Performer Bios:

Elizabeth Wohl, Soprano-Aerialist; Partner Acrobat (Three French Birds, Soaring, Birds of a Feather, ZauberMagicFluteEnchantée, Opera in the Air)

Soprano-aerialist Elizabeth Wohl is a Brattleboro-based opera singer and aerialist. She specializes in aerial silks and aerial rope. She is the founder of Arc Benders Circus Opera, an innovative performing arts troupe dedicated to inspiring wonder, delight and awe through the fusion of aerial acrobatics and opera.  In 2024, Arc Benders produced full-length shows at Next Stage Arts in Putney, at the New England Center for Circus Arts in Brattleboro, and in two different Burlington Vermont venues. Most notably, Arc Benders mounted a fully-staged, circus-infused version of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte in Burlington Vermont, in collaboration with the Champlain Philharmonic Orchestra, Matthew LaRocca, conducting. As the company's principal soprano, Elizabeth performs Juliette's Waltz, Carmen's Habanera, and the Queen of the Night's arias while dancing in the air on aerial silks and rope. She has also choreographed pieces by Dr. Gwyneth Walker, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copeland, and G.F. Handel.  When she is not singing in the air, you can find her singing on the ground with Friends of Music at Guilford, the Keene Chorale, the Deerfield Valley Players, the Windham Philharmonic, and TUNDI. In 2020, Ms. Wohl prepared to sing Pamina, in Die Zauberflöte, but the production was postponed indefinitely due to COVID. In 2018, Ms. Wohl had the rare opportunity to sing the traditionally baritone role, Ping, in the Windham Philharmonic’s production of Turandot.

She delights in developing innovative interpretations of beloved classical pieces. She blends aerial acrobatics with well-loved arias to complement each aria’s inherent dramatic arc. She strives to draw audiences into every performance through the alchemy of vocal and aerial arts--inspiring wonder, delight and awe. Ms. Wohl’s one-woman show "Three French Birds,"  was hailed as “an audience favorite,” at the Providence Fringe Festival, and she performs individual aerial-arias separately throughout the New England region for concerts, non-profit fundraising events, and weddings.

James Anderson, Tenor (Soaring; Opera in the Air; ZauberMagicFluteEnchantée)

American Tenor, James Anderson, has enjoyed a career of constant demand in opera houses and concert halls throughout Europe, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, the United States, South America and Africa. Anderson was a member of the Ensemble at the State Theater in Kassel, Germany; the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf; and, for eight seasons, at the National Theater in Munich, under the direction of Zubin Mehta.

Mr Anderson's opera repertoire is very broad. Performances of leading roles include Rodolfo La Boheme, Pinkerton Madama Butterfly, Alfredo La Traviata, Don Jose Carmen, Des Grieux Manon, Tom The Rake's Progress, and Bacchus Ariadne auf Naxos, to name just a few of the over 150 opera, operetta, and Broadway musical roles.  

Highlights of concert appearances include the Tenor Soloist in the following: Beethoven Ninth Symphony at the Philharmonie in Berlin; the Schubert Stabat Mater at the Hotel des Invalides, Paris; Verdi Requiem in Dallas; Wagner's Das Rheingold at the Salle Pleyel in Paris under the direction of Marek Janowski with Eva Marton and James Morris.

Mr Anderson recorded the role of Christ in Beethoven's Oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives with Serge Baudo and the Orchestre National de Lyon. Anderson was cast with Ramon Vargas on a Grammy nominated recording of Early Verdi Arias. Anderson is also to be seen in Zubin Mehta's film rendition of Wagner's Tannhäuser and recently returned to Toulouse, France for performances of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

In 2004, Anderson relocated to the US and now resides with his wife Kate and daughter Cassandra in Brattleboro, Vermont. 

In Brattleboro, Jim teaches voice and was the stage director for Puccini's Suor Angelica in his new home town. Anderson, joined by Hugh Keelan and Jenna Rae, performed Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, and again with Keelan, the Britten Serenade for Tenor and Horn with Victoria Eisen and the Windham Orchestra, as well as Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana.

Anderson studies under Margaret Harshaw and Richard Torigi.

Eliana Perlmutter, Partner Acrobatics and Cyr Wheel (Birds of a Feather; ZauberMagicFluteEnchantée, Opera in the Air)

Eliana is a dynamic circus performer who wows audiences with her Cyr wheel, partner acrobatics, and tumbling skills. Eliana loves sharing circus through both performing and teaching. She finds it particularly satisfying to take audiences on emotional, often joyous, journeys. She finds it particularly satisfying to take audiences on emotional, often joyous, journeys.

After graduating from Smith College and working as a government relations professional in Washington, DC for five years, Eliana jetted off to Portland, Oregon in 2021 to pursue circus full-time. She co-founded and continues to produce and perform with her ensemble contemporary circus company, Constructive Interference (cicircus.com). When not training, performing, or coaching, Eliana can often be found on the search for a new cafe or trail to explore or cajoling those around her to join in partner acrobatics shenanigans.

Dr. Ivan Tan, Pianist (Three French Birds, Soaring, Opera in the Air).

Dr. Tan is Lecturer in Music at Brown University, where he teaches courses in music theory, applied musicianship, and songwriting. His research interests include textural roles and interactions in small ensemble music, analysis of rhythm and meter in popular music, and creativity in cover songs and rearrangements. His research has been published in Music Perception and Psychology of Music, and presented at conferences including the annual meetings of the Society for Music Theory and American Musicological Society. He completed his Ph.D. in music theory at the Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester), and also holds degrees from Brown and SUNY Purchase. When not teaching, he maintains an active performing career as a pianist and keyboardist.

Sarah Newcomb, Soprano (Soaring)

Sarah is returning to the stage after a 20-year pause. Her previous credits include busking on the streets of Portland, Maine in the late 1990’s and a couple of stints as a singing hostess at Italian restaurants.

Sarah became an empty nester in 2023 and moved from Maine to Vermont. She is overjoyed to share a love of singing VERY LOUDLY with such wonderful people, and looks forward to many more performances in the coming years.