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FACULTY
The QSVI experience provides each young artist with a strong foundation of essential tools to excel in the competitive world of vocal performance. Led by acclaimed regional and international professionals, this intensive summer program will train, motivate and inspire each young singer. Meet our distinguished faculty!
Dr. Sherry Overholt
Soprano Dr. Sherry Overholt has combined a long and successful career with operatic and concert performances in addition to her teaching positions at Queens College, Purchase College Conservatory, and recently the Curtis Institute of Music. As a private voice teacher in Manhattan and at three academic colleges, her students have been contracted by opera companies and festivals, including New York City Opera, The Metropolitan Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and The Caramoor International Festival. Her students have also won numerous competitions, including the National Association of Teachers, Jenny Lind Competitions, and the Metropolitan Council Awards. This past summer marks the 14th season for Ms. Overholt as Artistic Director/Vocal instructor for The Westchester Summer Vocal Institute, which is dedicated to empowering emerging operatic artists. This past season she also completed her 10th season as Artistic Director/Vocal Instructor for the QueensSummer Vocal Institute, a high school classical vocal program at Queens College where she is Director of Vocal Studies. As a performer, Dr. Overholt performed for Columbia Artists Management in joint operatic concerts for ten years and sang title roles in regional opera houses. Her discographies include the title role in Frank Lewin’s opera Burning Bright for Albany Records, Vincent Persichetti’s Song Cycle: Harmonium, and Legacy of Songs of Persichetti for MSR Classics. Ms. Overholt’s received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Miami and her Master of Musical Arts and Doctorate in Vocal Performance from Yale University, studying under Metropolitan Opera Soprano Phyllis Curtin, who taught at the Tanglewood MusicCenter for 51 years.
Executive & Artistic Director
Jennifer Grimaldi Toohey
Soprano Jennifer Grimaldi Toohey made her European debut as the soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Charlemagne Orchestra in Brussels under the direction of Bartholomeus-Henri Van de Velde.
Upcoming engagements for the 2024 season include the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah (parts 2 & 3) with the Babylon Chorale and the soprano soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Canterbury Chorale.
Additional solo engagements for Ms. Grimaldi-Toohey include the soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Canterbury Chorale at Carnegie Hall, the Vier letzte Lieder of Richard Strauss at Symphony Space in NYC with the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra and NY Repertory Orchestra, soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Canterbury Chorale in NYC, soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Symphony No. 2 with the Mineria National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico City, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder with the NY Repertory Orchestra, soprano soloist in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Flint Symphony in Michigan and soprano soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Sheboygan Symphony in Wisconsin and Mahler’s 8th Symphony with both the Nashua and Lexington Symphony Orchestras.
Additional highlights include the soprano soloist in Britten’s War Requiem & Brahms’ Ein deutches Requiem with the Queens College Choral Society, Mozart’s Requiem with the Reona Ito Orchestra and Chorus, Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Queens College Orchestra, Bach’s Magnificat, Vivaldi’s Gloria with the New Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with The New York Repertory Orchestra in conjunction with the New York Festival Singers, Barber’s Knoxville Summer of 1915 with Agincourt Orchestra, and Mozart’s Exultate, Jubilate with the Third Street Music School Settlement Orchestra.
Jennifer Grimaldi Toohey has performed with US opera companies and festivals, including Sarasota Opera, Brevard Music Festival, Intermezzo Opera Festival, Utah Festival Opera, and Raylynmor Opera, among others & created the role of Dolly in the New York City Premiere of Orpheus Descending by Bruce Saylor.
A graduate of The Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, Ms. Grimaldi Toohey is the co-founder and co-owner of the Long Island Studio of Music, on the voice faculty at The Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and serves as program director and voice teacher for the Queens Summer Vocal Institute. Jennifer is a long-time student of her voice teacher and mentor, Dr. Sherry Overholt.
Artistic & Program Coordinator
Ronald Land
Ronald Land is a respected vocal instructor, pianist, assistant conductor, coach/accompanist, and administrator. Well-versed in opera, art-song, musical theater, and Catholic liturgical music, Ron seeks to help singers at all levels achieve their maximum potential. He is a Professor of Voice at Rider University, where he maintains a private voice studio and has directed the Sophomore Showcase. Ron is also a recent addition to the Musical Theatre Voice Faculty at LIU-Post. He has served on collaborative piano staff at the Manhattan School of Music and as faculty at Queens College as a music director of Opera Studio. Ron is the Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal of the New York Singing Teachers' Association—VOICEPrints—and serves on the Board of Directors. He was formerly the Co-Head of Musical Theatre at Five Towns College, where, in addition to private voice lessons and classes in preparation for a career in musical theatre, he served as musical and/or stage director for 11 productions. Ron spends part of his summer with Queens Summer Vocal Institute (QSVI) as the Co-Director of the High School Art Song Division. He maintains his academic and private studios as well as offering master classes and workshops around the US. His students sing in opera, recitals, and musical productions worldwide. www.ronald-land.com
Voice Faculty/Pianist & Co-Music Director High School Division
Elaine Smith Purcell
Vocal coach and collaborative pianist Elaine Smith-Purcell guides and mentors high school and college students in all aspects of the vocal arts. She teaches a wide range of vocal repertoire spanning Baroque improvisational airs, standard classical Art Songs, and musical theater repertoire from the golden age to contemporary writers. Elaine works at the prestigious performing arts high school Walnut Hill School for the Arts, located in the Boston suburbs. She has previously taught at The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and the American Repertory Theater. Her classical voice students have recently matriculated to the following schools: Curtis Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music, The Schulich School of Music at McGill University, Harvard University, New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Boston Conservatory, Rutgers University, Hartt School of Music, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and Northwestern University.
Voice Faculty/Pianist & Co-Music Director High School Division
Alex Paul Sheerin (He/Him/His) is a stage director based on Long Island, NY, and is currently the Director of Opera at Queens College (Aaron Copland School of Music), as well as the Artistic Director of Hofstra Opera Theater at Hofstra University. Alex was the young artist director in residence at Indianapolis Opera, where he directed Puccini’s Madama Butterfly as well as several virtual programs, including The Three Little Hoosier Pigs, an opera for children. Credits include Don Giovanni (Music on Site), Hänsel und Gretel (Queens College), Alcina (Queens College), Die Fledermaus (Music On Site and Quisana), Rigoletto (Opera North), Carmen (Opera North), A Little Night Music (Quisisana), Cosi Fan Tutte (Hofstra University, Music On Site), and The Medium (Chicago Summer Opera). Alex has received several awards from the National Opera Association, including their directing fellowship and an award for his production of The Turn of the Screw. This summer, Alex returns to Quisisana for Romeo et Juliette as well as Orpheus in the Underworld, to Opera North for The Little Prince, and to QSVI for Orpheus in the Underworld.
