Ride of the Valkyries!
Conducted by David Angus | Written & Directed by James Blaszko
Performed with members of the Boston Lyric Opera Orchestra
A special one-night-only engagement with Lise Lindström & Morris Robinson. Hold on to your horned helmets!
SoWa Power Station
550 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA 02118
Wednesday, November 12 | 8:00pm
Running time: 85 minutes with no intermission
A full-throttle joyride through the opera canon!
What starts as Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries explodes into a madcap operatic mashup. BLO kicks things off with that thunderous prelude—then gleefully romps through showstopping arias, unexpected twists, and musical spectacle. With powerhouse performers Lise Lindström and Morris Robinson at the helm, and David Angus leading members of the BLO Orchestra, this is a concert with no brakes and all bravado.
The music? Unmissable.
The vibe? All-out BLO.
Want more? Add the experience of The Opera Gala 2025 to your evening with a seated dinner, special tributes, and live fundraising in support of BLO’s Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artists Initiative—helping shape the next generation of opera talent. Performance-only tickets and full Gala packages are both available.
Ride of the Valkyries! is part of BLO’s Opera Gala 2025, but performance-only tickets are available for those joining us exclusively for the show. As a Ride of the Valkyries! ticket holder, your evening begins with our immersive lounge space This is not a traditional opera experience. Sip, mingle, and soak in the energy of the gala atmosphere. You’ll be surrounded by fellow opera enthusiasts, artists, and supporters—all gathered to celebrate 15 years of the Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist Initiative.
Then, the curtain rises on Ride of the Valkyries!—a bold, fast-paced operatic revue that reimagines epic arias and iconic stories through unexpected mashups and high-flying musical moments. Led by Christine Goerke and Morris Robinson, and conducted by David Angus, this one-night-only experience promises unforgettable music, theatrical spectacle, and a celebration of BLO’s artistic innovation.
Tickets to Ride of the Valkyries begin at $40. Tickets to The Opera Gala 2025 begin at $2,000, with event sponsorships starting at $5,000.
All gala packages include tickets to Ride of the Valkyries! performance.
Lise Lindström | Soprano
American dramatic soprano Lise Lindström combines her unique vocal power with her expansive range, extensive palette of vocal colours, and unrivalled stagecraft. In roles that range from Turandot to Senta, Elektra and Brünnhilde, Lindström’s distinguished career has taken her to the world’s leading opera houses, including The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and Teatro alla Scala. In 2016, Lindström performed Brünnhilde in her first-ever full Ring Cycle for Opera Australia, for which she was awarded the Green Room Award and Helpmann Award. A leading interpreter of Wagner’s heroines, she has also portrayed Senta in Der fliegende Holländer with San Francisco Opera, Polish National Opera, and New Orleans Opera; both Elisabeth and Venus in Tannhäuser with Greek National Opera; and Brünnhilde in Die Walküre. Recent projects include Färberin in Die Frau ohne Schatten with Oper Köln and The Metropolitan Opera; Brünnhilde in the brand-new Ring Cycle at Opera Australia and with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Elektra at Semperoper Dresden and Verona; Salome at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma; and Turandot at the Caracalla Festival. She will revisit Färberin this season at the Polish National Opera and return to the Atlanta Opera for Götterdämmerung.
Morris Robinson | Bass
American bass Morris Robinson has performed with many of the world’s leading opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Teatro alla Scala, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Also a prolific concert singer, Mr. Robinson has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra; and at the BBC Proms and the Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, Tanglewood, Cincinnati May, Verbier, and Aspen festivals. He also appeared at Carnegie Hall as part of Jessye Norman’s HONOR! Festival. In recital he has been presented by Spivey Hall in Atlanta, the Savannah Music Festival, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Mr. Robinson’s first album, Going Home, was released by Decca. He is also a featured artist on the LA Philharmonic’s recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, which won the 2022 GRAMMYÒ Award for Best Choral Performance. An Atlanta native, Mr. Robinson is a graduate of The Citadel and an alumnus of the Metropolitan Lindemann Young Artists Program. He is currently Artistic Advisor to Cincinnati Opera.
