Artists in Residence
Opera San José has long been recognized as a leading force in cultivating and nurturing emerging opera talent. Our Resident Artist Program serves as a thriving incubator, providing a fertile environment where promising artists can flourish and develop their skills to their fullest potential.
Through a comprehensive curriculum tailored to the specific needs of each artist, we focus on fostering their artistic growth and expanding their repertoire. With the guidance of our distinguished faculty and seasoned professionals, our Resident Artists receive personalized mentorship, allowing them to refine their technique, explore their artistic range, and deepen their understanding of the opera genre.
Opera San José’s Resident Artist Program is not only dedicated to the artistic development of our participants but also to providing them with valuable performance opportunities. From mainstage productions to community engagements, our Resident Artists showcase their talents in front of diverse audiences, gaining invaluable stage experience and building their professional portfolios.
2023-2024 Resident Artists
Melisa bonetti luna
(Mezzo-Soprano)
michelle ainna cuizon (Director)
Vartan Gabrielian
(bass-baritone)
Johannes Löhner (Conductor)
Courtney miller
(mezzo-soprano)
joshua sanders
(tenor)
Melissa Sondhi (Soprano)
Melisa Bonetti Luna
(mezzo-soprano)
Dominican-American Mezzo-soprano Melisa Bonetti makes her company debut with Opera San José this season. Hailed by Opera Today as “a warm, supple mezzo that struck all the right impressions,” Bonetti is a versatile singer whose experience encompasses a mix of new works, large traditional operas, and concerts. In 2024, Bonetti will appear as Lola in Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana with the Helena Symphony. Recent highlights include the lead role in New Latin Wave and National Sawdust’s premiere of Paraíso by Sokio and Natasha Tiniacos and appearances as mezzo-soprano soloist at Carnegie Hall for Bach’s Magnificat and Christmas Oratorio with The Cecilia Chorus of New York, as well as soloist at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center and the Kimmel Center with the Philadelphia Orchestra in a concert of Ancient Tang Poems with the I Sing International Festival. Bonetti has worked as an educator in various musical outreach and community programs throughout the New York City area with the Metropolitan Opera Guild, Brooklyn Music School, and the Bronx School for Music.
Michelle ainna cuizon (director)
Director Michelle Ainna Cuizon makes her company debut at Opera San José, where she will serve as the Assistant Stage Director for this season’s four California Theatre mainstage productions. Cuizon completed the 2022-23 season at the Metropolitan Opera as the Bank of America Stage Director Fellow, where she assisted on new productions of Terence Blanchard’s Champion and Kevin Puts’ The Hours. She has also worked on revivals of David McVicar’s productions of Puccini’s Tosca and Bellini’s Norma, Bartlett Sher’s production of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Graham Vick’s production of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, and the iconic Sonja Frisell staging of Verdi’s Aida. This summer, Cuizon assistant directed Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, directed by world-renowned soprano Patricia Racette. Other New York City credits include serving as the Assistant Director for the World Premiere of John Patrick Shanley’s Candlelight (Nylon Fusion Theater Company), and as the Assistant Stage Manager for Charlotte Lucas is 27 and Not Dead by Jessie Field and James Salem (Piper Theatre).
vartan gabrielian (bass-baritone)
Bass-baritone Vartan Gabrielian’s 2023-24 season marks numerous role and house debuts – including his company debut with Opera San José. Later this season, Gabrielian will make a festival debut as Nick Shadow (Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress) at the Verbier Festival, a house debut as Dottore Grenvil (Verdi’s La traviata) at the Paris Opera, and appear as Fasolt (Wagner Das Rheingold) at Edmonton Opera. A sought-after concert performer, Gabrielian will also be performing Handel’s Messiah with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra at the end of 2023. Highlights from the 2022-23 season include Masetto and Commendatore (Mozart’s Don Giovanni) at the National Arts Centre, Nourabad (Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles) at the Vancouver Opera, and a return to the Canadian Opera Company to perform Dottore (Verdi’s Macbeth) and cover Figaro (Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro), Banquo (Macbeth), and Angelotti (Verdi’s Tosca).
Johannes löhner (conductor)
Conductor Johannes Löhner returns to Opera San José as an Artist-in-Residence, where he will serve as the Resident Conductor. Löhner is also the Music Director of the Kammerorchester Regensburg and an Adjunct Professor of Conducting at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg. He was last seen at Opera San José for its productions of Verdi’s Falstaff and Puccini’s Tosca during the 2022-23 season. Löhner has been mentored by Sir Roger Norrington and Riccardo Muti for several years. He has gathered experience with institutions that include the Orchestre de Paris, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Symphoniker Hamburg, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and Nürnberger Symphoniker, among others. Löhner speaks six languages, and travels upwards of 20 weeks a year. From 2017-2023, he was also active as Artistic Director and CEO of The International Salon Project. Recent engagements include Verdi’s Macbeth at the Tokyo Spring Festival, the release of his groundbreaking Live-Solo-CD/DVD debut of Schubert’s Winterreise, new productions of Handel’s Alcina and Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Chicago Summer Opera, serving the Director of Studio Artists and Assistant Conductor at Sarasota Opera in 2022.
courtney miller (mezzo-soprano)
Praised by Opera News for her “fluent musicality,” mezzo-soprano Courtney Miller has been applauded for her captivating stage presence and excellent sense of comic timing. She makes her company debut with Opera San José this season. Earlier in 2023, Miller debuted with Pocket Opera as Nancy in Britten’s Albert Herring and was a fellow of the Somatic Songs with 3340 Recitals. Her new art song recital, Tell me the truth about love, will tour in 2024. Career highlights include Sister St. Charles in Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites (San Francisco Opera), Hannah in Mieczysław Weinberg’s The Passenger (Detroit Opera), Olga in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (Florida Grand Opera), Meg in Mark Adamo’s Little Women (Madison Opera), and Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (Opera Saratoga). A lover of new music, Miller has premiered works in opera, art song, and musical theater.
joshua sanders (tenor)
Tenor Joshua Sanders makes his company debut at Opera San José. Later in the 2023-24 season, he will also cover Don Ramiro in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola and will make his debut at Nashville Opera as Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. During the 2022-23 season, Sanders joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera for Robert Carsen’s Der Rosenkavalier and debuted as Goro in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with Palm Beach Opera, where he also covered Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. In 2017, Sanders made his international debut at Teatro Regio Torino as Der Hirte in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. In concert, he made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2019 as a soloist in Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music. Sanders has appeared as a guest soloist with the New Jersey Symphony as the titular character in Berlioz’s Lélio, ou Le retour à la vie, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Lee Mingwei’s Sonic Blossom Exhibit, featuring the music of Schubert. He has also performed at New York City’s iconic Public Theater in a cabaret curated by Justin Vivian Bond for New York State’s “NY PopsUp” concert series.
melissa sondhi (soprano)
Soprano Melissa Sondhi returns to Opera San José as an Artist-in-Residence for the 2023-24 season to make three role debuts. Her previous appearances with the company include Barbarina in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro during the 2022-23 season and the First Witch in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas during the 2021-22 season. Local critics have applauded Sondhi for “a voice that is nothing short of wowing” (TheatreEddys) and for her “effortless performance” (Opera Tattler). Previous roles include Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème (San Francisco Opera Guild), Le feu and Le rossignol in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges (Air Opera Collective), Angelina in Arthur Sullivan and William Schwenck Gilbert’s Trial by Jury (Lyric Theatre of San José), and Giannetta in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (Pocket Opera). In 2023, Sondhi won first place in the Adult Classical Voice category at the Los Angeles Semifinals of the Music International Grand Prix competition and was also a semifinalist in the Orpheus Vocal Competition in 2021.