About the Artists

Matthew Burns is a nationally acclaimed bass-baritone and wine expert whose signature “tasting concerts” unite the sensory worlds of music and viticulture. With more than 25 years on the operatic stage—including seven seasons at the Metropolitan Opera—Matthew brings his deep understanding of vocal color to an innovative format that has captivated audiences across the country. As an emcee and creator of this immersive experience, he has led 24 tasting concerts nationwide, including events with Utah Opera, Washington National Opera, and Wolf Trap Opera.

Blending the language of sommeliers with the expressive palette of the operatic voice, Matthew has paired over two hundred voices with carefully selected wines, revealing unexpected parallels between timbre, texture, resonance, and flavor. His warm humor, expertise, and engaging storytelling invite audiences to drink in the sound while developing a new appreciation for both wine and opera.

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Brian Downen is a renowned operatic tenor who has sung roles in more than 85 productions for opera houses worldwide. Mr. Downen is known for his portrayals of leading men in the bel canto operas of Mozart and Rossini, including numerous productions of Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, L’Italiana in Algeri, Don Giovanni, and Die Zauberflöte. He debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2016 as Lord Cecil in Roberto Devereux and returned in 2018 as Triquet in Eugene Onegin. Recent engagements include Philemon in the Haydn marionette opera Jupiter’s Journey to the Earth with the Little Opera Theatre of New York; Gastone in La Traviata for El Paso Opera. Next month he will have his role debut as Goro in Madama Butterfly with Opera Louisiane. Downen is the winner of the 2024 “American Prize in Voice in the Men’s Professional Art Song Division.” He is an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he teaches applied voice and conducts the treble choir, Cantare.

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Cherry Duke is a versatile performer whose career spans opera, concert, theater, new music, and recital stages. She has appeared with companies such as Los Angeles Opera, Fort Worth Opera, New York City Opera, and Central City Opera, and has performed more than 60 operatic roles and 30 oratorio and concert works, along with numerous premieres, workshops of new compositions, and recitals. This summer, Cherry reunites with director Justin Lucero for two productions that originated at El Paso Opera: she performs Gertrude in Roméo et Juliette with Resonance Works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Julia Child in Bon Appétit! at the Bay View Music Festival in Petoskey, Michigan. After more than twenty years living and working in New York City, Cherry moved to El Paso with her husband, Brian Downen, and has been part of this city’s artistic community for over a decade. She teaches voice and opera as Professor of Practice at The University of Texas at El Paso, and in 2025, after years of service as Artistic Associate and Director of Resident Artists, she was appointed Artistic Director of El Paso Opera.

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El Paso native, baritone Levi Hernandez has been engaged by some of the most prestigious opera houses throughout the world, including The Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, Komische Oper Berlin, and Houston Grand Opera where he débuted as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly.  This season, Mr. Hernandez makes exciting returns to Virginia Opera as Magnifico in La Cenerentola, Opera Colorado as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, and is thrilled to return home to El Paso Opera as Marcello in La bohème. Most recently he returned to Madison Opera for Il barbiere di Siviglia and Lyric Opera of Chicago and El Paso Opera for La bohème. In addition, he sang Lescaut in Manon Lescaut with the Washington Concert Opera, Handel‘s Messiah with the Tucson Symphony, reprised the role of Alvaro in Florencia en el Amazonas with North Carolina Opera, and performed Mozart’s Requiem with the Utah Symphony.

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Accomplished concert pianist and coach/accompanist Esequiel Meza, Jr. has coached multiple productions for El Paso Opera, served as Music Director for Stagedoor Manor Institute of the Performing Arts in New York, and as an accompanist for Arizona Opera. Other music directing credits include New Mexico State University and Doña Ana Lyric Opera Company, Music Theater of El Paso, Cimarron Circuit Opera Company, and Southern Arizona Light Opera Company. He has performed as guest soloist with the Juarez Bi-National Symphony Orchestra and the symphonies of Corpus Christi, Bordeaux, and Shreveport. Meza has won several awards and has taught on the faculty of the University of Oklahoma where he was also Assistant Dean of Fine Arts and at the University of Bordeaux III in Talence, France. He holds degrees in piano performance from Sam Houston State University, the University of Arizona, and Indiana University. Since 2016, Dr. Meza has been the principal pianist and vocal coach for Opera UTEP.