Alex Paul Sheerin
Director of Opera Division & Stage Director for Orpheus in the Underworld
Dr. Jen Stephenson
Texas-based artist JEN STEPHENSON enjoys a multifaceted career as stage director, producer, educator, and arts administrator. As a stage director and producer, Stephenson has worked with the Baylor Opera Theatre, Chicago Summer Opera, Landlocked Opera, Opera Seme, Lawrence Opera Theatre, Music On Site, Harrower Summer Opera, Druid City Opera, The University of Alabama Opera Theatre, and Tabor College Opera, which she founded in 2015. For her work with the Baylor Opera Theatre, Stephenson's productions have collected numerous accolades from the National Opera Association and the American Prize, including most recently being named first place winner of the Robert Hansen Collegiate Opera Scenes Competition of the NOA (2023). Recent directing credits include productions of Luisa Fernanda, Le nozze di Figaro, Giulio Cesare, The Tender Land, Gianni Schicchi, Suor Angelica, La finta giardiniera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Hansel and Gretel. Praised for her thoughtful characterization and impeccable comedic timing, she is currently chair of the awarding committee of the National Opera Association's JoElyn Wakefield Wright Stage Director Internship, of which she was the recipient of in 2015.
Dr. Stephenson holds degrees from The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Westfield State University, University of South Florida, and The University of Alabama. Currently, she serves as Director of Opera Theatre and Assistant Clinical Professor of Opera at Baylor University, Artistic Director at Music On Site, Inc., Resident Stage Director with Opera Seme, and Executive Board Member and Recording Secretary of the National Opera Association.
Stage Director & Opera Administrator
Ken Benson
Ken Benson, long respected as a leading representative of classical singers, is returning to Artists Management to guide and develop the careers of exceptional young talent.
For 25 years, he headed his own Division as Vice President at Columbia Arti ts Management, Inc. Known for his deep knowledge of singing and vocal repertoire, he developed and built the careers of some of the leading singers and stage directors of the time.
Ken Benson regularly gives masterclasses, workshops, lectures, and private consultations at leading music conservatories and Young Artists Programs across the country. He is in great demand as an adjudicator of many leading vocal competitions. Ken has served as Career Consultant with Washington National Opera's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Program. He frequently acts as a lecturer, interviewer, and writer about opera. A long-time regular panelist and host of the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts, he has interviewed opera icons and given lectures on Wagner's Ring Cycle on the stage of the Met.
Artist Manager
Peter Randsman
Peter Randsman who is the Founder and President of Randsman Artists Management INC was born in Long Beach Hospital, in Long Beach, Long Island, New York, on July 11th. He shares his birthday with Nicolai Gedda, Herman Prey, Yul Brynner, Ebi Stignani, John Quincy Adams and Giorgio Armani. Peter spent his first 13 years of life, living in Harbor Isle, a suburb of Island Park, Long Island, New York. In the early 1960’s Peter met his childhood, “Best Friend” Ricky Ian Gordon, the world renowned composer, and they went on to “discover” opera together and spent each weekend attending star-studded performances of operas at both The Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera. He attended first Nassau Community College as a Drama Major and next Hofstra University as a Drama Major. Peter’s Broadway and National Tour credits include singing the song Liza Liza , as a duet, with film legend Ruby Keeler on Broadway and a national tour of Kismet with Metropolitan Opera star, John Reardon. Additional productions included the roles of Clifford Bradshaw in Cabaret, Charley in Charleys Aunt, Dick in Dames at Sea and Gabey in On the Town which was Peter’s personal favorite role. Mr. Randsman sang with the New York City Opera for 4 seasons at the New York State Theater in Lincoln Center, and performed in LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER in the PBS telecast of Mefistofele with Samuel Ramey, conducted by Julius Rudel. Peter’s Film and television credits include the National commercial appearing as Burger King’s “Whopper Boy” and Minolta’s “Camera Boy. Artistic Director positions included National Grand Opera at the Tilles Center at C.W. Post in Long Island, and currently with the New York Opera Collaborative. After nearly fifteen years as a professional singer /actor, Peter has fulfilled 2 life-long dreams by working 1 season as artistic director of an opera company (National Grand Opera, at The Tillis Center for the Performing Arts at C.W. Post Campus in Long Island) and by also starting his own company, “Randsman Artists Management”. He is happy to be responsible for the careers of 50 internationally active opera singers. In addition to Randsman Artists Management, Mr. Randsman is in high demand for Master classes and Career counseling and consulting, where he has taught Master classes in over 20 major opera companies in the United States and all over the world. In addition, Peter Randsman offers private sessions of both role and aria preparation to artists who are preparing for auditions, career engagements and Video submissions to opera companies. www.randsman.com Office: 212-244-5874 Cell: 917-494-6654 randsman@aol.com www.randsmanartistmanagement.com
Artist Manager
Katrina Fasulo
New York City native Katrina Fasulo is a mezzo-soprano, arts executive, and fundraiser currently living in Southeast Michigan. Her passion lies in the nexus of uniting audiences with opera in engaging and impactful ways, and is delivered through a philosophy and practice rooted in transformational and servant leadership. She presently serves as Executive Director of Opera MODO and as an Associate Major Gifts Officer at Detroit Opera; in addition to maintaining a roster of clients as a freelance consultant and project manager.
As a graduate of the University of Michigan (B.M.A. vocal performance, arts management, program in entrepreneurship) and Seattle University (M.F.A. arts leadership), Fasulo leverages a background at the intersection of artist/administrator and practice/academia to achieve strategic goals. Within her local community, she is an active arts volunteer and advocate, having served on multiple granting and artistic funding panels alongside participation on a steering committee working to diversify classical arts audiences and bolster community engagement. As a regular volunteer and arts advocate, she has partnered with the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, WMHT community advisory board, the New York State Council on the Arts community regrant panel, and the MAP Fund review panel, among others.
