Baritone FERRIS ALLEN has performed music from the early Baroque to the twenty-first century with such diverse ensembles as Apollos Fire Baroque Orchestra; Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; the Teatro Coln, Buenos Aires; and Aspen Opera Theater.  Last season he presented Beethovens An die ferne Geliebte with pianist Margo Garrett at the Aspen Music Festival, and this spring he and conductor-pianist Andrew Altenbach of Minnesota Opera gave Twin Cities performances of Schuberts Winterreise.  Equally at home in opera house and recital hall, in January he worked alongside prolific composer William Bolcom to create what OPERA NEWS praised as his subtle portrayal of the character Jules in his most recent opera, A Wedding. In May he sang the role of Achis in the North American premiere of Marc-Antoine Charpentiers David et Jonathas, an American Opera Theater production for the Brooklyn Academy of Music.  This season will include mid-western performances of war era mlodies and American Opera Theaters staging of the Philip Glass Hydrogen Jukebox.
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	Noted for his "vividly colorful" and "first rate" performances, ANDREW ALTENBACH is the newly appointed resident conductor and head of music staff at the esteemed Minnesota Opera.  Mr. Altenbach just returned from the Santa Fe Opera as a member of the music staff and assistant conductor to the principal conductor, Edo de Waart. This season he music directs Die Entfhrung aus dem Serail for the Minnesota Opera and conducts additional performances of Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Mr. Altenbach has been on conducting staff for the Music Acadamey of the West, Cincinnati Opera, Chautauqua Music School, Opera on the James, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, and Indiana University Opera Theatre. Furthermore, he was a coach for the Merola Opera Program at the San Francisco Opera. Mr. Altenbach has also conducted the St.Paul Chamber Orchestra, Brevard Music Center Orchestra, Bloomington Symphony, Indiana University Symphonic and Chamber Orchestras, and North Shore Chamber Orchestra. He presently music directs the Chamber Players of St. Paul and will guest conduct for the St. Cloud Symphony in 2009. _
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	Praised for his velvety tone and subtly engaging gestures, Thai bass baritone KITTINANT CHINSAMRAN, recently received his Master degree in Vocal Performance. He is now pursuing a Post Graduate Diploma in Vocal Performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he has been awarded an annual scholarship to study under the renowned tenor and voice teacher, Csar Ulloa. Chinsamran received a Music Education degree from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand with First Class Honors. He has been an active singer in Thailand, performing in numerous operas, concerts and recitals after his graduation. His voice has been heard in several Thai commercials, animations and movie soundtracks. Chinsamrans opera roles include Papageno, an upcoming performances as Uberto in Pergolesis La serva padrona and Argante in Handels Rinaldo with the SFCM Opera Theatre and Baroque Ensemble. On the concert stage, he has performed with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, San Juan National Symphony Orchestra of Puerto Rico, San Francisco Sinfonietta, San Francisco Bach Choir, in repertoire including Bachs Magnificat and St.John Passion, Handels Messiah, Mozarts Requiem and Coronation Mass, Faures Requiem, Brittens Rejoice for the Lamb, Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs, and Dubois The Seven Last Word of Christ. Chinsamran just returned from Portugal where he made his European debut in a solo recital at the prestigious Estoril Music Festival.
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	Highlights from soprano MARCELLE DRONKERS broad range of superbly reviewed appearances in opera and concert include Mozarts Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, and the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro; Armida in Handels Rinaldo, and the title role in his Agrippina; Verdis Lady Macbeth; and Queen Elizabeth I in Roberto Devereux by Donizetti -- all with Pocket Opera -- and, most recently, Brittens War Requiem in San Franciscos Davies Hall. Ms. Dronkers holds degrees from Indiana University, Bloomington, and the Royal Conservatory at The Hague, The Netherlands.  Led to lieder by Madi Bacon, she became further inspired in master classes with Elly Ameling, James Schwabacher and John Wustman.  She is on the Voice Faculty of Notre Dame de Namur University and maintains a private voice studio in Kensington, where she lives with her son, Christopher, and three cats; one, a feral foundling named Figaro.  Information on future performances can be obtained at www.MadDiva.com.
