Les Mamelles de Tirésias

This performance is 1 hr long followed by Q+A with the cast.

Content Warning: This performance features simulated gunshots. This performance explores mature themes including sexuality, and may not be suitable for young children.  

Thursday / Saturday Cast, April 9 and April 11 at 7:00pm 

 Friday / Sunday Cast, April 10 at 7:00pm & April 12 at 2:00 PM

Cast for all performances:

Pianists

• Gerard Hecht
• Alon Ostrun

Production Staff

Synopsis

Francis Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias (The Breasts of Tiresias) is a surrealist opéra bouffe based on the 1917 play by Guillaume Apollinaire. It is a wild, satirical, and deeply eccentric work that blends slapstick humor with a serious post-WWII message about the need for France to repopulate.

The story is set in the fictional town of Zanzibar.

Act I: The Transformation

The protagonist, Thérèse, is tired of her domestic life and decides she wants to be a man so she can pursue careers in the military, philosophy, and politics. In a surreal climax, her breasts turn into balloons, which she pops and releases into the air. She grows a beard and mustache, renames herself Tirésias, and forces her husband to dress in her clothes. While she heads off to conquer the world, her husband is left behind, eventually deciding that if women won’t bear children, men must.

Act II: The Man-Made Children

The husband succeeds in creating children by using Artificial Intelligence. He manages to create 40,049 children in a single day. They are “born” fully formed and immediately begin earning money for the family (or causing chaos). However, a visiting Gendarme (policeman) is suspicious of his creations

The Finale: Reconciliation

Thérèse eventually returns, disillusioned by her exploits. She and her husband reconcile, and she returns to her female identity. The opera ends with the entire cast coming forward to deliver the “moral” of the story to the audience: “Make children, those of you who didn’t make many!”

Faculty Biographies

Jacque Trussel - Stage Director

Winner of the American Prize in Directing for the Purchase Opera production of Robert Ward’s The Crucible, Jacque Trussel is an internationally renowned tenor and has performed leading roles with opera companies throughout the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, l’Opéra de la Bastille in Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera and the Houston Grand Opera. He has appeared in concert with numerous symphonies including the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, and the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam. His radio and television broadcasts include performances of Don Jose in Carmen with the Canadian Broadcasting Company, Sky Tel Broadcast seen throughout Europe with Maria Ewing and the Live from Lincoln Center broadcast. His Grammy nominated solo CD, Sounds and Sweet Airs featuring the Janacek Philharmonic was released to great public enthusiasm and rave reviews. Mr. Trussel is also the featured tenor soloist on Le Livre de la Jungle by Charles Koechlin, awarded the prestigious Diapason d’Or for 2000, and Macbeth of Ernst Bloch awarded le Prix de l’Académie of Charles Cros. He also appears on the DVD release of Carmen with Maria Ewing (Image Entertainment). He was named Stage Director of the Year by Classical Singer Magazine and has led the Purchase Opera to numerous National Opera Association awards for Best Opera Production of the Year. In 2009 he co-authored the libretto of the opera Confession, which was written, composed, produced and premiered at Purchase College. Confession was later named Best Chamber Opera of the Year in a worldwide competition sponsored by the NOA.

Hugh Murphy - Music Director, Conductor

Several productions with Purchase Opera have been reviewed favorably by the New York Times and Opera News Magazine, and been named “Best Opera of the Year” by the National Opera Association. Recordings with the Purchase Opera, available at Albany Records: The Tempest (world premiere), Confession (world premiere) and The Crucible, which received the Bacon Memorial Award in the Performance of American Music. His experience spans the repertoire from the earliest operas to the most recent. His responsibilities as a Purchase professor include coaching and teaching courses in German and French Art Song, Operatic Literature and Styles. He has been on the faculty of the Mannes College of Music, a visiting faculty member at the Eastman School of Music, and at the “Si Parla, Si Canta!” Vocal Workshop, in Italy. His professional clients perform with the world’s leading opera companies.

