The New Divas: Bios

Taped at the Konzerthaus in Vienna in June 2023, "The New Divas" features five captivating and talented young singers from around the world: Juliana Grigoryan from Armenia, Lily Kerhoas from France, Larisa Martinez from Puerto Rico, Serena Sáenz from Spain, and Sheléa from the U.S. The conductor is Beatrice Venezi, who leads the Vienna Opera Ball Orchestra.

Juliana Grigoryan

Armenian soprano Juliana Grigoryan is the most recent winner of the International Stanislaw Moniuszko Vocal Competition Grand Prize. She also received the Marcella Sembrich-Kochanska Prize for the youngest finalist and The Katowice City Of Gardens - Krystyna Bochenek Cultural Institution Prize. In November 2022 Juliana won first prize at Operalia as well as winning the audience prize.

Lily Kerhoas

Lily Kerhoas is a professional actress who is currently playing the part of Christine in "Phantom of the Opera" on the West End. She trained in Musical Theatre at the Choreia Performing Art Centre in Paris and attended Atelier Juliette Moltes for a course in Acting. Kerhoas graduated in Musical Theatre from the Royal Academy of Music.

Larisa Martínez

Puerto Rican opera singer Larisa Martínez has been praised and sought after for her "smoky soprano" gracing many of the world's top opera and concert stages including recent debuts as a soloist at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, and the Hollywood Bowl. She has performed frequently with Andrea Bocelli. Larisa Martínez also tours extensively with violinist Joshua Bell, in a program entitled Voice and the Violin that explores repertoire ranging from classical art song and opera, to musical theater, to a series of selections by Puerto Rican and Spanish composers.

Serena Sáenz

Spanish Soprano Serena Sáenz has been lauded by the press for her "musicality, good taste in ornamentation and luminous high notes with a good arsenal of bel canto resources." Although she is a young artist, she is regularly engaged in leading opera houses including Staatsoper Berlin, Gran Teatre Liceu and Teatro Real. In 2021, she was the first prize winner of the Montserrat Caballé International Singing Competition. "The New Divas" will be her debut on PBS.

Sheléa

From the White House to the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the Grammy Museum and the Emmy Awards, Bakersfield-born singer, songwriter and keyboardist Sheléa, has transcended the boundaries of musical classification through a versatile and powerful voice that speaks to nations. She has appeared in the PBS specials Quincy Jones Presents: Sheléa; An Intimate Evening with David Foster and Grammy Salute to Musical legends.

Musical Director: Greg Phillinganes

Over a 35-year career, Grammy Award winner Greg Phillinganes has worked with musicians ranging from Stevie Wonder to Olivia Newton-John to Michael Jackson. He has served as the musical director on several PBS shows including "Great Performances," "In Performance at the White House: Women of Soul," "Grammy Salute to Musical Legends" and "Quincy Jones Presents: Sheléa."

Conductor: Beatrice Venezi

One of the handful of female orchestra conductors active on an international level (Argentina, Armenia, Belarus, Canada, Japan, Lebanon, Portugal and the United States). She is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra della Toscano and the Orchestra Sinfonica Milano Classica and is a member of the Women's Consultation Group of the Pontifical Council for Culture, appointed by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi for the three-year term of 2019-2021. She has worked with Bruno Canino, Stefan Milenkovich, Valentina Lisitsa, Carla Fracci and Andrea Bocelli, as well as the orchestras of Teatro La Fenice, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the New Japan Philharmonic.