Lotte Lenya Competition
Updates on Past Winners

Richard Todd Adams

Richard Todd Adams has had a busy and exciting year, originating roles in two new Broadway musicals: Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Woman in White and Claude Michel Schoenberg and Alain Boublil's The Pirate Queen. Previous New York credits include Michael John LaChiusa's Little Fish at Second Stage, David Friedman's Listen to My Heart at Studio 54, and the 2000 revival of Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill. For two years, he toured nationally as Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera. A 2004 Lotte Lenya Competition winner, he appeared in concert with fellow winner Amy Justman in Dessau, Germany in March 2005. Regionally, he has appeared as the title role(s) in Jekyll and Hyde, the title role in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Dickinson in 1776, Father in Ragtime, Ravenal in Showboat, and the title role in Billy Bishop Goes to War. He has also toured across Canada and the US with 2 Pianos, 4 Hands, playing both Ted and Richard along the way. A native Texan, he received his Bachelors of Music from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and his Masters of Music from The Juilliard School.

Tora Augestad

Tora Augestad (b.1979 in Bergen, Norway), singer and actress, attended the Norwegian Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. She studied singing with Svein Bjørkøy, Torsten Föllinger, Ståle Ytterli and Håkan Hagegård. In 2008 she completes her postgraduate degree in cabaret singing focusing on the works of Brecht, Eisler and Weill. She has participated in various cabarets and opera, including The Magic Flute, The Four Note Opera, the contemporary operas Inside your mouth sucking the sun by Niels Rønsholdt and Ophelias by Henrik Hellstenius and Cecilie Løveid. She sang with the Cikada Ensemble at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in November 2005, and with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in April 2006. She world premiered 4 pieces in 2006, written for her, among them September Songs by Eivind Buene with Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra. In 2006 Tora Augestad was engaged as an actress at the Teater Ibsen where she played in 4 productions. In August 2006 she performed Arnold Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire at the Oslo Chamber Music Festival with Christian Eggen and Oslo Sinfonietta. In 2007 she played the part of Jenny in a production of the The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) by Brecht and Weill. She has sung in the Norwegian Soloists' Choir 2000-2005; she was a member of the vocal group Pitsj from 1999-2006. She is now the vocalist in Trygve Seim Ensemble. She has played with Klangforum Wien in Warsaw, Basel and Vienna and will have her Paris debut with the ensemble in June 2008 when she will world premiere a piece by Beat Furrer. In January 2008 she sang Jenny in a concert version of The Threepenny Opera with Ensemble Modern and HK Gruber in Athens.

In 2008 she will play the main part in a new opera by Marcus Paus based on Roald Dahl's Witches. She will also sing in the new musical The Cityterminal by Håkon Berge and sing Eboli in a modern production of Don Carlos by Verdi.

She is the vocalist in the ensemble MUSIC FOR A WHILE, with some of Scandinavia's finest jazz musicians. They released their debut CD Weill Variations in October 2007 with music by Kurt Weill. She has lived in Berlin since spring 2007.

www.toraaugestad.no
www.musicforawhile.no
www.myspace.com/musicforaweill

Kyle Barisich

Kyle is currently covering the role of Raoul in the national tour of The Phantom of the Opera. Upcoming tour engagements include 4 months at the Princess of Wales Theater in Toronto and a stint at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. He recently played Barrett in Titanic at the Media Theatre near Philadelphia, earning rave reviews. His lounge act parody A Touch of Vegas finished up a 6-month run in New York last year, and a short film based on the characters Kyle co-created will be making the rounds of film festivals. Kyle is also a published food writer, and has been writing restaurant reviews for the national luxury lifestyle magazine Rave*Sq. He was a winner of the Lotte Lenya competition in 2001, the same year he graduated from the Manhattan School of Music with a Masters in Vocal Performance. Kyle is originally from Los Gatos, California, just south of San Francisco.

Jeffrey Behrens

Jeffrey Behrens is currently in his second year with The Juilliard Opera Center in New York City. Recent engagements have included the Britten-Pears Programme, Chautauqua Institution, San Francisco Opera Center, Central City Opera, and Opera Omaha. Roles include Peter Doyle in the World Premiere of Miss Lonelyhearts, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Rodolfo in La Bohème, and Tom Rakewell in The Rake's Progress. Concert work includes Carmina Burana, and Mozart's Requiem. Jeffrey has been awarded prizes from the Lotte Lenya Competition and Opera Index Inc. Training programs include Music Academy of the West, Central City Opera, and Merola. Upcoming, Mr. Behrens will be a young artist with the Santa Fe Opera.