Margaret Vignola - Assistant Director

After years of working in artist development, publicity, marketing and sales for international music industry giants like Capitol, MCA, Geffen, IRS, Motown Records, and the Universal Music Group, Ms. Vignola left a successful career to study Voice and Opera at the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College. In the Opera Performance/Vocal Studies program Ms Vignola performed as Second Lady in die Zauberflote, The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Suora Dolcina in Puccini’s Suor Angelia. During the last two years of her vocal studies she offered her administrative experience to the program’s new director, Jacque Trussel in an effort to assist in creating the core of the current Opera program. For the past 28 years she has served as the Assistant Director of the multi-award-winning Purchase Opera and Assistant to Professor Trussel. In the 2009, she and Professor Trussel collaborated to write the libretto for Raphael Lucas’ Confession. The Opera went on to win National Opera Association’s Best Chamber Production and was recorded by Albany Records. Ms. Vignola is also a Screenwriting graduate from NYU/Tisch Film and Television Essentials.

Gerard Hecht, piano

Gerard Hecht is in his 32nd year as a Professor in the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College. He is a collaborative pianist, and vocal coach. Professor Hecht often does performances with singers, brass, chamber music, has been in Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus, attended Yale and Manhattan School of Music. He particularly loves art song and foreign languages. He teaches seminars in Britten, Berg, and Sondheim as well as the French language. In his next life, he’ll be an opera singer, specializing in evil baritone roles. 

Alon Ostrun, piano

Alon Ostrun, born in 1995 in Netanya, Israel, began studying piano at age nine at the Israel Conservatory of Music in Tel Aviv. By the age of twelve, he was already performing as part of the prestigious Edward Aldwell Project for outstanding young musicians in Jerusalem, including live broadcasts as both a soloist and chamber musician.
Throughout the years, Alon studied with some of the most respected teachers in the field, including Maestro Vag Papian, Daniel Hextor, Yuval Admony and Tami Kanazawa, and Prof. Arnon Erez. He is a recipient of numerous excellence scholarships, including those from the Ronen Foundation, America-Israel Cultural Foundation (AICF), Buchmann–Heyman Foundation, and the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University.
Alon has won top prizes in several national and international competitions. These include the Young Artist Chamber Ensemble Competition in Jerusalem, third prize at the prestigious Rome International Chopin Competition for Piano Duo, and first prize (“Golden Hands”) at the Carles & Sofia International Piano Four-Hands Duo Competition in 2024.
His performance career has taken him to major festivals and concert halls around the world—among them, the National Chamber Music Festival in Jerusalem, a special children’s theater project in Venice, fundraising events in London and Hong Kong, and the Bessarabia Duet Festival.
Alon holds a Master’s degree with honors from the Buchmann–Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University. He has collaborated with leading Israeli conductors, including Maestro Roni Porat, with whom he worked regularly between 2016–2023, accompanying conducting masterclasses.
In June 2023, Alon and his twin brother Guy performed a full piano duo recital broadcast live on Israel’s classical music radio station, Kol HaMusika, from the Jerusalem Music Centre. Together, the duo has appeared in some of Israel’s most esteemed concert venues, including the Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv, BYU Center in Jerusalem, and the Herzliya Arts Center.
Today, Alon teaches at leading children’s music conservatories across Israel and continues to inspire young musicians through his artistry, dedication, and passion for performance.

Production Team Biographies

Gabriel Wood - Stage Manager

Gabriel is a Junior in the Arts Management program at Purchase, concentrating in Performance Art Administration, with a minor in Opera/Voice. He previously stage-managed Purchase’s production of Die Fledermaus and performed the role of King Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors. Gabriel studies voice with Bonnie Hamilton. 

Christopher Brusberg - Lighting Designer

Christopher Brusberg is a lighting designer who focuses on storytelling through the use of style and collaboration. Based out of NYC, Christopher has worked with following companies over the past fifteen years: EMERGE125 (Company Lighting Designer - NYC), Annapolis Opera (Resident Lighting Designer), Opera Lafayette (DC), Tri-Cities Opera, Syracuse Opera, Tulsa Opera, BANDPoteir (DC/NYC), Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Company One (Boston), Speakeasy Company of Boston, Arrow Rock Lyceum, The Cherry Arts Space (Ithaca), NYU Steinhardt, SUNY Purchase Voice and Opera, and Boston Conservatory. Christopher is a proud member of USA829. www.ctblighting.com.

