BREASTS OF TIRESIAS

running time: 55 minutes
Doors Open/Pre-Show 7-8pm
Show 8-9pm

TERESA’S TATAS

dance party 9-midnight
August 1: DJ Jamie O’Sullivan
August 2: DJ xnrg
August 3: Liz Rhaney

About

Part musical, part opera, part immersive, feminist, surrealist, gender expansive romp, and yet fully Hogfish, join us for the Maine premiere of Francis Poulenc and Guillaume Apollinaire’s BREASTS OF TIRESIAS. Performed in a special English language, two piano-version arranged by Benjamin Britten and Viola Tunnard, in the state-of-the art night club AURA in downtown, Portland followed by TERESA’S TATAS! , the interactive dance party with tunes and themes from the show woven into a night of empowering electronica by DJ xnrg.

This new kind of double-bill asks, how can we make love instead of war, both on stage and in the audience? What binaries do we all need to transcend to become and rejoice in our authentic selves?

Brought to you by the same team as last summer’s sold out hit, CarmXn!

*Presented under license by G. Schirmer, Inc. o/b/o Heugel, copyright owners.
**Show tickets come with dance party admission

Characters

TIRESIAS/FORTUNE TELLER | Audrey Luna
THE HUSBAND | Matt Cahill
THE DIRECTOR/THE POLICE | Matthew Maisano
PRESTO | Miguel Ángel Pacheco
LACOUF | Kate Tsuruharatani
THE JOURNALIST | Katherine Goforth
THE SON | Holden Madagame
THE NEWSPAPER VENDOR | Hailey McAvoy
AN ELEGANT PERSON | March Steiger
A FABULOUS PERSON | Kammy Ibarra
A BEARDED GENTLEMAN | Brian Mummert
THE PEOPLE OF BAR HARBOR | Anna Grace Uehlein

PIANO (August 1, 2, & 3) | Monica Chung
PIANO (August 1 & 3) | Emma Luyendijk
PIANO (August 2) | James Lorusso

Headshots

Cast

Creative Team

Bios

Cast

AUDREY LUNA | TIRESIAS (she/her) The regenerative nature of art to nurture and unite the human spirit was the kernel of inspiration that began the conversation some 10 years ago that is now Hogfish. Edwin and Matthew Cahill are engaging in the process of communing with artists, nature, and community with kindness, curiosity, and utmost respect. They are passionate about telling stories with authenticity, courage and hearts that are bigger than Maine! I am thrilled that they have graciously invited me to be a part of this process as a board member, Alexander Technique teacher and performer.   

I have had the privilege of performing in international festivals, concert halls and opera houses in the US, Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. Five seasons as a fest soloist for Opera Bremen afforded me the opportunity to sing dozens of opera roles. Solo, orchestral and chamber music concerts at the Salzburger Festspiel, Schleswig-Holstein Festival,  Lucerne Festival, Jerusalem Festival, Shanghai International Spring Festival, Lexington Bach Festival, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and the Konzerthaus Wien, Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Queens Hall, the Bach Akademie, the Louvre, St. John the Divine and The Kennedy Center were some of the highlights of my performing career.

What excites me the most about being a musician is the process of creating live events with other artists that are passionate about their vehicle, whether it be music, dance, art, theater or literature. My playground has been repertoire of the 19th, 20th and 21st c., experimental music of John Cage, the avante-garde of Schoenberg, Berg, Eisler and Kurtag, premieres of new works and popular idioms in Chinese folk music, Argentinian Tango and Cabaret. Some composers that I have worked closely with are John Corigliano,Vinko Globokar, György Kurtag, Wolfgang Netzer, Qu Xiao-Song and Chen Yi. I commissioned  and produced a monodrama, “Clotho”, based on life of Camille Claudel for percussion and computer generated sound composed by Allen Otte and Mara Helmuth.  A close collaboration with Libby Larsen resulted in commissioning, The Birth Project, a song cycle for two sopranos and piano that spans the time from conception to birth.

As well as singing, I was a professor at Miami University from 1998-2021 teaching voice, diction and vocal repertoire. In 2013 when I became certified in Alexander Technique, I taught voice and AT at Songfest, the Schmidt Institute, and Savannah Vocal/Choral Institute and ATSinging workshops in New York and Cincinnati. My focus is the exploration of the voice/body/mind in the service of expression and self actualization.

