Production Team:
Stage Director & Producer – Julie Fiore
Music Director & Pianist – Joseph Choi
Technical Director & Lighting/Projections Designer – Matt Smith
Assistant Director, Hair & Make-up Consultant – Carol Brown
Stage Manager, Props & Sets Consultant – Monica Kurtz
with additional props & sets assistance from Andy Heilveil & Pixie Avent

This program will be performed without intermission. Total runtime is about 70 minutes.

Having Guests for Dinner
music by Nicholas Bentz + libretto by Robert Ellsworth Feng

Laura – Annisha Mackenzie
Marcus – Brian Minnick
Christoph – Stephen Maus

When Marcus and Laura attend a “dinner for three” hosted by the refined but eccentric Christoph Aberfield, things take a turn for the macabre. Between courses and questionable puns, the two become increasingly suspicious of their host. Will the two catch Christoph red-handed, or will they meat their demise? The steaks have never been higher…

Mud Girl
music by Omar Najmi + libretto by Christine Evans

River – Andréa Ochoa
Maude – Hillary Schranze
Poly I – Avery LaRue
Poly II – Anneliese Sandoval

A catastrophic flood has reshaped the world. Maude, a scientist, fled the city’s toxic remnants over a decade ago, painfully relinquishing her work and her connection to the networks that power it. She rescued River, a young child, clinging to a shopping basket hurtling down the river. But now that River’s reaching adolescence, she needs companions, a bigger world, and independence. Can Maude keep her safe from a world she sees as brimming with human threats, pathogens, and dangerously mutating AI?

Commissioned through the American Opera Initiative at Washington National Opera

Forever
music by Elizabeth Gartman + libretto by Melisa Tien

Wrapper – Paige Patrick
Wristband – Lucas Hickman
The Tardigrade – Liz Cass

Eons after humans have gone extinct, a strange, chemically supercharged world remains. Perhaps all a survivor can do is try and navigate their surroundings, one toxic blast at a time. As the environmental legacy of the human species gets heftier, allow a pair of musically inclined polyfluoroalkyl substances and a hardy microorganism to paint a picture of a possible future Earth. Forever is a tragicomic opera about figuring out one’s place on a changing planet.

Commissioned through the American Opera Initiative at Washington National Opera

Cast of Having Guests for Dinner

Annisha Mackenzie (Laura) is a mezzo-soprano based in Austin, Texas, known for her expressive physicality, vocal clarity, and sharp comedic timing. A graduate of Texas State University (B.M. in Vocal Performance), her past roles include Suor Angelica, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Cendrillon, and Phoebe in The Yeomen of the Guard. She has performed with organizations such as Austin Opera, Gilbert and Sullivan Austin, LOLA, and One Ounce Opera. In addition to performing, Annisha is a dedicated teaching artist and outreach performer with Austin Opera and Opera San Antonio, bringing opera into schools and community spaces. She also serves as a choral scholar at University United Methodist Church and teaches voice at Eastside Music School and Velocity Music Academy. Passionate about storytelling and accessibility, she strives to make opera engaging, human, and relevant for all audiences!”

Tenor Brian Minnick (Marcus) has sung extensively throughout the country and is excited to continue his career back home in Austin. In 2015 he received his Masters in Opera Performance from the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has recently performed with G&S Austin, Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, Hawaii Opera Theater, Austin Opera, One Ounce Opera, Puget Sound Concert Opera, and Tacoma Opera. He is currently a Choral Scholar at University Baptist Church in Austin. He is a adamant supporter of new music and has premiered many opera, choral, and chamber works with companies such as Kitsap Fringe Opera, Seattle Pro Musica, Inversion Ensemble, One Ounce Opera, Density512, along with many local and national composers. Some favorite operatic and oratorio roles include:  Parpingol (La Bohème), Prunier (La Rondine), Michele (Saint of Bleecker Street), Jean (Die Bauer ein Schelm), Brack (Down in the Valley), Torquemada (L’heure espangole), Dr. Bryan Cooper (Maelstrom: A Zombie Opera), Ralph Rackstraw (HMS Pinafore), Malcolm (Macbeth), Tinca (Il Tabarro), and as the tenor soloist in the Rossini Stabat Mater, the Bruckner Te Deum, and the Kodály Te Deum.

Bass-baritone Stephen Maus (Christoph) is a native Texan based in Austin.  He is a versatile performer whose work includes opera, oratorio, choral repertoire, and musical theater, and ranges from medieval chant to newly composed works.  Select roles include Golaud in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, the title role in Le nozze di Figaro, Leporello in Don Giovanni, Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte, Vodnik in Dvorak’s Rusalka, and Alberich in Das Rheingold.  Stephen has been a Young Artist with the Aspen Opera Center, Opera NEO, and Charlottesville Opera.  As a teaching artist, Stephen has given master classes with Youth Opera of El Paso and the Aspen Music Festival.  He is a regular performer with Austin Opera, also serving as bass section leader in the chorus.  Aside from Austin Opera, Stephen has performed locally with Gilbert & Sullivan Austin, LOLA, One Ounce Opera, and Austin Cantorum.  He holds degrees in voice from Texas Tech University and Bowling Green State University. In addition to performing, Stephen maintains a large private voice studio, accompanies several area choirs, and is a cantor/choir director/organist at St. Mary Cathedral.

