Handorf Company Artists

Handorf Company Artist Program

Opera Memphis' Handorf Company Artist program is generously sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Charles Handorf.

The Opera Memphis Handorf Company Artist Program provides career building experiences to emerging singers and pianists through robust performance opportunities and personalized goals. Beyond the pursuit of artistic excellence, it seeks to provide the tools and entrepreneurial mindset necessary for citizen-artists to champion opera in the 21st Century.

Our Handorf Company Artists receive a wide variety of performance opportunities including roles in our Masterworks Opera series; numerous appearances during 30 Days of Opera - Opera Memphis's award-winning program that brings a month of free performances to every corner of the Mid-South; and numerous recital and cabaret performances at an array of venues throughout the season. In addition to performing, our Artists engage with our diverse audiences by facilitating and participating in community events and working extensively as part of Opera Memphis civic practice and advocacy.

Many of our artists have completed their graduate studies, but at Opera Memphis we continue their training with coaching sessions from Music Director Cris Frisco and General Director Ned Canty, as well as visiting artists and coaches. They are learning not just skills and techniques for opera as an art, but also tools for opera as a profession. From topics like social media branding and public speaking to tax-preparation, these various training sessions are crafted by Opera Memphis professionals to suit each artist's needs and ensure their success.

Meet the Spring 2022 Handorf Company Artists

Soprano Keely Futterer

Upcoming Opera Memphis roles: Maya in The Companion (Pygmalion 2.0) & Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte

Arkansan-born soprano KEELY FUTTERER, has been praised by Opera News as a “high-quality lyric soprano with a keen verbal nuance,” and has been seen in performances across the globe in China, Italy, and the United States. Career highlights of Ms. Futterer include the leading ladies of Elle in La Voix Humaine, the title role of Suor Angelica, Adina in L’elisir d’amore, and Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro. She received critical acclaim for her role debut of Marie in La fille du régiment at Opera Saratoga, where she was reviewed as having “one of the most gorgeous voices you can imagine with charm to match. Hers [was] a performance you will remember and speak about for years.” She has also performed an array of new opera, in addition to the classics, such as Isabella Beecher in Victoria Bond's Mrs. President, the Witch Mother in the American premiere of Philip Glass’s The Witches of Venice, and in 2017, she was part of the New Works Forum in NYC with American Lyric Theatre, premiering the role of Sara Turing in The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing.

Tenor Sergio F. Mandujano

Upcoming Opera Memphis roles: Joe in The Companion (Pygmalion 2.0) & Ferrando in Così fan tutte

Sergio F. Mandujano is a Mexican American tenor who will be playing the role of Joe in Robert Paterson’s The Companion, as well as Ferrando in Così Fan Tutti. He attended Seagle Festival 2021 where he performed Rodolfo in La Boheme and Broadway excerpts from Hamilton, Follies, Company, and more. Previous credits include Nemorino in L’Elisir D’Amore, Tamino in The Magic Flute, The Witch in Hansel und Gretel, Harry in Company, Burrs in The Wild Party, and Adolpho in The Drowsy Chaperone. He received an Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship nomination for his portrayal of Burrs in The Wild Party and Distinguished Performance by an Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Adolpho in The Drowsy Chaperone from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. He is originally from Norwalk, Connecticut.

Collaborative Pianist Arthur Bosarge

A native of Fairhope, Alabama, Arthur Bosarge is a pianist and coach whose experience spans a variety of styles, including opera, recital, ballet, and musical theater. Career highlights include productions with Opera Birmingham (Cendrillon), Mountain Rep Theatre (The Andrews Brothers, The Great American Trailer Park Musical), Florida Grand Opera (La bohème, Le Nozze di Figaro, Frida, Werther), Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre (Amazing Grace, A Tribute to Leonard Bernstein), and Opera North (La fille du régiment, Evita, Street Scene, My Fair Lady, La traviata). From 2016-2018 he served as a member of Kentucky Opera’s Barbara and Halsey Sandford Studio Artist Program (Ariadne auf Naxos, Dead Man Walking, The Barber of Seville, Madama Butterfly, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, The Mikado), and is a previous member of Virginia Opera’s Herndon Foundation Emerging Artist Program. Mr. Bosarge holds degrees from Mannes School of Music and the University of Alabama.

What past Company Artists are saying...

"The HCA program provided me the opportunity to learn through performance experience in a variety of scenarios. I performed leading roles on the stage with orchestra, as well as concerts within the awesome community of Memphis. I received necessary instruction, support and encouragement from staff. Thanks to the HCA program, I was also granted the opportunity to act as a representative of opera in the community of Memphis, which strengthened my awareness as an artistic advocate and my purpose as performer. I left the HCA program with a greater understanding and ownership of my artistry and performance."

Stephanie Doche | 2018-19 Company Artist

"I was a member of the Handorf Company Artist program in the 2019-2020 season, and I was very glad to have grown enormously as an artist and individual from my time in the program. Our outreach into the community allowed us to not only focus on our own artistic growth, but forge ties with the wider musical and artistic community in Memphis. The company truly operates as a cultural hub, and it was a privilege to connect and perform with other musicians who share a long history with Opera Memphis as well as the whole city of Memphis. I consider my experience at Opera Memphis to be one of the most formative of my career, and am glad to be an alumna of the program!"

Tahanee Aluwihare | 2019-20 Company Artist

"I arrived in Memphis in late August of 2019 and right away we were out in the community performing for 30 Days of Opera – a daunting performance-load that is truly unlike anything I had done before. The life of an opera singer can be a solitary and, at times, selfish one. We learn our music alone, we sit alone in our hotel rooms on gigs, we uproot and travel constantly and it all concludes with a bow to roaring applause. It’s easy to think that all this work is for the applause, but my time as a Handorf Company Artist taught me that my singing can be a civic act that can serve the emotional needs of the community around me. This became all the clearer when the COVID-19 Pandemic began."