Voices Eternal: An Inspired 100th Anniversary Celebration!

Combining exceptional lyricism and insight with consummate technique, Alessio Bax is without a doubt “among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public” (Gramophone). He catapulted to prominence with First Prize wins at both the 2000 Leeds International Piano Competition and the 1997 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition and is now a familiar face on five continents as a recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist. He has appeared with nearly 200 orchestras, including the New York, London, Royal, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston, Baltimore, Dallas, Cincinnati, Seattle, Sydney, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, and the Tokyo and NHK Symphony in Japan, collaborating with such eminent conductors as Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Hannu Lintu, Fabio Luisi, Sir Simon Rattle, Ruth Reinhardt, Yuri Temirkanov, and Jaap van Zweden.

As a renowned chamber musician, Bax has collaborated with Lisa Batiashvili, Joshua Bell, Ian Bostridge, Lucille Chung, James Ehnes, Vilde Frang, Steven Isserlis, Daishin Kashimoto, François Leleux, Sergei Nakariakov, Emmanuel Pahud, Lawrence Power, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Paul Watkins, and Tabea Zimmermann, among many others.

In March 2026, Bax will be named founding Artistic Director of the London Chamber Music Festival at Sinfonia Smith Square. Since 2017, he has been the Artistic Director of the Incontri in Terra di Siena Festival, a Summer Music Festival in the Val d’Orcia region of Tuscany. Bax appears regularly in festivals such as Seattle, Bravo Vail, Salon-de-Provence, Le Pont in Japan, Great Lakes, Verbier, Ravinia, Music@Menlo, Aspen and Tanglewood.

In 2009, Bax was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and four years later he received both the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award and the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists.

Bax’s most recent album releases are Forgotten Dances and Debussy & Ravel for Two with Lucille Chung. His celebrated Signum Classics discography also includes Italian Inspirations; Beethoven’s Hammerklavier and Moonlight Sonatas (a Gramophone Editor’s Choice); Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto; Bax & Chung, a duo disc with Lucille Chung; Alessio Bax plays Mozart, recorded with London’s Southbank Sinfonia; Alessio Bax: Scriabin & Mussorgsky (named “Recording of the Month … and quite possibly … of the year” by MusicWeb International); Alessio Bax plays Brahms (a Gramophone Critics’ Choice); Bach Transcribed; and Rachmaninov: Preludes & Melodies (an American Record Guide Critics’ Choice). Recorded for Warner Classics, his Baroque Reflections album was also a Gramophone Editor’s Choice. He performed Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata for Daniel Barenboim in the PBS-TV documentary Barenboim on Beethoven: Masterclass, available on DVD from EMI. 

At the age of 14, Bax graduated with top honors from the conservatory of Bari, his hometown in Italy, and after further studies in Europe, he moved to the United States in 1994. He has been on the piano faculty of Boston’s New England Conservatory since the fall of 2019 and serves as co-artistic director of the Joaquín Achúcarro Foundation for emerging pianists.

Bax lives in New York City with pianist Lucille Chung and their daughter, Mila.

American soprano Alexandra LoBianco, who “gave an impassioned performance” in the title role of Aida at Seattle Opera (Seattle Times), has established herself as a dramatic soprano of distinctive versatility, musicality, and consistency. The current season will include performances of Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth for a role and house debut with Boston Lyric Opera, as well as concert appearances with the Madison Symphony Orchestra.

Hailing from Saint Petersburg, Florida, LoBianco began her journey in opera with a foundation in voice, theater, and clarinet. Her talent quickly garnered recognition, winning first prizes at the Liederkranz Vocal Competition and the Irene Dalis Competition in 2011 and the Altamura International Vocal Competition and the William Sullivan Foundation Awards in 2013. These early successes laid the groundwork for a distinguished career on the international stage.

