An Afternoon at the Opera: The Radio Days Performers

Monica Camafreita (Soprano) has performed in numerous operas, musicals, and concerts with such companies as Varna International, SAS Concert Opera, Regina Opera, Opera for Earth, MORE Opera, Brooklyn Opera Works, New York Opera Forum, New York Lyric Opera Theatre, Eurasia Festival and, also, performed the role of Sophie de Palma in a Latin American tour of Terrence McNally’s Master Class with Venevision International. Some of her favorite operatic roles performed include Angelica (Suor Angelica), Elisabetta (Maria Stuarda), Wellgunde (Das Rheingold), La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi), and Tatyana (Yevgény Onégin). In 2022, she recorded the role of Rachel in David and Bathsheba, a chamber opera, by Mark Geiger and and performed as Tisbe (La Cenerentola) and Nursing Sister (Suor Angelica) with SAS Concert Opera; and as Mrs. Gobineau (The Medium) and The Lover (Il Tabarro) with Regina Opera. Thus far in 2023, she debuted as Angelica (Suor Angelica) with Varna International in a tour of Bulgaria and Northern Italy and will return to the SAS Concert Opera stage as Miss Pinkerton (The Old Maid and the Thief). She has recently appeared as the 1st Trio Member (Trouble in Tahiti).and as a soloist in our Puccini Centennial Gala.

Annie Chester, mezzo soprano, made her debut with SAS Performing Arts Concert Opera as Dinah in Leonard Bernstein's Opera Trouble in Tahiti. She has been praised for her strong dramatic presence on the operatic stage and for her “warm, rich, chocolatey voice”. Her most recent credits include Olga (Eugene Onegin), Mrs. Grose (Turn of the Screw), and Principessa di Bouillon cover (Adriana Lecouvreur) with Opera Baltimore, Mother Marie (Dialogues of the Carmelites) with Bronx Opera, Mutter (Hansel und Gretel) and Bernice (Katie: The Strongest of the Strong) with Opera Saratoga, Madalena (Rigoletto), The Sorceress (Dido and Aeneas), Antonia (Tiefland), and Dritte Dame (Die Zauberflöte) with Sarasota Opera, Madalena (Rigoletto) and Maggie (The Gift of the Magi) with Delaware Valley Opera. and Ruggiero (Alcina) with Hawai'i Performing Arts Festival. Other Credits include Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Dorabella (Cosi fan Tutte), Amastre (Xerxes), Dido (Dido and Aeneas), Jade Boucher (Dead Man Walking) and Olga (The Merry Widow). As an outstanding oratorio/concert soloist, Ms. Chester has performed as mezzo/alto soloist in Bach’s Magnificat, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Beethoven’s Mass in C, Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb, Corigliano’s Fern Hill, Mozart’s Requiem, Mozart’s Coronation Mass in C, and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle. Ms. Chester earned both her bachelor of music and master of music from Indiana University. She currently resides in New York City and is a student of Sharon Sweet.

Baritone CHRIS FISTONICH is making his debut with SAS Performing Arts Concert Opera with this performance as Bob in Menotti's The Old Maid and the Theif. Chris is a PhD Immunologist and cybersecurity researcher turned opera singer. Chris has been hailed to possess a voluminous, beefy baritone; with supple variation of dynamics(South Florida Classical Review), as "strong" (Schmopera), and with "power" (Washington Classical Review). Recent engagements include Silvio in Pagliacci with Regina Opera, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus with Opera Magnifico, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Amore Opera, the title role in Don Giovanni with Music on Site, Escamillo in Carmen with Lighthouse Opera, Baron Scarpia in Tosca with New Jersey Lyric Opera and Center Stage Opera, Baron Douphol in La Traviata with Chandler Opera Company, Le Baron de Gondremarck in La Vie Parisienne with L'Opéra Comique de Washington, Count Monterone in Rigoletto with New Jersey Lyric Opera, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte with Gemma Arts, Marcello in La Bohème with Amore Opera, Count Danilo Danilovitsch in The Merry Widow with Delaware Valley Opera Company, Vodník in Rusalka with the Utah Summer Opera Festival, and Pandolfe in Cendrillon with Miami Music Festival. Originally hailing from Los Angeles, California, Chris received his Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics in 2012 from the University of California, Los Angeles. After graduating from UCLA, Chris attended Yale University, earning a Ph.D. in Immunobiology in 2018. Chris currently resides in Rahway, New Jersey, with his wife Stephanie and two cats.

