ADA Artist Management is thrilled to welcome composer Johanny Navarro, conductor Michelle Rofrano, and tenor Matthew Pearce to our roster of artists. Young Puerto Rican composer Johanny Navarro is one of the most exceptional artists of her generation. Navarro has worked on commissions for important musical soloists including Elisa Torres, Luis Miguel Rojas, and Andrea González Caballero as well as the Multicultural Music Group, Inc. and the Boston Opera Collaborative. Additionally, she has composed for ensembles such as The Catholic University of America Symphony Orchestra, American Harp Society, Inc., New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, Victory Players, and Coralia from University of Puerto Rico. Johanny's opera, ¿Y los Pasteles? , Ópera Jíbara en dos actos, a work for which she was awarded the Discovery Grant (2020) from Opera Grants for Female Composers by Opera America, is scheduled to premiere in July 2022 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Navarro is a resident artist with American Lyric Theater in New York. Learn more about Johanny. Michelle Rofrano is an Italian American conductor with a keen interest in the intersection of art and social activism. An avid opera conductor, she is the Music Director of City Lyric Opera, a women-led company in NYC. Recently, she has led productions of The Queen of Spades and Trouble in Tahiti with T he Glimmerglass Festival; Telemann's comic opera Don Quichotte at Camacho's Wedding with Opera Saratoga; the New York premiere of Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon with City Lyric Opera; Le nozze di Figaro with the Crane School of Music; Trouble in Tahiti, Service Provider, Avow, and A Flourish of Green with Westminster Choir College; Così fan tutte and The Turn of the Screw with DC Public Opera ; Così fan tutte with the Oberlin in Italy opera festival; and Suor Angelica with New Jersey Opera Project. She has served as assistant conductor for productions of La bohéme and Le nozze di Figaro with Florida Grand Opera ; The Cunning Little Vixen, La Traviata, Blue, and Silent Night with The Glimmerglass Festival; Eugene Onegin and Salome with Spoleto Festival USA ; The Merry Wives of Windsor and L'elisir d'amore with The Julliard School Opera; Man of La Mancha with Opera Saratoga; and La bohéme with Opera Birmingham. Learn more about Michelle. Praised for his “confidence,” “brightness,” and “high level of control” (OperaWire), Matthew Pearce is a recent graduate of the Cafritz Young Artist Program at Washington National Opera who hails from the small town of Union, Kentucky. In the 2022-2023 season, the rising spinto will make his professional debut with Portland Opera as Don José in their production of Carmen. During his 2021-2022 season, Mr. Pearce performed the role of Don José Francesca Zambello’s production of Carmen conducted by Evan Rogister at Washington National Opera, and he participated in the Kennedy Center’s Honors in a tribute for Justino Diaz. Learn more about Matthew.

"On June 7, “The Street” made its debut. . . Marcus Amaker, Charleston’s first Poet Laureate, narrated the captivating verse of scholar and librettist Alice Goodman, while an eight-person choir and a single harp, masterfully handled by Parker Ramsay, made for fluid call and response. Amaker’s alluring, interpretive cadence brought the intricacy of Goodman’s modernized text to life." Post and Courier

" With a superb cast of singers. . . vocally, Bix was up to the score’s Heldentenor demands, singing ardently with big heroic tone and clarion top notes throughout." - Chicago Classical Review

“Patrick Terry beautifully matched to Sophie Bevan in their moving duet” Telegraph “The evening ultimately belongs to its two countertenors… Patrick Terry’s reflective warmth and tonal beauty.” The Guardian “Patrick Terry is excellent as the wavering Andronico.” The Times “sung with great brilliance by Patrick Terry.” The Arts Desk “Patrick Terry’s countertenor is of a softer, more reflective hue, and it’s a lovely counterpart to Pe’s shine. It’s been very satisfying to watch Terry progress during the past decade from RAM student, to Kathleen Ferrier prize winner, to Royal Opera House Jette Park Artist and now to a firm and deserved foothold in the profession. Andronico’s slow, lyrical arias of love were heart-meltingly expressive, and he tripped lightly through the roulades too” Opera Today “No less technically versatile was Patrick Terry’s obsequious Andronico, his portrayal capturing his love/duty dilemma and dispatching plaintive and explosive arias to Sophie Bevan’s limpid Asteria with equal assurance.” Bach Track

ADA’s updated website is our newest tool to highlight and promote the work our artists have been doing not only on the opera stage, but throughout their personal artistic journeys. At ADA we celebrate the humanity and unique outlook of each member of our singular roster, inviting them to share more about their identity and passions, both as artists and as people.

