Silla

Abigail Bahng is a Korean-American Mezzo-Soprano from Katy, Texas, and is about to start her last year studying for her B.M. in Vocal Performance with Mary Mills at the University of North Texas. Her previous Opera work includes playing the role of Hänsel in VIMA’s Hänsel und Gretel in 2024 as well as being in the chorus for Strauss' Die Fledermaus and Puccini's La Rondine. She has also been active in the stage management, managing Operas such as Massenet's Cendrillon and Mazzoli's Proving Up.

Her introduction to Opera started at the age of 8 when she had the opportunity to play a page boy with the Houston's society of Gilbert and Sullivan for their production of Iolanthe in 2012. Since then, her career has seen many more trouser roles and she cannot wait to study the role of Silla for this summer's production.

Daria Tereshchenko is a Russian-Canadian mezzo-soprano currently pursuing her graduate studies at the Mannes School of Music, under the tutelage of Amy Burton. Recent opera performances include singing in the 2025 Works & Process Opera Series as Beulah in Ricky Ian Gordon’s This House, as well as covering the roles of Ada Lovelace in Kamala Sankaram’s The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace and Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina. Her 2023–2024 season highlights included performing as the First Witch in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with the University of Toronto’s Theatre of Early Music, singing Fanny Price in Mansfield Park with Nuova Vocal Arts, appearing as the Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte with Opera by Request, and covering Madame de la Haltière in Cendrillon with University of Toronto Opera.

Daria has also performed internationally in concert repertoire. Recent solo appearances include Luciano Berio’s Sinfonia with the Mannes Orchestra, John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music with the Mannes Wind Symphony, the Jewish Voices in Music recital in Richmond Hill, Canada, and a tribute concert to Francis Poulenc at the Église Saint-Prix in Noizay, France.

Robin Deimerly is a mezzo-soprano from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Robin is a junior completing a Bachelor's in Music degree with an emphasis in Vocal Performance at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, studying with Dr. Raymond Feener. Robin’s recent roles include Ruggiero in Händel’s Alcina at Saluzzo Opera Academy, La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi and Zelatrice in Suor Angelica at Opera Lucca, and at UMKC, the Second Spirit in Die Zauberflöte, the Notary in Gianni Schicchi, and Conversa/Cercatrica in Suor Angelica. Robin has also recently covered Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro and Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance, and performed scenes as Hansel in Hansel and Gretel.

Ayla Moon Dhar is a soprano and a rising senior at Barnard College of Columbia University, pursuing a B.M. in Music and a B.A. in Anthropology. A native of New York City, she has studied vocal performance in New Delhi, London, and Vienna. She frequently performs as a soloist with the Columbia Bach Society and currently serves as president of Columbia Classical Performers, where she organizes concerts for chamber and solo musicians affiliated with the university. At Barnard, Dhar studies under lyric soprano Coralie Gallet. In 2024, Dhar sang the role of Anna Gomez in Menotti’s The Consul with Chicago Summer Opera. She is thrilled to return to Chicago to perform as Metella in Handel’s Silla.

Nadia Lischke, soprano, was born and raised in Kernersville, NC. She began her undergraduate studies in Biology and Music at George Washington University in 2020, where she studied with Millicent Scarlett and performed with the many active ensembles within the program. In the summer of 2023, she was honored to participate in the Taos Opera Institute, NYU Classical Voice Intensive and Bel Canto in Tuscany, where she was able to study many roles in scenes programs and performances. She had the pleasure of performing as a member and soloist with the University Singers as well as being featured as the National Anthem Singer at the Senate Project’s Debate Series in 2024. After graduating in 2024, she began studying with Elizabeth Daniels and singing with the City Choir of Washington. In 2025 so far, she has competed in the Mid-Atlantic Region NATS Student Auditions and was featured as the soprano soloist in the Libera me movement of Britten’s War Requiem during the NEXT Festival at George Washington University. After debuting the role of Metella in Handel’s Silla with Chicago Summer Opera this summer, she will travel to Massachusetts to study and perform with Danielle Talamantes and Kerry Wilkerson as a part of the Berkshire High Peaks Summer Music Festival. She is very excited to begin her Masters of Music in Vocal Performance at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in August of 2025.

