Staff

HOC

Victoria Leigh Gardner founded the Hillhouse Opera Company of New Haven, CT in 2008 and served as its first General Manager from 2008-2011. Miss Gardner has also performed throughout the world in solo recitals, operas, musicals, operettas, and with various choirs. Miss Gardner obtained her Master's degree in religion and the arts from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and her Bachelor's degree with a double major in music and archaeology from Yale College. Currently, Miss Gardner works as the Coordinator of Yale Research Observatories and Undergraduate Registrar at the Yale Astronomy Department and remains the President of the Hillhouse Opera Company. She has been to 27 (soon to be 29!) countries across 4 continents and to 46 of the U.S. states. Contact her at HillhouseOperaCompany@Gmail.com. Visit her website at http://www.victorialeighgardner.com/.

Perry Price — Music Director ﷯Mr. Price has had a long and enviable career as an international opera and concert singer which has taken him to the music centers of over twenty countries. His appearances have included San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Philadelphia Opera, Houston Opera, National Opera Kennedy Center, Des Moines Opera and, internationally, the opera companies of Rome, Venice, Palermo, Lisbon, Antwerp, Stuttgart, Nordberg, Augsburg, Magdeburg, Schwerin and Canadian Opera in Toronto. His long and varied repertoire has spanned the works of Rossini, Donizetti, Mozart (including the rarely heard Clemenza di Tito and Idomeneo title roles) Verdi, Puccini Massenet, Gounod, Thomas as well as several World Premieres including Luis Reil by Somers, Don Perlimplin by Belamaric and Beatrice Cenci by Goldschmidt. Most recently, at the advice of famed Wagner conductor Wolfgang Rennert, Mr. Price turned to the "Helden" repertoire undertaking the title roles in Wagner's Siegfried, Tannhauser and Parsifal as well as lead roles in Der Fliegende Hollander and Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and Salome. Most recently, Mr. Price was invited by friend and colleague Placido Domingo for the role of Herodes in Salome at Kennedy Center, a role he performed in many European centers, and he repeated it to great acclaim in Des Moines Opera. In the course of his career, Mr. Price has appeared with many well known singers including Anna Moffo, Beverly Sills, Joan Sutherland, Carol Neblett, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Heather Thomson and famed conductors Bruno Bartoletti, Wolfgang Rennert, Gunther Neuholt, Roger Wagner, and Ulrich Weder to name a few. Mr.Price can be heard in recordings of Messiah with the New York Choral Society as well as Handel's Acis e Galatea and Clemenza di Tito recorded by RAI, Torino. In addition to his singing activities, Mr. Price is now passing on his vast experience to the next generation as Professor. He is also a regular for Master classes twice yearly at University of British Columbia's famed Opera School as well as a frequently sought Judge for the Nat. Assoc. of Teachers of Singing in which he is a long standing member. Mr. Price has also served as Coordinator for the Connecticut Alliance for Music Semi-Annual Vocal Competitions. Mr. Price received his B.S. in Music Education and Administration from Texas Lutheran University (from which he has received a Distinguished Alumni Award) and his M.M. from University of Houston. He completed post-graduate work in San Francisco, New York and London. He was a Prize Winner in both the San Francisco Opera and Metropolitan Opera International Auditions. In addition to his other teaching commitments, Mr. Price has taught at Otto-von-Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany, Western Connecticut State University and teaches privately, specializing in vocal technique and voice preservation. Marissa Famiglietti — Board Member, Singer Versatile young soprano Marissa Famiglietti is concluding a very exciting 2009-2010 season, which includes the roles of The Sandman and The Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel and Annina in La Traviata, both with the Opera Theater of Connecticut, and Marguerite in Faust and Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte with The Hillhouse Opera Company, conducted by legendary tenor Perry Price. A vibrant presence on the concert stage, Ms. Famiglietti joins renowned tenor and recording artist Michael Amante as a guest artist and duet partner on several of his concert engagements. Recent appearances with Amante have taken her to such venues as the St. George Theater in Staten Island, the Westchester Broadway Theater, The Capitol One Theater at Westbury, and The American Music Theater in Pennsylvania. Ms. Famiglietti is a graduate of the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music programs at the esteemed Manhattan School of Music in New York City, where she was featured in numerous leading operatic roles, including Cathleen in Riders to the Sea, Susan in A Dinner Engagement, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Lisbe in Spohr's Zemire und Azor (available on Albany Records), and Mathilde in scenes from Guillaume Tell. Recent performances of note include the roles of Sour Genovieffe in Suor Angelica with Opera Theater of Connecticut, Lauretta in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi with the American Singers' Opera Project, Marzelline in scenes from Fidelio with the Collegiate Choral and New York Festival Orchestra, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni with the International Symphonic Orchestra in Rome and Verona. As a member of Virginia Opera's Spectrum Resident Artist Program, Ms. Famiglietti was featured as Kate in Pirates of Penzance, in addition to being featured in numerous outreach performances. Michael Trnik — Board Member, Treasurer, Singer ﷯Baritone Michael Trnik is having the great pleasure of performing opera currently throughout the Connecticut/New York region. Ever since winning a chance to be part of Connecticut All State Choir in High School, he knew he wanted to something in the world of music. Since then, Michael has had the opportunity of working with several regional opera companies. These include Eastern Festival Opera of Westchester, Le Nozze NY in New York City, Hillhouse Opera Company of New Haven, New Rochelle Opera, and OSH Opera in New York City. Roles that Michael has performed with these companies were Count Almavia in Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro”, Valentin in Gounod’s “Faust”, the title role of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and both Baron Douphal as well as the Marquis in Verdi’s “La Traviata”. Michael has also performed via opera gala Figaro in Act I of Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” and Sharpless in Act I of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”. Michael two most recent performances were Guglielmo in Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” with Hillhouse Opera in New Haven, CT and Dr. Falke in Strauss Jr’s “Die Fledermaus” with Troupers Light Opera in Westport, CT. Michael is the recipient of the Olga Berzins Scholarship through the Rosa Ponselle auditions in Meridan and the first prize of the Connecticut NATS auditions. Michael holds a Bachelor’s Degree in music from Western Conn. State. Current residence is in Bethel, CT. Michael also continues to study voice with legendary tenor Perry Price.

Harmony Wheeler holds a degree in Journalism and an emphasis in Public Relations from Biola University. In addition to managing the website and publicity materials for HOC, she has worked as a Marketing and Public Relations assistant for Sierra Repertory Theatre, the Gallo Center for the Arts, Biola University, Epic Time Pieces, the La Mirada Chamber of Commerce, MJM Entertainment Group and Zimbabwe Gecko Society. Wheeler has written dozens of articles for various publications including the Biola student newspaper, The Chimes, where she served as the News Editor. She has also written feature, news, and entertainment articles for The Modesto Bee, StaticMultiMedia.com, The Christian Communicator Magazine, Church Libraries Magazine, Taylor University Fort Wayne’s Alumnus Magazine, and Christianbookpreviews.com. Wheeler recently completed editing and photography work for the soon to be released book, "The Dominican Dream."
She can be contacted at HarmonyWheeler@Gmail.com

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