About the GrandMaster Mutsuo Tomita Young Artist Program
In August 2019, Finger Lakes Opera received a large gift from an anonymous donor to rename one of its educational initiatives. Since that time, the program was named the Grandmaster Mutsuo Tomita Young Artist Program after one of the donor's dear friends, who passed away in March 2019.
The gift has allowed FLO to elevate the Young Artist program in several ways:
Finger Lakes Opera received almost 400 applications from all over the world for the 2021 Tomita Young Artist Program. The candidates listed below participated in a month-long summer residency program where they had numerous performance opportunities, as well as the chance to work alongside the seasoned artists of Finger Lakes Opera's mainstage. Weekly stipends, a travel allowance and housing are provided. The applicant portal for 2022 will open in October.
The gift has allowed FLO to elevate the Young Artist program in several ways:
- FLO has been able to provide more positions for aspiring singers and to expand the current program to include collaborative pianists.
- FLO provides stipends for all its participants. In its first two years, the Young Artist Program required singers to pay a stipend that partially covered expenses for the program. While the company was able to provide scholarships to some of its singers, the majority still had to pay to participate.
Finger Lakes Opera received almost 400 applications from all over the world for the 2021 Tomita Young Artist Program. The candidates listed below participated in a month-long summer residency program where they had numerous performance opportunities, as well as the chance to work alongside the seasoned artists of Finger Lakes Opera's mainstage. Weekly stipends, a travel allowance and housing are provided. The applicant portal for 2022 will open in October.
2021 Young Artists
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Veena akama-makiaCameroonian-American mezzo-soprano Veena Akama-Makia, originally from Arkansas, received her Masters in Performance and Literature degree from the Eastman School of Music under the study of Kathryn Cowdrick. In the summer of 2018, she completed an eight-week program at the Si Parla, Si Canta Opera Festival (Urbania, Italy), where she made her Italian debut as Zita in Gianni Schicchi. Akama-Makia has been honored with several awards, including the 2020 Mildred Miller Competition Finalist, Semi-finalist in the 2020 Premiere Opera Foundation and NYIOP International Competition, and Semi-finalist in the 2021 Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition.
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DANIELLE BECKVERMITSoprano Danielle Beckvermit, recently named Grand Prize Winner in The Orpheus National Music Competition for Vocalists, was a Grand Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2018. A graduate of the Mannes School of Music and SUNY Fredonia, Danielle has sung a wide range of roles, including Annina in La Traviata, Alice in Falstaff and the title role in Susannah. An award winner in The George London Foundation Competition (2020), Beckvermit was an apprentice artist with the Santa Fe Opera in 2019 and just completed her two-year residency with the Minnesota Opera. Beckvermit currently lives in Manhasset, NY.
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Nathaniel CatascaTenor Nathaniel Catasca, originally from Albuquerque, NM, received his Masters in Performance and Literature degree from the Eastman School of Music under the study of Robert Swensen. In 2017, he attended Music Academy of the West and had the opportunity to study with Marilyn Horne, Martin Katz, and others. Catasca has served young artist residencies with the Florentine Opera Company (WI) and Hawaii Opera Theatre and sung a variety of roles, including Ernesto in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Spoletta in Tosca. Catasca currently resides in Milwaukee, WI.
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Jongwon ChoiBass Jongwon Choi, a native of South Korea, recently earned his Artist Diploma from the Mannes School of Music (NYC) and his Masters from Seoul National University. Some of his US roles include Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin, Trulove in The Rake’s Progress, and Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro. International appearances include performances with the Seoul Metropolitan Opera’s Verdi series, in the Korean premiere of Curlew River, and in The Little Prince with the Korea National Opera. Choi currently lives in Jersey City, NJ, where he teaches private lessons.
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EDWARD FORSTMANDrawn to opera through his love of contemporary music, pianist Edward Forstman has worked with composer Whitney George on the premieres of her operas Julie (New Camerata Opera) and Princess Maleine (dell’Arte Opera Ensemble) and with Andrea Clearfield for the premiere of Mila, Great Sorcerer (Prototype Festival). During the pandemic, he presented virtual concerts with soprano AddieRose Forstman for the Downtown Music at Grace series in Westchester, NY, and the Songs from Hibernation series hosted by dell’Arte Opera Ensemble. For the 2021-22 season, he will be the Baumgartner Studio Artist pianist at the Florentine Opera in Milwaukee. Originally from Birmingham, AL., Forstman currently resides in Red Hook, NY.
