TIER I

Ben Reisinger is a baritone from Rochester, New York, living in Lansing, Michigan. A first-year member of the Detroit Opera Resident Artist Program, Reisinger currently studies with Richard Cox and also coaches with Nathalie Doucet. Reisinger made his professional debut in November of 2022 with Detroit Opera performing the role of Wagner in Gounod’s original version of Faust as well as covering Valentin in the production. For the remainder of the 2023 season Reisinger will be covering the role of Elviro in Xerxes and performing the role of Maestro in Ainadamarl. Reisinger is a two-time District of Michigan winner in the Metropolitan National Council Auditions and a two-time Encouragement Award winner and recipient of the Dr. David DiChiera award both in 2020 and 2021.

Mezzo-soprano Camille Sherman hails from the California North Bay Area. In 2022, Ms. Sherman debuted as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Pensacola Opera and Opera Idaho, and as Angelina in La Cenerentola with Tri-Cities Opera and Syracuse Opera Company. In 2023, Camille will compete as a National Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Ms. Sherman participated in resident artist programs with Portland Opera, Pensacola Opera, and Des Moines Metro Opera, and earned degrees from The San Francisco Conservatory of Music and The Boston Conservatory. Camille will be joining the OperAvenir Studio at Theater Basel for the 23/24 season, and I will be singing Roßweisse in Die Walküre, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Mercedes in Carmen, Countess Ceprano and the Page in Rigoletto, and the title role in Mignon.

Texas native, Jazmine Olwalia, is a mezzo-soprano who has been described as a “comedic delight”, possessing “agility and a rich tone”. She is currently a Resident Artist at Pittsburgh Opera and will be performing Girl in Denis and Katya in the spring, having performed the roles of Third Wood Sprite in Rusalka, Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, and Ariodante in Ariodante. She will be returning for a second year, performing Priestess in Iphigénie en Tauride, Littler Sister in Proving Up, and Phoebe in The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson. In 2021, Jazmine was named a semi-finalist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Sultry Soprano Kayla Harriott is a proud native of Queens, NY. Kayla received her BM in Vocal Performance from Shorter University. Some of her favorite performances include: Violetta in La Traviata, Clara in Porgy & Bess (Capitol City Opera), Rosina in The Barber of Seville and Mable in The Pirates of Penzance (Atlanta Opera). She received 1st Place at the Georgia State Metropolitan Atlanta Music Competition and the Rome Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Concerto Competition. Kayla was also a recent finalist in the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition. As an Afro-Latina, Kayla is passionate about the celebration of Trinidadian and Venezuelan history through music. She was awarded an educational grant by Fulton County Arts & Culture for her virtual recital, An Amalgamation to Trinidadian Folk Songs and Classical Music. Kayla is now honored to be represented by Astral Artist Agency.

Mexican-American tenor Moisés Salazar is building a reputation for rich romantic sound and a broad range of vocal color. A first year Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera, his recent appearance as Pinkerton in Merola Opera Program’s Grand Finale concert earned a rave from the San Francisco Chronicle, which noted the “gleaming, powerful account” growing from “restrained but resonant” to “forcefully expressive…ever-greater heights of full-throated ardor.” As a Palm Beach Opera Benenson Young Artist, Salazar performed roles including Remendado (Carmen), 1 st Priest and 1 st Armored Man (Die Zauberflöte), and Tebaldo (I Capuleti e I Montecchi), which Palm Beach Daily News praised as “the vocal highlight of the production…Salazar played Tebaldo with the ease and perfect diction of a well-seasoned professional.”

Soprano Raven McMillon is a native of Baltimore, MD. Her 2022-2023 season includes Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Gilda (Rigoletto), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Johanna (Sweeney Todd) and Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor). As a Houston Grand Opera Studio Artist, Raven performed a variety of roles including Frasquita (Carmen), Peter (The Snowy Day) and Gretel (Hansel and Gretel). Raven has also worked with companies such as Des Moines Metro Opera, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia and Austin Opera. Among other honors, Ms. McMillon is a 2021 Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Competition and a 2022 Sullivan Grant Recipient.

Victor Cardamone’s “sweet tenor” is equally known for its “power and ringing high notes” (Cincinnati Business Courier). He has performed various roles with Brevard Music Center, Cincinnati Opera, the Charleston Symphony, Wolf Trap Opera, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, Opera Project Columbus, Opera Columbus, the Merola Opera Program, the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, and San Francisco Opera, among others. Cardamone is a four-time Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and a three-time Corbett Competition award winner. He is a proud alumnus of Youngstown State University and the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music.

