OUR FACULTY

RACHEL ZATCOFF

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Rachel Zatcoff is a Broadway actress and classically trained soprano. Rachel recently completed a year and a half run Off-Broadway as Tsaytl in Fiddler on the Roof (in Yiddish) directed by Joel Grey. She made her Broadway debut as Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera. She has also performed with the International Tour of West Side Story in the role of Maria.

Rachel made her New York City Opera debut in Candide directed by Hal Prince. She later made her principal debut at the company with the new jazz opera, Dear Erich, in the role of Lili. Other favorite performances include A Little Night Music at Syracuse Opera, The Secret Garden at TUTS, and Street Scene at Opera North.

Rachel enjoys drinking red wine, talking to the moon, being a libra, eating all of the cheese, performing, auditioning, reading, teaching, learning, and celebrating life in New York City. Her favorite roles are wife to Seth and mama to Alfie.

RAINELLE KRAUSE

Known for her absolute precision and fiery coloratura, soprano Rainelle Krause is a versatile and compelling singer. She recently made debuts with Theater Basel as Tania in Al gran sole carico d'amore and with the Staatsoper Berlin, and Deutsche Oper Berlin as Die Königin der Nacht in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Other engagements include Pat Nixon in the Princeton Festival’s Nixon in China, the cover of Zerlina in Don Giovanni with The Dallas Opera, guest soloist with Voices of Change for their Holocaust memorial performance, and featured artist for Opus Opera’s event, Mystique, a circus and opera collaboration.
Performances for 2020-2021 included further engagements as Die Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte with the Royal Danish Opera, Theater Basel, Staatsoper Berlin, and Deutsche Oper Berlin. The 2021-2022 season sees her as Oscar in Un ballo in maschera with Royal Danish Opera, debuts with Houston Grand Opera and Oper Köln for Die Zauberflöte, Die Zauberflöte with Theater Basel and North Carolina Opera, and the Princess in The Snow Queen under the baton of Kent Nagano in her debut with the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

Ms. Krause has been awarded First Place in the Fielder Grant Competition, Third Place and Audience Favorite in the Orpheus Competition, and has been chosen as one of four winners in the Texas Camerata’s Baroque Aria Competition. She was a finalist in the Lois Alba Competition in Houston as well as the International Mildred Miller Competition in Pittsburgh, a Regional Finalist with the Metropolitan National Council Auditions in New Orleans and St. Louis, and a semi-finalist with the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation and Gari Foundation competitions in New York City. Ms. Krause trained as young artist with the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy in Germany, the Opera Works Advanced Artist Program in Los Angeles in summer 2013, Opera Las Vegas in spring 2013, and the Taos Opera Institute and Opera Nova Costa Rica in 2012. In 2014, she was invited back to Taos as a guest artist, performing in venues all across Taos and Santa Fe.
Some Ms. Krause’s concert credits include a concert version of La Traviata with the Irving Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Plano Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s Jauchzet Gott with members of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Vaughan Williams' Dona nobis pacem and Haydn's Pauken messe with the Amarillo Master Chorale, Orff’s Carmina burana with the Plano Symphony, and Vivaldi’s Magnificat with the North minster Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis.
Ms. Krause has performed with Fort Worth's Casa Mañana Theatre in their production of The Sound of Music, as well as the Fort Worth Opera chorus in Le pêcheurs de perles, La Traviata, and Hamlet. She holds a Bachelor of Music (2010) and a Master of Music (2012) in Vocal Performance from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music in her hometown of Bloomington, IN. She currently lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and trains on aerial silks.

CHUCK HUDSON

Chuck Hudson has directed opera productions at major international companies including Cape Town Opera (South Africa), Cincinnati Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Minnesota Opera, Atlanta Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Seattle Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, and San Francisco Opera Center among others. He has directed award winning theatre productions in New York and regionally, including The Pearl Theatre, The Chester Theater, Cape May Stage, The Children’s Theatre Festival of Houston, New City Theatre, and Chicago’s Fox Valley Shakespeare Festival. Chuck’s work as a director was mentioned in the January 2011 Edition of American Theatre Magazine and the October 2018 Edition of Classical Singer Magazine.
In addition to directing, Chuck continues to focus on work with young professional artists. He was a co-creator of Seattle Opera’s Young Artist Program where he directed productions as well as created and instructed specialized classes on Acting and Movement skills for singers. He has directed productions at San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, Santa Fe Opera’s Apprentice Artist Program, AVA Opera Theater, BU Opera Institute, USC-Thornton Opera, Carnegie-Mellon, Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater, Cincinnati Conservatory, Indiana University Opera Theatre, and Music Academy of the West. He was the Artistic Associate of La Lingua della Lirica for two seasons in Italy, a guest artist at S.I.V.A.M. in Mexico City and has been an annual Master Teacher at San Francisco Opera’s Merola and Adler Fellows programs for almost two decades.
Chuck travels often to Australia to work with singers at The Melba Opera Trust in Melbourne, The Sydney Conservatorium, N.I.D.A., Opera Australia Young Artist Program, the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts in Perth, and professional singers via the Opera and Arts Support Group. He directed the Australian Premiere of the German Opera by Goetz based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew (at WAAPA), was a Guest Director at the Melbourne Conservatory of Music’s Opera Training Program, and presented public Showcases for professional singers at the residence of the American Consul General in Sydney for the Opera and Arts Support Group. The Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation also invited Chuck to work with their singers New Zealand for several seasons.
For 7 years Chuck was Artistic Director of The Immediate Theatre in Seattle: a physically based company committed to the creation of visually exciting dramatic works. Chuck’s specialty in movement comes from a background in gymnastics as well as being one of three Americans to have received a diploma from the Marcel Marceau International School of Mimedrama in Paris. He is the only American to be appointed to teach at Marceau’s School, and he performed with Marceau on his 1991 European Tour and in Klaus Kinski’s film Paganini. Chuck also studied at the Paris School for Theatrical Fencing and was awarded an Honorary Diploma from the French Academy of Arms.
Acting roles include Orsino in Twelfth Night, Brutus in Julius Caesar, and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew with the Seattle Shakespeare Festival, and Caliban in The Tempest with his own Immediate Theatre.

Dr. IAN HOWELL

Dr. Ian Howell is a member of the voice faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music where he directs the graduate voice pedagogy program, teaches studio voice, and coaches students in Baroque voice repertory.
PERFORMANCE:Praised by the New York Daily News for his “rich voice, capable of great dramatic force,” San Francisco Classical Voice for the “heart at the core of his soulful sound,” and Classical Voice of North Carolina for his “lovely, supple, and crystal-clear” voice, Ian Howell sings with a warm and seamless tone rarely heard from countertenors.
As a classical countertenor, Ian Howell has sung on most major international concert stages as both a soloist and a member of the Grammy Award winning ensemble Chanticleer, and has extensively toured North America, Japan, Europe, and parts of Central and South America.
In 2006, Howell won First Prize at the American Bach Soloists International Solo Competition with an acclaimed performance of Bach’s Cantata BWV 170, "Vergnügte Ruh," and Third Prize at the Oratorio Society of New York’s Vocal Competition.
Ian Howell’s debut solo CD, 1685 and the Art of Ian Howell with American Bach Soloists, was released in 2009 and features repertory by Domenico Scarlatti, J.S. Bach, and G.F. Handel. He can also be heard with the all-male chamber choir Chanticleer on one DVD and eight CDs, including the Grammy Award–winning Tavener: Lamentations and Praises and the Grammy-nominated Our American Journey. He has recorded for the Warner Classics, Rhino, Gothic, Yale, Chanticleer, and American Bach Soloists labels.
Equally at home on the opera and concert stages, recent seasons included repeat engagements with Florentine Opera in Handel's Giulio Cesare (Tolomeo), the Boston Early Music Festival in Sebastiani's St Matthew Passion, the American Bach Soloists in Bach Cantatas (with a featured masterclass at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music), and Musica Sacra (N.Y.) in Handel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall. For his December 2011 performance of Messiah with the Choir of St Thomas Fifth Ave. (New York City), The New York Times singled Howell out as "the most effective … fully supported and consistently expressive." The following year, San Francisco Classical Voice commented that he “lit a brightly flaming ‘Refiner’s Fire,’ flickering with expert ornaments and trills” in his performance of Messiah with the American Bach Soloists at San Francisco’s monumental Grace Cathedral.
Previous seasons included debuts with New York City Opera’s education department (Chin’s Alice in Wonderland (White Rabbit/March Hare)) and the Boston Early Music Festival (Bach’s Vergnügte Ruh). Recent engagements include a “Distinguished Artist” solo concert as a part of the American Bach Soloists summer Academy, Bach’s Trauerode with the American Bach Soloists at the Berkeley Early Music Festival, and repeat engagements with Los Angeles’s Musica Angelica (Bach’s Christmas Oratorio), The New Mexico Symphony Chorus (Handel’s Messiah), Chatham Baroque (Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater), and the American Bach Soloists (Handel’s Messiah). He has also sung with Florentine Opera (Blow’s Venus & Adonis—Cupid, and Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas—Spirit), Seattle Baroque (Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater), and the New Mexico Symphony (Bach’s Christmas Oratorio). He returned for engagements with Chatham Baroque (Bach’s St John Passion), New York’s St Ignatius Loyola (Handel’s Jephtha—Hamor), and the U.C. Davis Choirs (Bernstein’s Missa Brevis and Chichester Psalms, and in a new work by Pablo Ortiz). Howell was one of nine singers selected to perform and commercially record a one-to-a-part St Matthew Passion with the orchestra of the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute.
Howell debuted with Canada’s Orchestra London/Opera London as Tolomeo in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, for which critics called his portrayal “chilling,” “remarkable,” and “heart-rending,” and noted that he “handled the intricacies of Handel’s vocal writing with marvelous finesse.” Howell also debuted as a featured soloist on the Ravinia Festival’s Rising Stars Series ("Beginner’s Ear" Recital), with the St Louis Symphony (P.D.Q. Bach’s Iphigenia in Brooklyn), the Handel Choir of Baltimore (Messiah), the Hudson Valley Singers (Handel’s Susanna—Joachim), Chatham Baroque (Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and J.C. Bach’s Lamento), Musica Angelica (Bach’s St John Passion), and in recital with the Columbus (Ohio) Guitar Society ("The New Music: 1602–Present"). That year returned to the Bay Area to reprise Handel’s Messiah for the second year in a row with the American Bach Soloists.
SCHOLARLY WORK:Dr. Howell's scholarly work explores the special psychoacoustics of the singing voice, with an eye toward practical applications for singers and voice teachers. Human senses interpret reality according to a dependable set of rules. These same senses also perceive greater detail once we internalize more precise labels and conceptual models. Dr. Howell’s work produces new aural/visual models that better characterize the perceptual qualities of sung vowels and voice registration. He unpacks and identifies the perceptually coherent components of a vowel, showing how absolute, objective labels apply to the relative scale of tonal brightness.
Dr. Howell has presented original research at the Pan American Vocology Association's Symposium (2015, 2016), The National Association of Teachers of Singing's National Convention (2016, 2018), Harvard's ArtTechPsyche III (2017), The Society for Music Perception and Cognition (2017), and the Voice Foundation (2018). He is a guest faculty member at the Vocal Pedagogy Professional Workshop at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee (2017, 2018), and the Acoustic Vocal Pedagogy Seminar held in the summers at NEC.
Learn more about Dr. Howell's research here
Ian Howell has taught at Yale, Swarthmore, and Rutgers Camden, and was a 2013 NATS Teaching Intern. He was the founding editor of TheCounterTenorVoice.com, an online journal covering career and technique issues for singers, and has been published in the Journal of Voice, the Journal of Singing, Classical Singer, and VOICEPrints. He holds a Master of Music Degree in Voice from Yale University and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the New England Conservatory.
M.M., Yale University; D.M.A. New England Conservatory

JOSH KILLINGSWORTH

American voice specialist Josh Killingsworth is a highly sought-after clinician, speaker, and teacher. In addition to teaching award-winning students in his home studio and virtually via Zoom, he has developed numerous custom music programs for local schools.

After studying opera and vocal jazz in college, Josh went on to have an eclectic performing career, which was sadly limited due to a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in 2007. MS affected his coordination, strength, stamina, and even breath support.

Even with these physical limitations, Josh has been able to continue having a music career – besides teaching, he conducts choral workshops, arranges pieces for vocal groups, and counsels young musicians. In recent years, he has found ways to perform by singing in cabaret shows and even a vocal jazz quintet.

Josh’s first-hand knowledge of how to overcome disability to achieve musical goals and years of innovative teaching methods have combined to make him an expert in the field of teaching students with disabilities.

CHRISTINA HAGER

Christina Hager is the President and Founder of Ovations Digital, a social media & digital marketing consultancy, as well as a member of the 2021 Forbes Communication Council, and a published writer for Forbes.com. Her insights and ideas regarding social media marketing have appeared in Inc.com, People Maven Magazine, National Jewelry, Social Media Today, and numerous podcasts, and she is a highly sought after executive speaker on social media and digital tactics and strategy. With a long-standing reputation as a master communicator due to her former career as a professional opera singer, Ms. Christina Hager has leveraged her innate gift for messaging and storytelling into becoming an adroit digital marketing strategist, helping companies enhance their market position through digital and social media communication.
She holds consultant positions with numerous businesses and individual projects in the B2B and B2C industries, including health and wellness, executive and change advisory, beauty, skincare, construction, SaSS, business consulting and career services, e-commerce, restaurants, luxury goods, not-for-profits, and the performing arts.
Ms. Hager also assists corporate leaders and entrepreneurs, from small-business owners to Fortune 500 executives, and excels at developing thought leadership credentials for her clients through her ability to promote their insights in top industry outlets like Forbes, Inc.com, U.S. News and World Report, Business.com, and Thrive Global.
Ms. Hager is a proud champion of the arts, as well as an active board member and volunteer. After spending 10 years in NYC as a professional opera singer, she is happy to call Kansas City home.

HEIDI MOSS ERICKSON

FUSING HER UNIQUE BACKGROUND IN BOTH SCIENCE AND MUSIC, HEIDI HAS COMBINED HER PASSIONS TO EXPAND THE FRONTIERS OF VOCAL PEDAGOGY.
After suffering a nearly career-ending cranial nerve injury, Heidi utilized her research background towards self-rehabilitation. She defied predictions by returning to the art she loves and has thrived in her professional singing career ever since.
In addition to performing, Heidi spent 10 years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music leading the vocal physiology course for the collegiate division and teaching in the pre-college and continuing education programs. Heidi now maintains her flourishing teaching career in her private studio and through her virtual courses. She has written and lectured about technology, biofeedback, overcoming adversity, and the neuroscience of singing.

I WAS THAT KID.
You know, the one who would mug for the camera when anyone yelled ‘cheese!’, who would dance wildly in the living room as a child when dad would play Pink Floyd (true story), and of course, who was the loudest at the party when the Happy Birthday song broke out. Performing was in my DNA (or whatever biological construct you like to give to these things, which we know are a complex combination of events rooted in both nature and nurture…ok…never mind…).
But where I grew up, there weren’t many role models of the performing arts type, and my family being very heavy in the medical and academic sciences, that was my definition of ‘career’. Music, on the other hand, was more on the ‘hobby’ side of things. But the struggle never really resolved itself…and thus, science and music were inextricably linked in my professional being from that day forward (and a topic for my therapist’s couch for years).
I was fortunate to spend seven years in an elite research lab at Rockefeller University studying telomeres with Dr. Titia deLange. That adventure resulted in two high-level publications, including a landmark paper in the journal Cell (which also happened to appear on the New York Times front page). Coincidentally, that same year I also won the New York District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (however, I tanked in the finals—don’t ask) so for a singing-scientist, life was good.

BUT IN 2007 I SUFFERED A CAREER-ENDING CRANIAL NERVE INJURY AND WAS FORCED TO UTILIZE MY RESEARCH BACKGROUND TOWARDS SELF-REHABILITATION.
I lost my face. My expression. My identity. My ability to speak clearly. So I resurrected neuroscience textbooks from graduate school. I read every single paper I could find on the neuroscience of emotions (for my daughter who thought I looked ‘angry’) and on the motor learning of articulators, and went down the rabbit whole of the brain-music-vocalization literature. I was determined to retrain and perform again. Little did I know this detour would give me so much new insight into singing: I saw the process in a whole new light.

I REALIZED HOW THE VOCAL PEDAGOGY FIELD HAD TO EVOLVE TO EMBRACE THE BRAIN, NOT JUST THE INSTRUMENT.I learned that there are many things we need to see with a different lens…
So here I am: in addition to defying prediction and performing again, I am fully committing myself to educating the next generation of singers and teachers on the wonders of the brain, evolution, anthropology, play, fun, seeking, positivity, and embracing new ideas about one of our oldest art forms: song.

ANNIE GILL

Soprano Annie Gill is a professional singer, actress, and voice over actor who continues to gain recognition as a distinctive and versatile artist.
Particularly excelling in the repertoire of Mozart and Puccini in her classical career, Ms. Gill has been commended for "a glorious voice - opulent from top to bottom,” and “astounding technical vocal ability, solid song interpretation and stage presence.”

