Artists

Chinese-American soprano Bizhou Chang is quickly becoming known for her warmth of tone and thrilling interpretations of opera’s most beloved roles. This season, she returns to Opera Columbus, singing Pamina in the world premiere of The Temple: A Magic Flute Experience—an immersive production based on Mozart’s The Magic Flute—and she appears as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with Pensacola Opera.

In the 2022-23 season, Ms. Chang performed Mimì in La bohème with Pensacola Opera and made her company debuts as Liù in Turandot with Opera Southwest and Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with Knoxville Opera. She returned to Guerilla Opera for the concert presentation and theatrical workshop of Emily Koh’s Her: Alive|un|dead, and she appeared as a featured soloist in Pensacola Opera’s 40th anniversary gala concert Forty Forward, along with the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra.

During the 2021-22 season, Ms. Chang made her role debut as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Pensacola Opera, performed the role of Maria in the world premiere of Island of Hope, Island of Tears by Gabriele Vanoni with Guerilla Opera, and appeared as Violetta in an immersive production of La Traviata with Opera Columbus and Out of the Box Opera.

During the Covid-19 impacted 2020-21 season, Ms. Chang made her art film debut as Mimì in an innovative film version of La bohème directed by Laine Rettmer with More than Musical (Hong Kong), a co-production of Opera Omaha, Tri-Cities Opera, and Opera Columbus. She also performed Mimì in a new production of La bohème with Opera Columbus and returned to Pensacola Opera as Micaëla in Carmen.

Artist Website >>

American conductor Cody Martin was recently named Music Director at Pensacola Opera, where he was previously the Director of Education and Director of the Artists in Residence Program since 2017.  During the 2023-24 season, he leads a production of Lucia di Lammermoor and serves as associate conductor and chorus director for Die Fledermaus, in addition to continuing his work with the company’s nationally respected Jan Miller Studio Artist Program. He also appears as guest conductor for Florida State Opera‘s The Cunning Little Vixen. Recent seasons have seen Cody leading productions of Carousel, Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, As One, Florencia en el Amazonas, Man of La Mancha and María de Buenos Aires in Pensacola, in addition to various concert appearances. He made his debut with Fargo-Moorhead Opera conducting Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers in 2019. Other companies Cody has enjoyed working with include Des Moines Metro Opera, Arizona Opera, Opera Birmingham, Virginia Opera, and the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center.

Cody holds degrees from Murray State University and Florida State University. He lives in Pensacola with his former shelter dog, Rosina, a corgi/dachshund mix (@rosinathelongdog).

>> Artist Website