Season

La Clemenza di Tito
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Friday, June 8, 2012 at 8:00PM

Conducted by Michael Fennelly
Performed in Italian

Ripley-Grier Studios: 520 Eighth Avenue/36th/37th, 16th floor

Cendrillon
by Jules Massenet

Sunday, June 3, 2012 at 4:00PM

Performed in French

Ripley-Grier Studios: 520 Eighth Avenue/36th/37th, 16th floor
New York City

by Georges Bizet

Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 7:00PM

Conducted by David Štech
Performed in French

Dimenna Center: 450 West 37th Street:: Benzaquen Hall
New York City

Alcina
by George Frideric Handel

Friday, May 18, 2012 at 8:00PM

Conducted by Ming Kwong
Performed in Italian

Ripley-Grier Studios: 520 Eighth Avenue/36th/37th, 16th floor
New York City

The Marriage of Figaro
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 8:00PM

Conducted by Ming Kwong
Performed in Italian

Ripley-Grier Studios: 520 Eighth Avenue/36th/37th, 16th floor
New York City

Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 5:00PM

Conducted by Tony Bellomy

Performed in Italian

Saturday, June 11, 2011 at 1:15PM

Conducted by Tony Bellomy

Performed in Italian

Symphony Space on Broadway

New York City

Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 8:30PM

Conducted by Keith Chambers

Performed in Italian

Saturday, April 2, 2011 at 8:30PM

Conducted by David Rosenmeyer

Performed in Italian

Symphony Space on Broadway

New York City

Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 5:00PM

Conducted by Doug Han

Performed in German

Saturday, February 5, 2011 at 2:00PM

Conducted by Doug Han

Performed in German

Saturday, April 2, 2011 at 2:00PM

Performed in German

Symphony Space on Broadway

New York City

Saturday, June 5, 2010; 4:30PM; Symphony Space on Broadway, NYC
Saturday, June 12, 2010; 8:30PM; Symphony Space on Broadway, NYC

Saturday, May 1, 2010; 8:30PM; Symphony Space on Broadway, NYC
Saturday, May 8, 2010; 8:30PM; Symphony Space on Broadway, NYC

Saturday, February 27, 2010; 8:30PM; Symphony Space on Broadway, NYC
Saturday, March 6, 2010; 8:30PM; Carnegie's Weill Hall

Saturday, January 23, 2010; 8:30PM; Symphony Space on Broadway, NYC
Saturday, January 30, 2010; 8:30PM; Symphony Space on Broadway, NYC

Saturday, November 7, 2009; 8:30PM; Carnegie's Weill Hall
Friday, November 13, 2009; Symphony Space on Broadway, NYC

Top
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Competition

(In alphabetical order)

PRE-COLLEGE NATIONAL FINALISTS

		Hansini Bhasker
		Jordan Costa
		Samantha Dwyer
		Matthew Laude
		Melissa Lubars
		Galen Otten
		Nicholas Parrillo
		Samantha Park
		Chelsea Schwartz
		Caroline Zhao

DIVISION I NATIONAL FINALISTS

		Erika Baikoff
		Mary Claire Curran
		Shana Grossman
		Joyce Jin
		Nini Marchese
		Ema Mitrović
		Erin Mor
		Rachel Policar
		Lauren Rosas
		Erin Schwab

DIVISION II NATIONAL FINALISTS

		Lacey Jo Benter
		Halley Gilbert
		Liana Brooke Guberman
		Jonathan Hare
		Joel Herold
		Kathryn Leemhuis
		Alexandra Loutsion
		Katherine Tombaugh
		Laura Virella
		Melinda Whittington

“A voice of astonishing power and beauty.”Newcastle Journal, England. Andrea DelGiudice, has enjoyed a full career in Europe and the United States as a leading international soprano. Venues include the Scottish National Opera, Munich State Opera, Liege Opera, Opera Bonn, Edmonton Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, DiCapo Opera Theater and Arizona Opera. Her verismo roles include the Puccini and Verdi heroines alongside renowned artists such as Placido Domingo, Johan Botha, Sherill Milnes, Alexei Steblianko, and Nicola Martinucci. She has been featured as a concert soloist at Boston’s Jordan Hall with some of Boston’s foremost instrumental soloists, Brockton Symphony Orchestra and WGBH's “Morning Classics” in Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs and original works including Shema by composer Simon Sargon. Her diverse talents led to numerous international recording contracts in over 200 major films and animated features in Rome, Italy with Walt Disney/ Buena Vista, RAI television and Sundance Films. Ms. DelGiudice currently serves as Artistic Development Director at Dicapo Opera Theater for the Resident Artist program in New York City; Artistic Advisor and Voice Faculty at the Tuscia Opera Festival in Viterbo Italy, and Voice Faculty at the Neighborhood Playhouse of the Theater in New York City.

President of Randsman Artist Management, Peter Randsman is one of the top opera agents in New York, responsible for over 50 thriving international opera careers. Among the many artists he has managed include: Deborah Voigt, Allan Glassman, Brian Montgomery, Stephen Powell, Delores Ziegler, David Malis, and Cheryl Parrish. His performance experience includes: Billy Bigelow (Carousel), Tommy (Brigadoon) , Dr. Einstein (Arsenic and Old Babes in Arms), Clifford Bradshaw (Cabaret), Charley (Charley’s Aunt), Dick (Dames at Sea) and Gabey (On the Town). After making his move to New York City, he was cast as the “Burger King boy” in a series of National Television commercials, and was featured as Minolta’s “Camera Boy” in dozens of national magazines. He spent several days filming Brighton Beach with Ruth Gordon and Lee Strassburg. Mr. Randsman participated in several national tours performing operetta and Gilbert & Sullivan, and enjoyed a special pleasure singing the song, “He’s in love” while touring Kismet with the Metropolitan Opera star, John Reardon. Appearing on Broadway, he both sang and danced LizaLiza with film legend, Ruby Keeler at a tribute to the Ziegfeld Follies. Shortly after, he joined the New York City Opera chorus, and for the next three years appeared in many Lincoln Center productions and several national tours. He sang in a LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER telecast in scenes from Mefistofele with Samuel Ramey, conducted by Julius Rudel, and the great Triumphal Scene from Verdi’s Aida under the direction of Anton Guadagno.

William Hicks, voice coach, conductor, and pianist recently completed a recording of 127 pieces by Victor Herbert to be issued by New World Records, including fifteen piano solos, eleven pieces for cello and piano featuring Jerry Grossman, Principal Cellist of the Metropolitan Opera, and 101 songs with fifteen solo singers. He also recorded Have a Heart by Jerome Kern with the London Sinfonietta; A Simple Song: Blackbell sings Bernstein and All Through the Night with Harolyn Blackwell; and My Life, My Song with Martha Eggerth Kiepura. He most recently conducted La Boheme and L’elisir d’amore for the Martha Cardona Opera Theatre in Brooklyn, NY. He made his New York conducting debut in 2003 conducting a Mozart/Beethoven concert with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall. From 1995 to 2001, Mr. Hicks served as Assistant Conductor for the Metropolitan Opera, and made his Metropolitan Opera stage debut as the concert pianist Lazinski in Giordano's Fedora. He has also served as Associate Conductor for the Santa Fe Opera, The Canadian Opera Company, the Cincinnati Opera, and the New York City Opera. He prepared the singers, conducted rehearsals, and performed as pianist in Maestro Lorin Maazel's first opera production of Britten's Turn of the Screw at Castleton, Virginia. From 1990 to 1995, he collaborated as repetiteur and pianist for Luciano Pavarotti; he has coached, appeared in recital and on television and in master classes Luciano Pavarotti, Franco Corelli, Renata Scotto, Roberta Peters, Teresa Stratas, Anna Moffo, Regina Resnik, Deborah Voigt and Harolyn Blackwell. In 2009, he prepared Renee Fleming for her recording, Verismo!

Matthew Lobaugh currently resides in New York City where he works as a freelance accompanist and maintains a private vocal-coaching studio. His operatic credits include Chorusmaster for the Virginia Opera (2010) and Assistant Conductor at Cincinnati Opera (2006-2010). Mr. Lobaugh also completed a 2-year residency at Los Angeles Opera under the auspices of the Domingo-Thorton Young Artist Program. He holds a M.M. in Music from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, OH and dual B.M. degrees in both Piano and Vocal Performance from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. Last month, Mr. Lobaugh conducted our Lincoln Center performance of Die Zauberflöte and our Symphony Space performance earlier in the day.

Ken Benson joined Columbia Artists Management, Inc. in 1986 and for 25 years headed his own division as Vice President. Recently, he has interviewed Jonas Kaufman for the Wagner Society of New York, has given lectures on The "Ring" cycle for the Metropolitan Opera and has given a pre-concert lecture at the Caramoor Festival. Well-known and respected for his broad knowledge of repertoire and voices, he represented Harolyn Blackwell, Patrick Carfizzi, Rod Gilfry, Marcello Giordani, Thomas Hampson, Jerry Hadley, Lucas Meachem, Susanne Mentzer, Aprile Millo, and Florence Quivar, among many others. He is presently the Executive Director of the Marcello Giordani Foundation. Mr. Benson appears frequently as both host and panelist on the Opera Quiz of the Metropolitan Opera's radio broadcasts, and as a writer, he contributes to Opera News and Classical Singer magazines. He is regularly invited to give classes at Yale, DePaul, Roosevelt, and Indiana Universities, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College, Hartt School of Music, and U.C.L.A. as well as for many of the Young Artists Programs of major opera companies throughout the U.S. He also offers individual consultations to singers on auditioning techniques and career direction. This fall he returns for his third season as in-house consultant to the Master’s students of Vocal Arts, Juilliard. Mr. Benson adjudicates vocal competitions for the Metropolitan Opera, Opera Index, Palm Beach Opera, Astral Artists, and for various foundations including: The George London Foundation, The Richard Tucker Foundation, Licia Albanese/Puccini Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Giulio Gari Foundation, The Loren Zachary Foundation, and the Liederkranz Foundation. Since 1996, he has appeared each season on the Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcasts, on the Opera Quiz, Record Collector’s Roundtables, panel discussions and presenting biographies of great singers. In 2010-11 he launched the New York City Opera's "Listening Room" series, with recorded material and discussion for each opera in the season's repertoire.

Israeli born-American based mezzo-soprano, Zehava Gal studied voice at the Juilliard School of Music and Piano at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem. Ms. Gal won prestigious awards such as the Paris and Munich International Voice Competition, and Young Concert Artists in NY. Gal has sung at top opera houses and festivals all over the world, such as La Scala, Paris, Covent garden, Vienna, Glyndebourne, Santa Fe, & Pesaro. Gal sung with conductors such as Von Karajan, Abbado, Mehta, Barenboim with major orchestras such as New York, Israel & Berlin philharmonic, Chicago Symphony. Ms. Gal has appeared in the title role of Carmen in Peter Brook’s Theatre and Film production of La Tragédie de Carmen. Ms. Gal has recorded for major record labels including RCA, CBS, Philips and EMI. Since 1994, Ms. Gal holds a teaching position at the Westminster Choir College, Princeton, N.J., and a private studio in NYC. As an extremely well received master teacher, She has been invited to give Master Classes and Seminars at top conservatories and voice organizations around the world.

Tenor, Michael Paul's professional students perform in both national and international venues, in opera, oratorio, lied, and musical theater. Mr. Paul's students perform principal roles regularly at venues such as the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Deutsch Oper Berlin, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Communale in Florence, the Welsh National Opera, Opera Australia, Baltimore Opera, Dallas Opera, The Florida Grand Opera, and the Santa Fe Opera. On Broadway his students have performed leading roles in The Phantom of the Opera, Flower Drum Song, Jane Eyre, Marie Christine, Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, and the Lion King. Mr. Paul's students have been prize winners in competitions such as the Metropolitan Opera Competition, the Richard Tucker Awards, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Competition, the Loren Zachary Competition, the New York Oratorio Society Competition, the Opera Index Awards, and The George London Awards. His students also perform regularly in concert venues such as Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Town Hall, and many other recital venues and are accepted regularly into the major American opera apprentice programs. He is on faculty at the Washington Opera's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist program.

Mezzo-Soprano, Lacey Jo Benter is currently enrolled at The Juilliard School pursuing an Artist Diploma in Opera Studies. She is a previous graduate of The Juilliard School and Lawrence University. Roles: Maurya (Riders to the Sea), Zita & La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi), La Marchande de Journaux (Les Mamelles de Tiresias), Madame de Croissy (Les Dialogues des Carmélites), and Ma Moss (The Tender Land). Upcoming: Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) and a reprise of Madame de Croissy, both at Chautauqua Institute.

A freshman at Princeton University studying music and romance languages, Erika Baikoff has been studying voice with Sooyeon Kim. While attending LaGuardia High School, she studied with Lorraine Nubar. Most recently, she competed in the 2012 Classical Singer convention and the 2013 Mondavi Center Young Artists Competition as a national finalist in both. Ms. Baikoff has also been invited to perform in this year’s Bouchaine Young Artists Concert at the Napa Valley Festival del sole, which will include world-renowned artists Jessye Norman and Audra McDonald.

Soprano, Mary Claire Curran is a first year graduate student at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music. This year, she has originated the role of Janice in Charles Mason's world premiere opera Entanglements, she has sung Erste Dame in Frost Opera Theatre's Die Zauberflöte, was Sally Brown in You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown and has sung in concert recitals. She has been a Masterclass participant for Darren K. Woods, Dean Anthony, Sylvia Greenberg, Denyce Graves and Barbara Bonney. This summer she will be a Young Artist at SongFest in Los Angeles.

Soprano, Samantha Dwyer is currently a senior at Centereach High School in NY and will attend the Aaron Copland School of Music in Fall, 2013. Roles: Santuzza (Cavelleria Rusticana), Mrs. Nolan (The Medium), Fantine (Les Misérables Student Edition), Mimi (Scenes from La Bohème), and Mrs. Potts (Beauty and the Beast Jr.). Honors: 2012 All State Women’s Chorus, 2013 All-Eastern Mixed Choir, and Stony Brook Pre-College Performances at Stony Brook University Staller Center.

Soprano, Halley Gilbert graduated from Eastman School of Music where she sang the roles of La Fee (Cendrillon) and Arminda (La Finta Giardiniera). Recent credits include Adina cover (L’elisir D’Amore) with the Opera Company of Brooklyn and Opera For Humanity, Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte) with Harrisburg Opera Associate, La Fée cover (Cendrillon) with New York Lyric Opera Theater; Lucia cover (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Gianetta (L'elisir D'amore) with Opera For Humanity. This summer, she will be covering Fortuna/Damigella (L'incoronazione di Poppea).

New York native soprano, Shana Grossman attended the Diller-Quale School of music where her passion for performing emerged. She was accepted and attended the prestigious Peabody Conservatory of Music, where she earned her undergraduate degree in vocal performance in 2012. Ms. Grossman is currently pursuing her Masters at Brooklyn College where she most recently performed the role of Nanetta in Verdi's Falstaff. Her upcoming performance will be at Brooklyn College where she will be singing the title role in Stravinsky's Le Rossignol.

Born in New York City, Liana Brooke Guberman is pursuing a Professional Studies Diploma at Mannes College. Her roles include Parasha in Stravinsky’s Mavra, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Thérèse in Les Mamelles de Tirésias, Puccini's Suor Angelica, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. She received a Master’s of Music from Purchase College Conservatory and a Bachelor of Music from Boston University. She attended the Castleton Artist Training Program, “Si parla, Si canta,” the Franz-Schubert-Institut in Baden bei Wien, Austria, and Chautauqua.

Baritone, Jonathan Hare is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music. Roles: Schaunard (La Bohème) with the North Shore Music Festival, Papageno (The Magic Flute) with the New York Lyric Opera Theatre and the Marina Arroyo Foundation, Baron (La Traviata) with the New York Grand Opera, Tim (God Bless Us Everyone) with the Dicapo Opera. Upcoming: Silvio (Pagliacci) with the New Rochelle Opera.

According to Opera News, Joel Herold, “showed off a handsome, light baritone and polished stage presence” as Pish-Tush in The Mikado during the 2011 Fort Worth Opera Festival. Upcoming: Apprentice Artist with at Caramoor. He was a national semi-finalist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Venues/Companies: Santa Fe Concert Association, Opera Memphis, Fort Worth Opera, Lake George Opera, Connecticut Opera, Opera Cleveland. Roles: Belcore (Elixir of Love), Papageno (The Magic Flute), Antonio (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Frank (Die Fledermaus).

Joyce Jin recently graduated from Converse College with a Bachelor’s of Music and a distinction in performance award. She will be pursuing her master’s degree at the Royal Academy of Music in London this coming fall. She received the young artist award at the Hariclea Darclée International Voice Competition in August 2012. Roles: Despina in Così fan tutte with the Converse Opera in 2011 and Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro at Operafestival di Roma in 2009. In addition, Ms. Jin has sung in several recitals and concerts in Italy under the Italian conductor maestro Marco Balderi.

Mezzo-soprano, Kathryn Leemhuis recently sang Dorabella in Così fan tutte (Opera Theatre St. Louis), Florence Pike in Albert Herring (Florentine Opera), Amaltea in Mosè in Egitto (Chicago Opera Theater), Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Opera Theatre St. Louis), Suzuki in Madama Butterfly (DuPage Opera). Venues: Lyric Opera Chicago, Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera, Tanglewood, Ravinia. Awards: 1^st Place (Bel Canto Competition), 2^nd Place (Lissner Competition), and 2^nd Prize (Florida Grand Opera Competition).

Alexandra Loutsion has recently been seen with Washington Concert Opera as Anna Kennedy in Maria Stuarda, Mother/Witch in Hänsel und Gretel with Pittsburgh Opera, and the cover of Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly with Opera Santa Barbara. Additional roles: Title role cover in Tosca (Santa Fe Opera), Anna cover in Maometto II (Santa Fe Opera), Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly (Opera on the James, Central City Opera Family Performance), Armida in Rinaldo (Pittsburgh Opera), and Melissa in Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula (Central City Opera Family Performance).

Nini Marchese is a young Soprano from Lisle, Illinois. She is currently working toward a B.M. in Vocal Performance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, studying with Cynthia Haymon. In recital and competition, Ms. Marchese has most recently performed works by Mozart, Fauré, Donaudy, and Quilter. In 2011, she appeared as Margot in Franz Lehar’s Die Lustige Witwe with Sinfonietta Bel Canto Opera.

Currently studying with Sondra Kelly, Ema Mitrović holds a BM from New Jersey City University. Roles: Title role (Carmen), Carmen (La Tragédie de Carmen), Le Prince Charmant (Cendrillon), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Martine (Le Médecin malgre lui), Abbess & Monitor (Suor Angelica), third lady (Die Zauberflöte), first witch (Dido Aeneas), Mrs. Gobineau (The Medium), The Mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors), third lady (The Magic Flute). Awards: NJ NATS ‘13, 1^st Place Division 9; 8^th Annual Peter Elvin’s Vocal Competition, Semi-finalist.

Tenor, Aaron Mor is a second year student at Juilliard, where he studies voice with Marlena Malas. Earlier this year, Mr. Mor was seen as a super in the Juilliard production of Così fan Tutte. Last summer he was able to study and perform at Chautauqua Institution. He graduated Great Neck South High School where he performed in numerous productions, including the title roles in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Gianni Schicchi and Phantom of the Opera. Mr. Mor is also a graduate of the Juilliard Pre-College Division.

