Meet the Guest Artists
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Janice Carissa
Piano
Featured in the New World, New Beginnings Concert
A Gilmore Young Artist and winner of Salon de Virtuosi, Janice Carissa has “the multicolored highlights of a mature pianist” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and “strong, sure hands” (Voice of America) that “convey a vivid story rather than a mere showpiece” (Chicago Classical Review). Her artistry has been showcased at an array of renowned stages, including the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, the Kennedy Center, Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
Following her Philadelphia Orchestra debut at age sixteen, Janice has since performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh, San Diego, Nashville, Kansas City, Houston, Delaware, Amarillo, Des Moines, Knoxville and Jakarta symphonies, among others. Highlights of the 2026-2027 season include concerto appearances with the Omaha Symphony and Santa Rosa Symphony, solo recitals at Meany Center, CSU Fresno, and Noe Music, and performances with Alexi Kenney at Carolina Performing Arts and Da Camera Houston.
Janice’s passion for chamber music has led her to performances with Bravo! Vail where she was a piano fellow, Newport Classical where she was a 2026 Festival Artist, the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society and Jupiter Chamber Concert Series; collaborations with Vadim Gluzman, Miriam Fried, Paul Neuebauer, Lucy Shelton, Marcy Rosen, David Shifrin, Jennifer Cano, Peter Wiley, among other distinguished musicians; and appearances at Marlboro, North Shore, Ravinia, Caramoor, and Kneisel Hall festivals.
Born on July 26, 1998, in Indonesia, Janice left Indonesia in 2013 to enter the Curtis Institute of Music with a full scholarship from Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest, where she was a pupil of Gary Graffman. She went on to earn a Master of Music at The Juilliard School where she studied with Robert McDonald. When away from the piano, Janice is an avid foodie and loves going on strolls with her camera.
Madelyn Kleven
Dancer
Featured in The Nutcracker Performance
Madelyn Kleven is from Seattle, WA, where she spent ten years training with the Pacific Northwest Ballet School (PNBS). Upon graduating from PNBS, Madelyn moved to Pittsburgh, PA, and spent a season dancing in Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's Graduate Program. In 2022, she joined Oregon Ballet Theatre's second company. During her three seasons with Oregon Ballet Theatre, Madelyn performed works by George Balanchine, Trey McIntyre, Dani Rowe, Ben Stevenson, Christopher Stowell, and Dominic Walsh. She is excited to join the Montana Ballet Company.
Cassidy McAndrew
Dancer
Featured in The Nutcracker Performance
Cassidy McAndrew began her ballet training at age five in Stamford, CT. At eleven, she continued her training at Ballet Academy East (BAE) under the direction of Darla Hoover. Upon graduating from BAE in 2015, Cassidy joined Charlotte Ballet as an apprentice for the 2015–2016 season, where she was mentored by the legendary Patricia McBride. She subsequently danced with Philadelphia Ballet for four seasons, performing corps de ballet and soloist roles in a wide-ranging repertoire by Angel Corella, Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine, Ben Stevenson, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Alexander Ekman, Matthew Neenan, and Helen Pickett. In 2021, Cassidy joined Los Angeles Ballet for the 2021–2022 season. From 2022–2025, she freelanced throughout the greater Los Angeles area, performing principal roles with companies including Inland Pacific Ballet, Ballet Project OC, and The Realm Company. Cassidy began teaching in 2020 and has taught at notable institutions such as Ballet Academy East, Los Angeles Ballet School, Westside School of Ballet, and Inland Pacific Ballet. Now based in Bozeman, she is thrilled to join Montana Ballet Company as a member of the Company and a faculty member, sharing her artistry, experience, and love of ballet with the greater Bozeman community.
Gates Northrup
Dancer
Featured in The Nutcracker Performance
Gates Northrup is from Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a strong foundation in both classical and contemporary repertory. She trained at Minnesota Dance Theatre from 2010–2012 before continuing her studies at Nevada Ballet Theatre from 2012–2014. She returned to Minnesota Dance Theatre from 2014–2022, joining the company as an apprentice in 2019 and later performing as a company dancer.Gates earned her Bachelor of Science in Ballet from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, with a minor in Psychology, graduating in three years. She has performed works by Loyce and Lise Houlton, George Balanchine, Sir Frederick Ashton, Dwight Rhoden, Twyla Tharp, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Sasha Janes, and Michael Vernon. Since 2020, she has taught ballet at both Minnesota Dance Theatre and Indiana University’s Pre-College Program. Gates is excited for her first season with Montana Ballet Company!