MATT CAHILL | THE HUSBAND (he/they) believes that opera can make the harmony of the world apparent and possible. Their desire to manifest that harmony for themselves and others has led them most recently to found Hogfish, a regenerative arts production company and residency at the historic Beckett Castle, surrounded by an internationally recognized rose garden on the coast of Maine. Hogfish is building an artistic sanctuary and body of work dedicated to restoring creative and physical health to individuals, our communities, and our earth. www.hogfish.org

At Hogfish with his husband and co-founder/director Edwin Cahill, Matt synthesizes nearly two decades of experience as a performer, educator, producer, and administrator of opera. Highlights include starring as Papageno in Peter Brook’s Molière Award-winning Une Flûte Enchanté, teaching for the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera and the Circle in the Square Theatre School, producing the fundraiser concert series “You Are Not Alone” featuring a performance of the title song by Betty Buckley for The Trevor Project, the national suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ+ youth, and serving as associate artistic director of SongFest and lead artist faculty of Summer Performing Arts with Juilliard’s high school voice and musical theater programs. Matt performed the role of “The Husband” in the first revival of this special English language version in 2012 in Aldeburgh. They are thrilled to bring one of their favorite shows to their community here in Portland, in a new, gender-expansive, and joy-centered telling.

MATTHEW MAISANO | DIRECTOR/POLICE (they/them) Known for their “sonorous baritone” (Broad Street Review) and “commanding stage presence”, (Miami Herald) Philadelphia native Matthew Maisano (they/them) performs a varied repertoire as an opera/classical singer, actor, and drag queen! Matthew is thrilled to return to Hogfish after appearing in their inaugural season as Wood Sprite/Thomas (cover) in L’Arbre Enchanté! Most recently, they made their solo debut with Opera Philadelphia as The Sergeant in La Bohème.  This September, Matthew joins Portland Opera as one of four Resident Artists for their 2024/25 season!

Opera/theater highlights: The title role in Eugene Onegin (Russian Opera Workshop), Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro (Wilmington Concert Opera), Senex in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Natchez Festival of Music), Morbio in Die schweigsame Frau & Baptista in Kiss Me, Kate! (Pittsburgh Festival Opera), Pandolfe in Cendrillon (Miami Music Festival), Melissa in Alcina REVAMPED (Alter Ego Chamber Opera), Melchior in Amahl and the Night Visitors (Three Pines Opera), Bob in The Old Maid and the Thief (Opera Tutti!), Strong Man in Sid the Serpent Who Wanted to Sing (Penn Square Opera), Albert in Werther (Temple Opera Theater), and Leporello in selections from Don Giovanni & Schlendrian in Bach’s Coffee Cantata (Lancaster Symphony).

Matthew has a vibrant and active 5+ year career as drag persona, Balena Canto (Philly’s song wielding siren with a voice snatched for the gods)! Balena’s mission in life is to bring joy, laughter, and perhaps a tear or two (she is an opera singer after all) to her audiences through song. To learn more about Matthew, please visit https://linktr.ee/matteosings.

MIGUEL ÁNGEL PACHECO | PRESTO (he/him) is an interdisciplinary performer, creator and producer native of Caracas, Venezuela; his works take different forms such as theater, dance, installation, performance art, and circus. He holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Arts & Performance from Bates College and studied physical theatre in Tuscany at Accademia Dell'Arte. Moving images are at the core of Miguel's work. He has trained and performed with groups such as Double Edge Theatre, TeatrZAR, LaJoven Compañia, Vali Theatre Lab at Nordiskteaterlaboratorium (Odin Teatret). He emphasizes both individual search and collective collaboration. Whether it is his work as a dancer, stilt walker or carpenter, he is committed to exploring ideas in space with presence and witnessing, currently in the realm of memory landscapes and gesture.

KATE TSURUHARATANI | LACOUF (she/they) is a transgender dance artist and educator from Osaka, Japan. She has performed on Broadway in Jagged Little Pill, The King and I, and Miss Saigon, and has appeared on TV shows such as Good Morning America, Harlem, and the Tonight Show. She has danced at the Metropolitan Opera for 6 seasons and performed with Eastman Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in Belgium. Kate's artistic expression thrives on the principles of abundance, prioritizing the qualities of softness and sensitivity over mere accumulation and virtuosity. This artistic philosophy is deeply influenced by her background in dance training, her familiarity with Feldenkrais and Noguchi exercises, and her personal practice of Dhamma. Her practice is deeply rooted in the Buddhist tradition of Burma. Pursuing MFA in Dance at University of Michigan and holding a qualification as a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction facilitator, she has diligently crafted and delivered programs that weave mindfulness practices into both everyday life and the performing arts. IG @katekusala

KATHERINE GOFORTH | JOURNALIST (she/her) American vocalist Katherine Goforth shares the “thrilling tenor power” (Opera News) of her “noble, colorful and iridescent vocal sound” (Magazin Klassik) in vivid character portraits and heartfelt performances that “[do] not hold back” (The New York Times).

Katherine received Washington National Opera’s inaugural True Voice Award for transgender and non-binary singers, which included a recital performance at the Kennedy Center with pianist Christopher Cano. She received the Career Advancement Award from the fourth Dallas Symphony Orchestra Women in Classical Music Symposium, where she gave a joint recital with classical singer Julia Bullock and spoke in panel discussion. She received critical acclaim for her role in Philip Venables and Ted Huffman’s The F*****s and Their Friends Between Revolutions at Manchester International Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and Bregenzer Festspiele. In the past two seasons, she adapted Alfredo in La Traviata and Beppe in Pagliacci to female characters with Opera Bend, sang the tenor solo in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and the tenor solo in Puccini’s Messa di Gloria with Vancouver (WA) Symphony, and gave recitals for Opera Parallèle and Boston Wagner Society. Katherine’s speaking engagements have included Opera America Conference 2024, the League of American Orchestra’s Anne Parsons Leadership Program, New England Conservatory and Boston Conservatory.

Upcoming performances include a recital with Stanford Live and Das Lied von der Erde with 45th Parallel. Katherine was a member of the International Opera Studio of Oper Köln, received her Bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College and her Master’s degree from the Juilliard School. katherinegoforth.com @g0furtherr

HOLDEN MADAGAME | THE SON (he/they) (ma-DA-ga-mii) is a proud queer, transgender, Indigenous tenor and activist. They are Odawa and a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in Peshawbetown, Michigan. In recent years, Holden has established himself as one of the few openly transgender opera singers in the world, and specifically one who has gone through a hormonal vocal transition. He has built a robust resume in traditional operatic repertoire while also being driven to create and perform new works. Holden's artistic accomplishments include performing in the workshop premiere of "Good Country" in Austin, Texas, where he sang one of the first operatic roles written specifically for a transgender voice, marking a deeply fulfilling artistic milestone. Their artistic persona is deeply tied to movement and the pursuit of optimum performance. Holden seeks to connect this experience of optimum performance with the healing and somatic experience of an ‘embodied voice’ involving movement and dance. A recent project representing this is their drag persona ‘Hiss Anklebiter’. His more traditional achievements include winning the Kammeroper Rheinsberg Competition in both 2021 and 2022, where he performed the roles of Hexe in "Hänsel und Gretel" and Zirkusdirektor in "Die verkaufte Braut." Recently, Holden debuted as Mime in "Das Rheingold" and in “Siegfried” in London with Regents Opera as part of the development of their Ring Cycle.

HAILEY MCAVOY | THE NEWSPAPER VENDOR (she/her) Recognized as a “gorgeous-voiced” mezzo-soprano (Broadway World), Hailey McAvoy’s operatic roles include, among others, Page of Herodias (Salome, Fisher Center for Performing Arts), Taller Daughter (Mazzoli, Proving Up; Aspen Music Festival), Third Lady (Magic Flute, MassOpera), Third Woodsprite (Rusalka, Opera Ithaca), Zosha (Heggie, Out of Darkness; Eastman Opera Theater), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro; Aquilon Music Festival), and most recently the leading role of Mem, researcher and mother of Kitsune, in Paola Prestini’s Sensorium Ex. Sensorium had its orchestral workshop in December 2023 at the Kennedy Center and will premiere with Vision Into Art and Beth Morrison Projects at Opera Omaha in May, 2025. McAvoy will also join Opera Praktikos, New York City’s first disability-affirmative opera company as Julia Child in Lee Hoiby’s Bon Appétit in December 2024. McAvoy’s 2023 concert highlights include Ravel’s Shéhérazade with the Baton Rouge Symphony under the baton of Adam Johnson, and Molly Joyce’s YouSaidHeSaidSheSaid, presented the Opera Ithaca. In Spring 2024, she appeared in recital with flautist Maron Khuroy of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and pianist Bethany Pietroniro at Downtown Music at Grace in White Plains, NY, and made her recital debut in the Gerda Lissner Foundation’s Greene Space with pianist Alison d’Amato. As a performer with Cerebral Palsy, McAvoy works to amplify the discussion around disability in the arts. She has interviewed with AGMA Magazine, written for Our Singing Bodies, and been a panelist for Opera Ithaca and Opera NexGen’s Accessibility in Opera. To learn more, visit www.haileymcavoy.com/about.

MARCH STEIGER | AN ELEGANT PERSON (they/he) Born on a small farm in rural Maine, March Steiger has found his passion performing works by underrepresented and underperformed composers. 

This spring, he performed Valencienne with Portland State University’s production of The Merry Widow. In 2023, he starred in the academic premier of Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant as Zamira. Earlier in 2023, he reprised the role of Queen of the Night in Portland State University’s production of Die Zauberflöte. March has also appeared in scenes as Aminta (Il re pastore), Fiordiligi (Cosí fan tutte), Zdenka (Arabella), Adina (L’Elisir D’Amore), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Marie (La Fille du Régiment), and Adele (Die Fledermaus). March was the second place winner of the Portland State University Aria Competition, winning the Richard Helzer scholarship in 2023, as well as placing first in his division of the Cascade Classical NATS Competition.  March was also chosen as an Emerging Artist in the spring of 2022 for Opera Maine’s “Opera For All” program, dedicated to bringing opera to schools across Maine. March holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance from the Osher School of Music and a Masters of Music in Vocal Performance at Portland State University.

