Students from the UW Vocal Performance program present Vinkensport, a comic one-act opera with music by David T. Little and libretto by Royce Vavrek. Stage direction by Kelly Kitchens. Daren Weissfisch conducts.
Masks are recommended in all indoor spaces. Proof of vaccination remains a requirement for everyone 12 and over at Meany Hall and all ArtsUW Ticket Office events, including Meany Center, DXARTS, Dance Department, School of Drama, and School of Music. Individuals unable to be fully vaccinated, including people with a medical or religious exemption, must have proof of a negative provider-administered COVID-19 test (taken within 72 hours of the performance). UW staff will check for proof of vaccination and negative COVID tests at the doors as a condition of entry. Proof of negative test result must come from a test provider, a laboratory or a health care provider. Home or self-administered tests will not be accepted. Details of these policies and procedures are at: https://artsevents.washington.edu/covid-protocols
Cast & Roles
School of Music Team
Trevor Cushman, Meany Studio Theater Stage Technician/Lighting Designer
Orchestra
Flute/Piccolo/Alto flute
Megan Hutchison
Clarinet/Bass clarinet
Megan Rideout-Redeker
Piano
Andrew Romanick
Violins
Dalma Ashby
Selina Siow
Viola
Eugene Chin
Cello
Young Kim
Double bass
Alejandra Heringer
Synopsis
A motley assortment of contestants participate in their annual finch-sitting competition, a Belgian folk competition that pits chaffinches (and their owners) against each other in a battle to see who has the most melodious bird. The contest is run as such: a man waves a flag and each of the competitors sits in front of a box containing one of their fellow contestants’ birds. Every time a bird makes a proper call (a susk-e-wiet, as it’s called in these circles) they receive a tally mark. The bird with the most points wins, bringing much pride to its trainer. Although a seemingly simple and gentle competition, access to the competitor’s inner monologues and flashbacks to their preparations reveal deception, deep-seated rivalries, painful loneliness, and blossoming romance.
Press Quotes for Vinkensport
“As it explores the motivations of the six competitors—who are identified only as “Trainers” of their wittily named birds (such as Hans Sachs and Farinelli)—their egotism, competitiveness, guilt, exhibitionism and, most of all, loneliness become the story. Through Mr. Little’s deft vocal characterizations, adroit pacing, and colorful orchestration, one comes to understand them all.”
TimesUnion
“Little’s assured writing is vibrant and driving”
Concertonet
“the final aria, sung by the lonely Garrett Obrycki to his bird Atticus Finch, is a blessing by composer David T. Little. The piece is poignant, telling…these few finishing moments gave value to the entire production.”
Daily Gazette
"The Finch Opera" was bold, brash and eccentrically novel about a little known Belgian "sport."
“The audience laughed throughout the show, and screamed and yelled its approval at the end.”
The University of Washington acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches
the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations.
Biographies
Kelly Kitchens is a professional director, actor, adaptor, and arts educator based out of Seattle Washington. Her passion for storytelling is anchored in the practice of fierce collaboration and her thirst for art-making excellence is in service to her vision of a more engaged, inclusive, curious world.
Kelly is an omnivore of theatrical genres, forms, and styles; and whether she is directing an opera, a musical, a contemporary work, or a classic play, she is well- known for her powerful staging, razor-sharp pacing, illuminating the pulsing heart of characters, and finding the edges without losing the center. In addition to creating compelling theater, Kelly is also well-known for cultivating courageous and compassionate spaces in the rehearsal hall, the conference room, and the classroom alike.
Her honors include: Two time recipient of and four time nominee for the Gregory Falls Award for Outstanding Director; recipient of and two time nominee for the Gregory Falls Award for Outstanding Production; Seattle Weekly Readers Poll Best Director; recipient of the Broadway World Critics Choice Award for Best Direction of a Play; two time recipient of the R.A.D. (Recognizing Artistic Diversity in Seattle) awards; two time recipient of Seattle Theater Writers Awards for Best Direction of a Play; named in Seattle Magazine’s inaugural list of “Top 20 Most Talented People in Seattle”; and was a nominee for the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Mayor's Arts Award.
Kelly serves as an Artist in Residence for the University of Washington’s School of Music; she is also guest instructor in acting and directing for both undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Washington School of Drama and for Cornish College of the Arts. Kelly served as the Associate Artistic Director and then as the Co-Artistic Director at Seattle Public Theater, garnering many awards with that organization which also includes the Gregory Falls Award for Theatre of the Year.
Kelly earned her B.A. from Vanderbilt University and her M.F.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a member of the Sandbox Artists Collective, a member of Actor's Equity Association, and a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
Daren Weissfisch has conducted professional and student ensembles in the United States, Mexico, and Europe for over a decade. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Washington under the tutelage of Dr. David Alexander Rahbee where he is the conductor of the Campus Philharmonia Orchestras, the assistant conductor of the University of Washington Symphony Orchestra, and conductor of the University of Washington Modern Music Ensemble and Opera Theater Works Orchestra. Daren was recently named House Conductor of the Tacoma Opera and he previously conducted the University of Washington’s opera production of Vinkensport by David T. Little and Joseph Haydn’s opera Philemon und Baucis. Daren has also served as cover conductor for the Harmonia Orchestra Seattle and the Issaquah Philharmonic Orchestra. From 2013 to 2019 Daren was the Artistic Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Esperanza Azteca Sinaloa, which is an El Sistema based youth orchestra and choir in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico. While in Mexico he was the assistant director for the 2016 production of Charles Gounod’s opera Romeo and Juliet with the Orquesta Sinfónica Sinaloa de las Artes under Sinaloense conductor Enrique Patrón de Rueda and the same year he collaborated with French guitarist Jean Bruno Dautaner to record the guitar concerto Tres en Raya by Spanish composer Antonio Ruíz Pipó under the AdLib MusicMX record label. In 2017 Daren conducted the Sinaloa premier of Horizontes, a work by Mexican composer Samuel Zyman, again with the Orquesta Sinfónica Sinaloa de las Artes, and for the 2017 Sinaloa Cultural Festival Daren founded the ensemble Sinaloa Players which presented Stravinsky’s masterpiece Histoire du Soldat in collaboration with renowned Mexican choreographer Mauricio Nava. Daren was a conducting student of Michael Jinbo at the Pierre Monteux Festival and School for several summers and he also studied with many notable conductors including Ludovic Morlot, Donald Schleicher, Kensho Watanabe, Lior Shambadal, Edward Cumming, Charles Olivieri-Munroe, Gábor Hollerung, Linus Lerner, Carlos Spierer, Sandro Gorli, Glen Adsit and Timothy Salzman among others.
Daren is also an oboist and was the second/assistant principal oboist of the Orquesta Sinfónica Sinaloa de las Artes in Sinaloa, Mexico from 2010-2019 as well as soloist playing oboe concertos by Mozart, Strauss and Bach. He is also a substitute player in the Seattle area with the Bainbridge Island Symphony Orchestra, Harmonia Orchestra Seattle and the Lake Union Civic Orchestra among others.
Rhonda Kline is Artist in Residence and Director of Collaborative Piano at the University of Washington School of Music. An accomplished and versatile pianist cited as a “tour de force at the piano” (Klarinet), Rhonda’s passion is collaborating with others in sharing music. International highlights included a weeklong residency at the American University of Sharjah near Dubai in partnership with baritone Victor Benedetti and soprano Juliana Rambaldi; and a recital tour with Metropolitan Opera soprano Joyce Guyer, performing in Florence, Budapest, and Kyiv. Current projects include music direction for one-act operas by local composer Sterling Tinsley, Tacoma Opera online presentations, and a performance with Bellingham Chamber Chorale of Mozart’s Requiem arranged for piano duet (partnered with pianist Emily Gantt). Passionate about fostering both the young emerging professional and veteran performer, Rhonda serves as general director and music director for Northwest Opera In Schools, Etc. (N.O.I.S.E., www.noiseforkids.org), an opera education program serving elementary schools and retirement communities in Washington state. Summer months find her in Italy, where she is a pianist and coach with Canta in Italia, a program for singers to study opera and Italian language and culture. Her operatic coaching repertoire includes more than 60 titles, including traditional operas, contemporary works, and musical theater.
Andrew Romanick performs in the Seattle area and beyond as a collaborative pianist and opera coach. On faculty at the University of Washington School of Music, he instructs Opera Workshop and Collaborative Piano. This year Romanick has performed and premiered with soprano Carrie Henneman Shaw a number of pieces in Seattle and St. Paul by contemporary composers: Linda Tutas Haugen, Kate Soper, Jocelyn Hagen, Juliana Hall, and Karen P. Thomas. In January, Romanick also contributed to the reconstruction and performance by UW Opera of Joseph Haydn's Philemon and Baucis, or Jupiter comes to Earth. Previous professional performances have taken place virtually with Seattle soprano Chérie Hughes in the Barcelona Festival of Song; with Broadway and Metropolitan Opera Baritone Zachary James in the Hoku concert series in Kona, Hawaii; in the Canto Opera Festival in Louisville, Kentucky; in the Music in the Marche Opera Festival in Mondavio and Fano, Italy; and solo in the Gijón Piano Festival in Spain. Romanick earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts from University of Washington in 2018 in the studio of Robin McCabe.
The performances of baritone Limual Forgey have been received with critical acclaim in the genres of opera, oratorio and musical theatre. Recently Mr. Forgey has performed with Opera Romania Craiova in Gianni Schicchi in the role of Marco. Other notable work includes extensive opera and musical theatre roles: The Count and the title role in Le nozze di Figaro (VOCE and Fresno Sequoia Opera) Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (California Opera, Golden Gate Opera) Escamillo in Carmen (CSU Fresno, Visalia Opera Company, California Opera Association) Germont in La Traviata (California Opera ). Other notable roles include Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus Peter in Hansel und Gretel, Javert and Bishop in Les Miserables with Theater Arts Alliance and Fresno Grand Opera; Piangi in The Phantom of the Opera with COS Sequoia Theatre; Johnson in Cepelak's Lincoln and Booth-A New Opera with Golden Gate Opera, Petrovitch in Crime and Punishment-The Opera with John Rainbow Productions Visalia; Chillingworth in The Scarlet Letter and Emile in South Pacific.
In 2020, Mr. Forgey was scheduled to perform as baritone soloist in Mollicone's Beatitude Mass for the Homeless with Fresno Master Chorale; Carmina Burana with CSU Fresno Orchestra and Master Chorus; and with Fresno Philharmonic in their "Arias and Opera Choruses". These concerts and collaborations are currently awaiting a time of reschedule when we are safely past the COVID pandemic.
In his large performance career, Mr. Forgey has had the pleasure of working with some of opera and musical theater’s most prominent directors and conductors, including Peter Lockyer, Brad Haak and Metropolitan Opera star Patrice Munsel, who was a personal mentor and guide for Mr. Forgey, helping him shape his early career. Prominent coaches include Howard Watkins and Jonathan Kuhner of The Metropolitan Opera. International opera star mezzo-soprano Edna Garabedian is perhaps Mr. Forgey’s most influential teacher. He is also privileged to have studied under Dr. Antony Radford of Canada and the United States. Mr Forgey recently performed throughout southern Germany in lieder concerts and has collaborated with a number of symphony orchestras as guest artist and soloist, including Fresno Philharmonic, Fresno Master Chorale, Sequoia Symphony Orchestra and Kings Symphony Orchestra.
Radio, Television and Film credits include Crime and Punishment-The Opera Film DVD, NPR Valley Public Radio Soloist in selections from Saint-Saens' Oratorio de Noel, “Suddenly with the Angels” Television Broadcast by KNXT in Fresno and the role of Bandleader of Aventura!, an Independent Feature Film.
Mr. Forgey holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Washington State University in Vocal Performance, a Masters of Arts in Music (Vocal Performance) from California State University, Fresno, and is currently working on a Doctorate of Musical Arts in voice at the University of Washington.
Mr. Forgey and his amazing wife, Chavaleh, are blessed with three wonderful children. He is managed by Vocal Artist Management Services (VMAS)
A native of northern New England, Kenneth Foster is currently working on his master’s degree in vocal performance at the University of Washington, where he studies voice with Dr. Carrie Shaw. Kenneth has performed in both opera and musical theater productions since the Fall of 2012; L’Enfant et les sortilèges (Back Cat), Hansel and Gretel (Father), Street Scene (Sam Kaplan), Into the Woods (Jack), and Rodger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Prince). He currently lives in Seattle with his 6-year-old tabby cat named Thomas, who is also a lover of vocal music and can be heard singing along with Kenneth throughout the day.
Having spent the last several years moving from coast to coast, Mallory is happy to return to her hometown of Seattle. She most recently was based in the greater Philadelphia area, where she was privileged to serve as both an educator and performer. Mallory holds a BM in Music Education with a credential to teach K-12 Band, Choral, Orchestral, and General music. She has sung the roles of Rose Maurant in Street Scene, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, and Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance. She also frequently participates in NATS competitions, having won twice in the LA chapter, and has had the opportunity to work with Elena Mindina and Angel Blue in masterclasses. She has studied with Dr. Jeanne Robison and Robin Massie, and is currently studying with Thomas Harper while pursuing her Masters of Music in Vocal Performance at the University of Washington. Mallory is grateful for the support of her family, and in her spare time can be found working with horses and children.
Sarah Santos, soprano, hails from Houston, Texas and recently completed a Master's of Music in Voice Performance at the University of Washington where she studied with Thomas Harper. In addition to performing, Ms. Santos enjoys teaching and has been an advocate of piano and voice education for ten years. Her hobbies include reading, gaming, and spending quality time with her cat, Obi.