Two days after a cohort of 20 select local and international singers arrived for this three-week program, Canto Virginia held its first event of their Midsummer Opera Dream festival on Wednesday this week. The program, now in its tenth year, has found what seems to be a new home in the Dreamscapes Performing Arts Center. “It was magical that this came together,” said Lucy Arner, conductor, vocal coach, and one of the three founders of Canto, speaking to the collaboration between the intensive vocal program and the new venue. And, in addition to securing Dreamscapes as a venue, there is another major win for the company this year: Lindeblad Piano has donated a Steinway for the duration of the festival, which Arner called “an extraordinary gesture.”
Wednesday’s open-to-the-public masterclass, with vocal coach and Canto co-founder Liora Maurer playing that very Steinway, featured three singers as well as all three Canto founders. “We want this to be a place where singers can come as they are to take their artistry to the next level,” said Sharon Mohar, the program’s artistic director, to introduce the event. Later, she noted: “What I want both the singers and the audience to take away from the masterclass is that opera is accessible to everyone, even you’re not an expert in language or music.” Maurer added that she wanted both singers and audience to take away how everything ties together. “The character supports the music, the music supports the character, and it’s really one thing.”
Andrea Priscila Gutiérrez and Sharon Mohar
Opening masterclasses to the public in itself is part of the founders’ strategy for achieving accessibility for opera. “One of the takeaways, I hope,” said Arner, “is that people see that the process of preparation is at least as interesting as the final product, that people can learn so much about what they’re going to see by attending a class like this.”
Indeed, judging by the audience’s positive reaction to this masterclass, it seems clear that Canto is well on their way to making opera accessible for everyone. Mohar, as a stage director and interpretation coach, focused in her work with the singers on making each character more human and therefore more accessible by way of physicality and inner monologue. “Have fun with it,” she told baritone Samuel Oloniyo as they worked on the Count’s aria “Hai già vinta la causa” from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. As part of the fun, there was discussion of whether the singer liked their character, and why or why not, a testament to the thoughtfulness and attention each participant receives.
Speaking to that attention, Maurer said, “The size of the program is on a smaller scale. It makes it more individualized so that we really get to know the singers even before they come here, and we try as much as we can to give them what we think they need the most.” Agreeing, Arner said, “This is a very individual program where singers don’t get lost and we’re able to adjust the schedule and what we do to what the students need at the time so that they’re able to make progress faster and in a more profound way than in most programs that I’ve seen.” Mohar added, “Other training programs won’t necessarily have teachers that come from the same concept, and because Canto was created by this core faculty, it allows us to have this common language.”
Lucy Arner, Liora Maurer, Sharon Mohar, and Weiting Xu
A common language is certainly what it feels like. Mohar, Maurer, and Arner have worked together so much that their coordination in this masterclass was seamless. While each founder had something different to say to each singer, they could all speak to things like dramatic context, the story of the opera, technical things about the music and language, and how the music informs the character. “It goes beyond performance,” said Caitlin Driscoll, PR director for the festival, “and especially with the multifaceted faculty in place. Lucy was a conductor and she approaches it from that musical direction point of view. Sharon really digs into the characters, and we have Noa Kageyama from the Juilliard School who is all about combating stage fright and gaining and regaining that confidence ahead of a performance. So, beyond just vocal lessons or reading into the literature, it really is a dynamic program.”
To illustrate the alignment and interconnectedness of the founders’ approach, while Mohar started the class working with soprano Andrea Priscila Guttiérez on the dramatic aspects of “Tu, che di gel sei cinta” from Puccini’s Turandot, Arner finished the class by summarizing the dramatic situation and plot of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera for soprano Weiting Xu’s work on “Saper vorreste,” having conducted multiple versions of the work in her career. In summary, the ability of the faculty to speak to different aspects of performance really shone in this team effort with the singers at the center. Noteworthy, too, was the faculty’s good humor and attitude toward the singers. “I wish them not to be judged,” said Mohar. “When we say we are providing a happy place, for me this is crucial.”
After such an enjoyable first event, what’s to come for the rest of the festival? “Every Canto program is actually a little different,” said Arner. “One of the things we’re trying to do here in Virginia is really build and expand our reach to audiences, to the local communities. I don’t think that opera companies invest enough in outreach, in developing the kind of performances that will attract kids and their families. It should be a family thing, not just for the kids, and I feel very strongly part of the job of any operatic group is to expand the audience, to incorporate the next generation.” Coming full circle, Maurer concluded, “This is not a strict festival, it’s got things that can interest all kinds of people.” Among those events are a piano recital, a concert of art song, two other concerts, and two outreach performances. We are fortunate to have such an offering during the summer here in Northern Virginia, and there’s no question based on Wednesday’s event that, for audiences local to the area, this is worth a trip to Sterling.
Maggie Ramsey
Midsummer Opera – Masterclass by the Canto Faculty
Singers and Faculty:
Soprano – Andrea Priscila Guttiérez, Baritone – Samuel Oloniyo, Soprano – Weiting Xu
Artistic Director, Stage Director, Interpretation Coach – Sharon Mohar, Music Director, Conductor, Vocal Coach – Lucy Arner, Director of Opera Studies, Vocal Coach, Pianist – Liora Maurer, PR Director – Caitlin Driscoll
Sterling, VA, July 16, 2025
Top image: Liora Maurer, Sharon Mohar, and Samuel Oloniyo
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Canto Virginia 2025 Kicks Off With A Powerhouse Masterclass
Two days after a cohort of 20 select local and international singers arrived for this three-week program, Canto Virginia held its first event of their Midsummer Opera Dream festival on Wednesday this week. The program, now in its tenth year, has found what seems to be a new home in the Dreamscapes Performing Arts Center. “It was magical that this came together,” said Lucy Arner, conductor, vocal coach, and one of the three founders of Canto, speaking to the collaboration between the intensive vocal program and the new venue. And, in addition to securing Dreamscapes as a venue, there is another major win for the company this year: Lindeblad Piano has donated a Steinway for the duration of the festival, which Arner called “an extraordinary gesture.”
Wednesday’s open-to-the-public masterclass, with vocal coach and Canto co-founder Liora Maurer playing that very Steinway, featured three singers as well as all three Canto founders. “We want this to be a place where singers can come as they are to take their artistry to the next level,” said Sharon Mohar, the program’s artistic director, to introduce the event. Later, she noted: “What I want both the singers and the audience to take away from the masterclass is that opera is accessible to everyone, even you’re not an expert in language or music.” Maurer added that she wanted both singers and audience to take away how everything ties together. “The character supports the music, the music supports the character, and it’s really one thing.”
Opening masterclasses to the public in itself is part of the founders’ strategy for achieving accessibility for opera. “One of the takeaways, I hope,” said Arner, “is that people see that the process of preparation is at least as interesting as the final product, that people can learn so much about what they’re going to see by attending a class like this.”
Indeed, judging by the audience’s positive reaction to this masterclass, it seems clear that Canto is well on their way to making opera accessible for everyone. Mohar, as a stage director and interpretation coach, focused in her work with the singers on making each character more human and therefore more accessible by way of physicality and inner monologue. “Have fun with it,” she told baritone Samuel Oloniyo as they worked on the Count’s aria “Hai già vinta la causa” from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. As part of the fun, there was discussion of whether the singer liked their character, and why or why not, a testament to the thoughtfulness and attention each participant receives.
Speaking to that attention, Maurer said, “The size of the program is on a smaller scale. It makes it more individualized so that we really get to know the singers even before they come here, and we try as much as we can to give them what we think they need the most.” Agreeing, Arner said, “This is a very individual program where singers don’t get lost and we’re able to adjust the schedule and what we do to what the students need at the time so that they’re able to make progress faster and in a more profound way than in most programs that I’ve seen.” Mohar added, “Other training programs won’t necessarily have teachers that come from the same concept, and because Canto was created by this core faculty, it allows us to have this common language.”
A common language is certainly what it feels like. Mohar, Maurer, and Arner have worked together so much that their coordination in this masterclass was seamless. While each founder had something different to say to each singer, they could all speak to things like dramatic context, the story of the opera, technical things about the music and language, and how the music informs the character. “It goes beyond performance,” said Caitlin Driscoll, PR director for the festival, “and especially with the multifaceted faculty in place. Lucy was a conductor and she approaches it from that musical direction point of view. Sharon really digs into the characters, and we have Noa Kageyama from the Juilliard School who is all about combating stage fright and gaining and regaining that confidence ahead of a performance. So, beyond just vocal lessons or reading into the literature, it really is a dynamic program.”
To illustrate the alignment and interconnectedness of the founders’ approach, while Mohar started the class working with soprano Andrea Priscila Guttiérez on the dramatic aspects of “Tu, che di gel sei cinta” from Puccini’s Turandot, Arner finished the class by summarizing the dramatic situation and plot of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera for soprano Weiting Xu’s work on “Saper vorreste,” having conducted multiple versions of the work in her career. In summary, the ability of the faculty to speak to different aspects of performance really shone in this team effort with the singers at the center. Noteworthy, too, was the faculty’s good humor and attitude toward the singers. “I wish them not to be judged,” said Mohar. “When we say we are providing a happy place, for me this is crucial.”
After such an enjoyable first event, what’s to come for the rest of the festival? “Every Canto program is actually a little different,” said Arner. “One of the things we’re trying to do here in Virginia is really build and expand our reach to audiences, to the local communities. I don’t think that opera companies invest enough in outreach, in developing the kind of performances that will attract kids and their families. It should be a family thing, not just for the kids, and I feel very strongly part of the job of any operatic group is to expand the audience, to incorporate the next generation.” Coming full circle, Maurer concluded, “This is not a strict festival, it’s got things that can interest all kinds of people.” Among those events are a piano recital, a concert of art song, two other concerts, and two outreach performances. We are fortunate to have such an offering during the summer here in Northern Virginia, and there’s no question based on Wednesday’s event that, for audiences local to the area, this is worth a trip to Sterling.
Maggie Ramsey
Midsummer Opera – Masterclass by the Canto Faculty
Singers and Faculty:
Soprano – Andrea Priscila Guttiérez, Baritone – Samuel Oloniyo, Soprano – Weiting Xu
Artistic Director, Stage Director, Interpretation Coach – Sharon Mohar, Music Director, Conductor, Vocal Coach – Lucy Arner, Director of Opera Studies, Vocal Coach, Pianist – Liora Maurer, PR Director – Caitlin Driscoll
Sterling, VA, July 16, 2025
Top image: Liora Maurer, Sharon Mohar, and Samuel Oloniyo
All photos by Matt Hardy