Voice Faculty 2025

Cheryl Studer

SOPRANO & PRESIDENT OF JURY

Born in Midland, Michigan, American soprano Cheryl Studer studied piano and viola and at the age of 12 began voice lessons. She graduated from the University of Music and Acting in Vienna, where she studied with Hans Hotter.

Her career took off in 1979 when Seiji Ozawa offered her a series of concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Since then, she has appeared regularly in leading opera houses (La Scala, Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera New York, Vienna State Opera, Grand Opera of Paris), as well as with the most prestigious festivals such as Salzburg, Bayreuth, Pesaro and Munich. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestras of Vienna, Berlin, Tokyo, London, Philadelphia, Academia of Santa Cecilia and others.

Her first appearance at Carnegie Hall was a recital in 1994, where she returned two years later with the Dresden Staatskapelle under the baton of Giuseppe Sinopoli performing Strauss’ “Four Last Songs”

Her vast repertoire has included the roles of Aida and Arabella, performed at Covent Garden, Marshallin and Chrysothemis at the Salzburg Festival; Senta, Elisabeth, Elsa and Sieglinde for nine seasons of the Bayreuth Festival. Her US debut was at the Chicago Lyric Opera as Micaela in Carmen next to Placido Domingo in 1984. Her triumph as the Marshallin with the Vienna State Opera was followed by Ariadne auf Naxos (Japan tour), Der Rosenkavalier (Metropolitan), Frau ohne Schatten and Die Walküre in Vienna and Dresden, where she also performed Der Fliegende Holländer and Der Rosenkavalier, Tannhäuser in Hamburg, Munich and Rio de Janeiro, Elena (I Vespri Siciliani), Matilde (Guglielmo Tell), Odabella (Attila), all at Teatro alla Scala under Riccardo Muti. Mozart roles have included Donna Anna, Contessa, and Elettra (Idomeneo). She received rave reviews in Zurich when she sang Arabella in 2000.

Cheryl Studer has been honoured with many international prizes, including the Franz Schubert Institute Prize for her excellence in Lied performance, the High Fidelity Musical America Prize, the Grand Prix du Disque, the 1989 Maria Callas Prize for her superb performance as Sieglinde in Die Walküre (EMI) and as Empress in Frau ohne Schatten, and in 1992 the Edison Prize for her recording of Salome (Deutsche Grammophon). In the same year, she was awarded the International Classical Music Award as the best singer of the year (the first artist to receive this prize) followed by the Wilhelm Furtwängler Prize in 1994. She has most recently been awarded the ‘Terras sem Sombre’ (2011) and the Ovation Award (2012) for her life’s work in the arts. In addition to numerous nominations, she has won two Grammy Awards.

Cheryl Studer has been a fulltime Professor at the University of Music in Würzburg, Germany since 2003, where she teaches voice, stage craft, Opera Ensemble and audition training. She has staged productions of Ariadne auf Naxos and Il barbiere di Siviglia. She also gives Master Classes internationally and is often jury member for international voice competitions, including the Maria Callas Grand Prix in Athens.  

Since 2011, Cheryl Studer has performed mezzo-soprano roles such as Gertrud in Haensel & Gretel and Adelaide (Arabella) at the Hamburg State Opera,  Nettie Fowler (Carousel) at Theater Basel, Mamma Lucia (Cavalleria Rusticana) at Opera Graz, with Live-Recording, and the Aufseherin  in the famed Chereau-production of Elektra under Barenboim at the State Opera of Berlin. In 2021, she sang the role of Tertullia in “Die Verurteilung des Lukullus” at the State Theater of Stuttgart to great acclaim. She most recently performed the role of Mamma Lucia at the Autumn Festival Baden-Baden under Thomas Hengelbrock. Future engagements include performances at the State Opera of Berlin in 2025.

Cheryl Studer’s singing career spans over four decades, beginning in 1976, and the 2024/25 season marks her 50th season of professional singing.

Benjamin Butterfield

Tenor & Professor Head of Voice at University of Victoria

Benjamin Butterfield studied voice with Selena James at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

He later graduated from McGill University and was awarded grants from the Canada Council for the Arts to study in the USA, UK and Italy.

He was recognized by the Sullivan Foundation and Oratorio Society of New York and was a participant at the Steans Vocal Institute at the Ravinia Festival, Chicago.

In conjunction with his tenure at UVic, Benjamin maintains an active singing career and is represented by Schwalbe & Partners in New York. Performance highlights include:

Handel’s Tamerlano with the legendary stage director Jonathan Miller at Glimmerglass Opera; Montreal Jazz Festival with Dave Brubeck; sharing the stage with film star Isabella Rossellini at the San Carlo in Naples and Epidaurus in Greece, filming Messiah for ZDF at the Handel Festspiele-Halle with Trevor Pinnock and performing in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion for Coretta Scott King at the National Cathedral in Washington DC.

Other performances have included Rossini’s Barber of Seville with Welsh National Opera, Mozart’s Magic Flute at New York City Opera, Haydn’s Creation with the Orchestra of St. Lukes at Carnegie Hall and Stankovych’s Kiddish Requiem with the Hamburg Philharmonic in Kyiv, Ukraine for the 75th anniversary of Babyn Yar. Heard regularly on CBC Radio and nominated for several Juno Awards, Mr. Butterfield has also been featured on episodes of This is my music.

Professor Butterfield previously served on faculty at York University in Toronto and has taught and performed at Opera Nuova Edmonton, Opera on the Avalon in Newfoundland, the Vancouver International Song Institute, the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy, the Victoria Conservatory Summer Vocal Academy, Orford Musique in Quebec and at Yellow Barn in Vermont.

