2024 Season Performers
Thank you to everyone who made our 2024 production possible
Jim Ahrens
Jim Ahrens has been a singer/actor in the Twin Cities for more years than he cares to remember. He has appeared as a soloist/principal performer with many organizations, including The Minnesota Orchestra, Children’s Theater, Skylark Opera, Theatre Latte Da, Children’s Theatre, Theatre Elision, Mixed Precipitation and many others. He is also the tenor soloist at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in downtown Minneapolis.
Anna Beth Baker
Anna Beth Baker has recently returned to the Twin Cities after receiving her MFA in Acting from FSU/Asolo Conservatory in Sarasota, Florida. Recent credits include work with Nautilus Music Theatre (Bluestem [workshop], Wesley Balk Opera Music-Theatre Institute); Journey North Opera Company (Dark Sisters) Theatre Elision (Ghost Quartet, cellist); and Asolo Repertory Theatre and Conservatory (Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet, Dead Man’s Cellphone, Antigone). Thanks to RDO for giving me this lovely opportunity to sing a wonderfully challenging piece. Love and light to all!
Gary Briggle
Gary Briggle, director, has nearly fifty years of experience as a singer, actor, director and teacher. He has served as artistic director of Lyric Opera Cleveland, artistic associate with Seaside Music Theatre, head of the Opera department at the University of Iowa, co-chairman of the musical theater department at SPCPA, & interim artistic director of Skylark Opera Theater.
Margaret (Maggie) Burton
Margaret (Maggie) Burton is thrilled to be performing in the RDO production of Aaron Copland’s setting of the 12 Poems of Emily Dickinson, and enjoyed participating in RDO’s reading of The Village Singer last November. She holds a BA in Music and MM in Vocal Performance from the University of Minnesota. Currently a featured vocal soloist and flutist with the 1st John Philip Sousa Memorial Band, Maggie has performed with the Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera, Minnesota Opera chorus, Dale Warland Singers, and Bach Society of Minnesota. For the last several decades she has served as cantorial soloist for a number of synagogues, singing and leading liturgical music during the Jewish High Holy Days.
Nancee Soteroplos
Nancee Soteroplos, soprano, attended the U of MN and continued her vocal studies at the Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria, later singing in German opera houses. She moved to London, there performing in theatre, concerts and recitals. After moving to Arizona, she sang leading roles with the Tucson G & S Society and concerts with the Chamber Music Society. While living in Boston, MA, she sang in concerts and recitals at the Goethe Institut Boston, Longy School of Music and New England Conservatory. She then moved “back home” performing with CORO! (an ensemble of soloists) as well as Thursday Musical and Opera On Tap and is looking forward to performing this May with Raison d’Être Opéra. She currently studies with Debra Gilroy.
Don Moyer
Don Moyer is a bass/baritone who has been a performing singer since 1966. He initially studied voice at Southern Illinois University. His day job has been providing psychotherapy in a variety of settings. Opera appearances include La Boheme with Opera in a Barn in Alton Illinois, Susanna with Theater Latte Da, the role of Sarastro in Magic Flute with Twin Cities Lyric Theater and several engagements with Minnesota Opera Chorus. Don’s long history of choral work includes Saint Louis Symphony Chorus, the Chicago Symphony chorus and many others. Locally he has been featured in the Schubert Club Lunch series and at Thursday Musical. Don has too many choir experiences to list. For several years he was the CEO of Center City Opera Company where he produced the show Opera on a Schtick. He currently lives in the small town Lindstrom and loves to come to the Twin Cities where he can put on his tux and sing.
Trevor Lemon-Todd
Trevor Lemon-Todd, is a singer, actor, and educator in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They have performed with companies throughout Minnesota, including Skylark Opera Theater, Minnesota Opera, Opera on the Lake, Saint Croix Valley Opera, Lyric Opera of the North, and now, Raison D’Etre Opera! Trevor has received awards and recognitions from Schubert Club, the Kurt Weill Foundation’s Lotte Lenya Competition, and Saint Croix Valley Opera. They live with their husband, Myrtle, and their two greyhounds, Artie and Calcifer.
