San Francisco Opera Announces Twelve Recipients of the 2016 Adler Fellowship

SAN FRANCISCO (October 12, 2015) -- San Francisco Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald announced today the twelve recipients of the 2016 Adler Fellowship, a multi-year performance-oriented residency offering advanced young artists intensive individual training, coaching and professional seminars, as well as a wide range of performance opportunities. Adler Fellows are selected from the young artists who have participated in the Merola Opera Program. This prestigious training program has nurtured the development of more than 150 young artists since its inception.

The ten singers selected as 2016 Adler Fellows are sopranos Julie Adams (Burbank, California), Amina Edris (Christchurch, New Zealand) and Toni Marie Palmertree (Fleetwood, Pennsylvania); mezzo-sopranos Zanda Šv?de (Valmiera, Latvia) and Nian Wang (Nanjing, China); tenor Pene Pati (Auckland, New Zealand); baritone Edward Nelson (Santa Clarita, California); bass-baritones Matthew Stump (Goshen, Indiana) and Brad Walker (Lake Zurich, Illinois); and bass Anthony Reed (Alexandria, Minnesota).

The two pianists selected for Apprentice Coach Fellowships are Ron Michael-Greenberg (Montreal, Canada) and Noah Lindquist (Brooklyn, New York). The Adler Fellow apprentice coaches work closely with Mark Morash, Director of Musical Studies of the Opera Center, and John Churchwell, Head of Music Staff at San Francisco Opera. The coaches participate in the musical activities of both San Francisco Opera and the Opera Center, and they are involved in all aspects of the Adler Fellows' training by acting as pianists for master classes, working with master coaches and preparing the Adler Fellows for concerts and mainstage roles.

Adler Fellows gain valuable professional experience by participating in roles of increasing importance in San Francisco Opera's repertory season, and also enjoy a variety of performance opportunities throughout their fellowship.

Planned engagements for the 2016 Adler Fellows include performances with the Eureka Chamber Music Series (January 29); Red Scarf Society Concert Yreka (January 31); Temple Emanu-El's Music at Meyer (April 18); Santa Rosa Junior College Center (April 22); and The Future Is Now: Adler Fellows Gala Concert 2016. Selected Adler Fellows will also be featured in the 2016 Schwabacher Debut Recital Series. Further details about upcoming 2016 Adler Fellow performances will be announced at a later date.

The 2015 Adler Fellows' season culminates with a special year-end concert featuring the singers in an evening of opera scenes and arias with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. This year's concert, The Future Is Now: Adler Fellows Gala Concert, showcasing the acclaimed 2015 Adler Fellows, takes place on Saturday, December 12, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre.

The outgoing 2015 Adler Fellows are sopranos Jacqueline Piccolino and Maria Valdes, tenor Chong Wang and baritone Efraín Solís. Soprano Julie Adams, mezzo-soprano Nian Wang, baritone Edward Nelson, bass-baritone Matthew Stump, bass Anthony Reed and pianist Ron Michael-Greenberg return as second-year Adler Fellows. Mezzo-soprano Zanda Šv?de and pianist Noah Lindquist will continue as third-year Adler Fellows in 2016.

2016 Adler Fellow Biographies

Julie Adams

(Burbank, California)

A second-year Adler Fellow, Julie Adams, made her company debut as Mimì in San Francisco Opera's La Bohème for Families. She won the 2015 Elizabeth Connell prize for aspiring dramatic sopranos and was also a winner of the 2014 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Adams is an alumna of the 2014 Merola Opera Program, where she performed the role of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. During her studies with César Ulloa at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she holds bachelor's and master's degrees, she performed the roles of Blanche in Les Dialogues des Carmélites, Mimì in La Bohème, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and Lauretta inGianni Schicchi. Other credits include Lia (Debussy's L'Enfant Prodigue) at the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv; Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara; and Magnolia Hawks (Show Boat) and Rose (Street Scene) with the Oakland East Bay Symphony. Adams is a former studio artist with Opera Santa Barbara.

