LA FAVOLA D’ORFEO

Jay St. Flono

Jay (ORFEO) was born in the hamlet of East Meadow, New York and raised in Queens and Brooklyn. Under the guidance of their musical mother, Patricia, Jay began piano lessons and learned Hymns and Spirituals as part of the Sunshine Choir at Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church as a boy soprano.

Throughout grade school, Jay played clarinet, violin, handbells and contrabass while performing with the OnStage Contemporary Theater Arts Company in Hempstead, New York, studying West African (Malian) dance, ballet and musical theater. Jay auditioned and was accepted into the Choir Academy of Harlem in 2004, singing with the Boys Choir at the Summer Music Institute at Skidmore College and at Madison Square Garden for the Republican National Convention. Upon graduating high school in 2008, Jay briefly studied Humanities at Onondaga Community College, intending to become an English Literature teacher, but at their mother’s urging switched to Vocal Performance.

Jay studied Voice at Mannes School of Music, minoring in Creative Writing at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, completing short stories and poetry while also performing partial operatic tenor roles such as Acis in “Acis and Galatea” and Nemorino in “L’Elisir d’Amore”. Jay devoted much of their time to independent performance study, programming three recitals of Lieder, Spirituals and Baroque art song and arias.

Jay has performed as a soloist and ensemble-member in the world of Oratorio and African-American Sacred Music, including the Wendell Whalum Recital at the Hampton University Ministers’ Conference and Choir Directors/Organists Guild Workshop in Hampton, Virginia (2014) the Brooklyn Ecumenical Choir and the Brooklyn Contemporary Chorus. As a versatile vocalist, Jay has also performed in jazz and gospel ensembles, with performance highlights including the Ancestral Chorus of “The Maafa Suite: A Healing Journey”, at Carnegie Hall for the Havasi Symphonic Concert (2015) and and most recently in the Pyer Moss Tabernacle Choir Drip Choir Drenched in the Blood for various performances in New York Fashion Week. Other performance highlights include the role of The Queen of Hearts in the musical “Alice Wonder” at The New School and Feinstein’s/54 Below. During the 2019/2020 season, Jay joined the Ensemble cast for the premiere of “Stonewall” at New York City Opera, a work commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that helped further advance the LGBT Rights Movement.

In 2020, Jay began privately studying Voice with mezzo-soprano, Kori Jennings. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jay listened intently to their instrument as their voice began to further shift in a higher direction and vocally transitioned back to soprano. This change also coincided with their public expression as a 2-spirit/nonbinary person, allowing Jay to completely revamp their career during the Great Pause. Jay marked their return to live performance in autumn 2021 as the soprano soloist in the premiere of “Deep Blue Sea” with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company. Since that time, Jay has performed with the Unsung Collective in performances at Lincoln Center and The CARA and is currently at work on numerous musical projects, namely the role of Cosima in “Spirit in the Vine” and has been a featured soloist for the Grace Chorale of Brooklyn.

Alonso Jordán López

NYC based tenor, Alonso Jordan Lopez (APOLLO) returns to Bronx Opera in May 2024 as Lord Tolloller in Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Iolanthe.” In June he performs the role of Apollo in Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” with Killer Queen Opera. This fall he will perform the role of Le Remendado in Bizet’s “Carmen.” In 2023 he made his role debut as Alfredo in “La Traviata” with Oswego Opera Theater. Additionally, he was a soloist in a special Latin-American program titled “Angelitos Negros” by MoreOpera headed by Cheryl Warfield and music director/composer Dr. Patricio Molina. During the 2022-23 season, he made his Bronx Opera debut as Charlie in Kurt Weill’s “Lady in the Dark”, and as L’aumonier in Poulenc’s “Dialogues des Carmelites”. He had the pleasure of representing Bronx Opera as a musical guest for a reception hosted by the National Association of Latino Elected Officials. Working with MoreOpera in collaboration with the New York Opera Alliance Mr. Jordán López performed Zarzuela in a Bronx Community Concert. Additional highlights of 2023 include a Zarzuela concert at the legendary Thalia Theatre in Flushing, Queens, performing with Utopia Opera in Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Utopia, Ltd,” as well as Victor Herbert Renaissance Project’s “The Red Mill.” Alonso was part of the ensemble of the world premiere of “Fizz & Ginger,” a Jazz opera by Whitney George/Brittany Goodwin which was performed at the New York Comedy Club.

