Merola Opera Program kicks off its 2023 Summer Festival With METAMORPHOSIS

San Francisco’s internationally acclaimed Merola Opera Program kicks off its 2023 Summer Festival with Metamorphosis: Recovery, Renewal, and Rebirth, an uplifting vocal and piano concert featuring a rich array of songs that explore the many facets of transformation. At a tumultuous time in the world, this illuminating program focuses on themes of change and growth with songs from Alma Mahler, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Robert Owens, Florence Price, Stephen Sondheim, and other notable composers, taking the audience on a journey of hope. Merola’s Artistic Director Carrie-Ann Matheson joins forces with tenor Nicholas Phan, who worked with Merola on its What the Heart Desires recital in 2021, to curate the diverse musical offerings.

 Metamorphosis: Recovery, Renewal, and Rebirth will be presented at 7:30pm, Thursday, June 29, 2023 at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St., San Francisco. For more information or to purchase tickets ($55/$80), the public may visit www.merola.org or call the San Francisco Box Office at (415) 864-3330. 

The young artists featured in Metamorphosis: Recovery, Renewal, and Rebirth include soprano Juliette Chauvet; mezzo sopranos Joanne Evans and Simona Genga; tenor Demetrious Dramon Sampson; baritones Samuel Kidd and Cameron Rolling; bass-baritone Finn Sagal; and pianists Nicole Marie Cloutier, Julian Grabarek, Hyemin Jeong, Pei-Hsuan Tiana Lin, and Deborah Robertson. 

The evening begins on a high note with offerings that represent the hopeful, forward-looking facets of transformation. Works by Amy Beach, Franz Schubert, Florence Price, Herbert Howells, Errolyn Wallen, Olivier Messiaen, and Gustav Mahler will be performed, touching on themes of change, the healing power of music, and light. The season of spring, which signifies hope for renewal, will also be highlighted with pieces by Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Robert Owens, and Gabriel Fauré. Through these works, audiences will be inspired by fresh, new beginnings, and reminded that dynamic growth and development is always possible. Metamorphosis: Recovery, Renewal, and Rebirth continues with pieces by Aaron Copland, Alma Mahler, Ernest Chausson, Jocelyn Morelock, and Franz Schubert, calling attention to the profound themes of awakening and redefinition – two different, but vital elements of change. The program rounds out with works by Aaron Copland, Richard Strauss, Alma Mahler, Hugo Wolf, and Stephen Sondheim that feature underlying themes of utopia and fairytale transformation. 

The Merola Opera Program is widely regarded as the foremost opera training program for aspiring singers, pianist/coaches, and stage directors. Merola nurtures the opera stars of tomorrow through master classes and private coaching sessions with opera’s most accomplished singers, conductors, and directors. Participants also receive training in operatic repertoire, languages, diction, acting, stage movement, and professional development. Offered free of charge to all participants, the Merola Opera Program is unique in the industry in many ways. It was the first young artist program to provide financial support to developing artists for five years following their participation, offering aid for essential career development expenses including coaching, language classes, and audition travel. Since Matheson and Beam formed the new Merola artistic team in 2021, the program has redoubled its efforts to provide exciting new curricula and added focus on preparing the burgeoning artists for extramusical aspects of a performance career. Learn more at www.merola.org.