Dirk Schattner (Producer)

 

Dirk Schattner is a director, author, producer. and dramaturg. Throughout his career he has directed a large number of musical theatre works in Germany, the USA, the Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary, and Greece. In the years 2003-2007 he directed multiple productions for the Deutsche Nationaltheater Weimar, his activities covering the genres of opera, operetta, musical and theatre. Work he directed during this time include Offenbach’s “La Vie Parisienne”, Heiner Müllers “Bildbeschreibung”, and a film version of the oratorio “The Book with the Seven Seals” by Franz Schmidt.

His musical “Der Graf from Gleichen” played three successful summer seasons in Wandersleben, Thüringen. From 2004 to 2014, he was the leading dramaturg of the Festival of Young Artists in Bayreuth.  Since 2007 he has been a professor at the Deutsche Schülerakademie.

As part of the culture capital programme RUHR.2010, he produced more than 80 short films based on the opera “Manon Lescaut” by Giacomo Puccini for the project Internet Opera. For the International Festival of the Aegean in Greece, he directed “Salome” by Richard Strauss in 2012, “Cosi fan Tutte” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 2013, the jubilee production “Rigoletto” by Giuseppe Verdi in 2014, Cherubini’s “Medea” in 2015, and Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” in 2016.

He lives and works in Hamburg-Rothenburgsort where his production company “Skycradle” produces music- and theatre productions, most notably the musical “Nimmerwiedermehr” about the children’s hospital of Rothenburgsort and the European premier of the opera “A Love Letter from Rosa Luxemburg” by Leonard Lehrman.

Gianna-Sophia Weise(Costume)

 

Gianna-Sophia Weise studied Scenography and Costume Design at the Hannover University of Design and Media. From 2016-2019 she worked as a costume assistant at the Thalia Theater Hamburg. During this time, she also worked on several projects as a Costume- and Set Designer. Gianna-Sophia Weise  has been working as a freelancer since 2019  and collaborated with directors including Helge Schmidt, Agnes Oberauer and Peter Thiers.

Christian Striboll

(Documentation, video)

 

 

 

 

 

Remi Laversanne (Choir)

 

 

 

 

 

Elizabeth Smalley (Soprano)

 

 

The Australian soprano Elizabeth Smalley commenced her Bachelor studies in Classical Voice at the Queensland Conservatory in Australia while still in high school and was engaged with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra on multiple occasions, performing “Grand Pianola Music” by John Adams and the world premiere of Elena Kats-Chernins “Symphonia Eluvium”.

The latter was streamed in the Australian TV-series Artscape. Following this Elizabeth moved to Sydney where she received her postgraduate diploma in Classical Voice. She sang soprano solos in multiple oratorio performances as well as roles like Zerlina (“Don Giovanni”, Mozart) and Suor Osmina (“Suor Angelica”, Puccini) for Opera Projects Sydney.  Her repertoire also includes Madame Herz (“Der Schauspieldirektor”, Mozart) at Bare Bones Opera and “Young Vixen” (“The Cunning Little Vixen”, Janáček), which she sang during her year as an upcoming young artist at the Pacific Opera.

Elizabeth’s career as a singer led her to New York City and London, where she studied with teachers and répétiteurs of the Metropolitan Opera and Covent Garden. She was invited as a young artist by the International Performing Arts Institute Bavaria twice.  Since moving to Germany in 2018, Elizabeth has continued to work as a freelance singer in song evenings and freelance opera productions.

Stepan Karelin (Baritone)

 

Stepan Karelin was born in Russia. He studied at the Kunstuniversität Graz and graduated in 2014. As part of his studies, he sang various roles (“Die Zauberflöte”, “Viva La Mamma”). After completing his degree, he performed in various operas, portraying roles such as The Witch in “Dido and Aeneas”, Toffolo in “Paganini”, Belcore in “L'êlisir d'amore” and Morales in “Carmen”. In 2014 he joined the musical ensemble “Sound of Austria GmbH”.  Stepan Karelin commenced an internship with Elena Pankratova in 2018 and debuted as Escamillo in the Ernst Deutsch Theater production of “Carmen”.

In the same year he became part of the ensemble of Opernloft Theater Hamburg and portrayed the role of Albert in “Werther”. He won the first prize in the “Bergedorf Classic'' competition in 2019. In the following year he won three important competitions in Russia:  the “Big Romansiada '' competition, the international competition “Music of the Stars” and the “III festival Competition” of contemporary music after N.Struve. Stepan Karelin has also performed as a concert singer in various European countries, mostly in Germany, Austria, Poland and Russia. He currently lives in Austria.

