Music Director Designate Juraj Valčuha Conducts Beethoven 9

Conductor Juraj Valčuha is recognized for his effortless expressiveness and depth of musicianship. With sharp baton technique and natural stage presence, the impressive ease of his interpretations translate even the most complex scores into immersive experiences. His profound understanding of composer and score, taste, and naturally elegant style make him one of the most sought-after conductors of his generation.

Since 2016 Valčuha has been Music Director of the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples and First Guest Conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He was Chief Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI from 2009 to 2016.

The 2005–2006 season marked the start of his international career with exciting concerts on the podium of the Orchestre National de France followed by remarkable debuts in the U.K. with the Philharmonia London, in Germany with the Munich Philharmonic, and in the United States with the Pittsburgh Symphony. His Italian debut took place at Teatro Comunale in Bologna with a sensational production of La Bohème.

He has since led the Berlin Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, hr Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Vienna Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, BBC Symphony, Philharmonia London, Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Milan’s Filarmonica della Scala, Montréal Symphony, and NHK and Yomiuri orchestras in Tokyo. His active career in the U.S. has taken him to the orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Utah. He enjoys regular collaborations with orchestras in Houston, Minnesota, New York, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco.

International touring with the Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI took them to the Musikverein in Vienna and the Philharmonie in Berlin, as well as Cologne, Düsseldorf, Zurich, Basel, and Munich, and to the Enesco Festival in Bucharest, and to Abu Dhabi Classics. He has also toured with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin to Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn to mark the 100th anniversary of the Baltic nations.

Valčuha champions the compositions of living composers and aims to program contemporary pieces in most of his concerts. He has conducted world premieres including Christopher Rouses´s Supplica with the Pittsburgh Symphony and Steven Mackey’s violin concerto with Leila Josefowicz and the BBC Symphony in Manchester. In 2005 he conducted, in the presence of the composer, Steve Reich´s Four Sections at the Melos-Ethos Festival in Bratislava. Other composers he has supported and continues to follow with interest are Bryce Dessner, Andrew Norman, Luca Francesconi, James MacMillan, and Steven Stucky, among others.

On the opera stage, he has conducted Madama Butterfly, Elisir d‘amore, and Marriage of Figaro at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich; Faust and The Love for Three Oranges in Florence; Jenufa, Peter Grimes, and Salome in Bologna; La Bohème in Venice; and Elektra, Carmen, Bluebeard’s Castle, Die Walküre, The Girl of the Golden West, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Katja Kabanova, and Pique Dame in Napoli.

In January 2020, he conducted an opera production of Tristan and Isolde at Teatro Comunale in Bologna, at the end of which the complete lockdown was introduced in most European countries. However, he was priviledged during the pandemic year to conduct many livestreamed performances with Teatro San Carlo (Tosca with Anna Netrebko and Cavalleria Rusticana with Elina Garanca and Jonas Kaufmann), RAI Orchestra in Turin, Orchestre National de France, Konzerthaus Berlin, and NDR Orchestra Hamburg. In the U.S. he was one of the few conductors to travel from Europe and make music with the Dallas, Houston, Minnesota, and Pittsburgh orchestras.

Juraj Valčuha was awarded the Premio Abbiati 2018 from Italian Music critics in the category Best Conductor.

Born in Bratislava, Slovakia, he studied composition and conducting in his birth place, then at the Conservatory in St Petersburg (with Ilya Musin), and, finally, at the Conservatoire Supérieur de la Musique in Paris.

Born in the US, Meagan Miller is a “Juillard” graduate and acclaimed for the expansive colors and rich texture of her voice, as well as her compelling stage presence and nuanced portrayals at distinguished opera houses and concert halls throughout the world.

Recent opera highlights include i.a. Brünnhilde in Teatro Massimo di Palermo’s new production of Siegfried, Sieglinde/Die Walküre at Washington National Opera, in Melbourne, Prague, and Lucerne, Senta/Der fliegende Holländer at Zurich Opera and in Vienna, Elsa/Lohengrin at Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, Elisabeth/Tannhäuser at New National Theatre Tokyo, the title roles in Richard Strauss’ Daphne and Ariadne auf Naxos at Vienna’s State Opera, the latter work also in Beijing, Warsaw, and in a concert version at Philharmonie Berlin, Kaiserin/Die Frau ohne Schatten at Metropolitan Opera New York, Elisabetta/Don Carlo at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Minnie/La fanciulla del West at Michigan Opera Theatre and Opéra Monte Carlo, Marta in a new production of d’Albert’s Tiefland at Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, Marie/Marietta in Korngold’s Die tote Stadt at State Opera Hamburg, Boston, and Tokyo, as well as Feldmarschallin in the new production Der Rosenkavalier in Wroclaw.

