Elias Berezin
Jewish-American tenor Elias Berezin is a California native. Based in Los Angeles, he has sung with organizations all around the state specializing in operatic and concert works.
The ‘24/’25 season finished with a recital tour of California entitled Growing Up, featuring works by Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Strauss, and the epic Vaughan Williams song cycle Songs of Travel. Other highlights of the year included a debut with LA Opera Connects bringing opera to high schools throughout the SoCal area, a role debut as Macduff in Macbeth with Guild Opera Company, and a return to Music at Westwood as tenor soloist in Messiah.
Recent operatic highlights include Danilo in The Merry Widow at Mission Opera, Luigi in Il Tabarro and Ferrando in Cosí fan tutte with Guild Opera, Eisenstein and Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus with Pacific Lyric Association, and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with Landmark Opera. A proponent of new music, Berezin created leading roles as The Inventor in Ian Dicke’s ROMAN with Synchromy and Autumn in Joseph-Nathaniel Cuenca’s SCHISM at UCR Arts.
On the concert stage, Berezin has sung tenor solos in Handel’s Messiah and Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with Music at Westwood; Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, and Haydn’s The Creation with the Palisades Symphony; Bach’s Cantata 61 “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland,” and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with Soli Deo Gloria; and in concerts of arias with Opera Italia.
Elias is a recipient of grant support from Opera Buffs, and was a finalist in the Redlands Bowl Young Artist Competition. He has appeared as a young artist with the Boston Wagner Institute, Source Song Festival, Songfest, and the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. He received an M.M. from the University of Redlands, a B.M. from UC Irvine, and has amassed over a decade of teaching experience now holding voice-teaching positions at Corona del Mar High School and Trabuco Hills High School. He maintains an active private studio in Hollywood.
Jenna Hansen
Jenna Hansen is an accomplished soprano with a strong background in solo and ensemble performance. She earned her Master of Music in Vocal Performance from California State University Fullerton in 2024 and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in 2022.
Hansen performs as a choral artist with Choral Arts Initiative under Dr. Brandon Elliott and as a staff soprano with Pacific Chorale under Dr. Robert Istad. An aspiring opera singer, she performed leading roles at Cal State Fullerton, including Mrs. Anna Maurrant in Street Scene (2023) and Ottavia in L’incoronazione di Poppea (2024), as well as several prominent roles in opera scenes. Hansen was the winner of the vocal division in the Music Associates Concerto and Aria Competition in 2023, and she earned the Outstanding Opera Award two years in a row at Cal State Fullerton.
A lifelong choral singer, Hansen has toured internationally, engaging in cultural exchanges through music. With the Sacramento Children’s Chorus, she toured China (2013) and the Baltic States (2016). As a member of Cal Poly’s Polyphonics, she performed at Carnegie Hall (2019) and toured Greece (2022). She was among six students selected to sing for a choral conducting workshop in Nairobi, Kenya (2019). In the summer of 2024, she toured Rwanda and South Africa with the Cal State Fullerton University Singers.
With a rich background in education and performance, Hansen continues to captivate audiences with her exceptional vocal artistry and passion for music.