Most recently, Ms. Gill appeared as the Soprano Soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Landon Symphonette, in a solo holiday cabaret with pianist Andrew Stewart at the Engineer’s Club in Baltimore, and as a narrator and soloist in a virtual multi-media production of The Little Match Girl with Bel Cantanti Opera. Other virtual performances in 2020 include a role debut as La Zelatrice in a filmed production of Suor Angelica with The Art Factory; and as a Soprano Soloist in virtual performances with the Baltimore Musicales and Annapolis Shakespeare Company.
Earlier in the 2019-2020 season, Ms. Gill performed the role of Musetta in La Bohème with Opera Camerata of Washington, appeared as the Soprano Soloist in Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ from the Cross with the Maryland Choral Society, and performed a reprise of the recital “Písně Lásky a Naděje” – “Songs of Love and Hope” with pianist Andrew Stewart for the Women’s Club of Roland Park. In concert, she appeared as Soprano Soloist in the Verdi Defiant Requiem (Defiant Requiem Foundation/Indiana University of Pennsylvania Chorale/Penn State Altoona), and as Soprano Soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Landon Symphonette. Other concert performances during the 2019 season included “An American Musical Journey: From Art Song to Musical Theater” – an All-American recital, “In Moonlight and Dreaming” with the Baltimore Musicales, and Soprano Soloist in the chamber music concert Tona Brown and Friends: An Afternoon of Schumann, Schubert, and Song.
Recent opera and theater performances include the roles of The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors with The New Moon Theater, Fräulein Schneider in Cabaret with the Annapolis Shakespeare Company (company debut), Serpina in La Serva Padrona with Loudoun Lyric Opera, and premieres of three leading roles in The Lives Left Behind with The Silver Finch Arts Collective as part of the 2018 Washington, DC Capitol Fringe Festival. Other recent concert appearances include Soprano Soloist in composer Keith Kramer’s Jasmine at the College Music Society (Mid-Atlantic Conference) in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Soprano Soloist for the Baltimore Composers’ Forum 25th Anniversary Concert and Fall 2018 Concert; a CD release concert for composer Garth Baxter’s album Ask the Moon; Soprano Soloist for the Opera NOVA Gala, and recital performances with the Baltimore Musicales concert series.
Earlier in the 2017-2018 season, Ms. Gill performed the role of The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors with Opera AACC and the Maryland Concert Society, and Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance with Opera Camerata of Washington at the Ambassador of the United Kingdom’s Residence in Washington, DC. Also in 2017, Ms. Gill made her debut with the Piedmont Symphony Orchestra as the Soprano Soloist in their concert – “PSO in Tinseltown” – at the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival. In March of 2017, Ms. Gill performed a recital of Czech and Slovak art songs and arias, “Písně Lásky a Naděje” – “Songs of Love and Hope” - in Baltimore, MD. Ms. Gill recorded the music of composers Keith Kramer (Jasmine) and Garth Baxter (album debut - Ask the Moon), performing Two Last Songs and April Twilight, which the composer wrote for her.
In 2016, Ms. Gill sang the roles of Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi with Opera Camerata of Washington, and Serpina (Serpinia) in The In Series’ production of La Serva Padrona, receiving enthusiastic reviews for handling “the rollercoaster range from high to low of Pergolesi’s score with aplomb.” Ms. Gill made her debut with the Cathedral Choral Society as a Soprano Soloist in the Fantastic Beethoven concert under the baton of esteemed conductor J. Reilly Lewis. Also in 2016, Ms. Gill performed as the soprano soloist in the Baltimore Composers’ Forum concert, where she premiered works by composers Anna Rubin, Keith Kramer, Janice Macaulay, Garth Baxter, and Harriet Katz.
During the 2015-2016 season, Ms. Gill added the roles of Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly and Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio to her extensive list of operatic repertoire, and returned for her fourth production of Don Giovanni to perform the role of Donna Anna (Opera AACC). In recital, Ms. Gill performed the world premiere of composer Garth Baxter’s song cycle Three Poems from Edna St. Vincent Millay.
In the 2014-2015 season, Ms. Gill sang the roles of Micaëla in Carmen with Opera Camerata of Washington (Gregory Buchalter of the Metropolitan Opera conducting), Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with Opera NOVA, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Opera Camerata of Washington, and covered renowned soprano Asako Tamura in the title role of Cio-Cio San. As Mimì/Pamina/Despina in The In Series production of Fatal Song, Ms. Gill received excellent reviews for her “nuanced performance” and “bell-clear rendition” of arias by Puccini and Mozart.
With over thirty roles from opera, operetta, and musical theater in her repertoire, Ms. Gill continues to garner acclaim for her commanding interpretations, detailed characterizations, and dramatic performances. Other past roles include the title roles in Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Massenet’s Manon, Nedda (I Pagliacci), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), Mimì and Musetta (La Bohème), The Mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors), La Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) with companies including The Singers’ Theatre of Washington, Baltimore Opera Theatre, Aurora Opera Theatre, and Opera in the Ozarks.
Ms. Gill is the Grand Prize Winner of the 2017 Alpha Corinne Mayfield Award in Opera Performance from the National Federation of Music Clubs. A First Prize Winner in the 2013 Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition, Ms. Gill made her Carnegie Hall debut in the competition Winners’ Recital on January 27th, 2013. Also in 2013, Ms. Gill won 3rd Prize in the National Federation of Music Clubs Biennial Young Artist Awards, and 3rd Prize in the Russell C. Wonderlic Voice Competition. In 2012, Ms. Gill was the Grand Prize Winner in the 2012 Singer Recital Competition for the Art Song Festival of Toledo, OH and performed a full solo recital program for the first evening of the festival. Ms. Gill has also received awards from the Orpheus Vocal Competition (Puccini Award), Coeur d’Alene Symphony Young Artist Competition, Kentucky Opera Idol Competition (Grand Prize Winner), and the Opera New Hampshire Competition, and has been a Finalist in the ACPC Marcella Kochańska Sembrich Vocal Competition, Howard County Arts Council Rising Star Competition, Hawaii Public Radio Art Song Competition, MetroWest Opera Competition, and the Rochester Oratorio Society Classical Idol Competition.
Together with pianist Andrew Stewart, Ms. Gill will debut in a recorded album for the Orpheus Classical label - “Písně Lásky a Naděje – Songs of Love and Hope” which features the selections from their acclaimed recital of Czech and Slovak music.
In addition to her classical singing career, Ms. Gill acts in commercials and television, notably appearing as the “Opera Singer” in the Season 2 Finale of House of Cards. Past credits include principal roles in industrial films for Pepperdine University, Simmons College, and the American Nurses Association. Commercial credits include principal roles in ads for Visit Frederickburg, Arlington Transportation Partners, Long Roofing, MASN, and Walden University. Highlights from print work include UMBC Global Campus, Walden University, and the Maryland Department of Transportation. Commended for a voice that is warm, inviting, and knowledgeable, Ms. Gill’s voice over talents have appeared in commercials for the Maryland Food Bank, Easton Plaza Shopping Center (Talbot County), and educational online program introductions for Chesapeake College. Currently, Ms. Gill’s voice serves as the after-hours operator for the Winner Automotive Group in Wilmington, Delaware.
A teacher of voice and piano for over fourteen years, Ms. Gill is also a sought-after presenter and educator. She created several unique presentations, including “From the Stage to the Office: Vocal Health for the Professional”, and “On-Camera Techniques for Musicians”, the later of which she presented over thirty times throughout the past year.
For more information and links to social media pages, you may visit her artist website at www.AnnieGill.com.

LORI FISHER

Digital marketing expert and music educator, Lori Beth Fisher has been working behind the scenes in digital marketing and personal assisting for the past 20 years to help sustain her artistic lifestyle. After receiving her master’s in Opera Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, Ms. Fisher performed and competed internationally while teaching voice and piano lessons for many years.

Her colleagues often employed her help as a web designer and copywriter to help them sell themselves with a living resume readily available for auditions and applications. Lori gained many technical skills as a personal assistant in Dallas and Manhattan including SEO, HTML, digital marketing, and market research. She now helps passionate entrepreneurs and solopreneurs maximize their earning potential with their website, SEO, and social media presence. She has presented and worked with singers and accompanists from Boston University, Conspirare, Juilliard School of Music, Oklahoma City University, UIUC, University of Chicago, and numerous other schools and virtual events.

Whether behind the scenes, in the chorus, or in the spotlight, Lori finds unique ways to share her artistic passions with the world. In addition to creating a virtual assisting business, Ms. Fisher runs a boutique music studio, where she continues to give back to her Austin community and online, what she has learned as a professional soprano and educator.
To connect and learn more visit www.byloribeth.com

ANDREA NWOKE

Nigerian-American Executive & Leadership Coach, Andrea Nwoke, leverages her diverse experience in demanding roles from corporate boardrooms to professional opera stages to support executives and rising leaders in developing their authentic leadership style, building confidence, and achieving powerful results by leading from their Full Voice.

Andrea offers a dynamic and personable coaching style highly effective at enhancing self- awareness, increasing emotional intelligence, and developing admirable leadership styles. Her work includes training individuals to communicate and lead within various corporate cultures and geographies inclusive of Fortune 500 executives. Her experience in career management consulting brings a knowledgeable approach to working with professionals in career and role transition. She has experience working within a broad range of industries and across multiple levels and functions within an organization. An accomplished classical singer, Andrea's devotion to language, nuance, and precision translated beautifully to her 12+ years in the corporate world where she was an indispensable presence in the C-suites of multiple global companies. She empowers clients to find their Full Voice with intention, to grow with definitive action, and to celebrate every accomplishment. Using competency-based best practices, she supports teams and individuals to overcome momentum blockers, take charge of their professional development, and skillfully manage difficult situations. Honoring her artistic passions, Andrea serves on the Advisory Board of Directors for the Seagle Festival. She is a frequent guest speaker, moderator, facilitator, and panelist for various arts organizations and DEI initiatives. Our services include one-on-one coaching, group and team coaching and off-sites, workshops, retreats, and speaking engagements.
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CPCC (Certified Co-Active Coach) | Quantum Endeavors Licensed Coach | Positive Intelligence Coach InPowered Leadership Licensed Coach | Member: International Coaching Federation Bachelor of Music, University of The Arts | Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University
https://www.fullvoiceconsulting.com/

JEANNE-MICHÈLE CHARBONNET

After over 25 years as a leading international dramatic soprano, New Orleans-native, Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet has re-focused her career in sharing her knowledge and experience in the voice studio. She is currently Professor of Voice and Head of the Voice Department at Haute Ecole de Musique, Lausanne, Professor of Voice at Conservatorium van Amsterdam, works closely with the artists of the Dutch National Opera Academy and maintains a private studio. Ms. Charbonnet is on the faculty of Music Academy International, and is Co-Artistic Director and Master Teacher at the Indemini Festival in Indemini, Switzerland.
Ms. Charbonnet has appeared on the stages of the Opéra National de Paris, Teatro Real (Madrid), Deutsche Oper (Berlin), Teatro La Fenice (Venice), the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona). Teatro Comunale di Firenze (Florence), Teatro Massimo (Palermo), La Monnaie (Brussels), San Francisco Opera, Dallas Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Teatro Municipal (Santiago, Chile), to name a few.
Early in her career, Ms. Charbonnet sang the Italian and Russian spinto roles moving into the German and Contemporary repertoire in her 30’s.
She has sung all the dramatic Wagner heroines and over 50 other lead roles.
Ms. Charbonnet’s discography includes a 2012 Elektra (title role) with Maestro Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra, Ariane et Barbe-Bleue (title role) DVD from Barcelona, Erwartung with Maestro Jukka-Pekka Saraste and the WDR (Cologne), Tristan und Isolde (Isolde) DVD with Maestro Armin Jordan and the Grand Théâtre de Génève,
Bluebeard’s Castle (Judith) with Maestro Jukka-Pekka Saraste and the BBC Proms, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (title role) DVD with Maestro James Conlon and the Maggio Musicale di Firenze, and Lear by Aribert Reihman (Goneril) with Maestro Sebastian Weigle and Oper Frankfurt.

KS LINDA WATSON

American soprano Linda Watson has appeared at many of the major opera houses of the world including the Deutsche Oper, Berlin, Teatro Real Madrid, Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona, Teatro alla Scala Milan, Nederlandse Opera, Opéra national de Paris, Wiener Staatsoper and at the Metropolitan Opera New York, with leading conductors including Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, James Levine, Valery Gergiev, Christian Thielemann, Antonio Pappano, Daniele Gatti, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Kent Nagano.
She began her career as a mezzo-soprano in Aachen and in 1995 joined the Leipzig Opera, where her roles included Venus Tannhäuser and Brangäne Tristan und Isolde. She sang her first soprano role, Sieglinde Walküre, in Essen and subsequently joined the Deutsche Oper am Rhein where she also sang Leonore Fidelio, Ortrud Lohengrin, Kundry Parsifal, Feldmarschallin Der Rosenkavalier, Fäberin Die Frau ohne Schatten, Ariadne and Elektra.
Following the success of her first Brünnhilde Die Walküre in Tokyo, she reprised the role for the Washington National Opera, Deutsche Oper, Nederlandse Opera, Théâtre du Châtelet Paris, Bayreuther Festspiele and the Metropolitan Opera. Other engagements include Leonore and Isolde in Japan with the Bayerische Staatsoper, Isolde for the Wiener Staatsoper, Elektra for the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and in Buenos Aires, Sieglinde Die Walküre in Barcelona, Parsifal at the Seattle Opera, and the complete Ring Cycle for the Los Angeles Opera, Hamburgische Staatsoper and the Bayreuther Festspiele. Most recently she sang Brünnhilde Götterdämmerung in Seville.
In 2014 she was nominated for the Principal Soloist Grammy Award for her participation in Christian Thielemann’s Ring recording.
Engagements this season include Ariadne and Turandot for the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Die Amme Die Frau ohne Schatten in Hamburg and Herodias Salome at the Wiener Staatsoper.

MICHAEL SCHOPP

Michael Schopp is passionate about taxes. Thanks to successful training as a tax official with the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen and the passing of the examination for tax consultants in 2015, he has very good tools of the trade. Thanks to his professional status he communicates at eye level with tax authorities and gets to the heart of the matter for his clients without unnecessarily complicated tax German.

Michael worked as coordinator in the financial administration of Nordrhein-Westfalen from 2009-2011, where he primarily assessed income and sales tax for sole proprietors and non-commercial partnerships, as well as employee income tax and settlement of appeals. He then worked as an assistant accountant, and since 2015 as an independent tax consultant, preparing annual financial statements and income tax declarations.

No matter what situation you find yourself in, taxes take up a small or large part of life. Whether you are successfully self-employed, run a business or are employed, the state wants a piece of your pie. In addition, the subject of taxes and duties leads to bureaucratic tasks that must be fulfilled.

Michael Schopp has gotten to know the topic of taxes from different perspectives – both the approach of the tax authorities and the way entrepreneurs and tax consultants think. With this knowledge and his team of experienced tax consultants, he can defend your piece of the cake against the tax authorities so that you can concentrate on what you do best: your business.

https://steuerberatung-schopp.de/en/welcome/

THOMAS FLORIO

Baritone Thomas Florio has been hailed as “powerful, flexible, and sensitive” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). His work has also been celebrated as “the most brilliant vocal moment” (Scherzo Magazine), and “the vocal event of the performance” (Orpheus Opera International). In particular, his interpretation of Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King has been hailed as “peerless” (NRC Handelsblad), and “vocalism seamlessly combined with physical expression” (Rondo Classic).

On the operatic stage, Thomas has performed across Europe with the Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Hamburg, Opéra national de Lorraine, Staatsoper Hannover, and Theater Magdeburg, among others. From 2011 to 2013, he was a member of the Internationales Opernstudio at the Staatsoper Hamburg; his early career highlights include young artist programs with Wolf Trap Opera and San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program.

An avid chamber musician, Thomas has appeared with the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival and the Tapiola Sinfonietta (Finland), the Stift International Music Festival (Netherlands), Les sons intensifs (Belgium), and the Staunton Music Festival (USA).

In 2021, Thomas opened a private counseling practice in Berlin. Working with Internal Family Systems therapy, his client focus is English-speaking immigrants.

KATHLEEN PARKER

Praised as “an ideal Wagner soprano” (The Straits Times),
Kathleen Parker thrilled international audiences with her portrayals of Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer (Victoria Theatre, Singapore) and Elisabeth in Tannhäuser at the Seoul Arts Center. The Yonhap News lauded her “bell-like high notes” and “rich, expressive voice,” and the Thüringer Allgemeine touted her performance as “powerfully acted and sung.”

Kathleen has enjoyed a varied career as a guest singer with a special interest in Wagner roles. She has performed as a soloist at Opera Cologne, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Theater Nordhausen, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden and Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater. Senta, Elisabeth, Woglinde, Helmwige, Ellen Orford, Vitellia, Elettra and elle (La Voix Humaine) feature among the roles she has performed in theatres internationally. Notable awards include the Wolfgang Wagner Prize and the Audience Prize at the International Singing Competition for Wagner Voices in 2015 in Karlsruhe, Germany and the Opera Foundation of Australia’s German-Australian Opera Grant in Sydney.

In addition to her work on stage, Kathleen is the managing director of Red Tape Translation UG, a Berlin-based company dedicated to helping English-speaking expats navigate through German bureaucracy. Kathleen started the company in 2012 and now has a team of 15 interpreters, translators, coaches and administrative staff behind her. Red Tape Translation has now assisted thousands of musicians, artists and freelance creatives with registering, working, starting a business, getting married and obtaining visas and work permits in Germany.

Born in Canada and raised in Australia, Kathleen studied at the University of Queensland, graduating with a Bachelor of Music with Honours I in 2003. She then received a full scholarship to train at the Australian Opera Studio, graduating in 2008 with the Dux Prize.

SUSANNA STRANDERS

British pianist, conductor and répétiteur Susanna Stranders is a member of the Music Staff of The Royal Opera. She was a member of The Royal Opera’s Young Artists Programme (2004–6).
Before taking up her current position with The Royal Opera, Stranders was Head of Music and Chorus Master for Garsington Opera, where she conducted the world premiere of Orlando Gough and Richard Stilgoe’s Road Rage. Stranders studied at Exeter University and at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where she won many prizes. She continued her studies at the University of Cincinnati and worked as a répétiteur for Cincinnati Opera, San Francisco Opera’s Merola Programme and as a member of Houston Grand Opera Studio. She has worked regularly for The Royal Opera, Opera North, Glyndebourne, Salzburg Festival, New York City Opera, the Philharmonia, and the London, BBC and Taipei symphony orchestras. In recital, she has accompanied singers including René Pape, Bryn Terfel, John Tomlinson, James Gilchrist, Mark Padmore, Christine Rice and Angelika Kirchschlager. She has broadcast (radio and television) for the BBC and Sky Arts, with artists including Angel Blue, Joyce DiDonato and Tamara Wilson.
A passionate educator, Stranders coaches at leading British conservatoires and international summer schools, leads masterclasses around the world and regularly sits on audition and competition panels. She has been official pianist for both the Neue Stimmen and Veronica Dunne international singing competitions.

TARA ERRAUGHT

A rich, radiant voice, expansive range and dynamic stage presence are Tara Erraught’s hallmarks. Her extensive repertoire includes, Mozart, Rossini, Strauss, Bellini, Dvorak, Gounod and Händel as well as contemporary composers.
She starts the season 2020/21 with Despina in Cosi fan tutte at the Bayerische Staatsoper, where she will return as Kathleen Scott in Srnka’ South Pole and will also sing Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel. As Romeo in a concert performance of I Capuleti e i Montecchi with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester she will show her versatility and at Oper Köln she will sing Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia. Recitals and concerts will lead her to Munich, Dublin and the Schubertiade in Hohenems.
In the 2019/20 season Ms. Erraught delighted audiences as Hänsel at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) at the Wiener Staatsoper, Komponist (Ariadne auf Naxos) at Staatsoper Hamburg and Angelina (La Cenerentola) at the Irish National Opera in Dublin. Recitals led her to the Wigmore Hall in London, Munich, Barcelona and Eppan and she sang concerts with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the baton of Herbert Blomstedt and the Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Simone Young.
Recent season highlights include Niklausse (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) and Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel) at the Metropolitan Opera, Stéphano (Roméo et Juliette) at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Angelina (La Cenerentola) at the Munich Opera Festival and Annius (La Clemenza di Tito) together with Joyce DiDonato and Rolando Villazon and conducted by Yannik Nézet-Séguin at the festival in Baden-Baden. Tara Erraught made 47 role debuts with the Bayerische Staatsoper, including Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Hänsel, Despina, Orlofsky, Sesto, Romeo, Kathleen Scott in the successful world premiere of Srnka’s South Pole and Komponist in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos. She made her triumphant US-debut at Washington National Opera as Angelina (La Cenerentola) and was a guest at Staatsoper Hamburg both as Rosina and Angelina. At the Theater an der Wien she performed in the world premiere of Iain Bell’s A Harlot’s Progress and made her role debut as Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) at Glyndebourne Festival and the BBC Proms. Aside from Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) she sang in the new production of La Cenerentola at the Wiener Staatsoper, earning accolades from the Frankfurter Allgemeine as the “New Queen of Belcanto”. She made her debut with the Salzburg Festival in 2016 as Siebel in Gounod’s Faust. Tara Erraught can be seen on DVD in the title role of Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier on the Opus Arte label.
Past recital and orchestral performances include engagements at the Schubertiade, with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin and at Wigmore Hall in London. In the USA and Canada she has performed in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Terrace Theater, with the Vancouver Recital Society, the Savannah Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She has furthermore performed with the Orchestre National de Lyon, at Tokyo Opera Nomori, in Dublin’s National Concert Hall and at the Wexford Festival.
A native of Dundalk, Ireland, she is a graduate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. From 2008 on she was a member of the studio oft he Bayerische Staatsoper, where she joined the ensemble in 2010 until 2018. Erraught frequently works with famed German mezzo-soprano Brigitte Fassbaender, expanding her Lied and Opera repertoire.