Tracey Olmoz - Costume Director

Tracey holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Syracuse University and is a proud member of the Purchase Opera production team. She was the Costume Coordinator for the Admiral Players of Arlington HS (Director Sarah Combs) from 2012 - 2019, costuming small productions as well as musicals with 82+ member ensembles. She directed the costume crew, in which she taught varied elements of costuming; from sewing an emergency whip stitch seam split repair in the wings, to building masquerade masks and perfecting the art of the quick change. She specializes in garment modifications and loves to turn a simple costume into something magical. Some favorites include Aida, Crazy for You, 42nd Street, Hello, Dolly!, Oklahoma!, Sister Act, The Music Man, and West Side Story. Her venture into dressing operas began in August 2021, with specialty builds and alterations for Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice in their production of I Pagliacci (Director Maria Todaro). As the Costume Director for Purchase Opera (Director Jacque Trussel), she has designed, built, rented or otherwise procured costumes since the Fall of 2021. Productions include Amahl and the Night Visitors, Le Nozze di Figaro, Cendrillon, Die Zauberflӧte, Hansel & Gretel, Hamlet, and L’incoronazione di Poppea. She received a nod for costume design for Hamlet in the Division VI NOA 1st Place Award review in 2024. I am grateful for my boys Nick (MusB Studio Comp ’19) and Zack (MusB Opera ’23) who inspired and encouraged me into this craft, and for John who completely supports me and my unconventional skillset and unforgiving schedule!

Lilian Juliet Skuthan - Hair and Make-up Designer

Lilian Skuthan has over 15 years of experience as a professional Make-Up Artist. She graduated along with great artists and mentors from New York and Los Angeles through Empire Beauty School: Learning Institute of Beauty Sciences. Sponsored and trained by M.A.C. Cosmetics, KETT Cosmetics and CINEMA SECRETS Cosmetics. Lily is certified for Fashion & Glamour, TV & FILM and currently works in television, advertising, print, stock photography and theater production. She specializes in the techniques of airbrush make-up and prosthetics, as well as all facets of make-up application education. Using her knowledge of face, color, shadow, bone structure, lighting, and even the individual’s personality, each application is singularly crafted to bring out the most alluring, unique and honest look. She thoroughly enjoys working with the Purchase College Opera Program and is passionate about teaching the importance of character building through the craft of hair and makeup. Lily is thrilled to be working with such a talented group of artists in helping them bring their characters to life!

Cast Biographies

Zora Abaquin

Zora Abaquin (Parisian Journalist): soprano, is a junior in Purchase Conservatory of Music Opera Performance/Vocal Studies program. She has also participated in Die Fledermaus (Eisenstein), Amahl and the Night Visitors and Hänsel und Gretel as a chorus member. Zora has performed in German scenes from Die Zauberflöte (1st Lady and Papagena) and Hänsel und Gretel (Gretel). She has also performed in Italian scenes from La Finta Giardiniera (Ramiro) and Idomeneo (Idamante). Ms. Abaquin is a student of Kaori Sato

Nadia Alalou

Nadia Alalou (Le Fils): soprano, is a junior in Purchase Conservatory of Music’s Opera Performance/Vocal Studies program. She has appeared in Purchase productions of Die Fledermaus (Frank), L’incoronazione di Poppea (La Fortuna), Amahl and the Night Visitors (Chorus), Hamlet (Chorus), and Hänsel und Gretel (Chorus). She has performed in Italian Opera Scenes as Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro), Fiordilogi (Così fan tutte), and in German Opera Scenes as Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier), Leonore/Fidelio (Fidelio), and Hanna (The Merry Widow). Ms. Alalou is currently a student of Kaori Sato.

Maya Alexander

Maya Alexander (La Grosse Dame): mezzo-soprano, is a freshman in Purchase Conservatory of Music’s Opera Performance/Vocal Studies program. She has appeared in Purchase productions of Die Fledermaus (Chorus). Ms. Alexander is currently a student of Kaori Sato.