LoBianco has performed with numerous opera companies of note, while taking on some of the most challenging roles in the repertoire. Career highlights include Leonore in Fidelio with the Vienna State Opera and North Carolina Opera, Brünnhilde in Die Walküre and Siegfried with Seattle Opera and North Carolina Opera, Minnie in La fanciulla del West with Des Moines Metro Opera, and the title role in Turandot with Des Moines Metro Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and Maryland Lyric Opera. She has also appeared as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with Seattle Opera, Alice Ford in Falstaff with Santa Fe Opera, and Marianne Leitmetzerin in Der Rosenkavalier at The Metropolitan Opera, which was featured in the Met’s Live in HD broadcast series. The artist has also performed Chrysothemis and the Fourth Maid in Elektra and Helmwige in Die Walküre at Lyric Opera of Chicago, the title role in Tosca at both North Carolina Opera and Minnesota Opera, and Amelia in Un ballo in maschera at Florida Grand Opera.

Recent seasons have also included performances as Leonora in Il Trovatore with Opera Colorado, the Mother in Hansel and Gretel with Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Foreign Princess in Rusalka with the Canadian Opera Company, and the title role in Tosca with Seattle Opera and Portland Opera. In a stunning international turn, LoBianco stepped in for an ailing colleague as Leonore in Fidelio for her debut with the Wiener Staatsoper while under contract for the title role in Turandot. Subsequent appearances with the Wiener Staatsoper included performances as Helmwige in Die Walküre and a Brünnhilde cover, while on tour in Japan.

Ms. LoBianco’s repertoire also includes Sieglinde in Die Walküre, the title roles in Suor Angelica and Madama Butterfly, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Mimì in La bohème, Magda Sorel in Menotti’s The Consul, and Brünnhilde in Jonathan Dove’s abridged Ring Cycle.

Adriana Zabala is acclaimed for operatic, concert and recital performances throughout the U.S. and abroad. The New York Times has hailed her as “a vivid, fearless presence,” and the L.A. Times as “an extraordinary, vibrant mezzo-soprano.” In addition to traditional operatic roles such as Cherubino and Rosina, Ms. Zabala has created characters in distinctive new works such as Sister James in Cuomo and Shanley’s Doubt (recently broadcast on PBS’ Great Performances), Rosie Cheney in Puts and Campbell’s The Manchurian Candidate, Erminella in Musto and Campbell’s Volpone, the title character in Aldridge and Garfein’s Sister Carrie, Manja in Cohen and Brevoort’s Steal a Pencil for Me, and Lucy Talbott in Bolcom and Campbell’s Dinner at Eight.

In U.S. premieres, the mezzo was heard as Amore in L’Albore di Diana, the title role in Dove’s The Adventures of Pinocchio, and received international acclaim for her role in Glass’ Waiting for the Barbarians with Austin Opera. She recently joined Arizona Opera as Paula in Florencia en el Amazonas, reprised the role with both San Diego and Madison Opera, sang Nicklausse in Les Contes D’Hoffmann, also with Madison Opera, and sang the role of Joanna in the revival of Carly Simon’s Romulus Hunt with Nashville Opera. She made her role debut as Mary Johnson in Spears’ Fellow Travelers with Minnesota Opera, and reprised the role with Madison Opera. Ms. Zabala made her European operatic debut in Valencia, Spain under the baton of Maestro Lorin Maazel at the Opera Palau des Arts, and returned the following season for two productions conducted by Maestro Zubin Mehta.

She has been a soloist with the New York Festival of Song, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the New Jersey Symphony, the Jerusalem Symphony, the Jacksonville Symphony, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Elijah with Bryn Terfel, among others. Recent engagements include Mahler’s Symphony no.2 with The Minnesota Orchestra and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, The Mozart Requiem with both the Florida Bach Festival and the Jacksonville Symphony, the world premiere of Jeffrey Van’s Reaping the Whirlwind with the Susquehanna Valley Chorale, the title role in Annelies, an Anne Frank Oratorio, with both the Minnesota Oratorio Society and at Montclair State University, Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 with Handel & Haydn Society of Boston, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with both the Colorado Symphony and with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. In recital, Ms. Zabala has performed at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the Barns at Wolf Trap, with the Source Song Festival, and on the Salzburg International Chamber Music Series, among many others. Her collaboration with composer and pianist Gregg Kallor is highly praised for their recording and performances of his compositions on the CD Exhilaration: Dickinson and Yeats Songs. Zabala and Kallor have performed this program in New York City, Minneapolis, and Salzburg, and on the Tuesday Musical of Akron guest artist series. Additional recent recordings include unpublished songs of Louis Durey, and world premiere recordings of Pauline Viardot’s Le Dernier Sorcier, and song cycles of Dominick Argento. Zabala also plays the title role in the chamber music play, Nadia, about the legendary pedagogue, conductor, and composer Nadia Boulanger.

Recent engagements include the role of Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Colorado, the world premiere of Paola Prestini and Mark Campbell’s The Miraculous Adventure of Edward Tulane, Orestes in La Belle Hélène with the Lakes Area Music Festival, Mary in Fellow Travelers with Madison Opera, Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw with On Site Opera in New York City, her role debut as Madeline in Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers with the Berkshire Opera, and a reprisal of the role of Paula in the European premiere of Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas with Opera Tenerife in Spain. Zabala was a guest artist at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival on Luciano Berio’s Beatles Songs, and gave a recital entitled I do not doubt I am to meet you again on the Yale Faculty Artist series with collaborative pianist JJ Penna. She was also a guest with the Yale Camerata, conducted by Dr. Felicia Barber, as the soloist in John Corigliano’s Fern Hill. In the coming season Zabala will reprise the title role of Nadia Boulanger in NADIA: A Chamber Music Play at the American Church in Paris. 

Adriana Zabala was born in Georgia and raised in Florida, Venezuela, and Texas. She is an alumna of apprentice programs at Tanglewood, Minnesota Opera, Seattle Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Wolf Trap Opera. She is a graduate of Louisiana State University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and was a Fulbright Scholar at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Ms. Zabala was an Associate Professor of Voice at the University of Minnesota, where she taught applied voice, graduate vocal literature, and Vive les Arts!, a Global Seminar in Paris. She is currently an Associate Professor of Voice at the Yale School of Music.

Praised for his “ringing tenor voice” (Chicago Classical Review), and his “brightness and energy” (Texas Classical Review), tenor Travon D. Walker is a current third-year young artist at The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center with Lyric Opera of Chicago. This season he covers Beppe in Pagliacci, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, and Young Man in El último sueño de Frida y Diego. On the concert stage, Mr. Walker joins Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony as well as Phoenix Symphony and the US Naval Academy for Handel’s Messiah. In the spring, Mr. Walker joins the Erie Philharmonic for Britten’s War Requiem. He recently also joined Haymarket Opera to cover Oronte in Alcina at the Ravinia Festival.

Last season he sang Borsa in Rigoletto, 1st Prisoner in Fidelio, the Son in Blue, and Parpignol in La Bohème at Lyric Opera of Chicago. He sang Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Psalm 23 from Omar with North Carolina Symphony Orchestra and joined Opera Philadelphia as Valcour in L’Amant anonyme. As a Filene Artist at Wolf Trap Opera, he sang Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, Remendado in Carmen, and Carmina Burana with the National Symphony Orchestra. The season prior, he joined Lawrence Brownlee, Lisette Oropesa, and Craig Terry in recital and participated in Joyce DiDonato’s acclaimed masterclass series at Carnegie Hall as well as the Britten Pears Young Artist Program in Aldeburgh, England. He was awarded Best Vocal Artist Award at the American Opera Society of Chicago and was also the recipient of a Luminarts Fellowship.

