Two actors performing in a play, one woman with a beanie and plaid dress holding a prop, the other man with curly hair and a patterned sweater, engaged in a scene with a Christmas background.

A Christmas concert in a church with a large audience, decorated with Christmas trees, poinsettias, and holiday lights, featuring a choir and an orchestra performing on stage under a peaked wooden ceiling.

A stage set for a holiday-themed performance with string lights, a fireplace backdrop, and people preparing backstage.

Conductor leading an orchestra in a darkened concert hall with audience members seated in the background.

Four people are seated on stage in front of an audience in a room with white walls, large plants, and windows. One man is speaking into a microphone, holding up three fingers.

Group of people on stage, applauding and smiling, with a man in a suit at center clapping, a woman next to him clapping, others smiling and clapping, a coat rack on the left, green curtains in the background, and a large orange screen or backdrop.

Three men standing on a stage with a decorated Christmas tree and festive backdrop, smiling for a photo.

People on stage celebrating around a Christmas tree, some clapping and smiling, with musicians in front holding instruments.

A woman with curly hair wearing a brown coat, black tights, and boots, standing in front of a fireplace with a fireplace behind her, making an expressive gesture with her hands. Another woman is sitting on a couch, laughing, in a room decorated with

Thank you for joining us for an enchanting evening of music, a holiday craft market, and heartfelt storytelling!

December 17, 2025:
Clubhouse SLC

December 19 & 20, 2025:
Park City Community Church

A Look Behind the Curtain:

Director Lisl Wangermann works with cast members during an open rehearsal at Park City Community Church.
Park City Opera Orchestra members warm up before opening night!
Conductor Benjamin Beckman works with cast members during musical rehearsal.
Composer David Conte joins the Park City Opera team for a Q&A following the performance at Clubhouse SLC.

Musings from Conductor Benjamin Beckman:

Featured

January 4, 2026

The Gift of Contemporary Opera

January 4, 2026

In a whirlwind 12 days between first rehearsal and closing three performances, our team of seven singers, fourteen instrumentalists, one conductor (myself!), and many more behind-the-scenes absolutely relished the process of mounting David Conte’s The Gift of the Magi in December 2025.

About The Gift of the Magi:

Park City Opera turns O. Henry’s beloved Christmas story into a magical holiday opera. Composer David Conte’s Gift of the Magi is a heartfelt, family-friendly way to kick off the season together.

Set on Christmas Eve, this opera tells the tender story of Jim and Della, a young, loving couple with little to their names who each sacrifice their most prized possession in order to buy the other a meaningful gift—only to discover that love itself is the greatest treasure.

Run Time: 75 minutes

Language: English

Cast and Creative Team

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Théodora Cottarel

Théodora Cottarel is a French-American soprano praised for her “electrifying” performances (Schmopera) and “beauty of tone” (Houston Press). In the 2025–26 season, she will make several major role debuts, including Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor with Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Christine in The Phantom of the Opera with Sun Valley Opera, and Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare (cover) with St. Pete Opera. She will also reprise Elle in Poulenc’s La voix humaine in New York. Recent highlights include the role of Temperance in the world premiere of The Meeting House by Carolyn Quick and Raya Tuffaha with Seattle Opera, a solo Bastille Day concert with Sun Valley Opera, and finalist honors in the 2025 Frances Walton LMC Competition. She was also the second-place winner of the 2023 Seattle Opera Guild Artist Development Award. Théodora has appeared internationally in France, Italy, Belgium, and across the United States. Concert appearances include performances at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and the Rome Philharmonic.

Shea Owens

Baritone Shea Owens, praised for his “beguilingly sounding” voice (Opernwelt) and “irrepressible playfulness” on stage (Luzerner Zeitung), is recognized for his artistry and versatility. Recent performances include Fauré’s Requiem with both the Utah Symphony and the Florida Orchestra, The Pilot in Utah Opera’s The Little Prince, Mercutio in Central City Opera’s Roméo et Juliette, and as a featured soloist in the Utah Symphony’s “Forever Mighty” state tour. Shea is a former ensemble member and soloist at Theater St. Gallen (Switzerland), where he performed roles including Prince Ivan (Kashchey the Deathless), Ottone (L’incoronazione di Poppea), Belcore (L’elisir d’amore), Valentin (Faust), and as the baritone soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana. He has appeared as guest soloist with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square for their Love Thy Neighbor special and with the Chorale at Temple Square in Mac Wilberg’s Requiem. Other engagements include performances with the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Théâtre du Châtelet, and the Metropolitan Opera. He sang Charlie in Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers alongside Frederica von Stade and has recorded an album, To the Thawing Wind: Songs of Paul Edward Gay (2020) with his wife, soprano Madison Leonard, and pianist Artem Belogurov. Alongside his active performance career, he serves as the Director of Opera and Assistant Professor of Voice at BYU.

