JULIE WYMA
FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 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
FOUNDER & 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/ |
ANDREA NWOKE
CONSULTANT FULL VOICE COACHING & CONSULTING FOUNDER & CEO 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. ** 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/ |
JAHMAI INNISS
LINGUISTIC CONSULTANT & GRANT RESEARCHER AND WRITER Born and raised in Kiel, Germany to immigrant parents from Trinidad and Ireland, Jahmai Inniss showed keen aptitude towards language and music very early on. Brought up in a truly bi-lingual environment, he has worked as a classroom and a hybrid educator and linguist in the past 25 years. Having extensively studied French, Latin, German and English, as well as phonetics and literature, Mr. Inniss has been described as 'the word wizard' because of his knowledge of the interconnectedness and cultural context of language. His education included an internship at the United Nations (NYC, New York, US, 2010) and a Train-the-Trainer Certificate at the Oxford Aviation Academy (Oxford, UK, 2009). He went to Christian-Albrecht-Universität Kiel (Kiel, Germany) where he studied English Linguistics (BA), Psychology (BA), Musicology (BA) and Business Administration (BA). Since 2014, he has worked as a linguist and an educator in a wide variety of organisations in in-person and virtual classroom setting - general, business and IT English & general and business German for WBS Training AG (nationwide, Germany); individual and group language classes for Mont Blanc (Hamburg, Germany), Sp&Se GmbH (Hamburg, Germany), dateup GmbH (Hamburg, Germany); medical English and German for Universitätskrankenhaus Schleswig-Holstein (Kiel, Germany). In addition he has worked as a Speech Optimisation Specialist for Hamburg Airport (Hamburg, Germany) and Blohm & Voss KG (Hamburg, Germany). He has served as a translator and interpreter for both corporate and non-profit organisations for the past 25 years. Mr. Inniss has also held positions as a marketing, regional and event manager for vivawasser.de AG (Kiel, Germany), 1und1.de (Norddeutschland, Germany), Winzereibetrieb Kapellenhof (nationwide, Germany), Bergmann Gruppe (Norddeutschland, Germany) and Diaz-Soto Events (Kiel, Germany). In the last 20 years, Mr. Inniss has successfully prepared thousands of students for the following exams and certificates - TOEFL, LCCI, IELTS, Cambridge Certificate and VPED. He currently splits his time between Berlin, London and Lanzarote (Canary Islands) with his wife opera singer Anastasia Inniss. He spends his free time swimming, enjoying spontaneous travel and long drives, as well as learning Spanish and Bulgarian. |
