2023 Young Artists
Felix Aguilar Tomlinson, Tenor
Apprentice Artist
Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd
Felix Aguilar Tomlinson is a Mexican American lyric tenor from Minneapolis, MN, with a BM and GPD from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. This is Felix’s second season as an Apprentice Artist at Chautauqua Opera, having performed the roles of Shakur (Thumbprint) and Thaddeus Stevens (The Mother of Us All) last summer. Also in upstate New York, this past year he has been in residence with Tri-Cities Opera in Binghamton and with Syracuse Opera, performing the roles of Toby (The Medium), Kaspar (Amahl and the Night Visitors), and Basilio/Curzio (Le nozze di Figaro).
Felix has also sung with opera companies and choirs in Boston, New York, and Minnesota, including Boston Lyric Opera, Odyssey Opera, the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, Lakes Area Music Festival, and the Boston Pops. His recent roles include Albert Herring, Tito, Peter Quint, Younger Thompson, and Ernesto.
Nathan Bowles, Tenor
Studio Artist
Ensemble (Covering Anthony Hope) in Sweeney Todd, (Covering Don José) in La Tragédie de Carmen
Nathan Bowles holds a master’s degree in vocal performance from Southern Methodist University and studied with Professor Clifton Forbis in SMU’s Performance Diploma program. Shortly after arriving in Dallas he transitioned from baritone to tenor and has been heard as Judge Danforth in SMU Lyric Theatre’s production of The Crucible and as Male Chorus in their production of The Rape of Lucretia. Bowles has performed with the Dallas Opera orchestra in their Dallas Arboretum concert, as well as with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in their annual donor gala alongside Thomas Hampson and Susan Graham. Bowles hails from Minot, North Dakota, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Minot State University. He has sung with Minot’s Western Plains Opera as Alfred in Die Fledermaus, the Father in Into the Woods, and Basilio in The Barber of Seville.
Lauryn Davis, Soprano
Studio Artist
Ensemble in Sweeney Todd, (Covering Micaëla) in La Tragédie de Carmen
Notable for her poised stage presence and rich, warm tone, Lauryn Davis has become a notable emerging soprano. Her recent performance highlights include operatic and music-theatre roles such as Musetta from Puccini’s La bohéme and Margaret from Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza. She has been included in masterclasses with world-renowned musicians and conductors such as Pierre Vallet, Jennifer Larmore, and Chuck Hudson. In 2022, She was the winner of the Atlanta Opera Guild’s Scholarship Competition, receiving the Tommy Trotter Award. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Lauryn is currently pursuing a Master of Music at College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Lauryn is a wonderful musician who plans to further her operatic career by continuing her training with other professionals at summer programs and fellowships around the world.
SarahAnn Duffy, Mezzo-Soprano
Studio Artist
Ensemble (Covering Mrs. Lovett) in Sweeney Todd
SarahAnn Duffy, American Mezzo-Soprano, is quickly establishing herself as a versatile artist with an eclectic range of musical interests spanning from baroque to the present day. Recent appearances include Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Zerlina (cover) in Don Giovanni, and Fidalma (cover) in Il matrimonio segreto as a Studio Artist at Sarasota Opera, Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte with Northern Lights Music Festival, Second Spirit in Palm Beach Opera’s Die Zauberflöte, and covered Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, where she served two seasons as a Bailey Apprentice Artist. She also joined the Broad Street Orchestra for Ottorino Respighi’s Il tramonto. Ms. Duffy was a 2021 San Diego District Encouragement Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council competition.
Monique Galvão, Mezzo-Soprano
Apprentice Artist
Ensemble (Covering Beggar Woman) in Sweeney Todd, Carmen in La Tragédie de Carmen
Monique Galvão is a Resident Artist at the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her most recent performances there include Flora in Verdi’s La Traviata and the title role of Thomas’ Mignon in concert. Most recently, Monique performed as mezzo soloist in Handel’s Messiah with NPC Concert Series in Ft Lauderdale, Florida and this past summer Monique made her title role debut in Bizet’s Carmen with the Miami Music Festival.
Monique was a finalist to the James Toland Vocal Arts Elizabeth Greenfield Award and was recently the second prize winner of the Linus Lerner International Singing Competition. As a result, she was awarded upcoming performances with Southern Arizona Symphony as well as a future debut with the Amazonas’ opera in Manaus.
