Composer Huang Ruo has been lauded by The New York Times for having “a distinctive style.” His vibrant and inventive musical voice draws equal inspiration from Chinese ancient and folk music, Western avant-garde, experimental, noise, natural and processed sound, rock, and jazz to create a seamless, organic integration using a compositional technique he calls “Dimensionalism.” Huang Ruo’s diverse compositional works span from orchestra, chamber music, opera, theater, and dance, to cross-genre, sound installation, architectural installation, multi-media, experimental improvisation, folk rock, and film.  His music has been premiered and performed by the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, National Polish Radio Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Asko/Schoenberg, Ensemble Modern, London Sinfonietta. He has written 8 operas including M. BUTTERFLY, THE RIFT, BOOK OF MOUNTAINS AND SEA, BOUND, ANGEL ISLAND, BETWEEN TWO LIGHTS, PARADISE INTERRUPTED, DR. SUN YAT-SEN, and AN AMERICAN SOLDIER, which was named one of the best classical music events in 2018 by The New York Times.  His new opera THE MONKEY KING will be premiered by the San Francisco Opera in 2025. He served as the first composer-in-residence for Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Huang Ruo was born in Hainan Island, China in 1976 - the year the Chinese Cultural Revolution ended. Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s when China was opening its gate to the Western world, his education expanded from Bach, Mozart, Stravinsky, and Lutoslawski, to include the Beatles, rock and roll, heavy metal, and jazz. He earned a BM degree from Oberlin College, and MM and DMA degrees from the Juilliard School. Huang Ruo is a composition faculty at the Mannes School of Music.  Huang Ruo’s music is published by Schott/EAM.

Praised as “one of the most exciting opera composers in the country” (The Washington Post), composer Kamala Sankaram moves freely between the worlds of experimental music and contemporary opera. Recent commissions include works for the Glimmerglass Festival, Washington National Opera, the PROTOTYPE Festival, and Creative Time, among others.

Known for her work pushing the boundaries of the operatic form, recent works include The Last Stand, a 10-hour opera created for the trees of Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Only You Will Recognize the Signal, a serial space opera performed live over the internet, Looking at You, a techno-noir featuring live data mining of the audience and a chorus of 25 singing tablet computers, all decisions will be made by consensus, a short absurdist opera performed live over Zoom, and The Parksville Murders, the world’s first virtual reality opera.

Kamala is the leader of Bombay Rickey, an operatic Bollywood surf ensemble whose accolades include two awards for Best Eclectic Album from the Independent Music Awards, the 2018 Mid-Atlantic touring grant, and appearances on WFMU and NPR.

Dr. Sankaram holds a PhD from the New School and is currently a member of the composition faculty at Mannes School of Music.

Two-time Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke has been called a “luminous standout” by the New York Times and “equal parts poise, radiance and elegant directness” by Opera News. Ms. Cooke has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, English National Opera, Seattle Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Gran Teatre del Liceu, among others, and with over 90 symphony orchestras worldwide frequently in the works of Mahler. In 2022 Ms. Cooke was appointed at the Music Academy of the West as Co-Director of the Lehrer Vocal Institute. Her album how do I find you was nominated for a 2022 Grammy Award for Best Vocal Solo Album.

Ms. Cooke began the 2024/25 season with a return to the Bard Festival as Marguerite in La Damnation de Faust followed by Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde at the Gstaad Festival, conducted by Sir Mark Elder. On the operatic stage, she debuts at La Monnaie de Munt as Emilie Ekdahl in the world premiere of Mikael Karlsson and Royce Vavrek’s Fanny and Alexander and returns to Houston Grand Opera in her role debut as Venus in a new production of Tannhäuser. On the concert stage, Ms. Cooke reprises much of her most celebrated repertoire, singing Mahler’s Second Symphony with Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Daniel Harding, San Francisco Symphony and Esa-Pekka Salonen in his final performances as music director, and Vienna Radio Symphony and Marin Alsop at the Wiener Konzerthaus. She sings Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Karina Canellakis, the Cologne Philharmonic and Cristian Macelaru, and the Tuscon Symphony Orchestra, where she also performs the Rückert-Lieder. She joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel for a program of Alma Mahler, which she also brings to Royal Festival Hall in London with the London Philharmonia and Marin Alsop. Other concert engagements include Mozart’s Requiem with the Oslo Philharmonic and Klaus Mäkelä, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Schönberg’s Gurrelieder with the Vienna Symphoniker, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with St. Louis Symphony and Gemma New, and a concert with the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra featuring Des Knaben Wunderhorn with her husband, baritone Kelly Markgraf. In recital, Ms. Cooke returns to Wigmore Hall for a recital with pianist Malcolm Martineau, and Carnegie Hall for Shostakovitch’s From Jewish Folk Poetry with Susanna Phillips, Brandon Jovanovich, and pianist Evgeny Kissin.

Praised by the San Francisco Chronicle as “astoundingly gifted”, violinist Helen Kim enjoys a versatile career as performer and teacher. She is the Associate Concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and served as the Associate Principal Second Violin of the San Francisco Symphony from 2016 to 2022. In recent seasons, Kim has made solo appearances with the St. Louis Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra and performed concertos under conductors Peter Oundjian, Jun Märkl, and Nicholas McGegan, among others. She is a dedicated interpreter of contemporary music and has performed works such as Salvatorre Sciarrino’s Sei Capricci on San Francisco Symphony’s Soundbox series as well as Pierre Boulez’s Anthèmes II and Morton Feldman’s evening-length For John Cage on the Pulitzer Arts Foundation’s contemporary music series. Kim lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband and two sons.

One of the leading collaborative pianists of his generation, John Churchwell enjoys a career on the concert stage as well as in the nation’s leading opera houses.

