AVA Welcomes Six New Resident Artists For The 2019-2020 Opera Season

AVA is pleased to welcome six new Resident Artists to the opera academy. The incoming class of Resident Artists includes Emily Margevich (soprano), Cody Müller (bass), Zachary Rioux (tenor), Sahel Salam (tenor), Anne Marie Stanley (mezzo-soprano) and Griffen Hogan Tracy (bass). These singers come from across the country, from Philadelphia and Colorado, to Chicago and Princeton, as well as New Brunswick, Canada.

AVA audiences can meet these singers at the New Artists Recital on September 18 and 19, 2019 at AVA's Helen Corning Warden Theater. José Meléndez is the Music Director and pianist for the New Artists Recital. Information on the entire incoming class may be found below.

The entire Resident Artist roster for the 2019-2020 may be viewed on the AVA website here.

New AVA Resident Artists:

Emily Margevich (soprano)

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois

Education: B.M. and M.M. in Voice Performance, DePaul University School of Music 2017, 2019

Previous Roles: Juliette, Roméo et Juliette (Janiec Opera Company); Gretel, Hansel und Gretel; Hanna Glawari, The Merry Widow; Miss Jessel, Turn of the Screw; Ottavia, L'incoronazione di Poppea; Lauretta, Gianni Schicchi; Suor Genovieffa, Suor Angelica; Berenice, L'occasione fa il ladro (DePaul Opera Theatre).

Cody Müller (bass)

Hometown: Philadelphia, PA

Education: M.M. The Eastman School of Music, B.M. Belmont University

Previous Roles: Usher, Trial By Jury, OperaDelaware; Henezó, L'amico Fritz, Baltimore Concert Opera; Don Basilio, The Barber of Seville, Opera Iowa; Alidoro, La Cenerentola, Opera Theatre Montclair; The Four Villains, Les contes d'Hoffmann, Bel Cantanti Opera/Opera in the Ozarks; Gus O'Neill, Later the Same Evening, Central City Opera; Bartolo, Le nozze di Figaro; Eastman Opera Theatre; Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte, Midsummer Night Opera; Leporello, Don Giovanni, ViVace; Don Magnifico, La Cenerentola, Opera in the Ozarks; Dr. Gibbs, Our Town, Eastman Opera Theatre; Marchese d'Obigny, La traviata, Rochester Symphony Orchestra.

Zachary Rioux (tenor)

Hometown: Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Canada

Education: Bachelor of Music, Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music 2019

Competitions: Third Place, The Glenn Gould School's Chamber Competition, (2019); Finalist, International Resource Centre for Performing Artists' The New Singing Stars, (2019); First place, Elite International Music Competition, (2019)

Previous Roles: Tamino, Die Zauberflöte, with Glenn Gould School Opera, BrottOpera and Toronto City Opera; Blind, Die Fledermaus, Glenn Gould School Opera; Marquis, The Ghosts of Versailles, The Glimmerglass Festival; Gastone (cover), La traviata, The Glimmerglass Festival

Sahel Salam (tenor)

Education: Master of Performance-Vocal Royal College of Music in London (2017-2019); Bachelor of Music-Vocal Performance University of Texas at Austin (2012-2017)

Competitions: Charles Branchini Scholarship Royal College of Music in London (2018); Academy Vocal Fellowship Music Academy of the West (2018); Alice Templeton Scholarship Royal College of Music in London (2017); Semifinalist Classical Singer Competition (Boston) (2016)

Previous Roles: Basilio/Don Curzio, Le Nozze di Figaro, Music Academy of the West; Rinuccio, Gianni Schicchi, Royal College of Music in London; Ferrando, Così fan tutte, Royal College of Music in London; Tamino, Die Zauberflöte, University of Texas at Austin; Gherardo, Gianni Schicchi, University of Texas at Austin; Vincent, Mireille, Franco-American Vocal Academy; Der Italian Tenor, Der Rosenkavalier, University of Texas at Austin; First Commissioner, Dialogues of the Carmelites, University of Texas at Austin; Tamino, Die Zauberflöte, Franco-American Vocal Academy; Geharnischter, Die Zauberflöte, Franco-American Vocal Academy

Anne Marie Stanley (mezzo-soprano)

Hometown: Princeton, New Jersey

Education: B.M. in Voice Performance, Westminster Choir College, M.M. in Voice Performance, Rice University

Competitions: 1st place Cooper-Bing Vocal Competition, Finalist Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollumn Competition, 1st Place Franco-American Grand Concours Vocal Competition, 1stPlace Philadelphia Orchestra Albert M. Greenfield Competition, 1st Place New York Lyric Opera Theatre Vocal Competition.

Previous Roles: Valletto, L'incorinazione di Poppea (Bare Opera), Dinah, Trouble in Tahiti (Rice University), Title role, Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Rice University), Giovanna, Rigoletto (The Santa Fe Opera), Zerlina, Don Giovanni (Janiec Opera Company), Tamiri, Il re pastore (Westminster Opera Theatre), Nicklausse, Les contes d'Hoffmann (Westminster Opera Theatre)

Griffen Hogan Tracy (bass)

Hometown: Golden, Colorado

Education: B.M. in Voice Performance - Lamont School of Music; M.M. in Voice Performance - University of Tennessee

Competitions: 2nd Place, Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition (2019); Encouragement Award, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions - Regional and District (2019,2015)

Previous Roles: Seneca (cover), The Coronation of Poppea; Sparafucile (cover), Rigoletto; Familiari 3, The Coronation of Poppea, all with Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Un Vecchio Zingaro, Il trovatore, Central City Opera; Figaro, Le Nozze di Figaro, Edward Casaubon, Middlemarch in Spring, Reverend Hale, The Crucible, Neptune, Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, all with University of Tennessee Opera Theatre