RAEHANN BRYCE-DAVIS

Raehann Bryce-Davis has been hailed by the New York Times as a "striking mezzo soprano" and by the San Francisco Chronicle for her "electrifying sense of fearlessness." 2021/22 includes performances of Der Komponist in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Preziosilla in Verdi's La Forza del Destino at Théâtre du Capitole, Azucena in three productions of Verdi’s Il Trovatore at The Glimmerglass Festival, LA Opera, and Staatstheater Nürnberg, Gods and Mortals, at The Glimmerglass Festival, singing selections of Wagner’s Lohengrin as Ortrud and Die Walküre as Fricka, as well as her company debuts at La Monnaie de Munt as La Zia Principessa in Puccini's Suor Angelica, Konzert und Theater St Gallen as Joan of Arc in Tchaikovsky's Maid of Orleans, and her company debut at Teatro alla Scala as Ulrica in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera. Last season featured highlights like her role debut as Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlos at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, her LA Opera debut in the World Premiere of Aucoin and Ruhl’s Eurydice, a coproduction with The Metropolitan Opera, and her role debut as Sara in Roberto Devereux opposite Angela Meade and Ramon Vargas.
Additional credits include Leonora in Donizetti’s La Favorite at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Marguerite in Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust conducted by Maestro John Nelson with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica, Ms. Alexander in Satyagraha at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Kristina in The Makropulos Affair at the Janáček Brno Festival, Wellgunde in Wagner’s Die Ring-Trilogie at Theater an der Wien, Madeline Mitchell in Heggie’s Three Decembers at Opera Maine, and Nezhata in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sadko at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen.
Ms. Bryce-Davis’ Concert highlights include the world premiere of Paul Moravec’s Sanctuary Road at Carnegie Hall; which won a Grammy Nomination, Verdi’s Requiem with conductor Kent Nagano and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal at the Olympic Stadium, Elgar’s Sea Pictures at the Musikverein in Vienna with the Tonkünstler Orchestra, Verdi's Requiem with the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall, the world premiere of Anthony Davis's We Call the Roll with The Lied Society, Martinů’s Julietta with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Corigliano’s Of Rage and Remembrance at the Aspen Music Festival, the world premiere of Come, My Tan-Faced Children by Melissa Dunphy at Lyric Fest, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky with Maestro Philippe Entremont at Manhattan School of Music, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra.
As a producer/performer Bryce-Davis has released "To the Afflicted," her first music video, which received much critical acclaim and was chosen as an official video for World Opera Day. Her second digital short, “Brown Sounds,” was co-produced with LA Opera and Aural Compass Projects, and won Best Music Video at film festivals around the globe including the New York International Film Awards, New York Cinematography Awards, Hollywood Boulevard Film Awards, the Anatolian Short Film Festival, and the Silk Road Film Awards - Cannes.
Bryce-Davis is a 2018 recipient of the prestigious George London Award at the George London Competition, the 2017 1st Place and Audience Prize-winner of the Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino competition; chaired by Dominique Meyer, Winner of the 2016 Richard F. Gold Career Grant at the Merola Opera Program, Winner of the 2015 Hilde Zadek Competition at the Musikverein in Vienna, and the 2015 Sedat Gürel - Güzin Gürel International Voice Competition in Istanbul. She holds a Master of Music and Professional Studies certificate from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Raehann Bryce-Davis is a co-founder of the Black Opera Alliance and is an advocate for social justice in opera.

ANDREW BYRNE

Andrew Byrne is the founder and author of The Singing Athlete, a training system that teachers singers how to reach their vocal goals through the lens of the brain and the body. Andrew’s NYC studio is made up of professional musical theatre performers, and his students have been seen in over 75 Broadway shows. Andrew also has several Broadway credits himself, including the pit orchestra for Les Misèrables.

Andrew has served on creative teams for The Sundance Theatre Lab, Yale Repertory Theatre, North Shore Musical Theatre, and many others. On television, he has worked as a vocal coach for America’s Got Talent and Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (Showtime).

Twice named NYC’s favorite vocal coach in Backstage’s Reader Choice Awards, Andrew travels the world to bring his brand of brain-focused training to singers across the globe. In 2016, he was appointed by the U.S. State Department as the first Arts Envoy to the nation of Belarus, where he led the inaugural Russian-language production of the Pulitzer-Prize-winning Next to Normal. Other international teaching assigments have taken him to Singapore, Switzerland, Denmark, France, China, and four times to Australia. In North America, Andrew has enjoyed four teaching residencies in Canada (including The Banff Centre) and served as guest faculty for the prestigious University of Michigan musical theatre department.

Andrew’s side project is songwriting, where his work has been seen in feature films (IMDB page) and in prominent online sources such as Seth Rudetsky’s “Obsessed” series. His youtube channel has over 700,000 views, and his parody of Heisler and Goldrich’s “Taylor the Latte Boy” is his greatest hit.

Andrew is a master practitioner of Z-Health, a program of functional applied neuroscience for athletic trainers.

KATE EMERICH

Kate A. Emerich, B.M., M.S., CCC-SLP, owner, Vocal Essentials LLC has specialized in care of the professional voice as both a Voice Pathologist and a Singing Voice Specialist for 25 years. She is also a Voice Instructor (previously at The University of Denver, Lamont School of Music and National Theatre Conservatory (NTC) and is a professional singer. Prior to starting her own practice she worked as a Voice Pathologist, Singing Voice Specialist and Researcher with Robert T. Sataloff, M.D., D.M.A., FACS and Ingo R. Titze Ph.D. at the National Center for Voice and Speech. She holds an undergraduate degree in Vocal Performance and a graduate degree in Communicative Disorders, both from from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Kate has written numerous articles and book chapters on professional voice topics and has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Voice for 20 years. She continues to be an active independent researcher on the biomechanics of breathing and phonation.
kateemerich.com

GEORGE SHIRLEY

George Shirley (tenor) is in demand nationally and internationally as performer, teacher and lecturer. He has won international acclaim for his performances in the world’s great opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera (New York), Royal Opera (Covent Garden, London), Deutsche Oper (Berlin), Téatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Netherlands Opera (Amsterdam), L’Opéra de Monte Carlo, New York City Opera, Scottish Opera (Glasgow), Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington Opera (Kennedy Center), Michigan Opera Theater, Glyndebourne Festival, and Santa Fe Opera.

He has recorded for RCA, Columbia, Decca, Angel, Vanguard, CRI, and Philips and received a Grammy Award in 1968 for his role (Ferrando) in the RCA recording of Mozart’s Così fan tutte.

In addition to oratorio and concert literature, Mr. Shirley has, in a career that spans 49 years, performed more than 80 operatic roles in major opera houses around the globe with many of the world’s most renowned conductors (Solti, Klemperer, Stravinsky, Ormandy, von Karajan, Colin Davis, Boehm, Ozawa, Haitink, Boult, Leinsdorf, Boulez, DePriest, Krips, Cleva, Dorati, Pritchard, Bernstein, Maazel, and others).

Professor Shirley was the first African-American to be appointed to a high school teaching post in music in Detroit, the first African-American member of the United States Army Chorus in Washington, D.C., and the first African-American tenor and second African-American male to sing leading roles with the Metropolitan Opera, where he remained for eleven years.

Mr. Shirley has served on three occasions as a master teacher in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Intern Program for Young NATS Teachers. He was also a member of the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School for ten years.

CAROL VANESS

Born in San Diego, CA, Carol Vaness launched her professional singing career at the New York City Opera, where she appeared regularly from 1979 to 1983. Since then, she has sung on the world's biggest stages and at premier music festivals, collaborated with today's foremost conductors in operatic and symphonic repertoires, appeared on numerous television broadcasts throughout North America and Europe, and compiled a distinguished catalog of recordings.

Her interpretations of Mozart's dramatic heroines, including Fiordiligi in 'Così fan tutte', Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in 'Don Giovanni', Elettra in 'Idomeneo', and Vitellia in 'La Clemenza di Tito', have been hailed as definitive, and she has become especially identifiable with the role of Floria Tosca. She performed the title role of Puccini's Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera in 2004 opposite Pavarotti in the legendary tenor's final operatic performance.

Vaness made her professional debut as Vitellia for the San Francisco Spring Opera and has been acknowledged as the world's leading interpreter of this role. She has appeared as Vitellia at the Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Chicago Lyric Opera and Gran Teatro del Liceo and at the Salzburg Festival and other leading theaters.

Among her many celebrated television appearances, she has been featured on the Pavarotti Plus and Pavarotti and Friends telecasts from Lincoln Center, as well as the Richard Tucker Gala and In Performance at the White House with members of the New York City Opera.

KS TICHINA VAUGHN

Tichina Vaughn is an outstanding American mezzo-soprano, celebrated for her luxuriously rich voice as well as her electrifying stagecraft. She began her career as a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and made her European debut as Mistress Quickly in Falstaff at Staatstheater Stuttgart where she was awarded the title Kammersängerin. Recent successes include her Staatstheater Hannover debut as Begonia in The Young Lord, Filipyevna in Eugene Onegin at Spoleto Festival USA, her Teatro alla Scala debut as Maria in Porgy and Bess, as well as Clytemnestra in Elektra, Witch in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel and The King’s Children, and Ice Queen in Schwanda the Bagpiper at Semperoper Dresden.
Upcoming appearances include Herodias in Salome, the Mother in Il prigioniero and Brigitta in Die tote Stadt at Semperoper Dresden, her role debut as First Maid in Elektra at the Metropolitan Opera and debuts with English National Opera and Dutch National Opera as Mariah in Porgy and Bess. Vaughn is a recipient of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Award, Opera Index Vocal Award, Robert M. Jacobson Study Grant, Birgit Nilsson Foundatin Award, Living Heritage Foundation Award, and the Consul General’s Award for Cultural Diplomacy from the Consulate General Milan.
In previous seasons, Tichina Vaughn was AMNERIS in Aida at Arena di Verona,Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, National Opera Hong Kong,Teatro Rome alla Caracalla, Teatro Padova, Detroit Opera, Seattle Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Michigan Opera; AZUCENA in Il Trovatore at Arena di Verona, Teatro Verdi di Trieste, Festival Arturo Toscanini Bussetto, Teatro Carlo Felice Genoa, Greek National Opera, Budhapest National Opera and the Sacramento Opera; and ULRICA in Un Ballo in Maschera with San Francisco, Hamburg Opera, Opera Graz, Salerno Opera, Verona Opera, Palermo, Ancona, and at the Semper Opera Dresden. Further guest engagements have taken her to the opera houses of Los Angeles, („Il Trittico“) as well as the Finnish National Opera, Augsburg Opera, Opera Kassel, ( Erda „The Ring Cycle“), Frankfurt National Opera, („Don Carlo“) („Il Trittico“), the Bregenz Festival („Porgy and Bess“), and Las Palmas Opera, („Salome“), among others. From 1998 to 2006 Tichina Vaughn was a principal artist at the State Opera of Stuttgart and was awarded the title Kammersängerin for her successes in such roles as as Eboli ("Don Carlo"), Azucena ( "Il Trovatore"), Widow Begbick ( "Mahagonny"), Venus („Tannhauser“), Arnalta ( Poppea), Herodias ( "Salome"), Fricka ( "The Walküre"), Waltraute ("Götterdämmerung ") and Erda (" Siegfried "and" Das Rheingold ").
In crossover she was a guest at SWR Big Band, SWR 4 Band, Tango 5, and in numerous crossover concerts and festivals, as well as the 50th anniversary of the State of Baden-Württemberg. Her discography includes the Stuttgart Ring Cycle with appearances as Fricka in („Die Walküre“) and Waltraute in („Die Götterdämmerung“), which was filmed for the Euro Arts distributed DVD and recorded on the Naxos label as well as her solo portrait CD entitled "Christmas At My House". Additionally she appears on the NEW RELEASE Live from the Semperoper 2012: Schwanda the Bagpiper. Since the 2010/11 season Tichina Vaughn is a principal artist at the Semper Opera Dresden, where she has been heard as Azucena ( "Il Trovatore"), Venus ("Tannhauser" ), Ulrica ( "Un Ballo in Maschera "), Ortrud ( "Lohengrin"), Eboli ( "Don Carlo"), Prince Orlofsky ( "The Bat"), Isabella ( "L'italiana in Algeri"), Suzuki ( "Madama Butterfly"), High Priestess ( "La Vestale"), Ursula ("Feuersnot"), Herodias ( "Salome"), The Witch ( "Hansel and Gretel"), Ice Queen ( "Švanda dudák! /! Schwanda the Bagpiper"), Cornelia ("Giulio Cesare in Egitto"), and Filipjewna ("Eugene Onegin") to name a few. Recent Crossover and Jazz engagements have included appearances at the Jazz Festival Dresden and in a Germany wide tour with Klazz Brothers & Cuba Percussion.
In addition to her many operatic engagements, Tichina Vaughn performs symphonic concerts, chamber concerts and recitals in many prestigious concert halls around the world. Featured works include („Verdi Requiem“), („Beethoveen’s 9th“), Bernstein’s („Jerimiah Symphony“), and the symphonies of Mahler. Orchestra and conductors include the Berlin Philharmonic, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Jerusalem Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, the Taipei Symphony, the Dublin National Symphony, and the Stuttgart Philharmonic in collaboration with Maestros Placido Domingo, Sir Simon Rattle, James Conlon, Fabio Luisi, James Levine, Nello Santi, Mislahv Rostropovich, Nicola Luisotti, Daniel Oren, Bobby McFerrin, Lorin Maazel and Yves Abel to name a few.
Tichina Vaughn completed her studies at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Georgia State University, and the American Institue of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.American mezzo soprano Tichina Vaughn has established an important presence among the world’s leading opera houses, concert halls and theaters. As an outstanding singing-actress versatile in opera, operetta, musical theater, and jazz, Vaughn continues to garner both popular and critical acclaim. This versatile artist began her operatic career as a member of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Program and made her European operatic debut as Mistress Quickly in FALSTAFF at the Stuttgart State Theater where she was a member of the ensemble from 1996-2006 and was awarded the title of Kammersängerin.
In season 2021-2022, Ms. Vaughn makes her role debut as the Innkeeper in BORIS GUDONOV at the Metropolitan Opera as well as reprises roles in ELEKTRA and PORGY AND BESS. Additionally, she is scheduled to make her Boston Lyric debut as Emelda Griffith in Terence Blanchard’s CHAMPION.
Engagements for season 2020-2021 included Maria in PORGY AND BESS at Theater an der Wien, Mary in THE FLYING DUTCHMAN at Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and Maria in PORGY AND BESS at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg conducted by Alan Gilbert.
Ms. Vaughn’s 2019-2020 season opened with a return to the Metropolitan Opera for performances of PORGY AND BESS, the Fortune Teller in Prokofiev’s FIERY ANGEL at Theater an der Wien(cancelled), Jezibaba in RUSALKA at Cincinnati Opera (cancelled), and Mama Lucia in performances of CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA at Seattle Opera (cancelled).
Season 2018-2019 included debuts at English National Opera and Dutch National Opera as Maria in a new production of PORGY AND BESS followed by a return to the Metropolitan Opera for performances in DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES with Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Additionally Vaughn was the High Priestess/Mother in the world premiere of CARUSO A CUBA with Dutch National Opera and appeared with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in performances of Juliette by Martinu.
Highlights from season 2017/18 season included critical success in her role debut as The Mother in Dallapiccola's IL PRIGIONIERO under Erik Nielsen, as Herodias SALOME under Omer Meir Welber and as Brigitta DIE TOTE STADT under Dimitri Jurowski at the Semper Opera Dresden. She returned to the Metropolitan Opera for Elektra with Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and made her house debut with the State Opera Hannover as Begonia in Henze’s DER JUNGE.
Ms. Vaughn's 2016/17 season included her Teatro alla Scala debut as Maria PORGY AND BESS, reprisals of Klytemnestra in ELEKTRA, the Witch in Humperdinck KÖNIGSKINDER and HÄNSEL UND GRETEL, as well as the Ice Queen in Weinbergers SCHWANDA THE BAGPIPER at the Semperoper Dresden. Further appearances included her return to Spoleto Festival USA as Filipyevna EUGENE ONEGIN and performances of her solo jazz program BILLIE, ELLA, SARAH AND ME.
In previous seasons, in North America Ms. Vaughn has appeared as Azucena IL TROVATORE with Sacramento Opera, Amneris AIDA with Michigan Opera Theater, Tulsa Opera, Seattle Opera, and Orange County Opera, Ulrica BALLO IN MASCHERA at San Francisco Opera, and La Frugola IL TABARRO with Los Angeles Opera.
Internationally, Ms. Vaughn made her Italian debut as Azucena IL TROVATORE under the baton of Nicola Luisotti at the Teatro Verdi Trieste where she was later heard as Ulrica BALLO IN MASCHERA opposite Marco Berti. She became a regular guest at the Arena di Verona where she performed more than fifty performances of Amneris AIDA as well as Azucena IL TROVATORE. Additional successes in Italy include Amneris and Ulrica at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Azucena and The Old Lady CANDIDE at the Teatro Carlo Felice Genova, Azucena at the Festival Arturo Toscanini Busseto, Ulrica at the Teatro Massimo Palermo, Teatro Verdi Salerno, Teatro delle Muse Ancona and the Teatro Filarmonico Verona, as well as Amneris at the Baths of Caracalla for Teatro dell' Opera di Roma and at the Festival Veneto. Further international engagements have included Azucena IL TROVATORE at the Budapest National Opera and the Greek National Opera, Amneris AIDA at Opera Hong Kong, Herodias SALOME at Las Palmas Opera, Erda DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN at the Finnish National Opera, Augsburg Opera, and the State Opera Kassel, Ulrica BALLO IN MASCHERA and Venus TANNHÄUSER at the Hamburg State Opera, Maria PORGY AND BESS at the Bregenz Festival, as well as Klytemnestra ELEKTRA, La Zia Principessa SUOR ANGELICA, and Princess Eboli DON CARLO with Oper Frankfurt.
From 1998 to 2006 Tichina Vaughn was a principal artist at the State Theater Stuttgart where she was awarded the title of Kammersängerin for her successes in such roles as Eboli DON CARLO, Azucena IL TROVATORE, Widow Begbick MAHAGONNY, Venus TANNHÄUSER, Giulietta TALES OF HOFFMAN, Arnalta L'INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA, Herodias SALOME, Fricka DIE WALKÜRE, Waltraute GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG, and Erda SIEGFRIED and DAS RHEINGOLD.
From 2010 to 2018 Ms. Vaughn has been a principal artist with Dresden Semper Opera where she was heard as Azucena IL TROVATORE, Venus TANNHAUSER, Ortrud LOHENGRIN, Klytemnestra ELEKTRA, Eboli DON CARLO, Prince Orloffsky DIE FLEDERMAUS, Isabella L'ITALIANA IN ALGERI, Suzuki MADAME BUTTERFLY, Grand Vestale LA VESTALE, Herodias SALOME, Cornelia GIULIO CESARE, and Filipyevna EUGENE ONEGIN among others.
In addition to her many operatic successes, Tichina Vaughn has performed symphonic concerts, chamber concerts, and recitals in many prestigious concert halls around the world. Featured works include Verdi Requiem, Beethoven 9th Symphony and Bernstein Jeremiah Symphony. Orchestras and conductors include the Berlin Philharmonic, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra Kennedy Center, the Jerusalem Symphony, and the National Symphony of Ireland in collaboration with maestros Fabio Luisi, Lorin Maazel, Bobby McFerrin, Sir Simon Rattle, Nello Santi, Roberto Abbado, and Mstislav Rostropovich to name a few.
Her discography includes the Grammy nominated Metropolitan Opera recording of the Gershwins: Porgy and Bess, Stuttgart State Theater DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN which include her acclaimed appearances as Fricka DIE WALKÜRE and Waltraute DIE GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG, filmed by Euro Arts for DVD and recorded for Naxos. In 2005 Tichina released her solo portrait CD entitled "Christmas at My House". Additionally she appears on the release SCHWANDA THE BAGPIPER - LIVE FROM THE SEMPEROPER.
In addition to her title as Kammersängerin, Tichina Vaugh has received many awards and honors during her distinguished career including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Award, the Richard Tucker Foundation Study Grant Award, the Opera Index Vocal Competition Award, a Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation Award, and a Birgit Nilsson Foundation Award. Most recently she was presented the Consul General's Award for Cultural Diplomacy from the Consulate General in Milan. Tichina Vaughn completed her studies at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Georgia State University, and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.

LAURA CLAYCOMB

Grammy® Award winning soprano Laura Claycomb has firmly established herself as one of the finest operatic coloratura sopranos of her generation, best known for her ethereal high notes, impeccable musicianship, and dramatic stage presence. Ms. Claycomb has appeared repeatedly with the Paris Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Théâtre de la Monnaie, the London Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Le Concert d’Astrée, and the Cleveland Orchestra. Further career highlights range from engagements at the Salzburg Festival and the Lucerne Festival, to the BBC Proms and the title role of Linda di Chamounix at Teatro alla Scala in Milan.
2018 and beyond finds her in Dallas for her first Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, in Paris for Stabat Maters by Scarlatti and Pergolesi with Speranza Scappucci and Il Pomo D’Oro, in Israel for Mozart with Alexander Bernstein and the Israel Camerata, in a recital and masterclass tour in the U.S., and with the Houston Symphony for Carmina Burana.
2016/17 found Laura in Beijing, China as Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in Geneva as Malwina in Marschner’s Der Vampyr, in concerts led by Emmanuelle Haïm with Le Concert D’Astrée at Paris’ Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Disney Hall, as well as in Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3 (Kaddish) with Marin Alsop and the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican.
2015/16 saw Laura as Tytania with the Bergen National Opera, as Ophélie in a concert version of Hamlet in Moscow, as well as Strauss’ Brentano Lieder with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson-Thomas, the title role in the world premiere of Lori Laitman’s The Scarlet Letter and galas in Israel.
The 2014-2015 season saw her as Amina in La sonnambula at the Bolshoi Theater, concert engagements with the Oregon Symphony and Palermo Opera for Carmina Burana, Mercury Baroque in a performance with David Daniels, as Lucia di Lammermoor with New Orleans Opera, Cunegonde in Candide with Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Maestra Speranza Scapucci, likewise in Florence.
In the 2013-2014 season Ms. Claycomb made her Glyndebourne debut as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos with music director Vladimir Jurowsky conducting, which was released on DVD/BlueRay. Additionally, she sang her first Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte and Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor with the Bregenz Festival, reprised her Adele in Die Fledermaus at Houston Grand Opera, returned to the Israeli Philharmonic for Carmina Burana and to the San Francisco Symphony for Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, debuted the role of the Czarina of Shemakha in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel with Bergen Opera, and returned to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Swedish Radio Orchestra in Lutoslawski’s Chantefleurs et Chantefables with Lionel Bringuier.
Ms. Claycomb began her career as an Adler Fellow at San Francisco Opera, where she performed over a dozen roles including Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Marie in La fille du régiment. She first captured international attention at the age of 24, when she assumed the role of Giulietta in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. She has since sung Giulietta with the Bastille Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Pittsburgh Opera and the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchester in Munich. Since her meteoric rise to prominence, Ms. Claycomb has proven herself to be an exceptionally versatile soprano, performing more than 75 roles in dozens of works by composers from Monteverdi to Messiaen.
In recent years, Ms. Claycomb performed her signature roles of Gilda in Rigoletto with Dallas Opera (earning her the Dallas Opera’s Maria Callas Debut Artist Award) and Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Houston Grand Opera, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Grand Théâtre de Genève and with Sebastian Weigle at the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden, the title role in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor with Pittsburgh Opera and in Tel Aviv with Daniel Oren conducting, Romilda in Handel’s Serse with Houston Grand Opera, the heroines in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann in Moscow, and Anne Trulove in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress in Lyon, Brussels, and the Opéra National de Paris.
Ms. Claycomb has emerged as a concert repertoire powerhouse, having performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic and Les Arts Florissants, among those already mentioned. She has tackled soloist roles in Orff’s Carmina burana (National Symphony, LA Philharmonic and Danish Radio Symphony with the late Frühbeck de Burgos), Brahms’ Deutsches Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Faure’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa solemnis and oratorio Christus am Ölberge, the latter with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Ms. Claycomb is among today’s foremost Mahler sopranos, having sung solos in the composer’s Symphonies Nos. 2, 4, and 8 with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Maggio Musicale di Firenze, and Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, with Tilson-Thomas, Gergiev, Honeck, Inkinen, and Abbado/Mattheuz. She appeared to great acclaim in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 at Carnegie Hall and on a European tour with Michael Tilson Thomas and the SFSO. She has been featured on San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas albums of Mahler’s Symphony Nos. 4and 8, the latter of which was awarded three Grammy® awards in 2009. She also recorded Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra.
High-profile productions starring Ms. Claycomb that led to live recordings include Katharina Thoma’s 2013 Glyndebourne production of Ariadne auf Naxos, Alan Platel and Fabrizio Cassol’s Pitié with Cypres Records, Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini with the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sir Colin Davis as well as with Roger Norrington and the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, and Robert LePage’s production of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress in Brussels.
Ms. Claycomb’s extensive recording catalog includes numerous albums of bel canto operas and chamber music with Britain’s Opera Rara label such as Handel’s Arcadian Duets with Emmanuelle Haïm and Le Concert D’Astrée, Ligeti’s Le grand macabre with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the London Sinfonietta, Carmina burana with the London Symphony Orchestra and Richard Hickox (Chandos) as well as Fauré’s Requiem with the San Francisco Boys’ Choir and Ian Robertson.
Ms. Claycomb has collaborated with renowned conductors Pierre Boulez, Patrick Summers, Richard Hickox, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Daniel Oren, Pinchas Steinberg, Paavo Järvi, and Sir Colin Davis and has originated many new productions with high-profile stage directors including Peter Sellars, Julie Taymor, Katharina Thoma, James Robinson, and David Alden. Early in her career, she earned the Silver Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Pegasus Prize at Spoleto Festival in Italy, the Operetta Prize at the Belvedere Competition in Vienna, and first prize in the National Opera Association Competition in the U.S. She has developed a strong interest in the training and nurturing of the next generation of operatic artists and currently serves as consultant for the Bolshoi Young Artist Program, giving master classes there and at the Centre for Operatic Studies in Sulmona, Italy. A native of Texas, Ms. Claycomb resides with her husband and son in Italy.

SHERI GREENAWALD

Internationally renowned soprano Sheri Greenawald has been director of San Francisco Opera Center since 2002 and is the artistic director of the Merola Opera Program, two lauded organizations that recognize, cultivate and nurture the finest young operatic talent. She has performed leading roles with San Francisco Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Venice’s La Fenice, the Munich Bavarian State Opera, the Paris Théâtre du Châtelet, Welsh National Opera, Seattle Opera, Houston Grand Opera, the Netherlands Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Naples’s Teatro San Carlos and Opera Theatre of St. Louis, among others. She is featured on several recordings, including singing the title role of Blitzstein’s Regina conducted by John Mauceri and recorded for Decca.
A graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and the Juilliard School of Music, Greenawald has been a recipient of a Rockefeller Grant, NEA Grant, and was named Seattle Opera Association’s “Artist of the Year” in 1998. She served as a professor of voice and opera at the Boston Conservatory, was a visiting artist at the University of Charleston, an artist-in-residence at the University of Northern Iowa, was the vocal coach of the Santa Fe Apprentice Program in 1999 and opera director of the program in 2000, and has given master classes with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Arizona Opera, Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Boston University, Longy School of Music, Mannes School of Music and Manhattan School of Music.

JANET WILLIAMS

American soprano Janet Williams is uniquely qualified to teach singers and coach performers, having won international critical acclaim for performances in leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera, Berlin Staatsoper, Paris Opera, Opera de Lyon, Nice Opera, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Geneva Opera, Frankfurt Opera, Cologne Opera, Leipzig Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington Opera, Dallas Opera, and Michigan Opera Theatre. Her repertoire covers the epochs from Baroque to Contemporary and she has performed over 40 leading roles in the lyric – coloratura repertoire. Janet enjoys equal success on the world’s concert stages with renowned conductors, such as Daniel Barenboim, Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Raymond Leppard, Nicholas McGegan, Zubin Mehta, Sir Neville Marriner, Kent Nagano, Donald Runnicles, Gerald Schwarz, Patrick Summers and Michael Tilson Thomas. Her recordings and television appearances are numerous and she was a featured performer in the Oscar-winning documentary film In the Shadow of the Stars.

“Irrepressible’ is a word that hardly does her justice. Her first act entrance … floating a high pure phrase across the house, had that charge of electricity that immediately rivets attention, and her famous ballroom aria Mein Herr Marquis was delightfully saucy.” – The New York Post on Janet Williams’ Metropolitan Opera debut.

Janet’s performing and teaching career spans over 30 years. She earned Bachelor degrees in both Music Education and Vocal Performance from Michigan State University and a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from Indiana University, where she was Assistant Instructor under Professor Camilla Williams. Upon graduation, she was a part of the distinguished Merola Opera Program and Adler Fellow at the San Francisco Opera Center.

Janet has taught master classes across the United States and at vocal programs in London, Paris, Berlin, Essen, Utrecht, Ísafjörður and Reykjavik. She is currently an Honorary Professor at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin and Instructor at the Lotte Lehmann Academy in Germany, where she teaches a popular Performance Mastery Workshop. She regularly serves as jury member of various international voice competitions and audition panels at both the university and professional level. In 2011, Janet founded The Leistung und Performance Vocal Akademie Berlin, where she hosts masterclasses with renowned singers, conductors, stage directors and actors and offers a variety of performance experience and workshops for young singers beginning a career. Her book, Nail Your Next Audition, the Ultimate 30-Day Guide for Singers, offers a step-by-step instruction manual to enhance the way singers approach the audition process.

RONNITA MILLER

American mezzo-soprano Ronnita Miller continues her upward career trajectory in Season 2019-20 in her seventh season as a member of the ensemble at Deutsche Oper Berlin. Performances there this season include Mama Lucia Cavalleria Rusticana, Third Lady Die Zauberflöte, Mary Der fliegende Holländer, Madelon Andrea Chenier and Ulrika Un Ballo in Maschera. The artist travels to Concertgebouw Amsterdam for performances of Die Walküre in the role of Fricka and returns later in the season for performances of Verdi’s Requiem. In the US she joins Chicago Symphony Orchestra to sing Mama Lucia under the baton of Riccardo Muti and returns to Lyric Opera Chicago to continue her portrayal as Erda/First Norn Der Ring des Nibelungen. She ends the season at Cincinnati Opera in her role debut as Amneris Aida. Last season at Deutsche Oper Berlin she sang Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette before returning to Lyric Opera Chicago and her signature role of Erda Siegfried. She gave further performances of Erda Das Rheingold at Teatro Real, Madrid before returning to the Metropolitan Opera to sing First Norn Götterdämmerung, and to Boston Symphony Orchestra where she sang Schwertleite Die Walküre at Tanglewood. In the UK she sang First Norn at the Edinburgh International Festival with Andrew Davis, and at Brighton Festival, Tippett’s A Child of our Time with the Philharmonia Orchestra. Recent highlights at Deutsche Oper Berlin include Handmaiden Invisible, Fenena Nabucco and Marcellina Le nozze di Figaro as well as appearing in revival performances of some of the roles that have brought her the admiration of Berlin audiences such as Marthe Schwertle in Faust. Other recent highlights include Erda/First Norn at San Francisco Opera and she joined Semperoper Dresden as Erda under the baton of Christian Thieleman. Guest appearances elsewhere included the role of Armando Le Grand Macabre under the baton of Simon Rattle with both the London Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic, as well as Verdi’s Requiem at Opernhaus Hannover. Miss Miller joined the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper Berlin for the 2013-14 Season and made her house debut with the roles of Grimgerde Die Walküre and First Norn Gotterdämmerung; other roles there since have included Anna Les Troyens, Dryade Ariadne auf Naxos, Bianca The Rape of Lucretia, Alice Lucia di Lammermoor, Filipevna Eugene Onegin, Wowkle LaFanciulla del West, Geneviève Pelléas et Mélisande, Mama Lucia, Marcellina and Maddalena/Giovanna Rigoletto. She made her role debut as Fricka with the Odense Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Alexander Vedernikov, Mary Der Fliegende Höllander at Ravinia Festival, a role she previously sang at Los Angeles Opera, and her debut as Mistress Quickly in Los Angeles Opera’s Falstaff. She sang at Cincinnati’s May Festival in Mahler’s Eighth Symphony and in a special anniversary performance of Nathaniel Dett’s The Ordering of Moses under the baton of James Conlon which was also presented at New York’s Carnegie Hall in a live broadcast performance.
Past successes include role debuts as Tisbe La Cenerentola, Fillippevna Eugene Onegin, Gertrude Roméo et Juliette and Florence Pike Albert Herring at Los Angeles Opera; at Ravinia Festival she sang Third Lady with Chicago Symphony Orchestra and James Conlon; she also appeared as Erda and First Norn in San Francisco Opera’s new production of Der Ring des Nibelungen directed by Francesca Zambello and conducted by Donald Runnicles, and sang First Norn at the Metropolitan Opera under the baton of Fabio Luisi in the new production by Robert Lepage. A Florida native, Ronnita Miller received her Master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music, and graduated from the prestigious Juilliard Opera School before spending two years in the Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program at Los Angeles Opera. She made her company debut as La Badessa Suor Angelica in 2008 before joining the cast of Joachim Freyer’s controversial production of Der Ring des Nibelungen in the roles of Schwertleite and Flosshilde while additionally covering Erda. Other roles in Miss Miller’s repertoire include Azucena Il Trovatore and Eboli Don Carlos, both in preparation.

RICHARD GAMMON

Richard Gammon, a Filipino American stage director, has recently directed the double bill of Gluck’s L’île de Merlin and Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis with Wolf Trap Opera; Madama Butterfly with Virginia Opera; a double bill of Gianni Schicchi and Michael Ching’s Buoso’s Ghost at Michigan Opera Theatre; the American premiere of Scarlatti's Erminia at the Kennedy Center with Opera Lafayette and earlier that season Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda with lutenist Thomas Dunford (named a "Top Ten Performance in 2018" and a "Top Ten Performance in 2017" respectively by Washington Classical Review); Susannah with Charlottesville Opera; Jack Perla’s An American Dream with Virginia Opera’s inaugural contemporary opera series “VAriations”; and Andy Monroe's The Life and Times of Joe Jefferson Benjamin Blow at NYC's Theatre 315 with the National Asian Artists Project. At the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival he directed Much Ado About Nothing after having previously directed a touring production of The Tempest; and for Cleveland Play House's film The CARE Monologue Project Richard directed monologues written by Rajiv Joseph, Lloyd Suh, Karen Zacarias, Tanya Saracho, and Matthew Lopez. He directed the world premiere of Jorge Sosa’s electronic opera The Lake at ArtSounds in Kansas City; Trouble in Tahiti with Paul Watkins at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival; the workshop of J Ashley Miller’s pop opera Echosis with Atemporchestra; and last season was Associate Director for The Grapes of Wrath at Michigan Opera Theatre.

Richard is the Director of Opera Maine's Studio Artist Program and has directed Jack Perla's An American Dream (East Coast premiere), Mohammed Fairouz’s Sumeida’s Song, Jake Heggie's Three Decembers, Trouble in Tahiti, The Medium, and a site-specific production of Gianni Schicchi at SPACE Gallery. He is also the co-founder and director of Art with Arias, a collaborative recital series partnering artists from Opera Maine with the Portland Museum of Art now in its fourth year.

Richard works extensively with Young Artist Programs around the country. For Opera Theatre of Saint Louis' 2016, 2017, and 2018 seasons Richard co-directed Center Stage, a concert of opera scenes featuring the Gerdine Young Artists and Richard Gaddes Festival Artists with the St. Louis Symphony. Spending four years as the Stage Director for the Charlottesville Opera Young Artist Program he directed new productions of Il barbiere di Siviglia, Susannah, La bohème, and Gianni Schicchi. He was a Directing Fellow at Wolf Trap Opera directing the Wolf Trap Opera Studio in An Evening of One Act Operas: Hindemith’s Hin und züruck, Moore’s Gallantry, A Hand of Bridge, Pasatieri’s La Divina, and Heggie’s Again. And he directed a warehouse production of La bohème at Work | Release with the Virginia Opera's Emerging Artist Program. He was a Young Artist Director at Opera North and a Stage Director/Acting Coach in Greve in Chianti, Italy for Bel Canto in Tuscany.

Richard also enjoys working with young artists at leading conservatories and universities. He has recently accepted the position as Director of Opera at the University of Northern Iowa and will direct “The Monteverdi Project” this fall. Other productions include Hindemith’s Sancta Susanna and Rorem’s Three Sisters who are Not Sisters at the Manhattan School of Music; the world premiere of Jorge Sosa’s liturgical drama Tonantzin at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance; Silent Night, La traviata, Sweeney Todd, and Così fan tutte with the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre; Ward's Roman Fever and Hilliard & Boresi's The Filthy Habit at Carnegie Mellon University; and Dido and Aeneas with Morningside College.

