Participant Bios 

Toshio Hosokawa

Born in Hiroshima, Toshio Hosokawa studied composition in Germany with Isang Yun at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin and with Klaus Huber at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg. Hosokawa is currently considered one of the pre-eminent Japanese classical composers and is regularly commissioned by orchestras, music festivals and opera theaters worldwide. 

Major works include his second opera Hanjo commissioned by the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; the orchestral work Circulating Ocean, commissioned by the Salzburg Festival and premièred by the Wiener Philharmoniker), Woven Dreams, an award-winning work commissioned for the Lucerne Festival and Carnegie Hall; his third opera Matsukaze commissioned by La Monnaie; The Raven; Horn Concerto –Moment of Blossoming, co-commissioned by Berliner Philharmoniker, the Barbican Center London and Concertgebouw Amsterdam; and many other works which premièred under the baton of the world’s leading conductors, including Kazushi Ono, Jun Märkl, Kent Nagano, Sir Simon Rattle, Robin Ticciati, and Franz Welser-Möst. 

In recent works, Hosokawa works to depict the relationship between nature and humans including his concertos Aeolus and Fluss and the vocal work Drei Angel-lieder. Nach dem Sturm for two sopranos and orchestra was premiered by Kazushi Ono in Tokyo and toured throughout Europe and Stilles Meer, with original text and staging by Oriza Hirata, describing Fukushima several years after The Great East Japan Earthquake. 

Hosokawa is a member of Akademie der Künste, Berlin. He has been Composer-in-Residence with numerous orchestras including Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin and Mozartfest Würzburg among others. 

He currently serves as Music Director for the Takefu International Music Festival, a guest professor at Tokyo College of Music and at Elisabeth University of Music. 

Neal Goren

Neal Goren is the founder and Artistic Director of Catapult Opera which actively promotes a robust and sustainable future for opera by initiating projects (both live and filmed) that enliven the art form and broaden the audience.

Goren’s former venture, Gotham Chamber Opera, popularized and legitimized the formerly ignored genre of chamber opera, which has now attained respect equal to the pillars of the operatic repertoire. In the company’s fifteen years of existence, Goren conducted all of Gotham’s 27 productions. 

Goren’s other conducting credits include performances of standard operas, non-standard operas, and premieres throughout the US, Europe, and Asia. A much sought-after recital accompanist, Goren has concertized extensively with Leontyne Price, Kathleen Battle, Thomas Hampson, and many others. 

He is an Associate Professor at Mannes College, where has served on the faculty since 1991. He is a frequent judge of national and international vocal and composers’ competitions and is a frequent featured guest on the Metropolitan Opera quiz. A celebrated writer and lecturer on opera topics, his book, Beyond the Aria, was published by Rowman & Littlefield (formerly Amadeus Press) in 2021.

Luca Veggetti (director/choreographer) 

Bologna native Luca Veggetti is a champion of contemporary music and experimental forms, which has led to his collaboration with some of today’s most important composers and ensembles. His work has been produced and presented by leading theaters, companies and museums around the world including Works & Process at the Guggenheim, The Martha Graham Dance Company, BAM, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, La Cité de la Musique in Paris and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. 

Notable productions include Iannis Xenakis’ Oresteia at the Miller Theater in co-production with the Guggenheim’s Works & Process; Toshio Hosokawa’s operas Hanjo at Suntory Hall; The Raven for Gotham Chamber Opera at the first New York Philharmonic New Music Biennial; Left-Right-Left, a co-production by the Japan Society and the Yokohama Noh Theater; Iannis Xenakis’ Kraanerg for the Teatro Comunale in Bologna; Watermill, a new vision of Jerome Robbins’ iconic theater piece for the Next Wave Festival at BAM; the film For a Dance Never Choreographed for the Noguchi Museum; and Anatomy of the Dream: Shojo Midare, a performance of a Noh play conceived for the spaces of the Setagaya Art Museum in Tokyo.

Eri Nakamura (Hanako) 

Eri Nakamura is an alumna of the Osaka College of Music, Opera Studio at the New National Theatre Tokyo, Opera Studio Nederland and the Jette Parker Young Artist Program of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and was an ensemble singer of the Bayerische Staatsoper.

While at the Royal Opera House, Nakamura sang Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Musetta in La bohème, Frasquita in Carmen and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, and returned as a guest for Le nozze di Figaro (Sir Colin Davis) and Werther (Sir Antonio Pappano). 

During the 2022-23 season, Nakamura performs, in addition to Toshio Hosokawa’s Hanjo, La bohème in Tokyo as well as concert appearances with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and Pannon Philharmonic, and  a Verdi Gala with the Scottish Opera. Last season she made her debut as Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly at the New National Theatre Tokyo, later performing the role in concert with the Hallé and on stage in her return to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She sang her first Magda in La Rondine at Biwako Hall. 

Elsewhere Nakamura has performed with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opera de Oviedo, Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile and Washington National Opera; in concert with the LPO (Nézet-Séguin), Orchestre National de France and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (van Zweden) among others.

