Vanessa

INNA DUKACH Soprano Inna Dukach has been praised by Opera News for her “appealing emotional vulnerability” and “considerable power.” She has performed leading roles with the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Savonlinna Opera Festival, Israeli National Opera, and Opera Hong Kong. Her signature roles include Cio-Cio San, Mimi, Tatiana, Nedda, Rosalinda and Violetta. In the U.S., she has appeared with New York City Opera, Opera Colorado, Atlanta Opera, Florentine Opera, Nashville Opera, Opera Omaha, and the American Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center. She is featured on recordings with the Royal Opera House, Toccata Classics, and Sono Luminus.

ROY HAGE made his LA Opera debut this season as Sami in Mary Kouyoumdjian’s Adoration, in a career shaped by resilience, artistry, and a deep love of storytelling. Growing up in war-torn Beirut, he sang along with opera recordings to drown out the sound of bombs before moving alone to the U.S. at 16, unwavering in his commitment to a life in music. Today, the multi-GRAMMY®-nominated tenor is acclaimed for his “uncommonly beautiful voice” (Musical America) and “haunting” performances (TheaterScene.net), with critics declaring, “[t]his is why we attend the opera.” He will return to LA Opera in November to perform Volmar in the world premiere of Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Hildegard, produced by Beth Morrison Projects. A champion of new works, Roy has collaborated with numerous Pulitzer Prize and GRAMMY®-winning composers while also excelling in more than 40 principal roles, including The Tales of Hoffmann, Roméo et Juliette, Pelléas et Mélisande, Candide, The Rake’s Progress, La clemenza di Tito, and Manon. His career has taken him from sold-out one-man shows at Stanford Live to a triumphant return to the Middle East, where he appeared on MTV, singing “Nessun Dorma”, and was honored as a guest performer at the Lebanese American University’s Centennial—a prestigious event attended by the Lebanese head of state and government officials. Self-represented and open to new management, Roy brings an artist’s vision and a steadfast commitment to shaping the future of opera.

JOSHUA JEREMIAH Hailed as “rich-voiced” (The New York Times) and praised for his “warmly appealing, burnished baritone” (Opera Today), Joshua Jeremiah continues to bring his celebrated performances to theaters throughout the United States. Last season brought an exciting world premiere with Beth Morrison Projects singing the role of Niles in Sensorium Ex, as well as a workshop of the new work The Sheltering Tree with Hawaii Opera Theater, a house début with South Dakota Symphony Orchestra as the Preacher in Giants in the Earth, and his return to Dallas Symphony covering Alberich for their performances of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. In an exciting 2025-2026 season, Mr. Jeremiah returns to Toledo Opera as Escamillo in Carmen, débuts with Piedmont Opera as Tonio in Pagliacci, and returns to Hawaii Opera Theater for the world premiere of The Sheltering Tree.

ORI MARCU Excitedly making her Heartbeat Opera and WTF debut this season, Ori Marcu is a mezzo-soprano from Brooklyn, NY, praised for her “well cultivated acting skills” (Palm Beach Daily News). In 2024 Ori sang the role of Adelaide (Guys and Dolls) at Ohio Light Opera, described as “brilliantly performed” by Cleveland Classical. In 2023 and 2024 she was an Apprentice Artist at Palm Beach Opera and a Vocal Fellow at the Lakes Area Music Festival under the batons of David Stern and Christian Reif. Ori currently studies with Michael Paul and is a proud graduate of Katherine Ciesinski’s collegiate studio.

ELIOT GOLDMUND (born Euntaek Kim) is an American pianist, conductor, and composer, who has been lauded as “nimble” and “colorful” (Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times) and a “real pianistic talent” (Roy Westbrook, MusicWeb International). Prizewinner and participant of The 2007 Queen Elisabeth Competition, The 4th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, among others, Eliot is featured in the 2005 PBS documentary titled “Euntaek Kim and Performance of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy.” Appearing in venues across the globe, Eliot collaborated with members of Aeolus, Calidore, Enso, Escher, Parker, and Ying quartets and is in the process of recording all piano works by Sergei Prokofiev.

ADAM PHAN is a recent graduate of the Artist Diploma program at the Juilliard School where he studied with Nancy Allen. His time in New York was spent doing a wide range of work playing as principal harpist in the pit at Wicked on Broadway, being an associate musician of the Metropolitan Opera, a frequent substitute with the New York Philharmonic, and he was also a line cook at a Michelin recommended ramen restaurant! Adam has a budding orchestral career often performing as guest principal harpist with the Dallas Symphony, Seattle Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, and the Pittsburgh Symphony. Outside of orchestral playing Adam has a passion in transcribing new works for the harp, remaining active in education and community engagement, and having daily walks with his dog Angel.

