Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

American soprano Emily Pogorelc is praised by critics and audiences alike for her soaring, unique voice and captivating stage presence. Not yet thirty years old, Pogorelc has firmly established herself in a thriving career, consistently dazzling on many of the world’s top stages. In her 2024 Metropolitan Opera debut, Pogorelc “astonished in every way imaginable…[she] filled the stage with…a fantastic lyric coloratura, bright and crystalline. Her movement was filled with great flexibility and charisma…she lit up the stage every time…” (OperaWire). 

Emily Pogorelc’s stellar 2025/26 season begins at Opernhaus Zürich with her house and role debut as Sophie in the premiere of Lydia Steier’s new production of Der Rosenkavalier, led by Joana Mallwitz. With the Wiener Staatsoper, she makes another auspicious house and role debut as Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff under the baton of Pier Giorgio Morandi, after which she joins Salzburg’s Mozartwoche in the role of Pamina in Rolando Villazón’s staging of Die Zauberflöte. In a return to the Bayerische Staatsoper, Pogorelc sees her first performances of the titular Marie in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride under the musical leadership of Tomáš Hanus, followed by her Dutch National Opera debut as Susanna in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro by Kirill Serebrennikov and conducted by Francesco Corti. Subsequently, she returns to Dresden’s Semperoper for performances as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, and concludes her opera season with a debut at the Santander Festival, reprising the role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. 

On the concert stage, Pogorelc twice collaborates this season with Mo Manfred Honeck, first with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic in an all-Strauss concert, followed by her debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah. She sees her first performances as soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Marie Jacquot leading Royal Danish Orchestra, and makes her role and company debut with Washington Concert Opera as Leïla in a concert performance of Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles. 

Operatic highlights of recent seasons include Pogorelc’s Metropolitan Opera debut as Lisette in Puccini’s La rondine, received to unanimous acclaim and followed closely by reengagements as Musetta in La bohème and as Pamina in The Magic Flute, in Julie Taymor’s classic holiday presentation. Additionally in the US, Pogorelc reprised Musetta in her company debut for the Dallas Opera, led by music director Emmanuel Villaume; celebrated another role debut, Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; made her Washington National Opera company debut as Cunegonde in Bernstein’s Candide; and saw her first performances as Violetta Valéry in La traviata, a role she also brought to Semperoper Dresden. She was additionally heard in Dresden as Amina in Rolando Villazón’s new production of La sonnambula and as Juliette in Romeo et Juliette. With the Bayerische Staatsoper, acclaimed portrayals include Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Ilia in Idomeneo, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Adina in L’elisir d’amore, Xenia in Boris Godunov, and Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel. With the Royal Danish Opera, she made her company and role debut singing Servilia in La clemenza di Tito, which also served as the vehicle for her debut with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. She was heard as Norma in Marina Abramovic’s 7 Deaths of Maria Callas at the Royal Theatre Carré in Amsterdam, and debuted at the Glyndebourne Festival as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro. 

Engagements in concert, a pillar of Pogorelc’s career, include a recent debut with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and conductor Bassem Akiki in a “Night at the Proms” concert, performances in Ljubljana with the String Quartet of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Slovenian cellist Jaka Stadler, performances as soprano soloist in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Bertrand de Billy, her solo recital debut with Vocal Arts DC at the Kennedy Center, and a concert in London with The Mozartists in a program of arias written and heard by Mozart in 1771. This performance, under the baton of Ian Page, was released by Signum Classics on “Sturm und Drang, Vol. 3.” In Salzburg, Pogorelc made her Salzburg Festival debut in the highly regarded Mozart Matinees under the baton of conductor Roberto González-Monjas; made her Salzburg Easter Festival in Mendelssohn’s Elias conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev; sang performances of the role of Aminta in Mozart’s Il re pastore in DomQuartier’s Rittersaal; collaborated with the Camerata Salzburg presenting selected Mozart arias; was the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg under the baton of Pablo Heras-Casado, and debuted in concert with the Mozartwoche Festival. A frequent collaborator with Rolando Villazón, Pogorelc has appeared with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra at Klassikfestival in Bucharest, in an open-air gala in Bratislava, and at the Luxembourg Philharmonie, with Gustavo Gimeno conducting a program featuring works by Verdi, Donizetti, and Bizet. 

