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ERIN WOOD's recent portrayals of Verdi and Wagner heroines have received praise for her "soaring soprano", "immense voice full of grit at the bottom and transcendent radiance at the top", and "volcanic outpouring of sound that was thrilling to behold". Ms. Wood has replaced Deborah Voigt on short notice, both as Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walkuere with Lyric Opera of Chicago and as Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera with San Francisco Opera.

Recent engagements include Verdi Requiem with the London Symphony Chorus, Un Ballo in Maschera for Opera Colorado, Die Zauberflöte for Opera Pacific, and concert performances of Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder, Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and of the title role in Verdi's Aida.

Ms. Wood is an alumna of the prestigious Lyric Opera Center for American Artists. She received her Bachelors and Masters degrees from UCLA, where she has almost completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Before becoming a soprano she sang mezzo leads in many UCLA Opera productions; her professional debut was as Mary in Der fliegende Hollaender with Opera Pacific. Awards include the George London Foundation's Kirsten Flagstad Award, and awards from the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation, Chicago's Musician's Club of Women, Met National Council Central and Western Regions, Palm Springs Opera Guild, and the Lee Schaenen and Liberace Foundations. Erin grew up in Southern California, where she lives with her husband Keith and son Elliott.

NICHOLAS ZAMMIT, countertenor, a Somerset, MA native, was the divisional winner of the 2006 National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Song Festival in Boston, MA. He received his Bachelors of Music from New England Conservatory of Music in May 2005. Nick made his operatic debut as Arsemenes in Handel's Xerxes with NEC's Light Opera Club and has been a featured soloist with many groups including Concerts at the Point in Westport, MA, the Beethoven Society in Waltham, MA, the Lecosaldi Ensemble and Vox Consort. As a choral singer Zammit has performed in such venues as Boston's Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, Cutler Majestic Theatre and Fenway Park and the Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Zammit was a member of NEC's Chamber Singers for his entire tenure at the Conservatory, working with distinguished conductor Simon Carrington for the first two years. Nick is currently a Master's candidate at UCLA's Herb Alpert School of Music where he studies with Michael Dean and coaches with Peter Kazaras, Susan McClary and Mona Lands. He also works at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Downtown LA as a chorister.

DOUGLAS CARPENTER, baritone, recently graduated cum laude from the University of Nevada Las Vegas with a degree in vocal performance. He continues as a Masters Degree student at UCLA where he studies with Michael Dean. Doug has performed the title role in Don Giovanni, Papageno in Magic Flute, Marcello in La Bohème, and Silvio in Pagliacci with companies Opera Las Vegas and UNLV Opera Theatre and Count Almavia in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera UCLA. His musical theatre credits include Tommy Keeler in Annie Get Your Gun, Riff in West Side Story, Macheath in Three Penny Opera, and the Prince in Cinderella. Most recently, Doug performed as Tony in West Side Story and Curly in Oklahoma with FCLO Music Theater to rave reviews. He will be performing the role of Billy Bigelow in Carousel with Opera UCLA in May, 2009.

JOANNA FOOTE, soprano, is an international student from New Zealand currently completing her Masters at UCLA in vocal performance. She has performed the roles of Susanna in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Nannetta in Verdi's Falstaff, Monica in Menotti's The Medium, and Polly in Threepenny Opera by Weill/Brecht for UCLA Opera. Before coming to the US, she sang as part of the New Zealand Opera Chorus, was twice a finalist in the PACANZ Young Performer of the Year Competition, and most recently, made the semi-final of the McDonald's Aria Competition in Sydney. She received her Bachelor of Music from The University of Auckland.

LIAM MCCLACHLAN, tenor, has a Diploma of Music in Voice from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, and a Bachelor of Music from the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music in his native Australia. He has performed roles in The Threepenny Opera, L'Orfeo, The Bartered Bride, and as Tobias in Opera Queensland's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Liam moved to the United States after six years of touring with the Australian singing group, The Ten Tenors, performing hundreds of shows a year in over 32 countries. He is now based in Los Angeles with his wife, and has been singing extensively throughout Southern California.

