The Debuting Stars of Verdi’s Requiem
On Friday, September 26, 2025, UMS’s 25/26 season opens in extraordinary fashion with Verdi’s Requiem — one of the most dramatic pieces of music ever written. This one-night-only performance in Ann Arbor by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and UMS Choral Union features the UMS debuts of five outstanding international artists: the DSO’s Italian music director Jader Bignamini, South African soprano Vuvu Mpofu, American mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, Mexican American tenor René Barbera, and Chinese bass-baritone Shenyang.
Learn more about these incredible performers before they take the Hill Auditorium stage for the first time:
Jader Bignamini
DSO music director
A native of Crema, Italy, Bignamini studied at the Piacenza Music Conservatory and began his career as a musician (clarinet) with Orchestra Sinfonica La Verdi in Milan, later serving as the group’s resident conductor. Captivated by the operatic arias of legends like Mahler and Tchaikovsky, Jader explored their complexity and power, puzzling out the role that each instrument played in creating a larger-than-life sound. When he conducted his first professional concert at the age of 28, it didn’t feel like a departure, but an arrival.
Drawing on his operatic sensibilities, Bignamini brings a striking theatricality and emotional gravitas to his conducting, whether on the opera house stage or in the symphonic realm. In 2020, he was appointed the 18th Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where his warmth, expressive immediacy, and chord-shaking energy have made him a beloved leader.
Enjoy this excerpt of Bignamini leading the DSO in Puccini’s Turandot…
Vuvu Mpofu
soprano
The young South African soprano Vuvu Mpofu is already entering the international spotlight with her shimmering vocal quality and technique, boundless musicality, and authentic stage presence. In 2019, she was awarded the prestigious John Christie Award at the Glyndebourne Festival, and she is also a recent prizewinner at the Operalia Competition and the Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition.
This season, Mpofu will make her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Clara in Porgy and Bess. She also makes two major role debuts: as Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor for Opera Vlaanderen and as Mimì in La bohème with Pittsburgh Opera.
Hear Mpofu’s remarkable vocal control and dynamic range in “Caro Nome” from Verdi’s Rigoletto…
Sasha Cooke
mezzo-soprano
Two-time Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke has been called a “luminous standout” by the New York Times and “equal parts poise, radiance and elegant directness” by Opera News. Ms. Cooke has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, English National Opera, Seattle Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Gran Teatre del Liceu, among others, and with over 90 symphony orchestras worldwide frequently in the works of Mahler.
In this excerpt, Cooke masters the tender fourth movement, ‘Urlicht,’ from Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, from her 2022 performances with the Houston Symphony Orchestra…
René Barbera
tenor
Tenor René Barbera has quickly established himself as one of today’s most exciting vocal artists. The first-ever recipient of all three top awards of the Operalia Competition in 2011 and winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2008, Barbera has earned critical praise and audience acclaim for his effortless singing, his “old-fashioned warmth” (Opera News), and his expressive musicality.
Barbera captivates the crowd in the beloved aria “La donna è mobile,” in this excerpt from Verdi’s Rigoletto. (And just wait until you hear his last note!)
Shenyang
bass-baritone
From the moment Shenyang won the prestigious BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition in 2007, his ascent to international prominence was assured. His career, defined by elegant and precise singing, was launched with early acclaim for interpretations of Mozart, Rossini, and Handel. In recent years, Shenyang has ventured into more dramatic and psychologically complex repertoire, embracing the works of Beethoven, Strauss, and Wagner.
Hear Shenyang in his 2007 Rosenblatt Recital Song Prize-winning performance of Henri Duparc’s “Phidylé”…
We cannot wait until these phenomenal artists join forces with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and UMS Choral Union (led by music director Scott Hanoian) on a packed Hill Auditorium stage! Please join us for an unforgettable opening night of music on Friday, September 26.
Tickets start at just $26 (+fees), with many student ticket discount opportunities available.
