Celebrated for her “blend of vocal sparkle and theatrical charisma” by the San Francisco Chronicle, American soprano Elisa Sunshine is a recent graduate of San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellowship who brings the complexity of the human experience to life through vocal acrobatics and theatrical dynamism. She joined The Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist in 2024, making her company debut as Annina in Louisa Muller’s new production of La Traviata and covering Sheila in the world premiere of Gregory Spears and Tracy K. Smith’s The Righteous. In the 20204-2025 season, Ms. Sunshine makes noteworthy debuts with The Atlanta Opera as Iris in Semele and Boston Symphony Orchestra as Juliette in Die tote Stadt.

Ms. Sunshine has covered Marie in Laurent Pelly’s sparkling production of La fille du régiment, Susanna in Barbara Gaines’s exhilarating Le Nozze di Figaro, and Gilda in Mary Birnbaum’s reimagined Rigoletto in previous collaborations with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She also returned to San Francisco Opera for their centennial celebration as part of Richard Strauss’s masterpiece Die Frau ohne Schatten, under the baton of Sir Donald Runnicles. During her time as an Adler Fellow, Ms. Sunshine made her San Francisco Opera debut as the Shepherd boy in Tosca, sang Annina in Shawna Lucey’s brand new production of La Traviata, and sang Soeur Anne de la Croix and covered Constance in Olivier Py’s award-winning production of Dialogues des Carmèlites. Additionally, Ms. Sunshine covered Despina in Così fan tutte, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Amor in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, and prepared assignments lost to the pandemic, including covering the title role in Handel’s Partenope, Gilda in Rigoletto, and Musetta in La Bohème.

Ms. Sunshine looks excitedly ahead to a return to San Francisco Opera to cover Gilda and sing the Page in Rigoletto, as well as singing the roles of Knappen 1 and Blumenmädchen 1 in Wagner’s Parsifal, both under the baton of Music Director Eun Sun Kim. Future projects include house and role debuts with Seattle Opera, Portland Opera, and The Santa Fe Symphony, as well as a return to The Santa Fe Opera.

Acclaimed for her “show-stopping,” “ripe, round,” and “searing” voice, Gretchen Krupp is rapidly establishing herself as a magnetic force in the opera world, distinguished by her extraordinary vocalism and compelling theatricality. Her diverse repertoire spans centuries and styles, from classic to contemporary, dramatic to comic.

In the 2024-2025 season, Ms. Krupp debuts with the York Symphony Orchestra as the mezzo soloist in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. She also returns to the Santa Fe Opera to sing Waltraute and cover Fricka in a new production of Wagner’s Die Walküre under the baton of James Gaffigan. Future engagements include return appearances with The Dallas Opera as Mother Jeanne in Dialogues des Carmélites; performing the role of Tebaldo, and covering Eboli in Don Carlo.

The 2023-2024 season featured Ms. Krupp in several significant performances, beginning with The Dallas Opera for the premiere of Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. She subsequently made her Pittsburgh Opera debut, stepping in on short notice as Mary in Der fliegende Holländer. Returning to The Dallas Opera, she debuted as Erste Magd in Elektra and appeared as a featured soloist in The Hart Institute for Women Conductors Showcase Concert. Ms. Krupp concluded her season with a significant role debut as Fricka in Die Walküre with The Atlanta Opera.

In 2023, Ms. Krupp debuted with the Santa Fe Opera as Mary in Der fliegende Holländer and covered the role of Ježibaba in Rusalka. As a recent alumna of The Atlanta Opera’s Glynn Studio Artist Program, she performed as Flosshilde and covered Fricka in Das Rheingold, covered Judith in Bluebeard’s Castle, and portrayed Paquette in Candide, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and Edith in The Pirates of Penzance.

Her concert appearances include engagements with The Dallas Opera and Baltimore Concert Opera. In summer 2021, Ms. Krupp returned to Wolf Trap Opera as a Filene Artist, performing Armelinde in Viardot’s Cendrillon and Dorothée in Bologne’s L’Amant Anonyme. That season also featured her first performance of Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder in recital and an appearance as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra.

Prior to the pandemic, Ms. Krupp reprised the role of Samira in Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles for her European debut at the Château de Versailles Spectacles. She was also awarded the prestigious Georgina Joshi International Fellowship, which supported her studies in Berlin. The 2018-2019 season included her return to The Glimmerglass Festival, where she debuted as Samira in The Ghosts of Versailles and Mrs. Noye in Britten’s Noye’s Fludde, alongside her mainstage debut with Greensboro Opera as the Witch in Hansel and Gretel.

Her notable roles include Cornelia in Giulio Cesare, Principessa in Suor Angelica, Mère Marie in Dialogues des Carmélites, Mistress Quickly in Falstaff, Chocholka/Woodpecker/Innkeeper’s Wife in The Cunning Little Vixen, Auntie in Peter Grimes, Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor, and the Marquise in La fille du régiment.

Ms. Krupp was named a 2018 Grand Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (now the Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition) and a Finalist in the 29th Annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, culminating in the 2017 Concert of Arias with Houston Grand Opera. She is a proud alumna of prestigious young artist programs at the Santa Fe Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices.