Other creative positions include Creative Associate for the world premiere of Dream’d in a dream with Seán Curran Company at BAM Next Wave Festival, an Artist Resident at Hewnoaks Artist Colony (2018) and the Institute for American Art (2017), Resident Assistant Director at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (2016-2018), and an Assistant Director at LA Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Wolf Trap Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Palm Beach Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Virginia Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Charlottesville Opera, Opera North, and Opera Maine working on productions that include the world premieres of Jack Perla’s Shalimar, the Clown, Terrence Blanchard’s Champion, Ricky Ian Gordon’s 27 and Rappahannock County, Jorge Martin’s Before Night Falls, and the American premieres of Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland, and Jacques Ibert’s Persée et Andromède.

Upcoming productions include Philip Glass’ The Fall of the House of Usher with the studio artists of Opera Maine and Robert Ward’s The Crucible at the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre.

Richard is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance.

DERRICK BALLARD

Derrick Ballard has established himself in German speaking Europe as a versatile singer with numerous dramatic bass-baritone roles in his repertoire, such as Holländer, Wotan, Hans Sachs, Kaspar, Jochanaan and Scarpia. In 2021, he undertakes his first complete Der Ring des Nibelungen as Wotan/Wanderer at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, and will make his debut as Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier with Garsington Opera.
Until the 2019-20 season, Derrick Ballard was a member of the Staatstheater Mainz, where his roles encompassed Scarpia, Hans Sachs, Méphistophélès, Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Wotan/Wanderer (Der Ring an einem Abend), Filippo II (Don Carlo), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra), Dikój (Kátja Kabanová) as well as the title characters in Der fliegende Holländer, Mathis der Maler, Saul and Boris Godunov.
During his time in Mainz, he appeared regularly as a guest at the Oper Leipzig (Scarpia, Kaspar), the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (Scarpia, Hans Sachs, Holländer), the Staatsoper Hannover (Kezal), the Staatsoper Hamburg under Kent Nagano (First Nazarene in Salome), the Theater Bremerhaven (Pizarro in Fidelio), the Theater Detmold (Hans Sachs) and he took over performances on short notice at the Theater Chemnitz (Hans Sachs) and Theater an der Wien – Kammeroper (Mephisto).
He had already performed more than 50 roles in the US before making his European debut in 2005 as Biterolf in Tannhäuser at Berlin’s Staatsoper Unter den Linden. Subsequently, he joined the house ensembles of the Staatstheater Kassel (2005 to 2009), the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater (2009 to 2011) and Munich’s Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz (2010 to 2012), where his repertoire included Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Mustafà in L’italiana in Algeri, Dulcamara in L’elisir d‘amore, Leporello in Don Giovanni, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Kaspar in Der Freischütz, Kezal in Die verkaufte Braut, Forester in Cunning Little Vixen, Méphistophélès in Faust and Wotan in Die Walküre. Guest engagements at that time brought him to the Oper Leipzig (bass soloist in Pax Questuosa), the Oper Graz (König Heinrich in Lohengrin, Gessler in Guillaume Tell), the Aalto-Theater Essen (Dulcamara; Prince Gremin in Eugen Onegin), the Staatstheater Mannheim (Dulcamara), the Staatstheater Cottbus (bass soloist in Mahler’s 8th), the Theater Bremen (Sarastro) as well as the Staatsoper Hannover, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and the Theater Dortmund (all as Mustafà).
Derrick Ballard has also triumphed with baroque repertoire in roles such as Joas in Il Gedeone (Staatstheater Kassel), Achilla in Giulio Cesare (Florentine Opera Milwaukee), the title roles in Handel’s Hercules (Aalto-Musiktheater Essen, Staatheater Kassel, Theater Gera) and Saul (Staatstheater Oldenburg). In 2011 he performed in An Occasional Oratorio at the Händel-Festspiele Halle.
Derrick Ballard studied at the University of Denver and continued his training with Mark Oswald in New York. He began his career as an apprentice with Santa Fe Opera and in the renowned Merola Opera Program of San Francisco Opera. In addition, he has won several prizes at the Metropolitan Opera Auditions.

JENNIFER WILLIAMS

Acclaimed as a director of “particular ingenuity,” Jennifer Williams has created innovative productions worldwide. Praise for her multi-media approach to opera has been effusive, and her extraordinary vision yields indelible results.
Site-specific and immersive productions have been a recent hallmark of her work, making Williams particularly sought-after during this difficult time of pandemic. Where others have been unwilling or unable to work without customary theatrical infrastructure, Williams thrives on the unexpected. Her unique presentations have taken her to prestigious venues in New York, Berlin, Houston, Miami, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Washington, DC, with upcoming engagements in Hong Kong, New York, Austin, and Sacramento, CA.
With an eye toward enlarging the scope of vocal performance, Williams has received two coveted grants from the Brooklyn Arts Council as well as a NYSCA Restart NY grant for the creation of an interdisciplinary work. With the partnership of the International Contemporary Ensemble, she will devise an immersive environmental installation that challenges the very concept of opera and our perception of it.
Traditional repertoire such as Rigoletto, La bohème and Les contes d’Hoffmann have figured prominently in her career at theaters such as Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, among others, but Williams is also a passionate advocate of contemporary opera. Her direction of such works as Ainadamar, Dark Sisters, Sumeida’s Song, and Backwards from Winter have been described as “extraordinarily beautiful” and “consistently imaginative.” In addition, she has created installations for concert repertoire including Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder, and Schubert’s Goethe-Lieder.
Williams has served as a drama coach for the Houston Grand Opera Studio as well as the young artist programs of the San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Glimmerglass, and Wolf Trap Operas. Her apprenticeship as a Regiehospitantin at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, Oper Frankfurt, and Staatsoper Stuttgart forged the foundation of her unusually broad operatic and theatrical experience.
As intellectually outstanding as she is original, Williams is a Fulbright Scholar and holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University and an A.B. with honors from the University of Chicago. She is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and American Guild of Musical Artists. A champion of cultural diplomacy, she was recently appointed an Arts Envoy by the U.S. Department of State.

ALAN HELD

Well into his fourth decade of being recognized internationally as “one of the leading singing actors today”, American bass-baritone, Alan Held, has appeared in major roles in the world’s finest opera houses, including The Metropolitan Opera, The Vienna State Opera, The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, The Paris Opera, The Bavarian State Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Teatre del Liceu, Hamburg State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Netherlands Opera, Theatre Royal de la Monnaie, The Canadian Opera Company, and Teatro de la Maestranza.

His many roles include Wotan in Wagner’s “Der Ring Des Nibelungen”, Amfortas in “Parsifal”, Scarpia in “Tosca”, The Four Villains in “Les Contes d’Hoffmann”, Jochanaan in “Salome”, Kurwenal in “Tristan und Isolde”, Don Pizzaro in “Fidelio”, Orestes in “Elektra”, Balstrode in Peter Grimes, and the title roles in “Gianni Schicchi”, “Der Fliegende Holländer”, “Wozzeck”, and “Cardillac”.

Equally at home on the concert stage, he has performed with the world’s leading orchestras including The Berlin Philharmonic, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Pittsburgh Symphony, The National Symphony Orchestra, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, The BBC-Scottish Symphony Orchestra, The Paris Orchestra, The Kirov Opera Orchestra, and The Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared at the Salzburg and Tanglewood Festivals as well as the BBC Proms.

He has worked with the such distinguished conductors as Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph von Dohnányi, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, James Levine, Charles Dutoit, Kirill Petrenko, Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, James Conlon, Sir Charles Mackerras, Zubin Mehta, Franz Welser-Möst, Kent Nagano, Sir Simon Rattle, David Robertson, Donald Runnicles, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Jeffrey Tate.

The 2019-2020 season has had Mr. Held returning to the Wiener Staatsoper to sing one of his most performed roles, Jochanaan (“Salome”). He also appearedbwith the Orchestre de Métropolitan in “Fidelio” under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Recent additions include Mr. Held joining the cast of “Die Walküre” and “Siegfried” as Wotan/Der Wanderer in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” in the Spring of 2020. He will sing for the first time in the summer opera season at Chautauqua Opera as Baron Scarpia in “Tosca” as well as Daniel Webster in Virgil Thomson’s, “The Mother of us All”.

The 2018-2019 season had Mr. Held returning to the Washington National Opera as Scarpia in “Tosca”. He has appeared with the company in nearly 25 productions in the past 31 years at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He also appeared with the Hessische Rundfunks Sinfonieorchester in concert presentations of “Der Freischütz”. The concerts were recorded for a Fall 2019 release on the Pentatone label. Mr. Held appeared in a special concert of highlights from Wagner Dramas at the Boston Wagner Society and as the Bass Soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Wichita Symphony. He also appeared with Maestro David Robertson and The Sydney, Australia Symphony Orchestra in “Peter Grimes”. Mr. Held once again served as the Artist in Residence with the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at the Washington National Opera during the 2018-2019 season.

The 2017-2018 season began with Mr. Held appearing with The Cleveland Orchestra as part of their gala centennial season. The orchestra reprised their highly acclaimed production of Janáček’s “The Cunning Little Vixen” with performances in Cleveland, Vienna, and Luxembourg. Mr. Held also sang the opera with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in February, 2018. He further participated in the Cleveland Orchestra 100th Anniversary Season in concert performances of “Tristan und Isolde” in April, 2018. He returned to the Vienna Staatsoper to sing his acclaimed interpretation of Jockanaan in “Salome” and to sing, in a new production, the role of Caspar (role debut) in “Der Freischütz”. In July, 2018, Mr. Held sang a concert of highlights from “Der Ring des Niblungen” with Christine Goerke, Simon O’Neill, and Eric Owens at Wolf Trap with the National Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Held has established a close relationship with the Canadian Opera. In the 2013-2014 season, he was the recipient of the Dora Mavor Moore award (“Outstanding Male Performance) presented by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts. In the 2015-2016 season, the COC production of “Siegfried”, also won this prestigious award. Mr. Held played the role of Wotan/Wanderer in this highly acclaimed run of performances.

Recent recordings include the spectacular Marek Janowksi conducted CD of Weber’s “Der Freischütz” on the Pentatone label with the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra. Mr. Held sang the role of Don Pizzaro for the 2003 EMI Classics recording of Beethoven’s “Fidelio” with The Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. Mr. Held can be seen in the title role on the 2005 Harmonia Mundi DVD recording of “Cardillac” from The Paris Opera lead by Kent Nagano. He appears as Donner on the 1990 Deutsche Grammaphone DVD recording of “Das Rheingold” from The Metropolitan Opera conducted by James Levine. Also from The Met, Mr. Held can be seen as Peter on the 2008 EMI DVD recording of Humperdink’s “Hansel and Gretel” staged by Richard Jones and conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. In September 2011, Orfeo Records released a live recording of “Rusalka” that was made at the Salzburg Festival in 2008 with Mr. Held, Piotr Beczala, Camilla Nylund and the Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst. A DVD recording from the 2011 Baden-Baden production of “Salome”, directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff, was recently released on the Arthaus Musik label.

A native of Washburn, Illinois, Mr. Held received his vocal training at Millikin University and Wichita State University. He is a recipient of numerous honors and awards including The Birgit Nilsson Prize. He received an Honorary Doctorate from Millikin University in 2000. He is also a noted clinician and has, since 2002, given public master classes and private coaching sessions at Yale University. In January, 2014, Mr. Held was named The Ann and Dr. Dennis Ross Faculty of Distinction in Opera at Wichita State University. In 2017, Professor Held becomes just the 3rd Director of Opera at WSU. He continues his active vocal career in addition to serving as an Associate Professor in the School of Fine Arts. Students of Mr. Held are members of prestigious young artist programs including the Lindemann Young Artist Program at The Metropolitan Opera and at the Adler Fellowship Program at The San Francisco Opera. Since 2016, Mr. Held has been a guest Master Teacher at The Miami Music Festival Wagner Institute.

In January, 2019, Mr. Held began his duties as the Artistic Director at the Wichita Grand opera. Mr. Held serves as the Artist in Residence for the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at The Washington National Opera during the 2018-2019 season, a position he held as well during the 2015-2016 season. He also served as the Artist in Residence at The Wolf Trap Opera Company during their summer of 2016 season.

ADAM CIOFFARI

Adam Cioffari (Stage Director) recently directed The Merry Widow and Amahl and the Night Visitors for Opera Project Columbus. He began the 2018-2019 with Pittsburgh Festival Opera as Fasolt in Rhinegold and Count Lamoral in Arabella, followed by Masetto in Don Giovanni with St. Petersburg Opera, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Arkansas Symphony. He appeared with the Columbus Symphony in performances of Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem. The previous season’s engagements included Verdi’s Requiem with the Akron Symphony, Ibn-Hakia in Iolanta with Queen City Opera, and Masetto with Salt Marsh Opera.
Recent appearances include Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd at Pittsburgh Festival Opera, the Commentator in the world premiere of Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg at the Castleton Festival, the Musiklehrer in Ariadne auf Naxos at The Glimmerglass Festival, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and the Novice’s Friend at Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Columbus, Colline in La Boheme with Knoxville Opera, and Masetto with Austin Opera. He has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Theatre Capitole de Toulouse, Utah Symphony and Tucson Symphony, Pensacola Opera, and Florentine Opera. Future appearances include Papageno in The Magic Flute with Salt Marsh Opera and Colline with Pacific Opera Project.
He made his debut with the Staatsoper Stuttgart as Masetto, and also appeared there as Patrocle in Iphigenie en Aulide and the High Priest of Baal in Nabucco, and Angelotti in Tosca. He joined Komische Oper Berlin as a member of its studio, appearing in a dozen roles over two seasons, including Morales in Carmen, the 1st Nazarene in Salome, and the Night Watchman in Die Meistersinger.
A former member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, he created the role of Stanley in the world premiere of Andre Previn’s Brief Encounter. Other performances with the company include Elviro in Xerxes, Angelotti, and Snug in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He was a participant of the Merola Opera Program, the Music Academy of the West, Aspen Opera Theater, and is a graduate from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

TERESA REIBER

Teresa has been working as an opera and revival director since 2011 after graduating with a master's degree in Theatre and Cultural Studies in Berlin.
Teresa made her debut as director at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden with a production of Francesco Cavalli’s opera LA CALISTO (2014). She also directed the world premiere of BÜCHNERS FRAUEN by Paul Leonard Schäffer, EIN SOMMERNACHTSTRAUM: MODERN TIMES (which closed the Philharmonie Essen's 2015 season) and Grigory Frid’s THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (for the opening night of the first Anne Frank Memorial Day in
Frankfurt/Main in 2017). In 2019, Teresa staged a well-received production of Arnold Schoenberg’s PIERROT LUNAIRE in the Tischlerei of the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
In 2016 Teresa was appointed co-director of the new children’s opera club at the Deutsche
Oper Berlin, initially working with William Robertson and later taking over as sole director. Over three seasons she and her team devised the music theatre productions DIE BERLINER STADTMUSIKANTEN, DONKY SHOT and ZWISCHENWELTEN with children aged 8-12. Teresa gained extensive experience as an assistant and revivial director at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, working with directors such as Vera Nemirova, Elisabeth Stöppler, Dietrich Hilsdorf, David Herrmann, Ole Anders Tandberg,
Christof Loy and Immo Karaman. Her work on international and touring productions has taken Teresa to the Salzburg Easter Festival, Opernhaus Graz and the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv as well as South Korea and Bulgaria.
www.teresareiber.com

KENNETH BOZEMAN

Kenneth Bozeman, tenor, Frank C. Shattuck Professor of Music at Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin, holds performance degrees from Baylor University and the University of Arizona. He subsequently studied at the State Conservatory of Music in Munich, Germany on a fellowship from Rotary International. He joined the Lawrence Conservatory faculty in 1977, teaching voice and first year music theory. He was appointed chair of the voice department in 1993, and began teaching voice science and pedagogy. Mr. Bozeman has received both of Lawrence University's Teaching Awards (Young Teacher Award, 1980; Excellence in Teaching Award, 1996). He was awarded the Van Lawrence Fellowship by the Voice Foundation in 1994 for his interest in voice science and pedagogy and is the chair of the editorial board of the NATS Journal of Singing. His students have sung with opera companies including Houston Grand, Boston Lyric, Opera Colorado, Washington, Wolf Trap, Seattle, Deutsche Oper Berlin, New York City, San Francisco, Chicago Lyric, the Metropolitan, and Santa Fe.

He has been a frequent presenter at voice science conferences and universities, and written a number of articles on the topics of voice acoustics (Choral Journal, Journal of Singing, Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, VoicePrints) and two books, Practical Vocal Acoustics: Pedagogic Applications for Teachers and Singers andKinesthetic Voice Pedagogy: Motivating Acoustic Efficiency. Mr. Bozeman has been a featured presenter on voice acoustics at the 2012, 2014, and 2018 NATS conventions, and was twice selected to be a master teacher for the NATS Intern Program, in 2013 and in 2017. He was the feature speaker for the NATS Winter Workshop in 2015 and the NATS online chat in January of 2016. He is recognized internationally as a leading specialist in applied vocal acoustic pedagogy, giving presentations at the Voice Foundation, the Pan European Voice Conference, Physiology and Acoustics of Singing, Ars Choralis, and the Pan American Vocology Association. He leads an annual week-long summer workshop on acoustic pedagogy with colleagues Ian Howell and Chadley Ballantyne at the new England Conservatory of Music. He was inducted into the American Academy of Teachers of Singing in 2019.

Mr. Bozeman was an active recitalist and performer of oratorio, singing the tenor roles in the St. Matthew and St. John Passions, the Christmas Oratorio, the B Minor Mass, the Magnificat, and various cantatas of Bach, Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Creation, Mendelssohn's Elijah, and Vaughn Williams’ Hodie. He has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Green Lake Music Festival, the Purgatory Music Festival of Colorado, the Louisville Bach Society, the Historical Keyboard Society of Wisconsin, and on Wisconsin Public Radio's "Live from the Elvehjem."

For more information, see his personal website: https://faculty.lawrence.edu/bozemank/

CLAUDIA FRIEDLANDER

Claudia Friedlander is a voice teacher and fitness expert based in New York City. Born in Queens and raised in New Jersey, she began her musical studies as a clarinetist. Her passion was fueled by her early experiences playing in the Young Artists Orchestra at Tanglewood under the batons of Seiji Ozawa and Leonard Bernstein. This led to private studies with Richard Stoltzman, a Master’s degree in Clarinet from Peabody Conservatory, and a brief stint as the principal clarinetist of Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México.

Shortly after completing her undergraduate studies at Bennington College, she was encouraged to study singing by conductor Blanche Honegger Moyse. She sang while continuing to play her instrument, earning a Master’s degree in Voice at Peabody simultaneously with her clarinet degree. Eventually, her fascination with the physiological process of singing eclipsed her passion for clarinet. In 1995, she began doctoral studies in vocal performance and pedagogy at McGill University, which she completed in 1999.

