Macbeth
Music by Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and Andrea Maffei
Conducted by David Angus | Directed by Steve Maler
Emerson Colonial Theatre
Friday, October 10 | 7:30pm
Sunday, October 12 | 3:00pm
Running time: 2 hours with one 20-minute intermission
Power. Prophecy. Paranoia. Verdi’s Macbeth grapples with fate—and pays the price.
Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy becomes a psychological battleground examining the catastrophic consequences of war. Seduced by ambition, a power-hungry couple claw their way to the throne—only to find their aspirations twisted into madness. Giuseppe Verdi’s career-defining music underscores their ruthless ascent. This is opera at its most thrilling: a blazing struggle with fate’s cruel grip.
This gripping production comes to life under the baton of David Angus (BLO Music Director) and the direction of Steve Maler (Founding Artistic Director of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company). The cast features powerhouse performances from Norman Garrett (Macbeth), Alexandra LoBianco (Lady Macbeth), David Junghoon Kim (Macduff), and Zaikuan Song (Banquo).
Norman Garrett | Macbeth
American baritone Norman Garrett will return to the Metropolitan Opera in 2025/26 to perform Jim in Porgy and Bess, also performing Crown in Porgy and Bess with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and in concert, Carmina Burana with Boise Philharmonic and The Epic of Gilgamesh with Bard SummerScape. Recently, Garrett returned to Washington National Opera as Crown in Porgy and Bess, sang The Reverend in Blue with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, debuted at San Francisco Opera singing Abdul and Abe in Omar, returned to LA Opera as Bob in William Grant Still’s Highway 1, USA, performed Masetto in Don Giovanni with Houston Grand Opera, sang Jochanaan in Salome with Des Moines Metro Opera, and debuted as Macbeth with Opera Orlando. Concert appearances included Carmina Burana with Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Phoenix Symphony, and selections from Fire Shut Up in my Bones with composer Terence Blanchard at Purdue University and the Krannert Center in Urbana, Illinois.
Alexandra LoBianco | Lady Macbeth
American soprano Alexandra LoBianco has established herself as a dramatic soprano of distinctive versatility, musicality, and consistency. Her current season will see performances of Leonora in Il trovatore with Opera Colorado and concert appearances with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. LoBianco has performed with numerous opera companies of note, taking on some of the most challenging roles in the repertoire. Career highlights include Leonore in Fidelio with the Vienna State Opera and North Carolina Opera, Brünnhilde in Die Walküre and Siegfried with Seattle Opera and North Carolina Opera, Minnie in La fanciulla del West with Des Moines Metro Opera, and the title role in Turandot with Des Moines Metro Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and Maryland Lyric Opera. She has also appeared as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana with Seattle Opera, Alice Ford in Falstaff with Santa Fe Opera, and Marianne Leitmetzerin in Der Rosenkavalier at The Metropolitan Opera, featured in the Met’s Live in HD broadcast series. She has also performed Chrysothemis and the Fourth Maid in Elektra and Helmwige in Die Walküre at Lyric Opera of Chicago, the title role in Tosca at both North Carolina Opera and Minnesota Opera, and Amelia in Un ballo in maschera at Florida Grand Opera.
David Junghoon Kim | Macduff
An alumnus of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, Korean tenor David Junghoon Kim is a winner of the Francisco Viñas, Voci Verdiane, and Toulouse singing competitions. Notable roles include: Alfredo, La traviata in Cologne; Macduff, Macbeth, Royal Ballet and Opera and Zürich Opera; Rodolfo, La bohème in Zürich, Stuttgart, English National Opera, and Royal Ballet and Opera; Prince, Rusalka, Opera Nice Côte d’Azur; Don Carlos, Don Carlos, Staatsoper Stuttgart; and Leone de Casaldi in concert performances of the world premiere of L’Ange de Nisida, Royal Ballet and Opera. In the 2024/25 season, Junghoon Kim makes his house debut as Cavaradossi, Tosca, Royal Swedish Opera; sings Rodolfo, La bohème, Seoul Metropolitan Opera; and sings Ruggero, La rondine, Volksoper Wien. He also made his debut at the BBC Proms with the BBC Philharmonic singing Verdi’s Requiem. A graduate of Seoul National University, he joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme from 2015-17, where his roles included Italian Singer, Der Rosenkavalier; Venditore, Il tabarro; Arturo, Lucia di Lammermoor (also covering Edgardo); Ruiz, Il trovatore; Flavio, Norma; Nathanael, Les contes d’Hoffmann; Lamplighter, Manon Lescaut; Gastone, La traviata; Augustin Moser, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; Count Lerma and Herald, Don Carlo; and Pong, Turandot.