Abigail Fischer (Jitsuko) 

Known for her “serenely captivating” operatic presence “and disarming intimacy,” (NY Times), Abigail Elizabeth Fischer enjoys singing any repertoire that connects her with embodied wisdom and truth. 

Abigail has made a vibrant career starring in contemporary operas such as Missy Mazzoli’s Song from the Uproar and Du Yun and Royce Vavrek’s 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning Angel’s Bone, as well as in more classic operas such as Carmen and Cenerentola, with companies such as Los Angeles Opera, Chautauqua Opera and Cincinnati Opera, and internationally at Beijing Music Festival and Hong Kong New Vision Festival.

Career highlights have been Lieberson’s Neruda Songs (with Columbus Symphony), Handel’s Messiah (with Kansas City Orchestra), Mahler 3rd Symphony (with Santa Rosa Symphony), Bach’s St. Matthew Passion; collaborating with Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Baroque, Dido and Aeneas with Ars Lyrica Houston, and touring internationally performing music by John Zorn.

In 2017 Abigail made her Italian stage debut in Bolzano, Italy in Toshio Hosokawa’s The Raven, sang the title role in Britten’s Rape of Lucretia with Opera Memphis, and Testo in Monteverdi’s Il Combattimento with Gotham Chamber Opera.

Adam Richardson (Yoshio) 

Baritone Adam Richardson is hailed by Opera News for “fielding a gorgeous textured baritone” and is widely recognized for his operatic, concert, and theater performances. The 2022-23 season sees Richardson make his company debut with Catapult Opera as Yoshio in Hanjo, a house debut with Opera Omaha in the title role in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, a debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago in the world premiere of Factotum, and a return to the role of John Mack at Pittsburgh Opera in We Shall Not Be Moved, which he originated and premiered in 2017. 

The 2021-22 season saw Richardson in Ricky Ian Gordon’s Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center Theater, as Sciarrone in Tosca at Cincinnati Opera, and in Liederabend with Beth Morrison Projects.

Other career highlights include the Night of Black Excellence gala with Fort Worth Opera,  singing Guglielmo in Cosi Fan Tutte with Opera in the Heights, and as John Mack in We Shall Not Be Moved at Opera Philadelphia, The Apollo, and the Dutch National Opera. He made his debut with Amarillo Opera in the title role of Joshua in Joshua’s Boots and has performed the role of Jake in Porgy and Bess at Alte Oper Frankfurt, Staatsoper Hamburg, and Opera de Massy. 

A native of Virginia, Richardson holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University and a Masters degree from The Juilliard School.

Saori Tsukada (Silent Figure) 

Born in America, raised in Japan, Saori Tsukada is a creator/performer who harnesses her ability in theater, dance and beyond. Her “virtuoso” (TimeOut NY) performance with “startlingly precise movements” (New York Times) have been seen at such venues as Lincoln Center, BAM, The Public Theater, La MaMa, Japan Society, and more. Amongst her countless collaborators are the choreographers Yoshiko Chuma and Catherine Galasso; playwright/director Aya Ogawa; composer Joe Diebes, multimedia artist duo Shaun Irons and Lauren Petty, and video artist Katja Loher. Her acclaimed duet performance with composer/theater artist John Moran has toured across the U.S and Europe. 

Tsukada is an alumni of Devised Theater Working Group where she developed Club Diamond with Nikki Appino. Recent stage appearances include Aya Ogawa’s The Nosebleed (Lincoln Center), Pig Iron Theater Company’s SUPERTERRANEAN (Philadelphia Fringe Festival), and Joseph Keckler’s LET ME DIE (Opera Philadelphia). She is currently developing a stage adaptation of Kafka’s Metamorphosis (music by Philip Glass).

Designers: 

Clifton Taylor (Set & lighting design) 

For over 29 years, Clifton Taylor has created lighting, projection and scenic designs for theater, dance and opera companies around the world, as well as designing a number of unique concert events that defy categorization. His work has been seen on Broadway and Off-Broadway, as well as at the world’s major arts festivals including the Venice Biennial, Vienna Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, Singapore’s Festival of Asian Arts, Arts Summit/Jakarta, Hong Kong Festival, Istanbul Festival, Hamburg Summer Festival, The Lincoln Center Festival and BAM/Next Wave. 

Taylor has been the theater consultant on new large scale theatrical venues in several countries and is a sought after teacher and lecturer on theatrical lighting especially in the area of color and light. In 2002, Taylor was awarded a grant from the Asian Cultural Council to develop and teach a course in design for the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He presented at New York’s Broadway Lighting Master Class from 1997 – 2014 and is a former member of the Juilliard School’s Dance Faculty.

