Summer Opera Institute

07/29/2026

04/22/2026

The SOI Wood Sprites!

04/22/2026

Congratulations to Addison Mendenhall on her opera debut! She only started with SOI in 2025, but she made incredible and rapid voical & acting progress...and now she is a member of the professional cast of RUSALKA!

🧜‍♀️ Addison Mendenhall is a Wood Sprite
Soprano Addison Mendenhall is a young Central Valley artist praised for her natural talent and vocal flexibility. A Summer Opera Institute participant, she sings with the Modesto Symphony Chorus and her high school choir.

See them on April 24 at 7:30 and April 26 at 2:00pm at the Gallo Center for the Arts! Tickets in our bio and at operamodesto.org

04/22/2026

Katie Overton was one of the original SOI participants in 2018. She has since become a fine singer and Stage Manager! We are excited to see her make her professional debut with an amazing cast, in RUSALKA!

🧜‍♀️ Katie Overton is a Wood Sprite
Katie Overton is a performer-turned stage manager who began her work with Opera Modesto through the Summer Opera Institute. She has since worked behind the scenes on productions including The Marriage of Figaro, The Elixir of Love, and Cinderella.

See them on April 24 at 7:30 and April 26 at 2:00pm at the Gallo Center for the Arts! Tickets in our bio and at operamodesto.org

04/13/2026

Bella Davila began with the Summer Opera Institute in 2019 as a young "Pre-SOI" singer. She is now an SOI graduate and intern who has become a fine composer, singer, cellist and grown up, including serving this season as the Opera Modesto Children's Chorus Director!

Congratulations, Bella, on your professional role debut in RUSALKA, singing in the Czech language!

🧜‍♀️ Bella Dávila is a Wood Sprite
Soprano and multi-instrumentalist Bella Dávila is an Opera Modesto chorus member and Children’s Chorus Director. A Summer Opera Institute alum, she has appeared in multiple Opera Modesto productions while continuing her studies at Modesto Junior College.

See them on April 24 at 7:30 and April 26 at 2:00pm at the Gallo Center for the Arts! Tickets in our bio and at operamodesto.org