Zaikuan Song | Banquo
Bass Zaikuan Song is known for his majestic tone, expressive depth, and commanding presence on the operatic stage. He has earned acclaim for his portrayals of Sarastro, Die Zauberflöte; Banquo, Macbeth; Raimondo, Lucia di Lammermoor; Commendatore, Don Giovanni; Colline, La bohème; Timur, Turandot; and both Ramfis and The King in Aida. Mr. Song has appeared with leading opera companies across the United States, including Houston Grand Opera, Utah Opera, Opera Tampa, Opera Carolina, Opera Delaware, Opera Orlando, Opera Grand Rapids, Opera Southwest, Toledo Opera, and Opera on the James. His repertoire spans works by Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, and Donizetti, showcasing his versatility across both comic and dramatic bass roles. As a concert soloist, he has performed Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and Handel’s Messiah with ensembles such as the Pacific Symphony, Fairbanks Symphony, National Philharmonic, and Duke University Chapel Music. A Metropolitan Opera National Council Midwest Region Finalist and National NATS First Prize Winner, Mr. Song holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University, as well as master’s and bachelor’s degrees in vocal performance from the China Conservatory of Music.
Omar Najmi | Malcolm
GRAMMY®-nominated tenor and composer Omar Najmi has appeared regularly with Boston Lyric Opera. Recent BLO roles include Enoch Snow in Carousel, Valcour in The Anonymous Lover, Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet, Beppe in Pagliacci, and Nick in The Handmaid’s Tale. Other recent and upcoming credits include: Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw, Spoleto Festival; Simon in Adoration, LA Opera; Demler in Frederick Douglass, Odyssey Opera; Handel’s Messiah, Boston Baroque and Seattle Symphony; Ruggero in La rondine, Opera on the James; Alessandro in Il re pastore; Orpheus PDX; and Shakur in Thumbprint, Portland Opera. As a composer, Najmi was a 2025 participant in Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative, where his and librettist Christine Evans’ opera Mud Girl was premiered at The Kennedy Center. His and librettist Cailin Smith’s opera The Elevator Trial will be premiered in 2026 by Boston Opera Collaborative. He has also had works commissioned by Boston Lyric Opera, Atlanta Opera, White Snake Projects, Juventas New Music Ensemble, and Emmanuel Music.
Vera Savage | Lady in Waiting
Vera Savage’s recent seasons included a last-minute jump-in, at eight months pregnant, to the role of Big Stone in Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice. She was also seen onstage with BLO in the role of Kate Pinkerton in the award-winning 2022 production of Madame Butterfly. Savage performs regularly with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and was recently seen as Flora in the Symphony Hall production of La traviata. She sang the role of Nada in the critically acclaimed movie of the opera Svadba, a joint production between Opera Philadelphia and Boston Lyric Opera.
Savage has performed with numerous opera companies, festivals, and orchestras across the United States, including Opera Saratoga, Houston’s Opera in the Heights, Florentine Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, Opera on the James, and Seiji Ozawa Hall at the Tanglewood Institute. She is featured on the albums Music to Hear and Who is Sylvia by the Shakespeare Projects.
