Il Trovatore: Andri Gowens
The Elixir of Love: Jake Mills,
Kimberly Smith Markham
Tosca: Erin (Alisanski) Laurence
The Barber of Seville: Levi J. Hull, Dave Hobbs

Andri Gowens
Andri has been singing regularly with Virginia Opera Chorus since the 1993-1994 Season. He has covered roles in The Magic Flute, Turandot, Fidelio, Madame Butterfly, La Bohème, Rigoletto, I Pagliacci, Norma, Lucia di Lammermoor, Tales of Hoffmann, Romeo & Juliet and Il Trovatore. Andri is the Tenor Section Leader/Soloists at First Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach.

Levi J. Hull
Born September 1979 in Bossier City, LA to Vicki D. Hull and Robert L. Hull, Levi moved with his family In the late 1980s to Dallas where he started acting, singing and dancing, and took his first lead roles, in productions of Yankee Doodle and A Christmas Carol. By age 10 he was on tour with the Texas All State Choir, and had taken on several lead roles in Oliver Twist and The Pirates of Penzance. In the early 1990s, Levi moved with his family to Virginia Beach where he landed roles in Our Town, Little Shop of Horrors, Guys and Dolls, The Scarlet Pimpernel, West Side Story, Grease, My Fair Lady, The Music Man, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. He also received numerous awards in the One-Act Play Festival Circuit. He graduated from high school in the late 1990s and his career branched off into other forms such as a spokesmodel for several photographers and a make-up consultant for Christian Dior. Levi continued to expand his visions and started producing fashion shows and pageants, while also creating visual designs for local area high school bands and color guards. Levi continued to explore other forms of art and now over the past 14 years has been a cabaret entertainer, receiving numerous awards such as Tidewaters Entertainer of the Year. Levi also landed on tour with Virginia Opera, where he has performed in the productions of Carmen, Susanna, Agrippina and Tales of Hoffman. Levi is currently preparing for an upcoming locally-based reality TV show.

Dave Hobbs
Dave Hobbs has performed professionally since retiring from the U.S. Navy. He has been a member of Virginia Opera's Chorus since the 2004 production of Turandot. His favorite chorus performance was in Cav/Pag (2007). He has appeared locally in several Musical Theatre productions including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Man of La Mancha, and Grease. Summer 2005 took him to Boone, N.C. as the lead in the country’s third longest running outdoor drama, Horn in the West. Most recently he performed as The Boss in Of Mice and Men at the Virginia Stage Company and as Capt. John Ratliffe in First Landing Foundation’s production of 1607: First Landing. Dave resides locally with his wife and five children.

Erin (Alisanski) Laurence
Ms. Laurence earned music degrees in vocal performance from the Eastman School of Music and from Syracuse University, where she received a University Fellowship. She was the first recipient of the Marcella Sembrich Award, a national competition, to perform at the Marcella Sembrich Opera Museum in Bolton Landing, NY. Ms. Laurence was a finalist for the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Competition held in Miami, FL. In 1998, she sang with the Oswego Opera Company as the understudy for Mimi in Puccini’s La Bohème. She performed in productions of Zar und Zimmermann, Noye’s Fludde, Aida, and Die Fledermaus with the Syracuse Opera. In 2000 and 2002, Ms. Laurence was a soloist with the San Angelo Symphony in a performance of Vivaldi’s Magnificat and Gloria and the“Alleluia” from Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate. She was a featured soloist in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and soprano soloist for Mozart’s “Placido é il mar” from Idomeneo performed at Angelo State University. During a visit to New York, in January 2001, Ms. Laurence sang for President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. From 2000-2004, Ms. Laurence held the position of Lecturer/Instructor of Voice at Angelo State University where she taught applied voice, opera/music theater workshop, class voice, music history, introduction to music, and directed the madrigal dinner production. She has taught voice at Syracuse University and at Hartwick College and has adjudicated numerous music competitions throughout New York and Texas. For three years, Ms. Laurence served as Director of Music Theater at the Hartwick College Summer Music Festival and Institute in Oneonta, NY. Currently, Ms. Laurence serves as Director of Music at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Virginia Beach. She has sung with the Virginia Opera for the past three seasons and has performed in productions of Romeo & Juliet (Stephano cover), Norma, Sleeping Beauty (Page), Cavalleria Rusticana, I Pagliacci, Tales of Hoffmann, and Pirates of Penzance.

Kimberly Smith Markham
Kimberly Smith Markham, a Chesapeake native, has been with the Virginia Opera for five seasons.  She made her main stage debut as Barbarina in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in 2006.  Her most recent role was Isabel in Pirates of Penzance and she also performed the role of Mabel in the Family Day version last spring.  Other performances include Madame Butterfly, Elixir of Love, Turandot, The Merry Widow, Faust, La Traviata, Romeo and Juliet, Norma, Carmen, Susannah, and Cavalleria Rusticana/I Pagliacci.  She also covered the role of Poppea in last season’s Agripppina, as well as, covering several roles in the young artist program.  Last season she performed the title role in Little Red Riding Hood, as Katrina in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and as Alice in The New Adventures of Alice in Operaland with Virginia Opera’s Spectrum Artist Program.  Ms. Markham has sung in numerous concerts for Virginia Opera around the state.  She is a frequent soloist with Symphonicity (the Virginia Beach Symphony Orchestra); singing in Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2 “Hymn of Praise” last February and performing in their summer concert series in August for the past three years.  She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in vocal performance from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington and is currently the Assistant Music Director at First Presbyterian Church of Virginia Beach.

Jake Mills
Jake Mills has performed with Virginia Opera since 2006, appearing with the chorus in productions of Carmen, Susannah, Tales of Hoffmann, and Pirates of Penzance. As a student at Christopher Newport University, he has appeared in productions of The Marriage of Figaro, Dido & Aeneas, and Cosí fan tutte. He also appeared in several theatrical productions while at Christopher Newport University.