Lyric Opera 2025-2026 Issue 12 - Rising Stars

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 10 Up , and Ginevra/ Ariodante . In the 2023/24 Season, she made her Messiah debut with the Seattle Symphony and her Verdi Requiem debut with the Westmoreland Symphony. Richter has spent her summers as an apprentice artist at Santa Fe Opera, Central City Opera, and the Seagle Festival. Recipient of the 2026 American Opera Society of Chicago Best Vocal Artist Award, she holds a Master’s Degree from McGill’s Schulich School of Music and a Bachelor’s of Music in Vocal Performance from Lawrence University. Future engagements include Britten’s War Requiem with the Erie Philharmonic and her debut with Opéra National de Paris. Emily Richter is sponsored by Lead Sponsor The C.G. Pinnell Family and cosponsors Amy & Paul Carbone and Susan M. Miller . CAMILLE ROBLES MEZZO-SOPRANO Previously at Lyric: Third Frida Image/ El último sueño de Frida y Diego and Lola/ Cavalleria rusticana (both 2025/26). A first-year Ryan Opera Center member, the mezzo-soprano from San Juan, Puerto Rico, appeared this season at Lyric as Second Handmaiden/ Medea and also performed with The Joffrey Ballet. Robles was a Jan Miller Studio Artist at Pensacola Opera for the 2024/25 Season. While there, she covered the role of Cherubino/ Le nozze di Figaro and performed the Dolphin in the world premiere of Mato and the Bear Who Couldn’t Fish . Previously, she was invited to the Aspen Music Festival as a Fellowship Artist for two summers and appeared as the Sandman/ Hansel and Gretel and in scenes from Carmen , Werther , La favorita , and Die Walküre . Robles received the 2026 American Opera Society of Chicago Award and previously received a Gulf Coast Region Encouragement Award in the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition. Following undergraduate studies at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, she earned her Master of Music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where she performed Olga/ Eugene Onegin . Camille Robles is sponsored by Heidi Heutel Bohn and Mark & Gale Kozloff . FINN SAGAL BARITONE Previously at Lyric: First Villager/ El último sueño de Frida y Diego (2025/26) and A Policeman/ The Listeners (2024/25). The second-year Ryan Opera Center baritone from La Cañada Flintridge, California, has performed at Lincoln Center, 54 Below, and the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas with such luminaries as Liza Minnelli, Michael Feinstein, and Kristin Chenoweth. Sagal received first place in the Gerda Lissner Foundation’s 2025 Art Song Competition, a 2025 Sara Tucker Study Grant, first place at the 2025 Saengerbund Awards, the 2025 Ginger and Jim Meyer Centennial Award from the American Opera Society, and third place in the 2024 Neue Stimmen competition. The baritone returned to the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS program in 2025 as a Renée Fleming Artist, performing Guglielmo/ Così fan tutte , and participated in the 2023 Merola Opera Program. Sagal recently received a master’s degree at the Yale School of Music, where he performed the roles of Junius/ The Rape of Lucreti a, the Tutor/ Le Comte Ory , and Nick Shadow/ The Rake’s Progress . He holds an undergraduate degree in vocal performance from UCLA. Finn Sagal is sponsored by Lead Sponsor the Estate of Lois Siegel and cosponsors Patricia A.Kenney & Gregory J.O’Leary,Jennifer Malpass, and Julian Oettinger . BENJAMIN R. SOKOL BASS-BARITONE Previously at Lyric: Third Villager/ El último sueño de Frida y Diego and Fifth Jew/ Salome (both 2025/26). Originally fromWestbury, New York, Sokol is a first-year Ryan Opera Center bass-baritone. He recently received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music and professional studies certificate from the Manhattan School of Music. Sokol was a winner of the 2025 Eisenberg-Fried Concerto Competition, semi-finalist in the 2025 George and Nora London Foundation Competition and 2023 Premiere Opera Foundation Competition, finalist in the 2022 Opera Index Competition, and winner of the 2021 Milnes Opera Idol Competition. He has previously participated in the artist-development programs at San Francisco’s Merola Opera (Commendatore/ Don Giovanni ), Chautauqua Opera Company and Conservatory, and the Taos Opera Institute. He has also been with the Milnes VOICE Programs for several years, participating in the Florida VOICE Project and Milnes VOICE Studio and performing at the Savannah VOICE Festival. Benjamin R. Sokol is sponsored by David & Janet° Fox and Penelope R.Steiner . TRAVON D. WALKER TENOR Previously at Lyric: Five roles since 2024/25, most recently Second Jew/ Salome (2025/26) and Parpignol/ La Bohème (2024/25). Last season, the third-year Ryan Opera Center tenor made company debuts with Opera Philadelphia in The Anonymous Lover and the North Carolina Symphony, followed by a return to Wolf Trap Opera as a Filene Artist ( Dialogues of the Carmelites and Carmen ). Other Lyric appearances in 2024/25 include Son/ Blue , 1st Prisoner/ Fidelio , and Borsa/ Rigoletto . Walker received his master’s degree from Rice University, where he sang Sam Kaplan/ Street Scene . A native of Hinesville, Georgia, he completed his undergraduate studies at the Eastman School of Music. The tenor was invited to participate in Renée Fleming’s 2023 SongStudio and Joyce DiDonato’s 2024 Masterclass Series, both at Carnegie Hall, as well as the 2023 Britten Pears Young Artist Programme. Walker received an Encouragement Award from the Kansas City District in the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the 2024 Best Vocal Artist Award from the American Opera Society, the 2024 Luminarts Cultural Foundation Men’s Voice Fellowship, and a 2025 Sullivan Foundation Award. Travon D. Walker is sponsored by an Anonymous Donor,Robert & Isabelle Bass Foundation,Inc., the Boykins,Ford,and Mages families, and Cynthia Vahlkamp & Robert Kenyon . °Deceased ri r f i , i / i t . 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