SUNMI SHIN, soprano, is a native of Korea, currently living in Los Angeles. Ms. Shin has garnered a number of awards, including the recent 2008 Metropolitan Opera Western Regional Finals Second Place award, First Place in the 2008 Opera Reading Club of Hollywood competition and finalist in the 2008 Palm Springs Opera Guild Vocal Competition. The soprano has also been the recipient of numerous competition awards in her native Korea. As a member of the Korean National Opera, Sun Mi has performed roles in La Traviata, Carmen, Die Zauberflöte and Rigoletto. She is currently pursuing a master of music degree in voice performance from World Mission University in Los Angeles, where she studies voice with Dr. Kathleen Roland.

MARCO STEFANI is a twenty-one year old tenor from Pleasanton, California. Highlights of his undergraduate studies at the University of the Pacific's Conservatory of Music in Stockton, California include: Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea (Nerone), Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (Don Basilio), and Strauss' Die Fledermaus (Alfredo). Marco is proud to have participated in Pacific's inaugural year of the Pacific Opera Institute, which afforded him his first professional engagement with the Bear Valley Music Festival as Slender in Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor. This past summer Marco participated in the Schwabacher 50 program with Merola at San Francisco Opera. Marco's future engagements include a solo recital at Pacific on May 1^st, 2009 and a fellowship at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California.

KAREN VUONG, soprano, is from Los Angeles. She studied at UCLA, where she performed Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica, Despina in Così fan tutte, Emmie in Albert Herring, the "Somewhere" soloist in West Side Story, and Shoemaker's Wife in Lorca Child of the Moon by Ian Krouse. She participated in the Domingo-Thornton LA Opera Young Artist program for two years.

Ms. Vuong's 2006/07 debut season at LA Opera included the Voice of Shepherd Boy in Tannhäuser, Lady of Mahagonny in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, and Amore in L'incoronazione di Poppea. In the 2007/08 season, she took part in a student matinee performance as Mimi in La Bohème conducted by Plácido Domingo, First Playmate in The Dwarf, Shepherd Boy in Tosca, and Yvette in La Rondine. She has been acknowledged in competitions including the 2007 Jose Iturbi Vocal Competition (semifinalist), the 2006 Plácido Domingo Operalia Competition (Culturarte Award), and the 2004 Palm Springs Opera Guild Vocal Competition (The Geraldine & Ron Hoeffer Scholarship). Recent engagements include Lay Sister in Suor Angelica at LA Opera, and Sophie in Werther at Kentucky Opera. Next season she is scheduled to sing in the world premiere opera Amelia at Seattle Opera.

Maestro BRIAN GARMAN is currently the Music Director of the Seattle Opera Young Artists program. He was previously on the conducting roster at New York City Opera, and made his debut with that company at the VOX Showcase in May 2006. He returned to the podium for City Opera's production of Carmen in October and November 2007. Most recently, he led a highly-successful production of Verdi's Un Giorno di Regno at the Wolf Trap Opera Company last summer, prompting critic Greg Sandow to write that Maestro Garman was "one of the best bel canto conductors I've ever heard." His acclaimed début at Wolf Trap occurred the previous summer leading Chabrier's L'Étoile. His relationship with the Seattle Opera began in March 2008 when he conducted the Young Artists Program double-bill of L'Enfant et les Sortilèges and Gianni Schicchi. Maestro Garman was previously the Resident Conductor and Chorus Master at Pittsburgh Opera for ten years. While so engaged, he led Pittsburgh's productions of Roméo et Juliette, Rigoletto, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, and Werther, among others, to unanimous acclaim.

MONA LANDS, pianist, is a graduate of Mills College and received her masters degree in accompanying at USC. She has worked as an accompanist and coach at Cal. State Northridge, Cal. State L.A., the Aspen Opera Theatre Center, Opera Pacific's Overture Company, the Ezio Pinza Council (EPCASO) summer program, Guild Opera, and for the Metropolitan Opera Palm Springs Showcase Concerts. She is the accompanist for the Angeles Chorale and the Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition. She is also the accompanist and Music Director for The Opera Buffs Inc. and the Palm Springs Opera Guild and Artistic Director for the José Iturbi International Music Competition. As a member of the UCLA Music Department, she works as accompanist and coach for Opera UCLA and is the Coordinator of Accompanying.

Photos: Patty Newman