ABOUT CAIC
"Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago continues
to do a praiseworthy job in keeping the local flame
alight for art song and lieder recitals"
-CHICAGO CLASSICAL REVIEW
MISSION
Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago seeks to make Chicago a world-class home for the study and performance of art song and vocal chamber music repertoire by curating performances and providing educational opportunities.
HISTORY
As founding partners of Collaborative Works, LLP, pianists Nicholas Hutchinson and Shannon McGinnis have been providing high quality affordable coaching and accompanying services in the Chicago-land area since 2006. In 2010 they joined forces with tenor Nicholas Phan to establish the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago with the goal of providing educational and performance opportunities for musicians, specifically through the promotion and advancement of art song and vocal chamber music repertoire.
Since its first event, a small, private house concert in 2010, CAIC’s educational and performance programs have expanded to include an annual series of public concerts and master classes, workshops, a four-day festival, and a fellowship program for promising Chicago area singers and pianists. Opera News has described CAIC “as one of Windy City’s primary musical treasures”.
CAIC regularly partners with prominent arts organizations, universities and schools throughout Chicago. Praised by Chicago Classical Review for consistently producing “art song performances of the highest order”, its performances feature an international roster of singers, pianists and instrumentalists who are leading performers of this repertoire world-wide. CAIC is the only arts organization in Chicago, and one of very few nationwide, to devote itself exclusively to art song, and reaches hundreds of Chicagoans each year with its performance and educational activities. The Chicago Tribune has written “the genre of art song singing will never lack a forum in the city’s musical life as long as the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago is there to affirm its importance and promote its growth."
Since its first event, a small, private house concert in 2010, CAIC’s educational and performance programs have expanded to include an annual series of public concerts and master classes, workshops, a four-day festival, and a fellowship program for promising Chicago area singers and pianists. Opera News has described CAIC “as one of Windy City’s primary musical treasures”.
CAIC regularly partners with prominent arts organizations, universities and schools throughout Chicago. Praised by Chicago Classical Review for consistently producing “art song performances of the highest order”, its performances feature an international roster of singers, pianists and instrumentalists who are leading performers of this repertoire world-wide. CAIC is the only arts organization in Chicago, and one of very few nationwide, to devote itself exclusively to art song, and reaches hundreds of Chicagoans each year with its performance and educational activities. The Chicago Tribune has written “the genre of art song singing will never lack a forum in the city’s musical life as long as the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago is there to affirm its importance and promote its growth."
OUR TEAM
ERIC FERRING
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Emmy-winning, Billboard-charting American tenor Eric Ferring is known internationally as “a prodigiously gifted lyric tenor” (Opera News) for his “fine, gleaming tenor” (New York Classical Review), as well as for having “a beautifully round and warm timbre, expressive, and with great finesse” (Olyrix). His expertise ranges from early bel canto repertoire and the music of Handel and Mozart to the origination of contemporary operatic roles.
Eric Ferring made his anticipated Metropolitan Opera debut during the 2021-2022 season singing Pong in Turandot, followed by Tamino in The Magic Flute, Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor, a Royal Herald in Don Carlos, and covering Grimoaldo in Rodelinda. He made his debut at Santa Fe Opera, singing Fenton in Sir David McVicar’s new production of Falstaff,as well as his Spoleto Festival (USA) debut in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. In the fall of 2022, Ferring released his solo debut album with pianist Madeline Slettedahl titled No Choice but Love: Songs of the LGBTQ+ Community with Lexicon Classics. His performance in Chicago Lyric Opera’s production of Pagliacci was nominated and won a 2022 Emmy Award. The 2022-2023 season includes a return to Opéra de Rouen and debuts with the Opéra de Paris as Lurcanio in Ariodante and the Opéra national du Rhin as Tamino. This season includes a return to Opéra de Rouen and Tampa Oratorio Singers, debuts with Opéra de Lille, Haymarket Opera, and the Dubuque Symphony, as well as a world tour of Rodelinda with The English Concert.
