Performances

Saturday, July 5th | 6pm @ Hammond Hall 

Sunday, July 6th | 2pm @ Hammond Hall

Synopsis

Act 1:
 
The opera begins in a small Italian village where Nemorino, a simple peasant, is hopelessly in love with the beautiful and wealthy Adina. Despite his feelings, Adina seems uninterested and instead entertains the advances of the dashing Sergeant Belcore. Adina reads the villagers a legend about Tristan and Isolde, where a magic potion makes Isolde fall in love with Tristan. Inspired, Nemorino wishes he could find such a potion to win Adina's heart.
 
Doctor Dulcamara, a traveling quack doctor, arrives selling a miraculous elixir that supposedly cures all ailments. Nemorino asks him for a love potion like the one in the legend. Dulcamara, seeing an opportunity to make money, sells Nemorino a bottle of cheap wine, convincing him it's a magic love potion. Nemorino drinks it and believes he will soon win Adina's love.
 
Confident now, Nemorino acts nonchalant towards Adina, which makes her curious and jealous. Adina, frustrated by Nemorino's newfound confidence, decides to accept Belcore's marriage proposal in a fit of pique. The wedding is planned for the next day, leaving Nemorino desperate.
 
Act 2:
 
Preparations for Adina and Belcore's wedding begin. Desperate for more of the love potion, Nemorino tries to get more money to buy another bottle from Dulcamara. Belcore, noticing Nemorino's distress, convinces him to enlist in the army to receive an enlistment bonus, which Nemorino hopes to use to buy more of the potion. Meanwhile, village gossip spreads that Nemorino's wealthy uncle has died and left him a large inheritance. Suddenly, the village girls start showing interest in Nemorino, which he mistakenly attributes to the love potion's effectiveness.
 
Adina, noticing the sudden change in Nemorino's fortune and the attention he's receiving, realizes she has feelings for him. She buys back his enlistment papers and declares her love for him. Nemorino, now genuinely in love with Adina and she with him, realizes he never needed a magic potion after all. Dulcamara, ever the salesman, takes credit for the happy ending, claiming his elixir brought the couple together.

The Cast

Nemorino

Based in Albany, NY, Joshua Gurwitz is a lyric tenor who has performed a wide variety of operatic and music theater roles. In addition, Mr. Gurwitz has been a featured soloist in an eclectic range of concert repertoire from J. S. Bach’s Christ Lag in Todesbanden to Reena Esmail’s pioneering new work, This Love Between Us. In 2018, Mr. Gurwitz was awarded first prize in the Advanced Division of the Joel Dolven Vocal Awards, a competition run by the Mendelssohn Club of Albany, NY. He has also won honors in 2011, 2012, and 2014 at the Art Song Festival held by the Eastern New York chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). Most recently, Mr. Gurwitz sang the Ernesto in Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Ferrando in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, and was tenor soloist in two of J. S. Bach's seminal Christmas Works, the Christmas Oratorio and the Magnificat.

For the 2025 season, Mr. Gurwitz will be making his role debut as Nemorino in Donizetti’s L'Elisir d'Amore at the Winter Harbor Music Festival. Mr. Gurwitz is a graduate of the vocal performance programs at the University at Albany, SUNY and the Aaron Copland School of Music, CUNY.

Adina

​Julia Rose Moman graduated with a Master of Music in Performance degree from Missouri State University as a Graduate Voice Assistant in 2021. She performed the leading roles of Zelda ‘24 in The Ghosts of Gatsby by Evan Mack and Lauretta in Buoso’s Ghost by Michael Ching while studying at MSU, in addition to teaching vocal students. Recent roles she has additionally performed include Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte at the Winter Harbor Music Festival, Kitty Hart in Dead Man Walking at the Miami Music Festival, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance at Heartland Opera Theatre, and Diana in Orpheus in the Underworld at the Utah Vocal Arts Academy Summer Opera Festival. In previous years, Moman trained as a Young Artist at SongFest and a Vocal Artist at Up North Vocal Institute, while also acquiring her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance degree from Wheaton College’s Conservatory of Music. She currently teaches Class Voice II and Applied Voice as an Adjunct Voice Professor at College of the Ozarks in Branson, MO. She wants to thank her husband, Craig Moman, for always believing in her.

Belcore

Henry Horstmann is a baritone based out of Glen Cove, NY. Since 2020, he has enjoyed being a steady performer at Winter Harbor Music Festival. His WHMF credits include: Winterreise (recital), Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Bass section leader for Handel's Messiah, and Doctor Malatesta in Don Pasquale. Other recent credits include: Boatswain in GASLOCOLI's production of H.M.S. Pinafore, Marquis d'Obigny in Regina Opera's production of La Traviata, Sciarrone in Regina Opera's production of Tosca, Gianni Schicchi in QSVI's production of Gianni Schicchi, and Gaston in Merrick Theater's production of Beauty and the Beast. He was also a member of Sarasota Opera's 2025 winter season as an apprentice artist. He was involved in several concerts, participated in the chorus for all 5 operas, and received world-class training from the faculty. Henry is honored and thrilled to be back at WHMF bringing amazing works of art to life with such talented and passionate colleagues. He hopes you enjoy the show! 

Dulcamara

Critically-acclaimed bass-baritone Christopher Grundy received his Doctor of Music from Indiana University, studying with the celebrated German baritone Wolfgang Brendel. He completed his B.A. at Yale University, where he was the assistant conductor of the Yale Glee Club and the Yale Russian Chorus. His opera credits include title roles in Rachmaninov’s Aleko and Mozart’s Don Giovanni, as well as such varied roles as Baron Ochs (Der Rosenkavalier); Count Danilo (The Merry Widow); Vicar Gedge (Albert Herring); Mr. Alfieri (View from the Bridge); and Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus). A champion of new music, Christopher has premiered numerous works in collaboration with contemporary composers. He sang the role of Dr. Gachet in the premiere production of Bernard Rands’s Vincent. On one week’s notice he learned the lead baritone role for the world premiere of Decameron with the International Opera Theatre of Philadelphia, to critical acclaim. As a recording artist Christopher can be heard on the BIS, Naxos, and Parma labels.
Recent oratorio performances include title role in Elinor Remick Warren’s “The Passing of King Arthur” with the Falmouth Chorale, the role of Jesus in Bach's St. John Passion, and bass solos in Beethoven’s Mass in C with the Greenwich Choral Society, Duruflé’s Requiem with the Fairfield County Chorale, Handel's Messiah with the Danbury Concert Chorus, and Mozart’s Vesperae solenne de Confessore with Con Brio Choral Society.
Christopher is Director of Choral Programs at Sacred Heart University and the Director of Music at the Unitarian Society of New Haven. He made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut alongside internationally-renowned violinist Alexander Markov. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Club of Stamford, Connecticut. Recently he was honored to become a founding board member of the Neely Bruce Music Foundation. He is an experienced commercial helicopter pilot and flight instructor.

Giannetta

Sara Phillips is a music teacher to students in Pk-3rd grade. She has a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Maine and is currently working on her Masters Degree. Since 2019 she has worked on various projects with The Grand including playing the role of Amanda in the 2019 production of A Musical Christmas Carol as well as directed their Youth Summer Intensive for the past five summers. She most recently played Aquata in The Little Mermaid at The Grand and Mad Margaret in The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Maine’s production of Ruddigore! When she's not teaching or performing you will find Sara spending quality time with her family. Sara dedicates all her performances to the memory of her cousin Chase Hayward Fossett.