Tenor, Colin Aikins, a native of Lower Burrell Pa., is pursuing his master’s degree in vocal performance at the Juilliard School. Colin received his bachelor’s of music at the Curtis Institute of Music. Most recently, he made his role debut as Alfredo from Verdi’s La Traviata with City Lyric Opera. He has sung in numerous productions at the Curtis Opera Theatre. Roles such as The Beadle from Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, Mr. Upfold from Albert Herring, Chavalier de Danceny from Dangerous Liaisons, Nate from Highway 1, U.S.A, and the Trio in Trouble in Tahiti. He was a young artist with Pittsburgh Festival Opera in the summers of 2020 and 2021.
High lyric tenor Victor Cardamone has garnered much attention and critical acclaim over the last decade, and continues to do so. He is a graduate of Youngstown State University, the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, and the world-renowned Adler Fellowship Program at San Francisco Opera.
Victor has bowed with Cincinnati Opera, the Charleston Symphony (Charleston, South Carolina), the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, Opera Columbus, the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, San Francisco Opera, the Santa Rosa Symphony, Livermore Valley Opera, the Glacier Symphony, Western Plains Opera, Opera Naples, and the Portland Symphony Orchestra (Portland, Maine), among others. His major role credits include Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Ralph Rackstraw (H.M.S. Pinafore), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Larry Renault (Dinner at Eight), Jeník (The Bartered Bride), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Count Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Rodolfo (La Bohème), and Tamino (Die Zauberflöte/The Magic Flute). His major cover credits include Ernesto (Don Pasquale), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Chevalier de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites), Steve Wozniak (The Revolution of Steve Jobs), and Shanty (Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio).
Victor was a four-time Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He was also a four-time Corbett Competition award winner. He was a semifinalist in the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition in 2019. He is a proud recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation in 2022. He was a Tier I finalist in the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition in 2023. More recently, he was named a quarterfinalist in the 3rd Tbilisi Opera Crown, an international voice competition that takes place in Georgia every two years.
When not singing or studying scores, Victor can be found making something delicious in the kitchen and relaxing with his favorite feline, a black cat named Bill.
Marianne Cornetti is an internationally renowned Verdi mezzo-soprano who has appeared as Amneris in Aida, Azucena in Il Trovatore, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, and Princess Eboli in Don Carlos at prestigious opera houses across the world, garnering rave reviews and winning the hearts of audiences globally.
Opera magazine claims, “If her timbre did not sear itself into the memory, her vocal command of this redoubtable role was complete” and Seen and Heard International raves, “[Her] voice is a miracle of power and flexibility from top to bottom. It is the emotion which she imparts into her singing, however, that makes her Azucena so memorable…Cornetti imbues each [role] with an emotional force all its own… The cheers and applause that rained down upon her at the end were well deserved.”
Cornetti has performed to great acclaim the iconic leading Verdi roles of Azucena in Il Trovatore at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Metropolitan Opera, Arena di Verona, Bregenz Festival, Teatro Comunale in Florence, National Theatre of China in Beijing, Teatro Municipal in Sao Paulo, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, La Coruña in Spain, Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, Teatro Regio in Parma, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and in the Teatro Comunale di Bologna’s tour in Japan; and Amneris in Aida at the Teatro alla Scala, Hamburg State Opera, Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, New National Theatre Foundation in Tokyo, Theatre Royale de La Monnaie in Brussels, Israeli Opera at Masada, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Auditorio de Tenerife, Opera Naples, the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Belgium and Choregies D’Orange. Cornetti’s appearance as Amneris for Pittsburgh Opera in 2020 was rescheduled for their 2023 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cornetti’s 2021-22 season opens with a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Orchestra Miami. In early spring, she will be seen in the role of Leokadja Begbick in Kurt Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the Teatro Regio Parma Italy and subsequently at the Teatro Emilia-Romagna. She then returns to her native Pittsburgh to sing in Pittsburgh Festival Opera’s “The Legends in the Limelight” concert series and to perform the role of Ježibaba in Rusalka with Pittsburgh Opera, where she was last seen as The Witch in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.
Highlights of Cornetti’s recent engagements include her debut as Princess Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlos in Tokyo as well as performances in Parma, Bilbao, Rome, Vienna, and London; Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and at the Bolshoi Theatre; performances of Gianni Schicchi and L’enfant e les Sortiléges with the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Opera Project in Kyoto, Tokyo, and Nagoya, Japan; her debut as Dame Quickly in Falstaff at the Palacio de la Ópera in La Coruña, Spain, followed by a reprisal of the role at the San Diego Opera; Fidès in Le prophete at the Aalto-Musiktheater Essen; Ježibaba in Rusalka and The Witch in Hansel and Gretel at the Minnesota Opera; Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and Laura in La Gioconda with the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, La Monnaie in Brussels, and at Carnegie Hall in New York City; as the title role in La Gioconda at the Rome Opera and Romanian National Opera; and Abigaille in Nabucco at the New National Theatre Foundation in Tokyo, La Monnaie in Brussels, and at the Metropolitan Opera.
