PRODUCTION

Louisa Proske // Director/Adaptor
Chloe Treat // Director
Rick Sordelet // Fight Director
Daniel Schlosberg // Music Direction and New Arrangements
Michaël Attias and Louisa Proske // New English Dialogue
Concertmaster // Jacob Ashworth
Sara Brown // Scenic Design
Beth Goldenberg // Costume Design
Oliver Wason // Lighting Design
Will Gardiner // Electronics
Corinne Gologursky // Props Design
Amanda Quaid // Speech Coach (English Dialogues)

Wolf Canyon scene collaboratively re-composed by Will Gardiner and Daniel Schlosberg

Derrell Accon

Kaspar

Bass-baritone Derrell Acon holds a doctoral degree (19th-Century Opera History and Performance) and Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). He graduated summa cum laude from Lawrence University and Conservatory of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government, with a minor in Ethnic Studies. 

Dr. Acon has been featured within operatic and scholarly contexts in Italy, Germany, Ethiopia, Oman, and America. His work on Black Motivation has been presented at conferences such as those for the National Association for Ethnic Studies and National Association of Negro Musicians. He is a 2013-2014 United States of America Fulbright Scholar to Italy, where he researched Verdian opera and lectured on the Black experience in America, and an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grantee. 

Prominent operatic roles include Leporello in Don Giovanni, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, Kecal in The Bartered Bride, Escamillo in Carmen, and the title role in Don Bucefalo. He has recently made debuts at National Opera Center in New York City, Queen City Opera in Cincinnati, the Kalihu and Palace Theaters in Hawaii, Semperoper Dresden, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Deutsches Theater München, Kölner Philharmonie, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Haifa Congress Center, Tel-Aviv Charles Bronfman Hall, Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari, and La Compagnia del BelCanto di Milano.

Daniel Klein

Kaspar

Daniel Klein has been hailed by the New York Times for his 'stentorian bassbaritone' and 'dark and steely voice. Audiences and critics have found his performances to be imaginative, adventurous, and occasionally downright terrifying. Recent appearances include the roles Spencer Coyle in the New York Premier of Benjamin Britten's Owen Wingrave with the Little Opera Theater of New York, Judge Moriarty in the New York Premier of Huang Ruo's Bound with Fresh Squeezed Opera, and the title role of Verdi's Falstaff with the International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia, Mexico. This Fall he will appear return to Heartbeat Opera in the role Kaspar in Weber's Der Freischutz . His previous role with Heartbeat; 'Donnie' Don Pizarro in a 'Black Lives Matter' themed Fidelio received international acclaim for it's powerful and timely message. Other recent appearances include Marcello in La Boheme and Baron Gondremark in La vie Parisienne with Long Island Opera; Fra Melitone in La Forza del Destino with New Amsterdam Opera; Hyde in the New York Premier of Carlisle Floyd’s The Prince of Players with the Little Opera Theater of New York and the bass soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Handel's Messiah with Garden State Symphony. Daniel recently created the title role Frank London’s new opera Hatuey: A Memory of Fire at the Sundance Theater Lab, and appeared as the Recluse in London’s Talmudic-Klezmer Oratorio A night in the Old Marketplace in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Summer Hassan

Agathe

Summer Hassan is an alumnus of the prestigious Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist program at Los Angeles Opera where she preformed in Dido and Aeneas, the Magic Flute, the Ghosts of Versailles, Macbeth as well as many others. She made her company debut in 2014 and sang with them again in the 2017-18 season. In 2016 she sang Musetta in La Bohème at Wolf Trap Opera. Ms. Hassan was a 2017 Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition Semi-Finalist and selected to sing in Operalia in 2018. She has also performed with Cincinnati opera and the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. www.summerhassansoprano.com

Katherine Whyte

Agathe

Katherine Whyte has performed on opera and concert stages across her native Canada, the United States and Europe. Opera Today has hailed her for her “keen artistic sensibility” while the San Francisco Classical Voice has praised her “her glamorous, vibrato-rich voice”. Last season included Beethoven’s Ninth with the Louisiana Symphony, joining Opera Hong Kong as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Adina in L’elisir d’amore with Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra, and returning to the Metropolitan Opera for productions of Suor Angelica and Don Giovanni. The 2019-2020 season will see her return to the Metropolitan Opera to cover Despina in Così fan tutte and her debut with Intermountain Opera Bozeman as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro.

Ian Koziara

Max

Chicago native Ian Koziara was a three-year member of The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, having worked with such notable conductors as Yannick Nezet-Séguin, Bertrand de Billy, and Marco Armiliato. He debuted at the Metropolitan Opera as Enrique in Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel, with subsequent appearances in Parsifal, The Magic Flute, and La Fanciulla del West. Ian’s recent appearance as Fritz in Franz Schreker’s Der Ferne Klang (Oper Frankfurt) was hailed by the Wiesbadener Tagblatt as “so strong as Fritz that one is amazed at how naturally a sense of beauty and despair can go hand in hand”. His performance in the title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo yielded accolades from the Washington Post, praising his “striking beauty of tone… His King was royal and haunted and evoked nothing so much as Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes”. 

Ian is equally at home on the concert stage as in opera.  In Honegger’s Le Roi David, Ian was described as “a vigorous, compelling David… using his powerful voice to convey the full range of David’s very human strengths and weaknesses.” His repertoire in non-opera works includes Messiah, The Dream of Gerontius, and Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, among many others. 

Next season, Ian will make his role debut as Max in Weber’s Der Freischütz in New York City. He will make his debut with Gustavo Dudamel and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra as Florestan in a concert production of Beethoven’s Fidelio. Ian will also return to The Glimmerglass Festival in a new, Francesca Zambello production of Wagner’s first opera, Die Feen. 

In his capacity as a member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Ian performed many excerpts and acts of roles from such works as Wagner’s Lohengrin, Berlioz’s Les Troyens, and Verdi’s Stiffelio. Ian is a graduate of Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, and Rice University in Houston, Texas. 

Casey Candebat

Max

Casey Candebat, a tenor hailing from New Orleans, is quickly garnering the attention of opera companies around the country. He is a frequent performer with San Francisco Opera, New Orleans Opera, Kansas City Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, and Opera Grand Rapids.  Last season he was heard as Orpheus in Orpheus in the Underworld, Father Grenville in Dead Man Walking, Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire, and guest soloist in various concerts and galas across the country. This season he makes his role debuts as Max in Der Freischütz and King Charles VII in Orleanskaya Dyeva. He is a graduate of the illustrious Merola Opera Program, where he was a two-time participant in the summer training program. With the New Orleans Opera, he has been featured in their productions of Orpheus in the Underworld, Dead Man Walking, Salome, Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, Il Trittico, Manon Lescaut, La Bohème, and Turandot. Equally at home in concert work and oratorio, Mr. Candebat recently performed Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with the New West Symphony in Los Angeles and with with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra this season.  He has also performed the tenor solos in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, and Schubert’s Mass in E-flat, to name a few.  A frequent recitalist, Mr. Candebat has had several highly acclaimed touring recitals including: Casey at the Movies, O Holy Night of Opera, and Scarborough Fair: Folk Songs of the British Isles. Mr. Candebat has won several prestigious vocal competitions, including the Grand Prize in the Bel Canto Foundation Voice Competition, 2011.  Mr. Candebat is a graduate of Northwestern University and Loyola University New Orleans.

Jana McIntyre

Ännchen

California native, Jana McIntyre, has been praised for her “dancer’s grace, mercurial wit, and vibrant soprano tone” (Opera News). Along with debuts as Queen of the Night (Toledo Opera and Opera Grand Rapids), the 2018-2019 season saw company debuts with Tulsa Opera (The Little Prince, Don Giovanni), Arizona Opera (Le Nozze di Figaro), Lyric Opera of Chicago (covering La Fée in Cendrillon), and Santa Fe Opera (Jano, Jenůfa). Recent highlights include performances with San Francisco Symphony, Albany Record’s release of David Briggs’ organ transcription of Mahler 8 (Mater Gloriosa), Wolf Italienisches Liederbuch in San Francisco Opera’s Recital Series, among others. 

Nicole Haslett

Ännchen

Hailed by the New York Times for her “technically accomplished coloratura” as well as, “floating lyricism,” soprano Nicole Haslett makes her Opera Hong Kong debut as Gilda in Rigoletto, and later this season returns to the company for her role debut as Ophélie in Thomas’ Hamlet in the 2019-20 season. She also returns to the role of Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos with Arizona Opera, makes her role debut as Ännchen in Der Freischütz with Heartbeat Opera, and returns to the Deutsche Oper Berlin as the Shephard in Dinorah. Last season, Ms. Haslett created the role of Kristina in the world premiere of Detlev Glanert’s Oceane with Deutsche Oper Berlin, in addition to joining the company for the 4th Blumenmädchen in Parisifal and Hirt in Tannhäuser. She also made her Toronto Symphony debut in performances of Carmina Burana under Maestro Donald Runnicles, and returned to the Metropolitan Opera for their production of Nico Muhly’s Marnie.

Eric Delagrange

Hermit

Bass Baritone Eric Delagrange is currently a second-year resident artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, where he will sing the role of Balthazar in Donizetti’s La Favorite this season. Highlights of previous seasons include Gideon March/Mr. Dashwood in Little Women with Opera in the Heights; Pistola in Falstaff, and Dr. Grenvil in La traviata with Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance; Kochubey in Mazepa, King Rene in Iolanta, and Thibaut d’Arc in The Maid of Orleans with Russian Opera Workshop. Role highlights at AVA include Vodnik in Rusalka, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, and Le Duc in Roméo et Juliette.

KEVIN MCGUIRE

Kuno

Kevin is thrilled to be making his debut with Heartbeat Opera! Broadway, National, International Tours of LES MISERABLES, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, THE SECRET GARDEN and JANE EYRE. Off Broadway: FORBIDDEN BROADWAY, BIG MAGGIE, THE SEAGULL, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, HAMLET (CSC) The New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre ROMEO AND JULIET. Company member Irish Repertory Theatre. Regional: Denver Center Theatre, American premiere FRANKENSTEIN and SWEENEY TODD, Shakespeare Theatre Company DC, HENRY IV part 1, HENRY IV part 2 directed by Michael Kahn, The Hartford Stage Company, Arizona Theatre Company, Capital Repertory Theatre, RED, MAN OF LA MANCHA, OTHER DESERT CITIES, CAMELOT, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, GeVa Theatre, The Juilliard Acting Company (Three Seasons) and the Renaissance Theatre Company. Kevin is represented by Professional Artists Agency in New York.

Quentin Oliver Lee

Killian/Ottokar

Quentin Oliver Lee is thrilled to make his Heartbeat debut. He was most recently seen as a Featured soloist in the Met Operas 2019 Porgy & Bess. Other credits ; B’way: Prince of Broadway (U/S) - Regional/B’way Tour: Phantom of the Opera (Phantom), Porgy and Bess (Porgy U/S), Festival of The Lion King (Scar), Encores! Golden Apple (Ensemble) - Opera: La Bohème (Schunard), Carmen (Escamillo), Gianni Schicchi (Gianni). Thanks to God, Angie, Jamilyn, Dan, and all who support the arts. www.QuentinOliverLee.com

Azumi O E

Samiel

azumi O E was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan. She is a former principal dancer of Butoh company Vangeline Theatre performed 9 years, assistant choreographer/ dancer for Butoh Master Katsura Kan's several world tours. Her own solo work was presented in New York, Boulder, Beijing, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, San Miguel de Allende, Puebla, Stuttgart, and Japan. Expansion of her Butoh career, she is passionate about collaborative work for MARCK his video art and live performances, duo project with Bassist Sean Ali, Trio with composer Takuya Nakamura and 3D mapped stage visualist Martin Gabor, interactive tech/sound/stage-visual projects, experimental film, Music Videos and many more. azumi is constantly at work on wide range of collaborative, and solo projects.