Paul Fraccalvieri is always delighted to return to SAS Performing Arts. He was last seen in its acclaimed Sondheim Revue last summer, and has appeared in DRACULA, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT DREAM among others. He has performed throughout the U.S. and Canada in regional and touring productions of SOUTH PACIFIC( Cable '92 Emile '16) MY FAIR LADY( Freddy), THE KING AND I( Luntha) GREASE( Teen Angel), JOSEPH..., GODSPELL( Lamar), FOREVER PLAID( Jinx) and CITY OF ANGELS( Munoz)among others. Off-Broadway credits include the original companies of FANNY LOU THE MUSICAL, BELLEVUE SKETCHES, and SGT. STUBBY THE GREAT AMERICAN WAR DOG MUSICAL. He is a cross-over artist with credits in opera, operetta, musical theater, drama/comedy, voiceovers, and cabaret. He is a frequent guest soloist at churches and with orchestras throughout the metro area. Thanks to Maestro Scovasso and Oscar. Love to LC and TM.

Acclaimed for her luscious voice and "enviable top notes"- OperaWire, Puerto Rican soprano Clara Luz Iranzo has performed opera and concert works in Europe, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States. Her most recent roles include Blanche de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, Ilia in Idomeneo, Theresa Álvarez in The Listeners, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, among others. She has performed at the Rhodes International Festival, The Hudson Valley International Festival of The Voice, The United Nations and at Houston Grand Opera as part of their 2022 Young Artist Vocal Academy. Ms. Iranzo's upcoming debuts include the soprano role in a soon-to-be-announced wold premiere with Teatro Grattacielo and Diana in La Calisto with Cali Opera. A winner of notable awards and competitions, she co-founded Opera Atlantic, a non-profit organization that aims to create paid opportunities for emerging young talents just like her.

Deborah Surdi, soprano, is an experienced singer, voice teacher and coach, as well as an executive and consultant in the music and concert presenting business. As a singer, she performed for many years in both local and regional opera companies in the Tri-State area. Her roles include Mimi, Musetta, Fiordiligi, Tosca, Rosalinda and Cio-Cio San, to name a few. She has also performed in Cabarets and American Musical Theater shows and worked with the late Barbara Cook on song presentation and style. For the bulk of her working career she held various positions at RCA Records/BMG Classics and Sony Classical, with her last position as Vice President of Artists and Repertoire. Former Executive Director of The Opera Orchestra of New York, Deborah is currently working in executive capacities with the Martina Arroyo Foundation and The Queens Symphony Orchestra.

Perri Sussman has been on the rosters of prestigious companies including New York City Opera Renaissance, St. Petersburg Opera Company, Long Island Lyric Opera, Brott Opera, dell'Arte Opera Ensemble, Bronx Opera Company, and Dicapo Opera Theatre. Her roles include Angelina in La Cenerentola, Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Hansel in Hansel und Gretel, Mercedes in Carmen, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Javotte in Manon, Flora and Annina in La Traviata, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Paggio in Rigoletto, La Suora Infermiera and Una Conversa in Suor Angelica, and Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflote. She was awarded the Lynne Strow Piccolo Award in the 2023 American Opera Idol vocal competition with Opera Connecticut. In 2019, she was nominated by Theatre Tampa Bay for an Outstanding Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Kate Pinkerton with St. Petersburg Opera Company. She was named a winner in the 2017 Riverside Opera Company vocal competition. She was named the 2012 Grand Prize Winner in the voice category of the Ensemble 212 Young Artist Competition. She was a finalist in the 2012 New York Lyric Opera Theatre Vocal Competition. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in the 2011 Master Singer Finalist Concert for the Nico Castel International Master Singer Competition.

Praised equally for her rich, powerful voice and unique expressiveness, Mezzo Soprano Lara Tillotson is an exciting dramatic singer on the rise. OPERA WIRE described Ms. Tillotson’s 2018 role debut of Amneris in Verdi’s Aida as “an unexpected thunderbolt.” The BROOKLYN DISCOVERY proclaimed “the Judgement Scene in Act 4 was sung brilliantly” and “was greeted by an ovation for its tremendous - beautifully sung and acted - imploding of Amneris.” Of her performances of Azucena in Il Trovatore, Nino Pantone was struck by her “stunning upper register” and “burnished lows” while Loren Lester wrote “Ms Tillotson is a tremendous actress with a soulful voice.” Fall of 2019 brought a return to Carmen, a signature role for the fiery diva, as part of Regina Opera’s 50th anniversary season. She brings her “lustrous mezzo” to the heroine with “brash, beguiling strength” “like Lana Turner capturing her prey.” Ms. Tillotson also performed excerpts from Don Carlo for the company’s 50th anniversary Gala.