In 2005, Cornetti sang her first Wagnerian role, appearing as Ortrud in Lohengrin at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste. She continued her excursion into this repertoire with her debut as Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and has since sung the role of Ortrud in Amsterdam, Paris, Sao Paolo, and Palermo, and has appeared as Brangäne in Genoa. Cornetti’s verismo repertoire includes Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana, which she performed at Teatro alla Scala; Princess de Bouillon in Adriana Lecouvreur at the Teatro Massimo of Palermo, Teatro di San Carlo, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Regio in Turin, Opera di Firenze, and Dutch National Opera; and Rosa in Cilea’s L’Arlesiana, which she sang to great acclaim at the L’Opera de Montpellier and at Carnegie Hall with the Opera Orchestra of New York.
She appears frequently in concert in such works as Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Elgar’s Sea Picture and De Falla’s El Amor Brujo. She has recorded Cilea’s L’Arlesiana and Puccini’s Edgar opposite Plácido Domingo and was recently featured on a Teatro Regio di Parma recording of Verdi’s Don Carlo released in 2017 on the Dynamic record label.
Praised for her sensitive, alluring voice and dedicated artistry, Soprano Megan Cumming captivates her audiences both on and off the stage, with a demonstrated passion to share her music with those in need.
Megan begins the 2022-2023 season as a winner of the 2022 Pittsburgh Concert Society Major Artist Division, and she recently performed as Laurie (The Tender Land) and Diane (Orphée aux enfers) as an Emerging Artist with Opera in the Ozarks. In the summer of 2022, Megan was honored to be selected as a Leslie Fleischner Young Artist with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, where she performed scenes as Gilda (Rigoletto), Marie (La Fille du Régiment), and Juliette (Roméo et Juliette).
In January of 2021, while covering Mrs. Fiorentino in Weill’s Street Scene (Opera McGill), Megan was thrilled to go on at the last minute for performances at Le Monument-National Theater in Montreal, QC. Other notable performance credits include the First Spirit in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Opera McGill), Margot in Dauvergene’s Les Troquers (Opera McGill), and Laurey in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! (The Hanover Theater). Recently heard as Cendrillon in Viardot’s Cendrillon (Carnegie Mellon Opera), Laetitia in Menotti’s The Old Maid & the Thief, and the fairy godmother in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Opera McGill), Megan was grateful to share these comedic performances with audiences isolated and recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
A graduate of the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, Megan earned her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance with Distinction and Outstanding Achievement in Voice, and was also placed on the Dean’s Honor List and awarded the Dixie Ross Neill Scholarship. A member of Pittsburgh-founded Musicians with a Mission, Megan is a frequent performer in local nursing homes and healthcare facilities. A Massachusetts native, Megan currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA, where she recently graduated with her Master of Music Degree at The Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts. She has studied privately with Maria Spacagna, Joanne Kolomyjec, and Jane Shivick.
Zanny Laird is a performer, vocalist, and teacher who has spent over twenty years working in TV, film, and theatre in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. Her resume includes the world premiere productions of August: Osage County (Steppenwolf Theatre) and Trust (Lookingglass Theatre), the off-Broadway production of Kragtar: A Monster Musical (The West End Theatre), and the pre-Broadway workshop of Head Over Heels (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Local credits include The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk and The Cherry Orchard (Quantum Theatre), Waitress, Evil Dead The Musical, and Grease (Pittsburgh Musical Theatre), Phantom (PCLO), and Hamlet (Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks). She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Carnegie Mellon University and is a member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA.
Thomas Shivone, a bass-baritone, has received critical acclaim for both singing and acting in opera, concert, and recitals. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and earned a Masters Degree in Voice and Opera.
While at Curtis he performed the roles of Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress, Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore, Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, Masetto in Don Giovanni and over 40 more roles and productions.
Professionally, he has performed the roles of Karl Marx/Lister in the World Premiere of Kevin Puts’ Elizabeth Cree, Antonio in Le Nozze Di Figaro, Prison Patient #2 in Oscar, The British Major in the Pulitzer Prize winning opera Silent Night, Marchese D’Obigny in La Traviata and The Notary in Gianni Schicchi with Opera Philadelphia. He also was the First Nazarene in Salome and Jeff in The Long Walk with Pittsburgh Opera.
