A year after launching an Apprenticeship Pilot Program, the Stetson University School of Music and Opera Orlando will expand the program for the 2024-2025 season with four students set to perform this month with the professional opera company.

Opera Orlando and Stetson’s School of Music launched the Apprentice Artists program for undergraduate students last year, allowing them to earn college credit while gaining training and on-stage experience. Given the program’s success, Opera Orlando is doubling the number of apprentices this year from two to four students.

“Opera Orlando is thrilled to welcome four new apprentice artists for our 2024-25 Destiny + Desire season from the Stetson School of Music. We are constantly impressed by the students’ level of talent, and we were eager to expand the program because of that,” said Gabriel Preisser, General Director and CEO of Opera Orlando.

“The fact that these young singers not only receive professional, on-stage experience but also receive college credit is quite a unique program, and we are hopeful to continue to grow the program for years to come,” he added.

Students in the Stetson School in Music audition each year for the coveted on-stage experiences. Four Voice Performance students in the Bachelor of Music degree program were selected for the upcoming season — bass-baritone Kenneth Browning, soprano Rachel Castillo, baritone Nicholas Dieux, and mezzo-soprano Tajah Garrett.

“I am delighted to see our partnership with Opera Orlando grow, doubling the number of students participating in this exceptional program,” said Stetson School of Music Dean Washington Garcia, DMA. “It is inspiring to witness our students’ remarkable talent and our faculty’s commitment to providing them with the highest caliber of professional experiences.”

The four students will perform with Opera Orlando on Sept. 14 in a benefit concert, “Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín,” in Steinmetz Hall in the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Downtown Orlando.

The concert recounts the inspirational story of Jewish prisoners in a German concentration camp (Terezín) during World War II who performed Verdi’s Requiem even as they struggled to survive. The performance will benefit the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida.

In addition, students Dieux and Castillo will sing in the chorus of Opera Orlando’s October production of “Macbeth,” while Garrett and Browning will sing in the chorus of the February production of “Cendrillon.” As part of the apprenticeship program, the students will participate in masterclasses and receive one-on-one vocal coaching from Preisser, the company’s Grammy Award-winning baritone and general director.

-Stetson Today