Meet Mezzo Hiroko Yoshinaga playing the role of Flora in the Pacific Lyric Association production of La Traviata October 20, 21 and 22 2023 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido

Originally from Japan, Hiroko sang with Pacific Lyric Opera Association (Flora from La Traviata 2016, cover Azucena in Il Trovatore), Vineyard Touring Opera Company (Mother and Sandman from Handel and Gretel, Maddalena from Rigoletto), Los Angeles Opera (with Placido Domingo, Kento Nagano, and Valery Gergiev), San Diego Opera, Opera San Jose, San Diego Lyric Opera, Bellflower symphony(Carmen), SFCM Opera Theatre (Poppea from L'incoronazione di Poppea, Mother Marie from Dialogues of the Carmelites), SDSU Opera Theatre(Cherubino from Marriage of Figaro, Nicklausse from Les contes d'Hoffmann), Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute (Madame Butterfly, Donna Elvira from Don Giovanni). 

She is the Alto soloist at Rancho Bernardo Presbyterian Church.

During summer, she has been performing Masterworks at St Stephen in Vienna, Austria with Gerald Wirth, and concerts in Europe and Japan with 10 different languages. 

She is a recipient winner of many scholarships and grants, which enable her to study and perform in the United States and Europe. 

​She received a Bachelor of Music from San Diego State University and Master of Music from San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

She participated American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.

She received the most inspirational people of the world award from SIMA Global Awards 2022 London England.

She received Gold at The American President's Volunteer Service Award 2021.

She also received Certificates of Recognition from the California Legislature Assembly, the State of California Senate, the county of Riverside, and the county of Los Angeles.  

She sang and appeared on Serbian TV, and Pink Lady talk show TV in Los Angeles. She has been invited to sing at charity events of Bill Walton, Jane Seymore, Sony Co., Luciano Pavarotti Farewell Concert in San Diego, California International Music and Arts Festivals in Poway, and more.

Hiroko is a recipient of the Steinway Top Teacher Award from Steinways & Sons New York in 2021 and 2022. 

Meet Gabriel Reoyo-Pazos, director of the Pacific Lyric Association production of La Traviata October 20, 21 and 22 2023 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido
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Gabriel Reoyo-Pazos is the recipient of the 2007 El Angel Award from the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts. He has sung leading operatic roles, as well as roles in zarzuelas, oratorios, and musicals with various companies, including Anchorage Opera, Spanish Lyric Theater in Tampa (Florida), West Bay Opera, Spokane Opera, Santa Barbara Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, LA Music Center, The European Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, and The Angeles Chorale.
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Mr. Reoyo-Pazos’s directing credits include Enrique Gonzalez-Medina’s opera “Serafina y Arcángelaat” at the Theater Center in Tijuana (Mexico), “The Marriage of Figaro,” at The Ventura College Opera Workshop, “Cavalleria Rusticana,” “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” and “Suor Angelica,” for Riverside Opera, and “La Bohéme,” for Ridgecrest Opera Guild as well as Guild Opera Company.

​For Pacific Lyric Association, he has directed “Carmen,” “La Traviata,” “Il Trovatore,” and “Tosca.”
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La Traviata, Oct 20, 21 and 22 2023 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, CA
Buy your tickets here: www.pacificlyricassociation.org/pla-traviata2023.html

Meet San Diego based Soprano Sara Frondoni, making her debut with Pacific Lyric Association singing the role of Annina.

She’s performed in operas, musicals, and choral groups across California. Ms Frondoni graduated from the USC’s Thornton School of Music with a Bachelor’s Degree in Vocal Performance.

She currently sings in the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and will be joining the San Diego Symphony Festival Chorus in 2024.

Opera Highlights: Citizen, Dialogues of the Carmelites (USC Thornton Opera); 2nd Spirit, The Magic Flute (International Lyric Academy in Italy); Ensemble/Featured Soloist, Candide (San Diego Lyric Opera)

Musical Theater Highlights: Maria Rainer, Sound of Music (Temecula Performing Arts Company); Sarah Brown, Guys and Dolls (Star Theater Company); Lilli Vanessi, Kiss Me Kate (La Costa Canyon High School); Rosie Alverez, Bye Bye Birdie (Star Theater Company)

La Traviata, Oct 20, 21 and 22 2023 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, CA
Buy your tickets here: www.pacificlyricassociation.org/pla-traviata2023.html

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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