Masterworks: La Bohème
Program
La Bohème is one of the most beloved operas ever written—intimate, emotional, and filled with music that feels instantly familiar.
Set in Paris, the story follows a group of young artists struggling to make ends meet while chasing love, friendship, and their dreams. At the center is the romance between Rodolfo, a poet, and Mimì, a seamstress—told through some of the most moving music in opera.
This isn’t a fully staged opera with sets and elaborate production—but it’s far from a standard concert.
- Live vocalists perform each role – bringing the characters and story to life in real time
- Minimal staging and direction – just enough movement and interaction to follow the drama
- Full orchestra on stage – the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra performs Puccini’s complete score
Cast
Lydia Katarina
Mimi
Jasmine Habersham
Musetta
Daniel O’Hearn
Rodolfo
Reginald Smith, Jr.
Marcello
Eleomar Cuello
Schaunard
Wei Wu
Colline
Paul Houghtaling
Benoit/Alcindoro
Lydia Katarina
Soprano
A native of Tijeras, New Mexico, soprano Lydia Katarina is a graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia, and was a 2024 Grand Finals Winner of The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.
Praised for her “high-octane emotionalism”, Ms. Katarina begins the 2025-2026 season with her European, house and role debut as Léonore in Le trouvère at Wexford Festival Opera. She makes role debuts as Micaëla in Carmen (San Diego Opera, house debut) and Violetta in La traviata (Utah Opera), and adds the role of Roxana in a new production of Szymanowski’s masterpiece King Roger at Des Moines Metro Opera (house debut). On the concert stage, she joins the Columbus Symphony for Mozart’s Requiem.
The 2024-2025 season included three role and company debuts: Palm Beach Opera (Juliette in Roméo et Juliette), Utah Opera (Nedda in Pagliacci), and The Glimmerglass Festival (Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress). Elsewhere, the soprano bowed as a soloist with the Sag Harbor Song Festival, and made her role debut as Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust at AVA. During the 2023-24 season, Lydia made house debuts with Arizona Opera as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and Opera Columbus as Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, spending the summer at the prestigious Merola Opera Program, returning to the role of Donna Anna. Earlier that season, Lydia Katarina sang the title role in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena at AVA, and was invited to perform popular opera selections alongside featured guest star Michael Fabiano in a concert with Opera Italiana is in the Air at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. She was a 2023 Apprentice Artist at the Santa Fe Opera, where she made her company debut as the Second Wood Sprite, in addition to covering the title role, in Dvořák’s Rusalka.
Lydia has been recently recognized as a winner in several prestigious competions, including the Opera Index Awards, The Loren L. Zachary Society Competition, the Gerda Lissner Foundation Competition, as well as winning the top prize in AVA’s Giargiari Bel Canto Competition. Lydia holds a B.M. in Vocal Performance from the University of New Mexico.
Jasime Habersham
Soprano
American soprano Jasmine Habersham is a versatile and dynamic performing artist whose voice has been hailed as “exquisite” by Broadway World and possessing a “well-controlled, silvery tone [with] an alluring presence” by Opera Today. In the 2025-2026 season, Ms. Habersham is pleased to return to Lyric Opera of Chicago for Carmina Burana under the baton of Mo. Enrique Mazzola, following her Chicago début as Ashley in Mazzoli/Vavrek’s The Listeners, dubbed a “standout performance” by Chicago’s Splash Magazine. Also this season, she débuts as Musetta at Austin Opera, returns to Dallas Symphony for their wildly popular Holiday Pops program, returns to Rochester Philharmonic for Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, débuts with Phoenix Symphony as featured soloist in their Holiday Pops program, and gives recitals at the Warner-Robbins Community Concert Association, Fabian Concert Series, and Macon Concert Association.
Ms. Habersham’s 2024-2025 season saw her return to Minnesota Opera as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, which is quickly becoming one of her signature roles. With Chicago Opera Theatre, she originated the lead role of Claudette Colvin in the world premiere of Barnes/Mouton’s She Who Dared to unanimous acclaim. Additionally, she shone as Adina in L’elisir d’amore with Florida Grand Opera, and made several débuts on the concert stage with the Kansas City Symphony, Savannah Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, and Charleston Opera Theatre.
