San Francisco Opera Center Announces 2025 Adler Fellows

San Francisco Opera Center Artistic Director Carrie-Ann Matheson and General Manager Markus Beam has announced the 11 recipients of the 2025 San Francisco Opera Adler Fellowship.

The cohort of talented young musicians begins the 2025 Fellowship in January, receiving individually tailored musical and performance training and a wide range of professional and personal development instruction. Since its inception in 1977, the prestigious Adler Fellowship has nurtured more than 190 young artists, launching the careers of many singers, conductors, vocal coaches, stage directors, arts professionals and educators throughout the industry.

The artists selected as 2025 Adler Fellows are sopranos Georgiana Adams (Chicago, Illinois), Caroline Corrales (St. Louis, Missouri), Mary Hoskins (Saratoga Springs, Utah) and Olivia Smith (Penticton, British Columbia, Canada); tenors Thomas Kinch (Cardiff, Wales) and Samuel White (Columbia, South Carolina); baritones Samuel Kidd (Ann Arbor, Michigan) and Olivier Zerouali (Middletown, Delaware); bass-baritone Jongwon Han (Seoul, South Korea) and coaches/pianists Julian Grabarek (Acton, Massachusetts) and Ji Youn Lee (Seoul, South Korea). Mary Hoskins, Ji Youn Lee, Samuel White and Olivier Zerouali are incoming first-year fellows. Georgiana Adams, Caroline Corrales, Julian Grabarek, Samuel Kidd and Thomas Kinch continue in the program as second-year fellows. Jongwon Han and Olivia Smith return as third-year fellows.

San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows are trained in musical technique and preparation, foreign language skills, acting technique and movement, as well as financial management, leadership development, mental and emotional resilience, physical health and wellness and other skills necessary for a musical career in the twenty-first century. Adler singers are often cast in mainstage roles and leading cover assignments, while Adler pianists work closely with San Francisco Opera music staff to help prepare mainstage operas.

The 2024 Adlers concluding their fellowships at the end of this year are soprano Arianna Rodriguez, mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz, bass-baritone James McCarthy and pianist Yang Lin.

The 2024 Adler Fellows' season culminates on Friday, November 15 at 7:30 pm at Herbst Theatre with the annual showcase concert, The Future Is Now. The program of arias and operatic scenes, directed by Omer Ben Seadia, features the current Adler Fellows and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra under the baton of Benjamin Manis, who is also conducting the Company's performances of Bizet's Carmen (through December 1). For information and tickets, visit sfopera.com.

2025 ADLER FELLOW BIOGRAPHIES

FIRST-YEAR ADLER FELLOWS:

Mary Hoskins                            
(Saratoga Springs, Utah)

Soprano Mary Hoskins has been hailed as a “standout” with a voice that is “clear and utterly effortless” (The Opera Tattler). A participant of the 2024 Merola Opera Program, her assignments included the title role in the final scene of Ariadne auf Naxos in the Schwabacher Summer Concert, as well as an excerpt from Fidelio and Strauss' showstopping aria “Zweite Brautnacht” from Die Ägyptische Helena for the Merola Grand Finale concert.

Hoskins performed as a studio artist with Wolf Trap Opera for two summers, covering the title role of Pauline Viardot's Cendrillon and performing in the Festival's 2020 recorded scenes concert as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Mimì in La Bohème, Mary in Gregory Spears' Fellow Travelers and the First Lady in Die Zauberflöte. Other notable roles include the title roles in Puccini's Suor Angelica and Handel's Theodora.

She is a two-year alumna of Dolora Zajick's Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, where she was featured in the Final Concert, performing arias from Don Giovanni and Pagliacci. She has performed the roles of the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro and Nella in Gianni Schicchi with Utah Vocal Arts Academy.

A graduate of Bringham Young University, where she received both her bachelor's and master's degrees, Hoskins initially learned to love singing from her family's car trip belting sessions. She discovered opera just after high school and has loved it ever since.

Ji Youn Lee                    
(Seoul, South Korea)

Ji Youn Lee is an accomplished pianist who recently completed her Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano at The Juilliard School. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the New England Conservatory (NEC), graduating with honors in 2020. While at NEC, she was awarded first place in the Concerto Competition and performed with the New England Conservatory Symphony at Jordan Hall.

