Daria Brusova
Soprano

Soprano Daria Brusova is a rising talent on the international opera scene currently finishing her residency as a Studio Artist at the Dutch National Opera Studio. She recently appeared at the Dutch National Opera as Der Hüter der Schwelle des Tempels and 1st Dienerinnen in Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten (2025), and Paggio in Verdi’s Rigoletto. In 2024, she also performed at the Verbier Festival in a semi-staged Le nozze di Figaro, and was previously heard as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute in Sochi.

A graduate of the Bolshoi Theatre’s Young Artists Opera Program (2022–2024) and the Moscow State Conservatory, Brusova has performed in concert in China, Armenia, Switzerland, and Russia, singing arias and chamber works from the Russian, Italian, French, and Spanish repertoire. She was a finalist in the 2023 Ningbo International Vocal Competition and won second prize at the ’s-Hertogenbosch LiedDuo Competition. Brusova has worked with renowned conductors and coaches including Marc Albrecht, Vincenzo Milletarì, Katie Mitchell, and James Baillieu. Her repertoire includes roles such as Gilda, Olympia, and the Queen of the Night, with vocal training supported by fluency in Russian English, Italian, German, French, and Ukrainian diction.

Mariana Poltorak
Soprano

Ukrainian soprano Mariana Poltorak is rapidly emerging as a compelling voice on the international operatic stage, garnering First Prize at the 2025 prestigious Ada Sari International Vocal Artistry Competition, and Fourth Prize at the 2025 International Stanisław Moniuszko Vocal Competition. In 2025 she will appear as Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Da Ponte Opera Festival, and will make her recording debut with the songs of Chopin for Brilliant Classics. In 2024 she performed the in Statkowski’s Philaenis at the Festival Muzyki Polskiej with the Krakow Philharmonic, showcasing her versatility in modern repertoire, and continuing a rich collaboration that includes her upcoming soloist appearance in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in 2025.

Her 2022 portrayal of Cleone in Rossini’s Ermione at Rossini in Wildbad further solidified her standing as an exciting young interpreter of bel canto repertoire. Recently she also performed the role of Despina in Così fan tutte with the Krakow Academy.

Mariana’s formative training includes ongoing studies at the Warsaw Opera Academy and a Master’s degree from the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow (2016–2021). She also participated in the BelCanto Academie in Wildbad in 2022.

Her artistry has been recognized with numerous other awards, including the special Ewa Podłes Award at the 2025 Moniuzko Competition, and First Prize and a Special Award at the 2nd National Festival and Competition of Vocal Chamber Music named after Witold Friemann. She was also honored with the Lotte-Brauer Scholarship from the Lotte Lehmann Foundation and the Gaude Polonia Scholarship from the National Centre for Culture in Poland.

Mariana has enriched her vocal and interpretive skills through masterclasses and mentorships with leading figures in the vocal arts, including Olga Pasiecznik, Vesselina Kasarova, Edith Wiens, Mariusz Kwiecień, Tobias Truniger, Hedwig Fassbender, and Eytan Pessen, among many others.

Her deep commitment to both operatic and chamber repertoire, along with her compelling stage presence, positions Mariana Poltorak as a soprano of significant promise and growing international acclaim.

Praised by the New York Times for being “dramatically and musically alluring…notable for her burnished timbre and subtle phrasing,”

Marina Costa-Jackson
Soprano

Italian-American soprano Marina Costa Jackson is thrilling audiences throughout the US, Europe, and Asia. Engagements this season include Mimi in La boheme, Tosca with Manitoba Opera and Elisabetta in Verdi’s Don Carlos for Grange Park Opera. Future engagements include her role debut as Aida at New National Theatre in Tokyo and Verdi’s Requiem with Amarillo Symphony. 2024-25 performances included her Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut as Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, her Italian debut as Tosca with Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Micaela in Carmen with Florida Grand Opera, and her role debut as Carmen with Nashville Opera. Most recent engagements include the title role in Suor Angelica and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi with San Diego Opera, Minnie in Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West and the title role in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut for North Carolina Opera, Musetta in La Boheme with Utah Opera, her debut as Tosca with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Mimi in La Boheme with Los Angeles Opera, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin with Seattle Opera, and concerts with Seattle Opera and with CulturArte de Puerto Rico.

