Success Stories

Baritone and musicologist Derek Greten-Harrison (BM ’04) restored 41 original orchestral film arrangements from 20th Century-Fox films of the 1940s-50s—including the complete score to Rodgers & Hammerstein’s State Fair—and subsequently recorded world-premiere stereo recordings of them with conductor David Charles Abell and the BBC Concert Orchestra.

The resulting 2-CD album, State Fair and the 20th Century-Fox Songbook was released this year on the Dutton Epoch label to rave reviews from BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone, and MusicWeb International. It features solo vocals by Derek and luminaries such as Broadway and West End star Scarlett Strallen, British jazz vocalist Clare Teal, American tenor James Taylor, and “Ambassador of the American Songbook” Michael Feinstein.

Derek also wrote the album’s extensive liner notes, and will give a presentation at the international music conference, “Editing Film Music: Challenges of Multimediality” being held Nov 22 and 23 in Frankfurt, Germany.

Click here to learn more about Derek and his film music restoration projects.

Vocal Arts alumnus Cameron Johnson (MM ’14) is part of the ensemble cast of the new musical, Swept Away, featuring music by the folk-rock band The Avett Brothers, with a book by playwright and screenwriter John David Logan. The story is loosely based on an 1884 shipwreck off the coast of New Bedford, Massachusetts. The production is currently in previews on Broadway at the Longacre Theatrer; opening night is November 19.

Johnson is one of several cast members who performed in the show in its run from November 2023 to January 2024 at the Arena Stage Theatre in Washington, D.C. He was a part of the 2022 Broadway revival of Into the Woods as well as Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish and The Golden Bride.

Click here to learn more about Swept Away.

MSM alumnus and trustee, the Grammy Award-winning countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo (MM ‘08), will discuss his meteoric rise from singer to general director of Opera Philadelphia in person at the National Opera Center in New York on November 4 from 7 PM to 8 PM. The event will also be livestreamed.

From his early career start at age 11 to his acclaimed performances across opera, film, and Broadway, Costanzo will talk about his exceptional journey with Marc A. Scorca, president/CEO of OPERA America.

The National Opera Center is located at 330 Seventh Avenue (at 29th Street) in Manhattan.

In-Person Tickets:$5 Members, $10 Non-Members, Free for Students
Livestream: Free, registration required

Register here.

Baritone Justin Austin has been named Rising Star at the 2024 International Opera Awards. The prestigious honour was announced at the gala ceremony held at Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper on October 2.

Possessing a “mighty lyric voice” (The New York Times) “with a burly, burnished tone capable of striking nuance and color” (Washington Post), he is also the recipient of the 2024 Marian Anderson Vocal Award. Deemed “a natural performer – a star awaiting a galaxy to form around him” (Washington Post), he has been praised for his “intensity and charisma” (Opera), “rich, pointed expressiveness” (Parterre), and “immaculate musicianship” (Seen and Heard International).

Born in Stuttgart, Germany, Justin Austin is an alumnus of the Choir Academy of Harlem, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Heidelberg Lied Akademie, and Manhattan School of Music (M.M. and B.M.). He studied for his bachelor’s degree at MSM with Catherine Malfitano.

More information about Justin’s win here.
More information about the 2024 International Opera Awards here.

Three MSM alumni are featured in the cast of the Met Opera’s production of Rigoletto, on stage now through January 24, 2025:  Soloman Howard (MM ‘10) as Sparafucile, J’Nai Bridges (BM ‘09) as Maddalena, and Eve Gigliotti (BM ‘97) as ​Giovanna.

In addition, three MSM alumni are part of the production’s artistic staff: Thomas Lausmann (PS ‘99) is Director of Music Administration at the Met Opera, Israel Gursky (PS ‘98), Musical Preparation for Rigoletto, and Joseph Lawson (DMA ’02), Stage Band Conductor for Rigoletto.

In the photo above, taken after opening night on September 30, from left to right: Thomas Lausmann, Israel Gursky, J’Nai Bridges, Eve Gigliotti, and MSM President Jim Gandre.

Learn more about the production here.

MSM Vocal Arts alumnus, bass-baritone Le Bu (MM ’22), pictured, won first prize, along with soprano Kathleen O’Mara, in the 2024 Operalia Competition. The two winners also won the competition’s Birgit Nilsson Prize, awarded to singers interpreting arias by Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner. The competition was founded in 1993 “to discover and help launch the careers of the most promising young opera singers.”

