David Hughes
composer

David Hughes is Organist & Choirmaster at Saint Patrick Oratory in Waterbury, Connecticut, where he directs the St. Patrick Choir and the St. Elijah Choir, a new ensemble of Catholic students at the University of Connecticut. He directs Viri Galilæi, an ensemble of men from the tristate New York area who gather weekly to sing Vespers and medieval polyphony from facsimiles of original manuscripts. A board member of the Church Music Association of America, Hughes serves on the faculty of its annual Sacred Music Colloquium, teaching chant, composition, and organ improvisation.  He is Director of Music for the Roman Forum’s annual two-week Summer Symposium at Lake Garda in Italy, where he directs a choir for daily Masses, a large volunteer choir for nightly Vespers, and coordinates performances and recitals with local groups; he is also a board Member of the Roman Forum.  He was named Chant Instructor for St. Benedict Abbey in Still River, Massachusetts, which he visits every few weeks for musical consultation with the monks. He has traveled frequently to give workshops, clinics, and recitals in North America, South America, and Europe.

Richard Munkelt
librettist

Born in Connecticut, the librettist, Rev. Richard Munkelt, has lived in Japan, Manhattan, and Italy. He is a graduate of Kenyon College, the New School for Social Research, and the University St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Fr. Munkelt holds a doctorate in philosophy. His dissertation was on the metaphysical foundations of modern logic in the work of W.V. Quine. This in turn became the basis of his magnum opus, Metaphysics and Modernity, From Parmenides to Quantum Physics, to be published in the fall of 2023. But over the years in the midst of his philosophical researches and pastoral work, Fr. Munkelt dreamt of writing a story of operatic proportions. When reading Plutarch's Life of Gaius Gracchus, he found just what he needed to realize his dream. Hence, the opera Gracchus, a tale of an ancient tragic figure and an allegory of our times, fruit of a long collaboration with the composer, David Hughes. Fr. Munkelt lives in New Jersey and celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass.

Kevin Collins
stage director

Previous directing credits include Pierre-Marie Dumont’s The Mysteries of Salvation at the King’s Theatre, NYC; Blood Guilty (First Irish Festival, NYC); Puntilla and His Man Matti (AD, Italia Conti, London). Acting credits include roles with the Peter Hall Company, Théâtre de l’Ange Fou, Blue Raincoat, Wilma Theatre, Lyric Belfast, Abbey Peacock, West End London, McCarter Theatre. Film: Munich; Baby Mama; Infinite Justice. Television: Law & Order, The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, Person of Interest, Believe. Upcoming: Executive producer, Paul McCusker’s Small Wonders and Gabriel’s Quest short films for Word of Life (Ignatius Press, 2023); The Saints Project - St. Isaac Jogues and Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati radio dramas (writer, The Merry Beggars/Relevant Radio); writing/directing original stage adaptation of My Side of the Mountain (Delhi Dance Studio, July 2023). 

David Vanderwal
Gaius Gracchus

David Vanderwal, tenor, is in high demand for his clarion lyric vocal qualities. The American Bach Soloists, The Orchestra of St. Luke's, The Seattle Baroque Orchestra, the Oregon, Texas, and Carmel Bach Festivals, the Austin Symphony Orchestra, the Oregon Symphony, New York Collegium, Tafelmusik, as well as many other regional orchestras across the nation have featured his "emotionally charged interpretation" and "exciting burnished brilliance." In addition to featured oratorio and opera engagements, Mr. Vanderwal is regularly active as a choral artist based in New York and presents an intimate salon recital series. Most recently he was featured as Evangelist and arias for the Greater Bridgeport Symphony's production of Bach's St. John Passion.

Bridget Hogan
Licinia

Canadian Soprano Bridget Hogan has been highly sought after as a recitalist and performer in both opera and musical theater. She has performed throughout Canada and the United States, including appearance with New York City Opera, National Sawdust, New York City Ballet, The Toronto Sinfonia, Elmer Iseler Singers and Windsor Symphony Orchestra. A Champion of new music, Ms Hogan has been pleased to tour with Peter Skoggards La Voix Perdue, a one Woman Monodrama written for her. She is also a sought after pedagogue in New York.

Dominic Inferrera
Publius

Baritone Dominic Inferrera has enjoyed acclaim in giving voice to opera, oratorio, musical theater, pop, jazz, and contemporary music. His performance of Young (Old) Button in John Eaton's opera "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” was hailed by the New York Times as “dynamic”. Other roles include The Son in Hugo Weisgall's Six Characters in Search of an Author with Opera Festival of New Jersey, The Celebrant in Bernstein’s Mass with the Cornell University Theatre, Escamillo in Carmen and Silvio and Marco in Pagliacci/Gianni Schicchi with OperaDelaware, Masetto (Don Giovanni) with Toledo Opera and Annapolis Opera, Lescaut (Manon Lescaut) at Opera Memphis, Guglielmo in Così fan Tutte with Capital City Opera, Moralès (Carmen), Wagner (Faust), and Maggiordomo (Vanessa) with Opera Festival of New Jersey, Escamillo with Union Avenue Opera, The Swineherd in John Harbison's A Full Moon in March with Encompass Opera Theater, and Castro (Fanciulla) with New York City Opera.

