Praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer for her “crystalline sound, perfectly true intonation, glowing warmth, and total presence” and named “remarkable, artistically mature … a singer to watch” by Opera News, American soprano Sarah Shafer actively appears on the leading operatic and concert stages of the world.

The 2023-24 season saw Ms. Shafer returning to the role of Nuria in Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar with Pacific Opera Victoria, and creating the role of Sophia in the world premiere of Layale Chaker’s Ruinous Gods at the Spoleto Festival, USA. She also appeared with the Florida Orchestra singing Handel’s Messiah, and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra singing Fauré’s Requiem. She recently created the role of the Empress in the world premiere of Jacob Bancks’ Karkinos and also portrayed Krystyna Zywulska in Jake Heggie’s Two Remain with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. She has also made her debut with the Kalamazoo Symphony as the soprano soloist in Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem and with the Bellingham Symphony singing Mozart’s Requiem. Recent performances have included a return to Opera Philadelphia, first in a program entitled “Larry Brownlee and Friends” and then for a concert of arias hosted at the Mann Center. She also joined frequent collaborator Opera Lafayette as Jeanette in Philidor’s La maréchal ferrant, and presented a virtual recital for Friends of Chamber Music Portland (Oregon).

During the 2019-2020 season, Ms. Shafer returned to Opera Philadelphia for a comedic turn as Iris in Semele, sang Cupid in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis with Opera Lafayette, and joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in Le nozze di Figaro, covering the role of Barbarina. She presented Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with the Cincinnati Symphony, a concert entitled “Emerging Voices” with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Omaha Symphony. Recital appearances included a collaboration with Martin Katz and the University Musical Society at University of Michigan presenting Hugo Wolf’s Mörike Lieder. Two recordings were released: Poul Ruders’ The Thirteenth Child with Bridge Records, and with Naxos Records, Richard Danielpour’s Talking to Aphrodite.

In opera, Sarah Shafer is experiencing a burgeoning career, including a debut with the Metropolitan Opera as Azema in Semiramide, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with San Diego Opera, and her role and company debut in the title role of L’incoronazione di Poppea with Cincinnati Opera. Ms. Shafer has appeared with San Francisco Opera as Pamina in Jun Kaneko’s production of Die Zauberflöte, Mary Lennox in the world premiere of Nolan Gasser’s The Secret Garden, Zerlina in Jacopo Spirei’s new production of Don Giovanni, and the world premiere of Marco Tutino’s Two Women in the role of Rosetta, opposite Anna Caterina Antonacci and conducted by Nicola Luisotti. She had an enormous success in her return to Opera Philadelphia as Adina in Stephen Lawless’ production of L’elisir d’amore. Elsewhere, she has sung Leïla in Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles at Tulsa Opera, Barbarina and the cover of Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at the Glyndebourne Festival and with the BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall, and several roles for Opera Philadelphia including Nuria in Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar and Voce dal Cielo in Don Carlo.

In her young career, Ms. Shafer has enjoyed notable success in concert work. She has performed Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and San Antonio Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, and Oregon Bach Festival, Bach’s St. John Passion with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and Voices of Ascension in New York City, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Bergen Symphony Orchestra and Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Les Illuminations and “L’amerò, sarò costante” from Il Rè Pastore with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Bruckner’s Te Deum with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the Utah Symphony Orchestra, the world premiere of Richard Danielpour’s “Talking to Aphrodite” with the Sejong Soloists at Carnegie Hall, Bach’s Mass in B minor with the New York Choral Society, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Poulenc’s Gloria and Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 with the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with the Eugene Symphony Orchestra, and Shanan Estreicher’s Songs of Emily Dickinson with the Chamber Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall.

An avid recitalist and chamber musician, Ms. Shafer enjoys an active collaboration with legendary pianist Richard Goode, having performed Schumann and Brahms lieder with him at Carnegie Hall, Spivey Hall, Chamber Music Sedona, and Chamber Music Society of Detroit as well as other venues in Palm Beach and New York. She has performed Schubert’s Der Hirt auf dem Felsen with clarinetist Anthony McGill at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and Five Borough Music Festival. She has also collaborated with such musicians as guitarist Jason Vieaux, Anna Polonsky, and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. Ms. Shafer was a resident artist at the Marlboro Music Festival for five summers, where she worked with Richard Goode, Mitsuko Uchida, Benita Valente, Sir Thomas Allen, and Martin Isepp. She actively appears with the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Mozart and Handel Académie in Aix-en-Provence, Bard Summer Music Festival, and Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary.

A native of State College, PA, Ms. Shafer holds degrees in voice and opera from the Curtis Institute of Music, and is currently based outside Philadelphia.

