Jonathan Beyer, baritone & Mikael Eliasen, piano

Jonathan Beyer is a 26 year old baritone who has performed with several opera companies including Chicago Opera Theater, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, The Chautauqua Institution, Accademia Verdiana, and Teatro di Verdi. He performs a wide variety of repertoire including Marcello in LA BOHEME, Germont in LA TRAVIATA, Musiklehrer in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, Papageno in DIE ZAUBERFLOTE, Count Almaviva in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, and Richard Nixon in NIXON IN CHINA. He has also appeared with the Indianapolis Symphony, Lorin Maazel’s Châteauville Foundation, Chatam Baroque, the Erie Philharmonic and the Mozart Acadamie at Aix-en-Provence.

Mr. Beyer was a National Finalist in the 2006 Metropolitan Opera National Council Competition. He was the 2007 1st Place Winner at the Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging Classical Artists. He has also won the American Opera Society Competition and the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation Competition. In 2004, he was the Grand Prize Winner of the Bel Canto Foundation and studied with Carlo Bergonzi as a direct result. Prizes have also been awarded to him through the Anna Sosenko Foundation, Mario Lanza Foundation, Irma M. Cooper, Chicago NATS, Palm Beach Opera and Neue Stimmen competitions.

An avid recitalist, Mr. Beyer has performed in recital with Craig Rutenberg, Mikael Eliasen, and Brian Zeger. He has given recitals through the Chicago Cultural Center, Judith Raskin Foundation, and the Marian Anderson Foundation. Currently in his final semester of vocal studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, Mr. Beyer is a student of Marlena Malas. While acquiring his Bachelors and Masters Degrees at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, he studied with Judith Haddon, David Holloway, and Richard Stilwell.

Jonathan is currently a young artist with the Pittsburgh Opera Center and will perform in this seasons productions of Madame Butterfly, Flight, I Capuletti e I Montecchi, and cover Belcore in Elixir of Love.

Danish-born coach and accompanist Mikael Eliasen received his early training in Copenhagen, Montreal, and Vienna. He has collaborated with numerous singers in recital worldwide, including Robert Merrill, Tom Krause, Theodor Uppman, John Shirley-Quirk, Elly Ameling, Edith Mathis, Florence Quivar, Mira Zakai, Sarah Walker, and Joan Patenaude-Yarnell. He has recorded for Albany Records, CBC, Hilversum Radio, Polish State Radio, Kol Israel, Irish Radio and Television, London Records, MHS, and Supraphon. Mr. Eliasen has given master classes at the Shanghai Conservatory, Tchaikovsky Conservatory (Moscow), Jerusalem Music Center, National Opera of Prague, and the young artist’s program at the Metropolitan Opera (New York City). He is closely affiliated with the Royal Opera Academy (Copenhagen), Netherlands Opera Studio (Amsterdam), and Pittsburgh Opera Studio. He teaches at Chautauqua’s Voice Program, for the Santa Fe Opera’s young artist program, and in Italy. Mr. Eliasen was music director of the San Francisco Opera Center from 1994 to 1996 and artistic director of the European Center for Opera and Vocal Art in Belgium from 1984 to 1994. Mr. Eliasen joined the faculty of The Curtis Institute of Music in 1986 and became the head of the department in 1988; he holds the the Hirsig Family Head-of-Department Chair in Vocal Studies.