Previous BSO appearances: Belcore cover in L’elisir d’amore, Rigoletto cover in Rigoletto

Baritone Dylan Evans is an international artist who has performed all over the United States and Canada. Originally from Delray Beach, Florida, Dylan is now a Boston-based performer, where he studied vocal performance at the New England Conservatory.

This year, Mr. Evans was a finalist in the 2nd Annual National Oratorio Competition at the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, FL, and with Wellesley Hills Congregational, performed the famous Bach Cantata 82, Ich habe genug. He also looks forward to debuting the role of Figaro in Boston Summer Opera’s Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Dylan made his professional opera debut with New York Lyric Opera as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus with Tanglewood Opera Studio. Other operatic credits include Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus), Sid (Albert Herring), King Melchior (Amahl & the Night Visitors), Peter (Hansel & Gretel), Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Marco (Gianni Schicchi), Motorcycle Cop/Guard 1 (Dead Man Walking), and Don Giovanni.

Dylan’s solo concert engagements range from performing large works such as Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem, Bach’s Mass in B minor, Duruflé’s Requiem, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Mozart’s Requiem. Other accolades include being an Apprentice Artist with Sarasota Opera and the proud recipient of the Randolph A. Frank Prize for Emerging Performing Artists.

dylanevansmusic.net | @dylanevansmusic

Previous BSO appearances: Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance

Leo Balkovetz is a tenor and librettist residing in Boston. On stage, Leo sings with a number of local groups including Boston Lyric Opera, Lowell House Opera, MassOpera, Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Nonconformists Orchestra. This is his 2nd Season with Boston Summer Opera.

Off stage, he received a 2022 Live Arts Boston Grant to write the libretto for "Violetta" a modern, queer retelling of "La Traviata" and was a FUSE collaborative poet for Rachel Devore Fogarty's "Poor Katy: A Murder Ballad", premiered by Catalyst New Music in 2024.

leobalkovetz.com | @yaboileonidas

Previous BSO appearances: Giovanna and Maddalena cover in Rigoletto

Alesandra Onjiko, mezzo-soprano, is a dynamic and versatile performer based in Boston. She earned her Master of Music in Voice Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music. Most recently, she portrayed Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus with The Opera Company, a role she also performed with NEC Opera. Other stage credits include Edimione in La Calisto (NEC Opera), The Mother and The Witch in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel (NEC Outreach Opera), Giulio Cesare in Giulio Cesare (Stetson Opera Theater), and both Second and Third Lady in The Magic Flute with Stetson Opera Theater and the Miami Music Festival. In addition to her operatic work, she regularly performs in concerts throughout the Boston area.

@alionjiko_mezzo

Previous BSO appearances: Sparafucile in Rigoletto

Austin Martin is thrilled to make his return to Boston Summer Opera, after previously appearing in last year's production of Rigoletto as Sparafucile. He has recently appeared as a Supreme Court Justice in Of Thee I Sing/Let 'Em Eat Cake (Odyssey Opera), Frank in Die Fledermaus (Bar Harbor Music Festival), as well as the male voices in the American concert premier of The Hunters and the Hunted (Kunsht/Birch Tree Productions). Austin earned his M.M. in Opera Performance from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where he studied voice with David Small and Victor Jannett, and his B.M. in Vocal Performance from Oklahoma City University, where he studied voice with William Christensen. He is a native of Tyler, Texas.

@theamartstore1

Previous BSO appearances: Chief of Police in The Pirates of Penzance, Sparafucile cover in Rigoletto, Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni

Johan Hartman is a professional bass-baritone, teacher, and composer. He holds an MM in vocal performance from CCM and a BM from New England Conservatory. He has worked with numerous professional opera companies, most recently performing the role of Colline in Florida l'opera and Zarzuela's production of La Bohème and the role of Uberto in Mostly Baroque's production of La Serva Padrona. He has also worked as a young artist at Sarasota Opera in Sarasota Florida under the tutelage of Maestro DeRenzi.

