Falstaff Cast Bios
Richard Zeller, baritone, makes his West Bay Opera debut singing the title role in Falstaff.  With the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Zeller has sung the roles of Marcello (La bohème), Erenesto (Il Pirata), Eddie (A View from the Bridge), Coroebus (Les troyens), and Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor). He has also sung with Scottish Opera, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Portland Opera, San Diego Opera, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.  He has sung the title role in Verdi’s Macbeth with Opera de Bordeaux, Opera de Vichy, and Portland Opera. Mr. Zeller recently made concert appearances with the Grand Rapids Symphony and Oregon Symphony, and has sung with the Boston Symphony (Les troyens), Philadelphia Orchestra, San Diego Symphony (Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9), and in the title role of Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Chicago Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Zeller’s recordings include the critically acclaimed Merry Mount (Howard Hanson) and Peter Ibbettson (Deems Taylor) with Naxos, and the world premiere of Henri Lazarof’s Fifth Symphony with Centaur Records, all recorded with the Seattle Symphony.
Taylor Haines, soprano, makes her West Bay Opera debut singing Alice Ford in Falstaff.  While completing her master's degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, she sang the role of Older Alyce in Glory Denied by Tom Cipullo. Other roles include the Countess and Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, and Geraldine in A Hand of Bridge by Samuel Barber. Ms. Haines was recently featured as a guest artist in the NorCal Music Festival recital series, where she sang the world premiere of Kyle T. Jones’ song cycle, Where the Sidewalk Ends . Recently, Ms. Haines was awarded second prizes in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Auditions, James Toland Vocal Arts Competition, and New York Lyric Opera Theatre Competition; and third prize in the Palm Springs Opera Guild Vocal Competition. In addition to her academic degrees, Ms. Haines is a graduate of the Music Academy of the West and Renata Scotto Opera Program.
Krassen Karagiozov, baritone, returns to West Bay Opera to sing the role of Ford in Falstaff.   He made his West Bay Opera debut singing Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor) in 2013, and has since sung Belcore (L'elisir d'amore), Conte di Luna (Il trovatore), the title role in Rigoletto, Michele (Il tabarro), Pizarro (Fidelio) and Escamillo (Carmen). He was born in Bulgaria, where he began his musical studies as a pianist. During the 2008 - 2009 season, he made his debut as a member of Opera San Jose‘s resident principal artists, singing the title role in Eugene Onegin, Belcore (The Elixir of Love), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte) and Escamillo (Carmen). Among the roles that he has performed are Papageno, Conte di Luna, Enrico, Germont, Marcello, Valentin, Figaro, Sharpless, Vronsky, Count Almaviva, Dandini, Don Giovanni, Tarquinius, Silvio, Schaunard, Lescaut, Masetto, Gianni Schicchi, Harlequin, Peter, Daniello, Angelotti, Rambaldo, and Raoul de Gardefeu. Mr. Karagiozov has also appeared at New York City Opera, Caramoor Festival, Opera Carolina, Opera Santa Barbara, Lake George Opera Festival, Spoleto Opera Festival, Aspen Opera Theater, and a number of other companies in the US. He has appeared as a soloist with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphony Silicon Valley, the Bulgarian Radio-Symphony Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra, an other ensembles. Mr. Karagiozov is a North Carolina district winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and First Prize winner of the Charlotte Opera Guild Competition as well as a finalist of the Irene Dalis Vocal Competition and Heinz Rehfuss Vocal Competition.
Patrice Houston, mezzo-soprano, returns to West Bay Opera to sing the role of Mistress Quickly in Falstaff. Previous roles with the company include Zia Principessa (Suor Angelica), Azucena (Trovatore), Philpjevnja (Eugene Onegin), and Marthe (Faust). A San Jose native, Ms. Houston has performed all over the country singing the mezzo soprano repertoire of Giuseppe Verdi as well as character mezzo repertoire, such as Berta, Gertrude (Roméo et Juliette), and Marcellina. Locally, Ms. Houston has performed with Opera San Jose, singing the roles Dame Quickly, Zia Principessa (Suor Angelica), and Zita. With Festival Opera Ms. Houston has been heard singing the roles: Mrs. Gibbs (Our Town), Azucena and Ulrica. Recently Ms. Houston returned to San Jose State University to earn her Master of Music degree. Last spring she was heard as The Foreign Singer  in Postcards from Morocco and as Maman in the Opera Theater’s recent production of L’Enfant et les Sortileges.
