Erik Danielson is an in-demand bass-baritone artist who has been described as “commanding attention” with a “barihunk instrument” and “silvery tone,” appearing as a soloist on such prestigious stages as Des Moines Metro Opera, Florida Grand Opera, and Opera West. He made his Opera Arlington debut as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte in 2023. Erik’s repertoire spans opera, oratorio, and musical theater, including Escamillo in Carmen, Silvio in Pagliacci, as well as Don Giovanni, Leporello, and Commendatore in Don Giovanni. Erik has also appeared as the Bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to his vocal and acting work, Erik is an accomplished church musician and a skilled collaborative pianist with over twenty years of experience, having begun accompanying high school clarinet students before the age of ten. Erik obtained his Bachelor of Music degree from Texas Christian University in Vocal Performance and Piano Performance in 2014, where he was a National Merit Scholar, the recipient of the Chancellor’s Scholarship for academic excellence, and a finalist for the Nordan Scholarship as both a vocalist and pianist. He then earned a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance and Conducting from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2017, before completing the Opera Institute Program at Boston University, ending in 2021. 

Xander McRae is a dynamic young baritone and singing actor from the Dallas, Texas region who is making his debut with Opera Arlington. He began his operatic career and training in the University of Oklahoma Opera Program and at the Seagle Music Festival in 2023 and 2024.

Xander has solidified himself as a strong baritone voice in the Oklahoma City area, making his debut with Painted Sky Opera in 2024 as Captain Jason MacFarland in Jack Beeson’s Lizzie Borden. 

This year, Xander has been selected as a young artist at the Manetti Shrem Opera Program at the Napa Valley Festival. Xander recently completed his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor of Music Education at the University of Oklahoma.

Andrea Pinder is a Dallas-based soprano who is known for her dramatic voice that combines opulence and warmth with superb musicianship. Donna Anna is Andrea’s house debut with Opera Arlington. Andrea was most recently chosen as a semifinalist in the McCammon International Voice Competition through Fort Worth Opera. Her operatic credits include Desdemona (Otello), Female Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia), Lysia (Lysistrata), Suor Angelica (Suor Angelica), Magda (La Rondine), Rose Segal (Later the Same Evening), Olga (The Merry Widow), and Venus (Orpheus in the Underworld). Andrea joined Pittsburg Festival Opera during the summer of 2021 as a Hans and Leslie Fleischner Young Artist.  

As an active performer of concert works and recitals, Andrea recently presented recitals as a part of the Lewisville Lake Symphony Chamber Concert Series and the Friends of Music Concert Series at Lovers Lane UMC. In 2023, she premiered Mooney’s Requiem for a Poisoned Earth in collaboration with UNT’s We Mean Green Fund and the Advanced Environmental Research Institute. Previously, Andrea has appeared as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with Plano Civic Chorus, Handel’s Messiah with Midwestern State University and was a featured soloist in An Evening of Grace with Choirs Across Dallas.  Andrea is also a passionate educator and award-winning researcher, currently teaching at Texas Woman’s University and The Hockaday School. Andrea served as a Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas and will complete her D.M.A. degree this year. Andrea holds degrees from Luther College and the University of North Texas. 

Megan Koch, soprano, is a dynamic performer based in DFW who has frequently appeared in concert with Opera Arlington since its founding and is making her mainstage debut. In the 2024–25 season, she returned to Fort Worth Opera as Amy in Mark Adamo’s Little Women, awaiting her debut as Kjersti in the revival of Douglas Moore’s Pulitzer Prize-winning opera, Giants in the Earth. Megan was the winner of the Classical Singer Vocal Competition (Emerging Artist Division) in 2022. As a Hattie Mae Lesley Resident Artist at Fort Worth Opera from 2020–2022, she was a featured soloist with Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, prepared to cover Musetta (La Bohème), performed excerpts from Massenet’s Manon, was responsible for the role of Ana Maria in the world premier of Armienta’s Zorro, and made her mainstage debut as Annina and covered Violetta in La traviata.

In the 2023–2024 season, Megan made her Shreveport Opera debut as Berta (Il barbiere di Siviglia) and returned as a Resident Artist to make her role debut as Violetta (La traviata); she also portrayed Nala in Opera Arlington’s world premiere recording of Jodi Goble’s one-act opera, Meow and Forever, in the 2022–2023 season. Her previous operatic credits include Lucia di Lammermoor, Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Vixen (The Cunning Little Vixen), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Alexandra (Regina), Rose (Street Scene), and La princesse (L’enfant et les sortilèges).  Megan was invited to the Czech Republic in 2019 for the premiere of two lost operas by Johann Heinrich Schmelzer for the Olomouc Baroque Festival. A finalist in the Lewisville Lake Symphony International Voice Competition (2019 and 2022) and the University of North Texas Concerto Competition, she holds a Master of Music and Graduate Artist Certificate from UNT as well as a Bachelor of Music Education from Illinois Wesleyan University.

Brandon Gibson is a dynamic baritone celebrated for his resonant tone and commanding stage presence across opera, oratorio, and concert repertoire. He makes his Opera Arlington debut following recent appearances with The Dallas Opera as Sergente dei doganieri in La Bohème and Un commissionario in La Traviata. A frequent soloist with the Dallas Bach Society, Gibson has performed major Baroque works including Bach’s BWV 62 and Charpentier’s In nativitatem, and has been featured in multiple oratorio performances at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church, including Fauré’s Requiem, Chilcott’s St. John Passion, and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy.

Notable operatic roles include Melchior in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Apollon and Pluton in Charpentier’s La descente d'Orphée aux enfers with American Baroque Opera Company, and Simone in both Gianni Schicchi and Michael Ching’s Buoso’s Ghost with Amarillo Opera. Earlier in his career, Gibson performed with Opera in the Heights, Opera in the Ozarks, and The Living Opera in signature roles such as Don Pasquale, Colline in La Bohème, and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte. Brandon holds a Master of Music degree from Southern Methodist University and a Bachelor of Music from Rice University.

Rachel Davies, a North Texas-based soprano making her Opera Arlington debut, is a skilled interpreter of works both musical and literary—both in her operatic roles, and those of teacher and director. Her recent operatic roles include Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos, Freia in Das Rheingold (cover), and Gerhilde in Die Walküre at the Wagner in Vermont Festival with TUNDI productions. Locally, she has performed not only with The Dallas Opera chorus, but also performed, coached, and directed actively in the DFW musical theater community. She received her Master of Music in Opera Performance from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She has worked with musical writers to originate the roles of Lucy in Lucy/Bluebeard and Anne in Bystander, along with a variety of staged workshops of new musicals. She has been the music director of several productions with The Hopeful Theater Project (Little Women and Little Shop of Horrors). Previous operatic roles include: Prince Charmant in Massenet’s Cendrillon and Jade Boucher in Dead Man Walking with the Miami Music Festival, Mrs. Andersen in A Little Night Music with Theatre Frisco, Alcina with Comet Opera, Prince Charmant in Cendrillon and Sesto in La clemenza di Tito as part of immersive operas with Promenade Opera Project, Dame Ragonde in Le comte Ory and Dryad in Ariadne auf Naxos with Lowell House Opera, and Juditha in Vivaldi's Juditha Triumphans with Eudaimonia Music.

Kate Bishop is a soprano increasingly recognized for her brilliance of instrument and compelling stage artistry, making her debut with Opera Arlington. She is a frequent performer of both concert works and opera roles, including Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel) with Opera Pannonica in Croatia, Baba (The Medium) with the Queens Summer Vocal Institute, and Prince Charmant (Cendrillon) with the Utah Vocal Arts Academy. Her other roles include Luisa Fernanda (Luisa Fernanda), Lady Angela (Patience), and the Witch (Hansel and Gretel). Most recently, Kate created the role of Madame de Lebon and was co-director for the world premiere of Felix Jarrar’s opera, Pompadour Porcelain. She has also directed scenes programs and served as Assistant Director for a variety of companies, including Music On Site, Inc., Utah Vocal Arts Academy, and Quisisana. Her concert appearances include Handel’s Messiah and Dixit Dominus, and Vivaldi’s Gloria, with Vox Seraphim, John Corgliano’s Fern Hill with the Baylor A Cappella Choir, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Temple Symphony Orchestra. Bishop is currently preparing the roles of Roßweiße (Die Walküre) and Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) for Dramatic Voices Midwest and the Lyric Opera Studio Weimar, respectively. A Texas native, Kate earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Baylor University, and is currently earning her M.M. in Opera Directing at Florida State University.

Praised as a performer who “gives himself completely to the singing” (Unser Lübeck), French tenor Morgan Manifacier is quickly establishing an international career as an interpreter of wide-ranging repertoire in opera, art song, and contemporary music. Making his debut with Opera Arlington, Morgan has sung many opera roles including Pelléas in Pelléas et Mélisande, the title role of Pygmalion by Rameau, Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Sultan Soliman in Zaide, Agenore in Il re pastore, Siavash in the world premiere of Niloufar Nourbakhsh’s We the Innumerable, Sorcerer in Dido and Aeneas, and Dr. Blind in Die Fledermaus, among others.

On the concert stage, Morgan has performed internationally at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, The University of Oxford with the Oxford International Song Festival, Werner Hall with Cincinnati Song Initiative, Kulturwerft Gollan with the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Lauderdale House in London, Walter Hall at the University of Toronto, Conservatoire national supérieur d’Art dramatique in Paris, and Thayer Hall at Colburn in Los Angeles. He is a two-time winner of The American Prize in Voice, the recipient of the Jere H. Brophy Scholar Award from the S. Livingston Mather Vocal Competition, and the winner of the Duo Prize at the John Kerr Awards for English Song with his duo partner, pianist Corinne Penner. Morgan holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University.

Tenor Dylan Elza, a native of Dallas, Texas, made his debut with Opera Arlington this season as Prince Charming in Viardot’s Cinderella. He recently performed with The Dallas Opera as Giuseppe in La traviata and created the role of Harry with Paradox Opera in their premiere of Robert Chumbley’s The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Other recent engagements include singing with Opera on the James in Lynchburg, Virginia in their production of Gianni Schicchi as Gherardo, as well as in their outreach production. Dylan also recently appeared with the Firehouse Theater as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast. One of his most significant past engagements is his two seasons with Virginia Opera in 2018–2020, as a Herndon Foundation Emerging Artist. He made his European debut singing Pâris in La belle Hélène (2014). Additional roles include: Lenski in Eugene Onegin (2018), Father Grenville in Dead Man Walking (2017), Fenton in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (2017) all with the Boston Conservatory Opera, Cop in Cradle Will Rock (2017) with Opera Saratoga, Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore (2016) with the Seagle Music Colony and Virginia Opera outreach, and Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus (2016) with the University of Texas at Arlington. His opera programs include Florida Grand Opera, Central City Opera, Virginia Opera, Charlottesville Opera, Opera Saratoga, Houston Grand Opera, Seagle Music Colony, Fort Worth Opera Chorus, and the Franco-American Vocal Academy, and he performed with Performance Santa Fe for two consecutive years for their winter outreach program. Dylan graduated from the Boston Conservatory with his master’s degree in Opera Performance and received his B.M., magna cum laude, in Voice Performance from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Beatrice Kim is a Korean-American soprano and Eastman alumna making a name for herself in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex. She is making her debut with Opera Arlington. Beatrice’s stage credits include Littler Daughter (Proving Up), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Noémie (Cendrillon), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Amore (L’Incoronazione di Poppea), Laura (Goblin Market), and L’Enfant (L'Enfant et les sortilèges). She was selected as a Young Artist for Cedar Rapids Opera, where she covered the role of Despina (Così fan tutte). Her solo concert work ranges from Mozart’s Coronation Mass to Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light, Haydn’s Heiligmesse, and three concerts in Germany. Off stage, Beatrice is also an avid supporter of opera outreach education programs, and has worked for the non-profit organizations “What is Opera, Anyway?” and “Reimagining Opera for Kids.” Beatrice holds a Performance Diploma from Indiana University, a Master of Music from the Eastman School of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Oklahoma. She is currently a doctoral student and Teaching Fellow at the UNT College of Music.

Originally from Rochester, New York, Rebecca Mugnolo is an up-and-coming soprano based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and making her Opera Arlington debut. With a growing reputation for her performances as operatic leading ladies, Rebecca has recently portrayed roles such as Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Cendrillon (Massenet’s Cendrillon), Stella (A Streetcar Named Desire) and Giannetta (L’Elisir d'amore) with UNT Opera.

Rebecca has performed as Belinda (Dido and Aeneas) with the Fillmore Opera Studio, Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi) with Varna International Music Academy, as well as Gretel (Hänsel and Gretel) and Pamina (The Magic Flute) with Roberts Wesleyan University Opera Theatre. Rebecca holds a Graduate Artist Certificate and Master of Music degree from the University of North Texas, as well as a B.S. in Voice Performance from Roberts Wesleyan University.

Bass-baritone Stephen Morscheck, a distinguished Professor of Vocal Studies at the University of North Texas, is widely respected for the dignity he brings in both concert and operatic performances. Making his Opera Arlington debut, Stephen is a recipient of the prestigious Richard Tucker Career Grant and has appeared on some of the world’s most respected stages, including Atlanta Opera, The Dallas Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Liceu Opera Barcelona, Los Angeles Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Metropolitan Opera, Opéra de Montréal, Santa Fe Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, Washington National Opera, and many more.

Known for his interpretations of oratorio and concert repertoire, Stephen has appeared with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Bach Society of St. Louis, Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, Costa Rica Philharmonic, Dallas Bach Society, Festival de Saint-Denis, Knoxville Symphony Society, Laudate Deum Chamber Choir of Lausanne, Switzerland; Music of the Baroque in Chicago, Opera Naples, Pacific Symphony, Roanoke Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, and Rochester Chamber Philharmonic. Stephen Morscheck graduated from Wheaton College and completed advanced degrees from the University of Michigan.

Praised for his “remarkable ease” and “lovely lyric” baritone, Nolan Brown is an emerging classical singer and Iowa native previously seen on Opera Arlington’s stage as the Hunter/Gamekeeper (Rusalka) and Guglielmo (Così fan tutte). He most recently reprised the role of Guglielmo as a guest artist in Northwestern State University’s production of Così fan tutte.

His other recent performances include Odysseus in the world premiere of Rachel Lanik Whelan’s Stateside, Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas), Joe Harland (Later the Same Evening), and Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor). Other notable productions include Des Moines Metro Opera’s Emmy award-winning production of Billy Budd. On the concert stage, Nolan has appeared as a soloist in both Fauré’s Requiem and Orff’s Carmina Burana. He earned his M.M. in Voice Performance from the University of North Texas and holds a B.M. from Iowa State University.

Evan Stark is an emerging baritone making his debut with Opera Arlington. He recently appeared at the historic Estates Theatre in Prague, singing the title role in Don Giovanni with the Prague Summer Nights Festival. Evan’s operatic repertoire includes both comedic and dramatic roles, such as Conte Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia, and Le Dancaïre in Carmen. He has also portrayed Papageno in Die Zauberflöte at Opera America in New York and Barone Douphol in La Traviata at the Al Ringling Theatre.

Evan has performed a wide range of scenes and roles throughout Italy and the U.S., including Don Alfonso, Dr. Dulcamara, and Don Giovanni. Evan holds a Master of Music degree from the University of North Texas and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Colorado.