Opera Singers Initiative, now in its 6th season, provides mentoring, business education, and performance opportunities for emerging opera singers. Opera Singers Initiative’s program for opera singers is focused on critical practical and business education. Each season, Opera Singers Initiative selects the top 10 opera singers in New York for their program and presents select performances each season.
 
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Alexandra Smith, soprano, is originally from Louisville, KY and known for her musical versatility feeling equally at home in opera, art song and musical theatre repertoire. She completed her M.M at Manhattan School of Music where she played Alice in Alice in OPERALand as part of Manhattan School of Music’s Outreach Program. She also sang scenes as Emmeline in Emmeline, Marie-Antoinette in The Ghosts of Versailles, Jenny in Three Sister’s Who are Not Sisters and originated the role of the Lesbian Stripper in Jack Perla’s Love/Hate in conjunction with American Opera Projects.
 
While in New York, she has been a young artist with the Martina Arroyo Foundation’s Prelude to Performance where she sang Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi and Adele in Die Fledermaus. She has sung numerous concerts and events for the Martina Arroyo Foundation and has participated in both the Role Preparation and Art Song classes.
 
She attended the Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca in the studio program and later in the Complesso Bel Canto Program. She was a winner of the Lorenzo Malfatti Scholar where she sang scenes as Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro. She has been a finalist in the Giulio Gari Competition, the Arkadi Foundation Competition and the Harlem Opera Vocal competition and received an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Recent roles include Nella in Gianni Schicchi and Micaela in Carmen (New York Lyric Opera), Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi (Dell’Arte Opera), Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and Juliette in Romeo et Juliette with the Martina Arroyo Foundation. Other favorites include Musetta in La Boheme, Carrie in Carousel, and Soprano in The Faerie Queen.
 
Upcoming engagements include Beatrice in Michael John LaChiusa’s Marie Christine with Columbia Stages and L’Amour in Lully’s Platee with Pocket Opera New York.

Amanda Meier, soprano, recently completed her graduate studies at Oklahoma City University, where she performed the roles of Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Elle in La voix humaine and Hannchen in the regional premiere of Albert Lortzing’s Die Opernprobe. Ms. Meier holds a Bachelor of Music from Boston University, where she was seen as Belinda in Dido and Aeneas, and also as a frequent soloist with the new-music ensemble Time’s Arrow.
 
Ms. Meier has enjoyed time in Weimar, Germany, performing the roles of Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte. Ms. Meier has also attended Opera in the Ozarks, where she portrayed Amy March in the contemporary American opera Little Women.

 
Ms. Meier is originally from Omaha, Nebraska.

Elizabeth Fagan, soprano, was most recently heard singing her Romantic Musings program in New York City, Michigan and Samarkand, Uzbekistan and will be performing a version of it at the Roerich Museum in New York in the fall as part of the Roerich’s featured artist recital series.

OperaBox praised Ms. Fagan’s “Susanna” in Le Nozze di Figaro, as “outstanding in a stand-out and truly loveable cast”. “Despina” and “Zerlina” are two signature roles; additional roles include “Atalanta” in Serse and “Amor” in Orfeo ed Euridice, “Blonde” and “Leonore” (covers) in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Alessandro Stradella with Liederkranz Opera Theatre. Operetta roles include “Princess Margaret” in The Student Prince, “Lady Angela” in Patience with the Chicago G&S Society and “Elsie” in The Yeomen of the Guard with the Rome Savoyards and the Blue Hill Troupe of New York. In concert she has sung “Michaëla” with NY Opera Forum, “La Conversa”/“La Cercatrice” in Suor Angelica with Opera Company of Brooklyn and “Kate Pinkerton” in Madama Butterfly with the Midland Symphony Orchestra.

Having grown up in Germany and studied in Italy, Ms. Fagan has sung with the International Lyric Academy of Rome and was a featured guest at the Concert Series of Rotonda, Italy, in concert at Chiesa San Clemente in Rome, Italy and at Schloss Paretz in Berlin, Germany. Ms. Fagan is a former member of the esteemed Chicago Symphony Chorus under the baton of Daniel Barenboim and appeared in several recitals at Fulton Recital Hall while at the University of Chicago. Awards include Finalist in the Jenny Lind International Competition, Semi-Finalist in the Orpheus Vocal Competition, a full scholarship for the Pacific Opera Ensemble Professional Development Program, a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to study in Rome, Italy and the Musician’s Award at the University of Chicago.
Ms. Fagan holds a degree with honors from the University of Chicago and studied at the Freie Universitaet, Berlin and the Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy.

Margaret Meyer, soprano, has worked with some of the top conductors, directors, and coaches in the country, including Joshua Greene (Metropolitan Opera), Keith Chambers (New Jersey Opera), David Gately (Florida Grand Opera and Seattle Opera), Christopher Mattaliano (Portland Opera), and composer Daron Hagen. Her recent roles include Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Norina (Don Pasquale), Giulietta (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Morgana (Alcina), and Suor Genovieffa (Suor Angelica). In September, she debuted with Long Island Opera as Frasquita (Carmen). Other operatic roles include Gretel (Hansel und Gretel), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), and Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi). This coming year, she will sing Fiordigili (Così fan tutte) and the title role in Alcina. As a professional concert artist, she has been the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Mass in C minor, the Messiah, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, and Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate.
 
Ms. Meyer has experience with new music, having participated in the workshops and world premieres of two operas, The Ancient Concert by Daron Hagen and Beautiful Creatures by Jennifer Griffiths. This spring, she will perform in a new work, Rise… by Joseph Wright and David Carl. In addition, Ms. Meyer has performed a variety of early music works, including Cavalli’s Calisto and L’Egisto, as well as Lully’s Thésée.

Recently, Ms. Meyer had the opportunity to tour Eastern Europe with the Princeton University Chapel Choir and sing in some of Europe’s greatest cathedrals, including Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Previously, she was the soloist in Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem at the Princeton University Chapel Choir’s debut at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Meyer earned her Master’s in Music at McGill University in Montreal and her B.A. at Princeton University in Comparative Literature (High Honors, Phi Beta Kappa).

Andrea Chinedu Nwoke, soprano, recently added the roles of Magda Sorel in Menotti’s The Consul and Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana to her repertoire. She returned to dell’Arte Opera Ensemble in the Summer of 2012 as Madame Lidoine (cover) in Poulenc’s heartwrenching Dialogues des Carmélites.

Formerly a mezzo-soprano, Ms. Nwoke has performed the roles of Frugola in Il Tabarro, Larina in Eugene Onegin, Kleonike in Lysistrata, and Aunt Cecilia March in the 2008 Israeli premiere of Little Women. In 2009 Ms. Nwoke returned to the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv to sing Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress under the baton of Metropolitan Opera conductor Paul Nadler. Her additional roles as a mezzo include Miss Todd in The Old Maid and the Thief, Die Stallmagd in Königskinder and Maman and Un Pâtre in L’Enfant et les Sortileges. Ms. Nwoke has performed with Dicapo Opera Theatre, Dell’Arte Opera Ensemble, Opera Manhattan Repertory Theatre, American Lyric Theater, Ocean City New Jersey Pops Orchestra, and the Delaware Valley Opera Company among others.

Ms. Nwoke holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The University of the Arts and received training at Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. Her additional training includes the International Vocal Arts Institute- Tel Aviv, the Seagle Music Colony, and the Intermezzo Opera Young Artist Program. She is currently a Resident Artist at Dicapo Opera Theatre (NYC).

A Colorado native, Ms. Nwoke currently makes her home in New York City and studies under the tutelage of world-renowned soprano Diana Soviero.

Chloe Cho, soprano, is an emerging singer and native of Seoul, South Korea,Ms. Cho will begin a yearlong residency with the Opera Singers Initiative as a featured artist. As part of her residency, She will be featured in concerts and galas in New York City. She earned her Master of Music degree from Manhattan school of Music and she also studied at CNR-Paris, France (Conservatoire National de Region de Paris). Most recently Ms. Cho performed the role of Morgana in Alcina and Clorinda in La Cenerentola in EPCASO, Oderzo, Italy. She also performed several concerts in Verona, Treviso, Padua, Portogruaro.

Other recent highlights include the role of Novizia in Suor Angelica with Opera Manhattan and Le fee in Cendrillon, Miss Silverklang in Die Schauspieldirektor, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Pallade in L’incoronazione di Poppea with New York Lyric Opera Theatre. Ms. Cho has performed the title role of Princess Laoula in L’etoile, Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Zdenka in Arabella, Lakme in Lakme, Sophie in Werther, Ilia in Idomeneo, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Nanetta in Fastaff with Opera Academy of California.
Other credits include Despina in Cosi Fan Tutte and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro with International Lyrics Academy in Rome, viterbo in Italy. Also, Ilia in Idomeneo and Marie in La Fille du Regimentwith Redwoods Opera. Other appearances as a concert soloist with AIMS(American Institute Musical Studies) in Graz, Austria and La Voix du Jardin, L’art de la Voix festival in Paris, France.

 
Ms. Choe was recently featured as a soloist for Christmas concert with Czeko Yanaczek orchestra in Seoul, South Korea.

Alexandra Roth, mezzo-soprano, is known for her versatile artistry, thriving in contemporary collaborations equally at home in the traditional operatic canon. Hailing from Princeton, NJ, Ms. Roth completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Oberlin Conservatory. While in Oberlin, Ms. Roth was highly sought by the composition department for her musicianship and willingness to be creative and take on challenges. Ms. Roth made her Oberlin Operatic debut in Our Own Lives, a world premiere opera by Christopher Dunn-Rankin. Other main stage Oberlin operatic credits include Dorothee in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Elle in Poulenc’s La voix humaine, and The Old Lady in Bernstein’s Candide. After graduating from Oberlin, Ms. Roth joined the young artist program at Center City Opera Theater in Philadelphia, PA.

In Philadelphia, Ms. Roth sang her first Cherubino in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Donna Rosa in the East Coast premiere of Daniel Catan’s Il Postino, and workshop-ed the role of Esther in the world premiere of Michael Ching’s Slaying the Dragon. This premiere production was also performed in Delaware in collaboration with Opera Delaware. Ms. Roth headed back to Princeton to sing Sesto in Handel’s Giulio Cesare with OperaMODO in July 2012.

Ms. Roth has participated in summer festivals in Nice, France, Songfest in Malibu, CA, and Opera on the Avalon in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Currently, Ms. Roth is preparing for a series of recitals in Iowa City, Iowa and is excited to have found a musical community in NYC through New York’s Opera Singers Initiative!

Talented artist Rafael Maria in known for his impressions of the interaction between space and time, solid and line, color and movement. His pieces have been featured in private and public commissions internationally. Rafael Maria currently lives in the peninsula of Yucatán. Rafael Maria is represented exclusively by Maria del Mar.