Success Stories

Korean pianist and coach Ye In Kwak (MM ‘24) is in her second year in the prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Met Opera in New York, where she will make her Met Music Staff debut as an assistant conductor in Eugene Onegin on April 20. The production runs through May 16. This season, Ye In will also perform in the Program’s Patron Concert of opera scenes and annual spring recital series held at Merkin Hall.

“Congratulations, Ye In! And toi, toi, toi to the rest of the cast and crew!” writes the Lindemann program on social media.

Watch our video interview with Ye In Kwak in 2024 when she was named to the Lindemann Program here.
Ticket information about Eugene Onegin can be found here.

Current MSM students Seiran Tozlian (BM ’26), piano, and Angelina Tozlyan (BM ’28), violin, as well as alumni Diana Gabrielyan (MM ’23), piano, and Karina Vartanian (PC ’21, BM ’25), soprano, will perform at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall on Friday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m. They are all recent recipients of the Armenian General Benevolent Union Performing Arts scholarship and will join their fellow recipients for a program of traditional Armenian and Western classical music, dance, and poetry readings.

Tickets are currently available on the Carnegie Hall website as well as the box office at (212) 247-7800.

Photo collage: Diana Gabrielyan (top left), Seiran Tozlian (bottom left), Angelina Tozlyan (bottom middle), Karina Vartanian (bottom right)

MSM Vocal Arts alumni Shelén Hughes Camacho (BM ’18, MM ’20), soprano (in photo on right), and Haolun Zhang (MM ’24), countertenor (on left) have advanced to the semi-finals of the respected The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, which take place on March 15.

The competition discovers promising young opera singers and helps boost their careers; some of today’s greatest singers got their start with it.

Learn more here.

MSM alumnus and baritone Kyle Miller (MM ’07) will be performing the role of Papageno in The Magic Flute taking place at LA Opera from May 30 to June 21, 2026.

More about Kyle Miller here.

Operatic tenor Jonathan Tetelman (BM ’11) and jazz guitarist/NY Yankees Legend Bernie Williams (BM ‘16) headline an ambitious concert produced by All-Star Encore.

The two stars will be joined by 16 additional MSM alumni and current students in an expansive program uniting opera and jazz, music and sports, talented students and seasoned professionals.

“It’s so wonderful to see two distinguished representatives of MSM’s alumni community headlining this multi-faceted program,” says Manhattan School of Music President James Gandre, “not just because Jonathan and Bernie—and all those who will be joining them onstage—are exemplary talents, but because this very special evening will celebrate the intersection of music and sport, and the areas of skill, artistry, and determination that are common to high-achieving musicians and athletes. Of course, in Bernie Williams, the evening spotlights a pillar of excellence in both worlds.”

More info in our news release here.

The New York Times recently listed the New York Philharmonic musical festival Sound On as one of the “Best Classical Performances of 2025” and chose the NY Phil’s performance in January 2025 of Pierre Boulez’s Pli Selon Pli, singling out “the radiant soprano Jana McIntyre in her Philharmonic debut.” Jana McIntyre graduated with a Masters Degree from MSM’s Vocal Arts program in 2016.

Jana will be performing December 18, 19, and 20 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cedar Rapids Opera on January 16 and 18, and the Detroit Opera on March 1, 5 and 7.

More about Jana McIntyre here.

On November 20, baritone Joseph Parrish, from Baltimore, and MSM alumna Shelén Hughes Camacho (MM ‘20), from Bolivia, who are partners in life, opened the season for the New York Festival of Song at the Kaufman Music Centre with the performance South America, North America, a Love Story, alongside Steven Blier and Amir Farid.

“This program is close to our hearts—it celebrates the music and poetry that shaped us, weaving together works from Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Appalachia, Spirituals, Bernstein, and beyond,” said Shelén told MSM President Jim Gandre before the performance. “It’s truly a journey across the Americas, full of warmth, humor, and the joy of connection through song.”

More about the performance here.