Amina Edris

(Christchurch, New Zealand)

Egyptian-born, New Zealand soprano Amina Edris is a first-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow and a participant of the 2015 Merola Opera Program, where she performed the role of Norina in Don Pasquale. Roles in her repertory include Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Serpina (La Serva Padrona), Adina (L'Elisir d'Amore) and Gilda (Rigoletto). Edris is a winner of the prestigious Sydney Eisteddfod McDonald's Operatic Aria Competition and the Deborah Reidel award in the Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award Competition 2013, as well as being awarded a Western Regional Special Encouragement Award in the 2014 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Edris holds a Bachelor of Music from University of Canterbury, a Master of Music from Wales International Academy of Voice and a post-graduate diploma from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Toni Marie Palmertree

(Fleetwood, Pennsylvania)

Soprano Toni Marie Palmertree is a first-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow and a participant of the 2015 Merola Opera Program where she was featured in the Schwabacher Summer Concert. Her many awards include the Metropolitan Opera National Council District Awards (Pittsburgh), finalist in the National Opera Association Voice Competition, the Classical Singer Voice Competition and the International Moniuszko Voice Competition in Warsaw, Poland. She took first place in the Long Leaf Opera of North Carolina Voice Competition, the Kennett Square Symphony Voice Competition and the Marcella Sembrich competition. Operatic roles include Rosalinde inDie Fledermaus, Alison in Wandering Scholar, the High Priestess in Aida, Susannah in Susannah, Musetta and Mimì in La Bohème and Alice in Falstaff. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland.

Zanda Šv?de

(Valmiera, Latvia)

Latvian mezzo-soprano Zanda Šv?de is a third-year Adler Fellow and an alumna of the 2013 Merola Opera Program. Her performances at San Francisco Opera include Flora Bervoix (La Traviata), Thisbe (La Cenerentola), Lena (La Ciociara) and Alisa (Lucia di Lammermoor). She appeared with Opera Idaho as Olga in Eugene Onegin and other roles in her repertoire include María (Piazzolla's María de Buenos Aires), Endimione (Cavalli's La Calisto) and the title role in Massenet's Cléopâtre. On the concert stage she has performed solo roles in Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, Vivaldi's Gloria and Liszt's Missa Coronationalis. Šv?de has studied at the Latvian Academy of Music in Riga, the Manhattan Summer Voice Festival in New York, Scuola Italia in Italy and the Tyrolean Opera Program in Austria.

Nian Wang

(Nanjing, China)

Mezzo-soprano Nian Wang is a second-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow and made her Company debut as Ascagne in Les Troyens and will be seen in the upcoming The Magic Flute. As a participant in the 2014 Merola Opera Program, she performed excerpts as Juno (Handel's Semele), Federica (Luisa Miller), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly) and the title role of Carmen. A recent graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, her credits there include the title roles of La Cenerentola and Rinaldo, Mother Jeanne (Dialogues des Carmélites), Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Kate (Britten's Owen Wingrave), the Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte), Siebel (Faust) and the First Witch (Dido and Aeneas). Other credits include Nicklausse (Les Contes d'Hoffmann) with the Martina Arroyo Foundation; Chinese Tea Cup, Female Cat, Shepherd and Squirrel in Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges and Mother in Mazzoli'sSong from the Uproar at Bard College; and Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro) with Princeton Symphony. She also performed in the Dawn Upshaw and Donnacha Dennehy Young Artist Concert at Carnegie Hall. Wang received fourth prize in the 2012 Opera Columbus Irma M. Cooper Vocal Competition and the 2013 Opera Index Encouragement Award.