In past season Marina has performed Elisabetta in Don Carlo with Grange Park Opera, Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello with the Savonlinna Opera Festival, the Bolshoi Opera, and Austin Lyric Opera, Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata with Teatro San Carlos Lisbon, and Oper Köln, Maria in Donizetti’s Maria di Rohan with the Washington Concert Opera, Mimi for Oper Köln, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte for Seattle Opera, Leonora in Il Trovatore for Musica Viva Hong Kong, Micaela in Bizet’s Carmen for Opéra national de Paris, the Verdi Requiem for Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Adalgisa in Belini’s Norma for Dallas Opera for which she was awarded the 2017 Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year. She made her Royal Concertgebuow debut as Juilette in A Village Romeo and Juiette conducted my Mark Elder.

Ms. Costa Jackson has performed in concert with Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Andrea Bocelli, and debuted as one of the Costa-Jackson Sisters Trio in the International Festival “Palaces of St. Petersburg”.

Marina is a 2015 Metropolitan Opera National Council Awards finalist, and has won top awards from the Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Vocal Competition, and the Opera Index Vocal Competition. In 2016 she was a second-place winner of Operalia and recipient of the Zarzuela Award. Notable awards include the Marcello Giordani Foundation Vocal Competition, the Belvedere Competition, the Mario Lanza Institute, and the George London Foundation. She is a 2016 graduate of the famed Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.

“…Novella commanded a richly colored soprano, breaking
hearts in her portrayal of Antonia”
-Opera News

Elizabeth Novella
Soprano

Elizabeth Novella will return to St. Pete Opera in 2026 to sing Mimì in La Bohème following her performance as Micaëla in Carmen there this past spring. She will also appear as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro with The Muses Project this coming fall. This past summer, she covered Giulietta in I Capuleti ed i Montecchi with Teatro Nuovo at Lincoln Center. She was was recently a resident artist with Lisette Oropesa at Guild Hall of East Hampton and Bel Canto Bootcamp, she recently sang Giovanna in Ernani and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Sarasota Opera. She was also recently named a finalist in both the Tenor Viñas Contest at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and The Opera Index Vocal Competition in New York City. She made her St. Petersburg Opera debut as The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors and her Muses Project debut as Adele in Die Fledermaus.

Previously with Sarasota Opera, Ms. Novella has covered the roles of Leila in Les Pecheurs des perles, Marie in La Fille du régiment, and Musetta in La bohème, and has performed Giannetta in L’Elisir d’Amore “with a rich voice and fine comic timing.” Ms. Novella was Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann with the Aspen Music Festival, for which the press hailed, “Novella dazzled with rich sound and impressive intensity”. Also in Aspen, Ms. Novella sang the role of Maia in the first fully-staged production of Theofanidis’ The Cows of Apollo and performed “I want magic” in a masterclass with the legendary Renée Fleming. Her concert work includes Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras with the New York and Gilda in Rigoletto with the American Symphony Orchestra.

“Finally, we will not forget Aurélie Brémond in the role of Despina. What a revelation! Everything is there: the magnificent voice with extraordinary high notes, the agility and power, the presence, the comic power. She is lively and naughty, perfectly at ease, ready in every way to conquer the stage” – Sara Notarnicola, Cosi fanno Dell’opera

Aurélie Brémond
Soprano

Aurélie is a passionate, mischievous and sparkling French soprano. Born in Serre-Chevalier in the Hautes-Alpes, into a family of ski instructors, she defied the odds by choosing music at an early age. At 16, she entered the Conservatoire de Reims, and later the Conservatoire de Premier arrondissement de Paris, and completed her training at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne.

Since graduating in 2022, she has appeared regularly at the Opéra de Lausanne, where she has appeared at Despina in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, the Second Maid in Loewe’s My Fair Lady, Giannetta in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore, Maguelonne in Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon, and Noémie in Massenet’s Cendrillon.

Recent performances include Philomèle in Delibes’ le roi la dit with Opéra d’Avignon, Sophie in Mélodie à l’opéra by Valérie Marestin at the Théâtre Liger in Nîmes and the Théâtre de Pézenas, Princess Laoula in Chabrier’s L’étoile at the Opéra d’Avignon, and Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the Théâtre de Pézanas.

Aurélie has appeared as a soloist in Bach’s Magnificat with the Orchestra Régional Avignon Provence, under the baton of Jean-Pierre Lecaudey, and in Brahms’ Requiem conducted by Stephen MacLeod. She is the winner of several international competition including the second prize at the Concours International Leopold Ballan, third prize and audience prize at the Concours International de Béziers, and the Prix de la Mélodie contemporaine at Concours International de Mâcon.

“Remember the name Conesa. She is young but that voice suggests a major future”  – Operawire 20201 – The Daily Telegraph 

Monica Conesa
Soprano

Cuban American soprano Monica Conesa is making a name for herself in the world of opera. At age 26, Monica made her debut at L’Arena di Verona in the title role of Aida under the baton of Maestro Marco Armiliato. Engagements in 2024-25 include her professional US debut as Nedda in I Pagliacci with Seattle Opera, her debut as the Countess in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro  at Teatro Regio di Torino, and her debut as Tosca with Theater Bonn. Future engagements Future engagements include her return to Teatro De La Zarzuela di Madrid in Goyescas by E.Granados. Her most recent engagements include the title role in Bellini’s Norma under the baton of Maestro Muti at the Ravenna Festival, the title role in La Gioconda and Aida in the Teatro Filarmonico di Verona, a return to the Arena di Verona as Aida, and concert performances with Maestro Riccardo Muti in Ravenna, Jerash and Pompeii.  She also performed the title role in Dolores by Thomas Breton at the 2023 Festival Teatro Lirico Espagnol with Oviedo Filarmonica.

Ms. Conesa was awarded the first prize in the 2021 Premio Fausto Ricci Competition. Jury Chair Jose Carreras described her having, “an extraordinary, theatrical, and secure voice”.  That same year she was awarded first place in the prestigious International Singing Competition “Maria Caniglia” in Sulmona. In the summer of 2021, Monica studied at the European Music Institute Wien with Maestro Francisco Ariaza, and soon after she performed the role of Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with L’accademia Nationale di Belcanto Italiano in Castelvetro di Modena.

“The Glimmerglass Festival – “Among the Young Artists who formed the Greek choruses, Ariana Wehr, with her alert leggiero soprano, was a particular standout, and she had a delightful bit as a sparky nurse in the maternity ward.”
– Fred Cohn, Opera News

Ariana Wehr
Soprano

Brazilian-American soprano, Ariana Wehr, is a graduate of the Cafritz Young Artist Program at the Washington National Opera. This past season Ariana made her debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in Blue, returned to Seattle Opera for The Magic Flute, performed Gretel in Hansel and Gretel with the Lakes Area Music Festival, and joined Chicago Opera Theatre for She Who Dared in the role of Rosa Parks (cover).  Most recently she sang the role of Micaela in Carmen with Portland Opera, returned to the Washington National Opera for Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s Blue as Girlfriend #1/Nurse/Congregant, and performed in Opera Lafayette’s production of Mouret’s  La Fêtes de Thalie.  Ms. Wehr’s association with Blue includes its world premiere in 2019 for the Glimmerglass Festival where she received great critical acclaim.  She is also on the original cast recording released on PENTATONE.

Recently Ms. Wehr also made her Seattle Opera debut as Euridice in Gluck’s Orfeo, and returned to Seattle Opera for their production of Blue. She reprised her roles in Blue for her Pittsburgh Opera debut, and was featured in Washington National Opera’s production of Carmen for the Kennedy Center Honors on the CBS Television Network.  Ariana also recently made her Carnegie Hall debut in Requiem by Marc-André Bougie and Serenade to Music by Vaughan Williams.

Other performances include Despina in Cosi fan tutte for Opera in the Heights, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel in a return to Brava Opera Theater, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Naples Philharmonic, Micaela in Carmen with Opera Louisiane, Amy March in Mark Adamo’s Little Women with Annapolis Opera, Konstanze in Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio with Brava! Opera Theater, and Abigail Williams in Francesca Zambello’s production of The Crucible at The Glimmerglass Festival .