Ferring’s numerous awards include top prizes at many competitions including the George London Foundation for Singers, Glyndebourne Opera Cup, Gerda Lissner Foundation International Voice Competition, American Opera Society of Chicago, the National Society of Arts and Letters, the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, as well as grants and awards from the Richard Tucker Foundation, Sullivan Foundation, Santa Fe Opera, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
He is a native of Dubuque, Iowa and graduated from Drake University with his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and The Boston Conservatory with his Master of Music in Opera Performance. Ferring is a graduate of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center and the Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Program. In addition to serving as CAIC's Executive Director, he is the Project Curator for Lexicon Classics, Soloists Vice President at the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). ericferring.com
Eric Ferring made his anticipated Metropolitan Opera debut during the 2021-2022 season singing Pong in Turandot, followed by Tamino in The Magic Flute, Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor, a Royal Herald in Don Carlos, and covering Grimoaldo in Rodelinda. He made his debut at Santa Fe Opera, singing Fenton in Sir David McVicar’s new production of Falstaff,as well as his Spoleto Festival (USA) debut in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. In the fall of 2022, Ferring released his solo debut album with pianist Madeline Slettedahl titled No Choice but Love: Songs of the LGBTQ+ Community with Lexicon Classics. His performance in Chicago Lyric Opera’s production of Pagliacci was nominated and won a 2022 Emmy Award. The 2022-2023 season includes a return to Opéra de Rouen and debuts with the Opéra de Paris as Lurcanio in Ariodante and the Opéra national du Rhin as Tamino. This season includes a return to Opéra de Rouen and Tampa Oratorio Singers, debuts with Opéra de Lille, Haymarket Opera, and the Dubuque Symphony, as well as a world tour of Rodelinda with The English Concert.
Ferring’s numerous awards include top prizes at many competitions including the George London Foundation for Singers, Glyndebourne Opera Cup, Gerda Lissner Foundation International Voice Competition, American Opera Society of Chicago, the National Society of Arts and Letters, the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, as well as grants and awards from the Richard Tucker Foundation, Sullivan Foundation, Santa Fe Opera, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
He is a native of Dubuque, Iowa and graduated from Drake University with his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and The Boston Conservatory with his Master of Music in Opera Performance. Ferring is a graduate of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center and the Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Program. In addition to serving as CAIC's Executive Director, he is the Project Curator for Lexicon Classics, Soloists Vice President at the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). ericferring.com
SHANNON McGINNIS
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, Co-Founder
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, Co-Founder
Pianist Shannon McGinnis has been recognized for her partnerships with some of the brightest stars in the classical vocal music world. Her playing has been described as “excellent” (Opera News), “strong and supportive” (Chicago Tribune), and “boldly projected, characterful, and delicately nuanced” (Chicago Classical Review). Recent season highlights include a recital with soprano Nicole Heaston and members of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, broadcast on WFMT; a recital with mezzo-soprano Amanda Lynn Bottoms, as part of the 2020 Collaborative Works Festival; and recitals with baritone Michael Kelly and soprano Melody Moore. 2019-2020 brought a series of concerts, including three world premieres, with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society’s “Emerging Voices” series, featuring sopranos Joélle Harvey and Sarah Shafer, mezzo-sopranos Jennifer Johnson-Cano and Corinne Winters, tenor Nicholas Phan, and baritones Douglas Williams and Roderick Williams. In 2022 McGinnis makes her debut with San Francisco Performances, in a salon concert curated by tenor Nicholas Phan.
A passionate advocate for art song, McGinnis is a founder of Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, where, as Director of Education, she oversees a series of master classes and workshops for singers and pianists, as well as the organization’s Vocal Chamber Music Fellowship. Also at home in the world of opera, McGinnis has held internships and appointments with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, DePaul University Opera Theater, DuPage Opera, and Kentucky Opera. In 2015 she served as vocal coach and ensemble pianist for the world-premiere performances of Matthew AuCoin’s Second Nature, presented by Lyric Opera of Chicago and “Lyric Unlimited”, and has served recently as an official pianist for the Joyce DiDonato Master Classes at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute.
