THE MAGIC FLUTE • 19
In recent years, she has been a soloist with the Yonkers Philharmonic under Tong Chen and with the Yale Philharmonia under Peter Oundjian. She has sung O Holy Night at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and appears on the Naxos recording Songs of Peace and Praise. This year, she will be performing with the American Songbook Orchestra, the Yale Concert Band, and the American Festival of Microtonal Music, among other appearances. She is a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Arts Award and has been a semifinalist at the Young Concert Artist Competition and the first-place winner in the Art Song Division of the Lyra New York International Vocal Competition. First Spirit Natalie Andrews is from Salem, Connecticut, and is a junior music education major at Western Connecticut State University, where she studies voice with Dr. Margaret Astrup. Her WCSU Opera credits include Fiametta in The Gondoliers; Lo Lo in The Merry Widow; and Dancer in Amahl and the Night Visitors. Regional theater performance credits include Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray; Gertrude McFuzz in Seussical; and Wendy Jo in Footloose. She is also a two-time winner of the James Furman Honors Performance Competition at WCSU. Second Christine Manalo makes her Yale Opera debut this season. As a Spirit third-year music education student at Western Connecticut State University, she studies privately in Laura Mashburn’s studio as a soprano. She recently placed first in the Lower College Division of a New England National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) competition. Past stage credits include Fiametta in The Gondoliers. In addition to performing on stage, she is the accompanist for the Western Connecticut State University Concert Chorale and is an active church organist and pit pianist. Christine is a native of Watertown, Connecticut. Third Spirit Serena Valentin is a sophomore music education major at Western Connecticut State University and studies voice in the studio of Dr. Margaret Astrup. Her opera experience consists of an opera class at school, which recently put on a production of The Gondoliers, and is planning a summer production of Hansel and Gretel. Serena aspires to teach music, go to graduate school, and perform as much as possible.