Shreveport Opera Xpress
SOX Artists
The Shreveport Opera Resident Artist Program allows emerging professional singers and pianists the opportunity to receive training within a professional opera company. Each season, the Resident Artists (consisting of four singers and one pianist) perform and/or cover leading, supporting, comprimario and ensemble roles in the three mainstage productions. They receive coachings and workshops with visiting artists, opportunities to sing with area orchestras as featured soloists and weekly cantor positions at Shreveport churches. Perhaps the most important part of the Resident Artists’ position in Shreveport is their participation in the SOX Program (Shreveport Opera Xpress). This program allows the Resident Artists to go out into the communities of Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas to bring opera into their lives. The SOX program features two children’s operas that not only expose children to the art form but also discuss important topics such as diversity, acceptance and bullying, and they are performed in over 100 different schools . The SOX program also includes “Operatizers” (a concert of Opera Arias and Musical Theatre Pieces) at senior centers, community centers and private functions. Along with a weekly stipend, the Resident Artists receive housing, transportation to all company events and a travel stipend. Auditions for the program are held each December in New York City.
For information on how to apply to the Shreveport Opera Resident Artists program, please see the listing on YAPtracker here.
RESIDENT ARTISTS
2023-24
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Taylor See
Taylor See, soprano, a native of Las Vegas, NV, is recognized as a Western Region Special Encouragement Award Winner and a San Francisco District Winner of The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and a First Place winner of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Concerto Competition. Taylor was an apprentice artist this past summer with Santa Fe Opera and is an alumni of the Houston Grand Opera Young Artists Vocal Academy.
Taylor has sung the roles of Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare at SFCM, Contessa Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at SFCM, Euridice (cover) in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo with Santa Fe Opera, Adelaide Mills/Miss Thompson/Helen Mills in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The House without a Christmas Tree with Opera Las Vegas, Lucy in Menotti’s The Telephone with Vegas City Opera, Bellangère in Dukas’s Ariane et Barbe-bleue with West Edge Opera, and Sister Felicity and Sister Valentine (cover) in Dialogues of the Carmelites with San Francisco Opera, to name a few.
Taylor is a graduate of SFCM, earning her Master of Music and Bachelor of Music in voice under the tutelage of Cesar Ulloa and Deborah Voigt.
Mariam Mouawad
Born and raised in the city of Zahle, Lebanon, mezzo-soprano Mariam Mouawad moved to the United States at the age of 13. She is the First Place Winner of the 2023 MTNA Young Artist Competition (Voice) and the First Place Winner of the 2022 La Jolla Symphony and Chorus Young Artist Competition. A recent graduate of the University of Houston with the Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy, Ms. Mouawad was featured in numerous roles with the Moores Opera Center, including Federico Lorca in Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar, Charlotte in A Little Night Music, Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare, and Adélaïde in La Belle et La Bête. A participant of the 2022 NEO program (cover Ariodante), she received her Bachelor of Music in Voice from San Diego State University where she was featured in diverse repertoire of Massenet’s Cendrillon, Jonathan Dove’s Flight, and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. Ms. Mouawad is delighted to be joining Shreveport Opera as one of their 2023-2024 Resident Artist.
Nathan Schafer
Revered by critics for his “strong clear tenor voice”, Nathan Schafer “sings with clarity and warmth.” (KDHX). This season Mr. Schafer will sing Rodolfo in La bohème and Ferrando in Così fan tutte with Shreveport Opera. Mr. Schafer will also be a soloist for the 75th Anniversary Concert with the Shreveport Symphony. Last season, Mr. Schafer made his company debut as Alfredo in Verdi’s La traviata and made his professional debut at Winter Opera of St. Louis as Ruggero in Puccini’s La rondine. Broadway World News said “His voice is perfect for the role” Mr. Schafer has performed with prominent opera houses such as The Dallas Opera, Central City Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Fort Worth Opera. Mr. Schafer’s other performance history includes the roles of Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Luigi (Il tabarro), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Alfred (Die Fledermaus), Pirelli (Sweeney Todd), Hooker (Emmeline), and Beppe (Pagliacci).
Logan Dell’Acqua
Hailing from Traverse City, Baritone, Logan Dell’Acqua recently performed as an apprentice artist in Des Moines Metro Opera’s 2023 season where he covered “Leandro” (The Love for Three Oranges). Previously, he was a Mary Ragland Emerging Artist with Nashville Opera where he made his role debut as “Marullo” (Rigoletto). Other credits include “Marcel” in a new adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (Opera Iowa/DMMO) and “Bob” in The Old Maid and the Thief (Seagle Music Colony). He received his MM from the University of Michigan under the direction of Stephan Lusmann & George Shirley. While pursuing his degree, Logan performed the roles of “Dr. Falke” (Die Fledermaus) (canceled due to Covid), “Marcello” (La bohème), “Bob” (Highway One) and “der Lautsprecher” (Der Kaiser von Atlantis). While living in southeast Michigan, Logan has been a featured soloist in many concert engagements including Handel’s Messiah, Finzi’s Requiem da Camera and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
Ah Young Kim
Pianist Ah Young Kim, a native of South Korea, maintains a diverse range of musical experiences. As a collaborative pianist, she played for studios, including that of cellist János Starker, at Indiana University, where she received a master’s degree. Ms. Kim has also played for singers at masterclasses led by Alan L. Smith, Donna Racik, Dwayne Croft, Twyla Robinson, and the late Nico Castel. As an operatic pianist and coach, her previous credits include Aspen Music Festival Opera Coach Fellow (CO), Charlottesville Opera (Ash Lawn Opera, VA), Fort Worth Opera (TX), Musiktheater Bavaria (Germany), Opera North (Lebanon, NH), and UNT Opera (Denton, TX). Ms. Kim began her musical training in South Korea and received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of North Texas. Her teachers include Pamela Mia Paul, Shigeo Neriki, Stephen Dubberly, and Elvia Puccinelli. She made a presentation at the MTNA National Conference (Baltimore, MD) and Louisiana Tech University (Ruston, LA). She also participated in the Mozarteum Summer Academy (Salzburg, Austria) and the International Keyboard Institute & Festival (IKIF, New York, NY).
Shreveport Opera Xpress
Outreach Productions
Shreveport Opera offers educational performances at your school for preK-12 students.
LEO THE LYIN’ LION
STOP! BULLY
OPERATIZERS
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