PALM BEACH OPERA APPRENTICE ARTIST PROGRAM

2020-2021 Season Palm Beach Opera Apprentice Artist Program

The Apprentice Artist Program offers recent music school graduates valuable performance experience alongside Palm Beach Opera’s intensive training curriculum. The Apprentice Artists act as Palm Beach Opera’s community ambassadors, singing throughout the region in education and community engagement concerts, while also covering supporting roles, studying leading roles, and adding strength to all mainstage production choruses.

The Apprentice Artist Program is part of a unique three-tiered training system at Palm Beach Opera that includes the Studio Program and the Benenson Young Artist program.

Additional funding provided by the Gladys and Sy Ziv Foundation.

  • Emily Helenbrook
    Emily Helenbrook
    Soprano
  • Megan Callahan
    Megan Callahan
    Mezzo-Soprano
  • SarahAnn Duffy
    SarahAnn Duffy
    Mezzo-Soprano
  • Juan Hernández
    Juan Hernández
    Tenor
  • Steven Ricks
    Steven Ricks
    Tenor
  • Kyle White
    Kyle White
    Baritone

Would you like more information about auditions?

For more information about our Apprentice Artist Program and auditioning, click here.

Guest Faculty

Voice Teachers
Stephen King
Michael Paul
Nova Thomas
Craig Rutenberg
Danielle Orlando

Diction Coaches
Corradina Caporello, Italian
Bénédicte Jourdois, French
Marianne Barrett, German

Acting Coach
Paul Curran

2019-2020 Season Apprentice Artists

Suzannah Waddington, Soprano
Emily Helenbrook, Soprano
SarahAnn Duffy, Mezzo-Soprano
Jenny Anne Flory, Mezzo-Soprano
Maire Carmack, Mezzo-Soprano
David Anderson, Tenor
Juan Hernández, Tenor
Philippe L’Esperance, Tenor
Eric Smedsrud, Baritone
Matthew Soibelman, Bass
PG Hazard, Pianist

2018-2019 Season Apprentice Artists

Sooyeon Kang, Soprano
Suzannah Waddington, Soprano
Maire Carmack, Mezzo-Soprano
Jenny Anne Flory, Mezzo-Soprano
Michael Anderson, Tenor
Anthony Ciaramitaro, Tenor
Pavel Suliandziga, Tenor
Robert Gerold, Baritone
Michael Miller, Baritone
Christopher Carbin, Baritone

2017-2018 Season Apprentice Artists

Maria Brea, Soprano
Sooyeon Kang, Soprano
Brooklyn Snow, Soprano
Kelsey Robertson, Mezzo-Soprano
Emily Spencer, Mezzo-Soprano
Matthew Greenblatt, Tenor
Elliott Paige, Tenor
Robert Gerold, Baritone
Samuel Hinkle, Baritone
James Wright, Baritone

Emily Helenbrook
Soprano

Sponsored by Linda Taub

Soprano, Emily Helenbrook is currently an Apprentice Artist at Palm Beach Opera and will sing the role of First Spirit in their upcoming production of Die Zauberflöte. She will also cover the role of Giulietta in the Young Artist production of Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Last sea- son, Emily appeared as the Dew Fairy at Palm Beach Opera’s Young Artist production of Hansel and Gretel. She has performed as L’Eternitá in La Calisto (Rice Opera Theatre), Adele in Die Fledermaus (Opera in the Ozarks), Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica (Eastman) and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro (Eastman). Emily attended the Eastman School of Music/University of Rochester receiving undergraduate degrees in Vocal Performance and Political Science. Miss Helenbrook graduated from Rice University with a Master’s in Vocal Performance with Dr. Stephen King. Emily has performed several times with the Buffalo Philharmonic as a soloist under the direction of Maestra JoAnn Falletta. Miss Helenbrook premiered the song cycle, Tippet Rise Songs by Anton Garcia-Abril for the inaugural season of the TippetRise Art Center in Montana with pianist Christopher O’Riley. Last summer, Emily was a Tanglewood Music Center Vocal Fellow where she performed as the Sun and the Vole in the U.S. premiere of Richard Ayres’ The Cricket Recovers with Maestro Thomas Adès, and this summer she participated in Tanglewood’s virtual adaptation of the program.

 

Megan Callahan
Mezzo-Soprano

Sponsored by Dr. Donna Kesselman Raggio and Mr. John J. Raggio

Praised for her “clear and attractive tones” by the Boston Musical Intelligencer, mezzo-soprano Megan Callahan garnered praise for her portrayal as the Fox in The Cunning Little Vixen (2019) with the Boston University Opera Institute. Most recently, she prepared the role of Sesto in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito with BUOI and performed in the chorus of Norma with the Boston Lyric Opera just before the COVID-19 pandemic. She also performed the title role in Tobias Picker’s Dolores Claiborne (2019) as well as the role of Gertrude Stein in Tom Cipullo’s After Life (2018) with BUOI. Ms. Callahan will join the Bailey Apprentice Artist program of Palm Beach Opera in January 2021.

Other notable stage credits include Olga in Eugene Onegin (2018), Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (2017), Frau Reich in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (2017), and Presendia in Dark Sisters (2017) with the Boston Conservatory Opera. Additionally, she has performed the role of Muhly’s Wife and covered the role of Ma Joad in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath (2017) with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Ms. Callahan has also appeared as Marian Paroo in The Music Man (2016) and Mother Marie in Dialogues of the Carmelites (2016). Ms. Callahan has performed with BUOI, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Boston Conservatory Opera, Seagle Music Colony, Charlottesville Opera, and American Opera Projects.