She was invited to sing in the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition in 2021 and in 2018 advanced to the Semi-Finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. For the Washington National Opera she has been seen as Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Susanna in the Domingo-Cafritz  performance of Le Nozze di Figaro, Ms. Holy in the world premiere of Mohammed Fairouz’s The Dictator’s Wife, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, Frasquita in Carmen, Kahua in the world premiere of Better Gods, and Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni directed by Francesca Zambello.

“Adriana Ferfecka has already acclaimed herself at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and at the opera in Roman many others. She has a beautiful voice, a commanding stage presence, and an acting streak – what more could you want.”  Z operą w Nowy Rod

Adriana Ferfecka
Soprano

Polish soprano Adriana Ferfecka completed her vocal studies at Frydryk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.  This season she returns to Theater Wielki as Katya in The Passenger. Engagements in 2024-25 included Daga in Penderecki’s The Black Mask and Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos at Theater Wielki. Most recently she debuted with Opera Orchestre National Montpellier as Mimi in La Boheme, and returned to Theater Wielki in Warsaw as Mimi and Violetta in La Traviata.

Other recent engagements  include Mimi with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Violetta in La Traviata with Theater Koblenz, Liu in Turandot with Teatro dell’Opera di Roma,  Micaela in Carmen with Theater Wielki, Sour Angelica at the Inauguration of the Ada Sari International Vocal Artistry Festival, Mimi in La Boheme for Wrocław Opera, Corinna in Il Viaggio a Reims for Teatro dell’Opera di Roma,   Susanna  in  Le Nozze  di Figaro in Cagliari, Gianni Schicchi for Dutch National Opera, Valencienne in Die lustige Witwe at Teatro La Fenice, Teatro dell’ Opera  di  Roma  and Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Micaela in Carmen for Deutsche Oper Berlin, Illia in Idomeneo in Rome, Adina in L’elisir D’amore at the Silesian Opera House in Bytom, Saffi in Die Zigeunerbaron at the Stanislaw Moniuszko Podlasie Opera, La Traviata in Grand Teatre Poznan.

Adriana has worked with many important conductors including Paolo Arrivabeni, Andrea Battistoni, Marc Albrecht, Donald Runnicles, Michele Mariotti, Diego Matheuz, Stefano Montanari, Ivan Repusic, Alexander Vedernikov, and Sebastian Weigle.

In 2015 she was admitted to the Young Artists Program of the Salzburg Festival, where she made her debut as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Between 2015 and 2017 she was a Scholarship Recipient at Deutsche Oper Berlin where she performed Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Frasquita in Carmen, Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Xanthe in Die Leibe der Dananae, and made numerous concert appearances as well.

In 2015 she was a finalist at the Neue Stimme Competition in Dresden, and has been the winner of numerous international competitions including; the International Competition for Opera Singers “Ferruccio Taglavini” in 2014, the International Vocal Competition “Grand Prix De’l Opera” in Romania, the International Vocal Competition in Germany, first prize of the Concorso Internazionale Iris Adami Corradetti in 2016, 3rd prize at the Soroptimist Club Vercelli Prize at the 69th Viotti International Music Competition in 2018, Ottavio Ziino International Lyric Competition in 2014.

“If Floresta do Amazonas’ more programmatic qualities are heard in its instrumental sections, the most evocative moments occur in the floating vocalist passages of ‘Pássaro da florestra’, the gently swaying counters of ‘Veleiros’ or the seductive sultriness of ‘Canção do amor’, rendered here with taste and impeccable musical judgment by soprano Camila Provenzale.” – Gramophone

Camila Provenzale
Soprano

Italian-Brazilian soprano Camila Provenzale was a 2015 prize recipient of the Neue Stimmen Singing Competition in Germany. In 2016 she opened the season of the Bregenz Festival in Austria under baton of Maestro Paolo Carignani and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and in 2017 she made her made her French debut interpreting the role of Contessa di Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the Opéra de Toulon. In that same year she was a prize recipient of the Paris Opera Competition held in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.