Maria Cristina Curti

Soprano & Voice Professor at Milano State Conservatory

Born in Reggio Emilia in 1965, after her classical high school diploma she got her diploma at the “G.B. Martini” in Bologna and the diploma in vocal chamber music at the “A. Boito” Conservatory in Parma; she later specialized with Dorothy Dorow, Claudio Cavina and Alan Curtis in the early music field.

His artistic activity has focused on the Italian Renaissance and Baroque repertoire, in ensembles and in leading roles, performing at festivals and shows in Italy and abroad, including the Sagra Musicale Malatestiana in Rimini, the Opera Barga Festival, the Italian Embassy in Beijing, La Scala Theater Museum and others, with tours in Australia and Sweden from 2000 to 2007.

Professor Curti released the following CDs: – Il Paratajo by Niccolò Jommelli – intermezzo in two acts, first modern reprise (protagonist role: Clarissa), Ed. Bongiovanni – Works for voice and guitar by Mauro Giuliani – C. Curti soprano, A. Vianello guitar, Ed. Tactus – O my lovers, peasants and villanelles: unkind love – Chiarivari Ensemble, M.A.P. Editions Milan – The first book of madrigals by Giovan Tommaso Lambertini – Fortuna Ensemble, Ed. Tactus – Cigni Capre Galli e Grilli, music by Marchetto Cara and other Italian composers of the early sixteenth century – Fortuna Ensemble, Ed. Tactus – The villanelles for three, four and five voices by Ghinolfo Dattari – Fortuna Ensemble, Ed. Tactus – Clamor mentis – Profane and spiritual songs collected by Simone Verovio, Palestrina and the masters of the Roman School – Fortuna Ensemble, Ed. Echo As a professor of voice she was invited as a speaker at international conferences, including the education conferences organized by the Chinese government (2016, Beijing; 2017, Harbin) where she gave masterclasses in numerous Chinese universities, including Beijing Normal University , Shenyang Northeastern University, Nanjing Normal University and others. Since 2000 she is a permanent teacher of voice at the Parma State Conservatory and since then she have dedicated herself with increasing intensity to institutional activity, serving in various roles: Coordinator of the Voice Program and Musical Theater Department; Tutor for students; Member of the Academic Council; Delegate for Disabilities, DSA (Specific Learning Disorders) and BSE (Needs Special Education).

She is also currently registered, through selection, in the ANVUR Register of Evaluation Experts initial and periodical of AFAM courses and institutions, in the Evaluation Expert profile disciplinary, having also participated in evaluation commissions. She is currently professor of voice at Milano State Conservatory.

Sahoko Sato Timpone

Mezzo-soprano & Voice Professor at University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music

The “impressive” (New York Times) and “rich, glowing” (New York Arts) Japanese American mezzo-soprano Sahoko Sato Timpone made her Carnegie Hall debut in Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields conducted by Sir Neville Marriner, narrated by Christopher Plummer, and has since appeared in opera and concerts throughout North America, Asia, and Europe.

Ms. Timpone’s future and recent engagements include returning to Carnegie Hall as an alto soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with Masterwork Chorus, Mary in Der Fliegende Holländer with Opera Maine, Mahler’s 2nd, 3rd Symphonies, and Rückert Lieder with the Tallahassee Symphony and Florida State University Symphony, and Tryptique by Raymond Moulaert with the Terra Nova Collective in Belgium. She has also performed Verdi’s Requiem with Music Worcester, Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, and Battenkill Chorale; Mozart’s Requiem with the Tallahassee Community Chorus; and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly and Marthe in Faust with St. Petersburg Opera. Her first solo CD Songs of Japonisme – Early 20th Century Art Song from Japan and the West with pianist Kenneth Merrill was released from London-based Sheva Collection and is available through Naxos.

Notable highlights of previous seasons include appearances under the baton of Seiji Ozawa in Elektra with Tokyo Spring Festival (former Tokyo Opera Nomori), Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with Saito Kinen Festival, Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, and Rosina (cover) in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Seiji Ozawa Opera Academy. She has also performed Suzuki with Syracuse Opera, Nevada Opera, New Rochelle Opera, and Opera Camerata of Washington, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with Syracuse Operaand West Virginia Symphony, Mercédès in Carmen with Opera Maine (former PORTopera), Miss Todd in The Old Maid and the Thief with Berkshire Opera, Dorabella in Così fan tutte with Baltimore Opera, and Pitti-Sing in Mikado, Maddalena in Rigoletto and Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with Chautauqua Opera, Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City, and the New York premiere of Carlisle Floyd’s last opera, Prince of Players with the Little Opera Theatre of New York. In 2016 and 2017, she made her Off-Broadway debut to critical acclaim as Ms. Sun-Yi Nam in ¡Figaro 90210! (Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro).

On the concert stage, her past performances include Verdi’s Requiem with the New York Choral Society, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at Carnegie Hall and United Nationswith New York Symphonic Ensemble and Canadian Symphony Orchestra of NYC, Bruckner’s Te Deum, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, and Alexander Nevsky with Queensboro Symphony, Handel’s Messiah with Singapore Symphony, and solo engagements with Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony, and Sapporo Symphony.

She is also an advocate for new music and art songs. She frequently performs in recitals nationally and internationally with appearances at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, Steinway Hall, Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia, NATS Art Song Composition Award Recital, Art Song Preservation Society of New York, Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute in Utica, NY, American Musicological Society, Lunigiana International Music Festival and Sicily International Voice Festival in Italy, Alion Baltic International Music Festival in Tallinn, Estonia, Tokyo International Vocal Academy, and Ecuador’s Fundacion Cultural Armonia. Her solo recital credits include Bangkok, Thailand, sponsored by the Nomura Cultural Foundation, and Granada, Spain, as the First Miguel Zanetti International Spanish Song Competition winner. She is also featured in David Soldier’s new opera Eighth Hour of Amduat (Mulatta Records) as Mistress of the Boat, and in a jazz arrangement of Time to Say Goodbye in jazz trumpeter James Zollar’s CD, Zollar Systems (JZAZ Records).