Liam Bonner

Baritone Liam Bonner, a third-year artist with Houston Grand Opera Studio, is a native of Pittsburgh, PA. During Houston Grand Opera's 2007-2008 season, he will sing Silvano in Un ballo in maschera, Hortensius in La fille du Régiment, and Redburn in Billy Budd. Liam has been heard at HGO as The Witch in Hansel and Gretel, Wagner in Faust, Harašta in The Cunning Little Vixen, The Count in the alternate cast performances and at the Miller Outdoor Theatre performances of Le Nozze di Figaro, Morales/Dancaïre in Carmen and Liberto in L'incoronazione di Poppea.

Mr. Bonner’s opera credits include Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with the Wolf Trap Opera Company, the title role in Don Giovanni, Sid in Albert Herring, Belaev in Lee Hoiby's A Month in the Country (which was recorded and released on the Albany label), Il Cavaliere di Ripafrata in Martinů's Mirandolina, Bob in The Old Maid and the Thief, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Sam in Trouble in Tahiti, and King Melchior in Amahl and the Night Visitors. He has been the baritone soloist in Orff's Carmina Burana conducted by Robert Page, the baritone soloist in Stravinsky's Les Noces with the Houston Ballet, and has sung with the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Filharmonie Hradec Králové (Czech Republic).

Liam received his Masters of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music and his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in vocal performance from Carnegie Mellon University. He has been a member of San Francisco Opera's Merola Program, been a Studio Artist and an Apprentice Artist at Central City Opera, and attended Aspen Opera Theater.

Mr. Bonner won the Audience Choice Award in the 2005 Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers. His other awards include a 2005 George London Foundation Encouragement Award, fifth place in the 2005 Palm Beach Opera Competition, second place in the 2005 Lotte Lenya Competition, and third place in the 2004 Center for Contemporary Opera Competition.

Liam is also a member of Actor's Equity and has performed principal roles in musical theater productions such as The Most Happy Fella, Into the Woods, Barnum, and Bye Bye Birdie.

John Brancy

John Brancy is a vocal performance major at The Juilliard School in New York City where he studies voice with Cynthia Hoffmann. Earlier training was under the tutelage of Marvin Keenze of Westminster Choir College. In 2007 John was chosen from over 7300 applicants by NFAA (National Foundation for Advancement of the Art) as one of 16 vocalists. He won the first place of Gold and several other accolades. In May 2007 John competed in the National Classical Singer Competition in San Francisco where he was awarded first place. John recently made his debut at Carnegie Hall when he performed as one of the winners of the Barry Alexander International Voice Completion at a recital at Weill Recital Hall. In March of 2008 he was awarded third prize in the Marcella Sembrich Memorial Voice Competition.

Sarah Chalfy

Seattle area native Sarah Chalfy is an active performer in a wide variety of musical and theatrical styles. She is a frequent collaborator with the NOW Ensemble, participating in the premieres of the works of many of today's hottest young composers. In 2006 she performed the lead soprano in the Los Angeles world premiere of Michael Gordon's opera What to Wear, which was written, directed, and designed by Richard Foreman. She also performed Gordon's chamber opera Van Gogh, the recording of which will be released this year on the Cantaloupe label. Sarah's opera credits include Helena (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Anne Sexton (Transformations), Vixen (The Cunning Little Vixen), Yum Yum (The Mikado), and Papagena (Die Zauberflöte). Favorite musical theater roles include Guenevere (Camelot), Marian (The Music Man), Carrie (Carousel), and Hodel (Fiddler on the Roof). She was a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, where her favorite projects were as soloist in Berio's Sinfonia with Robert Spano and Vivaldi's Gloria with Craig Smith and the Mark Morris Dance Company. In addition to her award in the Lotte Lenya Competition, Sarah is recipient of numerous awards, including top prizes in the Rosa Ponselle, Canticum Dominum, and Bach Society of Baltimore competitions, and study grants to the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg and the Académie internationale d'été de Nice. Sarah received a BM from the Peabody Conservatory and did her Masters work at the Manhattan School of Music. Upcoming projects include a series of concerts on the East Coast with the NOW Ensemble and Newspeak, a solo cabaret show in New York City, and the European tour of What to Wear.

Lisa Conlon

The belief in the importance of emotionally invested singing and realistic acting resonates throughout soprano Lisa Conlon's performances, garnering reactions every time she takes the stage. While pursuing her graduate degree in Opera Performance at the Manhattan School of Music (MSM), Ms. Conlon actively participated in various musical concentrations, including jazz, music theater, and classical studies. Highlights of her performances at MSM include opera scenes with Ken Merrill, the American Musical Theater Ensemble's production of a Cy Coleman Revue, and singing in a master class for one of her idols, the late Anna Moffo. Prior to MSM, Ms. Conlon earned her Bachelor's degree from the Eastman School of Music, in Rochester, NY. There, she performed in a wide variety of musical genres, ranging from early music to contemporary and in both opera scenes and chamber music ensembles. In 2002, Ms. Conlon won the Lotte Lenya Competition and had the opportunity to sing for the legendary soprano Teresa Stratas. Shortly thereafter she was featured in both a winners' concert and a concert version of Kurt Weill's Johnny Johnson at the New York Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center. Her career thus far has included such characters as Norina, Susanna, Ninetta, Zerlina, Despina, Servilia, April (Company), Maria (West Side Story), Julie (Carousel), Ella Hammer (Cradle Will Rock). Lisa currently resides in New York City and maintains an active performing career. She continues to study with her teacher and mentor of nearly seven years, Ashley Putnam.

Jennifer Goode Cooper

[B.M., New York University; M.M., Manhattan School of Music; DMA Candidate, University of Memphis]
Described by the NY Times as a "soaring soprano" with "great dramatic instincts," Mrs. Cooper has won numerous awards with the following national opera competitions: Met Council Regionals, Eugene Opera, Birmingham Opera, Mobile Opera, MacAllister Awards, Orpheus Vocal Competition, and the First Prize at the Kurt Weill Foundation's Lenya Competition. She sang the role of Musetta in Baz Luhrmann's Broadway and LA productions of La Bohème, shortly after covering Second Lady in The Magic Flute at Opera Theater of St. Louis, and has worked closely with the Memphis and Omaha Symphonies, Orchestra of St. Lukes, Julius Rudel, Warren Jones, Charles Riecker, Pierre Vallet, Martin Katz, Ricky Ian Gordon, and Brian Zeger.

Regional Music Theater credits include: George M. (Fay Templeton) at Goodspeed Opera House, My Fair Lady (Eliza u/s), A Christmas Carol (Meg), and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Narrator Standby) at North Shore Music Theater, Pirates of Penzance (Edith) at Kansas City Rep/Arizona Theater Co., Jesus Christ Superstar (Mary Magdalene) at Shreveport Opera, and recently as a guest artist, the role of Anna in The King and I at Theatre Memphis. She also performed the role of Babe Williams (The Pajama Game) at the Goodspeed Opera House, to the approval of its composer, Richard Adler.

Mrs. Cooper resides in Memphis with her husband, Bass Baritone Sean Cooper, and their daughter Hudson.

Christopher Herbert

Christopher Herbert (baritone) received his B.A. from Yale University and his master's degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University. Recently, Mr. Herbert won third prize in the Kurt Weill Foundation's Lotte Lenya Competition and performed the role of Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas with the Mark Morris Dance Group. Other 2007 performances included a Lincoln Center debut singing Mozart songs with the Christopher Caines Dance Company and the baritone solos in Carmina Burana with the Collegiate Chorale of New York. In 2006, Mr. Herbert was a Young Concert Artists International semifinalist and a Central City Opera Young Artist. Other recent performances include a Sondheim Celebration with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops at the Tanglewood Music Center, Curlew River with David Stern and Opéra Rouen at the Japan Society of New York, Njegus in The Merry Widow (Mobile Opera), Guglielmo in Così fan Tutte (Bronx Opera), and the Dandy and Barney in The Ballad of Baby Doe (Central City). Upcoming engagements include the role of Pluto in Orpheus in the Underworld at Opera Vivente. During the summer of 2007, Mr. Herbert covers Schaunard in La bohème and performs in various recitals at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California.

Morgan James

Morgan James was most recently seen in The Mikado with New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players, and Idaho! The Musical. Regional credits include Bess in The Human Comedy; Barrington Stage Company, Mabel in Pirates of Penzance; Arizona Theatre Company and Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Bessie Two in River's End; O'Neill Theatre Center (premiere), Micaela in The Tragedy of Carmen, Maria in West Side Story, Mistress in Evita, Anne in A Little Night Music, Nadina in The Chocolate Soldier, Evelyn Nesbit in Ragtime. Third place, 2005 Lotte Lenya Competition, judged by Harold Prince, William Bolcom and Angelina Reaux. Ms. James toured Taiwan singing the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber in concert. Member of Actor's Equity Association. Training: The Juilliard School.

