San Francisco Opera Center Announces 2022 Adler Fellows
Release date: 12/1/2021
San Francisco Opera Center Artistic Director Carrie-Ann Matheson and General Manager Markus Beam announced today the 11 recipients of the 2022 San Francisco Opera Adler Fellowship. In January 2022, the cohort of talented young musicians begins an intensive residency at San Francisco Opera where they will receive individually tailored musical and performance training and a wide range of professional and personal development instruction. Since its inception in 1977, the prestigious Adler Fellowship has nurtured more than 180 young artists, launching the careers of many performers, conductors, vocal coaches, stage directors, arts professionals and educators throughout the industry.
The singers selected as 2022 Adler Fellows are sopranos Anne-Marie MacIntosh (Langley, British Columbia, Canada), Mikayla Sager (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada); Elisa Sunshine (San Clemente, California) and Esther Tonea (Buford, Georgia); mezzo-soprano Gabrielle Beteag (Atlanta, Georgia); tenors Victor Cardamone (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) and Edward Graves (Oxon Hill, Maryland); baritone Timothy Murray (Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin) and bass Stefan Egerstrom (Brooklyn Center, Minnesota). Gabriella Beteag, Victor Cardamone, Edward Graves and Mikayla Sager, selected from the Merola Opera Program, are incoming first-year fellows. Anne-Marie MacIntosh, Elisa Sunshine, Esther Tonea, Timothy Murray and Stefan Egerstrom continue in the program as third-year fellows.
The 2022 Adler Fellowship class includes two pianist/coaches, first-year fellow Marika Yasuda (Williamsburg, Virginia) and returning third-year fellow Andrew King (Syracuse, New York). The Adler Fellow pianist/coaches work closely with Opera Center Artistic Director Carrie-Ann Matheson and with San Francisco Opera Head of Music Staff John Churchwell in developing the wide range of skills required for a career in the opera house and on the recital stage.
San Francisco Opera Center Artistic Director Carrie-Ann Matheson and General Manager Markus Beam said: “We are excited to welcome this wonderful roster of artists to the 2022 Adler Fellowship Program. In both the Merola Opera Program and the 2021 Adler Fellowship, these talented young musicians embraced their training with curiosity and open hearts. We are happy to be part of the next steps in their journey.”
Adler Fellows gain valuable professional experience through preparing and rehearsing roles of increasing importance in San Francisco Opera’s season at the War Memorial Opera House and in performance opportunities throughout the period of their fellowship. All of the 2022 Adler Fellows will be featured in the year-end concert accompanied by the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in December 2022.
The 2021 Adlers concluding their fellowships at the end of this year are mezzo-soprano Simone McIntosh, tenors Christopher Colmenero, Christopher Oglesby and Zhengyi Bai and pianist Kseniia Polstiankina Barrad. The 2021 Adler Fellows’ season culminates with the annual showcase concert, The Future Is Now, on Friday, December 10 at 7:30 pm at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco’s Veterans Building. The program of arias and operatic scenes features the 2021 class of Adler Fellows and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra under the baton of Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim. For full program and tickets, visit sfopera.com.
*For the complete press release, including bios of the 2022 Adler Fellows, please view the attached PDF.