Irish Tenor Anthony Kearns returns to Opera Naples by popular demand after wowing audiences as Romeo last season. Known as Ireland’s Finest Tenor, his performance in the role of Edgardo di Ravenswood will mark his official U.S. full-scale opera debut. His incredible agility and flexibility of voice, coupled with his tremendous vocal range and technique, lends itself equally well to opera, light classical, the standards and his beloved Irish music. Whether in the realm of the classics, or in the traditional music of his homeland, the power and clarity in his voice expresses great truth and rich conviction.

Since her Metropolitan Opera debut this season as the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, soprano Audrey Elizabeth Luna has quickly emerged as one of the country’s brightest young artists. Ms. Luna will return to the Met later this year to sing Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos. She will also make multiple returns to the National Philharmonic as soloist in Messiah and Brahms’ Requiem, under Stan Engebretson. During the summer of 2010, she performed as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Tanglewood Festival under James Levine and as Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute with Santa Fe Opera.

Christopher Holloway, an Opera Naples’ favorite, returns after playing Mercutio in last season’s production of Romeo & Juliet. Mr. Holloway has taken the stage with Houston Grand Opera, Opera Tampa, Orlando Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Amarillo Opera, Fresno Opera, Lyric Opera of Los Angeles, Orange County Opera, and Operafestival di Roma. An energetic, vibrant performer “with burnished tones” who acts with waltz-like precision, he is able to sing and act with equal agility.

Franz Vote is one of the finest operatic conductors of his generation. His performances at the Metropolitan Opera and theaters in Europe and the United States have garnered praise from critics worldwide. Called a “singer’s conductor” by reviewers, the Los Angeles native has collaborated with many of the world’s most prominent operatic artists: Hildegard Behrens, Stephanie Blythe, Placido Domingo, Jane Eaglen, Renée Fleming, Galina Gorchakova, Ben Heppner, James King, Susanne Mentzer, Luciano Pavarotti, Samuel Ramey and Deborah Voigt, to name only a few. His rapport with musicians, both on stage and in the orchestra pit, elicits music-making of the highest level.

Returning to Opera Naples is accomplished Stage Director, Robert Swedberg, the former General Director of Orlando Opera. Mr. Swedberg’s past productions with ON include La Traviata, La Boheme and Romeo & Juliet.