It is September in New York City—time for the beginning of the 39th year of the Metropolitan Opera’s prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. There are many roads that can lead here, into one of the world’s most premier opera training programs. CS asked some of the 2019–20 Lindemann Young Artists about their backgrounds, training, and career highlights to help you learn what kind of steps you can take to make it to the Met.
Name: Leah Hawkins, soprano
Age: 28
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Training: Degrees include a BA in music from Morgan State University and an MM in voice from Yale University. Additional training with Washington National Opera’s Domingo–Cafritz Young Artist Program, the Glimmerglass Festival, Chautauqua Opera Company, Central City Opera, Houston Grand Opera’s Young Artists Vocal Academy, and Prelude to Performance.
Big Break: Entering the YAP at Washington National Opera.
Career Highlights: Met appearances include roles as an alms-collector in Suor Angelica and the High Priestess in Aida as well as performing in the 2019 Summer Recital Series. Other highlights include appearing in Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder with the Apollo Orchestra, “A Space Odyssey” with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Bernstein’s Songfest with the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera’s “Justice at the Opera” with Ruth Bader Ginsburg—and singing at the White House and meeting the President of France Emmanuel Macron.
Dream Roles: Mimì in La bohème, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Leonora in La forza del destino, Carmen, and Turandot.
Most Played Song on Your Playlist: “Zombie” recorded by Fela Kuti
Name: Katelan Terrell, pianist
Age: 25
Hometown: Fort Worth, Texas
Training: Degrees include a BM in piano performance and literature from the Eastman School of Music and an MM in collaborative piano from the Juilliard School.
Big Break: “I can’t say I’ve had a definitive big break, though I definitely remember the first time I played for a singer and how that felt. It was during my sophomore year at the Eastman School of Music in a studio class for the wonderful professor Robert Swensen. I jumped in for a busy colleague to play ‘Urlicht’ . . . quite the introduction to vocal music! I got bitten by the bug and never looked back.”
Career Highlights: Participating in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program’s workshops and lessons with artists including Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Elīna Garanča, Neil Shicoff, Sondra Radvanovsky, Matthew Polenzani, Renée Fleming, and Stephanie Blythe, among others. Performing selections from Winterreise and Dichterliebe with Ian Bostridge at Merkin Concert Hall and working on La bohème with Maestro Antonio Pappano at the Britten–Pears Young Artist Programme.
Dream Job: “As far as a dream job, one of the best/most difficult things about being an opera pianist is the fact that our careers are often cobbled together by a combination of luck and skill. There is no specific job title I covet in particular, and I hope it remains that way. Let’s just say I hope mine gets cobbled together all over the world with people I love working with, that I’m always kept on my toes, and that I never stop learning.”
Most Played Song on Your Playlist: “Exactly How I Feel” recorded by Lizzo
Name: Megan Esther Grey, mezzo-soprano
Age: 25
Hometown: Cedar Falls, Iowa
Training: Degrees include an MM in voice from the University of Northern Iowa and additional summer training at the Chautauqua Opera Company, the Merola Opera Program, and the Wolf Trap Opera company.
Big Break: “My big break was actually a fracture of my big toe on my right foot, which I broke in front of the final panel for the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program by falling down the stairs of List Hall in my tall, skinny heels. I’m glad I was holding onto the railing (always use that railing!). I was ill with a sinus infection and also had a fever, and it was a turning point given that I was able to overcome all of these random obstacles in the heat of battle! I left with a new sense of purpose even before finding out I had been accepted into the program.”
Career Highlights: Appearing as Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and the Second Lady in The Magic Flute at the Met and Der Trommler in Der Kaiser von Atlantis with Wolf Trap Opera.
Dream Roles: Amneris in Aida and Charlotte in Werther.
Most Played Song on Your Playlist: “I Belong to You (+Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix)” recorded by Muse
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Name: Gabriella Reyes, soprano
Age: 26
Hometown: Meriden, Connecticut
Training: Degrees include a BM in voice from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and training at Boston University’s Opera Institute.
Big Break: “I did the Met National Council Auditions back in 2017 in my first year of the Opera Institute of Boston University. Thanks to Michael Heaston and the New England Region judges, I was able to advance to the semifinals and then, ultimately, to the grand finals. While I didn’t win, I learned a valuable lesson that you don’t have to be named a winner to still have success. I was then invited to the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program after that!”
Career Highlights: Appearing as the High Priestess in Aida and the First Lady in The Magic Flute at the Met. “My ultimate highlight was when I was able to share the stage with Plácido Domingo in Gianni Schicchi as Nella. My introduction to opera was my grandmother singing along to the Met radio broadcasts where Plácido Domingo would be featured. It was her dream to sing with him—and so she would, in our kitchen while she made her granddaughters lunch. It was the most rewarding to know that years later, she was able to hear her granddaughter actually share the stage and sing alongside her greatest icon. It was and will always be my greatest honor to be able to realize my grandmother’s dream.”