In 2015 McGinnis joined the faculty of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where she serves as Assistant Teaching Professor of Diction and Vocal Coaching. In addition to her regular teaching responsibilities at CCPA, she has taught a popular graduate seminar on the topic of modern and contemporary American art song; in fall 2020 she will inaugurate a seminar exploring folk song and identity. McGinnis serves as head vocal coach for “Prague Summer Nights”, a four-week opera and orchestra festival based in the Czech Republic and comprised of young artists from across the globe, culminating in performances at the historic Estates Theatre. In addition, McGinnis is a co-creator of RISE (Resound: Immersive Song Experience), a tuition-free program for emerging artist-entrepreneurs, which enjoyed its inaugural season, remotely, in summer 2020.
Prior to moving to Chicago in 2006, McGinnis held the position of Assistant Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Accompanying at Truman State University. She was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts in Accompanying and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan, as a student of Martin Katz, and is a recipient of the 2017 Emerging Artist Award in Music, given by the School of Music Theatre and Dance Alumni Society Board of Governors.
A passionate advocate for art song, McGinnis is a founder of Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, where, as Director of Education, she oversees a series of master classes and workshops for singers and pianists, as well as the organization’s Vocal Chamber Music Fellowship. Also at home in the world of opera, McGinnis has held internships and appointments with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, DePaul University Opera Theater, DuPage Opera, and Kentucky Opera. In 2015 she served as vocal coach and ensemble pianist for the world-premiere performances of Matthew AuCoin’s Second Nature, presented by Lyric Opera of Chicago and “Lyric Unlimited”, and has served recently as an official pianist for the Joyce DiDonato Master Classes at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute.
In 2015 McGinnis joined the faculty of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where she serves as Assistant Teaching Professor of Diction and Vocal Coaching. In addition to her regular teaching responsibilities at CCPA, she has taught a popular graduate seminar on the topic of modern and contemporary American art song; in fall 2020 she will inaugurate a seminar exploring folk song and identity. McGinnis serves as head vocal coach for “Prague Summer Nights”, a four-week opera and orchestra festival based in the Czech Republic and comprised of young artists from across the globe, culminating in performances at the historic Estates Theatre. In addition, McGinnis is a co-creator of RISE (Resound: Immersive Song Experience), a tuition-free program for emerging artist-entrepreneurs, which enjoyed its inaugural season, remotely, in summer 2020.
Prior to moving to Chicago in 2006, McGinnis held the position of Assistant Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Accompanying at Truman State University. She was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts in Accompanying and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan, as a student of Martin Katz, and is a recipient of the 2017 Emerging Artist Award in Music, given by the School of Music Theatre and Dance Alumni Society Board of Governors.
NICHOLAS PHAN
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, Co-Founder
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, Co-Founder
Described by the Boston Globe as “one of the world’s most remarkable singers,” American tenor Nicholas Phan is increasingly recognized as an artist of distinction. Praised for his keen intelligence, captivating stage presence and natural musicianship, he performs regularly with the world’s leading orchestras and opera companies. Also an avid recitalist, in 2010 he co-founded the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC) to promote art song and vocal chamber music, where he serves as artistic director.
