Four returning members and seven new artistscomprise the prestigious training program next season
HOUSTON—March 13, 2024—Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is proud to announce the new class of gifted emerging artists who have been selected to train with the Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio during the company’s 2024-25 season. The program’s four returning and seven new members will receive comprehensive training that will allow them to hone their artistry as they prepare for careers in opera. These talented singers and pianist/coaches were invited to train with HGO’s Butler Studio—one of the world’s most reputable and competitive artist-training programs—following an exhaustive international search.
First-year Butler Studio artists include:
- Alissa Goretsky, soprano (third-place winner at HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias)
- Elizabeth “Hanje,” soprano (first-place winner at HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias)
- Shawn Roth, tenor
- Sam Dhobhany, bass-baritone (winner of the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award at HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias)
- Ziniu Zhao, bass-baritone (second-place winner at HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias)
- Laura Bleakley, pianist/coach
- Jenny Choo, pianist/coach
Returning Butler Studio artists include:
- Ani Kushyan, mezzo-soprano
- Michael McDermott, tenor
- Demetrious Sampson, Jr., tenor
- Navasard Hakobyan, baritone
“Thanks to extraordinary support from Sarah and Ernest Butler, we are entering a new era for the Butler Studio,” says HGO General Director and CEO Khori Dastoor. “No stone has gone unturned as we’ve sought out the young artists with the most potential to reimagine opera’s future. Under Colin Michael Brush’s leadership, the program will foster a creative environment where this new class will flourish and mature into the industry-leading artists they are poised to become. Supporting their development is critical to the future of our beloved art form—and at the very core of everything we do at HGO.”
“Since my appointment as director of the Butler Studio program last fall, we have considered close to a thousand applicants from around the world, searching for the emerging artists who will represent the first Butler Studio class selected during my tenure,” says Butler Studio Director Colin Michael Brush. “I am beyond impressed by the level of talent these artists have displayed. They possess technical prowess, and they are already developing such keen artistic minds. I cannot wait to nurture and inspire them as we help them prepare them for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”
About the Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio
The Butler Studio provides intensive, individualized training to talented artists in classical singing, piano, and coaching. These artists reside in Houston from August through May, dedicating themselves to a rigorous study program. Over a residency period of up to three years, Butler Studio artists undergo specialized training in voice, movement, and languages, while benefiting from numerous performance opportunities with the organization. This includes being cast in major and supporting roles in mainstage productions, where they work closely with world-renowned artists, directors, and conductors.
In addition to these opportunities, Butler Studio artists perform in events at venues across the city and state. With more than 45 years of history, the Butler Studio has become one of the most esteemed young artist programs in the world. The program provides a practical learning environment that emphasizes exposure to the professional opera world, offering regular coaching sessions with industry professionals, roles in HGO mainstage productions, recital performances, and a wide range of concert engagements.
In 2023, Khori Dastoor announced that the company had received the largest gift in its history from longtime supporters Sarah and Ernest Butler, who created a new fund within the HGO Endowment valued at $22 million. Dastoor also shared that the company’s Studio program had been renamed to honor their commitment to the operatic art form.
2024-25 Butler Studio Artist Biographies:
FIRST-YEAR ARTISTS
ALISSA GORETSKY (UNITED STATES)Soprano Incoming first-year Butler Studio artist Alissa Goretsky, a Los Angeles native, was the third-place winner of HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. She made her operatic debut as Gismonda in Ottone at Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall all under the baton of Corey Jameson in 2019. In March 2024 she performed the role of Ma Zegner in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up at Caroline Hume Hall. Other recent roles include Foreign Woman in The Consul, Mimì in La bohème, Contessa Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, and Emilia in Flavio, as well as covering the roles of Sister Alice and Sister Catherine at San Francisco Opera in Dialogues of the Carmelites. Goretsky was a San Francisco District Winner in the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and received the Special Encouragement Award in the competition’s second round in Los Angeles. In 2023, she was winner of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition, and in 2022, she took First Place in the Palm Spring Opera Guild competition. Goretsky holds both Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied with César Ulloa.
ELIZABETH “HANJE” (UNITED STATES)Soprano Incoming first-year Butler Studio artist Elizabeth “Hanje,” a Tanzanian-American soprano from Vestavia Hills, Alabama, was the first-place winner at HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. She is a 2022 alumna of HGO’s Young Artist Vocal Academy and the Des Moines Metro Opera Apprentice Program. At Oberlin Conservatory, her roles have included Ernestina in L’occasione fa il ladro, Comedian in Matthew Recio’s Puppy Episode, and Lyra in Melissa Dunphy’s Alice Tierney, as well as performing in the chorus of Acis and Galatea. In April 2022, she performed the role of Lyra in Alice Tierney in her debut with Opera Columbus. “Hanje” has sung in masterclasses with director Michael Capasso, soprano Christine Goerke, mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, and soprano Harolyn Blackwell. She is a winner of the 2023 Duncan Williams Voice Competition and the 2022 George Shirley Vocal Competition. In 2021, she received the Richard Miller Award for Fine Singing and a YoungArts Award. In spring 2024, she is set to receive her Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory, where she studies with Salvatore Champagne.
SHAWN ROTH (UNITED STATES)Tenor Incoming first-year Butler Studio artist Shawn Roth, from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was named a winner of the Pittsburgh District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in 2023. He is currently a resident artist at Academy of Vocal Arts, where he performed the role of Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. He is a three-time fellow at Music Academy of the West, where he won the Marilyn Horne Song Competition in 2021 for a recital performance of Schumann’s Liederkreis, Op. 39. In 2023, Roth received an honorable mention in the Meistersinger Competition at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz. He has performed in numerous masterclasses with the world’s leading artists and pedagogues, among them George Shirley, Roger Vignoles, Lawrence Brownlee, Gerald Martin Moore, Brian Zeger, Linda Watson, and Marilyn Horne. In summer 2024, he will cover the role of Narraboth in Salome at Des Moines Metro Opera as an apprentice artist. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory, where Marilyn Horne named him a Rubin Scholar.
SAM DHOBHANY(UNITED STATES)Bass-Baritone
Incoming first-year Butler Studio artist Sam Dhobhany, from Brooklyn, New York, received the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award at HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. He is a 2022 alumnus of HGO’s Young Artist Vocal Academy. This winter at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, he sang the role of Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro. In March, he produces and sings in his senior recital, featuring selected works by Brahms, Ibert, Tosti, Vaughan Williams, and more. In summer 2023, Dhobhany was an apprentice artist with Santa Fe Opera, where he covered and sang the role of Un Médecin in Pelléas et Mélisande and covered 2nd Spirit/5th Pastore in L’Orfeo. In the summer of 2021, he joined Wolf Trap Opera’s Studio Artist Program, where he covered the role of Doctor Grenvil in La traviata. In spring 2024, Dhobhany will sing the role of Angelotti in Tosca with Dayton Opera. In summer 2024, he returns to Santa Fe Opera as an apprentice artist, where his roles will include Marchese d’Obigny in La traviata and covering Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love and The Notary in Der Rosenkavalier. Dhobhany was a 2023 winner of the Michigan District in The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. He is set to receive his Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in spring 2024.
ZINIU ZHAO (CHINA)Bass-Baritone
Incoming first-year Butler Studio artist Ziniu Zhao, from the Chinese province of Shandong, was the second-place winner at HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. He is a member of the Opera Talent Training Program of the China National Arts Foundation. He won the first prize in the Colorado International Music Competition in the United States, the Rossini Singing Award for Best Singing in the Fiorenza Cedolins Opera Competition in Italy, and the Maria Callas Award in the Vincerò International Opera Competition, also in Italy. He has appeared in operas such as Don Pasquale (title role), La bohème (Colline), and Così fan tutte (Don Alfonso). In 2023 he gave a solo concert in China’s Shandong Province. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where he received the Outstanding Student Scholarship for four consecutive years.
LAURA BLEAKLEY(UNITED STATES)Pianist/Coach Incoming first-year Butler Studio artist Laura Bleakley, a Honolulu-born Korean-American, is currently a second-year resident artist at Utah Opera. In 2024, she returns to the Glimmerglass Festival for her second summer as a young artist, while also serving as both assistant youth chorus director and principal coach/performance pianist on Glimmerglass’s world premiere youth opera, Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children. Bleakley has served as a Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, a resident artist with Opera in the Heights, and a festival artist with Opera Saratoga. She has won competitions in both organ and piano, including the Music Teachers National Association State Piano Solo Competition, the MTNA Chamber Music Competition regionals, and the American Guild of Organists Competition. In addition to performing on National Public Radio’s From the Top and being featured in Houston Public Media’s Skyline Sessions, Bleakley recorded an album of rare Russian art songs for KNS Classical. She received her Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Houston, where she is currently pursuing her Doctor of Music degree. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in organ and piano performance from the University of Puget Sound.
JENNY CHOO
(UNITED STATES)
Pianist/CoachIncoming first-year Butler Studio artist Jenny Choo, from St. Louis, Missouri, joined the music staff for Sarasota Opera’s 2024 Winter Opera Festival as assistant conductor for Lucia di Lammermoor and L’infedeltà delusa. In 2023, she served as a vocal coach for the Fletcher Opera Institute at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Also in 2023, she served on the music staff for the U.S. premiere of Anchorage Opera’s Missing, a work that addresses the tragedy of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. In summer 2024, she returns to Aspen Music Festival and School as a coaching fellow. Choo’s passion for collaboration has taken her and her musical partners to song competitions including the 2021 Kneisel Lieder Competition, where they brought home second prize, as well as the 2022 Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition, after which they were invited to London to compete as finalists. She studies collaborative arts with Andrew Harley and conducting with Timothy Long at the Eastman School of Music.
RETURNING:
ANI KUSHYAN(GEORGIA/ARMENIA)Mezzo-SopranoAn incoming second-year Butler Studio artist from Tbilisi, Ani Kushyan was a finalist in HGO’s 2023 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. Her roles during HGO’s 2023-24 season include Flower Maiden/2nd Esquire in Parsifal and Sister Sophia in The Sound of Music. In October 2023, she made her Carnegie Hall debut in a concert dedicated to Rachmaninoff’s 150th anniversary. In summer 2024, she will perform as a soloist in Houston Ballet’s production of Mayerling. Kushyan was a member of the young artist program at Armenian National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet from 2021-23, making her debut with the company as Third Girl in Anoush by Armenian composer Armen Tigranyan. Other roles include Marta in Iolanta, Lyubasha in The Tsar’s Bride, and Anoush’s mother in Anoush. As an active concert performer, she has appeared in Germany, Latvia, Sweden, Estonia, Georgia, and Armenia. She was named a 2024 National Semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the first-prize winner in the 2022 Premiere Opera Foundation Vocal Competition, the audience prize winner at the SOI Fiorenza Cedolins competition in Italy, first-prize winner in the 2021 Armenian Romanciade, and winner of a special prize at the Ottavio Ziino International Singing Competition in Rome. Kushyan received her bachelor’s degree from the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory and her master’s degree from the Tbilisi State Conservatory in Georgia. She continued her studies at the Riga Jāzepa Vītola Latvian Music Academy and the Lübeck Academy of Music in Germany.
MICHAEL MCDERMOTT
(UNITED STATES)Tenor
An incoming second-year Butler Studio artist from Huntington Beach, California, Michael McDermott was the third-place winner in HGO’s 2023 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias and a 2021 alumnus of HGO’s Young Artists Vocal Academy. During HGO’s 2023-24 season, he performed the roles of Bardolph in Falstaff and 4th Esquire in Parsifal. In 2022, he covered the role of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Aspen Music Festival and returned in 2023 to perform Arbace in Idomeneo. At The Juilliard School in New York, he performed the roles of Spärlich in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Filippo in Haydn’s L’infedeltà delusa, as well as appearing in Liederabends and recitals. In summer 2024, McDermott will sing the role of Camille de Rosillon in The Merry Widow at the Glyndebourne Festival. His recent competition wins include first prize in the 2024 Grand Concours Vocal Competition, first prize in the Schmidt Vocal Competition, and first prize in the Scholarship Division of the National Opera Association’s Carolyn Bailey Argento Competition. McDermott received his Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School, and pursued his master’s degree at Rice University.
DEMETRIOUS SAMPSON, JR.
(UNITED STATES)
Tenor
An incoming second-year Butler Studio artist from Albany, Georgia, Demetrious Sampson, Jr. is the second-place and Audience Choice Winner in HGO’s 2023 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias and a 2022 alumnus of HGO’s Young Artists Vocal Academy. He performed the role of 3rd Esquire in Parsifal during HGO’s 2023-24 season. He made his professional debut with Atlanta Opera at the age of 20 as Crab Man in Porgy and Bess, a role he reprised at Des Moines Metro Opera in summer 2022 as an apprentice artist. During summer 2023, he joined the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco. In summer 2024, he makes company and role debuts with Cincinnati Opera as Gastone in La traviata and with Wolf Trap Opera as the Kronprinz in Kevin Puts’ Silent Night. A previous Encouragement Award winner, he was named a National Finalist in the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Sampson received his bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University in 2023.
NAVASARD HAKOBYAN
(ARMENIA)
BaritoneIncoming third-year Butler Studio artist Navasard Hakobyan won first place at HGO’s 2022 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. In 2023, he won 3rd Prize and the Don Plácido Domingo Ferrer Prize of Zarzuela at the Operalia World Opera Competition, and in 2024 was named a National Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. During HGO’s 2023-24 season, he performed as Sharpless in alternate cast performances in Madame Butterfly, and during the company’s 2022-23 season, he performed the roles of Baron Douphol in La traviata, Antonio in The Marriage of Figaro, and Second Nazarene in Salome. Other roles during the 2023-24 season include his house and role debut as Gregorio in Romeo and Juliet with Dallas Opera, and his Carnegie Hall debut in a concert dedicated to Rachmaninoff’s 150th anniversary. Future seasons include a house debut with Semperoper Dresden, a solo concert in Prague, and more. In summer 2023 as a fellow at Music Academy of the West, Hakobyan performed the role of Marcello in La bohème. Notable prizes include the 2023 Marilyn Horne Song Competition at Music Academy of The West, a 2022 Sullivan Award, first prize at the 2023 Butler Opera International Voice Competition in Austin, first prize in the 2023 Premiere Opera Foundation International Vocal Competition, and third prize in the 2021 Jose Carreras Grand Prix International Competition. Hakobyan was a member of the young artist program at the National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Yerevan, Armenia from 2018-23. He was named the 2019 winner of the President of the Republic of Armenia Youth Prize. He received his master’s degree at Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan.
PHOTOS:
Photos of the 2024-2025 Sarah and Ernest Butler Studio Artists can be found here. Photos are Courtesy of Houston Grand Opera.
About Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is one of the largest, most innovative, and most highly acclaimed opera companies in the United States. General Director and CEO Khori Dastoor assumed leadership of the organization and responsibility for its strategic vision in 2021. HGO was the only American finalist for Opera Company of the Year in the 2019 International Opera Awards, and the only American company to be nominated twice. In fulfilling its mission to advance the operatic art, to serve the Houston community, and to be a global leader in the future of opera, HGO has led the field in commissioning and producing new works (76 world premieres to date) and in training and nurturing promising young artists and administrators. The company contributes to the cultural enrichment of Houston and the nation through a diverse and innovative program of performances, community events, and education projects that reaches the widest possible public. HGO’s pioneering Community and Learning initiative has served as a model for other arts organizations. The company invites all Houstonians to experience superlative opera without the barrier of price through discounted single tickets and subscriptions, subsidized student performances, and free productions.
HGO has toured extensively and has won a Tony, two Grammy awards, and three Emmy awards. It is the only opera company to win all three honors.
