Artistic Director of Valley Opera since its inception in 1977 and of the Valley Symphony Orchestra since 1992, Dr. Robert Chauls is well-known in Los Angeles as a pianist, accompanist, coach and conductor, and throughout the United States as a composer and author of Piano for Adults, An Aural Approach. His first opera, Alice in Wonderland (G. Schirmer) was the second most performed contemporary opera in America in 1981-82, and continues to be among the most performed children’s operas in the country. His other operas include The Magic Rhyme, The Thirteen Clocks (with Rhoda Levine), The Trial of Goldilocks, and Meanwhile, Back at Mario’s (a spoof of Tosca). His latest work for the stage is the musical, The Phantom of the Opera. He has also written numerous other works for voice, piano, chamber ensemble and orchestra.

Dr. Chauls is on the Board of Directors of Guild Opera of Los Angeles, and Opera for Youth, and is a former Vice President and board member of the National Opera Association. He established, and is currently directing the N.O.A.’s Chamber Opera Competition. He has been on the musical staffs of City of the Angels Opera, Portland Opera, the American Institute of Musical Studies, Lake George Opera, and the Des Moines Metro Opera. As a pianist, he has given concerts in both the United States and Europe, and is a winner of the Northern Bavarian Critics Award. He also served several times as a judge for the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. Since 1992 he has been artistic director and conductor of the Valley Symphony Orchestra, a college/community orchestra known for its innovative programming and promotion of Los Angeles area composers and performers. He has been Professor of Music at Los Angeles Valley College since 1973.


DR. JULIA HEINEN

Critics rave, “Julia Heinen is a sensation,” “Absolutely brilliant,” “Plays with intensity, conviction and impressive virtuosity.”

As a soloist, Julia Heinen has performed hundreds of recitals throughout the United States and had the distinct pleasure of premiering several works written specifically for her. In February of 2003, she performed a recital including several new works at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and recently finished a compact disc recording including several of these pieces which was released in the Fall of 2007 by Centaur Records.

In addition to Dr. Heinen’s solo performances, she is often heard as a chamber musician performing most notably with Trio Chiaroscuro and the Oneota Chamber Players. She is also an accomplished ensemble player having served as principal clarinetist with the American Wind Symphony, a professional wind ensemble which tours the United States and Europe. As an orchestral player, she has served as principal clarinetist with the Santa Clarita, LaCrosse, Dubuque, Valdosta, Greenville, Augusta and Rochester Symphony Orchestras and was featured several times as a concerto soloist with those ensembles. In addition, her orchestral performance also include several concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra and she can frequently be heard locally on the Hour of Power orchestra from the Crystal Cathedral.


As an artist and clinician for the Selmer Corporation, Dr. Heinen does frequent clinics and masterclasses in many universities and colleges throughout the United States. Originally from Minnesota, she currently lives in Los Angeles, where she serves as professor of music at California State University, Northridge, teaching clarinet, coaching chamber music and coordinating the musicianship program. She holds a masters degree from the University of Michigan, an artist diploma from Northwestern University and a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. Her teachers have included Herbert Blayman, Robert Marcellus, Timothy Paradise and Cloyde Williams. She performs exclusively on Selmer Signature Artist Series clarinets, mouthpieces and barrels made by Clark Fobes and bells made by Morrie Backun.


ROCHELLE ABRAMSON

A graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, violinist ROCHELLE ABRAMSON made her New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall as winner of the Artists International Auditions. Ms. Abramson has been a winner in numerous other competitions, including the National Federation of Music Clubs Biennial Competition, the National Stillman-Kelly Competition, and the Palm Beach Flagler-Matthews Competition.

In Southern California she has appeared as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and with many Los Angeles area orchestras. She has been concertmaster of the Long Beach Bach Festival, the Peninsula Symphony's annual Summer Concerts, the Carson Symphony, and the San Juan Capistrano Symphony. Currently she is concertmaster of the Valley Symphony Orchestra, with which she recently played Bruch's Scottish Fantasy. As a chamber music performer, Ms. Abramson has appeared in concerts at Barnsdall Park, the Museum of Natural History, the Bing Theater Sundays at Four series at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and at Harbor College. A member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's first violin section, she joined the Orchestra in the 1978/79 season. Ms. Abramson was the recipient of two individual artist's grants from the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department between 1992 and 1994.


MATHEW EDWARDSEN

Mathew Edwardsen hails from Indianapolis, Indiana but lived for many of his formative years near Springfield, Illinois. His older brother inspired him to join the school choir in 7th grade, and thus began a lifelong love of singing.

In high school he took private vocal instruction and began performing in musicals where he discovered an affinity for acting and performance. Mr. Edwardsen subsequently graduated from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree; receiving a well-rounded foundation in music, acting and dance. It was here that he first discovered the unbridled passion that is opera!

Upon graduation he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an actor in television and film. During this period he performed in many stage productions and a small number of student films. Fate intervened however, when he met esteemed vocal instructor Joann C. Zajac. She re-introduced him to opera, and there was an instant connection. Joann has instructed him now for a number of years. Her direction enabled him to develop solid vocal technique and complete the difficult transition from baritone to tenor.

Mathew has now performed many of opera's most beloved leading tenor roles, such as Don Jose, Rodolfo, Pinkerton, Nemorino and Alfredo, and has even performed at the world premiere of a new opera. He was a district winner and received an Encouragement Award for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He was also chosen for the Apprentice Program with Santa Fe Opera and the Gerdine Young Artist program at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

Mathew currently resides in Los Angeles, California.


DARIA SOMERS

Soprano Daria Somers is a native of Los Angeles whose extensive studies of acting, musical theater, and opera have combined to make her a unique and exciting performer. She most recently played the role of Gilda in Rigoletto with Center Stage Opera.

Last year, she performed Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Operafestival di Roma in Rome, Italy, and Gretel in Hansel and Gretel with Las Vegas’ Red Rock Opera.

In addition, she is a touring artist with Los Angeles Opera’s Outreach Program, bringing opera to audiences all over Los Angeles County.

In 2006 Ms. Somers made her operatic debut with the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica.

She has also appeared in La Traviata, Un Giorno di Regno, and in leading roles in numerous dramatic and musical theater productions.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theater from the University of California, Los Angeles where she was in the Ray Bolger Musical Theater program and received professional level acting, dance, and vocal training.

After graduation she studied classical acting at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England and advanced Italian language and classical singing at Istituto Europeo in Florence, Italy.

Ms. Somers was also the recipient of the Young Musicians Foundation’s prestigious Swerdlow Family Scholarship in both 2007 and 2008.

In the coming months, Ms. Somers will be featured as the Countess in Center Stage Opera’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro and in concert with the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra at LACMA’s Bing Theater.