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John Allen NelsonBaritone Irish-American John Allen Nelson, known for his “deliciously hearty sound,” has appeared with companies throughout the United States, including Opera Santa Barbara, New York City Opera, Utah Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, the Minnesota Opera, and more. An active interpreter of concert works, Nelson has sung the solos in John Rutter’s Mass of the Children with Masterworks Chorale (Boston) and has been the featured soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Hyperion Singers and the Heartland Symphony and Fauré’s Requiem with Masterworks Chorale and as a special guest artist at his alma mater, St. John’s University. He completed his residency at Boston University Opera Institute in 2016, holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance from St. John’s University in his native Minnesota.
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IMara milesRecipient of the encouragement award at the 2021 Northwest regional division of the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, mezzo-soprano Imara Miles is in her final year of the Masters Program at Indiana University studying under Patricia Stiles. She made her operatic debut in 2017 in the Carol Vaness Opera Workshop production of Gianni Schicchi as Zita. Previous summer engagements include Grant Park's Project Inclusion Vocal Ensemble fellowship, where she performed in the Choir for the premiere of Ērik Ešenvalds's The Pleiades and as a cover in the world premiere of Jeanine Tesori’s opera Blue at the Glimmerglass Festival. While at Glimmerglass, she also was in the chorus of La Traviata and a featured ensemble member in the production of Showboat. Miles is a native of Washington, DC.
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Robert H. RiordanCurrently an Apprentice Artist with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, baritone Robert H. Riordan is at home on grand mainstages as well as intimate cabaret venues. He has performed on operatic stages across the United States and in Europe. In the summer of 2019, he covered the roles of Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro and Carl-Magnus in Sondheim's A Little Night Music with the Aspen Music Festival. Some of Riordan's other credits include Frank in Die Fledermaus, Junius in The Rape of Lucretia, Yamadori and the Imperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly, and Top in the Bulgarian premiere of The Tender Land. A native of Wisconsin, Riordan is a graduate of the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory of Music and currently lives in Minnesota.
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David Soto ZambranaTenor David Soto Zambrana is a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was awarded a Weitzenhoffer Opera Fellowship and masters degree at the University of Oklahoma while studying under Kim Josephson. Last summer, Soto Zambrana sang the roles of Alfredo in La Traviata and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni as part of New York Opera Conservatory in Peekskill, NY. Other roles include Nadir in The Pearl Fishers, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, the Astrologer in Le Coq d’Or, Duke Grimoaldo in Rodelinda, and many others. Besides serving as a cover for FLO’s Count Almaviva, Soto Zambrana will sing the role of Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor with the Taconic Opera this summer. He currently resides in Norman, OK.
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Robin SteitzSoprano Robin Steitz, who just returned from Kraków, Poland, where she was involved in a production with the Opera Rara Festival, was recently named a finalist in the Naumburg Voice Competition. She was a Voice Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center in 2018 and 2019. Steitz is comfortable on the concert and operatic stages having performed with the South Dakota and Rochester Philharmonic orchestras, as well as the roles of Amore in Orfeo ed Euridice, Le Fée in Cendrillon and Miss Jessel in Turn of the Screw. During the 2019-20 season, she was a studio artist with Fort Worth Opera Outreach and an apprentice artist with Opera Southwest. Steitz has won numerous awards, including the 2019 Buffalo/Toronto District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Jessie Kneisel Lieder Competition at the Eastman School of Music. Steitz is originally from Washington DC.
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natasha talukdar elamWith extensive experience in piano performance and vocal accompanying, Natasha Talukdar Elam is an artist who thrives at the intersections of collaboration. Talukdar Elam will be joining the Utah Opera this fall as their Resident Artist Pianist for the 2021-22 season. She is a graduate of the masters program in Opera Coaching from the University of Texas at Austin and holds another masters degree in Vocal Accompanying from the Peabody Conservatory. Besides her work as a vocal collaborator, Talukdar Elam has worked on productions of Le nozze di Figaro, L’elisir d’amore, Turn of the Screw, Don Giovanni, La Cenerentola, Gianni Schicchi, Suor Angelica, Bernstein’s Mass, and Chérubin. In 2013, Natasha made her Carnegie Hall debut as a winner of the Asian American Young Artists Competition. Currently a resident of Austin, TX, Talukdar Elam is originally from Manila, Philippines.
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