Met Opera's 'Rising Stars' to perform in Morristown in April

MORRISTOWN — Four up-and-coming opera singers and a pianist will showcase their talents as the Metropolitan Opera Rising Stars Concert Series comes to Mayo Performing Arts Center on Saturday, April 2, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $29-$59.
The program will feature tenor Adam Diegel, soprano Amanda Woodbury, mezzo-soprano Sarah Mesko, baritone Trevor Scheunemann, and pianist Brent Funderburk, performing selections from the world's most beloved operas.
Adam Diegel regularly earns international acclaim for his impassioned dramatic sensibilities, powerful voice, and classic leading-man looks.
Amanda Woodbury is an alumna of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program. She was most recently honored with the second-place award and an Audience Choice award in Plácido Domingo's prestigious Operalia competition. She also won the 2014 Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, the 2014 Sarah Tucker Study Grant, and both second place and Audience Choice awards at Houston Grand Opera's Eleanor McCollum Competition. Other awards include second place in the Dallas Opera Vocal Competition in 2010 and 2012.
Woodbury made her Los Angeles Opera debut in 2013 as Micaëla in "Carmen," with subsequent appearances as Papagena in "Die Zauberflöte." She made her Cincinnati May Festival debut last year under the baton of James Conlon, singing the Mater Gloriosa in Mahler's Eighth Symphony. This past summer, she performed Donna Anna in Mozart's" Don Giovanni" with the Merola Opera Program.
Sarah Mesko begins the 2015-16 season with her role debut as Carmen at Washington National Opera, in the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist performance series. She will also cover Malcolm in "La donna del Lago" at the Metropolitan Opera. In concert, she will appear with the Columbus Symphony in "Alexander Nevsky" and with Mercury Baroque in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
Recently, Mesko debuted at the Glimmerglass Festival in Vivaldi's "Catone" in Utica to significant acclaim. She appeared at Washington National Opera as the Second Lady in "Die Zauberflöte" and made her debut at Houston Grand Opera as Mrs. Segstrom in "A Little Night Music." In concert, she appeared with the Bach Society of Houston as well as Mercury Baroque in Houston.
As a member of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, Mesko's appearances with Washington National Opera include Alisa in David Alden's production of "Lucia di Lammermoor," a striking role debut as Dorabella with Washington National Opera in their Emerging Artist performances of "Così fan tutte," and her role debut as Hansel.
In 2011, Mesko made her debut in "Madama Butterfly," first as Kate Pinkerton and then in a highly acclaimed role debut as Suzuki, conducted by Plácido Domingo in a Young Artist performance. In 2009, Mesko was a national finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, performing with the Met Orchestra under Patrick Summers. She is also among a rare number of singers who have won the Richard F. Gold Career Grant more than once in 2011 from Washington National Opera and in 2009 from Central City Opera.
In the 2015-16 season, Trevor Scheunemann will make his Atlanta Opera debut as Marcello in "La Bohème." Last season he played Marcello at the Washington National Opera in a new production of "La Bohème." He returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Morales in "Carmen" and Silvano in "Un Ballo in Maschera." In the summer of 2015, Scheunemann debuted at Teatro Municipal de Santiago as Sharpless in "Madama Butterfly." He also debuted in Orff's "Carmina Burana' and in Bernstein's "A Quiet Place" with the Montreal Symphony and Kent Nagano.
South Carolina native Brent Funderburk has partnered with world-class singers and instrumentalists in concert and on recording. He has garnered respect as a distinguished recitalist and vocal coach in New York City.
Funderburk has participated in many renowned summer programs and festivals, including Ravinia's Steans Music Institute, where he returned as a resident pianist in the 2015 Program for Singers. Funderburk is on staff of the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at the Juilliard School, where he received his master's degree in collaborative piano under the tutelage of Brian Zeger, Margo Garrett, and Jonathan Feldman.