RESIDENT ARTISTS
Utah Opera’s Resident Artists Program for singers and pianists provides an integral step between graduate studies and a career. Participants spend nine months with Utah Opera developing professional skills through mainstage performances with Utah Opera and Utah Symphony, coachings, workshops, and masterclass sessions. Resident Artists also travel throughout the state to perform in-school presentations and teach students about the art of opera.
2026-27 SEASON RESIDENT ARTISTS
Soprano Hyein Hong, a 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition Tulsa District Winner, is gaining international recognition for her radiant tone, technical finesse, and deeply expressive interpretations. In May 2026, she performed the role of Sophie in Werther with Korea National Opera. Her professional stage work spans both the United States and Korea, featuring iconic roles such as Violetta (La traviata), Gilda (Rigoletto), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte).
Ms. Hong has appeared with prestigious organizations including Cincinnati Opera, Korea National Opera, Butler Opera Center, and Daegu International Opera House. In addition, she has distinguished herself in numerous vocal competitions across both the United States and Korea, earning top prizes that highlight her artistic excellence.
Hyein Hong earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Opera Performance from the University of Texas at Austin and holds a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati (CCM). She continues to establish herself as a compelling and insightful rising artist.
Isabelle Kosempa, mezzo-soprano, is a native of Durham, North Carolina, and a recent graduate of the master’s program at the Shepherd School of Music. This past year, she was a Manetti Shrem Opera Fellow with Festival Napa Valley, appeared as a principal artist with the prestigious Bard Summer Music Festival, and won Second Prize in the Carolyn Bailey & Dominick Argento Vocal Competition.
Her recent roles include Meg Page in Verdi’s Falstaff, Samira in Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles, and the Minskwoman in Jonathan Dove’s Flight. This past summer, she joined the Aspen Music Festival as a Studio Artist, performing Dritte Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and covering Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This season, as a Utah Opera Resident Artist, she is thrilled to perform Tisbe in Rossini’s Cinderella and the Calligraphy Teacher in Mason Bates & Mark Campbell’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.
Tenor Colin Miller recently completed his Master of Music at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where he studied with Nova Thomas. A multiple-award winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, he has earned district wins in 2022 (Colorado–Wyoming) and 2026 (Houston), in addition to a 2025 Encouragement Award. He is gaining recognition for his expressive, Italianate sound and stylistic versatility.
His recent operatic engagements include Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff, Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and Léon in Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles, reflecting a broadening engagement with both lyric and contemporary repertoire. He has participated as a Young Artist at the American Institute for Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria, and was a Young Artist with the Janiec Opera Company of the Brevard Music Center, where he performed across multiple seasons in a wide range of operatic and musical theatre repertoire.
Miller was a Resident Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera in the summer of 2026, covering the role of Spoletta in Puccini’s Tosca.
Heralded as possessing “rich timbre and earnest delivery” by Chicago Classical Review, J. Andrew Garratt Jr. is a lyric baritone from the Chicago area. He recently received his master’s degree in opera from Northwestern University under the precise instruction of W. Stephen Smith. He received his undergraduate degree from Western Washington University, where he studied with Seattle Opera Head Coach Jay Rozendaal.Andrew performed as the baritone soloist with the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra in downtown Chicago as they put on Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in February 2026 .In June, Andrew performed in La traviata at the New Boston Opera Company. Following this, Andrew will be putting on a recital for the city of Ocean Park, Maine in July. Andrew is excited to join Utah Opera as the Resident Artist Baritone for the 2026-27 season.
Marine Eckert is a Swiss pianist and vocal coach fluent in French, English, and German.
She will spend her 2026-27 season with Utah Opera as a Resident Artist where she will be rehearsal pianist for Don Giovanni and chorus rehearsal pianist for Zorro, Cinderella, and The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. Last summer, she joined Opera Neo as apprentice vocal coach and pianist for Fausto and Il Turco in Italia, while also appearing in recitals and events throughout the season.
During her 2025-26 season, Marine was a Jan Miller Studio Artist at Pensacola Opera, where she served as rehearsal pianist and vocal coach for Three Decembers, La traviata, and Oklahoma!; and as pianist and music director for the educational tour of Cinderella.
Mrs. Eckert holds a Master of Music in Collaborative Piano and an Artist Diploma in Opera Coaching from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.