Lee has collaborated with renowned orchestras, including the Brockton Symphony, the Broad Street Orchestra and the Hawaii Symphony. Other notable achievements include prizes from the Duo Competition at the Music Academy of the West, the Ke'alohi International Piano Competition and the Jacob Flier International Piano Competition.

A participant of the 2024 Merola Opera Program, Lee played and coached Don Giovanni and the third act of La Bohème for the Schwabacher Summer Concert. Her rich experiences with Merola deepened her understanding of vocal collaboration and enhanced her appreciation of the opera art form. Through her musical endeavors and performances, she continually aspires to connect with new audiences.

Sam White                     
(Columbia, South Carolina)

Praised by Opera News for his "gleaming heroic tenor," Samuel White's 2024 season includes a house and role debut as Canio in Pagliacci at Wexford Festival Opera in Wexford, Ireland. 

Additional credits include Matthew Gurney in Tobias Picker's Emmeline at Manhattan School of Music and Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas at The Ohio State University, Luigi in Il Tabarro with Lyric Opera Studio Weimar and Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus with SAS Concert Opera. He has covered the roles of Arindal in Wagner's Die Feen with Glimmerglass Festival, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Tulsa Opera and Loris Ipanov in Fedora with Teatro Grattacielo in New York.

A participant in the 2024 Merola Opera Program, White performed Bacchus in the final scene of Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos at the Schwabacher Summer Concert and the title role in an excerpt from Werther at the Merola Grand Finale concert. In 2023, he covered The Prince in Rusalka at Santa Fe Opera, where he also performed scenes from Die Meistersinger von Nürnburg and Boris Godunov. 

Originally from Columbia, South Carolina, White completed his studies at Florida State University, Ohio State University and Manhattan School of Music. In addition to his training with the Merola Opera Program, he has joined Aspen Music Festival, Lyric Opera Studio Weimar and Glimmerglass Festival.

Olivier Zerouali              
(Middletown, Delaware)

Baritone Olivier Zerouali was a participant in the 2024 Merola Opera Program where he sang Silvio in a scene from Pagliacci, was a featured soloist on the chamber music recital: Song As Drama, covered the role of Masetto in Don Giovanni, and performed Malatesta in a scene from Don Pasquale at the Merola Grand Finale.

He has performed the roles of Robert in Iolanta, Slook in Rossini's Il Cambiale di Matrimonio, Betto in Gianni Schicchi and Brother in Kurt Weill's Seven Deadly Sins, all with Yale Opera Theatre. In 2023 he performed Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette for his debut with the Glimmerglass Festival. Other roles include Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Pandolfe in Massenet's Cendrillon, the title role of Le Nozze di Figaro and Zaretsky/Captain in Eugene Onegin. He also workshopped two new operas with Highlands Opera Studio: Olivia Shortt's The Museum of the Lost and Found and Ashley Au's Inertia.

Zerouali completed his undergraduate studies at SUNY Purchase's Conservatory of Music, is currently completing his master's degree at Yale University and has received training with the Merola Opera Program, Glimmerglass Festival, Young Artists Vocal Academy of Houston Grand Opera, Highlands Opera Studio and Berlin Opera Academy. He is currently a student of Gerald Martin Moore. 

SECOND-YEAR ADLER FELLOWS:

Georgiana Adams                    
(Chicago, Illinois)

American soprano Georgiana Adams is an artist committed to passionate and esteemed musical storytelling. This year's assignments included Bohème Out of the Box and covering the Bride and Lilly (Student 2) in Kaija Saariaho's Innocence and Aunt Lydia in Poul Ruders and Paul Bentley's The Handmaid's Tale on the mainstage. She also debuted as a featured vocal soloist with San Francisco Ballet in the world premiere of Mere Mortals and joined the Modesto Symphony for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

A 2023 participant in the Merola Opera Program, Adams performed Anna in scenes from Kevin Puts' Silent Night in the Schwabacher Summer Concert, covered the role of Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia and performed operatic scenes by Wagner (“Dich teure Halle” from Tannhäuser) and Mozart (“Sola, sola in buio loco” from Don Giovanni) at the Merola Grand Finale concert.