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	Admired by audiences for his probing interpretations of standard and contemporary repertoire, MATHEW EDWARDS has enjoyed a growing reputation as solo recitalist and chamber musician. A San Franscisco Bay Area native, Edwards has appeared as soloist with the Contra Costa, Solano, and Tassajara Symphonies as well as Berkeleys Bella Musica Orchestra and the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra. He regularly performs contemporary music and has worked with several composers on the presentation and recording of new compositions. Edwards is featured with violinist Kees Hlsmann in a recent release of the music of Peter Scott Lewis (Atlantic Crossing, Lapis Island). He has premiered new works for piano by Frank La Roca, Jose Halac, Vivian Fung and Julian #cccccc, whose solo piano works he released on CD in 2003. Mr. Edwards is pianist for the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. _
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	Soprano HEIDI MELTON, a 2007 Adler Fellow and former Merola Opera Program participant, made her San Francisco Opera debut in Summer 2007 as Marianne (Der Rosenkavalier) and also appeared as Diane (Iphignie en Tauride). Last year she performed the role of Mrs. Grose (The Turn of the Screw) with San Francisco Opera Center at Lincoln Theater in Yountville and was heard in Summer 2007 as Amelia in scenes from Simon Boccanegra at Yerba Buena Gardens. A native of Spokane, Washington, Melton holds a bachelors degree from the Eastman School of Music and a masters degree from the Curtis Institute of Music. While at Curtis, she performed the roles of Lady Billows (Albert Herring), Fiordiligi (Cos fan tutte), and the title roles of Alcina and Ariadne auf Naxos. The soprano was a national semi-finalist at the 2006 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a winner of the 2006 Mario Lanza Competition, and this past summer, the Belvedere Competition in Vienna. More recent engagements include her debut with Opera Company of Philadelphia as Gertrude in Hansel and Gretel, Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera) at Bordeaux Opera and her Schwabacher debut recital in April, featuring Richard Strauss and Brahms.
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	JOHN PARR is San Francisco Opera Head of Music Staff. A native of Birmingham, UK, Parr studied piano at the Royal Northern College of Music with Sulamita Aronovsky and musicology at Manchester University. He worked for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden from 1985-88, touring with the company to Japan and Korea in 1986. He was engaged at Scottish Opera from 1988-90. In 1991 joined the Lower Saxony State Opera in Hanover, Germany, where he was Head of Music Staff and Musical Assistant to Music directors George Alexander Albrecht, Christof Perick and Andreas Delfs, specializing in the Wagner and Strauss operas. During this time he developed an extensive series of Lieder Recitals and Chamber Music Programs for the Opera, and also broadcast on SFB Radio Berlin and on NDR Television. With San Francisco Opera, Parr has developed and performed in numerous recital programs. Since 2002 he has worked as a coach at the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth in the summer, and has also given recitals in the Wagner Museum there. In June 2005 he initiated a series of vocal and chamber music recitals entitled Basically British at Old First Church in San Francisco. In May 2006 he appeared with one of the worlds greatest cellists, Lynn Harrell, in chamber music concerts in the Bay Area. _
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	Second-year Adler Fellow Katharine TIER made her San Francisco Opera debut this season as Third Lady in Die Zauberflte, and also appeared as Suzy in (La Rondine) and Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly). This year she will be seen as Brigitta (Die Tote Stadt).  The mezzo-soprano participated in the 2006 Merola Opera Program where she performed excerpts from Donizettis La Favorite at Yerba Buena Gardens. A native of Sydney, Australia, she earned a bachelors degree in music from the Sydney Conservatory and performed there as Amaranta in Haydns La Fedelt Premiata; she also appeared as Nicklausse, The Muse, and The Voice of Antonias Mother in The Tales of Hoffman with the University of Sydney. Concert credits include Shostakovichs Jewish Poetry with Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, Beethovens 9th Symphony with Napa Valley Symphony and American Philharmonic,  Durufls Requiem with Marin Symphony, La Rondine and Beethovens 9th Symphony with the Sydney Symphony, LEnfant et les Sortilges with the Melbourne Symphony, Bachs St. Matthew Passion with Western Australia Symphony. She has given recitals for the National Lieder Society and the Joan Sutherland Society, and her first recording is a new oratorio, Hallel for Our Times, by Shelley Olsen.  Her awards include the 2006 Vocal Workshop Award from the Neue Stimmen international singing competition in Germany, the Marianne Mathy Scholarship at the 2002 Australian Singing Competition, and the 2004 Barilla Opera Award for study at the Rome Opera Company. Other awards include the Encouragement Award in the McDonalds Operatic Aria Competition, the Operatic Voice Award in the McDonalds Performing Arts Challenge, and the Mezzo-soprano Award in the 2005 Sydney Opera Awards, and the Joan Sutherland Society of Sydney Scholarship.