In 2002, Dr. Friedlander moved to New York City, apprenticed herself to renowned pedagogue W. Stephen Smith, and established her voice studio. In her first few years of teaching, frustration with her inability to methodically and rigorously address the mechanical dysfunctions of some of her students motivated her to study kinesiology. After receiving her certification as a personal trainer from the National Academy of Sports Medicine, she became inspired to apply the concept of sport-specific training to the professional voice.

Dr. Friedlander has presented workshops on vocal fitness for The Voice Foundation and the Performing Arts Medicine Association, and was an invited panel discussant on health and wellness for OPERA America. Her students have performed on Broadway, and at leading opera houses including The Santa Fe Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. Her first book, Complete Vocal Fitness: A Singer’s Guide to Physical Training, Anatomy, and Biomechanics was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2018. She is the author of the monthly column “Musings on Mechanics” for Classical Singer Magazine as well as a widely read and cited blog on vocal technique and fitness, The Liberated Voice. In 2008, she joined the faculty of the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall, where she developed, in collaboration with Joyce DiDonato, The Singer’s Audition Handbook, an interactive online career development guide for young singers that was published in book form in 2019.

STEPHANIE WEISS

Stephanie Weiss, mezzo-soprano, was a Regional Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and recipient of a Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation from Mannes College of Music. As the winner of the American Berlin Opera Foundation Competition, she became a member of Deutsche Oper Berlin as a Stipendiatin, where in her first season, while still a soprano, she sang Frasquita (Carmen), Musetta, Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Gerhilde (Die Walküre), and Schlafittchen in the Berlin premiere of Das Traumfresserchen.

Ms. Weiss continues to be a regular guest at Deutsche Oper Berlin, where she has sung Marianne Leitmetzerin (Der Rosenkavalier), Aufseherin (Elektra), Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Grimgerde (Die Walküre), Johanna [cover] (Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna), and Venus [cover] (Tannhäuser) in the company’s tour to Beijing. Other appearances include Opera Orchestra of New York under Eve Queler at Carnegie Hall as Rose (Lakmé), Berlin’s Staatsoper Unter den Linden as Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro) and Marthe (Faust), at Oper Frankfurt as Musetta, and at Stadttheater Bern, San Diego Opera, Oper Dortmund, and Oper Köln as Marianne Leitmetzerin. She debuted with the Berlin Philharmonic as the Cook in Le Rossignol under the baton of Pierre Boulez. Other notable performances have included Venus (Tannhäuser) with Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin, Berta (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) and Suzuki (Madama Butterfly) with Opera Las Vegas, and a return to the San Diego Opera as Giannetta (L'elisir d'amore).

Concerts include Wesendonck Lieder with the Henderson Symphony Orchestra, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and Symphony No. 4 with the L’viv Philharmonic (Ukraine), and Santuzza (Cavalleria rusticana) with Singakademie Potsdam. Recent appearances include Grimgerde (Die Walküre) at Oper Leipzig, Sorceress (Dido and Aeneas) with Opera Company of Middlebury, a return to Deutsche Oper Berlin to sing Zweite Dienerin (Die Ägyptische Helena) and Aufseherin (Elektra), and the title role of Johanna (Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna) by Walter Braunfels at Oper Köln. In the 2017/2018 season, she sang Aksinja in Lady Macbeth of Mzensk at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and returned to Oper Leipzig to sing Grimgerde in Die Walküre.
Along with operatic and orchestral concert repertoire, Ms. Weiss is an avid performer of art song and new music. She has performed recitals in the US, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Australia, singing the music of award-winning American and German living composers. With her ‘duo au courant’ partner, pianist Christina Wright-Ivanova, she has sung the world premieres of several song cycles, including Jonathan Stark’s “Passageway”, and Daron Hagen’s “Jaik’s Songs” and “A Handful of Days.” In 2019, the duo released their debut CD of the songs of Daron Hagen, titled Sacred and Profane, on the Albany Records label.

In addition to her singing, Ms. Weiss is Assistant Professor of Voice at Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts School of Music. Her research interests include the Zwischenfach voice, as well as transgender singers and related pedagogy. Her experience with transgender singers began with her interest in vocal pedagogy and a transgender student approaching her to ask if she would be willing to work with her. Not knowing much about trans* voices at the time, she took her on and together they explored the voice. Not long after, she began working with another transgender student which led her to learn more about hormonal effects on the voice, especially for trans masculine singers. An advocate for trans* voices, she has been sought out by and worked with several trans* singers of multiple voice types and various styles. Though there are specific issues intrinsic to certain trans* voices that must be addressed, Ms. Weiss finds that it is teaching the whole person and artist to be the most important. Her teaching philosophy is to help any person find their most authentic, free, and beautiful voice and be able use it to express emotion and ideas; she aims to do this for any singer who enters her studio. Continuing to broaden her knowledge of the voice, specifically with relation to trans* singers, she is working towards a certificate in Speech and Hearing: Communication Sciences to complement the degrees she holds from New England Conservatory (B.M. voice), Tufts University (B.S. biology and drama), University of Missouri-Kansas City (M.M), Mannes College of Music (Prof. Studies Dipl.), and University of Nevada, Las Vegas (D.M.A.). Previously, she was Assistant Professor of Voice at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a Teaching Fellow with the Metropolitan Opera Education Department, on the faculty of COSI (Centre for Opera Studies in Italy) in Sulmona, Italy, every summer teaches at AIMS in Graz in Austria.

SETH CARICO

Hailed by Opera News as “powerful in both voice and bearing” and particularly noted for his commanding stage presence and expressive vocalism, bass-baritone Seth Carico is distinguishing himself internationally as an accomplished young American singer. Opera Today praised “the dynamic presence of Carico, whose ringing baritone gave much pleasure.” He effortlessly capitalizes on his dramatic training, bringing a unique sensitivity to operatic characters at disparate ends of the theatrical spectrum. During the 2018-2019 season, Carico appeared as The Doctor in Wozzeck, Kolenatý in The Makropulos Affair, Leporello in Don Giovanni, and as Sancho Pansa in Don Quichotte, all with Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he was in the Ensemble from 2010-2019. He also created the role of Dr. John Polidori in the world premiere of Michael Wertmüller’s Diodati. Unendlich with Theater Basel. The 2019-2020 season will see several important debuts, including Scarpia in Tosca with Staatsoper Hannover, the title role in Don Giovanni with Minnesota Opera, and Hate in Rued Langgaard’s Antikrist with Deutsche Oper Berlin.

In the past nine seasons, Mr. Carico has built a robust repertoire with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, including Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Saint-Bris in Les Huguenots, The Traveler, et al. in Death in Venice, Oberthal in Le Prophete, Gunther in Götterdämmerung, Redburn in Billy Budd, the Police Commissioner in Lady Macbeth from Mtsensk, Klingsor in Parsifal, Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore, Sonora in La Fanciulla del West, Abimélech in Samson et Dalila, and Kassandra in Oresteia, a role for which he was nominated for the 2015 German National Theater Prize, “Der Faust,” for Best Male Singer. In addition, he has portrayed Junius in The Rape of Lucretia, Biterolf in Tannhäuser, Farfarello in L’amour des trois oranges, Panthée in Les Troyens, the villains in Offenbach/Champert’s Hoffmann, Andrew Cunanan in the world premiere of Brandt Brauer Frick’s electronic opera Gianni, and The Father in the world premiere of Aribert Reimann’s L’invisible.

Guest engagements internationally have included Joseph de Rocher in Dead Man Walking with Minnesota Opera, Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress with Theater Basel, Leporello in Don Giovanni with Aalto-Musiktheater Essen, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with Utah Opera and Tulsa Opera, Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore with Opera Saratoga, Panthée in Les Troyens with Staatsoper Hamburg, Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro with Oper Leipzig, The Sacristan in Tosca with Anhaltisches Theater Dessau, Roberto in I vespri siciliani and Marquis d’Obigny in La Traviata with Teatro Regio Torino, Leonidas in Lysistrata and Victor in the world premiere of Before Night Falls with Fort Worth Opera, The Doctor in the world premiere of Stephan Peiffer’s Vom Ende der Unschuld at Kampnagel in Hamburg, King Rene in Iolanta with Dicapo Opera, Harašta in The Cunning Little Vixen and George Jones in Street Scene with Chautauqua Opera, The King in The King and I and Leporello in Don Giovanni with Ash Lawn Opera, Doctor Grenville in La Traviata, Alessio in La sonnambula, and Marquis de Brisaille in the world premiere of David DiChiera’s Cyrano with Michigan Opera Theatre.

Concert appearances have included Bach’s Kantate Nr. 82, Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Verdi’s Requiem, Handel’s The Messiah, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Bach’s Coffee Cantata, and Mozart’s Requiem, with orchestras/festivals including the Cologne Early Music Festival, the Nashville Symphony, the Atlanta Ballet, the Chautauqua Symphony, the Richmond Symphony, and the Michigan Sinfonietta. Mr. Carico was invited to offer a recital at the University of Michigan of Dvořák’s Cypřiše, accompanied by renowned pianist and specialist in Czech music, Timothy Cheek.

In the summer of 2012, Seth joined the prestigious Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera Center, finishing years of successful apprenticeships with companies such as Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Regio Torino, Fort Worth Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Nashville Opera, Lake George Opera, and Chautauqua Opera. Featured early roles include Olin Blitch in Susannah, Kecal in Prodaná Nevěsta, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, Seneca in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Colline in La bohème, and Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia. Seth won Fourth Prize in the Shreveport Opera Singer of the Year competition, the Grand Prize of the Orpheus National Vocal Competition, and an Encouragement Award from the Chautauqua Opera Guild.

DEBORAH YORK

Deborah York was born and educated in Sheffield and graduated in musicology from Manchester University with a first class honours degree. She has gone on to enjoy a distinguished international career working with musicians of the highest calibre across a wide spectrum of musical styles and genres.
The recording of Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress” with John Eliot Gardiner and the London Symphony Orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon in which she sang the role of Anne Truelove won a Grammy Award for best opera category. She subsequently performed the role at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, in Tel Aviv and at the Semperoper in Dresden. Her recording of Mendelssohn Bartholdy's “Midsummer Night's Dream” with Claudio Abbado and the Berliner Philharmoniker Orchestra The Last Concert won the orchestral category of the 2017 International Classical Music Awards.
Deborah has sung with orchestras including the Concertgebouw, Deutsche Symphonie,Scottish Chamber, Bilbao Sinfonikoa,Ulster, Mahler Chamber, London Philharmonic, National des Pays de la Loire, Liverpool Philharmonic, Hallé, Bremen and Dresdener Philharmoniker, City of Birmingham and Aalborg Symphonies and Estonian National as well as the Camerata Salzburg,Royal Northern Sinfonia, RIAS Kammerchor, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Dresdner Kreuzchor and orquesta nacional de Madrid.  She has also appeared in concert as guest soloist with the Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band.
Deborah’s extensive discography includes over 40 cds and dvds for in concert and opera, live and in the studio.
She has performed as soprano soloist in over 60 cantatas by J.S.Bach, some of which were recorded with Philippe Herreweghe for Harmonia Mundi and Ton Koopman for Erato.  She also sang first soprano in the pioneering recorded solo version of “Matthäus Passion” for Deutsche Grammophon with the Gabrieli Consort.
Renowned for her work singing baroque, classical and romantic repertoire, Deborah forged her early career performing regularly and travelling the world with the finest historically informed ensembles such asConcerto Italiano, Talens Lyriques, Freiburger Barockorchester, Accademia Bizantina, King’s Consort, Musica Aeterna, Le Concert Spirituel, La Risonanza, Monteverdi Choir, Divino Sospiro, English Concert, Musica Antiqua Roma, La Fenice, Musica Viva, L’Arpeggiata, Theatre of Early Music and Ensemble Delirio in concert halls around the world including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Musikverein, Philharmonie, L’Auditorio Verdi, Tonhalle, Salle Pleyel, de Singel, Konzerthaus, Mozarteum, Tchaikowsky Hall, Palau de la Musica and the Lincoln Center and at festivals in Beaune, Saintes, Utrecht, Halle, Warsaw, Lisbon, Naples, Schwetzingen, Innsbruck, Hong Kong, Aix-en Provence, Melbourne, 3 Choirs, Tanglewood, Copenhagen and Ambronay.
Her operatic career began at Glyndebourne Opera where she sang the role of Servilia in Mozart's “La Clemenza di Tito”. This led to further engagements singing Mozart and Donizetti at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden with Bernard Haitink,Evelino Pidò and Harmut Haennchen.
She created the role of Mirror in Harrison Birtwistle’s “Second Mrs Kong” at Glyndebourne conducted by Elgar Howarth and was a regular guest at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and the Netherlands Opera in operas by Mozart, Gluck, Handel, Britten, Monteverdi, Telemann and Purcell.
Deborah sang Belinda in a contemporary dance production of Purcell's “Dido and Aeneas” with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and Sasha Walz and Guests which travelled to Berlin, London, Luxemburg, Aarhus, Lyons, Barcelona, Buenos Aires and Rome.
A passionate exponent of vocal chamber music, Deborah has long collaborated on solo programmes.  Her winter solstice programme with organist Jeremy Joseph “An evening hymn – Old English tunes for a long winter’s eve” premiered in the Radialsystem in Berlin was widely acclaimed. The two musicians subsequently formed a trio The BlueShed Collective with cornettist Lambert Colson to experiment with the implications of baroque improvisation and the idea of music as speech for music making today, moving into the area of free improvisation and spontaneous composition using text. They have performed together at the International Organ Week in Nürnberg and the Silbermann Tage Festival in Pfaffroda.
Conducting engagements include with the ensemble B’Rock in a new commission by composer Reza Namawar for the contemporary music festivals TRANSIT in Leuven and November Music in den Bosch.
She has given masterclasses and courses in Siena, Handel Akademie Karlsruhe, Royal College London, Boshoi Theatre and Tchaikowsky Conservatoire Moscow and at Geddai University in Tokyo.
Deborah York is Professor of Singing at the Universität der Künste in Berlin.

CAROLINE DOWDLE

Caroline Dowdle was born in South Africa and studied music at the University of Cape Town, where she was taught by the eminent chamber musician Lamar Crowson. There she qualified with a Masters in Music before moving to England to study at the Royal Northern College of Music as a solo pianist, under Renna Kellaway. She was awarded a fellowship in accompaniment at the college, a post which she held for 2 years, before moving to London to begin her career as a freelance pianist. For many years she was a staff pianist at the Britten Pears School in Aldeburgh, where she worked alongside many of the most eminent singers and instrumentalists of their generation, and studied many of the Britten operas.
Since then she has performed widely in Britain and in Europe, giving recitals with singers and instrumentalists at the South Bank and Wigmore Hall, London, in Paris for Radio France, in Vienna and in Moscow. Since the summer of 2008 she has run the Opera Academy at the Verbier International Music Festival. She has also performed in the Festival itself.
Recently she has appeared in numerous recitals with the esteemed baritone, Sir Thomas Allen.
She has worked for Opera de Rouen in 2009 and 2011 as “chef de chant” and as pianist in performances of Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and Albert Herring, both in Rouen and at the Theatre Comique, in Paris. She works regularly as a coach with the singers on the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and was appointed as a professor to the faculty of the Royal College of Music in 2015. She is the Musical Director of both the Samling Academy for young singers in the North-east of England, and the Academy of French Song and Opera, a course run in France each summer.
In 2016 Caroline worked as a vocal coach in Beijing with students from the Central Conservatoire there, and was also appointed as a regular guest.

JEREMY BINES

Jeremy Bines is the Chorus Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Belfast-born and raised in England, he studied music at Cambridge University and trained as a répétiteur at London’s National Opera Studio. He has worked all over Europe as a coach, répétiteur and conductor, and has repeatedly been engaged as a guest member of music staff at the English National Opera and Royal Opera. He was a regular guest coach at the Jette Parker Young Artists’ Programme at Covent Garden for over a decade before moving to Germany. He coached on the Russian première of Billy Budd in St Petersburg.

From 2007 to 2009, he was Chorus Master of the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen, and was subsequently the longest-serving Chorus Master in the history of Glyndebourne, where he was engaged until 2017. He worked as a regular assistant conductor to Vladimir Jurowski, both at Glyndebourne and with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He conducted La bohème, Hänsel und Gretel and La traviata on the Glyndebourne Tour, and in 2012 jumped in at short notice to conduct a performance of La bohème with the LPO in the Glyndebourne Festival. He returned as a conductor in the Festival to conduct Peter Hall’s legendary production of A midsummer night’s dream in 2016.

His work as a chorus master has been a contributing factor to the success of such award-winning productions as Billy Budd, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Saul and Hamlet in Glyndebourne, and Das Wunder der Heliane and Oceane at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He has been nominated for an International Opera Award twice: for his work with the Glyndebourne Chorus in 2016, and the Chor der Deutschen Oper in 2020.

He once accidentally commissioned David Hockney’s first cupcake design.

SUSAN EICHHORN YOUNG

Susan Eichhorn Young embodies all things voice: Chanteuse/Singer, Actor, Writer, Speaker, Voice Teacher, and Speaking Coach.
Canadian-born and NYC-based, her vocal versatility and its ability to live comfortably in many genres has carried her from the church to concert halls, opera and musical theatre stages, recording studios, and back to the intimacy of cabaret.
Raised in a theatrical and musical family, early piano virtuosity started with lessons at age 8. She went on to earn three ARCT diplomas (Piano Performance, Voice Performance, and Voice Pedagogy) from University of Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music. She also holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Saskatchewan, and a Master of Music in Voice Performance and Literature from Western University, London.
Her versatility on stage has allowed her the privilege of creating operatic roles that include the Countess in Mozart’s La Nozze di Figaro, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, Musetta in Puccini’s La Boheme, the title role of Puccini’s Suor Angelica, among others; as well, she originated a role in the NYC-premiere of Alan Jaffe’s The Mary Shelley Opera.
Her music theatre, concert, and cabaret performances are numerous, and include works by Kurt Weill, Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers and Hart, Kander and Ebb, Gershwin, Cole Porter, and many more. She gave the world premiere of Modern Love Songs by American composer, Chester Biscardi, with Canadian pianist, Mark Payne. Steeped in the European cabaret tradition, her performances include German and French repertoire, as well as American Song. She has recorded and performed Schönberg's Brettl-Lieder with pianist/music director, Alan Johnson. Also, in this tradition, her debut album, Taking My Turn, is a collection of cabaret & theatre songs by Weill, Sondheim, Poulenc & William Bolcom. Recorded with music director and pianist Alan Johnson and produced by Grammy Award-winning tenor Thomas Young, Taking My Turn is available on iTunes and Spotify.
Susan's work as a voiceover artist can be heard on many promos and commercials, as well as the voice actor for 30+ audiobooks on Audible.
In addition to her performance career, Susan has worked as an Artistic Director, Stage Director and Vocal Consultant for various productions, recording studios, and talent agencies. Her passion for teaching (a legacy from her father) has allowed her a parallel path. Her private teaching, adjudicating, group workshops, and seminars have been developed throughout North America, Brazil, Europe and China. She has held long-term academic positions at Western University, Sarah Lawrence College, Moravian College, and CAP21, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU.
After a near fatal car accident in 2011, Susan took a brief hiatus from performing and teaching. However, in November of 2016, she premiered her most recent one-woman show, Why?, at The Laurie Beechman Theater to sold-out audiences and rave reviews. Online, her blog reaches a worldwide audience of over 300,000 viewers and growing!
Susan is married to tenor, Thomas Young. Her greatest accomplishment is being mother to a magnificent young woman and singer, Erin Elizabeth Eichhorn.

