Meet the Met Chorus Class of 21-22!
The canceled 2020-2021 season saw a wave of retirements from the Met Chorus. We will miss our colleagues fiercely (and we'll hear more about them in the next Met Artists Newsletter), but right now we'd love to introduce you to the four fabulous new members of the Met Chorus that have joined us for this action-packed 2021-2022 season!
Helena Brown, soprano
Helena's versatility is immediately apparent when you find out that she is a soprano singing in the alto section of the chorus! Her impressive solo credits include Mrs. Dickson in Ricky Ian Gordan and Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel, Sieglinde in Die Walküre with the Miami Wagner Institute, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with DivAria Productions, Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia with New Camerata Opera, as well as Serena and Strawberry Woman in Porgy and Bess on the New York Harlem Theater European tour. She first appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as an ensemble soloist in Porgy and Bess.
Helena served as a union delegate for the 2019-2020 Grammy Award-winning production of Porgy and Bess, as well as this year's historic Fire Shut Up in my Bones by Terence Blanchard. During the pandemic closure of the Met, she worked tirelessly on the AGMA Negotiating Committee, helping to secure the agreement that charted the pathway back to work at the Met. The Chorus is thrilled to welcome her to the full-time chorus!
Chase Cornett, baritone
Chase Cornett is a graduate of the Mannes School of Music (Artist Diploma in Opera) where he earned critical acclaim for his portrayal of the role of Friedrich Bhaer in Mark Adamo’s Little Women. Also at Mannes, he sang the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro under the baton of Joseph Colaneri. Mr. Cornett earned a Master of Music in classical voice from NYU’s Steinhardt School of Music as a recipient of NYU's Reinhold Scholarship. Prior to joining the Met Chorus, Chase sang with Arizona Opera, Utah Opera, the Utah Festival Opera, and the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra.
Chase has loved working at the Met as a part-time chorister since 2014 with Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (if you were paying attention, this was also Lee’s first show at the Met!). Chase’s new full-time position is the rare example of a ‘sabbatical cover,’ when a singer fills in for another chorister who is on leave for a season. Even if he only spends this year as a full-timer (and fingers crossed this is the beginning of a long career in the chorus!), we are thrilled to welcome him to the team.
Steven D. Myles, tenor
Steven joined the part-time Met chorus during the 2017-2018 season in our last run of Verdi’s Requiem performances. He then joined us every season since then, singing in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, Porgy and Bess (as an ensemble soloist) and Der Fliegende Holländer. We had a feeling he’d have a long career with us, and we are so excited to welcome him to the team.
Steven has received praise for his “suave and heartfelt phrasing” and “ringing high notes [and] powerful enunciation” by The Boston Musical Intelligencer and Boston Classical Review. He has performed with The Metropolitan Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Virginia Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Utah Festival Opera, Odyssey Opera, Teatro Regio di Torino and Teatro Petruzzelli. Steven received his Graduate Performance Diploma in Opera from The Boston Conservatory, and his MM and BM in Vocal Performance from The University of Central Oklahoma.
Lee Steiner, Tenor
Lee is a graduate of Susquehanna University (B.M.) and the University of Illinois (M.M), studying voice with David Steinau and Jerold Siena. In his itinerant days he apprenticed with the Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, and Opera North (NH) before settling into New York and performing as a chorister with ensembles around the city, including the New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, and, of course, the Metropolitan Opera. His debut as a part-time chorister was in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in 2014. In his free time, Lee maintains The Opera Database, a collection of free aria PDFs and operatic resources for the community. He lives with his wife Sandy (executive coach and founder of Dream Factory Coaching), their adorable twin daughters Autumn and Avery, and rescue pups Charlie and Ruby. If that’s not enough, Lee’s impressive knowledge of computer systems has already helped immensely in bringing some common chorus scheduling practices into the 21st century! We’re overjoyed that he’s joined us full-time! You can read more about his professional activities at leealansteiner.com.
