International Faculty

Susan Owen-Leinert has found her success in Europe, particularly in the German repertoire. Schooled at the Universities of East Carolina and Austin, Texas, she holds a Master of Music Degree. Currently she is professor of voice at the University of Memphis, TN. After winning the Metropolitan Opera International Auditions and the Opera America Award, she set her sights on Germany, where she found many opportunities to sing such roles as Santuzza, Leonora, Amelia, Tosca, Venus/Elisabeth, Jenufa, Brünnhilde, Isolde, Färberin and Elektra, among others. Ms. Owen has performed major roles in engagements at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Semper Oper Dresden, Staatsoper Berlin Unter den Linden, Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Staatstheater Kassel and Darmstadt, Oper Bonn and others. She has sung with such renowned conductors as Christian Thielemann, Daniel Barenboim, Janos Kulka, Jiri Kout, Marc Albrecht, Stefan Soltesz and Marc Soustrout. Guest engagements took her around the world to Italy, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Austria, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, the Middle East and Cyprus. Complete live recordings of Der Ring des Nibelungen(Brünnhilde) were released on CD by Ars-Production, Germany. The music magazine Orpheus wrote “The American soprano throws herself into the part with power, passion and fire, perfect diction and a knowledge of what she is singing. An ideal Wotanstochter.” Opernwelt: “With a large voice, precise phrasing, great diction and a rare seriousness in penetrating this role, she sings a Brünnhilde like one seldom hears today.” Her concert repertoire includes Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, Vier Letzte Lieder of Richard Strauss, Sieben Frühe Lieder of Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder and Gustav Mahler’s 8th Symphony. Ms.Owen has sung recitals in Europe and the United States with acclaim, recently in Düsseldorf at the renowned Heinrich Heine &Robert Schumann Festival 2006. She was invited by several radio stations, for instance, Radio France - Paris, where she premiered Zygmunt Krauze’s La Terre. Rolf Liebermann, well-known composer and former Intendant of the Hamburgische Staatsoper wrote: “This great international success would not have happened without her beautiful voice and impressive musicality!”

http://www.owen-leinert.com

Michael Leinert studied Music, German Literature and History of the Arts at the Universities of Munich and Detmold. His teachers of Drama and Opera Direction were August Everding, Heinz Arnold and Götz Friedrich. He worked many years as a Dramaturg and stage director for drama and opera at several German theatres, including the State Opera of Hamburg and the State Opera of Munich. From 1988 -1991 he was the Artistic Director and General Manager of the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern and from 1991-1999 he was the Artistic Director and General Manager of the State Theater of Kassel. In autumn 1999 Leinert began his position as Chefdramaturg and Stage Director of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf-Duisburg where he recently directed Ambroise Thomas’ opera HAMLET with great success and international attention. Mr. Leinert has been invited to direct theatre plays and operas in Germany, Italy, Denmark, Russia, The United States and Cyprus. His recent productions of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, Der Fliegende Holländer, Tristan und Isolde and Tannhäuser received international critical acclaim. His extensive Repertoire reaches from the Baroque, through Mozart, Weber, Puccini, Leoncavallo and Verdi to the contemporary 20th Century works of composers such as Ernst Krenek (Orpheus und Eurydike). His productions of theatre plays include Faust by Goethe , Schiller’s Die Jungfrau von Orléans, as well as works of Koljada, Gombrowicz, Racine and Molière.

Mr. Leinert has produced several operas with student casts and taught as a Guest Professor of Opera History, Opera Literature and Drama at the Universities of Bremen, Braunschweig, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Munich.

He has written and directed many Radio Plays, several successful opera libretti and three musical plays for children.  His biography of the German Romantic Composer Carl Maria von Weber is published in the fifth edition by the well-known Rowohlt Verlag (Serie Monografien) and has been translated into Swedish and Chinese.  His Libretto for Bent Lorentzens Opera based on Hermann Hesse's Der Steppenwolf  won a prize in the International Competition for Opera Composition in Prag.

