With a career as both pianist and composer, Shawn Chang has created an international career of distinction. Since his solo piano debut at the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Shawn Chang has performed extensively throughout North America and Asia. As a collaborative pianist, he has worked with the Bronx Opera, Garden State Opera, Opera Moderna amongst other production companies. His own compositions encompass piano solos, vocal music, and chamber music. Mr. Chang’s recent piano arrangement of the Dutch folk song, “tulpen uit Amsterdam,” was premiered and received critical acclaim at the Prinsjesdagconcert in Hague. Original compositions by Mr. Chang have been premiered by the Chromatic Voice Exchange Chorus, Novello String ensemble, aTonal Hits Duo, to name a few. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Shawn Chang currently lives in New York City. He holds Bachelor of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory and a Professional Studies degree from the Mannes College of Music. shawnchangcomposer.com
Alexa Rosenberg, mezzo-soprano, is a recent graduate of SUNY Purchase Opera Conservatory. Previously, Alexa sang the role of Bradamante in OperaRox Productions' Alcina, by Handel. Alexa sang the 6th spirit in Utopia Opera's production of Cendrillon. She has performed the role of Hänsel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel at Purchase Opera. Alexa has also appeared as Arnalta in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea. She was also a soloist in Handel’s Messiah and Vivaldi’s Gloria with Purchase Symphony Orchestra and Purchase Chorus. Alexa has also studied acting at Stella Adler and is a very proud cat owner.
Max Vitagliano, tenor, will tell you he's a substitute teacher, but he's actually Batman. This is his OperaRox Productions debut.
Mezzo-soprano Maayan Voss de Bettancourt has been described as "fascinating," "delightful," and "powerful enough to make us sit up and take notice." Her roles include Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice), Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro), L'enfant (L'enfant et les sortileges), and Nancy (Albert Herring). She has enjoyed performing offbeat repertoire, such as obscure Gilbert & Sullivan operettas like Iolanthe and Princess Ida (with Lamplighters Music Theatre), and has sung in (and done lighting for) burlesques with the Dr. Wilkes troupe. A woman of many talents, Maayan recently made her directing debut with a sold-out run of Händel's Alcina. Find her online at maayanvoss.com
Mezzo-Soprano Melissa Serluco recently made her debut with Amore Opera as the title role in the American premiere of Donizetti’s unknown work, La Zingara. Critics applauded Melissa for her “large, even, agile mezzo, admirable fireworks for the showpieces and a take-charge stage presence.” (Parterre Box) This season Ms. Serluco has made several appearances performing the roles of Giannetta (L’elisir d’amore), Curra (La forza del destino), and Ruggiero (Alcina). Upcoming this August, she is engaged to perform the title role in Bizet’s Carmen with Opera Breve, and later this October she will return as La Zingara in Amore Opera's revival brought back by popular demand. Past credits include Jo (Little Women), Dido (Dido & Aeneas), Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito), Zita (Gianni Schicchi), Siebel (Faust), and Meg Page (Falstaff). Website: http://www.musicagrandeartists.com/melisssa-serluco---mezzo-soprano.html
Ryan Colbert, soprano, hails from Cleveland, TN, and is currently an undergraduate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville studying Vocal Performance. Credits include Sarah Good (The Crucible), Fortuna (Ulysses), and Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte) with the University of Tennessee Opera Theatre, and Mrs. Webster in Sweets by Kate in the world premiere at the Midwest Institute of Opera and professional premiere with Marble City Opera.
She is the co-founder of the University of Tennessee’s undergraduate opera scenes program, VolOpera, where she has sung samples of Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Violetta (La Traviata), Lady Billows (Albert Herring). She is currently in her third season as a studio artist with Marble City Opera, where she also serves as production intern. She recently appeared in concert with the Oak Ridge Philharmonia, and will be making her role debut as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with them in December.
She is the co-founder of the University of Tennessee’s undergraduate opera scenes program, VolOpera, where she has sung samples of Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Violetta (La Traviata), Lady Billows (Albert Herring). She is currently in her third season as a studio artist with Marble City Opera, where she also serves as production intern. She recently appeared in concert with the Oak Ridge Philharmonia, and will be making her role debut as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with them in December.
J.L. Marlor is a freelance genre-bending composer and performer, known for her accessible narrative-based scores and commitment to radical art. Recently, Tenor Ryan Zettlemoyer premiered her work, 45/140 , a grotesque anti-ode to our Cheeto in Chief using exclusively the words disseminated through his twitter. Her opera ISKRA, detailing the coal protests of the turn of the century, won the Stoop Adesso prize. In 2016, Jessica was the first recipient of the Da Camera Singers Young Composers Competition. They premiered her piece, Our Flawed Garden, based on the poetry of Sylvia Plath this January. Jessica is a student of Virgil Thompson Prize winner, Kate Soper. Find her work online at jlmarlor.com.