Academy of Vocal Arts

Many thanks to everyone who attended Brindisi! A Toast to AVA.🎶🍷

It was a beautiful day of song at Crossing Vineyards and Winery in Newtown, PA. Our gala guests were treated to sumptuous food, delicious wines, and of course beautiful singing!

Bravi tutti!

📸: Morgan Horell ()

Join us at the Rosenbach Museum on Tuesday, June 16th, as three of AVA’s Resident Artists perform at the annual Bloomsday Festival, in honor of Jame Joyce’s magnum opus, Ulysses, which is set on the same day.

Episode 11 of Ulysses introduces us to the singers, pianists, and barmaids of the Ormond Hotel. They captivate Leopold Bloom the way the mythical Sirens captivated sailors — through rhythm, longing, flirtation, and memory.

Experience a one-of-a-kind performance by a AVA Resident Artists Jasmine Ismail, Dawson Franzino, Jacob Hanes, and pianist Sarah Thune as they personify the seductive pull of art. Turning literature into living sound.

Joyce’s “sirens” are not monsters but performers, voices, laughter, and musical textures that lure listeners into memory and imagination.

🎟️Learn more and register at the link in our bio!🔗

Earlier this month, we celebrated AVA’s Class of 2026 at our annual Farewell Recital, followed by a graduation reception where the graduates each received their artist diploma and a plaster frieze taken from the molding of the Helen Corning Warden Theater depicting Shakespeare’s Oberon and Titania from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Congratulations and bravi to mezzo-soprano Alla Yarosh and bass Cumhur Görgün!🎓

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Congratulations to 3rd-year soprano Daniela Machado () for winning First Place at the 54th Annual Loren L Zachary National Vocal Competition! BRAVISSIMA!🥇🏆

Congratulations as well to 5th Place winner Anna Thompson (), and Career Grant Winners Cumhur Görgün (‘26) (), Joshua James Klein (.james.klein), and Matthew Sink ().

Join us in wishing AVA’s Class of 2026 a heartfelt congratulations and a fond farewell at the annual Farewell Recital, this next Thursday, May 14!🎓🎶🎹

Class of 2026:
Alla Yarosh, mezzo-soprano (.yarosh)
Cumhur Görgün, bass ()

🎟️Buy your tickets at the link in our bio!

🗓️Thursday, May 14, 2026
📍The Church of the Holy Trinity, 1904 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Congratulations to AVA’s Resident Scenic Designer, Cameron Anderson (), on wining the American Academy in Rome’s Billie Tsien Rome Prize for Design!🎨🏆🎖️

We look forward to seeing her bold concepts take the stage at AVA for the upcoming 2026-27 season!