Khachatur Badalyan is a soloist at the Novaya Opera in Moscow and is regularly invited to the Bolshoi Theatre and the Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. He has won awards at a number of competitions in recent seasons including First Prize at the International Tenor Competition in memory of Luciano Pavarotti (2008), First Prize at the Galina Vishnevskaya III International Opera Singers Competition (2010), and Second Prize at the Marcello Giordani International Vocal Competition (2011). Recent engagements include Rodolfo (La bohème) at Teatro Massimo Bellini, and Alfredo (La traviata) and Ismaele (Nabucco) at the Wielki Opera (Warsaw). Future engagements include Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, the Duke (Rigoletto) at Teatro Massimo Bellini, and Alfredo at Teatro Massimo and Teatro La Fenice. Company Debut.

Trained at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, Robert Pomakov has distinguished himself at several major international competitions, including Operalia and the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium. He is a regular guest of the Canadian Opera Company, where he has appeared, among others, as Leporello (Don Giovanni), Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and the Chamberlain in the dazzling production of Stravinsky’s The Nightingale directed by Robert Lepage. At the Houston Grand Opera, he sang Hobson (Peter Grimes), as well as Varlaam and Shalkalov (Boris Godunov). He also portrayed Vodnik at the Minnesota Opera, and Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor) with Opera Lyra Ottawa. In Quebec, he has been heard in a concert version of Eugene Onegin at the Festival de Lanaudière, and as Il Commendatore (Don Giovanni) with the Orchestre Métropolitain. Company debut.

Liliana Nikiteanu has worked with some of the world’s most renowned conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Valeri Gherghiev, René Jacobs, and William Christie, at major festivals in Salzburg, Aix-en-Provence, Bregenz, and elsewhere. At the Opéra-Bastille, she was The Muse/Nicklausse (The Tales of Hoffmann), and Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier). She has performed the latter role in major opera houses in Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Vienna, in addition to portraying Marguerite (La damnation de Faust) in Brussels. She is on the roster at the Zurich Opernhaus, where she has appeared in many roles, including Jezibaba (Rusalka), Fricka (Das Rheingold), Ljubasha (The Tzar’s Bride), and Eleonore in the world premiere of Gesualdo by Marc-André Dalbavie. Among her projects for 2012: concerts in Tel Aviv with Mastro Zubin Mehta. Company debut.

John Keenan made his remarkable Metropolitan Opera debut at just 26 years of age, conducting Mozart’s Don Giovanni. He continued his association with this prestigious American company conducting works by such composers as Wagner (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Das Rheingold), Mozart (The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute), and Verdi (Simon Boccanegra), leading casts that included some of the world’s greatest singers. At ease in a vast repertoire, he is much sought-after throughout the United States (Cincinnati, Washington, Los Angeles) and in Europe (Geneva, Nice, Oslo). Closer to home, he has conducted at the Edmonton Opera (The Flying Dutchman), the Canadian Opera Company (Rusalka), the Opéra de Québec (Otello, Aida), and the Vancouver Opera (The Flying Dutchman, Carmen, Cosi fan tutte). Company debut.

A very versatile creative artist, Eric Simonson is a playwright, stage director, and filmmaker. His play Work Songs: Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright premiered at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago before making its way around the United States. In addition to works performed on Broadway, Eric Simonson directed the short film A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin, for which he won an Oscar. On the opera stage, his stage direction for Rusalka, created in collaboration with Bill Murray, has been seen in Minneapolis, Denver, and Boston. Also in Minneapolis, he staged the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael Korie’s opera The Grapes of Wrath, as well as a highly anticipated revival of Wuthering Heights by Bernard Herrmann. Company debut.

Erhard Rom has designed sets for over 150 productions across America, notably including sets for the Canadian premiere of Nixon in China in Vancouver in 2010. His body of work includes collaborations with several major opera companies: Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (La bohème), Wolf Trap Opera (Così fan tutte and Ariadne auf Naxos), Virginia Opera (Don Giovanni and The Tales of Hoffmann), and Minnesota Opera (Rusalka). In 2003, he received a tribute for his work at the New Orleans Opera, which includes the world premiere of the opera Pontalba by Thea Musgrave. Erhard Rom is also active in the fields of theatre and television, and at festivals. Company debut.

Kärin Kopischke’s costume designs have been seen around North America, garnering acclaim from the Minnesota Opera (La bohème) to the Pittsburgh Opera to the Utah Opera (The Grapes of Wrath). Her vision of Rusalka has been seen in Denver, Minneapolis, and Boston. Also active on the theatre scene, with such companies as the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the American Conservatory Theater, the Cincinnati Playhouse, and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, she has had the honour of having her work selected for the prestigious Prague Quadrennial. In addition to these activities, Kärin Kopischke also teaches her art in several American universities. Company debut.

Often called the “Godmother of Projection Design,” Wendall K. Harrington has greatly contributed to the development of this art form. The recipient of several awards and distinctions, and very active in several different spheres, she has successively worked in the fields of television, cinema, and ballet. But the theatre is where the majority of her accomplishments can be seen, including dozens of productions on Broadway, off Broadway, and elsewhere on the American stage. Among her opera highlights are The Magic Flute in Florence, Orphée et Eurydice in Vienna and Zurich, A View from the Bridge in Chicago, The Turn of the Screw in Copenhagen, Manon Lescaut in Washington, Nixon in China and The Ghosts of Versailles in Saint Louis, and The Grapes of Wrath and Rusalka in Minneapolis. Company debut.

For theatre, she has designed the lighting for Romeo and Juliet (Théâtre Denise-Pelletier), Le caillou de saturne (Théâtre du p’tit loup), Le père Léonidas and La Réaction (Montreal Arts Interculturel), Ce fou de Platonov (Théâtre Prospero), Molière en hiver (Bain St-Michel), and Théâtre sans animaux (Théâtre La Licorne). At the opera, she has designed the lighting for Il tabarro/Suor Angelica, Rigoletto, Tosca, Lucia di Lammermoor (Opéra de Montréal), Macbeth (Opera Australia), and was the assistant lighting designer for Thaïs (Palm Beach Opera). She teaches at the National Theater School of Canada. Last OdM appearance: Le nozze di Figaro (2011).

Possessing a doctoral degree in music from the University of Minnesota, Bill Murray leads a rich and varied career throughout North America and Europe. Starting out as a singer, he appeared in lead roles in The Marriage of Figaro, Gianni Schicchi, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Carmen, notably at the Minnesota Opera, Nautilus Music Theater, and the Tanglewood Music Center. Now associated with the Minnesota Opera as an administrator and stage director, he is also one of the administrators and artistic advisors for the Minnesota Opera’s New Work Initiative, a major program aimed at promoting and producing new opera commissions. Other companies have also benefited from his management skills, including the Boston Lyric Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, and Opera Colorado. Company debut.