Cast of Mud Girl

Andréa Ochoa (River) is a Mexican American soprano and arts administrator based in Austin, TX. She was most recently seen on Austin stages as 503-2 in Lisa Neher and Caitlin Vincent’s Beyond with One Ounce Opera, and in the chorus of Austin Opera’s 2024 production of Cruzar la Cara de la Luna. Roles include Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Ms. Wordsworth (Albert Herring), Laetitia (The Old Maid and the Thief), and Marian Paroo (The Music Man). She has also performed numerous world premiere works through the First Stages composition lab at New York University. Ms. Ochoa received her Master of Music degree in Classical Voice Performance and an Advanced Certificate in Vocal Pedagogy from New York University, and her Bachelor of Music Education degree with a concentration in Vocal Studies from Oklahoma Christian University. Ms. Ochoa serves as the Director of Education & Community Impact at Austin Opera.

Hillary Schranze (Maude) is thrilled to be returning to One Ounce opera after she performed last season as Young Ray Bradbury in One Ounce Opera’s premiere of Ray Bradbury, Age 12... Most recently she was seen as Grandma Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof at Austin Opera. She was also seen in Austin Opera in The Revolution of Steve Jobs, Sweeney Todd, and Celebrate Opera! This season marks her fourth season as a member of the HGO Chorus. She made her chorus debut in Tosca and has since performed in Madame Butterfly, Parsifal, La bohème, Don Giovanni, and Il trovatore. Her other notable roles include Sister Sophia in The Sound of Music with Charlottesville Opera, and Dame Carruthers in The Yeomen of the Guard and The Plaintiff in Trial by Jury, both with Gilbert & Sullivan Austin. Onscreen, Schranze appeared as the Maid in Bank Street Productions’s Villa Diodati. She is a member of the Bard Festival Chorale, regularly performing at Carnegie Hall and the Bard Music Festival. 

Avery LaRue (Poly I) is delighted to make her debut with One Ounce Opera in Mud Girl. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Houston and enjoys performing in both opera and musical theater settings. She recently performed in two productions of Fiddler on the Roof with Austin Opera and Georgetown Palace Theatre. Her operatic credits include Dinner at Eight, Hänsel und Gretel, and The Ballad of Baby Doe, to name a few.

Anneliese Sandoval (Poly II) is a classically trained mezzo-soprano and San Antonio native who has proudly called Austin home since earning her degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Texas at Austin in 2022. An active presence in the Austin performing arts scene, she serves as mezzo section leader for Austin Opera’s 40th season and is a proud member of the ATX Musical Theatre Collective. Anneliese is thrilled to return to One Ounce Opera this season, having made her debut with the company in 2024, and is overjoyed to share the Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera stage once again with so many cherished friends and colleagues.

Cast of Forever

Paige Patrick (The Wrapper), soprano, is delighted to make her OOO debut in Forever! Most recently, she portrayed Lady Angela in Patience with Gilbert & Sullivan Austin, where she sang Josephine in HMS Pinafore in 2025. She holds a BM in Music Education from Texas State and an MM in Performance from the University of TN-Knoxville. A native of San Antonio, she recently relocated back to Texas from the San Francisco Bay Area, where she appeared with various opera companies, including Goat Hall, Valhalla, Verismo, and Bayshore Lyric. As a concert artist, Paige appeared with the SF Choral Society, Arete Singers, Fresh Voices, and the Kensington Symphony. When not performing or teaching voice, Paige serves the next generation of opera singers as Operations Manager of the JTVA Competition (jtva.org). A lover of all things singing, she enjoys vocal jazz and choral work in addition to opera and oratorio. www.paigepatrickvoice.com

Described as having “a comfortable mastery of vocal technique”, Internationally accredited Lucas Hickman (The Wristband) is a lyric tenor hailing originally from Carlisle, Massachusetts. His performance credits include Turridu in Cavalleria Rusticana with Opera51, Tito in La Clemenza di Tito with Metrowest Opera, Cavaradossi in Tosca, with Opera51, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore with the Monterrey Summer Opera Academy, and Bardolfo in Falstaff with the International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia. He also performed with companies such as Boston Lyric Opera, San Antonio Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Opera Vermont. He received his Masters Degree in Voice from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and Bachelors of Music from Ithaca College. A second year Resident Artist with Austin Opera, He will be joining the chorus and covering the role of Rodolfo in their upcoming production of La Boheme.