A recent graduate of The Juilliard School, Adams earned her master's degree in music in the spring of 2023 and was awarded the Stephen Novick Grant for Career Advancement. During the 2022–23 Season, she made her Alice Tully Hall debut singing songs by Respighi and her role debut as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Chautauqua Opera Conservatory, With the Juilliard Opera Theater, Adams performed the roles of Littler Sister in Missy Mazzoli's Proving Up and Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi and covered the titular role in Suor Angelica. Other roles include Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Lady Billows in Britten's Albert Herring and the Dew Fairy in Hänsel und Gretel.

This spring, Adams was the proud winner of The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition Western Region and was selected as one of nineteen singers to advance to the National Semifinals where she performed on the Metropolitan Opera House stage in March 2024. Adams was also a selected finalist in the 2023 Opera Index Vocal Competition and was the winner of the 2020 Casa Italia Vocal Competition in her hometown of Chicago, Illinois.

Sponsored by Mrs. Karin Eames, San Francisco Opera Guild

Caroline Corrales           
(St. Louis, Missouri)

Praised for her "robust and luxuriant tone” (San Francisco Chronicle), American soprano Caroline Corrales is an operatic star on the rise. This year she performed the role of Moira in Poul Ruders and Paul Bentley's The Handmaid's Tale and Musetta in Bohème Out of the Box. Upcoming engagements include Mimì in La Bohème with Opera Naples.

A 2023 participant in the Merola Opera Program, she performed the role of Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia and in scenes from Simon Boccanegra (Amelia) and Peter Grimes (Ellen Orford). In December, she was a featured singer in the Holiday Pops Concert Series with The Boston Pops.

Corrales is a former apprentice singer of The Santa Fe Opera, where she was featured in scenes from Die Fledermaus (Rosalinde) and Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira). As a former young artist of the Boston University Opera Institute, her roles included Ma Zegner in Missy Mazzoli's Proving Up, Anne Trulove in The Rake's Progress and scenes from Le Nozze di Figaro (Countess) and Rusalka.

A three-time District winner and two-time Region Encouragement Award winner of The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Corrales is also a Career Grant winner of the Pasadena Vocal Competition, a finalist in the McCammon Voice Competition, Second-Prize winner in the Orpheus Vocal Competition and a Grand Finalist in the Concurso Internacional de Canto Tenor Vinas. Caroline holds a Master of Music degree from Boston University and a Bachelor of Music degree from Webster University.

Sponsored by Jim & Gayle Tunnell

Julian Grabarek             
(Acton, Massachusetts)

Pianist Julian Grabarek is a recent graduate of the Collaborative Piano program at the University of Michigan. This year's San Francisco Opera assignments include joining the music staff for The Magic Flute, Carmen and Bohème Out of the Box. He was an apprentice vocal coach and pianist in the 2023 Merola Opera Program where he worked on Britten's The Rape of Lucretia and Act II from Verdi's Otello and appeared in the recital titled Metamorphosis. Last fall he was a guest coach and chorus master at the University of Houston for a double bill of Offenbach's Monsieur Choufleuri and Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges. This past year he coached Don Giovanni and The Cunning Little Vixen at the University of Michigan.

As a recitalist, Grabarek is equally at home with vocalists and instrumentalists. He enjoys performing a wide range of music, from Schubert lieder to Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time. In October 2023, he performed works by Poulenc, Britten, Butterworth and more in recital with fellow Michigan alum and Adler Fellow baritone Samuel Kidd in Ann Arbor. In previous seasons, Grabarek was a collaborative pianist at the Aspen Summer Music Festival and performed in a cello recital at the Bellingham Music Festival.

Before his graduate studies, Grabarek achieved a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Oberlin College and Conservatory.

Samuel Kidd                     
(Ann Arbor, Michigan)

Baritone Samuel Kidd is quickly establishing himself as a young singer of note. This year he sings Moralès in Carmen and Carmen Encounter, Christiano in Un Ballo in Maschera, a Steersman in Tristan und Isolde and Marcello in Bohème Out of the Box, and last season he covered Papageno in The Magic Flute and Ormonte in Partenope.

A graduate of The Yale School of Music under the tutelage of Gerald Martin Moore, his recent highlights include singing Tarquinius in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia as a participant in the 2023 Merola Opera Program, Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore and Tarquinius with Yale Opera, and the title role of Eugene Onegin at Music Academy of the West. He has participated in several prestigious young artist programs and festivals, including Houston Grand Opera's Young Artist Vocal Academy, Wolf Trap Opera Studio, Music Academy of the West and Merola Opera Program. Upcoming engagements include Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and Schaunard in La Bohème with Opera Naples.