Daniel O’Hearn
Tenor
Hailed by onStage Pittsburgh for his “pure and true, distinctly timbered tenor voice,” Daniel O’Hearn is one of the most exciting lyric talents for the next generation in opera and concert. During the 2025-26 season, Mr. O’Hearn will return to both Pittsburgh Opera to sing Rodolfo in La bohème with the collaborative team conductor Antony Walker and stage director Kristine McIntyre as well as Utah Opera to perform Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore with Steven White on the podium and direction by Daniel Ellis. He makes his Seattle Opera debut singing Remendado in Carmen under the baton of Ludovic Morlot with stage direction and choreography by Paul Curran. He returns to Wolf Trap Opera to sing Lensky in Eugene Onegin with Steven White once again at the helm and Emma Griffin directing. Last season, he made his role and house debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin singing Matteo in Arabella led by Sir Donald Runnicles and directed by Tobias Kratzer; returned to The Metropolitan Opera to sing Ruiz in Il Trovatore where conductor Daniele Callegari led David McVicar’s Goya-inspired staging and The Master of Ceremonies in The Queen of Spades with Keri-Lynn Wilson on the podium for the Elijah Moshinsky production; performed the role of Don José in Carmen at Wolf Trap Opera under the direction of John de los Santos and conducted by José Luis Gómez; and joined the Lyric Opera of Chicago roster to cover the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto with Music Director Enrique Mazzola at the helm.
Mr. O’Hearn has collaborated in the past with several leading opera companies including The Metropolitan Opera: The First Armored Guard (in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons) in The Magic Flute and Benvolio cover in Roméo et Juliette; The Santa Fe Opera: Pastore I cover in L’orfeo, Tom Snout cover in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Shepherd/The Sailor cover in Tristan und Isolde, and The Peasant cover in Eugene Onegin; Pittsburgh Opera: Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer, Don Basilio/Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro, Ruiz in Il trovatore, and Lurcanio in Ariodante; Utah Opera: Bill in Flight, Spoletta in Tosca, Mr. Grey in Gentleman’s Island, and Count Almaviva cover in Il barbiere di Siviglia; Washington Concert Opera: Lord Cecil in Roberto Devereux; and Vashon Opera: Roméo in Roméo et Juliette and The Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto. He has worked with conductors Yannick Nézet-Séguin, James Gaffigan, Harry Bicket, Nicholas Carter, Antony Walker, Gary Thor Wedow, Gareth Morrell, Duncan Ward, James Lowe, as well as stage directors Yuval Sharon, Zack Winokur, Kristine McIntyre, Alessandro Talevi, Netia Jones, Sam Helfrich, Stephanie Havey, Daniel Rigazzi, and Crystal Manich. Mr. O’Hearn has also appeared in scenes program performances as: Rodolfo from La bohème, and Edgardo from Lucia di Lammermoor with The Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera; Faust from Faust, Rodolfo from La bohème, Alfred from Die Fledermaus, Remendado from Carmen, and Marcellus from Hamlet with The Santa Fe Opera.
Performances in classical concert works include the tenor soloist cover for Orchestrating Maestro: Music and Conversation, a concert performed by the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin which featured music from Bradley Cooper’s Academy Award nominated film Maestro; a recital featuring Britten’s On This Island, Op. 11 and excerpts from Wolf’‘s Italienisches Liederbuch and Mörike-Lieder with pianist Bin Yu Sanford and The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at Lincoln Center’s Bruno Walter Auditorium; Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and Handel’s Messiah with The Utah Symphony under the direction of Maestro Thierry Fischer; Bach’s Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 with The Choir of the Madeleine; Vivaldi’s Magnificat, RV 610 and Martini’s Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina with MidAmerica Productions at Carnegie Hall.
In June of 2024, Mr. O’Hearn won the 2nd place prize at the 42nd International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition Finals Concert held in Jūrmala, Latvia. He has also competed in other singing competitions, winning a Metropolitan Opera National Council 2021-2022 Grand Finalist prize. He was also the winner of the 2019 American Prize from the American Prize Oratorio Society of Chicago and placed first in the 2019 Kleinman Competition.
Mr. O’Hearn graduated with a Master of Music in vocal performance and a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition and Theory from DePaul University’s School of Music in Chicago, Illinois. He is an alumni of The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.
Reginald Smith, Jr.
Baritone
GRAMMY® and Emmy Award-winning baritone Reginald Smith, Jr. is a “passionate performer” (The New York Times) with a voice that is “electric [and] hall-filling” (The Baltimore Sun), praised as “one of the most exciting baritone sounds to come along in years” (Opera News).
Smith’s 2026-2027 season features his Canadian Opera Company debut as Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata and his Anchorage Opera debut in the title role of Verdi’s Macbeth. He returns to The Phoenix Symphony for his celebrated annual holiday performances, before debuting with the Montgomery Symphony as Marcello in Puccini’s La Bohème and the Waco Symphony as bass soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. In the spring, Smith makes his company and role debut as Jochanaan in Richard Strauss’s Salome with Kentucky Opera, and closes the season with his Concertgebouw debut in Amsterdam as Older Emile in Terence Blanchard’s Champion.
In recent seasons, Smith made debuts with Carnegie Hall, Seattle Opera, Minnesota Opera, and Oakland Symphony. He also took part in a United in Song concert with the American Pops Orchestra, televised nationally on PBS, and performed in recitals at Mercer University and the Richard Tucker Music Foundation’s annual gala. Throughout his operatic career, Smith has performed with leading companies worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, where he won a 2021 GRAMMY® Award for Best Opera Recording for his house debut in 2019, as well as the Dallas Opera and Opera Hong Kong.
Born in Atlanta, Smith is a Grand Finals winner of the 2015 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a graduate of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, among many other accolades. Learn more at www.reginaldsmithjr.com.
Eleomar Cuello
Baritone
Cuban baritone Eleomar Cuello, whom the San Francisco Chronicle lauded, “gave a performance of such musical eloquence and theatrical bravura that the audience couldn’t quite believe what we were witnessing” is a recent graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera. In the 2026-2027 season, Mr. Cuello will return to Teatro Municipal de Santiago as Escamillo in Carmen, join Opera Orlando as Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore, Piedmont Opera as the title role in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Montgomery Opera as Schaunard in La bohème and the cover of Sonora in La fanciulla del West at the Metropolitan Opera. He will also present a solo recital under the auspices of Rockefeller University. Future appearances include leading role debuts at the Metropolitan Opera and Santa Fe Opera.
In the 2025-2026 season, Eleomar Cuello returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Dancaïre in Carmen, and made several debuts, including the title role in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Knoxville Opera, Silvio in I Pagliacci with San Diego Opera, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet with Opera Theatre of St. Louis. In concert, he made debuts with the LA Philharmonic for Estevez’ Cantata Criolla with Gustavo Dudamel, Duruflé’s Requiem with Charlotte Symphony, and Brahms’ Requiem with the Lubbock Symphony. In the 2024-2025 season at the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Cuello performed Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and the Bullfighter in Ainadamar. Outside of New York, he sang Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with the Teatro Municipal de Santiago, a role debut, Silvio in I Pagliacci with Utah Opera and Schaunard in La bohéme with Opera Maine. Notable debuts of recent seasons include the title role in Don Giovanni with Staatstheater Stuttgart and Vero Beach Opera, Silvio with Florida Grand Opera, and covers of Périchaud in La rondine and Dancaïre in Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera.
A resident of Chile from 2015 to 2020, Mr. Cuello performed at the prestigious Teatro Municipal de Santiago as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Valentin in Faust, Haly in L’italiana in Algeri, Schaunard in La Bohème, and Marques D’Obigny and Baron Douphol in La traviata. Elsewhere in Chile, he sang the title role of Don Giovanni, Mamma Agatha in Donizetti’s Le convenenze e inconvenenze teatrali, Escamillo in Carmen, Schaunard, Silvio, and Apollo. After immigrating to Florida in 2021, Eleomar made his US debut as Belcore in L’elisir d ‘amore with the Gulf Coast Symphony, Dulcamara in L’elisir d ‘amore with Vero Beach Opera, Angelotti in Tosca, Gregorio in Romeo et Juliette, and Morales in Carmen with Opera Naples, and Marco in both Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Michael Ching’s sequel Buoso’s Ghost in a double-bill with Florida Grand Opera. Finally, in 2020, Mr. Cuello appeared in the new production of Roig’s Cecilia Valdés at Teatro de la Zarzuela and later returned as Don Diego in Moreno’s Don Gil de Alcalá in 2022.
