Sound bites.(brief intro to soprano Maria Zifchak)

Maria Zifchak is probably the only young soprano who can claim "Nobles seigneurs, salut!" from Les Huguenots as her signature aria. It was urged on her by Tito Capobianco when she was an apprentice at the Pittsburgh Opera Center. "It's a showy piece," says Zifchak, "and I had to sing it for every dinner, every luncheon, every single event that the Opera held. Tito used to introduce me by saying, 'She's going to hate me, but here's Maria, and she's going to sing Les Huguenots again.'"

Capobianco's suggestion has served her well. In 2001, when Vivica Genaux dropped out of Opera Orchestra of New York's concert presentation of Huguenots, conductor Eve Queler tapped Zifchak as her replacement. The official stars were Marcello Giordani, Olga Makarina and Krassimira Stoyanova, but the surprise of the evening was Zifchak, as the page Urbain. Her performance was stylish, richly textured and utterly confident. "That audience made you feel as if you could do no wrong," says Zifchak. "It must be awesome to have that audience, the Eve Queler following, all the time. It's like a family show. Everybody wishes you the best, and you feel it coming right back at you."

Born on Long Island but raised in Pennsylvania, Zifchak studied organ and violin before concentrating on voice. Contrary to some reports, she was never a member of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Program but did wangle a comprimario contract after singing in ...