Samson Performers

William G. Ludtke has been a member of the staff and faculties of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Illinois, Marin Opera, Cinnabar Theater in Petaluma, CA and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. While living in Chicago, Bill formed his own grass roots opera company which performed over 50 operas covering repertoire from Mozart to Hindemith during the company’s existence. He is currently musical and artistic director of the Handel Opera Project in Berkeley, California and music director and organist at the First Church of Christ, Scientist, also in Berkeley, California. His compositions have received broad public and critical acclaim in performances by many Bay Area musical organizations including the Oakland East Bay Symphony, the San Jose Symphony, the Diablo Symphony, the Oakland Civic Orchestra and such choral organizations as the San Francisco Chorale Artists, San Francisco Chamber Singers, Piedmont Children’s Choirs and the Cantabile Choral Guild. His Symphony No. 3, which received a Mu Phi Epsilon award, was premiered by the Oakland East Bay Symphony and received a subsequent performance by the Cascade Symphony in Seattle, Washington. His works have also been performed throughout America and in Europe (Austria, France, Germany and England) and have been aired on the local radio stations KDFC, KQED, KKHI and most recently on KUSF. He has received awards from The American Composers Forum, the Meet the Composer Program, the American Guild of Organists, ASCAP, Mu Phi Epsilon, the American Music Center in New York City, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Irvine Foundation, San Francisco Art Commissions, the City of Oakland Cultural Funding Program and the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University.

Gabriel Liboiron-Cohen is a recent graduate with a Master’s degree in Operatic Studies from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and studies with the venerable Cesar Ulloa. Recent performances have taken him to Notre Dame de Paris, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica of the Vatican. Having performed locally for years, Gabriel has taken part in many choirs including the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, and has performed as a soloist with the Belcanto Choir, The CSU East Bay Choirs, and the Pacific Choir. He is the recipient of several awards including the Thelma Dry, Opera in the Schools award at the Holt Scholarship Competition, and was a finalist in the Dorothy Van Waynen Competition. He lives in Oakland where he continues his studies, and plans to audition for Young Artist Programs next year. His influences include, but are not limited to Pavarotti, Wunderlich, Vickers, and Kaufmann.

Daphne Touchais was born in Greece and from a very early age begun studying music. At the age of fifteen she moved to France and studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris (CNR). A prize-winner in the 2004 Macon Voice Competition , she was awarded the 1st Prize in the International Baroque Competition of Chimay, 2005 (Belgium) presided by William Christie. Daphne’s career led her all over Europe: from the Netherlands, where she made her debut as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte under Ton Koopman and Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the Concertgebouw, to Germany (Cupidon in Offenbach’s Orphée aux Enfers in Köln), Ireland (title role in Donizetti’s Rita and 1st Nymph in Rusalka at Wexford Festival), the UK (recording of Ariane et Barbe-Bleue by Dukas with the BBC Orchestra), Belgium (Iphis in Haendel’s Jeptha) and Switzerland (Zdenka in Arabella in St Gallen). In France she has sung at the Châtelet (Mrs Segstrom in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music), at the Opéra Comique (Isabelle in Grétry’s L’Amant Jaloux and Fiorella in Les Brigands by Offenbach), at the Cité de la Musique (Eurydice in Orpheus by Telemann), in Lyon (La Musica in Monteverdi’s Orfeo), in Toulouse (Tebaldo in Don Carlo), in Bordeaux (Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera, Valetto in L’Incoronazione di Poppea , Celia in Lucio Silla, Agnès in Die Schule der Frauen by R. Liebermann), in Ambronay Festival (Charite in Cadmus et Hermione by Lully), in Sully Festival (Mrs Silberklang in Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor, Tonina in Salieri’s Prima la Musica poi le Parole), and has worked with conductors such as Ton Koopman, David Stern, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Jérémie Rohrer, Christophe Rousset, Paolo Olmi and François Xavier Roth, in addition to our esteemed director of the Handel Opera Project, William G. Ludtke.

