Samuel Kidd

Baritone
College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati

Samuel Kidd, a baritone from Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a first-year master student studying vocal performance at the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, under the instruction of Bill McGraw. He recently graduated from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Freda Herseth. In 2018, Samuel was named a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Michigan District and awarded the David DiChiera prize for most promising young artist. He has also been named the winner of the University of Michigan Undergraduate Concerto Competition in 2016, and of The Friends of Opera Undergraduate Competition in 2017.

The past two summers, Samuel has been a vocal fellow at the Music Academy of the West. In 2019, he performed the roles of Ethan/Owens in Cold Mountain by Jennifer Higdon, as well as the bass solos in Pulcinella by Stravinsky under the baton of Thomas Adès. In 2018, he performed the role of Jazz Trio in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, as well as in the chorus of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. Samuel enjoys oratorio and choral singing, having performed the baritone solos in Vaughn Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Haydn’s Creation and Mozart’s Requiem with the Plymouth Oratorio society, and bass solos in Bach’s Mass in B minor and Montiverdi’s 1610 Vespers with Audivi and the Michigan Bach Collective.

Tayte Mitchell

Tenor

College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati

Tayte Mitchell, a tenor from Vulcan, Alberta, Canada, is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Voice Performance at the Cincinnati Conservatory-College of Music under the tutelage of William E. McGraw. Recently, Tayte was a Vocal Fellow for at the Music Academy of the West located in Santa Barbara, California.

Tayte’s operatic engagements include Oronte in Handel's Alcina, Le Prince Charmant in Massenet’s Cendrillon, the title role in Britten’s Albert Herring, Satirino in Cavalli’s La Calisto. At the end of November 2019, Tayte will perform the role of Vašek in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride with CCM.

Tayte was named an Albert Rees Davis Scholar in the Singers’ Club of Cleveland’s S. Livingston Mather Competition back in 2016, was awarded Honourable Mention from the Hal Leonard Art Song Competition, and has received the Arts Graduate Scholarship from the Government of Alberta. Tayte Mitchell received his Bachelors of Music at the Oberlin Conservatory, dual majoring in Voice Performance under Lorraine Manz and Opera Directing under Jonathon Field with a minor in Music History.

Louis Ong

Baritone

University of Michigan

Louis Ong is a baritone from Perak, Malaysia and is currently in the Specialist in Music program at the University of Michigan where he was awarded a full tuition scholarship. He received his Master’s in Vocal Performance from Louisiana State University where he received the Turner-Fischer Scholarship and the Baton Rouge Opera Guild Scholarship.

His honors also include the Encouragement Award, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Michigan) and the First Prize Award in the 6th Bangkok Opera ASEAN International Singing Competition for undergraduates. Louis has performed Ford in Falstaff at LSU Opera, the title role in Don Giovanni at both La Musica Lirica and the Operafestival di Roma in Italy.

Xuyue Qing

Tenor

Kent State University

Xuyue Qing is a tenor from TongLing, Anhui, China. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree from Shanghai Conservatory of Music where he studied with Prof. Yi Ge and performed many operatic concerts and recitals. He is pursuing his master’s degree at Kent State University where he is studying with Tim Culver. In the 2017 season, he sang with Opera Western Reserve from China for his American operatic debut as Normano in Lucia di Lammermoor.

In summer 2018, he was invited as a guest artist to present a “Vocal Lecture” at Henan University, China. In spring 2019, he sang the role of Mr. Splinter in The Tenderland with Kent State Opera. He was a semi-finalist in the 66th Washington International Competition for Voice. He was invited to sing in the Golden Fall Moon Festival Concert 2019 by DongFang Chinese Performing Arts Association in Wentz Concert Hall. He won First Place in graduate category and the award for Fine Singing Honoring Richard Miller in the 2019 Ohio NATS Competition. This season, he will be singing the role of Malcolm in Verdi’s Macbeth for Opera Western Reserve.