Featuring
High lyric tenor Victor Cardamone has garnered much attention and critical acclaim over the last decade, and continues to do so. He is a graduate of Youngstown State University, the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, and the world-renowned Adler Fellowship Program at San Francisco Opera.
Victor has bowed with Cincinnati Opera, the Charleston Symphony (Charleston, South Carolina), the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, Opera Columbus, the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, San Francisco Opera, the Santa Rosa Symphony, Livermore Valley Opera, the Glacier Symphony, Western Plains Opera, Opera Naples, and the Portland Symphony Orchestra (Portland, Maine), among others. His major role credits include Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Ralph Rackstraw (H.M.S. Pinafore), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Larry Renault (Dinner at Eight), Jeník (The Bartered Bride), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Count Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Rodolfo (La Bohème), and Tamino (Die Zauberflöte/The Magic Flute). His major cover credits include Ernesto (Don Pasquale), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Chevalier de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites), Steve Wozniak (The Revolution of Steve Jobs), and Shanty (Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio).
Victor was a four-time Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He was also a four-time Corbett Competition award winner. He was a semifinalist in the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition in 2019. He is a proud recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation in 2022. He was a Tier I finalist in the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition in 2023. More recently, he was named a quarterfinalist in the 3rd Tbilisi Opera Crown, an international voice competition that takes place in Georgia every two years.
When not singing or studying scores, Victor can be found making something delicious in the kitchen and relaxing with his favorite feline, a black cat named Bill.
Sadie Cheslak is a mezzo-soprano originally from Duluth, Minnesota. In March, Sadie won the 2025 Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition, receiving The Birgit Nilsson Award of the American-Scandinavian Foundation. Ms. Cheslak won first prize at the 2025 Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition, first prize at the Wagner Society of New York’s 2025 Singers Competition, first prize at the Vero Beach Opera 2025 Rising Stars Competition, third prize and The Luana DeVol Prize for the Dramatic Voice at the 2024 SAS Performing Arts Vocal Competition, and fourth overall and the prize for Most Promising Voice of the Competition at the 2024 NATS Artist Awards. Sadie recently finished her time as a young artist at Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, where she performed the role of La zia Principessa in Suor Angelica scenes. In January, Sadie covered the role of Madame de la Haltière in Massenet’s Cendrillon with Cedar Rapids Opera as a Smith Young Artist. In 2024, she sang at Wolf Trap Opera as a Studio Artist, featured in excerpts of Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice as Orphée, covered the alto soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and covered Mrs. Pascal in a workshop of The House of Yes by Kamala Sankaram. Sadie is thrilled to return to Pittsburgh where she sang as a young artist for PFO in 2020 (virtually) and 2021, singing the role of Lampito in Lysistrata by Mark Adamo. Excelling in contemporary opera, Sadie has workshopped roles like Lumee in prism by Ellen Reid (2019 Pulitzer Prize winner and Beth Morrison Project), Jane Doe in Black Square by Ilya Demutsky, and performing the title role in The Surrogate by Sky Macklay. Sadie earned a BM Voice Performance from Concordia College, her MM Voice Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, and a Post-master’s Certificate in Voice from DePaul University.
Marianne Cornetti is an internationally renowned Verdi mezzo-soprano who has appeared as Amneris in Aida, Azucena in Il Trovatore, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, and Princess Eboli in Don Carlos at prestigious opera houses across the world, garnering rave reviews and winning the hearts of audiences globally.
Opera magazine claims, “If her timbre did not sear itself into the memory, her vocal command of this redoubtable role was complete” and Seen and Heard International raves, “[Her] voice is a miracle of power and flexibility from top to bottom. It is the emotion which she imparts into her singing, however, that makes her Azucena so memorable…Cornetti imbues each [role] with an emotional force all its own… The cheers and applause that rained down upon her at the end were well deserved.”
