Lyric Opera 2024-2025 Issue 10 - Rising Stars in Concert

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 14 at Kentucky State University. Sankara Harouna is sponsored by Lead Sponsors Michael Steinberg & Salme Harju Steinberg and cosponsors Mary Ellen Hennessy and Virginia Tobiason. CHRISTOPHER HUMBERT, JR. BASS-BARITONE Previously at Lyric: 3rd Policeman/ Blue, 2nd Prisoner/ Fidelio , and Ceprano/ Rigoletto (all 2024/25). Originally from Akron, Ohio, the second-year Ryan Opera Center bass-baritone has performed widely throughout his home state, including appearances with Opera Columbus, Mid-Ohio Opera, and Nightingale Opera Theatre. In Lyric’s 2023/24 Season, he appeared in Lawrence Brownlee and Friends . Recent engagements include Boston Lyric Opera, Detroit Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, the Seagle Festival, Utah Festival Opera, and Annapolis Opera. Humbert is a former participant in the young artist programs at Palm Beach Opera ( L’elisir d’amore, Carmen, La Bohème, Die Zauberflöte ) and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Concert appearances include Carnegie Hall (a debut as baritone soloist in Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem ) and the Erie Philharmonic. Recipient of a 2024 American Opera Society of Chicago Scholarship Award, Humbert holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, and a Master of Music degree from Boston Conservatory. Christopher Humbert, Jr. is sponsored by Lead Sponsor Patricia Frank and cosponsors Maria C.Green & Oswald G.Lewis,Mary Houston,in loving memory of James Houston and the Bill & Orli Staley Foundation. CHI-YUAN LIN CONDUCTOR Previously at Lyric: Music staff for Fidelio (2024/25) . Born in Taoyuan, Taiwan, Lin is the second artist named to the Ryan Opera Center Conductor position. She has served as a cover conductor at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and São Paulo Symphony Orchestra. The 2022/23 Season saw her assume the roles of assistant conductor, rehearsal pianist, and vocal coach with Peabody Opera Theatre. In 2023, Lin received an invitation to participate in the Fiskars Summer Festival in Finland and Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra Educational Program, and in the summer of 2021 she was honored with a conducting fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival. Lin is a mentee in the She’s Connected initiative as part of the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship for 2023/24. She received her master’s and bachelor’s degree from National Taiwan Normal University, and she is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in orchestral conducting at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. Chi-Yuan Lin is sponsored by Lead Sponsor the Jeanne Randall Malkin Family Foundation and cosponsors David Whitney & Juliana Chyu. SOPHIA MAEKAWA MEZZO-SOPRANO Previously at Lyric: LeeAnn/ The Listeners (2024/25), Tisbe/ Cinderella and Herdswoman/ Jen ˚ufa (both 2023/24). The second-year Ryan Opera Center mezzo-soprano from Kyoto, Japan, was a 2024 Renée Fleming Artist at the Aspen Music Festival, performing Cherubino /Le nozze di Figaro , a 2022 Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist, understudying Rosina/ Il barbiere di Siviglia and Comrade Chin and Shu Fang/ M. Butterfly , and a 2021 Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. This summer, she will perform at Wolf Trap Opera as a Filene Artist. She recently received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. While there, she performed in Ariodante (title role), Albert Herring , and L’enfant et les sortilèges . Other roles in her repertoire include Hermia/ A Midsummer Night’s Dream , Annio/ La clemenza di Tito , Mercédès/ Carmen , Second Woman/ Dido and Aeneas , and Mrs. Nolan/ The Medium . Concert appearances include the Wichita Symphony and Curtis Symphony Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Recipient of a 2024 American Opera Society of Chicago Scholarship Award, Maekawa also received a 2025 Musicians Club of Women Scholarship Award. Sophia Maekawa is sponsored by Lead Sponsors Mark and Gale Kozloff and cosponsors David & Janet Fox and Richard W.Shepro & Lindsay E.Roberts. GEMMA NHA SOPRANO Previously at Lyric: Jess/ The Listeners, Barbarina/ The Marriage of Figaro, and Page/ Rigoletto (all 2024/25). The Korean-Australian soprano and first-year Ryan Opera Center member was a national semi-finalist for the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and a winner in the 2024 Gerda Lissner Foundation Vocal Competition. In the 2022/23 Season, Nha made her house and role debut as Barbarina/ Le nozze di Figaro at Volksoper Wien, where she returns next season, following her debut at Wolf Trap Opera as a 2025 Filene Artist. Last spring Nha received her Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School, where she was a Toulmin Scholar and recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. Roles there included Ruth Baldwin/John Musto and Mark Campbell’s Later the Same Evening and Flerida/Cavalli’s Erismena . Other operatic credits include Zerlina/ Don Giovanni and Esmeralda/ Die verkaufte Braut with the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where she completed undergraduate studies. In concert, Nha has sung Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Messiah , and she performed with Patti LuPone on her 2018 Don’t Monkey with Broadway tour at the Sydney Opera House. Gemma Nha is sponsored by Lead Sponsor Peter Scheuermann and cosponsors Drs. George Dunea & Sally Metzler-Dunea.