Based in New York City and a native of Havana, Cuba, Eleomar Cuello was a participant in the grand finals of the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont as well as a member of the 2023 Merola Opera program with San Francisco Opera. A graduate of the Academy of the National Lyric Theatre of Cuba, Eleomar began his career while still a teenager with that company, performing at the Grand Theater of Havana and the National Theater of Cuba, singing as a soloist in operas and zarzuelas such as Die Zauberflöte and Don Giovanni, La Traviata, La bohème, and Madama Butterfly, La serva padrona, Cecilia Valdés, La verbena de la Paloma, La corte de Faraón, and Las leandras.
Wei Wu
Bass
Grammy Award-winning bass Wei Wu trained at Washington National Opera’s Cafritz Young Artist Program, the People’s University of China, Beijing, and the University of Colorado at Boulder, who recently presented him with the Kalpana Chawla Outstanding Recent Graduate Award.
The 2026-2027 season features a return to a signature role for Mr. Wu, Kōbun in The Revolution of Steve Jobs, in his debut with the Finnish National Opera, and a return to Utah Opera. He also debuts the role of Sam in Un ballo in Maschera with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, and essays Colline in La bohème with the Montgomery Symphony. Future seasons include his return to the roster of The Metropolitan Opera.
The previous season featured a mix of debut and return engagements for Wei Wu. He made his Boston Symphony Orchestra debut in Vanessa as the Major Domo/Footman under the baton of Andris Nelsons; returned to the role of Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte with Opera San Antonio, and joined San Francisco Opera again for its highly successful Monkey King, covering Lord Laozi.
The 2024-2025 season included exciting returns for Mr. Wu, as he began the season with Los Angeles Opera, singing both Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette and The Bonze in Madama Butterfly. He then bowed with Austin Opera for Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, debuted with the Shanghai Symphony as Sparafucile in Rigoletto, and brought his celebrated portrayal of Kōbun in The Revolution of Steve Jobs to Washington National Opera. Mr. Wu closed the season with the North Carolina Symphony, singing performances of Mozart’s Requiem, and with Bard Summerscape, bowing as Benes in Dalibor.
Mr. Wu has made several notable house debuts in recent seasons, as Zuniga in a new production of Bizet’s Carmen with The Metropolitan Opera, as Kōbun with San Francisco Opera, and as Angelotti in Tosca with the Los Angeles Opera. Other recent engagements include: Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette at Central City Opera; Sparafucile in Rigoletto with Opera Philadelphia; Hunding in Act 1 of Die Walküre with New Orleans Opera; Marv Carson in A Thousand Acres (world premiere) and Snug the Joiner in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, both for Des Moines Metro Opera; Bard Summerscape as Benes in Dalibor and Mathisen in Meyerbeer’s Le prophète; and performances of Kōbun with Calgary Opera, Utah Opera, Austin Operaand Lyric Opera of Kansas City.
Mr. Wu created the role of Kōbun Chino Otogawa in the world premiere performances of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at Santa Fe Opera, and appears on the live cast recording, which was released by Pentatoneand won Best Opera Recording at the 2019 Grammy Awards. His notable operatic engagements include Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Don Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Colline (La bohème) and Lodovico (Otello) with Washington National Opera; Arnold “Chick” Gandil in the world premiere of Joel Puckett’s The Fix with Minnesota Opera; the Four Villains (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Don Basilio and the Old Hebrew (Samson et Dalila) at the NCPA Beijing, Timur (Turandot) and Father Trulove (The Rake’s Progress) with Pittsburgh Opera, the Nephew in Blood Moon with the PROTOTYPE Festival, and Phanuel (Hérodiade) as well as the Ghost of Nino (Semiramide) with Washington Concert Opera.
On the symphonic stage, he has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphonyas Rocco in Fidelio, conducted by Manfred Honeck, the Kansas City Symphony, for Mozart’s Requiem led by Michael Stern, and has sung Verdi’s Requiem with The Orchestra Now and the West Virginia Symphony.