“Bass-baritone Le Bu, who is relatively new to leading roles in staged opera, impressed from his first appearance on stage with a strong, commanding voice; we appear to have a new major talent on our hands.
OperaGene
“[Artyom Pak]…a pianist, whose playing is defined by high level of intelligence and brilliant technique”
New York Classical Review
Vocal Arts DC presents
Le Bu, Bass-baritone
Artyom Pak, Piano
2026 Gerald Perman Emerging Artist Recital
Gerald & Ann K. Perman Memorial Recital
Sunday, May 10, 2026
Live! At 10th & G
5:00PM
This program runs approximately 90 minutes with a 20-minute intermission.
2024 Operalia First Prize winner, Chinese bass-baritone Le Bu, makes his highly anticipated Washington, DC recital debut as the Vocal Arts DC Gerald Perman Emerging Artist. His performance marks the grand finale of our 35th anniversary season and is dedicated to the memory of our founder and his wife, Gerald and Ann K. Perman. Le Bu’s commanding voice and artistry have captivated audiences worldwide, and this recital offers a rare opportunity to experience his talent in an intimate setting.
Joined by pianist, Artyom Pak, Le Bu will present a compelling program that showcases his vocal depth and emotional range. The afternoon will feature Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death, a haunting and evocative song cycle, along with works highlighting Le’s musical storytelling. Don’t miss this special performance from a rising star.
2026 Perman Emerging Artist Recital Recital Program*:
I
Prometheus, D. 674 (Goethe) Franz Schubert
Fahrt zum Hades, D. 526 (Mayrhofer)
Gruppe aus dem Tartarus, D. 583 (Schiller)
II
Lamento (Gautier) Henri Duparc
Extase (Lahor)
La Vague et la Cloche (Coppée)
III
Excerpts from “The House of Life” (Rossetti) Ralph Vaughan Williams
1. Love-Sight
2. Silent Noon
4. Heart’s Haven
INTERMISSION
IV
Songs and Dances of Death (Golenishchev-Kutuzov) Modest Mussorgsky
1. Kolybel’ naja (Lullaby)
2. Serenada (Serenade)
3. Trepak (Trepak)
4. Polkovodec (The Field-Marshal)
*Selections subject to change
SOUND WORLD OF LE & ARTYOM
LISTEN TO LE & ARTYOM!
MEET THE ARTISTS
LE BU, BASS-BARITONE
Chinese bass-baritone Le Bu is a 2024 Operalia First Prize winner, a 2022 Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition and a recent alumnus of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.
MORE ABOUT LE!
This season Le Bu makes several important company debuts: first at the Washington National Opera for his first Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, then at the Berlin Philharmonic and the Salzburg Easter Festival as both Fasolt in Das Rheingold and the Bass Solo in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, both under Kirill Petrenko. He will also debut as Gunther in Götterdämmerung with the Atlanta Opera. Le Bu also returns to the Metropolitan Opera as the Speaker in holiday presentations of The Magic Flute and as the Mandarin in Turandot, as well as to the Santa Fe Opera as the Bonze in Madama Butterfly and the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte. He will also appear in recital with the Sag Harbor Song Festival and at the Kennedy Center. Future engagements include debuts with the Opéra National de Paris, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Royal Ballet and Opera as well as returns to the Metropolitan Opera.
Last season, Le Bu returned to the Metropolitan Opera in a number of roles; the Speaker in the holiday presentation of The Magic Flute, Angelotti in Tosca, the First Nazarene in Salome while also covering Ferrando in Il Trovatore, Queequeg in Moby Dick and Colline in La Bohème. In the summer he returned to the Santa Fe Opera as Monterone in Rigoletto and covered Hunding in Die Walküre.
During the 2023–24 season, his Metropolitan assignments included the High Priest of Baal in Nabucco, Biterolf in Tannhäuser and the Mandarin in Turandot. He made his Met debut the previous season as a Flemish Deputy in Don Carlo and appeared as the Second Guard in Julie Taymor’s beloved holiday production of The Magic Flute. He repeated the role of the Mandarin in Turandot with the Washington National Opera and appeared as Colline in La Bohème and as the French General in Silent Night at Wolf Trap.
Recent engagements include covering Daland in Der Fliegende Holländer and singing Second Spirit in L’Orfeo at Santa Fe Opera, Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro at Aspen Opera Theater, and the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte with the Merola Opera Program. On the concert stage, he has appeared as the bass soloist in Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with the Bard Orchestra, a concert of operatic arias and scenes with the Manchester Music Festival, and the Lindemann Program’s annual spring recital series held at the New York Library for the Performing Arts.
ARTYOM PAK, PIANO
Praised as “…a pianist, whose playing is defined by high level of intelligence and brilliant technique”, Artyom Pak has successfully performed in the United States of America, Europe, and Central Asia both as a soloist and as collaborative pianist. Mr. Pak is a winner of several international piano competitions, including the first edition of Il Pozzolino in Seregno, Italy.
MORE ABOUT ARTYOM!
Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, he played his first solo recital at the age of 9. After graduating from Uspensky Lyceum, where he studied with Elmira Mirkasimova and Tamara Borisova, Mr. Pak received a full scholarship to study at Mannes School of Music in New York, where he had pursued his undergraduate and master’s degrees, both under the guidance of Eteri Andjaparidze. In 2022, Mr. Pak graduated from Manhattan School of Music, where he received professional studies diploma in vocal collaborative piano, studio of Warren Jones
Mr. Pak is an alumnus of the 2022 Merola opera program; in 2024, he was a member of The Glimmerglass Festival young artists program.
In 2023-2025, Mr. Pak served as piano fellow at The Juilliard School’s Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts. Currently, he serves as the director of the Apprentice Artists Program and chorus master at Sarasota Opera as well as a staff pianist at The Juilliard School, splitting his time between Sarasota and New York.