Eliana Tolentino
Dancer
Featured in The Nutcracker Performance
Eliana Tolentino is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has spent the last four seasons dancing with Ballet Spartanburg performing principal and soloist roles including, The Winter Fairy in Cinderella, Myrtle in The Great Gatsby, Sugar Plum Fairy, Arabian, and Tarantella in The Nutcracker, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Black Swan Pas de Deux from Swan Lake, Betsy in The Mighty Casey, and Myrtha from Giselle as well as numerous contemporary works. She began her training at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s School culminating at the highest level of the PBTS Graduate Program. Some of her repertoire there includes: Principal roles in Graduation Ball, excerpts from Paquita, Grand Pas De Deux from Terrence Orr’s The Nutcracker, and Waltz Girl from George Balanchine’s Serenade set by Jerri Kumery. She also danced roles with the Company in performances of The Nutcracker, Giselle, and Beauty and The Beast. Eliana has attended summer programs at Saratoga Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Kaatsbaan Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Point Park University and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Eliana is excited to continue her professional career with Montana Ballet Company.
Marcelo Costa
Dancer
Featured in The Nutcracker Performance
Marcelo Costa began his training at age 8 at the prestigious Bolshoi Theatre School in Brazil, completing his formal studies in 2021.
From 2022 to 2024, Marcelo danced with the Junior Company of the Bolshoi Theatre School performing leading and featured roles including the Prince in The Nutcracker and Albrecht in Giselle. His repertoire also included Don Quixote, Spring Waters, Paquita, DvoÅ™ák’s Melody, and Leela by Israel’s Vertigo Dance Company, reflecting his versatility across both classical and contemporary work.
Marcelo joined the company of the Theatro Municipal do Rio de
Janeiro in 2025, performing in The Nutcracker and Carmina Burana. In 2026, he appeared as a guest artist with Curitiba Dance Company, performing Hilarion and the Peasant Pas de Deux in Giselle, as well as the Pas de Deux from Swan Lake.

Marcelo joins Montana Ballet Company for the 2026–27 season, bringing his strong classical foundation, expressive artistry, and international experience to MBC’s growing professional company.
Jason Seber
Guest Conductor
Conducting the Jurassic Park Performance
Jason Seber is a celebrated conductor known for his versatility leading classical, pops, film, and cross-genre programs. He is committed to making orchestral music accessible, relevant, and engaging for diverse audiences nationwide. Seber has conducted many leading American orchestras, including the National, St. Louis, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, San Diego, Baltimore, Kansas City, Colorado, Milwaukee, Utah, Nashville, Indianapolis, Oregon, North Carolina, Phoenix, and Fairfax Symphony, Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, the Minnesota and Louisville Orchestra, and the Buffalo Philharmonic, among others. He has conducted over 30 full feature films and has had the pleasure of performing with a wide range of artists including Boyz II Men, Melissa Etheridge, Leslie Odom, Jr., Trisha Yearwood, Lyle Lovett, Stephen Schwartz, Indigo Girls, Ben Folds, Wynonna Judd, Lindsey Stirling, Violent Femmes, Pink Martini, Natalie Merchant, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Katharine McPhee, Brian Stokes Mitchell, My Morning Jacket, Andrew Bird, Ben Rector, Cody Fry, Patti Austin, Mason Bates, Doc Severinsen, Aoife O’Donovan, Ashley Brown, Susan Egan, and DeVotchKa, among many others. To learn more, please visit www.jasonseber.com.
Maya Anjali Buchanan
Violin
Featured in the Beethoven by Candlelight Concert
Recognized for her enchanting performances and exceptional bel canto-like lyricism, East Indian-American violinist Maya Anjali Buchanan is gaining wide appeal as a dynamic young artist with extraordinary musicality. Maya has performed in recitals and as the featured soloist with numerous orchestras through-out the United States, China, and Europe. She has appeared as a guest artist at the Peninsula Music Festival, Harpa International Academy Festival, Brevard Music Festival and made her Aspen Music Festival debut as the recipient of the prestigious 2019 Dorothy DeLay Fellowship Award performing the Glazunov Violin Concerto with the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra. Describing her Aspen performance, Alan Fletcher, President of Aspen Festival writes, “an immensely appealing artist…with a deep musical understanding,… her [Glazunov Concerto] had great beauty of tone” and The Daily Gazette writes"...she played this very romantic work with a deep rich tone, facile technique and a sweetly romantic lyricism” following her 2022 Albany Symphony debut.
At sixteen, Maya captured First Prize in the 2017 Crain-Maling Foundation Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition and made her solo debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. An alumna of the Music Institute of Chicago Academy, she studied with Almita Vamos. She recently graduated with both her bachelor’s and master's degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2025. Maya performs with a c. 1730 Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society of Chicago and currently lives and works as a free-lance musician in Philadelphia.
Magdalena Kuźma
Soprano
Featured in the Night at the Opera Concert
Polish-American soprano Magdalena Kuzma is rapidly gaining recognition for her vibrant voice and compelling stage presence. Critics have lauded her "star quality" and "shining, free, and lustrous" voice.
The 2025/26 season marked several significant milestones, including her highly anticipated European debut as Pamina in the internationally acclaimed Barrie Kosky production of Die
Zauberflöte at the Polish National Theater. Additionally, she made her role debut as Tatyana (Eugene Onegin) at Wolf Trap Opera and was heard as the soprano soloist in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with North Carolina Symphony. She recently returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Papagena in both productions of The Magic Flute and Die Zauberflöte, and made her role debut as Bubikopf in Der Kaiser von Atlantis with the New World Symphony. A recent alumna of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Kuzma made her mainstage debut in the 2023–24 season as Giannetta in L’elisir d’amore. Her additional Met appearances include Sister Catherine in the world premiere of Dead Man Walking and Yvette in La Rondine.
