Tosca

The 2022 winner of the prestigious Richard Tucker Award, Angel Blue has emerged in recent seasons as one of the most important sopranos before the public today. On September 23, 2019, she opened the Metropolitan Opera’s 2019/20 season as Bess in a new production of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. These performances followed her internationally praised French opera debut and role debut as Tosca at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in July of 2019. She has also been praised for performances in many other theaters, such as the Vienna State Opera, Semperoper Dresden, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Theater an der Wien, Oper Frankfurt and San Diego Opera. She begins the 2021/22 season with her return to the Metropolitan Opera, making her debut in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones as Destiny/Loneliness/Greta and reprising the role of Bess. The soprano will also make her house debut at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich as Mimi in La Bohème, return to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Violetta in La Traviata, and appear for the first time with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

Puccini’s La Bohème has played an especially prominent role in the development of Angel Blue’s career. She made her debut at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan as Musetta. As Mimi, she has won special international acclaim. Ms. Blue first sang the role at the English National Opera in London in 2014 and has since sung Mimi for her debuts at the Palau de Les Arts in Valencia in 2015, at the Vienna State Opera in 2016, and with the Canadian Opera Company in 2019. Mimi was also the role of her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2017, and it is as Mimi that she will debut this season at the Hamburg State Opera. In Germany, she has already been heard as Mimi at the Semperoper Dresden. Other recent operatic engagements have included her debuts as Liu in Turandot at the San Diego Opera in 2018, as Marguerite in Faust at the Portland Opera in 2018 and as Bess in Porgy and Bess in Seattle in the same year. She debuted in Baden Baden as Elena in Mefistofele in 2016 and sang her first Violetta in La Traviata at the Seattle Opera in 2017.

Also active on the concert platform, Ms. Blue has appeared in recital and in concert in over 35 countries. Important orchestral engagements have included Porgy and Bess at the Berliner Philharmoniker with Sir Simon Rattle, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Münchener Philharmoniker under the baton of Zubin Mehta, and Verdi’s Requiem in Sydney, Australia with Oleg Caetani. She has also sung Strauss’s Four Last Songs and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Peri in Schumann’s Das Paradis und die Peri with the Accademia Santa Cecilla in Rome, conducted by Daniele Gatti, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Cincinnati Symphony under Music Director Louis Langree. Ms. Blue debuted in recital at the Ravinia Festival in August of 2019.

Angel Blue was raised in California and completed her musical studies at UCLA. She was a member of LA Opera's Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program from 2007 to 2010, after which she moved to Europe to begin her international career at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Spain in 2009 and at the Verbier Festival in 2010.

Learn more at AngelJoyBlue.com.

Regarded as one of the most accomplished singers on the international opera stage today, the American tenor Gregory Kunde appears regularly at the most prestigious opera houses around the world. His appearances for the 2021/22 season include the title role of Otello at the Vienna State Opera.

Highlights in the 2019/20 season include the title role in Otello at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Calaf in Turandot at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Jean de Leyden in Le Prophète at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the title role in Don Carlos for Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège and Manrico in Il Trovatore at the Wiener Staatsoper. In concert, he will perform Verdi's Requiem with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Alan Gilbert.

Recent highlights include Samson in Samson et Dalila at the Metropolitan Opera, title role in Otello for Opéra national de Paris and Opéra de Monte-Carlo, title role in Andrea Chénier and Radames in Aida at the Wiener Staatsoper, Calaf in Turandot at the Teatro Real, Madrid, Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut in concert for Dallas Opera, Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino at the Semperoper Dresden, title role in Peter Grimes at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Valencia, Radames in Aida at the Teatro Real, Madrid, and a return to the podium to conduct The Barber of Seville at the Teatro La Fenice.

On the concert platform, recent highlights include Verdi's Requiem and Calaf in Turandot with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta, Das Lied von der Erde at the BBC Proms, Verdi's Requiem in Bilbao, the title role in Otello at the Cincinnati May Festival, title role in Peter Grimes with Sir Antonio Pappano at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Faust in The Damnation of Faust in concert at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam with Charles Dutoit.

Acclaimed throughout his earlier career for his performances in French and Italian bel canto roles, Kunde has now established himself as a leading exponent of many of the Verdi roles and other such dramatic repertoire. Since his critically acclaimed debut as Verdi's Otello at La Fenice in 2012, he has performed this signature role in Valencia, Genoa, Salerno, Florence, Turin, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Seoul, and São Paulo. Since moving into this repertoire, Kunde earned the unique distinction of being the only tenor in recorded history to perform both Rossini's Otello and Verdi's Otello in the same season (2014/15 and 2015/16).

Kunde’s discography includes his solo album Vincerò! (Universal Music Group), Il Trovatore at Royal Opera House London (Opus Arte DVD), Les Troyens at the Théâtre du Châtelet (Opus Arte DVD, Gramophone magazine’s ‘DVD of the Year’), Benvenuto Cellini (Virgin Classics CD, Gramophone’s ‘Opera Recording of the Year’), Benvenuto Cellini with Sir Colin Davis (LSO Live CD), and Verdi's Otello from the Palazzo Ducale in Venice (Unitel DVD).

Learn more at GregoryKunde.com.

American bass-baritone Ryan McKinny is “one of the finest singers of his generation” with a “voice that drips with gold” (Opera News) and has become known for his “powerful presence” (The Independent).

When many of the world’s opera and concert venues closed due to the global pandemic, Ryan McKinny adapted the beauty of his art form to the film screen. At the beginning of quarantine, he founded Keep the Music Going Productions, where he and a group of renowned artists shared videos both live and recorded to raise funds for the fantastic relief organizations that provide financial support to artists during this challenging time.

Through his production company, he has since collaborated with the Washington National Opera to release Monuments of Hope starring himself and mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, where they performed in front of D.C.’s most iconic monuments. He created a short film, Glimmerglass Lieder, where he showcased Schubert Lieder against the stunning backdrop of Otsego County and the Glimmerglass Festival campus. 

McKinny also produced a segment for the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s For the Love of the Lyric virtual concert, featuring star sopranos Renee Fleming and Julia Bullock.

In collaboration with Houston Grand Opera, McKinny co-directed and starred in a digital production of David T. Little and Royce Vavrek’s one-act opera Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera, in association with Austin Opera. He also directed Lee Hoiby’s one-woman opera Bon Appétit based on an episode of Julia Child’s TV program, The French Chef, starring the renowned mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton. Future engagements include returns to the Metropolitan Opera and the Houston Grand Opera in leading roles.

Appearances for the 2021/22 season include a return to the Metropolitan Opera as Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro, and a debut with Seattle Opera in the same role.

In the shortened 2019/20 season, McKinny made his role and house debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Joseph de Rocher in Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s Dead Man Walking, in a new production by Leonard Foglia. Further orchestral engagements of the season included two appearances with the San Francisco Symphony: their opening night performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and a double bill of Michael Tilson Thomas’ Rilke Songs and Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn. With Houston’s Da Camera, Mr. McKinny performed Poulenc’s Le Bal Masqué, and he appeared in joint recital in “Beyond the Aria” at Chicago’s Harris Theater.

In the 2018/19 season, Ryan McKinny made two important role debuts: the title role in Don Giovanni at Houston Grand Opera and Wotan in Das Rheingold at Opéra de Montréal. He returned to the Dutch National Opera for the European premiere of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West in a production by Peter Sellars, the same role in which he made his San Francisco Opera debut the previous season. Mr. McKinny also sang Leonard Bernstein’s SongFest with Marin Alsop and the Juilliard Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the title role in The Flying Dutchman with Edo de Waart and the Milwaukee Symphony, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He returned to the Bayreuth Festival in the summer of 2019 to reprise his acclaimed performances of Amfortas in Parsifal.

Mr. McKinny has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera (Biterolf in Tannhäuser, Speaker in The Magic Flute, Kothner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Lieutenant Ratcliffe in Billy Budd for his debut); Bayreuth Festival (Amfortas in Parsifal); Dutch National Opera (debut in Pierre Audi’s production of Parsifal); Santa Fe Opera (Oppenheimer in Doctor Atomic and Jochanaan in Salome); Washington National Opera (Donner and Gunther in Der Ring des Nibelungen, and Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro); Staatstheater Wiesbaden (Mandryka in a new production of Arabella); English National Opera (Tiridate in David Alden’s production of Radamisto); Semperoper Dresden (Escamillo in Carmen); Hamburg State Opera (Carmen and The Flying Dutchman); Deutsche Oper Berlin (Tristan und Isolde with Donald Runnicles, Peter in Hänsel und Gretel, Carmen, the Friar in a new production of Don Carlo, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and as bass soloist in a staged version of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem); Deutsche Oper am Rhein (role debut as Amfortas in Parsifal); Teatro Colòn in Buenos Aires (Parsifal); Hawaii Opera Theater (The Flying Dutchman and his role debut in Eugene Onegin); Oper Leipzig (Hercules in Peter Konwitschny’s new production of Alceste); Theater Basel (Nathanael in the world premiere Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini’s Der Sandmann in a production by Christof Loy); Canadian Opera Company (Melot in Peter Sellars’s production of Tristan und Isolde under Johannes Debus); and the Glimmerglass Festival (his role debut in The Flying Dutchman and Billy Bigelow in Carousel). An alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Mr. McKinny has performed a number of roles on the mainstage, including Gunther in Götterdämmerung, Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde, the title role in Rigoletto, Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro, as well as roles in Aida, Hänsel und Gretel, Don Giovanni, Carmen, Béatrice et Bénédict, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lohengrin, Un Ballo in Maschera, Billy Budd, and Simon Boccanegra.

On the concert stage, Mr. McKinny sang the world premiere of Shostakovich’s uncompleted opera Orango under Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic with stage direction by Peter Sellars, which he reprised in London with the London Philharmonia (available on Deutsche Grammophon). He also performed as Richard Nixon in John Adams’ Nixon in China with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by the composer. With Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, he performed Arias and Barcarolles with Isabel Leonard, as well as Mass with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel, both to celebrate the 100th birthday of Leonard Bernstein. He has been heard with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons at Tanglewood as Donner in Das Rheingold; Cleveland Orchestra and National Symphony in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9; Rossini’s Stabat Mater at the Grant Park Music Festival; Britten’s War Requiem with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 (“Symphony of a Thousand”) and Wotan’s Farewell from Act 3 of Die Walküre at the Aspen Music Festival with Robert Spano. He has performed the bass-baritone roles in Oedipus Rex for his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen in his final concerts as music director with staging by Peter Sellars. Mr. McKinny was heard in a special recital of Schubert’s Die Winterreise during the Sydney Festival, which was broadcast on ABC, Australia’s public radio and has been heard at the Aspen Music Festival for a recital recreated on a program initially performed by Jerome Hines in June 1949.

While a student at the Juilliard School, Mr. McKinny made his Carnegie Hall debut in Handel’s Messiah with the Musica Sacra Orchestra. At the Aspen Music Festival, he sang his first performance of Winterreise accompanied on the piano by Richard Bado. At the Wolf Trap Opera Company, Mr. McKinny has sung Barone di Kelbar in Verdi’s Un giorno di regno, Le Gouverneur in Rossini’s Le comte Ory and Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro.

Mr. McKinny was the first recipient of the Birgit Nilsson Prize for singing Wagner at the Operalia Competition held at Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the Kirsten Flagstad/George London Award from the George London Foundation. He also represented the United States in the 2007 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, where he was a finalist in the Rosenblatt Recital Song Prize. He was a Grand Finalist in the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and is featured in the film The Audition released by Decca on DVD.

Learn more at RyanMcKinny.com.

Hailed by Opera News for his “comedic high jinks” and “first-rate singing,” Philip Cokorinos was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1985. He went on to make his Met debut during the 1987/88 season. Since then, he appeared in more than 400 performances of 40 operas at the Met, including “Live from The Met” telecasts of Don Giovanni; the world premiere of The Ghosts of Versailles; and the Met premieres of Sly, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Gambler, and Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk, to name a few. He appeared many times in their productions of the standard repertoire including Tosca, La Bohème, The Girl of the Golden West, La Traviata, Adriana Lecouvreur, La Rondine, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Macbeth, Manon, Don Carlo, Tosca, The Barber of Seville, Manon Lescaut, and The Marriage of Figaro, under the baton of Maestro James Levine. His recent appearances at this esteemed house include several Met Live in HD broadcasts including Manon, The Girl of the Golden West, The Nose, Werther, Manon Lescaut, The Marriage of Figaro, La Bohème and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. 

In the 2021/22 season, his Metropolitan Opera appearances include the Wigmaker in Ariadne auf Naxos. In the 2022/23 season, his appearances there include Benoit/Alcindoro in La Bohème.