 

Dimitri Pisarev (Baritone)

 

Dimitri Pisarev was born in Leningrad and completed his studies at the Glinka Choir School in St. Petersburg. He continued his studies of Singing, Conducting, and Choir Music at the Herzen Universität (Nikolai Dumtsev) and at the St. Petersburg conservatory (Tatyana Khitrowa).

In 2013 he became part of the ensemble at the Zazerkalie Theatre in St.Petersburg where he performed a number of different roles. He also performed recitals and symphonic concerts in St. Petersburg and beyond, including K.Orff’s “Carmina Burana” and S.Rachmaninow’s “The spring”.

In the same year Dimitri Pisarev became artistic director of a men’s choir he co-founded with Kirill Markow. The choir gained a reputation beyond Russia’s borders and was reviewed by the international press. In 2014 Dimitri Pisarev became a soloist in the men’s ensemble „Optyna Pustyn“, where he performed and recorded old music under the direction of Alexander Semenov.  He has worked with conductors including M. Jansons, V. Gergiev, F.-X.  Roth, J. Temirkanov, G. Garcia Calvo, G. Roschdestwenski, L. Krämer, N. Alekseev and V.  Chernushenko. His concert activities have led him to perform all over Russia (including Palace square, Red square and the philharmonics in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Novosibirsk). He has also performed on stages all over the world including China, Finland, Sweden and Turkey. In Germany he has performed on stages such as the Elbphilharmonie and the Laieszhalle in Hamburg.  He currently lives in Hamburg.

Sashell Beck (Soprano)

 

 

Sashell Beck is a soprano from California, currently living in Germany.  Before moving to Europe, she obtained her musical degree from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at the California State University of Long Beach. Her studies were enhanced by Masterclasses led by Carol Vaness, Dolores Ziegler, Sheryl Studer, Roberta Alexander, Sheri Greenawald, Neil Semer, Edith Mathis, and Janet Williams and others. In 2012 she was the first prize winner of the Rio Hondo Young Artist Competition, in the 2013 the Beverly Hills Concert Series and a finalist in many more.

She has also participated in many opera summer programs including Opera Works’ Advanced Artist Program, CoOperative, and The Opera Academy of California. She has much orchestral concert experience including Mahler’s 4th Symphony, the Coronation Mass by Mozart, Rachmaninoff’s The Bells, and a new Requiem by Juan Carlos Villaseñor Patiño.

Before moving to Germany she was featured in many operas with Center Stage Opera in Southern California, taking on the roles of  Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Musetta in a semi-staged version of Puccini’s La Boheme, Mademoiselle Silberklang in Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor, as well as Adina  in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.

She moved to Germany in 2014. where she was cast in the ensemble of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Das Phantom der Oper with Stage Entertainment in Hamburg. Since then, she has been performed Despina in Così fan tutte with the Bergedorfer Musiktage, Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos and Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro with The Berlin Opera Group. In 2018 she premiered the role of Ellén in Ellén, a one-woman opera written with her in mind by Juan Carlos Villaseñor Patiño with Opera de Hidalgo in Mexico City.

Last year she played Donatella and assistant directed a production of Piazza Navona, a new comic opera by Christof Bergman. Most recently she appeared as soprano soloist in the Germany- wide tour “A World of Musicals”. In addition to her work as a singer, she is a voice and acting coach

 

 

 

 

Gottfried Aden (Dancer)

 

Gottfried Aden is 23 years old and a passionate dancer. He joined HipHop Academy in 2015.  In 2018 he joined the level 3 dance group “ToThe Fullest”. Since then, he has performed in the yearly Gala on the K6 stage at Kampnagel. He has performed in a variety of events including “Battlefield 2019: Catch the Crown”, the “Freespirit Festival” and a live performance at The Kuppel Hamburg.

Deyse Izabella Kolaska y Osano (Dancer)

 

Deyse Isabella Kolaska y Osano was born in Spain. Her roots are Brazilian and Polish, giving her a close connection to music from birth. She has been dancing her entire life and started teaching dance at the age of 13 in the Kinder- und Jugendhaus Clippo in Lohbrügge.  Upon finishing high school in 2016, she commenced her artistic journey as a dancer:

She has since performed as a show dancer with SpecialOne, joined the Calypso Army (Hip-Hop Academy) in 2017 and the Apocalypso Crew (HipHop Academy) in 2019. Moreover, she has performed in various music videos and events, including Kampnagel, Uferfabrik Berlin, Noho, The Room, Golden Kut, Die Kuppel, and Luft und Liebe Festival.