With a score that is equally iconic and romantic as it is tragic, Verdi’s masterpiece La traviata will take you through sensational party scenes sprinkled with tender and intimate moments. This dazzling immersive operatic experience will follow Violetta through three epic stages of her life as she navigates a forbidden love with Alfredo Germont. With the hypocrisy of the upper-class as the backdrop, Violetta and Alfredo’s love threatens shame on his family forcing Violetta to forfeit her one chance of happiness.
La traviata will feature an exclusive VIP experience where you can party and share libations with the incredible cast and creative team. Follow Violetta on foot through her journey at the Residence Inn by Marriott Columbus Downtown.
La traviata will be sung in English.
This immersive experience will require moderate walking.
All VIP tickets come with one drink voucher.
#traviataOC
COVID-19 SAFETY GUIDELINES
Your safety is our top priority.
Our safety policy was designed in consultation with leading experts in the fields of epidemiology, public health, workplace/industrial hygiene, and infectious diseases.
Updated April 4, 2022
For the performances of 40 Days of Opera throughout the city of Columbus:
- Opera Columbus will no longer require that audience members show proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID test.
- Masks are encouraged for all patrons.
The Opera Columbus will continue to monitor government policy changes, Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, government mandates, and public health notices and make changes as necessary or appropriate to ensure the safety of staff, artists, and the public.
Warning
Limitation on Liability/Assumption of Risk
Any person entering the premises waives all civil liability against this premises owner and operator for any injuries caused by the inherent risk associated with contracting COVID-19 at public gatherings, except for gross negligence, willful and wanton misconduct, reckless infliction of harm, or intentional infliction of harm, by the individual or entity or the premises.
Additionally, you, on behalf of yourself and any accompanying minor, voluntarily assume all risks and danger incidental to the event for which the ticket is issued, whether occurring before, during or after the event, and you waive any claims for personal injury, death, illness, damage, loss, claim, liability, or expense, of any kind against Opera Columbus., and its agents, sponsors, officers, directors, shareholders, owners and employees.
To read more about CAPA’s safety protocol, click here.
*Guidelines are subject to change
CAST
Alexandra Razskazoff
Soprano Alexandra Razskazoff has been acclaimed by The New York Times as a “richly faceted, slinky soprano,”
whose “soprano [is] rich, distinctive of timbre, and penetrating, and possess[es] a lovely bloom on top” (Opera
News).
Alexandra most recently was named a Grand Finalist in the 2022 Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique
Laffont Competition.
In spring and summer of 2022, Alexandra will make some significant house debuts. She will perform Beethoven’s
9th Symphony with Bozeman Symphony, as well as Mimì (La bohème) at Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Chile.
She will reprise Violetta (La Traviata) with Opera Columbus, as well as Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) with Teatro
Grattacielo at the Phoenicia International Festival of The Voice. She will then travel to Provence, France to
perform a concert at the “Palais Bulle”, known as the mansion of the late fashion designer icon Pierre Cardin.
In the 2021-22 season, Alexandra made her debut as Suzel in Teatro Grattacielo’s production of Mascagni’s
L’Amico Fritz. She covered both Micaëla (Carmen) and Hanna Glawari (The Merry Widow), as well as sing
Giannetta (L’elisir d’amore) at Palm Beach Opera. She also appeared with Maryland Opera in their summer
outdoor concert series.
Of late, Alexandra has garnered much acclaim in the realm of vocal competitions. She participated in the
prestigious Operalia vocal competition in October 2021 in Moscow where she advanced to be a Semifinalist.
Alexandra was named the 1st Place winner of the 2021 James Toland Vocal Arts. Inc. Competition. Earlier in the
season she took First Prize in the Giovanni Consiglio International Competition, as well as 3rd Place in the
PARTNERS for the Arts Competition, the Orpheus Vocal Competition, the Premiere Opera Foundation +
NYIOP International Vocal, and in National Opera Association’s C. Bailey and D. Argento Vocal Competition.
