The Cast

Corinne Rydman (Dido) is a lyric mezzo-soprano and an undergraduate at Westminster College of Salt Lake City, Utah where she studies Elementary Education and Music as well as sing with the Westminster Chamber Singers and Westminster Opera Studio. Her studies include Vocal Pedagogy, Diction, Art Song Literature, Human Anatomy, and Developmental Learning Theory along with her musicianship. Outside of school, she participates in local competitions and is regularly cast in Utah Opera's productions as a chorister. Corinne also participated in Westminster's Creative Arts Integration Intensive, creating original works in modern dance, music, theater, and visual arts.
http://corinnerydman.com

Naomi Woo is a Canadian pianist and conductor, currently pursuing an MPhil in Music at the University of Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholar. An active soloist, Naomi made her concerto debut at age 13 with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Since then, she has performed widely throughout Canada and the US and her debut in Carnegie Hall in 2011 was praised as an "elegant performance" in the New York Times. Particularly interested in vocal music, she has conducted Mozart’s Così fan tutte (Opera Theatre of Yale College) and is a founding member and former producer of the vocal chamber music ensemble Cantata Profana. Naomi holds a Bachelor of Arts from Yale College in Mathematics and Philosophy and a Masters of Music from the Yale School of Music. www.naomiwoo.com

Dylan Hayden (Aeneas) is a Toronto resident and tenor. Dylan is a graduate of Queen's University with a Bachelor of Music Honours Performance. Credits include Tonio (Pagliacci), Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas), Don Jose (Carmen), Chariman Mao (Nixon in China), Don Basilio (Le nozze di Figaro) and Pane (La Calisto).

Judith Lebiez (Second Woman / First Enchantress) was born in Paris. She has performed the roles of Virtue (Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea), Belinda (Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas), a Fairy (Purcell’s Fairy Queen), Eurydice (Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice), Zerlina (Mozart’s Don Giovanni), and The Rose (Schubert’s The Pilgrimage of The Rose). She sung as a soloist in Bach’s Magnificat and St Matthew Passion, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Handel’s Messiah, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. She created Didon, a cantata composed by Benjamin Capellari. Main theatre roles have included Agaüe in Euripides’ The Bacchai, Atalide in Racine’s Bajazet, and Hermione in Racine’s Andromaque.

Ilana Walder-Biesanz (Sorceress) is a lyric mezzo-soprano currently pursuing an MPhil in European Literature at the University of Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholar. She has been acting in plays and singing in musicals ever since she could walk and talk, performing on school, community, and professional stages (and parks) in Oregon and Massachusetts. During high school, she fell in love with opera, and four years ago she began to study classical singing. The literary studies are also new--in undergrad at Olin College, she was a systems engineer. www.ilanawb.com/mezzo

Chen Chi-Wang (Spirit / Second Enchantress) was born in Hong Kong and obtained her MMus degree in Royal Holloway, University of London, with a focus on vocal performance. She has had lessons with Elizabeth Byrne. Before moving to the UK, she trained with Ms Chan Siu-kwan whilst pursuing her degree in Chinese and Western Music at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She obtained a Silver medal in the 'Song Recital' category at the North London Festival of Music competition earlier in 2013. She was commended of her 'sophisticated singing with lovely clarity' with a 'pure, clear soprano voice'.

Valerie Demma (Belinda) is eager to step into an operatic role after being a singer for 17 years and is very excited to be involved with the Opera Connect opera. She has been involved in choirs for the entirety of her singing career and has been involved in the technical side of opera for the past 5 years. Valerie’s experience with opera includes The Mikado, The Magic Flute, and Dido and Aeneas. Valerie’s solo repertoire includes "Der Hölle Rache", "Ruhe Sanft", "Let the Bright Seraphim", "V’adoro, Pupille" and "Piangero la sorte mia", and Copland’s 12 Poems of Emily Dickinson. She received her undergraduate degree in music and is planning on pursuing a master’s degree in secondary choral music education.

Matt Prast (Sailor) is a recent graduate from Princeton University. There he was a member of the Princeton University Glee Club and the Princeton Chamber Choir, touring internationally with the two groups to Buenos Aires and to Paris. He has performed as Bill (Barber's A Hand of Bridge) and Donald Hopewell (Moore's Gallantry), and has been additionally featured in scenes from Bernstein's Candide (Candide) and Mozart's Lucio Silla (Lucio Silla). Matt was announced one of the winners of the Princeton Handel Aria competition in 2010, for which he performed from Sampson. Since his graduation from Princeton, Matt has lived in Seattle working as a software developer for Microsoft.