New Wave Opera

Happy Birthday to our fearless leader, New Wave Opera Co-Founder & President, Lisa Neher ! Here are a few of Lisa's memorable roles in New Wave Opera productions!

1. Sophia in Serial Killers and the City
2. Chester in Meow and Forever
3. Zandra in Alice Tierney

Photos by Mike Newman & Ary Finch

Happy Birthday to New Wave Opera Co-founder, Vice-President, and Resident Soprano, Lindsey Rae Johnson! Here are just a few of Lindsey's iconic roles with New Wave Opera:

1. Asha in Meow and Forever
2. Irene Curie in Marie Curie Learns to Swim
3. Val in Deep Water

Photos by Ary Finch

Happy Birthday to New Wave Opera Co-founder, Vice-President, and Resident Soprano, Lindsey Rae Johnson! Here are just a few of Lindsey's iconic roles with New Wave Opera:

1. Asha in Meow and Forever
2. Irene Curie in Marie Curie Learns to Swim
3. Val in Deep Water

Photos by Ary Finch

Meet the Artists of Kitchen/Wedding/Murder: soprano Jacqueline Shoda Iwasaki plays Quinn, the beautiful and flirtatious wedding guest who's crushing hard on Stef! And beneath that bubbly exterior, has dark secret: some intel on Colton that could change everything!

Japanese American Soprano, Jacqueline Shoda-Iwasaki is thrilled to be making her New Wave Opera debut as Quinn. Future engagements include returning to Astoria for Cascadia Chamber Opera’s production of Così fan Tutte in her role debut as Dorabella.

Meet the Artists of Kitchen / Wedding / Murder: She's not just singing as our Stef, she's also our composer! Lisa Neher wrote the dramatic and soaring music for the opera, which one of our cast members called "full of earworms"!

Multi-talented mezzo-soprano, composer, and actor Lisa Neher “create[s] soundscapes of shimmering color, offering moments of unexpected intimacy and grace" (The Flute View). A “maestro of beautifully wacky noises” (Oregon ArtsWatch), her works demonstrate consummate skill in instrumental and vocal writing, producing strikingly imaginative and finely honed music that enthralls listeners and carries them on a vivid journey. Neher’s expansive catalog includes “wildly inventive” (Willamette Week) song cycles, operas, chorale works, and chamber music which showcase her “liquid, impressionistic…writing and fluent melding” of voices (New York Classical Review). Neher is an award-winning composer whose music has earned recognition from the Oregon Music Teachers Association (Composer of the Year 2025), the Flute New Music Consortium, ICDA/ICF, Mirror Visions Ensemble, and the Celebris Ensemble. Commissioning ensembles and organizations include the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), American Harp Society, Cincinnati Song Initiative, and Opera Santa Barbara. She is an alumna of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music. Her interdisciplinary training informs her compositional craft, making her an exceptional musical storyteller with an uncommon command of dramatic pacing, orchestration, and musical colors. A visionary creator and leader, Neher is the Founder and President of New Wave Opera, a company that shares fresh, relatable stories by living composers through the medium of opera. Through all facets of her work, Neher champions contemporary storytelling that embraces both the wildness of the natural world and the intimate complexities of human experience.
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–Biography by Aligned Artistry and Lisa Neher

Meet the Artist: mezzo Kate Strohecker! Kate plays the Priest in our workshop of Kitchen/Wedding/Murder, who just wants to get this darned service over, if people will stop rudely interrupting her!

Kate is a vested mezzo soprano in the Portland Opera Chorus. She has also performed on stage with OPERA IN THE PARK Portland since its early days as Portland Summerfest. Pasionate about opera in all its historical forms and presentations, Kate is especially proud to be performing with New Wave Opera for the first time.

Meet the Artist: Patrick Scofield plays Uncle Dylan in our workshop of Kitchen / Wedding / Murder! No wedding is complete without the iconic drunk Uncle, and Dylan is happy to fulfill that role!

A huge supporter of local artists, Patrick Scofield is delighted to be making his debut with New Wave Opera. Born and raised in Portland, Patrick has been singing bass-baritone in the area for decades. He holds a degree in Vocal Performance from Pacific University. Next season marks his 30th year with the Portland Opera Chorus and he has performed with The Dickens Carolers for over 25. In addition, Patrick sings regularly with other groups around town such as Opera in the Park, Portland Phoenix Chamber Choir, Tilikum Choir Community, and has performed with Vancouver Children's Opera, Opera Quest Northwest, Mock's Crest, the Musical Theater Company of Portland and others.

Meet the Artists: tenor Brandon Michael plays Uncle Eddie in our Kitchen / Wedding / Murder workshop. Always ready for a party, Eddie has racked up some epic adventures in the past with Uncle Dylan and Colton...and just might know some dirt about the groom!

Brandon Michael is recognized in the Pacific north west as a solid operatic tenor and soloist. Brandon recently sang Beethoven’s ninth with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. He performs regularly with local groups like Resonance Ensemble, Ping and Woof Opera, Portland Symphonic Choir, and Bach Cantata Choir. He has sung with many regional opera companies including, Inland Northwest Opera, Opera Fairbanks, Portland Opera in the Park, Orpheus PDX and New Wave Opera where he recently directed the West Coast premiere of Melissa Dunpheys opera, Alice Tierney. He recently sang role debuts as Rodolfo in La Boheme with Cascadia Chamber Opera and The Crooner in The Shinning with Portland Opera as well as the Tenor solos in the Rachmaninov Vespers and the Dvorak Stabat Mater. Brandon has been a regular chorus member with the Portland Opera since 2022. Brandon is also a teacher of voice at Clackamas Community College.

Craving some opera? Get your tickets for Ping & Woof Opera's first Opera Picnic of the Summer: Un Ballo in Maschera! New Wave Opera fans will recognize Amanda Rose Taddeo and Zachary Lenox, who performed with us in Atoms & Artifacts last fall!

Announcing P&W's Summer Season 2026!

Grab your picnic basket and join us at Villa Catalana Cellars for our Opera Picnics of 2026! Bring your own short chair or blanket and wine glass. Wine will be sold by the bottle upon arrival. Tickets are $25 per person. Gates will open one hour prior to the start of each performance. Please note, no food will be available for purchase.

Sunday, July 12th - UN BALLO IN MASCHERA (A Masked Ball)
6:30pm Start - 5:30pm Gates Open

Cast:
Riccardo - Brennen Guillory, tenor
Amelia - Amanda Taddeo, soprano
Renato - Zach Lenox, baritone
Ulrica - Hannah Penn, mezzo-soprano
Oscar - Jocelyn Claire Thomas, soprano
Pianist - Claire Forstman

Sunday, August 30th - DON GIOVANNI
5:30pm Start - 4:30pm Gates Open

Cast:
Don Giovanni - Zach Lenox, baritone
Leporello - Stacey Murdock, baritone
Donna Anna - Kari Courtney, soprano
Don Ottavio - Brandon Michael, tenor
Donna Elvira - Jocelyn Claire Thomas, soprano
Zerlina - Katie Wingo, soprano
Masetto / Commendatore - Deac Guidi, bass
Pianist - Nathalie Fortin

More information and tickets available here - https://villacatalanacellars.com/upcoming-events.html

Meet the Artists: soprano Chelsea Janzen Williams plays Shelby Mae, Stef's cousin who's 9 months pregnant. Who could the father be?

Chelsea Janzen Williams is a northwest-based vocalist and actor, praised for her “effervescent and versatile stage presence”. Chelsea's operatic roles include Pamina in Die Zauberflöte (Aquilon Music Festival), Gianetta in L'elisir d'amore (Opera Bend), and Adele in Die Fledermaus (Cascadia Concert Opera). She is a graduate of Linfield where she studied with Dr. Gwen Leonard and premiered Libby Larsen's Moabit Sonnets. At Arizona State University she soloed in Mozart's Requiem and Gounod's St. Cecilia Mass and appeared as a guest vocalist with Kristin Chenoweth and the Phoenix Symphony. Regional theatrical work includes Theatre 33, The Elsinore Theatre, Enlightened Theatrics, Oregon Contemporary Theatre, Clackamas Repertory Theatre, and Lakewood Theatre. Alongside harpist Leigh Brown, Chelsea frequently collaborates on a concert series for voice & harp. She is a staff singer at Trinity Cathedral and during her spare time enjoys learning guitar and playing through the open worlds of Assassin’s Creed.