She appeared with Maryland Lyric Opera on their 2019 gala, singing scenes from Faust, Fidelio and Der
Rosenkavalier with orchestra. Later in the month, Alexandra joined Washington Opera Society to perform the role
of Lisa in Lehár’s Das Land des Lächelns. She made her concert debut with the Mid-Atlantic Symphony in 2020.
Alexandra landed top prizes in a series of competitions in 2019 including the Premiere Opera Foundation +
NYIOP International Vocal Competition (Audience Choice/Bel Canto Award), the Dorothy Lincoln-Smith Vocal
Competition (1st Place) and Opera at Florham’s Violetta DuPont Vocal Competition (1st Place).
In 2018, Alexandra took 1st Prize in AVA’s Giargiari Bel Canto Vocal Competition, and 2nd Place in the Mario
Lanza Competition. She received 3rd Place in Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition in 2016.
Alexandra Razskazoff completed her formal training as a Resident Artist with the Academy of Vocal Arts, and
Minnesota Opera. She was also a Young Artist with San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, and an Apprentice
Artist with the Santa Fe Opera. While in these prestigious programs, she performed roles including Violetta (La
Traviata), Contessa Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Musetta (La bohème), Wellgunde (Das Rheingold), and
Blanche de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites). Ms. Razskazoff holds a Masters from the Juilliard School, and a
Bachelors from the Peabody Conservatory.
Bizhou Chang
Soprano Bizhou Chang is thrilled to return to Opera Columbus for her role debut as Violetta in La Traviata. This season, Ms. Chang made her role debut as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Pensacola Opera and performed Maria in the world premiere of Ellis by Gabriele Vanoni with Guerilla Opera. During the COVID-19 impacted 2020-2021 season, soprano Bizhou Chang made her feature film debut as Mimì in an innovative film version of La bohème directed by Laine Rettmer with More than Musical (Hong Kong), a co-production of Opera Omaha, Tri Cities Opera, and Opera Columbus, performed Mimì in a new production of La bohème with Opera Columbus, and returned to Pensacola Opera to sing Micaëla in Carmen.
Previous seasons have included performances of Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Pensacola Opera, Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly with Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center, Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with Miami Music Festival, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Magda Sorel in Menotti’s The Consul, Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites, and the title role in Alcina with Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Ms. Chang is a finalist of the prestigious Teatro alla Scala Academy of Lyric Opera Competition and a finalist of the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition.
Meroe Adeeb Tchomobe
Some of Ms. Adeeb’s favorite roles performed are Violetta in La traviata and Mimì in La bohème, both performed under the baton of Maestro Vlad Iftinka at Tri-Cities Opera. Another favorite has been singing the role of Clara in Porgy and Bess under the baton of Maestro John Demain and the direction of Francesca Zambello at the Glimmerglass Festival. In addition to preforming operatic roles, Ms. Adeeb has enjoyed competing in vocal competitions, winning 3rd place in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, and 2nd place in the Deborah Voigt/Vero Beach Opera Foundation Inaugural International Vocal Competition. Other notable performances include the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica at Tri-Cities Opera, Annie in the world premiere of The Flood at Opera Colombus, Frasquita in Carmen with Annapolis Opera, Clara in Porgy and Bess with both Fort Worth Opera and Teatro Regio di Torino, and Galatea in Acis and Galatea in a virtual co-production with Annapolis Opera and Tri-Cities Opera, and Soprano soloist in a concert with the Princeton Festival. Upcoming performances include Joy in Everything for Dawn with Experiments in Opera, and Soprano Soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Columbus Symphony.
Benjamin Dutcher
Tenor Benjamin Dutcher has been seen on operatic and theatrical stages across the country. A Twin Cities based singer, actor, and educator, his repertoire covers a vast range of both opera and musical theater, and includes on-camera appearances for History Channel and PBS. Delighted to be making his Opera Columbus and La Traviata debut, Benjamin is known for his “plaintive tenor” being the “soul of the production”. His work is praised as “deeply involving… [Benjamin] completely engages the emotions of the audience”.
Previous engagements include Eugene Onegin with Skylark Opera; La bohème, Assassins, and All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 with Theater Latté Da; Sweeney Todd and Ragtime with Asolo Repertory Theater; Carmen and La fille du regiment with Mill City Summer Opera; and The Manchurian Candidate, The Shining, and La fanciulla del West with Minnesota Opera. Benjamin was a part of the Drama Desk Award winning Cast of All is Calm presented Off-Broadway at the Sheen Center in NYC, and is especially thrilled to become a father at the end of June.
Victoria Okafor
Praised for her silver- voiced soprano… (Seen and Heard International), Victoria Okafor has sung with companies such as Cincinnati Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera and Opera Birmingham. A native to the Maryland/DC area, Miss Okafor received her B.M. in vocal performance at Shenandoah Conservatory and went on to receive her M.M in vocal performance as well as her artistic diploma in opera performance at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Roles for Miss Okafor include Pamina; Die Zauberflöte, Miss Wordsworth; Albert Herring, Servilia; La clemenza di Tito, Barbarina; Le nozze di Figaro.
As a lover of new music, Victoria has originated roles in numerous operatic workshops such as Alesha in Blind Injustice, Wilhelmina in Gregory Spears’s Castor and Patience, Nyomi in William Menefield’s Fierce, and Laura in Kevin Puts’s The Hours. The Hours will premiere at The Metropolitan Opera and star singers Renee Fleming, Joyce DiDonato, and Kelli O’Hara. Victoria premiered the role of Alesha in Cincinnati Opera’s season in 2019 and will be premiering the role of Wilhelmina in Gregory Spears’s Castor and Patience in the summer of 2022. Miss Okafor was an encouragement award recipient for the 2021 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, first place winner for Catapult Opera’s 2020 Accelerate Competition and a 2nd Prize winner of the 2021 Lotte Lenya Competition.
Charlie Aldrich
Charles Aldrich is a tenor that hails from the Twin Cities metro area. He completed his Master’s degree at Arizona State University where he performed in numerous productions including Leonard Bernstein’s Mass and Trouble in Tahiti, Poulenc’s Les mammals de Tirésias, and Handel’s The Fairy Queen. He also sang with Arizona Opera Chorus, most notably in their 2019 inaugural production of Kevin Putt’s Silent Night. Other favorite performances include Sam Kaplan in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene, and Martin in Copeland’s The Tender Land, both at Lawrence University. He currently lives in Minneapolis with his partner and continues to work and sing in the area.
Paul La Rosa
American baritone Paul La Rosa continues to gain recognition for his dynamic instrument and charismatic stage presence. He has been recently described as having “a wonderful touch for physical comedy, a strong and beautiful voice, and the dancing skills that one typically encounters in Broadway.” This season sees him making his role and company debut as Lionel in The Maid of Orleans with Opera Company of Middlebury and singing the Wolf /Cinderella’s Prince in Into the Woods with Annapolis Opera. Other recent credits include Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas with Angel’s Share, Pablo Picasso in the world premiere of The Weeping Woman with Opera Collective/Mass MoCA, Cascada in The Merry Widow and Jud Fry in Oklahoma! with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, First Mate in Billy Budd with Los Angeles Opera, Falke in Die Fledermaus with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and his role debut of Germont in La Traviata with Gulfshore Opera where he also sang Malatesta in Don Pasquale. Mr. La Rosa also recently created the role of Enrique in the world premiere production of Martinez’s El pasado nunco se termino with both San Diego Opera and Houston Grand Opera.
