Dear friends,

I hope you had a very nice summer. At the beginning of this season, our agency is pleased to welcome new artists. We are proud to be representing some confirmed tenors: Raul Melo, a regular guest of North American stages such as the Metropolitan Opera, the NYCO, Charleston festival where he performs roles such as Rodolfo, Cavaradossi, Calaf…, the Vienna based Russian tenor Victor Afanasenko who was heard as Manrico in Paris production of IlTrovatore and as Dimitri in the following season’s production of Boris Godounov.

We are also proud to be representing for Europe the beautiful mezzo-soprano Carla Dirlikov who was Eboli last season in Liege’s production of Don Carlo and the Italian Bass Luciano Montanaro who was singing the Grand Inquisitor in that same production.

We would not be fulfilling our mission if we did not welcome some young artists like the young Belgian bass-baritone Sebastien Parotte, who is to spend a year at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth and the young Bass Julien Veronese, who just finished his studies at the CNIPAL and is taking part next month in the world creation of Battistelli Divorzio all italiana in Nancy.

The young Canadian soprano Guylaine Girard made successful debuts, acclaimed by the press as Louise at the Paris opera last July and is to be heard this month as Fiordiligi at the Rouen opera and at Paris “Cité de la Musique.”

Young and talented Gabrielle Philiponet , after receiving the prestigious award from the city of Brussels at the Queen Elizabeth singing competition in Brussels last summer, is to sing Corrina in the Viaggio a Reims tour, organized by the CFPL.

Kristin Lewis, after singing a magnificent Aïda in Savonlinna is to open the Rome 2009 opera season with this same role.

Inva Mula made a triumph as Marguerite( Faust )in Orange, alongside Roberto Alagna. One of the broadcasted performances was viewed by over a million persons. She is to sing Adina from Elisir d’amore next month in San Francisco before singing Mimi at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Manon at the Wiener Staatsoper.

Sylvie Brunet is to sing Jocaste in Toulouse’s production of Oedipe before singing Eboli at the Danish Royal Opera house in Copenhagen.

Valentina Kutzarova is to sing Cherubino from le Nozze di Figaro at the Opera du Rhin.

Kobie Van Rensburg will come back to the Teatro Real in Madrid for Haendel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno

Russell Braun is to return to the Paris Opera as Papageno from die Zauberflöte,

Peter Edelmann will take part in the world creation of Battistelli Divorzio all italiana in Nancy where he will be singing the part of Donna Mattilde.

Jose van Dam will take part in the three performances of Ravel l’Enfant et les sortilèges with the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Simon Rattle. A CD of those performances will be produced by EMI.

I am enclosing an updated roster as well as recent news from our artists and wish you an excellent season 2008-2009. Please visit our webside which address just changed to :
http//www.oia-brentano.com.

With my best regards

www.classicalmusicartists.com