Dear Ophelia Meredith Wohlgemuth & Jinhee Park

• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): Der Zwerg, Op. 22 No. 1 D.771:
• 1 Schubert: Der Zwerg, Op. 22 No. 1 D.771 05:31
• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Myrthen, Op. 25:
• 2 Schumann: Myrthen, Op. 25: I. Widmung 02:13
• 3 Schumann: Myrthen, Op. 25: IX. Lied der Suleika 03:02
• Franz Schubert: Suleika II, D.717:
• 4 Schubert: Suleika II, D.717 04:23
• 5 Schubert: Suleika I, D.720 05:42
• Gretchen am Spinnrade, Op. 2, D.118:
• 6 Schubert: Gretchen am Spinnrade, Op. 2, D.118 04:15
• Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949): Drei Lieder der Ophelia, Op. 67:
• 7 Strauss: Drei Lieder der Ophelia, Op. 67: I. Wie erkenn ich mein Treulieb vor andern nun? 02:29
• 8 Strauss: Drei Lieder der Ophelia, Op. 67: II. Guten Morgen, ‘s ist Sankt Valentinstag 01:22
• 9 Strauss: Drei Lieder der Ophelia, Op. 67: III. Sie trugen ihn auf der Bahre bloß 03:49
• Robert Schumann: 6 Gedichte und Requiem, Op. 90:
• 10 Schumann: 6 Gedichte und Requiem, Op. 90: II. Meine Rose 03:52
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): Ariettes oubliées, L. 60:
• 11 Debussy: Ariettes oubliées, L. 60: I. C’est l’extase langoureuse 02:54
• 12 Debussy: Ariettes oubliées, L. 60: II. Il pleure dans mon coeur 02:39
• 13 Debussy: Ariettes oubliées, L. 60: III. L'ombre des arbres 02:35
• 14 Debussy: Ariettes oubliées, L. 60: IV. Chevaux de Bois 03:29
• 15 Debussy: Ariettes oubliées, L. 60: V. Green (Aquarelle) 02:22
• 16 Debussy: Ariettes oubliées, L. 60: VI. Spleen (Aquarelle) 02:29
• Alison Bauld (b. 1944): Ophelia's Lament:
• 17 Bauld: Ophelia's Lament 08:00
• Franz Schubert: Nacht und Träume, D.827:
• 18 Schubert: Nacht und Träume, D.827 03:40
• Total Runtime 01:04:46

Info for Dear Ophelia

‘Dear Ophelia’ is a journey to the inner voices we humans carry within us. With Shakespeare's Ophelia (Hamlet), one of the most interesting and powerful female characters in European cultural history, soprano Meredith Wohlgemuth and pianist Jinhee Park explore the emotional landscapes that connect us across time and cultures in their debut album. ‘Ophelia's story, filled with vulnerability and silence, helped us both unlock something very personal and essential within ourselves, and in her we found echoes of ourselves. At its core, this album is about relationships and connections between people, across time and through music, about the inner truth of being human,’ the two confess in the booklet.

Wohlgemuth and Park, who won first prize at the International Schubert Lied Duo Competition in Dortmund in 2023 and first prize at the Concours musical international de Montreal in 2022, continue their journey with selected songs by Franz Schubert (‘Der Zwerg’, ‘Suleika I’ and “Il”, ‘Gretchen am Spinnrade’, ‘Nacht und Träume’), Robert Schumann (‘Widmung’, ‘Lied der Suleika’, ‘Meine Rose’), Richard Strauss' ‘Three Songs of Ophelia’, Claude Debussy's ‘Ariettes oubliees’ and the first recording of the scenic song ‘Ophelia's Lament’ by the Australian-English composer Alison Bauld (*1944).

Meredith Wohlgemuth, sopran0
Jinhee Park, piano

Meredith Wohlgemuth
is an American Soprano and is based in Hannover, Germany

This season at Staatsoper Hannover, Meredith will sing Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Ms. Schlesin in Satyagraha, Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, and Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel. This fall, she will also sing Bruckner’s Te Deum with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and Conductor Pietari Inkinen, as well as performing a recital at The Juilliard School with pianist Jinhee Park. In March 2025, she will sing a Lied recital for the Schubertíada Lied series in Barcelona.