PROF. BYRON KNUTSON

Byron Knutson studied piano, conducting, composition and acting in his hometown of Winnipeg, Canada, and in the United States. After completing the Artist Diploma in Opera Coaching at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, he was appointed Visiting Professor of Song Interpretation at Albion College in Michigan.
In 1999, Mr. Knutson moved to Germany, where until 2010 he worked in the opera houses in Kiel, Halle and Augsburg, conducting operatic repertoire from baroque to contemporary, including operetta, musicals and ballet.
In 2010, Mr. Knutson took over the musical direction of the young artist program at the Komische Oper Berlin. While at the KOB, Mr. Knutson conducted works by Handel, Mozart, Weill, Ginastera and a critically acclaimed production of Phlip Glass’ Les enfants terribles directed by Felix Seiler.
Mr. Knutson’s has worked with conductors such as Paolo Arrivabeni (Bellini’s La Straniera; Theater an der Wien), Friedemann Layer (Der Rosenkavalier) Johannes Kalitzke (World Premiere, Olga Neuwirth’s American Lulu), Patrick Lange (Rigoletto), Carl St. Clair (Aribert Reimann’s Lear), Sebastian Lang-Lessing (Der Rosenkavalier, National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing), Christian Curnyn (Castor et Pollux), Lü Jia (Tannhäuser, Beijing). Mr. Knutson has also prepared the casts of Reimann’s Lear and DieGespenstersonate for productions at Theater an der Wien and in Tokyo.
Mr. Knutson frequently gives Masterclasses in North America, Europe and China.
In 2015 Mr. Knutson was appointed Professor of Operatic Studies at the Hanns Eisler Conservatory in Berlin. He is also currently music director of the Berliner Wagner Gruppe.

JOANNE HAYES BOZEMAN

Joanne Hayes Bozeman, voice teacher and co-author of Singing Through Change: Woman’s Voices in Midlife, Menopause and Beyond, recently retired after 26 years as a voice faculty member at Lawrence University’s Conservatory of Music in Wisconsin, U.S.. Her teaching career spans well over 40 years and she continues to maintain a private studio. A classically trained soprano, she performed frequently as a soloist and in recital, exploring a broad range of repertoire including opera, recital, oratorio, chamber music and musical theater. While continuing her teaching career, Ms. Bozeman is an active presenter on hormonal effects on women’s vocal transformation through life, with a special interest in the menopausal transition.
In Singing Through Change: Women’s Voices in Midlife, Menopause, and Beyond, Ms. Bozeman and co-authors Nancy Bos and Cate Frazier-Neely explore the lived experiences of over 50 female singers, conveying the fascinating and complex vocal and emotional journeys through and beyond the midlife hormonal shift. Written in accessible language, anchored in current research and vetted by voice and medical professionals, it speaks on behalf of singers from a number of genres and experience levels. Women will find themselves in the context of the stories and learn how and where to seek help if they need it. Singing teachers, choral directors and medical professionals will develop a holistic understanding of female singing voice, and the importance of enabling women to continue singing during a time of life which, for some, may present challenges.
Ms. Bozeman’s voice students have gone on to select graduate programs, young artist programs and singing careers; others hold positions as music educators, university-based voice teachers, and some have established careers as speech-language pathologists and singing voice specialists. In addition to studio voice in the university setting, she taught supporting courses including lyric dictions, basic voice science and acoustics, classical voice culture, and singing pedagogy for the general music classroom.
Ms. Bozeman has had a longstanding and keen interest in voice health and vocology. Her interest in the effects of hormones on the female adolescent and menopausal voice began decades ago. For a number of years, she served as voice trainer for a select choir of young women in the midst of adolescent voice maturation. In the university setting, she taught general and choral music educators about adolescent voice change of both genders. These interests formed the groundwork for her fascination with the female “second voice change”. However, it was Ms. Bozeman’s own journey through the menopausal transition and related, unexpected voice difficulties that spurred her research to understand the effects of changing reproductive hormones on the singing voice. Her experiences and research resulted in the article, “One Singer’s Experience with Perimenopause”, published in Classical Singer magazine in 2005.
As a younger woman, Ms. Bozeman became a certified childbirth and prenatal educator, helping expectant parents understand and prepare for the physical and emotional changes and demands of pregnancy, childbirth and early parenthood. Serving as a health educator in this setting equipped her for future teaching about voice health and for informing and supporting female singers if they encounter voice changes related to the menstrual cycle and menopause, pregnancy, breastfeeding and the “4th trimester”.
Ms. Bozeman is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), the Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA), and the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA). She has presented on the topic of female hormones and voice for the Greater Milwaukee Chapter of the Voice Foundation, the South Florida Chapter of NATS, and the International Voice Teachers of Mix (IVTOM). Online interviews include the NATS Chat and Dr. Dan’s Voice Essentials. In the future, Ms. Bozeman will present at the NATS National Conference, the Acoustic Vocal Pedagogy Workshop at the New England Conservatory, PAVA’s International Conference, the Mix Singers Association Conference in Poland, and at the “Choice for Voice” National Conference of the British Voice Association (BVA).

SARAH STEPHENS

Sarah Stephens founded International Artists Management in Bremen, Germany in 1996. Her agency specialized in professional personal management and bilingual promotion for international opera singers in Europe and later expanded to include management for conductors, stage directors and other classical musicians. Her artists performed in theaters throughout Europe including the Staatsoper in Berlin, Covent Garden in London, Opéra Bastille in Paris, Stockholm, Basel, Zürich, Graz, Bayreuth Festival, Semperoper in Dresden, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Bayerische Staatsoper in München, Mannheim, Leipzig, Bremen, Oldenburg, Kiel, Darmstadt, Augsburg, Nürnberg and Münster.

Ms. Stephens was granted the German agency license in 2000 authorizing her to operate as a recognized artists management agency (Künstleragentur) in Germany. A second license was issued the same year entitling her agency to engage in business internationally and throughout the European Union. In 2008, she returned to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis to complete her Master’s degree with a bilingual thesis on Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. Subsequently, she came to New York City and founded Stephens Nicolson Artists Management with Mark Nicolson.

Sarah Stephens studied as a young student in Germany, where she learned German fluently, and has spent most of her life since (25 years). She lived in Freiburg, Hamburg, Berlin, and in 1991 moved to Bremen where she lived until 2008. Ms. Stephens attended the University of Vermont, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (Germany), and the University of Minnesota. Born and raised in Minneapolis, she returns there often to be with her family and friends on the beautiful Minnesota lakes.

CHRISTOPHER WHITE

Christopher White is Associate Head of Music (Studienleiter) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he has been working as a pianist, coach and assistant conductor since 2014. Prior to that Christopher worked in the same capacity for the English National Opera, and also enjoys a freelance career at many of the great opera houses of the world, including the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Glyndebourne Festival, Bayreuther Festspiele, Salzburger Festspiele, Oper Frankfurt and the Bavarian State Opera, Munich. As a soloist he has performed concertos by Beethoven and Rachmaninov with the London-based Orchestra of the City, and Saint-Saens at the Philharmonie, Berlin with the Berliner Ärtzteorchester.
His academic work, in London at the Royal Academy of Music, is based on the music of Gustav Mahler, whose complete songs he performed on the centenary of the composer’s death. His recording of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony remains available on the Divine Arts label.

REBEKAH ROTA

Rebekah Rota is a multi-faceted artist whose career encompasses performing, teaching, directing, and arts administration. Rebekah combines intellectual rigor with emotional connectivity in whatever she does, striving to fill Structure with Heart. After completing her Master’s and Doctorate studies at the University of Michigan, she embarked on the first stage of her professional journey as a performer.
She sang throughout Germany and the United States, bringing life to such great roles as Violetta in La Traviata (Verdi), Mimi in La Bohème (Puccini), Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel (Humperdinck), and Margarethe in Faust (Gounod), among others. She was consistently recognized for her ability to combine secure technique, beautiful singing, and moving interpretations. "Natural acting and deeply-felt singing… dreamy, soft high notes…" "Believable and moving… masterful coloratura." "Silvery high notes, sparkling coloratura, powerful in all registers and with great acting ability."
Invitations to teach and coach soon followed. In addition to maintaining a private studio, Rebekah has been invited to give workshops and master classes in the US (University of Michigan, Loyola Marymount University, Utah Valley University) and Germany (German Opera Experience, James Madison University study abroad, Berlin Opera Academy).
Her deep grounding in technique and powerful emotional connectivity support the student’s journey to use the voice as an instrument for communication. "Rebekah is an insightful and intuitive teacher who has the ability to recognize each student’s individual struggles. Not only is she an amazing technician, she believes in connecting your physical and emotional energy to everything you sing, making your experience extremely personal." "Rebekah has one goal as a teacher: to achieve a natural sound for an authentic, honest interpretation that serves the music. Every second of her pedagogical and technical work is focused on this goal – providing both consistency and freedom.”
While still a student at the University of Michigan, Rebekah was selected to receive a specially tailored scholarship in stage direction. Bringing perspective from both “sides” of the stage, Rebekah’s unique vision couples depth of understanding with breadth of emotional connection. She was soon selected to direct various productions at the University (Davidson’s The Fourth Wise Man; Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte) and received internships and assistant stage director positions with such companies as Opera Grand Rapids, Pine Mountain Music Festival, Indianapolis Opera, and the Los Angeles Opera.
After focusing exclusively on her singing career for a number of years, Rebekah returned to stage direction in 2014 with Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the Mittelsächsische Theater. The following year, her staging of the mono-opera The Diary of Anne Frank by Grigor Frid at the Mecklenburgischen Landestheater Neustrelitz received national attention. The production was selected for the Polish language premiere of the opera at the International Penderecki Festival in Poland in September 2016 and it was revived in June 2017 in Krakow. She will be directing again this fall at the Landesbuehnen Sachsen; Peter Lund’s children’s opera Der Frosch muss Weg. "That this was all accomplished so unpretentiously, technically brilliantly, musically and dramatically convincingly, is in large part the merit of stage director Rebekah Rota from Canada {sic}. Under her direction, something grand that touches us all, “tua res agitur”, was coaxed out of polyphonic brevity and received resounding applause at the premiere." "This year - Opera Underground and the Polish premiere of the operatic monodrama The Diary of Anne Frank by Grigor Frid, directed by American Rebecca {sic} Rota. Sensitive, delicate, with girlish charm - very movingly designed to touch, not "hammer", something the director wanted to avoid.”
Fall 2017 saw the beginning of yet another professional chapter for Rebekah as she accepted the position of Referentin des Operndirektors at the Landesbuehnen Sachsen in Dresden. Her long experience as a singer, teacher, and director inform her new duties as artistic administrator as she helps to manage daily operations, long-term planning and casting, and strategic planning at the theater. Outreach and Education are also important areas for her and she has initiated several in-school programs to introduce school children to the history and skill of classical singing.
From April 2020, Rebekah will join Staatstheater Karlsruhe as the company's Stellvertretende Operndirektorin (Deputy Head of Opera).

DOUGLAS BROWN

Douglas Brown was born in London. After graduating from Cambridge University he was active as a pianist, composer and lecturer in Coventry. From 1979 he worked as a repetiteur and later as chorus master in Pretoria, South Africa. In 1983 he moved to Germany, working first for two seasons at the Stadttheater Bremerhaven and then until 2016 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Since then he as continued to work freelance as a coach, conductor, composer and arranger.

FELICE VENANZONI

Felice Venanzoni, born in Italy, studied piano at the conservatory in Pesaro. His studies began with Lorenzo Bavaj, and he later went on to study with Sergio Fiorentino, Viktor Merzhanov, and Pier Narciso Masi.
Mr. Venanzoni began working as a musical coach in 1994, in his home town, at the Macerata Opera Festival. From there he went on to work for AsLiCo in Milan, and accompanied Master Classes for Leyla Gencer, Renata Scotto, Rockwell Blake, and Edoardo Müller. He also participated in opera productions in Como, Brescia, Bergamo, Novara, Pavia, and Salerno.
Mr. Venanzoni has worked at Oper Frankfurt since 1999. He began his work there as a coach, but in 2002 he took on the responsibilities of Director of Musical Studies. While in Frankfurt he has also enjoyed successes as conductor for Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and Orfeo (2005), Il ballo delle ingrate and Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (2006), Händel’s Agrippina (2006), Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria (2007), Ariodante (2007), Almeida’s La Giuditta (2010), Vivaldi’s Orlando furioso (2010 and 2013), and Händel’s Teseo (2012).
Dresden’s Semperoper engaged Mr. Venanzoni to conduct two Intermezzi for their project “Rediscovery of 18th Century Baroque Opera”, La Dirindina (2011-2012) by G. Battista Martini, and Domenico Sarro’s Dorina e Nibbio (2012-2013). In 2013 he opened the season conducting Purcell’s King Arthur, a co-production between Dresden’s State Theater and the Semperoper, and in 2015 he conducted the world premiere of Lucia Ronchetti’s Mise an abyme, which is based on texts from Metastasio.
Mr. Venanzoni has also participated in the Baroque Festival, “Winter in Schwetzingen”, where he conducted Jommelli’s Fetonte (2014), Zingarelli’s Giulietta e Romeo (2016), and Porpora’s Mitridate (2017). He has also participated in the Salzburg Festspiel for Claus Guth’s production of Don Giovanni (2008, 2010, 2011) as Musical Assistant and Cembalist under the batons of Bertrand de Billy (’08) and Yannick Nézet-Séguin (’10, ’11).
Over the course of the last several years Mr. Venanzoni has had the opportunity to collaborate as Musical Assistant and playing continuo on projects with Jean-Christoph Spinosi and his Ensemble Matheus. These projects include opera productions and concerts in Nancy, Madrid, Dortmund, Beaune, Versailles, Quebec City, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall, Theater an der Wien, and in Paris at the Theatre du Chatelet and the Champs-Elyses. He returned to the Salzburg Festspiel in 2014 as Cembalist for La Cenerentola starring Cecilia Bartoli. In that same year he took the podium of the Ensemble Matheus for the first time to conduct Händel’s Xerxes in Stockholm.
At the Ruhrtriennale in 2016, Mr. Venanzoni was Musical Assistant to René Jacobs for Gluck’s Alceste.
During the 2017/2018 season Mr. Venanzoni was Guest Cembalist at the Berlin State Opera where he worked with Berlin’s Academy for Early Music, under the direction of Diego Fasolis, for the production of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea.
In addition to these engagements, Mr. Venanzoni has held a teaching position in Recitative Presentation at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts since 2009. Opera studio programs and festivals continually engage him to come and coach their young singers. It is in this vein that he has directed Master Classes and projects for the Opera Studio in Strasbourg, and has worked as one of the docents for the Mediterranean Opera Studio in Sicily. Mr. Venanzoni has been responsible for the artistic development of the Opera Studio at Oper Frankfurt since 2017.

MARY KELLY

Mary is an actor and a playwright. She graduated from The Gaiety School of Acting, Dublin, in 2002. Five of her plays have been produced, two of which are published - Unravelling the Ribbon (Nick Hern Books, London) and Two for a Girl (The Stinging Fly Press, Dublin). Unravelling The Ribbon toured Ireland in 2008, and had its U.S. premiere in 2010 with Tennessee Women’s Theater Project.
Mary’s theatre work includes; Christine Linde in A Doll’s House (Alan Stanford, Second Age Th. Co. Ireland), Lydia, in All My Sons (Robin Lefevre, The Gate Theatre). The Little Mermaid World Tour (Big-Telly Th. Co.) TV and film include Parked with Colm Meaney (Ripple world Pictures), Fran (Setanta and TV3) and The Clinic and Fair City (RTE). Radio includes The Hit List with Brendan Gleeson, written and directed by John Boorman, and Mayday, written and directed by Veronica Coburn.
Mary has been based in Berlin for eight years, in which time she has been commissioned and written “The Scarlet Web” for Big-Telly Theatre Company (Northern Ireland for Irish and British Tour) and has performed regularly at English Theatre Berlin- including Full Irish, Inkblot Berlin, and in English Theatre’s original production of Isaac’s Eye and its subsequent remounts. She played multiple characters in BERT's (Berlin English Repertory Theatre Company) A Christmas Carol and has done three remounts of Two for a Girl as a one woman show at English Theatre Berlin, Frankfurt International Theatre and as part of CRAW Irish Arts Fest Berlin. Mary works for The Opera Stage and Opera Programs Berlin as a Stage Director and acting couch and is co-founder of M&M Creative – which helps companies and individuals develop creative expression. This summer she will direct Das Rheingold at Stage Factory Steglitz for Dramatic Voices Programs Berlin. Mary is very much looking forward to playing Alma with this Berliner Opern Verein.

STEPHAN REINEKE

Stephan studied law, musicology and cultural administration at the universities in Bayreuth, Mainz, Cologne and Berlin. After early lessons in piano, he became a member of a chorus working with conductors such as Sergiu Celibidache, Sylvain Cambreling and Michael Gielen and orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London and the SWR Symphonieorchester.

He gained valuable experience working in the artistic administration of Komische Oper Berlin, as Assistant to the Director of the Radio Chorus Berlin and as Personal Assistant to the Intendant of Dortmund Opera.
In 2004 he embarked on his career as an Artist Manager for singers and conductors and during the subsequent years worked for different agencies before joining the team of TACT International Art Management in 2012. For many years, he was also Managing President of a non-profit foundation in Berlin supporting young and talented artists.

In addition, Stephan was a member of the jury of the International Singing Competition Debut and the Jerusalem International Opera Competition. He gives lectures at the Berlin Summer University of the Arts and works in audition trainings with students at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin, at the Dutch National Opera Academy Amsterdam, and for further vocal academies and programs.

