The First Humans

Eve

German-American soprano, earned a 2025 Opernwelt "Singer of the Year" nomination for her Venus (Tannhäuser) and Avis (The Wreckers). Her recent role debuts at Staatstheater Meiningen include Desdemona, Mimì, and Agathe. In 2026/27 she sings her first Eva (Die Meistersinger), her first Jenůfa, and Chawa in Die ersten Menschen with West Edge Opera.National Classical Singer Competition and the Boston Pops' Fidelity Young Artists Competition.

Adam

Bass, believes opera should give voice to stories too often left untold. He created the Father in Blue and has sung it from Glimmerglass to Lyric Opera of Chicago and Dutch National Opera. He recently made his role debut as Trinity Moses at English National Opera. Offstage, he works in arts administration, bringing an artist's perspective to marketing and audience building.

Cain

Baritone, is a go-to artist for opera's leading edge. He sang the title role in the world premiere of JFK at Fort Worth Opera and narrated Richard Danielpour's GRAMMY-winning The Passion of Yeshua. He was raised in Connecticut by two teachers and is a graduate of the Juilliard Opera Center. He tells his students, "learning is incremental." Offstage, he's a devoted Boston sports fan who lives in the Bay Area with his two children and their dog, Abby.

Abel

Hailed by Myscena for his "restless intelligence and theatrical fluency," tenor; grew up in Sedalia, Missouri, and trained at DePaul University and Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. A winner of the Birgit Nilsson Prize at Operalia, he moves easily from Mozart to Wagner. Recent seasons brought his Salzburg Easter Festival debut as Loge with the Berliner Philharmoniker, and he returns to San Francisco Opera as Loge to launch its new Ring.

Director

sraeli stage director; grew up in the theater and spent more than a decade with the Israeli Opera before starting her U.S. career in 2012. Her productions draw out overlooked perspectives and champion new work, including the world premiere of The Snowy Day at Houston Grand Opera. A dedicated mentor, she teaches young artists at programs such as the Met's Lindemann Program and San Francisco Opera's Merola and Adler programs.

Conductor

West Edge Opera's Music Director since 1986 (Artistic Director 1994–2009), conducting almost 90 of our productions, most recently Wozzeck. A Berkeley native and son of violinist Felix Khuner, he earned a mathematics degree at UC Berkeley before turning to music. For four decades he has been an assistant conductor at the Met, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and San Francisco Opera, and he led Albania's first-ever Wagner opera.

Associate Conductor

Conductor, pianist, and coach; hails from Des Moines, Iowa, where Des Moines Metro Opera remains his home company. A 2020 graduate of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, he has served on the music staff at San Francisco Conservatory since 2022 and also works as a recitalist and arranger. This season he debuts with Seattle Opera (Salome, cover) and Madison Opera, conducting Postcard from Morocco. Last summer he covered three West Edge Opera productions.