Pene Pati

(Auckland, New Zealand)

Samoan-born New Zealander and tenor Pene Pati is a first-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow and a participant of the 2013 Merola Opera Program. Having been awarded an array of prizes in recent years, including the prestigious Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonygne Bel Canto Award in 2012 and the Dame Malvina Major Foundation New Zealand Aria award in 2009, Pati has most recently taken first place at the Montserrat Caballé International Aria Competition. In 2010, he was named as the Performing Arts Competition Society's New Zealand Young Performer of the Year, and other awards include the inaugural Iosefa Enari Memorial scholarship from Creative New Zealand, the Seamus Casey Memorial Award and a string of accolades from the University of Auckland including the Pears-Britten and Marie D'Albini awards. He holds a master's degree from the Wales International Academy of Voice.Pati, along with his brother Amitai Pati and their cousin Moses Mackay, comprise the highly successful New Zealand vocal trio SOL3 MIO, which mixes both classical and contemporary music.

Edward Nelson
(Santa Clarita, California)

A second-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow, baritone Edward Nelson was a participant of the 2014 Merola Opera Program where he sang the title role of Don Giovanni. He made his San Francisco Opera debut in the world premiere of La Ciociara as John Buckley and in the current fall season will be seen in The Magic Flute, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and La Chute de la Maison Usher. Other recent and upcoming engagements include the Ferryman (Britten's Curlew River) with the Tanglewood Music Festival and Montreal's Ballet-Opéra-Pantomime; covering Miller in Montsalvatge's El Gato con Botas with Gotham Chamber Opera; and the title role of Britten'sOwen Wingrave, Dandini (La Cenerentola), and Le Podestat (Bizet's Le Docteur Miracle) with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he holds undergraduate and graduate degrees. On the concert stage, he has been a soloist with the American Choral Directors Association and the Reno Philharmonic. A national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, he is a winner of the 2013 Opera Columbus International Vocal Competition.

Matthew Stump
(Goshen, Indiana)

Bass-baritone Matthew Stump is a second-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow who made his Company debut as a Trojan Soldier and Sentry in Les Troyens. He was a participant of the 2014 Merola Opera Program, where he appeared in scenes in the Schwabacher Summer Concert as Walter in Luisa Miller and as Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola. He has appeared in the title role of Sweeney Todd, the Prime Minister (Cendrillon), the Pirate King (The Pirates of Penzance) and Capulet (Roméo et Juliette) at the University of North Texas as well as the title role ofLe Nozze di Figaro, Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte) and Frank (Street Scene) at Luther College, where he holds a bachelor's degree. He holds awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and Dallas Opera Guild.

Brad Walker

(Lake Zurich, Illinois)

American bass-baritone Brad Walker is a first-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow and graduate of the 2015 Merola Opera Program, where he appeared as Betto in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. He has appeared in the title role Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Magnifico (La Cenerentola), and Colline (La Bohéme) with Yale Opera where he received an Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music. While earning a Master's of Music from the University of Kansas, he appeared as Mr. Peachum (The Beggar's Opera), Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte) and Orgon (Tartuffe). He also performed as Pangloss (Candide) and Olin Blitch (Susannah) during his time receiving a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University. He has been an apprentice with Des Moines Metro Opera, Chautauqua Opera Company and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and received an award in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Anthony Reed

(Alexandria, Minnesota)

Bass Anthony Reed is a graduate of the 2014 Merola Opera Program and a second-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow who made his Company debut in Les Troyens as A Greek Captain and Sentry. His other roles include Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Truffaldin (Ariadne auf Naxos), Don Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Dulcamara (L'Elisir d'Amore), Don Magnifico (La Cenerentola) and the Four Villains (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), among others. Reed received a 2011 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Regional Encouragement Award and has been a young artist at the Wolf Trap Opera Studio and the Seagle Music Colony, in addition to his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of Wisconsin.

