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Fate and Fortune
Saturday, April 11, 2026 // 7:30 PM
Lima Symphony Chorus
Brianna J. Robinson, Soprano
Geoffrey Agpalo, Tenor
Brian James Myer, Baritone
Dive into a powerful musical journey exploring the forces that shape our lives—desire, destiny, and the unpredictable tides of fortune featuring “Carmina Burana.” With the Lima Symphony Chorus, soprano Brianna J. Robinson, tenor Geoffrey Agpalo, and baritone Randell McGee, “Fate and Fortune” brings to life the eternal struggle between passion and destiny. Experience the soaring emotions of love, revelry, and the triumphant power of the human spirit, as well as the humbling realization that we are all at the mercy of life’s uncontrollable forces. Don’t miss this exhilarating night of music, where every note is a battle between the heart’s desires and the hand of destiny.
UNDERWRITER
CHORUS UNDERWRITER
Brianna J. Robinson, Soprano
Soprano Brianna J. Robinson, whom The Boston Globe proclaimed as “...a radiant voice and presence,” is a native of Ravenna, Ohio. For the 2024–2025 season, she was a member of the Resident Artist Program with the Detroit Opera. During Detroit Opera's 2024–2025 main stage season, Robinson made role debuts as Annina in La Traviata, Antron’s Mother/Kevin’s Mother/Ensemble in Anthony Davis’ The Central Park Five, and as a featured soloist in the Complexions Contemporary Ballet 30th Anniversary Performances. She also covered the roles of Violetta in La Traviata, Almirena in Rinaldo, and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte. After a thrilling and successful year, she will return to Detroit Opera for the 2025–2026 season as a Resident Artist. Along with her other duties as a Resident Artist, she will be onstage as Moira in Paul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale.
Robinson is a former Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera, where she covered and performed roles such as Lucy in Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers, Mimi (cover) in Puccini’s La Bohème, Lena in Ana Sokolović’s Svabda, and covered several roles in Paul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale. In 2023, she stepped on stage as Julie in Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’ 2023 Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Omar. In the 2023–2024 season, Ms. Robinson returned to Boston Lyric Opera, stepping into the role of Leontine in Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges’ The Anonymous Lover.
In December 2023, she made her debut at Carnegie Hall with The Cecilia Chorus of New York in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem. In May 2024, she was awarded First Prize in the George Shirley Vocal Competition in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She made her international debut in Ruse, Bulgaria, in 2021, creating the role of Ophelia in the world premiere of Joseph Summer’s Hamlet. She was chosen as a finalist in the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition in the summer of 2025.
Robinson is a proud graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Eastman School of Music.
Geoffrey Agpalo, Tenor
Filipino-American tenor Geoffrey Agpalo is lauded in the recent Haymarket Opera world premiere recording of L’amant anonyme, opposite soprano Nicole Cabell. He trained in the Gerdine Young Artist and Gaddes Festival Artist programs at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and has performed roles in their productions of The Barber of Seville, Emmeline, and the world premiere of Jack Perla’s Shalimar the Clown, creating the role of Gopinath, the conniving school teacher.
His company principal debut featured a “clear-voiced and giddy” portrayal of Jim Casy in The Grapes of Wrath, which he reprised when the production was brought to Michigan Opera Theatre (now Detroit Opera). His debut as Alfredo in the St. Louis production of La Traviata was praised as “proud and majestic,” and solidified him as an operatic “lovestruck lead.”
Other notable roles include Nemorino at Sarasota Opera, Tamino with Opera Maine, and Don Ottavio at Michigan Opera Theatre. A Chicago native, he has also performed with local companies including Chicago Opera Theatre (Puccini and Beyond), Chicago Folks Operetta (The Cousin from Nowhere, The Land of Smiles), and Opera Edwardsville (Cavalleria Rusticana).
Agpalo’s concert work includes Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, and Handel’s Messiah.
Agpalo is honored to be tenured in the Lyric Opera Chorus, one of only three organizations in the nation providing full-time employment to performers in opera. He is frequently featured singing and covering roles in their productions of Aida, Il Trovatore, Der Rosenkavalier, and notably as the Prince of Persia in Turandot.
Agpalo is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music and the University of Central Florida and is a recipient of the William Matheus Sullivan Musical Foundation Career Grant.
Brian James Myer, Baritone
Puerto Rican-American baritone Brian James Myer has earned accolades for his “richly detailed characterization” (Opera Today) and “delightfully resonant” sound (Broadway World). In the 2025–2026 season, Myer will sing as Belcore in L’elisir d’amore with Opera Modesto, Mathieu in Andrea Chénier with Opera Delaware, and Sacristan in Tosca with Opera Delaware, Opera Baltimore. He will also make his LyricFest debut and return to Brooklyn Art Song Society, singing Brahms’ Die Schöne Magelone, Op. 33. Highlights of the 2024–2025 season included performances as Youssef Biboldo in Llantos 1492 (Opera Southwest), the title role in Don Giovanni (Cleveland Institute of Music), Dandini in La Cenerentola (Wichita Grand Opera), and a recital featuring selected sacred songs from Hugo Wolf’s Spanisches Liederbuch (Brooklyn Art Song Society). Last season’s engagements included the leading role of Rey in Before Night Falls (Opera Southwest), a highly anticipated return to Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Tri-Cities Opera), and a performance as the featured soloist in Opera Las Vegas’ 25th Anniversary Gala. This summer, he joined Opera Orlando for a special reunion concert, The Three Baritones, and will return in the spring as Ponchel in Silent Night.
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