changing the model:
The OperaDelaware Company Artists
“We started to wonder what it might look like to re-invent what it means to work in opera. Who better to work in our marketing, development and other departments than the entrepreneurial and highly educated artists that we put on our stage? Would this administrative experience aid in keeping artists in opera after they decide that a career on the road is not for them?” - Brendan Cooke, OperaDelaware General Director.
Artist-curated recitals and cabarets
brought to you
Originally presented at the OperaDelaware Studios in January 2025, we invite you to experience Emily Margevich's Fascinating Rhythm, an afternoon of Great American Songbook hits! Berlin, Porter, Gershwin- who could ask for anything more? Emily brings her signature charm and energy to this engaging recital featuring timeless gems from the Great American Songbook.
Originally presented at the OperaDelaware Studios in April 2025, sopranos Toni Marie Palmertree and Emily Margevich teamed up for an unforgettable cabaret in the Presser Black Box Theater. The Soprano Soirée spans their diverse musical inspirations, blending timeless classics with contemporary favorites. With their charisma, spellbinding voices, and unique perspectives, Emily and Toni effortlessly charm audiences with music that transcends generations.
Originally presented in the OperaDelaware Studios in April 2025, we invite you to experience Gerard Moon and Yuri Kim Moon's Heart + Seoul, an extraordinary evening featuring Korean music and personal stories from these charming married artists. This artist-curated recital serves as a heartfelt tribute to Gerard’s homeland, weaving together melodies that resonate deeply with his soul.
Originally presented at the OperaDelaware Studios in March 2025, we invite you to experience the thrill of Opera’s Greatest Moments! This artist-curated recital features some of the most beloved and recognizable highlights from Puccini, Verdi, and other operatic masters. With engaging commentary and storytelling from the artists, this performance promises to bring you closer to the heart of opera, blending its grandeur with an intimate, personal touch.
Interested in booking the OperaDelaware Company Artists for an event to repeat a program or curate something new? Contact Kerriann Otaño, OperaDelaware VP of Engagement, at kotano@operaDE.org or call the OperaDelaware box office 302-442-7807
Meet the Current
OperaDelaware Company Artists
Soprano Emily Margevich
Emily Margevich (she/her) is “a star in the making” (Bachtrack). Wilmington’s newest “poised and fearless prima donna” (Musical America) has been on stage since age two. Be it opera, musical theater, or the Great American Songbook, Margevich will always deliver a performance “as passionate as any Taylor Swift epic” (Theatermania). This “luminous soprano” (Wall Street Journal) gives “a voice of liquid beauty” (Opera Magazine) that is “big and luxurious, with a cascading quality, like a bolt of silk dropped from a balcony” (Parterre). Referred to as the “star of the 2022 Ocean City Pops season” Margevich stunned audiences in 2022 with her remarkable versatility singing everything with equal vigor and expertise, while also having everyone in stitches with her humor and panache” (Ocean City Daily News).
Emily’s recent awards include winning the Kansas City District of the Laffont Metropolitan Opera Competition, the Illinois District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and Third Place in their Regional Finals, Third Place in the International Meistersinger Competition, Second Place in the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition, and First Place in the Sid Kleinmann Competition.
Internationally, Ms. Margevich was honored to portray Suor Angelica with The Opera Festival of Morelia, and she performed Act 3 of Tosca with the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria for their 2023 Summer Gala. Margevich launched her professional operatic career in 2024 with her favorite role of Tatyana, debuting in both New York City and Baltimore with two extremely different productions of Eugene Onegin.
Emily was fortunate to sing half a dozen lead roles such as Violetta in La traviata, Musetta in La bohéme, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Female Chorus in Rape of Lucretia, and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Maestro Chris Macatsoris while earning her Artist Diploma at The Academy of Vocal Arts. Emily also received both her BM and MM in Vocal Opera Performance at DePaul University, where she studied with and was mentored by the incomparable Nicole Cabell. Additional education includes Music Academy of the West for two summers, Brevard Music Festival, LAH-SOW, and over 15 years of drama, ballet, tap, and jazz dancing with The Academy for the Performing Arts.
Along with many performances with OperaDelaware, this season Margevich was the Soprano Soloist for Beethoven No. 9 at Severance Music Center. She also kick started a new Music Education Outreach Initiative for OperaDelaware and visited schools to share opera in Wilmington.
This season at OperaDelaware, catch Emily in her role debut as Floria Tosca in Tosca (October 17 + 19, 2025), and in the OperaDelaware Studio Series for Puccini Portraits (September 12 + 14, 2025), OperaDEathmatch (November 21 + 23, 2025), Service Provider/Pagliacci (January 23 + 25, 2026), and Stayin’ Alive (March 27 + 29, 2026).
Soprano Toni Marie Palmertree
Soprano Toni Marie Palmertree (she/her) is rapidly becoming recognized as one of America’s most riveting performers of Puccini and Verdi heroines. She has recently been heard on the stage of San Francisco Opera in the title role of Madama Butterfly; of her performance, Janos Gereben from San Francisco Classical Voice wrote: “The young soprano not only met the challenge, but she claimed her place among the finest vocal interpreters of the role heard here recently.” Other roles at San Francisco Opera include Nedda in Pagliacci and Liù in Turandot. She also made her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in the 2019-20 season, stepping into the title role of Luisa Miller. In the current season, she returns to the role of Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, both with West Bay Opera and with Lakeland Opera. She will also join Arizona Opera as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni.
