Wolf Trap Opera Reveals Summer 2026 Filene & Studio Artists

Wolf Trap Opera has announced the cast for its 2026 summer season, showcasing a dynamic roster of emerging artists in one of the country's leading training grounds for rising opera talent. This summer's opera lineup features fully staged productions of Rossini's La Cenerentola on June 18, 21, 25, and 27, and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin on July 17, 19, 23, and 25, along with a one-night-only performance of Puccini's Tosca on August 7 at The Filene Center. The season will also include recitals, master classes, and performances at Wolf Trap and throughout the DC area, highlighting the exceptional artistry of this year's Filene and Studio Artists.

This season's summer artists reflect a global community, with singers from Ghana, China, Japan, Israel, Turkey, and Colombia, as well as artists who have performed in prestigious conservatories and programs such as the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Program, Merola, and the Ryan Opera Center, among others, showcasing an international standard of excellence. 

Selecting operas only after the young artists are chosen, this season includes 17 Filene Artists—emerging professionals on their way to significant careers who have completed their academic or conservatory studies—and 17 Studio Artists—singers with notable potential who are currently or recently enrolled in voice programs. 

The 2026 Filene Artists include: sopranos Magdalena Kuźma (New York City, NY), Tessa McQueen (Loveland, CO), and Angela Yam (Sacramento, CA); among the mezzos and contraltos, Sophia Maekawa (Kyoto, Japan), Cecelia McKinley (Sterling, VA), Aubrey Odle (Portland, OR), and Elissa Pfaender (Delafield, WI); tenors Angel Raii Gomez (McAllen, TX), Daniel O'Hearn (Chicago, IL), Wayd Odle (North Platte, NE), and Demetrious Sampson Jr. (Atlanta, GA); and bass/baritones Jonathan Patton (Juneau, AK/Durango, CO), Finn Sagal (La Cañada Flintridge, CA), Korin Thomas-Smith (Toronto, Canada), Cumhur Görgün (Istabul, Turkey), Sergio Martinez (Sogamoso, Colombia), and Ziniyu Zhao (Shandong Province, China). 

The 2026 Studio Artists include sopranos: Maya Behiri (Jerusalem, Israel), Ayanna Delk-Lewis (Lynwood, CA), Calista Ro-Jei Smith (Houston, TX), and Uma Singh (Cleveland, OH); mezzo-sopranos include Natalie Creel (Zachary, LA), Madison Kavanaugh (Bossier City, LA), Antoinette Pompe van Meerdervoort (Chicago, IL), and Sydney Sorbet (Covington, LA); tenors Jack Hicks (Bernardsville, NJ), Xiaofeng Hou (Beijing, China), and Rudy Polk (Clinton, MS); baritones include John Arlievsky (Nyack, NY), Jack Burrows (Seattle, WA), and Søren Pedersen (San Diego, CA); and bass-baritones Christopher Gray (Dallas, TX) and bass Michael Mensah (Elmina, Ghana). 

With the guidance of Renée Fleming, now in her second year as Artist Development Advisor, WTO mentors and supports young artists at the highest level, with artist-driven programming that first identifies the most promising artists and then selects repertoire that best highlights their strengths. 

This season, Grammy Award–winning baritone Will Liverman–a distinguished Wolf Trap Opera alumnus and a leading example of the program's impact in launching careers–will return as the 2026 Filene Artist-in-Residence to work with Studio and Filene Artists. He will also lead a public master class on May 31 and perform in the Salon Series on June 3. Hailed as “a voice for this historic moment” (The Washington Post), Liverman was a Wolf Trap Opera Filene Artist from 2015-2016, performing as Beaumarchais in John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles, and Tarquinius in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia. Since his time as a Filene Artist with Wolf Trap Opera, Liverman has achieved significant milestones, including performing as Charles Blow in Terence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up in My Bones, the first opera by a Black composer staged at the Met, and winning a Grammy for Best Opera Recording in 2023. He also wrote and debuted his opera Factotum at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Additionally, Liverman served as Artistic Advisor for Renée Fleming's SongStudio at Carnegie Hall in 2023 and has performed at the English National Opera, Dutch National Opera, LA Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Washington National Opera, among many others.