Craig Colclough
Bass-Baritone
In his second season with FGO, Mr. Colclough appeared last season as the Mandarin in Turandot, Wolfram/Schlémil in Les contes d’Hoffmann, and Inconnu/Carbon in Cyrano. He started his career at Los Angeles Opera in 2008 being directed by film legend Woody Allen in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. Mr. Colclough portrayed the role of Guccio followed by the Imperial Commissioner in Madame Butterfly. Last season at LAO he portrayed the Sargeant in Il Barbiere di Siviglia as well as the Third Senator in the American premier of Die Gezeichneten). In 2008 he was a National Semi-Finalist at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in New York. Additional past roles include Don Giovanni, Papageno, Oroveso, Samuel in Un ballo in Maschera, and Mr. Lindquist in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. He has been a guest artist with the Pacific Repertory Opera and Performance Riverside Civic Light Opera and a soloist with the Israeli Symphony Orchestra, the California Philharmonic, and the Redlands Symphony. He has also recorded at Capitol Records, Los Angeles, and Abbey Road Studios, London.

Francesco Fraboni
Vocal Coach
Francesco Fraboni was the collaborative pianist for James Levine in the Met Chamber Ensemble music series on Dallapiccola. He was a Coach Fellow at Wolf Trap Opera in the summer of 2011 for the productions of Le Donne Curiose (Wolf-Ferrari) and Sweeney Todd. He has served as coach for the Intermezzo Young Artist Program in Bruges, Belgium, the La Lingua della Lirica in Novafeltria, and for the revival production of the opera Gustavo Wasa by Filippo Marchetti for the Teatro Marchetti in Camerino. He has been the accompanist for the Master Classes of Marilyn Horne, Marcello Giordani, Raina Kabaivanska, and Johanna Meier. He has been heard in recital at the Opéra de Rouen, France, the Auditorium San Rocco and Teatro la Fenice in Senigallia, the Teatro Rossini in Pesaro, the Wolfsburg Castle in Germany, the Festival Incontri Asolani in Asolo, in the Vocal Colors series at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, and many others. Mr. Fraboni earned his Master of Music in Accompanying as a full-scholarship student of Warren Jones at Manhattan School of Music, where he was assistant conductor and diction coach for Paisiello's Nina o sia la Pazza per amore. The recipient of scholarships from the Rossini Foundation and the Circolo Amici della Lirica Rossini, he graduated from the Conservatorio Rossini of Pesaro in Piano with highest honors as a student of Giovanni Valentini. He has had apprenticeships as a collaborative pianist at the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale Belli in Spoleto under the direction of Enza Ferrari and Marco Boemi and in chamber music studies at the International Piano Academy Incontri col Maestro di Imola directed by Pier Narciso Masi.

Courtney McKeown
Mezzo-Soprano
Courtney McKeown is a graduate of DePaul University (BM) and Northwestern University (MM). She frequented the stages of both institutions, most notably as the title role in Carmen, Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo, Florence Pike in Albert Herring, and Mother Marie in Dialogues of the Carmelites. In her second season with FGO, last season she appeared as Antonia’s Mother in Les contes d’Hoffmann and as la Duègne in Cyrano. She has sung with Kentucky Opera (Emilia in Otello, Inez in Il trovatore, Kate in The Pirates of Penzance, Charlotte (cover) in Werther), Dayton Opera (Flora in La traviata), Opera New Jersey(Olga in The Merry Widow), and Opera Tampa (La Zelatrice in Suor Angelica, la Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi, and Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor). Ms. McKeown spent the summer of 2009 with Chautauqua Opera, where she sang Vera Boronel (and covered the Secretary) in Menotti’s The Consul and reprised the role of Kate in The Pirates of Penzance. She was honored with a Chautauqua Opera Encouragement Award for her work during the summer. In the summer of 2010, Ms. McKeown joined the prestigious Young American Artists Program at Glimmerglass Opera and bowed as Marcellina in their production of Le nozze di Figaro. In the 2010-2011 season, she was featured in A Night of Stars Concert with Opera Tampa honoring Plácido Domingo, conducted by Maestro Anton Coppola and Sherrill Milnes.

Ryan Milstead
Baritone
Ryan Milstead recently made his professional operatic debut with the apprentice program at the Santa Fe Opera performing the roles of the American Tailor in Menotti’s The Last Savage and the Second Apprentice in Berg’s Wozzeck and covering the role of Wagner in Gounod’s Faust. This year he was a national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a regional finalist in 2010. He received his Masters in Music from the University of Illinois, frequenting the stage with performances of Mercurio in Cavalli’s La Calisto, Marullo in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and the title role in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. He was also honored with the Jerry Hadley Memorial Award and the Grace Wilson Memorial Award while at the University of Illinois. He received his Bachelor of Music from the University of Mississippi, where his roles included Strephon (Iolanthe), Escamillo (Carmen), Poo-Bah (The Mikado), Frank (Die Fledermaus), and Antonio (Le nozze di Figaro).

