Featuring winners of the 2025 Metropolitan Opera Laffont New England Regional Competition!
Performances By:
Josie Larsen, Soprano
Ricky Lee Owens, Jr., Countertenor
Joel Clemens, Baritone
Douglas Sumi, Piano
Join us in-person or on livestream!
About the Performers
Baritone, Joel Clemens, is from Ashburn, Virginia. He is a 2020 BM graduate of James Madison University and as the Miles A. Fish Scholar, he received his MM in 2022 from Boston Conservatory at Berklee. In 2023, he made his debut at Symphony Hall as the baritone soloist in the Holiday Pops, conducted by Keith Lockhart. He has also sung roles with Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Youth Symphony, Boston Opera Collaborative, Boston Conservatory singing in Marriage of Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte, Faust, La Clemenza di Tito, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Dead Man Walking,As One. Recently he was featured as Manfred in Jake Heggie’s For a Look or a Touch with West End Lyric . After completing a year with Chautauqua Opera Company’s Opera in the Schools program, in September 2024, he returned to Boston to premiere Is this America written by Mary Watkins for White Snake Projects. In January 2025, he was selected as Second Place Winner in the New England MetLaffont Competition. This summer he will be a Studio Artist at Chautauqua Opera Company.
Soprano Josie Larson, is from Sammanish, Washington. A 2021 BA graduate from Brigham Young University, she is a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship from New England Conservatory 2023-2025, earning a 2023 MM and Artist Diploma in May 2025. A student of Bradley Wiliams at NEC, she sang Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Mimi in La Boheme, Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte. In summer of 2024, she was at Aspen Music Festival singing in Cosi Fan Tutte (Fiordiligi) Die Zauberflote (First Lady)Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira). This spring she will be singing Brahms German Requiem with NEC Philharmonia and Symphonic choir with maestro Hugo Wolff and singing “From Jewish Folk Poetry” as part of BSO’s Decoding Shostakovich series. In January, she was the 2025 New England, MetLaffont Competition Third Place award winner. This Summer 2025, she will be Lehrer Fellow at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California.
Counter tenor Ricky Lee Owens, jr. is from Dallas, Texas. A 2022 BM graduate of Prairie View University, a 2024 MM graduate from Carnegie Mellon University, he is currently enrolled at New England Conservatory, studying with Bradley Williams, pursuing a GD in vocal performance, May 2026. Since 2019, he has sung roles in Baroque, classical, modern operas as well as art songs by Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart, Britten. In Pittsburgh, he curated and performed a concert in collaboration with Pittsburgh Festival Opera. In January 2025, he was a Finalist in the NewEngland MetLaffont competition.
Host and pianist Douglas Sumi is a frequent collaborator with many of today’s artists and opera theaters. Having been engaged by LA Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Wolf Trap Opera, among many other theaters, he has collaborated with renowned artists such as Renee Fleming, Placido Domingo, Itzhak Perlman. Currently, he is on the faculty at Boston University School of Music, teaching courses in song literature, lyric diction and opera for pianists. www.douglassumi.com
The Chamber Series is sponsored by Saul B. and Naomi R. Cohen Foundation
THE SAUL B. AND NAOMI R. COHEN FOUNDATION
Founded in 1997, the Foundation supports and promotes the fine and performing arts. It awards grants to promising young artists and especially gifted performing musicians to enable them to further their artistic pursuits. The Foundation also assists in the development of the musical careers of classical artists with assistance in arranging performance engagements, counseling in career strategy, guidance in the selection of live and recorded performances and help in day-to-day living matters.
To receive email communications about the Chamber Concert series, please contact sbc87home@gmail.com.
