ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Ginaia Black, soprano, is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. She joined The Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist in the summer of 2024, covering Shannon in Gregory Spears' The Righteous and second cover for Zerlina in Don Giovanni.

In the 2023/24 season, she portrayed Juliette in Roméo et Juliette at the IU Opera and Ballet Center and Clowes Memorial Hall in Indianapolis. In the 2022/23 season, Black had been seen on the stage of the Indiana University Opera and Ballet Theater, portraying Nuria in Ainadamar.

She earned a bachelor's degree from Jackson State University. While at JSU she performed in scenes from Puccini’s La Boheme and Mechem’s Tartuffe. In concert, she has sung the soprano solos in Handel’s Messiah and Fauré’s Requiem. Ginaia was awarded the prestigious Wilfred C. Bain scholarship at Indiana University
Opera and Ballet Theater, as well as first place in the Mississippi Music Teachers Association Competition.

Ginaia will perform the following roles in the 24/25 Season: Soloist in The Juliet Letters, Mrs. Grady in The Shining, and cover of Nannetta in Falstaff.

Praised for possessing “a voice of surprising power and emotion” (TheaterJones), and “great dignity and a gorgeous mezzo, finely finished and expressive” (Dallas Morning News), lyric mezzo soprano Erin Roth Thomas regularly performs with some of the finest musical organizations in the North Texas area, singing a vast repertoire that spans from early to 20th century music.

As a concert soloist, Erin has enjoyed semi-staged performances including the title role in Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans and Juno in Eccles’ Semele. She has also provided the mezzo solos for several masterworks, including Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection), Mozart’s Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater.

Equally comfortable on the opera stage, Erin has performed numerous roles, including Acis in Literes’ Acis y Galatea, Hansel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Pitti-Sing in Sullivan’s The Mikado, Prince Orlofsky in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, and The Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors. In recent seasons, Erin has performed with American Baroque Opera Company, Diversita Opera, Ensemble Iona, Oklahoma Bach Choir, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Orchestra of New Spain, and Plano Symphony Orchestra, among others. From Lufkin, Texas,and a proud graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University, Erin lives in the Dallas area with her husband, Chad.

Erin will perform the following roles in the 24/25 Season: Soloist in The Juliet Letters, Mrs. Massey in The Shining, and Meg Page in Falstaff.

Quoted as having “...Vocal strength and theatrical finesse” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), tenor, Nathaniel Catasca, is a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mr. Catasca was most recently apart of Finger Lake Opera’s world premiere of B.E. Boykin’s Two Corners in the roles of Store Clerk and Radio Announcer.

Before that, he was a Studio Artist with Sarasota Opera for the 2024 season, debuting the role of Le Remendado in Bizet’s Carmen. Previous engagements include Glimmerglass Opera Company as a cover in Candide by Leonard Bernstein, and a performance of Ferrando in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte with Opera Arlington.

Nathaniel was a Hattie Mae Lesley Resident Artist for Fort Worth Opera, where he partook in the World Premiere of Joe Ilick’s Stand Up, and performed the role of The Messenger in Aïda by Verdi, among other concerts. Other companies include Central City Opera playing the role of Dr. Blind in Die Fledermaus by Strauss in the 2022 season. He made his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut portraying Nemorino/ Tamino in the children’s production of The Magic Victrola in the spring of 2022.

Other contracts include the roles of Matteo Borsa in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Javier Moreno in Torroba’s Zarzuela in Luisa Fernanda, Le Comte Barigoule in Viardot’s Cendrillon, Arithmitique/The Tree Frog in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, to name a few. He holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Oklahoma, and a Master of Music & Literature from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Robert Swensen.

Nathaniel will perform the following roles in the 24/25 Season: Soloist in The Juliet Letters, Bill Watson/Lloyd the Bartender in The Shining, and Bardolfo in Falstaff.

Known for their “sonorous baritone” (Broad Street Review) and “commanding stage presence," (Miami Herald) Philadelphia native Matthew Maisano (they/them) enjoys performing a varied repertoire from the classical, operatic, musical theater, and popular canons.

Matthew is thrilled to join Portland Opera this season as one of five resident artists! You can see them as Baritone Soloist in The Juliet Letters, Horace Dewent in The Shining, and Pisola in Falstaff. This summer, Matthew sang Director/Gendarme in Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias with Hogfish (Portland, ME).

They first appeared with the company in 2022 as Thomas (cover)/Woodland Spirit in Gluck’s L'arbre Encanté. Opera/theater highlights include: The Sergeant in La Bohème and as Soloist in the O23 Festival’s Late Night Snacks Cabaret Series (Opera Philadelphia), Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro (Wilmington Concert Opera), Senex in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Natchez Festival of Music), Morbio in Die schweigsame Frau.

Also appeared as Baptista in Kiss Me, Kate! (Pittsburgh Festival Opera), Pandolfe in Cendrillon (Miami Music Festival), The title role in Eugene Onegin (Russian Opera Workshop), Melissa in Alcina REVAMPED (Alter Ego Chamber Opera), Melchior in Amahl and the Night Visitors (Three Pines Opera), Bob in The Old Maid and the Thief (Opera Tutti!), Strong Man in Sid the Serpent Who Wanted to Sing (Penn Square Opera), Albert in Werther (Temple Opera Theater), and Leporello in selections from Don Giovanni and Schlendrian in Bach’s Coffee Cantata (Lancaster Symphony).

Matthew is co-founder of Prismatic Arts Ensemble, a Philadelphia-based performing arts collective committed to shifting the way audiences encounter classical music through bold programming, immersive stagings, and fearless storytelling. This August, PAE premiered their first full scale production, Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette.

Inspired by Philly’s vibrant queer history & culture, this exciting adaptation transformed Shakespeare's two feuding families into two rival drag clubs, “Capulets” and “Montegues.” In this updated version, Matthew originated the role of “Drag Queen Host/Narrator” guiding the audience through the action of the opera. In December 2024, PAE will premiere Katabasis, a musical film highlighting various art songs by composers and poets of marginalized backgrounds. Each song weaves together a story that explores the soul's journey from death to the afterlife. To learn more about Matthew visit their website here

Matthew will perform the following roles in the 24/25 Season: Soloist in The Juliet Letters, Horace Dewent in The Shining, and Pistola in Falstaff.

Claire Forstman (she/her) is a sought-after pianist and vocal coach currently based in Portland, Oregon. In her second season as a Resident Artist with Portland Opera, she will be the principal pianist for the company’s production of Falstaff, play orchestral keyboards for Paul Moravec’s The Shining, and lead the studio’s scenes program and aria showcase as Music Director.

Last season, she was the principal pianist and orchestral keyboardist for Puccini: In Concert, offstage conductor The Snowy Day, and second pianist for the cabaret concert Enchanted Woods: Shakespeare & Song and the company’s production of The Marriage of Figaro.

In the upcoming season, she will be music directing operas for Renegade Opera and Portland State University, and her recent and upcoming collaborators include Vashon Opera, the Oregon Bach Festival, OrpheusPDX, Portland’s Opera on Tap, Opera in the Park, the Portland Symphonic Chorus, and Opera Bend.

Before moving to the Pacific Northwest, she was a member of the Florentine Opera studio for two years in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and has also worked for Finger Lakes Opera, Chicago Summer Opera, dell’Arte Opera Ensemble (NYC), Sarah Lawrence College, Opera Steamboat (Steamboat Springs, Colorado), and the Milwaukee Ballet School and Academy. Claire also works as a dance accompanist for the Oregon Ballet Theatre School and BodyVox dance company. She earned her M.M. in Contemporary Performance from the Manhattan School of Music and a B.M. in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music.