Jazmine Saunders, soprano
Frederica von Stade, mezzo
Jonghyun Park, tenor
Yeongtaek Yang, baritone
Myra Huang, piano
Ken Noda, piano

The Metropolitan Opera is one of the best known opera companies in the world, a vibrant home for the most creative and talented singers, conductors, composers, orchestra musicians, stage directors, designers, visual artists, choreographers, and dancers from around the world. Known as the venue for the world’s greatest voices, the Met has been under the musical direction of James Levine since 1976. Under the leadership of General Manager Peter Gelb, the Met has launched a series of bold initiatives that are designed to broaden the company’s audience and revitalize its repertory.

The Lindemann Young Artist Development Program was created in 1980 by Maestro Levine to identify and develop extraordinarily talented young artists in the realm of opera. The program has trained a new generation of celebrated American and international opera singers, as well as coaches and pianists, who perform at the highest standards in productions at the Met and opera houses around the world.

The Young Artist Development Program has been named after Mr. and Mrs. George Lindemann in recognition and gratitude for their leadership and generous support.

While many opera companies across the country conduct young artist training programs, the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program is unparalleled for the quality and scope of resources available to its participants. Throughout their instruction, young artists draw upon the vast pool of world-renowned talent available at the Met, including current and former Met artists, internationally recognized coaches and master teachers, and staff from the Metropolitan Opera’s music and artistic departments. Program participants have access to daily rehearsals and practice sessions, where they can observe opera’s great singers preparing their roles for the current Met repertory. They are presented with the unparalleled opportunity to perform onstage in Met productions, as many are assigned supporting roles and serve as cover's for featured singers.

In a unique partnership between two prestigious musical institutions, the Metropolitan Opera and The Juilliard School joined forces with the beginning of the 2010-11 season. The program’s participants now have access to both organizations’ considerable resources and personnel, in an effort to expand learning and performing opportunities for young artists. This includes one fully staged or concert opera production per year at Juilliard, conducted by Maestro Levine, featuring members of the Young Artist Program and the Juilliard Orchestra.

The inaugural production was Smetana’s The Bartered Bride in February 2011, conducted by James Levine and directed by Stephen Wadsworth. Gluck's Armide conducted by Jane Glover and directed by Fabrizio Melano followed in 2012. The 2012-2013 season production was Mozart's Cosí¬ fan tutte, conducted by Alan Gilbert and directed by Stephen Wadsworth.

Described by the New York Times as “one of America’s finest artists and singers,” Frederica von Stade continues to be extolled as one of the music world’s most beloved figures. Known to family, friends, and fans by her nickname “Flicka,” the mezzo-soprano has enriched the world of classical music for four and a half decades.

Though she retired from full-time performances in 2010, she continues to make special appearances in concert and opera. During the 2019-20 season, Ms. von Stade will perform a recital and give master class at the LIFE Festival for the Fundació Victoria de los Ángeles in Barcelona, Spain. She will also create the role of Iris in the world-premiere of Awakenings by Tobia Picker at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.Recent season performances have included the world premiere of Lembit Beecher’s Sky on Swings at Opera Philadelphia; a performance alongside Susan Graham for the Orchestra of St. Luke’s DiMenna Center Benefit in New York City; a return to the San Diego Opera where she portrayed Madeline in Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers, a role she created a decade ago, based on the play by Terrence McNally; opening the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s season with a tribute to Leonard Bernstein conducted by Andris Nelsons; singing with Tony award-winning Broadway star Liz Callaway, Daniel Rodriguez, and Matthew Lee Robinson in the New York premiere of the 45-minute cantata Street Requiem – composed in 2014 by Australian’s Kathleen McGuire, Andy Payne and Jonathon Welch – at Carnegie Hall; making her Arizona Opera debut by joining The 45th Anniversary Sapphire Celebration concert celebrating the company; performing on a gala benefit concert with Sarasota Ballet in Florida; and singing with Hawaii Opera Theater in Three Decembers. She also gave master classes at the Peabody Conservatory.

