Sherrill Milnes
Co-Director, Don Giovanni
Sherrill Milnes is universally acclaimed as the foremost operatic baritone of his generation. With his powerful voice, commanding stage presence and rugged handsomeness, he received the kind of adulation that is usually reserved for tenors. He sang over 650 performances at the Met, where he was honored with sixteen new productions, seven opening nights, and ten national telecasts. As a leading artist in all of the world’s great opera houses, Mr. Milnes performed and recorded with the likes of Domingo, Pavarotti, Sutherland, Sills, Horne, Price, and Tebaldi. He is the winner of three Grammy Awards, and the most recorded American singer of his time. In 2008 he received the Opera News Award for Distinguished Achievement.
Maria Zouves
Co-Director, Don Giovanni
Maria Zouves is an educator, director, producer and writer. She is President of the Sherrill Milnes VOICE Programs − VOICExperience Foundation and the Savannah VOICE Festival – which she co-founded with her husband, Sherrill Milnes, to provide training for aspiring young artists and foster new audiences for the vocal arts. The Greek-American soprano has sung leading roles in the regional U.S., made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1997, and has recorded under the VAI label. While Maria directs most of the concerts in the VOICE Programs and co-directed the new SVF opera commission, Ching’s Alice Ryley: A Savannah Ghost Story, she most recently directed Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre in Prague, where the work first premiered and co-directed Le nozze de Figaro with Sherrill Milnes in Prague and Salzburg with Prague Summer Nights. She was recently seen in the title role of the premiere of Ching’s Anna Hunter: The Spirit of Savannah.
Ms. Zouves has directed, taught, and produced events all around the world, having worked with the International Vocal Arts Institute (IVAI) in Montreal and Puerto Rico, the International Institute of Vocal Arts (IIVA) in Chiari, Italy, and at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland. From 2007 to 2011, she served as Vice President and Associate General Director of Opera Tampa, the resident opera company of the Straz Center for the Performing Arts. She has taught workshops at Southern Illinois University, Drake University and served as interim opera director at Northwestern University. A sought after clinician, particularly in career development, she has also aided young singers as a career liaison through her former feature, “A Conversation with…” in Classical Singer magazine.
Ms. Zouves has sung leading roles with the Baltimore Opera, Florentine Opera, Memphis Opera, New Jersey State Opera, Orlando Opera, and the Pittsburgh Opera. The Stuttgarter Zeitung praised her “beautiful, lyric voice” and “a not to be surpassed ‘piano’ in the high register.” Opera News has described her voice as “creamy.” This Greek-American soprano shows great versatility in opera, on concert stages, and in crossover repertoire, with a specialty in classical and popular Greek music.
Torlef Borsting
A native of Hawaii, baritone Torlef Borsting has enjoyed singing lead roles all over the country. While living in Northern California, he graced the stages of such companies as San Francisco Opera, Opera San Jose, Sacramento Opera, Opera Parallele, and Livermore Valley Opera. His many roles include Scarpia, Marcello, Sharpless, Horace Tabor, Prince Yeletsky, Germont, Sgt Belcore, and Jack Rance, as well as numerous modern characters created for new compositions in opera and oratorio. Torlef has also performed as a concert soloist with the Mendocino Music Festival, Pacific Chamber Symphony, Oakland Symphony and Chorus, Symphony Parnassus, Cantare con Vivo, and most recently, Orlando Sings.
Torlef now lives in Central Florida, where he’s made his debut with Opera Orlando as the Count in Le nozze di Figaro (2019), returning to the company as Sonora in The Girl of the Golden West (2020), Peter (the Father) in Hansel and Gretel (2020), and most recently as the Marquis d’Obigny in La Traviata. He recently closed a 6 performance central Florida tour with Opera Orlando in All is Calm. Torlef returns to Opera Orlando in their winter production of Frida.
Torlef made his New York City Opera debut in Stonewall (2019), was featured with First Coast Opera in their annual Gala concert as part of their 2020 season followed closely by his debut with Indianapolis Opera as Leporello in Don Giovanni. Mr Gobineau in The Medium was his stage debut with First Coast Opera and is so thrilled to return for his second summer with the Savannah VOICE Festival as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly.
