ABOUT ARIA412
Aria412 is led by co-founder Desirée Soteres who is joined by a team of dynamic leaders to support our ongoing operations and growth: Louise Van Mook and head accompanist, Matt Gillespie. Meet the Team!
Aria412 started producing monthly shows at Wallace's Whiskey Room + Kitchen at Hotel Indigo in April 2017 and now has a growing list of followers and venues. Currently, Aria412 can be seen at Hop Farm Brewing. We feature a mix of established Pittsburgh singers and young local performers to stretch their repertoires and showcase their talents. We have successfully designed our concerts to bring in a mix of new audiences in addition to lovers of opera and the live performing arts. By performing in a relaxed setting, we have been able to bring in people who might not have gone to this type of show. The shows are all themed and rehearsed with music selected to surprise and delight our audience. We are especially proud of the innovative ways that we continued to operate via Zoom concerts, video performances, and outdoor venues, through the pandemic, giving paid opportunities for singers during a very difficult time for many performers.
Meet the Board!
MEET THE TEAM
Desirée Soteres
Soprano Desirée Soteres is equally at home in concert, musical theater and on the operatic stage and has been praised for her superb characterization and powerful vocal ability. Desirée's love for music has taken her across the U.S. and around the world. She comes to Pittsburgh via Memphis, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Portland, New York City, ports around the globe through Cunard Cruise Lines, San José, and Chattanooga.
She's played many venues both traditional and unorthodox. Currently, she can be seen performing once a month with Aria412 at Wallace's at Hop Farm Brewing Company.
Most recently, Desirée was seen as The Queen of Elfenland in Matthew Gillespie’s new chamber opera, Thomas the Rhymer. In May 2024, she wrapped filming for the OperaDoc I Hear America Singing with composer Daron Hagen. The live version was produced on May 9, 10 & 11, 2024 at Richard E. Rauh Studio Theatre in Pittsburgh, PA during the filming of the documentary. The film is scheduled for release in September 2025.
Desirée especially enjoys new music and has premiered new works with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Alia Musica and the New Dischord Festival. The most exciting premiere was the title role in Eve Apart by composer Tim Hinck and husband Kip Soteres, which was produced both in Chattanooga and Pittsburgh. Desirée's favorite operatic role is Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. She has had the pleasure. of singing it with Undercroft opera, Opera San Jose, West Bay Opera, Stockton Opera, Pocket Opera and as a Resident Artist at Portland Opera.
In February 2020, Desirée originated the role of Rosella in the US premiere of The Mother of Fishes by composers Roger Dannenberg and Jorge Sartre conducted by Federico Garcia. She premiered the role of Flora Dart in A New Kind of Fallout by composer Gilda Lyons and playwright Tammy Ryan with the Pittsburgh Festival Opera. That same season she portrayed Joe Boyd in PFO's gender bending Damn Yankees. Other theatrical performances include Roselinda in Die Fledermaus with Undercroft Opera, Despina in Cosi fan tutte with Mission City Opera, Blonde in Abduction from the Seraglio with Pocket Opera, Cunegonde in Candide with Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and Rosa Bud in The Mystery of Edwin Drood with Chattanooga Theater Center. Desirée has appeared as Abigail in The Crucible, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Lucy in Threepenny Opera and Celeste #1 in Sunday in the Park with George.
Louise van Mook
Mezzo soprano Louise van Mook has entertained audiences around the country in numerous opera and musical theatre productions and concerts, including Madame Flora (Baba) in The Medium, The Witch from Into the Woods, the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Fantine in Les Misérables, Katisha in The Mikado, and the Monitor in Suor Angelica. She was a featured soloist in a recital series in England as part of the Cornish-American Song Institute in 2016.
Louise graduated magna cum laude and Pi Kappa Lambda with a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Hardin-Simmons University and cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Converse College. She is also an accomplished violinist and has performed with choirs at Boston Symphony Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center. She currently serves as the alto soloist and section leader at Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church.
