2021 Ken Alswang

Doug Han
(Doughino)

Opera Coach   |   Italian Specialist
vocal coach specializzato nel repertorio italiano

available for recordings,
auditions, performances, coaching,
& masterclasses


«Chi son? chi son?»

I'm a NJ-based opera coach,
conversationally fluent in French and Italian,
with nearly two decades' experience
focused predominantly on
the Italian repertoire from Mozart to Puccini.
The primo ottocento «belcanto» repertoire
is a personal specialty of mine:
Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Pacini, and Ricci.
Excursions into other repertoires are refreshing:
cherished flirtations with Wagner, Strauss, Beethoven, lieder
or Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky
en route back to my Italianate home turf!


«Che cosa faccio?»

Currently I'm a
Metropolitan Opera
official List Hall audition pianist,
Manhattan School of Music
vocal arts staff pianist,
Bard College Conservatory
Vocal Arts Program
staff pianist,
Rutgers University
pianist co-adjutant,
and freelance music-staffer
whose responsibilities run the gamut:
private coach, repertoire consultant,
language coach, prompter,
assistant conductor, chorus master
– as in the following highlight reels from La bohème
and my good-luck title Madama Butterfly
pianist for performances, recordings, auditions,
plus maestro delle nacchere (castanet maestro) for Carmen.Interested, available, and prepared to give masterclasses.


«E come vivo?»

Throughout the work process,
I offer maximum support to my singer colleagues.
They have ranged from young artist program candidates
– what satisfaction I gain from encouraging emerging artists! –
to Grammy Award winners
and Wiener Staatsoper Kammersänger
in Italy, Germany, South Africa, Canada, and the US.
But who coaches the coach?
Fervent gratitude to the late great Barbara Conrad
– beloved mentor, champion, and friend –
the late Kammersängerin Evelyn Lear,
incorrigibly feisty through days of coaching Strauss and Wagner,
and my current guiding lights who keep encouraging me to stay the course:Patricia Kristof Moy, doyenne of French repertoire at San Francisco and Santa Fe Operas,Mo. Caren Levine of the Metropolitan Opera,Dawn Kotoski-Shicoff,and Kammersänger Neil Shicoff.


…«castelli in aria»…

I've already had the privilege of
working with exceptional colleagues
and
I look forward to
what further artistic partnerships lie ahead.
Volere è potere!

20230816 NVF

Madonna!

Artists featured in the video footage
on this site include:

Michael Colman, bass
Nicholas Simpson, tenor
Abigail Raiford, soprano
Jessica Sandidge, soprano
Photography credit for headshot
at top of site page:
2021 Ken Alswang, At Home Studios

Madonna!