Mr. Cokorinos recently performed as the Second Nazarene in Salome with the Spoleto Festival USA and as the Grandfather in the U.S. premiere of Martinů’s Julietta with American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

Elsewhere in recent seasons, he performed the title role in Don Pasquale with Opera Santa Barbara and Anchorage Opera; performed the roles of Archibaldo in L’Amore dei Tre Re and the Priest in La Campana Sommersa and debuted the role of Riolobo in Florencia en el Amazonas, all with New York City Opera; sang Daland in The Flying Dutchman with Lyric Opera of Kansas City; and added Swallow in Peter Grimes to his many roles with Chautauqua Opera, which include Méphistophélès in Faust, Oroveso in Norma, the Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen, and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor. With Opera Colorado, he sang Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola and the Sacristan in Tosca; with the Spoleto Festival USA, Coley in Flora and Capellio in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi; and with Central City Opera, Don Marco in The Saint of Bleecker Street, Pandolfe in Cendrillon, and his most frequently performed role: Leporello in Don Giovanni.

Additional North American engagements include Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette with Opera Carolina and Nashville Opera; Rocco in Fidelio with Palm Beach Opera; and Timur in Turandot with Florida Grand Opera. Canadian appearances include Banquo in Macbeth with Edmonton Opera and Basilio in The Barber of Seville with Calgary Opera and Opera Lyra Ottawa; Don Alfonso in Cosí fan tutte with Atlanta Opera, and multiple productions with Glimmerglass Opera, including Il Matrimonio Segreto, Le comte Ory, The Barber of Seville, and La Finta Giardiniera.

On the concert stage, Mr. Cokorinos’ notable symphonic appearances include Haydn’s Creation and Händel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall, and Herod in Berlioz’ L’Enfance du Christ telecast with NHK Symphony in Tokyo. He appeared in concert with the Minnesota Orchestra; Cincinnati May Festival; Spoleto Festival USA; Spokane Symphony; The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; Jacksonville Symphony; The Little Orchestra Society of New York; and in several performances with Opera Orchestra of New York including Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, Raimondo in Wagner’s Rienzi, Rochefort in Anna Bolena, Astarote in Armida, Cardinal de Brogni in La Juive, the Prefect in Linda di Chamounix, Capellio in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, and Sarastro in The Magic Flute, staged in the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

His discography includes two works of Hector Berlioz with the Montreal Symphony under Charles Dutoit: Herod in L’Enfance du Christ and Wagner in Huit Scenes de Faust, both released on DECCA. He can also be heard on the world-première recording of Stephen Paulus’ oratorio To Be Certain of the Dawn with the Minnesota Orchestra under Osmo Vanska, and the Grammy Award-winning recording of Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles with LA Opera.

Grammy Award-winning bass Wei Wu trained at the People’s University of China, Beijing, before continuing his education at the University of Colorado at Boulder, which this year bestowed upon him the Kalpana Chawla Outstanding Recent Graduate Award.

Mr. Wu’s 2021/22 season began at Bard Summerscape in a role debut as Allan in Chausson's Le roi Arthus. He then joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera to cover the role of Timur in Turandot.  Other engagements include appearing with New Orleans Opera as Hunding in the first act of Die Walküre, and returning to Opera Philadelphia as Sparafucile in Rigoletto. The season also features the rescheduled tour of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs with Austin Opera and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, where he reprises the role of Kobun. Future seasons include his return to Opera Philadelphia.

For the COVID-19 impacted 2020/21 season, his original engagements included the Inspector in the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Woman with Eyes Closed with Opera Philadelphia (postponed), his role debut as Gremin in Eugene Onegin in a return to Minnesota Opera (cancelled), and Ferrando in Il Trovatore with Portland Opera in his company debut (cancelled). He was also scheduled to return to the role of Kobun in the touring production of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs with Austin Opera, Atlanta Opera, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City (all postponed). In concert, he planned to debut with the Grand Rapids Symphony as the Bass Soloist for Mozart’s Requiem (postponed).

Mr. Wu’s original engagements for the COVID-19 shortened 2019/20 season featured company debuts with Opera Philadelphia as the Bonze in Madama Butterfly (postponed) and with Pensacola Opera as Ferrando in Il Trovatore (cancelled). He returned to Washington National Opera as Sarastro in The Magic Flute and Lodovico in Otello (both performed), NCPA Beijing as the Four Villains in The Tales of Hoffmann (performed), Pittsburgh Symphony as Rocco in Fidelio (performed), and appeared with the PROTOTYPE Festival as the Nephew in Garrett Fisher's Blood Moon (performed).

