Meet the cast of Aida!

In just a few short days, Boston Lyric Opera is thrilled to present Verdi’s Aida in concert , one of opera’s grandest and most beloved works. After this special one-night-only performance, audiences are invited to join us for The Opera Gala 2024 , which will be raising funds in support of BLO’s free youth and community programs.

Let’s meet the powerhouse cast who will bring this epic story of love and sacrifice to life.?

Michelle Johnson

Soprano Michelle Johnson has made a name for herself as a highly sought-after Aida, performing Verdi’s tragic heroine with Glimmerglass Music Festival, Opera Santa Barbara, Knoxville Opera, Opera Idaho, and Sarasota Opera, among others. In the 2024/25 season, she will also sing Yolando in the rarely performed El Caminante by Cuban composer Eduardo Sanchez de Fuentes; La Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro with Sarasota Opera; and returns to Madison Symphony Orchestra for Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess Suite. She returns to Boston Lyric Opera after a triumphant performance as Santuzza in BLO’s 2021 production of Cavalleria rusticana.

Other recent engagements include Tosca at Madison Opera and Opera Columbus, The Nose at Chicago Opera Theater, La bohème at Florentine Opera and Nashville Opera, Turandot at Opera Delaware and Opera Southwest, and Aida at Opera Grand Rapids and Opera Carolina. A distinguished alumna of the Academy of Vocal Arts, Boston University Opera Institute, and New England Conservatory, Johnson has been recognized with prestigious awards from organizations like the Sullivan Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, and the Giulio Gari Foundation.

Alice Chung

An honored recipient of several prizes, including for the Cooper-Bing Competition, Gerda Lissner Lieder/Song Competition, the Metropolitan National Council Auditions, Shoshana Foundation, and Sullivan Foundation, American mezzo-soprano Alice Chung has dazzled audiences throughout the United States. She debuted with Boston Lyric Opera as Suzuki in the reimagined Madama Butterfly production of BLO’s 2023/24 season.

On the mainstage, Ms. Chung has performed with Arizona Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Hawai’i Opera Theatre, Houston Grand Opera, Kansas City Symphony, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Naples Philharmonic, Opera San Jose, San Francisco Opera, Tulsa Opera, United States Naval Academy, and West Edge Opera. Selected role credits include Azucena in Il trovatore, the title role in Carmen, Dame Quickly in Falstaff; Die Hexe in H?nsel und Gretel, Dritte Dame in Die Zauberfl?te; Je?ibaba in Rusalka, La Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica, and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly.

Ms. Chung trained at The Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and has participated in the prestigious Merola Opera Program, among others. Ms. Chung is the Artistic Director and co-founder of Wear Yellow Proudly .

Diego Torre

Mexican-Australian Diego Torre has been a leading tenor at Opera Australia since 2011. Torre’s most celebrated roles include Radamès in Aida; Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana; Canio in Pagliacci; Cavaradossi in Tosca; Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly; Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor; Rodolfo in La bohème; Gustavo in Un ballo in Maschera; Il duca in Rigoletto; Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra; Foresto in Attila; Rodolfo in Luisa Miller; the title role in Don Carlos; and, most recently, the title role in Ernani and Eléazar in La Juive. He performed Cavaradossi in Boston Lyric Opera’s 2010 Tosca to great acclaim.

Torre’s recent international engagements have included Canio, Pagliacci in Kansas City; Dick Johnson, La fanciulla del West in Mexico City; Canio, Pagliacci, Grand Théatre de Genève and Oviedo; Calaf, Turandot and Manrico, Il trovatore in Torino; Cavaradossi, Canio, and Turiddu in Genoa; and Zemlinsky’s Eine florentinische Trag?die in Oviedo. Torre holds a Bachelor of Music from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He was a Domingo-Thornton Young Artist at Los Angeles Opera in 2008.

Brian Major

Charismatic baritone Brian Major ’s season sees his return to the Metropolitan Opera for Aida, Die Frau ohne Schatten, and Moby Dick. He also joins the Teatro Municipal de S?o Paulo for Nabucco, and Opera Columbus for Le nozze di Figaro. He returns to Boston Lyric Opera after a celebrated performance as Emile Griffith in BLO’s 2022 production of Champion: An Opera in Jazz.