Brian Jeffers, Tenor
Apprentice Artist
Beadle in Sweeney Todd, Lilas Pastia in La Tragédie de Carmen
Brian Jeffers is an NYC-based vocalist noted for his flexible and heroic tenor (Opera News). He has recently been seen with Opera Saratoga, OnSite Opera, New Amsterdam Opera, Aspen Opera Center and as a Guest Artist at The Juilliard School’s Center for Innovation in the Arts. He returns to Chautauqua Opera as an Apprentice Artist having performed as a Studio Artist for the Beaumarchais Trilogy in 2019. Favorite theatrical roles include Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Medoro (Cracked Orlando), Pedrillo (Abduction from the Seraglio), Lord Eveyln Oakleigh (Anything Goes), and Beadle Bamford (Sweeney Todd). Also active in choral work, he has performed the tenor solos in The Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, To Be Certain of a Dawn, King David, The Creation, and is a member of the New York Philharmonic Chorus.
An Omaha native, he holds a BM from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and an MM from Arizona State University.
Evan Lazdowski, Bass-Baritone
Studio Artist
Ensemble (Covering Sweeney Todd) in Sweeney Todd, Zuniga/Garcia in La Tragédie de Carmen
Praised in Opera News for his “warm, hearty bass-baritone,” Evan Lazdowski is a current Resident Artist at Pittsburgh Opera, where he performed this past season in Le nozze di Figaro (Figaro and Antonio) and Ariodante (Il Re).
Highlights in 2021-22 included The Magic Flute (Papageno, cover; Speaker) at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as a Gaddes Festival Artist, Don Giovanni (Il Commendatore) at the Aspen Music Festival as a Renée Fleming Artist, and The Rake’s Progress (Nick Shadow) with Juilliard Opera.
Mr. Lazdowski has been a finalist in both the Dallas Opera National Vocal Competition and Houston Grand Opera’s Concert of Arias, as well as a Regionals Encouragement Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. He holds a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Lazdowski is also a proud alum of the Chautauqua Opera Conservatory.
Tshilidzi Ndou, Baritone
Apprentice Artist
Ensemble in Sweeney Todd, Escamillo in La Tragédie de Carmen
South African baritone Tshilidzi Ndou recently joined the Utah Opera Resident Artist Program, where he will appear in Donizetti’s La fille du régiment as the Corporal, in Verdi’s Rigoletto as Marullo, and as baritone soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Utah Symphony. Other roles performed include Count Almaviva from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro; Mr Webb from Ned Rorem’s Our Town; Luther Billis from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific; Guglielmo from Mozart’s Così fan tutte; John Proctor from The Crucible by Robert Ward; and the baritone soloist in Mozart’s Requiem. As a member of the Dallas Opera’s Educational Outreach program, he performed the Mayor in Bizet’s Doctor Miracle and Belcore in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. Tshilidzi was awarded First Prize of the Pre-Professional Division as well as receiving the Spiritual and Contemporary Art Song prizes in the 2022 George Shirley Vocal Competition. He was named District Winner and Western Region Encouragement Award Winner in the 2021 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Other awards include First Place District Winner at the Mary E. Singletary NVAC, 2021; First Place at NATS National, 2020; Second Place and the Legacy Award winner at the NOA 2022 Carolyn Bailey Argento Vocal Competition. He holds a B.A in Vocal Performance, a Diploma in Music from North-Western University, South Africa, and a Performers Diploma in Voice and Master of Music degree from Southern Methodist University, where he studied with Professor Barbara Hill-Moore.
Alexis Peart, Mezzo-Soprano
Studio Artist
Ensemble in Sweeney Todd, (Covering Carmen) in La Tragédie de Carmen
Caribbean-American mezzo-soprano Alexis Peart is a recent graduate of the Eastman School of Music and Boston University and a two-time alumna of the Wolf Trap Opera Studio Artist Program (2020/2021). During the 2022/2023 season, Alexis performs with the Rochester Oratorio Society as the Voice of Israel in R. Nathaniel Dett’s The Ordering of Moses. She frequently appears with the Boston University Opera Institute: this season as Jo in Mark Adamo’s Little Women, Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina, and Mrs. Somes in Ned Rorem’s Our Town, and in the 2021/2022 season as Brittomara in Jake Heggie’s If I Were You and Taller Daughter in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up.