Galen Otten, a junior at Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado has been active in youth theater for 9 years. Highlights of recent performances include: Cassie in 13: The Musical, Regional Premier with Broadway in Boulder, Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof with Center Stage Theater Co., Brooke Wyndham in Legally Blonde at Fairview High School, Classical Soloist in Fairview’s POPs Show, Soloist in Calling All Dawns at the Temple Buell Theater. She is a student of Lauren Sawyer at Boulder Classical Voice and plans to pursue her education in opera.

Currently a senior at Suffern (NY) High School, Samantha Park will be attending Eastman School of Music in the fall to pursue a B.M. in Vocal Performance as a recipient of the Hanson Scholarship Award. Ms. Park began classical voice training in 2010 and earned perfect scores at NY All State Voice competitions in 2011 and 2012. Recently, she has received 1^st place college scholarships in local competitions and was a national finalist of the Bacardi Fallon Music Competition.

Soprano, Rachel Policar has recently been seen as the title character in the world premiere of Liebovar with the Brooklyn Philharmonic at St. John the Divine Cathedral and as Young Molly Pitcher in the world premiere of The Boston Tea Party Opera. She will join the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard this summer, performing Valencienne in The Merry Widow and covering Nannetta in Falstaff. She is a semi-finalist in the Classical Singer Competition and a finalist in the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle Competition.

Lauren Rosas is a current undergraduate soprano of Westminster Choir College. Ms. Rosas has performed in Guys and Dolls and in Warren Martin's The True Story of Cinderella as Cinderella. Sacred music works include: Arvo Pärt Gloria, Schubert Mass in G, and Vivaldi Gloria. She recently placed 1st in the voice awards scholarship in Westminster Choir college. She is currently still working on her Bachelor’s degree for Voice Performance at Westminster Choir College under the study of her voice teacher, Carolann Page.

Erin Schwab is in her final year at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts. Roles: Nanetta (Falstaff), Noémie (Cendrillon), Lucky Lockitt (The Beggar’s Opera). She has also performed in Carmen at the Castleton Festival and La Bohème at the Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman, both conducted by Lorin Maazel. Sacred works include: Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Fauré’s Requiem, Gabrieli’s In Ecclesiis, Mendelssohn’s Hear My Prayer (O for the Wings of a Dove), and Haydn’s Heiligmesse.

Kate Tombaugh recently made her Carnegie Hall solo debut upon winning the Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition. Roles: Lucette (Cendrillon), Angelina (La Cenerentola), Meg Page (Falstaff), Meg (Little Women), Papagena/Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte). Venues: Santa Fe Opera, Utah Opera, Opera Omaha, Madison Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Santa Fe Concert Association, Utah Symphony. Upcoming: Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Flora in La Traviata, Amelie in The Grand Duchess, solo debut with the Jackson Symphony.

Mezzo-Soprano, Laura Virella is known for her compelling performances. The summer of 2012 in Austria marked her debut as Octavian with Kammersängerin Linda Watson in the Rosenkavalier finale, under the baton of Volksoper Wien’s Gerrit Prieβnitz. A few days later she was named First Runner-Up (2nd to Patricia Racette) for Best Actress in Opera in the DC Theatre Scene Awards for her portrayal of Luisa Fernanda. She holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and Manhattan School of Music, apprenticed with Dicapo Opera, and continued studies in Italy, Berlin and Graz.

Melinda Whittington was a National Semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council competition, after winning first place at the South Carolina district and the Southeast regional competitions. Upcoming: Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) at Green Mountain Opera Festival and Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi) with Opera Carolina. She was Merola young artist at San Francisco Opera, performing scenes as the title role in Anna Bolena and Vanessa. Additional roles: 2nd Lady (Magic Flute, Opera Carolina), Violetta (La traviata, Brevard), and Alcina (Alcina, Brevard).

NORTHERN REGION

PRE-COLLEGE DIVISION
		Hansini Bhasker
		Kendall Brighton
		Jordan Costa
		Samantha Dwyer
		Sarah King
		Matthew Laude
		Melissa Lubars
		Samantha Park
		Nicholas Parrillo
		Chelsea Schwartz
		Victoria Stempel
		Caroline Zhao

DIVISION I & II
		Seung-Hyeon Baek
		Erika Baikoff
		Kristin Behrmann
		Ashley Bell
		Lacey Benter
		Joseph Beutel
		Daniel Byerly
		Zion Byun
		Jordan Campbell
		Danielle Davis
		Angela Dinkelman
		Eric Downs
		Anna Farysej
		Sarah Gardner
		Justin Gordon
		Olanna Goudeau
		Zoya Gramagin
		Shana Grossman
		Liana Guberman
		Christina Hager
		Jonathan Hare
		Ashley Harrington
		Joel Herold
		Deena Hower
		Scott Ingram
		Joyce Jin
		Manna KnJoi
		Quentin Lee
		Kathryn Leemhuis
		Christy Lombardozzi
		Alexandra Lutsion
		Ema Mitrovic
		Rachel Montoya
		Aaron Mor
		Christopher Nelson
		Rachel Policar
		Lauren Rosas
		Erin Schwab
		Laura Virella
		Melinda Whittington

MIDWEST REGION

PRE-COLLEGE DIVISION
		Morgan Brennan

DIVISION I & II
		Jihyun Kim
		Sam Jew Kim
		Megan Liles
		Jackline Madegwa
		Nini Marchese
		Yoosun Na
		Bethany Stiles
		Kate Tombaugh
		Heather Youngquist

SOUTHERN REGION

PRE-COLLEGE DIVISION
		Virginia Barefield
		Maria Zoller

DIVISION I & II
		Marie Claire Curran
		Ginett Delara
		Carl Dupont
		Shirin Eskandani
		Omari Hardy
		Rebecca Henriques
		Alexey Kukhaskiy
		Katie Kupchik
		Eric McConnell
		Kunya Rowley
		Hillary Trumpler
		Claudio Valverdi
		Alejandro Viera
		Jeffrey Williams

WESTERN REGION

PRE-COLLEGE DIVISION
		Galen Otten

DIVISION I & II
		Halley Gilbert
		Annie Gill
		Ewa Plonka

Ken Benson joined Columbia Artists Management, Inc. in 1986 and for 25 years headed his own division as Vice President. Well-known and respected for his broad knowledge of repertoire and voices, he represented Harolyn Blackwell, Patrick Carfizzi, Rod Gilfry, Marcello Giordani, Thomas Hampson, Jerry Hadley, Lucas Meachem, Susanne Mentzer, Aprile Millo, and Florence Quivar, among many others. He is presently the Executive Director of the Marcello Giordani Foundation. Mr. Benson appears frequently as both host and panelist on the Opera Quiz of the Metropolitan Opera's radio broadcasts, and as a writer, he contributes to Opera News and Classical Singer magazines. He is regularly invited to give classes at Yale, DePaul, Roosevelt, and Indiana University Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College, Hartt School of Music, and U.C.L.A. as well as for many of the Young Artists Programs of major opera companies throughout the U.S. He also offers individual consultations to singers on auditioning techniques and career direction. For the past two seasons he has served as in-house consultant to the Masters students of Vocal Arts, Juilliard. Mr. Benson adjudicates vocal competitions for the Metropolitan Opera, Opera Index, Palm Beach Opera, Astral Artists, and for various foundations including: The George London Foundation, Licia Albanese/Puccini Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Giulio Gari Foundation, The Loren Zachary Foundation, and the Liederkranz Foundation. Since 1996, he has appeared each season on the Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcasts, on the Opera Quiz, Record Collector’s Roundtables, panel discussions and presenting biographies of great singers. In 2010-11 he launched the New York City Opera's "Listening Room" series, with recorded material and discussion for each opera.

Keith Chambers was appointed Assistant Conductor of New York City Opera in 2007 and is the Director of the Victoria J. Mastrobuono Emerging Artist Program for Opera New Jersey. He has conducted Tosca for Amarillo Opera, Roméo et Juliette for Asheville Lyric Opera, New York Lyric Opera (Suor Angelica, Le nozze di Figaro, Rigoletto, Hansel & Gretel), The Living Opera (Hansel & Gretel, Le nozze di Figaro, Don Pasquale, The Pirates of Penzance), Halifax Summer Opera (Giulio Cesare), Moores Opera Center (Die Fledermaus, La finta giardiniera), Sugar Land Opera (The Station), Martha Cardona Opera Theater (Gianni Schicchi) and Opera in the Ozarks (Don Giovanni & L’elisir d’amore). He has served on faculty of the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program and the RESONANZ Festival and is past Artistic Director of The Living Opera and Chorus Master/Music Director of Shreveport Opera. Additional performances include Toledo Opera, Connecticut Opera, American Opera Projects, American Lyric Theater, and Lake George Opera. He has appeared as concerto soloist with the Delaware Symphony, Clear Lake Symphony, and Naples Philharmonic, and often performs with his wife, soprano Kirsten Chambers. During the 2011-12 season, he conducts Tosca for the Martha Cardona Opera Theater, Nora, In The Great Outdoors for American Opera Projects, The Poe Project for American Lyric Theater, and La bohème, Die Zauberflöte, and Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci for both New York Lyric Opera Theatre and Martha Cardona Opera Theater. Mr. Chambers will lead performances of Verdi’s Un giorno di regno for the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program in 2012-13.

Alex Fletcher serves as president and artist manager at Fletcher Artist Management, a firm he founded in December 2009. As president, Mr. Fletcher proudly manages a selective roster of opera singers, conductors, and directors. Prior to the establishment of his management firm, Mr. Fletcher enjoyed a two-year tenure at Neil Funkhouser Artists Management, where he eventually assumed the position of artist manager. Mr. Fletcher has held internships with the public relations department of Washington National Opera and with the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra in Alexandria, Virginia. He is a Business Member of Opera America, and has enjoyed the opportunity to serve as a panelist for Opera America’s “Making Connections” series in New York and Philadelphia. Alex Fletcher received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he also studied vocal performance. He is a native of Fairfax, Virginia.

