Janet Todd is a Los Angeles–based soprano, originally from Melbourne, Australia.
A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, she has performed with companies across the United States, including Los Angeles Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Opera Columbus, and Pacific Opera Project.
Her recent operatic highlights include Nedda in Pagliacci, Mimì in La Bohème, Setsuko in An American Dream, and Ippolita in Ercole sul Termodonte. She has also performed the role of Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly on multiple occasions —a role especially close to her heart.
In Australia, Janet has appeared in leading roles with Victorian Opera, Opera Australia, and Pinchgut Opera. She has also been featured as a soprano soloist with The Australian Ballet, Sydney Philharmonia, the Perth Symphonic Choir and Baroque Orchestra, and the Canberra Choral Society. Notable roles from her Australian career include Pamina in The Magic Flute, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Zelmira in Haydn’s Armida, Miss Hawk in Salieri’s The Chimney Sweep, and Iole in Handel’s Hercules.
In addition to her operatic work, Janet is an active performer in the film music industry, regularly engaged in session work. She has toured with acclaimed composer Joe Hisaishi, performing with the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap, the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, the American Symphony Orchestra at Madison Square Garden, and the San Francisco Symphony.
Hailing from Kansas, tenor Brendan Boyle received his Bachelor of Music from Washburn University and went on to complete a Masters of Music from Baylor University and a Performer’s Diploma from Indiana University where he studied under Bass Peter Volpe. Mr. Boyle recently performed the role of the Prince (Rusalka) with Wichita Grand Opera and Cavaradossi (Tosca) with Toledo Opera. Upcoming performances include Don Jose (Carmen) with Toledo Opera, Nikolaus Sprink (Silent Night) with Opera Orlando, and Alexander Simpson (Sheltering Tree) with Hawaii Opera.
Praised for his “fetching resonant” voice of “great Presence,” Dominican-born baritone Jean Carlos Rodriguez is established himself as a prominent performer on opera stages across the United States. During the 2024-2025 season, Mr. Rodriguez portrayed a “lecherous and loathsome” Tonio and “[held] the stage with authority” as Alfio in Sarasota Opera’s Cavaleria Rusticana/Pagliacci. He also debuted the title role of Rigoletto with the Savannah VOICE Festival under the guidance of Sherill Milnes and sang Marcello in La Boheme with Opera Tampa. During the 2023-2024 season, he made his Sarasota Opera debut as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor and returned to Opera Tampa as Germont in La Traviata.
Rodriguez is also highly regarded on the concert stage, maintaining a strong collaboration with the Florida Orchestra. Recently, he headlined Orff’s Carmina Burana and starred in Spanish Nights with Opera Tampa as a Vidal Hernando in torrova’s Luisa Fernanda with the Spanish Lyric Theater.
Tenor Taka Komagata brightens international classical music with his sincere presence and vibrant vocal style. He performs “with earnest gusto” (The Boston Globe) and has been praised for his “believable and stunning” character portrayals (Los Angeles Times).
Mr. Komagata’s 2025/26 season highlights a role debut as Monkey/Rat in Big Swim, a co‐production of Houston Grand Opera and Asia Society Texas, the tenor solo in Britten’s Spring Symphony with Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, a company debut as Goro in Madama Butterfly with Opera Grand Rapids, and his Carnegie Hall debut performing the tenor solo in Terre Johnson’s Te Deum with New England Symphonic Ensemble. Recent highlights include role debuts as Guang in Stuck Elevator and Nemorino in The Elixir of Love with Hawai’i Opera Theatre, company debuts with Pacific Opera Project and Opera in Williamsburg, performing Goro in Madama Butterfly, and the tenor solo in Mozart’s Requiem with MidAmerica Productions. In 2020, he made his Japan debut performing the leading male role in the Christmas musical, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, at Asakusa Kyugeki Theater. He is a prize winner of the Basel International Vocal Competition and the Yokohama International Music Competition. Mr. Komagata co-founded and produces Balcony Series, an artistic troupe to deliver timeless compositions to the unsuspecting listener.
Baritone André Chiang has been described as “vocally commanding” (Oregonian), “handsome of voice” and “stood out for his chiseled vocalism” (Opera News), as well as lauded with “let’s hear more from this singer” (Washington Post). Chiang’s recent engagements include Ping (Turandot) with Opera Delaware, Captain Corcoran (HMS Pinafore) with Opera Las Vegas, Pacific Opera Project, and Opera Grand Rapids, and Wáng Yuè/Nephew (Stuck Elevator) with Knoxville Opera. He has also been seen with the Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Opera Philadelphia, the Atlanta Opera, Portland Opera, Virginia Opera, and other American opera companies.
Chiang was a 2018 NATS Intern and in the first cohort of Pan American Vocology Association – Recognized Vocologists (PAVA-RV). He is an Assistant Professor of Voice and Opera at Florida State University also teaching commercial and musical theatre voice, an Instructor of Voice at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, and runs a private studio. www.andrechiangbaritone.com
David Lee has appeared in numerous operas, portraying roles ranging from comprimario to principal. His repertoire includes Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Snug in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kobun Chino Otogawa in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Frank in Die Fledermaus, Der Lautsprecher in Der Kaiser von Atlantis, and more. As a young artist with Virginia Opera, he performed as a Thug in Daniel Catán’s Il Postino and covered roles including Il Re in Aida, Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, and Sacristan in Tosca. David studied music at Indiana University, the New England Conservatory, and Temple University. He currently resides in Miami, where he is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Miami under the tutelage of Professor Kim Josephson. Most recently, he performed as Frank Maurrant in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene and Minskman in Jonathan Dove’s Flight with Frost Opera Theater, and also appeared as Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Miami Music Festival this summer.
Lydia Howery is a founding member of GO Divas and recently played the role of Berta in The Barber of Seville with GO. Howery has also appeared with Boston Bel Canto Opera, Raylynmor Opera, D’Angelo Opera Theater, and Erie Opera Theater in such roles as Maddalena in Rigoletto, Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Dame Quickly in Falstaff, and the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors. She also created the role of Daphne in Jordan Farrar’s opera The Day Boy and the Night Girl with the After Dinner Opera Company at Symphony Space in NYC. Howery is equally at home on the concert stage, appearing as a guest soloist with the Edinboro Chamber Players, Erie Philharmonic Chorus, Pennsylvania Chamber Symphony, and most recently with Choral Artistry directed by Dr. Trent Brown. She holds a MM in Voice Performance from The Boston Conservatory and a BS in Music Education from Erskine College. Howery is enjoying her third year as a FGCU adjunct voice faculty member. She resides in Fort Myers with her husband and enjoys homeschooling their three children still at home.
Named as one of Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of the Year in 2023, Josh Shaw is the Founding Artistic Director and CEO of Pacific Opera Project (POP), which has been described as “L.A.’s most exciting opera company.” Over the past fifteen seasons, Mr. Shaw has directed and designed over 65 productions at POP, including The Rake’s Progress, Ariadne auf Naxos, The Mikado, Turandot, Zorro, and La boheme: AKA “The Hipsters”.
A frequent librettist for English updates, his Star Trek parody of Abduction from the Seraglio and Nintendo inspired The Magic Flute: AKA #SuperFlute have gained national attention and have been produced at multiple companies, shattering attendance records. Other English libretti including a Wild West setting of Die Lustige Witwe, a contemporary setting of Trial by Jury, Covid fan tutte, a 1930s Hollywood Fledermaus, Rusalka, and a groundbreaking production of Madama Butterfly sung in Japanese and English, a co-production of POP and Opera in Heights (Houston).
Mr. Shaw has directed over 140 productions at companies including New Orleans Opera, Opera Orlando, Opera Santa Barbara, Gulfshore Opera, Opera Montana, Utah Festival Opera, Opera Columbus, Salt Marsh Opera, Opera Neo, Opera Louisiane, Queen City Opera, and Opera in the Heights. Recent projects include a production of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta starring “The Blind Soprano” Cristina Jones, Turandot, Carmen, Giulio Cesare, Zorro, Fra Diavolo, and the US premieres of Vivaldi’s Ercole su’l Termodonte, Salieri’s La Scoula de’ Gelosi, and Cagnoni’s Don Bucefalo, and Donizetti’s Il fortunato inganno.
26/27 productions include La Rondine at POP, Zorro at Opera Williamsburg, Madama Butterfly at Gulfshore Opera, Rusalka at Salt Marsh Opera, and Sweeney Todd at Cedar Rapids Opera. More at joshshaw.org
