TIER I

Ben Brady • Bass-Baritone
Denver, Colorado

Bass-baritone Ben Brady has been recognized for his “sonorous” tone by SF Classical Voice, and “commanding” stage presence by SF Gate. Originally from Denver, Colorado, he received his BM in Vocal Performance at the University of Michigan and moved to the Bay Area soon after graduating. Mr. Brady just finished performing the role of Banco (Macbetto) and the Page in San Francisco Opera’s Roberto Devereux.

This summer he will have the honor of participating in the Merola Young Artist Program at San Francisco Opera. In 2018 Mr. Brady was awarded Audience Favorite and First Place awards in the Tier II Category of the James Toland Vocal Arts competition in Oakland. Later that year he was selected to advance to Regionals in the San Francisco District of the Metropolitan Opera Council auditions. He was selected to advance again in 2019 in the Los Angeles District where he was selected to be a semifinalist for the 2020 auditions.

Alec Carlson • Tenor
Maquoketa, Iowa

The tenor, a native of Red Oak, Iowa, is a recent graduate of the Ryan Opera Center. In his time as member of the Ryan Opera Center he performed in several productions at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. These include Bruno (I Puritani) First Priest (Die Zauberflöte), Juan (Don Quichotte) Animal Tamer (Der Rosenkavalier), Remendado (Carmen) as well as singing the role of Ismael in the world premiere of Jimmy Lopez’s Bel Canto. Carlson is an alumnus of Luther College (B.A. in Music) and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (M.M. in voice performance). In 2014 he was an apprentice artist at The Santa Fe Opera. Carlson has participated in Houston Grand Opera’s Young Artist Vocal Academy and the Wolf Trap Opera Studio artist program. This summer he returns to Santa Fe Opera as an apprentice artist covering the role of Frederic in the world premiere of The Thirteenth Child.

Natalie Image • Soprano
British Columbia, Canada

Canadian soprano Natalie Image has been praised for her “pristine high notes” (New York Times) and “her bright, piercing sonority, eloquent phrasing and seemingly effortless sophistication” (San Francisco Chronicle).

In 2019 Natalie was an Adler Fellow, performing Frasquita (Carmen), First Wood Nymph (Rusalka), Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro), and Dew Fairy (Hansel and Gretel) with San Francisco Opera. She also sang Galatea in Handel’s Acis and Galatea with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and recently made her Carnegie Hall debut.

Past concert performances include Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra (Bernstein), Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 (Villa-Lobos), Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (Barber), and Messiah (Handel).

Raphaella Medina • Mezzo-Soprano
Tallahassee, Florida

Praised for her warm color and moving performances, Raphaella Medina has performance experience in nearly every genre of music and theatre. During the 2019/20 season, she joined Opera Columbus as a Resident Artist, covering Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Ottavia in an innovative production of L’incoronazione di Poppea, and made her debut with the New Albany Symphony Orchestra. 2018/19 season highlights include: Rosina with BARN Opera, Shop Woman/Mrs. Leak in the world premiere of Lolly Willowes, debuts with the Paradise Symphony and the Simpson University Symphony, as well as being named a San Francisco District Winner in the MONC auditions. Raphi has also made two Carnegie Hall appearances, participating in master classes led by Marilyn Horne and Joyce DiDonato.

Abigail Levis • Mezzo-Soprano
Portland, Maine

Named "Debut Artist of the Year" by the Joy in Singing Foundation, Abigail Levis has appeared as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony, the Handel and Haydn Society, Florida Symphony, Philharmonia Baroque, Portland Baroque, American Symphony Orchestra, Utah Opera/Symphony, Opera Parallele, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Wolf Trap Opera, Opera Philadelphia, The Dallas Opera, and Ars Lyrica Houston. She is a prize winner of several competitions, including the Klaudia Taev Competition, the William Mattheus Sullivan Foundation, the Classical Singer Competition, the Gerda Lissner Competition, and the William C. Byrd Concerto Competition.

Tim Murray • Baritone
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Lauded for his “consistent, attractive baritone” (Opera News), Wisconsin-born baritone Timothy Murray sings Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro at The Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and then joins San Francisco Opera as a member of the prestigious Adler Fellowship Program. As a participant of the 2019 Merola Opera Program, he performed the role of Paul in the world premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s opera, If I Were You, and finished out the summer on the War Memorial Opera House stage singing the title role in a scene from Thomas’ Hamlet as part of the Merola Grand Finale.

Ariana Wehr • Soprano
Paudalho, Brazil

Brazilian-born soprano Ariana Wehr, originally from Batesville, Indiana is a graduate of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program with Washington National Opera. Highlights of the 2019-2020 season include debuting the roles of Girlfriend #1/Nurse/Congregant in Blue at The 2019 Glimmerglass Festival to great critical acclaim, and she will reprise the roles at Washington National Opera in 2020 and other engagements TBA. Ariana will debut with Boston Lyric Opera in the 2020-2021 season in a role and house debut TBA. Ariana was a National Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions in 2018.

TIER II

Erin Alford • Mezzo-Soprano
Long Beach, California

Mezzo-soprano Erin Alford was named 2019 Young Artist of the Year by NATS-LA, and was given an Encouragement Award and the Audience Choice Award by the Metropolitan Opera National Council, San Diego District. Next season, Erin will join Pensacola Opera as an Artist in Residence. Favorite performances include Nurse/A&R Rep in Orpheus (LA Opera Connects), Angela in the world-premiere of The Wreck of the Miranda (LA Opera Connects), Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte (Teatro Nuovo), Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (Miami Music Festival), the title role in Chérubin (CSULB Opera), and Ravel’s Shéhérazade (CSULB Symphony).

Morgan Balfour • Soprano
Australia

Australian soprano Morgan Balfour, “blessed with a name, a voice and a stage presence destined to go far,” is garnering attention in both the United States and her native home. For the 2019/2020 Season, Morgan joined Lyric Opera of Kansas City as their Soprano Resident Artist. Having a strong affinity for early music, she also performed recently with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and will be presenting a solo recital at the London Handel Festival.

Morgan has appeared previously as a soloist with Pinchgut Opera, American Bach Soloists, Sydney Philharmonia, Canberra Symphony Orchestra, California Bach Society and the Brisbane Baroque Festival.

Ashlyn Brown • Mezzo-Soprano
Palm Springs, California

Ashlyn Brown is a first year Master’s student majoring in Vocal Performance in the studio of Carol Vaness. Born in Palm Springs, California, Ashlyn spent a year singing with the UCLA chamber singers before attending the Jacobs School of Music. Ashlyn has had roles in IU Opera Theater’s productions Hansel and Gretel (as Hansel) and Chabrier’s L’Étoile (as Aloés), the Third Lady in the Chicago Summer Opera’s production of Die Zauberflöte, and as Mad Margaret in the University Gilbert and Sullivan Society’s Ruddigore. Last April, Ashlyn was featured as the alto soloist in the Carmel Symphony’s performance of Mozart’s Requiem at the Palladium. Most recently, she performed as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.

Clare Demer  • Soprano
Tucson, Arizona

Italian-American soprano Clare Demer recently graduated from the University of Houston where she performed Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, Paula in Dinner at Eight, and roles in I Due Timidi, The Ballad of Baby Doe and The School for Scandal. Clare has participated in many festivals including the inaugural season of Teatro Nuovo, IVAI in Montréal, the Aspen Summer Music Festival and School, SongFest at Colburn, and the Toronto Summer Music Festival. Clare is the recipient of many awards, including two Encouragement Awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and 3rd place in the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition.

Yvette Keong • Soprano
Sydney, Australia

Originally from Sydney, Australia, soprano Yvette Keong is currently pursuing her Master of Music at The Juilliard School. She was the recent recipient of the Rohatyn Great Promise Award at the Eastern Region of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. This season, Ms. Keong will be covering Musetta and Despina in Juilliard Opera’s productions of La bohème and Così fan tutte. She will also be performing Henrietta M. in Thomson’s The Mother of Us All, in collaboration with the New York Philharmonic, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Juilliard School. Ms. Keong was previously a voice fellow at Music Academy of the West and is an alumna of the Houston Grand Opera’s Young Artist Vocal Academy.

Taylor See • Soprano
Las Vegas, Nevada

Taylor See, a native of Las Vegas, Nevada, is recognized as the second place winner of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition (2020) and a finalist in the New York Lyric Opera Competition (2017). She has sung the roles of Contessa Almaviva in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (2019), Valencienne in Lehár's The Merry Widow (2017), Lucy Brown in Weill's The Threepenny Opera (2018), and Vixen (cover) in Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen (2018). Upcoming roles include Teofane in Handel’s Ottone and Julie in David Conte’s Firebird Motel. Taylor See is currently a senior at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, pursuing a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance under the tutelage of César Ulloa.

David Young • Tenor
Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina

Tenor David Young is a senior vocal performance major studying with Caroline Smith at DePauw University, where his previous roles include Il Principe (La belle dormente), Monty Navarro (A Gentleman’s Guide), Prince Charmant (Cendrillon), and Don Basilio (Le nozze di Figaro). Last summer David performed Captain Corcoran (H.M.S. Pinafore), Sir Francis (Where’s Charley), Conrad Birdie (Bye Bye Birdie), George Banks (Mary Poppins), and Sir Roderic (Ruddigore) with the College Light Opera Company. As a 2018 Emerging Artist at Opera in the Ozarks, he sang Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus. In 2019, David won 1st place in the Hal Leonard Vocal Competition.