A Madison Symphony Christmas 2026

A recent graduate of the Houston Grand Opera Butler Studio, Haitian-American soprano Renée Richardson hails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Richardson performed the roles of Flower Maiden in Parsifal and Sister Berthe in The Sound of Music, as well as covering the role of Mary Jane Bowser in Intelligence, during HGO’s 2023-24 season. During the 2022-23 season at HGO, she performed the roles of Annina in La traviata and Woman Whose Uncle Loved Maria Callas in Another City. 

Richardson holds an Artist Diploma from  The Academy of Vocal Arts, where she has sung Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème, Foreign Princess in Dvořák’s Rusalka, the title role and Suor Dolcina in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, and Inès in Donizetti’s La favorite. She holds a Professional Studies Diploma in Voice from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where her roles included Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Béatrice in Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict, and the title roles in Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Cherubini’s Medea. 

Richardson has been seen in several Pensacola Opera productions including Carmen, La bohème, and The Pirates of Penzance. She was the recipient of an A. Grace Lee Mims Scholarship for Negro Spirituals and has been the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Kennett Symphony and also Ocean City Pops. She has been named a finalist in the Vincerò Worldwide Opera Competition in Naples, Italy.  

At Wolf Trap Opera,  she debuted the role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Wolf Trap Opera, and this past summer, she performed the role of Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. 

Tenor, Demetrious Sampson Jr., is a multifaceted operatic artist from Albany, Ga. He finished his undergraduate studies at Georgia State University’s School of Music in May of 2023, after which, he joined the Sarah and Ernest Butler Studio at the Houston Grand Opera. During his two seasons there, he has received invaluable on-stage training in shows like Parsifal, Il Trovatore, and La Bohème. For the ‘25/’26 season, Demetrious will conclude his time in the Studio by singing the principal roles, Sportin’ Life in Porgy and Bess, Lennie in Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men, and The Witch in performances of Hänsel und Gretel. Additionally, he will make his role and company debut as Rodolfo in La Bohème with Austin Opera. 

As a young artist in his mid-twenties, Mr. Sampson has been fortunate to train at some of the most prestigious summer young artist programs over the past three years. In 2022 he was an apprentice artist at Des Moines Metro Opera, where he prepared several scenes, covered Robbins and performed the role of Crab Man in their production of Porgy and Bess. For the Summer of 2023 he joined an elite cohort of young artist at the highly acclaimed Merola Opera Program where he performed in their highly reviewed song recital, scenes program and the Merola Grand Finale on the War Memorial Stage at San Francisco Opera. The Summer of 2024 Mr. Sampson made company and role debuts with Cincinnati Opera as Gastone in La Traviata and Wolf Trap Opera as a Filene Artist portraying the Kronprinz in Silent Night by Kevin Puts. 

Demetrious loves any opportunity to share music with an audience and he has found a special love for performing concert and recital repertoire. In 2023 he made his Kennedy Center debut with the Washington Chorus. On this concert, which commemorated the 60th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, he sang the tenor in Undine Smith Moore’s challenging yet poignantly gorgeous Scenes from the Life of a Martyr, a work for which he was fortunate to create, in part, the first commercially available recording of with the Eugene Concert Choir and Orchestra. In 2024, Demetrious made his company and role debut as the tenor in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Savannah Philharmonic. That Winter, he returned to Eugene Oregon and the Eugene Concert Choir and Orchestra to make his debut in Händel’s Messiah (in full). Demetrious has also performed concerts with the Evansville Philharmonic, the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra, and The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. 

An avid competitor, Demetrious has been the recipient of several national and international honors. In 2023 he was the Second Place and Audience Choice winner in Houston Grand Opera’s 35th Annual Eleanor McCollum Competition, a Georgia District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition, the Second Prize winner at the Opera Ebony Competition, Second Prize at the Opera Grand Rapids Vander Laan Prize, a Grand Finalist for the Schmidt Vocal Arts Undergraduate Awards and was a finalist for several national competitions. Winning First Place in the Southeast Region, Demetrious went on to become one of 10 Grand Finalists in the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition for the ’23-24 cycle.