Peter Speliopoulos (Costume design) 

Peter Speliopoulos, is a multidisciplinary artist creating ceramics and home objects. His influences are founded in his experience as a fashion designer, creative director, and costume designer for opera and dance. Formerly Creative Director of Donna Karan New York, and Cerruti Arte in Paris, Speliopoulos began his collaboration with Luca Veggetti in 2014, creating costumes for Toshio Hosokawa’s The Raven (Gotham Chamber Opera, NY), and costumes for he Tempest Songbook, with music by Henry Purcell and Kaija Saariaho (Gotham Chamber Opera), directed by Luca Veggetti in 2015. 

Speliopoulos continues to work with director/choreographer Karole Armitage, having designed costumes for over thirty of her internationally performed operas and ballets. His ceramic solo shows in NYC and Paris have received international acclaim.

Peter Speliopoulos received his BFA from the Parsons School of  Design in 1982. He is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America since 1997and has served on the Board of Armitage Gone! Dance! since 2005, and the International Folk Art Market, since 2012. Speliopoulos is co-founder of ‘Fashion Centered,’ a benefit evening celebrating New York’s LGBTQ Center, since 2014.

Moe Yoshida (Visual Artist) 

Moe Yoshida is active as a visual artist in painting, in sculpture and in performance. She lives and works in Bologna, New York, and Tokyo. 

Her most recent solo show, Frog Dog was shown at Gallery Taga 2 in Tokyo in 2021. Her collaboration with stage director/choreographer Luca Veggetti has produced multimedia works for theaters and museums worldwide, notably: Phersu at the Italian Cultural Institute in Tokyo in 2019, L’Inferno dello sguardo at MAMbo in Bologna in 2019, Fourth Character at WhiteBox for PERFORMA19, As long as the breath lasts: for Bruno Munari at the Setagaya Art Museum in Tokyo in 2018, Vision of Lear by Toshio Hosokawa at Aster Plaza in Hiroshima in 2015, and Hanjo by Toshio Hosokawa at Suntory Hall in Tokyo in 2009.

Deanna Berg MacLean (Costume fabrication/Hair & Makeup) 

Deanna Berg MacLean’s designs for dance include: Alessandra Ferri & Herman Cornejo’s TrioConcertDance (European tour & Royal Opera House); Sarah Michelson’s Dogs at BAM; Karole Armitage’s Three Theories; Alexei Ratmansky’s Valse Fantasie, a solo for Mikhail Baryshnikov; and designed/created the costumes for Baryshnikov’s national tour of Solos with Piano or Not. 

She created the costumes for John Jasperse’s Truth, Revised Histories, Wishful Thinking, and Flat Out Lies and has been delighted to create costumes for Peter Speliopolous’ many designs for Armitage Gone! Maclean’s work in ballet, modern dance, theater & opera has appeared on the stage of Jacob’s Pillow, Sadler’s Wells, Santa Fe Opera, Walker Arts Center, The Joyce Theater, Edinburgh Festival, Festspielhaus Hellerau, Romaeuropa Festival, and The Venice Biennale.

Catapult Opera 

Founded by Neal Goren during the COVID lockdown in summer 2021, Catapult Opera actively promotes a robust, sustainable future for opera by creating and producing both new and underappreciated operas in order to build new audiences while engaging and retaining existing audiences.

In that summer, Catapult hosted a competition of new videos of selected opera scenes awarded by an international panel of opera industry leaders. That summer also saw the posting of Catapult’s first micro-opera commission: The Glitch, by composer Nico Muhly and librettist Greg Pierce, which garnered enthusiastic press response.

Hanjo is the first of Catapult Opera’s live productions.

Talea Ensemble

Heralded as “a crucial part of the New York cultural ecosphere” by the New York Times, the Talea Ensemble features nineteen of New York City’s finest classically-trained musicians, with a mission to champion musical creativity, cultivate curious listeners, and bring visionary new works to life with vibrant performances that remain in the audience’s imagination long after a concert.

A recipient of the 2014 Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, Talea has brought to life more than 30 commissions of major new works since it was founded in 2008. Partnering with institutions like the Austrian Cultural Forum or the French American Cultural Exchange, Talea has helped introduce NYC audiences to important works of such esteemed composers as Pierre Boulez, Georg Friedrich Haas, Beat Furrer, Pierluigi Billone, and Georges Aperghis.

Praised for their “verve and immaculate virtuosity” by the Washington Post, the Talea Ensemble is sought after both in the U.S. and Europe for its range, precision, risk-taking, and superior performance quality. Recent festival engagements include performances at Lincoln Center Festival, Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt, the Fromm Concerts at Harvard University, Warsaw Autumn Festival, Wien Modern, Chicago’s Contempo series, Royaumont Voix Nouvelles, Vancouver New Music, and many others. Talea’s recordings have been distributed worldwide on the Wergo, Gravina Musica, Tzadik, Innova, and New World Records labels, and been radio-broadcast on ORF (Austria), HRF (Germany), and WQXR’s Q2.

Talea assumes an ongoing role in supporting a new generation of composers and has undertaken residencies in music departments at Columbia, Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, New York University, and other locations.