Opera Night Long Island

May 1st, 2011


Opera Night performers:

Maurizio Casa, tenor
Barbara Divis, soprano
Linda Garrity, soprano
Lauren Haber, soprano
Gina Haver, soprano
Lorraine Helvick, mezzo soprano
Kimberly Iannuzzi, soprano
Jackie Murphy, soprano
Cheryl Savitt Spielmann, soprano
Jeanny Schwartz, mezzo soprano
Bruce Solomon, tenor
Lia Stengren, soprano



Read about our singers!

Tenor Maurizio Casa attended the Mannes School of Music in New York City. He has performed Rodolfo in Theater Nordhausen in Germany, Alfredo from La Traviata with Teatro Capranica in Rome as well as the Duke from Rigoletto. He has also performed the Duke in Germany with Orpheus Ensemble. Also, he has performed the role of Tamino with the Frankfurt Opera in Germany; the role of Contino in Crispino and Contino in Maxlrain, Germany. Mr. Casa has done the tenor solos from Mozart 's Requiem Handel's Messiah the Amadeus Orchestra in Italy and the tenor solo in Cimerosa's Requiem with the Vatican Chorus and Orchestrs in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Currently, Maurizio is working on the role of Don Jose from Carmen.

Barbara Divis, soprano
Barbara Divis has performed over 35 roles throughout the country. She is known primarily for roles that demonstrate her expressive ability and acting prowess. She has performed Madama Butterfly with 5 opera companies, including Arizona Opera and Hawaii Opera Theatre. She has performed Mimi in La Boheme with 7 opera companies, including Atlanta Opera, Augusta Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, and Opera San Jose. Other companies that Barbara has performed with include San Diego Opera, Tacoma Opera, Austin Lyric, and El Paso Opera. She has won second place in the Regional Met Auditions three different times, is a Richard Tucker award nominee, and recently she was awarded the "Orgullo Hispano" award in Mexico, which is an award for distinguished Hispanic women. Music from her two CD's are currently being featured with author, Michael J. Vaughn, in his new novel called "Operaville."

Linda Garrity, lyric soprano, has performed with the New Metro Vocal Arts Ensemble, dell’arte Opera Ensemble, Regina Opera, Hartt Opera Theater, Janiec Opera at the Brevard Music Center, Rockland Opera and The Opera Workshop at Hunter College. In 2006, Ms. Garrity performed the role of the First Lady in the Die Zauberflote with the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy. Other operatic roles include Despina in Cosi Fan Tutte, Amy in Little Women, Rose Murrant in Street Scene, Pousette in Manon, Suor Genevieffa and Infermiera in Suor Angelica. Recently, Linda participated in a series of master classes at Lincoln Center given by Maestro Peter Mark of Virginia Opera. For the past few years, Ms. Garrity has performed works by Schubert, Scarlatti, Granados, and Schumann in the chamber music concerts at the 92ND Street Y in New York City. She has also been a guest artist at performances throughout Long Island with The West Islip Symphony Orchestra and The Long Island Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra. Ms. Garrity obtained her Bachelor of Music Degree from Hunter College.


Lauren Haber, soprano
Soprano, Lauren Nicole Haber, recently created the demanding role of Lauren Kane/“Erica” in OperaWorks’ original three Act Improvisational Opera, Pride and Promiscuity. In addition to being an Artist in Residence, Lauren recently made her Carnegie Hall debut as Il Paggio with New York Lyric Opera Theatre. Ms. Haber performed Donna Anna’s “Non my dir” from Mozart’s Don Giovanni while at the Westchester Summer Vocal Institute, and the third act quartet in the role of Mimi from La Boheme while at the International Vocal Arts Institute, Canada. Lauren is also a recurring participant of the Martina Arroyo Foundation Role Performance Seminar where she has learned the roles of Mimi from Puccini’s La Boheme, Amelia from Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, the Countess from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and Desdemona from Verdi’s Otello. Other scene performances include Fiordiligi from Cosi Fan Tutte, the Countess from Le Nozze di Figaro, and Donna Elvira from Don Giovanni. She also enjoyed collaborating with the Long Island Youth Symphony on the soprano solos from the Mozart Requiem and Carmina Burana.
Ms. Haber earned her Master’s of Music Degree from the Manhattan School of Music in 2006 and her Bachelor of Music degree from C.W. Post, Long Island University in 2004.

