Praised by Opera Today as “simply everything one could wish for,” American dramatic tenor Dane Suarez has built a career at the center of the Italian spinto and verismo repertoire. Critics have described his instrument as “uncommonly poised” and “gleaming,” equally capable of powerful impact and melting nuance, and declared him “destined to become a tenor of choice” in the most demanding assignments the Fach has to offer.

The 2024/25 season brought his international debut at Ireland’s Wexford Festival Opera, a return to his signature Don José with Opera Memphis, and his debut with the Erie Philharmonic as tenor soloist in Verdi’s Requiem. The 2025/26 season saw three major role debuts: the title role in Andrea Chénier with OperaDelaware, Radamès in Aida with Opera Southwest, and Giovanni in La hija de Rappaccini with Opera Columbus.

This season he makes role debuts as Dick Johnson in The Girl of the Golden West with TBA and Ulises in Salsipuedes with TBA. He debuts Opera Românǎ Craiova as Cavaradossi (Tosca) and Manrico (Il trovatore), Opera Las Vegas as Radamès (Aida), the Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra in a return to Rodolfo (La bohème), and Sioux City Symphony as tenor soloist in Messiah. Dane also returns to OperaDelaware where he can be heard as Javier in Fernanda (debut), Roberto in Le Villi (debut), and takes on two monodramas for tenor in Written for Secret (Janáček's The Diary of One Who Vanished and Hagen's Songs of Madness and Sorrow).

Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Krysty Swann has been hailed for her beautiful and rich voice, as well as her captivating presence on stage. The Washington Post declared, “Krysty Swann has a voice, and she knows how to use it…[She] displayed an instrument of immense power, natural beauty of tone and luscious legato line.” The Philadelphia-born, New York-based mezzo-soprano also had the pleasure of being featured on the cover of Opera News with the great Dolora Zajick.

Last season, Ms. Swann returned to the Lyric Opera of Chicago to sing Girlfriend 3 and cover the Mother in Blue. She also joined Oberlin Conservatory to sing Fatima in Omar and New Haven Symphony for The Ordering of Moses. She workshopped Dana Franklin in Kindred at the Apollo Theater, and she closed the season with a return to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Beulah in the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon, Lynn Nottage, and Ruby Aiyo Gerber’s This House. This season she joins Bard Music Festival as the Bird Seller in Martinů’s Julietta.

Katherine M. Carter is a New York-based stage director of opera and theatre whose work spans major houses, young artist programs, and boundary-pushing new work across the country. Recent credits include a new staging of Verdi's Nabucco for the Canadian Opera Company, a new production of Dialogues des Carmélites for Wolf Trap Opera, and engagements with San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera. Frequently in demand for her consent and community-based approach to rehearsal, Carter brings expertise across a wide range of mediums and has worked with the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Santa Fe Opera, Manhattan School of Music, The Juilliard School, and On Site Opera, among many others. Carter is a certified Intimacy Director through IDC Professionals and is the co-founder of The MITTEN Lab, a residency for emerging theatre artists in northern Michigan. Written in Secret marks her OperaDelaware debut.

Husan Chun-Novak is a pianist and conductor who has worked for over thirty years as an assistant conductor, opera pianist, and continuo player at major theaters and festivals across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Her credits include the Theater an der Wien, the Mariinsky Theatre, Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Palau de les Arts, and Maryland Lyric Opera, and she has collaborated with conductors such as Riccardo Frizza and Speranza Scappucci and directors including Emilio Sagi and Calixto Bieito. As a recital pianist, she has performed at prestigious venues including the Musikverein Wien and the Teatro Real de Madrid. A frequent collaborator with OperaDelaware and Opera Baltimore, her 2025 arrangement of Puccini Portraits which featured extended scenes and arias from Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and La fanciulla del West, was presented in both Maryland and Delaware to significant audience acclaim. The program was repeated when OperaDelaware hosted the 2026 Opera America Conference in Wilmington, Delaware.