Resident artists include soprano Krista Renée Pape, mezzo- soprano Aubrey Odle, tenor Wayd Odle, bass-baritones Luke Harnish and Joseph Park, and pianist/coach Yang Lin.
General Director and CEO Deborah Sandler today announced the selection of the artists for the Resident Artist Program for the 2022-2023 season. They include soprano Krista Renée Pape, mezzo- soprano Aubrey Odle, tenor Wayd Odle, bass-baritones Luke Harnish and Joseph Park, and pianist/coach Yang Lin. They will perform in various roles throughout the 2022-2023 season on the mainstage at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, as well as at education and community engagement events.
During their residencies, in addition to appearing in mainstage roles, the Resident Artists will work with visiting guest artists and middle and high school students, conductors and directors, participate in master classes, receive career coaching, study leading roles, and make musical appearances in the community.
About the Resident Artists
The Resident Artists have completed their post-graduate education and have some professional experience and will have a full-time 8-month contract with the Lyric for one to two years. Complete bios and high-res headshots can be found here.
.
"We launched the Resident Artist Program in 2016 and it has been an unqualified success," stated Sandler. "Lyric Opera has joined the ranks of distinguished opera companies in North America who are committed to nurturing the next generation of exceptional artists for opera. Our professional development program involves performance experience and opportunities to work with our field's leading conductors, directors, and principal artists. Our audiences have embraced our Resident Artists and have been touched by their performances. I look forward to another season of productive and engaged experiences."
The Resident Artists Program is sponsored by the Estate of Richard Hill, Charter Sponsor of the Resident Artists Program, and the Polsky Fund of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City Foundation.
Soprano Krista Renée Pape made her professional debut in 2020 as Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute with Opera North. In 2019 she made her role debut as Konstanze in The Abduction from the Seraglio (Opera in the Ozarks), and her virtual debut as Gilda in Rigoletto in 2021 (MIOpera). She has won prizes from The Metropolitan Opera Laffont National Council, National Society of Arts and Letters, MIOpera Vocal Competition, Lewisville Lake Symphony International Competition, Pasadena Vocal Competition, top prizes in the MTNA Young Artist Performance Competition in Voice, and the Tuesday Musical Club Young Artists Competition. Pape graduated with a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Houston. She was a Vocal Institute Fellow at the Music Academy of the West in summer 2022.
In the 2022-2023 Lyric Opera season, Krista Renée Pape will appear as Frasquita in Carmen, Annina in La traviata, the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Mrs. Grady in The Shining.
Returning for a second season as a Resident Artist with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, mezzo-soprano Aubrey Odle's upcoming roles this season include Mercédès (Carmen), Flora (La traviata), and returning to the Lyric's annual production of Amahl and the Night Visitors as Mother. Other notable roles include the title role in Carmen, Mistress Quickly (Falstaff), Gertrude (Roméo et Juliette), and La Zia Principessa (Suor Angelica). Odle was recently featured as a soloist with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, performing Beethoven's Mass in C. In recent years, she has won accolades from the Houston Saengerbund Awards, Orpheus Vocal Competition, American Prize, and the Utah Opera AriaFest. She is a graduate of Utah State University (B.M.) and Brigham Young University (M.M.).
Tenor Wayd Odle returns for a second season as a Resident Artist with Lyric Opera of Kansas City. This season he will perform as Remendado (Carmen), Gastone (La traviata), King Kaspar (Amahl and the Night Visitors), and Delbert Grady (The Shining). Past seasons have seen him employed by Wolf Trap Opera, Opera Omaha, and Knoxville Opera. Notable roles include Rodolfo (La bohème), Don José (Carmen), and Nemorino (The Elixir of Love). He was a soloist with National Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Utah Philharmonic Orchestra, and Atlantic Music Festival Orchestra. He is winner of The American Prize Award (2021) and earned an Encouragement Award at The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition (2020). He won the Utah Philharmonic Concerto Competition (2022) and was a semi-finalist for the Orpheus Vocal Competition (2022).
Bass-baritone Luke Harnish earned degrees from Vanderbilt University and Wichita State University. Notable roles include Papageno (The Magic Flute), title role in Eugene Onegin, Walter Beech, and Roy McPhetridge (world premiere of Staggerwing), Jailer (Tosca), and Henry B. (The Mother of Us All). Harnish has performed on the stages of Nashville Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Opera Neo, and Opera Kansas. Concert credits include Bach's St. Matthew Passion and Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music. In summer 2022, Harnish was a studio artist with Chautauqua Opera and is a 2022 district winner of The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.
In the 2022-2023 Lyric Opera season, Luke Harnish will appear as Zuniga in Carmen, Doctor Grenvil. in La traviata, and King Melchior in Amahl and the Night Visitors.
Bass-baritone Joseph Park is a recent graduate of the University of Kansas (M.M.). Notable roles include Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Friar Lawrence (Roméo et Juliette), Colline (La bohéme), and Simone (Gianni Schicchi). Park was the first prize winner of the Southern Illinois Young Artist Organization Vocal Competition and received the Encouragement Award at the Metropolitan Opera Laffont competition. He has also earned prizes at the Yangsan Eum Jung Huang Vocal Music Competition and Ewha & Kyunghyang Concours. He has appeared as a soloist in Fauré's Requiem, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, and Mozart's Coronation Mass. Park attended Aspen Music Festival in 2022 as a Studio Artist.
In the 2022-2023 Lyric Opera season, Joseph Park will appear as El Dancairo in Carmen, Marchese D'Obigny in La traviata, and King Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors.
Returning pianist/coach Yang Lin performed in Lyric Opera of Kansas City's productions of Tosca and The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs last season. A native of Shanghai, China, he is a recent graduate of San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program, University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (Artist Diploma in Opera Coaching), and New England Conservatory (M.M. in Collaborative Piano). His opera experience includes Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, The Bartered Bride, La clemenza di Tito, Dinner at Eight, Cendrillon, Hansel and Gretel, Gianni Schicchi, La bohéme, Otello, Lohengrin, and Die Fledermaus. His opera and festival appearances include Cincinnati Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Aspen Music Festival,
Videos