Returning for a fourth year, Chicago Fringe Opera will celebrate the immeasurable contributions of the LGBTQ+ community to the world of performing arts with a pride party featuring specialty cocktails by Spice Note Tequila, & a brief, intimate musical program composed and performed by members of the LGBTQ+ community, featuring new music by composer Michael R. Oldham.
All proceeds will go directly to support the missions of Chicago Fringe Opera & to fund a scholarship at The Voice Lab, designated for gender affirming vocal instruction.
Thank you to our sponsors! Daniel Reid (food/apps) & Spice Note Tequila
The Wagner & Zeng Residence
1312 N Leavitt St, Chicago, IL, USA
Our Apologies — This event is only accessible through a flight of stairs.
Cast
Megan Fletcher
Soprano
Megan Fletcher
Soprano
Megan Fletcher is a soprano and voice teacher based in Chicago. As a professional choral singer, she can be seen performing with the Grant Park Chorus, Chicago Symphony Chorus, and William Ferris Chorale. She recently joined the ranks of the 9-member vocal group La Caccina, an ensemble which champions treble music as well as the artistic contributions of women and femmes. She debuted with Chicago Fringe Opera in 2018 as Leonora in Paul Hindemith’s The Long Christmas Dinner. Megan has appeared performing as a soprano soloist and chorus member with Hearing in Color, a Chicago-based organization dedicated to sharing the music and stories of communities that have been historically excluded from musical spaces.
Jonathan Zeng
Tenor
Jonathan Zeng
Tenor
Lauded for his versatility as a performer, critically acclaimed tenor, Jonathan Zeng, has performed as a soloist with opera companies, theaters, and symphony orchestras throughout the United States. With a voice described by Chicago publications as “valiant”, “stunning”, “vibrant”, and “rich”, Jonathan is based in Chicago and has soloed with choral ensembles The William Ferris Chorale and Vox Venti. You may also have seen him serving as cantor at the historic St. Michael Church in Old Town, singing with the Grant Park Symphony Chorus, as Richard Dauntless in Ruddigore with The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company or in multiple productions with Chicago Folks Operetta & Chicago Fringe Opera. Roles elsewhere range from Goro in Madama Butterfly & Beppe in I Pagliacci to Prince Charming in Cinderella, Chip Tolentino in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Frederic in Pirates of Penzance.
Jonathan’s cabaret, SONGS THAT SPEAK!, has had success throughout the Midwest. Its next iteration will be on Saturday, Aug 8, 2024 at the Venus Cabaret Theater in Chicago.
An avid proponent for arts education and vocal instruction, Jonathan has served as an adjunct faculty member in the Preparatory Department at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and has maintained a private voice studio for more than a decade. He teaches voice at Loyola Academy on the north side of Chicago. Jonathan received a BA in Music Education from the School of Music at Western IL University and an MM in vocal performance from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (CCM). For more info, visit www.JonathanZeng.com or follow him on Instagram: @jonathan.zeng
Claire DiVizio
Tenor
Claire DiVizio
Tenor
CLAIRE DIVIZIO (they/them) is a multi-disciplinary artist, administrator, and educator whose body of work includes stage direction, theatrical design, performance, poetry and prose, visual art, and music composition, along with administrative leadership and arts education. Claire founded Thompson Street Opera Company with the desire to create a space where singers, composers, and production personnel could take risks on truly new operas in a safe, supportive, joyful environment. TSOC boasts sold-out performances, an Honorable Mention in Chicago Classical Review’s “Best of 2019”, grant support from the Illinois Arts Council and City of Chicago, and an ever-expanding roster of exceptional and diverse artists. Since 2022, Claire has been a member of the faculty at Northeastern Illinois University’s School of Music, where they empower students to take ownership of their performing and make the kind of art that fulfills them as individuals. In the fall of 2024, Claire will lead Opera Workshop, Class Voice, and a full studio of private voice students, as well as teaching a course of their own design about the political history of censorship of music.
Claire is also a performer, writer, and baker! Over the last ten years, they’ve been seen onstage across the US in opera, concert, recital, musical theatre, and drag, and have been a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chorus since 2016 (tenured since 2018). Claire’s return to the CSO chorus this year makes them the first trans singer in the US to successfully return to a union classical ensemble in a different voice part following HRT. Claire’s writing has been set to music in both art song and opera, and their long history with contemporary vocal music has expanded in the last few years to include music composition. Their first complete opera (Requiem for Five: a comedy), co-written with composer Jaz Thomasian, was premiered at Chicago Opera On Tap’s Halloween Spooktacular in 2021. Outside of music, Claire can usually be found in the kitchen covered in flour.
