Carnegie Hall

Lebanese-American tenor Karim Sulayman has garnered international attention as a sophisticated and versatile artist, praised for his “lucid, velvety tenor and pop-star charisma” (BBC Music Magazine). He continues to earn acclaim for his programming and recording projects, while regularly performing on the world’s opera stages and in orchestral, recital, and chamber concerts.

Recent seasons have included engagements at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Stockholm’s Drottningholms Slottsteater, Houston Grand Opera, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, and the Chicago, National, and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras. Forthcoming engagements include his debut at Spoleto Festival USA as the lead performer and creator of Unholy Wars, a multidisciplinary production of Italian Baroque music centered around the Middle East and the Crusades. He also returns to the Aldeburgh Festival, debuts at Wigmore Hall, and takes on the central role in the world premiere of David T. Little’s monodrama What Belongs to You (based on Garth Greenwell’s acclaimed novel), written for Mr. Sulayman and Alarm Will Sound.

Mr. Sulayman won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album for his debut, Songs of Orpheus (Avie Records). His second album, Where Only Stars Can Hear Us (Avie Records), debuted atop the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart. It was also named “Critic’s Choice” by Opera News and included in The New York Times’ list of Best Classical Music Tracks of 2020.

Mr. Sulayman has been featured on PBS’s Great Performances, and he appeared on the second season of Dickinson on Apple TV+. In November 2016, he created a social experiment / performance art piece called I Trust You, designed to build bridges in a divided political climate. A video version of this experiment went viral online, and was honored as a prize winner at the MY HERO International Film Festival. He has been invited to give talks and hold open forums with student and adult groups about inclusion, empathy, healing from racism, and activism through the arts.

Pianist and fortepianist Yi-heng Yang has been described as an “exquisite collaborator” (Opera News), “superbly adept” (Gramophone), and noted for her “remarkable expressivity and technique” (Early Music).

Ms. Yang’s work spans from collaborations on period instruments with visionary artists to ground-breaking and provocative explorations into Romantic and Classical performance practice. Her musical partners have included cellist Kate Bennett Wadsworth, Baroque violinist Abby Karr, and harpsichordist Rebecca Cypess.

Ms. Yang has appeared at the Boston Early Music Festival, New York Philharmonic Ensembles at Merkin Hall, Serenata of Santa Fe, Chatter Sunday in Albuquerque, Dayton Early Music Series, Frederick Collection, Finchcocks Collection, The Cobbe Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Utrecht Early Music Festival, among others.

Ms. Yang holds a doctorate in piano from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Veda Kaplinksy, Robert McDonald, and Julian Martin. She studied fortepiano with Stanley Hoogland at the Amsterdam Conservatory. She has received grants from the Mustard Seed Foundation’s Harvey Fellows Program and the Dutch Ministry of Culture’s Huygens Award.

Ms. Yang is on the faculty at The Juilliard School Pre-College and College divisions, where she teaches piano, fortepiano, chamber music, keyboard skills, and improvisation. She has also taught at the Mannes School of Music and Rutgers University, and given master classes at the Curtis Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, and University of Connecticut.

Ms. Yang is a director of the Academy of Fortepiano Performance in Hunter, New York. She is also the creator of the Academy’s International Fortepiano Salon Series, a popular monthly live-streaming gathering of fortepiano enthusiasts and practitioners, which has reinvigorated and celebrated fortepiano performance and musical community throughout the pandemic.