Le Bu, who is featured in the 2024–25 Metropolitan Opera season, was a Grand Finals Winner of the Met’s Laffont Competition in 2022 and spent two seasons in the company’s prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

The 2024 Operalia Competition took place in Mumbai, India, from Sept. 15 to Sept. 21, at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. The competition has helped launch the careers of many singers, among them Joyce DiDonato, Lisette Oropesa, Brian Jagde, Nina Stemme, Rolando Villazón, Sonya Yoncheva, and Lise Davidsen.

Watch a video of Le Bu’s performance at the competition here.

MSM Vocal Arts alumnus Darnell Abraham (MM ’13) will move into the starring role of Mufasa—the wise father of son Simba—in the on-going North American tour of The Lion King. His first performance will take place on September 24 at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina.

Previously, Darnell played George Washington in Hamilton to critical acclaim in the North American and international tours of the production.

Learn more about Darnell here.
Learn more about the tour here.

Mezzo-soprano Gina Perregrino (BM ’14, MM ’16) will make her Metropolitan Opera debut as “una niña” in Golijov’s Ainadamar about the life and work of poet-playwright Federico García Lorca. The production runs October 15 through November 9, 2024. Perregrino took Flamenco classes to prepare for the audition after her agent informed her that the production was seeking singers who could also dance.

From Wilmington, Delaware, Perregrino studied with Mignon Dunn at Manhattan School of Music. She has gone onto casted and/or leading roles with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Seattle Opera, The Atlanta Opera, Minnesota Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, among others.

To learn more about Gina, click here.

To read the WDEL article about Gina’s upcoming MET debut, click here.

MSM Choral Conducting alumnus and former MSM Vocal Arts faculty member Dr. Malcolm Merriweather (DMA ’15) has assumed the inaugural Tania León Chair of Music at Brooklyn College. This position is Brooklyn College’s first-ever endowed chair in honor of the College’s namesake professor emerita and renowned composer.

To read more about Dr. Merriweather’s appointment and his outside conducting engagements, click here.

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2024–2025 season features many MSM alumni including SeokJong Baek (BM ’16, MM ’18), tenor, in Tosca, performing Sep 25, 28; Oct 3, 6, 11, and J’Nai Bridges (BM ’09), mezzo-soprano, in Rigoletto, performing Sep 30; Oct 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, 23, 26; Nov 1, 4, 8.

Learn about the performers and the productions here, in alphabetical order.

MSM alumnus and trustee Anthony Roth Costanzo (MM ’08) — the celebrated American countertenor who is one of opera’s biggest stars — will be leading Opera Philadelphia as its next general director and president beginning in June, the company announced on Thursday.

“Costanzo will be a rare figure in classical music: an artist in his prime who is also working as an administrator,” writes The New York Times.

Read the full article here.

Tenor Daniel Espinal (BM ’22) from Sarasota, Florida, is a winner of the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition along with four other competitors. He receives a prize money of $20,000 prize along with the prestige, exposure, and networking opportunities that come with winning this renowned competition that has launched the careers of many of opera’s most well-known stars.

Yulin Wang (MM ’25), tenor and Zhenpeng Zhang (MM ’23, PS ’24), baritone, both students of Cynthia Hoffman at MSM, won Encouragement Awards during the Competition.

Learn more here.

MSM alumni mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner (BM ’19), tenor Samuel White (PS ’18), and baritone Benjamin Dickerson (BM ’17) have been named winners in the 2024 George and Nora London Foundation Competition for young American and Canadian opera singers, one of the opera world’s oldest and most prestigious competitions. They are pictured above along with the other four principal award winners.

The winners were announced after the competition’s final round on February 16 which took place at Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City, with both an in-person and online audience.

Erin Wagner, from El Paso, Texas sang “Sein wir wieder gut” from Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, and won the George London Award of $12,000 in memory of Mary Palumbo, sponsored by Donald Palumbo.

Samuel White, from Columbia, South Carolina sang “Amfortas! Die Wunde” from Wagner’s Parsifal won the George London Award of $12,000 in memory of Lloyd E. Rigler, sponsored by The Lloyd E. Rigler and Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation, James D. Rigler, President.

Benjamin Dickerson, from Burlington, Vermont, sang “Nemico della patria” from Giordano’s Andrea Chénier won the George London Award of $12,000 in memory of Lois Kirschenbaum, sponsored by the George and Nora London Foundation for Singers.