Cornetti has performed to great acclaim the iconic leading Verdi roles of Azucena in Il Trovatore at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Metropolitan Opera, Arena di Verona, Bregenz Festival, Teatro Comunale in Florence, National Theatre of China in Beijing, Teatro Municipal in Sao Paulo, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, La Coruña in Spain, Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, Teatro Regio in Parma, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and in the Teatro Comunale di Bologna’s tour in Japan; and Amneris in Aida at the Teatro alla Scala, Hamburg State Opera, Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, New National Theatre Foundation in Tokyo, Theatre Royale de La Monnaie in Brussels, Israeli Opera at Masada, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Auditorio de Tenerife, Opera Naples, the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Belgium and Choregies D’Orange. Cornetti’s appearance as Amneris for Pittsburgh Opera in 2020 was rescheduled for their 2023 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cornetti’s 2021-22 season opens with a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Orchestra Miami. In early spring, she will be seen in the role of Leokadja Begbick in Kurt Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the Teatro Regio Parma Italy and subsequently at the Teatro Emilia-Romagna. She then returns to her native Pittsburgh to sing in Pittsburgh Festival Opera’s “The Legends in the Limelight” concert series and to perform the role of Ježibaba in Rusalka with Pittsburgh Opera, where she was last seen as The Witch in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.
Highlights of Cornetti’s recent engagements include her debut as Princess Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlos in Tokyo as well as performances in Parma, Bilbao, Rome, Vienna, and London; Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and at the Bolshoi Theatre; performances of Gianni Schicchi and L’enfant e les Sortiléges with the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Opera Project in Kyoto, Tokyo, and Nagoya, Japan; her debut as Dame Quickly in Falstaff at the Palacio de la Ópera in La Coruña, Spain, followed by a reprisal of the role at the San Diego Opera; Fidès in Le prophete at the Aalto-Musiktheater Essen; Ježibaba in Rusalka and The Witch in Hansel and Gretel at the Minnesota Opera; Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and Laura in La Gioconda with the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, La Monnaie in Brussels, and at Carnegie Hall in New York City; as the title role in La Gioconda at the Rome Opera and Romanian National Opera; and Abigaille in Nabucco at the New National Theatre Foundation in Tokyo, La Monnaie in Brussels, and at the Metropolitan Opera.
In 2005, Cornetti sang her first Wagnerian role, appearing as Ortrud in Lohengrin at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste. She continued her excursion into this repertoire with her debut as Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and has since sung the role of Ortrud in Amsterdam, Paris, Sao Paolo, and Palermo, and has appeared as Brangäne in Genoa. Cornetti’s verismo repertoire includes Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana, which she performed at Teatro alla Scala; Princess de Bouillon in Adriana Lecouvreur at the Teatro Massimo of Palermo, Teatro di San Carlo, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Regio in Turin, Opera di Firenze, and Dutch National Opera; and Rosa in Cilea’s L’Arlesiana, which she sang to great acclaim at the L’Opera de Montpellier and at Carnegie Hall with the Opera Orchestra of New York.
She appears frequently in concert in such works as Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Elgar’s Sea Picture and De Falla’s El Amor Brujo. She has recorded Cilea’s L’Arlesiana and Puccini’s Edgar opposite Plácido Domingo and was recently featured on a Teatro Regio di Parma recording of Verdi’s Don Carlo released in 2017 on the Dynamic record label.
Praised for her sensitive, alluring voice and dedicated artistry, Soprano Megan Cumming captivates her audiences both on and off the stage, with a demonstrated passion to share her music with those in need.
Megan begins the 2022-2023 season as a winner of the 2022 Pittsburgh Concert Society Major Artist Division, and she recently performed as Laurie (The Tender Land) and Diane (Orphée aux enfers) as an Emerging Artist with Opera in the Ozarks. In the summer of 2022, Megan was honored to be selected as a Leslie Fleischner Young Artist with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, where she performed scenes as Gilda (Rigoletto), Marie (La Fille du Régiment), and Juliette (Roméo et Juliette).