A celebrated recording artist, Phan’s most recent album, Clairières, a recording of songs by Lili and Nadia Boulanger, was nominated for the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. His album, Gods and Monsters, was nominated for the same award in 2017. He is the first singer of Asian descent to be nominated in the history of the category, which has been awarded by the Recording Academy since 1959. His other previous solo albums Illuminations, A Painted Tale, Still Fall the Rain and Winter Words, made many “best of” lists, including those of the New York Times, New Yorker, Chicago Tribune, WQXR, and Boston Globe. Phan’s growing discography also includes a Grammy-nominated recording of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony, Berlioz’ Roméo et Juliette with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, Scarlatti’s La gloria di primavera and Handel’s Joseph and his Brethren with Philharmonia Baroque, an album of Bach’s secular cantatas with Masaaki Suzuki and Bach Collegium Japan, Bach’s St. John Passion (in which he sings both the Evangelist and the tenor arias) with Apollo’s Fire, and the world premiere recordings of two orchestral song cycles: The Old Burying Ground by Evan Chambers and Elliott Carter’s A Sunbeam’s Architecture.
Phan has appeared with many of the leading orchestras in the North America and Europe, including the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Philharmonia Baroque, Boston Baroque, Les Violons du Roy, BBC Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra of London, and the Lucerne Symphony. He has toured extensively throughout the major concert halls of Europe and has appeared with the Oregon Bach, Ravinia, Marlboro, Edinburgh, Rheingau, Saint-Denis, and Tanglewood festivals, as well as the BBC Proms. Among the conductors he has worked with are Marin Alsop, Harry Bicket, Herbert Blomstedt, Pierre Boulez, Karina Canellakis, James Conlon, Alan Curtis, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Charles Dutoit, James Gaffigan, Alan Gilbert, Jane Glover, Matthew Halls, Manfred Honeck, Bernard Labadie, Louis Langrée, Cristian Măcelaru, Nicholas McGegan, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, John Nelson, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Helmuth Rilling, David Robertson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Masaaki Suzuki, Michael Tilson Thomas, Bramwell Tovey and Franz Welser-Möst.
An avid proponent of vocal chamber music, he has collaborated with many chamber musicians, including pianists Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Jeremy Denk, Graham Johnson, Martin Katz, Lisa Kaplan, Roger Vignoles, Orion Weiss, Inon Barnatan, Myra Huang and Alessio Bax; violinist James Ehnes; cellist Paul Watkins; guitarist Eliot Fisk; harpist Sivan Magen; the Brooklyn Rider, Jasper, and Spektral string quartets; and horn players Jennifer Montone, Radovan Vlatkovic, and Gail Williams. In both recital and chamber concerts, he has been presented by Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, Boston’s Celebrity Series, and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. In addition to his work as artistic director of CAIC, he also has served as guest curator for projects with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Merola Opera program, WQXR, WFMT, Laguna Beach Music Festival, and San Francisco Performances, where he served as the vocal artist-in-residence from 2014-2018.
Phan’s many opera credits include appearances with the Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Chicago Opera Theater, Seattle Opera, Portland Opera, Glyndebourne Opera, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Frankfurt Opera. His growing repertoire includes the title roles in Bernstein’s Candide, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex and Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Fenton in Falstaff, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and Lurcanio in Ariodante.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Phan is the 2012 recipient of the Paul C Boylan Distinguished Alumni Award and the 2018 Christopher Kendall Award. He also studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Aspen Music Festival and School, and is an alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera Studio. He was the recipient of a 2006 Sullivan Foundation Award and 2004 Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation. www.nicholas-phan.com
A celebrated recording artist, Phan’s most recent album, Clairières, a recording of songs by Lili and Nadia Boulanger, was nominated for the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. His album, Gods and Monsters, was nominated for the same award in 2017. He is the first singer of Asian descent to be nominated in the history of the category, which has been awarded by the Recording Academy since 1959. His other previous solo albums Illuminations, A Painted Tale, Still Fall the Rain and Winter Words, made many “best of” lists, including those of the New York Times, New Yorker, Chicago Tribune, WQXR, and Boston Globe. Phan’s growing discography also includes a Grammy-nominated recording of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony, Berlioz’ Roméo et Juliette with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, Scarlatti’s La gloria di primavera and Handel’s Joseph and his Brethren with Philharmonia Baroque, an album of Bach’s secular cantatas with Masaaki Suzuki and Bach Collegium Japan, Bach’s St. John Passion (in which he sings both the Evangelist and the tenor arias) with Apollo’s Fire, and the world premiere recordings of two orchestral song cycles: The Old Burying Ground by Evan Chambers and Elliott Carter’s A Sunbeam’s Architecture.
Phan has appeared with many of the leading orchestras in the North America and Europe, including the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Philharmonia Baroque, Boston Baroque, Les Violons du Roy, BBC Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra of London, and the Lucerne Symphony. He has toured extensively throughout the major concert halls of Europe and has appeared with the Oregon Bach, Ravinia, Marlboro, Edinburgh, Rheingau, Saint-Denis, and Tanglewood festivals, as well as the BBC Proms. Among the conductors he has worked with are Marin Alsop, Harry Bicket, Herbert Blomstedt, Pierre Boulez, Karina Canellakis, James Conlon, Alan Curtis, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Charles Dutoit, James Gaffigan, Alan Gilbert, Jane Glover, Matthew Halls, Manfred Honeck, Bernard Labadie, Louis Langrée, Cristian Măcelaru, Nicholas McGegan, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, John Nelson, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Helmuth Rilling, David Robertson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Masaaki Suzuki, Michael Tilson Thomas, Bramwell Tovey and Franz Welser-Möst.
An avid proponent of vocal chamber music, he has collaborated with many chamber musicians, including pianists Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Jeremy Denk, Graham Johnson, Martin Katz, Lisa Kaplan, Roger Vignoles, Orion Weiss, Inon Barnatan, Myra Huang and Alessio Bax; violinist James Ehnes; cellist Paul Watkins; guitarist Eliot Fisk; harpist Sivan Magen; the Brooklyn Rider, Jasper, and Spektral string quartets; and horn players Jennifer Montone, Radovan Vlatkovic, and Gail Williams. In both recital and chamber concerts, he has been presented by Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, Boston’s Celebrity Series, and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. In addition to his work as artistic director of CAIC, he also has served as guest curator for projects with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Merola Opera program, WQXR, WFMT, Laguna Beach Music Festival, and San Francisco Performances, where he served as the vocal artist-in-residence from 2014-2018.
Phan’s many opera credits include appearances with the Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Chicago Opera Theater, Seattle Opera, Portland Opera, Glyndebourne Opera, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Frankfurt Opera. His growing repertoire includes the title roles in Bernstein’s Candide, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex and Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Fenton in Falstaff, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and Lurcanio in Ariodante.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Phan is the 2012 recipient of the Paul C Boylan Distinguished Alumni Award and the 2018 Christopher Kendall Award. He also studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Aspen Music Festival and School, and is an alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera Studio. He was the recipient of a 2006 Sullivan Foundation Award and 2004 Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation. www.nicholas-phan.com
JUSTIN BERKOWITZ
DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC OPERATIONS
DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC OPERATIONS
Known for his "exacting and animating performances", Chicago-based tenor Justin Berkowitz returns to the stage of Haymarket Opera Company for their production of La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina in fall of 2023. Following this performance, he joins Maestra Lydia Yankovskaya and director Francesca Zambello for their production of The Nose with Chicago Opera Theater where he will sing the Chief of Police. The winter of 2024 features role debuts as Thespis and Mercure in Platée, with Chicago Opera Theater.
His 2022-23 season featured performances of L’incornazione di Poppea with Haymarket Opera Company as Arnalta and Nutrice, and turns as Mayor Upfold in Albert Herring and as Steve Todd/Arnold Murray in the world-premiere of The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing, both with Chicago Opera Theater. On the concert stage, the season brought performances of Handel's Messiah with Niles Philharmonic, and his debut with Rockford Symphony Orchestra and Nielson Chorale for their Carmina Burana. Additional recital performances brought him to Michigan and Indiana, to name a few.