Chelsea Basler | soprano
GRAMMY® Award-nominated soprano Chelsea Basler continues to make her mark in an extensive array of operatic roles due to her unique combination of vocal appeal and artistry. During the 2024/25 season, Ms. Basler sang High Priestess in Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Aida and covered Julie Jordan in Carousel. Past roles with BLO include covering Eurydice in Aucoin’s Eurydice and singing Musetta in La bohème. Ms. Basler enjoys a particularly strong relationship with BLO, which she initially joined as an Emerging Artist during the 2013/14 season. Other recent work includes returning to The Metropolitan Opera to cover Blanche in Dialogues des Carmélites, performing Musetta in La bohème with Charleston Opera Theater and Opera Company of Middlebury, and making her role debut as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with Newport Classical.
Junhan Choi | baritone
In the 2025/26 season, baritone Junhan Choi’s engagements include the role of Schaunard in Puccini’s La bohème with Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, as well as Pantheus in Berlioz’s Les Troyens and Frate in Verdi’s Don Carlos with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras. He also appeared as Belcore in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with the Bar Harbor Music Festival. As a former Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist with the Boston Lyric Opera, he has appeared in roles such as bass soloist in Eurydice, Registrar & Commissioner in Madama Butterfly, Dandini (cover) in La Cenerentola, and Schaunard (cover) and Alcindoro in La bohème. He has earned recognition in numerous international competitions, including three Extraordinary Prizes at the 54th Viñas International Voice Competition and a Golden Medal at the Berliner International Music Competition. After winning first prize in the 2017 Talents of the World International Voice Competition, he made his Carnegie Hall debut as a baritone soloist for the “Tribute to Dmitri Hvorostovsky” concert. Choi holds a master’s degree and a graduate diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied on a Presidential Scholarship.
Mary Kray | mezzo-soprano
Mary Kray is a Boston-based mezzo-soprano and returning Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist at Boston Lyric Opera. She is thrilled to return for the 2025 season, having recently appeared as Hansel in Hansel and Gretel for BLO’s Opera on Tour educational program and as Second Woman in BLO’s production of Carousel. Kray has performed a wide range of operatic and concert repertoire with local organizations such as Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Opera Collaborative, and NEMPAC Opera Project. Operatic highlights include Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice and Marcellina in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. As a concert soloist, she has performed as the alto soloist in Vivaldi’s Gloria, Bach’s Magnificat, Mozart’s Vespers, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and Handel’s Messiah. She has received numerous awards at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (2018-21) and received recognition from the National Society of Arts and Letters. A graduate of Boston Conservatory at Berklee with an M.M. in opera performance, Kray also teaches musicianship at the Handel + Haydn Society and maintains a private voice studio. She brings a trauma-informed and compassionate approach to her teaching and performance practice.
Josie Larsen | soprano
Josie Larsen, a student of Bradley Williams, is a lyric soprano from Sammamish, Washington, joining Boston Lyric Opera as a Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist for the 2025/26 Season. She has performed as Annunciata in Bolcom’s Lucrezia, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Elaine in Musto’s Later the Same Evening, Rosalinda in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème, and the Governess in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw. Additionally, she has covered Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Music Academy of the West and the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro at the Aspen Music Festival. Concert work includes performances of the Brahms Requiem, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, and Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 by Villa-Lobos, as well as “From Jewish Folk Poetry” as part of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Decoding Shostakovich series. Larsen completed her bachelor’s degree at Brigham Young University in 2021, her master’s degree at the New England Conservatory in 2023, and her Artist Diploma also at the New England Conservatory in 2025. She is a 2026/27 Member of the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Larsen’s greatest joy in music is connecting people across many languages and cultures in a common musical experience.
