The New Yorker
Gregory Spears, “Fellow Travelers”
Aaron Blake, Joseph Lattanzi, Devon Guthrie, Alexandra Schoeny, Mark Gibson conducting the Cincinnati Symphony (Fanfare Cincinnati)
San Francisco Opera Center Announces 2018 Adler Fellowship Recipients
OperaWire
"Sheri Greenawald, director of San Francisco Opera Center, announced the eleven recipients of the 2018 Adler Fellowship grant. Choosing promising young talent from the Merola Opera Program, recipients are given advanced training, via individual coaching and professional seminars, and a vast range of performance opportunities. The 2018 group of artists are comprised of eight singers, two pianists, and one director; no doubt all of them will benefit tremendously from this multi-year residency.
The singers include sopranos Sarah Cambidge and Natalie Image, mezzo-soprano Ashley Dixon, countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, tenors Amitai Pati and Kyle van Schoonhoven, bass-baritone Christian Pursell, and baritone Andrew G. Manea."
2018 Adler Fellows Announced
San Francisco Opera
"San Francisco Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald today announced the eleven recipients of the 2018 Adler Fellowship. Eight singers, two pianist/apprentice coaches and one director will take part in the program. The multi-year performance-oriented residency offers advanced young artists intensive individual training, coaching and professional seminars, as well as a wide range of performance opportunities. Adler Fellows are selected from the artists who have participated in the Merola Opera Program. The prestigious fellowship has nurtured the development of more than 175 young artists since its inception.
The eight singers selected as 2018 Adler Fellows are sopranos Sarah Cambidge (Vancouver, B.C., Canada) and Natalie Image (Tsawwassen, B.C., Canada); mezzo-soprano Ashley Dixon (Peachtree City, Georgia); Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen (Brooklyn, New York), who becomes the fourth countertenor to join the program after Brian Asawa, Gerald Thompson and Ryan Belongie; tenors Amitai Pati (Auckland, New Zealand) and Kyle van Schoonhoven (Lockport, New York); baritone Andrew G. Manea (Troy, Michigan); and bass-baritone Christian Pursell (Santa Cruz, California)."
San Francisco Opera Center Announces 2018 Adler Fellows
Broadway World
"San Francisco Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald today announced the eleven recipients of the 2018 Adler Fellowship. Eight singers, two pianist/apprentice coaches and one director will take part in the program. The multi-year performance-oriented residency offers advanced young artists intensive individual training, coaching and professional seminars, as well as a wide range of performance opportunities. Adler Fellows are selected from the artists who have participated in the Merola Opera Program. The prestigious fellowship has nurtured the development of more than 175 young artists since its inception."
2017 William Matheus Sullivan Foundation Singer Awards Announced
William Matheus Sullivan Foundation
"Winners of $10,000 awards and continuing assistance starting in 2018 are: sopranos Michelle Bradley, Monica Dewey, Pureum Jo, Felicia Moore, and Laura Wilde; mezzo-sopranos Kristen Choi and Abigail Levis; tenors Derrek Stark and David Walton; and baritone Christian Pursell."
Outstanding Singers in Merola 2017 Grand Finale
The Berkeley Daily Planet
"It was followed by another outstanding performance, this time by bass-baritone Christian Pursell in the aria Massime così indegne” from Handel’s Rinaldo. Singing with power and conviction, Pursell was ably joined by mezzo-soprano Edith Grossman."
Merola Grand Finale offers no obvious superstars but plenty of talent
SFGATE
"...and there was bass-baritone Christian Pursell’s formidable explosion of meaty, impeccably modulated sound in an aria from Handel’s 'Rodelinda.'"
Rossini’s LA CENERENTOLA Shines in Merola Production
The Berkeley Daily Planet
"But Pursell has great comic flair, which was evident in his Act II introduction to a duet with Don Magnifico about “Un segreto d’importanza.” Pursell even used multiple voices, breaking into falsetto at one point to imitate the cloying caterwauling of the sisters Tisbe and Clorinda."
SF Opera's Merola Program Produces Endless Cinderella Stories
SFIST
"It is easy to steal the show with Dandini's part, it has plenty of comic relief as the valet enjoying the life as the king. But baritone Christian Pursell's voice had a pleasing directness, an effortless volume and tonal steadiness, he was just more than comedic fodder, he was a wonder to listen to."