In 2021 Berkowitz returned to Chicago Opera Theater's mainstage for their premiere of Mark Adamo's Becoming Santa Claus. During their 2020-21 virtual season, Berkowitz appeared in Chicago Opera Theater's productions of Taking up Serpents and premiered the role of Gil in Matthew Recio's The Puppy Episode. The 2019-2020 season brought debut performances of Carmina Burana with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, Brazos Valley Symphony in Texas, among others.
The 2018-19 season featured Berkowitz' international debut at the Tyroll Hall in Innsbruck, where he performed his noteworthy interpretation of Orff's Tenor Soloist in Carmina Burana. This appearance was followed by performances of the same piece with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra and Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra. In 2018, Justin made his debut with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra as the tenor soloist for their performances of The Messiah, and sang the role of Nantucket Sailor in Chicago Opera Theater's 2019 performances of Jake Heggie's Moby Dick.
Recent seasons have seen Berkowitz on the operatic stage in productions with Central City Opera, Haymarket Opera, Opera Naples, Opera on the James, DuPage Opera Theater and St. Petersburg Opera, among others. Berkowitz has appeared onstage with the Chicago Philharmonic, Apollo Chorus of Chicago, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Medical Symphony, Northwestern Indiana Symphony, Osh Kosh Symphony, and more.
His 2022-23 season featured performances of L’incornazione di Poppea with Haymarket Opera Company as Arnalta and Nutrice, and turns as Mayor Upfold in Albert Herring and as Steve Todd/Arnold Murray in the world-premiere of The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing, both with Chicago Opera Theater. On the concert stage, the season brought performances of Handel's Messiah with Niles Philharmonic, and his debut with Rockford Symphony Orchestra and Nielson Chorale for their Carmina Burana. Additional recital performances brought him to Michigan and Indiana, to name a few.
In 2021 Berkowitz returned to Chicago Opera Theater's mainstage for their premiere of Mark Adamo's Becoming Santa Claus. During their 2020-21 virtual season, Berkowitz appeared in Chicago Opera Theater's productions of Taking up Serpents and premiered the role of Gil in Matthew Recio's The Puppy Episode. The 2019-2020 season brought debut performances of Carmina Burana with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, Brazos Valley Symphony in Texas, among others.
The 2018-19 season featured Berkowitz' international debut at the Tyroll Hall in Innsbruck, where he performed his noteworthy interpretation of Orff's Tenor Soloist in Carmina Burana. This appearance was followed by performances of the same piece with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra and Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra. In 2018, Justin made his debut with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra as the tenor soloist for their performances of The Messiah, and sang the role of Nantucket Sailor in Chicago Opera Theater's 2019 performances of Jake Heggie's Moby Dick.
Recent seasons have seen Berkowitz on the operatic stage in productions with Central City Opera, Haymarket Opera, Opera Naples, Opera on the James, DuPage Opera Theater and St. Petersburg Opera, among others. Berkowitz has appeared onstage with the Chicago Philharmonic, Apollo Chorus of Chicago, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Medical Symphony, Northwestern Indiana Symphony, Osh Kosh Symphony, and more.
BOARD
LEADERSHIP
BOARD OF DIRECTORSJohn Concepcion, Tenor, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Founder & Director, Opera Up Close at Governors State University Amy Conn Bloom, Vice Chair AVP, Learning & Leadership Revantage Michael Freilich, Chair Co-founder, CTO, Ricono, Inc Shannon McGinnis Associate Professor, Roosevelt University Nicholas Phan Tenor Jonathon Thierer, Treasurer Director, Thierer Family Foundation Frank Villella Director, Rosenthal Archives of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra |
ADVISORY BOARDJane Bunnell
mezzo-soprano Marc Embree bass-baritone Amy Iwano Executive Director & Artistic Director Performance Santa Fe Martin Katz pianist Adolfo Laurenti European Principal Economist, Visa London Lisa Seischab Vice President, Development George Eastman Museum Louise K. Smith Management Consultant |
all performance and master class photography by Ryan Bennett, Mike Grittani, and Elliot Mandel