Elissa Johnston, soprano

Has performed with: Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, Colorado Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco Contemporary Players and the Pasadena Symphony

World premiere performances: Aura by Chinary Ung with Grammy Award©-winning Southwest Chamber Music, and as Pat Nixon in the world premiere of John Adams’ concert suite from Nixon in China entitled The Nixon Tapes, with the composer conducting

Festival appearances: New York Philharmonic’s Copland Festival, Lincoln Center’s Stravinsky Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, Aspen Music Festival

Opera roles: Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at the Snape Proms in England, the role of Female Chorus in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia at the Aldeburgh October Britten Festival, and Marzelline in concert performances of Beethoven’s Fidelio at both the Aspen Festival and with the Wheeling Symphony, the role of Brigitta in concert performances of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta with the L.A. Philharmonic, and LA Opera performances of Il Trovatore, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria

Raves: Hailed for “her voice pure and ethereal, her expression embracing and heartfelt” – Musical America

Last LAMC appearance: Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem in October 2008

On the big screen: recorded dozens of film soundtracks, including The Simpsons, Spiderman 2 & 3, I Am Legend

Recordings: featured soloist on Aura by Chinary Ung with Southwest Chamber Music, Serenada Schizophrana by Danny Elfman on Sony Classics, and The Song of Songs by Jorge Liderman

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Sanford Sylvan

Voice part: Baritone

Awards and Nominations: Grammy and Emmy Award for John Adams’ Nixon in China; three Grammy nominations for Best Classical Vocal Performance, with longtime collaborator and pianist David Breitman

Performances include: Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, Ariodante, The Rape of Lucretia, Semele, Four Saints in Three Acts, Nixon In China, The Death of Klinghoffer, The Wound Dresser, The Lighthouse and Die Walküre

Has performed with: New York City Opera, Eos Orchestra, Glimmerglass Opera, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Detroit Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Royal Concertgebouworkest, London Symphony, BBC Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, Academy of Ancient Music, Melbourne Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra and the NHK (Japanese Broadcasting Corporation) Symphony

High praise: “[His voice’s] most striking quality is sheer beauty….emerging in sudden flashes in rich, dark low notes or the majesty of full high fortes.” —New York Times

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Hak Soo Kim

Voice Part: Tenor

Korean-American tenor Hak Soo Kim recently completed his second-year of residence as a Domingo-Thornton Young Artist at Los Angeles Opera, where he made his company debut as Remendado in Carmen. In his debut season at LA Opera, he also sang the roles of First Priest in Die Zauberflöte and Gastone in La traviata; in the latter he also covered the role of Alfredo.

In his second season, he performed as Conte Almaviva in the student matinee performance of Il barbiere di Siviglia and as A Youth in the American debut of Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten under the baton of James Conlon. He also covered the role of Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore in the beginning of the season.

Kim graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in German and wrote his thesis on German post-unification literature at Eberhard Karls Universität in Tübingen, Germany. While at Northwestern University, he sang Fenton in Falstaff and Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi. As a member of Opera Colorado Outreach Ensemble, he played the roles of Ernesto in Don Pasquale and Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola. In addition, he participated in the Apprentice Singer concert at Santa Fe Opera as Matteo in Arabella and Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

As a concert artist, he made his Ravinia Festival debut at Borsa in Rigoletto with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, appeared in a zarzuela concert under the direction of Plácido Domingo, was the tenor soloist in Stravinsky’s Les Noces with Monmouth Civic Chorus and made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut in summer 2010 at the Hollywood Bowl in the role of Remendado in Carmen.

Kim has received many awards and grants, including those at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, The Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition, Opera Buffs, and Pasadena Opera Guild. He is a student of Dr. Julian Kwok.

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Franz Joseph Haydn, composer

Born: March 31, 1732 in Rohrau, Austria

Died: May 31, 1809 in Vienna

Began his musical career: as an 8-year-old choir boy in Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral; after his voice changed he worked as a music teacher, a street serenader, and a valet-accompanist for the composer Nicola Porpora.

Assignments: Kapellmeister to Count Morzin (1757-1761), Kapellmeister to the Esterházys (1761-1790)

Known as: a devout Catholic, an avid practical joker, an “honnête homme” (honest man), the Father of the symphony and the string quartet, a good friend of Mozart’s (in fact Mozart’s Requiem was performed at Haydn’s funeral)

Prolific: more than 30 concerti, 14 masses, 15 operas, 45 piano trios, more than 70 piano sonatas and solo pieces, 68 string quartets, 108 symphonies, and two oratorios

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