Turandot at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

From: Prudnik, Poland. LA Opera: title role in Turandot (2027, debut). With a voice that captivates the stages and stage charisma that resonates across borders, Polish-American soprano Ewa Płonka has steadily emerged as one of the most compelling artists of her generation. Praised for her vocal richness, dramatic range, and keen musical insight, she stands among the leading figures on today’s international operatic stage—her name often associated with vocal brilliance and expressive depth. Her musical journey began early with the discipline of the art of the keyboard. Płonka first earned academic honors in piano performance from the Poznań Academy of Music in her native Poland, as well as second master degrees from Oklahoma City University and a doctorate from the University of Utah, where she specialized in piano performance with a secondary focus in voice. An artist diploma in opera studies from the prestigious Juilliard School further polished her dual mastery of voice and piano, which informs every phrase she shapes, adding rare interpretive depth to her performances.

From: Yerevan, Armenia. LA Opera: Calaf in Turandot (2027, debut). Arsen Soghomonyan is one of today's most sought-after tenors for the dramatic repertoire. He made his professional tenor debut in 2017 as Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre in Moscow. Prior to that, he was a leading baritone at the Stanislavsky Theatre, performing roles such as Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Germont in La Traviata, Belcore in L'elisir d'amore, Yeletsky in The Queen of Spades, and Napoleon in Prokofiev's War and Peace. He also appeared as a guest at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

From: Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. LA Opera: Berta in The Barber of Seville (2023, debut); First Maid in The Dwarf (2024); guest soloist for Coming Home: Angel Blue in Concert (2025); Micaëla in Carmen (2026); Liù in Turandot (2017). She was a member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program from 2023 to 2025. She is a 2026 recipient of the Stern Artist Award. Kathleen O’Mara is the first place winner of Operalia 2024, where she also won the Birgit Nilsson Prize for singing Wagner/Strauss. In the 2025/26 season, she returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin and as the First Lady in The Magic Flute. She also returns to Teatro alla Scala as Helmwige in Die Walküre and debuts with Seattle Opera as Micaëla in Carmen and with the Bavarian State Opera in Munich as the Fifth Maid in Elektra.

From: Hulunbuir, China. LA Opera: King of Egypt in Aida (2022, debut); Commendatore in Don Giovanni (2023); Sparafucile in Rigoletto (2025); Timur in Turandot (2027). Peixin Chen is recognized for his majestically resonant bass voice and for a keen dramatic instinct that he brings to a wide range of roles on the international opera stage. His repertoire spans from the comic parts of Donizetti, Mozart and Rossini to the strong and serious roles of Puccini, Verdi and Wagner. Peixin Chen has worked with an illustrious array of conductors and directors including Harry Bicket, James Conlon, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Lorin Maazel, Enrique Mazzola, Zubin Mehta, Giancarlo del Monaco, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Michel Plasson, David Pountney, James Robinson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Patrick Summers, Krzysztof Urbański and Francesca Zambello.

From: Phoenix, Arizona. LA Opera: Le Dancaïro in Carmen (2026, debut); Maximilian in Candide (2026); High Priest in Nabucco (2027); Ping in Turandot (2027). He will join the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program in the 2026/27 season. Recognized for his “booming baritone voice” and “particularly beautiful tone”, Mario Manzo is quickly becoming an exciting talent to hear and watch on the stage. Previous training includes two summers (2023 and 2024) as a Studio Artist at Wolf Trap Opera, where he performed the role of Wagner in Faust. He also covered the roles of Don Giovanni, Marcello in La Bohème, and both Father Palmer and the British Major in Silent Night by Kevin Puts, and he participated in the company’s Studio Spotlight performances.

From: Coral Springs, Florida. LA Opera: Pang in Turandot (2024 and 2027). American tenor Terrence Chin-Loy, whom Opera News described as having a “beautiful lyric tenor voice” pairs passionate performance with a full, sweet sound. In the 2025/26 season, Mr. Chin-Loy made two role debuts, first as Rodolfo in La Bohème with Madison Opera, and later as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Arizona Opera. Elsewhere, he headlined Bozeman Symphony’s Christmas program. In the 2024/25 season, Mr. Chin-Loy made his European debut singing Gualtiero in Vivaldi’s Griselda with the Danish National Opera, returned to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for Cop 1 in Blue, sang Ferrando in Così fan tutte with Virginia Opera, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Opera Omaha and in concert, Graf Albert in Die tote Stadt with Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Future debuts include engagements with Santa Fe Opera and the Dallas Opera.

From: Seattle, Washington. LA Opera: Pong in Turandot (2027, debut). Praised by Opera News as a "vocally charismatic" performer with a "golden tenor", Martin Bakari continues to distinguish himself as a dynamic artist in a wide array of musical and theatrical genres. A 2018 George London Competition award winner, Mr. Bakari's 2025/26 season includes all three tenor roles in performances and a commercial recording of L'enfant et les sortilèges (Barcelona Symphony Orchestra), Ernesto in Don Pasquale (Opéra de Baugé), Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess (Dayton Opera), Goro in Madama Butterfly (Opera Colorado), Bill Watson/Lloyd the Bartender in The Shining (Nashville Opera), Second Shepherd in Daphne (Seattle Opera), a song recital (Lyric Fest), and the tenor soloist in Lori Laitman's Vedem (Music of Remembrance), The Ordering of Moses (The Syracuse Orchestra), Messiah (Pacific Symphony, Boise Philharmonic), and On Wenlock Edge (Cannon Beach Music Festival). His 2026/27 season includes returns to Seattle Opera and Calvin Oratorio Society and debuts with LA Opera, Northwest Sinfonietta, the Bellingham Symphony, and the New Jersey Symphony.