Pogorelc has received prizes from Placido Domingo’s Operalia, the inaugural Glyndebourne Opera Cup, the Gerda Lissner Foundation, Opera Index, the Hal Leonard Art Song Competition, and the Dominick Argento Competition. A graduate of the Curtis Institute, Pogorelc was a participant in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, and a member of the Ensemble of the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. The soprano is a proud native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

Noted for his ‘shimmering voice’ (BachTrack), American countertenor Reginald Mobley is highly sought after for the baroque, classical and modern repertoire.

Reginald leads a very prolific career on both sides of the Atlantic.

In the United States, where he resides, he became the first ever programming consultant for the Handel & Haydn Society following several years of leading H&H in his community engaging Every Voice concerts. He also holds the position of Visiting Artist for Diversity Outreach with the Baroque ensemble Apollo’s Fire, and is a regular guest with Cantata Collective, Musica Angelica, Agave Baroque, Charlotte Bach Akademie, Seraphic Fire, Quodlibet, Pacific Music Works, Bach Collegium San Diego, San Francisco Early Music Society and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. Recent engagements have included concerts and recordings with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Opera Lafayette, Blue Heron, Chatham Baroque, Washington Bach Consort, Atlanta Baroque Orchestra and Early Music Seattle. Future highlights include Carmina Burana with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Messiah with the New York Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras, a debut at Carnegie Hall with Orchestra St Luke’s and at the Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles.

In Europe, Reginald has been invited to perform with the OH! (Orkiestra Historycsna) in Poland, Vienna Academy in Austria (Musikverein), Musée d’Orsay in Paris, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Balthasar Neumann Chor & Ensemble, Bach Society in Stuttgart, Holland Baroque Orchestra and in the autumn of 2021, he performed the role of Ottone in L'incoronazione di Poppea in Geneva, MUPA and Teatro di Vicenza in a European tour with The Budapest Festival Orchestra. He has also extensively toured with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra under the baton of John-Eliot Gardiner, and more recently performed a series of English music programmes in Germany with the Freiburger Barockorchester under the leadership of Kristian Bezuidenhout.

His recordings have been received with great critical acclaim, most recently American Originals with Agave Baroque ensemble, recorded with Acis Productions, which has been nominated for a GRAMMY Award, following A Lad’s Love with Brian Giebler on BRIDGE 9542 label. Reginald features on several albums with the Monteverdi Choir and Sir John Eliot Gardiner, including a recording of Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Magnificat, where Reginald ‘encapsulates whimsical pathos’ (Classical Music Magazine) His solo recording debut with ALPHA Classics will be released in June 2023.

John Matthew Myers has garnered acclaim for his “lovely, warm tenor of considerable promise” (Opera News), “insightful and beautifully nuanced performances” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram), and “remarkable emotional depth and range” (Opera Magazine) in recent collaborations with companies such as the New York Philharmonic, Verbier Festival, Santa Fe Opera and LA Opera. Myers made his surprise Los Angeles Philharmonic debut in 2017 as Mao in John Adams’s Nixon in China conducted by the composer. In 2023, he reprised the role with the Opera National de Paris under Gustavo Dudamel, “handling Mao’s tessitura with seeming ease and limning a convincing portrayal both imposing and humorous” (Classical Voice North America). 

Highlights of Myers’ 2023-2024 season include the New York Philharmonic at David Geffen Hall under Maestro Fabio Biondi, debuts with the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck and the Rhode Island Philharmonic with Patrick Dupré Quigley singing Handel’s Messiah, performing the roles of Der Tenor/Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos at Teatro La Fenice, Froh in Das Rheingold with the LA Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel, and tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Santa Barbara and Oregon Symphonies. He debuts at Teatro alla Scala singing Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings conducted by Vakhtang Kakhidze with Cameristi della Scala. 

Recently, Myers has covered roles for the Metropolitan Opera in productions of Britten’s Peter Grimes, Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, Wagner’s Die Meistersinger, Tchaikovsky’s Queens of Spades and Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. The 2021-2022 season included singing an Offstage Voice in the Metropolitan Opera’s premiere of Brett Dean's Hamlet.

