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<span style="font-weight: 700;">Opera under the Stars<br>
Saturday, June 21, 2025 – 7:00 pm<br>
Uptown Park, Medina, OH</span></div>
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Ohio Regional Music Arts and Cultural Outreach (ORMACO) continues its summer concert series with Opera under the Stars featuring regional opera professionals on Saturday, June 21, 2025 at 7 pm. Enjoy some of your favorite opera tunes, as well as lesser-known
works and beloved melodies from operettas and musicals.</div>
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Bring your lawn chairs, blankets and picnics to enjoy this free concert. In the event of rain, the concert will be held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 317 E. Liberty Street, Medina, OH 44256. For more information, call 419-853-6016.</div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;">About The Artists</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;">Marian Vogel (Lyric Soprano)</span></div>
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Hailed as, “thrilling” ,“surprisingly powerful”, and “bursting with dramatic intensity”, lyric soprano, Marian Vogel has been recognized as a gifted performer both on the concert and on the operatic stage. She debuted in Carnegie Hall under the baton of composer/conductor
John Rutter performing Mozart’s <i>Requiem</i> and Rutter’s <i>Magnificat</i>. Marian has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall and on their recent European tour to Vienna and Luxembourg performing in
<i>The Cunning Little Vixen</i>. Other notable concert appearances include the complete
<i>Egmont Incidental</i> <i>Music </i>of Beethoven, the <i>Requiems</i> of Verdi, Brahms, Mozart, Faure and Rutter,
<i>The Peacemakers </i>(Jenkins), <i>The Seasons</i> (Haydn), Haydn’s <i>Mass in Time of War</i>, Beethoven’s
<i>Ninth Symphony</i>, Mahler’s <i>Symphony No. 4</i>, Bach’s <i>Cantata No. 191</i>, Rossini’s
<i>La</i> <i>Petite Solenelle</i>, Mozart’s <i>Regina Coeli, Exsultate Jubilate</i> and
<i>Grand Mass in C Minor</i>, Poulenc’s <i>Gloria</i>, Berlioz’s <i>Les Nuits d’ Ete</i>, Barber’s
<i>Knoxville Summer of 1915</i>, Strauss’ <i>Four Last Songs</i>, a Concert Suite from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and Orff’s
<i>Carmina Burana</i>.</div>
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A versatile performer, Marian has performed such roles as Mimi and Musetta (<i>La</i> <i>Boheme</i>), Susanna (<i>Le Nozze di Figaro</i>), Zerlina (<i>Don Giovanni</i>), Pamina (<i>The Magic</i> <i>Flute</i>), Gretel (<i>Hansel and Gretel</i>), the Mother (<i>Amahl
and the Night Visitors</i>) and a wealth of Gilbert and Sullivan heroines such as Josephine (<i>H.M.S. Pinafore</i>) , Yum Yum (<i>Mikado</i>) and Patience (<i>Patience</i>). Described as “exquisite”, “vocally alluring”, and “irresistible“, Marian has toured
extensively as a soloist, both in the United States and in Europe. Ms. Vogel is a two-time first prize winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council District Auditions and the winner of the Belle O. Morse Young Artist Award given by Cleveland Opera and
is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. Marian Vogel Fletcher resides in Medina with her husband David and their three children, Anna, Jack and Sam.</div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;">Laura Best</span></div>
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Laura Best (mezzo-soprano) has performed a wide variety of opera and musical theater roles over the years with various companies including Great Lakes Light Opera, Actors’ Summit Theatre, Canton Comic Opera Company, Weathervane Playhouse and The Carousel Dinner
Theatre. Laura regularly steps in as a cantor, soloist and section leader throughout area churches. For three consecutive years, she was honored to co-host the Carnegie Hall Link Up programs “The Orchestra Sings” and “The Orchestra Moves”at The Akron Civic
Theatre with The Akron Symphony Orchestra and various school districts throughout Northeast Ohio.</div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;">Brian Keith Johnson (Lyric Baritone)</span> has performed many roles in opera from Figaro in
<i>Il barbiere di Siviglia</i> to Ford in <i>Falstaff</i>. As a member of Actors’ Equity Association, he has also performed a variety of musical theatre roles ranging from Jim in
<i>Big River</i> to Father/God in <i>Children of Eden</i>. His concert repertoire includes most of the major baritone works such as
<i>Carmina Burana</i>, <i>Elijah</i>, Verdi’s <i>Requiem</i>, Beethoven’s <i>Ninth</i> <i>Symphony</i>, Brahms’
<i>Requiem</i> and Faure’s <i>Requiem</i>. Brian has performed operatic and musical theatre roles across the United States including performances with The Cleveland Orchestra, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Canton Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Opera, Lyric Opera
Cleveland, Blossom Festival Orchestra, Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh, Opera Western Reserve, Carolina Master Chorale, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and Porthouse Theatre. He received his Bachelor of Music Degree from The University of Akron and has also studied
abroad at The New Opera Academy of Rome in Rome, Italy, and The American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Brian lives in Cuyahoga Falls with his wife and Akron Public Schools Kindergarten Teacher, Susan. Brian is also an avid motorcyclist.</div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;">Karen Prasser (Accompanist)</span></div>
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Karen Prasser is the Executive Director of Chagrin Arts, a position she has held for six years. She also serves as a collaborative pianist at Kent State University Hugh A. Glauser School of Music, and Music Director at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church (Solon).
Her extensive experience in arts administration and management includes serving as Executive Director of Summit Choral Society, Solon Center for the Arts and The Children’s Museum of Cleveland, and marketing director at Cleveland Ballet, Great Lakes Theatre
Festival and the Wheeling Symphony. However, Karen is first and foremost a musician. She has served as pianist and conductor for opera and ballet companies including Michigan Opera Theater, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Fort Worth Opera, Dallas Opera, Western
Opera Theatre, Lake George Opera Festival, Artpark, Orlando Opera Company, Augusta Opera, New Orleans Opera, Skylight Comic Opera, Richmond Ballet and the Edinburgh International Music Festival. Karen earned her Master of Music in piano accompanying from Cincinnati
College-Conservatory of Music and her Bachelor of Music in both piano and voice from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.</div>
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