Steve Dahlberg
Steve Dahlberg, bass/baritone, actively performs with the MN Opera and the MNChorale and has done so since the mid-1990’s. He is a recently retired Minneapolis Public Schools music teacher, having taught primarily grades K – 5 over thirty two years. He has a B.A. degree in Music Education and an M.M. degree in Choral Conducting. He also sings as the bass section leader at Chapel Hills UCC in Edina. He has studied voice with the late Barbara Kierig, Larry Weller, and currently studies with Pat Kent.
Natalie Dulka
Natalie Dulka, is a performer, director, and teaching artist based in Brooklyn Center, MN. Natalie holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre from North Dakota State University. She has directed shows and been seen on stage at Lyric Arts, Lakeshore Players, Children’s Performing Arts, Chaska Valley Family Theatre, and more. Outside of the theatre, Natalie is employed as an IT project manager. When she isn’t involved in a production, Natalie spends her free time reading, pet sitting, going to karaoke, and thrifting. Check out her recent and upcoming projects at nataliedulka.com.
Pat Kent
Pat Kent has performed with An Opera Theater and in the ensemble of the Minnesota Opera. She sang the part of the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors with the Minnesota Orchestra. She earned her DMA from the University of Minnesota and teaches voice at Macalester College and Augsburg University
Jill Dawe
Jill Dawe, has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Canada, England, Chile, Bulgaria and the US, and is currently a music professor at Augsburg University. She enjoys new music and interdisciplinary projects and has been music director for Nautilus’ regional tours of Twisted Apples, “I Am Anne Frank”, and Composer-Librettist Workshops; Ballet of the Dolls’ My Way and Enchanted Night and Fruitfly at Illusion, among others. She can be heard on innova, “A Chamber Fantasy” featuring the chamber music of Stephen Paulus.
Amy Wolf
Amy Wolf, soprano, is a versatile artist who brings a dramatic edge to her performances and has been hailed as “alluring, whimsical, seductive and possessing a voice with presence and color”. Her opera roles include Ma Zegnar in the Minnesota premiere of Proving Up, Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Journey North Opera; Valencienne in The Merry Widow and Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Opera on the James; Musetta in La Boheme with Duluth Festival Opera; Foreign Woman in The Consul with An Opera Theatre; Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas, Mother in Hansel and Gretel, and Cendrillon in Cendrillon with Garden of Song Opera. She has appeared as soprano soloist in Carmina Burana, Beethoven’s Mass in C, Handel’s Messiah, Faure Requiem, and Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem. Amy has also appeared as an ensemble artist with Minnesota Opera and as a Resident Artist with Utah Opera. www.amywolfsoprano.com
Thore Dosdall
Thore Dosdall, tenor, performs regularly in the Twin Cities, both on the opera stage and as a church musician. Most recently in the chorus of Minnesota Opera’s L’elisir d’amore, Thore has also performed with Lakes Area Music Festival, Skylark Opera, Opera on the Lake, Mill City Summer Opera, Really Spicy Opera, and the Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company. Since June 2021, he has been the Tenor II Section Leader for the Cathedral Choir of St. Mark’s Episcopal in Minneapolis. Another important part of Thore’s musical life is the study and performance of Norwegian art song. He has placed twice in the triennial Edvard Grieg Society of Minnesota Voice Competition (2018 & 2022) and is currently studying the repertoire of Sigurd Lie, a younger contemporary of Grieg.