Omar Najmi | tenor
GRAMMY®-nominated tenor and composer Omar Najmi has appeared regularly with Boston Lyric Opera. Recent BLO roles include Enoch Snow in Carousel, Valcour in The Anonymous Lover, Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet, Beppe in Pagliacci, and Nick in The Handmaid’s Tale. Other recent and upcoming credits include: Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw, Spoleto Festival; Simon in Adoration, LA Opera; Demler in Frederick Douglass, Odyssey Opera; Handel’s Messiah, Boston Baroque and Seattle Symphony; Ruggero in La rondine, Opera on the James; Alessandro in Il re pastore; Orpheus PDX; and Shakur in Thumbprint, Portland Opera. As a composer, Najmi was a 2025 participant in Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative, where his and librettist Christine Evans’ opera Mud Girl was premiered at The Kennedy Center. His and librettist Cailin Smith’s opera The Elevator Trial will be premiered in 2026 by Boston Opera Collaborative. He has also had works commissioned by Boston Lyric Opera, Atlanta Opera, White Snake Projects, Juventas New Music Ensemble, and Emmanuel Music.
Michelle Trainor | soprano
Michelle Trainor, alumna of the inaugural class of Boston Lyric Opera’s Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artists Initiative, has performed an extensive range of roles with BLO, including Miss Lightfoot, Fellow Travelers; Ofglen, The Handmaid’s Tale; Berta, Il barbiere di Siviglia; Mrs. Peachum, The Threepenny Opera; Helen McDougal, Burke and Hare; Marcellina, Le nozze di Figaro; Olga/Lolo, The Merry Widow; Brangain, The Love Potion; Second Lady, The Magic Flute; Hagar, Hagar’s Lament/Clemency; Bombalina, The Inspector; and Lady-in-Waiting, Macbeth. She has also appeared with companies including Bulgaria’s State Opera Ruse, Detroit Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Opera Columbus, Odyssey Opera, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Tuscia Operafestival, IlluminArts, and Enigma Chamber Opera. Her discography features Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon), Awakenings and La reine de Saba with Odyssey Opera, Hamlet with The Shakespeare Concert Series, Haroun and the Sea of Stories with BMOP, and Clemency with Boston Lyric Opera. Trainor opened her 2025/26 season as Aksinya in Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk with the Romanian Radio National Orchestra at the George Enescu Festival, a role she debuted with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Later this season, she reprises Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Helena Symphony.
Zizhao Wang | bass-baritone
Chinese-born bass-baritone Zizhao Wang is a current Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera, where he appeared in Concert in the Courtyard, covered the Cosmic Weatherman in the world premiere of The Seasons, and performed as the Third Man/Baritone Soloist/Sailor in Carousel during the 2024/25 season. In the 2025/26 season with BLO, Wang will sing First Apparition and Assassin/Herald/Valet in Verdi’s Macbeth. He also returns to Houston for the 2026 revival of The Big Swim, a co-production of Houston Grand Opera and Asia Society Texas. As a Resident Artist at the 2025 Glimmerglass Festival, he performed the roles of Bum Man, Munch, and Tree in the world premiere of The House on Mango Street, as well as covering the Sacristan and Jailer in Tosca. Wang was awarded second place in the New England Regional Finals of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in 2019. His recent roles include Tiger & Rooster, The Big Swim, Houston Grand Opera / Asia Society Texas; Bartolo, Le nozze di Figaro, Knoxville Opera; Martino, L’occasione fa il ladro, Opera Southwest; Colline, La bohème, New England Conservatory; Imperial Commissioner, Madama Butterfly, Virginia Opera; and Yang Yaozu, Country & Home, Chinese National Opera Festival.