Lauren Jelencovich

Lauren Jelencovich made her Off-Broadway debut in Wallace and Allen Shawn's play/opera, The Music Teacher. She won Ed McMahon's Star Search, and received Andrea Bocelli's National Italian American Foundation World Scholarship. Lauren has been involved with the International Vocal Arts Institute performing in Puerto Rico, Montreal, and Tel Aviv. She graduated from The Manhattan School of Music in 2007 and performed in their productions of Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury as Angelina the Plaintiff, and in the American Music Theatre Ensemble. Lauren is a member of AEA and currently studying with William Esper at the William Esper Acting Studio. She has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, as well as the MGM Grand and Hard Rock Live in Las Vegas. Lauren has also been featured in People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People, and in Teen magazine. She is a student of Patricia McCaffrey, Carolyn Marlow and Joan Dornemann.

Amy Justman

Broadway: Company (Susan/piano). New York: The Screams of Kitty Genovese (Martha, NYMF), Infertility (Heather, Dillon's), Taxi Cabaret (Sara, Prospect Theater Co. (NYMF)). Other: Myths and Hymns (Edinburgh Fringe), Follies (Young Heidi, Maine State Music Theatre), Guys and Dolls (Sarah, Forestburgh Playhouse), Miracle on 34th Street (Westchester Broadway Theatre), Fiddler (Chava, Light Opera Oklahoma) and South Pacific (Dinah, Barrington Stage). Soloist with the American Symphony Orchestra at both Avery Fisher Hall and the Bard Music Festival and Young Artist with the Natchez Festival of Music. Other solo engagements: Kurt Weill Fest (Dessau, Germany), Berkshire Bach Society, Orchestra New England, Bard Community Chorus, and Anti-Social Music. B.A., Yale University and M.M., Manhattan School of Music.

Analisa Leaming

Analisa Leaming, soprano, graduated in May from the Eastman School of Music with her B.M. in vocal performance. This summer Ms. Leaming is making her debut with the Ohio Light Opera Company as Maria in The Sound of Music. At Eastman she performed the roles of Lazuli in Chabrier's L'Étoile, Marta in Company, and Squeaky Fromme in Assassins. Last summer, Analisa performed with the College Light Opera Company, where she portrayed Elizabeth in Robert and Elizabeth, Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Blanche Ingram in Jane Eyre, and Princess Maria in Call Me Madam. Other favorite roles include Cinderella in Into the Woods, Carolina in Il Matrimonio Segreto, Sophie in Werther, Genovieffa in Suor Angelica, Anna Reich in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, and Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof. In the fall, Ms. Leaming will begin her master's degree in vocal performance at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.

Erik Liberman

Erik Liberman's career began as the star of PBS's Emmy-winning musical drama, Sneakers, and followed suit with roles on TV's Get Real, Saved by the Bell: the New Class, and Angel. On film, his credits include Goyband (Spring '08), festival favorites, Kinetoscope and Brother, Just My Luck, and D2D for Oscar-winner Vilmos Zsigmond. Erik's Broadway debut in Hal Prince's LoveMusik marks the culmination of many years of stage work, including Obie-winner Mabou Mines Dollhouse, which continues touring the world; L.A. Drama Critics Circle-winner, A Clockwork Orange; Reefer Madness!, for which he received Theatre LA Ovation and Garland awards; The Year is 1950, helmed by the Tony-winning team of Frank Galati, John Kander, and Ann Reinking; The Final Tour with Sally Field, directed by Moisés Kaufman; Dumped with Carla Cugino, Dixie Carter, and Louise Fletcher; Sundance Cabaret with Carol Burnett; Icarus with Amanda Plummer; and I Think We're Alone Now with Courtney Love. In addition, Erik has originated roles in 30 new plays and musicals at Sundance, Lincoln Center, New Dramatists, Drama League, Actors Studio, ASCAP and BMI. Erik studied at London's Royal National Theatre and Complicite, as well with the Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade and Aspen-Santa Fe Ballet. He is the recipient of three grants from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, two from the Henry Mancini Institute, and Def Comedy Jam honors. Erik also co-authored the critically acclaimed book, Wisdom from an Empty Mind. For more information, please visit www.erikliberman.org.