Matthew Gillespie
Matt Gillespie is a composer and keyboardist originally from Asheville, NC, and moved to Pittsburgh in 2005. He studied at UNC-Greensboro, East Carolina University, and University of Pittsburgh, where he earned his PhD in composition and theory in 2014. He plays piano with Aria412 and Alia Musica-Pittsburgh, and writes primarily vocal and chamber music, in a variety of styles. His first opera,Thomas the Rhymer, will be produced in October 2024.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MILDRED MYERS
Chair of the Board
TANYING DONG
Secretary
MARY ELLEN PETRISKO
Vice Chair of the Board
LISA DONOVAN
NEAL BINSTOCK
Treasurer
DESIRÉE SOTERES
Co-Founder & Director
HISTORY OF ARIA412
Season 8
Hop Farm Brewery
March Mania - March
Caryn Greco, Kelly Lynch, Logan Newman, Sarah Richards, Desirée Soteres, Vinay Thomas, Louise van Mook, Logan Williams, Jenna Ziccardi, Matt Gillespie (accompanist)
Take a Walk on the Wild Side - April
Michelle Bankole, Ray Blackwell, Tanying Dong, Jennifer LaRocco, Savannah Simeone, Desirée Soteres, Louise van Mook, Logan Williams, Corey Nile Wingard, Matt Gillespie (accompanist)
Bad Company - May
Loghan Bazan, Brady Collins, Katie Dufendach, Katie Manukyan, Logan Newman, Vinay Thomas, Louise van Mook, Logan Williams, Matt Gillespie (accompanist)
I Hear America Singing - May
Daron Hagen, composer/librettist
Robert Frankenberry, Christopher Scott, Desirée Soteres, Daron Hagen (composer/director), Talal Jabari (cinematography), Emily Niedbala (production manager/stage manager), Tevi Eber (assistant director), Nikola Chapelle (sound recordist), Howard Patterson (in-theater sound), Eve Bandi (lighting designer, technician),
What's Your Sign - June
William Andrews, Loghan Bazan, Jamie Fair, Betsy Lawrence, Kelly Lynch, Tessa Morris, Desirée Soteres, Louise van Mook, Corey Nile WingardMatt Gillespie (accompanist)
Tribute to Gershwin - July
Michelle Bankole, Brady Collins, Caryn Greco, Anna Lahti, Jennifer LaRocco, Sara Stock Mayo, Logan Newman, Rachael Parsons, Desirée Soteres, Vinay Thomas, Louise van Mook, Jenna Ziccardi, Matt Gillespie (accompanist), Nanette Solomon (accompanist), Bert Lerini (drums, Rick Robinson (double bass)
Who are the People in Your Neighborhood - September
Ray Blackwell, Loghan Bazan, Robert Frankenberry, Anna Lahti, Katie Manukyan, Desirée Soteres, Vinay Thomas, Louise van Mook, Logan Williams, Nanette Solomon (accompanist)
Prima Donna of the Dead - October
Brady Collins, Emma Hils, Eric Kochanowski, Jennifer LaRocco, Logan Newman, Glenna Smiesko, Desirée Soteres, Louise van Mook, Logan Williams, Matt Gillespie (accompanist)
Thomas the Rhymer - October
Matthew Gillespie, composer, Kip Soteres, librettist
Ray Blackwell, Anthony Massetto, Eugene Perry, Katie Manukyan, Tanying Dong, Desirée Soteres, Jenna Ziccardi, William Andrews, Benjamin Zaksek, Fabio Gentili (musical director), Kelly Lynch (director), Lisa Leibering (costume designer), Madeline Miller (lighting designer), Tucker Topel (scenic designer), Hector Marchant (violin), William Garcia (cello), Jeffery Harley (flute), Zackary Neville (clarinet), Grace Burns (piano), Emily Niedbala (stage manager), Zoe Soteres (poster designer/make-up), Spencer Swenson (videographer/photographer)
The Stuffing Dreams are Made Of - November
William Andrews, Tanying Dong, Bridget Ann Johnston, Sydney Kaczorowski, Katie Manukyan, Tessa Morris, Logan Newman, Desirée Soteres, Corey Nile Wingard, Matt Gillespie (accompanist)
Sugar Rush - December
Loghan Bazan, Sheena Chopra Robert Frankenberry, Kelly Lynch, Anthony Massetto, Desirée Soteres, Vinay Thomas, Louise van Mook, Jenna Ziccardi, Matt Gillespie (accompanist)