How can our community work towards a more equitable and accessible environment? Join Opera NexGen for Generation NOW: Accessibility in Opera on Sunday, January 23 at 4pm EST. Moderated by Opera NexGen General Director Jaime Sharp, this roundtable discussion will address the existing ableism in opera and offer insight into how the disabled community of both opera professionals and audiences can be actively included in the industry. Admission is free, but registration is required.

Event accessibility: Automatic captioning provided; run time approximately 1 hour. A captioned video recording will be available on Opera NexGen's YouTube channel following the event.

More on Stephanie Ko

General Manager, Opera Mariposa

Stephanie Ko (she/her) is a disabled arts administrator, producer, designer and national award-winning writer based in Vancouver, Canada on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She is the general manager of Opera Mariposa, Canada's first fully disability-run opera company, which has been hailed as one of "Canada's key indie players" (Opera Canada Magazine). Stephanie has also been involved in chronic illness advocacy for over a decade in partnership with organizations like the BC Women's Hospital Foundation, the ME|FM Society of BC, the National ME/FM Action Network and the Nightingale Research Foundation. Alongside her sister Jacqueline, she currently works with the Open Medicine Foundation, a global nonprofit effort driving research into chronic complex diseases and COVID-19.

Stephanie sits on the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance's Community Council and on Actsafe Safety Association's Performing Arts Standing Committee, as well as moderating I Lost My Gig Canada, an online forum dedicated to supporting artists and freelance workers impacted by the pandemic. She is also an accessibility consultant and speaker who has worked with organizations ranging from Creative BC to OPERA America; a costume designer whose award-winning garments have appeared on stages across North America; and a graphic designer and photo editor whose work has been published in outlets such as the Vancouver Sun, the Georgia Straight and Opera Canada Magazine.

Connect with Stephanie here.

More on Ju Hyeon Han

Soprano

Ju Hyeon Han, a South Korean born soprano, grew up in New Zealand, completing post-elementary and undergraduate studies there. While in New Zealand, she appeared in numerous concert and oratorio performances, including concerts with the Auckland Philharmonic orchestra, and soprano soloist for Handel's Judas Maccabaeus, Mozart's Requiem and Schubert's Mass in G.

In 2008, Ms. Han received a Bachelor of Music Honors in Vocal Performance from the University of Auckland. Then she continued her studies in the United States, earning a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and in Vocal Pedagogy at New England Conservatory in 2011, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Stony Brook University in 2019. At Stony Brook University, Ms. Han was recognized for her excellence in her studies and exceptional service to the university as a teaching assistant with the 2019 President's Award to Distinguished Doctoral Students.

While in the United States, Ms. Han has performed in a number of recitals and early music concerts, including performances at the Steans Institute Ravinia Festival, American Bach Soloists Academy, and the Mostly Modern Festival. In opera, she performed the role of Pamina in the Occasional Opera Company's production of Die Zauberflöte in 2016 and the Female Chorus in Stony Brook Opera’s The Rape of Lucretia in 2017.

As a teacher, Ms. Han has a special interest in voice rehabilitation, as well as a passion for working with students with disabilities. In particular, she is a strong advocate for fostering Braille music literacy for blind musicians and frequently gives consultations to music educators who are educating blind students.

Currently, Ms. Han is on the adjunct faculty at William Paterson University of New Jersey, as well as serving as a guest voice instructor at The Filomen M. D'Agostino Greenberg Music School in New York city, while remaining active as a concert singer specializing in early music, art song recitals, and new music.

More on Hailey McAvoy

Mezzo-Soprano

Winner of the 2019 Concerto Competition at Bard College Conservatory, mezzo-soprano Hailey McAvoy is a versatile performer of opera, and song, who uses her voice to connect with audiences and amplify voices of living and lesser-known composers. McAvoy’s operatic roles span from contemporary to classic and include, The Taller Daughter (Mazzoli, Proving Up; Aspen Music Festival), Zosha (Heggie, Out of Darkness; Eastman Opera Theater), and Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro; Aquilon Music Festival).

Equally active as a concert performer, McAvoy will join The Orchestra Now at the Fisher Center for Performing Arts as the soloist in Ravel’s Shéhérazade in 2022. In Summer of 2021, she appeared as a soloist alongside pianist Kayo Iwama in Bard Music Festival’s concerts celebrating the life of Nadia Boulanger. While studying at the Eastman School of Music, she was introduced to the music of little-known American song composer George Hubbard Miller (1934-1982); she subsequently produced and performed in The Hub Miller Experience, a concert featuring Miller’s songs and readings from letters and journals. McAvoy has appeared in concert at at National Sawdust (New York, NY) and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room (New York, NY), as a guest recitalist at the historic Beattie Powers Place Mansion (Catskill, NY), as a Colburn Fellow at Songfest (Los Angeles, CA) as a guest artist with the LYNX Project Artsong Initiative.

As a performer with Cerebral Palsy, McAvoy is committed to amplifying the discussion around disability in the arts in order to make the performing arts more inclusive for all. Her forthcoming essay exploring disability in the performing arts will be published through Our Singing Bodies in 2022, and she is currently developing a Podcast on disability in the arts in collaboration with Seattle Public Radio.

To learn more about McAvoy’s journey of singing with Cerebral Palsy, please visit

www.haileymcavoy.com/about.