2007-2008 Young Artists

Andrea Dorf, stage director from Connecticut, is in her second season of the Young Artist Program. Last season, she directed Così fan tutte, staged the Young Artist performance of Gianni Schicchi and the Opera Look-In for Madama Butterfly, and directed all of the Young Artist scenes programs.  Ms. Dorf has directed workshop productions for the Aspen Music Festival and the Juilliard School, and remounted Edward Berkeley's production of Der Kaiser von Atlantis and Lilian Groag's production of Oreste at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy.  Her production of L’heure espagnole won the 2004 National Opera Association Award for best college production. As an assistant director, she has worked with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Chicago Opera Theater, Wolf Trap Opera Company, The Juilliard School, and the Aspen Music Festival. In summer 2007 she staged a series of concerts for the Greenwich Music Festival and returned to Aspen Opera Theater Center. This season she will stage the Young Artist performance of Don Giovanni and assistant direct Hansel and Gretel, Rigoletto, and Elektra . Ms. Dorf received her BA in English from Amherst College, studied with the Shakespeare Programme in London, and holds an MFA in Directing from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music.

Baritone Nathan Herfindahl, from Minnesota, is in his first season with the Young Artist Program.  Mr. Herfindahl holds degrees from the University of Minnesota Duluth and has performed several roles with Duluth Festival Opera, Bay View Music Festival, and the Sieur du Luth Music Festival.  He has performed concerts with the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, Arrowhead Chorale, and Central Masterworks Concert.  This season he will cover and sing the role of Schaunard in La Bohème and sing the roles of Masetto in the Young Artist performance of Don Giovanni and the Father in Hansel and Gretel. 

British mezzo-soprano Claudia Huckle is in her second season with the Young Artist Program. She has studied at the Royal College of Music in London, New England Conservatory, and Curtis Institute of Music. Ms. Huckle has been a Grand Final Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the International Thelma King Award for Singers and was a recipient of the Sybil Tutton Award and a prize winner at the Palm Beach Opera Vocal competition. Ms. Huckle has been an apprentice at Santa Fe Opera and the Ravinia Festival and has performed with Boston Lyric Opera, Santa Fe Opera, the Monteverdi Choir, Washington Concert Opera, and the National Symphony Orchestra. Last season she sang and covered roles in Madama Butterfly, Die Walküre, and Jenufa and sang the role of La Ciesca in the Young Artist performance of Gianni Schicchi.  This season she will sing the roles of Zerlina in the Young Artist performance of Don Giovanni, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto, Irene in Tamerlano, and the 2nd Maid in Elektra. 

Benjamin Makino, conductor from California, is in his second season with the Young Artist Program. Mr. Makino holds degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Chapman University. Since 2003 he has been selected as an active participant in the Accademia Musicale Chigiana’s orchestral conducting master classes under the direction of Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti. He has served on the music faculty of the University of California, Irvine and the music staff of California State University, Fullerton. Last season's appearances included performances in concert at the Kennedy Center Opera House, at Strathmore Hall and with the Young Artists in a production of Così fan tutte. This September he will participate in the 50th Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors in Besançon, France.  This season, Mr. Makino will conduct on the Welcome to Opera concert as well as performances of Hansel and Gretel. 

Aundi Marie Moore, soprano from Virginia, is in her second season with the Young Artist Program. She has participated in young artist programs with Chautauqua Opera Company, La Musica Lirica and Centro Studi Lirica in Italy. A Marian Anderson Scholar, Ms. Moore has been a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera District Auditions, West Palm Beach Vocal Competition, Leontyne Price Vocal Competition, and the Paul Robeson Vocal Competition and won second place in the 2007 Florida Grand Opera Vocal Competition. In summer 2007 she was a semi-finalist in the Belvedere Competition in Vienna and a Finalist in the Rocca delle Macie Competition in Italy.  She holds degrees from George Mason University and the University of Michigan. Last season Ms. Moore covered and sang roles in Sophie’s Choice and Macbeth and sang the role of Nella in the Young Artist performance of Gianni Schicchi.  This season she will sing the roles of Donna Elvira in the Young Artist performance of Don Giovanni, Mother in Hansel and Gretel, and the 5th Maid in Elektra. 

Ukrainian baritone Oleksandr Pushniak joins the Program in February 2008.  Mr. Pushniak was a 2007 Operalia semifinalist and won third prize in the European Song Contest in Austria the same year.  He holds degrees from the K.D. Ushinsky Pedagogical College in Kiev and the National Musical Academy of Ukraine.  In addition to several roles at the Academy, Mr. Pushniak has performed with the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, Dneproetrovsk Philharmonic, Kiev Camerata, and the Symphony Orchestra of Graz in Austria.

Coach/accompanist Thomas Rimes, born in Fiji and raised in Australia, is in his second season with the Young Artist Program. Mr. Rimes has been on the staff of the New Opera Festival di Roma where he served as Assistant Musical Director and Chorus master for several productions and conducted symphonic concerts. A recipient of the Sir Georg Solti Foundation Award for a Young Opera Conductor/Coach, Mr. Rimes holds degrees from the University of Sydney and the University of Memphis. He is an active composer and has recently finished writing his first full-length opera, The Long Ride Home. Last season he served on the music staff and was the onstage pianist for La Fille du Régiment.  This season he will be on the music staff for Don Giovanni, Hansel and Gretel, and Rigoletto. 

