Dynamic Donuts

Soprano Jenny Schuler has earned praise in recent seasons for her powerful vocalism and compelling stage artistry. In 2018 she joined Indiana University as a guest artist in the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos as well as debuting the comic role of Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Sugar Creek Opera. She also appears as a soloist with Chicago Folks Operetta in their Reclaimed Voices Series. In December 2018, Ms. Schuler made her Oregon Symphony debut as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and returned in February 2019 for their production of Hänsel und Gretel. Also in February 2019, Ms. Schuler made her New Jersey Festival Orchestra debut in the title role of Tosca.

In 2017, Ms. Schuler debuted the title roles of Ariadne auf Naxos and Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, both with the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, and covered the role of Leonore in the Princeton Festival’s production of Fidelio. Additional roles in her repertoire have included Micaëla in La tragédie de Carmen, Anaide in Nino Rota’s Il cappello di paglia di Firenze, Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, and Alice Ford in Falstaff.

Ms. Schuler was the first place winner of the 2018 Lyra New York International Vocal Competition, second place winner of the 2018 Lyra New York Online Mozart Competition, finalist in the 2017 Marcello Giordani International Voice Competition, a semi-finalist in Shreveport Opera’s 2017 Mary Jacobs Smith Competition, and first prize winner in the 2016 Heafner–Williams Vocal Competition. Ms. Schuler earned her Artist Diploma from the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, her Master of Music from Chicago College of Performing Arts, and a double Bachelor of Arts in Music and Graphic Design from Trinity Christian College.

Laura Smalley holds a BM in Vocal Performance from DePaul School of Music, where she co-founded two student ensembles that produced and performed original and contemporary works. She has worked in marketing and development with many prominent arts organizations, including internships with Des Moines Metro Opera and Stage 773, and currently works for Chicago Opera Theater as the Marketing & Communications Associate. She is also an alumna of the 2018 Hart Institute for Women Opera Administrators, a professional development program at The Dallas Opera. Laura works regularly as a singer and performer in the Chicago area.

Lauded for his versatility as a performer and accomplished in Musical Theater, Opera, Oratorio and Concert repertoire, critically acclaimed tenor, Jonathan Zeng, has performed throughout the United States with companies such as Cincinnati Opera, Central City Opera, Tulsa Opera, Opera Memphis, Utah Festival Opera, and the Princeton Festival. With a voice described by Chicago publications as “valiant”, “stunning”, “vibrant”, and “rich”, Jonathan is based in Chicago and has appeared as soloist with The William Ferris Chorale in the American premiere of John Joubert’s Five Songs of Incarnation and Bonaventura Somma’s Missa Pro Defunctis. You may also have seen him singing with the Grant Park Symphony Chorus, in Johnny Johnson or The Csardas Princess with Chicago Folks Operetta, or performing in Chicago Fringe Opera productions The Long Christmas Dinner, Trouble In Tahiti, Turn of the Screw, and Song From the Uproar. Roles elsewhere range from Goro in Madama Butterfly & Beppe in I Pagliacci to Prince Charming in Cinderella, Chip Tolentino in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Frederic in Pirates of Penzance.  An avid proponent for arts education and vocal instruction, Jonathan has served as an adjunct faculty member in the Preparatory Department at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and has maintained a private voice studio for more than a decade. Jonathan received a BA in Music Education from the School of Music at Western IL University and an MM in vocal performance from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (CCM). Jonathan also writes and records his own music.

In her freshman year at Arizona State University, Josephine won the 2011 annual Concert of Soloists competition, which led to a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the ASU Symphony. Other honors include the Grand Prize Winner at the 2009 Arizona Musicfest Competition, first prize in the Senior Concerto Division of the 2009 Schimmel/Arizona Piano Young Artist Competition, and 2008 MTNA Arizona State Senior Division Winner. In May 2014, she received the Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude, in piano performance from Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts of Arizona State University. Her mentors include Dr. Baruch Meir and Dr. Hamilton Tescarollo.

An avid collaborator as well as a soloist, Josephine has performed with members of the Cincinnati Symphony, Classical Revolution Chicago, and many young artists in recitals and competitions, including the CSYO Concerto Competition in November 2016, of which the two top prize-winning performances were her collaborations. She made her Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall collaborative debut in November 2016 with cellist Miriam Smith, who was also her piano student. Josephine is also a passionate teacher who sees teaching as an essential expression of her personality and musicianship. She also believes deeply in interdisciplinary art collaboration and presenting great music of all genres, and is launching a concert concept that combines the forces of living music, lighting design, art film, and fashion design in an ongoing, large-scale project with Lanly Le as the videographer and photographer. She also champions new music written by living composers, and she has premiered several new works around the world.