Emily Yocum Black
Sponsored by Danny Cohen
Described as a “sleek and glistening vocal talent” (San Francisco Chronicle), soprano Emily Yocum Black is a versatile and accomplished performer of multiple genres of music. Known for her sparkling, clear tone and particular gifts as a communicator, she feels at home in art song, chamber music, oratorio, opera, and musical theatre. She is thrilled to be returning to the Savannah VOICE Festival for her third season as a Festival Artist! Emily has performed major works with orchestras and chamber ensembles across the U.S. including the Savannah Philharmonic, the Louisville Orchestra, the Paducah Symphony Orchestra, the Jackson Symphony, American Bach Soloists, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Spire Chamber Ensemble, Madison Bach Musicians, and Bourbon Baroque. She is competing as a finalist in the Oratorio Society of New York Solo Competition later this summer. Other competitions include the 2019 Silver Medal and 2018 Sherrill Milnes Opera Award at the American Traditions Vocal Competition, First Place in the American Prize for Art Song-Professional Division, 1st Place in the Mid-South NATSAA Competition, 2nd Place in the 7th Annual Handel Aria Competition, and 1st Place in the Kentucky Bach Choir Audrey Rooney Vocal Competition. A graduate of the University of Louisville, Emily currently resides in her hometown of Paducah, Kentucky. When she isn’t traveling and performing, she teaches private voice at her studio and in Paducah Middle School and Paducah Tilghman High School. She is also co-founder of the choral ensemble, the Paducah Singers along with her husband, Fowler.
Anna Farysej
Soprano Anna Farysej is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music in New York under the supervision of prof. Mignon Dunn. Currently, Doctoral candidate at the University of Music in Warsaw in the class of prof. Eugenia Rozlach.
Upcoming engagements include the debut in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte as Pamina at Warsaw Chamber Opera.
She opened the 2021/2022 season by singing G. Donizetti Il giovedi grasso and Il campanello di notte at the Warsaw Chamber Opera and a return to the part of Juliette in Roméo et Juliette by C. Gounod directed by Michał Znaniecki and to the roles of Fräulein Bürstner and Leni in The Process by P. Glass at the Castle Opera in Szczecin under the baton of Jerzy Wołosiuk.
In the previous seasons, she portrayed the role of Hanna in S. Moniuszko’s The Haunted Manor under the musical direction of Janusz Przybylski, she sang the part of Juliette in C. Gounod in the co-production of the Opera na Zamku in Szczecin and the Bytom Opera and the role of Despina in W. A. Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte at the Opera na Zamku
She improves her vocal skills by participating in master vocal and interpretation courses led by outstanding vocal authorities such as: Edith Wiens, Diana Soviero, Catherine Malfitano, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Helena Łazarska, Eva Blahová, Anita Garanca, Renato Bruson, Thomas Hampson, Valentin Peytchinov and others.
Jodi Goble
Sponsored by Jack and Jamie Farnsworth
Composer Jodi Goble writes text-based, character-driven music fueled by her extensive background as a vocal coach and song-specialist collaborative pianist. Her compositions have been performed across the United States and internationally and featured on National Public Radio. She won the Iowa Music Teachers Association Commission Competition in 2013 and took second prize in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Art Song Competition in 2016. She also placed as a NATS ASCA finalist in 2008, 2017, 2020, and 2021, and as the honorable mention winner in 2015. Her art songs are published in anthologies by New Music Shelf and North Star Music.
Ms. Goble’s recent commissions include works for Seaglass Theater, Really Spicy Opera, I, the Siren, Voices of the Pearl, the Durward Ensemble, and Laura Strickling and the 40×40 Project. Her works have recently been performed at the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago’s Spring Lieder Lounge, the ASEAN Festival of Contemporary Music, Calliope’s Call, Songfest, the National Opera Center in New York City, the Fondation des États-Unis in Paris, San Francisco Opera’s Atrium Sessions, Jordan Hall, Ames Town and Gown, Omaha Under the Radar, and the Art Song Preservation Society of New York. Helen of Troy, her monodrama for mezzo-soprano and chamber instruments, was recorded and released by the Durward Ensemble on their Prophetic Revolutions album.
