Hildegard

Making her mark as an "especially impressive" (New York Times) soprano, Australian/American Nola Richardson is a rapidly rising star increasingly recognized for her performances which combine a voice of "astonishing balance and accuracy,” “crystalline diction,” and “natural-sounding ease” (Washington Post) with "spellbinding acting-singing... substantial powers of melisma, melodic agility, and timbre modulation." (blogcritic.org)

Highly acclaimed in her concert appearances, Nola’s repertoire ranges from medieval to contemporary works, including several world premieres. In the 2025/26 season she makes her debut with LA Opera and Beth Morrison Projects creating the title role in the new opera Hildegard by Sarah Kirkland Snider. She will perform Rameau's La Guirlande and Handel's Dixit Dominus with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Handel's Messiah with the Tucson and Kansas City Symphonies, and Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate with Helena Symphony. Other appearances include a solo concert of French Baroque cantatas with Ars Lyrica Houston, Bach's Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen with American Classical Orchestra, Vivaldi's In furore iustissimae irae with Upper Valley Baroque, St. Matthew Passion with Musica Angelia, and engagements with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, the Bach Society of St. Louis, Clarion, and Seraphic Fire. 

After winning first prize in all three major American competitions focused on the music of J.S. Bach (Bethlehem Bach, 2016; Audrey Rooney Bach, 2018; Grand Rapids Symphony Linn Maxwell Keller Award, 2019), Nola has been catapulted to the forefront of Baroque ensembles and orchestras around the country. Selected performances include Bach's Magnificat at the Cincinnati May Festival; the B-minor Mass with American Classical Orchestra at the Lincoln Center; the St. Matthew Passion with the Portland Symphony and Musica Angelica; the St. John Passion with Cantata Collective; and the Christmas Oratorio with Washington Bach Consort. In 2024 she debuted as a soloist at the Leipzig Bach Festival and took park in a tour of Germany and Austria with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Nola has performed the virtuosic BWV 51: Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen with the Seattle, Atlanta and Baltimore Symphonies and with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Blue Hill Bach, Colorado Bach Ensemble, and Baltimore Choral Arts Society. She has performed Bach cantatas all over the country with ensembles such as the American Bach Soloists, American Classical Orchestra, the Aspen Music Festival, Ars Lyrica Houston, the Holy Trinity Bach Vespers Series, Bach at One with Trinity Wall Street, Seraphic Fire, the Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival, and the Madison Bach Musicians. Her debut in Bach’s Coffee Cantata with Philharmonia Baroque in 2019 was noted for her “graceful ebullience” (San Francisco Chronicle). 

Nola's operatic appearances such as her debut at the Kennedy Center with Opera Lafayette (Fraarte in Handel’s Radamisto)have drawn praise for her “particularly appealing freshness and directness” (Washington Post). As Oriana in Handel's Amadigi di Gaula with Ars Lyrica Houston, she was acclaimed as “the most convincing actor of the night, her every expression true to character… [her voice] resolute and triumphant, with depth and clarity, powerful yet supple” (Arts and Culture Texas). She gave a “standout” performance (Opera News) as the First Lady in The Magic Flute with the Clarion Music Society and made her debut with the Boston Early Music Festival in the summer of 2023 performing several roles in Desmarest’s Circé and as Oreste Nunzia in Francesca Caccini’s Alcina. Last season featured role debuts as Gretel in Hansel and Gretel with Helena Symphony, and Cleopatra in Hasse's Marc' Antonio e Cleopatra with Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado. Her repertoire includes several Mozart heroines in addition to early operatic works such as Eurydice/Proserpina in Monteverdi's Orfeo and Apolo in a rare performance of the Baroque zarzuela Apolo e Dafne by Sebastián Durón. 

With "a voice for which Handel might have designed the music" (Parterre Box), Nola is also a frequent interpreter of Handel and other baroque composers. She has made debuts in Messiah with the Pittsburgh, Seattle, Kansas City, Helena, Pacific, and Colorado Symphonies, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and with Musica Sacra and the Oratorio Society of New York. The Seattle Times described her as “agile and crystalline-voiced…a stand-out” and as Dalila in Handel's Samson at Carnegie Hall with Oratorio Society of New York, she was declared "the vocal star of the first half... who infuses an effervescent soprano with seductive character work" (blogcritic.org). Recent seasons have seen her perform title roles in Handel oratorios Acis and Galatea with American Bach Soloists, and Theodora with Ars Lyrica Houston, Maria Magdalena in La Resurrezione with American Bach Soloists, and in national tours of the cantatas Apollo e Dafne and Aminta e Fillide with the Twelfth Night Ensemble.

Nola's other concert appearances include Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate with Grand Rapids Symphony and Voices of Music, Mozart's Requiem with the Jacksonville Symphony, and Baltimore Choral Arts, a tour of Arvo Pärt's Passio to Russia, Estonia, and Latvia with the Yale Schola Cantorum, a Sondheim review with the Boston Pops, Haydn’s Creation with the Akron Symphony and the Master Chorale of South Florida, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem and the Boise Baroque Orchestra, and Carmina Burana with the Master Chorale of South Florida. Her performances in a program of French Baroque music with the American Bach Soloists drew praise for her “lusciously polished…exemplary impassioned singing” (San Francisco Classical Voice). 

Nola's recent recording of Bach's St. John Passion with the Cantata Collective and conductor Nicholas McGegan was praised for her "elegant phrasing, radiant tone, and splendid ease in coloratura" (Early Music America). She can be heard on Cantata Collective's recordings of Bach's Magnificat and Easter Oratorio; Mozart's Requiem with the Baltimore Choral Arts; the Boston Early Music Festival's album of Desmarest's Circé and in digital video releases with Voices of Music, Seraphic Fire, Sonnambula, Musica Angelica, and Colorado Bach Ensemble. 

An Australian by birth, Nola has spent most of her life in the United States. She holds a BM from Illinois Wesleyan University and dual MM degrees in Vocal Performance and Early Music from the Peabody Conservatory. She was a young artist with the Boston Early Music Festival, a vocal fellow at Tanglewood, a Marc and Eva Stern Fellow at Songfest, and a Carmel Bach Festival Virginia Best Adams Fellow. Nola attended the Institute of Sacred Music Program and in May of 2020 she was the first and only female singer to receive the prestigious DMA degree in Early Music Voice from Yale​.

Learn more at NolaRichardson.com.

From: Ottawa, Canada. LA Opera: Richardis von Stade / Angel 3 in Hildegard (2025, debut).

Mikaela Bennett is a celebrated singer and actress who is garnering praise for her artistic versatility on stage and in concert halls across the globe and is a recent recipient of the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists. Equally at home collaborating with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Hall to West Side Story at the BBC Proms, Mikaela is a skilled cross-genre interpreter. Additional career highlights include her New York City solo recital debut at Alice Tully Hall, premiering an original composition by Michael Tilson Thomas with the San Francisco Symphony, her Lyric Opera of Kansas City debut for The Sound of Music (Maria), Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath (Rosasharn) with MasterVoices at Carnegie Hall and Handel’s Israel in Egypt with MasterVoices and the Orchestra of St Luke’s at Carnegie Hall.

She began the 2024/25 season with a debut at Festival Musica Strasbourg for Ted Hearne’s contemporary oratorio The Source. Other season highlights include her debuts at the Baltimore Symphony as the soprano soloist in Mary Lou Williams’ Zodiac Suite alongside the Aaron Diehl Trio and the Orlando Philharmonic for Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. Additional engagements include a debut with Protoype Festival for In a Grove and returns to the Glimmerglass Festival for the world premiere of Derek Bermel and Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street (Esperanza) and the 92nd Street Y as a guest soloist for their concert Hammerstein and His Sources.

Ms. Bennett made her BBC Proms debut at London’s Royal Albert Hall starring in the John Wilson Orchestra’s concert production of West Side Story (Maria) to critical and public acclaim, and soon returned to the BBC Proms with the John Wilson Orchestra performing music from the Warner Bros film studio. As a featured soloist, Ms. Bennett has appeared under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel with the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing Aurora by Wane Shorter, the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Slatkin, and with the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center for performances of Zodiac Suite conducted by Jader Bignamini. Ms. Bennett has also appeared with the San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, and New World Symphony, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, for the world premiere of his Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind. Mikaela frequently collaborates with conductor Ted Sperling, most recently at Carnegie Hall performing Gershwin’s Let ‘Em Eat Cake (Mary Wintergreen) with the Orchestra of St Luke’s. Ms. Bennett also appeared in Bernstein on Broadway as part of the Leonard Bernstein centennial celebrations at the Kennedy Center directed by Kathleen Marshall and conducted by Rob Fisher. Additionally, she returned to Carnegie Hall for MasterVoices’ A Joyful Noise featuring 10-time Grammy Award-winning gospel group Take 6.

On stage, Mikaela made her professional debut in The Golden Apple (Penelope) at City Center Encores! She originated the role of Norma in Dick Scanlan and Carmel Dean’s new musical Renascence in New York City, made her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in the new Francesca Zambello production of West Side Story (Maria), debuted at the Glimmerglass Festival in The Sound of Music (Maria), starred in the title role of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella at the MUNY in St. Louis, and originated the title role in the opera Acquanetta, composed by Michael Gordon and directed by Daniel Fish at the Prototype Festival. Continuing her collaboration with director Daniel Fish, Ms. Bennett appeared as a featured soloist in his concert conception of The Most Happy Fella at Bard SummerScape. She also went on to make her Festival Napa Valley debut in Gianni Schicchi (Lauretta) under the baton of Kent Nagano. Additionally, Ms. Bennett has performed in some of New York City’s most prestigious cabaret venues including Joe’s Pub at the Public and Feinstein’s 54 Below. Last season, Ms. Bennett recorded Zodiac Suite with Aaron Diehl and The Knights conducted by Eric Jacobsen, returned to MasterVoices for Carmen (Micaëla) at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Cleveland Orchestra for a series of Holiday concerts conducted by Brett Mitchell at Severance Hall, and Caramoor for Over the Rainbow: The Songs of Harold Arlen conducted by Ted Sperling. Additional debuts include Mary Lou Williams’ Zodiac Suite with the Oakland Symphony, and Broadway Romance with the San Diego Symphony conducted by Rob Fisher.

Mikaela is a graduate of The Juilliard School.

Learn more at Mikaela-Bennett.com. 

LA Opera: Gerta / Angel 1 in Hildegard (2025, debut).

Praised for her “stylish elegance and intensity” (Wall Street Journal), “rising-star soprano” (OperaWire) Raha Mirzadegan is garnering international attention for her “stirring, soulful tones” (The Post & Courier). With a repertoire that spans medieval chant to cutting-edge premieres, Raha is known for her “straight tone [which] soars with opulent richness and resonance” (All Ears).

“Totally at ease in the Baroque style” (Seen and Heard International), Raha began the 2023/24 season debuting at Opera Philadelphia as the featured soprano in Karim Sulayman’s Baroque pastiche Unholy Wars, a role she originated at Spoleto Festival USA. An avid performer of new works, Raha appeared as Guinevere on the forthcoming premiere recording of Doug Balliett’s opera Gawain and the Green Knight, a role she has reprised in the annual New Year’s Eve performance of the piece. Other premieres and records include music by Mary Kouyoumdjian, Owen Burdick, Elliot Cole and Eric Pazdziora.

A devotee of sacred music, Raha was a soloist on the Clarion Choir’s Grammy-nominated recording of Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil (Pentatone, 2023), and regularly performs with Theotokos, a period-instrument band of Juilliard students and alumni. In October 2023, Raha performed the lead in a workshop of DRIFT, an opera by Alyssa Weinberg and J. Mae Barizo. To close the 2023/24 season, Raha was a standout soloist with Clarion, in their Ockeghem marathon and concert at the Met Cloisters.

For the 2024/25 season, Raha traveled to Thiré, France, performing Balliett’s newest works with members of Theotokos, as part of the French Ministry of Culture’s Odysée artist-in-residency program, hosted by William Christie and Les Arts Florissants. In March, Raha performed as the soprano soloist in the New York premiere of Balliett's St. Mark Passion. She also performed step-out solos in a three-on-a-part historical replication of Handel's final performance of Messiah with Hudson Baroque, under the direction of Owen Burdick. In April she was heard as a soloist in Bach's St. John Passion with Clarion. Raha then made her house and role debut as Sesto in Giulio Cesare with Ruckus at Hudson Hall, directed by R.B. Schlather.

Based in New York, Raha earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Maryland, where she studied with Gran Wilson.

Mirzadegan is the founder and director of Hudson Baroque, an organization which aims to provide soul-nourishing, and accessible concerts for all members of the regional community. In collaboration with award-winning, internationally acclaimed artists—players from Il Pomo d’Oro, Les Talens Lyriques, Holland Baroque, The English Concert, Pygmalion, Jupiter, Ruckus, Theotokos, and Les Arts Florissants, etc., students and graduates of the Juilliard415 program, and TECA fellows, as well as some of the finest vocalists on the early music scene, including current and past singers from Trinity Church, Wall Street, The Clarion Choir, Sequentia, and St. Thomas, Fifth Avenue—Hudson Baroque is where passion, virtuosity, and historically informed performance practice foster a culture of excellence, and goodwill.

Learn more at RahaMirzadegan.com. 

From: Beaumont, Texas. LA Opera: General in Judas Maccabaeus (2008); Clementia / Margravine von Stade / Angel 2 in Hildegard (2025).

Mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert has established herself as one of the preeminent interpreters of some of the brightest stars of new classical music. A true singing actress, she has received critical acclaim for her interpretations of both new and traditional repertoire in opera, concert, and chamber repertoire.  “Gaissert gave a dramatically powerful, vocally stunning portrait of a woman growing increasingly desperate and delusional from lack of contact with the outer world. Gaissert’s development of Loats’s personality was utterly believable, and she gave a virtuoso performance of this very challenging music” (Opera News on The Echo Drift). Gaissert is known for her warm tone, powerful stage presence, and impeccable musicianship and technical prowess. ”Mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert was impossible to ignore…..She has a pure, powerful and appealing voice and a forceful stage presence to match.” (Denver Post)

Recent performances include the Soprano in Marc Neikrug’s A Song by Mahler with the ARC Ensemble in Toronto, Linda Larson in Laura Kaminsky's Hometown to the World at Santa Fe Opera, the role of Georgia O’Keefe in Laura Kaminsky's Today It Rains with Opera Parallele and American Opera Projects, Sadie in Ricky Ian Gordon's Morning Star with On-Site Opera, creating the role of Walker Loats in Mikael Karlsson's The Echo Drift for American Opera Projects at the Prototype Festival, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with San Diego Opera, the role of Hannah After in Laura Kaminsky's As One with Atlanta Opera, American Opera Projects, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, New York City Opera, Opera Colorado, Opera Columbus, Opera Idaho, Opera Memphis and San Diego Opera. Recent concert engagements have included Beethoven 9th Symphony with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Symphony and Sarasota Orchestra, Berio's Folk Songs and Siegrune in Die Walkure with the Dallas Symphony and Berlioz's L’Enfance du Christ with the Orquesta Sinfónica y Coro RTVE conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya.

Upcoming engagements include Katharine Wright in Laura Kaminsky's Finding Wright for Dayton Opera and Judd Greenstein's A Marvelous Order at the Center for Performing Arts at PSU.

Previous engagements have included the General in Handel's Judas Maccabaeus with LA Opera under the baton of James Conlon, the title role in The Rape of Lucretia with the Aldeburgh Festival, Second Maid in Elektra at Cincinnati Opera, Mere Marie in Dialogues of the Carmelites with Des Moines Metro Opera, Maddalena in Rigoletto at the Lyrique en Mer Festival in Belle-Ile, the title role in Carmen with Opera Southwest and the Aspen Music Festival under the baton of Julius Rudel, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Opera Coeur D’Alene and Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus and Maddalena in Rigoletto with Sarasota Opera. At the Metropolitan Opera, Ms Gaissert has covered the Second Secretary in Nixon in China, Siegrune in Die Walkure and Margret in Wozzeck.

Ms Gaissert has taken part in world premieres by John Adams, Tom Cipullo, Mohammed Fairouz, Renee Favand-See, Yotam Haber, Martin Hennessy, Gabriel Kahane, Laura Kaminsky, Jessica Meyer, Mikael Karlsson, Gilda Lyons, Jorge Martin, Robert Paterson, Glen Roven and Richard Pearson Thomas.  Ms Gaissert’s debut album Home, comprised of world premieres written specifically for her, was released in 2021 to superb reviews and reached number one in the Billboard Classical Charts.

Learn more at BlytheGaissert.com. 

From: Beirut, Lebanon. LA Opera: Samie in Adoration (2025, debut); Volmar in Hildegard (2025).

Tenor Roy Hage is humbled to have grown from a kid in Beirut singing along with opera recordings in his room to drown out the sound of bombs to a man collaborating with those very artists who first inspired his love for the art form.

He is a multi-Grammy-nominated tenor who has performed over 70 operatic and symphonic works in eight languages with the world’s leading orchestras, music festivals, and opera companies.

Some of the ensembles Roy has performed with include the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, Teatro Signorelli, Aspen Music Festival, Chautauqua Music Festival, and Miami Music Festival.

Roy has worked with conductors of historic importance including Yannick Nezet-Seguin at the Metropolitan Opera, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Richard Bonynge, Sir Corrado Rovaris, Christofer Macatsoris, Caren Levine, George Manahan, Rossen Milanov, Xian Zhang, Stephen Lord, James Gaffigan, David Robertson, and Michael Christie.

Some of the 40+ roles Roy has performed include the title roles in The Tales of Hoffmann, Roméo et Juliette, The Rake’s Progress, Candide, La Clemenza di Tito, and Pelléas and Melisande in addition to the Duke (Rigoletto), Nemorino (L’Elisir d’Amore), Alfredo (La Traviata), Tamino (The Magic Flute), Des Grieux (Manon), Ruggero (La Rondine), Prunier (La Rondine), Judge Danforth (The Crucible), Jeník (The Bartered Bride), the Italian Singer (Capriccio), and Chevalier de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites). His performances have been broadcast on US and Lebanese television and radio.

A pioneer of non-traditional forms of vocal expression, Roy’s art consistently challenges expectations and pushes the boundaries of convention. One such example was an immersive adaptation of La Traviata at New York City’s famous cabaret, The Box, in which he performed the leading role of Alfredo alongside celebrated Metropolitan Opera soprano Inna Dukach and star baritone Paul La Rosa. Moreover, Roy created the role of Paul in Georgia Shreve’s rock opera Love Sick which premiered at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust in 2018, and the following year, produced and performed alongside Broadway veterans in Ms. Shreve’s latest musical-opera-play hybrid Dialogues of Travelers, also at National Sawdust. Most recently, Roy received unanimous acclaim performing the leading tenor role of Lensky in Eugene Onegin in Heartbeat Opera’s pared-down 100-minute version of the show directed by Dustin Wills.

Additionally, Roy recently captivated Bay Area audiences with his one-man-show, Finding My Voice, presented on the world-renowned Stanford Live concert series. Roy’s captivating storytelling skillfully weaved together melodies and anecdotes of his past, creating an intimate and immersive experience for the audience. The impact of Finding My Voice was profound, as evidenced by the resounding praise from Stanford Live subscribers: the show was hailed as the highlight of many seasons of the concert series, leaving a lasting impression on attendees. Through Finding My Voice, Roy showcased not only his remarkable talent as a performer but also his ability to bridge gaps and break barriers.

Roy has worked intimately on the development of major artistic projects with artists who have been awarded Pulitzer Prizes, Tony Awards, Grammy Awards, MacArthur Fellowships, Kennedy Center Honors, and the National Medal of Arts—including Bill T. Jones, Jennifer Higdon, Steven Stucky, Kevin Putts and Ann Hamilton—and has left his indelible mark on works that have become standard modern repertoire.

Roy won first prize in the WRTI Broadcast of the 2017 Giargiari Bel Canto Operatic Competition, highest score in the 2016 Mario Lanza Competition, and second prize in the Grand Concours de Chant Competition. Roy is humbled to have completed his operatic training at the top program for each of his respective degrees: Interlochen Arts Academy, Oberlin Conservatory, Yale University, and Curtis Institute of Music. Most recently, Roy, received his MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and was the sole business student chosen into the prestigious cohort of “Design Leaders” at Stanford’s Graduate School of Engineering (Hasso Plattner Institute of Design – d.school).

Learn more at RoyHage.com.

From: Overland Park, Kansas. LA Opera: Mechtild in Hildegard (2025, debut).

Tenor Patrick Bessenbacher most recently performed with the Florentine Opera as Acis in their new production of Acis and Galatea. He also recently sang with Seven Hills Chamber Festival as Lewis Danyers in their concert production of In Venice, Paul Scherer and Germaine Shames’ newest opera about love and inspiration, as well as singing the role of the Old Man in Menotti’s Labyrinth with Cambridge Chamber Society, and with Pacific Opera Project as Count Bandiera in Salieri’s La Scuola de’ Gelosi. 

Next, Patrick is excited to work with Catapult Opera on their new production of San Giovanni Battista by Stradella in the role of the Consigliere, which will be his New York City operatic debut. Patrick is also excited to join Beth Morrison Projects on their newest undertaking, Hildegard by Sarah Kirkland Snider, in the role of Mechthild, with performances at LA Opera and subsequently in New York.

Patrick spent the summer of 2024 in Vermont, performing the role of Tonio in Opera Company of Middlebury’s production of The Daughter of the Regiment and then at Marlboro Music Festival, performing various chamber music pieces.

Also recently, Patrick jumped in at West Bay Opera performing the role of Ministro in Corpus Evita, a Grammy-nominated work by Carlos Franzetti with libretto by José Luis Moscovich, as well as singing with Opera Birmingham, originating the role of Peter Fagan in the world premiere of Carla Lucero and Marianna Mott Newirth’s opera, Touch, portraying the life of Helen Keller. He also joined Opera San Jose performing the role of Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville.

During the 2022/23 season, Patrick was a Baumgartner studio artist with the Florentine Opera where he performed the roles of Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette and Ferrando in Così fan tutte: Remix. He also covered and stepped on for the final dress rehearsal and both weekend performances of The Barber of Seville as Count Almaviva, singing “beautifully … with poise, precision, great facility and finesse, and a sterling tenor sound … giving a performance that never crossed the footlights as a last-minute casting change” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

In the summer of 2022, Patrick was a Gerdine Young Artist at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. He was a cover and stepped in for four performances of Remendado in Carmen, among other cover and comprimario roles.

Patrick has also gained valuable experience at Seagle Music Festival as well as Marlboro Music Festival, where he discovered his affinity for vocal chamber music.

At the University of Colorado, Patrick earned his B.M. in vocal performance and studied with tenor Matthew Chellis. He performed many roles on the Macky stage, including Bénédict in Béatrice et Bénédict, George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, and Tony in West Side Story, among others. 

After CU, Patrick earned his M.M. in vocal arts from The Juilliard School. He studied with tenor William Burden and gained more invaluable performance experience, including Acis in Acis and Galatea, Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress, and Fenton in Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor, among others.

Learn more at PatrickBessenbacher.com.

From: Vidor, Texas. LA Opera: The Soldier in Soldier Songs (2018, debut); Tom in Adoration (2025); Abbot Cuno in Hildegard (2025).

Baritone David Adam Moore has garnered worldwide critical acclaim for his ability to breathe life into characters with a rare blend of power and vulnerability. He  performs regularly with the world’s most important opera houses and orchestras, including the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Carnegie Hall, the Salzburg Festival, Grand Théatre du Généve, Théâtre du Châtelet, and the BBC Symphony, with broadcast and recording credits including the BBC, Arte TV, PBS, NPR, Radio France, RAI, Innova, Erato and ORF. His diverse repertoire of over 60 principal roles includes classic characters such as Don Giovanni and Eugene Onegin, epic song cycles including Schubert’s Winterreise and Brahms’ Die Schöne Magelone, and contemporary figures such as Britten’s Billy Budd, Joseph DeRocher in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, Stanley Kowalski in Andre Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, and Prior Walter in Peter Eötvös’ Angels in America. Moore is a celebrated interpreter of contemporary music, and has created roles in world premieres for some of today’s most important composers, including Thomas Adès, Peter Eötvös and David T. Little.

