Concert Program
Vocal Arts Series
NIU Opera Theatre presents
Iphigénie en Aulide
Friday, March 27, 7 p.m.
Sunday, March 29, 3 p.m.
Boutell Memorial Concert Hall
Program
| Iphigénie en Aulide | Christoph Wllibald Gluck (1714-1787) English libretto by John Troutbeck |
| There will be a 10 minute intermission after Act I. | |
Cast
AGAMEMNON – Daniel Chukwunyem
CLYTEMNESTRA – Kayla Lockhart
IPHIGENIA – Emily Kmetz
ACHILLES – Joseph Quaynor
CALCHAS – Gunnar Magnuson
Ensemble
Rain Celia Anzuldua
Gabriel Galindo
Maggie Garner
Lyric Johnson
Annalee Kalbfleisch
Kayti Cherie Miller
Angel Morales
Chenoa Tianne Randolph
A.J. Villa
NIU Concert Choir
Artistic Staff
Stage Director: Dr. David Tay, Artistic Director, NIU Opera Theatre
Music Director: Dr. Maria Kurochkina, Director of Orchestras
Costume Designer/Props Coordinator: Ski Sciaraffa
Lighting Designer: Emily Christianson
Production Pianists: Olga Feoktistova, MinJung Kim
Assistant Conductor: Daniël Smith
Synopsis
Set in the Greek camp at Aulis, Iphigénie en Aulide centers on King Agamemnon’s impossible moral dilemma. The Greek fleet is ready to depart for Troy, but the winds have stopped, and the seer Calchas declares that the goddess Diana demands a terrible price: Agamemnon must sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia, before the army can sail.
To bring her to Aulis, Agamemnon summons Iphigenia under the pretense of a wedding to Achilles. Horrified by what he has agreed to, he attempts to reverse course and sends word that Achilles has been unfaithful, hoping to keep her away. But Iphigenia has already arrived with her mother, Clytemnestra. Misunderstandings and emotional turmoil follow, until Achilles appears and reaffirms his love for Iphigenia.
As preparations for the wedding unfold, celebration gives way to shock when the truth is revealed: Iphigenia has in fact been summoned to die, not to marry. Achilles and Clytemnestra try desperately to stop the sacrifice, and Agamemnon wavers under the weight of his duty as both king and father.
In the final act, the conflict expands beyond the royal family. The Greek army demands that the sacrifice proceed so that the voyage to Troy can begin, while Iphigenia ultimately accepts her fate and offers her life for the sake of her people. At the last moment, however, Gluck departs from the darker versions of the myth: just as violence seems inevitable, Diana relents, the sacrifice is canceled, and Iphigenia is allowed to marry Achilles instead.
Blending private emotion with public duty, Iphigénie en Aulide explores the devastating cost of leadership, the tension between love and obligation, and the fragile boundary between human will and divine command.
NIU Philharmonic Opera Orchestra
| Violins 1 | Violins 2 | Violas | |
| Athina Vrettou | Jordan Weiss | Trevor Bitner | |
| Sally Waterhouse | Noah Mayer | Tim Liu | |
| Christian Balgeman | Zach M. | Jacob Seabrook | |
| Keira Specht | Myshona Phillips | Chloe McKendry | |
| Aditi Venkaresh | Mei Lin McDermott | Emily Bychowski | |
| Maggie Martin | Laura Gonzalez | Vivian Munoz | |
| Mac Heelein | |||
| Sheridan Settipani | |||
| Cellos | Basses | ||
| Renee Edson | William Letterman | ||
| Oskar Kaut | Brady Jobst | ||
| Kacee Dugas | |||
| Hannah Schwarz | |||
| Annika Roberts | |||
| Sofia Vrettou | |||
| Flutes | Oboes | Clarinets | Bassoons |
| Segun Owele | Carly Jackson | Eduardo Zamudio | Charles Shilhavy |
| Kaelyn Witt | Jeff Padgett | Henry Lloyd | |
| Horns | Trumpets | Timpani | |
| Carmen Houde | Jackson VanderBleek | Jonathan Lake | |
| Ashley Esser | Matthew Harvey |
Bios
David Tay
Hailed as one of “Singapore’s finest operatic talents,” tenor David Charles Tay is celebrated for his versatile artistry, expressive musicality and a voice described as “delightful in warmth and impressive in projection.” His work spans operatic, concert and recital stages across Asia, Europe and the United States.