Samuel James Dewese
Baritone
Samuel James Dewese
Baritone
Baritone Samuel James Dewese continues to forge a path as a unique and evocative vocal artist. Returning to Lyric Opera of Chicago for the 2024-25 season, he appears as Diego Rivera in Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World/Illick. Additional operatic highlights include Sam/ Trouble in Tahiti, Father/Hansel and Gretel, Astrophel/The Arcadians, and Marcello/La Bohème. In concert, Samuel has been a soloist at Portsmouth Cathedral (UK), Highgate Choral Society, and the Illinois Wind Symphony. Dedicated to the future of vocal music, Samuel’s world and US
premiere credits include The Perfect Opera (Edinburgh Fringe), Would You Eat Me? (Thompson Street Opera Company), La Jetée (Chicago Fringe Opera) and the title character in John Henry (Tête à Tête, London). Samuel is a transracial adoptee, and the 2024-25 season includes the debut of From Cradle to Stage, a concert celebrating The Cradle, the Evanston, IL adoption agency that connected Samuel and his family. Samuel is an alumnus of the Royal College of Music, London and the Florentine Opera apprentice program, and has been honored in competition byJames Toland Vocal Arts, the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the Hariclea Darclée Competition, and the Luminarts Foundation.
Laura M. Kiernan
Mezzo Soprano
Laura M. Kiernan
Mezzo Soprano
Laura M. Kiernan (mezzo-soprano) has been studying singing for more than 30 years. She is a veteran of many stage performances, ranging from musicals to opera scenes to operettas, as well as an experienced chorister. Highlights include performing as a soloist for Handel’s Messiah with the Albion College Briton Singers, as well as seasons with the Steiner Chorale (Michigan) and Albion Pro Choral (Michigan). Most recently, Laura was seen as a member of the acclaimed South Bend Chamber Singers during the 2019-2020 season. She holds a B.A. in Voice Performance from Albion College, and a J.D. from W.M.U. Thomas M. Cooley Law School, and an M.S.W. from Loyola University Chicago. She is currently a Licensed Social Worker and therapist.
Kyra Leigh
Composer
Kyra Leigh
Composer
Kyra Leigh (she/her/hers) is active as a musician and performer in the Chicagoland area. Originally from Louisiana, she’s passionate about trans visibility and inclusion in music and theatre. She has music directed and/or composed and arranged for Kokandy Productions, Jedlicka PAC, Theatre of Western Springs, Prop Thtr, Chi Arts, and Music Theater Works (for their production of La Cage Aux Folles starring Ginger Minj). She taught and directed at the Chicago School of Rock (Lakeview) for eight years and is currently at School of Rock Chicago West. Her cabaret experience includes shows at Davenport’s, Trans Voices Cabaret – Chicago, Rhinofest, and Labyrinth Arts. She’s an active church musician as a composer, section leader, and as needed pianist/conductor at North Shore Baptist Church. Her past compositions include commissioned choral pieces for The Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus, and La Caccina (a professional women’s vocal ensemble); music for Chicago Fringe Opera’s Sounds of Pride Series; a series of art songs for acclaimed baritone, Ryan de Ryke; and most recently was the Composer/Artist-in-Residence with Windy City Performing Arts. As an actor, recent credits include Miss Lynch in Grease at Drury Lane, and Sister Mary Hubert in Nunsense at Porchlight Theatre. Her latest cabaret, Little Earthquakes – A Cabaret will be Aug 9th at 730pm at Labyrinth Club.
Michael R. Oldham
Composer/Pianist
Michael R. Oldham
Composer/Pianist
Michael R. Oldham is a composer, pianist, artist, and music director with the Second City’s national touring company, and plays/writes for theaters, cabarets, and anything that comes his way. He went to Berklee! You can stream albums/EPs of his music on all platforms! For more: check out michaelroldham.com or @WhoaItsMichaelO on Instagram/socials.
Supported by The MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, & the Illinois Arts Council Agency. Chicago Fringe Opera is an Opera America Partner.