LOUISA PROSKE

Director/Adaptor

Louisa Proske directs opera, classical theatre, and new plays with equal passion. She is a Princess Grace Award winner, a Musical America New Artist of the Month, and the proud Founding Co-Artistic Director of Heartbeat Opera. Productions in opera include Agrippina (Lincoln Center - Carnegie Hall/ Juilliard Vocal Arts), La Bohème (Pittsburgh Festival Opera), Così fan tutte (LoftOpera), Don Giovanni, Carmen, Lucia di Lammermoor, Daphnis & Chloé (all Heartbeat Opera), Falstaff (Dell’Arte Opera), Gianni Schicchi, Riders to the Sea, La Voix Humaine (Yale Opera); the world premiere of Invisible Cities at the Italian Academy New York. Theatre productions include The White Devil (Red Bull Theater - NYTimes Critic’s Pick), peerless (nominated for a Berkshire Theatre Award for Outstanding Direction), Gaslight, This, Engagements (all Barrington Stage Company), One Day When We Were Young (Assembly, Edinburgh). 
Upcoming projects: Der Freischütz (Heartbeat Opera), The Mother of Us All (New York Philharmonic, Juilliard, Metropolitan Museum), Rinaldo (Glimmerglass Festival Debut) www.louisaproske.com

Daniel Schlosberg

Music Director/Arranger

The music of composer and pianist Daniel Schlosberg has been performed by the the Dover Quartet, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Amphion Quartet, Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Antico Moderno, and Lorelei Ensemble, at such venues as Carnegie Hall (New York), Victoria & Albert Museum (London), St. John’s Cathedral (Hong Kong), and Melbourne Recital Centre (Melbourne). Recent work includes the score for a music-theatrical adaptation of Lorca’s Once Five Years Pass at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and music direction of Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle at the Yale Repertory Theatre, where he premiered a score by David Lang. He cofounded the composer/performer ensemble INVISIBLE ANATOMY, which debuted last spring with concerts in New York City and at the Beijing Modern Music Festival. Schlosberg received a 2014 Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and 2014 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a master’s from the Yale School of Music. His work has been described as “witty” by the Wall Street Journal.

CHLOE TREAT

Director

Chloe Treat is a New York based director and choreographer. Born and raised in the great, if not occasionally problematic state of Texas; she directs and choreographs big ass musicals. Hire her to do any show with a dream ballet, a musical with 100 people that only has two weeks to rehearse, or if you're doing Seven Brides for Seven Brothers because she really wants to do that one. Some of the things she cares about, in no particular order, are: improving the representation of women on stage and in creative teams, democratizing storytelling, Pina Bausch, using the theatre as a center for community and dialogue, golden age musicals, Tennessee Williams, and Westerns!

BETH GOLDENBERG

Costume Designer

Beth Goldenberg has designed costumes for opera companies including Heartbeat Opera (Don Giovanni, Carmen, Lucia di Lammermoor, Daphnis & Chloé, Kafka Fragments), Glimmerglass (Macbeth, the little match girl passion, Stabat Mater (Glimmerglass), and On Site Opera (The Guilty Mother, The Secret Gardener ). Theater work includes BAM Next Wave (Circus: Wandering City), Red Bull Theater (The White Devil, The Changeling), Second Stage (Engagements, The Other Thing), Dallas Theatre Center (Frankenstein, The Christians), Blueprints to Freedom with both La Jolla Playhouse and Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and Hartford Stage (Henry V, Queens For A Year). She is Associate Artist with Heartbeat Opera and has an MFA from NYU Tisch.  

OLIVER WASON

Lighting Designer

Oliver Wason is an associate artist with Heartbeat Opera, and has designed many of their productions, including: Don Giovanni, Fidelio, Butterfly, Carmen, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Kafka Fragments, as well as their performance on the High Line. New York work includes The Chinese Lady, Among the Dead, House Rules (Ma-Yi); Sagittarius Ponderosa (NAATCO); Wonderland (Atlantic Theater Co. for Kids); Agrippina (Juilliard Opera). Regional credits include shows at Yale Rep, Barrington Stage, Berkeley Rep, Berkshire Theater Festival, Playmakers Rep, Triad Stage, and the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center. Faculty: Northeastern University. MFA Yale. 

CORINNE GOLOGURSKY

Props Design

Corinne Gologursky (she/they) is a prop master, artisan, and designer based in New York. Recent credits include Ain’t No Mo’ (Public Theater); Sea Wall/A Life (Public Theater); Much Ado About Nothing, Coriolanus, and Hercules (Shakespeare in the Park); Once (Bucks County Playhouse). Corinne is very excited to make art with Heartbeat again (past: Don Giovanni, Fidelio, Dragus Maximus, Hot Mama). They received their BFA in Scenic Design from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Theatre Arts. www.gologurskyprops.com