A native of Tokyo who grew up in Germany and the United States, Ms. Timpone is currently an associate professor of voice at University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and previously served on the faculty at Florida State University (2017-2025). She is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music (MM), New England Conservatory(BM), and Rutgers University (DMA), where she received the Irene Alm Memorial Prize for excellence in performance and scholarly research. During the 2024-2025, she is a Visiting Scholar at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp‘s research unit Labo XIX&XX for research on Belgian Art Song. Additionally, she is a licensed kimono dresser and has studied Japanese tea ceremony (Urasenke School) and Japanese kabuki-style dance (Sōke Fujima School). www.sahokotimpone.com

Kristina Hammarström

Mezzo-soprano Voice Professor at Royal College of music Stockholm

Kristina Hammarström started her musical studies as a viola player at The Royal College of Music in Stockholm before focusing on singing and acting at the University College of Opera, Stockholm. She has appeared on stages of prestigious venues worldwide, including Teatro alla Scala Milan, Staatsoper Wien, Netherlands Opera Amsterdam, Opéra National de Paris, Opéra de Lausanne, Théâtre de La Monnaie Brussels, Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Staatsoper Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, Vlaamse Opera Antwerp, Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, Chicago Opera Theater, Opéra de Nice, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, Royal Swedish Opera, Gothenburg Opera, Norwegian National Opera, Salzburger Festspiele, Innsbrucker Festwochen, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Drottningholm Festival Stockholm, Hong-Kong International Music Festival, White Light Festival New York and Händel-Festspiele in Karlsruhe and Halle. She has performed in concert in cities like Tokyo, Sëoul, New York, London, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Bogotá.

Her repertoire spans an extensive amount of stylistically diverse operatic roles as well as chamber music and symphonic vocal music from the early 17th century and onwards. She specializes in early music and adds an imposing number of baroque operas to her repertoire.

The repertoire she has performed as a concert singer includes, for example, Mahler – Rückertlieder, Kindertotenlieder, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Das Lied von der Erdeand Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Elgar – Sea Pictures, Beethoven – Missa Solemnis and Symphony no. 9, Ravel – Shéhérazade, Berlioz – Les nuits d’été, de Falla – The Three-Cornered Hat and Montsalvatge – Cinco Canciones Negras, Mendelssohn – Elijah, Bernstein – Symphony no. 1 Jeremiah and Schumann – Das Paradies und die Peri. In addition, she counts a large number of sacred music in her repertoire.

She has collaborated with esteemed conductors such as Giovanni Antonini, Marin Alsop, Leonardo Garçia Alarcon, Fabio Biondi, Frans Brüggen, Herbert Blomstedt, Gianluca Capuano, William Christie, Jesús Lopez Cobos, Francesco Corti, Attilio Cremonesi, Ottavio Dantone, Thomas Dausgaard, Peter Dijkstra, Laurence Equilbey, Adam Fischer, Thierry Fischer, Simon Gaudenz, Alan Gilbert, Reinhard Goebel, Emmanuelle Haïm, Philippe Herreweghe, Manfred Honeck, Carlo Ipata, René Jacobs, Nicholas Kraemer, Bernard Labadie, Fabio Luisi, Lorin Maazel, Andrew Manze, Alessandro de Marchi, Andrea Marcon, Paul McCreesh, Marc Minkowski, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Christopher Moulds, John Nelson, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Enrico Onofri, Tadaaki Otaka, George Petrou, Raphaël Pichon, Daniel Reuss, Christophe Rousset, Federico Maria Sardelli, Claude Schnitzler, Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Markus Stenz, Nathalie Stutzmann and Jan Willem de Vriend.

Lucetta Bizzi

Soprano & Voice Professor at Parma Conservatory

She has always been known as a typical voice of the Bel Italian Song.

Has studied in Parma his favorite authors, light lyrical repertory of agility and lyrical, have always been Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Puccini, Mascagni with some attention even to Verdi. She has always also loved the French repertoire and thus Gounod, Bizet, Massenet etc.

Winner at the Spoleto Competition, where she debuted, first prize “Voci Belliniane”, also wins the “Toti dal Monte Competition in Treviso with the role of Musetta in Bohème, which will know her to the great Italian and international public. She has been exhibited in more than thirty works in the major theaters: La Scala, La Fenice, San Carlo di Napoli, Massimo di Palermo, Genoa, Florence, Trieste, Regio di Torino, Petruzzelli in Bari, Bologna etc.

At the Regio of Parma, his city, was present with seven productions and for four years it is protagonist in the main Puccinian works at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago and therefore Germany, France, Austria, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Japan, Holland, Hungary, China etc.

She has been directed by great directors like: Riccardo Muti, Bruno Campanella, Zoltan Pesko, Bruno Bartoletti, Angelo Campori, Franco Zeffirelli, Mauro Bolognini, Roberto De Simone, Giancarlo Cobelli, Virgherinio Little Pu, Giuliano Montaldo, Simona Marchini, Beppe De Tomasi, to mention some. She has held many masters of singing and recitals in Japan, China, Nicaragua.

Lucetta has collaborated for years with the High School of Opera of Karlsruhe with masters concerning the study and interpretation of the Italian repertoire.

She is professor at the “Arrigo Boito” Conservatory in Parma.

Invited to Beijing to prepare an important Chinese soprano for Bel Canto Italiano, in 2007, she started his collaboration with the “Showa University” of Tokyo for singing masters to Japanese pupils. Since 2008 and for several years in the field of the Pucciniano Festival, she has held an academy of vocal technique for Chinese students and then of perfection for Italian and foreign students.

Awarded in 2009 with the “Violetta d’Oro” award given in 25 years only to seven prestigious artists.