Learn more about the competition here.

MSM alumni soprano Jouelle Roberson (PS ’22) who studied at MSM with Cynthia Hoffman, and bass Edwin Jhamaal Davis (MM ’17) who studied with Mark Oswald, are among the eight finalists for the 2024 Houston Grand Opera (HGO) Concert of Arias: the 36th Annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers. It will be presented live from the Wortham Theater Center in Houston on February 2, 2024, at 7 p.m. CT. 

HGO holds the international competition each year to identify the most promising emerging artists in opera, each a potential candidate for the company’s prestigious training program for young artists, the Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio. The eight finalists spend the week leading up to the Concert of Arias learning more about HGO and working with its music staff. At the event, each will perform two arias, competing for prizes including the $10,000 purse for first place.  

More information here.

MSM alumnus Scott Altman (MM ’96) has been named Los Angeles Master Chorale President & CEO. Mr. Altman will assume this new role on January 2, 2024 after eight years as President & CEO of the Cincinnati Ballet. He previously served in directorship positions with Arizona Opera, Opera New Jersey, and Ballet West.

Altman’s decorated career of nearly 30 years in nonprofit administration and the performing arts includes 20 years as an international opera singer, including 40 roles.

Learn more here.

Bass Baritone Nan Wang (MM ’22, PS ’23) has been named one of six new resident artists of the prestigious institution the Academy of Vocal Arts.  Nan Wang is a graduate of Manhattan School of Music and the Central Conservatory of Music in China, and has collaborated with Glimmerglass Festival and the Chautauqua Institute, among others. He studied at MSM with Marlena Malas.

“We are thrilled to welcome these extraordinary artists to the Academy of Vocal Arts. They represent the future of opera and embody the passion, dedication, and artistry that we strive to foster at our institution,” says Scott Guzielek, President and Artistic Director of AVA about the new residents.

Opera Wire reports on the news here.

Read MSM’s profile of Nan Wang published in December 2022 here.

The world premiere of Scott Joplin’s opera Treemonisha, re-imagined with a new prologue and epilogue by composer and MSM faculty member Damien Sneed and librettist Karen Chilton, will be taking place at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis on May 20. Performances run through June 26. The production is conducted by MSM alumnus George Manahan, and features baritone MSM alumnus Justin Austin as Scott Joplin.

Treemonisha was published in 1911, but Joplin never lived to see a fully realized stage production. This new edition of Treemonisha celebrates the strength, beauty, and wisdom of Black women and brings back to light a forgotten figure of history — Freddie Alexander Joplin.

Learn more and purchase tickets here.

MSM alumnus Joseph Tancredi (BM ’19) will compete among 20 singers from the United States, Canada, and Mexico regions to compete in the semifinal round of the 2023 Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition on April 17 at 10 am ET.

The semifinal competition will take place on the Met stage before a panel of judges who will determine the finalists who will advance to the Grand Finals Concert on Sunday, April 23, at 3 pm ET.

The winners of this prestigious competition will receive a cash prize of $20,000 and career-making exposure.

Learn more here.

On Friday, March 24, the PBS public television network is featuring MSM alumna mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges (BM ’09) on its award-winning flagship program American Masters in a mini-documentary called  J’Nai Bridges Unamplified, directed by Christine Turner.

In the program, the critically acclaimed, Grammy–winning opera singer takes the stage in A Knee on the Neck, a choral tribute to George Floyd. Hosted by Broadway legend Audra McDonald.

Learn about the episode here.

MSM alumnus tenor Joseph Tancredi (BM ’19) stepped in just an hour before curtain on February 5 to sing the tenor solo in Opera Philadelphia‘s production of Carmina Burana by Carl Off, replacing the scheduled performer who was ill.

It was Joseph’s debut with both Opera Philadelphia, and performing at the Academia of Music in Philadelphia. It was also his first time performing what is considered a notoriously difficult solo.

“I knew Joe had the notes, I knew that he had a large voice that could fill the Academy of Music and had the right kind of temperament to step in at the last minute,” said Grant Loehnig (MM ’05) — also an MSM alumnus — who is head of the music staff at Opera Philadelphia to the Philadelphia Enquirer.

Joseph is completing his master’s studies at Curtis Institute of Music.