REBECCA STEINBERG has held trumpet chairs in Broadway musicals SUFFS and New York, New York. Other favorite theater appearances include The Counterfeit Opera (Little Island), Ragtime (City Center), Sound of Music (Papermill Playhouse), and Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (Stage 42). Rebecca’s most passionate and impactful work is with Calliope Brass, an ensemble that prioritizes creativity, collaboration, and community. Rebecca won the 2018 Liz Swados Inspiration Grant, an annual award honoring influential female music educators in New York City, on behalf of Calliope Brass. Rebecca enjoys a variety of freelance work with other ensembles including Contemporaneous, TILT Brass, and Talea Ensemble to name a few. In 2023, she performed the world premiere of Adolphus Hailstork’s “Concertino for Trumpet and Orchestra” with The Chelsea Symphony. Additionally, Rebecca serves as a program head for Maestra Music’s First Takes program and is the Director of Brass at the Dwight Englewood School.

JOHNNA WU is a violinist, performer and improviser active in North America, Europe, and Asia. She is the founder, artistic and executive director of the New York-based electroacoustic ensemble PinkNoise. Her most recent appearances include performances at the Music Biennale Zagreb, Lucerne Festival, Toyama International Contemporary Music Festival in Japan, University Museum of Contemporary Art in Mexico City, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Donaueschingen Musiktage, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, Paris Philharmonie, Guangzhou Opera House, and the Banff Centre in Canada. In 2015, she was awarded the Fulbright scholarship to pursue research in Germany. She graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts degrees in biology and music, with a concentration in pre-medical studies. She obtained a Master of Music degree in violin performance at The Juilliard School and is a doctorate student at the Graduate Center. She serves on the violin faculty at CUNY-Staten Island and was a co-curator and faculty member at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland from 2021-2024.

JACOB ASHWORTH is the Artistic Director of the “categorically imaginative and radical" (New Yorker) Heartbeat Opera. A conductor and violinist, Jacob previously spent ten years as the “impressive Artistic Director” (NYTimes) of the baroque and modern “crack ensemble” (New Yorker) Cantata Profana, which he founded in 2012 and which earned the 2016 CMA/ASCAP National Award for Adventurous Programming. Jacob performs equally as a conductor, on modern violin, and on baroque violin, mixing chamber music performances with concertmastering orchestras, and music directing operas throughout the US and abroad. Jacob has been called a “richly detailed” conductor (NYTimes), a “lithe and nimble” baroque violinist (NYTimes), an “exacting and sensitive” new music player (Boston Globe), and “a flat-out triumph” onstage (Opera News). His album “Hermestänze” on MSR Records features solo violin cycles by Susan Kander, played “expressively and knowingly throughout” (Gramophone).

SAMUEL BARBER was born in 1910 in West Chester, PA and began composing his first opera at age 9. Beginning four years later, he studied composition, voice, and piano at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he met Gian Carlo Menotti. Barber won the Pulitzer Prize for Music twice: in 1958, for Vanessa, and in 1962, for the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, which opened the new Lincoln Center Philharmonic Hall. His Anthony and Cleopatra opened the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in 1966. Barber’s artistic and romantic partnership with Gian Carlo Menotti lasted 40 years. He died in 1981.

SKYE BRONFENBRENNER is a fight and intimacy director currently serving as Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts with specialties in Movement and Theatrical Intimacy Education at Marymount Manhattan College. She holds an MFA in Theatre from the University of Houston where she was also taught Movement for the Actor in the BFA program. She has taught movement and stage combat for Houston Grand Opera's Butler Studio and YAVA programs, Rice University, the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and as a teaching artist for the Alley Theatre. As a fight and intimacy director her work has been seen at the Houston Grand Opera, Hudson Hall, Catastrophic Theatre, Rec Room Arts, Marymount Manhattan College, the University of Houston, and Rice University.

HUSAN CHUN-NOVAK has worked for over 30 years as an assistant conductor, opera pianist, and continuo player at major theaters and festivals across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, including Theater an der Wien, the Mariinsky Theatre, Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Palau de les Arts, and Maryland Lyric Opera. She has collaborated with conductors such as Riccardo Frizza and Speranza Scappucci, and with directors including Emilio Sagi and Calixto Bieito. As a recital pianist, she has performed at prestigious venues such as Musikverein Wien, Teatro Real de Madrid, and theaters across Europe, Asia, and the U.S.

HARRY COLLINS is a music director, conductor and pianist from Sydney, Australia. Having completed his undergraduate BMus (Classical Voice) and MM (Orchestral Conducting) in Australia, he relocated to the US to pursue an MFA (Theatre Music Direction) and has a career as a MD (recent: Come From Away, National; Anastasia Fulton). Opera has long been a part of Harry's life, from the children's chorus of the Australian Opera, singing in Tristan with David Robinson and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, to his many productions as a repetiteur and conductor. This is Harry's third production with Heartbeat.