In photo above, MSM alumnus and trustee Anthony Roth Costanzo (MM ‘08) (on left) poses with (in middle) his teacher at MSM Joan Patenaude-Yarnel and MSM President Jim Gandre at the Voices of Ascension Gala on November 19.

Anthony Roth Costanzo—Countertenor and Producer; General Director and President, Opera Philadelphia; Artistic Director, SongStudio at Carnegie Hall—was honored at the evening event. One of the performers taking part was MSM faculty member and alumnus, cellist Tommy Mesa (DMA ‘17).

Learn more here.

Soprano Sofia Gotch (MM ’23, PPD ’25) has been named to the 2026 roster of San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows. Sofia took part in the San Francisco Opera Merola Program this past summer, and will continue at San Francisco Opera for the next two years in the Adler program.

Click here to learn more about Sofia. Click here to learn more about the next class of Adler Fellows.

MSM alumnus and former Yankee Bernie Williams (BM ‘16) (in photo on left) and MSM alumnus tenor Jonathan Tetelman (on right) will be performing at Carnegie Hall on January 13 along with violinist Katia Reguero (in middle), who is married to the Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor. (She played “The Star-Spangled Banner” before a game at Citi Field last month.)

Writes The New York Times: “Williams said the program would be ‘a mix of things that I might be more comfortable with, popular-slash-jazz music.’ Tetelman used the word ‘eclectic.’” Read the full article here.

The concert at Carnegie Hall is the brainchild of Adam Unger, who had met Williams when Unger was a 14-year-old ball boy with the Yankees. Unger later played for the Yankees’ team in the Gulf Coast League, then became an opera singer and is now a sports lawyer.

MSM alumni Ye In Kwak (MM ’24), Yeongtaek Yang (MM ’24), and Hannah Jeané Jones (MM ’24) have been selected to return for a second year to the prestigious Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Arts Development Program (LYADP).

Founded in 1980, the LYADP is regarded as one of the world’s most prominent training programs for emerging opera talent.

Meet the full roster of 14 talented artists for the 2025-26 season here.

MSM Vocal Arts alumnus, basso profondo Edwin Jhamaal Davis (MM ’17), is featured as the Commander in the cast in an off-Broadway production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni: A Rock Opera. Performances take place at The Cutting Room at 44 East 32nd Street; the production opens on June 30 and runs through August 26. Mozart’s Don Giovanni: A Rock Opera is sung in English and is backed by a rock orchestra.

Last season, Mr. Davis made his house débuts in X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X with The Metropolitan Opera as Garvey Preacher and with the Seattle Opera as Bass 2, a role he reprised in the previous season with Opera Omaha. He recently made his New Orleans Opera début as Angelotti in Tosca and returned to Seattle Opera as the Second Armored Man in Die Zauberflöte, and joined Opera Grand Rapids as the King in Aida.

Buy tickets and learn more here.
Learn more about Edwin Jhamaal Davis here.

The Violin Channel reports about the new appointment of MSM Vocal Arts alumna Barbara Lynne Jamison (MM ‘98) to the leadership of Opera Colorado commencing on August 1, 2025:

“Barbara Lynne Jamison will succeed Greg Carpenter, who has led Opera Colorado as general and artistic director for nearly two decades. Carpenter will be stepping down at the end of the 2024/25 season.

Having served as CEO of Kentucky Opera for the past seven years, Jamison was selected following a national search conducted by Management Consultants for the Arts in partnership with Opera Colorado’s Board of Directors.

She will officially join Opera Colorado on August 1, 2025, but will begin working with the company during the leadership transition this spring and summer.

In previous roles, Jamison has served on the senior leadership teams at Seattle Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Guild. She is also an accomplished soprano, conductor, and educator.”

Learn more here.

Three MSM alumni and a former faculty member are being celebrated in an April 30 concert at Carnegie Hall‘s Zankel Hall showcasing the 10 winners of the 2024 Lieder/Song Vocal Competition and 2025 International Vocal Competition, hosted by the Gerda Lissner Foundation.

