Three Sopranos

Aurora Bardes (spinto soprano), on right, is a native of the Napa Valley, and made her operatic debut with Seattle Opera in The Marriage of Figaro. She returned to the company as a woodnymph in Rusalka, and to understudy the roles of Wellgunde and Siegrune in Wagner’s Ring Cycle. She received her Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory, and has performed throughout the Bay Area and the West Coast. Roles include the title roles in Carmen (Pacific Repertory Opera, West Bay, North Bay Operas) and Tosca (West Bay, Tacoma Opera), Rosina in The Barber of Seville (North Bay and Festival Operas), Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Nicklausse in The Tales of Hoffmann, Natasha in War and Peace, Ljubasha in The Czar’s Bride, and Nancy in Martha. Aurora has participated in master classes with Speight Jenkins,Warren Jones,Wesley Balk, Georgio Tozzi, Carol Vaness, Renata Scotto, and Alfredo Kraus. She has won several vocal performance awards, including the Ungara Diva Award. Ms. Bardes conducts a voice and piano studio in Contra Costa County.

Marcelle Dronkers (coloratura soprano), on left, is a native of the Bay Area, and has appeared locally in concert with the San Francisco Symphony, the Joffrey Ballet, and Handbell Ensemble SONOS, among others. Favorite operatic roles include the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Despina in Così fan tutte, Karolina in The Two Widows, Norina in Don Pasquale, and the title role in Flotow’s Martha, performed with Donald Pippin’s Pocket Opera, San Francisco Opera, Festival Opera, West Bay and Berkeley Operas. She will sing the roles of Elizabeth the First in Roberto Devereux, and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with Pocket Opera in spring 2008. Ms. Dronkers holds degrees from Indiana University and the Royal Conservatory at The Hague. She is on the Voice faculty of Notre Dame de Namur University, and maintains a private studio in Kensington.

Debra Lambert (mezzo soprano), center, hails from New York City. She has been a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony ("New and Unusual Music," and "Sacred and Profane" series), Pocket Opera (20+ shows as singer/director), Lake George Opera (Rosina/Barber of Seville), Connecticut Opera (Second Lady/Magic Flute),West Bay Opera (La Principessa/Suor Angelica, Mother /The Consul), Des Moines Metro Opera (Maurya/Riders to the Sea, Emilia/Otello), San Francisco Opera Center (Meg Page/Falstaff), Cabrillo (Blues Singer/Bernstein Mass ) Bear Valley, Mendocino Music Festivals; American Musical Theater of San Jose (7 shows). Televised: Die Fledermaus, Otello, Bernstein Mass. Most recently, The Cat in Starbird and Marla in Emperor Norton for Pocket Opera, and Madame Armfeldt in A Little Night Music, "Phyllis" in Follies in Concert with Wesla Whitfield. Debra holds a BFA in Music from Carnegie-Mellon University, and MM in Opera from the Hartt School. She is Chair of the Department of Music & Vocal Arts at Notre Dame de Namur University.

Henry Mollicone (Pianist/Conductor, Composer) has been called "...one of the most distinctive American opera composers." by the The Washington Post. His one-act operas, Emperor Norton, Starbird, The Face on the Barroom Floor, and The Mask of Evil, were commissioned by the Central City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, the Kurt Herbert Adler Award Fund, and The Minnesota Opera, and have been performed extensively. Coyote Tales (with libretto by Sheldon Harnick), commissioned by the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, premiered in March, 1998, and is available on CD (Newport Classic). Hotel Eden premiered at Opera San José in 1989, and has since been produced in New York and Baltimore. Gabriel’s Daughter premiered in July 2003 at the Central City Opera in Colorado. Mr. Mollicone has been a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow since 1997, and has served on various panels for The National Endowment for the Arts, and is associate director of the Ernest Bloch Music Festival in Oregon. Mr. Mollicone has written for orchestra, voice, chorus, and ballet, for film, television, and theater. He has worked with several distinguished actors as a conductor, composer, and pianist, including Jean Stapleton, David Ogden Stiers, Tovah Feldshuh, Charles Nelson Reilly, and Angela Lansbury. His works have been performed by JoAnn Falletta, Frederica Von Stade, Erie Mills, and Maria Spacagna. Mr. Mollicone has guest-conducted at several American opera companies including those in Baltimore, Portland, Lake George, Central City, and Cleveland. He is on the faculty of Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California, as music director for the opera program, and teaching conducting, composition, and history.