KAMMY IBARRA | A FABULOUS PERSON (they/them) grew up in the small, made-up-sounding town of Walnut, California, just outside of Los Angeles. After a gap in their theatre education, followed by an untimely global pandemic, Kammy returned to continue their schooling at Cypress College, where they stepped into roles in The Toxic Avenger, and Hair. Kammy made the move to NYC in 2022 to attend Circle in the Square Theatre School to further pursue their passion for performance and storytelling. At Circle, they were given the space to explore their identity as it relates to their artistry, and dedicate their time at school to sharing their experiences with their peers as a proud queer, indigenous-Latinx artist. In recent projects, Kammy has been featured in several devised works, including a musical-parody retelling of the Super Mario Brothers through the music of Adele, and a staged reading of Wakeman: The Rosetta Project, a new Americana folk musical by Jenn Grinels. Kammy’s ultimate mission is to cultivate a world (in theatre and beyond!) which honors true diversity, and celebrates the experiences of marginalized communities. They look forward to continuing to develop new works that reflect their core values & celebrates their deep love for their culture, shoe-throwing power ballads, and their unique sense of humor!

BRIAN MUMMERT | A BEARDED GENTLEMAN (he/him) Brian Mummert sings, conducts, arranges, and composes music spanning eras and genres, all in the service of harnessing musical narrative as a mode for deepening mutual understanding. He is the founding artistic director of The New Consort, a vocal ensemble dedicated to exploring the roles musical ritual and community play in our lives; and a co-founder of  ChamberQUEER, a chamber music collective highlighting the voices of LGBTQ+ composers and performers, and The Red Ribbon Revue, a World AIDS Day concert featuring HIV+ performers celebrating the legacy of artists lost to AIDS.

Brian has directed world-class ensembles in venues spanning six continents, serving most recently as Music Director of Ars Musica Chorale in New Jersey. Recent engagements include conducting Pro Coro Canada as a Banff Centre Fellow and a season as the assistant conductor of all-star professional Washington, D.C. choir The Thirteen.

As a vocalist, Brian specializes in music of the Baroque, having appeared as a soloist with organizations including Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue, Holy Trinity Bach Vespers, the Academy of Sacred Drama, Opera Essentia, and Bach Akademie of Charlotte. Past operatic roles include Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, Bob in The Old Maid and the Thief, Mother in Kurt Weill’s Die Sieben Todsünden, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Apollo in both Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Charpentier’s Orphée, in addition to a broad oratorio & concert repertoire ranging from Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri to Pärt’s PASSIO.  www.brianmummert.com, @bmumstagram

ANNA GRACE UEHLEIN | PEOPLE OF BAR HARBOR (she/they) is an actor, musician, and storyteller from Washington, D.C., currently studying acting at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. She is passionate about creating work that truly moves people through a variety of artistic vehicles including acting, playing music, dancing, dramatic writing, and directing for the stage and screen. They are especially inspired by art that intentionally pushes the envelope on political and social issues, and aims to actively create important cultural change. Anna Grace considers her creative work, no matter the medium, to be character-based, or motivated by a deeply empathetic understanding of widely different characters and perspectives. Previous work includes Romeo & Juliet (Juliet U/S) with the Mercutio Troupe, Hookman (Lexi Gellner) with Rareworks Theatre Company, and Pippin (Leading Player) with the Adventure Theatre Musical Theatre Center. She is also a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Arts’ High School Drama program. During her time at UNCSA, she wrote, directed, and produced her debut short film entitled The Shedding of Skin, which was shown in Times Square as a part of the All-American High School Film Festival. Anna Grace is thrilled to be making their professional theatrical debut with Hogfish, and is greatly looking forward to helping build a healing community space for creating cutting-edge new work.

MONICA CHUNG | PIANIST (she/her) is a concert pianist, producer, music director, and educator. She gave her solo debut with the North Carolina Piedmont Triad Symphony Orchestra at age 10 as a result of winning 1st prize in the Competition. She has appeared as soloist with orchestras in London, Hungary, New York, and St. Petersburg in Russia under the baton of the late Sviatoslav Luther.

An active chamber musician and soloist, she has participated in festivals around the world including: Banff Chamber Music Festival; International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove, England; Puigcerda International Music Festival in Spain; Ecoles d’Art Americaines de Fontainebleau in France; Tel-Hai International Masterclasses in Israel; Leipzig International Music Festival; International Keyboard Institute Festival; Beethoven Institute and Festival. Monica is founder of the series A Night of Chamber Music with Ensemble Henrietta. She is a frequent guest artist of the Hawaii International Music Festival, and subs in the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra.

As music director, Monica particularly enjoyed Hawaiʻi Childrenʻs Theatre After Dark alumni production of the controversial show Spring Awakening, Kauai Community Players production of Sweeney Todd, Kauai Performing Arts Center Nice Work If You Can Get It, and Hogfish Productions new opera CarmXn.

