Our Story
Opera de Metro is a Metro Detroit-based opera company in its debut season, eager to inspire enthusiasm for opera in our community. We strive to create productions that will enchant and engage modern audiences, and we invest in audience education by offering pre-show conversations that engage both first-time audience members and longtime opera aficionados. Opera de Metro is the exciting next step in a series of successful collaborations between Artistic Director Madeleine Krick and advisory board members Olivia Donnel, Kellan Dunlap, and Jake Surzyn. As a company formed through the collaboration and passion of young professionals, we are excited to offer a platform for emerging artists in the Detroit area and beyond to share their voices and artistry.
Meet Our Team
Madeleine Krick
Artistic Director
Madeleine Krick is the founder and Artistic Director of Opera de Metro. She is an emerging conductor noted for her clarity of gesture and ambitious creation of opera and masterwork opportunities in Metro Detroit. She holds a B.M. from Oakland University, where she studied voice with Dr. Edith Diggory and conducting with Dr. Mike Mitchell. Her experience as a vocalist and her avid study of historical contexts and musical language have shaped her passion for opera conducting. Madeleine was one of three conducting fellows with L’Institut Canadien d’Art Vocal for their 2024 festival season, where she had the pleasure of conducting Orchestre de la Francophonie and assisting with the preparation of a French-language presentation of Die Fledermaus. She acted as Program Assistant for the 2023-24 Detroit Concert Choir Connoisseur Series, conducting Donizetti’s Il campanello, and has also been engaged as a cover conductor for Macomb Symphony Orchestra, where she benefits from the mentorship of Dr. Andrew Neer.
Madeleine currently serves as Music Director at St. Jane Frances de Chantal in Sterling Heights, MI. She maintains a private voice studio in Auburn Hills and works regularly with the students of Lakeland High School and International Academy West in White Lake. She is very excited to be embarking on this new adventure with Opera de Metro, and hopes to see you in the audience this season!
Olivia Donnel
Advisory Board Member
Olivia Donnel serves on the Advisory Board of Opera de Metro, focusing on Public Relations and Marketing. Olivia, a soprano hailing from Southwest Missouri, is known for her commanding coloratura and rich timbre. She holds a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and a Master of Music in vocal performance from Oakland University.
Olivia made her operatic debut as Inez in the Southern Illinois Music Festival production of Verdi's Il trovatore and has gone on to perform notable roles such as Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Galatea in Handel's Acis and Galatea and Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte, among others. In 2020, she was awarded an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council district auditions in St. Louis, MO. She joined the Dramatic Voices Program of Berlin in 2021 as a young artist for their summer production of Strauss' Elektra where she performed as Chrysothemis. Recently, Olivia graced the stage as Leonora in Taconic Opera's 2024 New York Opera Conservatory production of Il trovatore and will perform the role of Silvertone in the Michigan Opera Outreach production of Mozart's The Impresario this September.
When not performing, Olivia supports the arts in a multitude of ways. She serves as an arts administrator for the Detroit Concert Choir and was a 2023-24 recipient of the Michigan Arts and Culture Council's New Leader's Grant. She was the Program Director for the Detroit Concert Choir's Connoisseur Series during the 2023-24 season and directed her first opera, Donizetti's Il campanello, this past February. Olivia is an active member of the professional music fraternity, Sigma Alpha Iota, and was recently elected the Vice President of Programs for the Detroit Alumnae Chapter for the 2024-26 election cycle. Olivia also teaches voice at the Rochester Conservatory of Music. She is excited to be apart of the Opera de Metro team and looks forward to furthering exceptional music in her community.
Kellan Dunlap
Advisory Board Member
Kellan Dunlap is a member of the advisory board for Opera de Metro focusing on casting and artist recruitment.
Tenor Kellan Dunlap is a frequent performer of opera and song literature. The breadth of this repertoire spans from early Baroque through the literature of the 20th and 21st centuries. He is a musician passionate about communication with a voice that is elegant and lyric, yet with a hyperactive and fiery stage presence.
He was recently awarded first place in the National Student Auditions with the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), named a semi-finalist in the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition, and was awarded first prize in the Houston Gilbert and Sullivan competition.
Kellan is an alumnus of the Des Moines Metro Opera and OPERA San Antonio Apprentice Artist Programs where he covered Nicola d’Inverno in the world premiere of American Apollo and First Jew in Salome. At these programs, he also performed scene work as David in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Novice in Billy Budd, Die Hexe in Hänsel und Gretel, and Frederick in Pirates of Penzance.
During his studies at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice and Oakland University, he performed roles including Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, Triquet in Eugene Onegin, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Acis in Acis and Galatea, and Duke in Patience.
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An award-winning performer of art song, Kellan makes his UK debut this season as part of the Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition with collaborative pianist, Lyndsi Maus. Next year, Kellan will collaborate with Lyndsi again as part of a tour across the United States performing a song recital including Victor Cui's new piece, "Even the Trees Weep" sponsored by The Presser Foundation.
He received his Bachelor of Music from Oakland University and is a Master of Music in Vocal Performance student at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.
Jake Surzyn is a member of the advisory board for Opera de Metro and
serves as secretary and artist liaison.
Born and raised near Detroit, baritone Jake Surzyn has performed with many of Michigan’s opera companies including Detroit Opera. With Detroit Opera he covered the role of Councilman in Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves and performed in Yuval Sharon’s production of Ragnar Kjartansson’s Bliss as Antonio and Rodríguez’s Frida as Mr. Rockefeller. Throughout Michigan he has sung the roles of Der Lautsprecher in Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Marquis de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, Doctor Gregg in Gallantry, Dandini in La Cenerentola, Crespel in Les contes d’Hoffmann, King Melchior in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance, and covered Guglielmo in a virtual Così fan tutte. This summer Jake was a developing artist with Central City Opera where he sang Samuel in Pirates of Penzance and George Jones in Street Scene. He was an emerging artist at Opera Idaho during the 2022-23 season, covering the roles of Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Macbeth (Macbeth), Jim Crowley (An American Dream), and Vodník (Rusalka) while performing as Fiorello, il Medico and il Servo, the FBI Detective, and the Hunter. In the 2021-22 season he was a studio artist with Madison Opera where he covered Jupiter in Orpheus in the Underworld and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor.
A champion of contemporary music, Jake has sung Older Thompson in
Cipullo’s Glory Denied, Mr. Johannes ‘Pa’ Zegner in Mazzoli’s Proving Up, The Pilot in Portman’s The Little Prince, and was the bass soloist in Lang’s the little match girl passion, Jesus in Chilcott’s St. John Passion, and the baritone soloist in Ticheli’s The Shore.
This fall Jake will be a resident artist at Indianapolis Opera where he will sing as Fiorello and cover Figaro in their production of Il barbiere di Siviglia.
Jake Surzyn
Advisory Board Member