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Mexican tenor Jorge Garza is rapidly coming to the attention of opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States and Europe. The young tenor began his professional training with some of the country’s most prestigious apprentice programs including, Glimmerglass Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Wolftrap Opera, where he sang the roles of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and Sesto in Giulio Césare. Jorge continued his training as a Young Artist with Los Angeles Opera, where he covered leading roles including Ferrando in Cosí fan Tutte and Nemorino in L’Élisir d’Amore. While on tour with Western Opera Theater, Mr. Garza performed the role of Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia all over the country. Marking his return to LA Opera was his mainstage debut in the role of Eurímaco in Pièrre Audí’s much acclaimed production of Il Ritorno d’Ulysses with Federica von Stade and Thomas Allen. He soon followed with a role in the world premiere opera Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Tobias Picker. Garza made his debut with the Ópera de Monte Carlo singing Sir Hervéy in Anna Bolena. His German debut followed shortly, in the role of Don Polidoro in La Finta Sèmplice with the Musikfestspiele Potsdamer. Mr. Garza's orchestral appearances include Cherubini’s Missa Solemnis with the Orchestra National de Lyon and Messiah with San Francisco Symphony. Mr. Garza is a graduate of the Juilliard School where he worked with Director Frank Corsaro and Maestros Zubin Mehta and Julius Rudel. He received his Master’s Degree from Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Garza has transitioned from young artist to leading professional with much success and critical acclaim. Leading Roles include Tamino with West Bay Opera, Almaviva with New Jersey Opera Theatre, Florville in Gotham Chamber Opera’s production of Rossini’s Il Signor Bruschino, and most notably the title role in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Most recently during the summer of 2007, Mr. Garza was a featured artist with the Caramoor Festival.

Quotes include:

• “Jorge Garza ... used his lyric tenor voice to make Almaviva seem a young, impetuous lover capable of expressing his ardor with apt ornamentation of the melodic line. His opening serenade was a piece of sweet musical singing ...”
  - The Philadelphia Inquirer.
• “Jorge Garza, his lyric tenor always musical, gave a deft performance ...”
  - Opera News.
• “... hardworking singers, led by the tenor Jorge Garza, brought to life Wilde’s tale of eternal youth and smoldering sin ...”
  - The New Yorker.

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Lyric Tenor David R. Maier appeared last season with Bravo! Vancouver in our production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. He has performed as a soloist in Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig, Prague, Budapest, and Vienna. David is in demand as a soloist with orchestras and choral ensembles, and he has performed throughout the Northwest with, among others, the Bellevue Philharmonic, Eugene Symphony, Fort Collins Symphony, Northwest Sinfonietta, Ernst Bloch Music Festival, Chamber Opera Oregon, Eugene Concert Choir, Choral Sounds Northwest, New Music Northwest, Issaquah Chorale, Yaquina Chamber Orchestra, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Mock's Crest Productions, Portland Youth Philharmonic, and Bel Canto Northwest.

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Bass Adam Dyer originally hails from New York City. His early training was at Princeton Ballet Society, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory and Princeton University where he received his Bachelor’s degree in 1987. Since then he has gone on to perform in the original Broadway companies of Ragtime, the Musical and the Cameron Macintosh Broadway production of Martin Guerre. Other regional musical theater credits include: Evita (Drama League Productions, Kansas City, MO); City of Angels and Grand Hotel (Jupiter Theater, Jupiter, FL), and The Music Man (Music Theater of Southern California, San Gabriel, CA), among others. He has appeared internationally in concert and on Royal Caribbean Cruises and Holland America Line Cruises as an entertainer and Cruise Director. Last year he was featured in Portland Gay Men’s Chorus Cabaret Soiree production of Trial by Jury. This coming season he will perform with Portland Opera 2 Go in their production of La Boheme.

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Baritone Kevin Helppie maintains an active performing career, including recitals, oratorios, operas, and popular styles. Dr. Helppie enjoys the full spectrum of solo and ensemble singing. As a soloist he has sung with the Nashville Symphony, Jacksonville Florida Symphony, Seattle Philharmonic, Bay Chorus of Houston, Louisville Bach Society, Detroit Concert Choir, Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Seattle, Seattle Opera, Seattle Choral Company, Choir of the Sound, City Cantabile Choir, Festival Chorale Oregon, Mount Angel Abbey, Seattle Pro Musica and Bravo! Vancouver. He sang the role of Chief Seattle in the West coast Premiere of the oratorio The Earth is Our Mother with the Dave Brubeck Quintet. He performed at the College Band Director's National Convention in Boulder, Colorado in a concert of Charles Ives songs arranged for solo voice and wind ensemble. Dr. Helppie was the Baritone soloist in the World Premiere of Songs of Kabir, an oratorio by New York based composer William Hawley. Dr. Helppie's operatic repertoire encompasses over twenty roles, including the title characters in Le Nozze di Figaro, Falstaff and Don Pasquale. Dr. Helppie has received fellowships to perform with renowned groups such as the Robert Shaw Festival Singers in their tour of France and their historic Brahms Requiem and the Beethoven Missa Solemnis performances for the centennial of Carnegie Hall. Dr. Helppie was also granted an Artist Fellowship to perform with the Bach Aria Group in New York. He has been heard on the National Public Radios in Recital series and has performed a multi-media recital called America in Song numerous times under the auspices of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Texas Arts Commission. Dr. Helppie participated in the 1991 Singer of the World competition in Liangolien, Wales. He also sings with the critically acclaimed a capella vocal group Opus 7 and performs with a jazz pianist in an improvisation based setting entitled Duality. Dr. Helppie is currently on faculty at Western Oregon University and has also taught at Austin Peay State University, Sam Houston State University and Skagit Valley College. Dr. Helppie holds the Bachelor of Arts degree from Western Washington University, the Master of Music degree from Indiana University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Washington.

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Soprano Jill Soltero made her operatic debut with Connecticut Opera as Anna in Verdi’s Nabucco, where she also sang the role of Mimi in La Boheme, Barbarina in the Marriage of Figaro, and Papagena in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Additional roles include Nedda in I Pagliacci, Micaela in Bizet’s Carmen, and Lady Billows in Albert Herring. Ms. Soltero has also performed with several regional opera companies, including Arkansas Opera Theatre, Berkshire Opera, and Sarasota Opera and participated in several master classes with Tito Capobianco, Martin Katz and Joan Dornemann. In addition to Ms. Soltero's operatic experience, her oratorio repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah: an Oratorio, Dvorak’s Te Deum, Vivaldi’s Gloria and W. A. Mozart’s Requiem. Ms. Soltero holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California and a Master of Music degree from the Yale University School of Music. Ms Soltero currently serves on the voice faculties of the University of Portland and Marylhurst University.

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Alto Beth Madsen Bradford's appearances on the operatic mainstage include Giovanna in Verdi’s Rigoletto with Aspen Opera Theatre; Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Plus in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Portland Opera, Tacoma Opera and Portland SummerFest; Soeur Gerald in Dialogues des Carmélites with Portland Opera; Zita in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi with Opera Theater Oregon; The Witch in Hänsel und Gretel with Willamette Concert Opera, Little Buttercup in H.M.S. Pinafore with Skagit Opera, Little Buttercup and Dame Hannah in Ruddigore for Mock’s Crest Productions; and Nell in Opera Theater Oregon’s original show, Will Kill for Vaudeville. As a Young Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera, she covered the role of The Old Lady in Bernstein's Candide. During her tenure as a Resident Artist with Portland Opera Works, Beth reprised the role of The Witch in Portland Opera's condensed version of Hansel and Gretel. An accomplished concert artist and recitalist, Beth’s credits include recent performances with the Juneau Symphony, Oregon Symphony, North State Symphony (CA), and the Columbia Chorale, as well as numerous recitals throughout the Northwest. She has been a guest soloist with Bravo! Vancouver for five seasons, appearing in Bach’s Magnificat and St. John Passion, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Haydn’s Mass in Time of War and Handel's Messiah: an Oratorio. A modern music enthusiast, she has had the pleasure of singing premiere performances of several works, including The House of God (John Vergin), The Bed (Reece Dano), and Towards Golgotha (Armando Bayolo) with the Rose City Chamber Orchestra. She also performs regularly in Opera Theater Oregon’s cutting-edge Opera Cinema series. A graduate of Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, Beth has also studied and performed with the Aspen Opera Theatre Center, Des Moines Metro Opera, Bel Canto Northwest, and the International Vocal Arts Institute. She is also actively involved on the Board of Directors for Opera Theater Oregon.

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Soprano Nancy Devine studied at Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music before moving to Portland, Oregon, some fifteen years ago. Nancy is member of the Portland Opera AGMA Chorus and performed the role of Tetka in their recent production of Jenufa. Other operatic roles Ms. Devine has recently performed are Miss Sweetsong from Mozart's The Impresario, Mrs. Gobineau from The Medium, and Gretel from the Humperdink opera Hansel and Gretel. Her musical theatre roles include Mama Rose in Gypsy, Ms. Malloy in Hello Dolly, and Bloody Mary from South Pacific. Nancy has been a soloist with the Portland Symphonic Choir, the Oregon Symphony and the Bach Cantata Choir, performing such works as Vivaldi’s Gloria, Ernest Bloch’s Sacred Service, John Rutter’s Gloria, and Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Nancy also sang with the Oregon Symphony's televised PBS Great Performances Series concert production of Verdi’s Requiem. While not immersed in the art world, Ms. Devine works as a speech pathologist for Providence Health and Services. Nancy currently studies & coaches with the renowned voice teacher and music educator, Ellen Faull.

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Jennifer Gill, mezzo-soprano is equally at home on the concert, opera and musical theater stages. She is an active performer with Portland Opera with roles such as Minerva, goddess of war and wisdom in their production of Il ritorni di Ulisse in patria, Second Secretary to Mao in Nixon in China and she also performed as an Outreach Artist for Portland Opera singing Hansel in Hansel and Gretel. Other opera roles include; Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus with Indiana University Opera Theater; Flora in La Traviata with Oregon Lyric Opera; Pride/La Ciesca in Seven Deadly Sins & Gianni Schicchi with Opera Theater Oregon. On the musical theater stages she recently performed the role of Marian in Lakewood Theater’s production of The Music Man and Angelina in Trial by Jury with the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus. As a featured concert artist, Ms. Gill has performed with the Oregon Symphony as well as various other orchestras across the west, in addition to the Portland Summer Festival, Astoria Performing Arts, Bravo Vancouver, Artcore Wyoming and Opera Plus! of Coeur D’Alene. In 2004, Ms. Gill was a Finalist in the prestigious Eleanor Lieber Awards vocal competition. In 2005, she was a Finalist and received the Marquis Award in the New York Classical Singer’s Vocal Competition as a Young Artist. Ms. Gill currently resides in Portland, Oregon where she maintains a private voice studio in addition to her performance career.

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Lyric Soprano Jina Darnell has performed extensively in her native Korea and throughout the United States. As a soloist with choral ensembles, she has performed Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. She has sung Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Puccini’s Turandot with the Portland Opera Chorus and her most recent solo role was Barbarina in Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro with the Willamette Opera Company. She has performed recent solo concerts in Portland OR, Baltimore MD, and Korea. Ms. Darnell was educated at Young Nam Conservatory in Korea and at the Peabody Conservatory, and continues to study and coach with the renowned voice teacher Ellen Faull, Professor Emeritus of the Juilliard School of Music.