Especially apt with new music, Alexis debuted the role of Ada Lovelace in the world premiere workshop of Elena Ruehr’s The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage with Guerilla Opera and presented the first live performance of Love in the Time Of, a new song cycle commissioned by Boston Opera Collaborative.
Piero Regis, Tenor
Studio Artist
Ensemble (Covering Pirelli) in Sweeney Todd
Piero Andre Regis is a tenor and singing actor from Katy, Texas. During the 2022-23 season he performed the role of Monkey in Monkey and Francine in the City of Tigers with Houston Grand Opera’s Opera to Go! He has earned 1st prize at the 2022 NATS Texoma Region Competition, 2nd place in the 2022 NOA Collegiate Scenes Competition, and participated in the 2022 Lotte Lenya competition as a semi-finalist. Favorite roles include Conte Barigoule (Cendrillon), Shakur (Thumbprint), Almeric (Iolanta), and a scene performance of Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore). Regis holds a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
Atticus Rego, Bass
Studio Artist
Ensemble (Covering Judge Turpin) in Sweeney Todd, (Covering Zuniga/Garcia) in La Tragédie de Carmen
After completing his undergraduate degree in Theater and Economics, he decided to switch gears and pursue opera. Two years later, he is now a graduate of the master’s in voice program at the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Recently he performed the roles of Bartolo and Claudio from Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart) and Agrippina (Händel), respectively. He also sang in the core chorus of Aïda, La bòheme, and The Pirates of Penzance at the Cincinnati Opera. He won an encouragement award at the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition (Kentucky district), and at the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices in New Orleans. It is his honor to sing with Chautauqua Opera this summer.
Marquita Richardson, Soprano
Apprentice Artist
Ensemble in Sweeney Todd, Suor Angelica in Suor Angelica
Marquita Richardson is a soprano and voiceover artist, based in Lexington, Kentucky. Having originally pursued medicine, Marquita started taking voice lessons with Dr. Lloyd Mallory, Jr. in 2017, won an Alltech Scholarship to the University of Kentucky in 2018, and has been studying with Dr. Everett McCorvey ever since.
Marquita has performed leading roles for the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre, including Mimì in La bohème (2022), Abigail Williams in The Crucible (2021), Suor Angelica in Suor Angelica (2019), and covering Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly (2018). She has sung as a chorus member with Cincinnati Opera and Kentucky Opera, and as a featured soloist with the Louisville Orchestra. Marquita also performed as Musetta in Kentucky Opera’s 2022 production of La bohème and served as a 2022-2023 Barbara & Halsey Sandford Studio Artist. She has voiced audiobooks, commercials, and radio show characters, and sung in concert across the United States and abroad. Marquita believes in creating a more empathetic world through art and great storytelling.
Nathan Savant, Baritone
Studio Artist
Ensemble in Sweeney Todd, (Covering Escamillo) in La Tragédie de Carmen
A native of Oakland, California, Nathan Savant has been praised for being a “charismatic baritone” with “vocal power”. Most recently, Nathan was hired as a Resident Artist at Opera North in Lebanon, New Hampshire where he sang the roles of Guglielmo in Così fan tutte as well as Marchese d’Obigny in La Traviata.
Nathan is currently a Master of Music candidate for Opera and Vocal Performance at Northwestern University. While at Northwestern, Nathan has performed the roles of Marcello in La bohème, Putnam in If I Were You, and Mr. Gobineau in The Medium.
He received a BM in Vocal Performance from the Eastman School of Music. While at Eastman, he performed the roles of Maestro in Prima la musica e poi le parole and Der Schauspieldirektor in Der Schauspieldirektor, and Mr. Lister/Karl Marx/Solomon Weil/Voiceover in Elizabeth Cree.
Trevor Scott, Tenor
Studio Artist
Ensemble (Covering Beadle /Tobias) in Sweeney Todd, (Covering Lilas Pastia) in La Tragédie de Carmen
Trevor Scott is currently pursuing his MM in Vocal Performance under the direction of Professor Stanford Olsen at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. He completed his undergraduate degree at the Eastman School of Music, where he studied under Professor Robert Swensen. In March 2023, he is excited to play Don Ottavio in UM Opera Theatre’s production of Don Giovanni. Recent roles include the Schoolmaster/Mosquito in Leoš Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, performed in Czech (UM Opera Theatre); Reverend John Rankin in Adolphus Hailstork’s Rise for Freedom (UMOT); and the Lyric Tenor in Dominick Argento’s Postcard from Morocco (Eastman Opera Theatre). He was also recently selected as a vocal fellow in UM’s prestigious American Song Institute, where he studied with renowned baritone Thomas Hampson. Trevor is from St. Louis, Missouri, and is an avid cyclist; later this summer, he hopes to cycle from Detroit to Michigan’s upper peninsula!
