Meet the 2023 Cast
The Marriage of Figaro by W.A. Mozart

José Vazquez Website is a Lyric Bass-Baritone from Miami, FL. He will be debuting four major roles this summer - Marcello in La Bohème, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Simone in Gianni Schicchi, and Sodbuster in Proving Up - and has appeared in leading and supporting roles in operas like Die Zauberflöte (Papageno), Carmen (Zuniga), and Rigoletto (Marullo). Additionally, he has performed in fully memorized Shakespeare productions with the Shakespeare Troupe of South Florida as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, and Edmund in King Lear. José started his stage career in musical theatre with shows such as Into the Woods (The Wolf/Prince) and Spring Awakening (Melchior Gabor), and before that was front-man and lyricist for a local rock band. He still writes music in his spare time and has studied voice in the Bel Canto style with Oscar Diaz, Jr. of the Performer’s Music Institute since 2011.

Lois Larsen began passionately pursuing classical music in college. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Harding University and her Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of North Florida. Since 2019, Lois has continued her vocal studies with the brilliant Miami-based instructor, Manny Perez. Lois is fortunate to have performed a handful of roles: She sang Serpina (La Serva Padrona) in Harding’s first operatic production after its decade-long hiatus, Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro) in Aquilon Music Festival’s inaugural year, Little Red Riding Hood in Seymour Barab’s traveling children’s opera, Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) in a scenes performance with the Jacksonville Symphony, and Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte) with the North Czech Philharmonic in Teplice.

Realizing that her passion for classical music extends further than performing, Lois is excited to direct this year’s production of Le nozze di Figaro. She is also looking forward to creating more opportunities for like-minded artists as Sunny Side Opera continues to evolve.

Alex Ritchie

Minnesotan baritone Alex Ritchie has performed on numerous Twin Cities stages, including Minnesota Opera, Mill City Summer Opera, Skylark Opera, and Theatre in the Round. With Minnesota Opera, Mr. Ritchie was most recently seen as First Scottish Soldier in the revival of Silent Night, Pâris in Roméo et Juliette, and Derwent in The Shining. He has been avidly involved in workshops with the New Works Initiative, helping prepare world premieres including Doubt, The Manchurian Candidate, Dinner at Eight, and Edward Tulane. He has performed with Saint Cloud Symphony Orchestra, MacPhail Center for Music, and on A Prairie Home Companion. Most recently, in 2022 Mr. Ritchie sang Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia with An Opera Theatre. In 2020, he narrated the documentary Heartland Local Food, distributed through PBS Living. An active voice teacher, Mr. Ritchie is a doctoral student at the University of Minnesota. He is an alumnus of Seagle Festival, the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, and Harding University.

Jessica Moss Website is an emerging artist to watch. Jessica has recently performed Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen with Opera Theatre of Connecticut, Monica in Menotti’s The Medium with Northern Lights Opera, Zina in Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters and Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with Miami Music Festival, Cendrillon from Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon with Houston Operativo, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan Tutte and Gretel from Hänsel und Gretel by Humperdinck with The Peabody Opera, the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Amalfi Coast Opera Festival. In scenes programs she has sung leading prima donnas Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème, Antonia in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann, Nedda in Pagliacci, and in the title role of Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah. She can be seen this summer in Tampa Florida reprising the role of Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with Sunny Side Opera, Inc.

In Competition, Jessica was Grand Prize winner in the Charleston Symphony Young Artists Competition, First Place winner in the NATS Regional Competition, and a finalist in the Hal Leonard Art Song Competition and Civic Morning Musical Competition. She holds a M.M. In Vocal Performance from Peabody Conservatory where she studied with Phyllis Bryn-Julson and a B.S. in Music Performance from Roberts Wesleyan College in Voice as a student of Constance Fee.

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Michaela Larsen Website Heralded by the Brooklyn Discovery, as “visually and vocally another bright ray,” Michaela Larsen has a voice that is “plangent [and] coupled with excellent stagecraft”. She has appeared in Michigan State University Opera Theatre’s productions as Adele in Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus, Nella in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, and Vitellia in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito. In the summer of 2019, Ms. Larsen sang in Martina Arroyo’s "Prelude to Performance" production of Die Fledermaus in New York City, and in 2021, she performed with Chicago Summer Opera’s production of one of Mozart’s earliest operas, Lucio Silla.

In 2021, Ms. Larsen returned to New York to pursue a Master’s in Vocal Performance at Stony Brook University, where she pivoted from soprano to mezzo-soprano and has enjoyed many bold new roles and daring repertoire. Recent credits include: the title role in Gustav Holst’s Sāvitri; Lillas Pastia in Bizet/Brook’s La Tragédie de Carmen; Venus in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis; Nancy in Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring with Stony Brook Opera Theatre, and Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro with Vienna Summer Music Festival in Vienna, Austria. Upcoming roles include a reprisal of Cherubino in Sunny Side Opera’s debut season of Le nozze di Figaro and Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Chicago Summer Opera.

