The Billy Goats Gruff

Athena Mertes, Soprano, is one of the Valley’s most celebrated sopranos, whose opera and concert credits include Marie (The Daughter of the Regiment), Mimi (La Bohème), Musetta (La Bohème), Despina (Cosi Fan Tutte), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Lucy (The Telephone), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Gianetta (L’Elisir d’Amore), Morgana (Alcina), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Abigail (The Crucible), Nella (Gianni Schicchi), Waldvogel (Siegfried) and soprano soloist in Vivaldi’s Gloria, Handel’s Messiah, Brahms Requiem, Mozart Requiem, Beethoven's 9th and Honegger’s King David. She has performed as a guest soloist with the Burbank Philharmonic, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Henderson Symphony, Opera Las Vegas, Vegas City Opera, Lexington Opera Outreach and the Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society. Some of her recent credits include Sylvia in the World Premiere of Behold the Man, Zelda in the West Coast Premiere of Ghosts of Gatsby and Alice B. Toklas in the West Coast premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek’s 27 with Opera Las Vegas and she portrayed Mimi in Vegas City Opera’s La BoDead.

She is also the Chorus Master of the Opera Las Vegas Youth Chorus and the Director of Choirs at Thurman White Academy of the Performing Arts where she has 400 students. In 2020, she received the Teacher of the Year Award from Magnet Schools of America and is also a National Board-Certified Teacher. In March of 2024, her Choir was  featured at the American Choral Directors Association Regional Conference in Pasadena, California and in April of 2024, her contemporary a cappella group was featured at the National Magnet Schools of America Conference in New York City.

Vocalist Lisa Elliott performs in a wide variety of musical styles. From jazz standards on the Vegas Strip to coloratura soprano opera roles, Lisa enjoys many different genres of singing. She is also the Music Director at Grace Presbyterian Church Las Vegas, where she directs the Chancel Choir as well as the Grace Concert Choir and orchestra regularly in major works such as Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Gloria, and Durufle’s Requiem. Additionally, Lisa is dedicated to music education. She is an adjunct voice professor at UNLV, the director of the Grace Academy of Music Education (GAME), and teacher for her own private voice studio. In 2020, Lisa completed her DMA degree in vocal performance through UNLV, having already earned a Master’s degree at San Diego State University in vocal performance, and a Bachelor’s degree in choral conducting at Scripps College in Claremont, CA.

Norman Espinoza, a Bass originally from San José California, has performed internationally and with numerous opera companies around the country. He is a graduate from San José State University where he obtained both his M.M. and B.M. in Vocal Performance.

Recognized for his powerful low notes, he has sung for Opera San José, Livermore Valley Opera, Lyric Opera Orange County, Opera Las Vegas, Opera Modesto, Berlin Opera Academy, Montefeltro Music Festival in Italy, and was recently a Chrisman Studio Artist for Opera Santa Barbara.

Roles Norman has sung include: Colline, Alidoro, Mustafà, Reverend Hale, Leporello, Il Commendatore, Sparafucile, Bartolo, Dr Grenvil, Seneca and Sarastro to name a few.

Norman now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife/new born son and works closely with Opera Las Vegas. He's also a Gondolier Singer for the Venetian Resort and he would love to take you on a ride on his gondola in Las Venice!

Baritone, Chase Orlando Gutierrez, a Las Vegas native young artist whose personable and charismatic singing has taken him from Las Vegas to Spain. Mr. Gutierrez has performed in numerous operas throughout the years: Don Alfonso in Così fan Tutte, Jupiter in Orpheus in the Underworld (English), The Notary in Don Pasquale, The Notary/Buoso Donati in Gianni Schicchi, Thierry in Dialogues of the Carmelites (English), Quartet Chorus of Dido and Aenaeus, Chorus of Pirates of Penzance, and Chorus of La Cenerentola. In concert Chase has performed as the baritone soloist in Charpentier’s Te Deum, and has sung spirituals throughout Spain and Portugal. Chase is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at UNLV under the supervision of Dr. Alfonse Anderson. Outside of the world of opera Chase is a multimedia specialist as the onsite audio engineer and photographer in his studio.

Linda Lister (Director) is Professor of Music and Director of Opera at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Winner of the 2014 American Prize for Directing, she is a graduate of Vassar College, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. She has led UNLV Opera to two first place wins in the 2015 National Opera Association Collegiate Opera Scenes Competition and a second place win in NOA’s 2016 Opera Production Competition. She is author of So You Want to Sing Light Opera and Yoga for Singers: Freeing Your Voice and Spirit through Yoga, and co-author of So You Want to Sing Music by Women and Voice Secrets: 100 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Singer. Also a composer, she has written three one-act operas: Body of Art, State of Grace, and How Clear She Shines! She sings her own compositions on the Albany Records release Pleas to Famous Fairies.