Photo of Alex Wen by Steve Bailey

Photo of Zach Herchen by Jennifer Brown

Photo of Adrianna Mateo by Shervin Lainez

Photo of Caleb van der Swaagh by Ryan Hodsgon-Rigsbee

Photo of Aislinn Curry by Nora Curry

Ashley Tata (Director) is honored to be back with RWO for this celebration of so many years of making. Previous work with the company include the premiere production of Heartbreak Express and the totally digital, totally distanced remount of Red Giant (with video and streaming design by Eamonn Farrell). Tata’s works have been called “fervently inventive,” by Ben Brantley in the New York Times, “extraordinarily powerful” by the LA Times, like something that “reaches out across the centuries and punches you in the throat” by Alexis Soloski in the New York Times and Tata’s production of Kate Soper’s Ipsa Dixit was named a notable production of the decade by Alex Ross in The New Yorker. These works have been presented in venues and festivals throughout the US and internationally including at Fisher Center’s SummerScape Festival at Bard, Theatre for a New Audience, Ars Nova, PS21, LA Opera, Austin Opera, The Miller Theater, National Sawdust, EMPAC, BPAC, The Crossing the Line Festival, the Holland Festival, The Prelude Festival, The National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and on the world-wide-web. Upcoming projects include collaborations on new works with composers Kate Soper, Ted Hearne and Bora Yoon. More at tatatime.live | IG/Twitter/Twitch: @tatatime_

Alex Wen, newly appointed Music Director for the NYsoundCircuit, recently served as assistant conductor of the Massapequa Philharmonic and the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony. With five seasons as Principal Conductor of the Golden Rose Opera, Wen also led performances with Fresh Squeezed Opera, Queens College Opera, New Amsterdam Symphony, Queer Urban Orchestra, and Litha Symphony Orchestra. He returns to Rhymes With Opera from the 2014-2015 season, conducting world premieres by Anna Meadors and Matthew Triplett.

A graduate of the Masters program at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Wen studied orchestral conducting with Maurice Peress. He was selected as a participant in the 2019 Conductors Workshop of the Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music where he worked with Cristian Măcelaru and Octavio Más-Arocas. Away from the podium, he enjoys playing chamber music as a violist and is an avid runner around the city, from Riverside Park to Flushing Meadows.

https://www.alexwenmusic.com

Emily Clare Gocon is a recent graduate from Montclair State University, where she received her BFA in

Theater Production & Design. Her focus was in Lighting Design & Technology and has worked on multiple shows in positions ranging from electrician to lighting designer. Some of her recent design credits include: Spring Dance 2022 and Head Over Heels (Montclair State University), Elephant and Blue/Orange (Stella Adler Studio of Acting). Though her main focus is theatrical lighting design, Emily enjoys other passions and hobbies, which include dance/choreography, playing the guitar, singing, photography, and crocheting/crafting. Keep up with her work on Instagram: @ecgocon_design.

Hidenori Nakajo, a New York-based sound designer and engineer. Design: OCTET (Berkeley Rep), Other World (Delaware Theater Company), Hold These Truths (People’s Light), Autumn Royal (Irish Rep, Drama Desk nom.), Moby Dick (A.R.T., Elliot Norton Award), Guys & Dolls (Guthrie Theatre), OCTET (Signature NYC, Obie Award Special Citation, Drama Desk nom., Lucile Lortel nom., and Henry Hewes Design Awards nom). Associate design: The Kite Runner (Broadway), The Front Page (Broadway), Darlin’ Corey (Alliance Theatre),Benny & Joon (Old Globe). Other Broadway assistant design: The Lightning Thief, Be More Chill, Allegiance, and Gigi. Upcoming: Dodi & Diana for Colt Coeur.

Aislinn Curry is a Production Manager (and Producer and Stage Manager) devoted to new and ambitious work across disciplines. She first worked with RWO on the 2021 virtual production of Red Giant and is grateful to be part of this final celebration. Most recently, she installed DiscOasis, an immersive roller disco in Central Park, with Beacon Theatrical. Other credits include American Realness, BAM, Builders Association, Carnegie Hall, Chocolate Factory, CSC, Edinburgh Fringe, Games For Change, Guggenheim, MLA, NY City Center, NYLA, OTB, Onassis Cultural Center, Prototype, PS122, and Summit At Sea. She has worked with Todo Productions, Sequence, MKTG & Advance NYC on events and travelled the globe with Fela! The Concert. She worked with the World Science Festival (2014-2017), Photoville (2015-2017), and HERE (2017-2019). AB/ Classics - Bowdoin College, MFA/ Stage Management - Columbia University. AEA since 2013. @aislinn_curry on IG for cat photos.