Rebecca Jo Loeb

Rebecca Jo Loeb, a native of New Jersey, is currently a Graduate Diploma candidate at the Juilliard School studying with Edith Bers. At The Juilliard School she has performed Third Lady in The Magic Flute, Cherubino and Sesto in opera scenes, and covered Ragonde in The Juilliard Opera Center's production of Conte Ory. At Manhattan School of Music where she received her Master's Degree, Rebecca performed the roles of Madama Brillante in Cimarosa's L'italiana in Londra, Dorthee in Cendrillon, and Zita in Gianni Schicchi. She completed her Bachelor's at the University of Michigan School of Music where she sang Elmire in Tartuffe and Hansel in Hansel and Gretel and was awarded the prestigious Stanley Medal. Professional roles include The Third Spirit in The Magic Flute at The Michigan Opera Theater and Paquette in Candide alongside Frederica von Stade. Rebecca has studied at the Aspen Music Festival and School where she performed the Alto role in Janacek's The Diary of the One who Vanished in Harris Hall and understudied Judy Kaye in a Bernstein Gala. As a Central City Apprentice, Rebecca covered and performed roles in L'incoronazione di Poppea and The Ballad of Baby Doe. This past summer she was a Tanglewood Fellow where she performed Carrie in Carousel with the Boston Pops, and The Spirit/Second Witch in Dido and Aeneas with the Mark Morris Dance Group. Upcoming performances include Petra in A Little Night Music with the Boston Pops starring Christine Ebersole and Jenny in The Rise and Fall of Mahagonny with the Tanglewood Music Center under the baton of James Levine.

Michael McKinsey

Michael "Tuba" McKinsey (Baritone) – A native of Battle Ground, WA and graduate of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, Michael continues to enjoy wonderful successes as a professional actor in New York City. His ongoing project, Lucy Simon's Zhivago--directed by two-time Tony Winner Des McAnuff travels to London this winter. In addition, "Tuba" appeared as Marty in The Screams of Kitty Genovese (NYMF 2006 Nominee for Best New Musical) and as an original cast member in Frank Wildhorn's new musical For the Glory all in the past year! National Tour: Cameron Mackintosh's Oliver!. Favorite Regional: Forever Plaid (Smudge), Full Monty (Tony), and of course The Most Happy Fella and Titanic.

Jonathan Gabriel Michie

Jonathan Gabriel Michie, baritone, is currently pursuing his Master of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music in the studio of Carol Webber. He received his Bachelor of Music degree and Performer's Certificate from Eastman in 2006. Upcoming engagements include Fredrik in A Little Night Music with Eastman Opera Theatre, Handel's Messiah with the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, and Masetto in Don Giovanni with Mercury Opera Rochester in 2008. Favorite stage roles include: Moralés in Carmen, John Wilkes Booth in Assassins, Robert in Company, Pandolfe in Cendrillon, Orlando in Robert Ward's Claudia Legare, The Storyteller in the world premiere of Charles Strouse's East & West, Strephon in Iolanthe, Elder McLean in Susannah, and Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd. Jonathan had the pleasure of spending the past two summers as a Young Artist with the Chautauqua Opera Company. He spent the summer of 2005 as a member of the Ohio Light Opera company. He has been featured in concert at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Spoleto USA Festival, and the home of Broadway's Charles Strouse. Awards include the Kurt Weill Foundation's Lotte Lenya Competition, the Four-City District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, the Palm Beach Opera Competition, the National Orpheus Vocal Competition, the Lotte Lehmann Foundation's Cyber Sing American Song Award, the Jesse Kneisel Lieder Competition, the Liederkranz Foundation's Reusche Lieder Award, the Summer Program Award from the Fritz & Lavinia Jensen Foundation, and the Friends of Eastman Opera competition. For more information please visit www.jonathanmichie.com.

Justin Lee Miller

A native of Battle Creek, Michigan, Mr. Miller began his career as a Musical Theater major at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. While there, he studied voice with acclaimed soprano Shirley Verrett. Since then, Mr. Miller has sung both musicals and opera and can be heard on the new Decca recording of Porgy and Bess with the Nashville Symphony. He appeared in the National tours of Kiss Me, Kate and Strike Up the Band, and has performed in various productions of Porgy and Bess around the world. Mr. Miller is currently performing in The Phantom of the Opera in Las Vegas directed by Harold Prince.