Ms. Goble is Full Teaching Professor in Voice at Iowa State University, the official pianist for the Simon Estes Roots and Wings Community Concert Series, and the official accompanist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Guild Auditions in Iowa.
Leah Huber
Hailing from Northwest Louisiana, soprano Leah Huber has just completed her Master of Music in Vocal Performance at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music.
Favorite roles include Bubikopf, the maiden and Le feu/Le rossignol in CMU’s productions of Viktor Ullman’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis and Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges. Previously, she earned her Bachelor of Music from the University of Louisiana Monroe, where she appeared as Cunegonde and Christine Daaé in its productions of Candide and The Phantom of the Opera. More recently, Leah portrayed Tytania in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Miami Music Festival.
Having grown up an Air Force brat and lived amongst many different communities, Leah appreciates music’s incredible power to unite audiences and artists alike despite their differing backgrounds. This sparks her joy for interpreting a broad spectrum of styles, from Mozartian coloratura to contemporary musical theatre, with a splash of her favorite Great American Songbook standards. Whatever the genre, Leah dedicates herself to delivering energized and honest performances, a storyteller at heart.
Minghao Liu
Sponsored by BH and Margie Levy
Minghao Liu is an alum of the Miami Music Festival and a rising international opera singer. He studied and performed in many places such as Ukraine, Canada, Austria, and Italy. He is blessed by the influences of Miami Music Festival. The festival caused the first launch for his career at Rossini Opera Festival in Italy. Sadly, the program was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. Following this, he studied at Frost School of Music where he was an Artistic Program student. Recently, he performed the principle role Tancredi Falconeri in the World Premiere of The Leopard at Dadeland-Cultural Art Center with Frost School faculty members. This coming year, he will to launch his career at US as an active MMF alum. Additionally, he will perform concerts and retaking his position in the Italian opera market.
Carlton Moe
Sponsored by Kathie and Les Anderson
Heralded by the New York Times as an “ardent tenor,” Carlton Moe has been thrilling audiences at The Majestic Theater since his Broadway debut in The Phantom of the Opera as Ubaldo Piangi. He debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2013 with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as the “Brother” in Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins and has performed as a soloist with such orchestras as the Oregon Symphony, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Walla Walla Symphony, and the Charlottesville Symphony Society. His previous opera credits include The Mother of Us All (John Adams), Ernest Bloch’s Macbeth (Malcolm), with the Manhattan School of Music Opera Studio, Roméo et Juliette (Tybalt) with the Aspen Music Festival and Savannah Voice Festival, and Albert Herring (Albert) with the Napa Music Festival. Mr. Moe has also covered leading roles with the Martina Arroyo Foundation Prelude to Performance Program, Venture Opera, and Opera in Williamsburg. Carlton completed his Bachelor of Music in voice at Portland State University and his Master of Music in classical voice at The Manhattan School of Music where he attended on a full scholarship. (www.carlmoetenor.com, IG:@carltonmoe)
Jorge Parodi
Internationally acclaimed conductor Jorge Parodi has worked extensively in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Recent credits include Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro for Opera Tampa; Piazzolla’s María de Buenos Aires for New York City Opera, The Atlanta Opera and Opera Grand Rapids; Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia and Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi for Buenos Aires Lírica (Argentina); Britten’s The Turn of the Screw for the Castleton Festival in Virginia and The Banff Centre (Canada); Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann for Opera Orlando; Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges for The Juilliard School at Lincoln Center and the World Premiere of Rhoda and the Fossil Hunt, the latest opera by John Musto –a coproduction of On Site Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric’s Unlimited and Pittsburg Opera-. Upcoming engagements include his return to The Atlanta Opera and Opera Tampa, and his debut at Chautauqua Opera. Reviewed as having “the most expressive conducting hands since Stokowski” by the New York Daily News, Argentinean born Jorge Parodi has also worked with such companies as the Teatro Colón in Argentina, the Volgograd Opera in Russia, the Encuentros Internacionales de Opera in Mexico, the Tokyo International Vocal Arts Academy in Japan, and the International Vocal Arts Institute in Israel. He has collaborated with such artists as Isabel Leonard, Eglise Gutierrez, Tito Capobianco, Sherrill Milnes, Aprile Millo and Rufus Wainwright and has assisted conductors Lorin Maazel and Julius Rudel, among others. Maestro Parodi is the Music Director of Opera in Williamsburg (Virginia), where he has conducted Rigoletto, Il trovatore, L’elisir d’amore, Lucia di Lammermoor, La cenerentola and Le nozze di Figaro, among other titles. He is also the Music Director of the Senior Opera Theatre at the Manhattan School of Music, where he has led its productions to critical acclaim, including Schubert’s Die Verschworenen –that the New York Times praised as being “superbly performed” and the American premieres of Le Roi l’a dit by Délibes and Nina by Paisiello. A featured interview by editor-in chief F. Paul Driscoll to Maestro Parodi and his work with MSM Senior Opera Theater appeared in the March ’18 edition of Opera News.
