Opera Orlando Introduces 2026-27 Apprentice and Studio Artists

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Seven emerging artists will join the company for professional training, MainStage productions, masterclasses and community performances throughout Central Florida.

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Opera Orlando has welcomed seven emerging singers to its Apprentice and Studio Artists programs for the 2026-27 season.

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In partnership with Stetson University School of Music, the company has selected three current undergraduates as apprentice artists: soprano Charlotte Kierstead, mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Lundstrom and baritone Hank Evans.

Soprano Alexandra Kzeski will return for her second season as a studio artist, joined by mezzo-soprano Sarah Kathryn Curtis, tenor Benjamin Ruiz and bass-baritone David Kahng.

The Apprentice and Studio Artists programs are part of Operalogie, Opera Orlando's education and training continuum, which provides young singers and emerging professionals with training and performance opportunities alongside working artists.

"These seven artists are doing the real thing this season," Education Director Sarah Purser said. "They're on the Steinmetz Hall stage, they're in the room with our guest conductors, they're meeting audiences all over Central Florida. We get a front-row seat to watching them grow — and so does everyone who comes to see them."

The company's three apprentice artists will appear in Opera Orlando's opening MainStage production of Puccini's Madame Butterfly . Each will also participate in a public masterclass with one of the company's guest conductors during the season.

The artists are paid for their performances and work representing Opera Orlando throughout Central Florida while earning college credit and completing their degrees.

The season's first Masterclass with the Maestra will take place September 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the Opera Orlando Studios. Madame Butterfly conductor Kalena Bovell will lead the class, featuring apprentice artist Hank Evans alongside all four studio artists. The event is free, with RSVPs available at tickets@operaorlando.org .

Four singers are selected for Opera Orlando's Studio Artists program each season from a nationwide audition pool of more than 600 applicants. The artists perform and cover MainStage roles, participate in workshops and masterclasses with guest artists and receive additional training in acting, movement and vocal technique.

Kzeski returns following a 2025-26 season in which she covered Mimì in La Bohème and performed Madeleine in Silent Night , Gretel in Hansel and Gretel and Valencienne in The Merry Widow .

New studio artists Curtis, Ruiz and Kahng bring experience from organizations including The Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Houston Grand Opera , Wolf Trap Opera, Central City Opera and Des Moines Metro Opera.

The studio artists will also perform throughout Central Florida in schools, retirement communities, concerts and community events.

This season, they will be featured in Nestor's Big Beautiful Boost of Confidence , a new adaptation of Donizetti's Elixir of Love created by Opera Orlando Artistic Director Grant Preisser for young audiences. The production will visit elementary schools in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties and, for the first time, Volusia County.

A free public performance will take place February 6, 2027 at 11 a.m. at Mead Botanical Garden.

"Opera Orlando studio artists may spend one week working on a MainStage production in Steinmetz Hall and the next performing for a room full of elementary students who most likely have never heard an opera singer in person before," Purser said. "That range of experience matters. These programs allow us to develop the next generation of opera artists while they help us build the next generation of opera audiences."

Opera Orlando is currently accepting applications for its 2027-28 Studio Artists program, which will run September 2027 through May 2028. More information is available at OperaOrlando.org .

Nominate your favorite local productions and performers before the deadline on October 31, 2026.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwopera/article/Opera-Orlando-Welcomes-2026-27-Apprentice-and-Studio-Artists-20260915)._