Brittany Ann Reneé Robinson
Soprano
Brittany Ann Reneé Robinson has been praised for her “shimmering and brilliant coloratura.” She received her bachelor and graduate degrees from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Now in her second season with FGO, last season, in addition to appearing as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, she covered the roles of Olympia and Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann and Roxane in Cyrano. She has performed with such companies as Chautauqua Opera, Opera Theatre of the Rockies, Bay Area Summer Opera Theatre Institute (BASOTI), the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS), Peabody Opera, and the Baltimore Municipal Opera. She has sung the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, the title role in Lakmé, Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Cleopatra in Guilio Cesare, Alice Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Mrs. Nordstrom in A Little Night Music. She is also an accomplished recitalist and has toured with the Siena Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Robinson’s awards include the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition Award Winner and Scholarship Recipient, Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Semi Finalist in the AIMS Meistersinger Competition, Pikes Peak Opera League Grant Winner, and Second Place in the Leontyne Price Vocal Arts Competition for Emerging Artists.

Lacy Sauter
Soprano
Lacy Sauter is a graduate of Arizona State University and pursued graduate studies at Indiana University. At IU, she sang the roles of Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus and Juliette in Roméo et Juliette. A Young Artist at the 2011 Glimmerglass Festival, she sang the role of Valentina Scarcella in Later the Same Evening and covered the roles of Frasquita in Carmen and the Young Woman in the world premiere of A Blizzard on Marblehead Neck. Ms. Sauter was an active performer with Arizona Opera, where she sang the role of the First Bridesmaid in Le nozze di Figaro and worked with the Opera Street Singers and Opera Dell’Arte outreach programs. She was a Festival Artist at Utah Festival Opera in 2009, where she covered the roles of Frasquita in Carmen and Peep-Bo in The Mikado. As a studio artist at Chautauqua Opera, in 2008 and 2010, she played the roles of the Baby Vixen in The Cunning Little Vixen and the Second Graduate in Street Scene. Ms. Sauter was a winner of the Arizona and the Middle-East Tennessee Districts of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2008 and 2011. She was also nominated for a Sara Tucker Study Grant in 2011.

Daniel Shirley
Tenor
Distinguished for his “tenor of lyrical allure and power,” Daniel Shirley is excited to join Florida Grand Opera again for the 2011-12 season. For FGO during 2010-11, he sang Pang in Turandot, Nathanael in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and Marquis de Cuigy/Capucin in Cyrano. During summer 2011, he returned to the Santa Fe Opera for a second season as an apprentice artist, to cover Gualtiero in Griselda and sing the Indian Scientist in The Last Savage. As a 2009 Santa Fe apprentice, he covered Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and was invited thereafter by the composer/conductor Frédéric Chaslin to record the role of Edgar in his new opera Wuthering Heights. A 2008 apprentice artist with Central City Opera, he sang Sam Polk in the family performance of Susannah. His professional debut was as Don Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro with Chautauqua Opera, where he was a 2006 and 2007 studio artist. An accomplished concert artist, Mr. Shirley has sung Haydn St. Nicholas Mass with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Bloomington Chamber Singers, J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Columbus Philharmonic, The Messiah with the Evansville Philharmonic, and Elijah with the Bach Chorale Singers. He is a graduate of Indiana University, where he portrayed Roméo in Roméo et Juliette and Ruggero in La Rondine

Tatiana Vassilieva
Apprentice Coach
A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, pianist Tatiana Vassilieva joined FGO ’s Young Artist Program as apprentice coach last spring for the productions of Don Giovanni and Cyrano. She has previously worked as coach/répétiteur for Ash Lawn Opera (Don Giovanni and Brigadoon), Opera North (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Mercury Opera Rochester (La bohème), Boston University Opera Institute (Bolcom’s Lucrezia and fortepiano continuo for Così fan tutte), Florida International University (Cendrillon), and Eastman Opera Theatre (The Turn of the Screw and Cabaret). Ms. Vassilieva spent two summers as a Vocal Piano Fellow at Tanglewood Music Center, assisting on productions of Così fan tutte and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, as well as a summer in the Collaborative Piano Program at Music Academy of the West. She attended the Eastman School of Music, earning a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance and a Master of Music degree in both piano performance and accompanying. She is the recipient of many of Eastman’s awards, most notably being named a two-time First Prize winner of the Kneisel Lieder Competition. She joined Wolf Trap Opera Company in the summer of 2011 as a coaching fellow for Les contes d’Hoffmann.

Joo Won Kang
Baritone
Joo Won Kang made his professional debut in the title role of Rigoletto with the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera (NJAVO) in October 2010. Highlights of his 2010-2011 season include winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition Eastern Region in January, a recital with the Verein Opera in Zürich, and an appearance in the NJAVO Highlights Concert. He recently won first prizes in the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition and the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition and had his Carnegie Hall debut in the winners concert for the Gerda Lissner Foundation. He completed a Master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music under the guidance of teacher Mark Oswald, where his credits include Eurymaque in Fauré’s Pénélope (2009) and the Count in Le nozze di Figaro (2010). Mr. Kang earned a BA (2005) from Yonsei University in South Korea, where he performed Marcello (La bohéme) and the Priest (Die Zauberflöte). Competition awards include the Career Bridges Competition (winner, 2010), NJAVO Competition (winner, 2009), Opera Index (2010), and Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation (2011). Mr. Kang spent summer 2011 in San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program.