Myers made his New York Philharmonic debut in the 2018-2019 season in the world premiere of David Lang’s fully staged opera, prisoner of the state. Directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer, prisoner of the state was released as an album on Decca Gold in June 2020. His debut solo album Desiderium with pianist Myra Huang was released on AVIE Records in 2022. 

Highlights of Myers’ extensive opera repertoire include Pollione in Norma (LA Opera), Cavaradossi in Tosca (Arizona Opera), Don Jose in Carmen (Music Academy of the West), Cassio in Otello (Portland Summer Fest), Flavio in Bellini’s Norma (Teatro Regio di Parma), Trin in La Fanciulla del West (Santa Fe Opera), Valerio in Mercadante's Virginia (Wexford Festival Opera), Der Kaiser in Die Frau Ohne Schatten (San Francisco Opera), Aufide in Rossini’s Moïse et Pharaon (Collegiate Chorale/Carnegie Hall), Steve Wozniak in the workshop of Mason Bates’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Santa Fe Opera), and Junior/Charlie in Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain (Santa Fe Opera).  As a Resident Artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts, Myers sang Duca di Mantua in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Prince Sinodal in Rubinstein’s The Demon, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos, and the Prince in Dvorak’s Rusalka. He has collaborated with Long Beach Opera to perform Michael Gordon’s Van Gogh, Gabriela Ortiz’s Camelia la Tejana: Unicamente La Verdad, Stewart Copeland’s Tell-Tale Heart, and a co-production of Tobias Picker’s Thérèse Raquin with Chicago Opera Theater. He also sang in John Cage’s Europeras 1 & 2 in with the LA Phil in collaboration with The Industry and Yuval Sharon.

Myers has been seen as a soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the Grand Rapids Symphony, Handel’s Messiah with the National Symphony Orchestra and St. Louis Symphony, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Canterbury Choral Society, Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings with Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Mozart’s Requiem with Southwest Florida Symphony, Britten’s War Requiem with the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall and in the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music with the Wexford Festival Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Fairfield Chorale, and Brahms’s Liebeslieder Waltzes with Performance Santa Fe. He recently performed Dvořák’s Stabat Mater at the Grant Park Music Festival, about which the Chicago Tribune wrote, “He astonished from his thrilling entrance…and kept listeners at the edge of their seats whenever he appeared, his voice a thing of poignance and power.”

Myers has had the pleasure of performing in concert with composer Ricky Ian Gordon on three occasions: at the Chautauqua Institute Music Festival, Opera America's Salon Series: “Exploring American Voices,” and “Cliburn at the Modern,” the Van Cliburn Foundation's contemporary music series in Fort Worth, TX. He was a soloist with the Mark Morris Dance Group in their performances of The Muir, and with the American Musical Theatre Ensemble in September Songs: The Legacy of Kurt Weill. He has sung in concert with the Allentown Symphony alongside soprano Angela Meade and was awarded a recital at the Kennedy Center as a winner of Vocal Arts DC’s 2017 Art Song Competition. 

Originally from southern California, Myers received his graduate and undergraduate degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, was a Gerdine Young Artist with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Apprentice Artist with Santa Fe Opera, an alumnus of the Verbier Festival Academy, and a fellow with Music Academy of the West. He won Third Prize and the Richard Tauber Prize for the best interpretation of Schubert Lieder at the 2022 Wigmore Hall Bollinger International Song Competition.

Renowned American baritone Troy Cook is a native of Henry County, Kentucky, and has performed in many of the world’s greatest opera houses, including The Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, La Monnaie (Brussels) and Opera Bilbao. 

Mr. Cook's 2025-2026 season engagements include Marcello in La bohème with Austin Opera, Handel’s Messiah with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Manfred Honeck; Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Oregon Symphony; and a return to The Metropolitan Opera, covering Gerhard in the company’s season-opening premiere of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. The summer will see him return to the Glimmerglass Festival as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly and Andrew Carnes in Oklahoma!  