Ron Michael-Greenberg

(Montreal, Canada)

Pianist Ron Michael-Greenberg is a second-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow and participant of the 2014 Merola Opera Program, where he prepared A Streetcar Named Desire and Don Giovanni. His engagements range from guest soloist appearances with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra to concerts in venues such as the Canadian Museum of Civilization for the Glenn Gould Exhibit, Steinway Hall as part of Yale in New York, and Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall as part of the Worldstrides Heritage Performance Programs. Greenberg holds degrees from the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York, Potsdam and Manhattan School of Music, and he has been a participant with Music Academy of the West, New York Opera Studio, and Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar. He participated in The Song Continues Master Class series with Marilyn Horne, Jessye Norman and Dalton Baldwin in 2013.

Noah Lindquist

(Brooklyn, New York)

Pianist Noah Lindquist is a third-year Adler Fellow and an alumnus of the 2013 Merola Opera Program where he prepared Le Nozze di Figaro and The Rape of Lucretia. He has worked on San Francisco Opera's productions ofMadama Butterfly, Show Boat, Susannah, La Bohème and La Bohème for Families. A native of New York City, he completed his master's degree in collaborative piano at the Mannes College of Music in 2013, studying with Cristina Stanescu. Lindquist has performed in Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall.

About San Francisco Opera Center and Merola Opera Program

San Francisco Opera Center was created in 1982 by then-General Director Terence A. McEwen to oversee the operation and administration of the education and training programs initiated by Kurt Herbert Adler in 1954. Providing a coordinated sequence of performance and study opportunities for young artists, San Francisco Opera Center represents a new era in which young artists of major operatic potential can develop through intensive training and performance, under the aegis of a major international opera company. Now under the guidance of its fourth director, Sheri Greenawald, and San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley, the Opera Center has trained and introduced many young stars from around the world to the international opera stage through its resident artist programs.

Initially founded as the San Francisco Opera/Affiliate Artists program in 1977, the Adler Fellowship Program is one of the nation's most prestigious performance-oriented residencies for the most advanced young singers and pianists. Each year, Adler Fellows are sponsored by individual donors to help cover the cost of their fellowship, and sponsors affiliated with the Adler Program have the opportunity to attend private studio classes with the Fellows and develop nurturing relationships with them. Alumni from the Adler Fellowship Program include sopranos sopranos Jane Archibald, Susannah Biller, Leah Crocetto, Heidi Melton, Melody Moore, Patricia Racette, Nadine Sierra, Ruth Ann Swenson, Elza van den Heever and Deborah Voigt; mezzo-sopranos Zheng Cao, Kendall Gladen, Daveda Karanas, Maya Lahyani, Daniela Mack, Renée Tatum and Dolora Zajick; countertenors Brian Asawa, Ryan Belongie and Gerald Thompson; tenors Andrew Bidlack, Brian Jagde, Daniel Montenegro, Matthew O'Neill, Sean Panikkar, Alek Shrader and Noah Stewart; baritones Eugene Brancoveanu, Alfredo Daza, Mark Delavan, Austin Kness, Lucas Meachem and James Westman; bass-baritones Joshua Bloom, Ryan Kuster, John Relyea, Philip Skinner and Daniel Sumegi; and basses John Ames, Kenneth Kellogg and Dale Travis.

One of the oldest and most acclaimed training programs of its kind, the Merola Opera Program for aspiring opera professionals offers up-and-coming singers, pianists and stage directors the opportunity of intense study and performance during an eleven-week summer program. Named for San Francisco Opera's first general director, Gaetano Merola, the program began during the 1954-55 Season and established its full training program in 1957. Alumni of the program include Sylvia McNair, Anna Netrebko, Patricia Racette, Ruth Ann Swenson, Carol Vaness, Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, Dolora Zajick, Brian Asawa, Thomas Hampson, Rolando Villazón, and Patrick Summers. An independent non-profit organization, the Merola Opera Program operates in collaboration with San Francisco Opera Center and San Francisco Opera.

For more information on the San Francisco Opera Center and the Adler Fellowship and Merola Opera Program, visit sfopera.com and merola.org.

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