Madame Butterfly

From: Seoul, South Korea. LA Opera: Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly (2024, debut).

Karah Son graduated in voice at the Yonsei University in Seoul, her native city. She then completed her musical education graduating from the Vivaldi Music Conservatory in Novara (Italy) and attending the Academy of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan under the guidance of Mirella Freni.

She distinguished herself in numerous international competitions: first prize at the national competition organized by Korea Joongang Daily, one of South Korea’s most important newspapers, in Seoul; first prize at the “Vissi D’Arte” international competition in Milan; Special Soroptimist Prize at the G.B. Viotti international competition in Vercelli (Italy); Premio Extraordinario at the Francisco Viñas international competition in Barcelona; second prize at the Opéra de Marseille international Competition. In 2007, she also won the prestigious Nicolai Ghiaurov scholarship.

She made her debut in 1997 as the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro at the National Theater in Seoul. She has since performed Zerlina in Don Giovanni at the Teatro San Lorenzo in Milan; Mimì in La Bohème at the Teatro Cristallo in Bergamo, in Milan and at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari; Liù in Turandot in Verona (Teatro Filarmonico), in Bologna, in Nancy and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia (Lorin Mazel conducting).

She has appeared in Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini at the Opéra in Monte-Carlo; Aida in Korea and in Halle; La Bohème in Sydney, Turandot in Melbourne; and Verdi’s Requiem in Seoul. She has performed the title role in Madama Butterfly in Korea, Tampere, Warsaw, Leipzig, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Gothenburg, Turin, Glyndebourne, Dresden, Cardiff, Sydney, Warsaw, Turin, Kansas City, Stuttgart, Montpellier, Bologna, Angers, Nantes, Rennes, San Francisco, Cincinnati and Detroit, with additional performances in the 2023/24 season in Copenhagen. She recently appeared in Nikodijević's 7 Deaths of Maria Callas with English National Opera.

From: Castro, Chile. LA Opera: Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (2024, debut).

Lauded for his "vocally magnificent, radiant and distinctive tenor” voice (Opera Aktuell), Jonathan Tetelman has rapidly risen to become a major star of his generation. Chilean-born and New Jersey-raised, he continues to thrill on the world’s greatest stages with "balmy verve" (Der Tagesspiegel) and a "darkly colored tenor timbre" (SZ).

In the 2023/24 season, he made his tremendously anticipated Metropolitan Opera debut as Ruggero in La Rondine under the baton of Speranza Scappucci, followed closely by appearances as Pinkerton in the Met’s iconic Madama Butterfly staging by Anthony Minghella. He saw additional performances of Pinkerton with Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Festival Aix-en-Provence, and Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he also debuted the opera Il Tabarro as Luigi in Pınar Karabulut’s new production of Il Trittico. Further operatic highlights of the season included a return to the title role of Werther for the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden in a new production by Robert Carsen, and an exclusive one-night-only performance of Rodolfo in La Bohème at Theater Dortmund.

On the concert stage, he appeared as soloist in gala concerts with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin at the Berlin Konzerthaus, and with the Prague Philharmonia at Dvorak Hall in the Rudolfinum for an evening of Puccini. He performed New Year’s 2024 concerts with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon, Elīna Garanča at Baden-Baden Festspielhaus and the Borusan Festival in Istanbul. He also appeared in a solo recital in Gstaad, Switzerland, and was heard as soloist on mainland China for the opening gala concert of the Shenzhen Belt Road Music Festival held at the Shenzhen Concert Hall.

He made highly auspicious debuts in the 2022/23 season with the San Francisco Opera in a new production as Alfredo in La Traviata, with Houston Grand Opera as Cavaradossi in Tosca, and finally with the Salzburger Festspiele as Macduff in a new production of Verdi’s Macbeth by Krzysztof Warlikowski. Additionally, he was Rodolfo for Semperoper Dresden, Cavaradossi and Paolo in Francesca da Rimini at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Loris Ipanov in Fedora with Ópera de Las Palmas. In concert, he appeared with the Houston Symphony Orchestra as tenor soloist in Verdi’s Requiem, performed at the Tivoli Festival in Copenhagen, Peralada Festival in Spain, Festival Ljubljana in Slovenia alongside baritone, Ludovic Tézier and joined soprano Angela Gheorghiu for concerts in Brussels and Paris, among others.

