Owen
Connolly
Schedule
Upcoming Engagements
Description
Inspired by Japanese author Ryūnosuke Akutagawa’s short story and Akira Kurosawa’s acclaimed film Rashōmon, In a Grove unfolds as a haunting, nonlinear investigation into the disappearance of a young woman and the murder of her husband in a burned Oregon forest. Set in 1921, the story is told by a string of unreliable narrators—witnesses offering conflicting accounts of what happened to the girl. “The crux of this show is the fallibility of memory,” comments director Joelle Lachance ’25E (DMA). “It bends the truth until you believe that what you ‘remember’ is what actually happened.” This is Lachance’s second directorial project with EOT and she is the first student to helm an opera presented in Kilbourn Hall. She recently earned a doctorate in Vocal Performance and Literature and is now pursuing a master’s degree in Stage Direction. Due to sensitive subject matter involving violence and sexual assault, this opera is not recommended for children.
Owen Connolly
The Policeman/The schoolteacher
Dates
Biography
Owen Connolly is a tenor from Peachtree City, Georgia. He earned his BM in Voice Performance from the University of South Carolina where he studied with mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway, and is currently pursuing his MM in Voice Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music, studying under tenor Anthony Dean Griffey. Last Winter, Owen made his orchestral debut with the Eastman Philharmonic Orchestra as the Tenor Soloist in Mendelssohn’s “Hymn of Praise”. In Winter 2025, he will perform as the tenor soloist with the Southern Crescent Symphony Orchestra in their Annual Christmas Concert. Recently, Owen was selected as an Emerging Artist for the Seagle Festival’s 2025 season, where he performed in the children’s outreach opera, “Monkey and Francine in the City of Tigers” as the role of Monkey. Other roles with Seagle included Frederic (Cover), Pirates of Penzance; 2nd Eugenicist, Mayo Buckner (Cipullo); and Sailor Quartet (Tenor 1), Anything Goes. This season with Eastman Opera Theatre, he will sing in Christopher Cerrone’s opera “In a Grove” as The Policeman. Previous Eastman Opera Theatre credits include Torero in Golijov’s “Ainadamar” and Tenor Soloist in Rorem’s “Evidence of Things Not Seen”. Notable roles with Opera at USC include Basilio (Le Nozze di Figaro), Giles Corey (The Crucible) and Achilles (La belle Hélène).
Gallery