The three MSM alumni who placed in the competitions are Sofia Gotch (MM ’23, PPD ’25), soprano,  (pictured: top row, second from right); Shelén Hughes (BM ’18, MM ’20), soprano (top row, far right); and Erin Wagner (BM ’19), mezzo-soprano (bottom row, second from left).

Also being honored is former MSM Collaborative Piano faculty member Warren Jones.

Learn more and reserve tickets free of charge here.

MSM Vocal Arts alumna Raehann Bryce-Davis (MM ’12, PS ’13) has released her debut album “Evolution” on the Lexicon Classics label.

Says Raehann about the origin of the recording: “This album reflects stories about my family, my roots in Jamaica, my birthplace in Mexico, my upbringing as a Black girl in a small Texas town, and my evolution into a modern opera singer.”

On piano and providing musical direction on the recording is MSM vocal coach Jeanne-Minette Cilliers.

Learn more about the recording here.
Watch Raehann Bryce-Davis perform a song from the recording here.

MSM Vocal Arts alumni Hannah Jones (MM ‘24) and Yeongtaek Yang (MM ‘24) were featured artists in a recital at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center on March 19, as part of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program (LYADP) spring recital concert series.

Hannah and Yeongtaek are part of the 2024–26 roster of LYADP artists. The goal of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, founded in 1980, is to nurture the most talented young artists through training and performance opportunities.

Meet the three MSM alumni who are part of the LYADP in this video.

See the full roster of LYADP artists and learn more about the program at this link.

MSM alumnus Brandon Jovanovich (‘98) is currently starring as Captain Ahab in the 2010 adaptation of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick by composer Jake Heggie. The production launched the second part of the MET’s 2024–25 season, with performances running through March 29.

In photo above, clockwise from left: a photograph from the production provided by the MET; the current call of opening night with Brandon Jovanovich in center; and on left, bottom photo: MSM President James Gandre (on left) poses with Brandon at a reception at the MET following the opening night performance.

For more information about the production and to purchase tickets, click here.

MSM alumni soprano Shelén Hughes (BM ’18, MM ’20) and bass-baritone Evan Lazdowski (BM ’20) have been named winners in the 2025 George and Nora London Foundation Competition for young American and Canadian opera singers, one of the opera world’s oldest and most prestigious competitions. They are pictured above along with the other three principal award winners–Evan is left, Shelén is second from right.

The winners were announced after the competition’s final round on February 21, which took place at Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City, with both an in-person and online audience.

Shelén Hughes from Cochabamba, Bolivia sang the “Snow Maiden’s Aria” from Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden, winning the George London Award of $12,000 in memory of Leonie Rysanek sponsored by an anonymous donor.

Evan Lazdowski from Moultonborough, New Hampshire sang “When my cue comes, call me” from Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, winning the George London Award of $12,000 sponsored by the New York Community Trust and the George and Nora London Foundation for Singers.

Learn more about the competition here.

Mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron will make her Carnegie Hall debut on March 20 with pianist Kunal Lahiry. Fleur Barron recently won Best Opera Recording at the 2025 Grammy Awards for her role as Adriana Mater in Saariaho: Adriana Mater. Another MSM alumnus, tenor Nicholas Phan ( ’02), won as well for the recording, interpreting the role of Yonas.

The Carnegie Hall performance featuring Fleur Barron and the pianist Kunal Lahiry, entitled The Power and the Glory, is taking place in Weill Recital Hall.

The event description underlines the talents of the two performers: “Fleur—who has been called “a knockout performer” by London’s The Times—traverses 150 years of music and poetry, plus several traditions alongside BBC New Generation Artist Lahiry, whose technique at the keyboard has been called “orchestral in its scope and power.”

Information about the concert here.

The three MSM alumni are Emilie Kealani (BM ’21), soprano, Tess Levine (BM ’23), soprano, and Jouelle Roberson (PS ’22), soprano.

