At age 6, Long Island native Tyler Lee wrote and voiced the 50th episode of Cartoon

Network’s “Dexter’s Laboratory.” At age 8, he co-starred on Disney’s “Out of the Box.” Tyler also co-starred in “Feasting On Cardigans,” an Off Off Broadway production with the Oberon Theater.  He has studied with Nico Castel and Sharon Sweet in various summer programs, highlighted with a summer singing in Spoleto, Italy. Tyler's freshman year at the Peabody Conservatory landed him several roles, including the Mosquito in Yanacek’s “Cunning Little Vixen” and Linfea in Cavalli’s “La Calisto.” Both roles were greatly appreciated and positively reviewed.  In his sophomore year he played Plaisir in the Baroque production “Adonis” and Eric

in the premier performance of Jon Carter’s “Missed Connections.” Tyler is currently working on Handel’s “Messiah.” He is studying with Steven Rainbolt.

Baritone Jason Buckwalter is a frequent performer in the Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington, DC areas having recently graduated from the Peabody Conservatory.  A native of Landenberg, Pennsylvania, Mr. Buckwalter moved to Baltimore to attend graduate school.  At Peabody, he performed the role of Papageno in the Spring 2008 production of Die Zauberflöte.  He was also seen as Belcore in L’elisir d’amore with both the Loudoun Lyric Opera and at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and as Count Almaviva in The Figaro Projects performance of Le Nozze di Figaro.  Most recently, Mr. Buckwalter sang the role of Masetto in Don Giovanni with the Loudoun Lyric Opera and the Bethesda Summer Music Festival.  Currently, Mr. Buckwalter is on the roster of the Washington National Opera Chorus and sings with the Choir of Men and Boys at St. Stephen’s Traditional Episcopal Church in Timonium, Maryland.

Baritone Paul Corujo made his opera debut playing the role of Zuniga in a joint production of Bizet’s Carmen with the University of California-Davis and the San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows, and has since performed roles including Ramiro in the Baltimore Opera Company’s summer Artscape production of Ravel’s L’heure Espagnole,  as Don Giovanni, and Sharpless with Center Stage Opera in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, as well as roles in the Peabody Conservatory’s modern chamber opera productions. Most recently he has appeared as Marcello with Opera Lancaster.  In 2009 Mr. Corujo appeared as a studio artist in the Central City Opera summer festival. He has been establishing himself as an oratorio soloist with works such as J.S. Bach’s Saint John Passion with the Baltimore Baroque Band, Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ with Apollo Arts, and Charpentier’s Judicium Salomonis with the UC Davis Chamber Singers. Mr. Corujo currently lives in Baltimore, Maryland and studies voice with Dr. Steven Rainbolt.

Hailed by the Boston Globe as “elusive, delicate, silvery and persuasive," soprano Sarah Davis has been a vocal fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and performed Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia with the Vox Ama Deus Ensemble. Roles include Anne Trulove and Echo (Ariadne auf Naxos) at Chautauqua Institution, Cinderella (Massenet’s Cinderella) and Nannetta with Peabody Opera Theater.  Ms. Davis' performance of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with Vox Ama Dues is recorded under the Lyrichord Label. She recently made her professional recital debut with the “Trinity at One Concert Series” in New York City and premiered John Harbison's grand aria for soprano and piano, Vocalism, at SongFest in Malibu, CA. Recent engagements include a recital for the Chamber Music Now Series in Philadelphia, Gilda and Pamina with Center City Opera Theater, as well as the Countess in Figaro’s Act II Finale at the Kimmel Center with Vox Ama Dues.  Recently, she returned to Tanglewood as a Vocal Fellow and was Artist in Residence at the Baldwin-Wallace Art Song Festival.

Soprano Jennifer Edwards has recently garnered notice for her dynamic stage presence, warm, shimmering voice and musical intelligence. In the fall of 2009, she was named a District winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions.  Recent performances include Echo with Seattle Opera in Ariadne auf Naxos, Fiordiligi with Peabody Opera, Despina with CCO, and scenes from Bellini’s Norma with Maryland Concert Opera.  As a recitalist, Jennifer will present four art song recitals as part of the 2010 Art Song Discovery Series.  In 2009 Jennifer sang as soprano soloist in Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, Violetta in La traviata, and The Woman in The Yellow Wallpaper at the Peabody Institute of Music.  Of that performance the Baltimore Sun remarked on her ability to “inhabit the role with communicative power” as well as her “sunny, flexible voice [which] filled the space vividly” and her “astute acting.”  Jennifer has been recipient of prizes in numerous competitions, including the 2009 Russell C. Wonderlic Voice Competition, the 2008 Rhode Island Bel Canto Competition, and the 2008 Sylvia Green Competition.  

