Ariadne auf Naxos

Praised for her strength as a dramatic interpreter and her large, colorful sound, Soprano Lauren Ingebrigtsen is earning a reputation as a powerhouse singing actor. Hailed as "strong and versatile" by the Chicago Reader, her repertoire spans from the Baroque to the 21st century and she remains devoted to telling powerful stories onstage. She is based in Chicago and is a Teaching Artist at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

In 2022, she performed Edka in Jake Heggie’s Two Remain with Chicago Fringe Opera, followed by Alma March in Adamo's Little Women in Oklahoma. Her 2021 summer season opened with the role of Florence Pike in Chicago Summer Opera’s production of Albert Herring, followed in the fall by her directorial debut at Oklahoma City University, where she served as the artistic director of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. In November, she is stepped into the role of Mrs. Peachum in The Threepenny Opera, also at OCU. She is also a dedicated voice and piano teacher and prides herself on having a diverse studio of intelligent young artists who use music to express their own individual stories and identities.

American soprano Kristina Butler has recently appeared as Lady Valerie (Cabildo), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), and Edith (Pirates of Penzance) at the University of Colorado in Boulder. While at CU, she was a Graduate Division Finalist for the 2024 Concerto Competition and selected to sing for the 2024 New Opera Workshop. Kristina’s other operatic roles include Lay Conversa (Suor Angelica), Ida (Die Fledermaus), Littler Daughter (Proving Up), Billie Jean King (Balls), and Nella (cover, Gianni Schicchi). Originally from Burnsville, MN, Kristina received her Bachelor’s degree in Music and Spanish from St. Olaf College and her Master’s degree in Music from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Kristina was a finalist for the 2025 Colorado Bach Ensemble Young Artist Competition and a 2021 recipient of the Fulbright Research Grant to Ecuador, where she produced a new music album, Sueños de Zazá, alongside collaborators at the Universidad de las Artes in Guayaquil.

Chris Li is a young soprano from Shenzhen China. She has performed in various musical events, including the 5th Shenzhen Mozart Music Festival, The Chamber Music Concert and The Sound of Music Vocal Concert in the Way of The Artist Series Performances. Chris also has a passion for Opera. Her recent engagement in Operas include Lakmé from Léo Delibes’s Lakmé, Mistress Ford in Otto Nicolai’s Merry Wives, and Susanna from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.

Marissa Elizabeth Perri is a Philadelphia native passionate about bringing compelling performances to audiences across America. The young emerging light lyric coloratura is known for her performances as Rossignol in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilège, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Constance in Francis Poulenc’s Dialogue of the Carmelites. Marissa has also covered roles such as Venus in Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival 2022 and Susanna at the Penn State Opera Theatre 2021. Marissa is extremely passionate about the new movement of contemporary opera theater. Previously involved with Dr. Blair Salter, renowned opera director and pianist, Marissa's collaborated with Penn State’s Opera Workshop which works to bring new music to audiences while working in tandem with living composers. She hopes that with these new operatic works, the classical genre can continue to thrive while portraying everyday situations and conflicts of people in 2023. While Marissa is not performing she prefers to explore the marketing side of the music business and works with Johns Hopkins University. Marissa believes it is of the utmost importance that as a society who thrives on social media, that we put our true selves out into the world. Marissa is a Baltimore, Maryland resident studying for her masters degree at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and is set to graduate in 2025.

Vivien Stringfellow, from Stow, Massahusetts is a mezzo-soprano studying under Rachel Calloway. She has been seen on stage in roles including Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice), Mad Margaret (Ruddigore), Captain Frands von Frauenliebe (The Beautiful Bridegroom), Wheelwright/Wolf (Les Malhuers d’Orphée) and in the ensemble of Die Zauberflöte, La belle Hélène, and La Traviata. She is an alum of Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Operafest Sewanee, the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center, University of South Carolina School of Music Castleton Residency, and Chicago Summer Opera. She's excited to be joining CSO for another season. She graduated in May from the University of South Carolina with her Bachelor’s of Music in Vocal Performance. She will be pursuing her Master’s of Music in Vocal Performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Szilvia Hernyak is a graduate of both the New Zealand School of Music and Waikato university, where they completed an Honours degree in Music majoring in Classical Voice under the tutelage of Jenny Wollerman, Margaret Medlyn, and Wade Kernot, and a PGDip under the tutelage of Kristin Darragh. Recent projects include Bach's Mass in B minor with the Napier Civic Choir, Hamor in Jephtha with the Handel Consort and Quire, and Third Lady in The Magic Flute in Concert with Festival Opera and the NZSO. Szilvia has been a chorus member for New Zealand Opera, Wellington Opera, and Festival Opera, and is an alumna of the New Zealand Opera School.

Los Angeles based tenor Frank Watnick recently graduated with his Master of Music degree in vocal performance from California State University and recently won 2nd place in the voice divisions of the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition for Piano and Voice. He graduated with his Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Chapman University in 2022. Frank's roles include Sam Kaplan in Street Scene, Nerone in L'incoronazione di Poppea, Don Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, and Lensky in Eugene Onegin. He has worked with several companies and festivals, including Lyric Opera of Orange County, Opera Italia Los Angeles, Cinballera Entertainment, the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, the International Lyric Academy, Bach Millennium Music, and Opera Aeterna Windy City Operafest. Upcoming engagements include his debut with Independent Opera Company as Leukippos in Daphne, his mainstage debut with Opera Italia Los Angeles as Rodolfo in La Bohème, and a return to Opera Aeterna to reprise Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro.

Zongwei Zhang, a Tenor from Hefei, China, is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Voice at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, studying under the guidance of Carol Vaness.

He has been recognized in several international competitions, including Second Prize at the Korea-China International Vocal Competition, Second Prize and an Excellence Award at the Prokofiev International Music Competition, and Third Prize at the China-Singapore International Vocal Competition.

At Jacobs, he has performed as Le Remendado in Carmen at IU Music Art Center, as Werther in Opera Werther, as Fritz in Opera L'amico Fritz, as Monostatos in Opera The Magic Flute and as Nemorino in Opera L'elisir d'amore at Heidi Grant Murphy Opera Workshop. This summer, he will sing the roles of the Dancing Master and Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos with Chicago Summer Opera.

Mark Huffines is an undergraduate student in music education and vocal performance at Texas Tech University under instruction of Professor Eric Stoklossa. His previous performances include the Mayor in Albert Herring, Alfredo in Die Fledermaus, and a quadruple cast as Andres, Cochenille, Franz, and Piticinnacio in Les Contes d'Hoffmann. After graduating, he plans on teaching high school choir and continuing his training before returning to school to pursue a master's degree in vocal performance.

Logan Dubner is a baritone from Miami, Florida. He attended the Eastman School of Music for his undergraduate degree and is currently studying for his master’s degree in Vocal Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music in the studio of Professor Robert Swensen. During his undergraduate and master’s degree, he performed as The Lawyer in Anthony Davis’s Lear on the Second Floor, Ein Lakai in Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, and as premier officière/deuxième commissaire in Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites. His most recent role was in Chicago Summer Opera’s Hansel und Gretel as Peter. He has also performed as a chorus member in Eastman’s productions of Chevalier de Saint-George’s L’amant Anonyme and Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas. He has worked in masterclasses with Brian Zeger and Sylvia Mcnair and spent two years as a part of the Eastman Chorale. He performed as the bass soloist in Bach’s Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen as part of Eastman’s Bach Cantata series. This year he was named as one of four winners in the Eastman Concerto Competition.

Jayden Fraser (he/him) is a Canadian baritone from Winnipeg, Manitoba in his fourth year of his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at the University of Manitoba studying with Monica Huisman and Mel Braun. A versatile performer, Jayden thrives in operatic, art song, and musical theatre repertoire. Select credits include Demetrius in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (University of Manitoba excerpt), Frog in A Year with Frog and Toad (Manitoba Theatre for Young People), Sprecher and Papageno (cover) in Die Zauberflöte (UofM) The D’Ysquith Family in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (NUOVA Vocal Arts), Raoul in Phantom of the Opera, Curly in Oklahoma! (UofM excerpts). Jayden is also frequently seen in the chorus of Manitoba Opera productions, most recently in their 2025 production of La Bohème and 2024 production of Carmen. He is also two-time runner up of the Zita Bernstein German Lieder Competition. Recent training includes the Canadian Opera Company’s Summer Opera Intensive as well as studies at Orford Musique Academy. Jayden is looking forward to joining Chicago Summer Opera as Harlequin in their production of Ariadne auf Naxos.

Sergey Martsenyuk is an aspiring dramatic baritone at the start of his professional opera career. He is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He started singing from the early age and was always striving for a more classical approach! His operatic career began in 2012 with the role of Monterone in the production of Rigoletto of Toronto academy for performing arts. His most recent roles include Escamilio in Carmen; Belcore in l'elixir d'amore; Ping in Turandot; Maximilian in Candide; Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro; and a few more minor and ensemble roles in other operas. Standing at 7 feet tall he stands out from the crowd and is always happy to show that he got the voice as well as the height!