Ms. Larsen is a former student of Marc Embree, and current student of Brenda Harris, to whom she extends eternal gratitude for their guidance and mentorship.

Lauren Frick, a native of Central Pennsylvania, is a graduate of The Longy School of Music of Bard College. She holds both a Masters of Music degree and Graduate Performance Diploma in Opera from that institution. She was a resident artist with Thompson Street Opera in Louisville, KY, and has performed and premiered several operas with them.. She also recently debuted with Orchestra Miami as Second Lady in their production of The Magic Flute. Lauren was thrilled and honored to be asked to perform alongside Christine Goerke and Alan Held in the inaugural season of the Wagner Institute at the Miami Music Festival.  Her most notable roles include, Mrs. De Rocher in Dead Man Walking, Dido in Dido and Aeneas, Ruth in Pirates of Penzance, the Old Lady in Candide, and Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica. She is currently under the tutelage of the formidable pedagogue, Manny Perez in Miami, FL. 

Adeniyi Samuel Website is a versatile bass-baritone hailed for his expressive ability as a singer whose musical interest covers a range of Western and African genres. A few of his recent opera/operetta roles include Baron Campo-Tasso in Offenbach’s The Brigands, Bartolo in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Arkel in Debussy’s Impression de Pelléas. Adeniyi has worked with directors such as Copeland Woodruff and Brandon McShaffery, and with conductors Joseph Mechavich and Michael Sakir, to name a few. His awards and honors include first place in the Adult Classical TBB Voice category at the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) in October 2021. Adeniyi has his Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Temple University, PA, a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance, a minor in Theater Arts from Gordon College, MA, and an Associate of Music in Performance and Education from the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON), among other music certifications. Besides performing opera, musical theater roles, and solo at diverse events, concerts, and recitals, Adeniyi has a long history of directing church music, leading worship, and consulting for various denominations. Adeniyi is also interested in fusing Western and African music utilizing his expertise in multiple genres. This effort birthed his Christmas One-Man musical, We Need a Savior, which premiered in December 2021 and runs yearly.

Jackson Cowley is well versed in musical theater repertoire, having recently performed Nile (The Drowsy Chaperone), Bert Healy (Annie), and ensemble in both 1776 and South Pacific. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Florida College and was heavily involved with their chorus, which toured annually and performed in both Austria and Carnegie Hall. While there, Jackson regularly competed in NATS and won the Classical Music division in both 2018 and 2020. He prides himself in playing ten different musical instruments, some of which include the piano, guitar, banjo, and mandolin. Jackson joined Opera Tampa this year for their production of Sweeny Todd and looks forward to getting more involved with their program next season. He is eager to tackle his first operatic role in Sunny Side Opera’s production of The Marriage of Figaro.

Samantha Stover 

Arkansas native Samantha Stover is a “crystalline soprano” and active musician in her community. Specializing in sacred music and oratorio, she is a regular cantor for the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock and frequently works with other churches in the area.

Her experience in operatic repertoire continues to grow; Samantha most recently performed in Purcell’s iconic Dido and Aeneas, and she looks forward to making her Italian debut as Barbarina (The Marriage of Figaro) and then Serpina (La Serva Padrona) later this year. Samantha placed second (2018) and then went on to win (2020) the classical division of NATS during her time at Harding University. In recent scenes performances, she sang Mabel (The Pirates of Penzance), Hanna (The Merry Widow), and Sandman (Hansel and Gretel).

Samantha is currently pursuing her masters in Vocal Performance at the University of Central Arkansas and studies with Dr. Robert Holden.

John Wilshusen has been active in community theatre and vocal stage performance in an amateur capacity his whole life.  From CA to MI to FL, he has been in scores of plays and musicals, choirs, quartets and solo performances, but not opera…until now. 
As such, he is delighted to have been cast as Antonio the gardener and with that strives to bring his wealth of stage experience and vocal skills to this Sunny Side Opera production of The Marriage of Figaro.
Sundry details aside, a few of his performance highlights include; with the Discovery Youth Chorale singing for Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, The Vatican, Rome, Italy; winning the SPEBSQSA Sunshine District (entire state of FL) 1996-97 quartet contest singing lead with Done Deal; directing while starring in the multifaceted role of The Dentist in the Temple Terrace Masque Theatre production of Little Shop of Horrors whilst serving a 6 year stint on its Board of Directors.
Lastly, he would like to thank both Lois for trusting in him to pull his weight in this his first opera (in Italian no less!) and our generous producer for bringing them together.

Josh Cessna

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Dr. Jonathan Bassett

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