Ariel Pisturino (Alcina)

The Los Angeles Times hailed soprano and L.A. Camerata founding member Ariel Pisturino as “an impressive young discovery,” after seeing her professional debut performance as Nancy T’ang in Long Beach Opera’s production of Nixon in China. An enthusiastic advocate of contemporary works and collaborations with composers, Ariel performed the role of Lover in The Industry’s nationally-acclaimed production of HOPSCOTCH and created the role of Laurie in Mark Abel’s premiere opera Home is a Harbor, released on Delos Records. She collaborated with Abel once before on his song cycle Five Rilke Songs on the album Terrain of the Heart, also for Delos Records. Most recently, Ariel created the role of Rosina Brandram in a newly written Gilbert and Sullivan review, Hail Poetry, with Opera a la Carte. Most recently, she premiered a new song cycle, Dewdrops, by long time friend, Alex Miller.

Ms. Pisturino lends her creamy legato to traditional roles such as Donna Elvira, Fiordiligi, Micaëla, and Second Lady. She has also been heard as the soprano soloist in the Brahms Requiem, Fauré Requiem, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Requiem, and Rutter Gloria. An avid language student, Ariel is a dedicated Italian student and attended the Russian Opera Workshop to study the Russian language and perform the role of Tamara in Rubenstein’s opera, The Demon.

Ariel holds a Masters degree from the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music, a Bachelors degree in Music from Northern Arizona University, and is an OperaWorks alumna. Born in San Francisco but a native of Kingman, Arizona, she now resides with her bass-baritone boyfriend and three kitties in sunny Los Angeles.

Vasken Ohanian (Nettuno)

Armenian-American composer, conductor, and countertenor Vasken Ohanian is fascinated with the expressive depth and complexity of the human experience. While known primarily as a composer and conductor, Vasken Ohanian is quickly becoming recognized for his work as a countertenor. In performance, he endeavors to embody the essence and emotion of the music in order to pull audiences into the world of the composer.

He debuted as the countertenor soloist in 2011 in the San Francisco Conservatory’s performance of in Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. He has since reprised the role with both the FCCLA Cathedral Choir and Pasadena Pro Musica, starred as Caino in Tesserae Baroque Ensemble’s performance of Scarlatti’s Il primo omicidio, and made appearances with the Long Beach Camerata Singers, Musica Transalpina, the San Diego Bach Collegium, and more.

As a composer and conductor, he is a winner of the Kris Getz Composition Competition and recipient of the Dean Emeritus Luis Costa Award for Music. In 2012 he served as Co-director and Resident Conductor for the Hot Air Music Festival, and was formerly the Interim Director of Choral Vocal Studies at Golden West College. He is currently the Assistant Artistic Director of the Unprecedented Music Association.

Vasken Ohanian holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, a double Master of Music in Composition and Choral-Conducting from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music. He is currently finishing his Doctorate (PhD) in Composition at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

Iris Malkin (Dama Disincantata)

Israeli born Mezzo-Soprano, Pianist, and Vocal Coach Iris Malkin graduated from the Jerusalem Academy of Music with a Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance and an Artist Diploma in Piano - with a Vocal Coaching emphasis. Iris has performed widely both as a singer and as a pianist in concerts and festivals in Israel, Europe, and the United States, and her performances have been broadcast worldwide.

In addition to the mainstream operatic repertoire, Iris has distinguished herself in the world of Hebrew and Jewish works as well as the highly nuanced Spanish song repertoire. She is dedicated to sharing her passion for art song performance with audiences around the world.  Iris has performed under the baton of Pierre Boulez during the 2006 Lucerne Festival, including collaboration with Boulez’ celebrated Ensemble Intercontemporain, and in 2011 was a guest soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay performing songs from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn and De Falla’s El Amor Brujo. In January 2012 she released her CD Cadencia, with songs from England, Spain, and Puerto Rico with award winning guitarist Edward Trybek, and she is the featured soloist on Stig Jonas Pettersson’s Album The Dracula Letters that was released in 2015.  

Iris is in demand vocalist in recordings for films, video games and movie trailers. She is a featured soloist on the soundtrack of the film Kill Zone, which was nominated for Best Original Score at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards in 2009. Iris performed as a soloist with the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony in a concert dedicated to works by Jewish women composers conducted by Dr. Noreen Green, and was on a tour in 2023 presenting the Israeli Art Song in St. Louis and Denver with pianist and moderator Ido Ariel. Most recently, Iris performed Yiddish songs by Lazar Weiner with pianist Neal Stulberg at an event recorded for a documentary of the Lowell Milken Center. Iris is on the faculty of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music as a vocal coach – continuing lecturer in the voice department.

Adam Faruqi (Pastore)

Adam Faruqi (he/they) is known for his versatile and flexible lyric tenor voice. He sings in a variety of styles, from medieval, renaissance, baroque, and classical to pop, rock, gospel, and country. A long-time member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the LA Opera Chorus, Adam has performed across the Southland and beyond with organizations such as the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, The Industry Opera, Tonality, Street Symphony, PRISM, Musica Transalpina, Chorosynthesis, Pasadena Pro Musica, Pasadena Opera, Concerto NoHo, Camerata Rus, and Angel City Opera, among others. Since 2022 Adam has had the privilege of touring internationally as a featured soloist with the acclaimed production Music to Accompany a Departure—a fully staged adaptation of Heinrich Schutz's seminal masterpiece Musikalische Exequien--with the LA Master Chorale, choreographed and directed by Peter Sellars. His duet with Dermot Kiernan was described by Nicholas Jones of San Francisco Classical Voice as "one of the most telling moments" of the production. Adam has also performed on the soundtracks of over 20 Hollywood films, TV shows, and video games. In his free time, Adam composes, arranges, and records music in his home studio. Adam holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from USC’s Thornton School of Music. He is passionate about environmentalism, car-free urbanism, and Palestinian liberation.

Krystal Mao (Sirena/Nunzia)

Krystal Mao is a coloratura soprano currently in her fourth year at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where she is under the tutelage of renowned baritone Vladimir Chernov. At UCLA, she has performed the roles of Frasquita in Carmen and a nun in Dialogue des Carmélites for the opera scenes program. She has also sung the roles of Second Woman in Dido and Aeneas, Coridon in Acis and Galatea, and originated the role of Siren in the world premiere of Quake by UCLA composition professor Kay Rhie. Previously, she performed in UCLA Opera’s productions of The Rake’s Progress (Stravinsky), L’elisir d’amore (Donizetti), and Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Poulenc) as a member of the chorus. Krystal has also been a part of the UCLA Chamber Singers ensemble for the past four years and this year is a continuing member of the Seraphic Fire Ensemble Artist Program.

Prior to attending UCLA, Krystal worked with a variety of high-profile opera singers and vocal professors, including Grammy Award winner Denyse Graves and Juilliard professor J.J. Penna. The summer of 2022, she attended the International Vocal Artists Academy of Payerbach, where she furthered her studies with Vladimir Chernov and Olga Toporkova through daily intensive vocal training. In 2023, she was a recipient of the second place SAI Pasadena Alumnae Scholarship Award. Krystal recently returned from Novafeltria, Italy, where she sang the roles of Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica (Puccini) and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart) as part of the La Musica Lirica International Music Festival, where she will return this summer as the lead role of Adina in L’elisir d’amore (Donizetti).

Soo Bin Kwon (Damigella)

Soo Bin is a soprano who specializes in early music. She is a member of Lilia Ensemble, a female vocal trio formed in 2021 out of a love of early and eclectic music. She has also sung in UCLA Early Music Ensemble, Commercium Musicum, and La Jolla Renaissance Singers. Her passion for Hildegard von Bingen's music came to fruition in 2020 when she released a solo album of Hildegard's works.

She holds a BA in Music and Computer Science from Colgate University (Hamilton, NY) where she studied voice with Neva Pilgrim. She attended Oberlin Conservatory's Baroque Performance Institute in 2013. Soo Bin also holds a PhD in Bioinformatics from UCLA and currently works in the field of biotechnology. She is proudly from Seoul, South Korea.