May 2, 2025 │ Become a Sponsor
2025 Opera Columbus Gala
Food + Drink + Music + Style
Join us as we celebrate
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Voice Center.
For more information, please contact Jessica Morris, Director of Development.
MEET THE HONOREE
The OSU Wexner Medical Center’s Voice Center is one of the nation’s premier destinations for the diagnosis, treatment, and research of voice and airway disorders. Home to a world-class team of laryngologists, voice scientists, and speech-language pathologists, the Voice Center delivers exceptional, specialized care to a diverse range of patients — from individuals suffering from chronic cough to internationally acclaimed singers and professional voice users. With state-of-the-art technology, groundbreaking research, and a personalized, patient-centered approach, the Voice Center leads the way in advancing vocal health, empowering every patient to perform at their very best.
MEET THE ARTISTS
Starlit Ways is an acoustic duo made of international singer Rose Nkechi and guitarist Chris Glover. Rose has performed the U.S. national anthem at the 2024 U.S. Skating Figure Championships hosted in Columbus OH and the bilingual Canadian national anthem for the 2023 Columbus Crew vs. Toronto game. She recently joined the Columbus Symphony Chorus as a Soprano II and participated in the Symphony’s Bravo series: Mozart’s Mass in C minor, a two-day concert held at the Ohio Theater in the spring of 2024. Her truly gifted vocals and stylish story-telling in multiple languages such as French, Spanish, and Italian (to name a few) delivered with great flair, embarks listeners on a delightful journey of her love and passion for music. Chris is an excellent self-taught acoustic and electric guitarist who also adds remarkable vocal backup and leads of his own. His detailed attention to the mood of a song and remarkable accompanying skills, along with his clean and colorful finger style truly unveil his passion for music. Together they are a dynamic duo performing an eclectic repertoire varying from Jazz classics, Waltz, Broadway, modern tunes and even country. They have been featured as part of ABC 6’s Good Day Columbus and have performed at renowned venues such as Natalie’s Grandview, the Lincoln theater, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Sosnick Courtyard as headliners for the Poetry & Music: A Starlit Night event, and at events such as the Columbus Arts Festival, Westerville Arts Festival and many more.
Starlit Ways
Hailing from Columbus, Ohio, Hannah Marie Bullock is an exciting artist making her footprint in the opera world. This season (2024-2025), Ms. Bullock makes three exciting debuts: Lucy Brown in The Threepenny Opera (Opera Columbus), Rosalia in West Side Story (Opera Columbus), and a Featured Artist position with the Havana Biennial festival. The 2023-2024 season brought Ms. Bullock’s debuts as Second Lady in The Magic Flute (Opera Columbus) and the Soprano Soloist in Faure’s Requiem. She also reprised the role of Micaela in Opera Columbus’ new production of Carmen. During this season, Ms. Bullock was also a finalist in the James Toland Foundation Elizabeth Greenfield Award Competition. In the 2022-2023 season, Ms. Bullock made her debut performance of Micaela (Carmen) in a co-production between Camerata Bardi and Teatro Grattacielo in Heraklion, Crete. She also performed the role of Countess Ceprano in Opera Columbus’ Rigoletto.
Hannah Bullock
Mezzo-soprano Hilary Ginther has been equally hailed as a bravura artist in classical grand opera and contemporary works. Opera Now Magazine profiled her as one of ten young American singers intent on taking the opera world by storm, calling attention both to her “terrific stage presence” and “substantial and richly colored instrument”. Ms. Ginther’s Philadelphia Orchestra debut as a featured soloist in the orchestra’s first-ever performances of Bernstein’s MASS under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin has been recorded by Deutsche Grammophon and was internationally released in commemoration of the composer’s centenary.
Hilary Ginther
Pianist Edward Bak enjoys an active career as a vocal coach and collaborative pianist. The international press has hailed him as “a pianist who knows how to combine fury and restraint, elegance and lyrical effusion” and praised him for playing of “fire, excitement, and a real sense of grandeur,” as well as being a collaborator of “great sensitivity and refinement.” He served as assistant musical staff to Seiji Ozawa at the Tanglewood Music Center and has performed in concert with such leading artists as Carol Wincenc, Richard Stoltzman, Vitya Vronsky, Anthony Dean Griffey, and Giuseppe Filianoti. He has been chosen as recital partner by artists from The Cleveland Orchestra, The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, The Montreal Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, among others. Bak has performed in such venues as the Festival Lanaudière, Severance Hall, The Phillips Collection, Kolarac Hall, The Monnaie, and the National Recital Hall in Taipei. Bak’s involvement with the opera has included appointments as coach/accompanist with The Cleveland Lyric Opera, Dayton Opera, Opera Columbus, and the Nevada Opera. He was music director for the Wendy Taucher Dance Opera Theater for performances in Boston, Martha’s Vineyard, and Key West. He served as Artistic Administrator for Opera Project Columbus for whom he initiated the VIVA online opera academy and the video series celebrating works by African-American composers, “I, too, sing America.” Outside of the USA Bak was appointed principal coach for a production at the National Theater in Taipei, and he lectured and presented a master class at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Edward has worked with the Martina Arroyo Foundation in New York City, The American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria and The Sankt Goar International Music Festival Academy in Germany, as well as the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices. Bak is currently a professor at The Ohio State University School of Music. Previous teaching appointments include the Longy School, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and The Peabody Institute.
Ed Bak
NO ONE DOES GALAS LIKE OPERA COLUMBUS!
