Four new arrivals join five returning members for the coming season

(Los Angeles) April 22, 2026 — LA Opera has announced the members of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program for the 2026/27 season.

Three of the new members joining the program are singers and one is a pianist. Soprano Alexis Seminario, tenor Samuel Wallace and baritone Mario Manzo were chosen from 857 initial applicants. Preliminary auditions took place in New York, Cincinnati and Los Angeles. The finalists auditioned in Los Angeles earlier this year for a panel that included Music Director James Conlon; Paul Hopper, Senior Director of Artistic Planning; Blair Salter, head coach for the program; and Stephen King, head of vocal instruction for the program. Pianist Muse Ye was chosen through auditions for Paul Hopper and Blair Salter.

Five current members of the program will return for the coming season: sopranos Emily Damasco and Gabrielle Turgeon; mezzo-soprano Katie Trigg; bass Vinícius Costa; and pianist Gabrielė Žemaitytė. Members of the program will be featured in LA Opera's mainstage productions and other performances throughout the season.

“The Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program continues to stand as one of the most esteemed incubators of operatic talent in the country, and this season's cohort is a remarkable reflection of that legacy,” said Christopher Koelsch. “Selected from an extraordinarily competitive pool of applicants, our four new members will join five returning artists whose artistry and dedication continue to deepen in compelling ways. Together, they form a vibrant and richly promising ensemble. Within the program’s uniquely supportive and creatively charged environment, these artists are given the opportunity not only to refine their craft, but to be truly galvanized by the collaborative spirit that defines LA Opera. We are proud to champion their development and eagerly anticipate the singular contributions they will bring to the season ahead.”

Meet the Young Artists
LA Opera audiences have seen Brazilian bass Vinícius Costa as the Imperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly,    the Duke of Verona in Roméo et Juliette, José Tripaldi in Ainadamar, Count Ceprano in Rigoletto,   Aye in Akhnaten and Pistol in Falstaff. He will return next season as Zuniga in Carmen, both James and Martin in Candide,   the Mandarin in Turandot and Antonio in The Marriage of Figaro. This summer, he will perform Count Capulet in Roméo et Juliette as a Gaddes Festival Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, He has been a Renée Fleming Artist at the Aspen Music Festival, where he performed Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro and Victor Fyodorov in Jimmy Lopez's Bel Canto.

Soprano Emily Damasco made her company debut earlier this year as Beketaten in Akhnaten and will return as Pagagena in The Magic Flute later this spring. Her LA Opera roles in the 2026/27 season include Frasquita in Carmen and Paquette in Candide. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees at the Curtis Institute of Music, where her roles included the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and Fox Gold-Stripe in The Cunning Little Vixen. She has performed with conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra as Fiordiligi in excerpts from Così fan tutte and as the Marschallin in the final trio from Der Rosenkavalier.

In his debut season with LA Opera, baritone Mario Manzo will be seen as Le Dancaïre in Carmen, Maximillian in Candide, the High Priest in Nabucco, and Ping in Turandot. Recent engagements include performances with Palm Beach Opera, where he appeared as Schaunard in La Bohème and Count Monterone in Rigoletto, and covered Zurga in The Pearl Fishers. He previously trained as a Studio Artist with Wolf Trap Opera, performing Wagner in Faust and covering the title role in Don Giovanni and Marcello in La Bohème. He earned his master’s degree from Rice University, where he performed the title role in Don Giovanni, and holds a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University.

New to LA Opera, soprano Alexis Seminario will make her company debut as Anna in Nabucco. This summer, she will return to Santa Fe Opera to cover the title role in Madama Butterfly and make her house debut as the Matron in Lili Elbe. She currently is a Studio Artist with the Atlanta Opera, performing Annina in La Traviata and Félicie/Adélaïde in La Belle et la Bête, and covering the roles of the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro and Liù in Turandot. In 2024, she was a Renée Fleming Artist at the Aspen Music Festival, performing Gertrude in Hansel and Gretel. She has trained with Palm Beach Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Santa Fe Opera, and holds degrees from Bard College Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music.

A native of New Zealand, mezzo-soprano Katie Trigg made her company debut earlier this year as Maketaten in Akhnaten and will return as the Second Lady in The Magic Flute. Future company appearances include Mercédès in Carmen and both the Baroness and Vandedendur in Candide. She completed her Master of Music at Curtis Institute of Music, where her roles included Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro. She has performed Flora in La Traviata with the Auckland Philharmonia, Verdi's Requiem with Auckland Choral and Mozart's Requiem with the Binghamton Philharmonic, and was a 2023 Studio Artist with Wolf Trap Opera.

