Hailed for her ‘lovely warm tone, easy agility and winning musicality’ (Opera News), Karin Wolverton premiered the role of Anna Sørensen.

She performs frequently with Minnesota Opera as well as with the opera companies of Utah, Arizona, Omaha, Austin, Pittsburgh, Tulsa, Madison, Opera Santa Barbara, and Des Moines Metro Opera.

A champion of new works, Wolverton has starred in numerous world premieres including Riders of the Purple Sage and The Grapes of Wrath.

She made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Minnesota Orchestra under the baton of Osmo Vänskä and has performed with the Phoenix, Jacksonville, Eugene, Dayton and Rochester symphonies, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

For more information, visit www.karinwolverton.com.

Miles Mykkanen has garnered recognition on the world’s stages for his ‘focused, full-voiced tenor’ (The New York Times). Past collaborations include performances with the Canadian Opera Company, The Cleveland Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, National Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Opera Philadelphia, and with the symphonies of Atlanta, Detroit, Lausanne and Pittsburgh. He has also appeared at the Mostly Mozart, Ravinia and Tanglewood festivals.

Mykkanen enjoys robust relationships with the Marlboro Music Festival, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and New York Festival of Song, and has given many performances in collaboration with Steven Blier, Margo Garrett, Malcolm Martineau, Ken Noda, Mitsuko Uchida, Roger Vignoles and Brian Zeger.

For more information, visit www.milesmykkanen.com.

Baritone Edward Parks, a native of Indiana, Pennsylvania, received his Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory, his Master of Music degree from Yale University, and is an alumnus of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Program.

He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2009, was a winner of the 2008 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and was awarded third prize in Placido Domingo’s Operalia Competition. He attracted considerable international acclaim for his portrayal of Steve Jobs in the world premiere of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs with Santa Fe Opera, the recording of which earned him a GRAMMY Award.

For more information, visit www.edwardparksbaritone.com.

Since its founding in 1963, the Minnesota Opera Chorus has been an integral part in establishing the Minnesota Opera’s reputation as one of the finest opera companies in the United States. Led by chorus master Andrew Whitfield, this eclectic group is made up of about 200 of the finest vocalists in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas. Their work has been featured in PBS telecasts of the world premieres of Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s Silent Night and Douglas J. Cuomo and John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt, and praised as ‘the heroes of the evening’ by Opera News for a production of La fanciulla del West.

For more information, visit mnopera.org/chorus.

The Minnesota Opera Orchestra comprises professional musicians from the greater Twin Cities Metro region, many of whom play regularly with Minnesota Orchestra, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Ballet, as well as for Broadway touring productions.

The ensemble provides artistic continuity from production to production, performing an expansive range of diverse repertoire. The musicians have worked collaboratively with the creative teams in the development of several new works, including Silent Night, and have featured nationally on two PBS Great Performances specials: Silent Night (2011) and Doubt (2019).

Reviewing the orchestra’s 2019 performance of The Barber of Seville, the Pioneer Press wrote: ‘Minnesota Opera Orchestra brings out all of the whimsical sweetness of Rossini’s score, acting as the musical engine that keeps this comedy skipping gleefully forward and making sure that the focus on fun is unwavering.’

For more information, visit mnopera.org/orchestra.

Photo: Dan Norman

With clear artistic vision, subtle musicality and innovative programming, Courtney Lewis has established himself as one of his generation’s most talented conductors. The 2020–21 season marks his sixth as music director of the Jacksonville Symphony, and his contract has been extended until 2023–24.

From 2008 to 2014 he directed Boston’s Discovery Ensemble, and he has served as associate conductor of the New York Philharmonic and Minnesota Orchestra and was a Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He directed the Jacksonville Symphony at the 2020 SHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestras, and since debuting in 2008 with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra he has appeared with the Atlanta Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Washington National Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Hallé Orchestra, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra and Ulster Orchestra, among others.

For more information, visit www.courtneylewis.com.

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts has established himself as one of America’s leading composers, gaining international acclaim for his “plush, propulsive” music (The New York Times), and described by Opera News as “a master polystylist.” His work has been commissioned and performed by leading organizations around the world, including The Metropolitan Opera, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Opera Philadelphia, Minnesota Opera, and many more, and he has collaborated with world-class artists such as Renée Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Marin Alsop, among others.

In March 2022 Puts’ fourth opera, The Hours, had its world premiere on the concert stage, given by The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and was hailed as a “historic event … with a lush orchestration that hits you in the solar plexus.” (The Philadelphia Inquirer). The Hours premiered as a fully-staged production at The Metropolitan Opera in November 2022 starring sopranos Renée Fleming and Kelli O’Hara, and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. The Brightness of Light, featuring Renée Fleming and Rod Gilfry, was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in summer 2017 and continues to be widely performed, being staged at Los Angeles Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and many others. His triple concerto, Contact, written for Time for Three, received its world premiere in March 2022, given by The Florida Orchestra, with additional performances from The Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Sun Valley Symphony. A recording of the piece with Xian Zhang conducting The Philadelphia Orchestra was released on the Deutsche Grammophon label.

Puts’s breakthrough opera Silent Night – for which he was awarded the 2012 Pulitzer Prize following its 2011 premiere by Minnesota Opera – was heralded as “remarkable” (The New York Times) and “stunning” (Twin Cities Examiner). In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Puts has received numerous honours and awards for composition. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and Yale University, he has been a member of the composition faculty at the Peabody Institute since 2006.

For more information, visit www.kevinputs.com.