Ariela Morgenstern

An accomplished singing actor, Ariela Morgenstern has gained recognition in theater, cabaret and opera productions in North America and Europe. Recently transplanted to New York from her home town of San Francisco, she is currently the cover in the new, hit Off-Broadway musical, Adding Machine. No stranger to new music, Ariela was first seen on the East Coast at Carnegie Hall as the soloist for the premiere of Imant Raminsh's Symphony of Psalms. Her specialty has long been the works of Kurt Weill and his contemporaries, and she is honored to receive the Second Prize in the Kurt Weill Foundation's 2008 Lotte Lenya Competition. Her recent theatrical credits include I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (Woman #1), Oregon Cabaret Theatre; Bingo! The Musical (Alison), Center Rep; The Threepenny Opera (Jenny), West Bay Opera; Vanities: a New Musical (Mary cover), Theatreworks. Her operatic credits include the title role in Carmen with the San Francisco Lyric Opera and Bay Shore Lyric Opera; and productions with San Jose Opera, Pacific Repertory Opera, West Bay Opera, among others. She is also one of the founding members of the San Francisco-based theatre company, Rococo Risqui, which won the 2005 SF Weekly's Best Theatre Ensemble award for its original Liberties Taken, as well as earlier Lunatique and Menagerie works. With a degree in music performance from U.C. Santa Cruz, she also trained with the renowned Pig Iron Theatre in the Le Coq method, which combines physical theater with clown and mime traditions. She is currently serving as a producing artist with the downtown New York theatre company Studio 42. (arielamorgenstern.com)

Elizabeth Reiter

Soprano Elizabeth Reiter is a student of Marlena Malas currently in her senior year at the Manhattan School of Music, where her roles have included Belinda (Dido and Aeneas), Lucia (The Rape of Lucretia), Emmie (Albert Herring), and scenes as Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Despina and Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte). Earlier this year, she was heard as the soprano soloist in Mahler's 4th Symphony with the MSM Philharmonia and as a participant in a Master Class with mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe. Other operatic credits include Adèle in Michael Berkeley's Jane Eyre (Opera Theater of Saint Louis), Flora in The Turn of the Screw (Chicago Opera Theater, Aspen Opera Theater Center), Young Maria Celeste in the World Premiere of Philip Glass and Mary Zimmerman's Galileo Galilei (BAM, Barbican Centre, Goodman Theater), Cupid in Purcell's King Arthur (Music of the Baroque), and Despina (Chautauqua Institution). Originally from Chicago, Elizabeth received her early operatic training as a member of the children's chorus with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

James Rodgers

New Zealand-born tenor James Benjamin Rodgers is currently in the Professional Studies Program at the Manhattan School of Music where he is the Orvis Foundation Scholar and studies with Neil Rosenshein. He completed his M.M. at that school in 2007. He holds a B.Mus (1st class Hons) from the Victoria University of Wellington where he was in the studio of Emily Mair. James has been a member of the Manhattan School Opera Studio and the American Musical Theatre Ensemble with whom he sang the role of the Baker in Into the Woods. This year he is singing the roles of Nemorino, L'elisir d'amore and Ferrando, Così fan tutte in the Opera Scenes Program. He has also been invited to appear in master classes with internationally renowned baritone Thomas Hampson and Tony Award winner Victoria Clark.

James’ operatic roles include: Monteverdi's L'Orfeo; Pluto in Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld; Gherardo, Gianni Schicchi. Musical theatre roles include: Alex in Aspects of Love; the Baker in Into the Woods; Will in Oklahoma!; Huck Finn in Big River. He has been soloist in a number of choral works including: L'Enfance du Christ, Berlioz; Messiah, Handel; Requiem, Mozart; Christmas Oratorio, Saint-Saëns; Hodie, Vaughan Williams; The Creation, Haydn; and Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

James has received numerous awards including: Marie D'Albini Scholarship, Bell Gully Travel Award, Sir Henry Cooper Memorial Scholarship in Music, the Lankhuyzen/Whetu Kairangi Masonic Trust grant, Moyra Todd Scholarship. He was the winner of the Napier Computer Systems Aria 2004, the PACANZ Vocal Young Performer of the Year Award 2002 and the Wellington Newspapers Ltd. Aria Contest 2002. In 2006 he sang a master class with Barbara Cook at Lincoln Center. In 2007, James was invited by the Marilyn Horne Foundation to sing in a master class with Evelyn Lear at Carnegie Hall, NYC.
www.jamesrodgerssinger.com