A 2026 National Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition, Canadian-American soprano Gabrielle Turgeon made her company debut in 2024 as Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, returning as the Voice of the Fountain in Ainadamar and both Countess Ceprano and the Page in Rigoletto. She will be featured as Susanna in excerpts from The Marriage of Figaro at the April 24 James Conlon Farewell Concert and will return next season as Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro. Additional future appearances include a house debut at Opera de Québec and Pamina in The Magic Flute with Pacific Opera Victoria.

In his debut season with LA Opera, Brazilian tenor Samuel Wallace will perform roles including Le Remendado in Carmen, Cacambo in Candide, Abdallo in Nabucco, and Don Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro. He is currently training with the Internationales Opernstudio at Opernhaus Zürich, appearing there this season in Arabella, Un Ballo in Maschera, and Manon. A prizewinner in several international competitions, he earned second place in both the Joaquina Lapinha and Natércia Lopes Vocal Competitions, and was a semifinalist in the 2025 Paris Opera Competition and a finalist in Brazil’s Maria Callas Vocal Competition. Earlier this year, he trained with the Houston Grand Opera’s NOVUM program.

Pianist Muse Ye joins the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program for the 2026/27 season. A collaborative artist with a wide-ranging background, she has appeared at Carnegie Hall’s SongStudio, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Aspen Music Festival, and the Queensland Art Song Festival, among others. Raised in New Zealand, she holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano from the University of Michigan, where her work included interdisciplinary recital projects exploring themes of womanhood through music by Jake Heggie and Gabriel Fauré. She previously earned degrees in Singapore and at Ithaca College.

Lithuanian pianist Gabrielė Žemaitytė joined LA Opera this season, with her first assignment serving on the music staff for La Bohème. From 2023 to 2025, she was a Collaborative Piano Fellow at Bard College Conservatory of Music. In 2024, she participated as a collaborative piano fellow at the Manetti Shrem Opera Program, studying with John Churchwell and Martin Katz. In 2025, she served as a vocal piano fellow at the Lehrer Vocal Institute at the Music Academy of the West, where she was on the music staff for Don Giovanni. This summer, she will be a Coaching Fellow at Wolf Trap Opera, where she will be on the music staff for Eugene Onegin.

About the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program
Inaugurated during the 2006/07 season, the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program is designed to support the future of opera by discovering and developing the talents of exceptionally gifted young artists to become performers of potentially international stature. LA Opera uses its resources to provide extensive training for singers and pianists who are transitioning from academic training to a professional career in opera. A two-year paid residency, artists are given opportunities to further develop skills through mainstage roles, as principal artists' covers, and in dedicated young artist concerts and productions.

Singers who have graduated the program have gone on to debuts at prestigious opera houses around the world, and many have also returned to LA Opera to sing leading roles. Pianists have gone on to become conductors, members of music staff and heads of music staff, and faculty or staff at institutions such as San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, English National Opera, Atlanta Opera, Florentine Opera, Manhattan School of Music, and Santa Fe Opera.

More information about the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program is available at LAOpera.org/young-artists.

About LA Opera
Los Angeles is a city of enormous diversity and creativity, and LA Opera is dedicated to reflecting that vibrancy by redefining what opera can be. Through imaginative new productions, world premiere commissions, and inventive performances that preserve foundational works while making them feel fresh and compelling, LA Opera has become one of America’s most exciting and ambitious opera companies.

In addition to its mainstage performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the company explores unusual repertoire each season through the LA Opera Off Grand initiative, featuring performances in a variety of venues throughout Los Angeles. The LA Opera Connects initiative offers a robust variety of educational programming and community engagement offerings that reaches people throughout every corner of Los Angeles County. Learn more at LAOpera.org.

LA Opera Media Contact
Marlene Meraz
Director of Communications
mmeraz@laopera.org
213.972.7554

LA Opera's Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program generously underwritten by  
Colburn Foundation  
Eugene and Marilyn Stein  

Additional generous underwriting support provided by 
Terri and Jerry Kohl 
Barbara Augusta Teichert
The Rafael and Luisa De Marchena-Huyke Foundation

With special support for young artist stipends graciously provided by   

The Lenore and Richard Wayne Young Artist Fellowship 

Additional support provided by 
The Jules Brenner Trust
LA Opera’s Young Artist Circle  
Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program created with funding from the
Flora L. Thornton Foundation  

LA Opera is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the greater Los Angeles community.