Read the article in the Philadelphia Enquirer here.

Congratulations to MSM alumnus countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo (MM ’08), a MSM Board of Trustee member, for being a clue on a recent episode of the long-running television quiz program Jeopardy!

Learn more about Anthony Roth Costanzo here.

On June 27 as part of its celebration of Black Music Month, National Public Radio (NPR) featured MSM alumna and mezzo soprano J’Nai Bridges (BM ’09) on an episode of the acclaimed series Tiny Desk Concert.

J’Nai was accompanied by MSM students Christian McGhee (MM ’23) on drums, Nolan Nwachukwu (BM ’23) on bass, and MSM faculty member Damien Sneed on piano.

Watch the concert here.

New York City’s classical music station WQXR featured MSM vocal arts alumnus baritone Justin Austin (BM ’14, MM ’17) in its on-going website series Around the Boroughs. The article is written by MSM vocal arts alumna, Heather Donovan (MM ’20).

During the 2021-2022 Metropolitan Opera season, Mr. Austin made his house debut as Marcellus in the company premiere of Brett Dean’s Hamlet, while also covering the leading role of Charles Blow in MSM trustee Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones.

Read article here.

The program by Justin Austin (BM ’14, MM ’17) presented in the Board of Officers Room at the Armory included three sets of Langston Hughes poems.

“The baritone Justin Austin showed off a mighty lyric voice with dramatic flair at the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan on Tuesday evening. Austin’s tone is deep and earthy, with a firmly stitched timbre that withstands some high-octane singing. At the Armory, he found operatic climaxes in most songs — his high notes were strong, shattering, indefatigable,” writes Oussama Zahr of The New York Times.

Read the full review here.

MSM alumnus and mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner (BM ’19) is being showcased at Carnegie Hall on April 19 at 7:30 PM as the Naumburg Foundation 2021 Vocal Award Winner.

The concert marks the solo debut of Erin Wagner at Carnegie Hall, and takes place in the Weill Recital Hall with accompaniment by pianist Shawn Chang. Music performed is by Edie Hill, Fauré, Ravel, Errollyn Wallen, Shawn Change, and Mahler.

For tickets visit the Carnegie Hall website here.

Congratulations to MSM faculty and alumni who won 2022 GRAMMY Awards for classical, jazz, and composing/arranging!

The awards were presented on April 3, 2022 in Las Vegas. Winners include MSM alumni Anthony Roth Costanzo (MM ’08) (in photo on left) and J’Nai Bridges (BM ’09) soloists in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Philip Glass’ Ahknaten which won Best Opera Recording.

View the full list of winners here.

View all MSM faculty and alumni nominated for the 2022 awards here.

The GRAMMY Awards take place on Sunday, April 1, with more than 30 MSM alumni and faculty members nominated, including MSM trustees Terence Blanchard (HonDMA ’19) and Anthony Roth Costanzo (MM ’08), as well as J’nai Bridges (BM ’09), and faculty member, Miguel Zenón.

Read the full list of MSM community nominees here.

Deutsche Grammophon has announced the signing of an exclusive agreement with Jonathan Tetelman (BM ’11). The recording by the acclaimed 33-year-old Chilean-American tenor will be released internationally in summer of 2022.

“We are delighted to welcome Jonathan to the Yellow Label,” says Dr. Clemens Trautmann, President of Deutsche Grammophon. “Critics have already compared him to the finest tenors of yesterday and today, comparisons justified by his exceptional artistry, vocal qualities and gift for expressive communication. He’s truly a major talent with a brilliant career ahead.”

Jonathan Tetelman recorded the Deutsche Grammophon debut album of Verdi and verismo arias and other lyric works at the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria and its Chief Conductor, Karel Mark Chichon.

Learn more about Jonathan here.

Congratulations to J’Nai Bridges who is featured on the cover of the February issue of Opera News! 

“I’m at a point where I only want to sing works that really resonate with me vocally, artistically, and spiritually,” she tells the publication.

Read the article here.

MSM Alumnus and Trustee Anthony Roth Costanzo (MM ’08) is this year’s New York Philharmonic artist in residence, and with the NYPhil, he’s hosting a two-week festival in NYC called “Authentic Selves: The Beauty Within” beginning January 27.

The New York Times writes about Anthony: “He’s a musician who, among other things, is also a charismatic impresario, cross-discipline connector and community organizer in NYC.”

Read article here.