Mark Ensley, Director of Opera Activities and Vocal Coach, has served on the artistic staffs of Des Moines Metro Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Opera Memphis, where he was for four seasons the Associate Conductor and Chorus Master.  Recent conducting credits include the world premiere of John Baur's The Promise (an opera based on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), Albert Herring, Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi for the University Opera; Die Entführung aus dem Serail,Il barbiere di Siviglia and La Traviata for Opera Memphis; and The New Moon for Light Opera Oklahoma.  Mr. Ensley is in his sixth year as a member of the conducting faculty of the International Vocal Arts Institute (Joan Dornemann, Director), Tel Aviv, Israel and Casalmaggiore, Italy, where he has conducted Paisiello’s The Barber of Seville, Don Pasquale, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, and Les contes d’Hoffmann.  An accomplished pianist, he has been heard in solo and chamber music recitals across the United States and Austria, as well as in the concerto repertoire.  Mr. Ensley holds an undergraduate degree in piano performance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduate degrees in piano and vocal coaching/conducting from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.  He is also a magna cum laude graduate of the Franz Schubert Institute in Baden bei Wien, Austria, where he received a diploma in German Art Song Interpretation having studied with Elly Ameling, Walter Berry, Jorg Demus, Hans Hotter and Ernst Haefliger.  Former students of Mr. Ensley have sung at the Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, New York City Opera, Opera Memphis, Nashville Opera and at prominent summer festivals and apprentice programs, including Chautaqua, Sarasota Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Festival di Roma, the International Vocal Arts Institute, and Florida Grand Opera, among others.

Klaus Dieter Jung is Music Director of the Hamburg Chamber Opera, one of the conductors of the Wiener Sängerknaben (with concerts in Germany, Austria, England, Ireland, Netherlands, U.S.A. and Sri Lanka) and an experienced teacher for young singers at the Song Academy of Hamburg. In 2006, he was the Principal Vocal Coach of the Wiener Festwochen (Vienna Festival), where he worked with Peter Sellars on the production of Mozart’s Zaide. Mr. Jung has been conductor and vocal coach at opera houses including the Vienna State Opera (chorus), Erfurt, Plauen and St. Pölten, and has worked with symphony orchestras in Austria, Hungary and China. He is a frequent guest conductor of the Wuhan Symphonic Orchestra. In Bejing and Shanghai he conducted several New Year’s concerts with the Vienna Academic Philharmonic. He is often requested as a member of juries for International Song Competitions. Mr. Jung has conducted an expansive repertoire at several German and Austrian opera houses:  Mozart`s Cosi fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Beethoven's Fidelio, Weber's Der Freischütz, Wagner's Das Liebesverbot, Paisiello's Il barbiere di Siviglia, Lortzing's Zar und Zimmermann, Undine and  operas of Puccini, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi. He is also successful as a conductor of operettas from Franz Lehàr, Emmerich Kalman and Johann Strauß. Klaus Dieter Jung is in demand throughout Europe as a collaborative pianist for Chamber Music and Lieder. Mr. Jung studied piano and conducting at the Hochschule for Music “Franz Liszt” and later at the Hochschule for Music “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin.

Dr. Victor Santiago Asunción, born and raised in the Philippines, is rapidly making his mark in classical music as a pianist of innate musical sensitivity and superb technique. As a recitalist and concerto soloist, he has appeared in major concert halls in several countries including Canada, Japan, Mexico and the Philippines. He played his orchestral debut at the age of 18 with the Manila Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Sergio Esmilla and his New York recital debut in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in 1999. As a piano and harpsichord soloist, he has performed under the direction of Harold Farberman, Corrick Brown, Arthur Weisberg, Zev Dorman, Enrique Batiz, Bobby McFerrin, James Conlon and James Judd. A chamber music enthusiast, Mr. Asuncion has collaborated with artists such as Lynn Harrell, Cho-Liang Lin, James Dunham, Ronald Leonard, Andres Diaz, Susanne Mentzer, the Vega and Emerson String Quartets at venues that include the 92nd St. Y, Benaroya Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Spivey Hall and Shriver Hall. Mr. Asuncion is a regular guest pianist at festivals such as the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and the Garth Newel Chamber Music Festival and is a past member of the chamber music faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He is also resident pianist for the Garth Newel Piano Quartet.  His performances have been broadcast on WQXR in New York and on NPR’s Performance Today. In addition, Mr. Asuncion is on the artist roster of the Piatigorsky Foundation, a non-profit organization that presents concerts across the United States, often in places where people would otherwise not have the opportunity to attend such performances. Mr. Asuncion was appointed Assistant Professor of Piano and Chamber Music at the University of Memphis in 2003, and Coordinator of Piano and Collaborative Arts in 2004.