Program

Whispers in the Dark | Samuel Scheele (b. 2000) 

Librettist: Jonathan D. Kroeger 
Director: Keith Phares
Pianist: Kevin Bylsma  

Ellie: Carolyn Anderson
Thomas: Keith Phares
Nox: Katherine Pracht Phares  

Synopsis:
“Whispers in the Dark” is a dramatic and metaphoric retelling of the sexual revolution told through the lens of the classic confrontation scene in F. W. Murnau’s 1922 “Nosferatu,” and subsequently Robert Egger’s 2024 film of the same name. The operatic piece in two scenes focuses on themes of breaking of normalcy, sexual repression, and the misogyny of the “Golden Age of America” as well as the “Swinging Sixties.”   

Aptly set in the 1960s, this piece follows Ellie, a forward thinking young woman; Thomas, her stubborn and traditionalist husband; and Nox, a mysterious neighbor with a terrifying secret. As the piece progresses, Ellie pleads with her husband about her growing paranoia. Her fears are left unanswered by an unwavering husband. Through her trials, she grows to be independent, strong, and revolutionary in her own way, ultimately leaving Thomas to find herself. The opera ends open-ended, unsure of what the future holds.   

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The Silence of Ezra Pound | Elijah Stewart (b. 2003) 

Librettist: N.V. Finley
Director: Katherine Pracht Phares
Pianist: Kevin Bylsma  

Ezra Pound: Keith Phares
Poet: Carolyn Anderson  

Synopsis:
Ezra Pound was one of the most influential literary figures of the 20th century. A celebrated poet in his own right, Pound was also a consequential magazine editor who introduced several important authors to a broad audience. Though born in the US, Pound became a fascist and in 1923 moved to Italy, where he broadcast hundreds of pro-Axis radio messages throughout World War II.  

After the war, Pound was arrested and sent back to the US on charges of treason. Attending psychiatrists, however, pronounced him mentally unfit for trial and had him transferred to St. Elizabeths Psychiatric Hospital in Washington DC. Throughout the next 12 years of confinement, Pound was given great freedom in receiving visitors, including world-famous literary figures, young poets and even complete unknowns. This opera presents a fictional encounter at St. Elizabeths between Pound and an unnamed former associate (called simply ‘The Poet’) who doubts that Pound is truly insane.  

Following his release in 1958, Pound spent most of the remainder of his life in unexplained and almost complete silence. He died in Venice in 1972. 

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Attached is your invoice | Zac Flasch (b. 1999) 

Librettist: Zac Flasch
Director: Carolyn Anderson
Pianist: Kevin Bylsma  

Marlowe: Carolyn Anderson
Dr. Bietz: Keith Phares
Director: Katherine Pracht Phares  

Synopsis:
Set in the present day, Marlowe is an American graduate student studying music composition. She learns of her acceptance to a summer festival in Vienna. Upon examining the details with her studio teacher, Dr. Bietz, she begins to question the director’s motives when she is being charged thousands of dollars to secure her spot in the festival. She laments her situation in song and decides to pay for one of the festivals anyway, thinking that she needs to take the opportunity as it will look good on her resume. After traveling overseas, and hearing her composition performed poorly, she returns to Dr. Bietz’s office the following semester wondering why she went to all these lengths to get her music performed when she could’ve just asked her friends instead. She receives an email from the director apologizing for the disappointment, only to realize there is an invoice attached to the email granting her admission to next year’s festival with a slight discount.

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Special Thanks

To Keith Hofacker for scheduling our dress rehearsals to accommodate our team.  

To Alex Smith for running the lights for our performance.  

To Michael Laurello and Recording Services for recording our performance. 

To the composition faculty for their support and investment in this project and our talented students. 

To Dr. Marilyn Shrude for special support to our composers, the coordinator, and the MicroOperas program at BGSU.