Rubén Rengel, GRAMMY-nominated Venezuelan violinist and violist, has appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia, Detroit, Houston, Dallas, Seattle, Venezuela Symphony Orchestras, and the New York String Orchestra. Winner of the 2018 Sphinx Competition, he has collaborated with conductors such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Xian Zhang, Elim Chan, and Theodore Kuchar. As a chamber musician, he has performed with Joseph Silverstein, Mitsuko Uchida, Yuja Wang, Pamela Frank, Jonathan Biss, Anthony McGill, Peter Wiley, David Shifrin, and Gilbert Kalish. Rubén’s chamber music appearances include performances at Caramoor, Moab Music Festival, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Bridgehampton Chamber Music, Ravinia, and Marlboro. His performances as a violist include appearances with Music@Menlo, the Manhattan Chamber Players, and Ensemble Connect. As a versatile performer, Rubén also explores Venezuelan and Latin American folk genres, and his arrangement of Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” Sonata has been featured on the Deutsche Grammophon label. Rubén was recently in residence at Carnegie Hall as a member of Ensemble Connect.

Nicholas Canellakis is one of today’s most sought-after and innovative cellists, whose career seamlessly blends traditional classical performance with boundary-pushing creative ventures. He performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician and is also a composer/arranger, artistic curator, teacher, and filmmaker, with comedic digital content that has reached millions of views worldwide.

Recent highlights include concerto appearances with the Orlando, Virginia, Albany, Delaware, Stamford, Richardson, Lansing, and Bangor Symphonies, the Erie Philharmonic, The Orchestra Now, the New Haven Symphony as Artist-in-Residence, and the American Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall. He tours extensively in recital throughout the U.S. with his longtime duo collaborator, pianist-composer Michael Stephen Brown.

A long-time artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Canellakis appears regularly in Alice Tully Hall and on international tours, including at Wigmore Hall, the Louvre, the Seoul Arts Center, and the National Concert Halls of Shanghai and Taipei. He is also a frequent guest at leading festivals such as Santa Fe, Music@Menlo, Bridgehampton, La Jolla, Moab, Chamberfest Cleveland, and Rockport. As Artistic Director of Chamber Music Sedona in Arizona, he has revitalized the organization with dynamic programming, education initiatives, and community engagement.

An avid teacher, Canellakis is on the cello faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, his alma mater.

His latest album, b(romance), featuring original works and arrangements with pianist Michael Stephen Brown, was released on First Hand Records in 2023. Also active as a filmmaker and comedian, his short films My New Cello and the award-winning Thin Walls were screened at major festivals, while his comedic shorts have earned over 40 million views online.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and New England Conservatory, he studied with Orlando Cole, Peter Wiley, Paul Katz, and Madeleine Golz. He performs on an 1840 Jean Baptiste Vuillaume cello.

Praised by The New York Times for her “thoughtful musicality” and “fleet-fingered panache,” Liza Stepanova has performed at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, in New York City at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully, Merkin, David Geffen, and Steinway halls, and at the Kennedy Center; as a soloist with conductors James DePreist and Nicholas McGegan; and live on WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, and WETA Washington. Stepanova’s solo recordings have been featured in Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, International Piano, on Performance Today, and in Musical America Worldwide as a “New Artist of the Month.” This fall, Stepanova joins the faculty at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Stepanova holds degrees from the “Hanns Eisler” Academy in Berlin, Germany, and a DMA from The Juilliard School.

John Largess has toured the world as the violist of the Grammy nominated Miró Quartet for the last three decades, and is Professor of Practice and Coordinator of String Chamber Music at the Butler School of Music at UT Austin. He is a graduate of both the Curtis Institute of Music and Yale College, where he studied archaeology, and was an assistant at both the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Juilliard School. He performs regularly as a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York, and teaches masterclasses all over the world from San Francisco to Switzerland to Singapore.

Since his emergence with the top prize at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition, Itamar Zorman has wowed audiences all over the world with his “youthful intensity” and “achingly beautiful” sound, earning him the title of the “virtuoso of emotions”. Awarded the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award for 2014, violinist Itamar Zorman is the winner of the 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Mr. Zorman has performed as a soloist with such orchestras as the Mariinsky Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, KBS Symphony Seoul, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, German Radio Philharmonic, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Kremerata Baltica, RTE National Symphony Orchestra (Dublin), American Symphony. In 2024 he performed with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in their traditional televised Christmas concert, following the Pope’s blessing. He has worked with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Michael Tilson-Thomas, David Robertson, Valery Gergiev, James DePreist, Karina Canellakis, Yuri Bashmet, and Nathalie Stuztmann. Mr. Zorman has performed around the world in halls such as Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Zurich Tonhalle, and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow.

As a recitalist he performed at Carnegie Hall’s Distinctive Debut series, Wigmore Hall, People’s Symphony Concerts, the Louvre Museum, Suntory Hall, and HR-Sendesaal Frankfurt. Mr. Zorman was invited to the Marlboro, Verbier, Rheingau, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, MITO SettembreMusica, and Radio France Festivals. He has also collaborated with several legendary artists such as Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Steven Isserlis and Jörg Widmann.

Mr. Zorman is currently on faculty at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. He plays on a 1734 Guarneri del Gesù, from the collection of Yehuda Zisapel.