Ryan Bryce Johnson, tenor, is a dynamic and versatile performer whose work spans both opera and musical theatre. In 2025, he returned to The Santa Fe Opera to perform the role of Borsa in Verdi’s Rigoletto. This followed a successful 2024 season with the company, where he made his debut as Giuseppe in La traviata, appeared as Faninal’s Major-Domo in Der Rosenkavalier, and performed Prunier (Quartet Scene) in La rondine. Also in 2024, he was seen as Lt. Cable in South Pacific with Dayton Opera.

In 2023, Ryan was featured at The Glimmerglass Festival as the Grand Inquisitor and Governor in Bernstein’s Candide, and covered the role of Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette. He also performed as Ira in Lembit Beecher’s Sky on Swings with Opera Saratoga, and as Christophe de Chantal in The Reef with Berkshire Opera Festival. At Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, he has performed Borsa in Rigoletto, Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance, Remendado in Carmen, and Nurse Rodriguez in Awakenings, while covering Nero in The Coronation of Poppea and Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi.

Ryan has enjoyed notable success in vocal competitions. He is the 2023 First Prize Winner of the Lotte Lenya Competition, a 2024 district winner of The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, and a finalist in the George London Foundation Competition.

His earlier performances at Lyric Theatre @ Illinois include leading tenor roles such as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Rodolfo in La Bohème, and the Male Chorus in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. Additional credits include Sam in Susannah, Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro, and Piangi in The Phantom of the Opera.

Ryan holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Texas Tech University. He has trained as an Apprentice Singer at The Santa Fe Opera, a Young Artist at The Glimmerglass Festival, and a Gerdine Young Artist at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Second-year Houston Grand Opera Butler Studio artist Sam Dhobhany received the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award at HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. The Brooklyn native is a 2022 alumnus of HGO’s Young Artist Vocal Academy.

During the 2024-25 season at Houston Grand Opera, he made his company debut as Alidoro in HGO Family Day Presents Cinderella and later performed the role of Terry in Breaking the Waves. In summer 2024, he returned to Santa Fe Opera as an apprentice artist, where his roles included Marchese d’Obigny in La Traviata, as well as covering Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love and The Notary in Der Rosenkavalier. Previously, with Santa Fe Opera in 2023, he covered and performed the role of Un Médecin in Pelléas et Mélisande. Last summer, Sam was a Filene Artist at Wolf Trap Opera, where he appeared as Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro and Zuniga in Carmen.

Dhobhany was a second-place winner in the Rocky Mountain Region of The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. This season at HGO, he is tackling a variety of repertoire, including the roles of Undertaker in Porgy and Bess, The Notary in Gianni Schicchi, British Major in Silent Night, George in Of Mice and Men, and The Officer in The Barber of Seville.

He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL
Born 1685, Halle, Germany
Died 1759, London

Messiah, An Oratorio

In 1741, when George Frideric Handel was asked to compose and present a series of concerts in Ireland to benefit local charities, his music had become less fashionable and his financial straits dire. This fortuitous invitation was issued by William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire and Lord Lieutenant of Dublin. It culminated in the first public presentations of the now-famous Messiah. Before leaving London for Ireland that fall, Handel composed the work in a mere 24 days, completing it on September 14.

Handel knew little about the quality, disposition or experience of the performers with whom he’d be working. Therefore, when he arrived in Dublin in November 1741, he changed the work to suit the particular abilities of his cast, and he continued to do so every time it was performed. Sometimes he changed things slightly, transposing an aria from one key to another to fit the range of the singer. Other times, he reassigned arias to different voices either because he had a different mix of soloists or because there was a guest star he wanted to feature. Sometimes he recomposed movements altogether. There are at least 10 different arrangements of the score, with 15 individual movements existing in more than 40 versions. In addition to the choral parts, Messiah is scored for oboes, bassoons, trumpets, strings, harpsichord, and timpani.

Handel presented 12 concerts in Dublin before unveiling Messiah on April 13, 1742, in the New Musick-Hall. The normal capacity was 600 people, but the Dublin Journal reported a crowd of at least 700. Such was the excitement about the new work that a Journal article admonished women to “come without hoops” and men to “come without swords” so that more people could be crammed in.

The event was an artistic and financial success, earning great reviews and making it possible for 142 people to be released from debtors’ prison. Handel waited a year before presenting Messiah in London. Seven years later, in 1750, he had the idea to perform the oratorio as a fundraiser for the Foundling Hospital. Annual performances have continued in London and around the world ever since. The Hospital still owns Handel’s autographed score and performance notes, which he left to the institution upon his death.

Messiah marked the beginning of a resurgence in Handel’s career; when he died in 1759, he was able to leave a substantial legacy to a niece, friends, servants, and various charities in England.

—Program Note by Tom Hall

The link provided for this work features The Hallelujah Chorus. To hear the entire work, visit — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiBHbadRVBU&list=RDXiBHbadRVBU&start_radio=1