Kurt Lehman, Tenor, as Rodolfo
Canadian tenor Kurt Lehmann's growing international reputation is well deserved. This year Mr. Lehmann was seen as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly for Pacific Opera Victoria and London Symphony Orchestra , and as Alfredo in La Traviata for Opera Lyra Ottawa and Manitoba Opera. He also made his Carnegie Hall debut singing Verdi's Requiem.

Mr. Lehmann’s leading roles include Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (Pacific Opera Victoria, Mississauga Opera, Opera Saskatchewan), Lensky in Eugene Onegin (Pacific Opera Victoria), (Montreal Opera) and the Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues of the Carmelites (Calgary Opera) Of particular note is his premiere engagement at Glimmerglass Opera as the violin playing Orpheus in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld. Mr. Lehmann was selected for this role after a continent-wide search for lyric tenors who were also virtuoso violinists.

Inna Dukach, Soprano, as Mimi

Inna Dukach was a winner of the 2005 Liederkranz Competition, a winner of the 2004 Dutka Arts Foundation Competition, and a New England regional finalist of the 2003 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She made her New York City Opera debut as Mimi in La Boheme and also essayed the same role with the Sarasota Opera. Among
her recent engagements have been Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Opera Carolina and Orlando Opera, Vier Letzte Lieder in Pforzheim, Germany; Violetta in La Traviata in Zagreb; Gluck Concert Arias in Oviedo, Spain. Upcoming engagements include Musetta in La Boheme at Covent Garden, Walther in La Wally at the Concertgebouw, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin in Ottawa, Liu in Turandot at the Savonlinna Festival, Pamina in The Magic Flute with Opera Hong Kong and the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with Hawaii Opera Theater.

Marco Nisticò, Baritone - as Marcello
This Italian baritone is enjoying a truly international career. Highlights have included Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Pallante in Handel's Agrippina, Prudenzio in IL Viaggio a Reims, Schaunard in La Boheme, and Dancairo in Carmen with New York City Opera; Francesco Foscari in Verdi's I Due Foscari with Sarasota Opera; Antonio in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix with the Caramoor Festival; Buffo in Mozart's The Impresario with L'Opéra de Monte Carlo; Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Toledo Opera, in Bologna, in Amsterdam, and on tour throughout the Netherlands with Eurostage Productions; Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and both Durozeau and Renaud in Auber's Manon Lescault with Ireland's Wexford Festival; Malatesta in Don Pasquale with Connecticut Grand Opera; Taddeo in L'Italiana in Algeri at Milan's Aslico; Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia and Marcello in La Boheme with Tel Aviv's International Vocal Arts Institute; Marcello in La Boheme with Connecticut Grand Opera.

Steffanie Pearce, Soprano - as Musetta
Founding director of Opera Naples, Ms. Pearce has thrilled audiences from Paris, Madrid & Lisbon, to Cincinnati, Denver and Los Angeles, with over 200 performances in her signature role of Violetta in La Traviata.
Other distinctive portrayals of tragic heroines including: Tosca, Leonora, Marguerite, Donna Anna, Mimi, Konstanze and the Three Heroines of Tales of Hoffman. She has been a guest artist with many opera companies including; Opera de Marseille, Opera Lisboa, Opera Colorado, The Opera Co. of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh Opera Theater, San Diego Opera, The Buxton Festival in England, Baltimore Opera, Opera Delaware and New Jersey Opera Festival.
Equally at home on the concert stage, she has performed the Strauss 4 Last Songs and Carmina Burana with The Montreal Symphony. Her oratorio repertoire is extensive and she has appeared as a soloist at many famous theaters including: Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, The Hollywood Bowl and The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles.