In 2023, Mr. Walker participated in Renée Fleming’s SongStudio at Carnegie Hall. Other recent highlights have included Handel’s Messiah with the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra and his company debut with Houston Grand Opera as The Navigator in Jeremy Howard Beck’s Another City (world premiere). At Lyric Opera of Chicago, Walker sang scenes from Ariadne auf Naxos (Scaramuccio), La Périchole (Piquillo), and Falstaff (Bardolfo). He also received an Encouragement Award from the Kansas City District in the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and the Cesare Saneramo Award at the 2023 Opera Index Vocal Competition. Mr. Walker was a Studio Artist at Wolf Trap Opera in 2022, where he sang Elder Gleaton in Susannah.

A native of Hinesville, GA, Mr. Walker graduated with a master’s degree from Rice University, where he performed the role of Sam Kaplan in their production of Street Scene by Kurt Weill and appeared in scenes from Così fan tutte, The Turn of the Screw, Lucia di Lammermoor, and West Side Story. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Eastman School of Music, where he was heard in the roles of The Reader in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd (canceled due to Covid-19), and Dan Leno in the virtual production of Kevin Puts’ Elizabeth Cree.

Countertenor John Holiday has established himself as “one of the finest countertenors of his generation” (Los Angeles Times). His voice has been praised as “a thing of astonishing beauty” (New Yorker), “arrestingly powerful, secure and dramatically high” (Wall Street Journal), and “timeless” (Washington Post). Holiday’s unique voice and powerful story have been the subject of profiles in The New Yorker, CNN’s Great Big Story, Los Angeles Times, and more.

Highlights for Holiday’s 2024-25 season include a debut in the role of Farnace in Mitridate, re di Ponto at Boston Lyric Opera in a production by James Darrah. In March 2025, he will debut as the title role of Akhnaten in a new Barrie Kosky production of a work from the opera trilogy by Philip Glass at Komische Oper Berlin. Holiday will return to the Bayerische Staatsoper in two titles: Le Grand Macabre in October and Dido and Aeneas in July 2025, and will embark on a tour with The English Concert and Harry Bicket of Giulio Cesare in the role of Tolomeo at venues including Carnegie Hall, the Barbican and more. He will perform alongside the San Francisco Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony, the Apollo Chamber Players, and perform a solo recital at the Wolf Trap Foundation of the Performing Arts. He will also give a a performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series as and will appear on an episode of NPR’s Amplify with Lara Downes.

Outside of classical repertoire, Holiday excels in jazz, gospel, and pop music having opened for Grammy award winner Jason Mraz in concert. In 2018, Holiday sang the national anthem for his hometown team the Houston Rockets, and in 2019, Holiday performed at the star-studded Ozwald Boateng Harlem Runway Show at The Apollo Theater, in a performance that was covered by Vogue, Forbes, and CNN, and attended by celebrities Jamie Foxx, Idris Elba, Dapper Dan and others. Additionally, in 2019 Holiday performed Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” at the Apollo Theater Spring Gala.

Holiday has been the recipient of numerous major competitions and award programs such as the 2017 Marian Anderson Vocal Award; the 2014 Richard Tucker Foundation’s Sara Tucker award; first place at the 2013 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, the 2012 Sullivan Foundation, and the 2011 Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition; and third place winner in the 2014 OPERALIA competition. In addition, Holiday was selected among WQXR’s prestigious 20 for ‘20 Artists to Watch, named one of BroadwayWorld’s “New York Opera Gifts that Keep on Giving,” nominated for “Newcomer of the Year” by the German magazine Opernwelt, and listed as one of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 100 honorees for 2018. In May 2023, Holiday announced his appointment as an Associate Professor of Voice at the University of Maryland School of Music beginning in Fall 2023.

John Holiday received a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, a Master of Music in vocal performance from the University of Cincinnati College – Conservatory of Music and the Artist Diploma in Opera Studies from The Juilliard School in New York City. Holiday grew up in Rosenberg, Texas, located near Houston, and attended the town’s public schools.

