Fairy Tales in Opera Performers

Sarah Ziegler is a musical theater performer, writer, and a music educator. An advanced member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, Sarah is the co-lyricist and co-librettist of Just Between the All of Us, a choose-your-own-adventure musical commissioned by Pittsburgh CLO. The show won the Reva Shiner Comedy Award in 2020 and will have a production at Bloomington Playwright's Project. Another musical of Sarah’s, The Brontës, written with composer Lucas Tahiruzzaman Syed and co-book writer Katie Palmer, is currently undergoing a year-long workshop (which will culminate in a production) at the University of East London. Past productions include In Between (now available for licensing), Stage Fright (Prospect Theater Company's Musical Theater Lab), and Dustin Gavins P.I. (UC Irvine's 4@15 production). Sarah's children’s album of her original tunes (Musical Muffins: Tunes for Babies and Big Kids) is in the works. She has a B.A. in music and literature from Hamilton College, and a Masters in Musical Theater from the Boston Conservatory. She adores teaching her 22 private piano students, running Musical Muffins (a baby and toddler music class), and singing and being silly with her two sons, Arlo and Hughie!

Soprano Claire Robinson captivates audiences with her shimmering tone and passionate storytelling. Audiences burst out laughing at her depiction of Papagena with Prelude Opera and her depiction of Leïla in Les pêchuers de perles was heralded as “pure and full of vulnerability”. She frequently performs in the NYC area with regional companies such as Bronx Opera. In 2022, she won the Utah District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competiton. In addition to opera, her voice is often heard in concert and solo work. Most recently, she was the soloist in César Franck’s Die Sieben Worte Christi Am Kreuz at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Claire Robinson received a Master of Music in Opera Performance at the University of Oklahoma while studying with soprano Lorraine Ernest and baritone Kim Josephson. In addition to performing, Claire has a passion for teaching. She can often be found doing educational outreach performances and music classes for children.

Hailed by the Jerusalem Post as "A Magnificent Dramatic Voice" versatile mezzo-soprano Sara Henry has sung leading and supporting roles in over 40 operas, and has been seen in concert throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. Ms Henry began her formal vocal studies at La Scuola di Musico di Sesto in Florence, Italy, and later went on to graduate from Sarah Lawrence College, where she made her debut as the alto soloist in Bach's Weinachts Oratorio,with the Sarah Lawrence College Orchestra, under the baton of Grammy winning composer, George Tsontakis. Highlights of her career have included the roles of Semiramide (Semiramide), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice) Diana (La Calisto), Adalgisa (Norma), and Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), as well as a host of Handelian heroes, including the title roles in Xerxes, Ariodante, and Giulio Cesare. She is also the mom of a first grader.

Praised for her "robust and luxuriant tone", American soprano Caroline Corrales is an operatic star on the rise. In January of 2024, she will join The San Francisco Opera as a resident artist in the Adler Fellowship.As a 2023 participant in the esteemed Merola Opera Program, she performed the role of Female Chorus The Rape of Lucretia, and in scenes as Amelia Simon Boccanegra and Ellen Orford Peter Grimes. This December, she will make her third appearance as a featured singer in the Holiday Pops! Concert Series with The Boston Pops Symphony. Caroline is a former Apprentice Singer of The Santa Fe Opera, where she was featured in scenes as Rosalinde Die Fledermaus and Donna Elvira Don Giovanni, and on the mainstage as an Ensemble Member in Carmen, Falstaff, and the World Premiere of Huang Ruo’s M. Butterfly. As a former Young Artist of the Boston University Opera Institute, her roles included Ma Zegner Proving Up, Mary Crawford Mansfield Park, Anne Trulove The Rake's Progress, and scenes as Contessa Amalviva Le Nozze di Figaro, and the title character in Rusalka. An avid competitor, Caroline is a three-time District Winner and two-time Region Encouragement Award Winner of The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Other recent awards include Career Grant Winner, Pasadena Vocal Competition; Finalist, McCammon Voice Competition; Second Prize, Orpheus Vocal Competition; Grand Finalist, Concurso Internacional de Canto Tenor Viñas. Caroline holds a Master of Music degree from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Webster University.

Hailed for his “flexible" ringing tenor notes and comfortability in performing a diverse repertoire, Latine-American tenor Josaphat Contreras recent seasons have included feature roles in opera, international debuts, solo engagements, and a plethora of oratorio works around the United States and abroad. Recent awards and artistic feats include his National Opera Association Convention 1st prize win for his research (2023), international debut as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the historic Teatro Ángela Peralta in Mazatlán, Mexico (2022), his New York City Debut in Carla Lucero’s Juana as Don Carlos (2022), and his tenor soloist debut with the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra (2021). Recent and upcoming season highlights include the tenor soloist in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Martines Dixit Dominus (Brattleboro Music Center), tenor soloist for Mozart’s Requiem (Quincy Choral Society) and a piano, duo voice, and guitar concert with Juan Carlos Ruiz as part of Concerts in the Courtyard at the Boston Public Library in August 2023. Josaphat is a graduate of the prestigious The New England Conservatory of Music with a Master of Music degree in Voice Pedagogy where he was the commencement speaker for the class of 2022 graduation ceremony. Currently, Josaphat serves as an Associate Voice Instructor for the Eleonor England NYC Studio. He is the recipient of the 1st place award for the 2023 National Opera Association Poster presentation that were held in Houston, Texas. Josaphat's research has been presented at the Houston Grand Opera insights lecture, NPR - Illinois in conjunction with the University of Illinois – Springfield, Arizona State University, Lawrence Academy, and The New England Conservatory of Music. When Josaphat is not performing, he enjoys spending time with his partner Amanda Contreras, his daughter Ava Michell Contreras, and their two dogs Rufus and Delilah

Christine Pulliam Melamed founded Prelude Opera in 2017 with the production of Three Little Pigs. As an opera pianist and director, she has worked for Bronx Opera, Atlantic Music Festival, Masterworks Festival, Opera Company of Brooklyn and Dramma per Musica. A piano instructor since 1994, she was previously on the piano faculty of the Levine School of Music in Washington D.C. and taught piano and music history at The King’s College. Past solo and chamber performances include the Opus Nine Ensemble, The Washington Sinfonietta, University of Wisconsin, and Malacañang Palace in the Philippines. A fan of new music, she has premiered piano works by Frank Felice and Benjamin C. S. Boyle and an operetta by Joshua Bornfield. A native of Indianapolis, Ms. Melamed graduated from Butler University summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance and minor in journalism. She received a Master of Music degree in piano performance from the University of Maryland and a Master of Music in collaborative piano from The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.