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Sarah Neal

Returning to Park City Opera after debuting as Rosina in the company’s 2025 summer production of The Barber of Seville, Sarah Neal is an American mezzo-soprano quickly making an impression as a “musical and theatrical delight” (Colorado Gazette). During the 2024–25 season, Sarah completed a Young Artist Residency with Opera Memphis, performing as Mercédès in Carmen, Endimione in La Calisto, and the soloist in Gregg Kallor’s new chamber opera The Tell-Tale Heart. This season, Sarah will appear as the alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Last summer, she made her debut as Carmen with Charlottesville Opera before joining Park City Opera. A recipient of awards from the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, The American Council for Polish Culture Vocal Competition, and The Dallas Opera’s Lone Star Vocal Competition, Sarah’s additional roles include the title role in La Cenerentola, Dinah (Trouble in Tahiti), Nancy (Albert Herring), and Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro). They earned their Master of Music from the University of Houston, and Sarah continues to call Houston home.

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Riley Findley

Riley Findley is a Grammy-nominated Hispanic baritone praised for his “rich and oaky instrument”. Most recently, Findley was a Manetti Shrem Fellow at Festival Napa Valley, where he covered Sulpice in La fille du régiment. Previous engagements include covering Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Sarasota Opera; performing Ufficiale in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Gregorio in Roméo et Juliette with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City; singing Conte Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro at the Canto Vocal Program; Gianni Schicchi in Gianni Schicchi with Opera Lucca; and Morales in Carmen with Lawrence Opera Theatre, among others. In the upcoming season, Findley returns to Sarasota Opera to perform Schaunard in La bohème.

Sam Plumb

Sam Plumb is a Utah-based tenor. In 2025, he received his M.M. in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Utah. He was the Grand Prize winner of the 2024-25 Concerto Competition (Graduate Level), performing Gerald Finzi’s Dies Natalis. In Summer 2025, he was a Resident Artist at Teatro Nuovo, a Young Artist Program in New Jersey that focuses heavily on mastering the Italian language and immersion into 19th-century vocal technique, and sang in Park City Opera’s production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. In addition to performing, Sam is building a thriving private studio for voice and piano students, based in Downtown Salt Lake City. When he’s not making music, Sam enjoys the outdoors, cooking, reading, and video games.

David Silvano

David Silvano is a Peruvian-American tenor known for his powerful yet vibrant and flexible voice and his natural dramatic instinct. He recently sang Martin in Copland’s The Tender Land with University of Utah Opera and made his role debut as the Duke in Verdi’s Rigoletto with Mobile Opera. In the summer of 2022, Silvano portrayed Theodore Billings in the staged premiere of Clint Borzoni’s The Copper Queen with Marble City Opera, earning praise from Arts Knoxville for bringing “a deliciously romantic lyrical side” to the character. During the 2023 season, he joined Indianapolis Opera as a Resident Artist, covering Don José and singing El Remendado in Carmen. Silvano holds a B.M. from Colorado Mesa University and an M.M. from Colorado State University, and he currently studies and teaches applied voice at the University of Utah. In addition to his work on the opera stage, David is passionate about bringing the music of Latin America (particularly Peruvian works) out of obscurity into the ears of audiences.

Logan Reid

Logan Reid, tenor, is a passionate and versatile performer who recently earned his M.M. in Vocal Performance from Wichita State University, where he studied under Michael Sylvester and Alan Held. During his graduate studies, he appeared as Don Basilio in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Father Vaillant in Hulme’s December Nights. A graduate of Brigham Young University, Logan’s roles with BYU Opera Theater included Danilo in The Merry Widow, Gabriel von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, and Prince Phillippe in Berkeley’s A Dinner Engagement. Other notable projects include work as a studio singer for the filmed production of Rob Gardner’s Lamb of God: The Movie, founding membership in the Santos Chamber Singers under the direction of Matthew Paez, and frequent performances with the Ensign Singers. Outside of music, Logan is an avid weightlifter and hiker. He currently resides in Orem, Utah, where he continues to develop his craft and musicianship.

