Love and Romance: A Night of Italian Opera

Leonardo Ciampa  Born in Boston in 1971, composer/organist/pianist LEONARDO CIAMPA is a musician of international acclaim. He is director of music at Our Lady of the Angels and Emanuel Lutheran Church in Worcester, MA, Founding Director of the Organ Festival of Worcester, and Maestro di Cappella Onorario of the Basilica in Gubbio, Italy. Previously, he served as Artistic Director of “Music for a Great Hall” at Mechanics Hall, Composer-in-Residence at Mechanics Hall, founding director of Arts MetroWest, and artistic director of organ concerts at MIT.  As an organist, Ciampa has toured Europe extensively, performing in Italy, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, and in major festivals such as Festival Perosiano, Festival Organistico Lauretano, and Pistoia Musica Antica. He has given recitals at cathedrals in Vienna, New York City, Boston, and Lucca; basilicas in Rome, Turin, Loreto, and Absam; and abbeys in Dürnstein and Camaiore.  His compositions include Suite Siciliana (commissioned for the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra’s 25th season), several cantatas, organ symphonies (including the Worcester Organ Symphony), and numerous organ works performed by organists across the U.S. Notable premieres include Missa Pamphyliana in Gubbio and Suite Divina at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC.  As a pianist, Ciampa has performed at Zankel Hall (Carnegie Hall) and Mechanics Hall and marked Chopin’s 200th birthday with a six-recital series in Boston. An avid writer, he is the author of books on bel canto, Don Lorenzo Perosi, and Beniamino Gigli.     

Baritone Michael Meraw has performed with companies across North America (including: Pacific Opera Victoria, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, the Banff Centre, Edmonton Opera, the Richard Eaton Singers, Symphony Regina, the National Arts Centre, the Thirteen Strings, Opéra Atelier, Opera in Concert, Montreal Opera, Seattle Opera, Virginia Opera, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra), in repertoire ranging from Monteverdi and Handel, to Webern and Szymanowski. Not only has Meraw garnered critical acclaim in the standard repertoire, winning praise for his Figaro in Rossini’s Barber of Seville and Orff’s Carmina Burana, but he has also brought lesser-known works to new audiences through his incisive portrayals of such roles as King Roger by Szymanowski (“Meraw did well as Roger, with nervy urgency and gripping delivery of his increasingly anguished lines...” — Geoff Chapman, The Toronto Star) and Sir John A. MacDonald in Somers’s Louis Riel (“Dealing with a vocal part that veers from sprechgesang to dramatic declamation, baritone Michael Meraw showed great vocal cut and thrust, in addition to contributing a striking stage presence.” — Richard Turp, Opera Canada). Mr. Meraw has performed many of the standard baritone parts in oratorio including Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah, Judas Maccabeas, Joshua and Israel in Egypt, and the Requiems of Brahms and Fauré.  A regular recitalist, his repertoire spans the baritone repertoire in English, French, German, Italian and Russian. As well as his regular voice studio at New England Conservatory and his responsibilities as the Artistic Director of NEC’s Undergraduate Opera Studio, Mr. Meraw has become a regular Master clinician and adjudicator at several festivals in China, as well as at AIMS in Graz.  Many of his students have gone onto success, winning positions in young artist programs and artist contracts in the United States, Canada and Europe.  Michael’s students can include La Scala, the Chatelet, L’Opera Comique in Paris, Minnesota Opera, St. Louis Opera, Montreal Opera, BBC Proms, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra among their recent credits.

Tenor Michael González has been praised as “visually and sonically stunning” and celebrated for his “beautiful tenor voice,” described as “the aural equivalent of silk” (BMI). Recently honored as an award-winning artist for his work in the titular role of Samson in Handel’s Samson, he is known for his bright, forward tone and exceptional diction, rapidly emerging as a distinguished presence in opera, solo, and choral performance.

Recently, González captivated audiences at the National Opera Center in New York, where his recital earned acclaim from New York Concert Review, which hailed him as “one of the evening’s best” and “an emerging artist destined to go far.” He also served as Tenor Soloist for the world premiere of Richard J. Clark’s Te Deum, a five-movement work for orchestra, soloists, and choir commissioned for the fiftieth anniversary of Francis Bardot’s Chœur d’Enfants d’Île-de-France. The premiere took place at the stunning L’Église Saint-François de Sales in Paris, France.

As Lead Tenor of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, González can be heard on the 2021 album From the Bell Tower, recorded with the Boston Cathedral Singers. The album was listed “For Your Consideration” in five Grammy categories and is available on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

González has received recognition in several prestigious competitions, including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Boston and Puerto Rico Districts), the Schmidt Vocal Competition (First Prize/Gold Medal), the Classical Singer Competition (Finalist), and the YoungArts Awards (Silver Medalist).

His performance career spans the United States and abroad, with appearances at the American Institute of Musical Studies (Graz, Austria), Artes Italia (Florence, Italy), and the Berlin Opera Academy (Berlin, Germany). Notable operatic roles include Samson (Samson), Fritz (L’amico Fritz), Colonel Fairfax (The Yeomen of the Guard), Frederic (The Pirates of Penzance), Satyavān (Savitri), Barigoule (Cendrillon), Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas), Albert (Albert Herring), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), the Huntsman (Venus and Adonis), and Monostatos (The Magic Flute).

In addition to his operatic work, González maintains an active performance schedule with Boston Lyric Opera, Odyssey Opera, Opera Saratoga, Dee Opera, Cambridge Chamber Ensemble, South Florida Symphony Orchestra, and several other ensembles across the United States.

A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, González earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Vocal Performance with a concentration in Opera. His primary teachers include Michael Meraw, Angela Gooch, Carol Caselle, Gustav Halle, Wayne Rivera, and Lawrence Brownlee (Masterclass). His notable coaches include Tim Steele, Damien Karzyzek, Felix Jarrar, and Timothy Hoekman.

Soprano Hannah Shanefield’s fearless versatility is quickly establishing her as one of New England’s most exciting young operatic voices. Recent performances include singing Gilda (Rigoletto) and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) with Boston Summer Opera, and Suzel (L'amico Fritz) with West End Lyric. In 2025, she also headlined White Snake Projects’s Sing Out Strong: Environmental Voices concert series and appeared as soloist in Amy Beach’s Jephthah’s Daughter and Bernstein’s Jeremiah Symphony with the Horizon Ensemble orchestra.

In addition to her work onstage, Hannah is an active stage director, with recent productions including MassOpera’s Alcina and Boston Summer Opera’s The Pirates of Penzance, both of which received multiple BroadwayWorld award nominations. A passionate advocate for diverse and underrepresented repertoire, she regularly collaborates with organizations such as Boston Festival Orchestra, NEMPAC Opera Project, Orchestra Without Borders, and Milton Community Concerts.

A native of suburban Philadelphia, Hannah holds her Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance with a minor in Music History from the Hartt School.