A graduate of the Centre Perfeccionament at the Les Arts in Valencia, this season Camila performs Micaela in Carmen with Opera North in Leeds, Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 by Villa-Lobos with the Philharmonie de Paris, and Opera de Rouen Normandie, and Suite da Floresta do Amazonas with Técnica Real Filharmonía de Galicia. Upcoming performances include her Carnegie Hall debut under the baton of Marin Alsop with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Brazil with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra.

Recent performances include Donna Anna in Don Giovanni for Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte for Teatro Solis, Hanna Glawari in Die Lustige Witge in Brazil, Donna Anna for Garsington Opera, and music by Villa Lobos and Philip Glass for her debut with the Orchestra dell ‘Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

In 2019 Camila represented Brazil as a finalist in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Other prizes include the Giusy Devinu Competition in Cagliari/Italy, first prize in the Brazilian Maracanto competition, second prize in the Bidu Sayão competition, and was a prize recipient of the Neue Stimmen Singing Competition in Germany.

“In her company debut, Melissa Citro gave unstintingly of a bright and beautiful voice, singing with the utmost security and power. Her portrayal of the unhappy heroine was fully nuanced, demonstrating a complete understanding of this complex character. The song to the moon was ravishingly sung” – George Dansker – Opera News – Rusalka New Orleans Opera

Melissa Citro
Soprano

In 2024 Melissa debuted the role of Turandot with Fargo Moorhead Opera and returned to the Metropolitan Opera for Elisabeth (cover) in Wagner’s Tannhauser.  Her other recent engagements include the title role in Tosca with Opera Colorado, the role of Minnie in La Fanciulla del West both with Michigan Opera Theatre and Opera Colorado, the role of Marina in Dvorak’s rarely heard Dmitrij at the Bard Music Festival, Gutrune in San Francisco Opera’s production of Wagner’s Ring, where she also covered Brunnhilde in Siegfried and Sieglinde in Die Walkure,  a return to the Metropolitan Opera for Die Walkure,  and her debut as Tosca at Opera Southwest.

Ms. Citro made her Washington Opera debut as Gutrune, in their production of Wagner’s Gotterdammerung.   She returned to New Orleans Opera as Rosilinde in Die Fledermaus, and made her debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s 2nd Symphony. The soprano made her debut with San Francisco Opera as Freia in Das Rheingold. San Francisco Opera also saw Ms. Citro as Gutrune in Götterdämmerung, and as Senta in Der Fliegende Hollander (cover). The soprano made her role debut as Sieglinde in Wagner’s Die Walküre with Virginia Opera, and returned to the Metropolitan Opera, where she covered Renee Fleming in the title role in Dvořák’s Rusalka. She joined the San Francisco Opera and the Metropolitan Opera casts of The Makropulous Case, where she covered Karita Mattila as Emilia, and made her role debut as Senta in Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s production of Der Fliegende Hollander. Ms. Citro performed the role of Rusalka with New Orleans Opera, and the title role of La Wally in her debut with the Dallas Opera. She made her debut with Glimmerglass Opera as Magda Sorel in Menotti’s The Consul, and returned to the Los Angeles Opera to sing the roles of Ortlinde and Third Norn where she also covered the roles of Sieglinde and Guturne in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen.  The Soprano joined the Hawaii Opera Theatre as Ortlinde in Die Walküre, and debuted with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra in Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder with conductor Marc Taddei. Ms. Citro made her Los Angeles Opera debut as the Nursing Sister in Suor Angelica, directed by William Friedkin with James Conlon. In prior engagements in Los Angeles, the soprano covered the roles of Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, Gertrude in Hänsel und Gretel and the title role of Jenůfa. Ms. Citro made her international debut in the title role of Janáček’s Jenůfa in Calixto Bieito’s acclaimed production for the Stuttgart Opera. Earlier engagements include Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte with San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program and Western Opera Theater, and the High Priestess in Rameau’s Hippolytus and Aricia with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. As a Fellowship Artist at Music Academy of the West, her role assignments included the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos and Lady Billows in Britten’s Albert Herring.

Ms. Citro was a Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Additional awards include the George London Award, the Richman Award from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the First Place winner of the Mario Lanza Competition.  She was a scholarship winner at the Westminster Choir College and the Juilliard School.