We have four fabulous soloists for the Messiah 2026:
November 20 in Oak Park
November 21 in Wheaton
November 22 in Hinsdale:
Emily Richter – Soprano
Emily Richter is a lyric soprano based in Chicago, IL. Having benefited from growing up all over the world from Zimbabwe to Armenia and living in musical centers such as London and Tokyo, Emily truly has a global perspective on what it means to be an artist. Soprano Emily Richter is a 2024 Grand Finals Winner of The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. She is thrilled to be joining the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago for the 2025/2026 season and Camerata Chicago for its annual production of The Messiah.
Camille Robles – Mezzo-soprano
Camille Robles is a Puerto Rican mezzo-soprano and an emerging young artist. She was recently selected to be part of the Ryan Opera Center Ensemble 2025/26 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, starting in May 2025. In November 2024, she was a Puerto Rico District Winner in the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition, where she was awarded the Culturarte Prize, the Propuesta Clásica Foundation Prize, and the Audience Favorite Prize sponsored by Teatro de la Ópera de Puerto Rico.
Daniel Espinal – Tenor
A second-year Ryan Opera Center member, the Cuban-Dominican tenor from Sarasota received a 2025 Sara Tucker Study Grant and was a national winner of the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. In Lyric’s 2024/25 Season he sang Jacquino/Fidelio (debut) and Curzio/The Marriage of Figaro. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, Espinal continued his studies at Yale University, where he recently received a Master of Musical Arts degree.
Laureano Quant – Baritone
A native of Barranquilla, Colombia, Laureano Quant holds a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music and a Master of Musical Arts degree from Yale University. Highlights of his repertoire include Belcore, The Elixir of Love, Guglielmo, Così fan tutte, Figaro, Saverio Mercadante’s I due Figaro, Maguire, Tobias Picker’s Emmeline, Zurga, The Pearl Fishers, Vittorio and The Boarder, Nino Rota’s I due timidi, Demetrius, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the Captain and Prince Ragotsky, Candide.