Mozart
Don Giovanni

Opera’s most notorious seducer returns to the Pocket Opera stage. Which of his spurned lovers will exact her revenge and drive him to the gates of Hell? Comedy, tragedy, and the supernatural mix in this, Mozart at his finest.

MUSIC DIRECTOR: CÉSAR CAÑON
STAGE DIRECTOR: JANE ERWIN

ANDERS FRÖHLICH as DON GIOVANNI
RABIHAH DAVIS DUNN as DONNA ANNA
KEVIN GINO as DON OTTAVIO
JAIME KORKOS as DONNA ELVIRA
SARA LEMESH as ZERLINA
SPENCER DODD as LEPORELLO
MITCHELL JONES as MASETTO
JASON SARTEN as COMMENDATORE

Sunday, March 1, 2020 | 2 pm
Hillside Club in Berkeley

Sunday, March 8, 2020 | 2 pm
Legion of Honor in San Francisco

Sunday, March 15, 2020 | 5 pm - CANCELLED
Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto

César Cañón Music Director
Equally passionate about instrumental chamber music as he is with art song and operatic repertoire, César alternates his activities as a pianist and conductor with teaching and vocal coaching. He has performed and collaborated on many stages in his native Colombia, as well as in Brazil, Canada, Italy, Mexico and across the United States. Cañón holds degrees in piano performance from the National University of Colombia and the University of Michigan, where he obtained a Doctor of Musical Arts degree under the mentorship of celebrated pianist Martin Katz. He is also an alum of the Aspen Opera Theatre Center, the Merola Opera Program and San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellowship. Currently an associate artist with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the San Francisco Opera and several other Bay Area cultural organizations, Cañón was music director for Pocket Opera’s 2019 production of The Elixir of Love. He is thrilled to return to lead Don Giovanni.

Don Giovanni: Anders Fröhlich

A current tenured member San Francisco Opera Chorus, baritone Anders Fröhlich began his musical pursuits as a pianist. A native of Connecticut, Mr. Fröhlich attended the Connecticut Conservatory for the Arts where he also trained in ballet and theatre. After attending Indiana University and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, he began his professional career at Los Angeles Opera as a chorister and comprimario. Mr. Fröhlich has performed with various companies including San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opera San Jose and West Edge Opera, among others.

Donna Anna: Rabihah Davis Dunn

San Francisco Classical Voice described her voice as “a glowing instrument” after Rabihah’s Leïla in Bizet’s Pearl Fishers with Pocket Opera. Past roles for the soprano include Lucia di Lamermoor and Lucrezia Borgia. Oratorio appearances include Ein deutsches Requiem, Vivaldi Magnificat, Verdi Requiem, and internationally Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Stabat Mater with the London Pro Arte Orchestra. Rabihah holds degrees from the University of Southern California, University of Michigan and the Royal Academy of Music in London. Currently, Rabihah is the soprano section leader of the Exigence Vocal Ensemble, a professional ensemble for Black and Latinx singers within the Sphinx Organization in Detroit, MI. 

Don Ottavio: Kevin Gino

Tenor Kevin Gino is proud to make his Pocket Opera company debut as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, a role he is very excited to return to. He has performed with Opera San Jose, The San Francisco Opera Chorus, and Cinnabar Theater, with credits including Goro (Madame Butterfly), Padre (Man of La Mancha), and the Steersman (The Flying Dutchman). Gino is an alumnus of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Cesar Ulloa. When he isn’t singing, he is either in the kitchen cooking something tasty or riding his bicycle around the beautiful Bay Area.

Donna Elvira: Jaime Korkos

Acclaimed for her “winning and beautifully balanced voice” (San Francisco Classical Voice), and her “depth and sensitivity” (OperaWire), mezzo-soprano Jaime Korkos enjoys singing both classic and contemporary repertoire. Her diverse roles include Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice), La Périchole (La Périchole), Cendrillon (Cendrillon), Rusalka (Rusalka), Hannah After (As One), and Anežka (The Two Widows). Recent performances include Odyssey Opera’s La belle Hélène (Orestes) and Boston Lyric Opera’s The Handmaid’s Tale (Widow/Wife/Martha). Among others, Ms. Korkos has also sung with Hubbard Hall Opera Theatre, Bel Cantanti Opera, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

Zerlina: Sara LeMesh

Soprano Sara LeMesh, hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle for her “powerhouse performance of vocal majesty” and called “mesmerizing” by Opera News, is a dramatic presence on the opera stage, an avid chamber musician, and an advocate of contemporary music. She recently starred as Bess in the West Coast premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking The Waves with West Edge Opera and appears as Lucy Brown in The Threepenny Opera with City Lyric Opera this season. She has also performed at Aspen, Tanglewood, and Music Academy of the West. Upcoming appearances include the Joyce DiDonato Master Classes at Carnegie Hall and the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival & School.

Masetto: Mitchell Jones

Mitchell Jones makes his Pocket Opera debut as Masetto in Don Giovanni. Mitchell graduated from The Jacobs School of Music in 2017 where he performed a variety of roles including Curly in Rodger and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma and Don Basilio in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia. A full-time member of the San Francisco Opera Chorus, Mitchell can be seen in a multitude of major opera productions, including the role of Hurt Sailor in Britten’s Billy Budd. He was featured soloist with San Francisco Symphony’s production of Bach’s St. John’s Passion and will be singing the Baritone Solo in Handel’s Dixit Dominus in the SF Symphony Chorus concert in April.