Helaine Liebman, soprano
Teresa Kang, piano
Lied der Ophelia by Strauss
selections from Daughters of Britannia by Iain Bell - Morgause and Boudicca
Die Junge Nonne by Schubert
Songs of the Seasons by Margaret Bonds
Veena Akama-Makia, mezzo-soprano
Jennifer Allor, piano
Concert Pieces:
1. Mon coeur s'ouvre ta voix by Saint-Saëns
2. Oh, Glory-Shawn by Okphebolo
3. Go Figure by Blue
Helaine Liebman is a soprano based in Chicago. Her awards and scholarships include second place in the 2022 Central Region NATS Student Auditions, 2021 winner of the Lynne Harvey Foundation Award in honor of Virginia Cooper Maier from the Musicians Club of Women, first place in the 2021 NATS National Student auditions, 2020 Wisconsin District winner of The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and the Joyce Reed Cope and Eckstein Scholarships from Northwestern University. In the 2021-2022 season, Helaine made her debut of Exsultate, jubilate by Mozart, Violetta in La Traviata, Mimi in La bohème, and covered Diana in If I Were You by Heggie. Most recently, Helaine covered the role of Donna Elvira at the Aspen Music Festival. Additionally, she graduated with distinction from the Royal College of Music in London and recently graduated from Northwestern University. Helaine continues her studies as a doctoral student at Northwestern University this fall.
Teresa Kang is a celebrated pianist who has performed all over the U.S., as well as in Europe and Asia.
She has worked as a vocal coach and accompanist at the Opera on the James, Lynchburg, Virginia, the Italian Operatic Experience in Montecatini, Italy, as well as at the Opera Training Institute of Chicago in Evanston, Illinois.
Teresa was selected to perform on two separate occasions for the Lunchtime Recital at the Piano Festival in Bishopsgate Recital Hall in London. She has also given numerous performances in Seoul, South Korea, and is proud to have performed at Green Mill as a part of the Emerging Artist Series in 1998. Teresa recently performed at Carnegie Hall in New York as part of the American Protégé Winner's Recital. She also performed at Ravinia Festival with DuPage Dance Company.
Teresa was honored with the Nancy Wustman Award at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where she is currently completing her doctorate work. She is a part-time instructor at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. She is an accompanist for opera workshop. She is also a lecturer at North Park University: she is a vocal coach and teaches art Song Literature class and ensemble class.
Her credits as an accompanist include more than 30 operas, including Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, L’Elisir d’Amore, The Love for Three Oranges, Madama Butterfly, The Magic Flute, Le Nozze di Figaro, Roméo et Juliette, La Boheme and La Traviata.
Cameroonian-American mezzo-soprano, Veena Akama-Makia, joined Chicago Opera Theater as a Young Artist for the 2021-2022 season. At COT, the mezzo-soprano has covered roles in performances of Carmen (Bizet) and Becoming Santa Claus (Adamo). She will make her COT debut as Tawny Betty in the world premiere of Quamino’s Map (Wallen/Brevoort) and the role of Tree Spirit in The BeeKeeper (Lu/Rourke) as part of COT’s Vanguard Initiative.
This Summer, she was a Tomita Young Artist with Finger Lakes Opera, where she performed the role of the Cherubino in The Three Little Pigs (Davies) and sang duets and arias in their summer scenes concert. She has recently performed in concerts with Opera On Tap Boston and the NEMPAC Opera Project, notably their concert titled, “Juneteenth”: Opera In The Key Of Freedom.
In 2019, she debuted the role of Mother and Grandmother in Little Red’s Most Unusual Day (Davies) at the Rochester Fringe Festival, and she made her MassOpera debut as Gloria in Dan Shore’s Freedom Ride. Additionally, she was the Alto Soloist in Liszt’s Missa Solemnis with the Eastman Symphony Orchestra.
Ms. Akama-Makia has been honored with several awards, including being a Finalist in the Jesse Kneisel Lieder Competition, a Finalist in the 2020 Mildred Miller Competition, Semi-Finalist in the 2020 Premiere Opera Foundation, and NYIOP International Competition, Semi-Finalist in the 2020 Rochester International Vocal Competition, Semi-Finalist in the 2021 Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition and received a 2021 Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Illinois District.
She holds a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, where she sang Mezzo 1 in Tibetan Book of the Dead by Ricky Ian Gordon and Gertrude in Hansel und Gretel by Humperdinck. She earned her Bachelor of Music at the University of Central Arkansas.
Jennifer Allor has established herself as a pianist and vocal coach in the Chicago area and is currently entering her second year in the Chicago Opera Theater/Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University Professional Diploma and Young Artist Program. During the 2021-2022 season, she worked on productions of Carmen, Becoming Santa Claus (Adamo), The Beekeeper (Wang Lu), and the world premiere of Quamino’s Map
(Errollyn Wallen) with COT. She also appeared with COT Young Artist singers in recitals and performances. For the summer of 2022, she joined Prague Summer Nights as apprentice coach for their production of Don Giovanni and served as pianist and coach for Soo Opera Theatre’s production of La Bohème. She has appeared as soloist with multiple orchestras including the Charlotte and Raleigh Symphonies. She holds a Master of Music degree in piano performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.