Opera Maine’s 2025 Studio Artist Program presents

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ELLEN CHICKERING YOUNG ARTIST AWARD

On April 19, 2020, Opera Maine lost Ellen Chickering, one of our most vital supporters and beloved friends. A voice teacher and longtime head of the opera program at the University of Southern Maine, Ellen led the Opera Maine Young Artist Program with much panache and success in 1996 and 1997, and again from 2002 to 2010. The last Opera Maine project that Ellen worked on was directing our commissioned opera, Girl in Six Beats in 2018. Ellen was also a valuable member of Opera Maine’s Advisory Council.

Opera Maine honors Ellen’s memory and dedication to Opera Maine with the Ellen Chickering Young Artist Award. This annual award recognizes a singer who performs with Opera Maine and who is on a trajectory to become a professional opera performer. Recipients have performed as Education Outreach Young Artists and as members of the chorus, covered mainstage roles, taken part in special master classes, and given special concerts.

2024 ELLEN CHICKERING YOUNG ARTIST

Mia Love

Mia Love is a recent graduate from the University of Southern Maine Osher School of Music where she studied Music Education.. Mia’s love for music began during school-age choral classes, ultimately setting her on the path of teaching vocal music herself. Given the opportunity at USM, Mia was able to explore solo singing in Mozart’s C Minor Mass and was chosen as a winner of both the 2020 and 2021 Osher School of Music Honors Recitals. In April of 2021, she performed in her first fully staged opera as Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. In the summer of 2021, Mia was an ensemble member in Opera Maine’s performance of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. She joined them again in 2022 as an ensemble member for their production of Wagner’s Der Fliegende Höllander. In selected scenes with the Osher School of Music, Mia has performed as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Adele in Die Fledermaus. She was a recipient of the 2021 Kotzschmar Memorial Trust Scholarship by the Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ. Mia was named the recipient of the 2022 Bay Chamber Eleanor Erdman and Diane Nixon Vocal Excellence Prize. Mia is currently working with Opera Maine as a 2022-2023 Education Outreach Young Artist.

Past recipients:

2023 Daniel Laverriere

2022 Jonas Rimkunas

2021 Aaren Rivard

Opera Maine Education Outreach Young Artists present in school programs throughout Maine led by Opera Maine Teaching Artist, Dr. Malinda Haslett.

2023/2024
Nicholas Sutton
Jared Vigue
Caroline Woods

2022/2023
Mia Love, soprano
Kaleigh Hunter
Caleb Randall

2022
Daniel Laverierre, tenor
Jonas Rimkunas, tenor
March Steiger, soprano