Career highlights include Col. Alvaro Gomez in The Exterminating Angel by Thomas Adès at the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and the Salzburger Festspiele, where he originated the role with Adès; Horatio in Brett Dean’s Hamlet at the Metropolitan Opera; Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Teatro alla Scala; Carmina Burana at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s; Carmina Burana with the Jerusalem Symphony; Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire at Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, and Lyric Opera of Chicago; Prior Walter in Peter Eötvös’ Angels in America with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Neue Oper Wien; Joseph DeRocher in a new production of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking for Hungarian State Opera, with designs based on Moore’s documentary photography from Angola Prison; the title role in David T. Little’s monodrama Soldier Songs with LA Opera; Don Giovanni with Staatsoper Hannover and Nationaltheater Mannheim, Billy Budd with Israeli Opera and Pittsburgh Opera; Maximilian in Candide at Teatro alla Scala, Théâtre du Châtelet, and Orchard Hall Tokyo; Papageno in The Magic Flute at New York City Opera; Figaro in The Barber of Seville with Staatsoper Hannover and Seattle Opera; and Judy Fry in Oklahoma!   in a new production at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Other notable appearances include Moore’s staged, multimedia production of Schubert’s Winterreise at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Atlanta Opera, Portland Opera, National Sawdust NYC, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Anchorage Opera; Joseph DeRocher in Dead Man Walking with Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Des Moines Metro Opera, Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire with Virginia Opera; Prior Walter in Peter Eötvös’ Angels in America with MüPA Budapest, National Opera Wroclaw (Poland), and Fort Worth Opera; Eugene Onegin with the Atlanta Opera and Arizona Opera; Don Giovanni with Oper Kiel, Nashville Opera, and Chautauqua Opera; Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro with Palm Beach Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, and Festival Belle-Ile-en-Mer France; Carmina Burana with Israeli Opera, New Orleans Opera, and Festival Belle-Ile-en-Mer France; the title role in David T. Little’s Soldier Songs with San Diego Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Austin Opera, Atlas Theater Washington D.C., Le Poisson Rouge NYC, the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, and on a commercial recording for Innova Records that was short-listed for a Grammy nomination; Lucifer in the world premiere of Peter Eötvös’ Paradise Reloaded with Neue Oper Wien; Zurga in Les Pêcheurs des Perles at Seattle Opera; Ford in Falstaff at Arizona Opera; Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette with San Diego Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Utah Opera, and Palm Beach Opera; Lescaut in Massenet’s Manon at Israeli Opera; Papageno in The Magic Flute at Austin Opera; Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with Seattle Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Central City Opera, Utah Opera, and Arizona Opera; Marcello in La Boheme at Pittsburgh Opera; Silvio in Pagliacci for San Diego Opera and New Orleans Opera; Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale at Israeli Opera; Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas at Glimmerglass Opera and Time Warner Center NYC; Ned Keene in Peter Grimes at Israeli Opera; the title role in Kevin Puts’ The Manchurian Candidate at Austin Opera; Starbuck in Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick at Utah Opera; Jesus in Elgar’s The Apostles with the Netherlands Radio Symphony; Lord Rivers in Battistelli’s Richard III with Grand Théatre du Généve; Don Carlos in Dargomizhsky's The Stone Guest at Avery Fischer Hall with the American Symphony Orchestra; Lt. Audebert in Puts’ Silent Night with Austin Opera; the Pilot in Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince with Tulsa Opera; and Escamillo in Carmen for the Lismore Festival Ireland.

Learn more at DavidAdamMoore.com.

From: Seoul, South Korea. LA Opera: Fong Dun Shung in On Gold Mountain (2022, debut); Otto in Hildegard (2025).

Paul Chwe MinChul An is a Korean-American multi-disciplinary bass singer. Critically acclaimed by the New York Times, Opera News, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, and others, he has originated over 20 operatic, theatrical, film and concert roles, in addition to performing over 60 roles in the canon in a career spanning two decades. Paul followed the advice of his teacher W. Stephen Smith at Juilliard, who told him to study and perform everything under the sun while achieving a specialist’s facility and depth in each discipline and genre. As an operatic basso cantante, he has performed works from Monteverdi, Mozart, Verdi and Puccini to Meredith Monk with local, regional, and national companies such as LA Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Nashville Opera, Orlando Opera, Prototype Festival, Long Beach Opera, and Opera Santa Barbara.

As an oratorio soloist and chamber musician, he has performed the works of early to contemporary masters with such groups as the London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Ensemble VIII, and Tenet in venues ranging from school gyms to Carnegie Hall. Although MinChul does not consider himself fixed to one discipline or genre, he particularly revels in the collaborative process of originating roles. He is lucky to call giants like Meredith Monk, Kamala Sankaram, Ellen Reid, Yuval Sharon, James Darrah, Julian Wachner, Beth Morrison, Kristin Marting, and Alex Gedeon, his friends and collaborators.

Adjacent to the stage, Paul Chwe MinChul An is working to carve out space for underrepresented artists. As a consultant to various performing arts organizations, board member of Overtone Industries, as well as founding member of the Queens Voice Lab, he is joining other beautiful and powerful voices to decolonize, build, and raise up artist communities.