While at home on the opera stage, Kidd's first love is art song and recital singing, in particular German lieder. Last fall he returned to the New York Festival of Song performing on their season opening “Perennials” concert. His recent performance in Merola Opera Program's Metamorphasis recital was praised for “cohesive blend of caressing phrases and dynamic intensity” by San Francisco Classical Voice. Last season, he appeared with the Cincinnati Song Initiative performing Mahler's Kindertotenlieder. In April 2021 he participated in the Caramoor Rising Star program, directed and curated by Steven Blier, and gave two performances of Schubert's Winterreise. He also performed Kindertotenlieder with the University Symphony Orchestra at the University of Michigan.

Sponsored by Isabel & Insik Rhee

Thomas Kinch                  
(Cardiff, Wales)

Thomas Kinch is a Welsh tenor quickly establishing himself as an exciting young performer. His assignments with San Francisco Opera include Don José in Carmen and Carmen Encounter, Melot in Tristan und Isolde, First Armored Man in The Magic Flute, Amelia's Servant in Un Ballo in Maschera and covering Luke in Poul Ruders and Paul Bentley's The Handmaid's Tale.

A 2023 Merola Opera Program participant, Kinch sang the title role of Otello in the opera's second act for the Schwabacher Summer Concert. He recently performed Macduff in Verdi's Macbeth with Paisley Opera/Scottish Opera, returning after performing Turiddu in a 2022 adaptation of Cavalleria Rusticana (A Paisley Kiss) and made his American professional debut as Licinio in Spontini's La Vestale with Teatro Grattacielo in New York.

Kinch was a 2022 Associate Artist for Welsh National Opera, where he was the First Armored Man in a new production of The Magic Flute and covered Vítek in The Makropulos Case. He participated in Dolora Zajick's Institute for Young Dramatic Voices and was a 2021 new generation artist with Iford Arts, performing Canio in the double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, where he was described as a “remarkable Canio with emotion and strength to knock you out of your seat” (Opera Scene). In this double bill, Kinch jumped in at the last minute as Turiddu alongside Susan Bullock as Santuzza and Paul Carey Jones as Alfio, giving a performance of “raw emotion and power” that “defied his years” (Opera Scene).

In 2022, Kinch returned to Opera Bohemia to sing Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, and in 2019 he made his international debut as Turiddu with Sri Lanka Opera. In 2020, Kinch toured the UK with Opera Up Close as Pinkerton, where his vocally powerful performance “stole the first half” (View from the Cheap Seat). Other recent engagements have included Turiddu with Edinburgh Grand Opera; Alfredo in La Traviata and Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles with Opera Bohemia; and Cavaradossi in Tosca and Turiddu with North Wales Opera.

Sponsored by Peggy & Boyce Nute

THIRD-YEAR ADLER FELLOWS:

Jongwon Han                            
(Seoul, South Korea)

Korean bass-baritone Jongwon Han was the winner of the Third Prize at the 2022 Operalia, The World Opera Competition. He recently debuted with Atlanta Opera as Schaunard in La Bohème and sang the same role in San Francisco Opera's production of Bohème Out of the Box, where he was also seen this year as Tom in Un Ballo in Maschera and the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte. This fall he covers the role of Escamillo in Carmen.

Upcoming engagements include Colline in La Bohème and The Speaker with Opera Naples. Recent highlights include Han's San Francisco Opera debut as Il Bonzo in Madama Butterfly, a Voice of the Watchmen in Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten and Colline in Bohème Out of the Box. Other highlights included debuts with Dayton Opera in Handel's Messiah and Palm Beach Opera as Il Bonzo.

In the summer of 2022, Han joined Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist, covering the role of Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and made his professional debut at the Vernazza Opera Festival (Cinque Terre, Italy). His operatic roles include the title roles of Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro and Masetto in Don Giovanni. He has been featured in Bach's Cantata BWV 140, Mozart's Sparrow Mass and Haydn's Theresienmesse.

Han was a Grand Finalist in the 2021 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, first prize winner of the Vero Beach Opera Rising Stars and third place and Audience Choice award winner in the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition. In 2021, he was the recipient of the Stephen De Maio Memorial Award from the Gerda Lissner Foundation and an encouragement award winner in the Gerda Lissner Lieder Competition.

