Portland Opera Announces Resident Artists for 2024-25

Portland Opera has announced its artists-in-residence for the 2024-25 season: collaborating pianist Claire Forstman, soprano Ginaia Black, mezzo-soprano Erin Roth Thomas, tenor Nathaniel Catasca, and baritone Matthew Maisano. The artists will be in residence for the entire 60th anniversary season.

The Portland Opera Artist in Residence (PORA) program was established in 2005. A rigorous residency and training initiative, it focuses on cultivating and supporting emerging artists as a bridge between the academic and professional worlds of opera.

The new PORAs will join the company for eight months of study with guest teachers, guest artists, and company members. Classes and master classes will focus on vocal technique, musical coaching, language teaching, acting, role study, dance, movement, and leadership development. Resident artists will work with Paul Floyd (Principal Vocal Coach), Nicholas Fox (Principal Piano Coach), and other specialists, including Portland Opera Co-Artistic Advisors Damien Geter (also the company’s Interim Music Director) and Artistic Advisor Karen Slack. PORA will perform in this season’s productions, as well as master classes, season previews, and engagement activities.

The residency will include two free community performances with limited seating, organized in collaboration with faculty and guest artists. PORA will present a Pops & Arias concert on Friday, October 18 at 7pm at Alberta House and an Opera Scenes program on Saturday, January 18 at 7pm at the Brunish Theatre.

Claire Forstman, a highly sought-after pianist and vocal coach, will return for a second season of PORA. She will serve as the principal pianist for Falstaff, play orchestral keyboards for The Shining, and lead the studio’s stage program and aria presentation as musical director.

Ginaia Black, soprano, is originally from Birmingham, Alabama, and recently apprenticed with the Santa Fe Opera. She will perform as a soloist in The Juliet Letters, Mrs. Grady in The Shining, and will reprise the role of Nannetta in Falstaff.

Lyric mezzo-soprano Erin Roth Thomas performs regularly in the North Texas region, where she performs a vast repertoire that spans centuries. She will appear as a soloist in The Juliet Letters, Mrs. Massey in The Shining, and Meg Page in Falstaff.

Tenor Nathaniel Catasca, a recent member of Sarasota Opera, hails from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He will perform as the soloist in The Juliet Letters, as Bill Watson/Lloyd the Bartender in The Shining, and as Bardolfo in Falstaff.

Philadelphia native Matthew Maisano enjoys performing a diverse repertoire from classical, operatic, musical and popular canons. They will perform as soloist in The Juliet Letters, Horace Dewent in The Shining and Pistola in Falstaff.

The Portland Opera Artist in Residence program is made possible by the generous support of the Oregon Community Foundation’s Eleanor Lieber Auditions Fund, Norman P. Krasne, and Sue and Drew Snyder.

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