Dream Roles: Tosca, Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, and Violetta in La traviata.
Most Played Song on Your Playlist: “Gracias a la vida” recorded by Mercedes Sosa
Name: Mario Bahg, tenor
Age: 28
Hometown: Busan, South Korea
Training: Graduated from the Korea National University of Arts and received a master’s degree from Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts.
Big Break: First prize in the 2017 Queen Sonja International Music Competition and first prize in the 2018 Montreal International Music Competition.
Career Highlights: Participating in the Met’s 2019 Summer Recital Series and appearing as Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor at Opéra de Montréal.
Dream Roles: Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto.
Most Played Song on Your Playlist: Die Schöpfung, Don Giovanni, and tenor aria albums
Name: Meigui Zhang, soprano
Age: 25
Hometown: Chengdu, China
Training: Degrees include a bachelor’s degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Sichuan Conservatory of Music and a master’s degree from the Mannes School of Music with additional summer training at the Merola Opera Program.
Career Highlights: Making her Met debut as the bloody child in Macbeth and as Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro as well as appearing at the Guangzhou Opera House as Zerlina in Don Giovanni and making a European debut in the Verbier Festival as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte.
Dream Roles: Gilda in Rigoletto and Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor.
Most Played Song on Your Playlist: “Love Me Tender” recorded by Elvis Presley
Name: Brian Michael Moore, lyric tenor
Age: 26
Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
Training: Degrees include a BM and MM from the Manhattan School of Music. Additional training at the Domingo–Colburn–Stein Young Artist Program and summer training at Cincinnati Opera.
Career Highlights: Making his Met debut as the song seller in Il tabarro and appearing as the Governor in Candide at LA Opera, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, as both Le Remendado and Le Dancaïre in various productions of Carmen, Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto at the Asheville Lyric Opera, and Rodolfo in La bohème at the Manhattan School of Music.
Dream Roles: Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Lensky in Eugene Onegin, Hoffmann in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Don Carlo in Don Carlo, and Canio in I Pagliacci. “If we’re taking about any role in the world, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor is my favorite role ever, but alas I am not soprano enough for it!”
Most Played Song on Your Playlist: “When cooking or lounging or riding the subway, my wife and I have a really neat playlist of 50s/60s jazz! Things like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, the Ink Spots, etc. That’s always on in our house!”
Name: Jessica Faselt, soprano
Age: 26
Hometown: Iowa City, Iowa
Training: Degrees include a BM from the University of Iowa and an MM from the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music. Young Artist Programs at Florida Grand Opera and the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis with additional summer training at Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices and the Des Moines Metro Opera.
Big Break: “While in college, I saw the 2007 documentary The Audition for the first time and was inspired to sing for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions someday! I auditioned . . . when I first became eligible at age 21 and I received an encouragement award at the regional level. Every year after that for five consecutive years, I reapplied and reauditioned. Every year I advanced one step further gaining third, second, and first place at the regional. In 2018 at age 25, I advanced to the semi-final round at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, and from there I was chosen as one of the finalists to sing on the grand finals concert. I was chosen as one of the 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions winners. Five years of hard work and persistence had come full circle, and it was a dream come true!”
Career Highlights: Met performances include appearing as a novice in Suor Angelica, cover of Freia in Das Rheingold, Met: Live in HD as Helmwige in Die Walküre, and cover of a lady-in-waiting in Macbeth.
Dream Roles: Rusalka, Elsa von Brabant in Lohengrin, and Amelia in Un ballo in maschera.
Most Played Song on Your Playlist: “A Million Dreams” recorded by P!nk, “Lay Me Down” recorded by Sam Smith, and “Smile” by Charlie Chaplin
Name: Derrick Goff, pianist and coach
Age: 30
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Training: Degrees include a BM in sacred music and an MM in voice performance and pedagogy from Westminster Choir College at Rider University and additional training as an apprentice pianist/coach with Florida Grand Opera Studio.
Big Break: “I guess I’m still waiting for my big break!”
Career Highlights: Working as a chorusmaster/coach at Bel Canto at Caramoor and Teatro Nuovo.
Dream Job: Chorusmaster or conductor.
Most Played Song on your Playlist: “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” recorded by Nina Simone
Name: Arseny Yakovlev, tenor
Age: 26
Hometown: Moscow, Russia
Training: Bolshoi Young Artists Opera Program
Big Break: Recording the role of Gherman from The Queen of Spades by Tchaikovsky at the age of 21 for a Russian movie and winning the Operalia third prize.
Career Highlights: Appearing as the messenger in Aida at the Met.
Dream Roles: Andrea Chénier.
Most Played Song on Your Playlist: “Gesaffelstein” recorded by Pursuit