Native of Long Island, New York, Peter Randsman already in possession of a well-developed bass singing voice. He was “discovered” while vocalizing, and taken to an in-progress chorus rehearsal and ordered to sing! The choral conductor, Theodore Bagdikian, was sufficiently impressed, and immediately called him to the attention of Arthur Kaye, the English and Drama teacher, and was offered the leading role (Billy Bigelow) in an as yet un-cast production of Carousel. During the next few years, Mr. Randsman continued to develop his singing and dramatic skills, and his portrayal of Tommy in Brigadoon and Dr. Einstein in Arsenic and Old Lace brought continued success. He began his first semester as a drama major at Nassau Community College, where immediately after a performance of Babes in Arms, the head of Hofstra University’s Drama Department offered him a Drama Scholarship. He quickly recognized the tremendous honor of being included in a company of so many famous alumni at Hofstra— James Caan, Francis Ford Coppola, Madeline Kahn and Lanie Kazan to name a few—and gratefully accepted. A highlight was to be the role of Clifford Bradshaw in Cabaret. Among many, three of his favorites are the roles of Charley in Charley’s Aunt, Dick in Dames at Sea and Gabey in On the Town. In 1976, Mr. Randsman moved to New York City. Within two months he was chosen as the “Burger King boy” in a series of commercials, which would air on national television for several years, and was featured as Minolta’s “Camera Boy” in dozens of national magazines. He spent several days filming Brighton Beach with Ruth Gordon and Lee Strassburg. For most of the following decade, Peter participated in several national tours performing both operetta and Gilbert & Sullivan, and enjoyed a special pleasure singing the song, “He’s in love” while touring KISMET with the Metropolitan Opera star, John Reardon. Appearing on Broadway, he both sang and danced LizaLiza with film legend, Ruby Keeler at a tribute to the Ziegfeld Follies. Shortly after, he joined the New York City Opera chorus, and for the next three years appeared in many Lincoln Center productions and several national tours. He sang in a LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER telecast in scenes from Mefistofele with Samuel Ramey, conducted by Julius Rudel, and the great Triumphal Scene from Verdi’s Aida under the direction of Anton Guadagno. After nearly fifteen years as a professional singer /actor, he has fulfilled two life-long dreams by working 1 season (a decade ago) as artistic director of an opera company (National Grand Opera, at The Tillis Center for the Performing Arts at C.W. Post Campus in Long Island) and by starting his own company, Randsman Artists Management. He is responsible for over 50 thriving international opera careers.

Sarah Stephens founded International Artists Management in Bremen, Germany in 1996. Her agency specialized in professional personal management and bilingual promotion for international opera singers in Europe and later expanded to include management for conductors, stage directors, and other classical musicians. Her artists performed in theatres throughout Europe including the Staatsoper in Berlin, Covent Garden in London, Opera Bastille in Paris, Stockholm, Zurich, Graz, Bayreuth Festival, Semperoper in Dresden, Dusseldorf, Duisburg, Bayerische, Staatsoper in Munich, Mannheim, Leipzig, Bremen, Oldenburg, Kiel, Darmstadt, Augsburg, Nurnberg, and Munster. Ms. Stephens was granted the German agency license in 2000 authorizing her artists management agency (Kunstleragentur) in Germany. A second license was issued the same year entitling her agency to engage in business internationally and throughout the European Union. In 2008, she returned to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis to complete her Master’s degree with a bilingual thesis on Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. Subsequently, she came to New York City and founded Stephens Artist Management with Mark Nicolson. Sarah Stephens studied as a young student in Germany, where she learned German fluently, and has spent most of her life since (25 years). Ms. Stephens attended the University of Vermont, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg (Germany), and the University of Minnesota.

Respected voice teacher, Arthur Levy has students who appear in opera houses,and concert stages throughout the world as well as on Broadway. He is also a faculty member of the Mannes School of Music, has been a vocal consultant at Glimmerglass Opera, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, Roundabout Theatre, as well at the Manhattan School of Music and at the Opera House in Stuttgart, Germany and classes at the Metropolitan Opera Guild. His students include such distinguished artists as Audra MacDonald, Elizabeth Futral, rising MET star tenor, Yonghoon Lee, William Burden, bass Hao Jiang Tian, and Broadway luminaries Marin Mazzie, Jason Daniely, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Lea Michelle. He has helped prepare such stars as Stockard Channing, and Oliver Platt for Broadway role debuts.

Willie Anthony Waters is a regular guest of the opera companies in North America, Europe, and Africa, including notable recent appearances with the Australian Opera, Arizona Opera (Aida, La Fanciulla del West), Boston Lyric Opera (The Abduction from the Seraglio and a gala concert), Deutsche Oper Berlin and Capetown, South Africa (Porgy and Bess), Chautauqua Opera (The Daughter of the Regiment), Cincinnati Opera (Carmen), Cologne (Germany) Opera, Dayton Opera (Carmen), Edmonton Opera (Nabucco), Fort Worth Opera (Turandot), Kentucky Opera (Salome), Manitoba Opera (Nabucco), Michigan Opera, Montreal Opera (La Gioconda, Aida and Tosca), New York City Opera (Rigoletto and Of Mice and Men), Opera Memphis (Tosca, Rigoletto and La Traviata), Opera Carolina (Der Fliegende Holländer), Opera Colorado (Porgy and Bess), Opera de Quebec (Carmen), Orlando Opera (Lucia di Lammermoor, Falstaff, Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni), San Diego Opera (Lucia di Lammermoor), San Francisco Opera, Vancouver Opera (La Traviata), and the Florida Grand Opera. For twelve years, he served as General and Artistic Director of the Connecticut Opera, for whom he conducted more than thirty productions. He also served as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Florida Grand Opera for seven seasons. During his tenure, he led a number of noteworthy productions, including Salome, Manon Lescaut, Die Walküre, Macbeth, Aida, Of Mice and Men, Falsfaff, Bianca e Falliero, Cristoforo Coolmbo, La Gioconda, Turandot, Tosca, Carmen, Trouble in Tahiti, and Lucia di Lammermoor. He has returned to the company as a guest to conduct Carmen.

Alexander Charles Boyd is a young baritone from Purcellville, Virginia. Post Oberlin Conservatory, he is now studying with Mark Oswald in New York City. Mr. Boyd has performed in Austria, England, Italy, Venezuela, and Carnegie Hall's Weill recital hall in New York City, and has sung with the Oberlin Opera Theater, the Loudoun Lyric Opera, the New York Lyric Opera Theatre, the Delphi Theater, the Martha Cardona Theater, and will be an OperaNJ Emerging Artist this summer. Upcoming: Escamillo in Carmen and Pandolfe in Cendrillon with the NY Lyric Opera

Elise Brancheau is a second-year graduate student at Mannes College The New School for Music. At Mannes, she recently sang Act II of Lucia di Lammermoor as Lucia for Mannes’s Opera Scenes program, as well as scenes from Les pêcheurs de perles (Leïla) and La Cenerentola (Clorinda). This summer, she will be covering the role of Blanche in dell’Arte Opera Ensemble’s production of Dialogues des Carmélites. She recorded selections of the title role in Jan Albert’s new opera, Kiyo, for Mind the Art Entertainment. She has performed the role of Rapunzel in Into the Woods.

Claire Coolen is known not only for her "thrilling voice", (Portland Press Herald) but for her compelling dramatic presence on stage. The New York Times described her performance as “Winningly portrayed” and the New York Daily Post wrote, “Claire Coolen stole the show”. Performing highlights include Gilda in Rigoletto, Pamina in Magic Flute, Nanetta in Falstaff, Marie in La Fille du Régiment, Mrs. Winemiller in Summer and Smoke, and the Governess in Turn of the Screw at Banff Opera Theater, in Alberta. Recipient: Margaret Hoswell van der Marck Scholarship.

A student of Yvonne Gonzales Redman, Lindsay Eckhardt is currently pursuing a M.M. in Vocal Performance and Literature at the University of Illinois. She has performed as the Second Boy in Die Zauberflöte, Maria in West Side Story, Casilda in Gondoliers, Nanetta in Falstaff, Norina in Don Pasquale, Antonia in Man of La Mancha, and Josephine in HMS Pinafore. Most recently, she was seen as Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte. Upcoming engagements include appearances as Lucia in The Rape of Lucretia, Gabrielle in The Game of Love, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni.

Soprano, Rachel Felstein performed Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Gounod's Mireille, Adina (L'elisir d'amore), Miss Wordsworth (Albert Herring), Juliette (Roméo et Juliette), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Frasquita (Carmen), Eurydice (Orphée aux Enfers), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), and Sonja (Der Zarewitsch) with companies such as Mannes Opera, New York Lyric Opera Theatre, dell'Arte Opera Ensemble, Hartford Opera, and Divaria Productions. She completed her Bachelor of Music degree at Mannes College, the New School.

Soprano, Bryn Holdsworth is currently studying at the Manhattan School of Music under world renowned mezzo-soprano, Mignon Dunn. Bryn is the proud recipient of The ASCAP Foundation Fran Morgenstern Davis Scholarship and is a three time first place winner in the National Association of Teachers in Singing of the Lehigh Valley area. She is also the recipient of the Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association Highest Achievement Award for four consecutive years. Ms. Holdsworth has been a national semi-finalist in the Palm Beach Opera vocal competition.

