La Boheme

In 2016 she was a second place winner of Operalia. Recent engagements include her debut with Opera de Paris as Micaela in Carmen, Mimi at Opera Köln and Welsh National Opera, and Adalgisa in Norma for her debut with the Dallas Opera, for which she was awarded the 2017 Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year. She made her professional debut as Musetta in La Boheme with Michigan Opera Theatre and debuted the role of Leonora in Il Trovatore in Hong Kong. She also sang Verdi’s Requiem with Teatro Municipal de Santiago, and Fiora in L’Amore dei Tre Re with the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, where she graduated in 2016.

The 2017/18 season included a flurry of debuts: the title role of Maria di Rohan with Washington Concert Opera, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte with Seattle Opera, Violetta in La Traviata with Opera Köln, her debut as Nedda in Pagliacci with Utah Opera, and Desdemona in Otello in Savonlinna and the Bolshoi in Moscow. Future engagements include Giulietta in The Tales of Hoffmann with Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Elisabetta in Don Carlo with Grange Park Opera and for her debut with the New National Theater in Tokyo, a return to L’Opera de Paris, her debut in Lisbon as Violetta in La Traviata, and her debut as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin. She will also make her debut in concert at the Royal Concertgebuow and return to Cologne for Il Trovatore.

He returned in 2011 as Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte and in 2014 as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor. Performances of the 2018/19 season include his role debut as Don José in Carmen in Bangkok conducted by Zubin Mehta and in the title role of Faust for Opera Australia, his stage debut as Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera at the Teatro Regio of Parma, Alfredo in La Traviata at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Teatro San Carlo of Naples; Alfredo in La Traviata and Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore at the Vienna State Opera, the title role of Werther at the New National Theatre Tokyo, the title role of La Damnation de Faust at the Wiener Konzerthaus and the Birmingham Symphony Hall, the Duke in Rigoletto at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and the Philharmonie of Luxembourg, Verdi's Requiem in Turin and Mozart's Requiem with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti.

Erica Petrocelli was a member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program from 2018 to 2020. Her additional company appearances include Annina in La Traviata (2019), the First Lady in The Magic Flute (2019) and both Thetis and Eurydice in Stefano Landi's The Death of Orpheus (2020).

She recently completed her tenure as a studio member with Opernhaus Zürich. Her engagements for the 2022/23 season include guest appearances with Opernhaus Zürich as Musetta in La Bohème and the First Lady in The Magic Flute, Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1: Jeremiah with James Conlon and the Baltimore Symphony, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni with the Ravinia Festival, also with James Conlon.

In the 2021/22 season, Ms. Petrocelli performed Pamina in The Magic Flute at Opera Theater of St. Louis, and also joined the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for Mozart’s Requiem. As a Studio member in Zürich, she performed Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Delia in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims, she also covered the title role in Arabella and Stella in The Tales of Hoffmann.

In the 2019/20 season, she made her principal debut at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, as Micaëla in Carmen.

Since the 2017/18 season, he has been an ensemble member of the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater. His appearances in Oldenburg for the 2022/23 season include Alberich in Das Rheingold, Wotan in Die Walküre, the Wanderer in Siegfried, Gunther in Götterdämmerung, the title role of Mendelsohn's Elijah, Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana, Tonio in Pagliacci and Herr von Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier.

In 2014, he made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, as a soloist in Beethoven's Choral Fantasy. In 2015, he performed several roles in the U.S. premiere of Unsuk Chin's Alice in Wonderland with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. That same year, he performed Figaro in Giovanni Paisiello's 1782 The Barber of Seville, under the baton of James Conlon with the USC Thornton School of Music Orchestra. In 2016, he was featured as Delirio in the U.S. premiere of Florian Gassmann's 1769 comedy L'Opera Seria at Wolf Trap Opera. In 2014, he made his role debut as Escamillo in Carmen with the Aspen Opera Theater. 

He is a first prize winner of the Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, winner of the zarzuela prize at Operalia, and a Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions grand prize winner. He is a member of the ensemble at Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe where he appears during the 2018/19 season in new productions of Der Freischütz (Kaspar) and The Tales of Hoffmann (Villains), as well as revivals of Simon Boccanegra (Paolo) and Anna Bolena (Enrico VIII). In his first season, he sang in new productions of Anna Bolena, Simon Boccanegra, Melisso in Alcina, and as Frère Laurent in Berlioz’ Roméo et Juliette.