From: Chehalis, Washington. LA Opera: First Man in Pagliacci (2015, debut); Parpignol in La Bohème (2016); Emperor Altoum in Turandot (2027). Praised by Opera Today for his “sizable lyric instrument” and “honeyed tone on all registers”, in the 2025/26 season tenor Arnold Livingston Geis joined San Diego Opera for his first performances of Beppe in Pagliacci, and the Reno Philharmonic for Carmina Burana. In the previous season, he returned to the role of Josef Bader in Zigman’s Emigré with Beijing Music Festival, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. He also joined Opera Carolina for Rodolfo in La Bohéme, Cincinnati Opera for Motel in Fiddler on the Roof, Opera in the Heights for his first performances of Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, San Francisco Symphony for Carmina Burana, and the Baltimore Symphony for Tenor I in Stravinsky’s Renard.

From: São Paulo, Brazil. LA Opera: Imperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly (2024, debut); Duke of Verona in Roméo et Juliette (2024); Jose Tripaldi in Ainadamar (2025); Count Ceprano in Rigoletto (2025); Aye in Akhnaten (2025); Pistol in Falstaff (2026); Zuniga in Carmen (2026); James/Martin in Candide (2026); Mandarin in Turandot (2027); Antonio in The Marriage of Figaro (2027). He joined the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program in 2024. Bass Vinícius Costa has been a Renée Fleming Artist at the Aspen Music Festival, singing the title role in The Marriage of Figaro and the role of Victor Fyodorov in Jimmy Lopez's Bel Canto. In the summer of 2026, he will be a Gaddes Festival Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where he will appear as Count Capulet in Roméo et Juliette. He sang the roles of Amaral and the Father in a recently released recording of Brazilian composer André Mehmari's 2023 opera O Machete.

From: Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Diego Matheuz is widely recognized as one of the foremost operatic and symphonic conductors to emerge from Venezuela’s El Sistema and has established a significant presence on the international stage. Matheuz has held a number of distinguished positions, including Principal Conductor of Teatro La Fenice, Principal Conductor of the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Orchestra in Tokyo, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra Mozart in Bologna, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. Highlights of the 2025/26 season include his subscription debut with the New York Philharmonic and returns to Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu for Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore and to Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari for Verdi’s Don Carlo.

From: Washington, DC. LA Opera: Turandot (2024). Garnett Bruce has directed at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, Dallas Opera and made his European opera debut staging Turandot for the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. He has been the Artistic Advisor for Opera San Antonio since 2018. From 2008 to 2011 he was the artistic adviser and principal stage director for Opera Omaha. He began directing for the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University in 2004, receiving a faculty appointment in 2006. He was on staff at the Aspen Music Festival and School from 1993 and joined the faculty from 1997 until 2019. In 2022 he joined the faculty of University of Texas as Resident Stage Director of the Butler School of Music. He has created stagings of Turandot, Carmen, Tosca, Aida, Pagliacci and La Bohème that have been seen coast to coast.

From: Bradford, England. LA Opera: Tristan und Isolde (1987, 1997, 2008); Die Frau ohne Schatten (1993, 2004); Turandot (2024, 2027). A former longtime Los Angeles resident, David Hockney (1937 - 2026) is considered one of the most influential artists of his time. His distinctive style and use of color and light graced an enormous range of media since the 1960s, encompassing etchings, paintings, drawings, photographic collages and printing, as well as the creation of landmark theatrical designs for film, theater and opera.

From: Ridgeville, Connecticut. LA Opera: costumes for Die Frau ohne Schatten (1993, debut; 2004) and Turandot (2024). The late Ian Falconer (1959-2023) studied at New York University, Parson’s School of Design and the Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles. He worked as a painter, illustrator and scenic designer, and his work included many theater productions in New York and Los Angeles. He designed sets and costumes for New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. He designed many covers for The New Yorker and was the author and illustrator of all the titles in the bestselling Olivia series: Olivia (for which he was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 2001), Olivia Saves the Circus, Olivia...and the Missing Toy, Olivia and the Fairy Princess and Olivia Forms a Band. A 2009 animated series based on the books won a Parents’ Choice Award. His last book, Two Dogs, was published in 2022.

From: New Britain, Connecticut. LA Opera: lighting design for Samson et Dalila (1999, debut); original lighting design for Turandot (2024). Thomas J. Munn (1944-2022) was Resident Lighting Designer for the San Francisco Opera for over 20 years. In 1975 he was invited to design the lighting for Macbeth for the Netherlands Opera. That production brought him to the attention to Kurt Herbert Adler, who invited him to join the San Francisco Opera production team. Tom designed the lighting for 285 productions for the company as well as dozens of productions for companies around the world.

From: Glendive, Montana. LA Opera: He became Chorus Director in 2022, after working on over 75 productions as associate chorus director and/or assistant conductor. He is a coach for the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program. Since joining LA Opera in 2007, he has served as associate chorus director (since 2011) and assistant conductor, and he has worked closely with the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program. Before becoming Chorus Director, he previously directed the LA Opera Chorus for the Plácido Domingo 50th Anniversary Concert (2017) and for The Clemency of Titus (2019). One of his generation’s most respected pianists and vocal coaches, he has collaborated with major opera houses throughout the United States. He has assisted in the preparation of operas and vocal chamber music at the LA Philharmonic. As a pianist, he has partnered with Sondra Radvanovsky, J'Nai Bridges, Eric Owens, Brandon Jovanovich, Rodell Rosel, Dolora Zajick, Kate Lindsey and Susan Graham. He accompanied Joyce DiDonato at the 54th Grammy Awards, the first time the ceremony featured a performance by a classical singer.