In January of 2021, while covering Mrs. Fiorentino in Weill’s Street Scene (Opera McGill), Megan was thrilled to go on at the last minute for performances at Le Monument-National Theater in Montreal, QC. Other notable performance credits include the First Spirit in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Opera McGill), Margot in Dauvergene’s Les Troquers (Opera McGill), and Laurey in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! (The Hanover Theater). Recently heard as Cendrillon in Viardot’s Cendrillon (Carnegie Mellon Opera), Laetitia in Menotti’s The Old Maid & the Thief, and the fairy godmother in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Opera McGill), Megan was grateful to share these comedic performances with audiences isolated and recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
A graduate of the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, Megan earned her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance with Distinction and Outstanding Achievement in Voice, and was also placed on the Dean’s Honor List and awarded the Dixie Ross Neill Scholarship. A member of Pittsburgh-founded Musicians with a Mission, Megan is a frequent performer in local nursing homes and healthcare facilities. A Massachusetts native, Megan currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA, where she recently graduated with her Master of Music Degree at The Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts. She has studied privately with Maria Spacagna, Joanne Kolomyjec, and Jane Shivick.
Alexa Frankian, Soprano, 24 — Oakville Ontario Canada Multi-award-winning Canadian soprano Alexa Frankian is already making waves in the opera and art song world at just twenty-four years old, earning praise from Opera Canada as “abundantly talented.”
In 2024, Alexa joined the prestigious Merola Opera Program, where she delivered a “simple, unaffected, and beautifully sung Mimi” in La Bohème (San Francisco Classical Voice). She was also recognized for “singing in a voluptuously rich Russian… the powerfully focused soprano Alexa Frankian gave an expansive meditation on God, nature, and the universe in a duet from Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, performing with a radiant, surging sense of purpose” (San Francisco Chronicle). Building on this success, Alexa returns to Merola in 2025 singing the title role from Puccini’s Suor Angelica.
Also in 2024, Alexa joined the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia as a Resident Artist, where she performed Suzel in Mascagni’s L’Amico Fritz and Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. She returns to AVA for a second year in 2025, where she will sing the role of Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart).
Her recent accolades include Encouragement Awards from both the 2024–25 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition (Philadelphia District) and the 2023–24 Buffalo-Toronto District, as well as third place in the 2023 Mildred Miller International Voice Competition, where she was the youngest participant.
She holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance from the University of Toronto and an Artist Diploma from The Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School, where she studied with Stephanie Bogle and David Eliakis. While at the Glenn Gould School, she performed Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites, the Coach in Ice Time (a new Canadian work commissioned by Tapestry Opera), and the Older Woman in Jonathan Dove’s Flight.
Alexa’s artistic vision is fueled by her passion for timeless composers such as Puccini, Verdi, Strauss, Wagner, and Mozart, as well as contemporary repertoire. She also enjoys championing culturally significant works, including Bas Sheve (Yiddish Opera – North American Premiere) and Alice Ho’s Dora Award-nominated The Monkiest King (Chinese-Canadian Opera – World Premiere).
Kevin Glavin World renowned and critically acclaimed Bass-Baritone specializing in Italian Opera for over forty years. Highlights include performances with Luciano Pavarotti, Marvin Hamlisch, and most of the major international opera stars, directors, and conductors of the world. Countries including Canada, China, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina Costa Rica, Italy, Spain, France and most states in the USA. Career highlights are performing “live from Lincoln and Kennedy Centers” shown worldwide. The majority of his career focused on the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opera company of Philadelphia, and Miami Opera. Known for his vocal and acting skills he is praised by audiences and critics around the world.
Thomas Shivone, a bass-baritone, has received critical acclaim for both singing and acting in opera, concert, and recitals. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and earned a Masters Degree in Voice and Opera.
While at Curtis he performed the roles of Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress, Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore, Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, Masetto in Don Giovanni and over 40 more roles and productions.