She is indebted to her teachers Pavlina Dokovska, Alexander Slobodyanik, Vladimir Feltsman, Olegna Fuschi, and Eric Larsen. Monica has served on piano faculty at the historical NYC landmark Greenwich House Music School, and Bergen Academy of Music & Art. She is Music Lecturer at Kauai Community College, and maintains a private studio of pianists and composers. She is the Director for the Kauai Concert Association, and is enjoying her term as President of the Hawaiʻi Music Teachers Association.

EMMA LUYENDIJK | PIANIST (she/her) Emma is a proudly South African pianist and vocal coach, whose work spans a wide range of collaborative settings, from traditional art song and opera, to interdisciplinary dance projects, and contemporary works. She has collaborated with numerous cultural institutions both in New York City and abroad, including The New York City Ballet, Palm Beach Opera, The Berlin Umculo Opera Incubator, and Cape Town Opera. Prominent mentors and collaborators include Elly Ameling, Helmet Deutsch, Barbara Hannigan and Yo-Yo Ma.

Emma’s commitment to community engagement through music has led her to work alongside the international music organization El Sistema in Japan following the wake of the tsunami, and in 2016 she was certified by Musicians Without Borders through the School for International Training’s Graduate Institute’s Peacebuilding Program in Vermont. Emma is deeply passionate about using her education and experience to advise arts-based peacebuilding initiatives, and foster community development in South Africa. In this regard, Emma has made marks in academia for her research into the role of music as a mediator for peace and conflict.

JAMES LORUSSO | PIANIST (he/him) Based in the Boston area, James Lorusso is a collaborative pianist with professional experience in everything from art song and chamber music to musical theater and jazz improvisation.

James studied collaborative piano at the New England Conservatory of Music with Cameron Stowe and Jonathan Feldman. At NEC, he worked in the voice and opera department, and appeared regularly in the schools’ Liederabend and Sonata Night series, for which he once performed the complete songs of Rachmaninoff’s magnificent Op. 34. In the summer of 2023, he was a collaborative piano fellow at the Aspen Music Festival’s Opera Theater and VocalArts program, directed by Renée Fleming and Patrick Summers. In addition to performances in the festival’s art song showcase recitals, James played in coachings and masterclasses with Ms. Fleming, Metropolitan Opera coach Pierre Vallet, Tony Award-winning actress Audra McDonald, and Broadway music director Andy Einhorn. As a solo pianist, he attended summer festivals at Brevard Music Center and the New Orleans Piano Institute, where he won 3rd prize in the solo competition and an honorable mention in the concerto competition.

In 2019, James was an accompanist on music staff at the College Light Opera Company in Falmouth MA, where he helped open nine shows in a single summer and played keyboard in the pit orchestra. This past year, he was the rehearsal pianist for White Snake Projects, an activist contemporary opera company, on its 2023 production of Let’s Celebrate—a sequence of four short chamber operas. When the company was invited to appear on WGBH at the Boston Public Library, he joined the cast to perform excerpted scenes. This season, he was involved with NEC’s spring production of Die Fledermaus, and White Snake Projects on the latest premiere in their Opera Through the Looking Glass series.

James holds degrees in piano performance from Ithaca College and McGill University. In addition to his other performance and rehearsal engagements, he holds the post of pianist and organist at St. Irene’s Parish in Carlisle MA and is an accompanist and pianist coach at Wayland Public Schools.

CREATIVE

EDWIN CAHILL | DIRECTOR (he/they) American director, producer, and librettist Edwin Cahill’s unique background as a concert pianist and Broadway actor “a talented pianist, a first-rate singer, and an engaging stage presence” (New York Times), and linguist with studies at the University of Paris Sorbonne-Nouvelle who served as a French/Italian Political Analyst for Medley Global advisors, informs his “joyful and passionate directing” (onmilwaukee.com) that is “light, effortless, and fits the space like a glove” (Music4awhile), leading to a body of work in theater, musicals, and operas that “will make hearts melt” (Broadway World), is “seamless…completely engrossing the patron in the idiosyncrasies of Mozart’s music” (dosavannah.com), “achieved the nearly impossible...and staged every scene with urgency, inventiveness and most importantly, a reverence for the music” (The Huffington Post), and reached the pop culture breakthrough of the “brilliant and highbrow approval matrix” (New York Magazine). His work has led critics to acclaim that “Cahill has perhaps invented a new style of opera…punk opera comique” (dosavannah.com) and that he created “by far the most enjoyable and thought-provoking Don Giovanni New York has heard in many a year.” (Opera News)

MATT CAHILL | CREATIVE PRODUCER (he/they) believes that opera can make the harmony of the world apparent and possible. Their desire to manifest that harmony for themselves and others has led them most recently to found Hogfish, a regenerative arts production company and residency at the historic Beckett Castle, surrounded by an internationally recognized rose garden on the coast of Maine. Hogfish is building an artistic sanctuary and body of work dedicated to restoring creative and physical health to individuals, our communities, and our earth. www.hogfish.org

