Opera under the Stars: Opera, Light Opera and Broadway Favorites
Saturday, June 15, 2024 – 7:00 pm
Uptown Park, Medina, OH

Ohio Regional Music Arts and Cultural Outreach (ORMACO) continues its summer concert series with Opera under the Stars with regional opera professionals on Saturday, June 15, 2024, at 7 pm. Enjoy some of your favorite opera tunes, as well as lesser-known works. Also, relish some beloved melodies from operettas and musicals.

Bring your lawn chairs, blankets and picnics to enjoy this free concert. In the event of rain, the concert will be held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 317 E. Liberty Street, Medina, OH 44256. For more information call 419-853-6016.

About the Musicians

Marian Vogel (Lyric Soprano)

Hailed as, “thrilling”, “surprisingly powerful”, and “bursting with dramatic intensity”, lyric soprano, Marian Vogel has been recognized as a gifted performer both on the concert and on the operatic stage. She debuted in Carnegie Hall under the baton of composer/conductor John Rutter performing Mozart’s Requiem and Rutter’s Magnificat. Marian has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall and on their recent European tour to Vienna and Luxembourg performing in The Cunning Little Vixen. Other notable concert appearances include the complete Egmont Incidental Music of Beethoven, the Requiems of Verdi, Brahms, Mozart, Faure and Rutter, The Peacemakers (Jenkins), The Seasons (Haydn), Haydn’s Mass in Time of War, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, Bach’s Cantata No. 191, Rossini’s La Petite Solenelle, Mozart’s Regina Coeli, Exsultate Jubilate and Grand Mass in C Minor, Poulenc’s Gloria, Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’ Ete, Barber’s Knoxville Summer of 1915, Strauss’ Four Last Songs, a Concert Suite from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and Orff’s Carmina Burana.

A versatile performer, Marian has performed such roles as Mimi and Musetta (La Boheme), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Pamina (The Magic Flute), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), the Mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors) and a wealth of Gilbert and Sullivan heroines such as Josephine (H.M.S. Pinafore), Yum Yum (Mikado) and Patience (Patience). Described as “exquisite”, “vocally alluring”, and “irresistible“, Marian has toured extensively as a soloist, both in the United States and in Europe. Ms. Vogel is a two-time first prize winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council District Auditions and the winner of the Belle O. Morse Young Artist Award given by Cleveland Opera and is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. Marian Vogel Fletcher resides in Medina with her husband David and their three children, Anna, Jack and Sam.

Jared Plasterer (Tenor)

Jared Plasterer is a choir teacher for Parma City Schools. He started his career as the high school choir director at Valley Forge and finished his high school teaching career at Parma Senior High School from 2011 to 2024. When Parma Senior High School closed this year, he was reassigned to Hillside Middle School where he teaches five sections of choir grades 5-8 and one section of strings. Jared is married to Tamara Plasterer, Choir and Drama teacher at Padua Franciscan High School. They are the parents of two daughters, Kimberly and Valerie.

A product of The University of Akron, Jared has sung with the Cleveland Opera Chorus, Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, Blossom Festival Chorus, BW Men’s Choir, and many other groups in Northeast Ohio.

Brian Keith Johnson (Lyric Baritone)

Brian Keith Johnson (Lyric Baritone) has performed many roles in opera from Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia to Ford in Falstaff.  As a member of Actors’ Equity Association, he has also performed a variety of musical theatre roles ranging from Jim in Big River to Father/God in Children of Eden.  His concert repertoire includes most major baritone works such as Carmina Burana, Elijah, Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Brahms’ Requiem and Faure’s Requiem.  

Brian has performed operatic and musical theatre roles across the United States including performances with The Cleveland Orchestra, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Canton Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Blossom Festival Orchestra, Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh, Opera Western Reserve, Carolina Master Chorale, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and Porthouse Theatre.  He received his Bachelor of Music Degree from The University of Akron and also has studied abroad at The New Opera Academy of Rome in Rome, Italy, and The American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. 

Brian is currently in his 34th year of teaching music in The Akron Public School System, currently at Findley CLC. He lives in Cuyahoga Falls with his wife and Akron Public Schools Kindergarten Teacher, Susan. Brian is also an avid motorcyclist.