Opera Orlando has announced its Stetson School of Music Apprentices for 2024-25.

The program was initiated between the opera company and university as a pilot apprenticeship last season and is now being expanded to allow four students the opportunity to perform with the opera company.

The four voice performance students include bass-baritone Kenneth Browning, soprano Rachel Castillo, baritone Nicholas Dieux, and mezzo-soprano Tajah Garrett. The quartet will be involved in a benefit concert “Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín.” Dieux and Castillo will also sing in the chorus for the company’s production of “Macbeth” with Garrett and Browning will participate in the chorus for “Cendrillon.” They will also be involved in masterclasses and receive one-on-one vocal coaching from Gabriel Preisser, the company’s general director.

“Opera Orlando is thrilled to welcome four new apprentice artists for our 2024-25 Destiny + Desire season from the Stetson School of Music. We are constantly impressed by the students’ level of talent, and we were eager to expand the program because of that,” said Gabriel Preisser, General Director and CEO of Opera Orlando, in an official press release. “The fact that these young singers not only receive professional, on-stage experience but also receive college credit is quite a unique program, and we are hopeful to continue to grow the program for years to come.”

The company recently announced its 2024-25 studio artists.