BRENNA COMEAU could not be more thrilled to be returning to Heartbeat at the wonderful Williamstown Theatre Festival this year! Based in NYC/NJ, she works as a freelance Stage Manager in opera, theatre, and immersive formats. A 3x Heartbeat Opera alum, her previous work with the company includes TOSCA, The Extinctionist, and FAUST (ASM). Other select NYC credits include Sleep No More, RELAPSE: a new musical, CENDRILLON, and Archie's Weird Parody. IG: bre_com

Jake Eisner is a musician and theatre artist from New York City. This is his fourth project with Heartbeat Opera, following Eugene Onegin, Salome, and Faust. Other production music credits include Yemandja with Angélique Kidjo, Kinky Boots at Bucks County Playhouse, and AREA D at the Tank. Jake’s work has also been featured around the country and abroad as a sound designer. Recent and upcoming credits include The Rice Eaters (AMT Theater), The Misanthrope (HERE Arts Center), and Cringe (Edinburgh Fringe, 59E59). Assistant and associate sound credits include The Reservoir (Denver Center/Alliance/Geffen) and A Christmas Carol (Alabama Shakespeare Festival). He holds a B.A. in Music from Williams College.

MATIA EMSELLEM is a hairstylist who splits their time between Hudson and NYC. They work as HMU in film, music video, fashion, theater, and have a private haircutting practice both upstate and down. Recent credits include Giulio Cesare (Hudson Hall) directed by R.B. Schlather, Sabrina Carpenter’s Please Please music video, Mubi’s My First Film, and Morgan Gruer’s Fire At Will which recently premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. For more info visit matiaworldwide.com.

PEREGRINE TENG HEARD is an actor, playwright, and the artistic director of The Associates Theater Ensemble. She has collaborated with Heartbeat on dramaturgy, supertitle translations, and original scripts for five drag extravaganzas. With The Associates, Peregrine has devised and performed The Cousinhood, Sheila, Black Protagonist, and Freesome. Her own plays include Redemption Story (O’Neill Semifinalist); On The Prowl with Ada Tsiao (O’Neill Semifinalist, 59E59 SpaceLab recipient); and Mabel Bidewell, Tough Woman. Peregrine earned a B.A. in East Asian Studies at Yale.

GIAN CARLO MENOTTI was born in 1911 in Cadegliano, Italy, and completed the score and libretto of his first opera, The Death of Pierrot, at age 11. He went on to train at the Verdi Conservatory in Milan and Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music, where he met Samuel Barber. Menotti won the Pulitzer Prize for Music twice: in 1950, for his first full-length opera, The Consul, and in 1955, for The Saint of Bleecker Street. ​Commissioned ​by NBC to write the first opera for television​, ​he created the classic Amahl and the Night Visitors, which he described as “an opera for children because it tries to recapture my own childhood.” ​(Barber ​c​ontributed to the orchestrations.) Menotti died in 2007.

R.B. SCHLATHER is an American artist and opera director, associated with immersive installations and unconventional stagings that push the boundaries of traditional operatic performance. His work has been praised for challenging norms and creating new and engaging experiences for audiences. In 2023 he was profiled in the New York Times as a rare American opera director bringing “fresh visions to Europe’s opera stages.” Recent highlights include productions of Giulio Cesare and Rodelinda commissioned by Hudson Hall with Ruckus Early Music (New York Times Critic’s Picks), and premieres of Macbeth, Madama Butterfly, L’Italiana in Londra, and Tamerlano at Oper Frankfurt. He has directed performances for The Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Sawdust, Fisher Center Bard, Tanglewood Music Festival, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Omaha, Wolf Trap Opera, Curtis Institute of Music, and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. Upcoming: premieres for Oper Frankfurt, Den Norske Opera, and the Santa Fe Opera.

TERESE WADDEN is a New York-based costume designer. Recent credits include Giulio Cesare (Hudson Hall) directed by R.B. Schlather, Kate Soper’s opera The Hunt (Miller Theatre), Candide (Opera de Lyon), and Most Happy (Williamstown Theatre Festival). She has designed costumes for Cosi fan Tutte (Santa Fe Opera), the Tony Award-winning production of Oklahoma! (Broadway, West End, Touring, and St. Ann’s Warehouse), Peter Pan (Bard Summerscape), and Acquanetta (Bard Summerscape and Prototype Festival). Her work has been seen at the Canadian Opera Company, Glimmerglass Festival, Tanglewood, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater, New York City Opera, Opera Colorado, Central City Opera, Portland Opera, Baryshnikov Arts Center, the Mark Taper Forum, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and National Sawdust. She was awarded a Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome in 2020-2021.

JIAYING ZHANG is a New York-based set designer whose work explores alternative storytelling forms and new ways to shape theatrical language. She is drawn to the energy of bodies in space, the sculpting of atmosphere, and the interweaving of visual and emotional worlds. Recent design credits include A(U)NTS! (The Brick), Le Nozze di Figaro (The Juilliard School), and {IN}TANGIBLE (Theatre Row). Recent associate design credits include Giulio Cesare (Hudson Hall, New York) and Eurydice (Boston Lyric Opera). She is currently co-designing Working Girl with Christine Jones and Brett Banakis as part of the collective AMP. www.jiayingzhang.com