She continues to teach vocal technique at the High School for Puccinian voices in Torre del Lago.

Guest of the son of the President of the Republic in Nicaragua, the tenor Lau Reano Ortega in 2009 for a masterclass, will come back again in the following years with the Puccinian Festival to set up Tosca then Turandot, La Bohème, and to prepare Artuagisuzione Puccini and for this activity her will be recognized at the Ruben Dario Theater of Managua, for having contributed to the development of the lyric art in Nicaragua. Member of different juries of Opera Competitions.

She often returned to Japan where, in 2015, has held a course to set up with young Japanese artists, “The Wedding of Figaro” and on that occasion she returned to the scenes supporting the role of “Susanna”.

In 2018, she received the prestigious “Verdi d’Oro” award, and has been invited to hold a masterclass at the University of Shanghai and Beijing.

Anne Grimm

Soprano & Voice Professor at University of Victoria

Dutch soprano Anne Grimm studied violin and voice at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam and received scholarships from the Fonds voor de Podiumkunsten to pursue her vocal studies in London and in the US through the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival.

Since then she has been held in high regard for her work in opera, concert and recital throughout Europe, North America as well as Australia and New Zealand.

She has toured extensively with Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra (Ambronay, Salzburg Festival) as well as with the Amsterdamse Bachsolisten under Roy Goodman and The Netherlands Bachvereniging.

Anne has also appeared with Christophe Rousset, Massimo Zanetti and at the Halle Handel Festspiele and Potsdam Festival Sanssouci.

Other highlights have included touring with Frans Bruggen and the Orchestra of the 18th Century as well as singing with the Netherlands Opera, Nationale Reis Opera and at the Holland Festival.

Past performances have included the Tanglewood Festival, the National Arts Center Orchestra under Pinchas Zuckerman, Toronto’s Tafelmusik, Toronto Masque Theater, Symphony Nova Scotia, Winnipeg Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Apollo’s Fire in Cleveland and at the Ojai Festival in California.

Recognized for her performances of contemporary music, Ms. Grimm toured with Aventa Ensemble to Calgary, Montreal and New York City performing works of Saariaho and Gonneville as well as opening the Adelaide Festival in Australia as Marilyn Monroe in Gavin Bryars’ chamber opera, Marilyn Forever.

Other performances have included Christopher Butterfield’s Contes pour enfants pas sage with Continuum in Toronto as well as performing music of Gavin Bryars with the composer for the Victoria Symphony.

Most recently she performed the role of Barate in Rudolf Komorous’ chamber opera The Mute Canary with Turning Point ensemble of Vancouver touring to Prague and Ostrava in the Czech Republic.

Ms. Grimm has recorded extensively for Erato, NM Classics, Vanguard Classics, Troubadisc, Sony Classics and Harmonia Mundi France as well as for CBC Radio, ZDF, RAI, Radio France and VARA in the Netherlands.

Since 2009 she has been on the Voice Faculty at the UVic School of Music and regularly adjudicates and teaches masterclasses at the Victoria Conservatory of Music.

Zhengzhong Zhou

Baritone, Voice Professor & Opera Director at Shanghai Conservatory

Zhengzhong Zhou is an award-winning baritone recognized for his refined vocal artistry and compelling stage presence. Winner of the First Prize (Opera) and Second Prize (French mélodie) at the Marmande International Singing Competition and Third Prize at the Toulouse International Singing Competition, he later received a CNIPAL scholarship for advanced training in Marseille.

In 2010, he was selected from over 2,000 applicants to join the prestigious Royal Opera House Young Artist Programme. In 2012, he became a soloist at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and has since performed leading roles in nearly 50 operas across major international opera houses.

Zhou has collaborated with distinguished conductors, including Sir Antonio Pappano, Donald Runnicles, Andris Nelsons, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Mark Elder, John Eliot Gardiner, and leading Chinese conductors such as Yu Long, Shui Lan, and Lv Jia.

He has appeared with world-class orchestras such as the Royal Opera House Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, French Radio Symphony Orchestra, as well as major orchestras throughout China.

His discography includes Werther (Deutsche Grammophon), Le Portrait de Manon (Opera Rara), and Royal Opera House DVD releases including Anna Nicole, Rigoletto, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, as well as the NCPA production of Le nozze di Figaro.

Since 2015, Zhou has been active in vocal pedagogy. He previously taught at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music and has given masterclasses at Stanford University and multiple Chinese universities. In 2022, he joined the Shanghai Conservatory of Music as Associate Professor. His students have earned top prizes in competitions such as the Dutch International Vocal Competition, the Fraser Festival in Singapore, and the Golden Bell preliminaries.

Zhou also directs operatic productions and has led university stagings of Don Giovanni, La Bohème, and the eco-opera Don Giovanni premiered at the Shanghai Conservatory Opera House in 2024.

Denia Mazzola

Soprano & Voice Professor at Brescia Conservatory, Darfo

Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni is an italian soprano, founder and president of “AB HARMONIAE ONLUS” association. From 1982, she sing all over the world, performing over 174 operas, oratorio, and sinfonico vocale. 

She sang in the major national and international theaters, such as, Teatro della Scala, Milan; Accademia S.Cecilia, Rome; Teatro comunale, Florence; La Fenice, Venice; Carlo  Felice Theater, Genoa; S. Carlo, Naples; Teatro Massimo, Palermo; Bellini, Catania; Festpielhaus, Salzburg; Deutsche Opera, Berlin; Bregenz Festival; Frankfurt Opera; Wiesbaden Festival; Wiener Staatsoper; Opernhaus Zurich; Opera de Geneve; Montecarlo Theatre; Radio France; Radio France Festival in Montpellier; West Deutsche Rudfunk, Osterreicherundfunk, Berliner Sinfoniker, Liceu de Barcelona, Maestranza in Seville, Massimo Theatre in Santiago del Cile; Comunal, Rio de Janeiro; Opera, Athens; Houston Opera; Metropolitan, NY, London, Oslo; Cape Town Opera; Joannesburg SABC; Pretoria State Theater, Praga Smetana Theater, Massenet Festival; Luzern “Festival di Pasqua”, “Torre del lago Puccini” Festival, Taormina Festival; Euskalduna, Bilbao; Rai, Milan, Turin; Bellas Artes, Mexico City; Nhk Tokio. 

