Holiday Luncheon PPOL

Celebrate the season with the Pikes Peak Opera League at the annual Holiday Luncheon on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. We will gather at the historic Cheyenne Mountain Country Club, 9 Lake Ave in Colorado Springs, for an afternoon of warm company, seasonal spirit, and a thoughtfully prepared menu.

Menu
- Salad: Poached pear with goat cheese, candied walnuts, dried cranberries, and maple sherry dressing
- Entrée: Chicken pot pie in puff pastry
- Vegetarian option: Penne pasta with garlic cream, assorted vegetables, and parmesan
- Dessert: Citrus panna cotta with mixed berries and almond tuile

Your ticket includes the full service luncheon and a program featuring artists from Opera Colorado including soprano Hallie Schmidt and tenor Daniel Miller, accompanied by collaborating pianist John Morefield.

We invite you to share a festive afternoon with fellow opera supporters as we reflect on the year and look ahead to what is to come for opera in the Pikes Peak region.

Registration deadline: November 28
Mailed checks must arrive by that date.
Get tickets here: https://www.pikespeakoperaleague.org/.../annual-holiday...

Venue hosted by Dr. Darryl and Terry Thatcher
Sponsored by Annabel Widney and Lynne Lange
Dr. Susan Rae Jensen & Mr. Tom A. Trainer

About the Artists
Tenor Daniel Miller, a native of Arvada, is delighted to return to Opera Colorado’s Artists in Residence for the 2025–26 Season. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado and a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University. This season, he appears on the Ellie Caulkins mainstage in La traviata (Gastone) and tours with Opera Colorado as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance. In 2025, he was an Apprentice Artist with Central City Opera’s Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists, covering Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville. His previous credits span opera and musical theater, including Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, Tamino in The Magic Flute, the Mayor in Albert Herring, and Laurie in Little Women.
American soprano Hallie Schmidt will begin the 25/26 season at Pacific Northwest Opera for both productions of Rinaldo and Ariadne auf Naxos. This past season, Hallie was an Artist in Residence with Opera Colorado, where she covered Marie in The Daughter of the Regiment, and performed the role in the student matinee. Additionally she sang Inez in their concert production of Il Trovatore, and covered Musetta in La Boheme. This past summer she was also an Apprentice Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera. Previous credits with PNO include Blonde in Die Entfürung aus dem Serail, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, and Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier. Other recent credits include Frasquita in Carmen (Tacoma Opera), Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, and The Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute (filmed production) with Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Hallie has received awards from the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Lotte Lenya Competition, the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, and was the 2023 winner of the Seattle Opera Guild Singer Development Awards. This season, Hallie was also awarded second place at the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition. She is also a Co-Founder of Olympia Opera Theatre.
John Morefield (a student of the renowned pianist and pedagogue Martin Katz), has been in the business of musical collaboration since childhood, playing lead guitar, bass and piano in rock bands, jazz groups and pit orchestras. Before earning his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Northern Illinois University in 2018, he studied voice, composition, jazz piano and choral conducting. His original composition for piano trio won first prize in the Northern Illinois University Chamber Music Competition, and his playing has been featured on radio stations including WNIJ and Iowa Public Radio.
John completed his doctoral studies in Collaborative Piano at the University of Michigan in May 2025, where his dissertation recitals featured Schubert’s Winterreiseand Amy Beach’s Violin Sonata. While working on his degree, he developed a deep passion for opera and served as coach and pianist for numerous productions including Elizabeth Cree, The Turn of the Screw, Gianni Schicchi and Cendrillon. John was awarded the inaugural Collaborative Pianist Prize in the George Shirley Vocal Competition, and his recent projects include multiple world premiere performances, a lecture performance of Magnus Lindberg’s Violin Concerto No. 2, and Brahms’ Liebeslieder-Walzer with Martin Katz and members of the University of Michigan voice faculty.
Besides his fondness for reading, birdwatching and plane-spotting, John loves to join his wife in conspiring to dress their pets in silly costumes, perfecting their at-home barista skills, and miniature golfing.

About the Pikes Peak Opera League
Pikes Peak Opera League's mission is to promote knowledge and appreciation of opera, musical theatre and vocal arts, to encourage and support aspiring and professional opera and musical theatre artists, and to support Opera Theatre of the Rockies and other regional opera, classical and vocal arts organizations.