Salome

Katrin Hilbe
Katrin Hilbe directs opera, operetta, contemporary music theatre, and plays, both in Europe and in the US.

She is the principal assistant director for the opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen" at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany, and is currently developing a play, a chamber opera and a musical comedy. Ms. Hilbe is an alumni of the Directors Lab West of 2007, a member of the Jewish Theater of New York and of the Workshop Theater Company. She holds a masters degree in Philosophy, Musicology and English/ American Literature from the University of Berne (Switzerland) and is both a citizen of the USA and the Principality of Liechtenstein, where she grew up.

Robert Lyall
Robert Lyall is general and artistic director of the New Orleans Opera Association and artistic director of Opera Grand Rapids.

Lyall, who has conducted for opera, symphony and ballet, debuted at Carnegie Hall in 1998 with the New England Symphony. His guest appearances around the world include performances of “Giselle” for Italy’s Arena of Verona and Verdi’s “Nabucco” for the Bulgarian State Opera. In 2002, Lyall made his Russian debut at the Rostov State Musical Theatre for “Madama Butterfly,” which was also nominated for Russia’s leading arts award. Widely known as a judge for international instrumental and vocal competitions, Lyall has also led lecture tours to the world’s major opera houses and summer opera festivals in Europe.

Mlada Khudoley
Russian soprano Mlada Khudoley made her Mariinsky Theatre stage debut in the title role of Salome in 1998.

She has since reprised that role with Dallas Opera, Gulbenkian Center (Lisbon, Portugal), Latvian National Opera, Lithuanian National Orchestra, Vancouver Opera, Minnesota Opera and Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto (Japan). In 2001 Ms. Khudoley received the “Singer of the Year Award” from the St. Petersburg Theatrical Society for the role of Sieglinde, performed with Maestro Plácido Domingo. More recently, Ms. Khudoley sang Salome's monologue at the gala opening of the Opernhaus Graz 2009-2010 season. This performance was telecast on Austrian television. She appears in New Orleans after recent performances at the Mariinsky Theatre as Chrysothemis in "Elektra".

Ryan McKinny
American bass-baritone Ryan McKinny has been praised for his elegant and articulate bass-baritone voice. He appeared last season at Houston Grand in "Lohengrin", and at Los Angeles Opera in Handel’s "Tamerlano" and "Il barbiere di Siviglia". In 2010, his debuts included Escamillo in "Carmen" with the Deutsche Opera Berlin and Hercules in "Alceste" with Oper Leipzig. He appeared in "Oedipus Rex" for his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Festival in Australia. McKinny was the first recipient of the Birgit Nilsson Prize for singing Wagner at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition. He represented the U.S.A. in the 2007 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition where he was a finalist. He also was a Grand Finalist in the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Upcoming productions include "Radamisto" with English National Opera, "Carmen" with Semperoper Dresden and Hamburg State Opera, and "Parsifal" with Deutsche Oper am Rhein.

John Mac Master
Canadian John Mac Master has enjoyed international acclaim for major roles throughout the dramatic tenor repertoire. Highlights
include Herod (Salome) in Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Vancouver; Canio (Pagliacci) at Glimmerglass; "Peter Grimes" at Detroit and Montreal; the role of Tristan at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by James Levine; "Otello" at Opéra de Québec; and Casey in the world premiere of "Margaret Garner" at Michigan Opera Theater. He maintains an active concert schedule, and his recordings include Beethoven roles with the London Symphony Orchestra ( Fidelio, conducted by Sir Colin Davis and Symphony No. 9, conducted by Sir Bernard Haitink) and Prokofiev’s "Love for Three Oranges" on the Chandos label.

Gwendolyn Jones
Oklahoma native Gwendolyn Jones first came to attention as the youngest winner of the national Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions at age nineteen. Praised by the New York Times for her “commanding presence” and “innate lyricism,” Gwendolyn Jones appears frequently with New York City Opera. Noted for her detailed characterizations, she has sung a wide variety of roles throughout the United States including Carmen, Amneris ("Aïda"), Cherubino ("The Marriage of Figaro"), Fricka ("Die Walküre"), Venus ("Tannhäuser"), Charlotte ("Werther") and "Orfeo". Internationally, her work has included the Spoleto Festival in Italy ("L’Ormindo"); the Teatro Municipal in Brazil ("Orfeo" and "Werther"), and The Orchestra Sinfonica di Santa Domingo (world premiere of Antonio Braga’s "1492").

Sean Panikkar
American born Sri Lankan tenor Sean Panikkar made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Edmondo in "Manon Lescaut" and his European debut as Gomatz in Mozart’s "Zaïde" at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Recent engagements include Narraboth at Washington and Vancouver, Chevalier de la Force in "Dialogues of the Carmelites" for Pittsburgh Opera and Tybalt in "Romeo and Juliet" for The Metropolitan Opera. Other roles include Cassio in "Otello" at The Dallas Opera, Tamino in "The Magic Flute" for Atlanta Opera, Lensky in "Eugene Onegin" and Count Almaviva in "Ghosts of Versailles" at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Brighella in "Ariadne auf Naxos" and Artuto in "Lucia di Lammermoor" at The Metropolitan Opera, and Nadir in "The Pearl Fishers" for Opera Colorado.