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Benjamin Beckman

Benjamin Beckman is a Los Angeles-based conductor, composer, and pianist. Ben has served on the music staff for productions with Sarasota Opera, Pacific Opera Project, Opera Company of Middlebury Vermont, Chicago Summer Opera, USC Thornton Opera, and the Opera Theater of Yale College, assisting on more than two dozen operas. In Summer 2025, following his fellowship at the Manetti Shrem Opera Program at Festival Napa Valley, Ben led Park City Opera's inaugural mainstage production (of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia) to a sold-out run. In 2025/2026, he makes his company debut at The Atlanta Opera assistant conducting Glass’s La Belle et la Bête and returns to Pacific Opera Project as rehearsal pianist and chorusmaster for Fra Diavolo, Zorro, The Abduction from the Seraglio, and Turandot, and USC Thornton Opera for The Cunning Little Vixen and The Turn of the Screw.

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Lisl Wangermann

Winner of the 2021 Yale University Louis Sudler Prize in the Performing and Creative Arts and recipient of an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Lisl Wangermann is a lyric soprano from Dallas, TX. Her recent roles range from Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) to her "standout performance" (Cleveland Classical) as Sophy in the world premiere of Margi Griebling-Haigh's The Higgler. In 2023, Lisl was a semifinalist for the Dallas Opera’s Lone Star Vocal Competition, and in 2024, Lisl was a finalist for the Gerda Lissner Art Song and Lieder Competition and received an encouragement award. Lisl holds degrees from Yale University (B.A.) and the Cleveland Institute of Music (M.M., A.D.).

The Orchestra

Strings

Originally from Paris, France, Claude Halter has been Principal Second Violin of the Utah Symphony since 2011. Prior to this, he was acting Assistant Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony and a member of the New World Symphony. Claude is also a proud founding member of the Fremont String Quartet. When not rehearsing or performing, he enjoys exploring Utah’s unique landscape and opportunities with his wife, Utah Symphony cellist Anne Lee.
Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Emily Holmstead is an active freelance violinist whose versatile career spans performance, recording, and education. She appears regularly as a contracted violinist with Ballet West and performs widely throughout the region for studio recording sessions, chamber music engagements, private events, and ensemble projects along the Wasatch Front.
A dedicated educator, Emily teaches Suzuki violin at the Gifted Music School, drawing on her comprehensive pedagogical training to support young musicians. She holds a Master of Music in Violin Performance and Suzuki Violin Pedagogy from the University of Denver, where she studied with Linda Wang and Teacher Trainer Kathleen Spring. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from Brigham Young University.
Before returning to Utah, Emily spent three years in Colorado teaching and freelancing after earning her master's degree. She was a member of the Fort Collins Symphony and served for two years on the board of the Suzuki Association of Colorado, contributing to statewide initiatives supporting Suzuki education. She is passionate about fostering community through music and bringing artistry, precision, and warmth to every performance.
Violist Madison Marshall has performed in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and the St. Thomaskirche in Leipzig, soloed with the Utah and American West symphonies, and made festival appearances at the Perlman Music Program, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, IMS Prussia Cove, Brecon Baroque Festival, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Thy Kammermusikfestival, Ecoles d’Art Américaines de Fontainebleau, and Heifetz International Music Institute.
She grew up in Utah, where she was the final student of noted pedagogue David Dalton. After completing undergraduate studies at the Colburn School, she graduated magna cum laude from Yale University, and is currently enrolled in the PhD program at the Royal Academy of Music.
Madison received Colburn’s Ida Levin award for excellence in chamber music, Yale’s Broadus Earle string quartet prize, first prize at the 2022 Prix de Ravel, and the Royal Academy of Music’s Mica Comberti Prize for solo Bach performance.
Recent and upcoming highlights include performing Antonio Draghi's L'humanita Redenta (heard for the first time since its premiere in 1669) with Musica Antica Rotherhithe, and recording an album of cantatas by seventeenth-century Danish composer Nikolai Bruhns with Masaaki Suzuki. Madison also serves as the artistic director of the Florestan Festival, an Utah-based chamber music series she founded in 2019.
Mandy is a music graduate from Brigham Young University. She has performed with many groups including The Utah Symphony, Utah Film Orchestra, Souvenir String Quartet and regularly performs at wedding and private events across Utah.
Kayleigh brings a deep passion, artistry, and love to the double bass. Holding a master’s degree in bass performance and pedagogy, Kayleigh has dedicated her career to music, through education and mentoring and through performing with a variety of ensembles and in styles ranging from baroque to traditional jazz.
As a bassist, Kayleigh believes in the power of music to build a world filled with good people and especially those who appreciate a growly bass line. Whether collaborating with orchestral groups, being crammed in a pit, or mentoring aspiring musicians, Kayleigh strives to create performances, and people, that are technically masterful and engaged in doing good on and off the stage.