Hailed as “a bass with an attitude and the goods to back it up,” by The New York Times and praised by the San Francisco Classical Voice for music that “harnesses considerable expressive power,” bass and composer Matt Boehler is known in the world of opera for his captivating, dynamic performances and his long-earned reputation as an inventive collaborative artist.

The 2025-2026 season showcases Matt’s artistry both as a composer and a vocalist. His in-development comic opera, The Road to Wellville, which he is composing alongside librettist Tony Asaro, receives workshops with both San Francisco Conservatory and the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music. On the performance stage, Matt bows as Don Magnifico in La cenerentola with Arizona Opera, and joins Pacific Chamber Orchestra for Handel’s Messiah. The season also includes a film project for future release.

Boehler began the 2024-2025 season with his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut, singing Antonio in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, while also covering Bartolo. With Florentine Opera, he appeared as Polyphemus in E. Loren Meeker’s new production of Handel’s Acis and Galatea, and with the Madison Symphony, he bowed as the bass soloist in Mozart’s Requiem. During the summer of 2025, he sang the roles of Moscone, Teamster and Horst in Opera Parallèle’s production of Harvey Milk, followed by his return to Des Moines Metro Opera as Father Trulove in a new production of The Rake’s Progress.

During the 2023-2024 season, the bass made his debut with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and conductor Kent Nagano, singing Stravinsky’s Les noces, debuted the role of Arkel in Des Moines Metro Opera’s new production of Pelléas et Mélisande, sang Frére Laurent in Toledo Opera’s production of Roméo et Juliette, appeared with West Edge Opera in the world premiere of Bulrusher, and sang Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Modesto Symphony, as well as Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Highlights of recent seasons include Iolanta and The Nose at the Metropolitan Opera; Sarastro in The Magic Flute with Canadian Opera Company; the world premiere of The Lord of Cries (Corigliano/Adamo) with Santa Fe Opera; Bernstein’s Mass with the National Symphony Orchestra; Daphne with La Monnaie in Brussels; the title role in Le nozze di Figaro with Madison Opera; Rigoletto with Florida Grand Opera; Fidelio with Austin Opera; Osmin in The Abduction from the Seraglio with Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Des Moines Metro Opera; Il Cieco in Iris with Bard Summerscape; Rocco in Fidelio with Madison Opera; Gounod’s Méphistophélès with Michigan Opera Theater (now Detroit Opera); and the Hotel Manager in Powder Her Face with New York City Opera and Festival Opéra de Quèbec. He also made his role debut as Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier with Victory Hall Opera, where he is an ensemble member as both singer and composer. While an ensemble member at Theater St. Gallen in Switzerland, Matt excelled in staples of the bass repertoire like Leporello in Don Giovanni and Daland in Der fliegende Holländer, while embracing rarities such as Baldassare in Donizetti’s La favorita and Catalani’s La Wally. 

A frequent collaborator in contemporary opera, Matt has has premiered roles in Becoming Santa Claus (Adamo) with Dallas Opera and Chicago Opera Theater,  Acquanetta (Gordon/Artman) with Prototype Festival, and Elizabeth Cree (Puts/Campbell) with Opera Philadelphia, among several others.

Equally at home on the concert stage, he has appeared as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, American Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra, and Oratorio Society of New York. In recital, he has been seen in several critically acclaimed performances with the New York Festival of Song and has concertized at the Spoleto Festival USA and with the Lotte Lehmann Foundation. His discography reflects his enthusiasm for new music and includes recordings of several world premieres by John Musto, William Bolcom and Michael Dellaira, as well as being featured on albums of song by Stefan Wolpe and David Conte.

Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Matt now proudly claims the San Francisco Bay Area as his home. He trained as an actor at Viterbo College, an opera singer at the Juilliard School, and as a composer at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.