In the previous season, Mr. Wu returned to Washington National Opera as the Sacristan in Tosca, sang the role of Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Maryland Lyric Opera, and debuted with Minnesota Opera as Arnold “Chick” Gandil in the world premiere of Joel Puckett’s The Fix. With NCPA Beijing he appeared as the King in Aida, and he appeared in concert with The Orchestra Now for Verdi’s Requiem.

In the 2017/18 season, Mr. Wu sang Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville with Washington National Opera, appeared in concert with the West Virginia Symphony for Verdi’s Requiem, and sang the Bonze in Madama Butterfly with The Princeton Festival.

The bass’s performances in the 2016/17 season included creating the role of Kobun in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs in his debut with Santa Fe Opera, Timur in Turandot with Pittsburgh Opera and Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville with NCPA Beijing, and he covered Gualtiero Walton in I Puritani for the Metropolitan Opera. On the concert stage, he joined the Kansas City Symphony and Choral Arts DC for the Mozart Requiem, and appeared with Washington Concert Opera as Phanuel in Hériodade.

Mr. Wu’s 2015/16 season included engagements singing the Old Hebrew in Samson et Dalila at the NCPA Beijing, Bonze in Madama Butterfly with North Carolina Opera in his company debut, Father Trulove in The Rake’s Progress with Pittsburgh Opera, and the Ghost of Nino in Washington Concert Opera’s production of Semimirade. In his final year as a Cafritz Young Artist of Washington National Opera, his role assignments included covering the role of Zuniga in Carmen, and Wilcox in the world premiere of Luna Pearl Woolf's Better Gods.

In the 2014/15 season, he appeared as Colline in La Bohème, the King in The Little Prince, Javelinot in Dialogues of the Carmelites, covered the Captain in Florencia en el Amazonas, and sang Mr. Shaw in the world premiere Penny. He made his debut with Washington Concert Opera in Guntram under the baton of Antony Walker, and joined the Glyndebourne Festival to cover Osmin in The Abduction from the Seraglio. Mr. Wu also made his Alice Tully Hall debut singing in concert with performers from China’s I Sing Festival, and debuted with NCPA Beijing as the Four Villains in The Tales of Hoffmann under director Francesca Zambello.

In his first season with Washington National Opera, Mr. Wu has made his debut in the world premiere production of The Lion, The Unicorn and Me as the Inn Keeper, Lizard, Ox and The Shepherd, and he also appeared in Breaking, part of the American Opera World Chinese Initiative. He has also appeared in The Magic Flute as the Second Armored Man at the Kennedy Center.

A native of China, the bass first came to the United States as a young artist covering the title role in the world premiere of Guo Wenjing's Poet Li Bai at Central City Opera in 2007. He also served as the lead cover of Li Bai throughout the production’s subsequent tour in Rome, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Denver and Los Angeles. While a student at University of Colorado, Wei Wu performed roles including:  Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro (University of Colorado), Colline in La Bohème (Colorado Springs Philharmonic), Ferrando in Il Trovatore and Tom in Un Ballo in Maschera (China National Opera), and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte (Opera Arkansas).

Mr. Wu is a regional finalist and district special award winner (Rocky Mountain Region) for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition in 2010 and 2012. He was also the winner of the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition in 2011 and 2012, and placed third in the 5^th Taiwan Vocal Competition. He is featured as Kobun on the cast recording of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, which received the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.

Mr. Wu received his B.M. in Vocal Performance from the People’s University of China, Beijing, and received his Performance Certificate and M.M. in Voice Performance at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Zachary James, a 2022 Grammy nominee described as a "true stage animal" by Opera News, is an international opera, concert and cabaret singer, stage and screen actor and recording artist known for his “huge, robust bass” which “resonates with force” (Bach Track), “tremendous power and presence” (The Arts Desk, London) and “intrinsically beautiful”, “cavernous bass” with “oomph and range” (Opera News). Zach was named as the Broadway World 2010-2020 Vocalist and Performer of the Decade, the 2019 Breakout Opera Artist of the Year by Verismo magazine, the Most Innovative Opera Singer of 2019 by The Classical Post and was identified as an industry leader and accepted an invitation to become and official ambassador for Opera America.