Savage lives in the Metrowest Boston area with her husband, three children, and corgi. She is an Associate Professor of Voice at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Devon Russo | Doctor
Bass-baritone Devon Russo performs frequently as a soloist and ensemble member in opera, contemporary music, and early music throughout the United States and abroad. He has performed with The Metropolitan Opera, Handel & Haydn Society, Boston Lyric Opera, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Seraphic Fire, Boston Baroque, Trinity Repertory Company, the Chorus of Westerly, and the Rhode Island Civic Chorale. He is also a current choral fellow at Marsh Chapel and is the 2023 winner of the American Prize in Voice (Friedrich & Virginia Schorr Memorial Award Men’s Division). He has participated in the Internationalen Sommerakademie am Mozarteum Salzburg, Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, Source Song Festival, Orford Musique, Voces8 Scholars Programme, Aspen Music Festival & School, and the Boston Early Music Festival Young Artist Program. Russo earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts from Boston University, his master’s degree in vocal performance from the Manhattan School of Music, and bachelor’s degree in vocal performance and education from the University of Rhode Island. Russo is currently an Artist-Teacher in Classical Voice and director of Opera Theatre at the University of Rhode Island; he is also the Director of Choral Activities at Bryant University. www.devonrusso.com
Léon Jerfita | Duncan
Léon A. Jerfita is a professional Deaf actor and Director of Artistic Sign Language (DASL). He is honored to appear with Boston Lyric Opera in Macbeth as King Duncan. Recent stage credits include Professor/Wizard in The Wizard of Oz with Open Door Theater; Ensemble in Legally Blonde, Ancestors/Grim Reaper Addams in The Addams Family, and Grandpa in You Can’t Take It With You with Exit 7 Players; and General Schmitz in Seussical with Unity Players. Additional performances include Seacoal/First Watchman in Much Ado About Nothing, Adult Male in Spring Awakening, Ensemble in Sweeney Todd, Ensemble in The Wedding Singer, and Polo in Spontaneous Combustion. As Director of Artistic Sign Language, he has collaborated on The Winter’s Tale with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and Once Upon a Mattress with Exit 7 Players. He has also provided ASL interpretation for She Kills Monsters with Exit 7 Players and Scheherazade & Borodin: Arabian Nights with Boston Landmarks Orchestra. Jerfita is fluent in both American and French Sign Language and trained in music and theatre interpreting through MassRID workshops. He brings to his work a passion for bridging theatre and the Deaf community, ensuring equal access to the arts.
Zizhao Wang | First Apparition, Assassin, Herald, Valet
Chinese-born bass-baritone Zizhao Wang is a current Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera, where he appeared in Concert in the Courtyard, covered the Cosmic Weatherman in the world premiere of The Seasons, and performed as the Third Man/Baritone Soloist/Sailor in Carousel during the 2024/25 season. In the 2025/26 season with BLO, Wang will sing First Apparition and Assassin/Herald/Valet in Verdi’s Macbeth. He also returns to Houston for the 2026 revival of The Big Swim, a co-production of Houston Grand Opera and Asia Society Texas. As a Resident Artist at the 2025 Glimmerglass Festival, he performed the roles of Bum Man, Munch, and Tree in the world premiere of The House on Mango Street, as well as covering the Sacristan and Jailer in Tosca. Wang was awarded second place in the New England Regional Finals of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in 2019. His recent roles include Tiger & Rooster, The Big Swim, Houston Grand Opera / Asia Society Texas; Bartolo, Le nozze di Figaro, Knoxville Opera; Martino, L’occasione fa il ladro, Opera Southwest; Colline, La bohème, New England Conservatory; Imperial Commissioner, Madama Butterfly, Virginia Opera; and Yang Yaozu, Country & Home, Chinese National Opera Festival.
Angela Yam | Second Apparition
Angela Yam returns as a BLO Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist for the 2025/26 Season as Second Apparition in Macbeth and Hortensia in Daughter of the Regiment, also covering Marie. Her debut as Ismene in BLO’s 2024 production of Mitridate was awarded the Boston Globe’s Best Breakout Performance in a Supporting Role and featured on the cover of Opera Magazine. Her 2024/25 season included the title role in La Calisto, Opera Memphis; Liesgen, Coffee Cantata, Boston Baroque and North Star Baroque; Horse and Rabbit, The Big Swim, Asia Society Texas/Houston Grand Opera; and Heavenly Friend 1 and Carrie Pipperidge (cover), Carousel, Boston Lyric Opera. Past roles include Johanna, Sweeney Todd, Chautauqua Opera and Opera Saratoga; Josephine Young (cover), An American Soldier, PAC NYC; Cobweb, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Santa Fe Opera; and Diana, Iphigénie en Tauride, Boston Baroque. Yam was a New York City District winner in the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and her self-directed visual recital was awarded 3rd place in the 2022 American Prize Competition. As a composer, Yam’s output includes art songs, chamber/dance works, and operas for Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, Catalyst New Music, Boston Opera Collaborative, songSLAM NYC, Robert Moses’ Kin, SMFA at Tufts, and DREAMGLOW.