Since 2020, Adrianna Mateo performed Solo Violin with Met Opera assistant conductor Jonathan Kelly, as the Solo Violinist in Broadway-bound new musical “A Walk on The Moon” (with “Music of the Heart” screenwriter Pamela Gray, Tony- & Grammy nominee AnnMarie Milazzo, and Audra McDonald’s longtime music director Andy Einhorn), as Concertino Soloist at a sold-out Carnegie Hall (Refugee Orchestra Project), and was a shortlist finalist for Sybarite5’s auditions; finished an original single at Jungle City Studios (team credits span Michael Jackson to Björk); performed an original song on the same program as Alan Menken, Desmond Child, Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, Erika Ender, & Joshua Bell (Kaufman Music Center gala); and both acted in and MD’d the NY Times-featured surreal play, “Specially Processed American Me” (Jaime Sunwoo). Adrianna's pre-pandemic engagements included concurrent stage runs at the Met Museum for the NYC premiere of a violin concerto written for her by composer Mitchell McCarthy and the Met Opera, where she made her onstage debut with Anna Netrebko. Previously, Adrianna opened for Alicia Keys, sung on MTV, acted on HBO, and made her Broadway debut in “Tootsie,” where she subbed for concertmaster Mazz Swift. linktr.ee/adriannamateo • @adriannamateo

Praised for his “entrancing” performances (National Sawdust Log), cellist Caleb van der Swaagh is a versatile chamber musician and soloist. In demand as a chamber musician, Caleb is an alumnus of Ensemble ACJW (now known as Ensemble Connect) and is a member of counter)induction and Exponential Ensemble. An advocate of contemporary music, Caleb is a member of Ensemble Échappé and appears regularly with other leading contemporary music ensembles as well as performing his own compositions and arrangements. A native New Yorker, Caleb graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University as part of the Columbia – Juilliard Exchange program with a degree in Classics and Medieval & Renaissance Studies. Caleb received his master’s degree with academic honors from New England Conservatory and later studied at the Manhattan School of Music. His primary teachers are Bonnie Hampton, Laurence Lesser, and David Geber. www.calebvanderswaagh.com IG: @calebvanderswaagh youtube.com/calebvanderswaagh

A native of South Korea, Hyungjin Choi is a New York-based pianist, covering a broad spectrum of genres. After training as a classical pianist from an early age, Ms. Choi graduated from the Seoul Institute of the Arts in 2006, and moved to New York in 2008 to attend the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Ms. Choi has recorded and performed actively in many venues including Carnegie Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, Cornelia Street Cafe, Cutting Room, Rockwood Music Hall, Shape Shifter Lab, Drom, and many others, both as a sideman and a band leader. Her debut album “Tales of a dreamer” was released in 2014 for PND records. Alongside her husband, cellist Benjamin Larsen, they make up the Larsen-Choi duo, actively performing worldwide and covering extensive repertoire, including world premieres by notable composers such as Robert Sirota and Ke-Chia Chen. www.hyungjinchoimusic.com

Saxophonist Zach Herchen performs classical trios, jazz tone poems, multimedia works, and beyond. He has performed as a soloist in Italy, Sweden, Germany, and at American venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Kennedy Center. Zach has held masterclasses and residencies at schools such as Peabody Conservatory, Berklee, UVA, and NYU. Zach is a member of New Thread Quartet, director of Con Vivo Music, and has performed with ensembles such as Talea Ensemble, the String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Ensemble Échappé, The Dream Unfinished, and Rhymes With Opera. https://www.zachherchen.com

Originally from Goshen, Indiana, Jonah Yoder graduated from Goshen College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with concentrations in Theatre, Music, & Business. He has worked on several workshops and theatrical productions over the years including, The Journey Home, Fat Kid Rules the World, and Macbeth in Riverside Park. Additionally, Yoder is a MFA Stage Management student at Columbia University where he has stage managed several new and devised works. Jonah is excited to be working with Rhymes with Opera on their final concert and honored to be a part of the ending of an era.