ALTERNATIVE OPERA THEATRE.
Alter Ego Chamber Opera (AECO) is an emerging, Philadelphia-based chamber opera company which performs new and reimagined works, endeavoring to serve as a catalyst for change, bringing intimate, experimental opera theatre to the region.
(from L to R) William Lim (Oronte), Madison Marie McIntosh (Ruggiero), Kaitlyn Tierney (Bradamante) Alize Francheska Rozsnyai (Morgana), Matthew Maisano as Balena Canto (Melissa), and Brenna Markey (Alcina) (down center), in Alcina REVAMPED with the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, September 24th and 26th, 2021.
UP NEXT
Our Philadelphia Fringe Festival 2022 plans were unfortunately derailed. So, we went into hibernation a bit.
Like a big sleepy bear.
Please stay tuned to hear about our next Production in 2023!
RECENTLY
Friday, September 24th at 8 pm, and Sunday September 26th at 3 pm, 2021 at
The Adrienne Theatre
2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
What did critics say about the show?
Read our review from Broad Street Review, here.
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Music G. F. Handel
Libretto Adaptation Alize Francheska Rozsnyai
Conductor Evan Kassof
Director Madeline Whitesell
Music Director Irene Moretto
Alcina Brenna Markey
Ruggiero Madison Marie McIntosh
Bradamante Kaitlyn Tierney
Morgana Alize Francheska
Oronte William Lim
Melissa Matthew Maisano (Balena Canto)
Oberto Andrew Egbuchiem
Harpsichord Irene Moretto
Electronics Thomas Patteson
& Roger A. Martinez
Saxophone Aaron Stewart
Violin Michael Shingo-Crawford
Electric Guitar Will Brobston
Viola Emma Hey
Cello Ezgi Yargici
Click on an artist's name to view their website.
WHO ARE WE?
MEET ALIZE,
Artistic Director
A soprano "displaying profound imagination and control" (Philadelphia Inquirer), and librettist, Alize Francheska Rozsnyai is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, excelling in baroque and contemporary repertoire. She has performed with companies including Opera Philadelphia, The Center for Contemporary Opera, Experiments in Opera NYC, Opera Fayetteville (Zina, Dark Sisters), The International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in England (Phyllis, Iolanthe), Rossini Opera Festival, Cape Cod Symphony, Chautauqua Opera, and the Princeton Symphony.
Ms. Rozsnyai has received honors from many prestigious organizations such as the Career Bridges Grant, Astral Artist National Auditions, Palm Beach Opera Competition, Lotte Lenya Competition, American Traditions Competition, Early Music America, Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship, Musical Merit Foundation of Greater San Diego, Lois Alba Aria Competition, and is the recipient of the generous Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship. She took time off to dedicate herself to the service of others full time from 2015-2017, working in ArtistYear (Americorps).
She is currently on the roster of Matthew Laifer Artist Management.
As a librettist, Alize performed her original adaptation of Pierrot Lunaire (Kennedy Center), as well as two of her own works, The Coffee Cantata (new adaptation) and Phony (music by David Brown), with Alter Ego Chamber Opera. She and composer collaborator Roger A. Martinez are MassOpera NOW Finalists for their work My Friend, Freddy. www.AlizeSoprano.com
MEET IRENE,
Music Director
Irene Moretto is a pianist, harpsichordist, and violinist who earned a M.M. in Piano Performance and M.M. in Harpsichord Performance from Temple University, where she studied with Dr. Charles Abramovic and Dr. Joyce Lindorff. She also holds a B.M. in Piano Pedagogy. Her love of vocal music led her to attend the American Institute of Music Studies in Graz, Austria, where she studied and performed opera and lieder repertoire. She also attended the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute to further her exploration of Early Music.
Irene regularly works as a collaborative pianist and has played for such organizations as the Philadelphia International Music Festival, House Music Philadelphia, and Wilson Vocal Academy. She is a founding member of the new Philly-based opera collective, Alter Ego Chamber Opera. Irene maintains an active piano studio and is on the faculties of The Baldwin School and Merion Mercy Academy. When not at the keyboard, she plays violin for various celebratory events with her string trio, Abellimento Strings.
Tom Sitzler, lyric baritone, has been capturing audiences with his warm, generous voice and convincing stage presence. Growing up in Arizona, Tom was buying CD’s of pianist Glenn Gould and composer Rachmaninoff, while his older brothers and friends were buying the newest albums of the latest bands. This began his lasting love of classical music.
In 2009, Mr. Sitzler stepped into the professional arena of performing as the Old Gypsy in “Il Trovatore” with Union Avenue Opera. That was followed by premiering the role of Bob in “Family Dynamics” by composer Bill Lenihan with St. Louis City Opera. Among many other programs and performances, Tom participated in the Victoria J. Mastrobuono Emerging Artist Program, in New Jersey, covering Figaro in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia”. In 2012, Mr. Sitzler was heard singing Silvano from “Un ballo in Maschera” with UAO, where Sarah Bryan Miller from the St. Louis Post Dispatch said, “Tom Sitzler … made the most of a small role” and Mark Bretz from Ladue News said, “Tom Sitzler is entertaining as the sailor.” Later that same year, Mr. Sitzler stepped down from a two-year apprenticeship with the Bach Society of St. Louis, where he performed the bass solos in Mozart’s Requiem, and covered the solos in J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. In 2015, Mr. Sitzler returned to St. Louis to perform the title role in “The Boor” with Gateway Opera, where Mark Bretz from Ladue News said, “As the boor, Tom Sitzler proved his own skills both with his strong singing style and a good way with comedy.” Most recently, he was engaged as Germont from “la Traviata” and Scarpia from “Tosca” with Painted Sky Opera. www.TomSitzler.com
MEET TOM,
General Director
MEET ROGER,
Artistic Advisor
Roger A. Martinez is a composer who is interested in music that breaks down stylistic and formal barriers, while remaining accessible to a wide audience. He has written for a variety of settings, including opera, art song, electronic works, media music, and online interactive music installations. Roger is a graduate of San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Technology and Applied Composition program, and has a background in computer science, as well as traditional Western harmony and counterpoint. Roger is second generation Mexican-American, and considers his Mexican heritage to be a point of inspiration for many of his compositions.
Among Roger’s more recent works are Invocación al Laurel (2021), for string trio and voice, based on the poem by Federico García Lorca, and Climate Works (2020) an interactive web app that translates climate data from around the world into music. In 2019, Roger’s opera Potentialite, written in collaboration with librettist Alize Rozsnyai, premiered as part of the 2019 Philadelphia Fringe fest. Roger's film score credits include A Night Like This (2018), by director Frank Battaglia, and Equity (2015), directed by Andrew Donato. He is currently working on music for an upcoming video game project.
Roger is excited about the musical and narrative possibilities inherent in contemporary opera, and looks forward to writing new works for the opera stage. www.RogerAMartinez.com
MEET KELLY,
Director of Administration
Soprano Kelly Rubinsohn is equally at home in comedic and dramatic repertoire. She has enjoyed performing roles such as the title role in Alcina, Governess (The Turn of the Screw), Ginevra (Ariodante), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Angelica (Orlando), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), and Lucy Brown (The Threepenny Opera). In the Bay Area, Kelly appeared with Opera Parallèle, Pocket Opera, and Black Box Baroque. She is also one of the co-founders of Opera Theater Unlimited, an independent opera company based in San Francisco.
She received the Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (San Diego District) and First Place in the East Bay Opera League Scholarship competition. She was previously a Young Artists at the Lyrique en Mer Festival in Belle Ile, France, where she was the soprano soloist for the Rossini Petite messe solennelle.Other programs include the Advanced Artist program at OperaWorks, the Lieder Studio at AIMS in Graz, Austria, and the University of Miami Frost School of Music at Salzburg.
Kelly earned her MM in Vocal Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She received her BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, where she additionally minored in creative writing. www.kellyrubinsohn.com
WATCH
An excerpt from the Mosaic of Modern Opera (2020) featuring the work of five composer winners from our call-for-scores competition, Andrew Lovett, Jean Ahn, Beth Ratay, Tony Solitro, and Ben Stevenson. Featuring violinist David Matthew Brown, Keyboardist Irene Moretto, and sopranos Kaitlyn Waterson and Alize Francheska.
An excerpt from the world premiere of Phony (2019), by David Matthew Brown (music) and Alize Francheska Rozsnyai (libretto), from AECO's inaugural season. Featuring Timothy Faulkner, tenor, Tom Sitzler, Baritone, and Alize Francheska, Soprano.
GALLERY
SUPPORT AECO's 2022 SEASON NOW!
AECO is now busy at work planning our .
Do you love opera? Have you enjoyed our previous works and do your values align with ours? Do you have a creative, entrepreneurial, or philanthropic nature? We need you on our team!
We seek a diverse group of team members with various skillsets and backgrounds. Please email a letter of interest to AlterEgoChamberOpera@gmail.com by December 15th, 2021 to be considered to join our 2022 Board.
CONTACT US
We're interested in hearing from artists of all kinds, as well as fans and fellow producers!
If you're interested in working or collaborating with Alter Ego Chamber Opera, please contact us using our form below, or at AlterEgoChamberOpera@gmail.com.