Milena Comeau
Dancer
Hannah Franz
Dancer
Tula Johnson
Dancer
Taylor McMahon
Dancer
Christine Spellman
Dancer
Kylah Walker
Dancer
David Angus | Conductor
Now in his sixteenth year as Boston Lyric Opera’s music director, Anglo-Danish conductor David Angus recently served as music director and conductor for BLO’s 80th-anniversary revival of Carousel, directed by Anne Bogart. Other highlights of his BLO career include a new production of Mitridate, the critically acclaimed online productions of desert in and The Fall of the House of Usher, BLO’s backwards La bohème, and Anne Bogart’s striking production of Bluebeard’s Castle | Four Songs. In addition to his work with BLO, he conducted a new Sweeney Todd at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, The Marriage of Figaro in Prague, and several recordings of new American works with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Prior to BLO, Angus was music director of The Glimmerglass Festival and Chief Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Flanders. He has led orchestras and choirs throughout Europe, particularly in Scandinavia, including the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and several Danish orchestras. He has conducted most of the major orchestras in Great Britain, including the London Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, most of the BBC orchestras, the London Mozart Players, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He has also conducted the Toscanini Orchestra in Parma, the Porto Symphony Orchestra in Portugal, Wexford Festival Opera, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the LPO, and the Huddersfield Choral Society, as well as his former orchestra in Belgium. Angus was a boy chorister at King’s College under Sir David Willcocks and read music at Surrey University. He was a conducting fellow at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where he won several prizes for opera conducting.
James Blaszko | Writer & Director
James Blaszko is a first-generation American director who made his BLO debut in 2022 as Revival Director of La bohème. Blaszko has directed/co-created several concert works and special events, including Soundcake: Aural Confections by Sapphira Cristál & Monét X Change, Lincoln Center; We Count, Harare International Festival of the Arts; and Puccini and Verdi Play Ball, Tulsa Opera. His fully staged opera credits include Il trittico, Daegu International Opera Festival, Korea; Xerxes, Detroit Opera; and La liberazione di Ruggiero…, Manhattan School of Music.
Swann, a Catapult digital opera short directed by Blaszko and composed by Tamar-kali, was a finalist for Opera America’s 2024 Digital Excellence in Opera Award, and his short documentary Zenon was an official selection of the New Haven Documentary Film Festival. After staging and translating Sapphira Cristál’s maxi challenge-winning performance of “O mio babbino caro” for RuPaul’s Drag Race on MTV, he directed and produced a music video of the same aria, which has over 175,000 views on YouTube.
Blaszko is a co-founder of Apotheculture Club, a new audience cultivation initiative that pairs the performing arts with the legal consumption of cannabis. The club has produced events nationwide, supporting companies such as Detroit Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the Santa Fe Symphony. @apothecultureclub
David Hyde Pierce | Narrator
David Hyde Pierce is an Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor and director who most recently appeared on Broadway in Pirates! The Penzance Musical, a reimagining of the Gilbert & Sullivan classic. Previously he was seen in Stephen Sondheim’s final musical, Here We Are. Broadway credits include Hello, Dolly! (Tony nomination), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Tony nomination), La Bête, Curtains (Tony Award), Spamalot, The Heidi Chronicles and Beyond Therapy. Along with originating numerous roles Off-Broadway, he’s appeared in productions of Shakespeare, Shaw, Chekov, Moliere and Philip Barry at the Guthrie, Goodman, and Long Wharf theaters. He directed Brian Hargrove and Barbara Anselmi’s It Shoulda Been You on Broadway, Vanya and Sonia at Los Angeles’ Mark Taper Forum, David Lindsay-Abaire’s Ripcord at MTC, and a gangster-themed Importance of Being Earnest at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Film credits include Bright Lights, Big City, Crossing Delancey, Little Man Tate, Sleepless in Seattle, Wolf, Nixon, Isn’t She Great, Wet Hot American Summer, Down With Love, A Bug’s Life, Osmosis Jones, Treasure Planet, and The Perfect Host. Television roles include a suicidal congressman on Norman Lear’s political satire “The Powers That Be,” 11 seasons as Dr. Niles Crane on “Frasier” (Emmy, SAG Awards), and most recently Julia Child’s devoted husband Paul on the HBO Max series, Julia.
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Additional Creatives
- Janice Blair
- Joshua Higgason
Taylor McMahon
James Rotondo
SoWa Power Station
550 Harrison Ave | Boston, MA 02118



