Angelo Villari - Enrico (April 1^st, 3^rd, 6^th, 8^th, 10^th)

Born in Messina, Angelo Villari graduated in singing from the A. Boito conservatoire in Parma. In the past seasons he sang: Cavalleria Rusticana in Lecce; Pagliacci and La Traviata in Malta; Attila (Foresto) in Rovereto; Il Trovatore at the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo; Madama Butterfly in Lübeck, Bari, Parma and Rome; the main role in Ennio Porrino’s I Shardana in Cagliari conducted by Anthony Bramall in a new production by Davide Livermore (issued in DVD by Dynamic) and in Casella’s La donna serpente under Fabio Luisi at the Martina Franca Festival; Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur in Como, Pavia and Cremona; Guglielmo Ratcliff at the Wexford Festival Opera; Manrico in Il Trovatore in Catania. Plans include: Madama Butterfly in Palermo and at the Terme di Caracalla in Rome while at the Teatro dell’Opera he will perform Un ballo in maschera; Verdi’s Requiem with the Teatro Regio (Parma). Mr. Villari will return to Catania at the Teatro Massimo Bellini singing Alfano’s La Leggenda di Sakuntala.

Daniela Cappiello - Rautendelein (April 2^nd, 5^th)

Winner of the International Lyric Contest Santa Chiara in Naples and of the Toti dal Monte Prize in Treviso, young and up-and-coming soprano Daniela Cappiello recently performed Lisa in La Sonnambula and Elvira in L’Italiana in Algeri in Treviso and in Ferrara, under the baton of Francesco Ommassini.

Plans include: Rigoletto in Busseto with the Teatro Regio in Parma; Suor Angelica at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples under the baton of Donato Renzetti; Mozart’s Coronation Mass in Piacenza; La Bohème at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago; Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Blonde) in Treviso and Ferrara.

Francesca Tiburzi - Magda (April 2^nd, 5^th)

Francesca Tiburzi was born in Bergamo and began her musical studies at 14 years old. Ms Tiburzi is a recipient of important prizes in prestigious contests such as: Alfredo Giacomotti Contest (2012), Ottavio Ziino Contest (2012), Marcella Pobbe Contest (2014), second Prize at the Etta Limiti Contest (2015).

Francesca Tiburzi made her debut in 2008 at the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo, after that she starred as Violetta in La Traviata under the baton of Francesco Zingariello, Anna Bolena (title role) at the Teatro Bellini in Catania, as Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera in Metz and in Tosca (title role) in Cagliari.

Ms Tiburzi will return to Metz singing Nedda in Pagliacci and Giorgetta in Il Tabarro.

Agostina Smimmero - La Strega (April 1^st, 3^rd, 6^th, 8^th, 10^th)

Young and up and coming mezzo – soprano Agostina Smimmero recently performed: Il Trovatore (Azucena) on tour in Spain and at the Teatro São Carlos in Lisbon where she returned singing Maddalena in Rigoletto; Carmen at the Auditorium in Milan with La Verdi Orchestra; Il Cappello di Paglia di Firenze at the Teatro Comunale in Florence; Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza) at the Festival Orizzonti in Tuscany. Ms Smimmero is a recipient of important prizes in prestigious contests such as: “International Singing Competition Montserrat Caballè” (1^st prize); international competition “Simone Alaimo”(1^st prize); international competition “Marcello Giordani” (1^st prize); international competition “Ravello Città della Musica” (special prize).

Plans include: Nabucco (Fenena) in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony at the Teatro dal Verme in Milan, Donato Renzetti conducting. Ms Smimmero will return to Cagliari singing Falstaff (Quickly) again under the baton of Donato Renzetti.

Gocha Abuladze - Ondino (April 2^nd, 5^th)

With a repertoire that includes operas by Bach, Handel, Strauss, Rachmaninov, Glinka, Mahler, Wagner and Tchaikovsky, Georgian baritone Gocha Abuladze recently performed: Pagliacci (Tonio, c.Julian Kovatchev/d. Franco Zeffirelli) and La Gazza Ladra (Giorgio, c. Giovanni Battista Rigon/d. Damiano Michieletto) at Teatro Filarmonico in Verona; Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro at the Tiröler Festspiele in Erl under the baton of Gustav Kuhn; Don Giovanni (Masetto) in Montpellier; Rigoletto (title role) in Tirana; Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame at the Grange Park Opera in London. Particularly interesting his collaboration with Theater Magdeburg where he starred in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, La Bohème, La Traviata, Così fan tutte and Un ballo in maschera. Mr Abuladze won the first international contest Città di Ferrara, making his debut as Germont in La Traviata.

Plans include: La Bohème (Marcello) in Cagliari and in Magdeburg. Mr Abuladze will also participate in Don Carlo production at the Teatro Regio in Parma.