In October 2023, Meredith won the 1st Prize at the Internationaler Schubert LiedDuo-Wettbewerb in Dortmund with pianist Jinhee Park.

In August 2023, Meredith sang the role of Ilia at The Aspen Music Festival and School as a Renée Fleming Artist.

In the 2022/23 season, Meredith made her European operatic debut as well as six role debuts at the Staatsoper Hannover, including Giulietta in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Adina in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, Euridice in Gluck’s Orfeo, Cordelia in Reimann’s Lear, and Blumenmädchen in Wagner’s Parsifal. Meredith also performed various Lied recitals in Dortmund and Köln with pianists Jinhee Park and Eric Schneider.

In 2022, Meredith received the Mélodie Premier Prix at the Concours musical international de Montreal. In addition to the first prize, she won the Joseph Rouleau Career Development Grant (50k) , Normand Beauchamp Winner’s Tour Grant (15k) and the French Mélodie Art Song Award with her duo partner Jinhee Park.

Meredith was one of the seven winners of the Sullivan Foundation Grants in New York City. In August 2022, she sang a main role in the US Premiere of “Lessons in Love and Violence” by George Benjamin, with the composer at the podium, as part of Tanglewood’s Festival of Contemporary Music.

She made her debut at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, NY, performing in a collaboration with Beth Morrison Projects, “21c Liederabend”. Last January, Meredith made her debut at Carnegie Hall as a Renée Fleming SongStudio Young Artist. And in March, she performed at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts and at Merkin Hall in NYC as a Schwab Vocal Rising Star in association with NYFOS (New York Festival of Song) with Steven Blier and Bénédicte Jourdois.

In the 2020/2021 season, Meredith performed Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel at the Chautauqua Opera Company and Conservatory. In February, she was a Resident Artist at Opera Naples where she performed Annina in Verdi’s La Traviata and A girl/Francisca in Bernstein’s West Side Story under the direction of Maestro Ramón Tebar and alongside Isabel Leonard. At the beginning of the Pandemic, Meredith premiered new works virtually by composers J.P. Redmond and Marina Lee and also became a member of the TOE Ensemble (That One Ensemble), where they write and perform new work for unique causes and various Nonprofit organizations in NYC. In the summer of 2020, Meredith was a recipient of the Novick Career Advancement Grant, and the Frank Huntington Beebe Fund Grant. In July 2021, Mer was a Finalist in The American Prize Competition: The Friedrich & Virginia Schorr Memorial Award.

In the 2019/2020 Season, Ms. Wohlgemuth performed Despina in Juilliard’s new production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte under the direction of Maestro Nimrod Pfeffer in The Peter Jay Sharp Theatre. In February 2020, she performed in a live-streamed masterclass with Renée Fleming at The Juilliard School and performed her graduate recital at Juilliard where she premiered new works by composer Nick Marsella. In March 2020, Meredith performed Debussy’s Nocturnes with the New York Philharmonic and Isabel Leonard under the direction of Louis Langrée at David Geffen Hall at The Lincoln Center.

In the 2018/2019 Season, Meredith began her Masters studies at The Juilliard School and made her Lincoln Center debut as Tirsi in the Handel cantata Clori, Tirsi, e Fileno with Juilliard 415 under the direction of Maestro Paul Agnew. In December 2018, Meredith was the Soprano Soloist in performances of Vivaldi’s Gloria and Monteverdi’s Magnificat at The Church of the Transfiguration in downtown NYC. In February 2019, Ms. Wohlgemuth performed Belinda in a touring production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas alongside Juilliard 415, with performances at London’s Holland Park and Versailles Opéra Royal. In June 2019, she performed Tytania in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with The Chautauqua Institution.

In 2016, she was a young artist at The Harrower Opera Workshop Summer Program in Atlanta, Georgia, where she sang her first full operatic role, Nerone, in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea.