At Hogfish with his husband and co-founder/director Edwin Cahill, Matt synthesizes nearly two decades of experience as a performer, educator, producer, and administrator of opera. Highlights include starring as Papageno in Peter Brook’s Molière Award-winning Une Flûte Enchanté, teaching for the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera and the Circle in the Square Theatre School, producing the fundraiser concert series “You Are Not Alone” featuring a performance of the title song by Betty Buckley for The Trevor Project, the national suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ+ youth, and serving as associate artistic director of SongFest and lead artist faculty of Summer Performing Arts with Juilliard’s high school voice and musical theater programs. Matt performed the role of “The Husband” in the first revival of this special English language version in 2012 in Aldeburgh. They are thrilled to bring one of their favorite shows to their community here in Portland, in a new, gender-expansive, and joy-centered telling.

KATE TSURUHARATANI | CHOREOGRAPHER (she/they) is a transgender dance artist and educator from Osaka, Japan. She has performed on Broadway in Jagged Little Pill, The King and I, and Miss Saigon, and has appeared on TV shows such as Good Morning America, Harlem, and the Tonight Show. She has danced at the Metropolitan Opera for 6 seasons and performed with Eastman Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in Belgium. Kate's artistic expression thrives on the principles of abundance, prioritizing the qualities of softness and sensitivity over mere accumulation and virtuosity. This artistic philosophy is deeply influenced by her background in dance training, her familiarity with Feldenkrais and Noguchi exercises, and her personal practice of Dhamma. Her practice is deeply rooted in the Buddhist tradition of Burma. Pursuing MFA in Dance at University of Michigan and holding a qualification as a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction facilitator, she has diligently crafted and delivered programs that weave mindfulness practices into both everyday life and the performing arts. IG @katekusala

MONICA CHUNG | MUSIC DIRECTOR (she/her) is a concert pianist, producer, music director, and educator. She gave her solo debut with the North Carolina Piedmont Triad Symphony Orchestra at age 10 as a result of winning 1st prize in the Competition. She has appeared as soloist with orchestras in London, Hungary, New York, and St. Petersburg in Russia under the baton of the late Sviatoslav Luther.

An active chamber musician and soloist, she has participated in festivals around the world including: Banff Chamber Music Festival; International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove, England; Puigcerda International Music Festival in Spain; Ecoles d’Art Americaines de Fontainebleau in France; Tel-Hai International Masterclasses in Israel; Leipzig International Music Festival; International Keyboard Institute Festival; Beethoven Institute and Festival. Monica is founder of the series A Night of Chamber Music with Ensemble Henrietta. She is a frequent guest artist of the Hawaii International Music Festival, and subs in the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra.

As music director, Monica particularly enjoyed Hawaiʻi Childrenʻs Theatre After Dark alumni production of the controversial show Spring Awakening, Kauai Community Players production of Sweeney Todd, Kauai Performing Arts Center Nice Work If You Can Get It, and Hogfish Productions new opera CarmXn.

She is indebted to her teachers Pavlina Dokovska, Alexander Slobodyanik, Vladimir Feltsman, Olegna Fuschi, and Eric Larsen. Monica has served on piano faculty at the historical NYC landmark Greenwich House Music School, and Bergen Academy of Music & Art. She is Music Lecturer at Kauai Community College, and maintains a private studio of pianists and composers. She is the Director for the Kauai Concert Association, and is enjoying her term as President of the Hawaiʻi Music Teachers Association.

BRIAN MUMMERT | ASSISTANT MUSIC DIRECTOR & CHORAL CONDUCTOR (he/him) Brian Mummert sings, conducts, arranges, and composes music spanning eras and genres, all in the service of harnessing musical narrative as a mode for deepening mutual understanding. He is the founding artistic director of The New Consort, a vocal ensemble dedicated to exploring the roles musical ritual and community play in our lives; and a co-founder of  ChamberQUEER, a chamber music collective highlighting the voices of LGBTQ+ composers and performers, and The Red Ribbon Revue, a World AIDS Day concert featuring HIV+ performers celebrating the legacy of artists lost to AIDS.

Brian has directed world-class ensembles in venues spanning six continents, serving most recently as Music Director of Ars Musica Chorale in New Jersey. Recent engagements include conducting Pro Coro Canada as a Banff Centre Fellow and a season as the assistant conductor of all-star professional Washington, D.C. choir The Thirteen.