Ms. Callahan is a recent graduate of the BU Opera Institute where she studied with Penelope Bitzas. Ms. Callahan holds a M.M. in Opera Performance from the Boston Conservatory (2018) and a B.M. in Voice Performance from UNC Greensboro (2016). Megan is an avid reader, classically trained pianist, and a passionate yogi.

SarahAnn Duffy
Mezzo-Soprano

Sponsored by Mr. & Mrs. Martin Sosnoff

Mezzo-soprano SarahAnn Duffy is thrilled to be returning to Palm Beach Opera to serve her second season as a Bailey Apprentice Artist. This season, she will sing the role of the Second Spirit in Die Zauberflöte and cover the role of Romeo in their Discovery Series Production of I Capuleti e i Montecchi. SarahAnn was selected as a finalist in New Hampshire Piccola Opera’s 2020 competition this September and was awarded a contract to make her role debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro in 2021.

SarahAnn was recently seen as Zerlina in Don Giovanni with dell’Arte opera Ensemble, Rose in Star Wars: The Last Maestro with the Albany Symphony and David Alan Miller, and the mezzo soloist in Laud to the Nativity by Ottorino Respighi. She also appeared as Valetto in L’incoronazione di Poppea, the alto soloist in a staged adaptation of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, Betty in Salieri’s Falstaff and her first performance as the alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Classics on Hudson.

With an equal passion for contemporary repertoire, SarahAnn debuted at the National Sawdust where she performed two New York premiere songs in the spring of 2019. She also performed in Svadba as Ljubica in Ana Sokolović’s Serbian opera composed in 2015 with the Bard College Conservatory Vocal Arts program curated by Dawn Upshaw.

Originally from Cortlandt Manor, NY, SarahAnn received her bachelor of music from the New England Conservatory and her master of music from the Vocal Arts Program at Bard College Conservatory.

Juan Hernández
Tenor

Sponsored by Mickey & Allan Greenblatt

Puerto Rican tenor Juan Hernández Mercado began his professional singing career with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra in 2012 and has since been part of many local and international productions in the U.S. and abroad. In the 2019 season, he was selected as a Bailey Apprentice Artist at Palm Beach Opera and a Young Artist at Opera Saratoga. Role credits include: Corentin in Dinorah (Amore Opera), Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Accademia Lirica Uberto Giordano), Gastone in La Traviata (Accademia Lirica Umberto Giordano), Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro (International Festival Il Ponte), L’arithmétique in L’enfant et les sortilèges (Opera on the Avalon), Gofreddo in Rinaldo (Vocalpedia’s Vozarteum), Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte (Conservatorio de Musica de P.R.) Recent awards include: Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions District Encouragement Award (2019), First Place at the NATS NYC District Competition (2019), and Opera on the Avalon’s Audience Choice Award (2015). He began his musical studies at the Escuela Libre de Música Ernesto Ramos Antonini, the alma mater of some of the most recognized Puerto Rican artists. After graduating with honors, he continued his training in Vocal Performance at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of the late William Woodruff. Juan is currently a voice student of Raymon Geis.

Steven Ricks
Tenor

Sponsored by Dr. Donna Kesselman Raggio and Mr. John J. Raggio

Tenor Steven Ricks is a New Mexico native who currently resides in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He has performed with numerous companies, including the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Idaho Falls Opera, in roles such as Romeo in Romeo et Julliete, Tamino in Die Zauberflote, Vladimir in Prince Igor, and Alfredo in La Traviata. He has also performed in many various concert works such as Ralph Vaughn Williams’ Hodie as the tenor soloist, with guest star Frederica Von Stade. He has been given the Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions both in 2018 and 2019.

Kyle White
Baritone

Sponsored by Dr. Donna Kesselman Raggio and Mr. John J. Raggio

American Baritone Kyle White has found success performing roles from the standard repertoire as well as modern repertoire. With Boston Conservatory Opera, Mr. White recently performed the role of Older Thompson in Cipullo’s Glory Denied, and Malatesta in Don Pasquale. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. White was set to perform Valentin in Faust with Opera NEO, as well as Schaunard in La bohème and Peter in Hansel and Gretel with Kentucky Opera. Mr. White is continuing his engagement virtually with Kentucky Opera in their reimagined 2020/2021 season.

Other notable credits include the Second Apprentice (cover) in Wozzeck, Marcello (study cover) in La bohème, the Sailor in Candide, and Top (cover) in Copland’s The Tender Land with Des Moines Metro Opera, as well as John Sorel in The Consul, the Baritone in Hydrogen Jukebox and Le Geôlier in Dialogues des Carmélites with Boston Conservatory Opera. Mr. White has also performed Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Harold Hill in The Music Man, and Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Seagle Music Colony, and in productions with Michigan State University Opera Theatre including Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro and Belcore in L’elisir d’amore.

On the concert stage, Mr. White has performed as the Bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah and the Baritone soloist in Duruflé’s Reqiuem with the Michigan State University College of Music, as well as the Baritone soloist in Fauré’s Requiem with the Neponset Choral Society.

Mr. White holds a B.M. in Voice Performance from Michigan State University, and a M.M. in Opera Performance from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee.