THOMAS DREEZE

Baritone Thomas Dreeze has enjoyed a varied career in music, arts administration and events management that has taken him from Toledo, OH, to Chicago, Boston, London, the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Cincinnati, Kansas City, New York City, Indiana, Washington and now Hilton Head.  He’s shared the stage with such vocal luminaries as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Kiri te Kanawa, Grace Bumbry, Samuel Ramey and, more recently, with Nicole Cabell, Nathan Gunn, Bill Burden, and Roberto di Candia. He performs opera and oratorio, operetta, music theatre, art song, the American songbook, and more.

Thom made his Cincinnati Opera debut in 2011 in Tchaikovsky’s EUGENE ONEGIN, and has since appeared in Puccini’s GIANNI SCHICCHI, Strauss’s DER ROSENKAVALIER, Kevin Puts’s SILENT NIGHT, THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE and DIE FLEDERMAUS. He has also appeared in numerous special programs presented by Cincinnati Opera at the Mercantile Library, Hebrew Union College, and the Cincinnati Women’s Club.

During the 2015 – 2016 concert season Thom was soloist in the Cincinnati Ballet production of “The Lady of the Camellia’s.” A November recital tour took him to Kansas City, Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana, and Boston and he made his debut with the Atlanta Symphony in December.

He’s appeared with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and returned in December, 2016 to sing Melchior in AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS. Since autumn 2013 he’s been an adjunct instructor of voice at Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH, where he also teaches opera workshop. He appears regularly in concert with the Xavier University Chorus and Orchestra, most recently in Mozart’s “Requiem” and Vaughan Williams’s “Dona Nobis Pacem.” He’s also appeared numerous times with Cincinnati’s acclaimed Vocal Arts Ensemble under the direction of Craig Hella Johnson.

Thom has also performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Minnesota Bach Ensemble, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Grant Park Concerts, Chicago Opera Theatre. He is currently soloist and section leader at Knox Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati under the direction of Earl Rivers.

Thom is a co-founder of Evans Mirageas Consulting which offers artistic and strategic planning for classical music organizations and musicians around the world (www.evansmirageas.com). He was Events Program Manager at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, and Events Manager at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. A founding member of the Dewey-Cygnet Repertoire Theatre in his hometown of Toledo, OH, Thom received his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Toledo and Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan.

ALEXANDRA SCHOENY, soprano

With a voice hailed as “hauntingly beautiful” by Opera News, American soprano Alexandra Schoeny is swiftly gaining recognition on both sides of the Atlantic for her “crystal-clear voice.” In the 2016-17 season, Ms. Schoeny is First Lady in Die Zauberflöte with Cincinnati Opera, and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Queen City Opera. Her engagements in the 2015-16 season included Miss Lightfoot in the world premiere of Spears’ Fellow Travelers with Cincinnati Opera; Mrs. Julian in Owen Wingrave with Städtische Bühnen Osnabrück; Messiah with Omaha Symphony Orchestra; Mozart’s Requiem with Collegium Cincinnati; Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Eugene Symphony; Arvo Pärt’s Stabat Mater with New European Ensemble; and Carmina Burana with Reno Philharmonic Orchestra and Temple University Symphony Orchestra at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center.

Her 2014-15 season included further performances of the role Dircé in Médée in the Netherlands; Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with De Nederlandse Opera; and Adele in Die Fledermaus with Bredeweg Festival (Netherlands). Her 2013-14 season included Dircé and a reprise of her portrayal of Mrs. Julian, both in the Netherlands. She returned to Cincinnati Opera as Frasquita in Carmen, following her debut with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra in the same role. Ms. Schoeny also appeared in what was reviewed as a “star turn” in excerpts from Candide with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra (Music in Cincinnati). The summer of 2013 included her return to Cincinnati Opera as Artist-in-Residence, where she performed Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Marie-Celeste/Duchess Christina in Galileo Galilei, and the High Priestess in Aida, as well as joining their production of Der Rosenkavalier. She made her Cincinnati Opera debut as Nella in Gianni Schicchi.

Ms. Schoeny’s European engagements include her role debuts as Frasquita and Mrs. Julian in the Netherlands, and her debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival as Clarina in Rossini’s La cambiale di matrimonio. She appeared to acclaim as Sofia in Rossini’s Il Signor Bruschino under the baton of Maestro Richard Egarr, with performances at the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and Das Konzerthaus (Berlin). She has sung Adina in L’elisir d’amore at the Dutch National Opera Academy, Despina in Così fan tutte at Leidse Hout Festival, and Thérèse in Les mamelles de Tirésias with Residentie Orkest (Netherlands). As a Britten-Pears Young Artist she appeared in the St. Matthew Passion at the Aldeburgh Festival, under the baton of Masaaki Suzuki.

Alexandra Schoeny’s recent oratorio appearances include Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem and Mozart’s Mass in C minor. She received a Master of Opera from the Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag; a Master of Music, (DipRAM) from the Royal Academy of Music, where she was awarded the Clifton Prize for Singing Finalists (finishing first in her class); and a Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University. She has appeared with the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, English National Opera OperaWorks, and Aspen Opera Theatre Center.