Leonid Shoshyn is a hero on and off the stage. He is the lead Dramatic Tenor in residence at the Odessa National Opera in Ukraine. His roles in 2023 include Cavaradossi in Tosca, Manrico in Il Trovatore and Calaf in Turandot. Since the invasion of his homeland, he has served 8 months active duty. When he returned to the beloved city of his birth, Odessa, he and his colleagues bravely performed in the beautiful 19 th century Opera house while the city was under attack. In his words, ” We heard the bomb alarms and all; performers, orchestra and audience, quietly filed into the basement and waited two hours for the attack to finish. Then we went back upstairs and finished the opera.”

This young artist finished his graduate degree at the Akademia Operowa, a division of the Polish National Opera in 2019. He has won several international competitions and despite interruptions from COVID and war, he has managed to perform in important European companies including; German opera companies in Berin and Essen, St. Gallen in Switzerland, Polish National Opera in Warsaw, and National Moravian Opera in the Czech Republic. His repertoire also includes Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, Canio in Pagliacci, Luigi in Il Tabarro, Paul in Die Tote Stadt and Raymond in Jeanne d’Arc.

Praised for “gleaming high notes and powerful phrasing” (San Diego Story), soprano Sarah Tucker is demanding attention for her captivating vocal timbre and engaging stage presence.

Ms. Tucker’s recent debut with San Diego Opera as Micaëla in Carmen was described as “heart-rending and soulful,” (Pacific San Diego) and Opera West praised her as “one of the loveliest soprano voices I’ve heard in years.” She sang the role of Mimì in La bohème with Gulfshore Opera in season 6 and 7; made debuts at Dallas Opera as Frasquita in Carmen, and at the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy in Japan as Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi. With the Santa Fe Opera, Ms. Tucker sang the role of Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos.

Other notable appearances include Jano in Jenüfa with the San Francisco Opera and Micaëla in Carmen at Utah Opera. Ms. Tucker returned to San Diego Opera in 2022 in her role debut as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte.

Heralded as “a voice that could give us a father Germont and other lyric roles in the great American baritone tradition of Robert Merrill’ for his European debut with the De Nederlandse Opera as Silvio in Pagliacci. Kyle has appeared with opera companies throughout the United States including the Metropolitan Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, New York City Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Florida Grand Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Tulsa Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera Memphis, and Fort Worth Opera, among many others.

He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as the Marquis d’Obigny. Kyle has returned to the MET as Marquis d’Obigny in 2012, 2014, and 2015, and has also been heard in Andre Chenier, Faust, La fanciulla del West, The Magic Flute. He appeared as Eisenstein in Bat’s Revenge (Die Fledermaus) with Gulfshore Opera in Season 8.

His upcoming performances include a company debut with Arizona Opera as the Musikleherer in Ariadne auf Naxos, and a recitals at Molloy University and Tulsa University.

He has employed his unique talent in opera, operetta and musical theater from the contemporary to the classic.

Grammy nominated mezzo-soprano, Elise Quagliata, has forged a dynamic career over the past twenty years, sought after for the beauty of her voice, her dramatic range and the charismatic hold she has on audiences everywhere. Well-known for shaping roles in new and contemporary opera, she has also been acclaimed for her performance of traditional works.

Elise’s previous seasons featured over 70 performances of Carmen for New York City Opera on tour in Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East; on her return, she sang the role for summer audiences at New York City’s Bryant Park. In Season 7, she performed in Gulfshore Opera’s The Carmen Gala. The artist’s Carmen has been widely praised, “Quagliata’s dusky mezzo, dramatic acumen and pulchritude commanded attention” (Opera News).

The artist has also made memorable appearances as Mrs. Lovett and Countess Charlotte Malcolm in two Stephen Sondheim classics, Sweeney Todd and A Little Night Music. In the latter, Opera News found her “deliciously caustic.”

In traditional roles, Ms. Quagliata has sung Fricka in Jonathan Dove’s reworking of Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Die Walküre for Union Avenue Opera; Emilia in Verdi’s Otello with Austin Opera and Jacksonville Symphony; Cornelia in Handel’s Guilio Cesare with Florida Grand Opera; Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Bertha in Rossini’s Barber of Seville with Pensacola Opera. With Des Moines Metro Opera, the artist has sung Olga in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and The Muse/Nicklausse in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann.