Equal parts performer, innovator, and leader, Lena brings her artistry to the stage and her vision to the world.
In the 2023-2024 season, Lena performed Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Vox Opera, studied as a Professional Artist at Songfest (performing works by Heggie, Berlioz, and more) and returned to Chicago Summer Opera to perform The Governess in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw. Her upcoming appearances include Angelica in Handel’s Orlando and Nora in Vaughan Williams’ Riders to the Sea at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She also appeared with the opera department in Viardot’s Cendrillon and gave the premiere of Carlson’s The Disguise with the New Music Ensemble. Offstage, Lena further developed her arts leadership skills, working for SFCM’s Professional Development and Engagement Center, and directing the annual Hot Air New Music Festival, where she facilitated the premieres of a dozen works by Bay Area composers.
She is the Executive Director and co-founder of Park City Opera, a professional opera company in Park City, Utah, dedicated to reimagining opera in venues that showcase the natural beauty of Utah. In its inaugural season, the Park City Opera team organized a concert series featuring 18 performances across 14 unique venues, in partnership with 12 co-presenting organizations.
In the 2022-2023 season, Lena performed operatic roles as Maurya in Vaughan William’s Riders to the Sea and La Fée in Viardot’s Cendrillon with the Opera Theatre of Yale College, and Eurinda in Cavalli’s Doriclea with the Yale Baroque Opera Project. In concert settings, Lena was a featured soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Ravel’s Trois poèmes de Mallarmé with the Yale Undergraduate Chamber Orchestra, and Nico Muhly’s The Beauty of the Day with Chanticleer and the Yale Glee Club. She also premiered two major works by composer Benjamin Beckman, singing The Young Soldier in the world premiere Passage, an evening length chamber opera, as well as a new song cycle, Hartley Songs, at the Yale University Art Gallery.
Lena was named a winner of the MD/DC District NATS competition and finalist in the NATS Mid-Atlantic Regional competition, Hal Leonard Vocal Competitions, and semifinalist in the Schmidt Vocal Arts Upper Level Undergraduate Competition. Lena has been awarded the Schmidt Vocal Arts alumni grant, as well as the R.J.R Cohen Performance Fellowship, Howard T. Topol Award, Richter Fellowship, and the V. Browne Irish Prize at Yale University.
Outside of music, Lena is involved in healthcare entrepreneurship as the founder and CEO of Overdose Guardian, a NIH-funded medical device startup. She is also the former director of the Yale Helix Incubator, and worked for Tectonic Ventures, LegUp Health, and Kiln.co. Additionally, she worked as a student tour guide at the Yale Center for British Art, as a fellow at the Sycamore Institute, and as a staff writer for the Yale Global Health Review. Check out her other projects.
Lena graduated cum laude from Yale University in Spring 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as the recipient of the Samuel Clark Scholarship.