Wayne Wong last appeared with the Handel Opera Project as Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas. Other engagements include Berkeley (West Edge) Opera, Opera Parallele, Festival Opera, Island City Opera, Lamplighters, SF Playhouse, Shotgun Players and Teatro Bocchino. Roles include Don Alfonso (Cosi fan tutte), Benoit and Alcindoro (La boheme), Frank and Frosch (Die Fledermaus), Angelotti, Sciarrone and the Jailer (Tosca), and Gideon (Little Women). He recently sang the role of Dr. Caius in The Merry Wives of Windsor with Pocket Opera, will appear next month as Silla in Ars Minerva's production of La Flora.

Praised for her "unusually rich and resonant voice" (Opera News), contralto Sara Couden (“SA-ra COO-den”) is a premiere interpreter of operatic, concert, and song repertoire. Opera engagements for 2024 include Baba the Turk with Lakes Area Music Festival, as well as her San Francisco Opera debut as Rita in The Handmaid’s Tale (and Serena Joy cover). Concerts include Beethoven 9 with Seattle Symphony, Mass in B Minor with Santa Cruz Symphony, Duruflé Requiem with the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, and a concert of art songs and piano chamber music with Jenny Lin and Philip Setzer at the Manchester Music Festival.

Michael Orlinsky, Baritone, has performed over 80 roles in his bustling career. He has sung with companies in Las Vegas, Chicago, and the Bay Area; including San Francisco Opera, Opera San Jose, West Edge Opera, West Bay Opera, Livermore Valley Opera (LVO), Solo Opera, Island City Opera, the San Francisco Opera Guild (SFOG), The Lamplighters, Opera Cultura, Berkeley Chamber Opera, Pocket Opera and more. He has enjoyed singing such roles as Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Sam in Trouble in Tahiti, Ford in Falstaff, and others. Michael teaches at the Ruth Asawa High School for the Arts as an Artist in Residence, and is a member of the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra as a composer and performer.

Based in San Francisco, soprano Jayne Diliberto is a distinguished graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Jayne recently made her debut with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera as Barbarina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. In the 2024 season, she appeared as the soprano soloist with i Cantori di Carmel, performing works by Romantic German composers such as Rheinberger, Mendelssohn, and Humperdinck. Her other notable engagements include covering the role of Anne Page in Pocket Opera’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and presenting German Lieder in Lee Mingwei’s acclaimed exhibit Sonic Blossom at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco. In 2025, Jayne eagerly anticipates portraying Constance Partlet in Lamplighters Music Theatre's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer, bringing a new perspective to this charming role. Additionally, she will take the stage as Second Lady in the Handel Opera Project's production of Die Zauberflöte, highlighting her dynamic range and expressive artistry within the operatic repertoire. In previous seasons, Jayne was featured as the soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Mill Valley Philharmonic. She was also featured as a Manetti Shrem Fellow at the Festival Napa Valley, performing scenes from Verdi’s Rigoletto, Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. In May 2023, she covered the role of Lilette in Lamplighter Music Theatre’s world premiere of By Georges! - A Day in the Life of the Legendary Chevalier de Saint-Georges, making her company debut. In October 2022, Jayne reprised the role of Clearte in Ars Minerva’s production of Vinci’s Astianatte. Throughout her career in San Francisco, Jayne has portrayed roles such as Gontran in Chabrier’s Une Éducation Manquée, Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, and Léontine in Chevalier de Saint-George’s L’amant anonyme at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. At Oberlin, Jayne’s notable roles include Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Mrs. Nolan in The Medium, and Maria in the Oberlin Conservatory production of A Bernstein Revue. Beyond her performances, Jayne serves as a scheduler for the San Francisco Opera and is dedicated to nurturing young talent through her teaching.

Lyric tenor Caleb Alexander holds a Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s opera program. Caleb has performed with companies across Northern California, including Livermore Valley Opera, Santa Cruz Opera Project, and Opera Parallele. Caleb is returning to the Handel Opera Project after his previous role as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte. In the fall, Caleb will perform as an Emerging Artist with Arcady International in Ontario, Canada.