Notable past performances include Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) at Aspen Music Festival, Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) at Glimmerglass Opera, Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) at Orlando Opera, Frasquita (Carmen) at Santa Fe Opera, and Adina (L’elisir d’amore) at Yale Opera. Equally at home on the concert and recital stage, Kuzma has appeared at prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Merkin Hall. She has performed as the soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Richmond Symphony and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Op.45 with the Santa Barbara Symphony.
This season, she can be heard as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with Kansas City Lyric Opera, Euridice in Orfeo ed Eurydice with North Carolina Opera, and Marguerite in Faust under the baton of Dan Ettinger. She will also perform with Great Falls Symphony, New Choral Society, and Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra. Kuzma is the recipient of numerous awards having won over 20 international competitions, including top prizes from the George London Foundation, Jensen Foundation, and Gerda Lissner Foundation. She holds degrees from The Juilliard School, Oberlin College, and Yale University, where she graduated as valedictorian.
Benjamin Dickerson
Baritone
Featured in the Night at the Opera Concert
A 2024 recipient of the George and Nora London Foundation Award and a 2025/26 Opera Foundation New York Fellow, Dickerson joined the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin for the 2025/26 season, appearing in new productions of L'italiana in Algeri as Haly and Fedora as Nicola. His other engagements include Marullo in Rigoletto, Erster Priester in Die Zauberflöte, Jailer in Tosca, and Starveling in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as performances in Don Carlo, La bohème, Parsifal, Lohengrin, Madama Butterfly, Andrea Chénier, and Gianni Schicchi. Other recent performances include Silvio in Pagliacci with Sarasota Opera and Raimbaud in Le comte Ory with the Merola Opera Program. At the 2024 Glimmerglass Festival, he covered Silvio in Pagliacci and Inspector Kildare/Mister Greatorex in Elizabeth Cree.​
During the 2023–24 season at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Dickerson portrayed Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Tarquinius in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, earning praise from Parterre Box for his “elegance of line, superlative clarity of text, and easy float in the high notes.” His other roles at AVA include the title roles in Eugene Onegin and Don Giovanni, Giorgio Germont in La traviata, and Schaunard in La bohème.
His additional operatic credits include Albert in Werther, Mr. Kahlo and Mr. Rockefeller in Frida, and Schaunard in La bohème with Florida Grand Opera; Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro at the Music Academy of the West under the baton of James Conlon.
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Equally at home in recital and concert repertoire, Dickerson recently performed Schubert’s Winterreise at the Academy of Vocal Arts and presented a dramatized program of Verlaine’s poetry set by French composers alongside pianist Audrey St. Gil. He has appeared in recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall with pianist Warren Jones, Merkin Concert Hall, and the WNYC Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, and has performed with the New York Festival of Song at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts.
Dickerson has received top prizes at the George and Nora London Foundation Competition, the Joan Taub Ades Vocal Competition, and the Marilyn Horne Song Competition. Additional honors include prizes and career grants from the Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition, Opera Index, the Jensen Foundation, the Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Orpheus Vocal Competition, the Houston Saengerbund Awards, and the Giargiari Bel Canto Competition.
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A native of Burlington, Vermont, Dickerson is an alumnus of the Manhattan School of Music and the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.
LUKE NORVELL
Tenor
Featured in the Night at the Opera Concert
American tenor Luke Norvell’s opera highlights include DUCA RigolettoOpera North, RODOLFO La Bohème The Grange Festival, ALFREDO La Traviata Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera and Sarasota Opera, FERRANDO Così fan tutte Sarasota Festival, ARTURO Lucia di Lammermoor Berkshire Opera Festival, RINUCCIO Gianni Schicchi/Buoso’s Ghost, SOLOIST in Verdi’s Messa di Requiem Utah Festival Opera, Faust (title role), MALE CHORUS Rape of Lucretia, and LENSKY Eugene Onegin Academy of Vocal Arts, RODOLFO La bohème and LENSKY Music Academy of the West, ANATOL (cv) Vanessa Spoleto Festival USA, RINUCCIO Gianni Schicchi Opera Roanoke, and FENTON Falstaff Puget Sound Concert Opera.
He has earned recognition in numerous prestigious competitions. He has been awarded prizes in the Tenor Viñas Competition (5th place), Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition (District Winner), Houston Grand Opera (Finalist), Opera Index (Emerging Artist), Giargiari Bel Canto Competition (2nd place and Audience Choice), Young Patronesses of the Florida Grand Opera Competition (1st place and Audience Choice), Michael Ballam Competition (1st place and Audience Favorite), and SAS Performing Arts Competition (1st place). He also reached the final rounds of the Vincerò World Singing Competition and the Eleanor McCollum Concert of Arias.