Kyaunnee Richardson
Kyaunnee Richardson, soprano, made her professional debut as Papagena in Mozart’s The Magic Flute with the Festival of the Arts Boca in 2016. In 2021, Kyaunnee starred as Calpurnia in the world premiere of The Secret River with Opera Orlando and made her 2020 Opera Orlando debut as Adele in Die Fledermaus.
Other highlights from the last few seasons include the roles of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Despina in Così fan tutte with Opera in Williamsburg; Monica in The Medium with First Coast Opera; Sister 2 in the world premiere of Why I Live at the PO with UrbanArias, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette and Maria in West Side Story with Gulfshore Opera; Gretel in Hansel and Gretel; Frasquita in Carmen with Opera Orlando; Clara in Porgy and Bess with the South Florida Symphony; Alice/Dr. Marigold in Adolphe’s The Adventures of Alvin Allegretto and Pamina in The Magic Flute with Orchestra Miami and several roles with Opera Fusion’s Emerging Artist Project series.
Recently, Kyaunnee was a semi-finalist in the 2023 American Traditions Vocal Competition where she was awarded the Sherrill Milnes American Opera Award. She has competed in several competitions and won awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Competition, New York Lyric Opera Theatre, Opera Ebony and Harlem Opera Theatre.
She has also been a featured soloist with the Symphony of the Americas, South Florida Symphony, Hallandale Symphonic Pops Orchestra, Sugar Pops Orchestra, Opera Fusion Orchestra, Coral Gables Chamber Orchestra and the Sunrise Symphonic Pops Orchestra.
Chad Sonka
Chad Sonka is establishing himself as a versatile American baritone, teacher, and director. He was consistently singing and teaching throughout the country for Savannah VOICE Festival and Iowa State University, where he serves on the voice faculty. Recently, he performed as the baritone soloist in Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem at Carnegie Hall with Iowa State University and Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder
Congcong Wang
Congcong Wang is a talented vocalist and musician who has dedicated her life to pursuing music. She was the district winner in the San Francisco district for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and received an Encouragement Award in the Western Region Finals in 2018. She received the 1st Prize in the Golden Classical Music Awards International Competition, the 2nd Prize in the George Gershwin International Music Competition, Encouragement Award receivers in the Altamura/Caruso International Voice Competition. Ms. Wang has sung leading roles in various operas, such as Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata, Iolanta in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, Manon in Massenet’s Manon, Mashaline in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, Mimi in Puccini’s La Boheme, Liu in Puccini’s Turandot, Rosalinde in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Nella in Gianni Schicchi, Christine in Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and Maria in Bernstein’s West Side Story. She has worked with the San Francisco Symphony, performing as a soloist in Berlitz’s Requiem Symphony, John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, Carmina Burana, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, and Mahler’s Das klagende Lied. Ms. Wang is currently pursuing a DMA in vocal performance at University of Miami, with Professor Robynne Redmon. She has previously earned a Master of Music in vocal performance from the Boston Conservatory of Music and a postgraduate voice performance diploma at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Her dedication and hard work provided her with scholarship to perform and study in Maryland Lyric Opera Young Artist Institute. Ms. Wang’s extensive education and training have been guided by voice and opera coaches, such as Manny Perez, Kathryn Wright, Ellie Mao Mok, Catherine Cook, Luis Salemno, Kevin Class, Carmela Altamura, Miah Im, Johnathon Pape, Tony Arnold, Joan Caplan, Amy Burton, and Elizabeth Hynes.