They are among twenty-nine promising young singers from around the world who have been selected for the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL)’s acclaimed young artist development programs, which provide early career singers with key opportunities for vital dramatic and musical training.

OTSL’s young artist programs cultivate the next generation of promising opera talent by offering invaluable professional experience to emerging young singers. Led by the world-renowned soprano Patricia Racette, also OTSL’s Artistic Director of Young Artist Programs, these programs span nine weeks during the Festival Season and offer artists extensive vocal coaching, master classes with renowned opera artists, understudy opportunities, and onstage experience in both the ensemble and featured supporting roles.

Learn more here.

MSM Vocal Arts alumni, Benjamin Dickerson (BM ’17) (in photo, on top right), Sofia Gotch (MM ’23, PPD ’25) (in photo, bottom right), Eva Rae Martinez (BM ’23) (top left), and Anna Maria Vacca (BM ’22, MM ’24) (bottom left), will be taking part in the prestigious Merola Opera Program in San Francisco in summer of 2025.

Merola trains and develops the world’s finest young opera singers, pianist/coaches and stage directors. This past summer, 23 singers, 5 apprentice coaches and 1 apprentice stage director were selected from over 1,300 international applicants to participate in the Merola Opera Program. During their 12 weeks at Merola, these talented young artists receive life-changing instruction from a faculty of opera masters and hone their talents in professional quality productions, all entirely free of charge.

Learn more about the Merola Opera Program Young Artists here.

Baritone and musicologist Derek Greten-Harrison (BM ’04) restored 41 original orchestral film arrangements from 20th Century-Fox films of the 1940s-50s—including the complete score to Rodgers & Hammerstein’s State Fair—and subsequently recorded world-premiere stereo recordings of them with conductor David Charles Abell and the BBC Concert Orchestra.

The resulting 2-CD album, State Fair and the 20th Century-Fox Songbook was released this year on the Dutton Epoch label to rave reviews from BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone, and MusicWeb International. It features solo vocals by Derek and luminaries such as Broadway and West End star Scarlett Strallen, British jazz vocalist Clare Teal, American tenor James Taylor, and “Ambassador of the American Songbook” Michael Feinstein.

Derek also wrote the album’s extensive liner notes, and will give a presentation at the international music conference, “Editing Film Music: Challenges of Multimediality” being held Nov 22 and 23 in Frankfurt, Germany.

Click here to learn more about Derek and his film music restoration projects.

Vocal Arts alumnus Cameron Johnson (MM ’14) is part of the ensemble cast of the new musical, Swept Away, featuring music by the folk-rock band The Avett Brothers, with a book by playwright and screenwriter John David Logan. The story is loosely based on an 1884 shipwreck off the coast of New Bedford, Massachusetts. The production is currently in previews on Broadway at the Longacre Theatrer; opening night is November 19.

Johnson is one of several cast members who performed in the show in its run from November 2023 to January 2024 at the Arena Stage Theatre in Washington, D.C. He was a part of the 2022 Broadway revival of Into the Woods as well as Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish and The Golden Bride.

Click here to learn more about Swept Away.

MSM alumnus and trustee, the Grammy Award-winning countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo (MM ‘08), will discuss his meteoric rise from singer to general director of Opera Philadelphia in person at the National Opera Center in New York on November 4 from 7 PM to 8 PM. The event will also be livestreamed.

From his early career start at age 11 to his acclaimed performances across opera, film, and Broadway, Costanzo will talk about his exceptional journey with Marc A. Scorca, president/CEO of OPERA America.

The National Opera Center is located at 330 Seventh Avenue (at 29th Street) in Manhattan.

In-Person Tickets:$5 Members, $10 Non-Members, Free for Students
Livestream: Free, registration required

Register here.

Baritone Justin Austin has been named Rising Star at the 2024 International Opera Awards. The prestigious honour was announced at the gala ceremony held at Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper on October 2.