His appearances for 2022 and beyond include the Immigration Officer in Jonathan Dove's Flight at Dallas Opera, the title role in Sweeney Todd with Opera Omaha, Fafner in Das Rheingold with Nashville Opera, Amenhotep III in Akhnaten at the Metropolitan Opera, and the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance with the Cincinnati Opera.

Zach started his career on Broadway and made his entrance into the opera world creating the role of Abraham Lincoln in the world premiere of Philip Glass’s opera The Perfect American at the Teatro Real in Madrid, a role he reprised for London’s English National Opera and Australia’s Opera Queensland and the Brisbane Festival.

A winner of the Lotte Lenya Competition, Zach has been engaged by London’s English National Opera (Amenhotep III in the Olivier Award-winning production of Akhnaten, Abraham Lincoln in The Perfect American), Spain’s Teatro Real and Australia’s Opera Queensland (Abraham Lincoln), LA Opera (Amenhotep III), Opera Philadelphia (Terry in the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Breaking the Waves), Des Moines Metro Opera (Claggart in the Emmy Award-winning broadcast production of Billy Budd, Vodnik in Rusalka), Arizona Opera (Fafner in Das Rheingold), Fort Worth Opera (the Ghost in Mark Adamo’s Avow), Opera Roanaoke (Olin Blitch in Susannah, Osmin in The Abduction from the Seraglio, Alidoro in La Cenerentola, Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd), Opera Ithaca (Bluebeard in Bluebeard’s Castle, the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, the Commendatore in Don Giovanni), Shreveport Opera (the Pirate King), Anchorage Opera (Pooh-Bah in The Mikado), Union Avenue Opera (the title role of The Mikado), Schlossoper Haldenstein, Switzerland (Sparafucile in Rigoletto), Teatro Citta della Pieve (Oberon in the world premiere of Kristin Hevner’s Il Sogno), Central City Opera (the Commendatore), Ash Lawn Opera (the Bonze in Madama Butterfly) and Knoxville Opera (the Bonze, Gideon March in Little Women, Joe in The Most Happy Fella), Phoenicia International Festival of Voice (Howard in Do Not Go Gentle), Prototype Festival NYC (Señor del Norte in La Reina), Metropolis Opera Project (Oberon in the USA premiere of Il Sogno), Chutzpah Festival (Rebbe in A Blessing on the Moon), American Lyric Theatre (Mr. Beauregard in The Golden Ticket) and Illuminarts Miami (bass Soloist in The Little Matchgirl Passion). 

His debuts in 2018 include the role of Frank Maurrant in Street Scene with Virginia Opera, Zaccaria in Nabucco with Union Avenue Opera, Fafner in Das Rheingold with Arizona Opera, the Ghost in Avow with Fort Worth Opera and more. In 2019 Zach returned to English National Opera for Akhnaten, made his Nashville Opera debut as the Four Villains in The Tales of Hoffmann and returned to Des Moines Metro Opera to play the Doctor in Wozzeck. Zach made his Metropolitan Opera debut in their 2019/2020 season reprising the role of Amenhotep III in Akhnaten and returned to Opera Philadelphia to play the Cook in The Love For Three Oranges. Cancelled or postponed productions due to the ongoing Covid-19 global pandemic include Zach's Minnesota Opera debut in the world premiere of Edward Tulane, a Florentine Opera debut as Banquo in Macbeth, Beethove's Symphony No. 9 with the Cape Symphony and Southern New Jersey Philharmonic and returns to Des Moines Metro Opera to sing Jupiter in Platée and Virginia Opera for The Pirates of Penzance.

As a Broadway actor, Zach created the role of Lurch in the original Broadway cast of The Addams Family, Thomas Hassinger in the Tony Award winning revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center, and sang Handel’s Messiah in the 2007 National Theatre of London Broadway transfer of Coram Boy. In addition to originating in three Broadway shows, Zach played Off-Broadway as Pasquale in The Most Happy Fella and Jo-Jo in Irma la Douce both with Encores! at New York City Center. He has performed with theater companies throughout the United States in roles including the title role of Sweeney Todd, Miles Gloriosus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, the Monster in Young Frankenstein, Billy in Carousel, Rapunzel’s Prince in Into The Woods, Abner in Li’l Abner, Squash in Victor, Victoria and Petr in The Toymaker at theaters including the Ogunquit Playhouse, Bucks County Playhouse, York Theatre, Theatre by the Sea, Pocono Playhouse, the Kitchen Theatre, Westport Country Playhouse, and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Zach has appeared on TV as Carl on NBC's 30 Rock opposite Steve Martin and Tina Fey, as well as on Succession on HBO, Saturday Night Live on NBC, Murphy Brown on CBS, on the 2010 Tony Awards live from Radio City Music Hall, PBS Great Performances, Live from Lincoln Center, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and on film as Ballion in The Gift.

