Yunpeng Wang returning to China for "Marriage"

Yunpeng Wang

We briefly featured Chinese barihunk Yunpeng Wang in a post about the Operalia Competition in 2002, but have never properly introduced him to readers. Opera goers in New York may already know him, as a member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program who has already been cast at the Metropolitan Opera as Fiorello in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia and the Flemish Duputy in Verdi’s Don Carlo.

He is currently headed back to his native country to make his role debut as Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the spectacular National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Performances are running from May 14-17 and tickets and additional cast information are available online.

Earlier this year, he sang Agamemnon in the Lindemann/Juilliard co-production of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide. This summer he returns to the Rossini Opera Festival as Filippo in a new production of La Gazzetta in Pesaro, Italy.

Yunpeng Wang sings Di Provenza from La traviata:

Wang has been the recipient of several awards, including three prizes at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition: the 2nd Place Prize, the Zarzuela Prize, and the Audience Award. He has won First Prize in the 2014 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, and First Prize in the Alan M. and Joan Taub Ades Vocal Competition. As a winner of Operalia, he appeared in the Voices of 2012 concert with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV in Pécs, Hungary.

Other recent engagements include Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 and Xian Xinghai’s The Yellow River Cantata with the Hartford Symphony, and participated in the “Zürich Stiftung Opera Bel Canto Night” under the tutelage of Francisco Araiza in Switzerland.

Wang received a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and a Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance from The Manhattan School of Music, where he was invited to attend on full scholarship.

Two generations of young artists in premiere of Puerto Rican opera

Denis Sedov (Photo of left by Bogdan Tache) & studying the Verdi Requiem

Russian barihunk Denis Sedov is creating the role of Ledo Jiménez in the world premiere of Carlos Vázquez’s La mina de oro in San Juan, Puerto Rico on September 6 and 7. The towering bass, who honed his skills in the Lindemann Young Artists Program at the Met, is not new to the music of Vázquez. He previously premiered his Requiem Domesticus at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico and one of the composer's song cycles.

La Mina de Oro is a 3-act opera with a libretto by José Luis Ramos Escobar, based on an original story by the composer.  The story deals with contemporary issues of drug violence, corruption, ambition, greed and love. For tickets call 787-792-5000 or visit TicketCenter online.

Xavier Edgardo

Also in the cast is Xavier Edgardo, a young artist who many people are keeping an eye on and who coached with Denis Sedov. He is wrapping up his studies at the Conservatorio de Musica de Puerto Rico where he was encouraged to hone his skills after being a standout choral performer. He spent two seasons at the International Vocal Arts Institute run by the esteemed Joan Dorneman, assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera. He is expected to continue his studies in the United States next year.

He has participated in and won a number of vocal competitions, include many in Europe. This led to him being invited to perform as a soloist with the Mundus Cantat Festival in Gdansk, Poland. He has also performed Mahler's Symphony no. 2 in C minor (Resurrection) with the Simón Bolívar Youth under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel. He has participated in masterclasses with a number of great singers, including fellow Puerto Rican Justino Diaz, Sherril Milnes, Mignon Dunn and Elaine Ortiz Arandes.

Keep an eye on this site for information about his upcoming recital.