Brian Curtin, violin | Hyun Ju Curtin, piano
Lauryn Davis is an emerging soprano recognized for her poised stage presence and rich, warm tone. Recent performance highlights include the title role in Haydn’s Armida, the Female Chorus in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, and Momma in the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Woman With Eyes Closed.
She has appeared in masterclasses with world-renowned musicians and conductors such as Pierre Vallet, Jennifer Larmore, and Chuck Hudson. In 2023, Lauryn was awarded the John Alexander Award at the College-Conservatory of Music’s Corbett Scholarship Competition. She received the Encouragement Award at the Southeast Regionals of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in both 2024 and 2025, and was named Grand Prize Winner of the 2025 Annapolis Opera Competition.
Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Lauryn recently earned her Master of Music degree from the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). She continues to further her artistic growth through advanced training in summer programs and fellowships around the world.
In the summer of 2025, Lauryn joined the prestigious Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist, covering the role of Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro. She will return to Pittsburgh Opera in the fall as a Resident Artist, performing the role of Miss Lightfoot in Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers, in addition to other company engagements.
A native of Kenosha, Wisconsin, James Lesniak joined the Pittsburgh Opera music staff in 2006. After initial studies with Sheila Wiesztort, he received his Bachelors and Masters degrees at Indiana University, where he studied with pianists Menahem Pressler, Karen Shaw, and Evelyne Brancart. His university credits include music staff work for Mississippi State University and the Indiana University Opera Theatre. Further studies included an apprenticeship with the Domingo-CafritzYoung Artist Program at Washington National Opera for two seasons, where he gave his stage debut in the non-singing/piano playing role of Lazinski in Fedora at the Kennedy Center, accompanying Placido Domingo in the opera. In addition, James has served on the coaching staff of Brevard Music Center, Glimmerglass Opera, Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, and the National Symphony. James has been an official pianist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and also made his conducting debut in 2017 with Pittsburgh Opera’s production of composer Laura Kaminsky’s As One. For the summer months, James frequently returns to the music staff of the prestigious Santa Fe Opera, where recently, he served as Musical Director for their Winter Concert Tour.
Brian Curtin, recipient of the 2025 grant from the Homer Wickline and Conrad Seamen Memorial Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation, has been playing the violin since age five. He has won numerous competitions, participated in the Boston University Tanglewood Institute String Quartet program for three consecutive summers under merit scholarships, attended Rencontres Musicales Internationales des Graves in Bordeaux, France, and the Josef Gingold International Chamber Music Festival in Miami, Florida. He has performed alongside Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra, New Carolina Sinfonia, Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, Butler Symphony Orchestra, Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, Chatham Baroque early music ensemble, and currently holds a position in the 1st violin section at the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. He completed his Bachelors of Fine Arts degree at Carnegie Mellon studying under former Pittsburgh Symphony concertmaster Andrés Cárdenes and later completed an Advanced Music Studies certificate studying under William van der Sloot. Brian has recently accepted a position with the United States Air Force Band at Washington D.C.
Korean-born pianist Hyun Ju Curtin earned her Artist Diploma in Piano Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Eugene and Elizabeth Pridonoff. She has performed concerti, chamber music, and solo recitals throughout the United States and in Korea, where she has performed with Mockpo Symphony, the Masan Symphony, and the Changwon Philharmonic. An avid chamber musician, she was a founding member of the Escalante Piano Trio, and has performed in the Grandin Festival in Cincinnati, Temple Square Concert Series in Salt Lake City UT, the East Mountain Artist Series in Albuquerque NM, the Carnegie Concert Series in Michigan (with violinist Christopher Takeda), Mercyhurst University’s Roche Guest Artist Series, and at Steinway Hall—both as a soloist and as duo pianist with her husband David. She has served on the piano faculty of Soonchun National University, Changwon National University, Busan Performing Arts School, Brigham Young University, and Utah State University. Hyun Ju currently teaches piano in the Carnegie Mellon Prep School Music Program. She also served on the board of the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra, with which she has also appeared as soloist in the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor). Hyun Ju is a Steinway Artist.