Possessing a “mighty lyric voice” (The New York Times) “with a burly, burnished tone capable of striking nuance and color” (Washington Post), he is also the recipient of the 2024 Marian Anderson Vocal Award. Deemed “a natural performer – a star awaiting a galaxy to form around him” (Washington Post), he has been praised for his “intensity and charisma” (Opera), “rich, pointed expressiveness” (Parterre), and “immaculate musicianship” (Seen and Heard International).

Born in Stuttgart, Germany, Justin Austin is an alumnus of the Choir Academy of Harlem, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Heidelberg Lied Akademie, and Manhattan School of Music (M.M. and B.M.). He studied for his bachelor’s degree at MSM with Catherine Malfitano.

More information about Justin’s win here.
More information about the 2024 International Opera Awards here.

Three MSM alumni are featured in the cast of the Met Opera’s production of Rigoletto, on stage now through January 24, 2025:  Soloman Howard (MM ‘10) as Sparafucile, J’Nai Bridges (BM ‘09) as Maddalena, and Eve Gigliotti (BM ‘97) as ​Giovanna.

In addition, three MSM alumni are part of the production’s artistic staff: Thomas Lausmann (PS ‘99) is Director of Music Administration at the Met Opera, Israel Gursky (PS ‘98), Musical Preparation for Rigoletto, and Joseph Lawson (DMA ’02), Stage Band Conductor for Rigoletto.

In the photo above, taken after opening night on September 30, from left to right: Thomas Lausmann, Israel Gursky, J’Nai Bridges, Eve Gigliotti, and MSM President Jim Gandre.

Learn more about the production here.

MSM Vocal Arts alumnus, bass-baritone Le Bu (MM ’22), pictured, won first prize, along with soprano Kathleen O’Mara, in the 2024 Operalia Competition. The two winners also won the competition’s Birgit Nilsson Prize, awarded to singers interpreting arias by Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner. The competition was founded in 1993 “to discover and help launch the careers of the most promising young opera singers.”

Le Bu, who is featured in the 2024–25 Metropolitan Opera season, was a Grand Finals Winner of the Met’s Laffont Competition in 2022 and spent two seasons in the company’s prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

The 2024 Operalia Competition took place in Mumbai, India, from Sept. 15 to Sept. 21, at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. The competition has helped launch the careers of many singers, among them Joyce DiDonato, Lisette Oropesa, Brian Jagde, Nina Stemme, Rolando Villazón, Sonya Yoncheva, and Lise Davidsen.

Watch a video of Le Bu’s performance at the competition here.

MSM Vocal Arts alumnus Darnell Abraham (MM ’13) will move into the starring role of Mufasa—the wise father of son Simba—in the on-going North American tour of The Lion King. His first performance will take place on September 24 at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina.

Previously, Darnell played George Washington in Hamilton to critical acclaim in the North American and international tours of the production.

Learn more about Darnell here.
Learn more about the tour here.

Mezzo-soprano Gina Perregrino (BM ’14, MM ’16) will make her Metropolitan Opera debut as “una niña” in Golijov’s Ainadamar about the life and work of poet-playwright Federico García Lorca. The production runs October 15 through November 9, 2024. Perregrino took Flamenco classes to prepare for the audition after her agent informed her that the production was seeking singers who could also dance.

From Wilmington, Delaware, Perregrino studied with Mignon Dunn at Manhattan School of Music. She has gone onto casted and/or leading roles with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Seattle Opera, The Atlanta Opera, Minnesota Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, among others.

To learn more about Gina, click here.

To read the WDEL article about Gina’s upcoming MET debut, click here.

MSM Choral Conducting alumnus and former MSM Vocal Arts faculty member Dr. Malcolm Merriweather (DMA ’15) has assumed the inaugural Tania León Chair of Music at Brooklyn College. This position is Brooklyn College’s first-ever endowed chair in honor of the College’s namesake professor emerita and renowned composer.

To read more about Dr. Merriweather’s appointment and his outside conducting engagements, click here.