In August 2011, John was named Head of Music for San Francisco Opera. Previously, he was an assistant conductor for both the Metropolitan Opera and the San Francisco Opera for 14 years. He has assisted on more than 140 productions and has collaborated with some of the world’s leading conductors including James Levine, Nello Santi, Nicola Luisotti, James Conlon, Donald Runnicles, Sir Charles Mackerras, Marco Armiliato, Fabio Luisi, and Eun Sun Kim. John Churchwell has been a Music Academy teaching artist since 2000.

A champion of American music, John was involved in the world premieres of John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby and Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking. In recent seasons, he has prepared the world premieres of Mark Adamo’s The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Christopher Theofanidis’ Heart of a Soldier, as well as the Philip Glass opera Appomattox, the Stewart Wallace/Amy Tan collaboration The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Tobias Picker's Dolores Claiborne, as well as the world premiere of Girls of the Golden West by John Adams, all for San Francisco Opera. From 2005-2008 John was the official accompanist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions.

This summer saw John appear in recitals with Renée Fleming, Sasha Cooke, and Susanna Phillips. He has partnered with some of today’s most sought-after vocalists including Joyce DiDonato, Susan Graham, Diana Damrau, Larry Brownlee, Lisette Oropesa, Isabel Leonard, Frederica von Stade, Dawn Upshaw, and Carol Vaness. Recent appearances include San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall and the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts in Davis, California with tenor Michael Fabiano and the Hollywood Bowl for Prairie Home Companion with soprano Ellie Dehn. In addition to song recitals, John is an active chamber musician and has appeared regularly with members of the Metropolitan and San Francisco’s Opera Orchestras.

A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, John studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and Tufts University where he earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano and a Bachelor of Arts in French, respectively. He continued his studies at the University of Minnesota where he earned a Master of Music and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Accompanying. John studied song literature at the Banff Centre for the Arts and remains the only pianist to be invited for three summers as a Tanglewood Fellow. He is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program.

XINSHU LI 28, born in Austin, Texas, is earning her Doctor of Musical Arts at University of Texas, Austin, studying with Leah Crocetto. She placed third in the 2024 National Society of Arts and Letters Voice Competition and has performed as Contessa in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and Gossip in Hoffman's The Ghosts of Versailles.

EMILY MARGEVICH ('24) 29, born in Chicago, Illinois, is a Company Artist at OperaDelaware, studying with Sally Wolf. She was a Laffont District Winner in 2024 and won 2nd Place in the Jensen Foundation in 2021. Recent roles include Musetta in La bohème with OperaDelaware and Tatyana in Eugene Onegin with Heartbeat Opera.

ANASTASIA MINASHVILI ('24) 23, born in Tbilisi, Georgia, is earning her Bachelor of Arts at Tbilisi State Conservatoire, studying with Gocha Bejuashvili. She has performed as Flora Bervoix in La Traviata with the Opera and Ballet Theater of Tbilisi, and as Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte and Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire Opera Studio.

QIRONG LIANG 26, born in Jinzhong, China, is earning her graduate degree at Rice University Shepherd School of Music, studying with Robin Rice. She was a 2024 National Semifinalist in The Met Opera Laffont Competition and performed in The Ghosts of Versailles at Rice University. She was a 2023 Aspen Music Festival Studio Artist.

JOSHUA BERG ('21, '20) 24, born in Chicago, Illinois, is earning his degree at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, studying with Bill Schuman. The returning Music Academy alum won the YoungArts National Award in 2019 and has performed as Fritz in L’amico Fritz, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, and Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance.

ZIHAO LIU 26, born in Chongqing, China, is earning his Doctor of Music Arts at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, studying with Jerold Siena. He has performed as Tenor Soloist in Beethoven's Choral Fantasy at University of Illinois, and as Lord Tolloller in Sullivan and Gilbert's Iolanthe and Schoolmaster in Janeček's The Cunning Little Vixen at Bard College.

ZHENPENG ZHANG 26, born in Tianjin, China, is earning his Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Texas, Austin. He received Encouragement Awards at The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in Tulsa (2025) and North Carolina (2024). Recent performances include the title roles in Don Giovanni at Prague Estates Theater and Le nozze di Figaro.

ELIZABETH KLEIBER 24, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has recently completed her master's degree at Rice University Shepherd School of Music, where she studied with Marianne Gedigian. She won First Place at the 42nd James Pappoutsakis Flute Competition in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2022.

XAVIER IP 19, born in Boston, Massachusetts, is currently earning his bachelor's degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studies with Melissa Kraut. He received the Grand Prize at the 2023 New Asia Chamber Music Society Competition and recently toured Europe with the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.

ERIC HEAD ('24) 24, born in Fairmont, Minnesota, has completed his master's degree in collaborative piano at the University of Michigan, studying with Ana María Otamendi, Martin Katz, and Elena Lacheva. The returning Music Academy alum won the Marilyn Horne Song Competition in 2024 and the Rosholt Distinction in Accompanying Prize in 2021 and 2022.

AVA LINVOG 27, born in Snohomish, Washington, is a freelance musician studying with Andrew Harley. She recently served as a rehearsal pianist and harpsichordist for Le nozze di Figaro with North Carolina Opera and a studio pianist for Don Giovanni with Opera Omaha. She was on the music staff for the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Festival.

YUEQI ZHANG 31, born in Nanjing, China, is earning his Doctor of Musical Arts at University of Texas, Austin, studying with Tamar Sanikidze. He won the 2020 Hong Kong International String Competition, Piano Trio Division. He has served as rehearsal pianist for Le nozze di Figaro, The Ghosts of Versailles, and La Traviata at Butler Opera Center.