In 1991 she met Maestro Gianandrea Gavazzeni for an audition in Teatro Comunale in Florence for the role of “Lucia di Lammermoor” for Scala. 

In 1995 she has been appointed Artistic Director of “Bicentenario Donizetti” in Bergamo, but, the day after the passing of her consort, Maestro Gavazzeni, she chose to give up the role. 

In 2000, Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni, published her first book as author, “Ritratti”, edited by Thetron Milan. The book is the collection of 21+3 forgotten operas, that she performed and recovered, through iconographic, textual and musicological documentation. 

She was rewarded with the V edition of “Premio Donizetti” from the city of Bergamo, and she was honored with “premio Euterpe” by Accademia delle Muse of Florence, “Platinum” by Accademie Lyrique de Paris, “Premio Alfieri” by Fondazione Alfieri, and other awards such as “Siola d’Oro”, “Città di Varese”, “Città di Modena”, “Giuseppina Strepponi”, “Gigli”, and “Mascagni d’Oro”. 

In 2005, she found in Italy the cultural association “Ab Harmoniae Onlus – musica per la soliderietà”, in 2008, she established the association also in Nizza, France and in 2009 in Montecarlo, Monaco. Thanks to the three associations, and in collaboration with Lombardia Region, City of Bergamo, City of Florence, Vicariato of Rome, City of Nice, Principality of Monaco, City of Milan, Episcopal Conference of Brazil, and Cariplo Foundation, she produced over 300 concert, managing artistic and organizational aspect too, for national and international production. 

She recorded her album with Universal, Ricordi, Fonit Cetra, Ariston, Nuova Era, Bongiovanni, Kikko Music, Koch Schwann, West Deutsche Runfunk, Agora, OsterreicheRundfunk, SABC, Actes Sud. 

In collaboration with  French Justice Ministry, she organized educational musical activities for the french detainee.

She worked together with Kansai Nikikai, Osaka, for direction and production courses.  

Recently she curated interpretative and technical aspect and the direction of Donizetti “L’Elisir d’Amore”, in Osaka, Japan, and she will direct “Don Pasquale” next summer in Calabria. 

Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni taughts Scenic Art for Conservatorio P.PI da Palestrina in Cagliari, voice in Conservatorio A.Vivaldi in Alessandria and Bomporti di Trento in Riva del Garda. Today she teaches voice at Conservatorio Luca Marenzio in Brescia and Darfo – Boario Terme. 

She always put effort into recover and broadcast operas unfairly forgotten, and with that purpose, last november she performed and recorded “Cecilia” opera by Licinio Refice, in Monte Carlo Cathedral, and she was rewarded with “Ponchielli d’Oro – una vita per la musica”. 

She regularly collaborate with piano player Francois Renè Duchable; She was director of “Don Pasquale”, “Cavalleria rusticana”, “La Traviata”, “L’Elisir d’Amore”, “Suor Angelica”, for italian training center and international theaters, and she is author of musical theater text (Voce di Donna). 

She will be soon on stage for the recording of “Margherita da Cortona”, by Licinio Refice, and for “Falena” by Antonio Smareglia. 

For the 2016-2017 season she will perform in Milan “Dame de Montecarlo” by Poulenc, and “Dolcissimo Possente” by C. Galante and she will debut with her last musical comedy “Tango – Capricciando”. 

She was rewarded with “Paul Harrys” by Rotary Club Firenze, and “Medaglia d’Oro” by City of Nice, for her cultural and ethical value. 

She is active member of Soroptimist International – club Milano alla Scala.

Fang-Yu Lin

Soprano & Voice Professor at Tunghai University

Fang-Yu (Grace) Lin, a lyric coloratura soprano, has performed extensively in the United States, Italy, Germany, Taiwan, Japan, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Spain, and Macao in choral works, recitals, and concerts. She made her Carnegie Hall Stein Auditorium debut in 2011. Lin has presented several successful solo recitals at the National Concert Hall and the National Taichung Theater in Taiwan, as well as guest recitals at Rice University, Indiana State University, Trinity University, and at faculty concerts of the Saarburg International Music Festival (Germany) and the Brancaleoni International Music Festival (Italy). Her recent performances include appearances as a soloist under the baton of Rainer Honeck, concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and as a soloist with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra.

Admired for her artistic interpretation and the beauty of her expressive voice, Lin has appeared as Valencienne in Lehár’s Die Lustige Witwe, and as soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Bruckner’s Te Deum, Händel’s Messiah, Mozart’s C-minor Mass, Requiem, Krönungsmesse and Regina Coeli, K. 127, Poulenc’s Gloria, Rutter’s Requiem, and Schubert’s G-major Mass and B-minor Mass, among many other engagements.

Lin is also an active scholar and educator. She has given lecture-recitals on the music of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Janáček, and Boulanger at the National Taichung Theater and podcast, and has offered master classes at Indiana University, Indiana State University, Trinity University, Tongji University, and National Kaohsiung Normal University. Lin has served as a board member of the IU Student NATS (2004–10) and as vice secretary (2016–18) of the Taiwan Vocalists Association. She is currently a member of the council of the Taiwan Vocalists Association and a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). She also serves as co-editor of Italian Songs and Arias, a five-volume anthology published by the Taiwan Vocalists Association.