Josie Larsen | Third Apparition
Josie Larsen, a student of Bradley Williams, is a lyric soprano from Sammamish, Washington, joining Boston Lyric Opera as a Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist for the 2025/26 Season. She is thrilled to have performed as Annunciata in Bolcom’s Lucrezia, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Elaine in Musto’s Later the Same Evening, Rosalinda in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème, and the Governess in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw. Additionally, she has covered Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Music Academy of the West and the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro at the Aspen Music Festival. Her concert work includes performances of the Brahms Requiem, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, and Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 by Villa-Lobos, as well as “From Jewish Folk Poetry” as part of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Decoding Shostakovich series. Larsen completed her bachelor’s degree at Brigham Young University in 2021, her master’s degree at the New England Conservatory in 2023, and her Artist Diploma also at the New England Conservatory in 2025. Larsen’s greatest joy in music is connecting people across many languages and cultures in a common musical experience.
Quinn Murphy | Fleance
Quinn Murphy is honored to make his opera debut with Boston Lyric Opera. Regional credits include Leopoldstadt at The Huntington, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, A Christmas Carol and Full Monty at North Shore Music Theatre, and Ragtime: The Symphonic Concert at Boston Symphony Hall. Murphy has performed in youth shows with New England School of Performing Arts, North Shore Music Theatre, Greater Boston Stage Company, Stage 284, and The Five Star Theatre Company. He studies voice with Noel Smith Voice Studio.
David Angus | Conductor
Now in his sixteenth year as Boston Lyric Opera’s music director, Anglo-Danish conductor David Angus recently served as music director and conductor for BLO’s 80th-anniversary revival of Carousel, directed by Anne Bogart. Other highlights of his BLO career include a new production of Mitridate, the critically acclaimed online productions of desert in and The Fall of the House of Usher, BLO’s backwards La bohème, and Anne Bogart’s striking production of Bluebeard’s Castle | Four Songs. In addition to his work with BLO, he conducted a new Sweeney Todd at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, The Marriage of Figaro in Prague, and several recordings of new American works with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Prior to BLO, Angus was music director of The Glimmerglass Festival and Chief Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Flanders. He has led orchestras and choirs throughout Europe, particularly in Scandinavia, including the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and several Danish orchestras. He has conducted most of the major orchestras in Great Britain, including the London Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, most of the BBC orchestras, the London Mozart Players, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He has also conducted the Toscanini Orchestra in Parma, the Porto Symphony Orchestra in Portugal, Wexford Festival Opera, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the LPO, and the Huddersfield Choral Society, as well as his former orchestra in Belgium. Angus was a boy chorister at King’s College under Sir David Willcocks and read music at Surrey University. He was a conducting fellow at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where he won several prizes for opera conducting.
Steve Maler | Director
Steven Maler is the Founding Artistic Director of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC), where he has been directing free Shakespeare on the Common productions since 1996. He directed Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet for Boston Lyric Opera in 2023. In collaboration with Google, he adapted and directed a first-of-its-kind virtual reality film, Hamlet 360: Thy Father’s Spirit. Other CSC credits include Birdy, Death and the Maiden, Our American Hamlet (world premiere), The Last Will (world premiere), and one-night-only readings featuring performers like Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Paul Rudd, Blair Brown, and Tony Shalhoub. Other theatre credits include The Turn of the Screw, New Repertory Theatre; Santaland Diaries and Porcelain, SpeakEasy Stage Company; Top Girls and Weldon Rising, Coyote Theatre; and The L.A. Plays, A.R.T. His production of Without You had a critically acclaimed six-month run off-Broadway and played across multiple continents. Opera credits include Maria, Regina D’Inghilterra, Odyssey Opera; and Angels in America and Powder Her Face, Opera Boston. In collaboration with Boston Landmarks Orchestra, he directed Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and concert stagings of The Boys from Syracuse and Kiss Me, Kate. He received the prestigious Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence, as well as for Best Production, Twelfth Night; Outstanding Director, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Best Production, Suburbia; and Best Solo Performance, Starf***ers. His feature film The Autumn Heart was in the Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival.
