SHOW NOTES: Season 4, Ep. 9 - Spotlight on the Bonfils-Stanton Artists Training Program
Jul 30, 2019
The Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program is a national model for the professional development of young singers. Created by Artistic Director Emeritus John Moriarty in 1978, the rigorous 10-week program integrates daily opera training in diction, movement, stage combat, acting, stage technique, individual coaching and role study; and sessions in career management with rehearsals and opera performance opportunities in the summer’s main stage and additional festival productions.
The program, which selects 30-32 participants from nearly 1,000 applicants each year, has provided valuable voice training for many of America’s most notable young opera professionals, including Denyce Graves, Alan Held, Cynthia Lawrence, Margaret Lattimore, Mary Mills, Emily Pulley, Greg Turay, Latonia Moore, Matthew Polenzani, Jesus Garcia, Chad Shelton, Daniel Belcher, and Celena Shafer. View the full list of past young artists.
I chose to interview three current Apprentice Artists - soprano Caitlin Crabill, baritone Matthew Peterson, and soprano Véronique Filloux - and one graduate of the program, tenor and Developing Artist Jonas Hacker. Each of them shared how the program has impacted them, plus details about their experiences this summer and what’s on their current playlist and watchlist. (Because, why not…)
Caitlin Crabill
Caitlin is the cover (understudy) for Cio-cio-san in Madama
Butterfly this summer, singing the role in the Nina Odescalchi
Kelly Family Matinee on July 30th. That is TODAY - the same day
that this episode was released! I can’t wait to see her in the
role. She’s also in the chorus of the Debussy/Poulenc double-bill
(see the super-creepy photo below - she’s the tallest one on the
left.) Caitlin is a genuinely lovely person and I know she’s got
quite the career in front of her. You can follow her on Twitter at
@caitlincrabill.
Photo by Amanda Tipton
Jonas Hacker
If you listened to the episode, you heard that Jonas is actually a Developing Artist this summer - he was last in the Bonfils-Stanton Artists Training Program in 2013. Oftentimes people forget that the “in-between” stage of going from young artist program contracts to principal contracts is a unique challenge, and I was eager to hear Jonas’s story. His performance as the Novice in Billy Budd is SO compelling - this guy is one to watch. Follow his career on his website, and listen to some of Jonas’s favorites: Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, and Radiohead.
Photo by Amanda Tipton
Matthew Peterson
Matt is doing A LOT this summer - covering the roles of Billy
Budd and Yamadori and performing the role of the Novice's Friend, a
secondary role in Billy Budd. Wow! If you came to our
production of Acis and Galatea last summer, you’ll
remember him as the monster. 
Photo by Amanda Tipton
Matt mentioned a few Youtube videos that are on his watchlist, and I’ve linked a couple of them below:
- Baritones singing Figaro’s cadenza, titled “Largo al Factotum Cage Match”
- Operatic Disasters, Part 1
Matt’s got quite a career ahead of him. Make sure to keep up on what he’s doing by following his website. I mentioned a couple times that he has performed with CCO’s Education programs as a Touring Artist. He’s headed to Yale this fall, and we will certainly miss him.
Véronique Filloux
Last, but certainly not least, is Apprentice Artist Véronique Filloux. She stars in the double-bill of Debussy’s The Blessed Damozel and Poulenc’s Litanies to the Black Virgin. Here's a production photo of her in character (complete with blonde wig!):
Photo by Amanda Tipton
But as mentioned on the episode, she was here last year, too, in a prominent role - Papagena in The Magic Flute!
Photo by Amanda Tipton
Véronique mentioned that Sara Bareilles’ new album, Amidst the Chaos, and the band Lake Street Dive are on her playlist. Check out those artists here and here. Keep up on this promising young soprano’s career on her website.
That’s it for this episode’s show notes! See all these incredibly talented singers this summer at the 2019 Festival, now through August 6, 2019. Buy tickets at centralcityopera.org.
-Emily Murdock, Host & Producer