Dr. Lin is also a dedicated advocate of contemporary music, having performed or premiered works by Edward Penhorwood, Peter Burkholder, Chia-Ying Chiang, Robert Hatten, Richard Hundley, Feng-Hsu Lee, Eric Moe, Paul SanGregory, Ton-Yio Su, Gabi Teodoru, and Yu-Chung Tseng.

Dr. Lin is currently a full-time Associate Professor at Tunghai University and an adjunct faculty member at her alma mater, National Taiwan Normal University. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses including Voice Lessons, Vocal Pedagogy, Song Literature, Opera Workshop, Opera Literature, French Diction, Music Appreciation, On the Art of Singing, and Career Skills. Her students have won top prizes in competitions such as ACE District and National (USA), the New Voice Competition, the Japan Classical Music Competition, the Concours de Chant Français, Let’s Opera!, and the Rising Stars Vocal Competition hosted by the Taiwan Vocalis Association, as well as the National Student Competition of Music Taiwan, among other recognitions. Her students have also been accepted into leading voice programs, including those at Indiana University and the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory.

Lin received both her Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Voice Performance and Literature from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Education and Performance from National Taiwan Normal University. Her principal voice teachers include Hsiou-Lan Chen, Sai-Yun Liu, Chin-Mei Lee, Ton-Chun Yang, Patricia Wise, Mary Ann Hart, and Andreas Poulimenos. She has participated in master classes and performances with renowned singers, conductors, directors, and vocal coaches such as Frank Aiello, Gary Arvin, Joel Ayau, Karen Brunssen, Jeffrey Marc Buchman, Nicholas Carthy, Eduardo Chama, Chih-Yi Chen, Mark Clark, Michael Ehrman, Thomas Grubb, Freda Herseth, Rainer Honeck, Wei-En Hsu, Richard Hundley, Richard Jeric, Rosa Mercedes, Dominique Moralez, Marco Nisticò, Moon-Suk Park, Edward Penhorwood, Peter Philips, Scott Piper, John Poole, Susanna Rigacci, Casey Robards, Semyon Rozin, Roy Samuelsen, Donald Simonson, Paul Traver, Nikolay Verevkin, Roger Vignoles, Howard Watkins, and Virginia Zeani.

Christine Moore Vassallo

Soprano, Voice Teacher and Founder of Lyric Artists of New York

Praised for her lush sound and powerful expression, American soprano Christine Moore Vassallo is a versatile performer with equal authority in opera, oratorio, art song, and contemporary music. A Regional Finalist (Pacific Region) in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, her career highlights include engagements as Mimi in La Bohème over several seasons with the Leipzig Opera in Germany, where she was praised by the Leipziger Volkszeitung stating “a warm, dark voice rings out as Mimi,” and the title roles in Madama Butterfly, Aida, Ariadne auf Naxos and Suor Angelica, Alice Ford in Falstaff, Micaela in Carmen, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, andLeonora in Il Trovatore throughout the US and the UK. Christine is multilingual and active in the performance of art song in all languages, and with a particular focus on Spanish, has sung in severalconcerts in Granada and Madrid with the Festival de Canción Española as well as in other major cities. 

She has premiered many new works by living composers, including Richard Thompson’s song cycle The Shadow of Dawn at Merkin Concert Hall and the New York premiere of his opera The Mask in the Mirror, Andrew Rudin’s Masha’s Arias, and works by Michael Rose, Kareem Roustom, Richard Cameron-Wolfe, Steve Gerber and Zaid Jabri with the Brooklyn New Music Collective. In 2008 she sang the world premiere of Mohammed Fairouz’s Tahwidah, written for her and esteemed composer and clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and in 2013 curated and performed in a concert at the Library at Lincoln Center dedicated to classical works by Arab composers, entitled “Nearer to East: Chamber Music from the Arab World.” Recordings include “Christine Moore – Arias” and the recently released From Al Andalus to the Americas – An Odyssey of Spanish Song (Meridian Records UK, 2024), lauded by BBC3, Melómano, Pizzicato, and Classical Music Daily, among other media (“Vassallo’s sultry, unaffected delivery is an asset”- The Arts Desk).  She is currently collaborating on a recording project with celebrated composer and pianist Patricio Molina in his setting of poems by Arab women living in Spain’s medieval Al Andalus period.

As a voice teacher, Christine has over 25 years of experience in her private studio and as a faculty member with the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, where she taught for 14 years. Many of her current and former students have won or placed in such competitions as the Laffont Metropolitan Opera, Opera Index, Houston Grand Opera Butler Studio, Schmidt Vocal Arts, YoungArts, National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and many have been awarded scholarships to such institutions as Juilliard, Oberlin, Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College of Music, Eastman School of Music, and Cali School of Music at Montclair State, among others. Since 2023, she has been a voice teacher with Montclair State University’s Cali Pathways Project, and since 2019, a mentor-teacher with ArtSmart, an organization co-founded by internationally acclaimed tenor Michael Fabiano that provides music instruction and mentorship to high-school students in underserved neighborhoods in NYC and cities nationwide. Other programs where Christine has been engaged as a Teaching Artist include the Narni Festival, Festival Musica in Laguna in Chioggia, and the Lunigiana International Music Festival in Fivizzano (Italy), as well as the Queens Summer Vocal Institute in New York City. She has also worked as a teaching artist with American Voices, a U.S. non-profit organization that promotes American music and brings musical instruction to hard-to-access countries, including summer “YES Academies” in Lebanon and Kurdistan Iraq, among other locations.  She has been an adjudicator for the SAS Performing Arts Voice Competition since 2022 and is co-founder and director of Lyric Artists of New York (LANY), a singing collective that provides performance opportunities and stage experience to both young and seasoned singers.