Amy Rubin | Set Designer
Amy Rubin is a designer of environments for theatre, opera, and dance. Recent designs include Omar for Boston Lyric Opera, LA Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Spoleto Festival; Romeo & Juliet for American Repertory Theater; Highway 1 for LA Opera; Orpheus Descending for Theatre for a New Audience; Lucy for Audible Theater; The Snowy Day for Houston Grand Opera; Blue for Michigan Opera Theatre; Aging Magician for New Victory Theater; Most Happy for Williamstown Theatre Festival; Octet for Signature Theatre; Cyrano with music by The National for The New Group; Thom Pain (based on nothing) for Signature Theatre; Gloria: A Life for Daryl Roth Theatre and American Repertory Theater; Miles for Mary for Playwrights Horizons; and Acquanetta for Prototype Festival.
Amanda Gladu | Costume Designer
Amanda Gladu is a New York City-based costume designer working in theatre, dance, opera, and film. Select recent projects include Lunch Dances, Monica Bill Barnes & Company; Scales on the Wings of a Butterfly, BalletX; The Ghosts of Versailles, The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University; Silent Light, National Sawdust; Threshold, PARA.MAR Dance Theatre; and Peerless, 59 E 59 Theaters. Upcoming projects include Amadeus, Steppenwolf Theatre Company; and La Passion de Simone, Curtis Institute of Music. Gladu will be Special Visiting Faculty in Costume Design at Carnegie Mellon University in the 2025/26 academic year. She holds an MFA from Northwestern University and a BA from University of Texas at Austin.
Eric Southern | Lighting Designer
Eric Southern is an Obie Award-winning designer working in theatre, opera, music, and dance. His designs have been seen internationally in London, Paris, Avignon, Tokyo, Seoul, Athens, Australia, Hanover, Zurich, and Romania. He is a longtime collaborator with the theatre group 600 HIGHWAYMEN, where he has collaborated on many projects that have extensively toured throughout the U.S. and internationally. He has close collaborations with many avant-garde performance makers such as Suzanne Bocanegra, Heidi Rodewald, David Lang, Susan Marshall, The Civilians, Collaboration Town, Up Until Now Collective, Lemon Bucket Orkestra, Bedlam Theatre, Michael Gordon, Alarm Will Sound, The Crossing Choir, Julie Wolfe, and SO Percussion, among others. With a focus on new work, he has designed many world premiere plays at numerous theatre companies including Lincoln Center, The Goodman, BAM, MTC, The New Group, Rattlestick Theater, Primary Stages, La Mama, Atlantic Theater Company, Center Theatre Group, and The Guthrie, among others. In opera and music, he has designed for Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, The Harris Theater, Prototype Festival, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He received both his BFA and MFA at NYU and teaches in the MFA Stage Design program at Northwestern University.
Tom Watson | Wig & Makeup Designer
Tom Watson headed the wig/makeup department at the Metropolitan Opera for 17 years. He returns to Boston Lyric Opera in 2025/26 for Macbeth, having most recently designed for The Handmaid’s Tale in 2019, as well as working on other shows for the company in the 1990s. He has also designed for more than 100 Broadway productions. His design work includes Wicked, Rock of Ages, The King & I, Fiddler on the Roof, Oslo, Falsettos, The Little Foxes, My Fair Lady, Plaza Suite, Parade, the Spamalot revival, Just In Time, and Floyd Collins.
Angie Jepson | Intimacy Director, Fight Choreographer
Angie Jepson is an intimacy director, fight choreographer, and professor based in the Boston area. She is thrilled to return to the BLO after serving as the fight choreographer and intimacy director for Mitridate and Carousel, as well as the intimacy director on The Anonymous Lover, La Cenerentola, and Bluebeard’s Castle | Four Songs. Her fight and intimacy work has been seen onstage at theaters including the Manhattan Theatre Club, the Huntington Theatre Company, Trinity Repertory Company, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Gloucester Stage, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Greater Boston Stage Company, Central Square Theater, and at several universities in the Boston area. She is currently on the faculty at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she teaches in the theatre and opera departments. She is a certified intimacy director with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators, and a certified teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. She holds an MFA in acting from Brandeis University.
Emerson Colonial Theatre
106 Boylston Street | Boston, MA 02116
