Dimitri has appeared on leading opera stages throughout North America and Europe, including the Bavarian State Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Canadian Opera Company. He is a graduate of The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and has been heard on the Met stage as Rodolfo in La bohème, Macduff in Macbeth, Nemorino in L’elisir d’Amore, Cassio in Otello, Alfred in Die Fledermaus and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte. His repertoire includes performances as the title role of Don Carlo, Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera, Alfredo in La traviata, Tebaldo in I Capuletti e i Montecchi, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Oronte in Verdi’s rarity, I Lombardi, the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto and Michele in the world premiere of La Ciociara (Two Women) by Marco Tutino with San Francisco Opera, directed by Francesca Zambello. For his debut with The Canadian Opera Company as the Duke, the Toronto Star said, “Dimitri Pittas comes off the best as The Duke of Mantua, with a flexible voice that can express real love and shallow desire with equal conviction.”
Having been hailed as an “eloquent, versatile soprano” with an “entrancingly beautiful voice,” Leah has forged a unique career path, captivating audiences as an actress, singer, dancer and pianist. Ms. Edwards made her Broadway debut in 2011 as a member of the company of Terrence McNally’s Master Class and, Off-Broadway, regularly joins the company of the Encores! series at New York City Center. Ms. Edwards can be seen in the Emmy-nominated production of Carousel with the New York Philharmonic, has appeared as a musical guest on A Prairie Home Companion, and recorded the most recent cast album of George and Ira Gershwin’s Lady, Be Good. Ms. Edwards has been presented in concert at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, with the New York City Ballet Orchestra and nationally with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Las Cruces Symphony and the Utah Festival Opera Orchestra. Ms. Edwards is also sought after for her experience with new music, which has resulted in world premiere recordings for the Opera America Songbook. An award-winning pianist, Ms. Edwards appeared as a guest artist at The Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, enjoyed the honor of performing as the musical ambassador to the Chinese Consulate, and her presentation of Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto was a featured segment on National Public Radio.
A rising star in the younger generation of conductors, Francesco Milioto is forging a unique career as a versatile interpreter of both the operatic and orchestral repertoire. He is currently Music Director of Opera San Antonio and Artistic Advisor to the Florentine Opera in Milwaukee. Mr. Milioto also enjoys guest conducting relationships with a wide variety of organizations, and cover/assistant conductor positions with several distinguished opera companies. Praised for his energy and integrity on the podium, the Chicago Tribune has said, “Milioto presided with Bernsteinesque bravura”.
This season will see his much anticipated return to Opera San Antonio to conduct both Tosca and Rigoletto. His seventh season as a cover/assistant conductor at Lyric Opera of Chicago includes productions of Luisa Miller, Madama Butterfly, and Die Walküre in the complete RING Cycle. Mr. Milioto also looks forward to making his debut conducting Korngold’s Der Ring des Polykrates with Numi Opera in Los Angeles.
Last season Mr. Milioto made his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut conducting a performance of Massenet’s Cendrillon, in addition to working on a production of La traviata. He then returned to The Dallas Opera to work on a successful production of Falstaff, and also conducted a family performance of Pepito by Offenbach. Mr. Milioto ended his season with the Santa Fe Opera as cover conductor for their production of Jenufa.
As a music director and guest conductor Mr. Milioto has thrived in Chicago and beyond. Over his fifteen years in Chicago he claimed the title of Music Director to the New Millennium Orchestra, the Skokie Valley Symphony, the Highland Park Strings, Access Contemporary Music, and the Chicago Cultural Center Summer Opera. As a guest conductor he has amassed several critically acclaimed productions with Chicago Opera Theater and has collaborated with many professional local orchestras. His work with the New Millennium Orchestra and Chicago Opera Theater were each named to the Chicago Sun-Times list of the “10 best performances of the year”. Mr. Milioto is particularly proud of his work with the New Millennium Orchestra of Chicago, which he co-found in 2005. The NMO had an incredible range of repertoire, playing everything from classical music and opera to collaborations with jazz and hip-hop artists. His highly acclaimed work over ten seasons with both the Highland Park Strings and Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra ranged from early music to the most contemporary works, and often featured world-renowned soloists. As Artistic Director/Conductor of Access Contemporary Music, Mr. Milioto led the brilliantly vibrant ensemble Palomar, which has been featured on the radio and in performances throughout the city and abroad. He has also conducted successful productions with Opera Santa Barbara, Opera Southwest, Elgin Opera, and Opera on the James.