Veronica Jensen,mezzo-soprano, returns to West Bay Opera to sing Meg Page in Falstaff.   She made her WBO debut as Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) and returned as Frugola (Il tabarro), Suora Zelatrice (Suor Angelica), the Page (Salome), and Adalgisa (Norma). Other recent engagements include Dorabella (Cosi fan tutte) with Peoria Symphony, Mujer 2 in Frederico Ibarra’s Despertar al sueño, a co-production of West Bay Opera and Escenia Ensamble of Mexico. This summer, Ms. Jensen made her West Edge Opera debut as  Justine in Libby Larsen’s Frankenstein and the title role from PQ Phan’s The Tale of Lady Thi Kinh with VASCAM in Orange County. Ms. Jensen also made her debut singing pieces from Mahler and Mozart with Cambrian Symphony and returned to sing highlights from Carmen. Ms. Jensen was also engaged in the Des Moines Opera and was seen as Octavian, Orfeo and Mercedes in the Young Artist scenes productions. A graduate of Indiana University (MM) and Western Washington University (BM), Ms. Jensen performed Isabella (L'Italiana in Algeri), the title role in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Zerlina (Don Giovanni), and Edith (Pirates of Penzance) by Gilbert and Sullivan. Concert performances include Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Bach's Magnificat, Mozart's Requiem, and Ravel’s Shéhérazade. Ms. Jensen was a 2017 recipient of the Encouragement Award and Audience choice at the Metropolitan Opera Iowa District competition.
Dane Suarez, tenor, makes his role and West Bay Opera debut singing Fenton in Falstaff. He made his Kennedy Center debut in 2015 with Washington National Opera as Ely Parker (Glass: Appomattox). Last season, Dane made his New York City Opera debut as Joe (La fanciulla del West). He spent the past two seasons as the resident tenor at Opera San José where he debuted the roles of Alfredo (La traviata), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Canio (Pagliacci), Erik (Der fliegende Holländer), Ruggero (La rondine), and Greenhorn (Moby-Dick). He has recently been heard at Sarasota Opera, Fort Worth Opera Festival, Opera North, Crested Butte Music Festival, Opera Memphis, Baltimore Concert Opera, Opera Delaware, Pacific Opera Project, Opera NEO, and Aspen Music Festival. Mr. Suarez sang on the stage of The Metropolitan Opera as a 2014 National Semi-Finalist of The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Butler University and a master’s degree from the University of Illinois.
Anastasia Maillaras,  soprano,  makes her West Bay Opera company debut singing Nannetta in Falstaff. She is a versatile artist whose repertoire ranges from early music to contemporary works. She made her operatic debut in 2013 as Nannetta in Bay View Music Festival’s production of Falstaff. Since then, she has sung the roles of Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Héro (Béatrice et Bénédict), Despina (Così fan tutte), Marie (La fille du régiment), Belinda (Dido and Aeneas), Ruth Baldwin (Later That Same Evening), and Marie Astor Hampton in the the world premiere of Tesla. Previously, Anastasia was a studio artist at Central City Opera, a young artist at the iSing! International Young Artist Festival and a participant in the Young Artist Vocal Academy at Houston Grand Opera. She is a recipient of the Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan
Opera National Council Auditions-San Diego District, and the Sara de Mundo Lo Opera Award. She is the winner of the Shirley Rabb Winston Vocal Competition, the Greek Women’s University Club Competition, and the Thomas J. Smith Memorial Full-Tuition Scholarship Competition. Anastasia is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she received a Bachelor’s of Music in Vocal Performance, as well as a graduate of the University of Southern California where she received a Master’s of Music in Vocal Arts.
