CAST BIOS continued
THE BIRD LADY CAST
Christina Kay (Annabelle)
Soprano Christina Kay is a versatile singer with a particular enthusiasm for early and contemporary music. She was recently seen as Mormon actress-turned-porn-star Daphne Blueberry in David Chesky’s new satirical opera, La Farranucci, and as Lead Singer in Petr Kotik’s chamber opera, Master-Pieces, for which she was praised for portraying a “vital, intelligent, generous and deeply rewarding” Gertrude Stein (Theater Scene). In 2018, she made her European debut at the New Opera Days Ostrava festival in the Czech Republic, where she performed in John Cage’s Song Books and Julius Eastman’s Macle (during which she was accidentally locked in a closet—ask her about it!). An active soloist and chorister, Christina made her Carnegie Hall debut as soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah with MasterWork Chorus and Orchestra, and looks forward to upcoming performances with Grammy-nominated True Concord Voices & Orchestra and Santa Fe Desert Chorale.
Chris Fistonich (Percy)
Chris s a PhD Immunologist and cybersecurity researcher turned opera singer. Chris has been hailed as a "voluminous, beefy baritone" with "supple variation of dynamics" (South Florida Classical Review), and as "simply great" (Art Burst Miami). Upcoming engagements include Peter (Hänsel und Gretel) with Westminster Opera Theatre, and Chorus (Oedipus Rex) with Opera Philadelphia. Recent opera experience includes Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Pandolfe (Cendrillon), Sage (Marie Begins), Marco (Gianni Schicchi), and Une Bête (L’enfant et les Sortilèges). Currently residing in Princeton, New Jersey, Chris is pursuing a Master of Music degree in vocal performance at Westminster Choir College, studying with Dr. Christopher Arneson.
Originally hailing from Los Angeles, CA, Chris received his Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics from UCLA in 2012. After graduating from UCLA, Chris attended Yale University, earning a Ph.D. in Immunobiology in 2018 and publishing his research in academic journals.
Jaclyn Randazzo (Soprano Bird Lady Chorus)
Jaclyn's previous credits include The Turn of the Screw (Flora), Signor Deluso (Rosine), L’enfant et les sortièges (La bergère/la chouette), L’incoronazione di Poppea (Cupid 2), And the World Goes ‘Round (Woman #1/#2), and Hair (Mom II/Principal III/Soldier III). Her scene work includes Il matrimonio segreto (Carolina), Rusalka (Third Wood Sprite), Street Scene (Emma Jones), and Happy End (Lillian Holiday). She received her Master of Music from the University of Kentucky and her Bachelor of Music from SUNY Potsdam, Crane School of Music.
Robert Francis Orbach (Alto Bird Lady Chorus)
A New York native, Countertenor Robert Francis Orbach has been featured in both concerts and opera throughout Europe and North America. Robert is currently a Company Artist with Moon River Opera. Upcoming performances include a return to MuSE with Vivaldi’s Gloria, Chorus of The Bird Lady with Opera Avant Inc., and Händel’s Messiah at Northminster Church in Monroe, LA. He began 2020 by receiving an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Councils in Buffalo, NY, was named a Finalist for the National Society of Arts and Letters Dorothy Lincoln Smith Voice Awards in Washington D.C., and performed as a featured soloist with the Underground Salon in New York, NY.
Perri Sussman (Alto Bird Lady Chorus)
Perri has performed with New York City Opera Renaissance, St. Petersburg Opera Company, Long Island Lyric Opera, dell'Arte Opera Ensemble, Brott Opera, Bronx Opera Company, and Dicapo Opera Theatre. Productions include La Cenerentola (Angelina), The Marriage of Figaro (Cherubino), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina), Hänsel und Gretel (Hänsel), Carmen (Mercédès), Women are Like That (Dorabella), Manon (Javotte), La Traviata (Flora and Annina), and Madama Butterfly (Kate Pinkerton). In 2019, she was nominated by Theatre Tampa Bay for an Outstanding Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance with St. Petersburg Opera Company as Kate Pinkerton. She was named a 2017 winner in the vocal competition for Riverside Opera Company, the 2012 Grand Prize Winner of the Ensemble 212 Young Artist Competition, and a finalist in the 2012 New York Lyric Opera Theatre Vocal Competition. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2011 as a finalist in the Nico Castel International Master Singer Competition.
Andrew Boisvert, (Bass Bird Lady Chorus) Andrew (Needham, MA) has been praised for his “deep warmth” in the bass roles he undertakes. Based out of Canaan, New York in the Berkshires, he has persevered through the pandemic with outdoor balcony aria performances as part of the “Music on the Hill” concert series which he created in the summer of 2020. He has had recent performances with Opera North as Sarastro in The Magic Flute, Sarasota Opera covering Il Pedone in Catalani’s La Wally, Count Capulet in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, and Il Conte di Ceprano in Verdi’s Rigoletto, performing Olin Blitch in Floyd’s Susannah with the Brevard Music Festival, and performing as Frank Maurrant in Weill’s Street Scene with the Maryland Opera Studio. Upcoming engagements include Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville with Opera Theater of Connecticut and covering Cadmus, Somnus, and the High Priest in Semele with St. Petersburg Opera. He is a graduate of the Maryland Opera Studio (MM). Boisvert is a student of Kevin Short.
Angela Scorese (Annabelle Understudy)
Angela, a lyric coloratura, received her B.A. in Music from Barnard College of Columbia University where she performed in Thea Musgrave's The Voice of Ariadne as the Countess and John Eccles's The Judgment of Paris as Mercury (soprano octave), along with several scene selections as Marie in La Fille du Régiment, Béatrice in Béatrice et Bénédict, and Mabel in Pirates of Penance. Her Junior year she also appeared in Utopia Opera’s concert production of The Rose of Persia as Blush-of-Morning. Recent credits include Queen of the Night in Spooky Goose's Broadway World Award-nominated production of Die Zauberflöte; Phyllis in lolanthe, the title role in Princess Ida, and Yum-Yum in The Mikado with Ridgewood Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company; and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte with NJ Vocal Arts Collaborative (postponed to summer '22). She was a semifinalist in Classical Singer's 2020 and 2021 Vocal Competitions (Classical Emerging Professional Division).