In the 2022-23 season, Toni Marie sang the role of Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly at Palm Beach Opera and the title role of Tosca at Florida Grand Opera. At the Metropolitan Opera, she performed the role of Voce dal ciel and covered the role of Elisabeth de Valois in Verdi’s Don Carlo, and covered the title role of Cherubini’s Medea. Further recent performances include Contessa Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Delaware, Nedda in Pagliacci in her return to Festival Opera New Zealand, Carmina Burana with Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Reno Philharmonic.
This season at OperaDelaware, catch Toni Marie in her role debut as Maddalena in Andrea Chénier (May 10, 13, 15), and in the OperaDelaware Studio Series for Puccini Portraits (September 12 + 14, 2025), OperaDEathmatch (November 21 + 23, 2025), and Stayin’ Alive (March 27 + 29, 2026).
Tenor Dane Suarez
Praised for his "big, heroic voice" (LA Weekly) and "powerful emotions," tenor Dane Suarez (he/him) has developed a dynamic and varied career. In the 2022/23 season, Dane made his Off-Broadway debut in Kate Tarker's world premiere play Montag at Soho Rep and covered Apollo (Strauss's Daphne) at Carnegie Hall with American Symphony Orchestra. He sang Luigi (Il tabarro) with On Site Opera, Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana) with Lyric Opera of the North, reprised Don José (Carmen) with Festival Opera, and returned to New Jersey Festival Orchestra to sing Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi). He also joined OperaDelaware, The Carolina Philharmonic, Heartbeat Opera, Penn Square Opera, and Maryland Opera for concert and gala performances.
Last season, he reprised Il Duca (Rigoletto) in his mainstage debut with OperaDelaware and Opera Baltimore, returned to the role of Scalia (Scalia/Ginsburg) with Anchorage Opera (debut), returned to Lensky (Eugene Onegin) with Opera Columbus (debut), performed Macduff in an orchestral workshop of Working for the Macbeths with American Lyric Theater, was standby Calaf (Turandot) at Gulfshore Opera, a role he later covered with OperaDelaware. He debuted The Phoenix Symphony as tenor soloist for both Holiday Pops and Handel's Messiah in Spanish. In the summer, he reprised Don José (La tragédie de Carmen) in his return to Newport Classical, joined Creede Musical Arts Collective for their summer festival, and presented a recital for Prairie Arts Center in his hometown: Princeton, IL. This autumn, Suarez made his international debut with the prestigious Wexford Festival Opera singing Don Ferolo Whiskerandos to much acclaim in a revival of Charles Villiers Stanford's satirical opera The Critic and sang a solo lunchtime recital on the mainstage of the National Opera House. He debuted New Mexico Symphonic Chorus as tenor soloist in Handel's Mesías and Delaware Theatre Company's Home for the Holidays. In 2025, he returned to a signature role, Don José (Carmen), with Opera Memphis, originated the roles of Faisal/Juan in Llantos 1492, a world premiere flamenco opera by Adam del Monte, in his debut with Opera Southwest, covered Erik (Der fliegende Holländer) with Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, sang Lord Percy (Anna Bolena) with Resonance Works, joined Erie Philharmonic as tenor soloist for Verdi's Requiem, and debuted Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra for a verismo concert. This summer, he joins Newport Classical and Maryland Opera for concert performances.
His 2021/22 season included a return to Opera Memphis starring as the tortured Canio in a new production of Pagliacci; his debut as Manrico (Il trovatore) and a jump-in as Lensky (Eugene Onegin) with Opera in the Heights; a reprisal of Scalia (Scalia/Ginsburg) with both Penn Square Opera and Opera in the Heights, company debuts as Rodolfo with Opera Birmingham and Newport Classical, and his role and company debuts as Pollione in Norma with Festival Opera. Learn more about Dane at danesuarez.com
This season at OperaDelaware, catch Dane in his role debut as Andrea Chénier in Andrea Chénier (May 10, 13, 15), and in the OperaDelaware Studio Series for OperaDEathmatch (November 21 + 23, 2025), Service Provider/Pagliacci (January 23 + 25, 2026), and Stayin’ Alive (March 27 + 29, 2026).
Baritone Gerard Moon
Baritone Gerard Moon (he/him) has received praise from OperaWire, “From the moment he walked on stage it was evident that this was a singer with authority and command and incredible stage presence,” and from the Lexington Herald-Leader as “a strong voice, [with] impeccable diction, and a huge sense of fun.”
A native of South Korea, Mr. Moon is recognized for his rich and lyrical baritone voice. Mr. Moon has studied and performed across the United States, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, and Asian countries. He was pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts after he earned a Master of Music in voice performance from University of Kentucky under the tutelage of Cynthia Lawrence. During his academic years, his talent was distinguished with scholarships such as Alltech Vocal Scholarship, National Society of Arts and Letters Award Scholarship, Outstanding Graduate Music Student Award, and Tom Getchell Scholarship.
Mr. Moon’s unique and flexible voice allows him to tackle many of opera’s most challenging baritone roles. He has performed the role of Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Germont in La Traviata, Ford in Falstaff, Don Giovanni and Leporello in Don Giovanni, Il Conte in Le Nozze di Figaro, Rigoletto in Rigoletto, Dr. Miracle/Coppélius in The Tales of Hoffmann, Schaunard in La Bohème, Belcore in L’Elisir d’amore, French General in Silent Night, Yamadori in Madama Butterfly, Osiride in Mose, and Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus.