Benjamin Bernheim

French tenor Benjamin Bernheim is a regular guest artist at the world’s leading opera houses, including the Opéra national de Paris, the Metropolitan Opera of New York, Wiener Staatsoper, Staatsoper Berlin, Teatro alla Scala, and the Royal Opera House in London where he performs leading tenor roles from the romantic repertoire, and specializes in French repertoire. Garnering high praise with both his performances and recordings, he has been hailed as “The most beautiful tenor voice since Luciano Pavarotti” by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, and “the new star tenor” by Diapason. After delivering a spine-tingling performance at the Paris 2024 Olympic closing ceremony, Mr. Bernheim released his first solo song album Douce France: Mélodies & Chansons, where he imaginatively couples melodies of Berlioz, Chausson and Duparc with chansons by Brel, Kosma and Trénet. The same year, he was named “Male Singer of the Year” by the International Opera Awards. Mr. Bernheim’s 2024/25 includes his return to the Metropolitan Opera as the title role in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, the title role in Werther at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, Roméo in Roméo et Juliette at the Wiener Staatsoper, and the title role in Manon at the Opéra national de Paris. On the concert stage, Mr. Bernheim performs in recitals at the Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferré (Porto Rico), Los Angeles Opera, Wiener Konzerthaus, Rudolfinum in Prague, Palais Garnier in Paris, Prinzregententheater in Munich and Opéra de Monte-Carlo. An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, Benjamin Bernheim can also be heard on the complete recording of Faust, in the title role, released in 2019 on the Palazzetto Bru Zane label.

Carrie-Ann Matheson has a multi-faceted international career as pianist, conductor and educator, and since January 2021, is the artistic director of the San Francisco Opera Center and the Merola Opera Program. A native of Canada, Ms. Matheson began her career at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, where she was a tenured member of the music staff, serving as assistant conductor, prompter, pianist and vocal coach. The expansion of her European performing career began in 2014 when she was invited by maestro Fabio Luisi to join the coaching and conducting staff at Opernhaus Zürich. Especially in demand as a recital pianist, she has performed with many of the world’s most celebrated opera singers, including Rolando Villazón, Benjamin Bernheim, Jonas Kaufmann, Piotr Beczała, Diana Damrau, Thomas Hampson and Joyce DiDonato. Ms. Matheson made her conducting debut at Opernhaus Zürich, where she has since conducted works such as La finta giardiniera, Don Pasquale and Iphigénie en Tauride. As assistant conductor, she has worked with luminaries including James Levine, Fabio Luisi, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Gianandrea Noseda, and has been engaged in that capacity by such renowned festivals as the Salzburger Festspiele and the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival. Passionate about nurturing the next generation of opera singers and pianists, Ms. Matheson has worked with the world’s leading young artist programs at Opernhaus Zürich, the Mariinsky Theatre of Saint Petersburg, the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Music Academy of the West (California), the Aspen Music Festival and the International Vocal Arts Institute (New York City). Ms. Matheson holds degrees from the University of Prince Edward Island, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Manhattan School of Music and is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.