From 2013-2017, Meredith placed 1st and 2nd in many regional and state competitions in Florida where she was born and raised. In Regional NATS Competitions, she won 2nd Place in the classical voice division in 2016 and 2017. In State NATS, she won 1st place in the classical and musical theatre divisions in 2015, and 2nd Place in the classical voice division in 2013 and 2016. She was the recipient of the Silver Garland Award for Excellence in Music in 2014, and was a 2nd Place winner in the Tuesday Music Club Competition in central Florida.

Meredith grew up performing in musicals and singing since she was 7 years old. She performed in musicals around central Florida in shows such Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (wife, 2014), The Wizard of Oz (china maiden, 2009), Annie (Orphan Kate, 2007), Scapino (Giacinta/Waiter, 2013), Alice in Wonderland (Alice, 2006), Charlottes Web (The cat, 2005), Le Petit Prince (Rose, 2005), The Mad Adventures of Mr. Toad (Chief Mouse, 2004), and Nuncrackers (youngest child, 2001).

During her time at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska, Meredith founded and directed the Concordia Opera Scenes Program and was the student conductor of the A Capella Choir from 2017-2018. She also maintained her own private voice studio of around 20 young singers from 2016-2018.

Meredith received her Master of Music degree in Vocal Arts from The Juilliard School in 2020 and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Performance from Concordia University, Nebraska in 2018.

Jinhee Park
is a dynamic artist for her versatility and passion for music, having a wide range of experience in both vocal and instrumental repertoire. As a vocal collaborative pianist, Jinhee, in partnership with soprano Meredith Wohlgemuth, has received international recognition by winning the first prize at the Schubert International LiedDuo 2023 in Dortmund and the Concours International Musical de Montréal (Art Song Division) in 2022. She also received the best pianist awards from both competitions.

In 2018, Jinhee joined the Chautauqua Institution Voice Conservatory as a vocal coach, working with Marlena Malas. Her dedication to working with young singers is evident in her involvement in various opera productions, including Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and I Capuleti e i Montecchi, L'enfant et les sortilèges.

As a chamber musician, she was appointed one of the official pianists at the Concours International Musical de Montreal in the Violin edition 2023. Additionally, she holds the position of official pianist at the Hudson Valley String Competition. Jinhee's performances have appeared venues in the United States, Canada, Germany, and Korea, and she actively collaborates with internationally-acclaimed musicians, including Stella Chen and Timothy Chooi.

Building on a rich career as a vocal coach and chamber musician, she has recently expanded her artistic work to include conducting. She took on her first conducting responsibilities in 2023, leading Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges at the Chautauqua Institute Opera Conservator. In 2025, she was selected as a fellow of the Carlos Miguel Prieto Conducting Fellowship. She has worked with orchestras and festival ensembles, including the NOI+ Festival Orchestra, Lüneburg Symphoniker, Saratoga Orchestra of Whidbey Island, Wintergarden Festival Ensemble, and a residency with the Escuela Superior de Música y Danza de Monterrey and OAcademy Orchestra Institute in Mexico. Her approach to the podium is shaped by years of experience in rehearsal rooms and recital halls, including her work at the Juilliard School, Chautauqua Institution and the Perlman Music Program.

In addition to her performances, Jinhee is deeply committed to music education and nurturing young talent. In addition to the Chautauqua Institution, she is also on the faculty at the Perlman Music Program, where she works closely with cellists. Throughout the school year, she maintains a collaborative partnership with violinist Catherine Cho at the Juilliard School, serving as a studio pianist and mentor to Cho's students. In fall 2024, she joined the Manhattan School of Music as a member of the Vocal Arts faculty, with a primary focus on song repertoire.

Jinhee received her Bachelor's degree from Seoul National University, followed by a Master's degree at The Juilliard School. Furthering her musical education, she attained an Artist Diploma from Manhattan School of Music under the guidance of distinguished mentors such as Jonathan Feldman, Warren Jones, Margo Garrett, and Lydia Brown. In 2025, Jinhee earned her doctorate from the Juilliard School.

In 2015, Jinhee moved to the United States from South Korea, and she now calls the vibrant heart of New York City home.

Booklet for Dear Ophelia