Jessica Pray Patel, soprano, has been noted for her "exquisite control and warm vocal timbre" (Jacksonville News) and "sweet, clear quality" (The Day). She holds a Master of Music in Opera from the Yale School of Music and a Bachelor of Music in Voice from the University of Iowa.

During the 2025/26 season, Jessica was the soprano soloist in Video Games Live and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor (Orchestra Iowa), as well as Haydn’s The Creation (Chamber Singers of Iowa City). Favorite past CROT roles include Nan Wood in Grant Wood: Strokes of Genius and Polly in The Threepenny Opera.

Margaret Gawrysiak holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Western Illinois University, and is a graduate of the Merola Opera Program, Wolf Trap Opera and Seattle Opera’s Young Artist Program.

A regular at The Metropolitan Opera, Ms. Gawrysiak’s 2025-2026 season includes performances as Esther Klayman in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and covers of the Marquise de Berkenfield in La fille du régiment, and Madame Larina in Eugene Onegin.

For the 2024-2025 season, the mezzo-soprano made her debut with Los Angeles Opera, singing Gertrude in Roméo et Juliette. She also returned to the role of Baba the Turk in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress at Opera Omaha, as well as to the Metropolitan Opera, to cover Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro. During the summer, she bowed as Queen Aggravain in Once Upon a Mattress at Central City Opera.

2023-2024 season engagements included Verdi’s Requiem with the Madison Symphony, Marcellina with New Orleans Opera, and a concert with Opera Edwardsville. The previous season included her 11th hour debut at the Metropolitan Opera, singing the role of Auntie in Peter Grimes, the Marquise de Berkenfield with Minnesota Opera, and an appearance with Madison Opera for Marcellina.

Notable operatic engagements for Margaret Gawrysiak include multiple appearances with Seattle Opera as Marcellina, Vera Boronel in The Consul, Madame Larina in Eugene Onegin, and Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia; the Old Lady in Candidewith The Knights at Tanglewood Music Festival and the Ravinia Festival; Mistress Hibbons in The Scarlet Letter (world premiere) and Marcellina with Opera Colorado; Madame Larina with Atlanta Opera and The Metropolitan Opera (cover); Little Buttercup in H.M.S. Pinafore, Public Opinion in Orpheus in the Underworld, and Emma Jones in Street Scene with Virginia Opera; Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance and Marcellina with Lyric Opera of Kansas City; the Marquise in La fille du régiment with Arizona Opera; Mrs. De Rocher in Dead Man Walking with Dayton Opera; Ježibaba in Rusalkawith North Carolina Opera; Frugola in Il tabarro with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica with Crested Butte Music Festival; and Dame Quickly in Falstaff, Baba the Turk and Mother Goose in The Rake’s Progress, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, and La Mère d’Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann with Wolf Trap Opera.

On the concert stage, she has performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood under Maestro Lorin Maazel and also with the Seattle Symphony, Weill’s Mahagonny Songspiel with the Seattle Symphony, Lili Boulanger’s Psalm 130 with the Boise Symphony, Stravinsky’s Les noces with the New York City Ballet, Dessau’s Haggadah shel Pesach with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Mozart’s Requiem and Verdi’s Requiem with the Springfield Symphony, and Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.

Margaret Gawrysiak was a winner of the Sullivan Foundation Award and received second place in the Lotte Lenya Competition. She has received awards from the Jensen Foundation, Portland Opera’s Lieber Awards, the Gerda Lissner Foundation, and Fort Worth Opera’s McCammon Awards.

Thaddeus Ennen, baritone and General Director of Cedar Rapids Opera, holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Louisiana State University, a Master of Music degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Simpson College. He has performed on stages across the country, including Santa Fe Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Central City Opera, Pensacola Opera, Knoxville Opera, Fayetteville Opera, Opéra Louisiane, and many others. Notably, Thaddeus was a soloist on the Grammy Award-winning Best Opera Performance of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs by Mason Bates and Mark Campbell. His recent roles include Germont in La traviata, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, and the title role in Gianni Schicchi. Beyond opera, Thaddeus maintains a busy concert and recital schedule, while also running a vibrant vocal studio in Cedar Rapids.