Empire State University Boasts Summer Opera Performers

(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - June 7, 2023) Two members of the Empire State University community will be performing in separate opera performances this summer. Current SUNY Empire student and Richard Porter Leach Fellow Dina Rivera-Gray will perform in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” at The Metropolitan Opera as a featured dancer and actor this June. Elena O’Connor ’23 will perform in this summer’s Finger Lakes Opera's production of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Aida” as the title role later in August.  

Dina Rivera-Gray 

Rivera-Gray has been an actor and dancer in New York City for 25 years, performing in theater, musical theater, TV, films, and dance companies. She has also been a dance and drama teacher at Avenues: The World School in Chelsea for the last nine years.  

Rivera-Gray is currently finishing her Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in dance and theater at SUNY Empire. Knowing how crucial the arts are to both society and students of all ages, her educational goal is to further skills and knowledge to advocate for the arts and educate a new generation of performing artists who are socially aware and inclusive of all people. 

“As a long-time dance educator, I have seen my own students transformed through the arts, gaining a fundamental understanding of themselves and fostering empathy for others,” she said. “It is my goal to continue my work as a performing artist, choreographer, and educator to create projects and educational programs which address social issues using applied theater, dance and performance art.”  

She is also interested in future leadership opportunities in performing arts departments at schools and universities. 

Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” will be the third opera in which Rivera-Gray is a featured performer, having previously worked with director and artist William Kentridge in "The Nose" at The Metropolitan Opera. She was invited by The Met to be one of 12 ensemble actor performers for the groundbreaking production that took place June 8 and 10 at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.  

 “I have been rehearsing for the last six weeks. It has been a whirlwind of excitement and lots of work,” she said. “It has been a dream to be at Lincoln Center every day!” 

Rivera-Gray currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and eleven-year-old daughter. She enjoys hiking with her family and rescue dog, cooking, reading and going to the theater, opera and ballet. 

Elena O’Connor ’23 

Elena O'Connor is a recent graduate of SUNY Empire’s Master of Arts in liberal studies program. Her final capstone project, From Schiller to Wagner: Exploring German literature and song and their role in establishing cultural identities, highlights her talents in academia as well as on stage. She created a website on which she explored various works by Schiller and Wagner to consider the societies in which they were written, the histories of the composers, their compositions, their performances, and their meanings over time. Her unique capstone emphasizes how the MA in liberal studies program supports students who are creative and driven to individualize their program design.  

O’Connor launched her professional career with her debut role as Tosca with Union Avenue Opera in St. Louis. As a young singer, O’Connor received honors and awards from numerous competitions. She was the youngest ever featured soloist in the history of the Cincinnati May Festival, where she performed the soprano role in Bach’s “Cantata No. 21”, calling her “a young star to watch." 

In concert, O'Connor has sung the soprano solos in numerous performances and is a frequent guest of the Philharmonic Orchestra and Oratorio Society in her hometown of Rochester, New York. She made her European debut in 2017 with the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden in the title role of Tosca. 

O’Connor’s lead performance in Giuseppe Verdi’s “Aida” will take place August 11 and 13 at the Rochester Broadway Theatre League Auditorium. 

O'Connor splits her time between her residences in Rochester, New York, and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, where she lives with her husband and daughter.