Professionally, he has performed the roles of Karl Marx/Lister in the World Premiere of Kevin Puts’ Elizabeth Cree, Antonio in Le Nozze Di Figaro, Prison Patient #2 in Oscar, The British Major in the Pulitzer Prize winning opera Silent Night, Marchese D’Obigny in La Traviata and The Notary in Gianni Schicchi with Opera Philadelphia. He also was the First Nazarene in Salome and Jeff in The Long Walk with Pittsburgh Opera.
A frequent recitalist and concert giver Thomas has performed many of Schubert’s works in recital. He sang Prisoner in Fidelio with Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah in Concert with James Judd and the Master Chorale of South Florida, Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego and Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
He has shared the stage with many famous artists of today including Ailyn Perez, Daniela Mack, John Chest, Dwayne Croft, Rachele Gilmore, Stephen Costello, Bill Burden, Kelly Kaduce, Harold Wilson, Troy Cook, Daniel Belcher, Dale Travis, Leah Partridge, David Portillo and Charles Castronovo.
Thomas was awarded a full-scholarship to attend the summer programs of: Glimmerglass, Music Academy of the West, Songfest, Centro Studi Lirica, Opera on the Avalon and Schlern Festival in Italy. He received an “Encouragement Award” in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Philadelphia Region in 2014 and advanced to the Semi-Finals in Washington DC in 2016. In 2007 he was a winner of the National Public Radio show From the Top, Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award and performed with the show on NPR in Texas.
Thomas now lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, Karissa Shivone, a cellist in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and their two daughters, Lucia and Anna Maria.
Pittsburgh native Benjamin Werley—praised as having a “gleaming, flexible tenor” (Opera News)—has performed at many of the country’s leading opera companies. Recent appearances include performances for El Paso Opera (Roméo, Roméo et Juliette), San Diego Opera (Narraboth, Salome), Virginia Opera (Sheriff Brooks/Judge Bazile, Loving v Virginia) Anchorage Opera (Don José, Carmen), St. Petersburg Opera (Edgardo, Lucia di Lammermoor), Central City Opera (Red Whiskers, Billy Budd), Dayton Opera (Nemorino, L’elisir d’amore).
Werley was last heard in Pittsburgh as a soloist for Verdi’s Messa da Requiem (Pittsburgh Concert Chorale) and as the tenor soloist for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra).
Dr. Maeve Berry is a pianist, vocal coach, and performer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Following the completion of her doctorate from the Eastman School of Music, she moved back to her hometown to join the Pittsburgh Opera as their inaugural Resident Artist pianist and coach for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 seasons.
Her recent projects include coaching staff for the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Woman with Eyes Closed (2025, Pittsburgh Opera) as well as workshop répétiteur for the world premiere of Laura Kaminsky’s Time to Act (2026, Pittsburgh Opera). Dr. Berry also served as rehearsal pianist for the world premiere of Madame Clicquot: a Revolutionary Musical (2025, Pittsburgh CLO).
As a recitalist, Ms. Berry has appeared at various summer festivals including the inaugural Cincinnati Song Initiative’s Fellowship of the Song, The Franz-Schubert-Institut, Songfest, Toronto Summer Music Festival, and Source Song Festival. She also has been a part of concert series including the Christ Church Candlelight Series, Penn State Honors Music Institute, and the Cleveland Trombone Institute.
Dr. Berry has studied song repertoire with acclaimed musicians including Elly Ameling, Julius Drake, Roger Vignoles, Wolfram Rieger, Graham Johnson, Martin Katz, Warren Jones, Margo Garrett, Joseph Middleton, and Robert Holl. She has also coached repertoire with esteemed composers including Jake Heggie, Jennifer Higdon, Libby Larsen, Tom Cipullo, Laura Kaminsky, and John Musto.
Maeve is looking forward to the 2025-2026 season for Pittsburgh Opera, where she will be chorus pianist for all productions. She is also excited to be the organist in Pittsburgh Opera’s production of Britten’s Curlew River as well as orchestral pianist for the world premiere of Laura Kaminsky’s Time to Act.