Emily J. Cottam
Mezzo-soprano Emily Cottam is a promising young artist based in Woodbury, MN, praised for her musicianship, versatility, and fearless presence on stage. She was recently a Mary Ragland Emerging Artist at Nashville Opera for their 2021 season, performing as Tisbe in “La Cenerentola” (covering Cenerentola), and a featured artist in Nashville Opera’s “Opera On Tour.”
Ms. Cottam has appeared as an Emerging Artist at Seagle Festival for their 2019 and 2021 Summer seasons, returning as a Fall Artist in 2021. She was also a Resident Artist with Tri-Cities Opera in 2018-2019. Ms. Cottam was a featured soloist in the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) 2018 concert series in Graz, Austria, and was a semi-finalist in the AIMS Meistersinger Competition.
Other notable operatic credits include the title role in Handel’s “Xerxes”; Street Singer in Leonard Bernstein’s “MASS”; Hermia in Purcell’s “The Fairy Queen”; La Marchande in “Les mamelles de Tiresias”; Ramiro in “La finta giardiniera”; and Miss Penelope Newkirk in “Help, Help, The Globolinks!”
Hidenori Inoue
Hidenori Inoue, bass baritone, hails from Himeji, Japan. In 2021-2022 he made a role and company debut as the title role of Boito’s Mefistofele with Knoxville Opera, which was reviewed “…a bass-baritone with vocal power and richness…a warm, lithe voice that is full of charming smoothness through his range…Inoue is a marvelous actor…able to turn his comfortable physicality into his character’s sensuousness.” -Arts Knoxville. He also made a role and company debut with MTM Hong Kong as Escamillo in Carmen, followed by a role and company debut as Angelotti and cover Scarpia in Tosca with Opera Columbus. His debut as Colline in the film of La Bohème was a collaboration amongst Tri-Cities Opera, Opera Columbus, Omaha Opera and MTM Hong Kong, and sang Fasolt in Das Rheingold with Virginia Opera. In 2022 performs Don Fernando in Fidelio with Austin Opera followed by Kubon Chino Otogawa(Cover) in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs with Austin Opera and Lyric Oepra of Kansas City, and Sarastro in The Magic Flute with North Carolina Opera.
In coming 2022-2023 season, he will make company debut as colline with Nashville Opera followed by Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola with Kentucky Opera and Bonze in Madame Butterfly with Opera New Orleans.
In 2019-2020, He sang another Commendatore with Pensacola Opera, and returned to Tulsa Opera for the Bonze in Madama Butterfly and Opera Omaha. He also recorded the role of Nourabad in Les Pecheurs de perles for InSeries Opera.
In 2018-19 he performed the roles of Leporello and Commendatore in Don Giovanni with Opera Steamboat, and the Bonze in Madama Butterfly with Virginia Opera. He reprised the role of Makoto Kobayashi in An American Dream at Anchorage Opea and Virginia Opera, returned to Tulsa Opera as the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, also making a role debut as Sarastro in The Magic Flute with Opera Maine. Heday was the bass soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Spartansburg Symphony and reprises the work in 2022 with the York Symphony.
In 2018 Hidenori sang the role of Timur in Turandot and covered the role of Méphistophéles in Faust with Tulsa Opera, followed by the role of Makoto Kobayashi in the east coast premiere of Jack Perla’s An American Dream and the Baron in La Traviata with Opera Maine. He was also heard as Padre Guardiano and the Marquis in Verdi’s La forza del destino with New Amsterdam Opera, and Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola with New York City’s ARE Opera. Other credits include the title role of Don Pasquale with the Manhattan School of Music, Pistola in Falstaff with the Italian La Musica Lirica, Benoit and Alcindoro in Puccini’s La Bohème with International Vocal Arts Institute, and Barbemuche in Leoncavallo’s La Bohème.
In 2016, Inoue performed Monstre Cathos in Jacques Ibert’s Persée et Andromède with the Manhattan School of Music. Hailed as “the smoky-voiced bass” by the New York Times, this performance was listed in The New York Times as one of the Top 10 Vocal Performances of 2016.
Hidenori holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan and a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music. He made a debut with Marvel for Netflix series “Daredevil” Season 2.
Miguel Pedroza+
Venezuelan bass-baritone Miguel Pedroza recently graduated with a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, studying under professor William McGraw and coaches Donna Loewy, Kathleen Kelly, and Marie-France Lefebvre. His engagements at the conservatory included Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Sarastro), Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (Figaro), and Cavalli’s La Calisto (Sylvano). Prior to his time at the conservatory, Miguel received a Bachelor’s in Vocal Performance from the University of Houston. Miguel has been contracted with Cincinnati May Festival, Opera in the Ozarks, and Opera in the Heights, with appearances in Milhaud’s Le Pauvre Matelot (Son Beau-Père), Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio Segreto (Geronimo), and Bizet’s Carmen (Zuniga). He has performed as a chorus member with Cincinnati Opera and Houston Grand Opera and as a soloist in concerts across the US, including Bach’s Magnificat and St. Matthew Passion, Schubert’s Mass in G minor, and Mozart’s Spatzenmesse. Miguel is a second-year Opera Columbus-Capital University resident artist, and his previous include Masetto (Don Giovani) Colline (La bohème).
CREATIVE
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Italian: [dʒuˈzɛppe ˈverdi]; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian opera composer. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the help of a local patron. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini, whose works significantly influenced him.
In his early operas, Verdi demonstrated a sympathy with the Risorgimento movement which sought the unification of Italy. He also participated briefly as an elected politician. The chorus “Va, pensiero” from his early opera Nabucco (1842), and similar choruses in later operas, were much in the spirit of the unification movement, and the composer himself became esteemed as a representative of these ideals. An intensely private person, Verdi did not seek to ingratiate himself with popular movements . As he became professionally successful he was able to reduce his operatic workload and sought to establish himself as a landowner in his native region. He surprised the musical world by returning, after his success with the opera Aida (1871), with three late masterpieces: his Requiem (1874), and the operas Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893).
His operas remain extremely popular, especially the three peaks of his ‘middle period’: Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata. The bicentenary of his birth in 2013 was widely celebrated in broadcasts and performances.
Francesco Maria Piave
Francesco Maria Piave (18 May 1810 – 5 March 1876) was an Italian opera librettist who was born in Murano in the lagoon of Venice, during the brief Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy.
Piave’s career spanned over twenty years working with many of the significant composers of his day, including Giovanni Pacini (four librettos), Saverio Mercadante (at least one), Federico Ricci, and even one for Michael Balfe. He is most well known as Giuseppe Verdi‘s librettist, for whom he was to write 10 librettos, the most well-known being those for Rigoletto and La traviata.
But Piave was not only a librettist: he was a journalist and translator in addition to being the resident poet and stage manager at La Fenice in Venice where he first encountered Verdi. Later, Verdi was helpful in securing him the same position at La Scala in Milan.[1] His expertise as a stage manager and his tact as a negotiator served Verdi very well, but the composer bullied him mercilessly for his pains over many years.
Like Verdi, Piave was an ardent Italian patriot, and in 1848, during Milan’s “Cinque Giornate,” when Radetzky’s Austrian troops retreated from the city, Verdi wrote to Piave in Venice addressing him as “Citizen Piave.”
Together, they worked on ten operas between 1844 and 1862, and Piave would have also prepared the libretto for Aida when Verdi accepted the commission for it in 1870, had he not suffered a stroke which left him paralyzed and unable to speak. Verdi helped to support his wife and daughter, proposing that “an album of pieces by famous composers be compiled and sold for Piave’s benefit”.[2] The composer paid for his funeral when he died nine years later in Milan aged 65 and arranged for his burial at the Monumental Cemetery.
