Opera Orlando has announced the participants in its 2026-27 Apprentice and Studio Artists programs.

The company, in partnership with Stetson University School of Music, has cast three undergraduates as this season’s apprentice artists including soprano Charlotte Kierstead, mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Lundstrom, and baritone Hank Evans.

Meanwhile, the studio artists include soprano Alexandra Kzeski (beginning her second season with the company), mezzo-soprano Sarah Kathryn Curtis, tenor Benjamin Ruiz, and bass baritone David Kahng. The four studio artists were selected from amongst a pool of 600 singers nationwide.

Apprentice artists will appear in the company’s season opening MainStage production of Giacomo Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” and will each participate in a public masterclass with one of Opera Orlando’s guest conductors.

The studio artists will also perform in schools, retirement communities, and community events throughout Central Florida in a production of “Nestor’s Big Beautiful Boost of Confidence,” a new adaptation of Gaetano Donizetti’s “The Elixir of Love” created by Opera Orlando artistic director Grant Preisser for young audiences. The production is set to travel to elementary schools in Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Volusia counties. There will also be a free public performance on Feb. 6, 2027 at Mead Botanical Garden.

“These seven artists are doing the real thing this season,” said education director Sarah Purser, per an official press release. “They’re on the Steinmetz Hall stage, they’re in the room with our guest conductors, they’re meeting audiences all over Central Florida.”