The opera studio 2025/2026
Members
Yoojin Lee
South Korean soprano Yoojin Lee was born in Icheon. In 2018, she began studying voice at Seoul National University, where she completed her bachelor’s degree in 2022. She then continued her training at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig, where she completed a master’s degree in classical voice with Caroline Stein.
In 2024, she was awarded the Prix spécial du Jury Michèle Herbé at the international competition Nuits Lyriques de Marmande in France. She was also a finalist at the International Vocal Competition (IVC) in ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. Previously, she won first prize at the Sungjung Music Competition and third prize at the Dong-A Music Competition in South Korea. At the age of 17, she was awarded third prize at the La bella Singing Competition & International Opera Competition in Linz in the »Young Artists« category.
In 2025, she appeared in an operetta gala concert at the Leipzig Opera in the musical comedy as Rosalinde (»Die Fledermaus«) and Josepha (»Im weißen Rössl«). Also in 2025, she took on the role of Lepido in Handel’s »Lucio Cornelio Silla« at the HMT Leipzig. In 2024, she sang the role of Frau Fluth in »Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor« in an opera production by the HMT Leipzig.
Tamara Obermayr
Austrian mezzo-soprano Tamara Obermayr took her first steps as a singer in the children's choir of the Salzburg State Theatre. Her first solo roles were Third Boy (»Die Zauberflöte«) at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg and Cherubino (»Le nozze di Figaro«) at the Mondsee State Music School. She received her professional training at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, where she first completed a BA in singing and a BA in IGP singing. She then went on to complete a master's degree in »Lied and Oratorio« with Elisabeth Wilke and Pauliina Tukiainen with distinction. She then transferred to the Bavarian Theatre Academy August Everding to study for a master's degree in ‘Music Theatre/Opera Singing’ with Daniela Sindram. During her studies, she was awarded two merit scholarships from the Mozarteum University as well as scholarships from the August Everding Foundation, the Johann-Adolph-Hasse Society Munich and the Opera Europa Eva Kleinitz Foundation. She attended masterclasses with Christa Ludwig, Malcolm Martineau, Anne Le Bozec, Vesselina Kasarova, Kai Wessel, Luca Pianca, Margit Legler, Simon Lepper, Terry Wey, Will Humburg, Arttu Kataja, Nicola Beller Carbone and Bernarda Fink as part of the German Lied Academy in Trossingen and at the Internationaal Lied Festival Zeist.
In 2024, Tamara Obermayr participated in the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival and in 2025 she was a finalist in the »SWR Young Opera Stars 2025« competition for the »Emmerich Smola Prize½. Concert solo performances have taken her to venues including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Isarphilharmonie Munich, the Munich Gasteig and Herkulessaal, the Great Hall of the Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg, the Haus für Mozart, the Pieterskerk Leiden, the Musikfest Bremen and the Bad Arolsen Baroque Festival. Her work with ensembles such as the Collegium Vocale der Salzburger Bachgesellschaft, BachWerkVokal under Gordon Safari, the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Choir Hamburg under Hansjörg Albrecht and the L'Orfeo Baroque Orchestra under Michi Gaigg enriches her activities.
In opera productions, she has appeared as Roselane (»Zanaida«), Clare (»4.48 Psychose«), Juditha (»Juditha Triumphans«), Prince Orlofsky (»Die Fledermaus«), Sesto (»Giulio Cesare in Egitto«) and Ottavia (»L’incoronazione di Poppea«). Furthermore, as part of the Young Singers Project at the 2024 Salzburg Festival, she was the first female cast member to play the »Frau mit dem Esel« in Carl Orff's »Die Kluge«. Since the beginning of her singing career, she has been accompanied by a love of early music and a great enthusiasm for lieder. She has been working with her lieder duo partner Hugo Peres since 2022.
Thomas McGowan
London-born baritone Thomas McGowan studied at the Music at the University of Oxford and at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with Robert Dean. A recipient of numerous awards, he was the 2024 winner of the Chris Treglown Foundation Award, and also received the Dorothy Richardson English Song Prize (Association of English singers and speakers, 2023) and the Anne Wyburd Prize for German Lieder (Guildhall School of Music and Drama, 2023).