Nikhil Navkal is a tenor currently working toward a Master’s of music degree at Mannes College, specializing in the high coloratura repertoire of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, as well as other bel canto composers. This summer, he will attend the Central City young artist program. From Andover, Massachusetts, Mr. Navkal holds a bachelor of music degree in vocal performance, with a minor in Italian, from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. In past summers, he has studied at IVAI and the Ezio Pinza Council for American Singers of Opera in Oderzo, Italy.

Jacqueline Piccolino, a Chicago native, is currently pursuing a B.M. at the University of Illinois studying under the direction of Cynthia Haymon. Ms. Piccolino will portray the role of Arminda (La finta giardiniera) and Lady with a Cake Box (cover) (Postcard from Morocco) with the San Francisco Opera Merola Program and will participate in Houston Grand Opera's Young Artist Vocal Academy this summer. Recent roles include Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), First Lady (The Magic Flute) and Giunone (La Calisto). She has performed various scenes with Wolf Trap Opera Studio.

Native of Louisiana, Kristi Bulot has performed the First Lady in The Magic Flute with Opera Louisiane, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Martina Arroyo’s “Prelude to Performance” as well as with La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy. Additionally, she covered the role of Alice Ford in Falstaff with La Musica Lirica. Competition Winnings include: National Finalist of the Lois Alba Aria Competition, Finalist in the Classical Singer Competition (Graduate Level), Semi-Finalist with the Palm Beach Opera Competition, and a Semi-Finalists of the Loren L. Zachary Competition.

Tenor, John Calkins most recently was a featured soloist in Opera New Jersey’s Holiday Celebration Concert. Also in 2011, Mr. Calkins performed Count Almaviva in the Barber of Seville with Light Opera Company of Maryland, in collaboration with COSMIC Symphony, under the baton of Vladimir Lande. A graduate of The Ohio State University, Mr. Calkins currently studies privately with Dr. Christopher Arneson and Rachelle Jonck. Upcoming engagements include Prince Ramiro in La Cenerentola, a role Mr. Calkins had previously covered for Opera New Jersey.

Phillip Gay, Bass-Baritone, is currently finishing his Masters degree in Vocal Performance at University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. This summer, he will be a Young Artist at the Glimmerglass Festival, appearing in their productions of Aida, Armide and Lost in the Stars. He has been a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and has been a semi-finalist for the Gerda Lissner and Licia-Albanese competions. While at U of I, Mr. Gay has appeared in their productions of Rigoletto, Man of LaMancha, La Calisto, Die Zauberflote.

Julia Lima was awarded the 1st prize of the NY District Metropolitan National Council 2011, International Bella Voce Competition (1st prize), All-Russian Festos Competition (1st prize), and the International Festival of Arts in Yalta (1st prize). She made her American debut with the New York Lyric Opera Theatre in the role of Madame Goldentrill in Der Schauspieldirektor. She has appeared as Susanna in the American premiere of I due Figaro by S. Mercadante with Amore Opera. She is a graduate of the State Musical College (Russia, Moscow) and a master level sport of gymnastics.

California native, Clarissa Lyons received Bachelor of Arts with Honors from the University of California Berkeley where she studied Music and History of Art. She has earned Masters of Music degrees under the tutelage of Patricia Misslin from the Manhattan School of Music and Bard College Conservatory in Dawn Upshaw’s Vocal Arts Program. Ms. Lyons created the role of St. Francis’ Trainer in David T. Little’s Vinkensport: The Finch Opera for Bard College Conservatory’s Vocal Arts Program. She appeared as Elaine O’Neill in the New York Premier of Later that Same Evening.

Sarah Nisbett has performed roles such as Mrs. Nolan (Medium), Giovanna (Rigoletto), 2^nd & 3^rd Lady (The Magic Flute), Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Title role in Oreste, and Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito. Venues/Companies include: Michigan Opera Theatre, Tanglewood Music Center, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Ann Arbor Opera Theatre, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Princeton Festival and Westminster Opear Theatre. She was a 1st place winner of the National Opera Association Vocal Competition.

A native of Seoul, Korea, Do Jin Jung earned his Bachelor of Music Degree from the Korea National University of Arts and Master degree at Mannes, New York. He is Winner of the New York District at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and Grant winner award in The Licia Albanese-Puccini Competition. Roles: Colline in La Bohème, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro. Don Magnifico in Cenerentola. He performed scenes as Dr.Dulcamara of L’elisir d’amore and Osmin in Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail.

Mezzo-soprano, Perri Sussman made her Carnegie Hall debut in the 2011 Master Singer Finalist Concert for the Nico Castel International Master Singer Competition. She is a second year graduate student at Manhattan School of Music. She was a participant with La Lingua della Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy. There she performed opera scenes from Les Contes d’Hoffman (Nicklausse), Falstaff (Alice), I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Romeo), and Lakmé (Mallika). Ms. Sussman will perform Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte as an Apprentice Artist with Opera in the Ozarks this summer.

Countertenor, Nicholas Tamagna, winner of the Nico Castel Mastersinger Competition 2011 and Arkadi Foundation Competition 2011, made his Lincoln Center debut with DCINY Orchestra at Avery Fischer Hall in Handel's Messiah. An active concert and opera singer, Mr. Tamagna has performed with many regional US and Canadian opera companies, orchestras, and ensembles since 2008. Opera Now described him as “exquisite, combining perfect tonal quality with substantial power. His voice soared with piecing [sic] sadness and soothed with a silky beauty."

	KORNGOLD:	“Mein Sehnen Mein Wähnen…” (Die Tote Stadt)
		— Robert Balonek —
	STRAUSS:	“The Composer's Aria…” (Ariadne Auf Naxos)
		— Kaitlyn Costello —
	THOMAS:	“O vin dissipe la tristesse…” (Hamlet)
		— Jonathan Estabrooks —
	STRAUSS:	“Grossmächtige Prinzessin…” (Ariadne Auf Naxos)
		— JeanMarie Garofolo—
	BIZET:	“Seguidilla…” (Carmen)
		— Erin Greene —
	MOZART:	“Martern aller Arten”(Die Entführung aus dem Serail)
		— Julie-Anne Hamula —
	DONIZETTI:	“Prendi… (L’elisir d’amore)
		— Stefanie Izzo —
	MOZART:	“Hai già vinta la causa…(Le nozze di figaro)
		— Michael Krzankowski —
	DONIZETTI:	“O mio Fernando…” (La Favorita)
		— Beth Lytwynec —
	MOZART:	“Come scoglio…”(Così fan tutte)
		— Meredith Mecum —
	OFFENBACH:	“Les oiseaux…” (Les contes d'Hoffmann)
		— Monica Pasquini —
	GUERRERO:	“Mi Aldea …” (Los Gavilanes)
		— Ricardo Rivera —
	PUCCINI:	“Donde lieta…” (La Bohème)
		— Shanna Spiro —
	VERDI:	“La donna è mobile…” (Rigoletto)
		— Jonathan Winell —

Conductor Keith Chambers was appointed Assistant Conductor of New York City Opera in 2007 and is Music Director of the Emerging Artist Program & Chorus Master for Opera New Jersey. He has conducted Tosca for Amarillo Opera, Roméo et Juliette for Asheville Lyric Opera, The Station for Sugar Land Opera, The Living Opera (Hansel and Gretel, Le nozze di Figaro, Don Pasquale, & The Pirates of Penzance), Halifax Summer Opera (Giulio Cesare), Moores Opera Center (Die Fledermaus & La finta giardiniera), and Opera in the Ozarks (Don Giovanni & L’elisir d’amore). He serves on faculty of the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program and is a Program Director for the RESONANZ Festival. Mr. Chambers is the past Artistic Director of The Living Opera and Chorus Master/Music Director of Shreveport Opera. Additional performances include Toledo Opera, Connecticut Opera, American Opera Projects, and American Lyric Theater. He has appeared as concerto soloist with the Delaware Symphony, Clear Lake Symphony, and Naples Philharmonic, and often performs with his wife, dramatic soprano Kirsten Chambers.

The Israeli born mezzo-soprano studied voice at Juilliard and piano at the Rubin Academy, Israel. Gal is a winner of the Paris and Munich International Competition, and Young Concert Artists, NY. Gal has sung at La Scala, Paris, Covent Garden, Vienna Staatsoper, Glyndebourne, Santa Fe, Pesaro, collaborating with conductors such as Von Karajan, Abbado, Mehta, Barenboim, with New York, Israel, Chicago and Berlin philharmonic orchestras. Gal has appeared in the title role of Peter Brook’s Theatre/Film production of La Tragedie de Carmen, and recorded for major labels including RCA, CBS, Philips and EMI. Gal holds a teaching position at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, N.J. and a private studio in NYC. As an extremely well received master teacher, Gal has been invited to give Master Classes/Seminars at top conservatories and voice organizations around the world.

Encompass Arts Founder, Katherine Olsen, is one of the most famous and sought-after opera coach/accompanists in the world today. She is currently on the board of the Singer’s Development Foundation and the Marcello Giordani Foundation. In 2001, she was appointed Principle Coach and Artistic Administrator for Baz Luhrmann’s Tony Award-winning production of Puccini’s La Boheme. She worked closely with the company in both the pre-production phase and during the performance runs in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles. Ms. Olsen was part of the casting team responsible for hiring both principle artists and chorus. Several of the young artists she selected for La Boheme have gone on to further operatic achievements including: MET tenor, Joseph Kaiser, who portrays Tamino in Kenneth Branaugh’s film The Magic Flute, conducted by James Conlon; Ben Davis who portrays Papageno in the same film; Alfred Boe Alfie Boe crossover recording artist; and David Miller, now a recording artist with the group Il Divo.

Doug Han has conducted Massenet's Cendrillon last October and will be conducting Mozart's Die Zauberflöte later this evening. Maestro Han has just finished a rewarding two-year association with the Knowlton Festival, a groundbreaking collaboration between the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Rome's historic Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Mr. Han joined the festival at the express invitation of artistic director Kent Nagano and served as coach/répétiteur for productions of the Bellini operas Norma and La Sonnambula (starring Grammy award-winning coloratura Sumi Jo) as well as the Bel Canto Concert "June Anderson and Friends". He also worked closely with the winners of Operalia 2008 (the Plácido Domingo Competition).