David Lefkowich*
David Lefkowich is an accomplished stage director and fight choreographer and has enjoyed success with different companies including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatre alla Scala, San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Minnesota Opera, and Glimmerglass Opera. Upcoming directing engagements include Tosca at Austin Opera, La Cenerentola with Annapolis Opera and Cavalleria Rusticana at Opera Colorado. Recent directing engagements include a site-specific Acis and Galatea for Out of the Box Opera in the catacombs of a former Pillsbury Mill in Minneapolis, an immersive Pagliacci at Boston Lyric Opera, Tosca at Annapolis Opera, and Pagliacci at Opera Colorado. Also Don Giovanni at L’Opéra de Montréal, Don Giovanni, Idomeneo, Le Nozze di Figaro and L’Histoire du Soldat at the Ravinia Music Festival with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Maestro James Conlon. David also directed and choreographed L’Histoire du Soldat at the Juilliard School, with Maestro Conlon. David made his European debut directing Le Portrait de Manon at the Gran Teatre Liceu in Barcelona and followed with The Rake’s Progress at La Monnaie in Brussels. Other engagements include directing and choreographing new productions of La Traviata (Austin Opera, Opera Birmingham, San Francisco Opera, Lake George Opera), Carmen (Fort Worth Opera, Anchorage Opera), Lucia de Lammermoor (Eugene Opera), Simon Boccanegra (Kentucky Opera), La Bohème, La fille du Regiment and Acis and Galatea (Madison Opera), Salome (Minnesota Opera), Roméo et Juliette (Florida Grand Opera, Minnesota Opera, Virginia Opera, Opera Tampa, Seagle Music Colony), Tosca (Boston Lyric Opera), Cosi Fan Tutte (Opera Saratoga), Le Portrait de Manon (Glimmerglass Opera), and Il Trovatore (New Orleans Opera, Fort Worth Opera). David was thrilled to fight direct the world premieres of Philip Glass’s Appomattox at San Francisco Opera, Miss Lonelyhearts at Juilliard, La fanciulla del west at New York City Opera, and the New York Off-Broadway run of A Clockwork Orange. David is a guest artist and performs master classes at several Young Artist programs and universities including the San Francisco Opera Center Adler Fellowship Program, Atelier Lyrique at L’Opéra de Montréal, Maryland Opera Studio and Ithaca College. A graduate from Northwestern University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Theatre, David has a certificate from École Jacques-Lecoq in Paris, France. David served as the Artistic Director of the Mill City Summer Opera in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he directed the annual summer offerings of Pagliacci, Barber of Seville, Tosca, Daughter of the Regiment, Sweeney Todd, and Maria de Buenos Aires. Currently he is the Artistic Director of Out of the Box Opera in Minneapolis, a company dedicated to creating high-quality operatic experiences in site-specific locations, most notably with Diva Cage Match, an epic battle of voices, egos, and talent in a boxing gym. https://www.davidlefkowich.com
Brian DeMaris
Equally at home in opera and musical theatre, and involved with the development of over two dozen new works, Brian DeMaris has established a national reputation as a performer and pedagogue in a wide range of repertoire. He has worked with New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Theater of Saint Louis, Syracuse Opera, Tri-Cities Opera, Anchorage Opera, El Paso Opera, American Opera Projects, American Lyric Theater, Ash Lawn Opera Festival, Music Saint Croix and the Israel Chamber Orchestra. He has appeared at the United Nations, the Aspen Music Festival, Boston’s Jordan Hall, New York’s Studio 54, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Alice Tully Hall, and in recitals, competitions, and master classes throughout the United States and abroad. He is the 2nd place winner of the 2013 and 2015 American Prize in Opera and Musical Theater Conducting. Previously director of opera and musical theatre at Ithaca College and Music Director of Mill City Summer Opera, he currently serves as Artistic Director of Music Theatre and Opera at Arizona State University and Principal Conductor of the Anchorage Opera in Alaska.
*Opera Columbus debut
+Opera Columbus/Capital University Resident Artist
PNC Arts Alive is a Presenting Partner of the 40 Days of Opera celebration
