Doug Han
(Doughino)

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!

Currently I'm a
Metropolitan Opera
official List Hall audition pianist
and
Manhattan School of Music
vocal arts staff pianist,In recent years I have served as
Bard College Conservatory
Vocal Arts Program
staff pianist
and
Rutgers University
pianist co-adjutant.As a longtime freelance music-staffer
my responsibilities have 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.

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.Recent years have introduced me to the vocal studios of such wonderful NYC teachers as
Edith Bers
Michael Paul
Diana SovieroHowever, much honor is owed to those teachers and colleagues
who train the coach to be a maestro in his own right,
and therefore I offer my 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.

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!

Artists featured in the video footage
on this site include:
Michael Colman, bass
Nicholas Simpson, tenor
Abigail Raiford, soprano
Jessica Sandidge, sopranoPhotography credit for headshot
at top of site page:
2021 Ken Alswang, At Home Studios