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Biographies

Carolyn Anderson is a 4^th year doctoral student at Bowling Green State University’s contemporary music program, specializing in voice performance. Ms. Anderson has participated in MicroOperas program for 6 seasons, premiering 8 roles, directing 4 productions, and has been the program’s coordinator for the last two years. Ms. Anderson has performed with Toledo Opera, The Toledo Symphony, The Toledo Museum of Art, and the Mid-American Center for Contemporary Music. Recent roles include The First Lady (The Magic Flute), The Fairy Godmother (Viardot’s Cendrillion), and La Novizia (Suor Angelica). Recent awards include 1^st place in the 2022 Marjorie Conrad Art Song Competition with collaborative pianist Steven Naylor, and 3^rd place in the Great Lakes Region NATS Competition. As a teacher, Ms. Anderson has been a course instructor and voice teacher at BGSU, a private lesson instructor at Toledo School for the Arts, and a Teaching Assistant and Guest Artist/Lecturer at Interlochen Center for the Arts. Last year, she produced/directed her first opera film, a film adaptation of Jonathan D. Kroeger’s MicroOpera Matchless in collaboration with PRAECEPTA as part of their 2025 Mini-Festival. She is under the tutelage of mezzo-soprano Katherine Pracht-Phares. She received her Master of Music at BGSU and her Bachelor of Music at Oberlin Conservatory.

Kevin J. Bylsma is the Associate Teaching Professor, Coordinator of Opera, and Vocal Coach for the College of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University. In addition, he serves Toledo Opera as Artistic Director and Chorus Master. Active as an organist, recitalist, and conductor, Mr. Bylsma is the Organist of the Historic Mariners’ Church of Detroit, and the Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Ann Arbor Festival of Song. Kevin resides in Toledo’s Old West End neighborhood with his cat, Little Dickens, who weighs 28 pounds!

The music of American composer Zac Flasch is multifaceted, encompassing a wide range of musical and aesthetic approaches that aim to captivate listeners and evoke profound emotional responses. Drawing inspiration from liturgical, folk, and jazz music, his compositions meticulously blend elements of traditional and experimental music to create unique sonic experiences. Rooted in a deep appreciation for narrative and the Christian faith, his music strives to delve into the depths of human experience and shed light on the universal aspects of the human condition. His portfolio includes choral, chamber, orchestral, and electroacoustic music. His music has been performed in the U.S. and internationally by university ensembles, church choirs, and contemporary artists and ensembles including Laurent Estoppey, The Galan Trio, Ensemble Concept/21, the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and Quince Ensemble. He holds a B.M. in Composition from Valparaiso University and is currently pursuing a M.M. in Composition at Bowling Green State University.  

For over 20 years, in repertoire from Baroque through present day, Keith Phares has appeared in leading roles with Washington National Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera, the New York City Opera, Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, São Paolo Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and elsewhere; in collaboration with Hal Prince, Francesca Zambello, Frank Corsaro, Richard Hickox, Marin Alsop, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Thomas Allen, among others; and in recital with the Marilyn Horne Foundation, The American Modern Ensemble, WordSong, Illuminarts, LyricFest and Brooklyn Art Song Society. Highlights from the 2023-2024 season include Paterson’s and Cote’s In Real Life with Mostly Modern Festival – The Netherlands, the premiere of Hilliard & Boresi’s monodrama Inbox Zero in a staged reading with UrbanArias, Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls with Charlottesville Opera, and a return to Toledo Opera as Dandini in La Cenerentola. In the summer of 2024,  he reprised the role of Sky Masterson at Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre, and in the spring of 2025 he returned to Toledo Opera as Emile in South Pacific. In recent seasons, he sang Danilo with Toledo Opera, Ty in the premiere of Kuster’s and Campbell’s A Thousand Acres with Des Moines Metro Opera marking the company’s 50th Anniversary season, Fredrik Egerman opposite Patricia Racette in Arizona Opera’s A Little Night Music, Robert Cohen’s Alzheimer’s Stories at Carnegie Hall, the premiere of Herschel Garfein’s King of the River with the American Modern Ensemble, and Daddy Lowell/Mr. Floyd in Borzoni’s and de los Santos’s The Copper Queen film (premiere) with Arizona Opera. An ardent exponent of contemporary American opera, Phares sang Kynaston on the Grammy-nominated recording of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players, Charlie in the premiere and recording of Heggie's and Scheer’s​ Three Decembers with Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera, the Father in the premiere and recording of Spears’s and Walat’s ​Paul's Case​, Dr. Ludwig Binswanger in the premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's ​Ellen West​, Elder Tull in the premiere of Bohmler’s and Kohn’s Riders of the Purple Sage with Arizona Opera,  Hurstwood in the premiere and recording of Aldridge's and Garfein’s Sister Carrie and the title role in the premiere and Grammy-winning recording of Aldridge's and Garfein’s ​Elmer Gantry. Keith Phares is an Assistant Professor of Voice at BGSU. 

