Kate Soper's Here Be Sirens Suite

deep in our collective conscious, ancient forerunners to the femme fatale. In Here Be Sirens; join these singing ciphers as they investigate their own origins, seeking–through the twists & turns of literature & philosophy–a way off the island for good.
Victoria Benson, soprano, “Polyxo”
Claire Myers McCormick, soprano, “Peitho”
Devony Smith, soprano, “Phaino”
Amber Treadway, director

Victoria Benson
Soprano Victoria Benson began her career at the age of eleven when she performed as one of the Three Spirits in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at Virginia Opera. While still in high school, she attended the Washington National Opera Institute for Young Singers and performed as a soloist and choir member throughout the DC metro area, including at The Kennedy Center. Victoria received her musical degrees from Ithaca College and Westminster Choir College, where she performed in many operas and scenes programs as well as solo recitals. She currently studies with Kate Johnson. Last year Victoria took on new challenges: She sang her first pants role as Pedro in Utopia Opera’s Don Quichotte, performed in her first Russian opera, Iolanta, with New Opera NYC, and premiered the new work La Zombiata with Fresh Squeezed Opera.

Claire Myers McCormick
Claire is a soprano, living and working in New York City. She fell in love with opera as a teenager, and enjoys sharing her passion with both opera afficionados and first-time audiences. Ms McCormick has performed as a soloist in operatic and concert settings across the country. Recently, she made her Metropolitan Opera Chorus debut in their 2017 production of Fidelio.She has been seen in diverse roles including Angelica in Suor Angelica, Peitho in Kate Soper’s Here Be Sirens, Micaela in Carmen, Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Parasha in Stravinsky’s Mavra, and Yum-Yum in The Mikado. At home in concert work as well as opera, Ms. McCormick has performed as a soloist in works by Britten, Mozart, Haydn, Pergolesi and Johann Strauss with the University of Colorado University Choir, the Boulder Youth ymphony and the Emerald City Opera Orchestra, among others. Originally from Chicago, IL, Claire has lived and studied all over the country. A graduate of the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy, she received her B.M. from the University of Colorado, and her M.M. at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Claire studies with Margaret Lattimore, and fills her schedule with dance classes when she’s not in rehearsal.

Devony Smith
Devony Smith, soprano, excels in both contemporary and traditional repertoire with her “sensuous” and “strong” voice (New York Times). From Santa Cruz, California, Devony made her Lincoln Center recital debut as the Grand Prize Winner of the MIMF Art Song competition this past spring. Most recently on the operatic stage, Devony performed Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro) with Bronx Opera and OperaRox Productions, Cendrillon with Utopia Opera, and Vicky with Fresh Squeezed Opera in the East Coast Premiere of Bruce Trinkley’s Baby Shower. Patrick Dillon of OperaNews praised her Susanna, describing it as “utterly alive and natural, and beautifully sung.” Devony has worked with living composers Mark Adamo, Jake Heggie, Joan Tower, John Musto, and Harold Faberman. While in Dawn Upshaw’s Graduate Vocal Arts Program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, from which she recently graduated with her M.M., she created the lead role in Shawn Jaeger’s opera, Payne Hollow, collaborated on concerts of contemporary music with Pulitzer Prize winning composer Joan Tower, and performed the World Premiere of Daniela DeMatos’ “Encounter,”. Smith received her B.A. from Pepperdine University, where she performed Meg in Adamo’s Little Women.

Amber Treadway
Amber recently directed the NY premiere of Griffin Candey's Sweets by Kate at the Stonewall Inn for OperaRox Productions, for which she also directed their inaugural production of Nozze di Figaro in 2015.  Other directing credits include Mud, Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen, and Frogs (Remix), her original adaptation of Aristophanes' The Frogs (Columbia College Chicago.) As a stage manager: Bolcom's Lucrezia, and a site-specific Turn of the Screw in a lakeside mansion (Chicago Fringe Opera.) Amber holds a BFA in Directing at Columbia College Chicago.  An Ozarks native, she is delighted and a little stunned to now reside in New York City.

Fresh Squeezed Opera

Supported by a strong community of composers and performers, FSO strives to present genre-pushing new works of the highest caliber that explore the depths of operatic music. We believe there is a role for opera in contemporary society, and we present operas that current audiences and New York communities connect and engage with.
We believe that collaboration across disciplines, fields, and media pushes the genre of opera forward. With our Core Company Residency Program, Fresh Squeezed Opera connects singers and composers, and gives them the resources to collaboratively create new work and grow professionally.
Board:
Jillian Flexner, Executive Director & President
Lee Braun, Personnel Director & Vice President
Maggie Rascoe, Vice President
Victoria Benson, Vice President
Whitney George
Jane Hoffman
Kristina Malinauskaite

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