Hailed as “a sweetly poisonous, scene-stealing schemer with a sultry sparkle in her voice” by the Boston Globe, Angela Yam returns to Boston Lyric Opera as an Emerging Artist for the 2024-25 season, performing the role of Ismene in Mozart’s Mitridate. Upcoming projects include the world premiere of The Pigeon Keeper by David Hanlon & Stephanie Fleischmann with Opera Parallèle, New Year’s Celebration with Boston Baroque, and a return to the title role of Cavalli’s La Calisto (Opera Memphis).
Recent credits include the title role of Cavalli’s La Calisto (Opera Memphis), Josephine Young understudy in Huang Ruo & David Henry Hwang’s An American Soldier (PAC NYC), Johanna in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd (Chautauqua Opera, Opera Saratoga), and Diana in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride (Boston Baroque), a role for which she was praised by the Boston Globe as “radiant”, as “Yam brought gleaming clarity” and “fitting rococo brilliance” (Boston Classical Review, The Arts Fuse).
World premieres include an “adorable and vocally excellent” Mumei in Kenji Oh’s The Emissary with Opera Parallèle (San Francisco Classical Voice), Siren 1 in Ellis Ludwig-Leone & Karen Russel’s The Night Falls (BalletCollective), Agave (cover) in John Corigliano’s The Lord of Cries (Santa Fe Opera) and the Bird in Jones & Tinley’s ICELAND (Overtone Industries), a role for which she was described as “stellar…a Puccini-esque soprano with incredible highs” (Poison Put to Sound).
Yam’s solo concert appearances include the New York City Ballet (Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Opera Saratoga (Rossini: Petite messe solennelle), and Music at Co-Cath (Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine). As an ensemble singer, Yam has sung with the New York Philharmonic Chorus, Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble, and Nightingale Vocal Ensemble.
Yam was a New York City District Winner in the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and her self-directed Visual Recital was awarded 3rd place in the 2022 American Prize Competition. She composed for and directed Nightingale Vocal Ensemble’s award-winning 2023 choral opera ADRIFT. She has been an Apprentice Artist at Boston Lyric Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, and Opera Saratoga, and received a Graduate Diploma from New England Conservatory.
As a performer and composer, I am inspired by the ways that each art form requires both attention to the history and traditions of a given medium, as well as individual artistic expression in putting a piece together. As a performer, I interpret the music and intention that a composer has scribed into a score; as a composer, I trust the performer(s) to expand upon the intention of a prescribed score. This collaborative process provides a ripe, fertile ground for artistic connection across mediums and between individual artists, in a process that I find builds collaborative connective tissue, fosters artistic community, and expands my understanding of humanity. Because of this, I am most drawn to themes of connection (family, feminist and LGBTQIA+ stories, liberation through self-expression, etc.) and the ways in which that connection is disrupted (generational and cultural differences, climate change, death, loss, etc.). As a composer, I take care in choosing my themes and collaborations to find projects that speak to me as an individual, in which I can expand a narrative of progress and individual/societal healing.
October 25, 2024 | Midway Artist Studios, Boston, MA
Angela Yam performs a semi-improvised piece as a Guest Artist for WaveForms in collaboration with MASARY and Boston Lyric Opera.
“WaveForms returns after its successful inaugural year to present a multimedia art occurrence at Midway Artist Studios in Fort Point Boston. Presented by Museum of Science Boston the event features installation artwork, audio visual performance, spatial sound, experimental animation and video screenings. For one night, Midway Artist Studios will be alight with an array of artwork activations featuring regional artists from Boston and beyond.”
November 10, 2024 | Emerson Colonial Theatre, Boston, MA
Angela Yam joins the Boston Lyric Opera Chorus in Verdi’s Aida.
“In the lands of ancient Egypt, commander Radamès must choose between his love for the Ethiopian princess Aida and his loyalty to his sovereign king. In this specially staged concert, Aida will captivate audiences with its heartrending arias, dramatic duets, and some of the most thrilling choral works ever to be performed.”
November 13, 2024 | The Rockwell, Somerville, MA
Angela Yam’s band DREAMGLOW performs at the Rockwell.
“Join DREAMGLOW for the next chapter of the SLUMBER PARTY tour, featuring dancer Cassie Wang, and production design by artist/sculptor Yolanda He Yang. Enter an ethereal sonic universe of original compositions, reimagined classics, and exploratory improvisations, including songs from DREAMGLOW’s debut EP mélo-fi. Sit back, relax, and bask in a night of dreamy classical lo-fi.”
December 31, 2024 - January 1, 2025 | GBH Calderwood Studio, Boston, MA
Angela Yam returns to Boston Baroque for their New Year’s Celebration, performing as Lieschen in Bach’s Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (Be still, stop chattering), BWV 211, also known as the Coffee Cantata.
“Ring in the New Year with us at our annual celebration of music and new beginnings! Music Director Martin Pearlman leads Boston Baroque in a sparkling program featuring Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins with Christina Day Martinson and Sarah Darling, his Coffee Cantata, Vivaldi’s Recorder Concerto in C major with Aldo Abreu, and much more.”
February 7-9, 2025 | Asia Society Texas Center & Houston Grand Opera, Houston, TX
Angela Yam makes her Texas debut, performing as Rabbit/Horse in a Lunar New Year children's opera, The Big Swim by composer Meilina Tsui and librettist Melisa Tien.
“The Big Swim, a chamber opera celebrating the Lunar New Year, returns for 3 performances at Asia Society Texas on February 7–9. The one-act children's opera is a contemporary retelling of a Chinese fable that explains how the order of the 12 animals in the zodiac calendar was determined by a race across a river held by the Jade Emperor. In this telling by composer Meilina Tsui and librettist Melisa Tien, the audience is the Emperor and the race does not go exactly how the animals expect it to.”
March 7-9, 2025 | Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, San Francisco, CA
Angela Yam returns to Opera Parallèle for the world premiere of David Hanlon and Stephanie Fleischmann’s The Pigeon Keeper, originating the role of Orsia.
“In a seaside village, young Orsia seeks a home for a refugee boy. In her search she finds unexpected compassion through the outcast pigeon keeper. A magical-realism world premiere exploring otherness, belonging, and the meaning of family.”
April 4, 6, 11, 13, 2025 | Emerson Colonial Theatre, Boston, MA
Angela Yam performs the role of Heavenly Friend #1 and covers the role of Carrie Pipperidge in Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel, directed by Anne Bogart.
“Nearly a century after premiering at the Colonial Theatre, Carousel has become one of the most beloved American musicals of all time. In this landmark 80th anniversary production, creative visionary and BLO Artistic Associate Anne Bogart stages a stunning and evocative tribute to this Rodgers & Hammerstein gem. Featuring unforgettable songs like ‘If I Loved You’ and ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone,’ this timeless paean to the power of love and redemption is sure to sweep you off your feet.”
May 21, 23, 2025 | Playhouse on the Square, Memphis, TN
Angela Yam reprises the title role of Cavalli’s La Calisto in this encore performance with Opera Memphis.
“A jewel from the golden age of Venetian opera, this exuberant masterpiece mashes up multiple Roman myths, bending both gender and genre as it romps through eternal battles of love versus lust and responsibility versus desire.”
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