Ms. von Stade’s career has taken her to the stages of the world’s great opera houses and concert halls. She began at the top, when she received a contract from Sir Rudolf Bing during the Metropolitan Opera auditions, and since her debut in 1970 she has sung nearly all of her great roles with that company. In January 2000, the company celebrated the 30th anniversary of her debut with a new production of The Merry Widow specifically for her, and in 1995, as a celebration of her 25th anniversary, the Metropolitan Opera created for her a new production of Pelléas et Mélisande. In addition, Ms. von Stade has appeared with every leading American opera company, including San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Los Angeles Opera. Her career in Europe has been no less spectacular, with new productions mounted for her at Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, and the Paris Opera. She is invited regularly by the finest conductors, among them Claudio Abbado, Charles Dutoit, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, André Previn, Leonard Slatkin, and Michael Tilson Thomas, to appear in concert with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Washington’s National Symphony, and the Orchestra of La Scala.

With impressive versatility, Ms. von Stade has effortlessly traversed an ever-broadening spectrum of musical styles and dramatic characterizations. A noted bel canto specialist, she excelled as the heroines of Rossini’s La cenerentola and Il barbiere di Siviglia and Bellini’s La sonnambula. She is an unmatched stylist in the French repertoire: a delectable Mignon or Périchole, a regal Marguerite in Berlioz’ La damnation de Faust, and, in one critic’s words, “the Mélisande of one’s dreams.” Her elegant figure and keen imagination have made her the world’s favorite interpreter of the great trouser roles, from Strauss’ Octavian to Mozart’s Sesto, Idamante and – magically, indelibly – Cherubino. Ms. von Stade’s artistry has inspired the revival of neglected works such as Massenet’s Cherubin, Thomas’ Mignon, Rameau’s Dardanus, and Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. Her ability as a singing actress has allowed her to portray wonderful works in operetta and musical theater including the title role in The Merry Widow and Desirée Armfeldt in A Little Night Music.

Ms. von Stade enjoys close collaborations with several contemporary composers, including Jake Heggie, Ricky Ian Gordon, and Dominick Argento, among others. She created the role of Tina in The Dallas Opera’s world premiere production of Dominick Argento’s The Aspern Papers (a work written for her), as well as the role of Madame de Merteuil in Conrad Susa’s Dangerous Liaisons and Mrs. Patrick De Rocher in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, both for San Francisco Opera.  Ms. von Stade created the role of Myrtle Bledsoe in the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s A Coffin in Egypt at Houston Grand Opera, a role she later reprised at Opera Philadelphia, The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, and with the Chicago Opera Theater. Ms. von Stade will also create the role of Mrs. Edward “Winnie” Flato in the world premiere of Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s Great Scott directed by Jack O’Brien, with performances at The Dallas Opera and San Diego Opera.

Ms. von Stade’s orchestral repertoire is equally broad, embracing works from the Baroque to those of today’s composers. She has garnered critical and popular acclaim in her vast French repertoire as one of the world’s finest interpreters of Ravel’s Shéhérazade, Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été, and Canteloube’s Les chants d’Auvergne, as well as the orchestrated songs of Debussy and Duparc. She is continually in demand for the symphonic works of the great Austrian and German composers including Mozart and Mahler, as well as the new works of American composers.

It was the American composer Richard Danielpour who in 1998 helped Ms. von Stade to realize an artistic and personal dream when he wrote Elegies. The work, scored for orchestra, mezzo-soprano and baritone, is a tribute to Ms. von Stade’s father, Charles von Stade, who was killed in the final days of World War II, and is based on the text of letters Mr. von Stade sent to his wife during the war. It is through these letters that Ms. von Stade came to know her father, who died two months before her birth. In January 1998 the Jacksonville Symphony, led by Roger Nierenberg, offered the world premiere of Elegies with performances in Florida and in New York’s Carnegie Hall. Elegies is available on SONY Classical and has been performed throughout North America and Europe.

