FREE Lunchtime Concert: MN Opera Resident Artists

David Wolfe, baritone
Kara Morgan, mezzo-soprano
Mario Antonio Marra, piano

One of North America’s premier training programs, the MN Opera Resident Artist Program offers a full season of employment for talented artists beginning their professional careers. From September through May, Resident Artists gain valuable experience through mainstage productions and community performances, while refining their skills off stage and mentoring with guest instructors and staff.

Masterclasses with guest clinicians, individualized language work, acting, and professional career development are just a few benefits of the program. The program is designed for artists in the early stages of their performance careers. Ideal Resident Artists have completed their graduate education and may have some professional experience.

For 27 years, the Resident Artist Program has been a critical part of MN Opera’s mission to advance the art of opera for today and future generations. Your gift makes it possible for us to continue the work of preparing these artists for successful careers in the opera industry, both here in Minnesota and beyond. Thank you for your commitment to securing the future of opera.

Baritone David Wolfe, from Shamokin, Pennsylvania is currently a resident artist with Minnesota Opera. There he will be performing the roles of Gregorio in Romeo et Juliette, Timmy in A Snowy Day, as well as the title role in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Recently he made his leading role debut when he jumped in at the last minute for the role of Young Galileo in Galileo Galilei with Opera Theater of St. Louis. He was also performing as Fiorello in The Barber of Seville as a Gerdine Young Artist. Last season he was seen as Sciarrone in Tosca with Palm Beach Opera as a Bailey Apprentice Artist. In 2024 David was named a Semi Finalist in the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition and in 2023 he was named a finalist of the Metropolitan Opera’s Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition.

Kara Morgan is a singing actress seeking out and lending her artistry to projects that broaden minds and inspire others. Career highlights include mainstage credits with Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Pacific Opera Project and Salt Marsh Opera; apprenticeships with Merola Opera, Sarasota Opera and Santa Fe Opera; and recognition from the Schubert Club, D’Angelo Young Artist and Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competitions. Most recently, Kara was a member of the opera studio at Yale University where she was heard as Isolier (Le comte Ory), the titular role in The Rape of Lucretia, and Anna 1 (Kurt Weill’s 7 Deadly Sins). A winner of the schoolwide Woolsey Concerto Competition, Kara was a featured soloist with the Yale Philharmonia singing Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer.

Kara has been featured with local Minnesotan arts organizations Mixed Precipitation (Romeo & Juliet, 2023), An Opera Theatre (The Rape of Lucretia, 2022), and Lakes Area Music Festival (La belle Hélène, 2019). Other roles performed include Hansel (Hansel and Gretel), L’enfant (L’enfant et les sortilèges), Dido (Dido & Aeneas), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Mercédès (Carmen), and Ottone (Agrippina).

A student of two Minnesota Opera favorites, Adriana Zabala and Victoria Vargas, Kara is honored to continue their legacy while enjoying the rare privilege of singing at home. Being born and raised just north of the Twin Cities makes this season’s company and role debuts all the more meaningful. More details about current and future seasons can be found at kmorganmezzo.com.

Italian-American pianist, coach, and conductor, Mario Antonio Marra is the Head of Music and Director of the Resident Artist Program at Minnesota Opera. He has served on the music staff at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, and Oper Frankfurt among others. Recent conducting credits include the world premiere of My Name is Florence, and Don Giovanni at Minnesota Opera, Gala Concert in collaboration with Opera San Antonio and the Chamber Music Institute, and Opera Scenes in Concert at Music Academy of the West. Passionate in his work nurturing and coaching the next generation of singers and pianists, Marra serves on the faculties of the country’s most important summer training programs, including the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, CA and Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA

An active recitalist, he has recently performed with many of today’s most sought after singers including Željko Lučić, Eric Owens, David Leigh, Quinn Kelsey, Ramón Vargas, and Stephanie Blythe. He has been presented at prestigious venues internationally, including Carnegie Hall in New York, Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Palazzo Davanzati in Florence, Oper Frankfurt, and the Civic Opera House in Chicago.

Lauded by the legendary Marilyn Horne for his “superb technique,” Marra was a winner of the Marilyn Horne Song Competition at Music Academy. He is a graduate of the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center young artist program at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. His mentors and teachers include Norma Verrilli, Marilyn Nonken, and Warren Jones.