Recently, he joined the Metropolitan Opera for his house debut as Baron Douphol in La Traviata and covered the role of Malcolm X in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. His schedule included debuts with Opera Roanoke as Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Marcello in La bohème with Florentine Opera, a concert debut with the esteemed Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Amonasro in Aida with Opera Maine, and a role debut as Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff with Maryland Lyric Opera.??

Morris Robinson

We are thrilled to welcome Morris Robinson back to the BLO stage, where he sang his first operatic role — in Aida! — in 1999. Robinson returns as Ramfis, lending his powerful bass to the character of the merciless Egyptian priest. A GRAMMY? Award-winning artist, Robinson is featured on the 2022 recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by conductor Gustavo Dudamel. His impressive career regularly brings him to the world’s premier stages, and he has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Teatro alla Scala and Opera Australia, among others.

After our performance of Aida, Robinson will return to the Metropolitan Opera for the world premiere of its new production of Aida, directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer. Following this, he will debut the role of Banquo in Verdi’s Macbeth with The Atlanta Opera, perform the Mozart Requiem with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and make his role debut as Walter in Luisa Miller with the Washington Concert Opera.

Chelsea Basler

GRAMMY? Award-nominated soprano Chelsea Basler continues to make her mark in an extensive array of operatic roles due to her unique combination of vocal appeal and artistry. During the 2022/23 season, Ms. Basler sang Musetta in La bohème at Boston Lyric Opera, returned to the Metropolitan Opera to cover Blanche in Dialogues des Carmélites, and made her role debut as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with Newport Classical. Ms. Basler enjoys a particularly strong relationship with BLO, which she initially joined as a Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist during the 2013/14 season, and where she most recently covered Eurydice in BLO’s 2024 production of Aucoin’s Eurydice. Other recent BLO mainstage performances include Lola in Cavalleria rusticana in 2021, and Moira in The Handmaid’s Tale in 2019.

Stefan Egerstrom?

During the 2024/25 season, bass Stefan Egerstrom joins Lyric Opera of Chicago under Enrique Mazzola to cover Rocco in Fidelio and Sparafucile in Rigoletto. He returns to Minnesota Opera for Il Barbiere di Siviglia and makes his Boston Lyric Opera debut singing The King of Egypt and covering Ramfis in Aida. With an emphasis on works by Wagner, Strauss, Verdi, and Beethoven, he has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, American Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Opera, The Orchestra Now, Baltic Opera Festival, Des Moines Metro Opera, Cincinnati Opera, and more. Egerstrom performed in the world premieres of Puts’s Silent Night and Moravec’s The Shining, as well as workshops of Gordon’s Morning Star and Spears’s Fellow Travelers.

In 2022, he was awarded The Richard F. Gold Career Grant from The Shoshana Foundation and a Sara Tucker Study Grant from The Richard Tucker Music Foundation. A native of Minnesota, Egerstrom studied at Lawrence University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He was a participant of the 2019 Merola Opera Program and is a former Adler Fellow at San Francisco Opera.

Fred C. VanNess, Jr.?

Fred C. VanNess, Jr. is a 2024/25 Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera, where he will sing Messenger in Aida. Past performances include Paris, Romeo and Juliet, Boston Lyric Opera; Amadou/Renty, Omar, Boston Lyric Opera; Russell Davenport, Freedom Ride, MassOpera; Voltaire/Pangloss, Candide, Opera del West; Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni, Toronto Summer Opera; Don José, Carmen, NEMPAC Opera Project; and Rodolfo, La bohème, Longwood Opera.

Mr. VanNess is a member of Castle of our Skins, an organization dedicated to celebrating Black artistry through music. Recent performances include Remember the Sea, Castle of our Skins; Tide Flowers, University of Rhode Island Artist Series; Elijah, Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra; Ballad of the Brown King, Portsmouth Pro Musica; Sch?pfungsmesse, Concord Chorale; Judas Maccabeus, Handel by Candlelight; and solo recitals with Lake Charles Symphony and Salem Philharmonic.?

He received his GPD from Longy School of Music and MM from Louisiana State University. He was awarded first place for the North Shore Star and is a recipient of The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana Career Grant.

Don’t miss your opportunity to experience this incredible all-star cast! Tickets and more information are available here! ?

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