Sunwoo Park, Norman Espinoza, Lindsay Patterson, with Chrisman Studio Artist Director, Tim Accurso
Chrisman Studio Artist Program
Named in recognition of the support of Sarah and Roger Chrisman, the Chrisman Studio Artist Program has now refocused to employ California based artists for 360º training opportunities both on stage and off.
Information about our new Chrisman Studio Artist Program:
- PROGRAM EXPANSION AND REGIONAL FOCUS: Beginning with the 2021-22 season Opera Santa Barbara will shift from our traditional, seasonal 4 artists-in-residence program, to a new model that aims at providing training and performance opportunities to a larger and more diverse group of promising young artists based in California.
Artists will be selected based on their career potential in performance and other areas of the performing arts industry. - TRAINING ON-STAGE AND OFF: Our studio artists will have free access to year-round training with top industry professionals. Training opportunities may include voice lessons, vocal coachings, dramatic coaching, movement, masterclasses, and more. In addition to performance training, Chrisman Studio Artists will receive training and hands-on experience in all aspects of performing arts administration and production, according to their individual interests and skills. The overall goal of the Opera Santa Barbara Chrisman Studio is to better prepare artists for an industry that increasingly requires them to be enterprising individuals as well as performing at a high level.
- SHORT-TERM RESIDENCIES & CONTRACTS: Along with the free training opportunities, Chrisman Studio Artists will be offered short performance contracts for assignments customized to each artist’s strengths and skill level. These opportunities may include community concerts, mainstage roles, cover assignments, educational programming, digital content creation, and more. By focusing on California artists, scheduling training opportunities on weekends, and offering intermittent, short residency contracts, it is our hope to make participation possible for young artists who may need to stay close to home and make a living from multiple sources.
For consideration in our Studio Program, please submit all inquiries and materials through our designated Google Form.
If you have any questions or problems with the form please email [email protected].
2022|2023 Chrisman Studio Artists
Ariana Sutherland Horner
Kyle Rudolf
Adrien Roberts
Timothy Accurso joined the Opera Santa Barbara team as Principal Pianist in September 2018. Tim has been on music staff with Utah Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Opera Las Vegas, Opera Saratoga, and the Seagle Music Colony. Originally from Glen Lyon, Pennsylvania, he completed his undergraduate studies at Susquehanna University in Vocal and Piano Performance. To further his studies in opera, Tim received a Master’s of Music in Vocal Coaching and Accompanying from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he studied with Dr. Julie Jordan Gunn. Following his studies, Tim was a resident artist with Utah Opera from 2015-2017. In his work with Opera Santa Barbara, he plays all mainstage rehearsals, serves as chorus master of the Opera Santa Barbara chorus, directs the Chrisman Studio Artist program for emerging singers, and performs in community concerts throughout Santa Barbara and the central coast. In addition to his work at Opera Santa Barbara, Tim was named the Artistic Director of the Santa Barbara Gay Men’s Chorus in the fall of 2022. When not performing or practicing, Tim enjoys exploring the food and wine scene here in beautiful Santa Barbara!
In a career that has spanned three decades, Stage Director, Mezzo-Soprano, and Voice Teacher, Layna Chianakas has portrayed over 50 leading opera roles across the United States, including over 80 performances of Carmen. Most recently, she was heard with Intermountain Opera, in the role Mme. Larina in Eugene Onegin and with Livermore Valley Opera as Filipyevna in Eugene Onegin. She returns to both companies this spring as Emilia in Verdi’s Otello, and Marcellina in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. 
Soprano Brooklyn Snow is a rising international artist with extensive performance experience in Europe, Asia and the United States. Snow discovered her love for music while living with her family in Hong Kong as a young girl, where she joined the choir to connect with the people and culture. Her interest in vocal performance continued to develop and upon moving to Amsterdam, she started formal voice lessons at the age of ten. Mrs. Snow credits her formative years spent abroad, and her exposure to multiple cultures, people, languages and ideologies, as the source of her deep appreciation for the arts, and for their power to both define and transcend individual cultures. She found this true of music in particular, and upon returning to the States, her relationship with music quickly developed from a deep appreciation into a true calling. Having discovered music as a source of belonging in unfamiliar places as a child, Mrs. Snow hopes to bring the world’s greatest music to places around the world with little or no access to classical music or operatic performances, sharing her joy in performing and perhaps inspiring a love for music in another young girl who may be listening.
A native of Duluth, Minnesota, French-born, Greek-American mezzo-soprano Georgia Jacobson’s recent engagements in 2022 include covering the role Virginia Woolf in the world premiere/concert version of The Hours by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Gregory Pierce at the The Philadelphia Orchestra, covering the role of Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Des Moines Metro Opera, as well as her debut as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaroat the University of Cincinnati- CCM. In March 2022, Jacobson returned home to Minnesota to premiere two song cycles, both commissioned for her by The Schubert Club and composed by Carol Barnett (Young/Old Witches, Bat) and Linda Kachelmeier (Lake Superior Songs). Jacobson looks forward to returning to the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra in May 2023 as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, as well as debuts with Kentucky Opera as Tisbe in La Cenerentola and Maggie in The Gift of the Magi, and Opera Santa Barbara as Lucilla (cover) in La scala di seta,Margaret/Signora N in The Light in the Piazza, and Waltraute in Die Walküre. In previous seasons, she covered Mary Johnson (Fellow Travelers) as an Apprentice Artist at Des Moines Metro Opera (2021), and premiered the role of Sage (Everything Comes to A Head) with Lyric Opera of the North (2021). In January of 2021, Jacobson was a Metropolitan National Council Encouragement Award winner in the South Carolina district. Additionally, Ms. Jacobson won 1st Place in the National Opera Association’s 2020 Carolyn Bailey and Dominick Argento Vocal Competition. Jacobson has a special affinity for French repertoire, and she was proud to make her professional debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in their production of Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges as Maman/Tasse/La libellule under the baton of Maestro Louis Langrée. A consummate musician and lover of new music, she workshopped the roles of Virginia Woolf (The Hours), Ruth (Awakenings) and Vesta (Fierce) with Opera Fusion: New Works and Cincinnati Opera. Her other recent roles include Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflote) and Endimione (La Calisto) with CCM Opera. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance from University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and Master’s of Music (Voice) from University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music, where she has recently received an Artist Diploma (Opera Performance).
A native of Port Washington, New York, Tenor Matthew Greenblatt is thrilled to be joining Opera Santa Barbara this season as a Chrisman Studio Artist. For the 2020/2021 season he will be singing the role of Gastone in La Traviata, study-covering the role of Alfredo, study-covering the role of Tonio in La fille du régiment, and participating in OSB’s studio artist concerts. Most recently, Mr. Greenblatt was a featured Tenor soloist in Eugene Opera’s New Year’s Eve Virtual Gala Concert. Following OSB’s season, in the summer of 2021, Mr. Greenblatt will be covering the role of Nemorino with The Southern Illinois Music Festival. He will also be the Tenor Soloist in an outdoor concert series with the New Philharmonic Orchestra in Illinois, along with his wife Brooklyn Snow. Earlier in the 2020 season, Matthew returned to DuPage Opera, playing the role of St. Brioche in the Merry Widow. He also recently made his role debut as the Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues of the Carmelites with Saltworks Opera. In the 2018-19 season, Mr. Greenblatt returned to Palm Beach Opera for his second year as an Apprentice Artist, covering the roles of Candide in Candide, and Spoletta in Tosca. Additionally, in the 2017-18 season, Mr. Greenblatt was selected as a finalist in the New York International Vocal Competition, and Semi-finalist in the Opera Index Competition.