Liz Cass (Tardigrade) is a producer, educator, arts leader, and operatic performer based in Austin, Texas. She is the founder and Executive Producer of LOLA (Local Opera Local Artists) and Executive Director of Armstrong Community Music School, where she has taught voice since 2004. An accomplished mezzo-soprano, Liz has performed with numerous Austin ensembles and has appeared internationally. A champion of contemporary music, some of Cass’s notable roles include Dinah LeFarge in Lardo Weeping, a LOLA commission by Peter Stopschinski, and Pancho Villa: From a Safe Distance by Graham Reynolds. Recent and upcoming engagements include performances in Austin (2026), Vancouver (2027), and Kansas City (2027). Liz trained at the UMKC Conservatory with Inci Bashar and prestigious festivals including Aspen, Seagle, Central City Opera, and Fort Worth Opera.

in alphabetical order

Carol Brown (Assistant Director & Makeup Consultant) is a soprano, composer, and production maven about town and is pumped to return as assistant director for FSOO ‘26! Helping share new music through different avenues with Austin audiences from on stage, on the page and behind the scenes is something she’s super passionate about, especially because of the amazing talents and collaborative vibe within this community. In addition to performing with and AD’ing for OOO, Carol served as production manager for Inversion from 2020-24 and has assisted in producing events for CTC Music Publishing, as well as performing with and composing for both groups. Additionally, Carol has performed with LOLA, Density512, Austin Opera, and Gilbert & Sullivan Austin, whom she reunited with this June and last to direct their Grand Productions of H.M.S. Pinafore and Patience.

Korean-American pianist Joseph Choi (Music Director & Pianist) is a multi-faceted artist of the 21st century. A graduate of The Juilliard School (Master of Music) and the University of Texas at Austin (Doctorate and Bachelor of Music), he studied with esteemed mentors Anton Nel, Jerome Lowenthal and Matti Raekallio. Joey’s career includes serving as Assistant Conductor for the Vienna Opera Academy, where he worked on Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. He has earned awards such as Second Prize at the 2014 NTD International Piano Competition and the Baroque Prize at the 2016 San Antonio International Piano Competition. His performances span prestigious stages, including Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, with collaborations alongside Austin Symphony Orchestra, Aeolus Quartet, Austin Cantorum and Inversion Ensemble. Previously serving on the faculty at Concordia University, Joey currently is a staff accompanist for Huston-Tillotson University and performs actively with Austin Opera and Conspirare. An avid cyclist, he resides in Austin, Texas.

Julie Fiore (Producer & Stage Director) is a creative strategist, project manager, “fourth space” experience builder, and communicator who develops connection and community through storytelling. She founded One Ounce Opera in 2012 after receiving degrees in Music Performance from the University of North Texas and University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. With OOO, she has championed 31 micro-operas to date and been nominated for over 40 awards including four B. Iden Payne nominations for Outstanding Direction and the Austin Chronicle Best Of Austin (Stage Director). She serves as the Executive & Artistic Director of OOO and a Chief Community Officer for many nonprofit and small business clients. Find out more at julieannfiore.com.

Monica Kurtz (Stage Manager & Props Designer) has dedicated over 35 years to the craft of theater as a stage manager. Her background in production began while serving in the U.S. Army, when she was given her first opportunity to stage manage while stationed in Germany. Over the decades, Monica has been fortunate to collaborate with numerous dedicated artists and organizations in the Austin theater community. She is a company member of both The Vortex and Shrewd Productions, and she serves as a board member and Hall of Fame inductee for Gilbert & Sullivan Austin. Additionally, she values her regular opportunities to work alongside the exceptional ensemble at One Ounce Opera. She has also received a B. Iden Payne Award for Outstanding Stage Management for her work on Agent Andromeda and the Orion Crusade. Many thanks to Julie and Carol for helping her discover her love of making props!  She extends her sincere thanks and love to her family for their enduring support, and sends a special note of affection to her beloved puppy, Bella.

Matt Smith (Technical Director & Lighting/Projections Designer) is an Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Texas at Austin, within the Department of Arts and Entertainment Technologies. Matt specializes in lighting and projection technologies and has supported a wide variety of projects on the local and national level. A few notable projects or companies include: Austin Opera, dadalab, Texas Performing Arts, Paramount Films, and MTV Awards.

Welcome to the FSOO, presented by One Ounce Opera Production Company!

Who we are:
One Ounce Opera Production Company (OOO) provides occasions where our community gathers to immerse themselves in dynamic storytelling.

Together, we explore contemporary topics through the lenses of diverse trailblazers, forging new paths in the art form for the next generations to enjoy.

Founded in 2012, we are dedicated to reimagining opera in unexpected spaces – whether that’s your favorite neighborhood watering hole or a creative space we transform.

Our programming invites you to be curious.

OOO produces opportunities for you to reflect, recharge, and connect – with yourself, your community, a story, or a cause. We encourage you to grow compassion for a different lived experience or see your culture reflected in an impactful and affirming way.

All while immersing yourself in a virtuosic, sonic experience.

We enrich lives and bust barriers by meeting people where they are in spaces that don’t seem out of reach regardless of socio-economic status or past experience with the art form.

At the core of everything we do is this statement:
OPERA IS FOR EVERYONE.