Maxxinistas: To The Maxx! at Caveat

Heather Gallagher

She has been hailed as “standout” (Lawrence A. Johnson, The Miami Herald), “vivid and convincing” Angelo Mao, Boston Classical Review and “great fun”, Jim Lowe, the Barre Montpellier Times. Credits include the world premiere of Whaling Women (Ruth Post, world premiere, Seaglass Theater Company), the grammy nominated recording of Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Soraya, BMOP), Patience (Lady Saphir, Odyssey Opera) and Ourland (The Policewoman, world premiere, San Jose Chamber Orchestra). Ms. Gallagher is an Emerging Opera Alumnus with Boston Lyric Opera where she performed in several productions (Werther, Katchen; Charlotte cover and Carmen, Mercedes; Carmen cover) as well as community outreach performances. As a creator and producer, she has mounted several successful pandemic era productions online and in person through Cultural Wasteland with the help of dramaturg, Peter Schiepers. CW productions include Letters from New York: the Music of Chris DeBlasio, Britten + Auden, “Crazy B&%ch!”: Classical Music’s Difficult Women, Tom Lehrer for President: An Election Eve Cabaret and a chamber concert version of Das Lied von der Erde. Ms. Gallagher is a soloist in the professional ensemble at First Church Boston under the direction of Gigi Mitchell Velasco.

Nathaniel Bear

from Melville, NY is currently on the roster of singers at the Opera Institute at Boston University, after finishing his masters degree at Northwestern University and his undergraduate studies at the Eastman School of Music. During his time at Eastman, Nathaniel performed the roles of Strephon in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe, with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and Gérard in Eastman Opera Theater’s production of Philip Glass’s Les Enfants Terribles. He also sang the tenor soloist in Britten’s War Requiem. In the fall of 2018, he sang the role of Alfred in Oswego Opera's production of Die Fledermaus. With Northwestern Opera, Nathaniel played the role of Ferrando in a virtual Zoom production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, David in Jake Heggie’s If I Were You, and Rodolfo in La Bohème. Nathaniel began his work in Boston singing the role of Giovanni in Daniel Catán’s La hija de Rappaccini.

Jessica Jane Jacobs

She has performed leading roles with companies such as Long Island Opera, Boston Opera Collaborative, Salt Marsh Opera, Barn Opera, VOX New England, Sugar Creek Opera, and NEMPAC Opera Company and has performed in the professional ensembles of Boston Lyric Opera, Beth Morrison Productions, and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Jacobs has sung in Italy with the Opera Theater and Music Festival of Lucca, and at the historic Teatro Nuovo as part of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s “I Solisti di Spoleto” concert series. Ms. Jacobs has received an encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the First place prize from the Vermont Vocal Competition. In addition, she has been a prize winner at the Orpheus Vocal Competition and was a semi-finalist in the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

John Allen Nelson

Irish-American baritone John Allen Nelson recently made his Spoleto Festival debut as Alcindoro in La Bohème. This season he appears in Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Omar, as Schaunard in Bar Harbor Music Festival’s La Bohème, and as Imperial Commissioner and Sharpless cover in Lubbock Symphony’s Madama Butterfly. Last season debuted as Count Almaviva in Opera Ithaca’s Le Nozze di Figaro and as Guglielmo in Bar Harbor Music Festival’s Così fan tutte. He has been featured with New York City Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Boston Lyric Opera, Utah Opera, and Minnesota Opera, among others. Mr. Nelson is an active performer of new works, including Angels in America, Hamlet, The Grapes of Wrath, and Stonewall, in which he originated the role of Giordano. He holds degrees from Boston University’s Opera Institute, UMKC Conservatory of Music, and St. John's University.

Chris Hunter

Chris Hunter is a tenor based in Boston. Selected credits include Dr. Baglioni in La hija de Rappaccini (BU Opera institute), Ferrando in Cosí fan tutte (Salastina), Rapunzel’s Prince from Into the Woods (Pacific Opera Project), Tamino in The Magic Flute (UCSB), Orpheus (LA Opera Connects), Rodolfo in La Boheme (Guild Opera), The Music Man (5 Star Theatricals), The Secret Garden (3D Theatricals), The Little Mermaid (MTW), South Pacific (San Diego Musical Theatre), Sweeney Todd in Budapest, Hungary, Lost in the Stars (Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra), and he has also participated as a soloist in numerous concerts in both opera and musical theatre internationally. He is also a faculty member and Music Director at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. Chris is currently pursuing his Masters degree in Vocal Performance at Boston University.

Sarah Rogers

Sarah Rogers is a Boston-based soprano, originally from South Florida. She is currently a member of the Boston University Opera Institute, studying with Penelope Bitzas. Adept in both the opera and art song worlds, her 2021-2022 season included performances as Erste Dame in North Carolina Opera’s production of Die Zauberflöte, Selena in Heggie’s If I Were You, performing Alban Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder with the Boston University Symphony Orchestra, and winning the Willis Patterson Art Song Award at the George Shirley Vocal Competition. Past highlights include the role of the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, being awarded as a winner of both the Boston University at Carnegie Hall competition and the Boston University Soloist Competition, and Encouragement Awards at the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in 2021 and 2022. This year, she can be seen as Mrs. Webb in Rorem’s Our Town, and as Beth March in Adamo’s Little Women.

Dr. Matthew Larson

Matthew Larson received his Doctorate in Collaborative Piano from Arizona State University under the tutelage of Eckart Sellheim. Past positions include Assistant Conductor for Boston Lyric Opera; Music Director for the University of Connecticut Opera Program; Staff Pianist for Yale University Opera; Vocal Coach at Brown University; Staff Pianist for The American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria; Music Director of Opera Providence; Vocal Coach at Walnut Hill School for the Arts; Pianist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Festival Chorus; Music Director of Cape Cod Opera; and Vocal Coach for Tanglewood Institute’s Young Artist Vocal Program. Currently, Dr. Larson is on faculty at Boston University; Music Director of Seaglass Theater Company of New Bedford MA; and Minister of Music at First Congregational Church of Milton, Massachusetts. In January 2020 he earned a Grammy Award as pianist on Boston Modern Opera Project’s recording of Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Patrice Tiedemann

She is the Artistic Director of Seaglass Theater Company, founded in 2016 to produce creatively-staged programs of classic vocal repertoire throughout New England. She was the Artistic Director of Charleston Chamber Opera from 2008 to 2013, and has crafted historically-informed productions for museums and foundations from South Carolina to Massachusetts. In October 2021, she served as the dramaturg for Seaglass Theater’s world premiere of Whaling Women, a dramatic cantata by Jodi Goble. As a professional soprano, her highlights include appearing as a soloist with the Boston Pops, Boston Lyric Opera, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Indianapolis Opera, Pioneer Valley Symphony, Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Theatre by the Sea, New Repertory Theater, the New Bedford Symphony, and many others in classical, sacred and theatrical repertoire. A graduate of Indiana University and Rhode Island College, she is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the American Guild of Musical Artists, and Actors Equity Association.