Great Artists Series '26-'27: Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano, with Beth Guterman Chu, viola, and Christopher Cano, piano
Tickets
(Washington University Box Office - 314-935-6543)
SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGES
Subscription Renewals: On sale 3/29
New Subscriptions: On sale 5/18
Package 1: Full Concert Series $200 (This package includes the 10th Anniversary Celebration with pianist Yuja Wang)
Package 2: Five Concerts Subscription $150 (This package does not include the 10th Anniversary Celebration with pianist Yuja Wang)
SINGLE TICKETS (On sale 8/10)
$35-$40 General Admission
$32-$37 WashU Faculty/Staff
$15 Students/Youth
10th Anniversary Celebration with pianist Yuja Wang
$65-$95 General Admission
BEWARE OF SCAMS! Tickets purchased through the Washington University Box Office or online via AudienceView (also known as OvationTix) are the only approved tickets for this event. Purchases made through a third-party vendor such as StubHub, Ticketmaster, or MetroTix will NOT be valid for entry to the performance.
“voluminous voice with remarkable agility” -Washington Post
Program
Bridge: Three Songs for Voice, Viola, and Piano
Vaughan Williams: Romance
Dove: All the Future Days
Intermission
Schumann: Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70 (arrangement for viola and piano)
Berg: Seven Early Songs
Reutter: Five Antike Oden for Voice, Viola, and Piano
Biographies
Jennifer Johnson Cano
Jennifer Johnson Cano’s portrayal of Michele in the recent premiere of The Righteous at Santa Fe Opera earned her accolades from The New York Times, which noted how she “voluptuously captured” the pain and strength of her character; Opera Today called Ms. Cano’s arias in The Righteous “flawless combinations of radiant, poised, attractive singing invested with heartfelt delivery.”
After creating the role of Michele in the world premiere of Gregory Spears's The Righteous with Santa Fe Opera in summer 2024, she was invited back to sing the role of Mrs. Grose in Britten's The Turn of the Screw as well as Schwertleite in Wagner's Die Walküre in summer of 2025. Her 2025-2026 season includes engagements with the Chicago, San Francisco, Colorado, and Seattle Symphonies and The Apollo Orchestra. The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society presents Ms. Cano in recital with pianist Christopher Cano and violist Beth Guterman Chu. Tours include a project with Simone Dinnerstein and her ensemble Baroklyn as well as a week with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan. Ms. Cano returns to the MET Opera in her role debut as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly. She premieres a new song cycle by Gregory Spears at the Tucson Desert Song Festival.
Ms. Cano joined the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera after winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Among her honors are Winner of the Young Concert Artist International Auditions, a Sara Tucker Study Grant, a Richard Tucker Career Grant and a George London Award.
Beth Guterman Chu
Beth Guterman Chu is one of the most sought-after violists of her generation. Before joining the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 2013 as Principal Viola, she was a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and enjoyed a varied career as a chamber musician and recitalist. Chu is still an avid chamber musician, and collaborates with many artists including Gil Shaham, Itzhak Perlman, Joseph Kalichstein, Menahem Pressler, Jaime Laredo, James Ehnes, and members of the Guarneri, Emerson, and Orion quartets. As a recording artist, she has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Tzadik, Naxos, and the CMS Studio Recordings.
During the summer Chu performs and works with young musicians at the Aspen Music Festival and School, National Youth Orchestra-USA, and at the Marlboro Music Festival. In recent years, she has also performed at festivals in Seattle; Lake Champlain, Vermont; Portland, Maine; as well as Luzerne, Bridgehampton, and Skaneateles, New York. Chu has also performed as soloist with many distinguished conductors including Hannu Lintu, Bramwell Tovey, David Robertson, Leonard Slatkin, and James DePreist.
Chu received her Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory studying with Kim Kashkashian, and her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School studying with Masao Kawasaki and Misha Amory. She lives in St. Louis with her husband Jonathan, another violist, and their three children.
A seasoned recitalist, orchestra soloist, and collaborative pianist, Christopher Cano has performed throughout the US, Mexico, Israel, Europe and the Far East.
Christopher Cano
Mr. Cano has prepared singers for appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and orchestral appearances with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic, among others.
Mr. Cano has had the distinct privilege of working with some of the great artists and teachers of singing including Marilyn Horne, Sherrill Milnes, Luciano Pavarotti, Marni Nixon, Patricia McCaffrey, Joan Patenaude-Yarnell, Rita Shane and Diana Soviero.
Mr. Cano has been a member of the music staff at the Festival Lyrique en Mer in Belle Isle, France, Toledo Opera, San Diego Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Opera Company of North Carolina, Florida Grand Opera, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, among others.
As a collaborative pianist, Mr. Cano has appeared at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and on WQXR, NPR, and KUAT radio. Mr. Cano made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in the 2017/18 season.
In 2017, Mr. Cano was appointed as the Head of Music and Director of the Marion Roose Pullin Opera Studio of Arizona Opera and promoted to the position of Director of Artistic Operations in 2022.
Mr. Cano currently holds the position of Director of the Cafritz Young Artists and American Opera Initiative of Washington National Opera.
*Programs and artists are subject to change