In past seasons, Alonso has worked with Teatro Grattacielo, New Camerata Opera, and Dell’Arte Opera Ensemble. He has also been a part of several masterclasses which were facilitated by the Art Song Preservation Society of New York. Prior to NYC, Alonso worked with Painted Sky Opera in Oklahoma City, where he also got his master of music degree in opera performance at Oklahoma City University, 19’.

Brian J. Alvarado

Brian J. Alvarado (CARONTE) “sings with a liquid baritone of great charm,” “a highly attractive legato,” and “precise patter elocution” (Parterre Box). His early music and baroque work includes Nettuno in La liberazione di Ruggiero with dell’Arte Opera Ensemble (for which Oberon’s Grove praised his “voice of power and warmth”), filmed portrayals of both Seneca in Killer Queen Opera’s Poppea, and Thésée in Brooklyn Telemann Chamber Society’s Phèdre: Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie, and the Adonis cover in New Camerata Opera’s Venus and Adonis. In concert, he has performed Melisso in Alcina with OperaRox Productions, Caronte in L’Orfeo with the New York City Guitar Orchestra, and bass solos in Handel’s Messiah with the Brooklyn Contemporary Chorus and Susquehanna University’s Symphony Orchestra, Keiser’s Markuspassion at the Nahant Music Festival, and Bach’s BWV 147 with the Saint Peters Bach Collegium. Other recent highlights include Cesare Angelotti in Tosca with Opera Vermont, Silvio in Pagliacci and Frank in Die Fledermaus with New Rochelle Opera, Tom in Un ballo in maschera with Opera Project Columbus, Leporello in Don Giovanni with Long Island Lyric Opera, Filiberto and Simone in Bronx Opera’s double bill of Il Signor Bruschino/ Gianni Schicchi, and Eugene Johnson in Blind Injustice with Opera Theatre of the Rockies. The Bronx native has appeared chorally at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and National Sawdust, among many others.

Marie Anello

Marie Anello (PROSERPINA) is a classically trained mezzo-soprano with experience in opera, musical theater, cabaret, jazz, voice acting, and drama. She has had the pleasure of performing with companies like the Penobscot Theatre Company, New York City Opera, Soho Playhouse, Write Act Repertory, Encompass New Opera Theatre, the Pittsburgh Festival Opera Young Artist Program, and as Ottavia in Killer Queen Opera’s inaugural film production “Poppea.” Recent credits include Izzy in the world debut of “Trapped! The Musical: A Lobster Tale”, Betty Compton in the immersive production “Tammany Hall”, and her one woman cabaret, Spektorology, co-produced with Killer Queen Opera.

Samuel Flores

Mr. Flores is a Latin American bass-baritone who currently resides in Brooklyn, NY and can be seen performing locally. He began working for the Metropolitan Opera as an Administrative Associate in 2018 and has participated in training programs including the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, St. Petersburg Opera: Emerging Artist program, the New York Conservatory summer opera program and many more. Roles performed include: Sciarrone in Tosca, Mars in Orpheus in the Underworld, Silvio in Pagliacci, Schaunard in La Bohème, Leporello in Don Giovanni, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Wagner in Faust, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte andCount Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro.

Kirsten Sjödahl

 Kirsten is the resident organist and music director at Redeemer St. John’s Lutheran Church in Bay Ridge, as well as other parishes in the NYC area. As a lover of Renaissance and Baroque music, she performs regularly with Renaissance Street Singers. This is her first opera and she is excited to be facing the audience in a new way! 

Milan Furtado

Milan Furtado is a dancer and choreographer currently based in NYC. She recently graduated from New York University where she received her BFA in dance. She is originally from Los Angeles where she grew up competing with studios: The Royal Underground and Project21. In addition to her competitive training, Milan attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA), where she was exposed to a rigorous modern and post-modern dance curriculum. Milan has attended Joffrey West, Alonzo King’s Lines, and Berlin’s B-12 Summer intensives where she has continued her training in ballet, jazz and contemporary. Outside of dance Milan loves to explore photography, cooking, traveling and singing.