Getting to Know the 2024-2025 MN Opera Resident Artists

The Resident Artist Program has been integral to Minnesota Opera for many years. First introduced in 1997, the program offers young artists invaluable experience both on and off the stage through its dedicated coaching, professional opportunities and support, and more.

This year there are five Resident Artists at the MN Opera. Ángel Vargas, a tenor from San Juan, Puerto Rico; David Wolfe, a baritone from Shamokin, Penn.; Fumiyasu Kawase, a pianist and coach from Chiba, Japan; John Mburu, a bass from Warwick, R.I.; and Kara Morgan, a mezzo-soprano from our very own Andover, Minn.

The Resident Artists began their work with the MN Opera at the start of the 2024-2025 season with Mario Antonio Marra. Marra is both Head of Music at Minnesota Opera and the Director of the Resident Artist Program. His many years of experience at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Oper Frankfurt and more have made him a treasured resource for the MN Opera Resident Artists.

The competition to become a Resident Artist at MN Opera is steep, though this year’s participants were quick to correct my misconception that the process itself is emotionally fraught.

“It’s actually not really that intense,” Mburu explains. “We applied through this website … and then get an email if you got selected for a live audition. You’re not looking at all of the other people you’re competing against.”

That said, every artist had a vivid recollection of when they found out they had been chosen for this season — all of their memories started with a phone call from an unrecognized number and concluded with the absolute thrill of joining this prestigious program.

Responses varied from person to person: a celebratory night out, getting a little teary-eyed and even unintentionally playing hard to get while navigating existing obligations. Kawase summarized it best when he said, “That’s kind of, you know, the artist life.”

There are resident artist programs across the country, but the current cohort has noticed a few unique things about how MN Opera runs its program. There were three main points the artists kept coming back to: the depth of attention from Marra, the way the program finds healthy ways to challenge them and the way MN Opera treats its artists.

Having so much dedicated time with Marra was a pleasant surprise for many of the artists.

“I was really happy … finding out how available Mario was going to be for us,” Mburu says. “You can work … as much as you want.”

Vargas continues: “They challenge us,” he says. “[There are pieces that] I didn’t think I was going to be able to do and now I have the opportunity to perform them. It’s a challenge for me, both technically and as an artist.”

Kawase agrees, having found the program helpful in developing his craft. “It is a good opportunity to polish my skill and build my artistic form,” he says.

Outreach is often a significant part of Resident Artist programs — and although the artists recognize the importance and impact of outreach — they agreed that when it is the bulk of a Resident Artist program it can be taxing without the discernible professional and artistic payoff that they have gained from the coaching and time on stage provided by MN Opera.

“I’ve always thought of these artist programs [as] similar to paid internships, [but] this one is almost more like an apprenticeship,” Wolfe says. “It feels like I work for the company. I get my training and I’m learning how to do this, but I’m actually getting to do it.”

Mburu takes it one step further. “Being a resident at Minnesota Opera just feels like you’re on a professional contract. You get to sing principal roles,” he explains. “In terms of outreach stuff, we have [only done a couple] since we got here in August.”

The growth this year’s Resident Artists have experienced extends to their internal lives.

“I’ve had a lot of personal growth since being here,” Wolfe piggybacks. “I’ve learned a lot about my boundaries. I’ve learned a lot about pushing myself healthily, and that has helped me sing better … I think it’s just helped me be a better artist and colleague.”

The culture of inclusion and respect at MN Opera is something the Resident Artists noticed and appreciated.

“[At MN Opera] we’re very diligent about making sure names are said correctly, about making sure pronouns are correct and that everyone’s boundaries are respected,” Morgan explains. “This is the first place I’ve been where that’s at the forefront … Everyone in the company is very diligent about that.”

“This is the first company that puts the correct accent on my name,” Vargas affirms, referring to the spelling of his first name, “Ángel,” “It makes a difference, you know? It’s like, people call you ‘Angel,’” Vargas Americanizes his pronunciation, “and you go with it, but it’s not my name … [MN Opera does] take this seriously.”

Although the Resident Artists are still wrapped up in the season, this career requires always thinking about the next chapter. “I know for a lot of us it’s already spawned into opportunities for next year,” Wolfe says, “They are very enthusiastic about putting us out there and making us visible.”

MN Opera allocates resources to building the future careers of its Resident Artists.

“The company budgets out money for us to be able to travel to do auditions and to travel for other gigs,” Mburu explains. “The company [has an] overall interest in our professional development beyond just working here.”

Those financial resources are helpful, but leaving the program with newly robust resumes is just as impactful.

“Having the trust of a company backing you — to have that on your resume [showing that] these people trusted me for a year, two years, with this many roles,” Morgan says. “You have Minnesota’s reputation behind you, which means a lot in this industry.”

Of course, I could not let the artists leave without telling me what they think about Minnesota as a whole, and I am pleased to report that they have dug deep into the Minnesota experience. They specifically shouted out Hmong food as a favorite new-to-them cuisine, Pryes as a favorite brewery and Little Tijuana as a favorite restaurant (Mburu says he’s been there at least twelve times.)

Wolfe described watching a recent Vikings game with Vargas in a way that evoked every longsuffering Vikings fan I know: “It was sad. It was very sad.”

Kawase hit me with the familiar one-two punch of both loving our arts scene and speculating that it is probably so robust because we’re all hiding from the cold.

Mburu appreciated the novelty of walking on a frozen lake. “I spent a lot of my life in Georgia, and lakes just aren’t really freezing in Georgia,” he says.

This year’s Resident Artists will be around through the end of the season — and possibly beyond. It has been a pleasure to have them on our stages and in our communities. Don’t miss your opportunity to see the artists as they wrap up the season with operas “The Snowy Day” (February 8-16) and “The Barber of Seville” (May 3-18) in addition to recitals “Notte Napulitano” (February 27) and the Warren Jones Recital (March 8).