Courtesy of Merola Opera Program
The acclaimed Merola Opera Program will soon have a Minnesota musician in its ranks. Eric Head, a pianist from Fairmont, is one of 28 artists selected from a pool of more than 1,500 to participate in Merola’s 2026 summer program in San Francisco. Since 1957, Merola has trained young opera singers, plus pianists and stage directors, to help prepare a new generation of performers, and is one of the most prestigious opera training programs in the world.
Fairmont native Head has trained at Luther College (where he says he first fell in love with accompanying and opera), the University of Michigan (where he received his master’s degree in collaborative piano), the Music Academy of the West, and Palm Beach Opera. “I credit my first piano teacher, Sandra Krumholz, with instilling a love for music in me,” Head says. “She helped me learn whatever music I brought to her—some weeks, it would be Beethoven, and other weeks it would be ABBA. Living in such a supportive community meant I was surrounded by opportunities to play the piano for church, musicals, choirs, and anyone who would listen.”
Head and the rest of the 2026 Merola class will produce a series of summer concerts, recitals, and fully staged operas at various venues around San Francisco. In addition to technical music training, the program also focuses on developing the “whole artist,” with classes in leadership, financial planning, mental wellness, public relations, and more.
“I am so thrilled to spend this summer in San Francisco,” says Head. “It will be so inspiring to be surrounded by such brilliant artists, many of whom are already my friends from previous projects, school or work.” Head says he’s particularly excited to work on “Ariadne auf Naxos,” one of Richard Strauss’s operas.
And in September, Head shares, he’ll make his way to Vienna, Austria, to join the Opernstudio at the Wiener Staatsoper. “I’m really looking forward to working with exceptional musicians from all around the world.”
Learn more at merola.org.
