Young SingersOperatic Gala

Elene Gvritishvili – soprano
Meg Brilleslyper – mezzosoprono
Samuel Stopford – tenor
Lukáš Bařák – baritone
Theodor Šimáček – bass-baritone
Matteo Zoli – piano

A New Generation of Opera Talent Takes the Stage!  The Association of Friends of Musical Talents proudly opens the door to a new generation of opera stars! For many years, we have been discovering, supporting, and showcasing exceptionally gifted singers who are collecting laurels at the most prestigious international competitions — and who are just beginning their journey to conquer the world’s opera stages. In January 2025, we welcomed two extraordinary talents whose careers took off thanks to Plácido Domingo’s renowned “Operalia” competition — soprano Julie Roset and tenor Anthony León. We continue in our efforts this autumn! In September, we are bringing to Prague the fresh winner of the Stanisław Moniuszko International Vocal Competition in Warsaw — tenor Samuel Stopford. He will appear alongside equally talented colleagues from the Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, with whom the Association and the Nachtigall Artists agency have enjoyed long-term collaboration.
At the New Town Hall in Prague, two young Czech singers will join them at this special occasion— the excellent baritone Lukáš Bařák and the talented bass-baritone Theodor Šimáček, who, at the age of nineteen, stands at the beginning of a promising vocal career.

A graduate of the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire in St. Petersburg, soprano Elene Gvritishvili has been a member of the Bavarian State Opera’s Opera Studio since the 2024/25 season. She has already appeared on the stage of the Bavarian State Opera in several roles, including the Priestess in Aida and Clorinda in La Cenerentola. In the 2025/26 season, she will take on new roles such as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte and the First Wood Nymph in Rusalka. At the historic Cuvilliés Theatre, she will also appear as Miss Pinkerton in a new production of Hans Werner Henze’s opera The English Cat.

Mezzo-soprano Meg Brilleslyper is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston. In January 2025, she won the Houston District of the prestigious Laffont Competition, held annually by the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She will join the Bavarian State Opera’s Opera Studio in the 2025/26 season, where her upcoming roles will include Clotilde in Norma, the Kitchen Boy in Rusalka, and Babette in The English Cat.

Tenor Samuel Stopford, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London, has been a member of the Bavarian State Opera’s Opera Studio since the 2024/25 season. He has already appeared in roles such as Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor and the First Armed Man in Die Zauberflöte. In the 2025/26 season, his upcoming roles include Malcolm in Macbeth, Pong / Persian Prince in Turandot, Jaquino in Fidelio, and Peter in The English Cat. 

Baritone Lukáš Bařák, a soloist with the National Theatre Opera in Prague since the 2020/21 season, is a prominent figure of the young Czech vocal generation. His repertoire includes a number of notable roles, such as Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Masetto (Don Giovanni), Mercutio (Roméo et Juliette), and Belcore (L’elisir d’amore), among others.

Bass-baritone Theodor Šimáček, a student at the Janáček Conservatoire in Ostrava, will begin his studies at the Academy of Music in October. Our Society regards Theodor as one of the most promising young talents in Czech opera. Originally trained as a pianist, he even opened a concert for Ivo Kahánek at the age of 14. However, he soon fell under the spell of the operatic stage. In 2024, he won the Opera Hope category at the Antonín Dvořák International Singing Competition in Karlovy Vary.

The singers will be accompanied by pianist Matteo Zoli, who joined the Bavarian State Opera’s Opera Studio in Munich in the 2024/25 season. A graduate of the Ottorino Respighi Conservatoire in the Italian city of Latina and the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, he has worked as a répétiteur in Italy, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Poland.

Let us discover the future of opera together – new stars are being born right now!

Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759)
ARIODANTE
Dopo notte, atra e funesta (Ariodante)
Meg Brilleslyper

Bramo aver mille vite… (Ginevra & Ariodante)
Elene Gvritishvili & Meg Brilleslyper

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
DON GIOVANNI
Madamina, il catalogo è questo (Leporello)
Lukáš Bařák

FIGAROVA SVATBA
Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio (Cherubino)
Meg Brilleslyper

Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio (Cherubino)
Meg Brilleslyper

Dove sono (Countess Almaviva)
Elene Gvritishvili

Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)
L’ELISIR D’AMORE
Una furtiva lagrima (Nemorino)
Samuel Stopford

Come Paride vezzoso (Belcore)
Lukáš Bařák

Chiedi all’aura (Adina & Nemorino)
Elene Gvritishvili & Samuel Stopford

Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA
La calunnia è un venticello (Don Basilio)
Theodor Šimáček

SEMIRAMIDE
Bel raggio lusinghier (Semiramide)
Elene Gvritishvili

Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)
DON PASQUALE
Cheti cheti immantinente (Malatesta & Don Pasquale)
Lukáš Bařák & Theodor Šimáček

Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)
RIGOLETTO
La donna è mobile (Duke of Mantua)
Samuel Stopford

Bella figlia dell’amore (Duke of Mantua, Maddalena, Gilda & Rigoletto)
Samuel Stopford, Meg Brilleslyper, Elene Gvritishvili & Lukáš Bařák

Program is subject to change