American Wagner Project Spring Recital!

We hope you'll join us for the Spring Recital of the American Wagner Project! It is a wonderful opportunity to hear very talented singers who have gone through the WSWDC-sponsored training program, run by the great Luana DeVol and Dolora Zajick, focused on the Wagner repertoire. The recital will take place on:

Tuesday, May 27th at 7:00pm

Abramson Recital Hall at Katzen Arts Center (American University) 

The program will be approximately 90 minutes long, and is free to attend. Ample free parking is available. 

The program will feature: 

Heather Hjelle, soprano

Blake Talbott, tenor

Wei-Han Wu, pianist

Tentative program:

Blake: “O tu che in seno agli angeli" from La Forza del Destino

Heather: "Vissi d'arte" from Tosca, or, "Voi lo sapete" from Cavalleria Rusticana

Blake: "Vesti la giubba" from Pagliacci

Heather: "Abscheulicher, wo eilst du hin" from Fidelio

Blake: "Gott, welch dunkel hier!" from Fidelio

Both: "O namenlose Freude" from Fidelio

Intermission

Heather: "Dich theure Halle" from Tannhäuser

Blake: Aria from Die Walküre

Heather: "Ballade" from Der fliegende Holländer

Both: "Bleib Senta," duet from Der fliegende Holländer

Both: "Zu neuen Taten," duet from Götterdämmerung

Artist Bios

Dramatic soprano Heather Hjelle is a two-time Encouragement Grant winner from the Wagner Society in New York. During a 2022 Tebaldi tribute concert, La Renatona’s Chicago Midsummer Centenary remarked, “[Hjelle’s] most potent vocal asset is direct projection... one is curious to hear her gifts in that [Wagnerian] repertoire.”

Hjelle made her professional debut as Santuzza in Main Street Opera’s production of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana in 2017, shortly after covering the same role with Opera Steamboat. In2019, she starred in the title role of La Gioconda with Opera MODO.

In the 2021-22 season, Ms. Hjelle premiered Jennifer Higdon’s new song cycle, Love Sweet, with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in New Ulm, MN. She also performed Wagnerian repertoire with Kenwood Symphony Orchestra and in concert with St. Croix Valley Opera. Hjelle was featured

on Minnesota PBS channels singing and teaching about opera. Later that summer, she was invited to sing with the American Wagner Project in Reno, Nevada, where she continues to train with some of the leading dramatic voice legends of our time.

Ms. Hjelle has performed internationally with Operafestival di Roma multiple times. Italian audiences have heard her in the title role of Puccini’s Suor Angelica in Rome, and as Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni in Orvieto. She also performed the title role of Rusalka with the Toronto Summer Opera Workshop in Canada.

In 2023, Hjelle was featured in the role of Ortrud with selections from Wagner’s Lohengrin in Washington D.C. Later that summer, she returned to Reno to continue her work with the American Wagner Project. After returning to Minnesota, Heather covered the title role in Puccini’s Turandot with Fargo-Moorhead Opera.

A Minnesota native, Heather teaches vocal lessons at the University of Minnesota Morris. Hjelle also founded Resonance Opera to bring opera to rural communities throughout the Midwest. She earned a master of music in vocal performance at North Park University in Chicago. Most recently, she has performed as the soprano soloist in Dvořák’s Te Deum with the Central Lake Symphony Orchestra and looks forward to being featured in their opera concert in May 2025.

Blake Talbott is originally from  Newark, Ohio. He obtained his Master’s of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Nevada, Reno and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Otterbein University.

Blake has spent the last several years training as a Heldentenor and preparing the roles of Siegmund from Die Walkure, Parsifal, Florestan from Beethoven’s Fidelio, and Eric from Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman. In preparation for these roles, Blake has worked with coaches from around the world. Most notably coaches from Teatro alla Scala, the Metropolitan Opera of New York, and Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Blake has attended the American Wagner Project’s summer workshop for the last four years, having worked with Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices prior to that.

Described as “brilliant” by the Pittsburgh Tribune, Wei-Han Wu is active as a soloist, chamber musician, ensemble pianist, and vocal coach. He has performed in venues such as the Chicago Cultural Center, the Kennedy Center, and Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. He has been a featured performer at the Tanglewood, Aspen, Castleton, Lake George, and Walla Walla Chamber Music Festivals.

Dedicated to the performance and promotion of new music, Wu is currently pianist for the [Switch~ Ensemble] as well as Duo Axis, which was co-founded with flutist Zach Sheets. Duo Axis has commissioned and premiered dozens of works by up-and-coming composers, including Katie Balch, Anthony Cheung, and Tonia Ko. Recently the duo was in residence at the University of Iowa, University of Missouri, UC San Diego, and UC Davis. Wu previously served as pianist for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and he is a past president of OSSIA New Music.

As an accomplished vocal coach, Wu has worked with artists such as Susanne Mentzer, Vinson Cole, and Nancy Gustafson. He is currently on faculty at Shenandoah University and Peabody Conservatory, and served on the faculty for WNO’s Opera Institute. More recently, Wu has served as music director for several opera productions in the D.C. area, including Carmen with Loudon Lyric Opera, and Hydrogen Jukebox by Philip Glass at Shenandoah University. Wu is the pianist for The Washington Chorus, and he works frequently with the Washington Bach Consort, and the Exigence Vocal Ensemble of the Sphinx Organization.

A member of Pi Kappa Lambda, he is the recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Juilliard School, the Felicia Montealegre Fellowship from the Tanglewood Music Center, and the Collaborative Piano Fellowship from Bard College. Wu holds degrees from Northwestern University, the University of Michigan, and the Eastman School of Music, where he earned two doctoral degrees in piano performance and collaborative piano.