Thanks to a special collaboration between the Dante Alighieri Society of Michigan and the Detroit Opera Resident Artist Program, the exceptionally talented Resident Artists will perform a selection of beloved arias.
When: Friday, December 12, 2025
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: Metropolitan Museum of Design Detroit
905 Henry St., 3rd Floor — Detroit, MI 48201
Following the performance, guests are invited to enjoy Prosecco and appetizers, a festive opportunity to toast the holiday season together.
SPACE IS LIMITED, REGISTER TODAY TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT!
Program subject to change:
- “Chi il bel sogno di Doretta” from La Rondine by Giacomo Puccini – Mia Mandineau
- “Recondita armonia” from Tosca by Giacomo Puccini – Travis Leon Williams
- “Vissi d’arte” from Tosca by Giacomo Puccini – Brianna J. Robinson
- “Ernani, involami” from Ernani by Giuseppe Verdi – Brianna J. Robinson
- “Nessun dorma” from Turandot by Giacomo Puccini – Travis Leon Williams
- “Ah! per sempre io ti perdei” from I Puritani by Vincenzo Bellini – Cole Bellamy
- “Qual fiamma… Stridono lassù” from Pagliacci Ruggero Leoncavallo – Mia Mandineau
- Nedda/Silvio Duet from Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo – Mia Mandineau and Cole Bellamy
- “O soave fanciulla” from La bohème by Giacomo Puccini – Brianna J. Robinson and Travis Leon Williams
- Act III Quartet from La bohème by Giacomo Puccini – Mimi: Brianna J. Robinson, Musetta: Mia Mandineau, Rodolfo: Travis Leon Williams, Marcello: Cole Bellamy
Tenor Travis Leon Williams, an American-born artist from Lansing, Michigan, discovered his love for performance early. He studied dance, piano, and organ, and sang in school and church choirs. His passion for classical voice began at age seven, when his parents introduced him to Universal Pictures’ 1943 film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera.
Williams earned an Associate of Arts in Anthropology and a Certificate in Musicianship Studies from Lansing Community College (2016), a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Western Michigan University (2020), and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (2022).
His professional credits include Holiday Pops Soloist with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, Season Kickoff Gala Soloist with Opera Grand Rapids, Spoletta in Tosca, Opera Legends in Black Soloist with Opera Las Vegas, Roland Hayes in Black Swan Radio Hour (Vegas City Opera), and Mr. Jefferson (and others) in RENT at The Dio.
A two-time winner of the Opera Grand Rapids Collegiate Competition (VanderLaan Prize, 2018–19), Williams also received Second Prize in the 2019 AIMS Meistersinger Competition and a 2022 Encouragement Award in the Oregon District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.
In addition to performing, he serves as a voice coach at DeWitt High School, an adjudicator for the Sutton Foster Awards, and a teaching artist with Disney Musicals in Schools at the Wharton Center for Performing Arts. Williams joins Detroit Opera as a Resident Artist for the 2025–26 season.
Soprano Brianna J. Robinson, whom The Boston Globe praised as “a radiant voice and presence,” is a native of Ravenna, Ohio. She was a Resident Artist with Detroit Opera in the 2024–25 season, during which she made role debuts as Annina in La traviata and as Antron’s Mother/Kevin’s Mother/Ensemble in Anthony Davis’s The Central Park Five. She also covered Violetta in La traviata, Almirena in Rinaldo, and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte.
A former Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera, Robinson earned acclaim for two notable jump-ins—as Julie in Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Omar, and as Léontine in Chevalier de Saint-Georges’s The Anonymous Lover. In December 2023, she made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Cecilia Chorus of New York in Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Dona nobis pacem. In May 2024, she was awarded First Prize in the George Shirley Vocal Competition in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Robinson has appeared in the Handel and Haydn Society’s immersive concert experience Crossing the Deep, and with ensembles including the Akron Symphony Orchestra and Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra/New World Chorale. A finalist in Opera Ebony’s Benjamin Matthews Vocal Competition, she also won First Prize at the Getting to Carnegie Competition in 2020. She made her international debut in Ruse, Bulgaria, in 2021, creating the role of Ophelia in the world premiere of Joseph Summer’s Hamlet.
A graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Eastman School of Music, Robinson will portray Moira in Poul Ruders’s The Handmaid’s Tale at Detroit Opera during the 2025–26 season.
Nathalie Doucet is an internationally recognized pianist and vocal coach, currently Head of Music and Director of the Resident Artist Program at Detroit Opera. Celebrated for her artistry, insight, and mentorship, she has collaborated with major opera houses and orchestras, including Washington National Opera, Canadian Opera Company, l’Opéra de Montréal, Vancouver Opera, Dutch National Opera, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Her work also extends to leading institutions such as the Bard SummerScape Festival, the Ryan Opera Center, and the NTR ZaterdagMatinee. Formerly Head Coach of the Opera Studio Nederland and Principal Coach at the Dutch National Opera Academy, she spent over a decade on the faculty of the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. A frequent juror for international competitions, including the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Doucet continues to shape and inspire the next generation of opera artists.