Uma Singh, Soprano
Studio Artist
Ensemble (Covering Johanna) in Sweeney Todd
Uma Singh is a soprano from Cleveland, Ohio. She is currently pursuing her Master of Music in Voice and Opera performance at Northwestern University. In 2021, she graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance and a minor in German. At the University of Michigan, she appeared as Euridice in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, as well as in the ensembles of Bernstein’s Candide and Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. In the past summer, she attended the Collaborative Piano Institute, the Middlebury German for Singers Program, and the Brancaleoni International Music Festival. Uma is looking forward to her debut as Erste Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in March, and her role debut as Alcina in Handel’s Alcina in May, both with Northwestern Opera Theatre.
Louis Tiemann, Tenor
Apprentice Artist
Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd, Don José in La Tragédie de Carmen
Louis Tiemann is excited to be making his tenor debut with Chautauqua Opera, having recently shifted up from baritone. In 2022, Louis made his debut with Saratoga Opera singing Anthony in Sweeney Todd, and Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia. A second-year apprentice with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Louis premiered the role of Ollie in the new children’s opera, Sketchbook for Ollie by Rachel Peters. In the spring of 2023, he will workshop and premier the role of Billy in Carry My Own Suitcase, a new opera by Susan Kander and Roberta Gumbel, as well as the title character in Werther at William Jewell College. Louis completed his masters at Bard College where he worked with Stephanie Blyth, Kayo Iwama, Erika Switzer, and Joan Patenaude-Yarnell, and his artist Diploma at William Jewell College under the teaching of Daniel Belcher.
Angela Yam
Apprentice Artist
Johanna in Sweeney Todd
Praised for her “huge, clear voice,” (Daily Gazette), Angela Yam has sung with the New York City Ballet, Opera Saratoga, Santa Fe Opera, and Fargo-Moorhead Opera, where her work has been described as “wickedly funny and talented” and “a powerful soprano that really gets your attention.” (InForum)
Professional highlights include Johanna in Sweeney Todd (Opera Saratoga), Clorinda in La Cenerentola (Fargo-Moorhead Opera), and Mary Crawford in Dove’s Mansfield Park (Opera Modesto). Concert performances include the New York City Ballet (Soloist, Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Opera Saratoga (Soloist, Rossini: Petite messe solennelle), and the New York Philharmonic (Chorus, Beethoven Symphony No.9).
A lover of new music, Yam has premiered works with the American Opera Project, Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, White Snake Projects, Overtone Industries, and at Carnegie’s Stern Hall. At Santa Fe Opera in 2021, Yam performed Cobweb in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and covered Agave in the world premiere of John Corigliano’s Lord of Cries. She graduated from the New England Conservatory (2021), performing Blanche de la Force in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Coloratura Soprano in Postcard from Morocco, Calisto in La Calisto, and soprano soloist in Haydn’s Die Schöpfung.
Lili Juyeon Yoo, Soprano
Apprentice Artist
Ensemble in Sweeney Todd, Micaëla in La Tragédie de Carmen
Based in Austin Texas, South Korean soprano Lili Juyeon Yoo is pursuing her Doctoral degree in Opera Performance at the University of Texas at Austin. This season she sang the role of Juliette as a part of Shakespeare gala concert and Liszt’s Tre Sonetti di Petrarca in the Song re-imagined recital. She also looks forward to singing the role of Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Butler Opera Center in April. Last season, Ms. Yoo performed the role of Bubikopf from Der Kaiser von Atlantis and Micaëla from Carmen at the Butler Opera Center. Other notable roles include Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, Adina in L’elisir d’amore and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro.
Ms. Yoo holds a Bachelor of Music from the Seoul National University and completed both her Master of Music and Performer Diploma at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She was trained as a young artist at the Aspen Music Festival, Prague Summer Nights and Songfest.