CAROL MASTRODOMENICO

Carol Mastrodomenico maintains an active schedule as a guest soloist with choruses, orchestras and other ensembles. She excels in the interpretation of oratorio, and has appeared recently in Poulenc’s Gloria, Beethoven’s Mass in C and Ninth Symphony, Brahms’ Requiem, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Requiem, Mahler’s Second Symphony, Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42, Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Gloria, and Fauré’s Requiem.
Ms. Mastrodomenico is an accomplished recitalist, and has recently performed programs ranging from premieres of contemporary music to cabaret programs involving interaction with the audience. She recently toured England with her production of John Morrison’s Jane Austin’s History of England singing the role of Emce. She premiered John McDonald’s Put this in your Pipe and Speech Made by Music with the Essex Chamber Players, and premiered Ellen Bender’s Five Emily Dickinson Songs during New England Conservatory’s Contemporary Festival. Other noted composers she has worked with include Robert DiDomenica and David Leisner. Ms. Mastrodomenico has a great love for Spanish Repertoire, and enjoys programing Spanish and particularly Argentinian songs to introduce the repertoire to her recital audiences.
A champion of vocal chamber music, she has worked with noted musicians premiering new works at contemporary festivals sponsored by BMOP and composer groups at Tufts University and Longy School of Music of Bard College. She has been invited to perform at the Tanglewood Music Center, Jordan Hall, Faneuil Hall, the Warebrook Contemporary Music Festival, the Boston Vocal Artists Series, the 1794 Meeting House concert Series in New Salem, and the Music at Noon Concert Series at the Swedenborg Chapel.
Ms. Mastrodomenico is the stage director of both the Tufts University Opera Ensemble and the Longy School of Music of Bard College’s Opera Theater at Longy. Recent productions she has directed include Le Nozze di Figaro, Der Zwerg, L’amico Fritz, Gianni Schicchi, Three Sisters who are not Sisters, Three Penny Opera, Dido and Aeneas, Old Maid and the Thief, Amelia Goes to the Ball, Riders to the Sea, Gallantry, The Telephone and Doctor Miracle. Ms. Mastrodomenico is a passionate advocate for newly composed works. With the Tufts Opera Ensemble, she commissioned and directed the world premieres of Knave of Hearts by Vartan Aghababian in 2013 and No Onions, nor Garlic by Thomas Stumpf in 2014. With the Longy Opera Workshop, she commissioned and directed the world premiere of Jane Austen’s History of England by John Morrison in 2014. It is her hope to commission a new opera work every year.
Ms. Mastrodomenico is just as passionate about vocal pedagogy and teaching voice. She has participated in panel discussions by the Boston NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) Chapter on the different elements of "Teaching Men to Sing", and was invited by the Western Massachusetts NATS chapter to give a solo presentation on Teaching Men. Her master classes at the Classical Singer Convention, Regional NATS workshops and area Colleges are widely attended. At her invitation, renowned pedagogue Ken Bozeman spoke in the Boston area about the Pedagogical Applications of Vocal Acoustics for teaching voice. She developed and annually taught a vocal curriculum for string performers at the Heifetz International Summer Institute in Staunton, Virginia, US.
Ms. Mastrodomenico’s students can be heard singing throughout the United States, Europe, and South America. They have been accepted into graduate and undergraduate programs at Julliard, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Texas at Austin, University of North Texas, Cleveland Institute of Music, University of Miami, Frost School of Music, Michigan State University, University of Maryland at College Park, Ithaca College, Guild Hall and The Royal Academy of Music in London. Her singers regularly attend young artist programs at Houston Grand Opera Outreach Program, Central City, Berlin Song Festival, Edinburgh Music Festival and Halifax Opera Festival.
Ms. Mastrodomenico received her Master of Music degrees in Vocal Performance and Vocal Pedagogy at New England Conservatory of Music. She is on the voice faculties of Longy School of Music of Bard College and Tufts University.

SARAH WHITTEN

Voice and movement expert, Sarah Whitten focuses on whole body wellness and function for singers. Her work is built on the concept of Vocal Interdependence, recognizing that the voice is influenced by every other system of the body and acknowledging that vocal technique alone cannot solve every issue. She pulls from her background as a professional singer and voice teacher as well as certifications and studies in a variety of movement modalities including yoga, yoga as therapy and restorative exercise. Using principles of biomechanics, research-backed movement and pain science, as well as a hefty dose of intuition, she works with singers’ bodies to resolve physical issues and find their optimal sound. She holds an MA in Vocal Pedagogy, and MM in Vocal Performance both from The Ohio State University. She has presented and worked with singers and voice teachers at National and Regional NATS conferences, New England Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, Walnut Hill School, and numerous other schools and colleges in addition to public workshops and courses both in person and online. To connect and learn more about her work visit www.sarahwhitten.com

BORAM AHN

Boram Ahn is a pianist and opera répétiteur based in Berlin. Over the last few years, she has played and coached in opera houses in Germany and worked as collaborative pianist for diverse musical projects in Berlin. In 2017 she was engaged as a Solorepetitorin mit Dirigierverpflichtung at Landestheater Detmold, where she worked on productions of R.Wargner’s Der Fliegende Holländer and Hans Werner Henze’s Elegies für Junge Liebende. In season 2016, she was a Solorepetitorin on productions of R.Strauss’s Salome, Federico Moreno Torroba’s Luisa Fernanda
at Theater Nordhausen, and a musical assistant on Anatevka (Fiddler on the Roof) at Thüringer Schlossfestspiel Sondershausen. Since 2018 she holds a Solorepetitorin position at Theater Osnabrück and continues to freelance in Berlin, where she coaches privately and accompanies voice studios, auditions, and concerts. In summer 2015 and 2016, she was invited to join the International Vocal Arts Program of Narnia Festival in Italy and assisted musical preparation of Le Nozze di Figaro, Suor Angelica and Così Fan Tutte.
Before moving to Berlin, Boram has studied and worked in Montréal, Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition and Master of Music in Piano performance at McGill University, where she had opportunities to study with renowned Canadian composers such as John Rea, Brian Cherney, Sean Furguson, and pianists Richard Raymon and Kyoko Hashimoto. Her growing interest and passion in art song, opera, and chamber music has led her to pursue Artist Diploma in
Collaborative Piano under the direction of Michael McMahon. During her time at McGill University as a student and a staff accompanist, she enjoyed various musical activities such as accompanying vocal/instrumental recitals, assisting chorus rehearsals, taking part in contemporary ensemble projects, and playing and coaching on Opera McGill’s productions (Stravinsky’s The Rake’s progress, Puccini’s La Bohème, Britten’s Turn of the screw, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and the Canadian Premiere of John Musto’s Volpone). Other work experience and collaboration includes Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Art Center, Jeaunes Ambassadeur Lyrique, Gustav Klimt Ensemble, L’Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, and Canadian Vocal Art Institute.

SOFIA CHEKALINA

Cellist, gambist and conductor Sofia Chekalina hails from Kharkov, Ukraine. She started cello and piano studies at the age of six. Ms. Chekalina studied cello in Saint-Petersburg with Sergey Roldugin, after which she continued her education in Dresden with Danjulo Ishizaka and Berlin with Eberhard Feltz at the HfM Hanns Eisler.

Ms. Chekalina’s studied Baroque cello and viola da gamba with Thomas Grosche in Dresden and Jan Freiheit in Berlin. She was part of the prestigious Staatskapelle Dresden Akademie.

IASON MARMARAS, HARPSICHORD

Iason Marmaras is a keyboard player, singer, and the founder and leader of the ensemble os orphicum. He was awarded a Master’s degree on Harpsichord (2012) under Fabio Bonizzoni and Ton Koopman; and a Bachelor’s degree in Early Music Singing (2011) under Barbara Pearson, Kees Jan de Koning, Jill Feldman, Michael Chance and Peter Kooij; at the Royal Conservatoire in Den Haag, the Netherlands.
Iason has performed as a continuo player, singing soloist, ensemble- and choir-singer under such musicians as Jos van Veldhoven, Jos Vermunt, Peter van Heyghen, Charles Toet, Jan Kleinbussink, Jaap ter Linden, Peter Kooij, Harry van der Kamp and Fabio Bonizzoni. In 2009 he sang Lesbo in Handel’s Agrippina under Hernán Schvartzman, and in 2011 he sang Amor in Monteverdi’s l’Incoronazione di Poppea under Markellos Chrysikopoulos. He is also an increasingly sought-after vocal coach, and the regular accompanist of soprano Stefanie True and counter-tenor Jan Kullmann.
Even before his formal acquaintance with the harpsichord, he was an avid continuo-player and improviser on the piano, and he still regards continuo-playing and improvisation as vital though largely neglected parts of musicianship today. His universal love for music has led to his avid (and increasing) interest in ensemble-leading and direction, and he has organised and directed numerous concerts during the years of his study, also following instruction in conducting with Hernán Schvartzman and Marine Fribourg.

ANNE SORBARA of LUMESSENCE
STYLING & BRANDING COACH,
PHOTOGRAPHER

Anne Sorbara is a trained Makeup Artist and Foto-designer from Toronto, Canada. Having trained in both the United Kingdom at The Makeup School and through private lessons in Germany, Anne is skilled in using makeup to illuminate clients’ natural beauty and as a photographer, has a modern eye and flair for capturing her clients' personalities. Anne is also a working operatic coloratura soprano, and her knowledge of the industry gives her keen insight into your needs for portraits and promotional material.
Anne started out at Mac Cosmetics, where she fell in love with the motto ‘All Ages. All Races. All Sexes.” Here, she was able to hone her practical skills and develop her creative intuition with a wide range of clientele. From there she took her talents to the freelance world. Anne is in demand as a Makeup Artist and has worked in a variety of capacities, including backstage at Fashion shows for L’Oreal Paris, for the red carpets of the Deutscher Filmpreis and the Berlinale, at events such as The Glasgow Vintage Festival, Glow: The Beauty Convention, NYX Professional Makeup Halloween Party, and makeup events by Dior, L’Oreal Paris, and Charlotte Tilburry. Her creativity and performance-background lends itself well to Theatre makeup and Anne has worked on Don’t Forget To Go Home, an original piece by Kolektiva Balkana, Die Räuber for the Hanns Eisler HfM, Les contes d’Hoffmann with Opera on Tap Berlin, and Carmen with Opera Incognita München..
The convergence of Anne’s makeup skills, her ease in understanding individual needs and knack for capturing the personality of her clients is her business ‘Lumessence’ founded in Janaury 2017. Anne offers portrait photography and makeup packages, as well as private makeup lessons and masterclasses. She recently gave a Masterclass in ‘Makeup for the Stage’ at Die Etage, school for the Performing and Fine Arts. Anne’s warm personality leads to fun photoshoots that put the client at ease, and her attention to detail results in vibrant portraits. It is her pleasure to continue developing her craft with each new person.
https://www.lumessencebyanne.com/

BEN WOODWARD

Ben Woodward is Repetitor mit Dirigierverpflichtung at the SH-Landestheater in Flensburg, having also held positions at the Staatstheater Hannover and the Musiktheater im Revier, Gelsenkirchen. He is also Founder and Artistic Director for Fulham Opera in London, for whom he has led the complete Ring Cycle, Falstaff, Don Carlo, Simon Boccanegra and Der fliegende Holländer in production, as well as Der Ring, five Strauss operas, Peter Grimes and the Zemlinsky Lyric Symphony with their workshops orchestra. He has previously worked with many of the London opera companies, and with the One World Symphony in New York. He studied at Chetham's School of Music, Trinity College, Cambridge and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

JULIE WYMA

Julie Wyma has been described as a Renaissance Woman of opera, having worked in both Europe and the United States as a singer, director, stage manager, wig/makeup artist, costume designer, producer, and educator.

Julie has produced and directed operas including Wagner’s Lohengrin, Das Rheingold and Die Walküre (Berlin Wagner Gruppe), Wagner’s complete Ring Cycle (Opera By Request, semi-staged) Massenet’s Werther (Irrational Entertainment), Händel’s Semele (Midwest Early Opera Works), Jonathan Stinson’s The Three Bears and Ryan Oldham’s The Emperor’s Madness (University of Missouri-Kansas City), as well as Jason Robert Brown’s musical The Last Five Years (Voci Inglesi) and numerous opera scenes programs. She has assistant directed Albert Herring and Giulio Cesare at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, La Traviata at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Carmen at Opera North, and she assistant stage managed La Rondine at Indiana University. She has directed opera scenes at Opera North and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. In 2019 she produced a staged performance of The AIDS Quilt Songbook: Berlin Edition in Berlin, Germany, which included two new song commissions. In January 2022 she will direct a production of Strauss's Elektra in Berlin (Berlin Elektra Projekt).

As a costume designer Julie worked for Dicapo Opera Theatre in New York for the 2011-2012 Season, which included Tosca, The Consul, Iolanta, The Most Happy Fella, La Cenerentola, Beauty and the Beast, and La Traviata. She also designed costumes for Opera On Tap Berlin’s production of Les contes d’Hoffmann in 2016 and for Literally Alive’s production of A Christmas Carol in New York in 2012. As a student she worked as a costume assistant/stitcher for the University of Arizona on Le nozze di Figaro and The Merry Wives of Windsor, and for Indiana University on Die Zauberflöte, The Nutcracker, and La Rondine. She has worked as a Wig and Makeup Assistant for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, in operas including Giulio Cesare, La Bohème, and John Brown, at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in productions including La Bohème, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, and The Man of La Mancha, and for a national tour of Hairspray. As a young artist, she was a set construction assistant at Opera in the Ozarks in 2004.

As an educator, Julie’s passion lies in helping singers make the transition from student to professional, and in guiding talented people to the places where they are needed. She has served as a vocal coach, preparing singers for auditions and talent competitions, as well as an audition panelist and advisor. With organizations such as Opera Programs Berlin, Dramatic Voices Program Berlin, Irrational Entertainment, Midwest Early Opera Works, Voci Inglesi, Berlin Wagner Gruppe and Berliner Opernverein, she has facilitated performance opportunities for singers seeking additional stage experience and the chance to hone their craft in a supportive, professional environment.

As a professional operatic soprano she has performed more than 25 roles, including die Königin der Nacht and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Rosina in I barbiere di Siviglia, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Gilda in Rigoletto, Marie in Die verkaufte Braut, Musetta in La Bohème, Sophie in Werther, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, the Waldvogel in Siegfried, and Norina in Don Pasquale. Of her Norina, the Kansas City Metropolis said: “soprano Julie Wyma sparkled with a self-confident air and a strong, beautiful voice.”

An active concert performer and recitalist, her recent appearances include concerts at the US Consul General in Düsseldorf and the Residence of the US Ambassador to Germany in Berlin; a song recital at the University of Pittsburg at Greensburg; Lovers’ Quarrels, a concert of operatic duets and arias in Concord, New Hampshire and Niemegk, Germany; Three Tenors and a Soprano concerts in Cornish and New London, New Hampshire; and Viva Divas!, a concert of operatic arias, duets, and trios in Cornish, New Hampshire, Phoenix, Arizona and Berlin, Germany.

ANASTASIA INNISS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Anastasia Inniss started her arts education at the age of 5, studying piano. She was a member of the Bulgarian National Theater Youth Ensemble, where she was cast in children's roles in numerous main stage and touring productions. Her training at the National Theatre included acting, improvisation, Latin and folk dance. She also studied percussion and classical guitar.

In addition to her musical interests, Ms. Inniss showed a keen interest in the visual arts & design. Before the age of 10, her watercolor paintings and color pencil drawings were selected for numerous solo and group art exhibitions. At the age of 8, she was the recipient of the City of Plovdiv Portrait Drawing Award having been selected from thousands of entries city-wide.

Ms. Inniss commenced her vocal training in Bulgaria and continued it at the Longy School of Music at Bard College (Cambridge, Massachusetts) as a recipient of the Janet Irving Scholarship for Vocal Studies. She was a member of the Central Florida Lyric Opera Young Artists Program and was later invited to return as a main stage Resident Artist with the company.

Opera roles include: Judith in A kékszakállú herceg vára (Grimeborn Opera Festival London); Woglinde in Das Rheingold (Berliner Wagner Gruppe); Elsa in Lohengrin (Berliner Wagner Gruppe); Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Violetta in La Traviata (Central Florida Lyric Opera; New London Opera Players, Fine Arts Chorale & Orchestra) Governess in Turn of the Screw (Opera Seria), Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (Opera Seria, Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Nedda in Pagliacci (Central Florida Lyric Opera), Micaëla and Frasquita in Carmen, under the directorship of late legendary soprano Licia Albanese (Central Florida Lyric Opera); Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro (Central Florida Lyric Opera), Serpina in La serva padrona (Berliner Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal, concertante).

Ms. Inniss is a champion of new music. She has premiered works by prominent American and British composers such as Vartan Aghababian, Michael Djupstrom, Victoria Ellis, Heather Gilligan and Eric Sawyer; some of these works were written and dedicated to her. In addition to numerous song cycles and solo concert works with orchestra, she also created the role of Anna von Mildenburg in the new theater piece Geboren Alma Schindler (Berliner Opern Verein); the role of Member of the Chamber in the premiere performance of Eric Sawyer's Our American Cousin (Composers in Red Sneakers); and the title role in the world premiere of Victoria Ellis' opera Darling (One of Us Foundation).

Solo concert engagements include J.S. Bach Jauchzet Gott in alles Landen (Berliner Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal), Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut (Old North Concert Series), Magnificat in D (Fine Arts Chorale), Missa brevis in A (Fine Arts Chorale); Mozart's Requiem (Fine Arts Chorale), Missa Brevis in F (Sommerville Choir), Exultate Jubilate (Berliner Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal), Vesperae solennes de confessore (Somerville Choir); Händel's Messiah (College Park Players), L'Allego, il Pensieroso, ed il Moderato (Berliner Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal); Pergolesi Stabat mater (Berliner Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal); Schubert Mass in G (Highnam Choir and Orchestra); Dubois Seven Last Words of Christ (College Park Players); Vivaldi Gloria (Old North Concert Series); Vaughan Williams Dona nobis pacem (Tufts University Orchestra, cover); Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream (Longy Chamber Orchestra); Berg Sieben frühe Lieder (Kirchberg Chamber Music Festival); Mahler Rückert-Lieder (Berlin Song Festival); Strauss Vier letzte Lieder (Berlin Song Festival, Kirchberg Chamber Music Festival, Walbrook Music Trust, Galerieforum am Meer); Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasilieras No.5 (Kirchberg Chamber Music Festival) among others.

As a concert artist, Ms. Inniss has also given numerous concert and solo recitals in the United States and in Europe.

Ms. Inniss is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Opera Programs Berlin and Dramatic Voices Program Berlin. Previously, she was the Artistic Director of the Berlin Song Festival and an Artistic Consultant for The Opera Stage (now folded into Classical Singer Magazine). She has worked as an educator in higher education as well as in leadership positions in the arts for the last 15 years, both in the United States and in Europe.

Her directing credits include: Purcell's Dido & Aeneas, Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years and scenes from the operatic and musical theatre repertoire. She has served as a casting director and producer for Wagner's Das Rheingold, Wagner's Lohengrin, Strauss' Elektra, Wagner's Die Walküre and Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years. She also designed costumes for Purcell's Dido & Aeneas and Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years.

Ms. Inniss is a leader in the classical music industry. She has co-produced and hosted roundtable panel discussions on patterns of discrimination in the classical music industry - Singing While Black In Germany, Race in Opera and Ageism in Opera. In addition, she has spear-headed, co-designed, co-produced and hosted Trans*Voices - a series of masterclasses for transgender and non-binary artists. She often does charity work raising money for such organisations as Save the Children, Berliner Aids-Hilfe, Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler CoronaCare, Black Lives Matter, Chineke! Foundation, Artist Relief Tree.

She currently splits her time between Berlin, London and Lanzarote (Canary Island) with her husband linguist Jahmai Inniss. In her free time, she enjoys long swims, cooking without recipes, spontaneous travel and pretty much anything to do with the ocean.
http://www.anastasiainniss.com/