At Guildhall, he has performed several roles including Falke and Frank (»Die Fledermaus«), Edmund Bertram (»Mansfield Park«), and excerpts of Figaro (»Il barbiere di Siviglia«), Pelléas (»Pelléas et Mélisande«), Malatesta (»Don Pasquale«), and Hamlet (»Hamlet«). His previous engagements include performing Perichaud (»La rondine«) with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, under the baton of Antonio Pappano. Thomas McGowan was a Young Artist at the Leeds Lieder Festival. His Concert Repertoire includes Brahms’ »Deutsches Requiem«, Fauré’s »Requiem« and Rossini »Petite Messe solenelle«. In the summer of 2025 he was an Alvarez Emerging Artist with Garsington Opera, where he covered the role of Prince Yeletsky (»The Queen of Spades«).
Juho Stén
Finnish bass-baritone Juho Stén comes from Tampere, where he completed his bachelor’s degree in music at TAMK (Tampere University of Applied Sciences) under the guidance of Tarja Mäki-Latvala from 2019 to 2023. After graduating, he began his master’s degree at the University of Music Würzburg in Jochen Kupfer's class, which he completed in 2025. Since 2024, he also studied for a master's degree in song with Gerold Huber. Since 2020, Juho Stén has been performing regularly in Finland, Germany and Switzerland. Engagements have taken him to the Chemnitz Opera, the Tampereen Ooppera and the Stadttheater Minden, among others. In 2022, he won first prize at the NATS competition in Virginia, USA, and later achieved third place in the Mid-Atlantic phase of the same competition. In 2024, he won third prize at the Seraphin Song Competition in Würzburg together with his song partner Sera Park. He has also participated in masterclasses with Thomas Allen, Anne Sofie von Otter and Katharina Rössner. His studies have been supported by TaiKe (Centre for the Promotion of the Arts in Finland) and Tampereen Ooppera. From the 2025/2026 season onwards, he will be a member of the opera studio at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz.
Hibiki Sagae
Hibiki Sagae was born in Tokyo and began taking piano and organ lessons at the age of five. During her time at music high school, she studied singing, violin, trumpet and composition. She completed her bachelor's degree in concert performance and her master's degree in opera accompaniment at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna with distinction. Her teachers include Greta Benini, Hans-Otto Ehrström, Ralf Heiber, Kristin Okerlund and Gerrit Prießnitz. While still a student, she accompanied masterclasses given by internationally renowned conductors such as Yutaka Sado, Marin Alsop, Toby Purcell and Niels Muus, and was an accompanist in vocal masterclasses given by Linda Watson, Adrian Eröd and Tamar Rachum. She currently works as a vocal coach for singers such as Marisol Montalvo and Flaka Goranci.
As an accompanist, Hibiki Sagae has accompanied works such as »Così fan tutte«, »Don Giovanni«, »La traviata« and »Rigoletto« at the Vienna Opera Academy Festival, »La bohème« and »Die Fledermaus« at the Bergen National Opera Summer Academy, and »Suor Angelica« at the Merano Academy. She has worked several times as a choir accompanist with the Vienna Tonkunstvereinigung under the direction of Pablo Boggiano and has been invited as a soloist to various events by the Japanese Embassy in Vienna. In addition, she took on the musical direction of the children’s operetta Viktoria und ihr Husar at the Bühne Baden, where she also played in the orchestra.
Lecturers
Herbert Hillig - General Management
Stephen Delaney - Artistic Director
KS Ann-Katrin Naidu - Consulting and Coordination
Sami Kustaloglu und KS Lucian Krasznec - Singing
Okka von der Damerau - Guest lecturer in singing
Kerstin Ried - Movement and Dance
Angelika Sedlmeier - Language and dialogue training
Daniel Huth und Alexander Kreuselberg - Scenic work
KS Prof. Brigitte Fassbaender und KS Ann Murray - Masterclasses