Boston Lyric Opera has announced the 16th annual roster of its Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artists Initiative.

The 2025-26 cohort includes returning artists Alexandra Dietrich, a stage director from Freeport, Maine; mezzo-soprano Mary Kray of Boston; and bass-baritone Zizhao Wang of Qingdao, China. New members are soprano Claire Burreson (Seattle), conductor Clancy Ellis (Boston), mezzo-soprano Juliette Kaoudji (Boston), baritone Yanghao Liu (Binzhou, China), tenor Daniel Lugo (El Paso), baritone Jacob O’Shea (Albany), countertenor Ricky Lee Owens, Jr. (Dallas), tenor Suowei Wu (Wenzhou, China), and soprano Dani Zhang (Shenzhen, China).

Through the initiative, artists receive professional development and career counseling from BLO artistic and administrative leaders throughout the year. This fall, Emerging Artists will appear at BLO’s Street Stage performances around Greater Boston, a Concert in the Courtyard at the Boston Public Library’s Central Branch on August 28, and additional events including BLO at Fort Point Open Studios, Opera Night at the BPL, and the Opera Innovators Series.

“The Emerging Artists Initiative is among the most important ways Boston Lyric Opera invests in the future of the art form,” said BLO Artistic Director Nina Yoshida Nelsen, per an official press release. “It’s where the next generation of opera artists find their voices and build their careers.”