Brian Charles Rooney

In a critically acclaimed performance that Entertainment Weekly's Scott Brown said "ignited the stage," Brian Charles Rooney made his Broadway debut as the fabled Lucy Brown in the Roundabout Theatre Company's 2006 revival of Brecht & Weill's The Threepenny Opera. After winning the Lys Symonette Award for Outstanding Dramatic Talent in the 2007 Lotte Lenya Competition, he made his solo concert debut at The Zipper Theater, in Manhattan, performing original material (co-written with Paul Leschen, a composer and arranger for the Scissor Sisters), as well as songs by Weill, Mozart, The Doors, Queen, Heart, Cyndi Lauper, and Joni Mitchell. The concert was a huge success and will be presented again in July of 2007 at the Zipper. In August of 2007, Brian will portray a young Tennessee Williams in a workshop of the new musical, Becoming Tennessee, at the Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theatre Center. In the Fall of '07, he will appear as Piers Gaveston in the off-Broadway production of Edward the King, a new play by Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award nominee, David Brendan Hopes. The play concerns the Edward II/Piers Gaveston affair nearly 700 years ago in Britain, and addresses themes of class prejudice, sexism, and hypocrisy among the ruling class, issues which remain potently relevant today. For more, please visit www.briancharlesrooney.com

Hallie Silverston

Hallie Silverston, soprano, is in her second year as a Masters student at the Eastman School of Music, studying voice with Karen Holvik. Though she is a native of Los Angeles, Hallie graduated from the University of Oregon in June 2005, where she studied with Milagro Vargas. Roles include Adina in L'Elisir d'Amore, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Anne Egerman in A Little Night Music, Belinda in Dido and Aeneas, and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte. Silverston was also the soprano soloist in Bach's Magnificat and Mozart's C Minor Mass conducted by Helmuth Rilling. She has been a finalist in several competitions in the Los Angeles and Rochester areas, including the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Awards and the Friends of Eastman Opera Competition, and she just recently placed third in the Lotte Lenya Competition. She has performed in master classes with Ruth Ann Swenson, Mira Zakai, Benita Valente, Martin Katz, John Harbison, and Jake Heggie. Most recently, Hallie performed the role of Sandrina in Eastman Opera Theater's production of La Finta Giardiniera.

Maija Skille

Norwegian mezzo-soprano Maija Skille has been studying opera performance at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, with vocal coach Marjut Hannula, since September 2006. She will finish her Master's degree in Spring 2009. Previous studies include: Trondheim Music Conservatory and Barrat Due Music Institute, Norway, as well as private studies with docent Susanna Eken in Copenhagen, Denmark. Skille has been performing Weill's music since 2002 under the guidance of Heikki Pellinen, Trygve Brøske and Anne-Lise Berntsen. Her operatic roles include Fidalma/Il matrimonio segreto (Cimarosa), 3rd Lady/Die Zauberflöte (Mozart), Katisha/The Mikado (Gilbert & Sullivan), Sorceress/Dido and Aeneas (Purcell), and Mamma Lucia/Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni), as well as parts in Norwegian and Finnish contemporary operas and theater productions. She has also studied composition, and some of her music has been recorded by Norwegian choirs.

Noah Stewart

Tenor Noah Stewart's recent debuts this season include the role as The Wizard in Conrad Susa's Transformations at The Wexford Festival, and with The Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, a recital at The New York Historical Society, Guest Concert Artist with The Jupiter Players, Count Vaudemont in Tschaikovsky's Iolanta with Bel Cantanti, his Kennedy Center debut honoring Soprano Jessye Norman, and Concerts in Cologne, Germany with The Schuyler Foundation for Career Bridges. Previous performances include Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore with the Martina Arroyo Foundation, Ferrando in Così fan tutte and Count Vaudemont in Tschaikovsky's Iolanta, which was a premiere for Philadelphia at The Academy of Vocal Arts, Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo with The Vertical Players' Repertory, Elder Hayes in Carlisle Floyd's Susannah, Gastone in La traviata under the baton of Julis Rudel and El Remendado in Carmen with The Palm Beach Opera.

Mr. Stewart's performances include Haydn's Creation with The Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra, Rossini's Stabat Mater with The Sequence Ensemble, Handel's Messiah, the role of Jesus in Beethoven's oratorio The Mount of Olives and Obadiah in Mendelssohn's Elijah. He is a winner of many awards, which include The Marian Anderson Encouragement Award, Second Place Winner of The Leontyne Price Competition, Gold Medalist of The Five Towns Vocal Music Competition, The Palm Beach Opera Competition, First Place Winner of The Florida Grand Opera Competition, The Outstanding Vocal Potential Award given by the Lotte Lenya Competition, The Opera Index Award Grant, Finalist of The George London Competition and Puccini Foundation Study Grant. Mr. Stewart will join The San Francisco Opera as an Adler Fellow in the spring of 2007.

