With his flexible voice and multi-genre versatility, Omar Alejandro (Eisenstein) has gained acclaim in both opera and the world of mariachi. He performs regularly with Opera Santa Barbara, Lamplighters Music Theater, and Pacific Opera Project, having sung the roles of Sergeant Gomez in Zorro, Sir Despard in Ruddygore, The Major General and the Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance, El Dancairo in Carmen, Giuseppe in The Light in the Piazza, and The Marquis in La Traviata.
As a viral mariachi singer/content creator, Omar has performed in mariachi festivals throughout the United States and México. His mariachi EP “Te Esperaría” is available for streaming. He has sung backup vocals for Andrea Bocelli on multiple occasions, recorded with John Williams and Sony Classical, and has toured Italy, Spain, German, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia. Omar holds a Masters Degree in Vocal Performance from Boston University, and speaks English, Spanish, and German.
omaralejandrorodriguez.com
Lyric-coloratura soprano Lori Schulman (Adele), originally from Washington, D.C., has been engaging audiences in Santa Cruz and its surrounding areas for many years. She has been seen with companies such as San Jose Playhouse, Cabrillo Stage, Actor’s Theater, Ensemble Monterey Chamber Orchestra, Santa Cruz Chamber Players, Berkeley’s West Edge Opera, and Santa Cruz Opera Project. Some favorite roles include Cunegonde in Candide, Andrea/ Archangel Michael in Jerry Springer - The Opera, Musetta in La Bohème, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Kathy in Company, Laurey in Oklahoma, Cosette in Les Misèrables, Papagena and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, and Ilia in Idomeneo. Lori is also a frequent concert soloist and recitalist, with performances including David Del Tredici’s Dracula, Joseph Schwantner’s Sparrows, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Handel’s Laudate Pueri Dominum, and Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch, among others.
Lori lives with her two children, age 6 and 9, and has been teaching private voice lessons for more than 15 years. lorischulmansoprano.com
Edward Tavelin (Falke) is a baritone from the Santa Cruz Mountains along the Central Coast of California. With Opera Modesto, he participated in the chorus of the 35th Anniversary Gala in 2018 and in Carmen in 2019. He then appeared as Count Ceprano in Rigoletto in 2019 and Schaunard in La Bohème in 2022. This season, Edward was a teaching artist with Portland Opera, appearing as Alidoro in over 50 performances of Cenerentola for schools and a few public perormances, including concerts, September through December 2023. In January, he covered Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with the Lakeland Symphony & Opera. In March he performed the role of Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with Independent Opera Company. In early April, he workshopped a brand new Opera called Shizue: an American Story with Portland Opera as The Man and, later in April, he appeared as Angelotti/The Jailor with Opera Modesto. Other recently performed roles include Marcello, Guglielmo, and the Pirate King. Having been an audience member and volunteer in the first two seasons, he is excited to make his debut with the Santa Cruz Opera Project!
Maia Thielen (Ambianceur/Alfie Cover) is thrilled to join the Santa Cruz Opera Project— post-Covid and career change—after a five year hiatus from the stage. Favorite highlights from her performing career include: “Oberon” in Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (UNLV), “Charlotte” in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music (Hawaii Performing Arts Festival), “Captain Franz von Frauenliebe” in Dan Shore’s The Beautiful Bridegroom (UNLV), the summer she spent studying Lieder in Austria through AIMS in Graz, joining the chorus of Samson by Pacific MusicWorks led by Stephen Stubbs, and being selected as a soloist by Ms. Battle, herself, in Kathleen Battle’s Underground Railroad (University of Washington). She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she studied with Tod Fitzpatrick, and a Master’s in Voice Performance from the University of Washington, where she studied with Thomas Harper. Now, let’s have some fun with Fledermaus!