After completing his performance studies program at the New School of Music, Mannes College and earning his undergraduate degree from Manhattan School of Music, Jonathan Tetelman made a series of acclaimed house and role debuts in rapid succession. These include his Covent Garden debut as both Alfredo in La Traviata and Rodolfo in La Bohème; Canio in Pagliacci and Cavaradossi in Tosca with Teatro Regio Torino; Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Opéra National de Montpellier; Tosca and Madama Butterfly at the Dresden Semperoper; Tosca at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and Opéra de Lille; Werther with both the Gran Teatro Nacional de Lima and Opera del Teatro Solis in Montevideo; La Bohème with Komische Oper Berlin, English National Opera and Fujian Grand Theatre in China; and the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto with the Berkshire Opera Festival.

He recently signed an exclusive multi-album contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Together with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria and its principal conductor Karel Mark Chichon, he recorded his first album, entitled Arias, with music by Verdi and famous verismo composers, a selection from the lyrical French repertoire, and duets with the Lithuanian soprano Vida Miknevičiûtė. It was released in 2022 and soared to multiple triumphant achievements including the esteemed Opus Klassik Award, honoring him as the break-out artist of the year in 2023, and the Oper Magazine award for best solo album of the year in 2023. His highly anticipated second album The Great Puccini was released by Deutsche Grammophon in 2023. The album features excerpts from nine of Puccini's operas, including famous arias such as "Nessun dorma,” "Che gelida manina” and "E lucevan le stelle.”

Learn more at JonathanTetelman.com.

From: Odessa, Texas. LA Opera: Jesus in St. Matthew Passion (2022, debut); Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (2024).

In the 2023/24 season, American bass-baritone Michael Sumuel, lauded as having “vocals that are smooth and ingratiating” (Daily Camera), will sing Reginald in a new production of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X at the Metropolitan Opera, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Houston Grand Opera and the Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen at Detroit Opera. A busy concert artist, Mr. Sumuel joins Jaap van Zweden and the New York Philharmonic for Mozart’s Requiem, Jonathan Cohen for Handel’s Messiah with the San Francisco Symphony, Les Violons du Roy in Québec for Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, also with Jonathan Cohen, Jane Glover and Music of the Baroque for Mozart’s Requiem and Bach’s Magnificat, Bernard Labadie and the Seattle Symphony for Bach’s Passion According to St. John, the National Symphony Orchestra for the Fauré Requiem and Washington National Cathedral as Jesus in St. Matthew Passion.

In the 2022/23 season, Mr. Sumuel returned to the Metropolitan Opera, singing Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore. Other debuts included Elviro in Xerxes with Detroit Opera, and Figaro in The Marriage of FIgaro with Pittsburgh Opera. In concert, Mr. Sumuel performed Mozart’s Requiem with the Cincinnati Symphony and James Conlon, Bach cantatas BWV 61 and 140 with the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, opened Washington Concert Opera’s season performing in a gala with soprano Tamara Wilson, and returned to Mercury Houston for Handel’s Messiah. Finally, with Pacific Chorale, Mr. Sumuel took part in a European tour, performing in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Florence Price’s Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight.

In the 2021/22 season, Mr. Sumuel made his debut as Jesus and the bass soloist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with LA Opera, a semi-staged production conducted by James Conlon with choreography by the Hamburg Ballet, Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro with Seattle Opera, Escamillo in Carmen for his debut with the Santa Fe Opera, a concert of arias to open the Dallas Opera season, the King in Massenet’s Cendrillon with the Metropolitan Opera, Leporello in Don Giovanni with Opera San Antonio and Escamillo with Chicago Opera Theater. In concert, Mr. Sumuel returned to the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall to sing Mozart’s Mass in C minor with Zubin Mehta, Bach’s Easter Oratorio with Music of the Baroque and Mozart’s Requiem with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.

