Beethoven's Ninth: Appearing March 16, 2025
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Emily Margevich, Soprano
Soprano Emily Margevich is “a star in the making (Bachtrack), acclaimed for her “charismatic
and commanding” performances (The New York Times). This “poised and fearless Prima
Donna” (Musical America) has been on stage since age two, performing professionally in
Musical Theatre throughout her childhood in the Midwest. Emily continues to earn praise as a
“luminous soprano” (Wall Street Journal) with “a voice of liquid beauty” (Opera Magazine) that is
“big and luxurious, with a cascading quality, like a bolt of silk dropped from a balcony” (Parterre).
Throughout her education at DePaul University and The Academy of Vocal Arts, Margevich
placed First in the Sid Kleinmann Competition, Second in The Jensen Foundation Competition,
Third in The Meistersinger Competition in Austria, and was a multi-year District Winner of the
Metropolitan Opera Competition. Now a Company Artist at OperaDelaware, Ms. Emily is most
known for her portrayals of Tatyana, Musetta, and Donna Elvira.
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Quinn Middleman, Mezzo-Soprano
Praised for her “fine, warm mezzo-soprano voice,” Quinn Middleman is known for her dynamic artistry and as an “animated musical storyteller.” She looks forward to 2024-25 engagements including returns to Annapolis Opera as Berta/Il barbiere di Siviglia and Haymarket Opera as Mary Cleofe/Resurrezione, and a debut with Opera Montana in her signature role as The Witch/The Mother/Hansel and Gretel. She will premiere Rosśa Crean’s Westifaria with the PICOSA Ensemble.
In the 2023-24 season, she appeared as Nunzia/La liberazione di Ruggiero with Haymarket Opera, Third Lady/Die Zauberflöte with Annapolis Opera, Ježibaba/Rusalka with Opera Ithaca, several roles in L’enfant et les sortilèges with Salt Marsh Opera, and Podtochina/ Countess/The Nose with Chicago Opera Theater. She was proud to win 1st Place in the Opera Mississippi John Alexander National Vocal Competition. In the 2022-23 season, she sang the Page/Salome (covering Herodias) at Madison Opera and the Witch/Hansel and Gretel with Opera Birmingham, covered Handel’s titular Ariodante at Pittsburgh Opera, and joined The Santa Fe Opera as a member of the 2023 Apprentice Singers Program, covering Geneviève/Pelléas et Mélisande and Ninfa/Orfeo.
Quinn has recently appeared as Alisa/Lucia di Lammermoor with Madison Opera, Mother/Amahl and the Night Visitors with Opéra Louisiane, The Mother/The Scarlet Ibis with Chicago Opera Theater, Alto Soloist/Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Testo/La Susanna with Haymarket Opera, Filippyevna/Eugene Onegin with Music Academy of the West, Countess (cover)/Queen of Spades at Des Moines Metro Opera, Ježibaba/The Littlest Mermaid with OPERA Iowa, and Alto Soloist/Messiah with Utah Symphony. In competition, Quinn placed first in the Opera Birmingham Competition, won the Mozart Prize at the Orpheus Vocal Competition, and was a finalist in the Argento Vocal Competition. She was a LYNX Project Artist in Residence and a Utah Opera Resident Artist, with whom she appeared as Flora/La Traviata and Madeleine/Silent Night and covered Rosina/Il barbiere di Siviglia. She has also performed with Crested Butte Music Festival, Chautauqua Opera, Central City Opera, St. Petersburg Opera, and Tanglewood Music Center, among others. She holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University, and received bachelor’s degrees in both Oboe Performance and Vocal Arts from the University of Southern California.
John Pickle, Tenor
John Pickle, tenor, enjoys an active career on both the operatic and concert stage. Operatically, he has appeared with Los Angeles Opera, Lyric Opera Chicago, Opera Colorado, Michigan Opera Theater, Florida Grand Opera, Nashville Opera, Lyric Opera Kansas City, New York City Opera, Hawai’i Opera Theater, Florentine Opera, Sarasota Opera, Cleveland Opera Theater, Dayton Opera, Opera Memphis, Opera Tampa, Maryland Opera, Mobile Opera, Opera Southwest, Opera Louisianne, and Opera Delaware in roles spanning the lyric spinto repertoire of Puccini, Verdi, Bizet, Leoncavallo, Mascagni, and Wagner. Concert work has included Mahler’s monumental 8th Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde, Verdi’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with companies including Houston Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, Mississippi Symphony, Akron Symphony, Canton Symphony, The National Chorale, and The Orchestra Now at Bard College. For more information please visit www.johnpickle.com.
Young-Kwang Yoo, Baritone
Praised by New York Times and Opera News for “Vocal dexterity and outstanding Italian diction.”, “Mr. Yoo showcased a rich, reverberant baritone.” And “He provided sturdy, empathetic presence.”
Previous credits include Il Barbiere di Siviglia(Figaro), Don Giovanni(Don Giovanni), La Bohème(Marcello), Le Nozze di Figaro(Il Conte), Carmen(Escamillo), Lakmé (Frederic), Madama Butterfly(Sharpless), Luisa Miller(Miller), Emmeline(Mr. Maguire), Pelléas et Mélisande(Pelléas), Don Pasquale(Malatesta), Rigoletto (Rigoletto) and so on.
For his role Figaro in the Barber of Seville with the Florida Grand Opera and the Cleveland Opera Theater, Cleveland Classical and Pro Opera Florida hailed for “Baritone Young Kwang Yoo brought an ultimate suavity, and a special combination of tone and power to Figaro.”, “He made his debut in the role of Figaro and did so in a big way. He acted with ease and the required nonchalance at certain moments, showing a comic visage reinforced from the vocal aspect.”Also, the Operawire hailed his role, Escamillo, for “The stand-out performance of the evening came from baritone Young-Kwang Yoo.”
Young-Kwang has appeared on broadcasting in US and Korea. As a rising opera star, he was introduced CNN News and Reuters. Also, the Voice of America took a documentary paying attention to his life which has been moving to his dream as an international opera singer. In addition, he has been showed many of famous Korean TV shows on KBS, MBC, tvN, C channel, CBS and CTS channels.