In May 2025, Tay appeared as Jason in Charpentier’s Médée as part of the Voilah! Festival, commemorating 60 years of diplomatic ties between France and Singapore. In the United States, he has performed with the Bronx Opera Company, Bare Opera NYC, dell’Arte Opera Ensemble, The Center for Contemporary Opera and American Opera Projects and was a featured artist with the Metropolitan Opera Guild from 2020 to 2023. He made his operatic debut in the U.S. premiere of Paisiello’s Nina, o sia pazza per amore at the Manhattan School of Music in 2007.
Recent roles include the Male Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia), Eumete (Il ritorno d’Ulisse), Tito (La clemenza di Tito), Florestan (Fidelio), the Dwarf (Der Zwerg), Alessandro (Il re pastore) and Bardolfo (Falstaff), for which Opera News praised him as “a vocal standout.” His performance as Arnalta in L’incoronazione di Poppea was similarly acclaimed by Opera News as “hypnotic, affecting and amusing,” and sung with “bold clarity.”
Other operatic credits include Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Fritz (L’amico Fritz), Peter Quint (The Turn of the Screw), Harlequin (Der Kaiser von Atlantis), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Piquillo (La Périchole), Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus) and Pluto (Orpheus in the Underworld).
Tay is equally accomplished in contemporary music. He recently performed Nico Muhly’s Stranger with the Avalon String Quartet and Impossible Things with the Wayfarer Sinfonietta in Singapore. Other notable appearances include Thomas Cabaniss’ Firesongs (Bare Opera, National Sawdust), Victoria Bond’s Gulliver’s Travels (American Opera Projects) and world premieres of Mark Alan Taggart’s Swan’s Inlet and Tony Manfredonia’s Ghost Variations.
His concert repertoire includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Coffee Cantata, Easter Oratorio and St. Matthew Passion, Stravinsky’s Pulcinellaand Britten’s Serenade for Tenor and Horn.
As Artistic Director of The Opera People, Tay leads one of Singapore’s most prolific and innovative opera companies. Their productions—praised as “packed full of outstanding musical and dramatic value”—explore technology, accessibility and social relevance to reimagine the operatic experience. Since 2018, the company has produced seven seasons of work, including nine full-length operas, the curated recital series In Our Manner of Speaking and a range of digital and commissioned programs.
In addition to performing, Tay is a sought-after voice teacher, repertoire coach and choral clinician. Since 2011, he has been the vocal coach for the Anglo-Chinese Junior College Choir and its alumni ensemble, preparing them for concerts, recordings, international tours and competitions—earning top accolades at festivals such as the Tampere Vocal Music Festival and Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. He regularly leads workshops for school and community choirs in both Singapore and the United States.
Maria Kurochkina
Maria Kurochkina is a conductor and educator whose work spans opera and symphonic repertoire. She is joined the faculty of Northern Illinois University in August 2025 as assistant professor of music and director of orchestral activities.
Kurochkina holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in orchestral conducting from Boston University, where she studied with James Burton and William Lumpkin and received a full merit scholarship. Her doctoral dissertation, Preserving Tchaikovsky’s Legacy: A Translation and Critical Commentary on Kirill Kondrashin’s Interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies, reflects her research interests in interpretation, Soviet performance traditions and the challenges of translation in specialized musical contexts. She also earned a Specialist Degree (equivalent to a combined bachelor’s and master’s) from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where she studied with Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Igor Dronov.
Her operatic work includes conducting full productions of The Consul (Chicago Summer Opera, 2024), Alice Tierney (Boston Fringe Festival, 2023), and Gianni Schicchi (Boston University Opera Institute, 2025), as well as leading the world premiere of R. Yunusov’s chamber opera Steps as music director and conductor at the Diaghilev Festival. She has also assisted at the Moscow Conservatory Opera Theatre and worked with orchestras including the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia under Vladimir Jurowski.
Kurochkina has participated in masterclasses and fellowships across Europe and the United States, including the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the Diaghilev Festival and sessions with the BBC Concert Orchestra, Marin Alsop, Teodor Currentzis, and others. She was a participant in the La Maestra Conducting Competition (Paris, 2022) and the Cantelli Award (Milan, 2024). She maintains a strong interest in contemporary music, education and intercultural collaboration.