Fasulo has previously worked with organizations including Opera Saratoga, Opera NexGen, Seattle Opera, Seattle Symphony, the 5th Avenue Theatre, University Musical Society, the Glimmerglass Festival, and Loft Opera. She finds fulfillment in supporting artists, fostering belonging and inclusivity on and off stage, and building audiences for sustainability through authentic cultural experiences. She envisions operatic engagements that reflect and celebrate diverse lived experiences which uplift, heal, and hold positive societal impact. In 2021, she participated in the Of/By/For All program, to deepen her learning and propel DEIA efforts in her organization with care.
With a firm belief in lifelong learning, she recently participated in the inaugural cohort of Aubrey Bergauer's leadership development course and her "Summer Uplevel" program. Katrina's projects and research have been highlighted and quoted in interviews, panels, and guest speaking engagements with OPERA America, OperaWire, U-M SMTD Excel, the Crescendo Club and artistic entrepreneurship cohorts facilitated by peers and colleagues. Her commitment to understanding field trends and growing audiences of opera in intentional ways is a palpable continuation of her thesis "Opera Under Reconstruction: Strategic Responses for Audience Engagement in the 21st Century."
She is an active individual member of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Racial Justice Opera Network, and the Women's Opera Network. Katrina was selected as one of three protégés in the 2023 Mentorship Program for Women Administrators, the fifth iteration of a competitive development program, facilitated by OPERA America - working closely with mentor Julia Noulin-Mérat, CEO & General Director of Opera Columbus, on objectives that build upon her decade of practical field experience.
Festival Manager
Jeffrey Langer
Jeffrey Langer currently studies oboe at Stony Brook University under the tutelage of James Austin Smith. He performs regularly with the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra and actively plays across the greater NYC region. His passion for music is fueled by performing orchestral, solo, and chamber repertoire, as well as teaching. He maintains a robust private studio. Growing up on Long Island, Jeffrey was previously a member of the New York Youth Symphony in its 2018-2019 season, as well as a student at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege program. Summer festivals include the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival and Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute. Jeffrey has also had the privilege of performing in masterclasses with some of the world’s leading oboists, such as Christian Wetzel, Phillipe Tondre, Mary Lynch VanderKolk, and John Ferrillo.
Complementing his work as a performer, Jeffrey has a profound interest in arts administration, currently serving as Scheduler & Festival Coordinator for the Queens College Summer Vocal Institute. Additionally, he has completed internships with the Lake George Music Festival, assisting with patron services, the box office, and daily operations. He most recently worked with Opera Saratoga in the position of Scheduler and Transportation Coordinator in the summer of 2023.
Jeffrey received his BM in oboe performance from the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance with a minor in Performing Arts Management & Entrepreneurship. His teachers include Nancy Ambrose King, Lillian Copeland, and Keve Wilson. Jeffrey aspires to pursue a lasting career as a chamber musician, orchestral musician, and arts administrator.
QSVI Scheduler & Festival Coordinator
Dr. Sean Moonsammy
Dr. Sean Moonsammy is a professionally trained opera singer and voice-specializing speech-language pathologist. His performing career has allotted him to sing backups for Elton John, perform on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The U.S. Open opening ceremony, and has accompanied Josh Groban as a backup singer through two national tours. His publications focus on cultural responsive care to voice-related disorders. Sean commenced his voice training at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts in New York City; he subsequently obtained his B.M. and M.M. in opera performance at the Aaron Copland School of Music, as well as his M.A. in speech-language pathology from the City University of New York: Queens College. He obtained his doctorate of speech-language pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital, specializing in voice-related advocacy of minoritized populations. He completed his clinical fellowship as an acute care and outpatient provider specializing in voice/upper-airway disorders, and gender-affirming voice care at Stony Brook University Hospital. His appointment at Stony Brook Medicine has been supplemented by features within the ASHA Leader: In the Limelight, "The Agentic Voice," “SLPs of Color,” and “The 8%” podcasts. Sean has co-established Long Island’s first gender-affirming voice care clinic with Stony Brook Medicine’s Laryngologist, Dr. Keith Chadwick. He hopes to continually raise awareness of voice disorders and destigmatize vocal injury among professional voice users.
Voice Specializing Speech/Language Pathologist, Voice Teacher, Baritone
Abril Valbuena
Abril Valbuena (she/her) is an opera stage director and stage manager native to New York City. As a Colombian-American born to immigrant parents, Abril is passionate about creating opera that is accessible and enjoyable to all audiences. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Queens College, CUNY and a Master of Music in Opera Production (Directing Focus) from Florida State University. In the 2024-2025 season, Abril was a Stage Management Apprentice at The Juilliard School’s Professional Apprentice Program. Select credits: Production Stage Manager, Eugene Onegin (Heartbeat Opera), Production Stage Manager, Rigoletto (Opera North), Assistant Stage Manager, Madama Butterfly (Opera Carolina), Assistant Stage Manager, Falstaff (Knoxville Opera), Assistant Stage Manager, Sweeney Todd and La Tragédie de Carmen (Chautauqua Opera Company), Stage Director, Luisa Fernanda (Florida State University), Assistant Stage Director, Carmen and Il barbiere di Siviglia (Janiec Opera Company). Abril is happy to once again join the faculty of Queens Summer Vocal Institute.
Stage Director for Hansel and Gretel
Naseer Ashraf
With a background in music performance and education, Naseer François Ashraf is a dedicated musician based in Bronx, NY. Currently serving as a staff pianist at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music, Naseer shares his expertise with students as a music educator at institutions such as Hoff-Barthelson Music School, Music Conservatory of Westchester, and Rye Arts Center. Additionally, he contributes to the arts community as a Ballet Accompanist at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, and as Music Director and Organist at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Pearl River, NY.
Graduating with a Bachelor of Music in Theory & Composition from the University of Rhode Island under the tutelage of Eliane Aberdam, Naseer further distinguished himself as a violist under the mentorship of Ann Danis, earning the 2006 Kingston Chamber Music Festival Award. Continuing his musical journey, Naseer pursued a Master’s in Classical Composition from SUNY Purchase, studying with Laura Kaminsky and Du Yun. He subsequently delved into piano studies, earning an Artist Diploma in 2015 under the guidance of Stephanie Brown and Miyoko Lotto. Eager to bring his diverse musical experiences to the forefront, Naseer looks forward to serving as Music Director and pianist for Offenbach's "Orpheus in the Underworld", aiming to enrich the production with his unique musical perspective.
Vocal Coach/Pianist & Music Director for Orpheus in the Underworld
Jennifer Barsamian
Jennifer Barsamian, mezzo-soprano, is a professional opera singer who has sung extensively throughout the US. In addition to maintaining a private studio for over 20 years, Jennifer has served as professor of voice at Five Towns College, where she worked with musical theatre majors. Jennifer is co-owner and co-founder of the Long Island Studio of Music, www.LongIslandStudioofMusic.com. She has also served on the music faculty of Music Academy of Garden City, the Greenwich House Music School in Manhattan, Lucy Moses School in Manhattan, the Loomis Chaffee School in CT, the community division at The Hartt School of Music, and the community music school at North Carolina School of the Arts. As a performer, she has been praised as “a consummate artist with a winning personality and a deep, rich, strong vocalism.” Described as the “quintessential Carmen,” she has sung the title role several times throughout the United States. On the operatic stage, she has sung with the Belleayre Music Festival, Opera Western Reserve, Asheville Lyric Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Company of the Highlands, Utah Festival Opera, New Jersey Verismo Opera, and the Spoleto Festival USA, among others. Many of Jennifer’s students have been cast in leading roles, won top prizes in musical competitions, and have gone on to study at top music colleges and conservatories. Jennifer has a true passion for the process of building and guiding young voices and has extensive experience in guiding students through the college audition process. She is a founding board member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Long Island Chapter (NATS NSQ). Jennifer holds a Master’s Degree in Music from North Carolina School of the Arts and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Westminster Choir College, where she began her studies as a pianist. She has also earned two postgraduate certificates in Voice and Opera from both the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute and the Hartt School of Music. Jennifer is thrilled to be returning to the QSVI voice faculty this summer!
Voice Teacher
Voice Teacher & Conductor for Orpheus in the Underworld
Louis Burkot
After completing his master’s degree at the Yale School of Music, Louis Burkot enjoyed a career as a tenor soloist with orchestras and choral societies. Performing such diverse repertoire as Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, the Evangelist in both of Bach's Passions, Mendelsohn's Elijah, Stravinsky's In Memoriam Dylan Thomas, Orff's Carmina Burana and many of the oratorios of Bach, Handel, Mozart, Schubert, Kodaly and others. He has appeared as Acis in Handel's Acis and Galatea with the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, Ferrando in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte with the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra, as a soloist with the New Haven Symphony, at the Blossom Festival, with the orchestras of both Vermont and New Hampshire, the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra, and with over 50 collegiate and regional choral societies along the East Coast. Paul Hume of the Washington Post said of his performance in Stravinsky's Mass "Of the four soloists, tenor Louis Burkot sang with beautiful tone and unerring musical instincts." Recital repertoire has included both Schubert's Die Schöne Müllerin and Die Winterreise as well as Vaughan Williams’ On Wenlock Edge, Faure's La Bonne Chanson, and Rorem's King Midas.
He is best known as the long-time Artistic Director of Opera North which has been nationally recognized for its Resident Artist program that has helped launch the careers of many internationally acclaimed singers, conductors, and directors. He has conducted nearly 100 productions for Opera North. From 1993 – 1998, he was the Musical Director of Opera New England, the touring arm of the Boston Lyric Opera. Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe praised his conducting as “first-rate, capable and stylish,” and Opera News magazine notes his conducting “sparkles with verve and sensitivity to the needs of singers.” Additionally, he has guest conducted for regional opera companies in Illinois, Texas, Massachusetts, and Florida.
Louis Burkot currently teaches voice at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, a position he has held since 1981, and was awarded a Distinguished Teaching award in 2000. As director of the Dartmouth College Glee Club, he has conducted most of the major choral/orchestral masterpieces, including The Saint John Passion of J.S. Bach, the Requiems of Mozart, Fauré, Duruflé, and Brahms (performed in Carnegie Hall), Barber's Prayers of Kierkegaard, Verdi's Quatro Pezzi Sacri and Rachmaninoff's All-night Vigil. Other responsibilities at Dartmouth have included coaching chamber music, and conducting operas, musicals, and ballets. He has given master classes at conservatories nationwide and served as a judge in competitions, including the semi-finals of the Metropolitan Opera Council Annual auditions, the Corbett Scholarship competition at University of Cincinnati College Conservatory, and the Lynam Competition of the University of North Carolina/Greensboro.
A longtime master teacher at the Westchester Summer Vocal Institute (now the Queens Summer Vocal Institute), he joined the faculty of the Aaron Copland School of Music in the Fall of 2021.
Cris Frisco
Cris Frisco is a collaborative musician equally at home in the worlds of classical and popular music. In recent seasons, he has been conductor or pianist for productions on Broadway, at the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Town Hall, Santa Fe Opera, McCarter Theatre Center, Walnut Street Theater, Opera Delaware, Opera Birmingham, Opera Memphis, Kentucky Opera, Opera Fayetteville, The Princeton Festival, The Theatre Outlet, Passage Theater, and the Bucks County Playhouse. From 2021-2023 he was the Director of Music and Director of the Handorf Company Artist Program at Opera Memphis. A committed educator for the next generation of artists, he is the Music Director of Mannes Opera and Assistant Professor of Music at Mannes and has served on the faculty of Westminster Choir College, Rutgers University, City University of New York, the New School for Drama, the Castleton Festival, the Mostly Modern Festival, Finger Lakes Opera, Queens Summer Vocal Institute, and Westminster’s CoOPERAtive.
Vocal Coach/Pianist & Co-Music Director of the Opera Division Scenes Program
Kelly Horsted
Kelly Horsted enjoys an active career in NYC as an accompanist, music director, and vocal coach. He has enjoyed a long relationship with the Brooklyn-based company The American Opera Project, where he has been a music director for the Composers and the Voice Series since 2006. Through AOP, he recently participated as a music director for The Stonewall Operas, a joint collaboration with the Tisch Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program’s Advanced Opera Lab.
He is also a regular collaborator at the Madison Lyric Stage, where he recently music directed Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, and at MidAmerica Productions, which has brought him to the main stage at Carnegie Hall for a variety of programs. Kelly is a soloist with the Long Island Concert Pops, where he is annually featured at the Tilles Center.
Kelly is currently the music director of Albert Herring at Queens Opera Studio. He recently performed and directed Amahl and the Night Visitors at Queens College and the musical Edges at Five Towns College. Other notable collaborations have included Chelsea Opera, Center for Contemporary Opera, The Wintergreen Festival, New Jersey Opera Theater, Friends and Enemies of New Music, and Five Words in a Line.
Kelly has taught at Mannes College of Music, The Hartt School, Hunter College, Five Towns College, Intermezzo, OperaWorks, Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts, and the Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program at Tisch NYU as a thesis collaborator. He is a current faculty member at Queens College and Adelphi University.
Kelly earned both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where he was a fellowship recipient.
Vocal Coach/Pianist & Co-Music Director of the Opera Division Scenes Program
Jason Handy
Jason Handy is a collaborative pianist, educator, and vocal coach based in New York City. He serves as staff pianist/coach at the Aaron Copland School of Music, collaborative pianist and private lesson instructor at The Brearley School, and on the summer faculties of Breno Italy International Music Academy (BIIMA) and Queens Summer Vocal Institute (QSVI). An active freelancer, he has also collaborated with students at New York University, the Chamber Music Center of New York, Manhattan School of Music Pre-College, and Brooklyn Youth Chorus, among others. Recent concert appearances include performances in Breno and Brescia, Italy, new music premieres at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust and with the Momenta Quartet at Binghamton University, as well as innovative recital projects at Foothills Performing Arts Center and Rockwood Music Hall. Jason is a past winner of the Geneseo Concerto Competition, Geneseo Honors Competition, NYSSMA All-State Piano Showcase, and the BSharp Musical Club’s Vivien Harvey Slater Award, and has been featured on WCNY’s Classic FM radio. As an educator, Jason has previously served on the faculty of the Arizona School for the Arts, and maintains an active private teaching studio. Jason completed undergraduate studies in solo piano at SUNY Geneseo and a master’s degree in Collaborative Piano at Binghamton University under Dr. Joel Harder. He also spent formative time studying in Vienna, Austria, and is a fluent speaker of German.
Accompanist/Collaborative Pianist
Nicholas Alexander Kaponyas
Nicholas Alexander Kaponyas is a Polish-American pianist who began his piano studies at KOBO Music Studio with Bozena Konkiel. Since then, he has studied with exemplary pianists and pedagogues such as Richard Shirk, Martin Labazevitch, and Marcia Eckert. Kaponyas earned his Master’s Degree in Piano Performance from the Mannes School of Music, where he studied under Eteri Andjaparidze.
Throughout his career, Kaponyas has participated in masterclasses with world-class professors, including Seymour Bernstein, Andrzej Jasinski, Ewa Pobłocka, Anna Gorecka, Wojciech Switala, Jerzy Sterczynski, Anna Malikova, and Sofya Gulyak. As a solo artist and collaborative pianist, he has performed in some of New York’s most prestigious venues, such as the Polish Consulate of New York, the Kosciuszko Foundation, the Tenri Cultural Institute, the Polish and Slavic Center, Steinway Hall, Merkin Hall, and Carnegie’s Weill Hall. Additionally, he has performed at the Gallery Inn Cannon Club for the Steinway Society of Puerto Rico and continues to perform annually in Poland.
In 2022, Kaponyas received an Honorable Mention in Yamaha’s National Young Performing Artists Competition. As a collaborative pianist, he has worked with distinguished artists such as Krzysztof Bączyk, Sydney Baedke, and Yohji Daquio. Notably, he accompanied Daquio when she won first prize at the 2022 edition of The Century Opera Competition. In 2024, he served as a staff pianist at the Queens Summer Vocal Institute (QSVI) and is currently on the faculties of Queens College, City University of New York, and New York University. He also holds positions as a staff accompanist at The Mannes School of Music, The Kaufman Center, and The Juilliard School’s MAP Program.
Kaponyas has also contributed to the musical community as a juror in the 2023 Golden Swan International Musical Festival Competition and the Nowodworski Foundation’s Christmas Carols Competition. Beyond his performance and collaborative work, he is the co-director of KOBO Music Studio, a piano studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, which he runs alongside his mother, Bozena Konkiel.
Accompanist/Collaborative Pianist
Diane Machin
Diane Machin is a director, writer, and theatre artist who works across the artistic mediums in theatre and opera. Some favorite credits include her adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest, complete with her additional scripting of the character Oscar Wilde, a Christmas-themed Gianni Schicchi for Music on Site Inc., and directing and creating virtual sets for the world premiere of the opera A Storm We Call Progress, a new work about environmental sustainability that premiered during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her piece Young Gods, which she wrote and directed, premiered at the Performing Garage, home of the Wooster Group, in November 2019. The script received a Story Summit Founder’s Award and was a semi-finalist for the Drama League's Next Stage Residency. In 2020, she assisted in creative content creation for Chautauqua Opera and returned in both 2021 and 2022 to assistant direct their productions of Scalia/Ginsburg, As the Cosi Crumbles: A Company Developed Piece, Tosca, and The Mother of Us All. Since summer 2022, she has acted as Resident Assistant Director at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, where she has assisted on the reimagined world premiere of Harvey Milk, The Magic Flute, Treemonisha, Così fan tutte, The Barber of Seville, and Giulio Cesare, as well as acting as a scene director for Center Stage Concert alongside Jim Robinson and concert curator Patricia Racette. After moving to Chicago this past fall, she assisted on Ferdinando Paër’s Leonora at Chicago Opera Theater, conducted by Dame Jane Glover and directed by Lawrence Edelson. dianemachin.com
Stage Director
Praised for her lush sound and powerful expression, soprano Christine Moore Vassallo is a versatile performer with equal authority in opera, oratorio, art song, and contemporary music. Her career includes engagements as Mimi in La Bohème over several seasons with the Leipzig Opera in Germany, where she was praised by the Leipziger Volkszeitung as “a warm, dark voice rings out as Mimi.” A Regional Finalist (Pacific Region) in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the California native has sung the title roles in Madama Butterfly, Aida, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Suor Angelica, as well as Alice Ford in Falstaff, Micaela in Carmen, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Leonora in Il Trovatore. Christine is active in the performance of art song in all languages, with a particular focus on Spanish, and has sung in several concerts in Granada and Madrid with the Festival de Canción Española. She has premiered many new works by living composers, including Richard Thompson's song cycle The Shadow of Dawn at Merkin Concert Hall and the New York premiere of his opera The Mask in the Mirror, Andrew Rudin’s Masha’s Arias, and works by Michael Rose, Kareem Roustom, Richard Cameron-Wolfe, Steve Gerber, and Zaid Jabri with the Brooklyn New Music Collective. In 2008, she sang the world premiere of Mohammed Fairouz’s Tahwidah, written for her and esteemed composer and clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and in 2013 curated and performed in a concert at the Library at Lincoln Center dedicated to classical works by Arab composers, entitled Nearer to East: Chamber Music from the Arab World. Recordings include Christine Moore – Arias and the recently released From Al Andalus to the Americas – An Odyssey of Spanish Song (Meridian Records UK, 2024), lauded by BBC3 and Classical Music Daily, among other media. She is currently working on an art song project with celebrated composer and pianist Patricio Molina on his setting of poems by Arab women living in Spain’s medieval Al Andalus period.
As a voice teacher, Christine has over 25 years of experience in the private studio realm as well as faculty for 14 years with the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. Several of her students and former students have won or placed in such competitions as the Schmidt Vocal Arts, YoungArts, Opera Index, Laffont Metropolitan Opera competition, National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and Hal Leonard, and have been accepted with scholarships to such institutions as Juilliard, Oberlin, Cincinnati CCM, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes, Eastman, and Montclair, among others. Since 2023, she has been a voice instructor with Montclair State University’s Cali Pathways Program, and since 2019, a mentor-teacher with ArtSmart, an organization co-founded by tenor Michael Fabiano that provides voice lessons and mentorship to high-school students in underserved neighborhoods in NYC and cities nationwide. Other programs where Christine has been engaged as a Teaching Artist include American Voices, a U.S. non-profit organization that promotes American music and brings musical instruction to hard-to-access countries, and the Lunigiana International Music Festival in Fivizzano, Italy, both since 2018. She has been a vocal judge for the SAS Performing Arts Voice Competition since 2022 and is co-founder and director of Lyric Artists of New York (LANY), a singing collective that provides performance opportunities and stage experience to both young and seasoned singers. She has been a voice teacher with the Queens Summer Vocal Institute since 2023.
Voice Teacher
Christine Moore
Mary Nessinger has been heard in concert and recital throughout the United States and Europe, and is in demand for her critically acclaimed performances of some of last and this century’s most dynamic works and for her astute interpretations of standard repertoire. Of recent performances, The New York Times has praised her “remarkable fluidity and beauty of tone”, and described her interpretive skills as “a tour de force of characterization”; the New Yorker has heralded her “exacting musicianship and quiet dignity (which) have made her a fixture of the New York scene.” Ms. Nessinger has been heard as a soloist in some of this country’s finest venues, including Carnegie, Alice Tully, Avery Fisher and Merkin Halls, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Freer Gallery in Washington D.C.; Jordan Hall and the Gardner Museum in Boston; and she has appeared internationally at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Kammermusiksaal der Philharmonie in Berlin, the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh, and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
In Ms. Nessinger’s work with orchestra, she has been a soloist with the Baltimore, Grand Rapids, Jacksonville and London Symphonies, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Her collaborative work has found her performing with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New Millennium Ensemble, the Hebrides Ensemble (Scotland), the Brentano, Colorado, Pacifica, and Orion String Quartets, the Endellion String Quartet (London), and as a guest artist at the Tanglewood Music Festival and the Ravinia Festival.
Ms. Nessinger has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Nonesuch, Tzadik, CRI, New World, Naxos, Ondine, Mode, and Koch International labels. She and her two daughters live in New York City.
Voice Teacher
Mary Nessinger
Mary Pinto, an acclaimed accompanist and vocal coach, has worked with international opera singers and major American opera companies for the past 25 years. She serves as musical and artistic director at Opera at Florham.
In 2012, Ms. Pinto coached and served as rehearsal pianist for Metropolitan Opera star and international soprano Deborah Voigt as she prepared for the three Brünhilde roles for the Met's production of Wagner's Ring Cycle. In 2014, she performed with Opera Noire's Ensemble in the American Embassy in Moscow and St. Petersburg and spent the past 3 summers coaching at Masterclass d'Ischia in Italy. In March 2018 she was the official accompanist for the Deborah Voigt International Competition in Vero Beach.
Ms. Pinto has been a private coach and accompanist on the faculty of Montclair State University since 2007. In Fall 2018, she joined the adjunct faculty at SUNY Purchase College teaching Italian and French lyric diction, operatic styles, and coaching.
Vocal Coach/Pianist
Mary Pinto
For over 25 years Beth Roberts has been a dedicated and accomplished voice teacher and music educator. Recently, Ms Roberts joined the Full Time Faculty at the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University. Previously she was on the faculty of Mannes College The New School for Music since 1996 and served as Coordinator of the Vocal Department since 2001. Her voice studio has produced principal artists in many national and international professional venues, including the Metropolitan Opera, Munich Opera, Zurich Opera, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Saint Louis Opera, Covent Garden and La Scala. Students of Ms. Roberts have been finalists and winners of such major vocal competitions as the Metropolitan Opera National Finals, the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, the Giuseppe di Stefano Competition, the Jenny Lind Competition, the Gerda Lissner Competition, the Giulio Gari Competition and the Joy of Singing Competition. Others have entered young artist programs at Merola, Wolf Trap, Glimmerglass, Santa Fe, Tanglewood and Chautauqua. Ms. Roberts has been a vocal instructor for the Washington National Opera Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, the Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca (with the University of Cincinnati), a guest lecturer at the Classical Singer Convention, and an adjunct faculty member at the Westminster Choir College. She has served as an adjudicator for numerous competitions, including the Schmidt Vocal Competition, Fulbright Scholarship and the Finals of the Concours de Musique du Canada. She is a current faculty member of Voice Experience with the Savannah Voice Festival. A lyric soprano, Ms. Roberts has sung with many opera companies throughout the United States, including the Santa Fe Opera and the Washington Opera, and performed numerous concerts at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall. She was a Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Winner and a Liederkranz Foundation Competition Winner. She has also recorded for radio and television. Ms. Roberts earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Screen Actors Guild.
Voice Teacher
Beth Roberts
The Financial Times (London) acclaimed that "Korliss Uecker, a bright and pretty American soprano, was charming, crystalline of voice and sparkling as an actress."
Uecker has sung over 140 performances at the Metropolitan Opera including Susanna in the Marriage of Figaro (international broadcast), Marzelline in Fidelio, Oscar in Masked Ball, Valencienne in The Merry Widow, Clorinda in La Cenerentola. At the Met, she also sang Giannetta in The Elixir of Love with Lucianno Pavarotti and Frasquita in Carmen with Placido Domingo. Other roles include Micaela (Carmen) Susannah (Floyd) Violetta (Traviata) Pamina (Magic Flute) Elvira (Don Giovanni) Adele (Die Flatermaus) Zerlina (Don Giovanni) Despina (Cosi fan Tutte) Adina (Elixir) Norina (Don Pasquale) Lucia & Manon.
In addition to her singing career, Ms Uecker is frequently a Master Class teacher, adjudicator, and lecturer with such institutions as the Manhattan School of Music, the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann/ Laffont Competition, Columbia University , Minnesota Opera Summer Program and Queens Summer Vocal Institute. She has been a consultant for Steamboat Opera Young Artist Program. Miss Uecker is on the board of Action for Artists, an organization that helps young professional musicians . She is on the advisory board for the Music Conservatory of Westchester. Summer 2023 Korliss is on faculty at the Collaborative Piano Institute and Music in the Alps in Bad Gastein, Austria.
Ms. Uecker is the Director of Voice at the Music Conservatory of Westchester. MCW Theater Arts is a nonprofit program for economically disadvantaged gifted singers.
Korliss earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School. She continued post graduate studies with the Juilliard Opera Center. She studied at the Steans Institute, apprenticed at the Santa Fe Opera and Tanglewood Festival. She received a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science from the University of North Dakota and was a registered nurse before she began her singing career. Her husband Jerry Grossman is principal cellist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
Voice Teacher
Korliss Uecker
Artist Manager
Justin Werner
Justin Werner is an operatic professional with extensive experience in production, education, and artist representation. Mr. Werner is the Founder and President of Stratagem Artists in 2018, which cultivates and represents a select roster of operatic artists through artist driven collaboration.
Between 2014-2018, Mr. Werner was a co-founder and artist manager at Couret & Werner (C&W) Artist Management. Mr. Werner gained his initial Artist Management experience at IMG Artists, where he served as an Artist Management intern.
Mr. Werner was the founder and Artistic Director of New York Opera Exchange (2011–2015), which afforded numerous opportunities for emerging singers, directors, and designers to mount critically acclaimed productions. According to Opera Today, "Artistic Director Justin Werner manages to infect others with his enthusiasm through sheer force of charisma and passion." Additionally, Mr. Werner founded the Independent Student Opera Initiative at Boston University.
A valued advisor for emerging artists, Mr. Werner is a frequent panelist for Opera America's Career Blueprints and Feedback Audition programs. He has presented masterclasses and workshops for institutions such as Emerging Leaders of New York Arts (ELNYA), Yale School of Music, the Stratford Summer Music Vocal Academy, Des Moines Metro Opera, the Glimmerglass Festival, Boston University, Fort Worth Opera / Texas Christian University, Oklahoma City University, the University of North Texas, the New York Opera Alliance, the University of Delaware, Opera NextGen and the Seagle Music Colony. In the spring of 2021, Mr. Werner joined the Atelier Lyrique at L’Opéra de Montréal and Mannes School of Music at The New School as an Artistic Advisor in Residence to the Mannes Opera where he will return for the 2021/2022 academic year.
In past seasons, Mr. Werner served on the adjudicating panels of the McCammon Vocal Competition, Talents of the World Annual Voice Competition, MetroWest Vocal Competition, CS Music Vocal Competition and Opera Ithaca Competition. In the spring of 2023, he will judge the finals of the Cooper-Bing Competition at Opera Columbus.
Mr. Werner earned his BM in Vocal Performance from Boston University and his Advanced Certificate in Vocal Performance from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. Mr. Werner is also proud to be the chair of the On Site Opera Artistic Advisory Council.
Violetta Zabbi
A native of Odesa, Ukraine, Violetta Zabbi is an accomplished pianist, conductor, and coach. She received her BM and MM in "Piano Performance" and Ph.D. in “ Musicology” from Odessa State Academy of Music.
Dr. Zabbi has been involved in over 100 different opera projects while living in New York for the past 25 years. She is currently in the faculties of Adelphi University and CUNY Brooklyn College & CUNY Queens College. Alongside coaching and teaching at Brooklyn College, Dr. Zabbi organizes contemporary American art song recitals within the voice department. She has also spent 10 years accompanying the graduate art song seminars taught by tenor and American art song specialist Paul Sperry. She is currently music director and conductor with Vocal Productions NYC, Slope Opera (Brooklyn, NY), New York Opera Theater, and Delaware Valley Opera. She appears as a pianist and coach with Regina Opera, Hofstra University, New Camerata Opera, Opera Manhattan Repertoire and the American Opera Project. Dr. Zabbi frequently appears in recitals both as a soloist and in collaboration, where her playing has been described as: “the image of joy and passion.”
For the past 10 seasons, she has performed with DCINY International at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall. Additionally, Dr. Zabbi serves as festival faculty at the following intensive programs: UArtist Music (Kiev, Ukraine), International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia (Morelia, Mexico), Oyster Bay Music Festival (NY), AMAO American Masters Academy( Moscow, Russia and New York).
In addition to her career as a vocal coach, Dr.Zabbi served as a Piano Professor and later Vice President of Long Island Conservatory from 1998 to 2011 where she had great success teaching Piano Performance in all levels. Her students were passing all NYSSMA levels, participating and winning local and international competitions.
Vocal Coach/Pianist & Music Director for Hansel and Gretel
Daniel Klein
Daniel Klein is a dedicated voice teacher, performer, and arts leader, praised by The New York Times for his “stentorian bass-baritone” and “dark, steely voice.” He is on the faculty of the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and maintains a thriving private studio. He has taught masterclasses at Fresh Squeezed Opera’s Composing for the Voice summer intensive and has been on faculty at both the International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia (ISOFOM) and the Brevard Music Festival. His teaching emphasizes healthy technique, musical interpretation, and performance confidence, guiding singers toward their full artistic potential.
As a performer, he has appeared with companies such as Seattle Opera, Opera on the James, Teatro Grattacielo, and Sacramento Opera. Recent roles include Stanley/Judge Moriarty in Huang Ruo’s Bound at Seattle Opera, The Commentator in Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg with Opera Company of Middlebury, John Mayo in Nicholas Flagello’s Beyond the Horizon with Teatro Grattacielo, and Ted/Dewey in Eric Moe’s Artwork of the Future with Fresh Squeezed Opera (named one of New York City’s top 10 classical performances of 2023). He will return to Teatro Grattacielo this June as Christ in David Asia’s The Tin Angel.
Daniel is also the founding and producing director of the North Shore Music Festival, where he has championed accessible, high-quality opera performances.
Vocal Coach
Mark Schnaible
Since 1988, Mark Schnaible has taught and mentored countless aspiring young singers, teachers of singing as well as established professionals. The students from his voice studio continue to excel and have been chosen for numerous young artist programs including The Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program, Central City Opera House, Wolf Trap, Ohio Light Opera, San Francisco’s Merola Program, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, as well as Sarasota Opera. They have been chosen to participate in the art-song programs of SongFest as well as the renowned Ravinia-Steans program and have distinguished themselves as winners of numerous competitions including National Federation of Music Clubs, National Association of Teachers of Singing, The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, The Joy in Singing Competition, The New York Oratorio Society Competition, as well as numerous European competitions.
His professional students have sung at the Metropolitan Opera, Berlin Staatsoper, Berlin Deutsche Oper, Berlin Komische Oper, The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, English National Opera, Dresden Staatsoper, Barcelona Liceu, Israeli Opera as well as numerous regional houses in the United States and Europe. Additionally, they are Grammy winners and have recorded for numerous labels.
He currently serves on the voice faculties of the Curtis Institute of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Montclair State University, City University of New York, Ravinia-Steans Institute for Voice, Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Washington National Opera Cafritz Young Artist Program, as well as maintains a private studio in New York City.
Bassbaritone Mark Schnaible has sung with the Israeli Opera, Bergen National Opera, Polish National Opera, Leipzig Opera, Choregies d’Orange Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Gewandhaus Orchestra as well as numerous regional opera houses and concert venues in Europe, the United States, and the Middle East. The list of esteemed conductors and stage directors with whom he has worked includes Plasson, Ozawa, Eschenbach, de Billy, Nagano, Weikert, Welser-Möst, de Waart, Rovaris, Casadesus, Soustrot, Coppola, Joel, Asagaroff, Pilavacchi, Carsen, Decker, Auvray, Capecchi, Davia, Major, Melano, Fassbänder, and Uzan as well as many others.
In 2005 he received an honorary Doctor of Music from his first alma mater, Morningside University. In 2022 he received the CODA legacy award for lifetime achievement in the field of music from Morningside University.
Vocal Coach
Gabriella Reyes
With a voice described as “radiant” by The New York Times and chosen as one of the Sphinx Organization’s 2025 Medal of Excellence honourees, Nicaraguan American soprano Gabriella Reyes is one of the most exciting and dynamic artists in music today. A former member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera, Gabriella returns to the Met in the 2024/25 season to perform the roles of Margarita Xirgu in a new production of Osvaldo Golijov’s first opera Ainadamar, and both Mimì and Musetta in Franco Zeffirelli’s classic production of La bohème. She returns to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for Musetta and will perform in La traviata as Violetta with Palm Beach Opera. This season, Gabriella also makes her eagerly awaited recital debut at Carnegie Hall with pianist Andrés Sarre for the series Nuestros sonidos: Celebrating Latin Culture in the US.
The 2023/24 season saw Gabriella return to the Metropolitan Opera to perform the roles of Rosalba in a new production of Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, with Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Liù in Turandot. She also made her role debut as Nedda in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and revisited the role of Mimì in La bohème with the Atlanta Opera. Concert highlights included Musetta in La bohème with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Bravo Vail Festival; the world premiere of The Joyful Mysteries with the Houston Chamber Choir & Orchestra; and a return to the role of Marzelline in Fidelio with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel, both in LA; and on tour in Europe with stops including at the Liceu in Barcelona, the Philharmonie de Paris, and the Barbican in London.
Operatic highlights of previous seasons include Mimì in La bohème for Gabriella’s debuts at the Glyndebourne Festival and Washington National Opera, Nedda in Pagliacci for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, First Lady in The Magic Flute and Nella in Gianni Schicchi at the Metropolitan Opera, and Rosalba in Florencia en el Amazonas at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Further appearances in Europe include Gabriella’s recent debut at the Dresden Semperoper as Musetta and at the Paris Opera as soloist in the Seven Deaths of Maria Callas, a house she will return to in future seasons.
In concert, Ms Reyes appears frequently with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel in roles including Marzelline in Fidelio, Bachianas Brasileiras, and excerpts from Die Zauberflöte, alongside appearances as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, New York Choral Society, and New Haven Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. She also appeared with the Jacksonville Symphony as Musetta in La bohème, the Montclair Orchestra and David Chan in Behzad Ranjbaran’s Songs of Eternity, and with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in a program of Mozart.
Named a 2019 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist by the Metropolitan Opera, Gabriella was also a recipient of a Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation in 2018, and was also a grand finalist in the 2017 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory.
Vocal Coach
Tom Cipullo
Hailed by the American Academy of Art & Letters for music of “inexhaustible imagination, wit, expressive range and originality,” composer Tom Cipullo is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Arts & Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters, the Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize, the 2016 Argento Chamber Opera Award from the National Opera Association, and numerous other awards. He has received commissions from dozens of performing ensembles, and he has received fellowships from Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, the Liguria Center (Bogliasco, Italy), and the Fundacion Valparaiso (Spain). The New York Times has called his music “intriguing and unconventional,” and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has called him “an expert in writing for the voice.” Cipullo’s music is recorded on the Naxos, Albany, CRI, PGM, MSR, Centaur, and Capstone labels, and is published by E.C. Schirmer, Oxford University Press, and Classical Vocal Reprints. Cipullo’s critically-acclaimed opera, Glory Denied, is one of the most frequently performed 21st-century operas.
Vocal Coach
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