Misty Ann Sturm

Originally from Atlanta, soprano Misty Ann Sturm moved to New York to attend the Eastman School of Music, where she earned both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in vocal performance. Misty performed in many productions with Eastman Opera Theatre, including the roles of Clara in Passion, Miles in The Turn of the Screw, Cissie Woodger in Albert Herring and Laura in The Goblin Market. Misty sang multiple recitals of Kurt Weill's music at Lincoln Center and the soubrette role in Mahagonny Songspiel at the Kurt Weill Festival. She performed the role of Lily in The Secret Garden at the Fulton Opera House and the Atlanta Lyric Opera. Equally at home in the recording studio, her voice is featured on TV and radio commercials for Lunesta, Puffs, Metro Health Hospitals, Ferrero Rocher, and the New York Lottery. In 2006, Misty sang the premiere of the Baseball Music Project, performing it with the Seattle and Houston Symphonies. Future engagements include Miami, Phoenix, Detroit, Indianapolis, Glimmerglass and Chicago Symphonies. Please visit www.mistyannsturm.com for more information.

Karim Sulayman

Karim Sulayman, tenor, is rapidly garnering the attention of audiences and critics for his fascinating portrayals and sensitive musicality. With a vast repertoire that spans baroque to contemporary music, he has been enjoying a busy calendar in opera and concert performances throughout the world. The Houston Chronicle lauded his recent performances as Acis in Acis and Galatea for their "clean, clear sound and earnest intensity." He has recently been featured in new productions with Berkshire Opera and Chicago Opera Theater, and has been a soloist at the Aldeburgh Festival in England under Harry Bicket, and the International Bach Festival in Toronto under Helmuth Rilling. He looks forward to collaborations with Bernard Labadie in Montréal for Bach's St. John Passion, and with Yves Abel in New York for Rameau's Castor et Pollux. He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Rice University and currently resides in New York City and Toronto.

Amy Van Looy

Amy Van Looy, soprano, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, is a consummate performer combining her vocal talents with a riveting stage presence. She was a recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation, and has won awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the Connecticut Opera Guild, the Mobile Opera, the Portland Opera Eleanor Lieber Competition, the Shreveport Opera Singer of the Year Competition, the Opera Birmingham W. Cassell Stewart Competition, the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers at the Houston Grand Opera and the Kurt Weill Foundation Lotte Lenya Competition. Ms. Van Looy was highlighted in the 2000 New York City Lotte Lenya centennial celebration recital hosted by Teresa Stratas. She has appeared with opera companies around the country including Opera Carolina, Opera Omaha, Des Moines Metro Opera, Sarasota Opera, Chautauqua Opera and the Ohio Light Opera Company. Past credits include Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Marguerite in Faust, First Lady in Die Zauberflöte, the title role in Countess Maritza, Mimi in La Bohème, Anne Sexton in Transformations and The Governess in The Turn of the Screw.

Bray Wilkins

Bray Wilkins, 27, born in Hattiesburg Mississippi, is a graduate student at the University of Idaho, where he received his B.A. in vocal performance. While there, he sang Basilio in The Marriage of Figaro, Marco Palmieri in The Gondoliers, Frederic in Pirates of Penzance, and Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi. Mr. Wilkins was also a member of the 2003 College Light Opera Company in Massachusetts, where he performed the roles of Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd, Paul Berthalet in Carnival, and Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls. He has been a Fellow at The Music Academy of the West in 2005 and 2007, and will be returning for his third and final season with them under the tutelage of Marilyn Horne in 2008. He was district winner of the Washington, Idaho and Montana Metropolitan Opera Council auditions in 2004 and 2008, and also in the North Mississippi districts in 2007, each time receiving awards at the regional levels. Other awards include prizes in the classical division at National Association of Teachers of Singing competitions in 2001-2004, 1st in the Washington-Idaho Symphony Young Artists Competition, the 2006 Lys Symonette Award for Outstanding Performance of an Individual Number at the Lotte Lenya Singing Competition, and most recently winner of both the University of Idaho concerto competition, and the Coeur d'Alene concerto competition. Mr. Wilkins made his debut with the Mercury Opera Company in Rochester, NY in June 2007, in the role of Gaylord Ravenal in Showboat.