Recently, Mr. Brownlee made his Metropolitan Opera debut as the First Soldier in Salome conducted by Johannes Debus.

His numerous appearances with LA Opera include Nourabad in The Pearl Fishers, the Speaker in The Magic Flute, the Bonze in Madama Butterfly and Captain Gardiner in Moby-Dick, all conducted by James Conlon. He also sang Colline in La Bohème conducted by Gustavo Dudamel at LA Opera, and he debuted at Atlanta Opera in the same role. He debuted at Teatro de São Carlos in Lisbon as Escamillo in Calixto Bieto’s production of Carmen. He has been seen at Santa Fe Opera singing the First Soldier in Salome and as Don Fernando in a new Stephen Wadsworth production of Fidelio conducted by Harry Bicket.

He is the 2021 Los Angeles District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

In the summer of 2022, he performs the title role of Don Giovanni and Ford in Falstaff (opposite Bryn Terfel in the title role) with Aspen Opera Theater. His engagements for the 2022/23 season include a recital with pianist Sandra Leary at SUNY at Fredonia's Rosch Recital Hall, a role debut as Dr. Buchanan in Lee Hoiby's Summer and Smoke at Hillman Opera, and a role debut as Papageno in The Magic Flute with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by JoAnn Falletta.

In the summer of 2021, he returned to Santa Fe Opera as Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 2019, he made his role debut as Escamillo in Carmen with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He also appeared in Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony and in the U.S. premiere of Korngold's Das Wunder der Heliane with the Bard Music Festival.

Other recent appearances include the First Officer and Croupier in Candide at Santa Fe Opera; the Cobbler in Philip Glass's The Juniper Tree at Wolf Trap Opera; Nardo in La Finta Giardiniera, Professor Bhaer in Mark Adamo's Little Women, Curio in Giulio Cesare and Betto in Gianni Schicchi with the Shepherd School Opera; the Reverend Olin Blitch in Susannah and Dandini in La Cenerentola with the Hillman Opera; the title role in Don Giovanni and Sam in Trouble in Tahiti with the WNY Chamber Orchestra.

He received his master’s degree in May 2018 from Rice University, where he studied with Stephen King. In 2018, he was a finalist in Houston Grand Opera's Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias; in the summer of 2018, he joined the Apprentice Singer Program at Santa Fe Opera, where he covered the title role of J. Robert Oppenheimer in the new production John Adams' Doctor Atomic, directed by the librettist Peter Sellars. In the summer of 2017, he joined the Wolf Trap Opera Studio, covering the role of Pacuvio in Rossini's La Pietra del Paragone and singing in Four of a Kind, a recital with Steven Blier and Joseph Li.

Learn more at MichaelJHawkBaritone.com.

Patrick Blackwell continues to expand his impressive repertoire in opera, oratorio and musical theater. His career has seen him engaged by many of the leading opera companies and orchestras of the U.S. and Europe, including appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Festival, Munich Philharmonic, Lyric Opera of Chicago and LA Opera. He trained at the Juilliard School and began his career as a young artist with the Santa Fe Opera, Houston Opera Studio, the Merola Opera Program with San Francisco Opera, Opera Music Theatre International with Jerome Hines and Aspen Opera.

In July 2023, he appears with the Opera Festival of Chicago in An Italian Soirée and as Leone in Verdi's Attila. His appearances for the 2023/24 season include a return to LA Opera as Baron Douphol in La Traviata and a debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Don Fernando in Fidelio.

He has appeared in concert with the Munich Philharmonic in Porgy and Bess conducted by Lorin Maazel and in the title role of Porgy on a European tour with NY Harlem Productions. His association with this piece is extensive, having appeared as Porgy and other roles with Utah Opera, the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, Fresno Grand Opera, the Castleton Festival, conducted by Lorin Maazel, and on tour throughout the United States.

On the concert platform, Mr. Blackwell is highly sought after as the bass soloist in Verdi’s Requiem. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in the world premiere of Earnestine Rodgers Robinson’s Crucifixion in addition to performing works by Mozart at the Arts Festival in North Korea, the Fauré Requiem with the Fresno Philharmonic and Osride in Mose in Egitto by Rossini with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center.

In the United States, Mr. Blackwell’s operatic engagements have included Leporello in Don Giovanni, Colline in La Boheme, Zuniga in Carmen for New York City Opera, First Nazarene in Salome and Bartolo in The Marriage of Figaro for Utah Opera, Sarastro in The Magic Flute for Fresno Grand Opera, Ferrando in Il Trovatore for Knoxville Opera, the King in Aïda and Melitone in La Forza del Destino for New Jersey State Opera and Tom in Un Ballo in Maschera for New Orleans Opera.

With Chicago Lyric Opera Mr. Blackwell’s roles have included Burnah in Amistad, Henry Davis in Street Scene, Cal in Regina and the Duke of Verona in Roméo et Juliette. 

Recent engagements include Zuniga in Carmen with San Diego Opera and Méphistophélès in Faust with Valley Opera & Performing Arts. 

Since his debut that year with La Traviata, he has conducted 67 different operas and more than 450 performances to date with the company.

(Click here to visit James Conlon's Corner, where you can find essays, videos and conversations he has created especially for LA Opera.)

Internationally recognized as one of today’s most versatile and respected conductors, James Conlon has cultivated a vast symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire. Since his 1974 debut with the New York Philharmonic, he has conducted virtually every major American and European symphony orchestra, and at many of the world’s leading opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera. Through worldwide touring, an extensive discography and filmography, numerous writings, television appearances, and guest speaking engagements, Conlon is one of classical music’s most recognized and prolific figures.

Conlon has been Principal Conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Torino, Italy (2016–20); Principal Conductor of the Paris Opera (1995–2004); General Music Director of the City of Cologne, Germany (1989–2003), simultaneously leading the Gürzenich Orchestra and the Cologne Opera; and Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (1983–91). Conlon was Music Director of the Ravinia Festival (2005–15), summer home of the Chicago Symphony, and is now Music Director Laureate of the Cincinnati May Festival―the oldest choral festival in the United States―where he was Music Director for 37 years (1979–2016), marking one of the longest tenures of any director of an American classical music institution. He also served as Artistic Advisor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (2021–2023). He has conducted over 270 performances at the Metropolitan Opera since his 1976 debut. He has also conducted at leading opera houses and festivals such as the Vienna State Opera, Salzburg Festival, La Scala, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Mariinsky Theatre, Covent Garden, Chicago Lyric Opera, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

As Music Director of LA Opera, Conlon has led more operas than any other conductor in company history. Highlights of his LA Opera tenure include the company’s first Ring cycle; initiating the groundbreaking Recovered Voices series, an ongoing commitment to staging masterpieces of 20th-century European opera suppressed by the Third Reich; spearheading Britten 100/LA, a city-wide celebration honoring the composer’s centennial; and conducting the West Coast premiere of The Anonymous Lover by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a prominent Black composer in 18th-century France.

Conlon opens his 18th season at LA Opera conducting Mozart’s Don Giovanni directed by Kasper Holten. His groundbreaking Recovered Voices initiative, dedicated to rescuing works from historical neglect or censorship, returns to the company with a double-bill featuring the company premiere of William Grant Still’s Highway 1, USA in a new production directed by Kaneza Schaal, and a revival of Zemlinsky’s The Dwarf (Der Zwerg)—an opera that launched the Recovered Voices initiative in 2008—directed by Darko Tresnjak. He also conducts Verdi’s La Traviata—the first opera he led as Music Director of LA Opera—continuing his multi-season focus on the works of the great Italian composer. To date, Conlon has conducted more than 500 international performances of Verdi’s repertoire. Conlon closes his LA Opera season honoring the 100th anniversary of Puccini’s death, conducting Turandot, Puccini’s final opera composed in 1924.

Additional highlights of his season include returning to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to lead Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and conducting Wagner’s Lohengrin at Deutsche Oper Berlin. He also returns to Switzerland’s Bern Symphony, where he is Principal Guest Conductor, to lead three programs including Schubert and Beethoven symphonies, a celebratory New Years Day concert, and a season finale with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5.

Conlon is dedicated to bringing composers silenced by the Nazi regime to more widespread attention, often programming this lesser-known repertoire throughout Europe and North America. In 1999 he received the Vienna-based Zemlinsky Prize for his work bringing the composer’s music to a broader audience; in 2013 he was awarded the Roger E. Joseph Prize at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion for his efforts to eradicate racial and religious prejudice and discrimination; and in 2007 he received the Crystal Globe Award from the Anti-Defamation League. His work on behalf of silenced composers led to the creation of The OREL Foundation, an invaluable resource on the topic for music lovers, students, musicians, and scholars; the Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices at the Colburn School; and a recent virtual TEDx Talk titled “Resurrecting Forbidden Music.”

Conlon is deeply invested in the role of music in civic life and the human experience. At LA Opera, his popular pre-performance talks blend musicology, literary studies, history, and social sciences to discuss the enduring power and relevance of opera and classical music. He also frequently collaborates with universities, museums, and other cultural institutions and works with scholars, practitioners, and community members across disciplines. He frequently appears throughout the country as a speaker on a variety of cultural and educational topics.

Conlon’s extensive discography and filmography spans the Bridge, Capriccio, Decca, EMI, Erato, and Sony Classical labels. His recordings of LA Opera productions have received four Grammy Awards, two respectively for John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles and for Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Additional highlights include an ECHO Klassik Award-winning recording cycle of operas and orchestral works by Alexander Zemlinsky; a CD/DVD release of works by Viktor Ullmann, which won the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik; and the world-premiere recording of Liszt’s oratorio St. Stanislaus.

Conlon holds four honorary doctorates, was one of the first five recipients of the Opera News Awards, and was distinguished by the New York Public Library as a Library Lion. He received a 2023 Cross of Honor for Science and Art (Österreichische Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst) from the Republic of Austria, and was named Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana by Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic. He was also named Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture and, in 2002, personally accepted France’s highest honor, the Legion d’Honneur, from then-President of the French Republic Jacques Chirac.

Learn more at JamesConlon.com.

In 2014, he was voted "Opera Director of the Year" at the International Opera Awards in London and at the same awards in 2015, the Komische Oper was voted 'Opera Company of the Year." His most recent work at the Komische Oper Berlin has included The Magic Flute (co-directed with 1927), which has been seen by over a quarter of a million people on three continents, the Monteverdi trilogy, Ball at the Savoy, West Side Story, Moses und Aron, The Tales of Hoffmann, Eugene Onegin, and his production of Castor and Pollux (co-produced by English National Opera) which won the Laurence Olivier Award for best opera production in 2012.

IHe made his debuts at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden with The Nose, and at the Bayreuth Festival with Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. He has directed opera productions for the Bavarian State Opera (Die Schweigsame Frau and The Fiery Angel), Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Saul), Oper Frankfurt (Dido and Aeneas/Bluebeard's Castle and Carmen), Dutch National Opera (Armide), Oper Zurich (La Fanciulla del West and Macbeth) and LA Opera (Dido and Aeneas/Bluebeard's Castle and The Magic Flute). He has also presented his productions at Teatro Real Madrid, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Vienna Staatsoper, English National Opera, Oper Graz, Theater Basel, Aalto Theater Essen, Staatsoper Hannover, Deutsches Theater Berlin and Schauspielhaus Frankfurt and is a regular guest at the Edinburgh International Festival.

He studied set and costume design at the Academy for Fine Arts in Stuttgart. Professor: Jürgen Rose. He has designed for companies including the Kammerspiele Munich, Schaubühne Berlin, Deutsches Theater Berlin, Schauspielhaus Hamburg, TAT Frankfurt, Komische Oper Berlin, Opernhaus Zürich, Royal Opera Stockholm, Royal Dramatic Theatre Stockholm, Aarhus Teater, Betty Nansen Teatret Copenhagen, Sydney Theatre Company, Salzburg Festival, Vienna Festwochen, Edinburgh festival and Avignon festival. He has collaborated with directors including Barrie Kosky, Christian Spuck, Thomas Ostermeier, Sasha Waltz, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Christian Stückl, Stefan Larsson, Tomas Alfredson and Christian Lollike. Since 2004, he has been creating, directing and designing his own music-theater performances in collaboration with Joanna Dudley. His projects for 2019 include designing scenery for Orpheus in the Underworld at the Salzburg Festival, The Little Match Girl for Ballett Opera Zurich, and Prince Igor for the Opera National de Paris. (didwiszus.blogspot.com)

After graduating in 2003, she worked as an assistant costume designer at Schauspielhaus Bochum, Schauspielhaus and Opernhaus Zürich and the Salzburg Festival. Since 2008 she has been working as a freelance costume designer in close collaboration with stage director Herbert Fritsch at Centraltheater Leipzig, Theater Bremen, Thalia Theater Hamburg, Schauspiel Köln, Residenztheater München, Royal Danish Theatre Copenhagen, Opernhaus Zürich, Burgtheater Wien and Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz Berlin.

She has been named Costume Designer of the Year by Theater heute, a leading German magazine, on four different occasions: for her designs for Nora at Theater Oberhausen and Die Spanische Fliege, Ohne Titel Nr.1 and derdiemann at Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz Berlin.

In 2013, she was named Costume Designer of the Year by the magazine Opernwelt for her designs for Frau Luna at Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz Berlin as well as Peter Eötvös’ Drei Schwestern at Opernhaus Zürich.

She has worked with Australian director Benedict Andrews at the Young Vic in London, Royal Danish Opera, Komische Oper Berlin, Dutch National Opera and English National Opera. For the director Antú Romero Nunes she has designed costumes for plays at the Burgtheater in Vienna and the Thalia Theater in Hamburg. She has also designed costumes for productions directed by Niklaus Helbling (Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, Burgtheater Vienna, Staatstheater Oldenburg), Matthias Hartmann (Burgtheater Vienna, Salzburger Festspiele, Opernhaus Zürich), Stefan Pucher (Deutsches Theater Berlin), Jan Bosse (Bayerische Staatsoper) and Barrie Kosky (Komische Oper Berlin). (VictoriaBehr.com)

He studied photography and painting, through which he soon discovered a passion for lighting design. In the late 1990s he started working at the Rossini Opera Festival. In 2008, he began his frequent collaborations with director Damiano Michieletto with Michael Daugherty's opera Jackie O in Lugo. He worked with the same director at Teatro San Carlo in Naples for The Abduction from the Seraglio and at Rossini Opera Festival he created lighting design for La Scala di Seta and Sigismondo. In 2011 he continued with the same director with L'Elisir d’amore in Valencia, The Greek Passion at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, and Cosi fan tutte at the New National Theatre in Tokyo. He has also worked with directors such as Daniele Abbado, Francesco Micheli, Henning Brockhaus, Pippo Delbono, Franco Ripa di Meana, Yannis Kokkos and others. Recent productions include Il Trittico (Theater an der Wien), Don Carlo (Vienna State Opera), Cavalleria Rusticana (Teatro San Carlo, Naples), Nabucco (Royal Opera House Covent Garden), Un Ballo in Maschera (La Scala) and many others. For the 2014/15 season he created the lighting design for Il Viaggio a Reims (De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam), the play Divine Parole by Ramón del Valle Inclan (Piccolo Teatro di Milano) and Guillaume Tell at Royal Opera House Covent Garden, all three productions with director Damiano Michieletto. During the 2015/16 season, he created the lighting design for a new production of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci that was named as Best Opera Production at the Laurence Olivier Awards. Other recent productions include The Magic Flute at Teatro de la Fenice, Otello at Theater an der Wien, Il Trittico at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and The Threepenny Opera at Piccolo Teatro di Milano. He won the Knight of Illumination Award in 2015 for Guillaume Tell at Covent Garden.

Hailed for his adventurous and bold artistic leadership, and for eliciting technically precise and expressive performances from musicians, Grammy Award-winner Grant Gershon celebrated his 20th anniversary as Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale in the 2021/22 season. The Los Angeles Times has said the Master Chorale "has become the most exciting chorus in the country under Grant Gershon,” a reflection on both his programming and performances. 
 
During his tenure, Gershon has led more than 200 Master Chorale performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall in programs encompassing a wide range of choral music, from the early pillars of the repertoire to contemporary compositions. He has led world premiere performances of major works by John Adams, Louis Andriessen, Eve Beglarian, Billy Childs, Gabriela Lena Frank, Ricky Ian Gordon, Shawn Kirchner, David Lang, Morten Lauridsen, Steve Reich, Ellen Reid, Christopher Rouse, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Chinary Ung, among many others.  

Gershon is committed to increasing representation in the choral repertoire, and in 2020 he announced that the Master Chorale will reserve at least 50% of each future season for works by composers from historically excluded groups in classical music. 
 