As a vocalist, Brian specializes in music of the Baroque, having appeared as a soloist with organizations including Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue, Holy Trinity Bach Vespers, the Academy of Sacred Drama, Opera Essentia, and Bach Akademie of Charlotte. Past operatic roles include Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, Bob in The Old Maid and the Thief, Mother in Kurt Weill’s Die Sieben Todsünden, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Apollo in both Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Charpentier’s Orphée, in addition to a broad oratorio & concert repertoire ranging from Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri to Pärt’s PASSIO.  www.brianmummert.com, @bmumstagram

JULIA CAMPANELLI | ASSISTANT DIRECTOR & HEAD OF FILM (she/her/hers) is an award-winning writer, director, producer, actor, and Raindance Screenwriting Fellow. Founder and Producing Director of Shelter Film, a New York-based independent film company dedicated to changing the cinematic narrative by creating films by and about women and marginalized humans for an inclusive, diverse, world-wide audience. Julia also founded and was Artistic Director of Shelter Theatre Group, a 501c3 company dedicated to equality and inclusion on stage. She directed and produced 13 stage productions in NYC, including the critically acclaimed immersive Macbeth on LES, staged in St. Teresa’s Church in NYC’s infamous five points neighborhood. Her film, 116, inspired by Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116, has screened in over 50 festivals world-wide and received 30 awards, including 10 Best Film, seven Best Director, six Best Actor awards among others. Her screenplay THE PAISLEY WITCH TRIAL has received 12 Best Screenplay awards including Raindance, Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope finalist, Academy Nicholl Fellowship Top 15%, Red List Top 1%, and is Black List recommended. THE PAISLEY WITCH TRIAL, the true, untold story of the last witch hunt in Scotland, grew out of Margaret Lang’s story, the subject of Julia’s one-woman show, FLAME, which she is extremely excited to be developing at the Hogfish 2024 residency. As an actor, Julia is known for NBCUniversal’s Dementia 13, Shelter Film's 116, Kill the Monsters, and One Life To Live. She appeared as Hecate and Margaret Lang in the OBIE Award-winning show Sleep No More (Punchdrunk). www.juliacampanelli.com

JULIA JENNINGS | ASSISTANT DIRECTOR (she/her) is a Maine-based writer/director. She holds a BA in theater & English from Bowdoin College and has also studied at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. She has worked with companies such as the Theater at Monmouth, Hogfish, and most recently at Portland Stage, as a directing apprentice. Her written works include The Wash/In the End, we all go to Providence (2022 Maine State Winner, Clauder Competition for New England Playwrights), What if this Were a Wedding? (workshopped with Melancholics Anonymous, produced by Maine Playwrights Festival 2024), and Goodbye Rhoda.

AMANDA NITA LUKE-SAYED | PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER (she/her) is a freelance, Indigenous Producer and Stage Manager. She has worked across the country at many theatres including Primary Stages, McCarter Theatre, Seattle Rep, Long Wharf Theatre, Yale Rep, Syracuse Stage, The Old Globe, Red Bull Theater, the Houston Ballet and many more. She has produced Drag Shows, Festivals, and other large-scale events. She is based in New York City where she freelances focusing on advocating for Stage Managers as Artistic Collaborators and increasing the visibility of Native Theater Artists. Yale School of Drama MFA.

NAKIA SHALICE AVILA | ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER (she/they) is a black afro-latine abolitionist, dreamer, and multi-hyphenate artist. Credits include The Salvagers, Today is My Birthday, the ripple, the wave that carried me home (Yale Rep); Skeleton Crew, Othello (Trinity Repertory Company); Big River (Utah Shakespeare Festival); Familiar, True West, We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884–1915 (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); I was waiting for the echo of a better day (Fisher Center at Bard); The Tempest (Elm Shakespeare Company); the father, the son, and the holy spirit (Yale Cabaret). Nakia holds a B.A. in Psychology from Claflin University and is in pursuit of an MFA in Stage Management from Yale School of Drama. They are excited to join Hogfish this season. They dedicate their work on this production to the black and queer stage managers before them.

OLI BOMANN | ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER & TECH CREW (they/them) For Oli, compassion, empathy, and trust are key to understanding their musical and artistic sensibilities. Growing up in Connecticut and Wellington, New Zealand allowed them to understand different intersections of how peoples and cultures get together to celebrate life, art, and happiness. They aim to reflect upon those perspectives in whichever musical or artistic context they apply themselves in. As a professional bassist, Oli has performed or recorded alongside some of New York and New Zealand’s top artists, including Lenny White (Miles Davis), Will Calhoun (Living Colour), Bernard Wright (Wayne Shorter), Emilio Modeste (Wallace Roney), Natasha Agrama (Stanley Clarke) Dave Pietro (Maria Schneider Orchestra), Malick Koly, and Rodger Fox. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Oli moved back to their hometown of Wellington, New Zealand, and was involved in a number of projects and nationally renowned groups, including serving as Principle Bassist in the Royal New Zealand Airforce Band. He also was the co-founder of the group Nebulus Slim, which aimed at mixing the traditions of Jazz Rock with dance-floor Electronica. Currently, Oli is applying their performance experience in the realm of Stage Management, where they recently managed the 4th Annual Stretto Piano Festival. They have been finding a great deal of purpose and joy in bringing productions to life while fostering empowering environments for marginalised voices and communities.