Judith Malafronte
Cornelia Africana

Judith Malafronte (mezzo soprano) has sung with opera companies, orchestras, oratorio societies, and early music groups throughout the world. Holding degrees from Vassar College and Stanford University, she has recorded for major labels in a broad range of repertoire and writes regularly for Opera News, Early Music America magazine, and other print and online outlets. After fifteen years on the faculty at Yale University, she now teaches voice in the Historical Performance department at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.

Britt Hewitt
Tiberus Paulus / Fatuus

Britt Hewitt is a New York City based soprano and singer/songwriter. She grew up in the performing arts schools of Dallas, Texas, and Jacksonville, FL, before completing her studies at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of William Burden. She was the first vocalist to be a Young Artist at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival. Hewitt has collaborated with organizations including National Sawdust, American Opera Project, Artpark, and Opera Harmony. She has worked with Experiments in Opera as a vocalist for the workshops and premiere of Everything for Dawn, and as a librettist for MISCHIEF (or RATHATTAN). Hewitt is also a member of The New York Songwriter’s Circle, and has performed her music at The Bitter End and Rockwood Music Hall. You can find her original music on all streaming platforms. When she’s not working, you can usually find her rewatching Fleabag, teaching her cat, Rosita, new tricks, or playing cards with her family in Texas. 

James Gregory
Marcus Prudens / Ghost of Tiberius Gracchus

James Gregory completed studies in piano, organ, and music theory at the North Carolina School of the Arts and Indiana University before being awarded a Fulbright Grant in 1995 for organ study in Vienna, Austria. After a year of studies at the Hochschule (now Universität) für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, he embarked on a new career path and began singing professionally with a variety of ensembles, most nobably with the Arnold Schoenberg Chor, as well as in the choruses of the Wiener Staatsoper and Wiener Volksoper in venues throughout Europe and the US, including at the Vienna, Salzburg, and Styriarte Festivals, the BBC Proms, and at Carnegie Hall in a series of concerts with pianist Maurizio Pollini. Since returning to the US in 2003, he has divided his time between church music and freelance choral singing. His background in organ and music theory has led to a particular emphasis on sacred and contemporary music.  He has sung extensively with the New York Virtuoso Singers, the Bard Festival Chorale at the Bard Festival and Bard Summerscape, and with the S.E.M. Ensemble. He also sang in several productions at New York City Opera. He has a keen interest in motivating and nurturing young musicians, and collaborates frequently as an accompanist with talented young instrumentalists, vocalists, and ensembles around Bergen County. 

Terrence Fay
Loquax Torculus

Lauded as a “musical polymath” by the New London Day, Terrence B. Fay’s career as a tenor vocalist has spanned more than two decades, performing repertoire spanning a millennium.  He has been a soloist most recently with the Eastern Connecticut and New Haven Symphony Orchestras, as well as Con Brio Choral Society, Capella Cantorum, and the Greater Middletown Chorale.  He made his operatic debut in 2017 as Spoletta in Connecticut Lyric Opera’s production of Puccini’s Tosca.  He is currently a member of the Schola Cantorum of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Norwalk, CT, and is a member of the vocal faculty at the University of New Haven and Summit Studios in Manchester, CT.

Pedro d'Aquino
Blossius / Metellus Gladius / Captain / Servant

Pedro d'Aquino is an organist, pianist, singer, conductor, vocal coach, and composer. His choral and instrumental works have been premiered by One World Symphony and the Choir of St. Luke's Lutheran Church in New York City. He has been involved in the formation of professional chamber ensembles, instruction in the sacred music of various traditions, and the transcription and editing of French Baroque music for performance, recording, and publication. D'Aquino does a great deal of work as well in the New York metro area as a free-lance musician.

Liz Hanna
The Sibyl

Liz Hanna is a vocalist, composer, writer, artist, and facilitator of workshops in contemplative ecology and music. She has sung extensively in choral and vocal ensembles across New York City and New England. A graduate of Yale Divinity School (Religion and Ecology) and Berklee College of Music (Music Therapy), she delights in opportunities to empower radical creativity and transformation in individuals, groups, and institutions.

Mark A. Macron, Esq.
Delphic Forge, Inc.
Associate Producer