In July 2019, Gershon and the Master Chorale opened the famed Salzburg Festival with Lagrime di San Pietro, directed by Peter Sellars. The Salzburg performances received standing ovations and rave reviews from such outlets as the Süddeutsche Zeitung, which called Lagrime “painfully beautiful” (Schmerzliche schön). Gershon and the Master Chorale debuted the production in Los Angeles in 2016 and began touring the world with it in 2018. In its review of the premiere of Lagrime, the Los Angeles Times noted that the production “is a major accomplishment for the Master Chorale, which sang and acted brilliantly. It is also a major accomplishment for music history.”

He was the Resident Conductor of LA Opera from 2012 to 2022, and in this capacity conducted the West Coast premiere of Philip Glass’s Satyagraha in November 2018. He made his acclaimed debut with the company with La Traviata in 2009 and has subsequently conducted productions including Il Postino, Madama Butterfly, Carmen, Florencia en el Amazonas, Wonderful Town, The Tales of Hoffmann and The Pearl Fishers. In 2017, he made his San Francisco Opera debut conducting the world premiere of John Adams’s Girls of the Golden West directed by Peter Sellars, who also wrote the libretto, and made his Dutch National Opera debut with the same opera in March 2019. Gershon and Adams have an enduring friendship and professional relationship which began 27 years ago in Los Angeles when Gershon played keyboards in the pit for Nixon in China at LA Opera. Since then, Gershon has led the world premiere performances of Adams’ theater piece I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky, premiered his two-piano piece Hallelujah Junction (with Gloria Cheng), and conducted performances of Harmonium, The Gospel According to the Other Mary, El Niño, The Chairman Dances, and choruses from The Death of Klinghoffer. 

In New York, Gershon has appeared at Carnegie Hall and at the historic Trinity Wall Street, and he has performed on the Great Performers series at Lincoln Center and the Making Music series at Zankel Hall. Other major appearances include performances at the Ravinia, Aspen, Edinburgh, Helsinki, Salzburg, and Vienna festivals, the South American premiere of LA Opera’s production of Il Postino in Chile, and performances with the Baltimore Symphony and the Coro e Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Torino in Turin, Italy. He has worked closely with numerous conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, James Conlon, Gustavo Dudamel, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Simon Rattle, and his mentor, Esa-Pekka Salonen. 
 
His discography includes the 2022 Grammy Award-winning recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as well as Grammy–nominated recordings of Sweeney Todd (New York Philharmonic Special Editions) and Ligeti’s Grand Macabre (Sony Classical); six commercial CDs with the Master Chorale, including Glass-Salonen (RCM), You Are (Variations) (Nonesuch), Daniel Variations (Nonesuch), A Good Understanding (Decca), Miserere (Decca), and the national anthems (Cantaloupe Music); and two live-performance albums, the Master Chorale’s 50th Season Celebration recording and Festival of Carols. He has also led the Master Chorale in performances for several major motion pictures soundtracks, including, at the request of John Williams, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. Gershon was named Outstanding Alumnus of the Thornton School of Music in 2002 and received the USC Alumni Merit Award in 2017.  

Grammy Award winner Fernando Malvar‐Ruiz is serving his fourth season as Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, having commenced his tenure in 2018. He is an internationally regarded choral conductor, clinician, and educator who has worked with children’s and youth choirs his entire career. From 2004 to 2017, he was the Artistic Director of the American Boychoir, leading the ensemble in over 150 performances and up to five national and international tours annually. He has prepared choirs for appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, LA Opera, San Francisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra, among others. He has worked with such conductors as Gustavo Dudamel, Marin Alsop, Pierre Boulez, Yannik Nézet-Seguin, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Valery Gergiev, as well as artists ranging from cellist Yo‐Yo Ma, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, pop legends Billie Eilish, Beyoncé Knowles, Sir Paul McCartney, Josh Groban, and opera singers Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman. He conducted the American Boychoir on six recordings, led its performances on the Academy Awards and a 9/11 memorial service broadcast globally on CNN. Mr. Malvar-Ruiz was the music director on the film Hear My Song (Boychoir), starring Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Debra Winger, and Josh Lucas.

His discography includes the 2022 Grammy Award-winning recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Mr. Malvar‐Ruiz previously served as the American Boychoir’s Associate Music Director from 2000 to 2004 under James Litton. An expert in the adolescent voice, he has guest conducted children’s and youth choirs around the globe. He has a master’s degree in choral conducting from Ohio State University and completed the coursework toward a doctoral degree in choral music from the University of Illinois.