Robert Frankenberry enjoys a multi-faceted relationship with music as a singer, pianist, conductor, orchestrator, director, and even occasionally as a composer. On stage, he has performed a wide range of roles including Mozart (Amadeus), John Adams (1776), Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos), the tile roles in Don Carlo, The Tales of Hoffmann, Faust, and Willy Wonka, and Orson Welles in Daron Hagen’s filmopera Orson Rehearsed. At the piano, he regularly performs works by living composers with such groups as Pittsburgh’s IonSound and AnimeBOP: New York City’s The Phoenix Players and PRISM Players; and multi-city entelechron and Chrysalis Duo. He has served on the coaching/accompanying staff at Seton Hill, Duquesne, Carnegie Mellon, and Point Park; the voice faculty at Mercyhurst and Point Park; and the Theatre Arts faculty at the University of Pittsburgh, where he provided vocal direction for Pitt Stages’ productions of Nine, Peter & The Starcatcher, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream; musical direction for Hair and Little Shop of Horrors; and direction for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Parade. He served as visiting Music Director for the opera program at the University of North Texas, and was significantly involved with Pittsburgh Festival Opera from 2000 – 2021 in various capacities, including Artistic Administrator, Music Director, and Director of the Hans and Leslie Fleischner Young Artist Program. Robert is currently Interim Concert and Communications Coordinator for the Department of Music at the University of Pittsburgh. He can be heard singing and playing on the Naxos, Albany, New World Records, Roven Records, New Dynamic Records, and Innova labels, as well as various streaming platforms

Kip Soteres has a Bachelor’s in English and Creative Writing and an MFA in poetry from Washington University in St. Louis. He has studied, sometimes briefly, with the likes of Tom Sleigh, Derek Walcott, Seamus Heaney, and Kimon Friar. His poetry thesis was approved by Howard Nemerov and Donald Finkel. He is ABD towards a PHD in English Literature and Literary Theory with focus on the long poem in English, literary hermeneutic theory and German Idealist philosophy. He has published in literary journals such as Shenandoah, The Literary Journal, The Southern Poetry Review and many others. He had a chapbook, As Close to Innocence, illustrated by dear friend Moira Redcorn, and has just been incredibly fortunate in his life and adventures in the US and in Athens, Greece, where he lived and wrote textbooks teaching English for about 7 years. Kip has also published a novel, Confusing Words. Thomas the Rhymer is his second opera, done in collaboration with our own Matt Gillespie. The first was titled “Eve Apart,” set to music by Tim Hinck. More are in the works, so please stay tuned for more new operas on themes from Pittsburgh Working Class history, Cthulhu Horror and Folk Tale Heroes, and a meditation on the line between creativity and madness.

Dana Kinney is an opera director, mezzo-soprano and actor. This season, Ms. Kinney made her company debut at Pittsburgh Opera as the Resident Artist Stage Director. She returns for a second season where she’ll direct Benjamin Britten’s Curlew River. She has coached and directed young artists in places such as Central City Opera, Opera Steamboat, Ithaca College, University of Northern Colorado, Colorado State University, Regis University and University of Northern Alabama. She’s served on the directing staffs at Seattle Opera, Central City Opera, The Dallas Opera, Syracuse Opera, Boulder Opera Company, Opera Fort Collins and Loveland Opera Theatre. During her graduate studies at Colorado State University, she was rewarded The Charles and Reta Ralph Graduate Scholarship, the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Scholarship and a Graduate Teaching Assistantship in Opera where she directed a production of Signor Deluso. She was invited back as a guest stage director for the student performance of The Wandering Scholar. Additional staging credits include L’enfant et les sortilèges, L’elisir d’amore, Thunder of Horses, The Daughter of the Regiment, Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Impresario, along with a plethora of selected opera scenes for young artist programs, universities and Opera in the Park events. She has studied at The Barrow Group, Upright Citizen’s Brigade, The People’s Improv Theater and Rise Comedy and holds a M.M in Voice Performance from Colorado State University and a B.A in music and theatre from the University of Northern Colorado.

Soprano Kelly Fiona Lynch has sung with the Erie Chamber Orchestra, Pittsburgh Philharmonic, Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, Westmoreland Philharmonic Orchestra and the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra, where she sang Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and the title role in Bizet’s Carmen. Oratorio repertoire she has performed includes the soprano solos in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Verdi’s Requiem and Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder. She was also featured as Chrysosthemis in Elektra and Amelia in Simon Boccanegra with Chatham Concert Opera. At Pittsburgh Opera Theater, she has also performed Waltraute in their recent production of The Valkyrie, as well as the role of Miss Darlington in Night Caps. For Undercroft Opera, Kelly has been heard as Larina in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, and in the title roles in Verdi’s Aida, Bellini’s Norma, and Puccini’s Suor Angelica, as well as Giorgetta in Il tabarro. She has also sung the title roles in Lucia di Lammermoor and La Traviata for Erie Opera Theater. Kelly has also performed in Italy and Central America, and has conducted masterclasses in San Jose, Costa Rica. Based in Pittsburgh, Kelly is on the faculty at both Chatham and Seton Hill Universities.

