Guest Artists

Photo by Carlo Allemano

Erin Morley—Soprano

Erin Morley is one of today's most sought after coloratura sopranos. She has stepped into the international spotlight in recent years with a string of critically acclaimed appearances in the great opera houses of the world.

Ms. Morley has sung principal roles at the Vienna State Opera, Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, Opéra National de Paris, the Palau de les Arts in Valencia (Spain), the Santa Fe Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera. A graduate of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Ms. Morley has sung more than 70 performances at the Met.

Born in Salt Lake City to musician parents, Ms. Morley spent her early years studying with some of Utah’s premiere instructors: violin with Jack Ashton, piano with Solveig Lunde Madsen, and voice with Betty Jeanne Chipman. Her first professional singing engagements were with the Utah Symphony, in their annual “Salute to Youth” concert, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, on a "Music & the Spoken Word" broadcast, both at the age of 18. 

Ms. Morley earned her BM from Eastman School of Music, her MM from The Juilliard School, and Artist Diploma from the Juilliard Opera Center. She now resides in New Haven, CT, with her husband and daughter.

Photo by Dario Acosta

Tamara Mumford—Mezzo-Soprano

This season, mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford returned to the Metropolitan Opera for A Midsummer Night's Dream and Wozzeck, appeared in concert with the New York Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Seattle Symphony Orchestra, returns to the Hollywood Bowl for Cavalleria Rusticana with Gustavo Dudamel, and makes her debut at the Caramoor Festival in Lucrezia Borgia.

A native of Sandy, Utah, Ms. Mumford holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Utah State University and is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.  She made her debut as Laura in Luisa Miller, and has appeared in numerous Metropolitan Opera productions.  Other opera engagements include the title role in the American premiere of Henze’s Phaedra, the title role in Dido and Aeneas at the Glimmerglass Festival, Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi with the Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi di Milano in Italy; and the title role in La Cenerentola at Utah Festival Opera.

An active concert performer and recitalist, Ms Mumford recently appeared with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in US and European tours of the world premiere of John Adam’s oratorio, The Gospel According to the Other Mary. She has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and Milwaukee Symphony orchestras, the Hollywood Bowl and the Ravinia, Tanglewood, Grand Teton, and La Jolla Summer Music festivals.  In recital she has been presented by the Marilyn Horne Foundation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.  Ms. Mumford has appeared in the Metropolitan Opera’s Met: Live in HD series broadcasts and has recorded Beethoven's Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony (Avie).  Several Deutsche Grammophon recordings include a duet with Bryn Terfel on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s Homeward Bound album released last year.

Photo by Dario Acosta

Ben Bliss—Tenor

American tenor Ben Bliss is a recent graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera.  Mr. Bliss was the recipient of the Mozart and Plácido Domingo awards at the 2015 Francisco Viñas International Competition in Barcelona, and received 2nd place overall.  He was also awarded first prize in the 2014 Gerda Lissner and Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation competitions, as well as a Sara Tucker and Sullivan Foundation grant. Mr. Bliss is also the 2013 Operalia Don Plácido Domingo Sr. Zarzuela prizewinner.

In the 2015-2016 season, Mr. Bliss will return to the Metropolitan Opera as Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, conducted by James Levine, and will make his European debut in the same role with Glyndebourne Festival on tour.  He will also return as a principal artist to Los Angeles Opera, where he will appear as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte under the baton of James Conlon, as well as to Des Moines Metro Opera as Belmonte.  On the concert stage, Mr. Bliss will debut with the New York Philharmonic singing Tony in Bernstein’s West Side Story Concert Suite No. 1 with Alan Gilbert, Haydn’s Creation and Cassio in Otello at the Cincinnati May Festival with James Conlon, and in holiday concerts with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Lexington Philharmonic. Mr. Bliss will also perform in Carnegie Hall’s Neighborhood Recital series with pianist Lachlan Glen, and with the New York Choral Society in Handel’s Israel in Egypt at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Bliss concludes the season with his company debut at Santa Fe Opera as Flamand in a new production of Capriccio directed by Tim Albery.

While in the Lindemann Program, Mr. Bliss made his Metropolitan Opera stage debut as Vogelgesang in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, conducted by James Levine. In May 2014, he was tapped to fill in as Ferrando in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s production of Cosi fan tutte under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel. 

As a member of LA Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, Mr. Bliss appeared as Benvolio in Roméo et Juliette, Barbarigo in I Due Foscari, and the Male Chorus in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia with the Colburn Orchestra under James Conlon. He has been the tenor soloist for Bach’s Magnificat with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the La Jolla Symphony and made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut singing Bach under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel.

Tyler Simpson—Bass

The 2015-2016 season marks Tyler Simpson's sixth consecutive season at the Metropolitan Opera, where he has worked on over 15 productions after having made his debut in Verdi's Don Carlo; including Le Comte Ory, The Enchanted Island, La traviata, Simon Boccanegra, Anna Bolena and Billy Budd. Engagements for 2014-2015 included Doctor Grenvil in La traviata with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, debuts with Dallas Opera as the 2nd Nazarene in Salome and Florida Grand Opera as the Secret Police Agent in The Consul, Angelotti in Tosca with the Detroit Symphony, and the Flemish Deputy in Don Carlo with the Metropolitan Opera. Mr. Simpson returned to the Castleton Music Festival for L’heure espagnol and Roméo et Juliette in summer of 2015. Other highlights include Sacristan in Tosca and Zuniga in Carmen with Atlanta Opera, and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte and Ferrando in Il trovatore with Fort Worth Opera. He made his European debut with Die Münchner Philharmoniker under Maestro Lorin Maazel, singing Benoit in La bohème after working with the Maestro at the Castleton Festival where he has appeared in productions of Don Giovanni, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Gianni Schicchi, Kurt Weill's Seven Deadly Sins, and La bohème. The 2015-2016 season brings his return to the Metropolitan Opera for Lulu and Tosca and to Ft. Worth Opera as Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, as well as debuts with Hawaii Opera Theatre as Snug in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and North Carolina Opera as Dr. Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia.