GWENDOLYN ROBERTS YOUNG ARTIST AUDITIONS - 2023

Masterclass & Reception

Singers awarded first, second, and third place in the Gwendolyn Roberts Young Artist Auditions will sing in a Masterclass facilitated by Elizabeth Hynes.

Elizabeth Hynes has been a faculty member at the USC Thornton School Of Music since 1995, and served as Chair of the Vocal Arts/Opera Department from 2005-2012.

Ms. Hynes has taught at the Aspen Music Festival and School since 2003. She was elected to the Aspen Music Festival Corporation in 2005 and has twice served as a New Horizons Faculty, endowing three students for three years study at the Aspen Opera Theater Center. Ms. Hynes has also taught at the Oberlin in Italy program in Arezzo, Italy. With a national reputation as a vocal teacher and mentor, Ms. Hynes adjudicates regularly for the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and is in demand as a master class presenter around the country. Her students are consistently among winners of major competitions, and appear frequently with professional opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States.

Ms. Hynes has performed in major opera houses around the world, singing some of opera’s most demanding roles such as: Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, Mimi in La Boheme, Marguérite in Faust and the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier. As Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, Ms. Hynes has been heard at the Theatro Teresa Carrena in Caracas, Venezuela, New York City Opera, Washington Opera, Vancouver Opera, San Diego Opera and Seattle Opera, among others. The Seattle Times Review read, “…Elizabeth Hynes, is a passionately intense Butterfly, with a multi-dimensional portrayal in which no expressive detail is overlooked. This is an important voice, one of extraordinary and compelling beauty. Hynes generates a real radiance in the role; she illuminates the emotions and makes you believe in them.”

Throughout Ms. Hynes’ career, she has been recognized for her interpretation of Mozart roles, appearing frequently as Susanna, and Pamina. Her portrayal of the Countess in the PBS Live from Lincoln Center broadcast of Le Nozze di Figaro gained public and critical acclaim and she made her European debut at the English National Opera as Donna Elvira.

A sought-after concert artist, Ms. Hynes has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Georg Solti and the orchestras of Cleveland, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Seattle, St. Louis and Los Angeles, among others. She has sung with the orchestras of Madrid, Barcelona, Vancouver and New Zealand and with the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Vienna on two American tours. Vocal performances on the USC campus include: Mahler’s 4th Symphony, Britten’s War Requiem and Górecki’s Third Symphony with the composer conducting.

Ms. Hynes can be heard in the role of Fennimore on the Nonesuch recording of the American Premiere of Kurt Weill’s Silverlake and in the role of Wellgunde in Das Rheingold on the archival Chicago Symphony recording: The Solti Years, Chicago Symphony Orchestra – Georg Solti, cond.

At the beginning of her career Elizabeth Hynes was the recipient of the National Opera Institute Grant, William Sullivan Foundation Grant, the Liederkranz Foundation Scholarship, and served as an Affiliate Artist with the Ft. Worth Opera for three years.

Increasingly sought-after as a musical partner, pianist Dr. You Zhao is a versatile and active collaborator in vocal, instrumental and orchestra music. Recently, Dr. Zhao made her Carnegie debut as a SongStudio Young Artist, under the leadership of world-renowned soprano Renée Fleming. Her performances were praised as “brilliantly” and “brought elegance, drama and excitement”.

She was a vocal piano fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, Franz-Schubert-Institut and Songfest. Frequently being spotted in concert venues and music festivals in Europe, North America and China, Dr. Zhao was a finalist in the 2017 Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition in London and served as the pianists, music director and tour manager at the Nashville Opera as one of the Mary Ragland Emerging Artists in 2022.

An advocate for new vocal music, Zhao has been on the creative teams for several new works. Dr. Zhao holds degrees from Eastman School of Music and New England Conservatory of Music. She earned her doctorate degree in Keyboard Collaborate Arts at Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California, where she was awarded the Keyboard Collaborative Arts Ensemble Award, Keyboard Collaborative Arts Department Award and Gwendolyn Koldofsky Scholarship.

While being actively engaged as a pianist for competitions and auditions, Dr. Zhao is currently serving as a staff pianist at Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach and California School of the Arts, San Gabriel Valley. She is also a passionate piano instructor teaching at La Cañada School of Music and Semitone Institute of Music.