artist highlights

vocalists

Polish soprano Wioletta Chodowicz sings her first performances of Madama Butterfly with Israeli Opera and Polish National Opera. With the latter she also performs the title role in Halka, Marta in Die Passagierin and the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro.

American mezzo-soprano Tara Venditti makes her role debut as Leocadja Begbick Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny also with Israeli Opera, joined by tenor John Uhlenhopp in his role debut as Jimmy Mahoney.

Venditti also performs the title role in Handel's Solomon with Krakow's Capella Cracoviensis conducted by Alessandro de Marchi, where she is joined by Australian soprano Kristy Swift as Solomon's Queen and the First Harlot.

This season Ms. Swift will make her role debut as Yum Yum in The Mikado with Opera Queensland in Australia.

Irish bass John Molloy performs Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with Nationale Reisopera (Netherlands) and his first Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Opera Holland Park in London before reprising the role of Masetto in Don Giovanni with English National Opera.

Russian bass Vladimir Matorin performs one of his signature roles, Varlaam in Boris Godunov at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain.

Macedonian soprano Ana Durlovski joins the ensemble at Staatstheater Stuttgart this season; her roles will include Morgana in Alcina, Amina in La sonnambula, Constance in Dialogues des carmélites and La Folie in Platée.

American Helene Schneiderman continues her long association with Staatstheater Stuttgart and makes an important debut at La Scala in Milan as Annina Der Rosenkavalier.

New Zealand mezzo-soprano Sarah Castle sings the role of Elektra in the world-premiere of Manfred Trojahn's opera Orest for Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam.

Soprano Anna Shafakinskaya makes an important role debut as Odabella in Verdi's Attila for Seattle Opera, before returning to the Netherlands Opera to perform Fata Morgana in L'amour des trois oranges.

Scottish bass Brian Bannatyne Scott takes the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence smash-hit Thanks to my Eyes to major theatres around Europe, including Théatre de Gennevilliers (Paris), Théatre Royal de la Monnaie, Théatre Royal de la Bruxelles and Festival Musica (Strasbourg).

American mezzo-soprano Fredrika Brillembourg will incarnate the role of Carmen alongside American tenor Antonio Nagore as Don José with the Sarasota Opera in Florida.

Chicago-natives Michael Redding, baritone, and Gwendolyn Brown, contralto, make important debuts with Seattle Opera as Crown and Maria, respectively, in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.  Redding also makes a role debut as Don Giovanni with Piedmont Opera this season.

Ms. Brown, along with Patrick Blackwell, Alison Buchanan and John Fulton, debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2011 at the Tanglewood Festival in a concert production of Porgy and Bess.

Rising talent Cody Austin performs his first Alfredo in La traviata with the newly-formed Lyric Opera Virginia, and he returns to the Opera Company of Philadelphia for Manon Lescaut.

Newcomer to the RG&Co. Roster, soprano Rebecca Davis' season includes the roles of Violetta in La traviata with Festival Opera in the bay-area of California, Ilia in Idomeneo with Opera San Jose and Mimi in La bohème with Opera Santa Barbara.

Also new to the roster, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Pojanowski debuts as Stephano in Roméo et Juliette with San Antonio Opera.

Puccini veteran, Jee Hyun Lim, reprises her signature role of Madama Butterfly with Indianapolis Opera and with Lyric Productions in Dublin.

Egyptian bass-baritone Ashraf Sewailam makes his US role debut as Ramphis in Virginia Opera's production of Aida as well as a company debut with San Diego Opera and a return to Seattle Opera for Turandot.

This season with the Seattle Symphony tenor soloist Thomas Glenn performs in Handel's Messiah and soprano soloist Julianne Gearhart performs in Poulenc's Gloria. Glenn also sings the Evangelist solos in Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the Atlanta Symphony.

In-demand American tenor Ryan MacPherson makes a role and company debut as Roméo in Roméo et Juliette with Dayton Opera, he also performs Alfred in Die Fledermaus with Opera Memphis and Curley in Of Mice and Men with Utah Opera.

Baritone Marcus DeLoach performs the role of Slim in the same Utah Opera production of Of Mice and Men.

Peter Lindskoog and Jeremy Milner both return to Tulsa Opera for their exciting production of Jake Heggie's opera Dead Man Walking.

Milner, along with Melissa Parks and Peter Tantsits, performs with the Boston Youth Symphony in a concert performance of Verdi's Falstaff.

Mr. Tantsits also returns to Opera Boston to take on the lead role in Michael Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage and performs the role of John Worthing for the European premiere of Gerald Barry's The Importance of Being Earnest with Thomas Adès at the Barbican in London.

Bass-baritone Paul Corona also joins the roster this season. In addition to his work with the Metropolitan Opera, he also performs with the Chicago Opera Theatre in Moscow, Cheryomushki by Shostakovich.

directors

American stage director and co-founder of the Greenwich Music Festival, Ted Huffman makes his directorial debut for Pittsburgh Opera with a new production of Hänsel und Gretel and joins the directing staff of the Metropolitan Opera for the revival of Britten's Billy Budd.

Huffman will also direct a staged-production of The Threepenny Opera with the London Philharmonic Orchestra featuring Simon Keenlyside, John Tomlinson, Meow Meow and Felicity Palmer with Vladimir Jurowski conducting.

instrumentalists

Russian pianist Rustem Hayroudinoff returns to the US to perform Dvorak's rarely performed Piano Concerto with The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.

Virtuoso harpist Emmanuel Ceysson will make his recital debut at the Vienna Konzerthaus and will appear in concert with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester in Berlin.

Pianist Alexej Gorlatch is the winner of the first-prize and the audience-prize in Munich's highly acclaimed ARD Competition. He also debuts with the Macedonian Philharmonic and the Montenegro Philharmonic orchestras and will give recitals on-tour Japan and Ireland.

Spanish guitarist Pablo Sainz-Villegas appears in concert with the Lithuanian National Philharmonic in Vilnius, performs in concert in Austria, Mexico and Gran Canaria, as well as with orchestras in Valencia, Cadiz and Sevilla.