NaGuanda Nobles, soprano (Mimi)
Ms. Nobles comes to Fremont Opera fresh from her recent triumph as first prize winner in the Irene Dalis Vocal Competition. Last season, she joined the Pittsburgh Opera Center and performed in main stage productions of Rigoletto and Ariadne auf Naxos. She will return to Pittsburgh in 2007 to appear as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte. As a participant in Austin Lyric Opera’s Young Artist program for the 2002-2003 season Mrs. Nobles appeared as Liú in Puccini’s Turandot, and as Sister Rose in the Southwestern premiere of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking. During the same season she made her Boston Symphony debut with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, singing the soprano solo in Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise under the baton of Kurt Masur. Mrs. Nobles was a second place winner in the Southwest Regional Competition of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in January 2003.

Harold Gray Meers, tenor (Rodolfo)
Mr. Meers has been seen as the Novice in Billy Budd with San Francisco Opera, Camille in The Merry Widow with Virginia Opera, Ernesto in Don Pasquale with Baltimore Opera, and Little Bat in Susannah with Opera Company of Philadelphia. He has also performed with Opera Theatre of St Louis, Boston Lyric Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Omaha, Opera North, Berkeley Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Toledo Opera and New Orleans Opera. He appeared at West Bay Opera as Edgardo in Lucia and as Mack the Knife in Threepenny Opera. Recent engagements have included Così fan tutte with Sacramento Opera, and Die Zauberflöte in Bangkok. His professional debut was in 1997 with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis as Ferrando in Così fan tutte.

Marnie Breckenridge, soprano (Musetta)
Ms. Breckenridge has appeared with San Francisco Opera as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Inez in Il Trovatore, and Olga in The Merry Widow. She has performed the title role in Lucia with West Bay Opera and Indianapolis Opera. Her acclaimed Cunegonde in Candide has been seen in the Bay Area at Festival Opera, and in Europe at Prague State Opera. She has also appeared with Arizona Opera, Sacramento Opera, Nevada Opera, Berkeley Opera, and the Brazilian Opera Society in Sao Paulo. Her concert appearances have included Mozart's Exsultate with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, and, most recently, Jake Heggie’s To Hell and Back at the Ravinia Festival. Ms. Breckenridge can be heard with baritone Dimitri Hvorostovsky on a CD entitled “Arias”, released by Delos Records.

Jordan Shanahan, baritone (Marcello)
Currently a member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Center for American Artists, Mr. Shanahan has appeared in leading roles with Netherlands Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Hawaii Opera Theatre. At West Bay Opera he sang Enrico in Lucia and Figaro in The Barber of Seville. He is featured on several new recordings, including Verdi’s Don Carlo with Rolando Villazon on DVD from Opus Arte, the title role in Pasatieri’s Signor Deluso on Albany Records, and a forthcoming recording of Pasatieri songs also on Albany Records. In concert, Mr. Shanahan has appeared with the Munich Philharmonic, the Orlando Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the Honolulu Symphony. He has won major awards from the Loren L. Zachary Society, the Metropolitan Opera National Council, and the George London Foundation.

Kirk Eichelberger, bass-baritone (Colline)
Mr. Eichelberger’s many roles at Opera San José have included Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville, Frère Laurent in Romeo and Juliette, John Hale in The Crucible, Daland in The Flying Dutchman, Méphistophélès in Faust, Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte. In Mozart’s Don Giovanni he has appeared in the title role at West Bay Opera, and as Leporello with Festival Opera. Other highlights have included Sparafucile in Rigoletto with Festival Opera, the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro for Opera Memphis, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte with Virginia Opera, and Alidoro in La Cenerentola for Sacramento Opera. On the concert stage, Mr. Eichelberger's many performances have included Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Oakland East Bay Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Handel’s Messiah, Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem, Bach’s B-minor Mass, Haydn’s Creation, Pärt’s Litany, Kodály’s Budavári Te Deum and Einhorn’s Voices of Light.

Igor Vieira, baritone (Schaunard)
Mr. Viera has appeared recently at West Bay Opera in the roles of Count Tomsky (The Queen of Spades), Lescaut (Manon Lescaut), and Papageno (The Magic Flute).  He made his professional debut in his native Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the age of 17, as Le Dancaire in Carmen. Later roles have included Dulcamara (L’elisir d’amore), Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus), the title role in Don Giovanni, and Ford (Falstaff).  He has appeared with the Teatro Municipal of Rio de Janeiro, the Amazonian Opera Festival, the Belém Opera Festival, Opera du Villecroze, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Theater of Philadelphia, Berkeley Opera, San Francisco Lyric Opera, and New Jersey Opera Theater. He was a world finalist in the 1995 Luciano Pavarotti Voice Competition in Philadelphia, and received the Margaret Tudor Award (Princeton) for two consecutive years and the Kaplan Foundation Award (Kansas City) for outstanding artistry.

Eric Wenburg (Alcindoro)
Mr. Wenburg’s opera credits include Manon Lescaut, La Périchole, Un ballo in maschera, and The Barber of Seville at West Bay Opera.  At TheatreWorks he has appeared in the musicals Bat Boy and Little Shop of Horrors, and in many acting roles as well.  With the Lamplighters in San Francisco, he has been seen in The Gondoliers, Earnest in Love, and The Yeomen of the Guard.  He has also appeared with the Stanford University Vienna Festival, the Traveling Jewish Theatre, and the Dickens Christmas Fair.