Ara Berberian In 1963 he was promoted from the chorus to singing roles with the NYCO, beginning with Leandro in "The Love for Three Oranges" in April of that year. He sang several more roles with NYCO through 1967, including Collatinus in "The Rape of Lucretia", the Commandant in "Don Giovanni", the Major-Domo in "Capriccio", Osmin in Mozart's "Abduction from the Seraglio", and Tiresias in "Oedipus rex" among others. He later returned to the NYCO in 1977 to create the role of Gene Henderson in the world premiere in Leon Kirchner's "Lily". From 1965-1968 Berberian was committed to the San Francisco Opera,
Celena Shafer 2004–05 season, she debuted with the New York Philharmonic in a performance of Handel's "Messiah". In April 2005, she sang the title role of "Esclarmonde" at the Washington Concert Opera. Other roles include Tytania in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Nanetta in "Falstaff", Hero in Berlioz's "Beatrice and Benedict", Zerbinetta in a concert performance of "Ariadne auf Naxos", Blonde in "The Abduction from the Seraglio", Adele in "Die Fledermaus", and "Show Boat" for a gala benefit for Carnegie Hall. Celena Shafer Celena Shafer is an American soprano, born c. 1975 in Centerville, Utah. At age 17, Shafer won a vocal competition