Markus Hadulla

Lieder Specialist & Professor of Vocal Accompaniment at University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

Born in Cologne, Germany, Markus Hadulla studied in Karlsruhe with Hartmut Höll, at the Paris Conservatoire with Anne Grappotte and at Yale University/ School of Music with the Hungarian pianist Peter Frankl.

In 1994, he won the prize of best pianist during the 7th International Hugo Wolf Competition in Stuttgart, which immediately drew the attention of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who invited Hadulla to his Lied Class in Berlin.

A passionate Liedpianist and chamber music performer, Hadulla’s many artistic partners to date include singers Sandrine Piau, Janina Baechle, Stella Doufexis, Christianne Stotijn, Rainer Trost, Markus Schäfer, Angelika Kirchschlager, Peter Edelmann and the late Udo Reinemann as well as instrumentalists Daishin Kashimoto, Tianwa Yang, Wolfgang Meyer, Sebastian Manz, Claudio Bohorquez, Tabea Zimmermann und Antoine Tamestit.

Being chosen by the series “Rising Stars” (ECHO) together with violist Antoine Tamestit he has appeared in prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Vienna, the Philharmonie in Cologne and the Lucerne Festival.

His successful career took him to perform at Music Festivals such as Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Rheingau Musikfestival, La Roque d’Antheron and the festival for music and dance Granada.

He also performed in the world’s leading concert halls such as London’s Wigmore Hall, l’Auditorium du Louvre Paris, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Philharmonie in Berlin, Lincoln Center in New York and Toppan Hall Tokyo.

Hadulla has served over 20 years as artistic director of a performance series “wort+ ton” in Winnenden (Germany), close to Stuttgart, which associates literature and music, and he has been artistic advisor for the Académie des Heures Romantiques, an annual series of masterclasses and concerts in Touraine, France.

After teaching positions at the Hochschule Hanns Eisler in Berlin and Karlsruhe Markus Hadulla is currently University-Professor for Lied and vocal accompaniment at the piano department of the University for music and performing arts Vienna (mdw).

In addition to numerous live recordings for radio and television, Markus Hadulla has recorded a number of CDs for the labels Claves, Bayer Records, Naxos, Audite, Marsyas and Naïve, which have won major Awards like Diapason d’or, Choc de Classica, Orphée d’or Prix Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and the Annual Award of the German Record Critics’ Award.

His latest release includes Lieder of Robert Schumann with Korean tenor Seil Kim for Sony Classical.

A current project “NACHTHELLE!” initiated by Markus Hadulla brings together tenors Ilker Arcayürek, Jan Petryka and Patrick Grahl as well as baritone Samuel Hasselhorn and bass David Steffens performing ensembles and solo lieder of Franz Schubert in an exquisite program being performed in the season 22/23 in Konzerthaus Wien and Heidelberger Frühling.

Manuela Cucuccio

Soprano

Manuela Cucuccio, born in Catania, daughter of art, began studying singing with Elisa Poidomani in the children’s choir “Gaudeamus Igitur Concentus” and graduated in opera singing in her hometown with top marks.

She won the Di Stefano Competition “I Giovani e l’Opera” and the As.Li.Co. Competition.

She has sung: La bohème (Musetta) in Treviso, Jesi, Fermo, Venice and Darmstadt; Don Pasquale in Palma de Mallorca; Donizetti’s Il campanello in Chieti; Il cappello di paglia di Firenze in the As.Li.Co. circuit, in Savona and Rovigo; Don Giovanni (Zerlina) in Gdańsk for the Mozartiana Festival.

At the Bellini in Catania, she performed in: Un ballo in maschera (Oscar), La bohème (Musetta), Orfeo ed Euridice (Amore), Le nozze di Figaro (Susanna), Don Giovanni (Zerlina), Il Turco in Italia (Fiorilla), La vedova allegra (Valencienne), L’elisir d’amore (Adina).

In the concert field, she was engaged in the premiere of José Cura’s Magnificat, conducted by the composer, Donizetti’s Messa da Requiem in Catania, as well as in several editions of Carmina Burana for the Bellini in Catania.

Maria Carmela De Cicco

Professor of Choral Conducting at Parma Conservatory

Maria Carmela De Cicco graduated in Piano under the guidance of Agatella Catania at the “T. Schipa” Conservatory of Music of Lecce and in Choral Music and Choral Conducting under the guidance of Maestro Giovanni Acciai, Maestro Marco Berrini and Marco Boschini at the Conservatory “A. Vivaldi” of Alessandria.

In 2005 she obtained a conducting diploma at the prestigious Philharmonic Academy of Bologna Orchestra and Opera Direction. In March 2007 she obtained a II level degree in Composition, Choral Music and Conducting branch of Coro.
She attended numerous specialization courses with renowned teachers: Giovanni Acciai, teacher of Higher specialization course in choral music and choir conducting at the Conservatory “G. Verdi” in Milan; Roberto Gabbiani director of the La Scala Choir in Milan; Fabio Lombardo, choral conducting teacher at the Fiesole music school.

She also studied Gregorian chant with Fulvio Rampi, counterpoint with Marco Berrini, vocalism with Stephen Woodboury. Since November 1st 2021 she has been professor at the “A. Boito” Conservatory of Parma. Previous work activity:
Teacher of Choral Music and Choral Conducting at the State Conservatory of Music of Perugia in the 2008/2009 school year.

In 1997 the Austrian Embassy and the Cultural Institute of the Austrian Embassy in Rome entitled her the prestigious position of the European Polyphonic Choir Director from the University of Vienna. She started a collaboration with the Embassy and the Choir of the University of Vienna which would last three years (from 1997 to 2000) whose debut was in Rome, at Villa Giulia, on the occasion of the celebrations of the semester of Austrian presidency in the EEC. During this collaboration she carried out two tours in Austria and Rome.