Winds

April Clayton’s performances have taken her to more than twenty countries. From 2006-2018, she taught and performed in Paris alongside members of the Juilliard, Paris Conservatory and Ecole Normale de Musique faculty, teaching and directing two major summer music programs.
For 22 years, Dr. Clayton was Professor of Flute at Brigham Young University, where she received tenure at age 31. In 2010, she received the coveted BYU Young Faculty Award. This made her one of only two music faculty members to have received this honor in its decades-long history.
Accolades for Ms. Clayton’s solo performances from the New York Concert Review, Fanfare, American Record Guide, and Flute Talk magazine describe her playing as “stunning,” “dazzling,” “impeccable,” “outstanding,” “thoroughly polished,” “beguiling,” “superb,” “elegant,” and “delectable.” She was featured in a cover story by Flute Talk magazine as a leading flutist of her generation. Ms. Clayton presented her debut solo recital in New York’s Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall as a winner of the Artists’ International Competition.
April Clayton was a National Merit Scholar at Oberlin, studying flute performance and mathematics. At Juilliard, she was a Starr Doctoral Fellow and the youngest student to have been admitted to the D.M.A. program.
From Detroit, Michigan, Luca de la Florin is currently the principal oboist of The Missouri Symphony, Aspen Winds Quintet, and is on faculty at Utah Valley University as Lecturer of Oboe and Music Studies. Additionally, Florin often plays with the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera, Utah Chamber Artists, Salt Lake Choral Artists, and NOVA Chamber Music Series. Florin also teaches as the adjunct professor of oboe at Snow College and presents the Finishing Touches lectures for the Utah Symphony through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at The University of Utah. As a reed-maker, Florin has sold his reeds across the world and maintains a private oboe studio in downtown Salt Lake City. Florin has recorded with the Naxos and Bridge record labels and has appeared with the Detroit, Jackson, Great Falls, and Battle Creek Symphonies as well as with the Grand Teton Music Festival and the Chicago Summer Opera.
Darrin Thiriot is a retired military band clarinetist and conductor. Darrin has performed with the Air Force Band (Eb clarinet), Pershing’s Own, The West Point Band, the Utah Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Fayetteville Symphony, and the Orchestra at Temple Square across the United States and in India, Argentina, and Brazil. He currently conducts two Utah-based youth orchestras and is the founder/conductor of the Bountiful Philharmonia, a semi-professional community orchestra. Darrin holds degrees from the University of Utah and Northwestern University. He has been adjunct faculty at Methodist University and the University of Utah.
Laura D. Grantier is the Assistant Professor of Clarinet and Woodwind Area Head at the University of Utah. She served as Secretary for the International Clarinet Association (ICA) Executive Board (2022-2024), is the ICA Utah State Chairperson, and was selected as Co-Artistic Director of ClarinetFest® 2027. She has appeared as featured soloist with the University of Utah Wind Ensemble, Philharmonia, and the Salt Lake Symphony. She performs frequently with the Utah Symphony, Intermezzo Chamber Series, and founded the ICA Utah State Clarinet Choir which performed at ClarinetFest® 2023 (Denver, CO) and 2025 ClarinetFest® (Fort Worth, TX). Under her leadership, the University of Utah Clarinet Choir made their international debut at 2024 ClarinetFest® in Dublin, Ireland. From 2021-2022, she was the Director of Woodwinds and Assistant Professor of Clarinet at Southern Utah University. From 1995-2021 she was a member of the United States Navy Band in Washington, D.C. where she served as Principal Clarinet, Woodwind Leader, Clarinet Section Leader, and Harborwinds Clarinet Quartet Leader. She performed over 2,250 public concerts, military ceremonies, education workshops, and high-profile protocol engagements for high-ranking dignitaries, including the President of the United States, Vice President of the United States, and Secretary of the Navy. She earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Alabama, an MBA from Averett University, and a DMA from the Catholic University of America. Her teachers are Scott Bridges, Ken Grant, and Eugene Mondie. She is a performing artist for Buffet-Crampon, Lee Livengood mouthpieces, Bradford Behn barrels, and Rice Clarinet Works.
Dr. Robert Bedont is a native of Taylorsville, Utah. He earned a BMus in music education from the University of Utah, and both MM and DMA degrees in bassoon performance from the University of Arizona. His playing has been described as: "wonderfully clean and well articulated...His lyricism and finely crafted expressions show that the bassoon is indeed a remarkable melody instrument.""
A dedicated educator, Dr. Bedont serves on the faculty at Salt Lake Community College where he teaches the bassoon studio and classes in music history and music theory. His private instrumental studio students consistently appear in region, district, and state music ensembles. He is also a sought-after clinician and adjudicator.
As a performer Dr. Bedont regularly performs as a freelance bassoonist with the Ballet West Orchestra, the Utah Festival Opera Company, the Choral Arts Society of Utah, the Grand Theatre in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Symphony, America West Symphony, the Paradigm Chamber Orchestra, the Wi-Five quintet, and is the Music Director and Conductor of the Cottonwood Heights Arts Council summer musical productions.
Robert has performed as soloist with the America West Symphony, Paradigm Chamber Orchestra, Bay View Music Festival, The Utah Philharmonia, the University of Arizona Chamber Winds, and the Utah Wind Symphony.
His primary teachers have been Richard Chatelain, Jill Marderness, and Dr. William Dietz.
When not performing or teaching you'll find Robert chasing his three kids and three Great Danes with his high school sweetheart, Allison."