Mezzo-soprano Katherine Pracht has established herself as a leading opera-singing actress, performing with prominent companies such as Virginia Opera, Central City Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Opera Philadelphia, Florentine Opera, Madison Opera, West Edge Opera, and Opera on the Avalon (Newfoundland). Pracht's repertoire spans from Baroque to contemporary American opera, with a focus on new works. She has sung over 30 roles composed after 1945, including the world premiere of Laura Kaminsky's and Lisa Moore’s February. Other notable contemporary highlights include the title role in Kevin Puts’ Elizabeth Cree, Madeline Mitchell in Jake Heggie's Three Decembers; Mary Johnson in Fellow Travelers, Anna Maurrant in Street Scene, Lady Wang in Dream of the Red Chamber, Sharon Falconer in Elmer Gantry, Jo and Meg March in Adamo's Little Women, Miss Jessel Britten's The Turn of the Screw, and Kate in Owen Wingrave, and Charlotte in Sondheim's A Little Night Music. Ms. Pracht participated in numerous workshops for new operas, including Nu Nah-Hup, The Road to Wellville, Bulrusher, A Thousand Splendid Suns, We Shall Not be Moved, The News from Poems, The Scarlet Professor, and Rev 23. Additional world premiere performances include Joseph Summer's Hamlet and The Tempest, Kirke Mechem's The Rivals, and Christopher Dietz's Dignity. Ms. Pracht has two roles coming this season: Commanding Officer’s Wife in Aleksandra Vrebalov’s contemporary opera The Knock at Central City Opera this summer, and Mary Heaster in the world premiere of Scott Gendel’s Everlasting Faint at Madison Opera in Jan - Feb, 2026. Pracht will finish her Doctorate in Contemporary Music this summer at Bowling Green State University, where she joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Voice in 2023.  

Samuel Scheele is a composer and performer currently studying for a Master's degree in composition at Bowling Green State University. Originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, he completed his undergraduate studies at Goshen College, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Music with a minor in history. Samuel’s musical journey includes performances with several ensembles, such as the Fort Wayne Youth Symphony, Three Rivers Honor Band, Goshen College Symphonic Orchestra, Jazz Band, and Chamber Choir, as well as the BGSU Men’s Chorus and Collegiate Chorale. These experiences have enriched his versatile approach to composition and performance, blending his love for contemporary music with a variety of genres. Samuel's academic and musical pursuits demonstrate his passion for the practice of all music, allowing him to contribute meaningfully to the contemporary music scene.  

Elijah Stewart is a composer and performer from Huntsville, Alabama, whose work explores the fluid intersections of rock, jazz, and electronic music, forging a rich sonic landscape that challenges aesthetic and ideological boundaries. His work is inherently political, rejecting complacency while confronting the entanglements of art, power, and resistance. Notable works include Susurrus, premiered by Tacet(i) ensemble in Bangkok, Thailand, and The Silence of Ezra Pound, a micro-opera interrogating the tension between insanity and guilt. Beyond concert music, Stewart is the frontman, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band One Billion Lions, set to release their debut record this summer. Stewart will graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Composition from Bowling Green State University this spring.