Han received his Bachelor of Music degree from Seoul National University and his master's degree at the Mannes School of Music, and he studied at The Juilliard School in the Artist Diploma in Opera Studies program.

Sponsored by The Diana Dollar Knowles Fund for Emerging Artists, Karen J. Kubin

Olivia Smith

(Penticton, British Columbia, Canada)

Canadian soprano Olivia Smith is currently a second-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera, where this year her assignments included the roles of the First Lady in The Magic Flute and Micaëla in Carmen Encounter and covering Pamina in The Magic Flute and Micaëla in the mainstage production of Carmen. Last year she made her mainstage debut as the Voice of the Falcon in Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten, performed the role of Chrisann Brennan in Mason Bates and Mark Campbell’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs and covered the role of Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore. Highlights of next season include a house and role debut as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Opera Philadelphia and Pamina with Opera Naples. 

Smith was a participant in the 2022 Merola Opera Program, where she appeared as Margarita Xirgu in scenes of Golijov’s Ainadamar and in an excerpt as Leila from Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles and covered the role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte.

A recent graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Smith performed the Governess in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw with Curtis Opera Theater and Marguerite in excerpts of Gounod’s Faust with Curtis Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Additional roles include Cathleen in Vaughan Williams’ Riders to the Sea, First Witch in Dido and Aeneas and Mrs. Gobineau in Menotti’s The Medium.

Smith has received recognition from Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition, with both the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award and the Online Viewers’ Choice Award. She was the First-Place winner in Opera Grand Rapids’ VanderLaan Prize competition and received an encouragement grant from the George and Nora London Foundation for Singers.

About San Francisco Opera Center and Merola Opera Program 

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 advanced young singers and pianists. San Francisco Opera Center was created in 1982 by then General Director Terence McEwen to oversee the operation and administration of the education and training programs initiated by Kurt Herbert Adler in 1954.

Under the guidance of San Francisco Opera Center Artistic Director Carrie-Ann Matheson and General Manager Markus Beam, San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows are trained in musical technique and preparation, foreign language skills, acting technique and movement, as well as financial management, leadership development, mental and emotional resilience, physical health and wellness and other skills necessary for a musical career in the twenty-first century. Adler singers are often cast in mainstage roles and leading cover assignments, while Adler pianists work closely with the San Francisco Opera music staff to help prepare mainstage operas.

Each year, Adler Fellows are sponsored by individual donors and institutional funders to help cover the cost of their fellowship, and sponsors affiliated with the Adler Program have the opportunity to attend exclusive training sessions, such as master classes and workshops. Alumni of the Adler Fellowship Program include sopranos Julie Adams, Amina Edris, Elza van den Heever, Patricia Racette, Nadine Sierra, Ruth Ann Swenson and Deborah Voigt; mezzo-sopranos Daniela Mack, Zanda Švēde and Dolora Zajick; countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen; tenors Brian Jagde, David Lomeli, Amitai Pati, Pene Pati and Stuart Skelton; baritones Alfredo Daza, Mark Delavan, Joo Won Kang and Lucas Meachem; bass-baritones Philip Skinner, Philippe Sly and John Relyea and bass Kenneth Kellogg.

The Merola Opera Program was founded in 1957 and named in honor of San Francisco Opera’s first general director, Gaetano Merola. The Merola Opera Program, which operates in close artistic collaboration with the San Francisco Opera Center, is widely regarded as the foremost summer opera training program for young professional singers, coach/pianists and stage directors. Over the course of a summer, Merola participants are offered numerous performance opportunities, including a fully staged opera, an orchestral scenes program, a recital and a gala concert at the War Memorial Opera House. In addition to master classes with internationally renowned artists, each participant receives daily individual coaching in the area of their discipline, classes in diction, acting and stage deportment, movement, financial planning, mental health/wellness, physical health/wellness and public relations/branding from leading professionals in the opera field. The Merola Opera Program is a financially independent organization with a separate 501(c)3 which operates in close collaboration with San Francisco Opera Center and San Francisco Opera. All Merola alumni are considered for participation in the San Francisco Opera Adler Fellowship Program and are eligible for career grants from the Merola Opera Program for five years after they leave the Merola program. 

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

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