Tucker Topel he/him (Scenic Designer) is a scenic designer, director, and teaching artist based in Pittsburgh. Originally from Southern Wisconsin, he attended Point Park University in Pittsburgh and graduated with a BFA in Scenic Design. Tucker has worked with many companies around the city including Little Lake Theatre, Pittsburgh Musical Theatre, Point Park University, The Collective, Mercyhurst University and others. His selected design credits include: Million Dollar Quartet(Pittsburgh Musical Theatre), The Height of the Storm (FUSION Theatre Company), Jesus Christ Superstar(The Collective), Crave(ELSEWHERE Theatre Company), Newsies (Point Park University), The Seagull (Mercyhurst University) and What Kind of Woman (off the WALL). Tucker is also a founding member and the Artistic Director of ELSEWHERE Theatre Company where he made this directing debut with Angels In America Part One: Millennium Approaches. Check out more of his work on instagram & website- @tucker_topel www.tuckertopel.com

MADELEINE STEINECK (Lighting Designer) has been working as a Lighting Designer and Master Electrician in western Pennsylvania since 2011. This is her first design for Aria412. Other companies she has worked with as a Lighting Designer include: Mercyhurst Institute for Arts and Culture, MCG Jazz, PICT, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, off the WALL Productions, Carnegie Stage, New Hazlett's CSA Program, City Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival, Texture Contemporary Ballet, STAYCEE PEARL dance project, Jesse Factor, Shana Simmons Dance, fireWALL dance theatre, Morgantown Dance Studio, The Collective PGH, Kamratōn, and Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company. She is also the resident Lighting Designer for Mercyhurst University's Theatre Program. She has designed many local high school and middle school productions over the years. Master Electrician credits include: 2019 and 2016's Regional Dance America: Northeast in Erie, PA, Lake Erie Ballet, Erie Contemporary Ballet Theatre, PICT, Erie Festival of Dance, and Mon Valley Sizzles at the Carrie Furnace. She also works as a stagehand for IATSE Local 3.  Touring has taken her to New York City, NY with Jesse Factor’s production of The Marthaodyssey, to Chicago, IL, Burlington, VT, Lake Placid, NY and most recently Cleveland, OH with Raphael Xavier Company, and to Edinburgh, Scotland with Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, where her work debuted at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Lisa Leibering is a freelance theatrical designer/builder, an active member of IATSE Local 787 Wardrobe Union, and an Assistant Professor of Costume Design and Technology at Seton Hill University. She holds a BFA in Puppetry/Children’s Theatre from West Virginia University, an MA in Theatre for Youth from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an MFA in Costume Design from the University of Idaho. In addition to designing shows at Seton Hill University, lisa also works locally and nationally focusing on puppetry. Some of her recent credits include designing/building puppets for Pittsburgh CLO’s productions of Seussical and Into the Woods, puppet designer/builder for Ohio Northern University’s production of 9 to 5, serving as production designer/builder for Weber State University’s touring production of Peter Rabbit, and designing/building puppets and costume craft items for Tuacahn Center for Arts.

Howard Patterson is a Pittsburgh sound designer and audio engineer. A Point Park alumnus with a bachelor’s degree in Theater Design. He has worked on many projects in and around Pittsburgh. Some of his recent projects include Paradise Blues, The Rivers don't know “Homegrown 1 and 2” and Claws Out: A Holiday Drag Musical at City Theater, The Children Hour, Everybody, Good Grief and You on the Moors Now at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. He is probably the only sound designer that is also a pro wrestler in training in the Pittsburgh area.

Frank Harris is an artist and illustrator who's work has appeared in galleries, museums and many private collections. His illustrations have appeared in many prominent magazines and books. Clients include: Major League Baseball, Harvard Magazine, and Vanity Fair.

Jess Levine is excited to be a part of bringing this story to you! Credits include the national tours of Elf the Musical and Hairspray (PSM), A Sherlock Carol (PSM) with Kinetic Theatre, Plano and The Cherry Orchard (ASM) with Quantum Theatre, and Shantytown (PSM) with Pittsburgh Playwrights. Proud graduate of Penn State. Many thanks to family and friends for their continued support!

Soprano Desirée Soteres enjoys singing in concert, musical theater, and opera and is known for her powerful voice and strong characterization. She comes to Pittsburgh via Chattanooga, Memphis, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Portland, New York City, San Jose, and ports around the globe through Cunard Cruise Lines. Last season she created the role of the Queen of Elfenland in Thomas the Rhymer with Aria412. She filmed and performed in Aria412’s stage version of I Hear America Singing directed by composer Daron Hagen. Desirée co-founded and performs monthly with Aria412 and has premiered works with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Alia Musica, and the New Dischord Festival. Highlights include originating the title role in Eve Apart as well as Rosella in The Mother of Fishes and Flora Dart in A New Kind of Fallout. She has had the pleasure of singing her favorite operatic role, Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute with Opera San Jose, West Bay Opera, Stockton Opera, Pocket Opera, Undercroft Opera and as a Resident Artist at Portland Opera. Other theatrical performances include Roselinda in Die Fledermaus with Undercroft Opera, Despina in Cosi fan tutte with Mission City Opera, Blonde in Abduction from the Seraglio with Pocket Opera, Cunegonde in Candide with Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and Rosa Bud in The Mystery of Edwin Drood with Chattanooga Theater Center. Desirée has appeared as Abigail in The Crucible, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Lucy in Threepenny Opera and Celeste #1 in Sunday in the Park with George. She was a featured performer in a series of concerts in Europe, South America, and Australia aboard Cunard’s Vistafjord and Royal Viking Sun. Desirée received her MM in vocal performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, her BA in music from Rhodes College in Memphis and studied in Austria.