BERKSHIRE OPERA FESTIVAL (BOF) proudly launches the inaugural season of the company’s groundbreaking Resident Artist Program, an eight-week paid residency which The Berkshire Eagle featured this past February.
The residency culminates in a fully staged new production of the rarely heard 18th-century opera ZÉMIRE ET AZOR—André Grétry’s retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast tale—on July 31 and August 2 at PS21: Center for Contemporary Performance in Chatham, NY, conducted by BOF Co-founder and Artistic Director Brian Garman and directed by visionary director Mo Zhou. The opera, written more than 200 years before Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, premiered in France in 1771, with its American premiere in New York in 1787. It was a tremendous success in its day, but is seldom mounted today.
Headed by Lynn Baker—the venerable coach who has worked with the Metropolitan Opera, the former New York City Opera, Glimmerglass, and the Curtis Institute of Music—BOF’s Resident Artist Program identifies opera’s next generation of stars while simultaneously broadening BOF’s repertoire and presence in the community. Unlike many other Resident Artist Programs, the artists don’t just sing in the chorus or cover roles, but perform leading roles in a full production—in addition to understudying and performing roles in BOF’s mainstage production of Lucia di Lammermoor this August, and in duo recitals, private salon performances, and public master classes. Also significant is that the resident artists are paid and housed, as opposed to having to pay tuition for instruction and stage time. This first season, the program features five artists—four singers and one pianist—selected from a competitive pool of 600 applicants, allowing for highly personalized training and individual attention.
The Resident Artist Program’s production of Zémire et Azor will be reimagined in the shimmering yet morally fragile world of Gilded Age America. Zémire, daughter of the nouveau riche, longs for authenticity while Azor, an old-money recluse disfigured by an industrial accident, hides in a decaying mansion outside New York City. When she offers herself to save her father, Zémire discovers Azor’s noble heart. Richly lyrical and emotionally expressive, the work celebrates love’s transformative power and the enduring truth that real beauty lies within.
Zémire et Azor will be directed by the exciting talent Mo Zhou, a visionary force in opera and theater, celebrated for her innovative and dynamic productions that transcend traditional boundaries. Last season, Zhou revived her acclaimed Madama Butterfly with Florentine Opera and Kentucky Opera and directed Così fan tutte at The Juilliard School and La Bohème at Arizona Opera. Her Madama Butterfly was described by Opera Canada as a “remarkably sensitive production” and “a hyper-relevant must-see,” and she was lauded for her “impressive and effective” attention to detail.
Starring in the lead role of Zémire is soprano Ethel Trujillo, who has been praised by Parterre Box for her “stylish, elegant, and lovely” singing. She won first place and received the Pro-Opera Audience Award at the Carlo Morelli National Singing Contest in Bellas Artes, Mexico, and has performed with Glimmerglass Festival as the cover of Juliette in Roméo et Juliette (2023) and Furia and cover Calisto in La Calisto (2024). Opposite Trujillo is tenor Scott Rubén La Marca in the role of Azor. La Marca is a current vocal fellow with Yale Opera at the Yale School of Music and has appeared in performance with the Yale Philharmonia, the New York Festival of Song, Sun Valley Opera, and the Aspen Music Festival.
Also starring in the production as Sander is Will (June Young) Kim, a composer and baritone whose work spans classical, jazz, and opera. Singing Fatmé is Christina Grohowski, a mezzo-soprano whose recent performances include Tisbe in La Cenerentola, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and appearances with Yale Opera and The Santa Fe Opera. She was also a National Semifinalist in this year’s Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.
Two guest artists round out the cast. In the part of Ali is tenor Zachary Taylor, who is a Baumgartner Studio Artist with the Florentine Opera in Milwaukee, and whose recent residencies include Des Moines Metro Opera, Pensacola Opera, and Nashville Opera. Abbegael Greene plays Lisbé, returning to BOF after playing Marthe Schwerlein in 2024’s mainstage production of Faust.
Of the production, Brian Garman, BOF Artistic Director and Co-founder, says: “BOF is thrilled to launch our Resident Artist Program with this production. Zémire et Azor is a witty and deeply touching piece, and I know our audiences will be charmed by this new production conceived by the brilliant director Mo Zhou.”
Mo Zhou says: “It is a profound honor to direct the inaugural RAP production for the magnificent Berkshire Opera Festival. I am thrilled to collaborate with Maestro Brian Garman and so many brilliant artists to bring this rarely staged gem, Zémire et Azor, back to the stage. This work possesses an exquisite charm that I know will enchant and resonate deeply with the hearts of our audience.”
ZÉMIRE ET AZOR
(Beauty and the Beast)
berkshireoperafestival.org/zemireetazor
Music by ANDRÉ-ERNEST-MODESTE GRÉTRY
Libretto by JEAN-FRANÇOIS MARMONTEL
Friday, July 31, 7:30pm
Sunday, August 2, 1:00pm
PS21 Center for Contemporary Performance
2980 NY-66, Chatham, NY
Duration: 2 hours, including one intermission
Sung in French with spoken English dialogue and projected English translations
Fully staged inaugural Resident Artist production
Tickets start at $12.50
CAST
Soprano ETHEL TRUJILLO as Zémire
Tenor SCOTT RUBÉN LA MARCA as Azor
Baritone WILL (JUNE YOUNG) KIM as Sander
Mezzo CHRISTINA GROHOWSKI as Fatmé
Tenor ZACHARY TAYLOR as Ali
Mezzo ABBEGAEL GREENE as Lisbé
CREATIVE TEAM
Conductor BRIAN GARMAN
Stage director MO ZHOU
Scenic Designer CAMERON ANDERSON
Costume Designer BROOKE STANTON
Lighting Designer ALEX JAINCHILL
Hair and Make-up Designer BECKIE KRAVETZ
Assistant Conductor LUCA ANTONUCCI
Principal Coach and Rehearsal Pianist DAKOTA PEREZ
Language Coach, English Dialogue and Supertitles LYNN BAKER
Production Stage Manager CINDY KNIGHT
and featuring the
BERKSHIRE OPERA FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA
Lead sponsorship for BOF’s Resident Artist Program is generously provided by Brad Clark. Additional support is provided by Patrick Riordan and Steve Hatfield.
