Ardeen Pierre
Soprano

Haitian American soprano Ardeen Pierre, is truly one of the outstanding young singers of her generation. Next season she returns to Houston Grand Opera for Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. At a young age she has established herself with debuts as Annie Turnbo Malone in Cook Shack for Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Marina in Katie: The Strongest of the Strong with the Houston Grand Opera (HGOco), Maguelonee in Cendrillon, Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto, and Duquesa Carolina in Luisa Fernanda all for the Florentine Opera. As an Apprentice Singer for the Santa Fe Opera, Ardeen performend Alica Ford (cover) in Falstaff, Berta (cover), Cobweb (cover) in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the title role in Suor Angelica (concert), and Giulietta in I Capuleti e I Montecchi (con-cert). Other notable performances include Contessa Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro and Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann for Accademia Europea Dell’Opera, Olivia in Home of My Ancestors for Houston Grand Opera (HGOco), Arminda in La finta giardiniera for Rice University.

Ardeen was a District Winner of the 2022 Metropolitan Opera Dric and Dominque Laffont Competi-tion, and won second place in the George Shirley Vocal Competition, as well as the Spiritual Prize, the Art Song Prize, and the Operatic Aria Prize. In 2023, she won the Duncan Williams Voice Com-petition Black and Latinx Song Presentation.

Ardeen has been a Studio Artist for the Florentine Opera, and an Apprentice Singer for the Santa Fe Opera. She holds a Performance Diploma from Southern Methodist University, a Master of Music from Rice University, and a Bachelor of Music from Sam Houston State University. She makes her home in Houston, TX.

” In Vancouver Opera’s latest Traviata, [Violetta] is brilliantly portrayed by Canadian soprano Emily Dorn. She sings with an impressive range, both tonally and expressively, to carry the vast repertoire of the role, from sparkling duets to pensive solos. And she has the acting chops to bring off her character’s mercurial mood shifts. Altogether a nuanced – even mesmerizing – portrayal”. – Vancouver Observer

Emily Dorn
Soprano

Canadian Soprano Emily Dorn is thrilling audiences with her “warm, rich middle, a shimmering, flexible top, excellent control… and her exquisitely beautiful delivery” (Opera News). This past season Emily performed Liu in Turandot, Antonia in Tales of Hoffmann, Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking, and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Landestheater Detmold.  In 2023 she returned to Opera de Montreal to perform the role of Margarita Xirgu in their production of Ainadamar. Other recent engagements in Detmold include her role debut as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, the title role in Frau Luna, Contessa Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Hanna Glawari in Die Lustige Witwe, Lisa in Das Land des Lächelns, the Governess in The Turn of the Screw, and Isabella/Mama in Detlef Heusinger’s new opera Die Zeitreisemaschine, performed in cooperation with the Bergenzer Festspiele.

Recent performances have also included Violetta in La Traviata with the Vancouver Opera, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Teatro Massimo di Palermo,  Beethovens’ Mass in C with the BBC Philharmonic, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Baronin Freimann in Der Wildschütz, Frau Hudetz in Der Jüngste Tag, and Julia de Weert in Der Vetter aus Dingsda, Margarethe in Faust, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, and the title role in Von Flotow’s Martha all with the Landestheater Detmold. She recently returned to the US for Micaela in Carmen for her Seattle Opera debut and made her Italian debut in Mozart’s Mass in C with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Rai

From 2012 – 2018 Emily was a member of the ensemble of the Semperoper Dresden. While at the Semperoper Emily was heard as Katja in Die Passagieren,Pamina in die Zauberflöte, Violetta in La Traviata, Musetta in La Boheme, Micaela in Carmen, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, Bubikopf in Kaiser von Atlantis, the title role of Regina under the batan of Simone Young, and Susanna in their new production of Le Nozze di Figaro conducted by Omer Meir Welber and directed by Johannes Erath. This production was then featured at the Sanvonlinna Festival.

Other notable performances include the role of Juliette in Gounoud’s Faust with Palm Beach Opera, Violetta with the Lyric Opera of Virginia, the Messenger of Peace in Wagner’s Rienzi with the Opera Orchestra of New York, Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Tanglewood Music Center under the baton of Christoph von Dohnanyi, and Blanche in Dialogues of the Carmelites with the Mannes Opera for which the New York Times wrote, “Emily Dorn sang with radiant tone and superb diction.” 

Emily has been a recipient of numerous honors, winning first place in the New England Regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Awards, second place awards from the Gerda Lissner and the Guilio Gari International Voice Competitions, third place winner in the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, and an Encouragement Grant from the George London Foundation

Miriam Costa Jackson
Soprano

Italian-American lyric coloratura soprano Miriam Costa-Jackson is the youngest of the Costa Jackson Sisters. Engagements in the 2024-25 season include Micaela in Carmen with Florida Grand Opera. She has been engaged in music from a very young age, performing with the Utah Festival Opera in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Lerner & Loewe’s Brigadoon, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.  In the 2019 season, Miriam appeared as Clorinda in Seattle Opera’s production of La Cenerentola, followed by a Three Singing Sisters concert at McCaw Hall, Seattle. She made her professional debut with Phoenicia Festival as Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen in 2018.  Other roles include Die Königin der Nacht in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Magda in Puccini’s La Rondine, and Rosita in Torroba’s Luisa Fernanda.

Miriam performs regularly with the Costa Jackson Sisters (Three Singing Sisters), which includes her sisters Ginger and Marina Costa Jackson.  They have presented concerts from such places as Nantucket, San Francisco, and Sun Valley Idaho, as well as two concert tours with the late Dmitri Hvorostovsky, where they presented concerts in Belarus, Minsk, and other cities throughout Russia.

Other concert engagements include Orff’s Carmina Burana for the American Festival Chorus, and a recital at the Italian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Miriam studied with Renata Scotto at Santa Cecilia in Rome and with Sherrill Milnes at VOICExperience in Florida. Miriam was a 2018 finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Auditions, after having won the Utah District in 2017.  She has also been recognized by the Opera Index Awards.

Luise Breyer-Aiton
Soprano

British/German soprano, Luise Breyer-Aiton has shared her heartfelt passion for performing in regular appearances in opera, oratorio and lied across Europe. In the U.S. the soprano performed the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier at the MSU Concert Stage, New York. No stranger to contemporary music, Luise debuted the role of Junge Robbe in the world premiere of Susanne Stelzenbach’s contemporary opera, Die UnterwasserOper. Ms. Breyer-Aiton recently made her debut at the Aegean Festival in Greece as Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

Prior engagements include the soprano singing the role of Rosalinde in Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus at the Trentino Music Festival in Italy. She also sang the title roles of Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Berlin Opera Collaborative, and of Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the VIVAT Festival, Dorset. At the Hauptstadt Oper, Berlin. Ms. Breyer-Aiton was heard as the Contessa in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.

In past seasons, Ms. Breyer-Aiton appeared at the Dorset Opera Festival in Verdi’s  La Traviata and Puccini’s Suor Angelica. She was a young artist at Grange Park Opera, Surrey, UK, where she covered the role of Ellen Orford, in Britten’s Peter Grimes

Philippa Boyle
Soprano

Soprano Philippa Boyle has been very active in the United Kingdom and is quickly establishing herself in the German and spinto repertoire. In the 2024-25 season she makes her Royal Opera House debut as Mette in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Festen.  Future engagements include Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes for her Opera North debut, Mette in Festen with Finnish National Opera, and Lady Billows with English National Opera (cover). Recent performances include the title role in Janáčk’s Jenůfa for Fulham Opera and Violetta (cover) in Verdi’s La Traviata for Nevill Holt Opera. The soprano has recently been seen as La Chouette in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Lee Reynolds, Mum in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek and Mrs. Grose (cover) in Britten’s Turn of the Screw (canceled due to COVID) for English Tourning Opera, Eva in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger, Elisabetta de Valois in Verdi’s Don Carlo, and Kát’a in Kát’a Kabanová for Fulham Opera, Elizabeth in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda for Opera Up Close, the title role in Puccini’s Tosca for King’s Head Theatre, Cathleen in Riders To The Sea for the Wexford Festival, Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff for Woodhouse Opera, Giorgetta in Puccini’s Il Tabarro, and Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni for Opera Vera.

Ms. Boyle’s concert engagement have included the Dvořák Stabat Mater with the BBC Concert Orchestra with conductor Daniel Hyde (cancelled due to COVID) at King’s College, Cambridge, Mahler Symphony no.2 “Resurrection” with conductor Sam Burstin at Blackheath Halls London, Rossini Stabat Mater at the Winchester Cathedral, Tchaikovsky selections from Eugene Onegin and Queen of Spades with conductor Damian Iorio for Milton Keynes City Orchestra, Mozart’s Requiem with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rimma Sushanskaya,  Elgar’s The Apostles with the Nottingham Bach Choir and Players, and Dvořák’s Té Deum with the Nottingham Concert Orchestra. She has performed Verdi’s Requiem with conductor Franz-Peter Huber and the L’Arpa Festante München Orchestra, with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under conductor David Hill, and with the Cambridge University Music Society at King’s College, Cambridge also under the baton of Maestro Hill.

Philippa received the 1^st Prize in the Emmy Destinn Young Singer Award for Czech opera and song. She was a member of the Santa Cecilia Opera Studio Rome, Corso di Alto Perfezionamento where she studied with Renata Scotto, Anna Vandi, and Cesare Scarton, and received her Diploma in Opera from the Conservatorio di Musica Santa Cecilia. Her MA is from Clare College, University of Cambridge.

Philippa has been a Young Artist with Nevill Holt Opera, and has done Outreach work for Opera Holland Park.