MARY PETRO, soprano, received a Bachelor of Music from DePaul University and a Master of Music from Yale University. While at DePaul, Ms. Petro performed as Mimi in La Bohème, Alice Ford in Falstaff, and Anne Sexton in Conrad Susa’s Transformations. It was this early exposure to modern opera that lead to a successful audition for the Houston Opera Studio. As one of the youngest artists to participate in this prestigious opera training program, Mary made her Houston Grand Opera debut in the world premiere of Harvey Milk and also performed the role of The First Gossip in The Song of Majnun which was released on CD by Delos. Other 20th Century roles include Female Chorus in Britten’s Rape of Lucretia and Miriam in Lee Hoiby’s The Scarf.
A versatile and curious artist, Mary expanded her repertoire to include Iolanta in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin as well as Yum Yum in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado. Ms. Petro has been seen by New York audiences as Arminda in Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera, Susanna in Marriage of Figaro, Fiametta in Von Suppé’s Boccaccio, Mimi in La Bohème, Margarita and Helen of Troy in Mephistofele, and most recently as Micaela in Carmen. She has appeared in concert at Alice Tully Hall with the Licia Albanese Puccini foundation and recently made her Carnegie Hall debut singing Pamina in excerpts from The Magic Flute with the New England Symphonic Ensemble. For international audiences, Mary has sung Pamina with the Rome Festival Opera, Margarita in Mephistofele at Tel Aviv, Israel, and Mimi in Castres, France.
As an orchestral soloist, Ms. Petro has performed Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and with the Chappaqua Orchestra, as well as Barber’s setting of Andromache’s Farewell with the Norwalk Symphony in Connecticut. She has performed Handel’s Messiah throughout New York and Connecticut as well as soprano solos in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with Musica Leonis and Brahms’ Requiem with the New York Choral Society.
Mary Petro is a winner of the Metropolitan National Council Auditions, grand prize winner of the Bel Canto Foundation Competition, first place in the New Jersey State Opera Competition, and second in the Washington International Competition. Upcoming performances include: Micaela in Carmen in New York; Desdemona in Otello in NewYork; recital performances in Ireland, Chicago, and Connecticut; and Mimi in La Bohème at Colombia, Missouri.
ROBERT GARNER, baritone, is a member of the Metropolitan Opera extra chorus, having appeared in productions of Die Meistersinger von Nuremberg, Orfeo ed Euridice, Aida, War and Peace, and Peter Grimes. Recent engagements include Don Giovanni for Taconic Opera (NY), Papageno in The Magic Flute for Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Falke in Die Fledermaus for Dayton Opera, both Harlekin in Ariadne auf Naxos and Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro for Union Avenue Opera (St. Louis), Gianni Schicchi for Rockland Opera (NY), Iago in Verdi’s Otello for Taconic Opera, and as soloist in Schumann’s rarely heard oratorio Das Paradies und die Peri. Other notable career highlights include Ford in Falstaff and Marcello in La Bohème for Mississippi Opera, Valentin in Faust and Germont in La Traviata for Opera Colorado, Ping in Turandot with Anchorage Opera, Mercutio in Romeo et Juliette for Opera Carolina and Connecticut Opera, Silvio in Pagliacci for Boheme Opera New Jersey, Carmina Burana soloist for Carolina Ballet, and his Carnegie Hall debut as soloist in Fauré’s Requiem.
Mr. Garner received his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Alabama. In competition, he was a New York City district winner for the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions, and has also been a winner in the Friedrich Schorr Memorial Prize for Vocal Performance and in the Giulio Gari Foundation vocal competition.
