SFO names 44 apprentice singers for 2024 season

Jun. 17—The Santa Fe Opera has named 44 apprentice singers for the 2024 season.

The roster features promising young vocalists from across the country, including bass-baritone Tzvi Bat Asherah of Albuquerque, who will perform on the opera's main stage as a waiter in "Der Rosenkavalier."

The hopefuls include singers from Australia, Canada, Cuba and South Korea.

The class of 2024 was chosen from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants by program director Gayletha Nichols; manager, casting and apprentice program for singers Chandler Johnson; chief artistic officer David Lomelí; and chorus master Susanne Sheston, through a competitive prescreening and audition process.

Each season, the apprentice singers comprise the chorus in main stage productions and stand ready as covers for the principal artists. This year, 28 apprentice singers will sing named roles in four out of five productions.

The singers also will appear in two Sunday evenings of staged apprentice scenes on Aug. 11 and Aug. 18 at 8 p.m.

During their time at Santa Fe, each apprentice singer also has the opportunity to work with the SFO's voice faculty, take master classes with notable artists and audition for major companies.

The 2024 Santa Fe Opera season opens on Friday, June 28, with "La traviata."