His list of operatic roles is extensive. Recent performances include Gus in John Musto’s Later the Same Evening, Pascual in Arietta’s Marina, and the Commendatore in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. He has also appeared in other Mozart works—portraying Leporello in Don Giovanni and Sarastro in The Magic Flute—as well as roles in the operas of Richard Strauss, such as Truffaldin in Ariadne auf Naxos. His experience spans from some of the earliest operas ever composed—such as Seneca in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea—to contemporary premieres, including The Hunter in Timothy Ayres-Kerr’s Game of Werewolf.

As a composer, he has written three song-cycles, Blood and the Moon,Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister, and Love and Death, which are settings of poetry by W.B. Yeats, Robert Browning, and Lord Byron respectively. He also set part one of Yeats’ epic poem, The Wanderings of Oisin. Most recently he has written a one-act chamber opera entitled The Signal Man, with a libretto based on Charles Dickens’ short-story of the same name.

johanhartman.com

BSO debut!

Soprano Autumn Kaeul Ahn is a Boston-based coloratura soprano whose repertoire spans from Baroque to contemporary works. She recently completed the Graduate Diploma at the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Carole Haber. She previously earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Yonsei University, graduating at the top of her undergraduate class.

Ahn made her professional operatic debut at the age of twenty with Noble Arts Opera in Hansel and Gretel. In 2020, she was selected as Music Chunchu’s Young Artist of the Year, an honor awarded annually to one emerging musician in Korea. She is also a member artist of the Arts Council Korea (ARKO) Ensemble.

Recent roles include Despina in Così fan tutte, Tina in Flight, and Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica. In the upcoming season, she will cover Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Boston Summer Opera and participate in the Baroque Opera Workshop at Queens College. 

@not_an_autumn

Previous BSO appearances: Ruth (cover) in The Pirates of Penzance

Elysium Ellis (any pronouns) is a writer, actor, musician, and director from the South Shore. They are an active performer in a diverse array of genres including opera, operetta, musical theatre, and straight plays. Notable projects include a madrigal dinner with the First Congregational Church of Randolph, a solo set at the Providence Music Mansion as a part of their February Musicales, and their self-directed recital, Womens’ Wrongs. Other recent performance credits include: the Spartan Herald (Lysistrata; The Maenad Theatre Troupe), die Dritter Knabe (Die Zauberflöte; Opera51), and chorus in Pirates of Penzance (Boston Summer Opera) and Trial by Jury (St. Ignatius Concert Series).

They are the founder and artistic director of the Maenad Theatre Troupe, with which they have directed two concerts and a full-length production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe, or the Peer and the Peri. An ardent G&S enthusiast, they serve as a board member of the New England Gilbert and Sullivan Society and are active behind the scenes of The Sudbury Savoyards. Outside of artistic pursuits, they are a full-time student pursuing degrees in cellular and molecular biology and speech, language, and hearing sciences at Bridgewater State University.

Previous BSO appearances: Sam in The Pirates of Penzance, Chorus in L’elisir d’amore

California born soprano Akela Franklin (she/they) is one of New England’s rising classical singers and voice educators. Blessed with a lush, agile full lyric instrument, she enjoys lending her voice to opera, musical theater, art song, and more. In 2025, Akela took to the stage as Sam in The Pirates of Penzance with Boston Summer Opera, as well as featured chorus and Ida (cover) in Die Fledermaus with “The Opera Company”. Other recent roles include Clarice in Caldara’s Il giuoco del Quadriglio and Suzel (cover) in Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz, both with West End Lyric. Also in 2025, Akela also worked behind the scenes as the manager for the debut season of MassOpera’s Community and Youth Ensemble (CYE), which was featured in the company’s production of Handel’s Alcina. Akela looks forward to rejoining Boston Summer Opera for their 2026 season!

Akela can be found singing weekly at Park Avenue Congregational Church in Arlington, where she has been the soprano section leader and soloist for 4 years. She is an accomplished, in-demand voice teacher and is a faculty member at both Brookline Music School (BMS) and Bloch Performing Arts (BPA). In addition to running her vibrant, bustling studios, Akela also serves as the Voice Department Chair at BMS and the Events Coordinator for BPA.

Akela holds a Master of Music (M.M.) in Vocal Performance from Longy School of Music of Bard College.

akelafranklin.com