A frequent recitalist and concert giver Thomas has performed many of Schubert’s works in recital. He sang Prisoner in Fidelio with Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah in Concert with James Judd and the Master Chorale of South Florida, Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego and Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
He has shared the stage with many famous artists of today including Ailyn Perez, Daniela Mack, John Chest, Dwayne Croft, Rachele Gilmore, Stephen Costello, Bill Burden, Kelly Kaduce, Harold Wilson, Troy Cook, Daniel Belcher, Dale Travis, Leah Partridge, David Portillo and Charles Castronovo.
Thomas was awarded a full-scholarship to attend the summer programs of: Glimmerglass, Music Academy of the West, Songfest, Centro Studi Lirica, Opera on the Avalon and Schlern Festival in Italy. He received an “Encouragement Award” in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Philadelphia Region in 2014 and advanced to the Semi-Finals in Washington DC in 2016. In 2007 he was a winner of the National Public Radio show From the Top, Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award and performed with the show on NPR in Texas.
Thomas now lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, Karissa Shivone, a cellist in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and their two daughters, Lucia and Anna Maria.
With her “lovely demeanor and irresistible creamy timbre”, soprano Danielle Pastin is in demand nationwide and abroad. Her wide-ranging repertoire encompasses the classical as well as the contemporary and she is equally at home in opera and concert.
Recent seasons have found Ms. Pastin at the Metropolitan, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Santa Fe, Austin, Nashville, Palm Beach, Arizona, Central City and Manitoba Operas in such roles as Puccini’s Mimi, Liu and Butterfly, Mozart’s Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, Fiordiligi and the Countess, Verdi’s Desdemona and Violetta, Micaela in Carmen, Nedda in Pagliacci and Masha in The Queen of Spades.
Internationally she has reprised many of these roles with the Savonlinna Festival in Finland, the Macau-Beijing Festival in China, and at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Additionally, she has created roles in new works including Robert Patterson’s Three Way, Free Will, Henry Mollicone’s Gabriel’s Daughter, and has been featured in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath.
On the concert platform Ms. Pastin has been the soloist for Verdi’s Requiem, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet, Bruckner’s Te Deum and the Mozart Requiem with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Pittsburgh Concert Society, the Reno Chamber Orchestra, the Glacier Symphony, the Society of the Four Arts, the Erie Philharmonic and DCINY in Barcelona.
A prolific prize-winner, Ms. Pastin has received First Prize from the Sullivan Foundation and from the Opera Index Vocal Competition, Second Prize from the Gerda Lissner Competition, the Judith Raskin Memorial Award (Santa Fe Opera) and the Fine Arts Fellowship (Central City Opera). She is an alumna of the University of Maryland.
Mark Trawka joined Pittsburgh Opera as Director of Musical Studies for the prestigious Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Training Program in the 2003-04 season. In the 2006-07 season, he also took on the position of Chorus Master.
Mr. Trawka coaches and performs with the Resident Artists and has also accompanied renowned mezzo-soprano Marianne Cornetti in her Pittsburgh recital appearances. He has been a member of the music staff at Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera and Portland Opera (Oregon), where he was principal pianist and assistant chorus master. Mr. Trawka has served as coach/accompanist at Chautauqua Opera and at Glimmerglass Opera for many summer seasons. In the summer of 2006, he was director of the resident artist program at Berkshire Opera.
Educated at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Southern California, Mr. Trawka began his operatic career in the Houston Opera Studio and in San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program.
American Mezzo-Soprano, Alexandria Zallo hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In fall 2024 Alexandria made her debut as Marquise de Berkenfeild in La fille du Régiment with Bel Cantanti Opera. She also sang Mademoiselle Dangeville in Pittsburgh Festival Opera’s Adriana Lecourveur. In early 2024, she joined the Apprentice Artist Program Sarasota Opera where she covered the role of Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor. Alexandria was a Studio Artist at Central City Opera as part of the 2023 Bonfils Stanton Artists Training Program. While at Central City, she performed the role of Gertrude in Gonoud’s Roméo et Juliette at the Young Artist Matinee Performance. Alexandria is also a two time participant of Pittsburgh Festival Opera’s Hans and Leslie Fleischner Young Artist Program. During her time with the company Alexandria sang the roles of Megaera/Arete in the highly anticipated production of Mark Adamo’s Lysistrata.
Previous credits also include Der Trommler (Der Kaiser von Atlantis) and Arminda ( La finta giardiniera) with Carnegie Mellon Opera and Juno (Semele) and Dorabella (Cosí fan tutte) with Peabody Opera Theatre. As an avid participant in competitions around the country, Alexandria is a two time Encouragement Award Winner from the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition as well as being named a Finalist in many other competitions including the Annapolis Opera Competition. Alexandria holds degrees from both Carnegie Mellon University and The Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University.