LUCY DHEGRAE (XNRG) | ELECTRONIC MUSIC & DJ (she/her) is a vocalist and electronic artist based in New York City. Under the moniker XNRG she produces and DJs in a genre of her own making, blending house, deep house, and techno with her love of experimental and avant-garde vocal music. She sees similar values in all-night raves and the Gesamtkunstwerk world of opera, and is excited that Hogfish wants to bring them together for this performance. For more of her tracks and DJ mixes, follow XNRG on Soundcloud: www.soundcloud.com/

JORDAN CAREY | COSTUME DESIGNER ‘19 is a Bermudian designer and artist currently based in Portland, Maine, and a graduate of the Textile and Fashion Design program at Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D). As a MECA&D student, Jordan's work was predominantly focused on the cultural aesthetics and influences present and changing in the African diaspora and island life. After graduating from MECA&D, Jordan continued to develop as an assistant designer for the Maine-based fashion company Jill McGowan and freelance work. In January 2020, Jordan launched Loquat, an independent fashion and accessories business focused on empowering marginalized people. The Loquat flagship store and open manufacturing space opened on May 6th, 2022, in Portland’s Old Port.

MADISON POITRAST-UPTON | COSTUME DESIGNER is a Korean-American designer and artist based in Portland, Maine. Poitrast-Upton received her BFA in Textiles & Fashion Design from Maine College of Art & Design in 2020. Her thesis focused on ethically designed performance wear for women. Having been a thespian/performer for many years, she was passionate about diverse representation and physical safety, without compromising design. After graduating, Poitrast-Upton continued her dedication to creating work that supports marginalized people as a designer at Loquat, a fashion and lifestyle company focused on empowering BIPOC and LGBTQ+ voices through storytelling, collaboration, and community engagement.

OLIVIA DELUCA | LIGHTING DESIGNER is a lighting designer based in New York City. CarmXn is her third production with Hogfish. Her past design credits with Hogfish are The Magic Tree and She-Wolves. Olivia has also worked with Maine State Music Theatre on productions including The Sound of Music, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Color Purple, Kinky Boots, and Frozen Jr. Additionally, she works on live events and interactive entertainment such as The Queen's Ball: A Bridgerton Experience and The Stranger Things Experience.

LEO MOCK | INTIMACY DIRECTOR (they/he) is a theatre-maker, consent educator, and intimacy choreographer. They are the Program Manager for Speak About It, bringing inclusive and affirming consent education to college & high school students and their communities, and Guiding Faculty with Theatrical Intimacy Education, where he co-developed workshops on working with Trans & Queer artists and stories, developing community care practices, and bystander intervention. Recent intimacy credits include Women Beware Women (Blue in the Right Way), Heathers The Musical (UPenn), Romeo and Juliet (Lantern Theatre Company), and Twelfth Night(The Wilma). Leo's work was recently published in the chapter T4T Intimacy, co-written with Raja Benz, in The Intimacy Coordinator's Guidebook, Specialties for Stage and Screen, and has a performance background in Shakespeare, clown, and devised work.

SCARLET BOWMAN | INTERN (she/her) is an upcoming sophomore at UCSC majoring in Community Studies. She is currently studying Freedom, Native American history, expansion + connection, and the impact of the Patriarchy (deconstruction/destruction). 

Scarlet wishes to help people come together and love through intersectional-communities. She believes art is the best way to expand our minds and hearts, and is so happy to be contributing to Hogfish’s productions and decolonizing efforts this summer, as art and activism is her favorite combo! Hogfish’s work, broadening perspectives for social acceptance, particularly through the power of art, which explores concepts and emotions beyond words— is the type of work she is drawn to do on earth. Scarlet hopes to bring internal, communal, and lasting change towards a more sustainable, peaceful reality! 

JANET NEWMAN | INTERN (she/her) Janet Newman is a student at Providence College studying English and Film. She has written as an opinion writer for The Cowl and is eager to establish a column for Theater, Dance, and Film in the upcoming school year. 

Her primary focus is helping to build an artistic sanctuary and body of work to restore a healthier balance between our planet, the stories we tell, and how we live. Her enthusiasm stems from the opportunity to explore how Hogfish’s initiatives positively impact the community as it closely relates to her background growing up in Maine. 

Janet is deeply appreciative of the chance to work with the organization and is committed to upholding Hogfish’s values as she strives to create a better environment for all. 

Thank you to our season sponsors

Thank you to our volunteers & donors

VOLUNTEERS & IN-KIND DONATIONS
Kelley Boero
Leslie Brown
Jon Cahill
Nananda Col
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Chad Goodwin
Sarah Goodwin
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Steve Gray
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Tickets are offered at a price that is a small fraction of what would be required to pay for the full production in an effort to make regenerative work accessible for as many people as possible. We need your help to make this possible and continue bringing regenerative productions and work to Southern Maine and beyond. Please consider donating today. Any amount would be appreciated. Even the smallest pebble makes a big ripple. If you are interested in volunteering, we have a variety of volunteering needs that match all interests. It takes a village and we welcome you to be a part of ours.