2016 Cast All According to Taste | Peter Johnson

2016 Cast All According to Taste | Peter Johnson

Peter Johnson has been described as “a performer who possesses not only an incredibly rich voice, but also brilliant comic instincts”.  Mr. Johnson has been making a name for himself in regional Opera over the past few years. He recently sang with Nashville Opera in their new production of La Bohème, and it was noted that he “provides nice support as both the landlord Benoit and the bumbling Alcindoro”.  He returned in the Fall of 2015 to Nashville Opera to sing the Bass role in Phillip Glass' opera Hydrogen Jukebox.  Following this, he made his debut with Opera Fayetteville as Basil Hallward in Lowell Lieberman’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.  Mr. Johnson is capable and well suited to both comedic and serious roles, and is a skilled interpreter of both modern and classical works.  As a graduate of the Knoxville Opera Studio, he appeared in many productions with Knoxville Opera, including Puccini’s La fanciulla del West (Sid), Offenbach’s Les contes des Hoffmann (Hermann), Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore (Boatswain) and Bizet’s Carmen (Zuniga).  Mr. Johnson has participated in a number of well-known apprenticeship and training programs.  In the summer of 2014 he completed the Apprentice Artist Program at the Des Moines Metro Opera in Indianola, Iowa, where he covered the role of The Tutor in Rossini’s Le comte d’Ory.  In the summers of 2012 and 2013 he was a member of the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center, where he created the roles of Campaign Consultant and Triathlon Dan in Michael Ching’s new opera Speed Dating Tonight!, and also appeared as Escamillo in Peter Brook’s Le tragédie de Carmen.

Mr. Johnson earned his master’s degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he studied with Andrew Wentzel.  He completed his undergraduate training from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota where he studied with David Hamilton and toured both nationally and internationally with The Concordia Choir under the direction of Dr. René Clausen.

Mr. Johnson currently makes his home in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Meet the Cast of All According to Taste | Khary Wilson

Meet the Cast of All According to Taste | Khary Wilson

Khary Wilson, tenor, hails from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He received his Bachelors from the University of South Carolina and his Master's Degree from Louisiana State University. As a 2013 young artist with Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, Mr. Wilson performed Remandado in Carmen. He performed the four character roles in Les Contes d’Hoffman with Harrower Opera Workshop and Simon Zealots with GLOW Lyric Theater. In 2014, he performed Ferrando with the Peach State Opera and was returned to Opera Theater Pittsburgh to sing Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos. Recently, Mr. Wilson was a 2015 Studio Artist with the Opera Studio Melbourne/Gertrude Opera in Melbourne Australia. While in the studio, he performed Guido in Offenbach’s Guido’s Cat, Boy Sam in The Difficulty of Crossing a Field and the Tenor Soloist in Bach’s “Coffee Cantata.” Other Australian performances include: Tenor in Tutti Mozart with Canberra Concert Series, Tenor solo in Carl Orf’s "Carmina Burana" with the Maroondah Symphony Orchestra and Soloist in Handel’s "Dixit Dominus" with Heidelburg Choral Society.

Meet the Cast of All According to Taste | Bianca Raso

Meet the Cast of All According to Taste | Bianca Raso

Bianca Raso is an alumna of the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Music in voice performance. Bianca's eclectic array of performance credits include plays, musicals and operas. Some onstage credits include Germaine and Reporter 2 in LungFish Production’s Never The Sinner, Chava and Fruma Sarah in Snoqualmie Falls Forest Theatre’s Fiddler on the Roof and Petunia in FBN Productions, Inc.'s touring opera of the same name for children of all ages. Bianca was born in Toronto, Ontario and currently lives in Seattle, Washington.

Meet the Cast of All According to Taste | Cera Finney

Meet the Cast of All According to Taste | Cera Finney

Cera Finney makes her FBN Productions, Inc. debut this season. Cera is mezzo-soprano who recently completed her Master’s of Music at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. She completed her Bachelor’s in Music from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, where she performed such roles as Hippolyta in Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Madame Flora in Gian-Carlo Menotti’s The Medium, and the title role in Jack Beeson’s Lizzie Borden. During her time in South Carolina, Cera was engaged with Opera at USC, where she has performed as The Old Lady in Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, Pallas Athena in Camille Saint-Saëns’ Hélène, and as Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. She was also recently in American Singers’ Opera Project’s production of Hansel and Gretel as the Witch and the Mother. Cera has also been seen internationally as one of Oberlin in Italy’s touring concert artists in 2013 and was a prize holder from the Metropolitan Opera South Carolina District in 2014. 

Sophia Ryoo, collaborative pianist

Sophia Ryoo, collaborative pianist

Sophia Ryoo is a recent graduate of the University of South Carolina where she earned a Master of Music degree in piano performance under the direction of Dr. Charles Fugo.  In 2014, she performed with the Alicante Philharmonic at Music Fest Perugia in Perugia, Italy.  While pursuing her undergraduate degree at Georgia Regents University, she received various awards from numerous Georgia-based competitions, including Outstanding Performance, which allowed her to perform at the Savannah International Trade Center on several occasions.  In 2012, she placed as an Alternate in the Georgia Music Teachers National Association's collegiate auditions.  Miss Ryoo also received the Award of Excellence and Honorable Mention from both the Georgia Music Educators Association and the Georgia Music Teachers Association.  Other accomplishments include the Powers-Baldwin Music Award and the Concerto Competition awards in 2009 and 2012 at Georgia Regents University.  In 2007, she was recognized as a district percussionist representing Lakeside High School in Georgia.

While pursuing her bachelor's degree at Georgia Regents University, Miss Ryoo performed extensively as a collaborative pianist with the Augusta State University Opera Ensemble, Women’s Choir, and University Chorale.  While pursuing her master’s degree at USC, Miss Ryoo received a Graduate Assistantship and worked as a collaborative pianist with the opera workshop classes and accompanied various instrumentalists/vocalists for recitals and masterclasses.

In regards to academic excellence, Miss Ryoo is a member of the honorary music fraternity society Pi Kappa Lambda.  She previously studied with Martin David Jones and Jinha Park, and has also worked with Clara Park, Alexander Schimpf, Nadia Shpachenko-Gottesman, Ilana Vered, Alex Sokolov, Steven Spooner, Philip Bush, Marina Lomazov, and Joseph Rackers, Barry Snyder, Alexander Shtarkman.

Miss Ryoo is a member of the MTNA chapter in Augusta, GA.  In 2010, one of her students was recognized at GMTA and performed at the winner's convention in Savannah. The remainder of her students also participate in the Augusta music festival annually and consistently receive Superior and Excellent ratings.  In June 2015, Miss Ryoo coached piano trios at the Chamber Music Institute at Georgia Regents University.