Music That Tells a Story

Soprano TONI MARIE PALMERTREE is rapidly becoming recognized as one of America’s most riveting performers of Puccini and Verdi heroines. She has recently been heard on the stage of San Francisco Opera in the title role of Madama Butterfly; of her performance, Janos Gereben from San Francisco Classical Voice wrote: “The young soprano not only met the challenge, but she claimed her place among the finest vocal interpreters of the role heard here recently.” Other roles at San Francisco Opera include Nedda in I Pagliacci and Liù in Turandot. She also made her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in the 2019-20 season, stepping into the title role of Luisa Miller. Last season, she returned to the role of Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, both with West Bay Opera and with Lakeland Opera, and she also joined Arizona Opera as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. This season, she returns to the roster of The Metropolitan Opera to cover Tosca, a role which she then goes on to sing with the Princeton Festival. She is also seen in concert with Opera Delaware.
 

Soprano EMILY MARGEVICH is “a star in the making (Bachtrack), acclaimed for her “charismatic and commanding” performances (The New York Times). This “poised and fearless Prima Donna” (Musical America) has been on stage since age two, performing professionally in Musical Theatre throughout her childhood in the Midwest. Emily continues to earn praise as a “luminous soprano” (Wall Street Journal) with “a voice of liquid beauty” (Opera Magazine) that is “big and luxurious, with a cascading quality, like a bolt of silk dropped from a balcony” (Parterre). Now a Company Artist at OperaDelaware, Ms. Emily is most known for her portrayals of Tatyana, Musetta, and Donna Elvira.

To find out more about Toni Marie Palmertree and Emily Margevich's connection with OperaDelaware, visit the company artists' page at operade.org.

LUKE NORVELL is currently a fourth-year resident artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts, where he studies under the esteemed Bill Schuman. A gifted tenor, Mr. Norvell has been recognized for his "dramatic intensity and evenness of line, along with a big-house sense of amplitude" (Parterre Box). This season, Norvell performs the title role of Faust at AVA, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi with Opera Roanoke, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte in Philadelphia, and Mozart’s Requiem at the Irvine Memorial Chapel.  This summer, he will join the prestigious Internationale Meistersinger Akademie in Germany.

ROCHELLE ELLIS, D. M. A., is a Lecturer of Voice at Princeton University and recently retired after 28 years as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Voice at Westminster Choir College of Rider University. At Princeton, she teaches private studio voice and she teaches a class, Art Songs from the African Diaspora. As a performer, she has sung with leading conductors and venues around the world, including New York City Opera and Carnegie Hall. She is returning this summer as a Teaching Artist with the Princeton Festival.

Active in community outreach in music, Dr. Ellis is currently a Faculty Fellow with Trenton Arts at Princeton, a Saturday morning program in partnership with Trenton High School. Through the years, she has served as the New Jersey Governor for The National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), held master classes for VOICES Chorale, conducted a pre-concert lecture with composer Jasmine Barnes for Princeton Pro Musica, and at the Garden Theater for the premier screening of the movie, Chevalier. She taught frequently in the summer Westminster Conservatory High School and Middle School Vocal Institutes. She has also served as a vocal coach with Princeton Girlchoir and as an interim director with Trenton Children’s Chorus. The St. Louis native received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Voice from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, a Master of Music Education degree from Westminster Choir College of Rider University and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music.