Highlights of past opera seasons have included the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Masetto in a new production of Don Giovanni, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, the San Francisco Opera to perform the title role in a new production of The Marriage of Figaro, Tom in the world premiere of Christopher Theofanidis’ Heart of a Soldier, Escamillo in Calixto Bieito’s production, Masetto, conducted by Marc Minkowski, and Elviro in Handel’s Xerxes. At Houston Grand Opera, he has performed Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore, Papageno in The Magic Flute, Frank in Die Fledermaus, Masetto, Sharpless, Marcello and Schaunard in La Bohème. With Glyndebourne Festival Opera, he performed Sharpless, Junius in The Rape of Lucretia, Schaunard and Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. At Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, he performed Alidoro (La Cenerentola) and Escamillo, Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro with Dayton Opera, later reprising the role for his company debut with Central City Opera and Leporello in Don Giovanni for his debut with Seattle Opera.

An in demand concert artist, previous work has included Messiah with San Francisco Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, the United States Naval Academy, New Jersey Symphony, Phoenix Symphony and University Musical Society in Ann Arbor. He has performed Mozart’s Mass in C minor with Cleveland Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Lukes, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, American Classical Orchestra in David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. Other repertoire includes Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (Grant Park Music Festival), Mozart’s Requiem (North Carolina Symphony), Haydn’s Theresienmesse (Grant Park Music Festival), and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria (San Diego Symphony).

Mr. Sumuel’s competition accolades include being awarded a Richard Tucker Career Grant, Metropolitan Opera National Council audition Grand Finalist and a winner of the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition. A Texas native, he is an alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera and the Filene Young Artist program at Wolf Trap Opera.

From: Seoul, South Korea. LA Opera: Suzuki in Madama Butterfly (2024, debut).

Lauded by the New York Times as a “vibrant mezzo soprano” and a “dark toned, agile mezzo-soprano,” Hyona Kim joined the Dortmund Opera in Germany as a member of the ensemble in 2018 and made her much acclaimed house and role debut singing Amneris in Aïda. Other parts that she performed at the Dortmund Opera are Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Tzippie in Oliver Knussen’s Where The Wild Things Are and the title role in the German premiere of Frédégonde by Ernest Guiraud, Paul Dukas and Camille Saint-Saëns, Ortrud in Lohengrin and Nancy Tang in Nixon in China. Kim joined the Metropolitan Opera for the 2022/23 season covering the role of Eboli in Don Carlo. She made her San Francisco Opera debut singing a leading role, Lady Wang in Bright Sheng’s world premiere Dream of the Red Chamber under George Manahan in 2016 and was critically acclaimed as an “Unstoppable powerhouse” by the San Francisco Chronicle and performed the same role with Hong Kong Arts Festival under Muhai Tang. She returned to San Francisco Opera for the revival of Dream of the Red Chamber and for Madama Butterfly.

She has also sung with the New York City Opera, Romanian National Opera Cluj-Napoca, Opera Carolina, Opera Lancaster, Opera Company of Middlebury among others. Other roles which she has performed around the world include Azucena in Il Trovatore, Mistress Quickly in Falstaff, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Wowkle in The Girl of the Golden West, Olga and Larina in Eugene Onegin and many more.

Hyona Kim was a national finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and performed with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra conducted by Marco Armiliato at Lincoln Center. She also was the grand winner of the Joy in Singing Competition and performed the winner’s solo recital at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. She was a first prize winner of the Gerda Lissner Competition, and a multiple grant winner at the Licia Albanese-Puccini and Giulio Gari Competitions. She is a grant recipient of the Olga Forrai Foundation and won the Jennie Tourel prize in the Poulenc Competition. She also won the Suri Competition and the Schubert Lied Competition in her native country, South Korea, where she earned her bachelor’s degree at Ewha Womans University. She received her master’s degree and professional studies diploma from Mannes College of Music in New York City and was chosen to be the recipient of the Marian Marcus Wahl Memorial Award, awarded to a graduating singer showing particular excellence. During her time as a member of the Mannes Opera, she performed many roles with the Metropolitan Opera conductor Joseph Colaneri such as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Marcellina in The Marriage of Figaro and Annina in La Traviata.

Apart from the Mannes College of Music, she has participated in many festivals and projects, including the Aspen Music Festival, the Music Academy of the West, International Vocal Arts Institute, the Natchez Music Festival and the Martina Arroyo Foundation. She made her Houston Grand Opera debut originating the role of Hal-Mo-Ni (grandmother) in Jeeyoung Kim’s From My Mother’s Mother at HGOco, and also has performed the lead role, Lily in Su Lian Tan’s opera Lotus Lives at Distler Hall at Tufts University in Boston. Kim has sung with the Nashville Symphony and the Sinfonia da Camera as the soloist in Handel’s Messiah and Verdi’s Requiem respectively.

She made her Carnegie Hall debut with New England Symphonic Ensemble singing the alto solo in Vivaldi’s Gloria and also performed with PyeongChang Music Festival in South Korea as the alto soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. She was invited by Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe for an opera gala concert and song recital. She was the featured alto soloist in numerous concerts including performances of Bach’s St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Passionate about chamber music and art song, Ms. Kim has appeared in many chamber music concerts and recitals with Mannes Baroque Chamber Players, the Guinnes Quartet as part of Viva Virginia International Festival of Music, and also in several concerts of Ensemble 212, in works such as: Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and No. 3, world premieres for Chamber Orchestra both by Yoon Jae Lee, and Der Abschied from Das Lied von der Erde featured with Michael Mao Dance. She has participated in Stephanie Blythe and Alan Smith’s Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar which only performs art songs by living American composers. Kim also has sung with Brooklyn Art Song Society in their concert series of Les six: Francis Poulenc and Songs of Mahler. Upcoming engagements include a house debut at the Royal Danish National Opera in Copenhagen as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly as well as the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra in Serbia in the same role. Her Metropolitan Opera return includes participation in the production of Tannhäuser.

Learn more at KimHyona.com.

From: Manila, Philippines. LA Opera: Goro in Madama Butterfly (2012, debut; 2024); Spoletta in Tosca (2013); Bardolph in Falstaff (2013); Monostatos in The Magic Flute (2013); First Jew in Salome (2017); Spalanzani in The Tales of Hoffmann (2017); Don Basilio in The Marriage of Figaro (2022); Goro in Madama Butterfly (2024).

Grammy-nominated tenor Rodell Aure Rosel appears regularly in major opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Royal Opera House. He is primarily known for his superb portrayals of character roles: Monostatos, Goro, Mime and Loge, Basilio, Tanzmeister, Spoletta, and the Four Servants in The Tales of Hoffmann. In the 2023/24 season, Mr. Rosel appeared with the Metropolitan Opera, as well as the Cleveland Orchestra as Monastatos in The Magic Flute, Boston Lyric Opera and Houston Grand Opera as Goro in Madama Butterfly, Austin Opera as Beppe in Pagliacci, and Calgary Opera as Loge in Das Rheingold, among other performances.

He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Valzacchi in Der Rosenkavalier, opposite Renee Fleming, Susan Graham and Sir Thomas Allen. He originated the roles of Ong Chi Seng in Paul Moravec’s The Letter at Santa Fe Opera, as well as Anthony Candolino in Terrence McNally and Jake Heggie’s Great Scott at Dallas Opera, which starred Joyce DiDonato and Frederica von Stade, conducted by Patrick Summers.

As Monostatos in The Magic Flute, he debuted in the David McVicar production at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, U.S.-premiered in the Barry Kosky production at LA Opera, and the Julie Taymor production at the Metropolitan Opera. In addition, he has sung the title roles in Zemlinsky’s The Dwarf, and Britten’s Albert Herring, as well as Tamino in The Magic Flute and Don José in Carmen. He recently made his house and role debut as Calaf in Turandot with Opera Southwest, and will make his house and role debut as Beppe in Pagliacci with Austin Opera. He has collaborated with esteemed directors of both film and theater, including Michael Grandage, John Caird, Bartlett Sher, James Gray, and David McVicar, as well as world-renowned conductors James Conlon, Carlo Rizzi, Emmanuel Villaume, Sir Andrew Davis, Franz Welser-Möst, and the late Bruno Bartoletti.

Rodell was a grand prize winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition (formerly the National Council Auditions), and a prize winner in the Lotte Lenya Vocal Competition, Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition, and the Jose Iturbi International Competition. He was part of the Grammy-nominated cast of John Musto’s opera, Volpone. He is an alumnus of Santa Monica College and UCLA, attended the Music Academy of the West, and trained at Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center (formerly Lyric Opera Center for American Artists.) He continues to study with internationally acclaimed heldentenor Timothy Mussard.

Learn more at RoRoTheTenor.com.