Christopher Holloway, Baritone - as Schaunard
Opera Naples welcomes Mr. Holloway back after his performance as Baron Douphol in ON's January 2008 production of La Traviata.
He is an energetic, vibrant performer who acts with waltzlike precision…and is able to sing and act with equal agility. A much sought-after performer, Mr. Holloway has taken the opera stage with distinguished companies including Houston Grand Opera, Orlando Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Amarillo Opera, Fresno Opera, Lyric Opera of Los Angeles, Orange County Opera, Opera in the Heights, Opera in the Ozarks, Brevard Music Center, and Operafestival di Roma. His extensive repertoire of operatic roles includes Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, the title role in Don Giovanni, Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore, Pish-Tush in The Mikado, Morales/Dancairo in Carmen, Lord Ruthven in Der Vampyr, Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Lescaut in Manon, Marcello in La Bohéme, Dandini in La Cenerentola, Silvio in I Pagliacci, Maximilian in Bernstein’s Candide, and Angelotti in Tosca.

Curtis Streetman, Bass - as Colline
Mr. Streetman has performed in some of world's major concert halls and opera houses, and this season, he will make operatic debuts in Geneva, Basel, and at The Theatre Champs Elysee in Paris, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, and at Vienna's Musikverein in performances of Handel's Radamisto. He made his Kennedy Center debut with The National Symphony in performances of Handel's Messiah. Other debuts include performances with The Cleveland Orchestra, in performances of Schumann's Szenen aus Goethe's Faust at Cleveland's Severance Hall, as well as performances of Mozart's Requiem with The San Diego Symphony.
Curtis Streetman has sung the major bass roles in Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflötte as Sarastro, La Boheme as Colline, Don Giovanni as Leporello, Rigoletto Sparafucile as well as leads in Verdi, Handel and Rossini operas. Other performances include appearances at The Salzburg Festival, and opera houses in Vienna, Bilbao, Dortmund, and Victoria. Festival appearances include Tanglewood, Ravinia, The Hong Kong Arts Festival, and The San Juan Arts Festival.
He was also featured in a Canadian tour of Bach's St. John's Passion, with Bernard LaBadie and Les Violons du Roi.

Robert Swedberg, Bass - Stage Director
Mr. Swedberg was general director of Orlando Opera in Orlando, Florida, from 1990-2007. Prior to that, he held positions as general director of the Syracuse Opera in New York, manager and artistic director of the North Carolina Opera in Charlotte, NC, and director of special educational projects for Seattle opera. He has also been director of opera studio programs at both the University of Central Florida and Syracuse University.
Mr. Swedberg became active as a stage director while on the staff of the prestigious Pacific Northwest Wagner Festival in Seattle Washington, where he was assistant director for Wagner’s Ring Cycle from 1978 to 1982. Since then, he has produced or directed more than 125 productions, and especially enjoys the challenge of the more unusual operatic repertoire, which has included new productions of Abduction from the Seraglio, The Tales of Hoffmann, The Coronation of Poppea, Don Pasquale, The Magic Flute, L’Enfant et les Sortileges, La Clemenza di Tito, H.M.S. Pinafore, Trial by Jury, and Gianni Schicchi, for several companies in the United States. He also produced and directed the double-bill presentation of I Pagliacci and Carmina Burana for Orlando Opera in 2003, featuring choreographer Debra Brown and her troupe of Cirque du Soleil performers. That same year, he began to direct international productions, including The Magic Flute for both the Macau Music Festival, and the Beijing Music Festivals in China, La Sonnambula in Mallorca, Spain, and La Boheme in Hof, Bamberg, and Bayreuth, Germany. Robert was on the Board of Directors of  OPERA America, the service organization for all opera companies in North America from 2002- 2007, and also hosts a weekly program: Opera with Robert Swedberg at 6:00 p.m. (Eastern) on 90.7 WMFE-FM, audio streamed at www.wmfe.org .

Cal Stewart-Kellogg, Conductor
Opera Naples welcomes Cal Stewart Kellogg back once again, having conducted ON's production of Elixir of Love in March, 2008 and Madama Butterfly in February, 2007. He is principal Conductor of the Arizona Opera. Companies for whom he has also led productions include the Baltimore Opera, Canadian Opera, Cleveland Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Houston Grand Opera, L'Opera de Montreal, Opera Theater of St. Louis, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, a sixteen-year association with the Washington Opera, plus the festivals at Chautauqua, Santa Fe, Spoleto and Wolf Trap. In Italy, he has led productions for the opera companies of Florence, Genoa, Naples and Parma.