Mary Rempalski
Mary Rempalski Ohm, soprano, created the role of “The Diva” (Donna Anna) for Theatre de la Jeune Lune’s Don Juan Giovanni, at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, California and at the company’s home in Minneapolis. Mary has toured nationally with the Minnesota Opera’s production of The Magic Flute and regionally with the Skylight Opera (Milwaukee) in several productions. She has also performed leading roles with the New Tradition Theatre (St. Cloud), North Star Opera, Living Room Opera, The Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company, Como-Lakeside Players, Good Works Community Theatre (Wayzata), and with Skylight Opera and Milwaukee Opera (Milwaukee). Mary serves as soprano soloist and section leader at the Church of the Holy Childhood in St. Paul, and has served as soloist and cantor in several Twin Cities churches. She has sung for several seasons as a contracted singer with the Minnesota Chorale and in the Minnesota Opera Chorus. Her voice teachers include Emma Small and Patricia Kent.
Sandra Henderson
Sandra Henderson Penning, soprano, has been active on the opera and concert stage performing a wide range of repertoire ranging from world premieres to Bach. She has appeared in more than 50 productions with Minnesota Opera including the ensemble of the world premiere of “The Grapes of Wrath” and in the role of New Ofglen in the American premiere of “The Handmaids Tale”. With the Austin Symphony and Dakota Valley Symphony she has appeared in the role of The Mother in “Amahl and the Night Visitors” and as soprano soloist in Messiah and Mozart’ Requiem.
Barbara Prince
Barbara Prince, mezzo soprano, is a graduate of the University of North Texas and East Carolina University. She has appeared as soloist with many area music organizations including the Minnesota Orchestra, Austin Symphony, Rochester Orchestra, Minnesota Chorale, St. Mark’s Music Series, and the Minnetonka Choral Society. Barbara’s opera roles include Meg Page in Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff, Florence Pike in Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring, and Mrs. Ott in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah. A member of the acclaimed Berwick Chorus of the Oregon Bach Festival for 14 years, she is currently a section leader with the Minnesota Chorale. In addition, Barbara is on staff at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Minneapolis, supporting music, worship, and events programming..
Lucy Thrasher
Lucy Thrasher, Soprano, recently retired from Concordia College—Moorhead, where she taught voice and opera while performing regionally in opera, oratorio, cabaret and solo recital. From 1998-2014 she served as program director for the Resident Opera Artist Program at Pine Mountain Music Festival, where she also sang Sibelius’ Luonnotar and Desiree (A Little Night Music.) She has sung over 30 opera roles from Mozart to Heggie.
Courtney Wiley
Courtney Wiley grew up in the Twin Cities with a passion for all music; singing throughout high school in All State and Honors choirs. She attended Luther College and studied with the head of the opera department for two years to later earn a master’s degree in education. She currently teaches high school English and is working toward her Ed. Specialist degree and superintendent licensure at Concordia St. Paul. Courtney is dedicated to using her voice as an expression of her faith in Jesus Christ. Outside of work and singing, Courtney enjoys traveling, hiking, serving God, and spending time with family.
Eric McEnaney
Eric McEnaney enjoys a multifaceted career as a distinguished pianist, vocal coach, administrator, and artist teacher whose Grammy-nominated work has been heard on stages throughout the country and abroad. He is currently a Master Vocal Coach for Minnesota Opera and has prepared more than 125 productions for such companies as Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Central City Opera, Virginia Opera, and Opera Southwest, among others. Additionally, Dr. McEnaney served as Principal Production Pianist & Coach at Florentine Opera Company for four seasons, where he oversaw the musical preparation of two world premiere recordings, Sister Carrie and Prince of Players, nominated for the Grammy in Best Opera Recording.As a recitalist, Dr. McEnaney has appeared with singers from the rosters of the nation’s leading opera companies and has assisted many of the most renowned classical vocal artists of our time. He serves as an official accompanist for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, has played more than 50 concerts as an orchestral keyboardist for Minnesota Orchestra, and his performances have been broadcast on PBS, Great Performances, American Public Media, Minnesota Public Radio, Colorado Public Radio, and Twin Cities Public Television. Dr. McEnaney holds advanced degrees in piano performance and collaborative piano and makes his home in Minneapolis. www.ericmcenaney.com