Troy created the role of Father Palmer in the world premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night by Kevin Puts & Mark Campbell with Minnesota Opera, singing further performances of the role with Utah Opera, Austin Opera and Atlanta Opera amongst others. He created another role, John Cree, in Puts & Campbell’s Elizabeth Cree with Opera Philadelphia in 2017. In 2022, he created the role of Tom in the world premiere of Matt Boehler and Miriam Gordon-Stewart’s Fat Pig.  

Other recent operatic engagements include Merlin in Chausson’s rarely-performed Le Roi Arthus for Bard Summerscape, Mark Torrance in The Shining with Opera Colorado, Sharpless with Washington National Opera, Portland Opera and Central City Opera, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus with Central City Opera, Watty Watkins in Lady be Good with Teatro San Carlo Napoli, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor in a new Laurent Pelly production with Opera Philadelphia, Rodrigo in Don Carlo with Washington National Opera and Opera Philadelphia, Valentin in Faust at the Macau Festival, and Ford in Falstaff with San Diego Opera. 

On the concert stage, Troy recently performed Handel’s Messiah with the San Francisco, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Memphis and Tucson Symphonies. He bowed as the baritone soloist in Carmina Burana with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and LA Philharmonic, and sang Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Portland Symphony. 

Previous career highlights include Ford in Falstaff with the Staatsoper Hamburg, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and Santa Fe Opera; Morales in Carmen and Schaunard in La bohème with the Metropolitan Opera; Marcello in La bohème with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Florida Grand Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Semperoper Dresden, and Opera Philadelphia; Lescaut in Manon Lescaut with Opera Philadelphia; the Count in Le nozze di Figaro with Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Germont in La traviata with Central City Opera; Riccardo in I puritani with Boston Lyric Opera; Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Opera Philadelphia and Berkshire Opera; Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with Las Palmas Opera and Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles with Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Opera Carolina; Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Austin Opera, San Francisco Opera and Fort Worth Opera; Mr. Flint in Billy Budd with San Francisco Opera; Paolo in Simon Boccanegra and Albert in Werther with Kentucky Opera; and Giacomo in Beatrix Cenci with Grand Théâtre de Genève. 

Audiences and critics alike have praised The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh’s programming, saying, “EXCEPTIONAL and MEMORABLE… I’m still talking about it,” “One of the finest music events I have ever attended,” and “the Mendelssohn never ceases to amaze me… This city should be proud of its choir” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). 

Critically acclaimed as one of the finest choruses in the country, MCP is the “voice of the greater Pittsburgh region” — whether premiering a choral work composed by Stewart Copeland of The Police at a rock venue, or performing Mozart with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Unlike other professional arts organizations, MCP is proudly comprised of mostly amateur singers with professional-caliber talent, whose day jobs vary from postal clerk to physician to casino card dealer. MCP singers give generously of their talent, passion, and commitment to share the magic of live music with the widest possible audience, within Heinz Hall and throughout the community. 

For more than a century, MCP has proudly partnered with the PSO as its “chorus of choice,” bringing the joys of symphonic choral music to tens of thousands of people each year. MCP has performed under the batons of world-renowned conductors, including Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Michael Tilson Thomas, Claudio Abbado, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonard Slatkin, Charles Dutoit, André Previn, Sir Neville Marriner, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Helmuth Rilling, Ingo Metzmacher, Richard Hickox, Zdenek Mácal, and Manfred Honeck.

MCP embraces its long legacy of performances, recordings, and commissions that reimagine choral music for today’s audiences and bring bold, unique programming to the Pittsburgh region, such as the recent world premieres of Satan’s Fall by the Police’s Stewart Copeland and The Times They Are A-Changin’ by composer and conductor Steve Hackman. Under the leadership of its new Robert Page Music Director Daniel Singer, MCP looks forward to continuing its tradition of excellence while seeking innovative ways to encourage broader community participation in MCP as singers and as members of the audience. 

MCP fosters the next generation of choral singers and audience members through its educational program, the Junior Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh (JMCP). Founded in 1986, JMCP is the region’s premier high school choral training and performance program. Annually, JMCP attracts singers from more than a dozen school districts, providing youth with a challenging musical environment in which to develop their skills and encouraging them to be lifelong participants in the arts.