Liberated Voices

The Singers Program at the Steans Institute provides an exceptional opportunity for 15 classical vocalists to explore the rich world of art song. Fellows immerse themselves in diverse aspects of the repertoire, including style, technique, language, and performance. Throughout the program, fellows collaborate closely with a team of accomplished musicians and educators, gaining personalized mentorship that nurtures both artistic growth and career aspirations.

In addition to a series of public master classes that focus on growing the fellows’ experience and interpretations of specific repertoire, the musicians participate in several afternoon and evening concerts presented during the summer, some with specially curated themes and others featuring repertoire selected by the performers.

This program of music by composers who were systematically suppressed and silenced through the Holocaust is curated by James Conlon, who for decades has worked to revive and highlight this canon while Music Director of Ravinia Festival (2005–15) and Los Angeles Opera (2006–26) and a guest conductor for opera companies and orchestras around the globe, along with Cori Ellison, a leading creative figure in opera who has been the dramaturg—the musical conscience connecting composer, artist, and audience—at Santa Fe Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival, and New York City Opera.

Since his New York Philharmonic debut in 1974, Conlon has led nearly every major American and European orchestra and has conducted at most of the world’s most prestigious opera houses. He has led more than 270 performances at the Metropolitan Opera since his 1976 debut. Uniquely versatile, Conlon is among the few conductors equally accomplished in symphonic, operatic, and choral repertoire. Through his extensive touring, acclaimed recordings, published writings, and widely recognized public presence, he stands as one of classical music’s most visible and enduring artistic leaders, having also served as Music Director of the Cincinnati May Festival for 37 years and, most recently, Artistic Advisor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Among his numerous honors are four Grammy Awards for Recordings with LA Opera and national recognition from the French, Italian, and Austrian Republics.

Not only a sought-after collaborator in new opera commissions, Ellison creates supertitles for opera companies across the English-speaking world and helped launch MetTitles, a simultaneous translation system. She has often written for the New York Times and contributed The New Grove Dictionary of Opera and The Compleat Mozart. Ellison is a founding faculty member of American Lyric Theater’s Composer Librettist Development Program and oversees History of Singing studies as part of the expertise she brings to the faculty of The Juilliard School’s Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts. She is frequently engaged as a guest vocal coach and for masterclasses across the US, including at such schools as Indiana, Michigan State, DePaul, and Loyola Universities; Mannes College; Boston Conservatory; Cincinnati College-Conservatory; and the Universities of Texas–Austin, Michigan, Illinois, and Nebraska–Lincoln.