Original by Johanny Navarro, the production is presented on July 28 and 30 at the Center for Fine Arts in Santurce. (translated from Spanish) The opera “And the cakes?” It is a transgressive piece in many aspects. Rarely does an opera in Spanish appear on local stages, with a story inspired by Puerto Rican folklore, specifically in the typical Puerto Rican Christmas dish, and also written by a woman. This is the case with the production “And the cakes? Jíbara Opera in two acts”, composed by the Puerto Rican Johanny Navarro , whose premiere will take place on July 28 and 30 at the René Marqués Drama Hall at the Center for Fine Arts in Santurce. It was originally announced for January 13 and 15, but due to the pandemic it was postponed. The piece is presented by Teatro de la Ópera and Pro Arte Musical. For the composer, it is important to continue opening the opera to diverse themes and audiences, representative of modern societies, something that she has been working on as artist-in-residence of the American Lyric Theater, a contemporary opera company. “If you think of the great operas, the great works of art, well, they are all by white, European men; So there's a supremacist thought in that idea of ​​what the opera should sound like, how the opera should be appreciated, who should see the opera, who can afford a ticket to the opera, and all those thoughts right now we're trying to break down , saying, 'I can write opera, I can write opera in Spanish as a woman, anyone who wants to see an opera can do it,'” said Navarro, who received a grant from the Opera Grants for Female Composers program of Opera America for the performance of the opera. part. "The idea with this theme (pastels) is to be able to open space so that people who have never seen opera come, or people who have seen opera all their lives, also come and enjoy a very different night." Continue reading...

"Soprano Jasmine Habersham was vocally luminous as Gilda, a role she sang earlier this year in Opera North’s production of Rigoletto (in Leeds, UK), and is scheduled to reprise at Utah Opera in March 2023." – Earrelevant

Sparks Commissions: Shawn Chang: forthcoming, 2023 *Natalie Draper: She Who Continues , poetry by Judy Grahn *Rachel DeVore Fogarty: From the Woolworth Tower , poetry by Sara Teasedale *John Glover: After Him , poetry by Michael Kelly, C.P. Cavafy, and Frank O’Hara *Reinaldo Moya: Ciudad perdida , poetry by Adalber Salas Hernández *Nailah Nombeko: Nobody Knows, poetry by Mahzi Kane Shawn Okpebholo: Freedom on the Move - Songs in Flight, poetry by Tsitsi Jaji, Crystal Simone Smith, and Tjehimba Jess (forthcoming, 2023) Kamala Sankaram: 8 Phases of Luna , poetry by Mark Campbell Andrew Staniland: Earthquakes and Islands , poetry by Robin Richardson *Andrew Staniland: Ramadan 20 Vs. Covid 19 , poetry by jessica Care moore Sparks Premieres: Mark Baechle: Dear Mayor , texts compiled and edited by Mark Campbell Tom Cipullo: An Island in Autumn, poetry by Robert Cole Juliana Hall: Of That so Sweet Imprisonment , poetry by James Joyce Bruce Sled: Sestina , poetry by Lloyd Schwarz *Alan Smith: Surfing the thin Places , poetry by the composer Over 200 songSLAM world premieres, selections of which are published through New Music Shelf *Starred titles will be published via E.C. Schirmer’s Sparks & Wiry Cries Art Song Series available HERE , summer of 2022.

"Director Stephanie Havey’s crisp pacing was enhanced by ballet-like choreography, performed to the musical interludes in Verdi’s score." "This was such a convincing production that it was easy to attach to the emotion of the story, its passion, jealousy, fury and tenderness." -The Honolulu Star-Adviser Read full review.

August 10, 2022 | OperaWire "Colombian-American soprano Catalina Cuervo has signed with ADA Artist Management. The soprano took to social media and said, “I am deeply excited to finally share with you that I have officially joined the prestigious roster of ADA Artist Management. The times of God are perfect and this collaboration starts exactly when it needed to happen: It’s a new beginning for my career, time to conquer more roles and more lands and with this incredible team by my side all is possible!” She added, “Mil Gracias team ADA: Ana De Archuleta, Shawn Jeffery, Adrienne Boris, Colin Michael Brush, Katrina Thurman Hawkey, and Lisa for believing in me!” The soprano has performed at many of the leading American opera companies including the New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Arizona Opera, The Atlanta Opera, and Cincinnati Opera and has become one of the most celebrated exponents of the work “Maria de Buenos Aires.” During the 2022-23 season she is set to make her role debut as Elisetta in “Il matrimonio segreto” with Florida Grand Opera and will perform Micaëla in “Carmen” in her return to Anchorage Opera. She is also set to make her Fort Worth Opera debut in two concerts which she has curated, “Noches de Latinidad: El fuego de una mujer” and “Noches de Zarzuela.” She will also bring her her “Maria de Buenos Aires” to OPERA San Antonio. She will also make her debut with Opera Naples in “Frida” and will perform an opera gala with the South Florida Symphony." Read article on OperaWire.com .

This debut solo album from Sidney Outlaw featuring legendary pianist Warren Jones in this live recording, captured at the Brevard Music Center. Featuring works by Ricky Ian Gordon, Robert Owens, Dorothy Rudd Moore Harry T. Burleigh and the words of Langston Hughes, this debut recording marks the first recording captured in newly renovated Parker Hall at Brevard. Learn more and purchase album.

In Review of Opera Theatre or St Louis' Gianni Schicchi, New Works Bold Voices Lab, & Highway 1, USA "Levi Hernandez took a sober approach to Schicchi, with few of the bufffo-isms the assignment usually calls forth, and mercifully few of the ensuing musical approximations. It was a pleasure to hear the role sung so cleanly and fully. . . Baritone Calvin Griffin’s best bit in On the Edge came when he donned an old-lady wig to play Grandma. . . A splendid cast. . . Mezzo Rehanna Thelwell brought plenty of warmth to the role of Mary’s sympathetic Aunt Lou." - Opera News