Gina Haver's background includes opera, oratorio and theatre with such credits: Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, NYC Town Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Harry Chapin Theatre at Hecksher State Park, St. AnnsHoly Trinity Church in Brooklyn, the Northport Theatre, and Westchester Town Hall with various solo appearances at Merkin Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and NY Symphony Space. Other NYC credits: The Singers Theatre of NY, New York Selah Ensemble, New York Chamber Players, Genesis Repertory Ensemble, soprano soloist for New York Choral Society Summersings (Carmina Burana, Brahms Requiem, Israel in Egypt), participant in the Dicapo Opera Young Artist Program. Gina's performed roles as Musetta (La Boheme), Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute), Lola (Cavalleria Rusticana), Eurydice (Orfeo & Eurydice), Frasquita (Carmen) and Violetta from La Traviata (upcoming).

Lorraine Helvick, mezzo soprano graduated with her Masters in Vocal Performance from Westminster Choir College where she won second place in the Hilliard-Rankell voice competition. She studied with superb MET voices, Sharon Sweet and Anthony Laciura. Her recent roles and scenes include Flora, La Traviata, Gertrude, Romeo et Juliette, Suzuki, Madama Butterfly, Charlotte, Werther, Cherubino, Le Nozze di Figaro, and many more. Ms Helvick recently completed a residency with Opera New Jersey and main stage roles with NY Lyric Opera. Currently, Ms Helvick is actively performing in the New York metro area.

Kimberly Iannuzzi, soprano, was a member of the Dicapo Opera theatre Young Artist Program and has performed with the New York Opera Forum and with New York Opera Productions. Roles performed include: Suor Genovieffa, Suor Angelica, Nella, Gianni Schicchi, Despina, Cosi fan tutte, Barbarina, The Marriage of Figaro and Zerlina, Don Giovanni. She has given several recitals and has performed with ensembles including the Western New York Chorale in its performance of Mozarts Vesperae solennes de confessore. Kimberly was a finalist in the Rising Star Opera Competition.
Currently, Kimberly is the soprano soloist of the Community Church of Douglaston where she has performed Vivaldis Gloria, the Mozart Requiem, Brittens A Ceremony of Carols and Faures Requiem. Kimberly has enjoyed performing in the Douglaston Concerts series and at Northports Opera Night for the past six years.

Jackie Murphy, soprano Jacqueline Murphy is currently a student at Hofstra University, majoring in Vocal Performance. Jacqueline feels privileged to have been an integral part of two separate fundraising events, one benefiting Haiti and the other The Visiting Nurse Service and Hospice of Suffolk. Given the success of the latter Jacqueline has been asked to host another Visiting Nurse Service and Hospice fundraiser for which she is currently preparing. She has become a regular at “Opera Night”, a non-profit organization, in North Port and continues to perform at every opportunity in and outside of school.


Cheryl Savitt Spielman, soprano, taught vocal music in NYC and Long Island public schools. Previously, Cheryl was principal singer with the Light Opera of Manhattan (LOOM) repertory company, performing leading roles in "The Merry Widow", "The Desert Song", "The Vagabond King", "The Student Prince", "A Night in Venice", "The Mikado", "H.M.S.Pinafore", "The Grand Duke", and "Yeomen of the Guard". She received her B.A. degree from Sarah Lawrence College and her masters in music education from Hunter College.


Jeanny Schwartz, mezzo soprano, born in Hong Kong and graduated from Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, has appeared as an alto solo in vocal concerts such as The Christmas Oratorio, Le Roi David, Hymne au Soleil, Gloria, and many more. She also has performed in operas and musical productions like Quilters, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, Tour Guide in Orphee aux Enfer. She has joined Opera Night since December 2008.

Lia Stengren, soprano
Soprano, Lia Elizabeth Stengren is a recent graduate from the State University of New York at Fredonia and holds two degrees in both Music Business and Applied Voice. While at Fredonia Ms. Stengren performed in a production of Mozart's "Die Zauberflote" with the Hillman Opera and Kurt Weill's "Street Scene" during Fredonia's Opera Scenes. Ms. Stengren has studied with Christopher Arneson, Marie Sanfratello, Won Cho, and Delia Wallis. Ms. Stengren has been a soloist for the Babylon Chorale among many other choirs ranging from Fredonia, NY to Long Island. Ms. Stengren has sung under the direction of Sun Min Lee, Andrew Megil, Alice Cavanaugh, Gwen Coleman-Detwiler, Anne Kollar, and Donald Lang. Ms. Stengren is a frequent performer of the Opera Night Series.


James Besser, Piano accompanist