Schubert Club Courtroom Concert: Georgia Jacobson, mezzo-soprano & Ryan Wolfe, baritone

A native of Duluth, Minnesota, mezzo-soprano Georgia Jacobson’s recent engagements in the 2022-2023 season included debuts with Kentucky Opera as Tisbe (La Cenerentola) and Maggie (The Gift of the Magi), and Opera Santa Barbara, covering Lucilla (La scala di seta), and singing Margaret Johnson (The Light in the Piazza) and Waltraute (Die Walküre). Additionally, her 2022-2023 season included the roles of Hannah After (As One) and Lola (Cavalleria Rusticana) with Lyric Opera of the North. Jacobson returned to the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, as well as debuting with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Chris Thile’s Attention.

In the spring of 2022, Jacobson covered the role Virginia Woolf in the world premiere/concert version of The Hours by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Gregory Pierce at the The Philadelphia Orchestra. Jacobson was to workshop the role of Virginia Woolf at The Metropolitan Opera, but it was cancelled due to COVID-19. Additionally, she made her debut as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at the University of Cincinnati- CCM. In March 2022, Jacobson returned home to Minnesota to premiere two song cycles, both commissioned for her by The Schubert Club and composed by Carol Barnett (Young/Old Witches, Bat) and Linda Kachelmeier (Lake Superior Songs). In the summer of 2022, she covered the role of Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Des Moines Metro Opera.

In previous seasons, Ms. Jacobson covered Mary Johnson (Fellow Travelers) as an Apprentice Artist at Des Moines Metro Opera (2021), and premiered the role of Sage (Everything Comes to A Head) with Lyric Opera of the North (2021).  Jacobson has been a Metropolitan National Council Encouragement Award winner in the South Carolina and Arizona districts. Additionally, Ms. Jacobson won 1st Place in the National Opera Association’s 2020 Carolyn Bailey and Dominick Argento Vocal Competition. Jacobson has a special affinity for French repertoire, and she was proud to make her professional debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in their production of Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges as Maman/Tasse/La libellule under the baton of Maestro Louis Langrée. A consummate musician and lover of new music, she workshopped the roles of Virginia Woolf (The Hours), Ruth (Awakenings) and Vesta (Fierce) with Opera Fusion: New Works and Cincinnati Opera. Her other recent roles include Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflote) and Endimione (La Calisto) with CCM Opera. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance from University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and Master’s of Music (Voice) from University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music, where she has recently received an Artist Diploma (Opera Performance).

Arlington Heights, Illinois native Ryan Wolfe has been commended for his “commanding presence”, “spot-on delivery”, and his “well-tutored, polished baritone”. During his two years as a Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist at LA Opera, Ryan amassed over forty performances with the company from comprimario roles to leading roles including a morning-of jump in for the final dress rehearsal as the title role in El último sueño de Frida y Diego. Ryan has been seen with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Wolf Trap Opera, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Des Moines Metro Opera, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the Richmond Symphony to name a few. He is a two-time District Winner and has won an Encouragement Award in the Central Region Finals of the Dominique and Eric Laffont Competition, is a two-time semi-finalist of the Lotte Lenya Competition, and won first prize in the 2022 University of Cincinnati – CCM Corbett Opera Scholarship Competition.

Ryan’s 2023-2024 season began by returning to the Los Angeles Philharmonic in his Hollywood Bowl debut singing in Chris Thile’s ATTENTION! A narrative song cycle. At LA Opera, he covered the title role in Don Giovanni and sang the roles of Ping in Turandot, Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Marquis D’Obigny in La traviata, and Aldeano #1 in El último sueño de Frida y Diego. In the summer of 2024, Ryan made his house and role debut with Wolf Trap Opera singing Lt. Gordon in Kevin Puts’ Silent Night as a member of the renowned Filene Artist Program.​​

Ryan’s busy 2022-2023 season included Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder with the Richmond Symphony followed by Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Ryan made his LA Opera debut as the Jailer in Tosca, with additional credits including Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia, Golaud in Impressions de Pelléas, the title character in Henry Mollicone’s Moses, and the Harold in Otello. He covered the roles of Johnson/Owen in Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’ Omar, Il Conte in Le nozze di Figaro, and Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande. In December 2022, Ryan debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic singing Der Steuermann in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and directed by Peter Sellars. In the summer of 2023, Ryan returned to Des Moines Metro Opera to sing Dancaïro in Carmen.​

During the 2021-2022 season, Ryan covered the role of Papageno in Barry Kosky’s internationally acclaimed production of Die Zauberflöte with Des Moines Metro Opera. He appeared as the baritone soloist in Carmina Burana with the Santa Cruz Symphony. In the summer of 2022, Ryan returned to the Apprentice Artist Program at Des Moines Metro Opera to cover Peter Quince in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

​Ryan won an Encouragement Award in the Central Region Finals of the Eric and Dominque Laffont Competition in 2021, won first prize in the 2022 University of Cincinnati – CCM Corbett Opera Scholarship Competition and is a two-time semi-finalist (2021, 2022) of the Lotte Lenya Competition. He has also won awards from the Pasadena Vocal Competition, Classical Singer National Voice Competition and the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition.

In the summer of 2021, Ryan joined the Des Moines Metro Opera as an Apprentice Artist where he performed Sen. Potter’s Assistant/Bookseller/Priest/Technician/ Party Guest in Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers, Narumov in Tchaikovsky’s Pikovaya dama, and covered Cithéron in Rameau’s Platée. February 2020 marked his professional debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as Le Fauteuil/Un chêne in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges under the baton of Louis Langrée. A strong proponent of new music and a consummate musician, Ryan collaborated with Opera Fusion:New Works – Cincinnati Opera to workshop Matt Aucoin’s Eurydice.

​​​Ryan holds a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati – CCM and a Bachelor of Music from DePaul University.