Karina is a blind, Puerto Rican soprano. Upon making her Canadian debut at the 2023 Halifax Summer Opera Festival, Opera Canada Magazine praised her as having a, “distinctive, rich voice,” that is “uniquely lush and velvety.” During this festival she sang the role of Germaine in the Canadian premiere of Offenbach’s La Jolie Parfumeuse, as well as her first pants role portraying Arsemenes in Handel’s Serse.

Karina’s most recent role was Olympia in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann. Within the past eight years she has performed as Mrs. Hood in John Davies Little Red’s Most Unusual Day, with the Amarillo Opera Outreach Program (2024), Rosalinda in Strauss’ II Die Fledermaus, (2024) Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni (2023), Ida in Strauss’ II Die Fledermaus (2021), Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute (2019), and Katisha in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado (2017).

As a blind singer, Karina tries to bring a new level of humanity to every role she portrays. Her aim is to create a character with a deeper and truer sense of reality by normalizing disability for the audience.

Karina is excited about the learning opportunities available with the Chicago Summer Opera Program and is thrilled to cover the role of Metella in Handel’s Silla.

Emilie Williams, lyric soprano, is a Nashville-based musician with a degree in vocal performance from Northern Arizona University. While at NAU, Emilie has the privilege to develop her soprano voice under her voice teacher Dr. Cynthia Skelley-Wohlshlager, with whom she still studies under. Through her career, Emilie has had the opportunity to perform in Gian Carlo Menotti’s “The Medium” (Mrs. Gobineau), and Mozart’s “La finta giardiniera” (Servant). Emilie played the role of Beth March in Mark Adamo’s “Little Women” with the NAU Lyric Theater in 2022. Summer of 2022, she performed as Selena in Jake Heggie’s “If I Were You”, and once again performed in Hans Bridger Heruth’s “A Certain Madness” in the role of Constance for the Nightingale Opera Theater’s Young Artist Program. She concluded her final NAU Opera performance as Donna Anna in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”. In October 2023, she performed as a chorus member for the Salt Marsh Opera’s performance of Verdi’s “Falstaff”. Emilie will be attending Cleveland State University in the fall to continue her education and receive a Master in Music Performance.

Originally from the United States and born to Italian parents of Apulian origin, she developed her musical education across Italy, the United States, and Austria. She studied traditional opera singing at the “Niccolò Piccinni” Conservatory in Bari and earned a Second Level Academic Diploma with top honors from the “Nino Rota” Conservatory in Monopoli. Her artistic growth has been enriched by her studies with distinguished teachers including the sopranos Maria Pia Piscitelli, Sylvia Greenberg, Claudia Visca, and the tenor Stephen J. Chaundy.

Recognized for her talent and dedication, she received the “Lucia Totaro” music scholarship in Monopoli and was a finalist in several international singing competitions, such as the “Valerio Gentile” International Opera Singing Award and the selection for the Bel Canto Academy “Rodolfo Celletti.”

Her operatic repertoire includes notable roles such as “Musetta” (La Bohème), “Franzi” (Wiener Blut), and “Donna Elvira” (Don Giovanni). In addition to opera, she is active in the sacred music scene, with standout performances like Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater at the Notti Sacre Festival in Bari (2023) and Fenaroli’s Stabat Mater currently performed in Monopoli, Italy.

Elissa is currently completing the fourth year of her Bachelor’s Degree in Opera Performance at the University of British Columbia (UBC), studying with J. Patrick Raftery and Dolora Zajick. Throughout her degree thus far she has had the opportunity to perform as the First Nursemaid and Willie in Street Scene and Frantìk and Young Vixen in The Cunning Little Vixen. She has also been a part of the ensemble for many operas including Le Nozze di Figaro, Cendrillon, Hänsel und Gretel, Tosca, HMS Pinafore, among others. Elissa spent the summer performing in excerpts of Le Nozze di Figaro as Susanna at both the Taos Opera Institute in Taos, New Mexico, and Opera Viva in Verona, Italy. Other excerpts have included the Prince in The Little Prince and Abigail in Lizzie Borden, both at UBC Opera.

Evangeline Mason is a soprano from Papillion, Nebraska. First studying at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 2023, she transferred to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to pursue a deeper study of Opera.

She has sung in Italy, Miami, and Austria, performing notable roles in Mozart’s work such as Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro and Servilia in La Clemenza di Tito. This fall, at UNL, she was grateful to perform Sister Constance in Les Dialogues of the Carmelites by Francis Poulenc. She has also performed in several opera scenes including Die Zauberflöte, Hansel and Gretel, Cosi fan Tutte, and Der Rosenkavalier.

