Addendum (6-21-22): Tenor Anthony León has subsequently been added to the roster of young artists for the 2022/23 season.
Five singers and two pianists/coaches will join three returning members in the coming season
(Los Angeles) June 6, 2022 — LA Opera has announced the seven performers who will be joining the company this fall as new members of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program for the 2022/23 season.
Five of them are singers: mezzo-soprano Deepa Johnny, mezzo-soprano Madeleine Lyon, mezzo-soprano Sarah Saturnino, bass-baritone Alan Williams and baritone Ryan Wolfe. These artists were chosen from almost 700 applicants, 300 live auditions and, ultimately, 25 final candidates. The finalists auditioned in April in Los Angeles for a panel that included Sebastian Paul and Marybelle Musco President and CEO Christopher Koelsch; Susan Graham, the program's Artistic Advisor; Joshua Winograde, Senior Director of Artistic Programs; Stephen King, head of vocal instruction for the program; Nino Sanikidze, head coach for the program; and Russell Thomas, the company's Artist in Residence.
Also joining the program will be two pianists/coaches, Manuel Arellano and Lucas Nogara, chosen by special auditions for James Conlon, the company's Richard Seaver Music Director.
Three current members of the program will return for the 2022/23 season: soprano Alaysha Fox, soprano Tiffany Townsend and pianist/coach Nicholas Roehler.
"Our young artists represent the future of opera, and it gives me enormous pleasure to welcome these extraordinarily talented young performers to our family," said Christopher Koelsch. "The Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program has earned a reputation as one of opera's premier training grounds and I can't wait to introduce them to our audiences in the season to come."
Members of the program will be featured in LA Opera's mainstage productions and other performances throughout the season.
Meet the 2022/23 Young ArtistsPianist/coach Manuel Arellano has worked throughout the United States as a collaborative pianist, vocal coach, and musical director and has appeared in concert throughout Europe, Cuba, New Zealand and Australia. He earned a master’s degree in collaborative piano with Martin Katz and a doctorate in opera coaching at the University of Texas at Austin. He has been a full-time vocal coach at El Camino College and has served as a coaching fellow at Music Academy of the West and at the Aspen Opera Theater.
Soprano Alaysha Fox joined the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program in 2019. She made her mainstage debut in May as the High Priestess in Aida, after earlier appearances in The Death of Orpheus, The Anonymous Lover and The Three Women of Jerusalem. She recently performed Giorgetta in Il Tabarro with Opera Santa Barbara, a Bridesmaid in The Marriage of Figaro with Santa Fe Opera and Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen with the LA Philharmonic.
Canadian mezzo-soprano Deepa Johnny, born in Muscat, Oman, is a recent graduate of Indiana University. She made her Carnegie Hall debut at Renée Fleming’s SongStudio in January, then performed Suzuki in Act III of Madama Butterfly with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. This summer she will perform Meg Page in Falstaff with the Aspen Music Festival, opposite Bryn Terfel in the title role.
Mezzo-soprano Madeleine Lyon earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, where her roles included Zerlina in Don Giovanni, the title role in a filmed production of Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges and Taller Zegner in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up. Her solo work in oratorio and concert includes performances of the Mozart Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and selections from the Verdi Requiem.
Pianist/coach Lucas Nogar, a native of São Paulo, Brazil, is a recent graduate of Indiana University, with a masters of music and a performance diploma in collaborative piano. He has collaborated with IU Opera Theatre, Carol Vaness’s Opera Workshop, the São Paulo Opera Company, Tel Aviv Summer Opera Festival, and Concours Musical International de Montréal, and he has been a fellow at the prestigious Ravinia Steans Music Institute.
Pianist/coach Nicholas Roehler joined the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program in 2020. He helped to prepare the concert performance of Oedipus Rex in 2021 and all of the mainstage productions of the 2021/22 season. He was pianist and coach for the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s If I Were You with Merola Opera Program, The Marriage of Figaro with Opera in the Ozarks and University of Michigan Opera, Candide with University of Michigan, Rigoletto with Berkshire Opera Festival, and Il Tabarro with Bronx Opera.
Mezzo-soprano Sarah Saturnino has recently performed Maddalena in Rigoletto with Opera San Antonio, Marcellina in The Marriage of Figaro and Carmen in The Tragedy of Carmen with Shreveport Opera, and Vera Boronel in The Consul with Baltimore Concert Opera. She earned her bachelor's degree at UCLA and her master's degree at the Yale University School of Music. She has been an apprentice artist with Santa Fe Opera, a resident artist with Shreveport Opera and a young artist with the Chautauqua Opera.
Soprano Tiffany Townsend joined the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program in 2019. She made her mainstage debut this season as Ines in Il Trovatore, after performing the leading role of Léontine in an online production of The Anonymous Lover. This year, she was the featured soloist in George Walker's Lilacs with Opera Philadelphia, Strauss's Four Last Songs with the Artosphere Festival Orchestra and Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the National Orchestral Institute + Festival. This summer, she will be a Filene Artist with Wolf Trap Opera.
Bass-baritone Alan Williams recently received his specialist and master's degrees in voice performance from the University of Michigan. He has performed in concerts with Detroit Opera and performed works by Harry T. Burleigh at the Oxford Lieder Festival in England. This summer, he will join Des Moines Metro Opera apprentice program, appearing as Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and covering the role of the Lawyer in Porgy and Bess.
Baritone Ryan Wolfe recently performed the Count in The Marriage of Figaro and three roles in Galileo Galilei by Phillip Glass at the University of Cincinnati – CCM, where he earned his master's degree and is working toward his artist diploma. He appeared with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in Ravel's L’enfant et les sortilèges. This year, he covered Papageno in The Magic Flute at Des Moines Metro Opera, where he has been an apprentice artist, and was a soloist in Carmina Burana with the Santa Cruz Symphony.
About the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist ProgramThe Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program supports the future of opera by discovering and developing the talents of highly gifted young artists to become the stars of tomorrow. Since the company’s inception, LA Opera has been committed to nurturing a resident ensemble of young singers who would benefit from long-term professional development. The Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, which builds on the success of the company’s earlier, highly respected Resident Artist Program, has the goal of developing the talents of exceptionally gifted young artists to become performers of potentially international stature, whose first loyalty would be to LA Opera. Launched in 2006, the program boasts some of the finest leadership of any post-graduate artist training program in the country and, in turn, attracts some of the world’s most promising young singers to participate in the program's unique process of refining their artistry. With the renowned mezzo-soprano Susan Graham beginning her tenure as Artistic Advisor in 2017, this felicitous relationship of mentor and mentee has gained additional depth, strength and momentum.
The Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program is generously underwritten by the Colburn Foundation, Eugene and Marilyn Stein, and Richard and Lenore Wayne. Special support for young artist stipends is graciously provided by The Lenore and Richard Wayne Young Artist Fellowship. Additional gifts from donors to the Young Artist Circle. The program was created with funding from the Flora L. Thornton Foundation.
To learn more about the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program and its members, click here.
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