Zach's weekly talk show, What Happened Was, launched on TDO Network in early 2021 and celebrates the best of Broadway, opera and beyond with an all-star lineup of guests. A Florida native, Zach is a graduate of the Musical Theatre program at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, where he was recently awarded the Outstanding Alumni Award. Additional studies include Florida State University, University of Tennessee Knoxville and the Goethe Institut in Berlin.

Zach’s concert engagements include solo performances at Carnegie Hall, NYC’s Birdland, Don’t Tell Mama, Medicine Show and Joe’s Pub, Chicago’s Gorilla Tango, Noce Jazz Club in Des Moines, Civic Morning Musicals in Syracuse and performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Action in West Side Story, bass soloist in Bernstein’s Mass), NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo (Action in West Side Story), the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Alan Gilbert (Sweeney Todd), NYC Ballet (Brahms' Liebeslieder Walzer), American Symphony Orchestra (a Kurt Weill Celebration), Symphony of the Mountains (Colline in La Bohème), MasterVoices NYC (Samuel in The Pirates of Penzance) and Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (Buff in The Impresario). Zach's solo show about his time on the stages of NYC, Zachary James on Broadway, has been seen in Florida, Iowa, Alaska, Hawaii, New York and Pennsylvania and professionally filmed for digital release. The show won Zach both Vocalist of the Decade and Performer of the Decade in BroadwayWorld's 2020 Regional Awards. 

Learn more at ZachJames.com.

Oksana Lyniv was assistant to the chief conductor of the Lviv National Academy Opera and Ballet Theatre before becoming permanent guest conductor of the Leopolis Chamber Symphony Orchestra in 2003. In 2004 she was awarded third prize at the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition Bamberg. From 2005 to 2009, she completed her postgraduate and then master class studies at the Dresden University of Music. From 2008 to 2013, she was deputy chief conductor at the Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.

From the 2013/2014 season, Oksana Lyniv was assistant to the General Music Director Kirill Petrenko at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. At that house she conducted Boris Blacher's Die Flut, Mark-Anthony Turnage's Greek and Hauke Berheide's Mauerschau as well as La Clemenza di Tito, Le Comte Ory, La Traviata, Die Fledermaus, Albert Herring, Lucia di Lammermoor, Ariadne auf Naxos and Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.

In 2017 she made her debut at the Teatro del Liceu Barcelona with a new production of The Flying Dutchman.

From 2017 to 2020 she was chief conductor of the Graz Opera and the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra, where she conducted numerous productions (including Eugene Onegin, Salome, Don Carlo and Il Viaggio a Reims, among others) and presented a broad symphonic repertoire with great success. Her recording Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci with the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra received critical acclaim.

In the 2019/20 season she returned to the Bavarian State Opera in Munich with great success with a new production of a Bartók double bill: Bluebeard's Castle and Concerto for Orchestra. She also made her debut at the Staatsoper unter den Linden Berlin with Cherubini's Médée. Other recent and future engagements and debuts include productions at Theater an der Wien, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra National de Paris, ROH Covent Garden, Frankfurt Opera, Stuttgart State Opera, Seattle Opera and many more.

In 2021, she became the first woman to conduct at the prestigious Bayreuth Festival, where she conducted The Flying Dutchman.

On the concert stage, she has made debuts with the Munich Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Badische Staatskapelle, the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, the Düsseldorf Symphony, the SWR Orchestra, the Nuremberg State Philharmonic, the Hamburg Symphony and many more. In the future, her debuts will be with such important orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale Bologna, the Robert Schumann Philharmonic, the WDR Symphony Orchestra and others.

Oksana Lyniv is Artistic Director of the international festival Lviv MozArt in Lviv/Lviv, Ukraine, which she co-founded, and of the Ukrainian Youth Symphony Orchestra.

