Sheri Greenawald, director of San Francisco Opera Center, announced the eleven recipients of the 2018 Adler Fellowship grant. Choosing promising young talent from the Merola Opera Program, recipients are given advanced training, via individual coaching and professional seminars, and a vast range of performance opportunities. The 2018 group of artists are comprised of eight singers, two pianists, and one director; no doubt all of them will benefit tremendously from this multi-year residency.

The singers include sopranos Sarah Cambidge and Natalie Image, mezzo-soprano Ashley Dixon, countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, tenors Amitai Pati and Kyle van Schoonhoven, bass-baritone Christian Pursell, and baritone Andrew G. Manea.

Of the new Adler Fellowship season, Sheri Greenawald says: “I’m excited about several unique opportunities for our 2018 Adlers. Giles Havergall, who works with students from the American Conservatory Theater, will be staging the Adlers in long Mozart scenes, which will be enhanced by scenes from plays relating directly or indirectly to the story line of the music. This gives our young artists the chance to explore in-depth the arias, duets and ensembles they will be performing during their careers. This also allows them to work with spoken dialogue, which is an art in itself, and which opera singers will encounter as companies present more classic music theater on their stages. Also, Nicola Bowie gives her wonderful seminar on the styles and mores of the different periods represented in opera. This class covers everything from historical background to clothing and dance of the periods. In addition, we continue stressing the language classes, which are so essential to their work as singers.”

First founded as the San Francisco Opera/Affiliate Artists program in 1975, The Adler Fellowship is one of America’s foremost performance residencies for advanced young singers and pianists, and has developed over 175 artists since its inception, giving them the skills and knowledge needed to make their first steps onto the international opera stage.