Baritone, Robert Balonek has performe Count Robinson (Matrimonio Segreta) at Pine Mountain, Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro) at Chelsea Opera, Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro), Prospero and Ferdinand (Hoiby’s The Tempest), Ottone (Poppea), Gêolier (Dialogues of the Carmelites), Title Role in (Gianni Schicchi), Francis (Confession) - World Premeire at Purchase Opera. At Mannes, he performed Ford (Falstaff), Guglielmo (Cosi fan Tutte). Mr. Balonek recorded Prospero in The Tempest for Albany Records. He is a Liederkranz winner, Opera Index encouragement award winner, and a Career Bridges Scholarship winner. He can find Mr. Balonek on Itunes as Prospero in Hoiby’s The Tempest. Mr. Balonek was the soloist for the Bach’s Mathew Passion for the Mannes Baroque Ensemble and Fauré Requiem soloist for the Westchester Choral Society.

Mezzo-Soprano, Kaitlyn Costello is a young artist with a multi-faceted talent in the arts. Ms. Costello is a past winner of the District Metropolitan Opera Competition, Metropolitan Opera Southeast Regional Finalist and Encouragement award winner, and Brumby Concerto Competition winner to name a few. This summer, Ms. Costello will perform with the Central City Opera as Mercédès in Carmen. Ms. Costello is also looking forward to performing the title role in Carmen for the family matinee performance on July 28^th. Along with Ms. Costello accomplishments as a vocalist, she is also an accomplished dancer with professional training of over 17 years.

Hailed by the New York Times as a “robust baritone” and 1^st place winner of the prestigious Oratorio Society of New York Vocal Competition at Carnegie Hall, Jonathan Estabrooks is one to watch. He has performed for President Clinton and UN deligates, appeared with the NYFOS at Carnegie Hall, the NAC Orchestra, the Israeli Chamber Orchestra and on a 20-city tour with the Jeunesses Musicale du Canada. His growing list of principal roles include: Guglielmo, Papageno Shaunard, Pelleas, Tarquinius and Smirnov (The Bear). Upcoming engagements: Concerts in New York, Florida, Virginia and his debut as Silvio in I Pagliacci with Opera Lyra Ottawa.

JeanMarie Garofolo, Coloratura Soprano, is described as possessing a voice that is “beautiful and warm in tone with strong high notes.” (Muncher Merkur) Most recently, she made her Carnegie Hall debut at the Liederkrantz Winner’s Concert, where she placed third in the Lieder Division. She has received many awards for her singing. She was the winner of the 2010 Chicago NATS competition, The Jenny Lind Soprano Competition, and The Italian Cultural Center of Chicago Competition. Ms. Garofolo was also the featured singer at the Erwin Piscator Awards in New York honoring Peter Gelb. On the operatic stage, she has captivated many audiences performing in several productions such as Massenet’s Cendrillon in the role of La Fee, with NY Lyric Opera Theatre.

Erin Greene, mezzo-soprano, recently performed the role of Dorabella in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, Maddelena in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Cordula Wagner in Rushton’s The Shops with Center City Opera Theater. With the College-Conservatory of Music, she performed the roles of Isabella in Catan’s Rappaccini’s Daughter and La Voce in Resphigi’s Lucrezia. Ms. Greene has received a BM degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a MM from the College-Conservatory of Music. She is currently a studio artist with Center City Opera Theater and will be performing the role of Orlofsky in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus.

Julie-Anne Hamula, soprano, has been praised for her “warm tone”, “agile phrasing” and “considerable vocal energy” (Austin XL). Most recently, she has sung Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffman with Tri-Cities Opera. Also with Tri-Cities Opera, she has sung Fiordiligi (Cosí fan Tutte), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Gilda (Rigoletto). Other roles include Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah with The Butler Opera Center, and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Austin. She was recently a finalist in the Liederkranz General Opera Competition and was awarded the Phyllis Bryn-Julson Award at the Civic Morning Musicals Competition in Syracuse, New York.

Stefanie Izzo is a New York native soprano who recently made her international operatic debut as Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore with Musica Viva Hong Kong. She has appeared in such roles as the Coloratura in Dominick Argento’s Postcard from Morocco, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and Candide (Cunegonde) . Other local credits include: The Marriage of Figaro (Susanna) and Hansel & Gretel (Dew Fairy) with the Brooklyn Repertory Opera, Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream (Peaseblossom) with Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble, Sweeney Todd (Johanna), and HMS Pinafore (Josephine) with the Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island. An avid linguist, Stefanie has studied languages and performed recitals in Italy, Germany and Austria.

Michael Krzankowski is quickly establishing himself on the operatic stage. He recently made his debut with San Antonio Opera where he “had outstanding moments as the foolish count,” in Le nozze di Figaro. He has been described as “warm and persuasive,” with “a gentle, unforced effervescence to his singing.” He performed Harlekin in Ariadne auf Naxos, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the title role in Eugene Onegin with the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program. Internationally, Mr. Krzankowski sang Count Gil in Il segreto di Susanna with the Lucca Opera Festival, and the title role in Don Giovanni with the Europäische Akademie.

Katherine LaPorta is a coloratura soprano quickly establishing herself as a skilled artist with a rich timbre, versatile repertoire, and astounding accuracy. Upcoming: Ginerva in Handel's Ariodante with the New York Opera Forum and Gretel in Hansel and Gretel with Opera Theater of Connecticut. She recently sang the role of Die Königin der Nacht in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with Connecticut Lyric Opera and New York Lyric Opera Theatre’s Artist-in-Residence Concert Series. Other Roles Include: Gilda (Rigoletto), Monica (The Medium), Pauline (La Vie Parisienne), Pamina (The Magic Flute). She holds a Masters and Bachelors Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Connecticut.

American mezzo-soprano Beth Lytwynec, a finalist in the 2011 NY Lyric Opera Theatre Competition, and a National Semi-Finalist in the 2010 Classical Singer Competition, is making her New York Lyric Opera Theatre debut singing the role of Maddalena in Verdi’s Rigoletto. Ms. Lytwynec has portrayed the role of Jo March in Boston Opera Collaborative’s production of Little Women, Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, the title role of Serse, Mme. de la Haltière in Cendrillon, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Mrs. Grose in The Turn of the Screw, Dido in Dido and Aeneas, and Lampito in Lysistrata.

Soprano, Meredith Mecum has been awarded Second Place in the Ades Vocal Competition at Manhattan School of Music, and an Encouragement Award from the Gerda Lissner Foundation Competition. She covered the role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni as a Young Artist with Ash Lawn Opera, appeared as Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance, and as Rose Segal in the New York premiere of John Musto's Later the Same Evening at Manhattan School of Music. Upcoming performances include Soprano Soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Williamsport Symphony Orchestra and Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Opera New Jersey.

Monica Pasquini, coloratura soprano, is currently a studio artist with Center City Opera Theater in Philadelphia where she is singing the roles of Francesca in the North American premiere of The Shops, Norina in Don Pasquale and Despina in Cosi fan tutte. She has performed in numerous operatic roles, including: Belinda in Dido & Aeneas, Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ruth Baldwin in the southeastern premiere of John Musto’s Later the Same Evening, The Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute and Madame Herz in Der Schauspieldirektor. Monica holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rollins College and a Master of Music degree from Florida State University.

Baritone, Ricardo Rivera has performed Ford in Falstaff and Don Alfonso in Cosi Fan Tutte with the Mannes Opera, Moralès in Carmen and Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Opera North, and L'horloge comtoise and Le chat in L'Enfant et les Sortièges and Roderick in La chute de la maison Usher (Debussy) with Pocket Opera of NY. He has won awards from the Gerda Lissner, Licia Albanese-Puccini, Opera Index, Career Bridges, and MONC Competitions, and was a recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant. He is currently completing his Professional Studies Diploma at the Mannes College of Music.

Shanna Spiro completed her Bachelors degree at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music in May 2008 where she graduated summa cum laude. Her roles include Juno, Fiordiligi, Nutrice ,The Countess (scenes), Gretel (scenes). Ms. Spiro recently performed as Dorothée, The Dew Fairy, Micaëla (scenes), and Countess Ceprano with the New York Lyric Opera Theatre. Competition winnings include: Finalist for the New York Lyric Opera Theatre Vocal Competition in 2010. This summer, Ms. Spiro will be attending BASOTI in San Francisco, California, where she will be performing the role of Dido in Dido and Aeneas.

Jonathan Winell, a New York City born tenor, graduated from The Hartt School of Music, 2007, and attended AVA where he studied with Bill Schuman. He has been the student of Doris Jung Popper since 2002. Among roles performed are Camille in The Merry Widow, Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Lord Percy in Anna Bolena and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte. Mr. Winell spends summers in Florence, Italy, studying Italian and voice. He has sung in a number of opera concerts and has been a winner of several competitions and awards, both here and in Italy. He was Ernesto (cover) in Don Pasquale for the Opera New Jersey Young Artists Summer Program.

JUDGES: Ruth Falcon, Jeanne Goffi-Fynn, Robin Guarino, Juliana Janes-Yaffe’,

Arthur Levy, Lori McCann, Anthony Morss, Gordon Ostrowski, David Rosenmeyer, William Tracy

Born in Taipei,Taiwan. Ms.Chen graduated from the National Academy of Art with highest honor and performed Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.4 in 1990. In 1992, Ms. Chen entered the Mannes College of Music in New York and Studied with Madame N.Svetlanova. In 1994, she performed Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on the theme of Paga-nini with the Mannes Orchestra conducted by Maestro M.Charry. Shortly after graduating from Mannes with a special piano award, Ms.Chen made her debut at the Weill Recital Hall of the Carnegie Hall in 1995. Ms. Chen has been performing solo and chamber music works throughout many places in countries like U.S.A., France, Germany, Italy, Austria,etc. Ms.Chen performs often in the "Alexander Paley Chamber Music Festival" Richmond, Virginia and in Moulin d'Ande in France.In December 2001, Ms.Chen made her Paris debut in Salle O.Messiaen in Maison de Radio France with Concerto Pathetique for two pianos by Liszt.

Native of Korea, Saffron Y. Chung considers New York City her home. She received her Bachelors of Music from Oberlin College, where she was the first student to double major in Piano Performance and Vocal Accompanying. She also has Masters of Music in Accompanying from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. She has worked as an assistant conductor of opera companies such as Chautauqua Opera, El Paso Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Madison Opera and Utah Festival Opera Company, under the baton of Harry Bickett, Richard Buckley, Barbara Day,-Turner, Victor De Renzi, John DeMain, Raymond Harvey, David Larsen, Robert Lyall, Luis Salemno, and Bob Tweeten. She just returned from leading a workshop of Brahms lieder for the voice department at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

Soprano/Voice Teacher Ruth Falcon has performed in leading opera houses in Europe including the Paris Opera, Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Royal Opera at Covent Garden, Hamburg State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opera Monte Carlo, Prague Opera. and Teatro La Fenice. In 1989, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut and followed with many other leading roles with that company. She was the winner of competitions in Bussetto, Vercelli, Rio de Janiero, Geneva, and the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions in New York, and she has performed with many of the world's great conductors. She is also a voice teacher of international reputation. She has trained many star performers on the operatic stage, including Deborah Voigt, Margaret Jane Wray, and Sondra Radvanovsky, and is on the faculty of the Mannes School of Music. She teaches apprentices in the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

Soprano Jeanne Goffi-Fynn is active both as a performer and teacher in the New York City area. Dr. Goffi-Fynn received her Doctorate from Columbia University, Teachers College where she was recently appointed as director of the Doctoral Cohort Program in the Program of Music and Music Education. She continues working in the area of Vocology, specifically in the retraining of singers, after completing internships at the Grabscheid Voice Center, Mount Sinai Hospital and at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in the diagnosis and treatment of singing voice disorders. She has presented workshops and masterclasses with NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing), The Voice Foundation, and the New York Singing Teachers Association (NYSTA) in addition to pedagogical presentations at CMS (College Music Society) and NYSSMA (New York State Schools of Music), and ISM (International Society for Music Education).

Stage Director Robin Guarino was a protégé of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (at the Bayerische Staatsoper and The Metropolitan Opera). She received her MFA in Film at Bard College. She has been on the Metropolitan Opera

stage directing staff since 1992. She was Dramatic Advisor for the Juilliard Vocal Arts Masters Program from 2004-2009 and presently holds the J. Ralph Corbett Distinguished Chair of Opera at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She has taught at the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Merola Opera Program, Glimmerglass Opera Young American Artist program. She has directed productions at Seattle Opera, Glimmmerglass Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, The Gotham Chamber Opera, EOS Orchestra, and The Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival. She has premiered works by composers such as Ned Rorem, Jonathan Sheffer, Mark Adamo, Libby Larsen, Jake Heggie, David Del Tredici, and Douglas Cuomo.

Soprano/Voice Teacher Juliana Janes-Yaffé has been a soloist at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln

Center Festival, New-York Historical Society, 92nd Street Y, Symphony Space, Mannes College of Music,

Steirischer Herbst Festival, and with Concordia Orchestra, Colorado Springs Symphony, Brooklyn Philhar-

monic, Dallas Symphony, Oakland Symphony, San Jose Symphony, Florida Philharmonic, Istanbul Philhar-

monic, Orchester der deutschen Oper Berlin, Tokyo City Philharmonic, Orquestra del Teatro Colón, Orchestra

dell'Opera di Genova, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Symphonie-Orchester Graunke, Munich, and 92nd

Street Y. Full-time principal soprano contracts included Münster (Germany), Essen, and Stuttgart; guest en-

gagements in San Francisco, New York, Darmstadt, Aachen, Osnabrück, Kassel, Berlin, and Miami. She is

part-time faculty at Mannes College of Music, Preparatory Division, previously at NYU (German Diction).

Arthur J. Levy, is on the faculty of Mannes College of Music and Manhattan School of Music in New York

City; he has been a vocal consultant and master class teacher at the Glimmerglass Opera and the Roundabout

Theatre and has taught at the State University of New York at Purchase, and at the opera house in Stuttgart,

Germany. He works with singers who appear in all the major opera houses of the world, including a number

of Tony award winning Musical Theatre performers. Mr. Levy has appeared on CBS 60 Minutes, with his student Audra Mcdonald. He has performed as tenor soloist in both opera and oratorio and is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and has had additional studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Soprano/Voice Teacher Lori McCann holds a B.M. degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison,

M.A.degree from San Diego State University, and D.M.A. and Artist Diploma from the University of Cin-

cinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She has performed extensively in opera, oratorio, and recital. Engage-

ments have included Berliner Kammeroper and the Neue Opernbühne, Virginia Opera, Chautauqua Opera,

Opera Company of Brooklyn, Whitewater Opera, Sorg opera, Shreveport Opera, and Pacific Chamber Opera.

She is Assistant Professor of Voice at Montclair State University, where she teaches Applied Voice, Diction

for Singers, Vocal Technique for Musical Theater, and Performance Practicum. Previously, she was on faculty

at Columbia University Teacher’s College and New York University. She is the current President of the New

Conductor Anthony Morss studied at the New England Conservatory and the National Orchestral Assoc-

iation in New York. He was Chorus Master and Associate Conductor with the Symphony of the Air under

Leopold Stokowski. He served as Chorus Master of Juilliard's American Opera Center and as Music Direct-

or of the Majorca and Saragossa Symphonies, and the Norwalk (CT) Symphony. He has guest conducted

orchestras in Madrid, Barcelona, Marseille, Cape Town and Slovak Radio Symphony, and has led opera

productions at the Marseille Opera, New Jersey Lyric, the Majorca Opera Society, Tampa Bay Opera and

National Grand Opera, and at Lincoln Center. He has served as Music Director for the New York State Opera

Company, Verismo Opera of New York, the Maine Opera, Asociacion Pro-Zarzuela en America, and Eastern

Opera Theatre of New York. He is currently Music Director of the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera.

Gordon Ostrowski, Assistant Dean/Opera Producer, has served as administrator, artistic producer, stage

director, and teacher at Manhattan School of Music since 1991. He serves on the board of directors of Opera

America, the National Opera Association, and the Douglas Moore Fund for American Opera, He has taught

classes and directed concert operas for Opera Tuscia in Viterbo, Italy. He has directed productions for the

New Opera Festival of Rome. Since 2002 he has been the stage director for Centro Studi Lirica in Novafeltria,

Italy. Since 1998 he has taught acting style at the Chautauqua Opera. He has previously served at Michigan

Opera Theatre as assistant to the director, the Cincinnati Opera as assistant and stage director, the University

of Southern California as producer/stage manager, and Santa Fe Opera as production assistant and assistant

David Rosenmeyer made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting the Oratorio Society of New York - of which

he is Associate Conductor - in Stravinsky’s Mass in April 2007.During the last season Mr. Rosenmeyer con-

ducted the Bellas Artes Opera company of Mexico in a staged gala as part of the Cervantino Festival in Guana-

juato and was the conductor of Rossini’s Barbiere with Bleecker Street Opera and Handel’s Serse with Pocket

Opera of New York and returned to Carnegie Hall with Britten’s Te Deum and OSNY. Has worked as a coach

and conductor with the International Vocal Arts Institute in their programs in Tel-Aviv, Puerto Rico and Mon-

treal. He has conducted the National Symphony Orchestra of Argentina and the Israel Chamber Orchestra as

well as others in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Hungary, Israel and Mexico. Was the Music Director of the Bach

Pianist/coach William Tracy is head coach of the Opera Studio at Manhattan School of Music. He received

BM and MA degrees from California State University, Northridge. He was an apprentice at the San Francisco

Opera, then coach/accompanist for the San Francisco Opera Center. He then served as assistant artistic dir-

ector/resident conductor of the Anchorage Opera in Alaska. He has appeared in the Great Performers at Lincoln

Center series, for the Metropolitan Opera Lectures, and in masterclasses of Regine Crespin, Evelyn Lear and

Benita Valente. He was principal coach/assistant conductor for Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis,

Wolf Trap Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Central City Opera; accompanist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic,

the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, the Carmel Bach Festival and the National Chorale.

J’nai Bridges
Kimberly Christie
Rebecca Fay
Jennifer Feinstein
Chelsea Rose Friedlander
Blake Friedman
Angela Gribble
Samantha Guevrekian
Jeremy Moore
Sarah Nisbett
Heather Phillips
Ann Sauder
Shanna Spiro
Diana Wangerin

Soprano JooYoung Bang is a native of Seoul in South Korea. Ms. Bang is a Master’s degree candidate at Manhattan School of Music where she will perform Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro in 2010. Ms. Bang has performed Romeo et Juliette ( Juliette), Lucia di Lammermoor (Lucia) and Un ballo in Maschera (Oscar) at MSM.

J’nai Bridges is the 2009 National Opera Association Legacy Award Winner, first-prize winner: Harlem Opera Theater Competition, first-prize winner of the Leontyne Price Foundation Competition, a recipient of the College Success Foundation Scholarship, and Manhattan School of Music the 2009 Richard F. Gold Career Grant.

Kimberly Christie is a cum laude graduate from Mason Gross, where she earned a BM in vocal performance and also received an award for outstanding vocalist. She has performed Blondchen from Die Entführung ausdem Serail with ConcertOPERA, Philadelphia, Spring and a Fairy in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen at Mason Gross.

Rebecca Fay, soprano, from Olympia, Washington, won her first Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition at the young age of twenty-two. Upcoming: Opera Santa Barbara singing Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) and Nannetta (Falstaff). This summer, she will sing Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Ash Lawn Opera Festival.

A graduate of Indiana University, Ms. Feinstein is pursuing her second M.M. from Yale University. Upcoming: Carmen in La Tragedie de Carmen with Yale Opera and mezzo solos in the Verdi Requiem, Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana Chautauqua Opera and Mrs. Segstrom(cover) in A Little Night Music with Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

Chelsea Rose Friedlander, soprano, will be receiving her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music in May 2010. Chelsea recently won Second Place in the 2010 Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition. She has performed Blondchen , Marie, Sophie, and the Dew Fairy.

“Fresh Lyric Tenor” (OperaNews Online) Blake Friedman, praised for his “climactic high notes” (Q on Stage), is a native of Chicago, Illinois, and is currently attending the Manhattan School of Music where he is a member of the Professional Studies Degree program as recipient of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Scholarship Award.

Angela Gribble is currently a Master’s degree candidate at the Manhattan School of Music. This summer she will be singing the role of Königin de Nacht (Die Zauberflöte) with Prelude to Performance. Roles include: Despina (cover) in Così fan tutte with Pocket Opera of New York, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Dorinda in Orlando.

Versatile American soprano, Samantha Pruyn Guevrekian, noted for her pure, sweet-sounding soprano voice, is the recipient of the Paul Straney Vocal Scholarship Competition, 2^nd place in the Marcella Sembrich Voice Competition. Roles: Sister Gertrude in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Belinda in Dido & Aeneas, Despina in Così Fan Tutte.

Jeremy J. Moore, baritone, debuted in this country at age ten singing the title role in Amahl and the Night Visitors. He made his European debut performing Nardo in La finta giardiniera and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte in Salzburg, Austria. Roles include: Title role, Don Giovanni with Delaware Valley Opera, Papageno, The Magic Flute.

A 2010 vocal fellow at Tanglewood Music Center, mezzo-soprano Sarah Nisbett is first prize winner of the National Opera Association Vocal Competition and first runner-up of the William C. Byrd International Young Artist Competition. Operatic roles include the Handel and Mozart heroes Oreste and Sesto and Marcellina in “Nozze di Figaro”.

Soprano Heather Phillips, 25, of North Canton, Ohio holds a masters at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She’s performed roles with Cincinnati Opera, Kentucky Opera, Opera Theatre of Lucca, Italy, Brevard Music Festival and Bay View Music Festival. Upcoming appearances include Musetta in La Bohème (Crested Butte Music Festival).

Lauded as a "sumptuously and flexibly voiced mezzo-soprano" by the Bloomington Herald Times. A native of Peoria, Illinois, Ann has a Masters of Music at the Indiana University School of Music. Roles include: Sesto(Giulio Cesare), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel), and Dorabella (Così fan tutte). Upcoming: Austin Lyric Opera as Zulma in L'Italiana in Algieri.

Shanna Spiro is a lyric soprano who currently resides in Manhattan and studies with Shirley Love. She performed the Countess Ceprano in New York Lyric Opera Theatre’s Rigoletto at Symphony Space and was an Artist-in-Resident, performing at Sympony Space in January. Ms. Spiro performed as Mimi, Dido, and The Countess in Westchester.

Diana Wangerin is a lyric soprano currently residing in New York City. Ms. Wangerin performed the role of Marcellina at Symphony Space with Osh opera. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music in May 2009. Roles include: Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Ceres in The Tempest.

DIVISION II (8:00 p.m.)
Javier Bernardo
Jonathan Beyer
Lazaro Calderon
Andrew Cummings
Catherine Freeman
Stephan Hartley
Keiko Kai
SeiHee Lee
Michelle Serrano Moeritz
Michael McAvoy
Sarah Joy Miller
Jin-won Park
Yungee Rhie
Jennifer Sgroe
Sun A. Yeo

The Peruvian tenor Javier Bernardo, is a graduate student at Juilliard where he studies with Dr. Robert C. White, Jr. Competition winnings include: The Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Classical Singer, and the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions in Florida. Roles include: Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte.

Jonathan Beyer is a baritone who has performed with Dallas Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, The Chautauqua Institution, Tanglewood Music Center, Opera Grand Rapids and Aix-en-Provence, and in the Chicago, Pittsburgh, Baton Rouge Symphonies.

Puerto Rico native Lazaro Calderon’s roles include the Duke (Rigoletto), Des Grieux (Manon) both with NYLOT, Rodolfo (Boheme) with the Ischia, Italy Opera Festival, as well as Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), and Alfred (Die Fledermaus) with the University of Memphis. Calderon covered Ruggiero in La Rondine with Sarasota Opera.

Acclaimed by the New York Times in Shaw Sings! with Encompass New Opera Theater at Symphony Space in NYC, Andrew Cummings performed the title role in Rigoletto with NYLOT at Carnegie’s Weill Hall. Roles include: Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera ( New Jersey Assoc. of Verismo Opera) and Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro (OperaDelaware).

A Resident Artist of both Connecticut Opera and the New York Lyric Opera Theatre, she various roles such as: The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Paride in Gluck's Paride ed Elena, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro. She was recently a featured soloist with the New York Lyric Opera Theatre at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall.

Stephen Hartley has been seen in the Los Angeles Times ,Chicago Tribune, and the New York Times. His baritone has been described as “burnished and hardy” and “beautifully lyric”. Venues include: Santa Fe Opera, Virginia Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Sarasota Opera, Long Beach Opera. Upcoming: Carnegie Hall debut.

Keiko Kai, mezzo-soprano, made her operatic debut by singing the role of the Third spirit in The Magic Flute. She has performed The Third lady (The Magic Flute), Mrs. Nolan (The Medium), The Woman (world premiere, A Night of Pity by R.Cuckson), Dorabella (Cosi fan Tutte), Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro).

A native of Seoul, Soprano SEI HEE LEE .She received her Master of Music degree and Professional studies diploma (PSD) from Mannes College of Music , where she studied with Ruth Falcon and Amy Burton and was a recipient of a scholarship. She made her professional debut, Genovieffa in Puccini Suor Angelica with Empire Opera in New York.

Michelle Serrano Moeritz, 2005 First Place Regional Winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Competition, is a young Cuban-American Soprano which critics laud as “very reminiscing of the young Mirella Freni”. A musician of expansive artistry, she has received rave reviews as Verdi’s Desdemona as well as Mozart’s Donna Elvira.

A graduate of the University of Connecticut, Michael McAvoy has performed Wagner in Faust (CT Lyric Opera) and Alessio in La Sonnambula (CT Concert Opera) and Curio in Julius Caesar. Competition Winnings: Opera Theatre of CT Amici Competition. Michael studied at Franco American Vocal Academie in France and is an Resident Artist in Naples.

Sarah Joy Miller has performed the role of Mimi in Baz Luhrmann’s Broadway La Bohème. The Los Angeles native has appeared as Fiordiligi, Faust’s Marguerite, and in the title roles of Lucia di Lammermoor. She has been heard with the Hong Kong Opera, Radio Classica (Italy). Competition Winnings: New York Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions.

Born in Seoul, Korea, Jin-Won Park, soprano, studied at The University Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria where she earned a Bachelor of Music in voice and a Master of Music in opera. Awards include: Minister of Culture music scholarship and a prize at International Mozart Competition and the Ferruccio Tagliavini International Competition in Austria.

Yungee Rhie earned MM from Indiana University and BM from Ewha Womans University in Korea. Currently, she studies with Valentin Peytchinov. Recent roles include Rosina with Opera North Young Artist Program, Fairy Godmother and Olympia with Indiana University Opera, Dorinda with BASOTI program, and Euridice and La Speranza.

Jennifer Sgroe’s operatic performances include Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Romilda (Xerxes), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Greta Fiorentino (Street Scene), Drusilla (L’Incoronazione di Poppea), Esther (Democracy), Sandman/Dew Fairy (Hansel & Gretel). Concert performances include Angel (Handel’s Jephtha).

Sun A. Yeo was heralded as “the extraordinarily beautiful singing and acting of Yeo as Amelia...” (Raoul Abdul, The New York Amsterdam News, July/24-30/2008) in Un Ballo in Maschera with The Martina Arroyo Foundation. Roles include: Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, Mimi in La Bohème, Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera, Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro.

DIVISION I
Shanna Spiro
Heather Phillips
Diana Wangerin
Jeremy Moore
Sarah Moulton
Sasha Hashemipour
Blake Friedman
Rebecca Loeb
Angela Gribble
Kimberly Christie
Kristen Blanton
Ann Sauder
Vania Chan
Mara Saskin
J’nai Bridges
Joo Young Bang
Nina Berman
Allison Pohl
Rebecca Fay
Sarah Nisbett
Chelsea Rose Friedlander
Samantha Guevrekian
Justin Hopkins
Jennifer Feinstein
Ricardo Rivera

DIVISION II
Alina Lindquist
Javier Bernardo
Casey Hutchinson
SeiHee Lee
Sarah Joy Miller
Catherine Freeman
Raeeka Shehabi-Yaghmai
Yungee Rhie
Sara Murphy
Jonathan Beyer
Lindsay Davis
Stephen Hartley
Keiko Kai
Natalie Aroyan
Jin-Won Park
Sooyeon Kim
Jennifer Sgroe
Michael McAvoy
Sun A. Yeo
Victor Khodadad
Zoe Vandermeer
Michelle Serrano Moeritz
Megan Chenovick
Andrew Cummings
Lazaro Calderon