Brass, Piano, and Harp

Christopher Danz, from Naples, Florida, is a trumpet freelancer in the Salt Lake City area. He has performed with the Utah Symphony, Ballet West, New World Symphony, and Utah Festival Opera. He is currently second trumpet of the Billings (MT) Symphony. In addition to his performance activities, Christopher teaches at Utah Valley University and also maintains an active studio of private students. Christopher received his Bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music studying with James Thompson and his Master’s degree from The University of Miami.
Anita Miller is an accomplished hornist, educator, and studio musician, currently serving as Adjunct Professor of Horn at Utah Valley University. She is Principal Horn with the Utah Chamber Artists, a member of the Ballet West Orchestra, Sinfonia Salt Lake, a member of Aspen Winds, and performs regularly with the Utah Symphony as well as many other Salt Lake area groups and recording studios.
Before coming to Utah, Ms Miller spent many years as a freelance hornist in New York City. There, she was a member of the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra, New Haven Symphony, Principal horn for the Connecticut Grand Opera, the BMI Big Band, New Hampshire Music Festival, and performed with the New Jersey Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, New York Philharmonic, New World Symphony, New York Big Brass, and various chamber groups, and regional orchestras. Ms. Miller was also an in-demand Broadway pit musician who, at height of her Broadway career, covered 26 different horn books concurrently.
As a chamber musician, Ms. Miller made her New York recital debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall with FIVE: A Woodwind Quintet. Her additional chamber credits include collaborations with Music Amici, New York Big Brass, Solid Brass, and the Harmonie Ensemble. Her diverse recording work spans orchestral, chamber, jazz, movie soundtracks and other commercial genres.
Ms. Miller’s dedication to arts education includes teaching positions at Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program, New York’s Fieldston School and the Midori Foundation outreach program where she mentored and taught underserved students in the New York area. Here in Utah, Anita continues her commitment to educational outreach through both the A.R.T.S Inc and NOVA Music Project programs. She is also a recipient of a Chamber Music America Rural Residency Grant, through which she delivered educational concerts and workshops across rural Maine.
Anita Miller is a graduate of The Juilliard School where she was a student of Jerome Ashby.
Mac Merchant is a pianist and coach based in Sandy, Utah, where he plays for lessons and works with singers at the University of Utah. Mac has extensive experience playing for singers, instrumentalists, and choral ensembles, as well as productions of music theater and opera. His studies include a M.M. in Collaborative Piano from the University of Colorado-Boulder and an M.M. in Piano Performance from Washington State University. Mac's playing is featured in Naxos's album "Sing Wearing the Sky," a collection of Jake Runestad's choral music performed by the Denver-based choir, Kantorei.
Kathryn Sloat, “whose harp playing evoked the angels” (Brooklyn Discovery), is known for her work in opera and contemporary chamber music in New York City and throughout the United States. As an orchestral harpist, Kathryn has performed with a variety of orchestras in the New York area and beyond, including the Albany Symphony, the Syracuse Orchestra, the American Symphony, the Zagreb Philharmonic, the National Symphony of Ecuador, and more. Kathryn has played in pit orchestras for Off-Broadway and regional theater productions of Once Upon a Mattress, The Fantasticks, A Light in the Piazza, The Beast in the Jungle, as well as performing for Radio City’s Christmas Spectacular. Kathryn Sloat holds degrees in harp performance from the Crane School of Music, Eastman School of Music, and Mannes College of Music. Between musical activities she finds time to knit, read, and hike the Adirondack Mountains.

Production support for The Gift of the Magi was made possible in part by: