Centre Symphony Orchestra
Scott Jackson Wiley, Conductor
Veronica Mak, Soprano
Suggested donation $20. Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Kodai Speich Tharsis (world premiere)
Veronica Mak, Soprano
Samuel Barber Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Veronica Mak, Soprano
Jean Sibelius Symphony No. 2, D Major, Opus 43
Veronica Mak is a Chinese-American soprano based in New York City, equally at home in operatic, choral, and contemporary repertoire. Her artistry is marked by versatility, emotional nuance, and a deep commitment to expressive storytelling.
Highlights of Veronica’s 2025-26 season included a recital series with pianist Shaobai Yuan called In Bloom and In Twilight and her choral debut with Ghostlight Chorus for their program, Blessed. Veronica was featured in the Regina Opera productions of Suor Angelica as Suor Genovieffa and Carmen as Frasquita. Additional performances included Mozart's C Minor Mass as a Chorus Fellow with Spoleto Festival USA, a featured recital with Delaware Valley Opera, and Papagena for their company's production of The Magic Flute.
Ms. Mak's additional previous operatic roles include Pamina from The Magic Flute, Laetitia from The Old Maid and the Thief, Monica from the Medium, Lauretta from Gianni Schicchi, Bastienne from Bastien und Bastienne, Pyg from Knightly News, the title role of L’enfant et les sortilèges, and Nancy from Albert Herring. Veronica was recognized from her performance of Rigoletto as Gilda with Regina Opera,having "appeared to inhabit the character believably" (Opera Wire).
Ms. Mak received her Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from The Manhattan School of Music. In her free time you can see her at a local matcha cafe or running races in the tri-state area.
Kodai Speich (b. 2003) is a composer from Rockford, Illinois. Treating music as a means to explore philosophical ideas such as transcendence, Speich often writes about what lies beyond the Earth and is repeatedly drawn to outer space as an extramusical inspiration.
Orchestral color is at the core of Speich’s music, and he cites the color-focused composers KaijaSaariaho and Esa-Pekka Salonen as his primary influences. His Ozymandias for soprano and orchestra, premiered by the Princeton Sinfonia, “utilized every section of the orchestra together, contrasting the deep horns with tinkling chimes” (Daily Princetonian). His percussion quartet Harbor on a Foggy Evening, premiered by Sō Percussion, places a similar emphasis on color: a free aleatoric soundscape evoking waves is interrupted by a depiction of a boat screeching to a halt, its passengers disembarking.
Speich is a member of Centre Symphony and is pursuing a Master of Music in composition at New York University, where he studies with Justin Dello Joio. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Princeton with a minor in music.