Michael P. Mendelsohn,  tenor, sings Dr. Cajus in Falstaff. He is a well-known character tenor in the San Francisco Bay Area. Previous appearances at West Bay Opera include Monostatos (The Magic Flute), Peter Quint (The Turn of the Screw), Sellem the Auctioneer (The Rake’s Progress), Pong (Turandot) and Maestro Spinelloccio (Gianni Schicchi).Other recent operatic engagements include the roles of The Devil (The Soldier’s Tale) and Pedrillo (Abduction from the Seraglio) with Pocket Opera of San Francisco, Monsieur Triquet (Eugene Onegin), Arturo and Nomanno (Lucia di Lammermoor) with Opera San Jose. He has also sung Roderigo in Otello, Tinca in Il tabarro, Mime in Das Rhinegold and the title roles in Bernstein’s Candide and Offenbach’s Bluebeard. Mr. Mendelsohn is also a Gong Show Winner.  
Michael Orlinsky, tenor, sings Bardolfo in Falstaff. He was first seen on the West Bay Opera stage as the Court Usher in Rigoletto. He has already performed over 60 roles. Mr. Orlinsky has sung primarily as a baritone, and has sung roles with many companies in Las Vegas, Chicago, and the Bay Area; including West Edge Opera, Livermore Valley Opera (LVO), West Bay Opera, Opera San Jose, Solo Opera, Island City Opera, Contemporary Opera Marin, the San Francisco Opera Guild (SFOG), The Lamplighters, Opera Cultura, Berkeley Chamber Opera, Pocket Opera and more. He has enjoyed singing such roles as Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor), Ford (Falstaff), and many more. Michael works often with new music as a composer and performer in classical and other styles. He is currently engaged to sing the role of Elder Gleaton in Susannah with Festival Opera in July, and is directing a staged premiere of William Webster’s The Little Match Girl in September. 
 
Kiril Havezov, baritone, returns to WBO to sing Pistola in Falstaff.   Most recently, WBO audiences saw him as Shaunard (La bohème). He has also performed Zuñiga (Carmen) and the title role in Gianni Schicchi as well in the roles of Don Fermando (Fidelio), Antonio (Le nozze di Figaro), Monterone (Rigoletto), Bonzo (Madama Butterfly), Second Soldier (Salome) and Talpa (Il tabarro). A native of Sofia, Bulgaria, Mr. Havezov has performed regularly with the largest opera theaters in Bulgaria, including Sofia National Opera, Bulgarian National Music Theatre among many others. In 2013 he sang the role of Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) in China for Opera Art Lirica. Since his debut on the American opera stage in 2014, he has performed with Opera San Jose, West Bay Opera, Livermore Valley Opera, New Opera NYC, Island City Opera and other Bay Area-based companies. Significant roles performed by Mr. Havezov over the last few years include Conte di Luna (Il trovatore), Renato (Un ballo in maschera), Zupan (The Gypsy Baron), Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), Belcore (L’elisir d’amore) and Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro) among others. 
Carmello Tringali, tenor, is understudy for Fenton in Falstaff.   He has been recently seen at West Bay Opera as Barbarigo and Fante (I due Foscari), Parpignol (La bohème), Remendado (Carmen), Jaquino (Fidelio), Flavio (Norma), Second Jew (Salome), Gherardo (Gianni Schicchi), the Song Seller and Lover (Il tabarro), Basilio and Don Curzio (Le nozze di Figaro). He made his West Bay Opera debut singing Borsa (Rigoletto) and he has also sung Triquet (Yevgeny Onegin). Carmello is a versatile performer and Bay Area native, taking on a wide variety of roles in terms of voice type, musical style and character. Other favorite roles include, Rodolfo (La bohème), the title roles in Candide and Faust, Ko-ko (The Mikado), Grosvenor (Patience) and Camille (The Merry Widow).  
Ana Paula Malagón, soprano, is understudy for Nanetta in Falstaff. She has performed the roles of Young Alyce in Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied (San Francisco Conservatory of Music), Carlitos in Lloyds Burritt’s Miracle Flight (What’s Next Music Festival), Yniold in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Suor Genovieffa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Lazuli in Chabrier’s L’étoile ( University of Montreal), and Maria in Bernstein’s West Side Story (Hillbarn Theater and Berkeley Playhouse). Ms. Malagón has performed in recitals with Unlimited Theater, Opera Parallèle and Taste of Talent in San Francisco. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Music from University of Montreal, and a Master’s degree in Voice Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She has been recipient of an Encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, The Edgar and Done Jones Scholarship, and The George Cedric Ferguson Scholarship.
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