As a cover/assistant conductor, Mr. Milioto has flourished under world-class mentorship. He is currently in his sixth season at Lyric Opera of Chicago where he has been fortunate enough to work closely with Sir Andrew Davis, and other luminaries, on several operas and concerts. He is also a member of the music staff at The Santa Fe Opera and has worked at both the Canadian Opera Company and The Dallas Opera. For 10 seasons Mr. Milioto worked with the Ravinia Festival as an assistant conductor, pianist, vocal coach and prompter being involved in over a dozen operas, and many concerts with such artists as Daniel Barenboim and James Conlon.
Chee-Hang See is a prize-winning pianist who has been called “a cool and confident performer” by the Charleston City Paper. He has soloed with the Montevideo Philharmonic (Uruguay), Charleston Symphony, Toa Payoh West Chinese Orchestra (Singapore), Bela Bartok Orchestra (Italy), Cleveland Institute of Music Chamber Orchestra. He has performed in concert series and festivals such as the Festival Internacional de Colonia, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra Musicale, South Carolina Chamber Music Festival, Chicago Duo Piano Festival, Hawaii International Cultural Arts Festival, Piccolo Spoleto Festival, and has been broadcast on South Carolina Public Radio. He remains in high demand as soloist, chamber pianist, and composer in his native Singapore and all over the U.S.
Chee-Hang is faculty at the Charleston Academy of Music, and music director at Midtown Theater where he directs a chamber music concert series. He plays regularly with the Charleston Symphony, Chamber Music Charleston, and his duo Tan and See Piano Duo. His debut album “Violin Transcriptions”, featuring works by Rachmaninoff and Muczynski, was released in 2014. He is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music and College of Charleston where his teachers include Sandra Shapiro and Enrique Graf.
Patrick Boyle has performed in concert throughout the British Isles and on both coasts of the United States. Patrick currently performs and teaches in Charleston, South Carolina.
Performing locally in Charleston, Patrick has appeared as a soloist in a variety of venues including at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival and St Theresa Third Sunday Series. Patrick is also an enthusiastic collaborator and is dedicated in particular to sharing contemporary music. He is a founding member of the Charleston Eclipse Ensemble and regularly collaborates with other musicians across a variety of genres and mediums. Alongside his collaborations with HALO, Patrick has performed on the piano along ballet dancers, with jazz combos and big bands, accompanied choirs, and has even enjoyed music-directing musicals.
Patrick received a double Bachelors in History and Music at Boston College, and earned a Masters in Music at the Longy School of Music. More information can be found at patrickboylepiano.com
Although born in South Carolina, I lived most of my young life elsewhere. My entire adult life, until last September, was spent in the Chicago area where I fell in love with opera. A friend and I decided to subscribe to a season at Lyric Opera of Chicago on a whim. We sat in the nosebleed section and, at first, did not know much about what we were experiencing, but we liked it. Before long, I got totally hooked which led to a much better seat and a 50 year-long subscription. Not to mention a lifelong passion. The more I saw, the more I wanted to learn. I even went back to school to study music theory and history. For many years after that, I was a member of the Lyric Opera Lecture Corps and gave many lectures to audiences throughout the Chicago area. I also worked in many other capacities as a volunteer for Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Since I moved to Charleston last September, I have been actively looking for some opera connections and have been thrilled to find out about the development of HALO. I am delighted to be a part of this wonderful endeavor.
Kevin Ray is an operatic tenor and graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Curtis Institute of Music. Last year, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Verdi’s Aida. On the concert stage, he has performed Beethoven’s Symphony 9with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony, and Phoenix Symphony. In his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA, Kevin is a frequent collaborator with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, last seen in Strauss’s Die Liebe der Danae and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi.
A prolific performer of German dramatic repertoire, Kevin has portrayed Erik in Der fliegende Hollander with Estonian National Opera, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with Berkshire Festival Opera, and Melot in Tristan und Isolde with Houston Grand Opera, where he completed his training in the prestigious Houston Grand Opera Studio.
Most recently, Kevin created the role of Loud Stone in Matthew Aucoin’s new opera Eurydice in his Los Angeles Opera debut. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the postponement and rescheduling of his return to the Metropolitan Opera, his return to Pittsburgh Festival Opera, and the World Premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s new opera Woman With Eyes Closedwith Opera Philadelphia.
Social Distance-SING! was created by HALO in partnership with Fox Music House during the COVID-19 pandemic to engage and remind the Lowcountry community of the importance of live performances and necessity of the arts in society. We strive to bring as intimate a program as possible using unamplified voices and instruments in an open air setting which helps us adhere to social distancing guidelines. Click here to learn more.
Holy City Arts & Lyric Opera is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit arts organization.
Donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.