She has been appointed Professor of choral music and choral conducting at the State Conservatory of Music of Perugia in the 2008/2009

In December 2017 she was appointed as Sicilian youth Choir Director,
She was the winner of a selection notice announced from ARS CORI (ASSOCIATION OF REGIONAL SICILIAN CHORALS), project promoted by FENIARCO (NATIONAL FEDERATION OF ITALIAN CHOIRS). for the two-year period 2018/2020.

She was Teacher of CHORAL MUSIC AND CHORAL CONDUCTING at the Conservatory of Music “GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA PALESTRINA” of Cagliari for the academic year 2019/2020. In September 2023 she was appointed assistant to the Director Maestro Lorenzo Fratini, current director of the prestigious choir of “Maggio Fiorentino” theatre, for the construction of the Gloria and Magnificat by A. Vivaldi and J. Brahms “Liebeslieder “op.52 and F. Schubert “An die Sonne“in 2024.

Since 1997 she has been Director of the musical association “ Giuseppe De Cicco” polyphonic choir which performs many concerts, with great success, both in Italy and abroad, in collaboration with many musical association and Conservatories.

Raffaele Cortesi

Professor of Vocal Accompaniment/Vocal Coach at Parma Conservatory

Raffaele Cortesi, after classical studies, graduated at the age of 18 with top marks from the “Arrigo Boito” Conservatory in Parma where he now teaches. He studied with Piero Guarino, Jorg Demus, Dalton Baldwin and Bruno Canino.

Awarded in numerous competitions, he has performed for prestigious institutions and theaters such as the Teatro alla Scala, the Accademia di S. Cecilia, La Sapienza University, the Auditorium of Milan, San Carlo of Naples, La Fenice of Venice, the Concert Society of Trieste, Amici della Musica of Perugia, Rossini Festival of Pesaro, Teatro Olimpico of Vicenza, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Cartagena Festival, Teatro Monumental of Madrid, Sao Carlos of Lisbon, St. John’s Smith Square of London, Kissinger Sommer, Schloss Festspiele Ettlingen, BSI Engadin Festival, Vienna Hofburg, Ima Hall and Bunka Kaikan (Tokyo), Symphony Hall (Osaka), Seoul Arts Center.

He accompanied famous singers in recitals, including: Raina Kabaivanska, Sonia Ganassi, Barbara Frittoli, Giuseppe Sabbatini, Renato Bruson, Leo Nucci, Michele Pertusi (with whom he recorded Verdi’s lyrics), Luca Salsi and collaborated with soloists such as Andrea Griminelli, Danilo Rossi, Simonide Braconi, Rino Vernizzi, Alberto Negroni, Jan Vogler, Mira Wang, Santiago Canon-Valencia. He has recorded for RaiRadio3, RSI, ZDF, Radio Clásica, NHK, KBS, ARTE and has recorded Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with the Prague Chamber Choir directed by Romano Gandolfi (Discover), Verdi paraphrases with the clarinettist Corrado Giuffredi (Aura); for Tactus the unpublished chamber romances by Toscanini, the lyrics of Casella’s Parisian years, the complete melodies of Tosti on texts by D’Annunzio (CD awarded 5 stars by both the magazines Musica and Classic Voice as well as CD of the month for the latter).

For Sony he collaborated as a language coach for J. Kaufmann’s Verdi Album. He has collaborated with the theaters of Parma, Bologna, Genoa, Verona, Seville, Nederlandse Opera, Dijon, and international singing competitions such as the Verdi di Busseto, Neue Stimmen (for over thirty years), G. Di Stefano, R. Tebaldi, R. Zandonai and T. Traetta. As part of the Verdi Festival he curated the world premiere of Pacini’s Album Piave and II Corsaro. He has held masterclasses for the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, the Tokyo College of Music, the Haydn Konservatorium in Eisenstadt, the Gnesins Academy of Music in Moscow, the Scuola dell’Opera Italiana in Bologna, the Accademia del Maggio Fiorentino and the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale A. Belli of Spoleto.

Zhu He

Professor of Music/Vocal Coach Shanghai Conservatory of Music

Zhu He is associate professor at Shanghai Conservatory of Music,
master’s supervisor in opera music direction. She was awarded the
prestigious PuJiang Talent Award of Shanghai in 2008. She graduated
from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music piano department and the
Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where she earned her two master
degrees in Piano and Chamber Music with the Grand Distinction.
Zhu He was the winner of the Belgium Andre Modeste Gretry Piano
Competition and the Gouden Vleugels Chamber Music Competition.
Being a member of the Horta Trio, she toured in Belgium and Holland
extensively, and she was chosen to perform at The 1st Harmos
International Music Festival of Porto, Portugal on behalf of the Royal
Conservatory of Brussels.

After returning to China, she has been very active on stages of the
Shanghai Grand Theater, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Shanghai
Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall and Shanghai Concert Hall. Black &
White Impression, the piano duo of Zhu He and Yang ShanShan has
performed in Beijing and Shanghai on many occasions. Their album
Black & White Impression-Double Piano Works Collection has received
rave reviews by both the media and the public.

In recent years Associate Professor Zhu has been teaching at the Voice &
Opera Dept. and Composition & Direction Dept. of ShangHai
Conservatory of Music. She focus her energy on vocal art research, piano
performance and vocal coaching. She won the Excellent Piano
Accompaniment Award in The National Art Songs Competition for
Advanced Professional Art Institutions held by the Central Conservatory
of Music, and was invited to be the official accompanist of International
Vocal Competition of China. Many of her students have won prizes both

domestically and internationally. She went to France, Germany and
Finland to collaborate with distinguished pianists Dalton Baldwin and
Hartmut Höll. From 2015-2021, the esteemed Piano Artistry magazine
published Associate Professor Zhu’s series of articles “A journey with the
Singers -Piano Accompaniment of Art Songs”, they clearly depicted and
profoundly discussed the close relationship between artistic theory and
in practice.