Laura Claycomb
Three alumni of SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts bring the tale of a court jester’s bitter battle to protect his daughter’s virtue to life in The Dallas Opera’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto.
Laura Claycomb ’90, an internationally acclaimed coloratura soprano, makes her long-awaited Dallas Opera debut in the leading role of Gilda. Also making his company debut is baritone Stephen Hartley ’01 in the role of Murillo. Conductor Pietro Rizzo ’96, ’97 , who made his American opera debut in 2009 with the company’s La bohème, returns for Rigoletto.
Gilda is a familiar role for Claycomb, who has won acclaim in Houston, Paris (Bastille), Santiago, Chile, and with other companies around the world for her interpretation of the tragic heroine. Earlier in the season she sang the role with the BBC Orchestra under the direction of Andrew Litton, music director emeritus of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO).
Claycomb, who earned Bachelor’s degrees in music and foreign languages from SMU, studied voice with Professor Barbara Hill Moore. After graduating, she was an Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera from 1991-94. Claycomb made her European debut in Geneva in 1994 and sang at Milan’s world-renowned opera house, La Scala, in 1998.
Stephen Hartley
Known for her adventurous repertoire, she has sung with major opera companies around the world. This season she also will perform in Cleveland, Houston and Moscow, in addition to a European tour with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
Claycomb and her husband reside in Italy.
A national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2007, Hartley made his Carnegie Hall debut last year with the New England Symphonic Ensemble. He has participated in young artist programs with the Santa Fe Opera, the Chautauqua Opera in New York and the Sarasota Opera in Florida.
While earning a Master’s in music from SMU, he studied voice with Professor Virginia Dupuy.
A native of Rome, Italy, Rizzo studied violin at Meadows with Adjunct Professor Emanuel Borok, who retired last year as concertmaster of the DSO after 25 years. Rizzo received a Master’s in violin performance and an Artist Certificate from SMU.
Pietro Rizzo
He attended the famous conducting program at Sibelius Academy in Finland and earned a Master’s in orchestra conducting in 2000.
As a guest conductor, Rizzo has worked with major opera companies around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He enjoys working with young artists and has been a guest professor at Flanders Opera Studio in Gent, Belgium, since 2002 and has worked regularly with the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Galicia, Spain, since 2003.
He lives in Europe with his wife, pianist Michela Fogolin ’97, and their children.
Rigoletto will be performed March 25, 27 and 30, and April 2, 7 and 10. Tickets may be purchased online.