Unparalleled in her artistry as a recitalist, Ms. von Stade combines her expressive vocalism and exceptional musicianship with a rare gift for communication, enriching audiences throughout the world. Here, too, her repertoire encompasses a rich variety, from the classical style of Mozart and Haydn to Broadway; from Italian “Arie antiche” to the songs of contemporary composers – who compose especially for her – such as Dominick Argento and Jake Heggie.

She has made over seventy recordings with every major label, including complete operas, aria albums, symphonic works, solo recital programs, and popular crossover albums. Her recordings have garnered six Grammy nominations, two Grand Prix du Disc awards, the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Italy’s Premio della Critica Discografica, and “Best of the Year” citations by Stereo Review and Opera News. She has enjoyed the distinction of holding simultaneously the first and second places on national sales charts for Angel/EMI’s Show Boat and Telarc’s The Sound of Music.

Ms. von Stade appears regularly on television, through numerous PBS and other broadcasts. In 2002 she was seen on national television in a concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as part of the opening ceremonies of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games. In 2001 she participated in the opening of Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts performing in a concert together with Sir Elton John, Andre Watts, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Other highlights of recent television appearances include a gala concert with the San Francisco Symphony to open the 1998-99 season at New York’s Carnegie Hall and a “Live from Lincoln Center” television event opening the 1999 season of the Mostly Mozart Festival, both broadcast throughout North America. She can be seen in “Live from the Met” performances as Cherubino, Hansel, and Idamante, and through PBS broadcasts of her celebration of the art of American song with Thomas Hampson, Marilyn Horne, Dawn Upshaw and Jerry Hadley in a program at New York’s Town Hall titled “I Hear America Singing,” as well as a program with Tyne Daly which included arias, art songs and popular crossover material. Also seen on PBS were a holiday special, “Christmas with Flicka,” shot on location in Salzburg, “A Carnegie Hall Christmas” with Kathleen Battle, and an evening of operatic and musical theater selections with Samuel Ramey and Jerry Hadley titled “Flicka and Friends.” Her recent portrayals in Dangerous Liaisons and The Aspern Papers were broadcast throughout North America. She can also be seen in the Unitel film of the classic Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production of La cenerentola.

Ms. von Stade is the holder of honorary doctorates from Yale University, Boston University, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (which holds a Frederica von Stade Distinguished Chair in Voice), the Georgetown University School of Medicine, and her alma mater, the Mannes School of Music. In 1998 Ms. von Stade was awarded France’s highest honor in the Arts when she was appointed as an officer of L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 1983 she was honored with an award given at The White House by President Reagan in recognition of her significant contribution to the arts.

Acclaimed by Opera News as being “among the top accompanists of her generation,” and “…a colouristic tour de force” by The New York Times, Grammy® Award-nominated pianist Myra Huang is highly sought after for her interpretation of lieder and art song as well as her depth of musicianship and impeccable technique. Huang is invited regularly to perform around the world, with tours including regular appearances at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, The Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, The Kennedy Center, and The 92nd Street Y. 

Huang was chosen as the recipient of The Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artist Award for 2019 by The Classical Recording Foundation for her consummate artistry. Regular collaborations include recitals with Fleur Barron, J’Nai Bridges, Lawrence Brownlee, Sasha Cooke, Ying Fang, Joshua Hopkins, Will Liverman, Angela Meade, John Matthew Myers, Eric Owens, Nicholas Phan, Susanna Phillips, Roderick Williams, and clarinetist Anthony McGill.

Huang holds the positions of the Head of Music for the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera, The Director of Musical Administration and Head Coach at The Aspen Music Festival, and faculty of the Collaborative Piano Department at The Manhattan School of Music, where she mentors and supports  young opera singers and pianists of the next generation. 

She regularly adjudicates national competitions including the Laffont Competition at The Metropolitan Opera, as well as administers masterclasses at institutions across the country.

Huang is an avid recitalist and recording artist. She is a two-time Grammy nominee for her albums Gods and Monsters and Clairières with tenor Nicholas Phan on the Avie label. Huang is a Steinway Artist.