Soprano Elizabeth Andrews Roberts, from New York, is in her second season with the Young Artist Program. Ms. Roberts holds degrees from Dartmouth College and the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. She has performed with companies including Opera North, Lake George Opera, Center City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, and the Opera Theatre Music Festival of Lucca (Italy). Last season she sang roles in Madama Butterfly and Jenufa and the role of Lauretta in the Young Artist performance of Gianni Schicchi.  This season, she will sing the roles of Donna Anna in the Young Artist performance of Don Giovanni, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, and the 4th Maid in Elektra. 

Coach/accompanist Tamara Sanikidze, from the Republic of Georgia, is in her first season with the Young Artist Program.  Ms. Sanikidze is an Advanced Doctoral Candidate of Musical Arts at University of Maryland and holds degrees from the Tbilisi State Conservatory and University of Northern Iowa. She has also participated in the Aspen Music Festival, Cleveland Art Song Festival and Music Academy of the West.  In March 2007 she partnered with Quinn Kelsey for a Vocal Arts Society-Marilyn Horne Foundation recital at the Kennedy Center and a recital in Carnegie Hall. She has been on the music staff of Virginia Opera and Opera Cleveland.  This season she will serve on the music staff for Don Giovanni , Hansel and Gretel and Rigoletto. 

Russian bass Grigory Soloviov is in his first season with the Young Artist Program.  Mr. Soloviov has studied at the Moscow State Conservatory and has performed with the Connecticut Grand Opera, Opera Company of Brooklyn, New Opera Festival di Roma in Italy, April Spring Art Festival in North Korea, Opernwerkstatt Laubach in Germany, and in Bolshoi Hall and Rachmaninov Hall in Russia. He was recently awarded the Rising Star prize in the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.  This season he will sing the role of Leporello in the Young Artist performance of Don Giovanni and Ceprano in Rigoletto. 

Originally from Poland, mezzo-soprano Magdalena Wór is in her second season with the Young Artist Program.  She is a First Place Winner of the Heinz Rehfuss Vocal Competition, a National Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and a Winner of the Mozart Society of Atlanta Competition.  Ms. Wór holds degrees from Georgia State University and has studied at San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program, Chautauqua Music Institution’s Marlena Malas Voice Program, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ Gerdine Young Artist Program. She has also performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and New Trinity Baroque. Last season she sang roles in Die Walküre and Jenufa, as well as Zita in the Young Artist performance of Gianni Schicchi.   This season she will sing the role of the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, Givanni in Rigoletto, and the 3rd Maid in Elektra. 

Yingxi Zhang, tenor from China, returns for a third season with the Young Artist Program. He was a semi-finalist in the 2004 Operalia competition and has studied at the China Conservatory. He made his debut with Beijing Opera in the title role of Les Contes d'Hoffmann and has won several competitions and honors in China. Last season he sang the roles of Rinuccio in the Young Artist performance of Gianni Schicchi and Malcolm in Macbeth and made his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra in Salome.  This season he will sing the roles of Ottavio in the Young Artist performance of Don Giovanni, Borsa in Rigoletto, and Junger Diener in Elektra. 

Alumni

Keri Alkema (mezzo-soprano): 2002-2004
Benjamin von Atrops (bass):  2003-2005

Thomas Beard (baritone):  2003-2005

Danielle DeSwert (coach): 2002-2003
Eugenia Garza (soprano): 2002-2004
Michelle Gutrick (soprano): 2002-2003

Lara Hanoian (coach):  2003-2005
Hoo-Ryoung Hwang (soprano): 2002-2004
Steven Jarvi (conductor): 2004-2006
Maria Jooste (soprano): 2003-2005
Valeriano Lanchas (baritone): 2002-2003
JiYoung Lee (soprano):  2004-2006

James Lesniak (coach):  2004-2006

Israel Lozano (tenor): 2002-2004

Christina Martos (soprano):  2004-2006

Leslie Mutchler (mezzo-soprano):  2004-2006
Matthew Ottenlips (coach):  2005-2007

Amanda Pabyan (soprano): 2002-2003

Chía Patiño (stage director):  2004-2006

Joana Pons (apprentice coach): 2003-2004
Lee Poulis (baritone): 2002-2004
Barbara Quintiliani (soprano): 2002-2004
Carlos Rodriguez (coach): 2002-2004
Daniel Rodriguez (tenor): 2002-2003

Nino Sanikidze (coach):  2003-2005

Trevor Scheunemann (baritone):  2005-2007

Erin Elizabeth Smith (mezzo-soprano):  2004-2006
Amanda Squitieri (soprano):  2003-2005

Jessica Swink (soprano): 2002-2004
Obed Ureña (baritone):  2005-2007

Greg Warren (tenor):  2005-2007

Matthew Wolff (tenor): 2002-2004
Hyung Yun (baritone): 2002-2003