Concerts led her renowned orchestras, houses and festivals, including the Carnegie Hall New York, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Hollywood Bowl, as well the Lucerne Festival, Edinburgh Festival, and the Enescu Festival. Furthermore, Meagan Miller sang Strauss’ Orchesterlieder with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem in Prague, and Mahler’s 8th symphony in Graz, Linz, and Orange. Also an accomplished recitalist and noted interpreter of new American music, she has premiered numerous works written specifically for her voice.

Meagan Miller collaborated with conductors, such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jeffrey Tate, Simone Young, Alain Altinoglu, Christoph von Dohnány, Ulf Schirmer, Vladimir Jurowski, Jun Märkl, Alexander Joel, Axel Kober, Donald Runnicles, Pinchas Steinberg, Markus Stenz, Constantin Trinks, and Jaap van Zweden.

Engagements of previous seasons include i.a. Minnie/La fanciulla del West, Sieglinde/Die Walküre, as well as her role debut as Isolde in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at Opera Leipzig, each under the baton of Ulf Schirmer.

In the  2021/22 season Meagan Miller appears in the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and in Tristan und Isolde at the Leipzig Opera.

Two-time Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke has been called a “luminous standout” (<em>New York Times</em>) and “equal parts poise, radiance and elegant directness” (<em>Opera News</em>). Sasha is sought after by the world’s leading orchestras, opera companies, and chamber music ensembles for her versatile repertoire and commitment to new music.

In the 2021-22 season, Sasha returned to the Metropolitan Opera both for her role debut as Cherubino in <em>Le nozze di Figaro</em>, under the baton of James Gaffigan, and as Eduige in <em>Rodelinda</em>, under the baton of Harry Bicket. On the concert stage, she joined the Minnesota Orchestra for Mahler’s <em>Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen</em> and subsequently for Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, the latter conducted by Osmo Vänskä. Additionally, she performed Michael Tilson Thomas’s <em>Meditations on Rilke</em> with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by the composer; Nadia Boulanger’s <em>Faust et Hélène </em>with the Houston Symphony, led by Fabien Gabel; Berlioz’s <em>Béatrice et Bénédict </em>with the Festival de la Côte Saint-André, led by John Nelson; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, <em>Resurrection, </em>with the Oregon Symphony; Jake Heggie’s <em>The Work at Hand </em>and Elgar’s <em>Sea Pictures </em>with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, led by Gemma New; Mahler’s <em>Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen </em>with the New World Symphony; and a holiday concert with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. Finally, she gave a solo recital at the Tucson Desert Song Festival, joined by pianist Myra Huang, where she premiered a new work by Jennifer Higdon.

This season also marks the release of her CD, <em>how do I find you</em>, on the Pentatone label. The recording, which features songs by Caroline Shaw, Nico Muhly, Missy Mazzoli, and Jimmy Lopez-Bellido, among others, is intended as a tribute to both the struggles and hopes of artists wrought by the pandemic. All 17 songs were written in 2020. Sasha performed the world premiere on January 30, 2022, as part of the San Francisco Symphony’s Great Performers Series, before giving subsequent recitals at the Shriver Hall Concert Series and elsewhere, with pianist Kirill Kuzmin.

Eric Cutler has won acclaim in such theaters as the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Paris Opera, Salzburg Festival, Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie in Brussels, Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Canadian Opera Company, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Australia, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Glyndebourne Festival and Santa Fe Opera.

Considered one of the most important “jugendlich-dramatisch” tenors of our day, Cutler made his debut in the title role of Wagner’s Lohengrin at La Monnaie in the 2017/18 season, after which he appeared at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden as Erik in Der fliegende Holländer. He also appeared in Hamburg as Florestan in Fidelio and sang his first performances of Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos at the 2018 Aix-en-Provence Festival. In the 2018/19 season, he sang his first Kaiser in Strauss’s Die Frau one Schatten under Kent Nagano at the Hamburg State Opera, where he also appeared as Apollo in Daphne. Cutler also returned to the Houston Grand Opera as Erik and added the title role in Idomeneo to his repertoire at the Teatro Real in Madrid under Ivor Bolton. In 2019, Cutler sang his first performances of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich under Francois-Xavier Roth, followed by a concert of the same work with the Pittsburgh Symphony under Manfred Honeck. Other recent engagements have included Fidelio in Stuttgart, Les Contes d’Hoffmann in Madrid, Adolar in Euryanthe in Frankfurt, and the title role in Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust in Bordeaux.

In the 2019/20 season, Cutler will appear at the Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie in the title role of Les Contes D’Hoffmann, after which he will appear at the Semperoper Dresden in the same role. He will sing Florestan in a new production of the 1806 second version of Fidelio at the Theater an der Wien under Manfred Honeck, with the Pittsburgh Symphony, and with the Orchestra de Paris under Simone Young. Cutler will also sing La Damnation de Faust with the Hamburg Symphony under Sylvain Cambreling. In the summer of 2020, he will make his role debut as the Prince in Rusalka at the Santa Fe Opera. Cutler will also sing Das Lied Von der Erde at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples under Juraj Valčuha. In future seasons, the tenor will make his debut at the Bayreuth Festival and the Vienna State Opera. He will also return to the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro Real, Zurich Opera and in Geneva.

Eric Cutler is a native of Adel, Iowa and an alumnus of Luther College and the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Development Program. The winner of the 2005 Richard Tucker Award, as well as earlier Study and Career Grants from the Tucker Foundation, Cutler began his career in the Bel Canto and Lyric Tenor Repertoire. He was praised internationally for his performances in all the major tenor roles of Mozart, as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Arturo in I Puritani and Alfredo in La Traviata, as well in the French lyric repertoire as Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles and Roméo in Roméo et Juliette. He scored a triumph as Raoul in Les Huguenots at La Monnaie in Brussels, after which he began his development into the jugendlich repertoire under the tutelage of Michael Paul, who remains his vocal mentor today.

Grammy Award Winner, Mark S. Doss opened the 2021/22 season with a return to the Théâtre de la Monnaie as William Daley in the world premiere of Kris Defoort’s The Time of Our Singing, followed by concerts of Opera Highlights with Dallas Opera, Beethoven’s 9th with the Minnesota Orchestra, and in the roles of Creon and the Messenger in The Opera Company of Philadelphia’s Oedipus Rex by Stravinsky. After Houston he will make a return to La Fenice in Venice for Balstrode in Peter Grimes.

Mr. Doss’s recent engagements include Alfio (Cavalleria Rusticana) at the Royal Opera House, Nicholas Lens’ Shell Shock at The Philharmonie de Paris, Daland (Der fliegende Holländer) at Dallas Opera, Rigoletto and Scarpia (Tosca) with Welsh National Opera, and Cadmus in Henze’s The Bassarids in concert with the Spanish RTE Orchestra and Kent Nagano.

Mr. Doss’s illustrious career has taken the bass-baritone to the most prestigious houses worldwide, which include Milan’s La Scala, where he appeared as Escamillo (Carmen), Argante (Rinaldo), Jaroslav Prus (The Makropulos Case), Jochanaan (Salome), and Amonasro (Aida); the Staatsoper Berlin as Jochanaan, Mephistopheles in Gounod’s Faust at the Santa Fe Opera, Oper Frankfurt, and Opera de Oviedo; Premysl in Janáček’s Šárka with La Fenice, Jochanaan with Florence’s Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Arena di Verona as Escamillo, Balstrode with the Teatro Regio di Torino, Jochanaan, Balstrode, and the title role in The Flying Dutchman at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Macbeth at the Dorset Opera Festival; Amonasro, Jochanaan, and Simone in Zemlinsky’s The Florentine Tragedy for Teatro Regio Torino; Escamillo, Amonasro, and the leading baritone role in Nicholas Lens’ Shell Shock for La Monnaie in Brussels. At the Opera di Roma he was Cadmus in Henze’s The Bassarids. At the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Japan he took on Germont (La Traviata), and he sang the Four Villains (The Tales of Hoffmann) with the New National Opera in Tokyo.

A Grammy Award Winner for his participation in Handel’s Semele (Best Opera Recording), he also is a recipient of the National Institute for Music Theatre’s George London Opera Prize, and Planet Africa’s Entertainment Award.