Seven new arrivals join one returning member for the coming season

(Los Angeles) June 26, 2024 — LA Opera has announced the performers who will be joining the company this fall as members of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program for the 2024/25 season.

Five of them are singers: soprano Gabrielle Turgeon; tenors Nathan Bowles and Yuntong Han; baritone Hyungjin Son; and bass-baritone Vinícius Costa. These artists were chosen from more than 800 applicants. The finalists auditioned in February in Los Angeles for a panel that included President and CEO Christopher Koelsch; Music Director James Conlon; Susan Graham, the program's Artistic Advisor; Paul Hopper, Senior Director of Artistic Planning; Stephen King, head of vocal instruction for the program; and Blair Salter, head coach for the program.

Also joining the program will be two pianists/coaches, Sujin Choi and Julian Garvue, chosen by an audition panel that included James Conlon, Paul Hopper and Blair Salter, as well as Jeremy Frank, the company's chorus director who is also a coach for the Young Artist Program.

One current member of the program will return for the 2024/25 season: soprano Kathleen O'Mara. Members of the program will be featured in LA Opera's mainstage productions and other performances throughout the season.

"LA Opera is dedicated to helping extraordinarily talented artists build their careers, and the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program has become one of the opera world's premier training grounds," said Christopher Koelsch. "It gives me enormous pleasure to welcome these future opera stars to our company. I know our audiences will be excited to experience their artistry on our stage throughout the season to come."

Meet the Young Artists
Tenor Nathan Bowles was a national grand finalist in the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. He recently appeared with Dallas Opera as Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet. This summer, he is an Apprentice Artist at Santa Fe Opera, where he will make his debut in Der Rosenkavalier. In the 2024/25 season, he will appear with LA Opera as Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, the Torero in Ainadamar and Borsa in Rigoletto, and he will also appear with Tulsa Opera as Don José in The Tragedy of Carmen.

South Korean pianist/coach Sujin Choi holds collaborative piano degrees from New England Conservatory and Yonsei University and has been a vocal piano fellow at the Aspen Music Festival, as a coach for Don Giovanni, and Music Academy of the West, as a coach for La Bohème. In 2023, she joined the staff of Boston Conservatory as a pianist. This summer, she is participating in the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera. At LA Opera, she will serve on the music staff for Romeo and Juliet and Rigoletto.

Brazilian bass-baritone Vinícius Costa won the Vaughan Williams Society Song Prize in the 2022 Wigmore Hall International Song Competition. He began his studies at the Guri Santa Marcelia Project and then moved to Switzerland to study at the Hochschule für Musik Basel. This summer, he will be a Renée Fleming Artist at the Aspen Music Festival, singing the title role in The Marriage of Figaro, after appearing there in 2023 as Victor Fyodorov in Jimmy Lopez's Bel Canto. His LA Opera roles will include the Duke of Verona in Romeo and Juliet, José Tripaldi in Ainadamar and Count Ceprano in Rigoletto.

Pianist/coach Julian Garvue is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and Indiana University. His studies have spanned collaborative piano, jazz piano and contemporary media, and music theory. He has participated in SongFest and Music Academy of the West. This summer, he is participating in the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera. He will be a coach for LA Opera's upcoming productions of Così fan tutte and Ainadamar.

Chinese tenor Yuntong Han recently earned a performer’s diploma and master's degree from Indiana University, where his roles included Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and Ruggero in La Rondine. He began his musical training at the New England Conservatory of Music. He was a 2023 national grand finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and has been a young artist at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the Ravinia Steans Music Institute. He will make his LA Opera debut as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet and will cover the role of Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly.

Soprano Kathleen O’Mara will return for her second year in the program. This summer she is a Gaddes Festival Artist at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, singing the role of Duchess Christina in Philip Glass's Galileo Galilei. In the 2024/25 season, in addition to her work in Los Angeles, she will make her San Diego Opera debut as Mimi in La Bohème, then make her Metropolitan Opera debut as Berta in The Barber of Seville, a role she debuted at LA Opera last fall.

South Korean baritone Hyungjin Son recently earned a Master of Music at the New England Conservatory, where his roles included Marcello in La Bohéme, Falke in Die Fledermaus and Giove in La Calisto. Last season, he performed the Bonze in Madame Butterfly with Boston Lyric Opera. He was a 2023 national grand finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. This summer, he will perform the title role in Don Giovanni with San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program. He will make his LA Opera debut as Prince Yamadori in Madame Butterfly, subsequently appearing as Gregorio in Romeo and Juliet, the Maestro in Ainadamar and Marullo in Rigoletto.

Canadian-American soprano Gabrielle Turgeon graduated in the spring with a Master of Music from Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, where she performed the title role in The Cunning Little Vixen and Blanche de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites. She has been a young artist at the Aspen Music Festival, the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, and was a 2023 finalist in Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition. She will make her company debut as Kate Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, subsequently appearing in Ainadamar and Rigoletto.

More information about the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program is available at LAOpera.org/young-artists.

About LA Opera
Los Angeles is a city of enormous diversity and creativity, and LA Opera is dedicated to reflecting that vibrancy by redefining what opera can be. Through imaginative new productions, world premiere commissions, and inventive performances that preserve foundational works while making them feel fresh and compelling, LA Opera has become one of America’s most exciting and ambitious opera companies.

In addition to its mainstage performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the company explores unusual repertoire each season through the LA Opera Off Grand initiative, featuring performances in a variety of venues throughout Los Angeles. The LA Opera Connects initiative offers a robust variety of educational programming and community engagement offerings that reaches people throughout every corner of Los Angeles County. The company also offers a multitude of online content via its LA Opera On Now digital offerings, which launched in 2020. Learn more at LAOpera.org.

LA Opera Media Contact
Marlene Meraz
Director of Communications
mmeraz@laopera.org
213.972.7554

LA Opera's Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program generously underwritten by  
Colburn Foundation  
Eugene and Marilyn Stein  

Additional generous underwriting support provided by 
Terri and Jerry Kohl 

With special support for young artist stipends graciously provided by   
The Lenore and Richard Wayne Young Artist Fellowship 

Additional support provided by  
The Jules Brenner Trust
LA Opera’s Young Artist Circle  

Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program created with funding from the
Flora L. Thornton Foundation  

LA Opera is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the greater Los Angeles community.