Featured Soloists: Carmen, April 29th

The Sherman Symphony Orchestra is thrilled to share the stage with these fantastic artists at our April 29th performance of Carmen. This is a concert you don’t want to miss!

Described by Gramophone as “a compelling interpreter”, Molly Fillmore made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Helmwige in Die Walküre, which won a Grammy award for Best Opera Recording. During her seven seasons at the Met, she also appeared as Mrs. Naidoo in Satyagraha. Fillmore made her solo operatic debut with the Washington National Opera while a sophomore at American University. By the completion of her MM degree from the University of Maryland, she had sung six additional roles with the WNO at the Kennedy Center, and within a year of her graduation was named principal mezzo-soprano soloist with Oper der Stadt Köln (Cologne Opera), where she sang over 20 roles. As a soprano, Ms. Fillmore's roles include the title role in Salome (San Francisco Opera and Arizona Opera), and Marietta in Die tote Stadt (Theater St. Gallen). This she achieved alongside her activities at The Met and as a faculty member at Michigan State University, then University of North Texas. Highlights as a concert soloist, both as a mezzo-soprano and a soprano, include singing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Kennedy Center, Spoleto Festival, and Tanglewood Festival.  Her recent album of art songs by Juliana Hall, “Bold Beauty” (2021), was given a Critic’s Choice recognition by Opera News. 

As a performer, Patricia Vigil has been described as ‘visually and vocally formidable’ with ‘staccatos like lightning bolts’ (The Lancaster Intelligencer). She has sung with Opera Company of Philadelphia, Intermountain Opera, The New Sigmund Romberg Orchestra, Asheville Lyric Opera, Concert Opera of New Jersey, Ridge Light Opera, Atlantic Coast Opera Festival, Lancaster Opera Company, Utah Festival Opera, Opera Delaware, Baton Rouge Opera, Opera Iowa, Des Moines Metro Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera Southwest, Cleveland Opera on Tour, and Opera Theater of Philadelphia. Her roles include: Gilda in Rigoletto, Norina in Don Pasquale, Susanna and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro, Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Fire in L’énfant et les Sortileges, Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera, Madame Goldentrill and Miss Silverpeal in The Impresario, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Héro in Beatrice and Benedict, and Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute.  Ms. Vigil is a recipient of the prestigious Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation, as well as winner of the Diamond Award at the Vera Scammon International Voice Competition.

Patricia Vigil holds a Bachelor of Music Performance degree from the University of New Mexico, a Master of Music Performance degree from Louisiana State University, and both a Professional Studies Certificate in Opera and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Temple University. Recently, Dr. Vigil taught Voice, Diction, and Vocal Pedagogy at Abilene Christian, Hardin-Simmons, and McMurry Universities in Abilene. Currently, she teaches voice at Texas Woman’s University.

Baritone Daniel Lickteig is garnering praise throughout American opera houses for his powerful, soaring voice. He has appeared with Opera in the Heights, Annapolis Opera, Cleveland Opera, Asheville Lyric Opera, Sarasota Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Utah Festival Opera Company, Natchez Opera, and Opera Theater of Philadelphia. Highlights of his large operatic repertoire include Mozart's Don Giovanni, Rossini's Figaro, Verdi's Rigoletto, Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca, Marcello in La Bohème, Alfio in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, and Tonio in Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci. Equally comfortable on the concert stage, Daniel has appeared as a soloist in works by Bach, Brahms, Fauré, Bruckner, Handel, Mendelssohn, Bernstein, and Orff.
Dr. Lickteig has been teaching voice throughout his performing career. He holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Temple University in Philadelphia. He recently completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of North Texas, where he was a Teaching Fellow. Dr. Lickteig currently serves as a private voice instructor at Allen ISD, working with many talented high school students.

Wayne Crannell is Associate Professor of Music at Austin College where he has been Director of Vocal & Choral Music for 28 years. Before coming to Austin College, Wayne taught at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee and Simpson College in Iowa. He has been an active singer throughout his career and has appeared with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony, Racine Chamber Orchestra, Des Moines Metro Opera, Sherman Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, Milwaukee Civic Orchestra, and other orchestras and opera companies throughout the Midwest and in Texas. He has sung under and for such conductors as Copland, Levine, Solti, Hillis, Shaw, Foss, and Faletta. Wayne received his M.M. in Choral Conducting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a D.M.A. in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory where he studied with Anne DeLauney, a noted Wagnerian soprano.
His current academic focus includes courses in vocal pedagogy, conducting, opera and vocal literature, choral literature, and choral techniques. Other teaching areas include music appreciation courses on the social history of rock and roll and modern American music. He also regularly teaches a travel course on the culture and history of Scotland. His Austin College vocal ensembles include traditional choirs, chamber groups, and an a cappella vocal jazz ensemble. The Austin College A Cappella Choir has performed around the world, including such venues as Notre Dame in Paris, San Marco in Venice, St. Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne, St. Stephen’s in Vienna, and St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.