Opera for Madama Butterfly (Sharpless), a return to The Cleveland Orchestra for Die Zauberflöte, and he joined the roster of the Lyric Opera of Chicago for Aida. In concert, he appeared with the KBS Symphony in Korea for Beethoven Symphony No. 9. Kidon recently returned to The Korea National Opera for Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Four Villains), made his role and company debut with Opera San José for Tosca (Scarpia), and his company debut with San Francisco Opera for Madama Butterfly (Prince Yamadori) and Die Frau ohne Schatten (Night Watchman #2).
Kidon made his debut with The Cleveland Orchestra in Otello (Montano) conducted by Franz Welser-Möst and returned to Wolf Trap Opera for La traviata (Germont). Recent appearances include La fanciulla del West (Jack Rance) with The Korea National Opera, scenes from Verdi’s Otello at the Bay Street Theatre followed by debuts at North Carolina Opera in I pagliacci (Tonio) conducted by Keitaro Harada and Opera Idaho in La bohème (Marcello).
He debuted at Wolf Trap Opera as the title role in Rigoletto and returned to Chautauqua Opera for Rigoletto following his debut in La bohème (Marcello). Additional performance credits include in La traviata (Germont), Aida (Amonasro), Così fan tutte (Don Alfonso), L’elisir d’amore (Dr. Dulcamara), Haydn’s Orlando Paladino (Rodomonte), and in Hänsel und Gretel (Peter). On the concert stage he has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
As a member of the prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera, he was seen in La fanciulla del West (José Castro) conducted by Marco Armiliato, Otello (Herald) conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, and Madama Butterfly (Prince Yamadori) conducted by Jader Bignamini.
Kidon is a Sullivan Foundation Grant recipient. He received second prize in the Giulio Gari International Vocal Competition, fourth prize in the Loren L. Zachary Competition, first prize in the Alfredo Silipigni Vocal Competition, first prize/audience prize in the Cooper-Bing competition, third prize in the Opera at Florham Vocal Competition, second prize in the Gerda Lissner Competition, the Major Award in the Opera Index Vocal Competition, and was also a grant winner in the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation auditions.
Kidon earned his professional studies diploma from Mannes School of Music, his master’s degree at Manhattan School of Music, and his bachelor’s degree from Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea.
LAWN SCREEN: Bravo! Vail is pleased to offer the lawn screen experience at this evening's concert.
PRESTO CLUB: Presto Club Night: Youth ages 8–14 are invited to attend pre-concert activities and social lawn experience on this concert. Click here to learn more.
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