May 8, 2026

Juan Angel Johnston-Chavez will present his student project The Tale of a Poet’s Love: a staged reimagining of Robert Schumann’s “Dichterliebe” on Sunday, May 17 at 7:30 PM in Ades Performance Space. We spoke with Juan about the performance, why you should attend, and his time at MSM so far.

ABOUT JUAN ANGEL JOHNSON-CHAVEZ

Juan Angel Johnston-Chavez (MM ’25, PS ’26) is a baritone, actor, dancer, and director from San José, California. At Manhattan School of Music Juan has performed as Dancaïro in Bizet’s Carmen, Brother in Kurt Weill’s Die Sieben Todsünden, and Grégorio in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. Other roles include Papageno in Die Zauberflöte (Lyric Opera Studio Weimar) and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte (Utah Vocal Arts Academy). This summer he will join Ohio Light Opera for their summer season as a Cockney in My Fair Lady and The Duke of Ephesus in The Boys from Syracuse, among other things.

As a director, he has worked on numerous opera scene showcases and helmed promotional short films for Lyric Theater of San José. He also served as the choreographer for Trial by Jury (San Jose State University) and New American Songbook Cabaret (MSM) in 2024 and 2025. Most recently, Juan Angel conceptualized, directed, and choreographed a staged excerpt of Schubert’s Winterreise which he sang alongside four dancers in the spring of 2025. This project inpired him to further explore the idea of combining classical art song with dance in order to help it reach larger audiences, leading him to develop The Tale of a Poet’s Love. Juan holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance and Music Education from San José State University and a Master of Music degree in Vocal Arts from Manhattan School of Music. He is currently a Professional Studies candidate at MSM and studies under the tutelage of Sidney Outlaw.

Tell us about The Tale of a Poet’s Love!

Juan: The Tale of a Poet’s Love is a staged interpretation of Robert Schumann’s 1840 song cycle, “Dichterliebe” Op. 48. It pieces his songs into a narrative about a writer, Liam, who writes his next story in dealing with the aftermath of a relationship that ended badly. Liam’s story about a Lonely Knight who encounters a mystical Fairy Bride sent to heal him of loneliness in his dream reflects the real events of his relationship with his former beloved, Kate. As he writes, Liam goes on a journey through good and bad memories of Kate, eventually confusing truth with fantasy as he becomes wrapped up in his own fairytale and intense emotion. He must figure out how to healthily move on from Kate in order to finish his tale and get out of this deep slump. The show uses 9 dancers to play various characters in Liam’s mind as well as in his story.

Tell us about the music being performed!

Juan: This song cycle contains 16 songs with poetry by Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) that come from his Lyriches Intermezzo, a group of 67 poems that tell the story of a lonely knight who is visited one night by a Fairy Bride. The pair fall in love and dance together until the sun rises in the morning, separating them once again. An interesting fact I found out while putting together this project was that the introduction to the first song in the cycle, “Im wunderschönen Monat Mai”, is a direct quotation from the 2nd movement of Clara Schumann’s, Piano Concerto in A Minor. I have decided to include this movement as a prologue number in my interpretation because there is no doubt that Clara had an influence on how Robert wrote this heartbreaking music. It was written the same year they married, a time known as Robert’s “year of song,” in which he composed more than 130 lieder. His music throughout his career took inspiration from his love for Clara, with motifs spelling out her name hidden in many of his works.

What is the inspiration behind this project?

Juan: I have always loved combining my two passions – music and dance – to support each other in communicating stories. I was actually a dancer for many years before moving into classical voice full time, but I have always tried to find ways of making them work hand in hand. Last year, I put together a staged excerpt from Schubert’s Winterreise with 4 dancers for my graduate recital. I received positive feedback from audiences, who described it as “highly inventive” (Daniel Isengart) and having enhanced their emotional connection to the music.

In my opinion, Dichterliebe is a work begging to be staged with its vivid and intense imagery. It has also been a trend in the industry to use innovative performance techniques as an appeal for more diverse audiences to go and attend performances – Joyce Didonato, Jonas Kaufmann, and Simon Keenlyside are just some of the names who have successfully staged popular song cycles in recent years. It is important that young, upcoming talent chime in on this innovation to make their voices heard, and a project such as this would help MSM get to the forefront of this important conversation as well as encourage collaboration between artistic disciplines.

What do you hope the audience takes away from this performance?

Juan: I hope this performance allows audiences to expand their views on the possibilities of classical art song as well as help non-traditional audiences better connect with musical masterworks such as this. I also hope that this brings to light the beauty of collaboration between disciplines at MSM and in the classical music/dance world in general.

If you could ask a composer, living or deceased, a question, what would it be?

Juan: I would love to ask Clara Schumann how she balanced so many things — having 8 children and a husband who was mentally ill — while still managing to compose, perform, and work. It is amazing to me.

Any fun summer plans?

Juan: Yes! I will be spending the summer with Ohio Light Opera performing in five shows, singing one of the Cockneys in My Fair Lady, the Duke of Ephesus in The Boys from Syracuse, Linville in Damn Yankees, and as an ensemble member in The Red Mill and The Merry Widow.