John Caird is an honorary associate director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, principal guest director of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, and a freelance writer and director of plays, musicals, and operas. His National Theatre productions include Hamlet, Money, Humbleboy, The Seagull, Stanley, Trelawney of the Wells, Peter Pan and his own new Olivier Award–winning version of Bernstein’s Candide, which has played worldwide.

Recent directorial credits include Knight’s Tale, Hamlet and Twelfth Night in Tokyo; Don Giovanni at Welsh National Opera; McQueen at the Haymarket Theatre; Tosca in Houston, Chicago and Los Angeles; Love’s Labour’s Lost at the Stratford Festival in Canada; La Bohème in San Francisco and Toronto; Parsifal in Chicago; and his own musical Daddy Long Legs Off-Broadway, in Tokyo, and across the United States. He has directed over 20 productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The Beggar’s Opera, Twelfth Night, Peter Pan, Our Friends in the North, Nicholas Nickleby and Les Misérables— the last two productions winning numerous awards in the West End, Broadway, and internationally

His most recent work in opera includes directing the 2019 world premiere of Tarik O'Regan's The Phoenix, for which he also wrote the libretto, at the Houston Grand Opera, as well as Don Giovanni at the Welsh National Opera. In the summer of 2022, he directs a new production of Orfeo for Garsington Opera.

Learn more at JohnCaird.com.

Bunny Christie is a multi award winning production designer. She recently won her fourth Olivier Award and a Critics Circle Award for her production design of Company directed by Marianne Elliott at the Gielgud Theatre. This production is also seen on Broadway this season. Her previous Broadway design for Ink directed by Rupert Goold was nominated for 6 Tony Awards including Best Set Design.

She has a long relationship with the National Theatre designing in all of their performance spaces and devising shows at the NT Studio. Her work at the NT covers production and costume design for many of the classics and a huge number of new plays.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time began life at the National Theatre, transferred to the West End to huge acclaim, and subsequently completed a UK, US and Far East Tour. She won her third Olivier Award and a Tony Award for designing this record breaking production. She also designed a small-scale touring version of Curious Incident which has been visiting British schools, giving many students their first experience of live theater and supporting the teaching of drama in schools. Curious Incident is now touring the UK and Internationally.

Recently she was working at the Bridge Theatre designing A Midsummer Nights Dream directed by Nicholas Hytner. This immersive production won her an Evening Standard Award.

She recently won the Evening Standard Best Design Award for three of her productions: Ink at the Almeida and Duke of York Theatre, Heisenberg at Wyndhams Theatre, and The Red Barn at the National Theatre.

She designed People Places and Things by Duncan Macmillan. This hugely successful show began life at The National Theatre, transferred to the Wyndhams Theatre, to St. Ann’s in New York and won two Olivier Awards.

Other work at the NT includes The Welkin, Husbands and Sons, Comedy of Errors and The White Guard for which she won an Olivier Award and a Critics Circle Award. Previous work at the National includes: Cherry Orchard, Men Should Weep, Our Class, Emil and the Detectives with over 150 children in the cast, Philistines, Women of Troy and A Streetcar named Desire starring Glenn Close for which she won an Olivier Award.

She designed Julius Caesar and Henry IV at The Donmar. This was with an all women company directed by Phyllida Lloyd which transferred to St Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn and was hailed as “One of the most important theatrical events of the year.” The Tempest completed the trilogy and all three were performed at the Donmar at Kings Cross in a new space which she designed.

She has a long commitment to Eve Ensler’s work, designing all The Vagina Monologues from its British premier at the Kings Head through to performances at the Royal Albert Hall, raising huge sums for woman’s charities worldwide.

Opera work includes designing Medea at English National Opera and Geneva Grand Opera for David McVicar, and Tosca for John Caird at Houston Grand Opera, Chicago Opera and LA Opera. Whilst working at Houston Grand Opera with Andre Previn, she designed the world premier of his opera Brief Encounter.

Many of her productions have been filmed for the NT Live and by the BBC and she was production designer on Swansong starring John Gielgud, which was nominated for an Oscar as Best Short Film.

Learn more at BunnyChristie.co.uk.

Duane Schuler has achieved national and international acclaim as a theatrical lighting designer. He has designed for the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Salzburg Festival, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Seattle Opera, and American Ballet Theatre. His extensive work with LA Opera includes Simon Boccanegra, Manon, Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, Ariadne auf Naxos, Rigoletto and Tristan und Isolde. He is a founding partner of the theater planning and architectural lighting design firm Schuler Shook.