Meet Steven Blavet playing Marquis in the Pacific Lyric Association production of La Traviata October 20, 21 and 22 2023 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido

Stephen Blavet is a local Baritone and has been singing with PLA productions since 2013. After attending Mannes School of Music and New England Conservatory he returned to San Diego singing chorus and eventually playing characters such as Sacristano, Mercutio, Bob, and Dancaire. ​

Meet Tenor Jack H. Adkins playing Gaston in La Traviata.

Jack recently returned to his hometown of San Diego from Bloomington, Indiana where he trained for his Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

Jack was cast as Don Curzio & Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Lyric Opera Studio Weimar in Germany, singing with both advanced students and a few professionals.

As a bonus, he was invited to perform 3 gala concerts with a professional orchestra, Thüringer Symphoniker Saalfeld-Rudolstadt in beautiful settings including a historic castle and a monastery built in 1250!

Prior to graduate school, Jack earned his Bachelor of Music from Sonoma State University where he was active in opera, jazz and musical theatre, including singing the lead role in Candide and was the soloist for their award-winning Jazz Orchestra.

Most recently, Jack was seen in Opera Neo’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro earlier this year in Balboa Park

La Traviata, Oct 19, 20 and 21 2023 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, CA
Buy your tickets here: www.pacificlyricassociation.org/pla-traviata2023.html

Meet Kelsey Fahy, a mezzo-soprano and engineer based in San Diego County.

Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, she decided she wasn’t cold enough and so spent her college years in Minnesota, where she sang in the St. Olaf Choir and performed in Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, and The Coronation of Poppea.

Since relocating to California, Kelsey has performed in chorus roles with Pacific Lyric Association and Lyric Opera of Orange County, has worked as a supernumerary in Otello with Pacific Symphony, and sings regularly with the Southern California Damekor.

Her most recent performance was as Mercedes in PLA's production of Carmen. In addition to opera chorus work, Kelsey has understudied the roles of Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus and Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors.

Fun fact: listening to the Fellowship of the Ring score was what prompted her decision to pursue singing.
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La Traviata, Oct 19, 20 and 21 2023 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, CA
Buy your tickets here: www.pacificlyricassociation.org/pla-traviata2023.html

Tenor/Baritone Shawn Taylor has an MM from CSU Long Beach. He has performed roles with Long Beach Opera, Mission Opera, Landmark Opera, Repertory Opera Theatre, Pacific Lyric Association, Riverside Lyric Opera, Celestial Opera, Capitol Opera and LA Met Opera.

He has performed in many musicals and Gilbert and Sullivan Shows and is a board member for Mission Opera. 

Shawn sings in several churches throughout So Cal, and is a staff singer and soloist for Meritage Chorale in Anaheim. He served as staff singer for the Santa Clarita Master Chorale for 8 years. He is currently a staff singer of the SoCAL Chorale who sings for various orchestras.

Shawn has been a Choral Teacher since 1986 in Elementary, Junior High, High School and was a vocal Instructor at Cal Baptist University.  He also taught theatre and was the vocal coach for the All-American Boys Choir for 8 years.  

​La TraviataLA TRAVIATA, Oct 19, 20 and 21 2023 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, CA
Buy your tickets here: www.pacificlyricassociation.org/pla-traviata2023.html

​Baritone Carlos Oliva, one of the founders of Pacific Lyric Association, attended the Superior School of Voice in Madrid and studied with Juan Oncina in Barcelona.
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He performed for two years with the Spanish National Symphonic Orchestra and Chorus before moving to the United States where he studied with Gualtiero Negrini in Los Angeles.

​He has sung in "Faust" with the Opera Comique, in Cosi fan tutte with Pacific Opera, as Count Almaviva in Mozart's "La Nozze di Figaro" in San Diego, and in "La Tabernera del Puerto" with U.S.D.

With Bel Canto Opera, he performed "La Boheme", "Pagliacci", "Cavalleria rusticana" and "Un Ballo in Maschera".

With Opera Pacific, he was male lead in the world premiere of "El Camino de Fe" by Hector Armienta. Carlos has sung many principal roles with the Costanza Opera of Romania. including "La Traviata", "Il Trovatore", "Rigoletto", and "Un ballo in Maschera". He has sung the roles of Vidal Hernandez in "Luisa Fernanda" , Escamillo in "Carmen" and the title role in "Rigoletto" last year for Pacific Lyric.

​He recently sang lead roles in "Il trovatore" and "Un ballo in Maschera" in Los Angeles.

La Traviata, Oct 19, 20 and 21 2023 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, CA
Buy your tickets here: www.pacificlyricassociation.org/pla-traviata2023.html

Swedish soprano Emma Berggren is making her role debut singing Violetta with Pacific Lyric Association.

Ms. Berggren recently sang the title role in Tosca with Guild Opera Company. Other operatic roles includes Mimì in La Bohème (Puccini), Angelica in Suor Angelica (Puccini), Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte (Mozart), Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart), the Celestial Voice in Don Carlo (Verdi), Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto (Verdi), and Papagena and the Second Spirit in Die Zauberflöte (Mozart). Ms. Berggren has covered roles such as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly (Puccini), Rosaline in Die Fledermaus (Strauss), the mezzo soprano soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Johanna in Sweeney Todd (Sondheim).

Organizations that Emma has performed and covered roles with in Southern California includes Guild Opera Company, Ridgecrest Opera Guild, Riverside Lyric Opera, California Philharmonic and Golden State Pops Orchestra.

Ms. Berggren was a finalist in the 2022 Burbank Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hennings-Fischer Foundation Young Artist Competition and was featured last summer as a soloist in the Falsterbo-Skanör music summer program in Sweden.

Emma is passionate about introducing children to opera and has performed the role of Queen of Hearts in Robert Chauls’ Alice in Wonderland as part of Guild Opera Company’s community outreach program at many elementary schools in Los Angeles County. Upcoming operatic roles for the 2023/2024 include singing Angelica in Suor Angelica with Guild Opera Company

www.pacificlyricassociation.org/pla-traviata2023.html
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Mexican Born Tenor, with a law degree from Mexico Gerardo Gaytan started to study voice professionally in 2012 and has been active ever since.
Singing has taken Gerardo to some of the most important stages in Mexico and the United States. Presenting concerts, recitals and singing roles such as Rodolfo, Manrico, Edgardo, Canio, Cavaradossi, Alfredo and the Duke of Mantuas.
He currently resides in San Diego and is a student of Bill Shumman. 
His operas sung in 2022 include Rigoletto with Opera Southern, Pagliacci with Opera de Tijuana and Pacific Lyric Associations production of Carmen. Early this year he sung Tosca with South Coast Symphony. 
Gerardo is playing Alfredo in the production of La Traviata by Pacific Lyric Association October 19, 20 and 21 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido

Soprano Yewon Ella Yoon made her opera debut as Mimi in Puccini’s La bohème at the Korea National University of Arts where she also performed as Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto.
Some of her operatic credits include Mariola in Two Remain with Lyric Opera of Orange County, Le Feu in L'enfant et les Sortileges with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Servilia from La Clemenza di Tito with the CCM, and Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte with the Incheon Symphony Orchestra in Korea.
Currently based in the Los Angeles Area, Ms. Yoon has worked with LA Opera Chorus, LA Master Chorale, and Pacific Chorale.
Ms. Yoon holds degrees from Chung-Ang University and Korea National University of Arts and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she previously earned her master's degree.
Ella plays Violetta in the opera La Traviata produced by Pacific Lyric association