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,
Jean Fenn theatre program which was run by renowned Russian tenor Vladimir Rosing. Fenn also studied privately with Amelita Galli-Curci and her husband Homer Samuels in California. She later received vocal coaching from Sigmund Romberg and Erich Korngold. In 1949, while still a student, Fenn sang in her first opera with the Hollywood Reading Club portraying Blondchen in "The Abduction from the Seraglio" and that same year appeared in productions with the Guild Opera Company of Southern California. She made her debut with the San Francisco Opera on October 10, 1952 as Musetta in Giacomo Puccini's "La Bohème" with Bidu Sayão as