Evangeline Mason is also pursuing a degree in French. Her focus on the French language has allowed for a deeper understanding and knowledge of French culture, poetry, and diction necessary for French opera and Chanson.

Soprano Erica Ancell recently graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Literature. In February, Erica performed a devised theatre piece of Ricky Ian Gordon’s songs with the composer as musical director and with Nathan Gunn as stage director. In April, she sang the role of Proserpina in Monteverdi’s L’orfeo with Lyric Theatre @Illinois (LTI).

While at the University of Illinois Erica performed under the direction of Nathan Gunn in the academic premiere of Black Square as Legion Woman 2. In LTI’s Opera Scenes she played Leïla (The Pearl Fishers), Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and Béatrice (Béatrice et Bénèdict). Other recent performances include Die Fledermaus (2023) with the University of Illinois, Falstaff (2022) with Union Avenue Opera, Macbeth (2023) with Winter Opera St. Louis, and Messiah (2022) with Greenville University as Soprano Soloist. In 2023 she was the Bach Society of St. Louis’ Soprano Young Artist and Winner of Webster University's Concerto and Aria Competition. She spent the summer of 2024 working with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis' administrative team.

Hailing from New York City, Grace Bernard is a young Lyric Soprano studying with William Burden. Her credits include Donna Anna- Don Giovanni (Mannes Opera), Carla- Mermaid in the Jar (Mannes Opera), Violetta- La Traviata (Mannes Opera Scenes), Fiordaligi- Cosi Fan Tutte (Mannes Opera Scenes), Adina- L’elisir Damore (Mannes Opera Scenes), Adele- Die Fledermaus (LACHSA Opera), Cunegonde- Candide (LACHSA Opera), and most recently she made her debut with Amore Opera singing the role of Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly! She is very excited to be making her debut with the Chicago Summer Opera, covering Flavia in Silla!

From Moorestown, New Jersey, Julianna Banfe is a soprano pursuing a B.M. in Vocal Performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she studies with Deanne Meek. After many fulfilling years of singing in choir, including IU’s contemporary vocal ensemble NOTUS and the Philadelphia Girls Choir, she is truly honored to make her role debut as Celia in Handel’s Silla. In addition to her classical training and years of choral experience, Julianna is the co-founder, co-music director, and arranger for IU’s all-treble a cappella group “The Bloomingtones,” honing her musicality and collaborative skills across diverse styles. She looks forward to embracing this role and this opera with passion and dedication.

Christina Nasr is a Toronto-based soprano looking forward to performing the role of Celia in Handel’s Silla as part of Chicago Summer Opera’s upcoming season. She completed undergraduate studies in Voice Performance and Media Studies at Western University, and currently studies with Elizabeth McDonald in Toronto, where she continues to deepen her training. In 2023, Christina performed at the Domaine Forget International Music Festival in Charlevoix, Quebec, where she focused on French repertoire and gained valuable experience in French lyric opera. Her stage experience includes portraying Rose in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene with UWOpera, being involved with Can of Soup Opera Collective as a Soprano Chorus Lead in Dean Burry’s Pandora’s Locker and appearing in their summer concerts, as well as participating in summer recital series in London, Ontario, sponsored by the London Arts Council.

McKey Monroe is a charismatic contralto from Aiken, South Carolina who has always had a great love of singing, even from a young age. Having recently received their Masters in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, McKey now resides in Baltimore, frequently performing with the new music group, Der Gestank, and finds many performance opportunities when they can. Most recently, McKey premiered the role of "Contralto" in Elena Winell's "The Little Red Hen," with Der Gestanke. While pursuing their masters degree, they portrayed the roles of Sprite in Massenet's Cendrillon, Maurya in Vaughan Williams' Riders to the Sea, and Ljubica in Ana Sokolovic's Svadba. McKey also holds a Bachelors of Music in Vocal Performance from Converse University.

Julie is thrilled to be back with Chicago Summer Opera so she can work on her coloratura! Last summer she was seen as Secretary in The Consul and has since made concert appearances with the Lira Ensemble, Chicago Cabaret Professionals, and Great Lakes Operetta. Julie also holds a masters degree in Applied Pedagogy from Northeastern Illinois University and presented a lecture recital on Kurt Weill’s European repertoire. She teaches private voice with NEIU’s Community Music Program has a profound love of cats, wine, and MooDeng the Pygmy hippo!