TIER II

Clara Reeves is a 23-year-old soprano hailing from North Carolina. Clara obtained a bachelor's degree from the esteemed Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, where she will also begin her master's in the fall of 2023. With a string of notable achievements, Clara's talent has garnered recognition and accolades. She has been honored with the Richard I. Lauf Memorial award in the 2023 Corbett Competition, received an Honorable Mention in the 2023 Hal Leonard Art Song Competition, and was a semi-finalist in the prestigious Mary J. Smith Singer of the Year Competition. Clara's accomplishments also include being a recipient of the Alumni Summer Grant from Schmidt Vocal Arts, securing second place in the 2021 Matinee Musicale competition, winning the Dieterle Vocal Arts Award from 2019 to 2022, and placing second in the CCM Undergraduate Scholarship Competition in 2019. Clara's talent has been showcased through her performances in various operatic roles, including Morgana in Alcina, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Sandman in Hansel and Gretel, Speranza in L'Orfeo, and Despina in Così fan tutte. This summer, she will be attending Songfest as one of two Young Artist Colburn Fellows.

Demetrious Sampson, Jr. is a rising tenor from Georgia. A 2022 alumnus of HGO’s Young Artists Vocal Academy, he made his professional debut with Atlanta Opera at the age of 20 as Crab Man in Porgy and Bess, a role he reprised at Des Moines Metro Opera in summer 2022 as an apprentice artist. At Georgia State University, he has performed the roles of Vanderdendur in Candide and the title role in John Musto’s Bastianello. A previous Encouragement Award winner, he recently won the Georgia District in the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and was awarded Audience Choice and Second Prize at the 35th Annual Eleanor McCollum Competition otherwise none as the Houston Grand Opera Concert of Arias. This spring Sampson will be making his Kennedy Center Debut as the Tenor Soloist in Undine Smith Moore’s Scenes from the Life of a Martyr. He will also receive his bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University, where he studies with Kathryn Hartgrove.

Hannah Cho, a well-praised Soprano, is a new and up-coming young artist with fascinating musical delicacy especially with the music from the Baroque and Contemporary era and Lied. Ms. Cho was a young artist from Kumho Asiana Foundation.  She was featured as the soprano soloist in G.F. Handel’s ‘Messiah’ A.R. Thomas ‘Plea for Peace’, and K. Andre’s ‘Magnificat’. Ms. Cho has been awarded ‘Michael Sisca Opera Award’ and ‘Goldsmith award’, and was awarded the 1st Prize at Beijing International Singing Competition, Lied Association Competition, Seil Foundation Art Song Competition, Daejeon Opera Competition, Gold prize from Korea National Opera Competition. She was also awarded 2nd Prizes and grants from Gerda Lissner Lied Competition, KBS Music Competition and Daegu Singing Competition. Ms. Cho is in continuous pursuit to elevate her professional performing career level, and is participating in numerous concerts and recitals even up to this moment.

Lindsay Martin is a 22 year old mezzo-soprano from San Diego, CA. She recently got her Bachelor's degree in music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and is now attending the University of Southern California to gain her Masters in Vocal Performance. Lindsay has performed several lead roles such as Minkswoman in Flight, Giulio Cesare in Giulio Cesare, Annio in La Clemenza di Tito and Adelberto in Ottone. This summer she will be attending the Aspen Music Festival as a studio artist. Lindsay’s main goal in her career is to continue pushing boundaries and revolutionizing the opera world to help it be more accessible and relatable to broader audiences. She hopes to continue creating and performing new music and projects all over the world.

Yale School of Music graduate (2022) and current Palm Beach Opera apprentice artist, mezzo Anna Kelly is a 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition National Semifinalist and 2022 Florida Grand Opera Competition junior division winner. In 2022, she performed as Ruggiero (Alcina) at Yale, scenes as Cendrillon and Zerlina at Palm Beach Opera, and as a guest soloist with the Waterbury and Mid-Atlantic Symphonies. In 2023, Ms. Kelly covers Meg Page (Falstaff) and Dorabella (Così fan tutte) at Palm Beach Opera, presents her debut recital at the Metropolitan Club of Washington D.C, and joins Wolf Trap as covers for Athamas (Semele) and Siebel in (Faust).

Ryan Blankenburg is a Mezzo-Soprano from Rochester, Michigan.  She is currently an undergraduate at Rice University where she is studying vocal performance and is double majoring in psychological studies.  Ryan has performed in the Shepherd School Opera’s productions of Street Scene, La Clemenza di Tito and Don Giovanni and has appeared as a soloist with the Rice Chorale in Vivaldi’s Gloria and Handel’s Messiah.  In the fall, Ryan will begin pursuing her Master’s degree in music at The Royal College of Music in London.

Gabriel SeongBeom Choi is a New York-based South Korean tenor who obtained a BM in Sejong University in Korea and studing an MM in Manhattan School of Music with Shirley Close. He has worked in Korea National Opera Young Artist program and debut as a Tebaldo in Opera 'I Vespri Siciliani' in Korea National Opera, 2022, he performed a Tebaldo from 'Le portrait de Manon' with Pierre Vallet and a Le Pettit Vieillard from 'L’enfant et les sortilèges' with George Manahan at MSM. He is awarded 1st Prize of the 2021 Korea National Opera Vocal Competition, 2nd Prize of the 2021 Deagu Voice Competition and Special Prize of the 2022 Manhattan International Music Competition etc. . Additionally, in May, 2023, he will be singing in the Belvedere Competition Final Round in Dortmund, Germany.