Rachel Eaton

Rachel Eaton (Le Fils): soprano, is a senior in the Purchase Conservatory of Music Opera Performance/Vocal Studies Program. Her most notable roles with Purchase Opera include Amahl, in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, La Fortuna in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, and Sandman in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel. Rachel has also appeared as ensemble/chorus in Purchase Opera’s Cendrillon (Massenet), Die Zauberflöte (Mozart), and Hamlet (Thomas). Rachel is a student of Kaori Sato.

Jeanete Angela González 

Jeanete Angela González (Tirésias): soprano, is currently a senior in the Conservatory of Music’s Opera Performance/Vocal Studies Program. She performed the role of the Dew Fairy in Purchase Opera’s 2023 production of Hänsel und Gretel and performed the lead role of Amahl in Purchase Opera’s 2024 production of Amahl and the Night Visitors. In Spring 2025, Jeanete performed the roles of Amore and Drusilla in Purchase’s production of L’icoronazione di Poppea and in Fall 2026, she performed the role of Adele in Purchase’s production of Die Fledermaus. This upcoming summer, Jeanete will attend the Classic Lyric Arts Program (CLA) in France. She has also attended the Queens Summer Vocal Institute where she has appeared as Nella from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. Jeanete is a student of Bonnie Hamilton.

Sephtis Gorcos

Sephtis Gorcos (La Marchande de journaus): soprano, is a sophomore in the Purchase Conservatory of Music’s Opera Performance/Vocal Studies program. She has appeared in Purchase Opera productions of Die Fledermaus (Ivanka) and L’incoranazione di Poppea (Ensemble) as well as La Guardia’s production of The Gondoliers (Casilda). Ms. Gorcos was also a member of the Purchase Conservatory Choir (2025), and La Guardia’s Senior Choir (2024). Ms. Gorcos is a student of Dr. Sherry Overholt.

Damian Headley

Damian Headley (Le Directeur/ La Chœur): tenor, is a junior in the Purchase Conservatory of Music’s Opera Performance/Vocal Studies program. At Purchase College, Damian performed in Die Fledermaus (Alfredo), Hamlet and Poppea. In Italian opera scenes, he appeared as the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro and Podesta in Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera. He performed German opera scene of Don Pizarro’s Jetzt Alter hat es Eile from Fidelio, and as Danilo in a duet from The Merry Widow. He appears as Alfred in Die Fledermaus. Damian is currently a student of Jacque Trussel.

James Hernandez

James Hernandez (Le Mari): tenor, is a Junior in the Purchase Conservatory of Music’s Opera Performance/Vocal Studies program at Purchase College. He holds an Associate’s Degree in Music from Suffolk County Community College. This is his third year at Purchase College. During his time James has appeared as the Vater in Hänsel und Gretel, Horatio in Hamlet, Melchior in Amahl and the Night visitors, Nerone in L’incoronazione and Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus. At Purchase College’s Italian and German opera scenes he appeared as Pizarro (Fidelio), Papageno (Zauberflöte). James is a student of Jacque Trussel.

Katelin Huang

Katelin Huang (Gypsy Dancer): soprano, is a freshman in Purchase Conservatory of Music’s Opera Performance/Vocal Studies program. She has appeared in Purchase Production of Die Fledermaus (ensemble). She has also appeared in LaGuardia HS’s Production of La Belle Helene (Phantis). Ms. Huang is currently a student of Dr. Sherry Overholt.

Isabel Levardsen

Isabel Levardsen; (Dancer/Gypsy): Isabel is a sophomore in the School of Art and Design in the the Visual Arts (BS) program where Isabel double majors in Psychology and Visual Arts . This is her first Purchase Opera production for which she contributed to the set design and was in charge of poster design and painting.

Kiera Masci

Kiera Masci (Parisian Journalist): soprano, is a Junior in Purchase Conservatory of Music’s Opera Performance/Vocal Studies program. She has appeared in Purchase productions of Die Fledermaus (Rosalinda), L’incoronazione di Poppea (Damigella/Virtù), Amahl and the Night Visitors (Chorus/Dancer), Hamlet (Chorus), and Hänsel und Gretel (Chorus). She has performed in Italian Opera Scenes as Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), and in German Opera Scenes as Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), and Agathe (Der Freischütz). Ms. Masci is currently a student of Kaori Sato.

Victoria Pierre-Louis 

Victoria Pierre-Louis (Chorus): soprano, is a freshman in Purchase Conservatory of Music’s Opera Performance/Vocal Studies program. She has appeared in Purchase productions of Die Fledermaus (Chorus). Victoria is currently a student of Kaori Sato.

Kierra Pizarro

Kierra Pizarro (Lacouf/Gyspy Dancer): mezzo soprano, is a third year in Purchase’s Conservatory of Music’s Opera Performance/Vocal Studies program and is simultaneously completing a BFA in Arts Management. She has appeared in Purchase Opera productions of Amahl and the Night Visitors (Page), L’incoronazione di Poppea (Arnalta) and Die Fledermaus (Orlofsky). She has participated in Hänsel und Gretel as a chorus member. She has also performed in Hänsel und Gretel as Hänsel, Die Zauberflöte as Third Lady, and Der Rosenkavalier as Marschallin in German Art Scenes. Kierra is a student of Bonnie Hamilton.

Caitlin Rossbotham

Caitlin Rossbotham (Tirésias): soprano, is a Graduate Student in the Purchase College Conservatory of Music. She has appeared as Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus) and in choruses of Dido & Aeneas and The Merry Widow, Amahl and the Night Visitors, as well as productions of Into the Woods (Cinderella), Turn of the Screw (Miss Jessel), The Old Maid and the Thief (Laetitia), and L’incoronazione di Poppea (Pallade). Caitlin would like to thank Jacque, Sherry Overholt, and Bonnie Hamilton for their thorough instruction and support.

Rhys Stermer

Rhys Stermer (Le Mari), tenor, is a graduate student at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music. Studying under Jacque Trussel, with Hugh Murphy, Djordje Nessic, and Susan Caldwell as his coach’s. At Purchase College Rhys has performed in Cendrillon, Amahl and the Night Visitors as Kaspar, Le Nozze di Figaro as Don Curzio, Die Zauberflöte as Tamino and Monostatos, Hänsel und Gretel as Hexe, Hamlet as Laërte and Polonius, L’incoronazione di Poppea as Arnalta/Soldato 2/Lucano/Liberto, and in Die Fledermaus as Alfred. He performed as Alfredo (La Traviata), Nemorino (L’Elisir d’amore), Rodolpho (La Bohemè), Jaquino and Florestan (Fidelio), Max (Der Freischütz), Edgardo (Lucia Di Lammermoor), and Roméo (Roméo et Juliette) in Purchase College’s scenes performances. Rhys received fourth place in the Virtuoso category of the Claude Debussy Paris Competition.

Joyce Suárez

Joyce Suárez (AOC): Mezzo-Soprano, is a freshman in Purchase Conservatory of Music’s voice and opera studies program. She has appeared in the Purchase production of Die Fledermaus (chorus). Ms. Suárez is currently a student of Bonnie Hamilton.

Maya Villanueva

Maya Villanueva (Kristie Noem): Soprano, is majoring both in Opera Performance/Vocal Studies and Anthropology. She has previously performed in Strass’ Die Fledermaus, Giancarlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors as the Page, and in Humperdink’s Hansel und Gretel as part of the Chorus. She will appear in Italian and German opera scenes as Anino in La Clemenza di Tito, and as Contessa in The Mariage of Figaro. Villanueva is a student of Kaori Sato.

Aidan White

Aidan White (Le Gendarme/Presto): Baritone, is a Junior in the Purchase Opera Performance program. At Purchase, Mr. White has performed in Die Fledermaus (Frank), L’incoronazione di Poppea (Mercurio/Soldier), Amahl and the Night Visitors (Chorus), and Hamlet (Marcellus). Mr. White is a student of Jacque Trussel.

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