As the 2025 Adler Fellows prepare for their annual season-closing showcase, “The Future Is Now,” the San Francisco Opera Center has announced its 2026 fellowship recipients.
They are sopranos Alexa Frankian (Oakville, Ontario, Canada), Sofia Gotch (Oakland, California), and Mary Hoskins (Saratoga Springs, Utah); mezzo-soprano Sadie Cheslak (Duluth, Minnesota); tenor Thomas Kinch (Cardiff, Wales); baritones Gabriel Natal-Báez (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico), and Olivier Zerouali (Middletown, Delaware); and coaches/pianists Brian Cho (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and Ji Youn Lee (Seoul, South Korea).
Cheslak, Cho, Frankian, Gotch and Natal-Báez are incoming first-year fellows. Hoskins, Lee, and Zerouali will continue into their second year. Kinch returns for a third year. For more about the young artists, see below.
Founded in 1977 and named after Kurt Herbert Adler, the Opera’s artistic and general director from 1953-1981, the fellowships provide individually tailored musical training and performance coaching to promising artists at the beginning of their professional careers.
Fellows are selected from young artists in the Merola Opera Program, which Adler initiated in 1957 and named after his predecessor, SF Opera founder Gaetano Merola.
More than a thousand Merola veterans and some 200 former Adler Fellows are performing around the world. Among famous Adlers are sopranos Patricia Racette, Nadine Sierra, and Deborah Voigt; mezzo-sopranos Maya Lahyani and Dolora Zajick; tenors Brian Jagde and Alek Shrader; and baritones Mark Delavan and James Westman.
Adler singers are often cast in mainstage roles and leading cover assignments at SF Opera, and Adler pianists work closely with music staff to help prepare mainstage operas.
The “Future Is Now” concert, set for Nov. 21 at the Herbst Theatre, will feature arias and operatic scenes conducted by Ramón Tebar and directed by former Merolina and current Merola faculty member Omer Ben Seadia.
Details about the 2026 First-Year Adler Fellows:
Mezzo Sadie Cheslak is the winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2025 Laffont Competition. She also won first prize at the 2025 Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition and at the Wagner Society of New York’s 2025 Singers Competition, as well as at other competitions.
Pianist and coach Brian Cho has served as a Studio Ensemble Répétiteur and Intern Coach with the Canadian Opera Company. He is the winner of the 2023 Marilyn Horne Song Competition and recipient of the Patricia and Nicholas Weber Scholarship.
Soprano Alexa Frankian was resident artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia and received Encouragement Awards from the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. She was the youngest finalist and third-prize winner at the 2023 Mildred Miller International Voice Competition.
Soprano Sofia Gotch was a semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. She has won prizes at the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, the Giulio Gari International Vocal Competition, and the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition.
Baritone Gabriel Natal-Báez attended the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where he performed major opera roles. He also appeared in zarzuela productions with Ópera de Puerto Rico, was a semifinalist in Houston Grand Opera’s Concert of Arias, and was the winner of the Puerto Rico District of the Laffont Competition.
The 2026 Second-Year Adler Fellows:
Soprano Mary Hoskins won first place at the 2024 Palm Springs Opera Guild Vocal Competition. In 2022 and 2023 she performed as a studio artist with Wolf Trap Opera. She is a two-year alumna of Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices.
Pianist/coach Ji Youn Lee earned her Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School. She also earned her B.A. in Music from the New England Conservatory where she won first place in the concerto competition and performed with the New England Conservatory Symphony.
Baritone Olivier Zerouali has performed many roles with SF Opera, both as a Merolino and Adler Fellow. He made his debut with Glimmerglass Opera in 2023. His degrees are from SUNY Purchase’s Conservatory of Music and Yale University.
The 2026 Third-Year Adler Fellow:
Tenor Thomas Kinch has sung major roles in SF Opera mainstage productions. He was Associate Artist with the Welsh National Opera, participated in Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, and was a 201 new generation artist with Iford Arts.
The 2025 Adlers concluding their fellowships at the end of this year are sopranos Georgiana Adams, Caroline Corrales, and Olivia Smith, tenor Samuel White, baritone Samuel Kidd, bass-baritone Jongwon Han, and pianist Julian Grabarek.
Each year, Adler Fellows are sponsored by individual donors and institutional funders to help cover the cost of their fellowship. Sponsors affiliated with the Adler Program have the opportunity to attend exclusive training sessions, such as master classes and workshops.
