Meet the cast of
“Seven Rabbits On A Pole”

Rose Hegele - Julia

Canadian soprano Rose Hegele explores the extremes of human vocal and artistic expression in 20th and 21st century music. Active across genres spanning avant garde music, contemporary opera, and chamber music, Rose creates healing spaces for audiences to embrace their complexity and humanity. Recent highlights include producing and singing as Soprano 1 in Nightingale Vocal Ensemble's A New Way to Breathe, centered around a commission by Juhi Bansal; premiering Derek David's Der Freyd fun Yidishn Vort at New Gallery Concert Series's 2026 season finale; and completing an Artist Residency at UC Davis with duo partner pianist Sakurako Kanemitsu in February 2026, including a performance at the Shinkoskey Noon Concert Series. Dedicated to education through artistry, Rose has presented masterclasses at Brown University, the University of Texas at Austin, Roger Williams University, Frost School of Music, Berklee College of Music, and Clark University.

She teaches Voice at the Upper Valley Music Center and Voice & Musicianship at the Suzuki School of Newton. Rose sings regularly with Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, Sound Icon, Carduus, and the Sakura/Rose Duo. She holds a Post-Master's Fellowship from Berklee College of Music, a Master's in Contemporary Classical Music Performance from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music.

Eliza Howells - Mrs. Wilson

Eliza Howells is a multi-genre singer and composer based in Boston, MA. She works primarily in opera and pop, seeking to connect with audiences through the vulnerability inherent to both genres. In 2026 she originated the role of Clíodhna-Passion in the world premiere of Laura Nevitt’s The Ninth Wave, and was a finalist in the Philharmonic Society of Arlington’s Tannenwald Young Artist Competition. Recent engagements include La Traviata (Flora cover) with New Opera Company of Boston, Speed Dating Tonight! (Dater) at the 2026 National Opera Association Conference, in addition to solo sets at notable venues such as The Bitter End and Club Passim. Eliza holds a BM in Voice Performance and Composition from UMass Amherst, and an MA in Composition from Tufts University.

Michael Gonzalez - Lawrence

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). Known for his bright, forward tone and exceptional diction, González is rapidly emerging as a distinguished artist 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.

David Smyth - Peter

David Smyth is Boston-based baritone, who has worked with many regional companies, including MassOpera, Odyssey Opera, the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra,  Opera Cambridge, Dee Opera, and Boston Opera on Tap. He has had great success singing Handel, Mozart, and Puccini, and is delighted to be able to present this new work by Pasquale Tassone. David had an unusual path to singing, having grown up amongst teachers, engineers, and scientists who placed an absurdly high premium on discipline, precision, and logical analysis. He followed this ethos as far as it would take him, searching for Truth in the theorems of pure mathematics, but one day while singing bass in the university choir, he had a notion that it would be nice to sing the notes at the top of the staff.

What fateful consequences would be borne of that innocent desire! He began voice lessons, discovered a calling to the world of opera, and found in the subtle art of classical singing the perfect counterpoint to the disembodied, singular focus required for mathematics. Besides studying voice privately, and occasional coursework at the Longy School of Music, most of his training has occurred `on the job’ through the rich and varied arts scene of Boston. 

Today, he works as an associate professor of mathematics at Tufts University, while continuing to refine his technique and offer what he can to the furtherance of this art form. Years of academic research in mathematics have only served to convince him of the essential correctness of Beethoven’s proclamation that “music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.”

Taras Lechishin - Enio

Taras Leschishin, baritone, a native of Ohio, studied at the New England Conservatory of music with Helen Hodam.  He has been a soloist with the Boston pops, Boston Cecilia, chorus of the arts, Coro Allegro.  Recently, Taras sang the role of Manoah in the production of Samson with the Cambridge chamber ensemble which won first prize for the American Prize in opera performance, 2025.

He is the Bass soloist at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross with Richard Clark, Director.  Taras recently retired after 33 years  teaching voice at Bridgewater State University.

Carlo Miguel Bunyi - Q.

Filipino baritone Carlo Bunyi is a Boston-based soloist and teacher whose dedication to his craft and stylistic versatility has led him to explore a diversified range of musical activities both domestically and internationally. Select performances include Pistola in Falstaff, Figaro cover in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Monterone in Rigoletto, Don Giovanni in Don Giovanni, Tonio in I Pagliacci, Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana, Dancairo in Carmen, Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Timur in Turandot, Baron de Pictordu in Cendrillon, and Simone in Gianni Schicchi.

Carlo appears on the artist roster of Lyric Opera of the Philippines and Opera Untapped. He is also a co-founder of up-and-coming group Duo Filipino, an ensemble specializing in kundiman (Filipino art songs). Carlo holds Master of Music degrees in Vocal Performance and Music Education from the Longy School of Music of Bard College (Cambridge, MA) and a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice from the University of Santo Tomas (Manila, Philippines). Carlo is the music teacher at South Boston Catholic Academy and is currently a cantor at the Divine Mercy Parish in Quincy, MA.