A native of Pittsburgh, pianist Tessa Hartle has recently served as rehearsal pianist for productions of Don Giovanni (Aspen Opera Theater Center),  L'heure espagnole (Opera Theater of Northern Virginia), and John Musto's Later the Same Evening (world premiere, Maryland Opera Studio); as rehearsal pianist and continuo for Inscape Opera Theater's production of La serva padrona; and performance pianist for Los Gavilanes (Zarzuela Di Si) and selections from Robert Chumbley's Ordinary People (world premiere, Maryland Opera Studio). As chamber musician, Tessa frequently partners in recital with members of the Naval Academy band, and is the pianist for the Inscape Chamber Orchestra. She has her Master's degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Maryland, where she studied with Rita Sloan, and her Bachelor's degree in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Louis Nagel and Katherine Collier. Tessa is a staff pianist/coach in the vocal division at Duke Ellington School for the Arts and is on the piano faculty of Musical Expressions in Bethesda, MD.

Young lyric soprano Chloé Moore is recognized as a gifted performer who communicates powerfully with her audience while delivering a flawless musical performance. As a member of the Marion Roose Pullin Opera Studio with Arizona Opera for their 2007-2008 season, Chloé performed the roles of the First Lady and Flora, and continued her education by covering lead roles including Rosalinda, Pamina, and Violetta.  In the summer of 2008, Chloé continued her training as a member of the prestigious Bonfils-Straton Apprentice program with Central City Opera. She performed the role of Mrs. Gleaton in the Floyd’s Susannah on the main stage and the 2nd Witch in the Apprentice Artist Production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.  Chloé was a finalist in the Connecticut Alliance for Music's Heida Hermanns Young Artist Competition, in the Singer of the Year competition with Shreveport Opera and in the Giulio Gari Competition, and won the Grand Prize of the Orpheus Vocal Competition as well as first place at the Long Leaf Opera competition. Upcoming engagements include a role in Long Leaf Opera’s 2010 Festival.

Mezzo-soprano Kristin Patterson's most recent success as Florence Pike in Albert Herring with Maestro Lorin Maazel and the London Royal Academy of Music, and with Marvin Hamlisch at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The mezzo-soprano has been a Resident Artist with the International Opera Center of America where she dazzled the audience in the title role of Carmen and sparkled as Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor. Ms Patterson made her operatic debut as Willie in Street Scene, followed by both Mercedes and Frasquita in Carmen, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaroand Nedda in Pagliacci. She was cast as Flora in La Traviata, Musetta in La Boheme, the Third Lady in Die Zauberfloteand Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte. Later appearances with Music LIVE Productions were as a mezzo-soprano singing The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors,Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance and Berta in The Barber of Seville. She completed her Bachelor of Music Degree in Voice Performance at Oberlin and then obtained a Master of Music Degree from San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

“Thin in stature, but big in voice,” baritone Douglas Peters consistently impresses with a vocal power and musical depth well beyond his 23 years.  As Belcore in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with the Chesapeake Concert Opera, Doug “demonstrated a baritone voice that was rich and meaty with good vocal resonance.”  In CCO’s production of La Boheme, the Baltimore Sun remarked, “Douglas Peters made an amiable Schaunard and sang with a good deal of character.” Mr. Peters other recent operatic debuts include Germont in Peabody Opera Theatre’s La Traviata, and Enrico and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with the Bethesda Summer Music Festival, the latter of which was hailed by the Washington Post as “utterly charming”.  Doug has been a 1st place winner of the Baltimore Music Club, Friday Morning Music Club, and Florence Boughton Competitions. On the concert stage, he recently performed Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs with chamber orchestra and as the bass soloist for both Bach’s St. John Passion and the Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes. Mr. Peters is a recent graduate of the Peabody Conservatory.

Daniel Seigel’s operatic roles include Ford, Macheath, and Frederik Egerman in A Little Night Music.  Mr. Seigel has appeared with Opera Birmingham, Mobile (AL) Opera and was in the Young Artist Programs for Opera North (New Hampshire) and New Jersey Opera Theatre. He has appeared as soloist in Carmina Burana, Mahler‟s Lieder eines Fahrenden gesellen, Vaughan-Williams‟ Dona Nobis Pacem, and the Fauré Requiem. Currently, he is a member of the choral group Sursum Corda in Birmingham, works as Marketing Associate and Chorus Master for Opera Birmingham, and teaches voice for Birmingham-Southern Conservatory of Fine & Performing Arts. The Baltimore Sun music critic Tim Smith has written…“(Carmen) provided a showcase for Daniel Seigel, who sang the heck out of the „Toreador Song‟ in excellent French and with what few baritones bother trying to achieve in this aria, nuance.” The New Jersey Star-Ledger wrote “Daniel Seigel sings marvelously…” and the Rutland Times-Argus called his Vicar Gedge “another big success…convincing and nuanced, and very funny.”

Ms. Yoohee Shin, a collaborative pianist from Southern California, is recognized as a leading artist of the Korean society in the United States. She is currently a president of Piano Plaza, Inc. and a director of its Music Academy.  She is also a music education and information columnist of The Korea Monitor magazine, and is employed as a concert accompanist by the Washington Soloist Ensemble. Ms. Shin started her training in music from an early age at Sun-Hwa Arts School in South Korea. After her immigration, she earned a Bachelor in Piano Performance from the Peabody Conservatory while serving as a coach and accompanist.  Other accompanying experience includes rehearsal and concert piano for the Korean-American Young Artists and Los Angeles-Seoul Men's Chorale.  Ms. Shin is a winner of numerous solo, concerto and chamber music competitions, including Choonchu Music Competition, a Gala Scholarship recipient of five thousand dollars at Hamilton Music Academy, the Asian-American Orchestra Concerto Competition, and the Southwestern Music Festival Chamber Music Competition.

Concertonet.com raves: Ms. Roberts is “…riveting…she has an enormous and powerful voice…truly thrilling”. Her most recent operatic performances in Philadelphia with the Amici Opera Company include Anne Boleyn in Henry VIII and Carmela in Jewels of The Madonna.  Other operatic roles include Tigrana (Edgar, 4-Act Lucca version, United States world premiere), Rose (The Promise, world premiere, Portland, Oregon), Suzuki, Florence (Albert Herring), Mother (Amahl and The Night Visitors), Cherubino, Giannetta (L’Elisir D’Amore), Flora (La Traviata), Stephano (Romeo and Juliette), Witch (Hansel and Gretel), and the title role in Carmen.  In addition to Ms. Roberts’ roles with the CCO this season, she will sing Tigrana again with the Amici Opera Company in October 2010 and Adalgisa (Norma) for the Washington Repertory Opera Theater of Washington in May 2011. Upcoming concert performances include east coast regional soloing and benefit recitals to help promote pediatric cancer research.  Ms. Roberts’ first album, Perspectives, with Melodic Dog Productions, was released in May 2010.

Patricia McKewen Amato’s extensive operatic experience includes duties as conductor, coach, and accompanist at the AIMS Institute in Graz, Austria, Brevard Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and the Peabody Institute. She served as assistant music director of the Baltimore Opera Company; music director/conductor for Annapolis Opera, Maryland Lyric Opera, Brevard Music Festival, Opera Americana, Washington Savoyards, Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, and Rep Stage; and assistant conductor/chorus master for Washington Summer Opera. A versatile pianist, Ms. Amato frequently performs with the Children’s Chorus of Maryland, Annapolis Opera, Annapolis Chorale, Baltimore Choral Arts, Baltimore Symphony, Maryland Symphony, Baltimore Opera, Prince George’s Opera and Philharmonic, and Metropolitan Opera regional competitions. She made her Lincoln Center conducting debut in 1999 in an all-Charles Loeffler program recorded on Koch International. Ms. Amato is a coach/accompanist at Towson University, AIMS Institute in Graz, Austria, and the Children’s Chorus of Maryland.

Lydia Beasley, soprano, has been featured as the soprano soloist of Vivaldi's Gloria under the direction of Francesco Carotenuto. In 2007, Lydia maintained a studio of sixteen students at Southern Virginia University, as well as a choral directing position at Belmont Baptist Church in Charlottesville, Virginia.  During this time, she performed the roles of "Adele" in Die Fledermaus and "Peep-bo" in The Mikado in local productions.  Lydia began her graduate studies at The Peabody Institute in the fall of 2007, where she performed as "Les Bergère" and "La Chouette" in Peabody's production of Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges.  In the spring of 2008 she portrayed "Dana Perino" in Bush: The Last 100 Days, an original one-act opera written by Peabody composer Chris Whittaker. The following fall she was seen on Peabody’s stage as “Cathleen” in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Riders to the Sea. Lydia received the Annie Wentz Prize in voice upon graduation from Peabodythis spring. Most recently she performed in Steamboat Springs, Colorado as Lucy in Menotti’s The Telephone with the Emerald City Opera Artist Institute.

American Baritone Terrance Brown possesses a strikingly rich sound. A native of West Blocton, AL, his opera performance credits include: Peter in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauber Floete, Collatinus in Britten’s Rape of Lucretia, Boaz in Jame’s Niblock’s Ruth and Naomi, Germont in La Traviata, Voltaire in Candide, Salieri in Rimsky-Korakov’s Mozart and Salieri, Jake/Robbins in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, Le Baili in Massenet's Werther, Le Marquis in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites, and Dashwood in Mark Adamo's Little Women. As an active recitalist and concert artist Terrance has traveled extensively throughout the southeast working with such fine conductors and coaches as John Keene, Dennis Jesse, Rufus Mueller, Frank Nemhauser, Duaine Wolfe, Kyle Marrero, Jerome Shannon, and Donald McCullough. His concert repertoire includes works by Beethoven, Haydn and he recently appeared as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and the Brahm’s Requiem with Louisiana State University Symphony.

Alexandra Boulé-Buckley has been performing in the opera since the age of 8, when she convinced the Portland Opera that it was sexist to only cast boys in the boys choir in Tosca.  Since then she has pursued her love of singing, performing the roles of Emmie and Miss Wordsworth in Albert Herring and Sophie in Werther.  After a short stint in New York, singing with Cantiamo Opera in a Gilbert and Sullivan review, she moved to Washington, DC in 2006 where she was met with critical acclaim by the Washington Post, which published "Alexandra Boule-Buckley radiates ethereal grace with a transcendent soprano that is simultaneously poignant and powerful".  Some of her favorite roles include Julia in The Grand Duke and Marietta in Naughty Marietta with Victorian Lyric Opera Company, Yum-Yum in The Mikado, and Mary in Babes in Toyland with The Washington Savoyards, and Annina in La traviata with Bel Cantanti Opera.  She recently made her debut with Loudoun Lyric Opera as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.

Tenor Jacob Feldman has been repeatedly praised for his superb stage presence, musical sensitivity, and compelling characterizations.  Recent roles include Fayvl (Frederic) in the National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene's off-Broadway production of Di Yam Gazlonim (The Pirates of Penzance), Monostatos with Opera New Jersey and Harrisburg Opera, Aeneas with Empire Opera, King Kaspar with Opera Company of the Highlands (OCH), and as Beppe with OCH and Bronx Opera. As a stage director, Jake’s production of Madame Butterfly with OCH received great acclaim; the Times-Herald Record called it “splendidly sung and acted” and remarked: “Particularly enhancing for the action and setting was [the] lighting design with its sky-blues and ruby sunsets”. Jake also directed Hänsel and Gretel with OCH and Don Giovanni with Amsterdam Concert Opera, and Assistant Directed Il barbiere di Siviglia for Opera Theater of Lakeland.  Also an accomplished pianist, Jake has acted as vocal coach and accompanist for many opera and theater productions.

Hailed for her ‘admirable tonal purity and textural clarity’ (Tim Smith, Baltimore Sun,) Soprano Maggie Finnegan is just as comfortable singing standard classical opera repertoire as she is singing contemporary music and cabaret.  Ms. Finnegan earned her Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance at the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Edith Bers. While pursuing her Bachelors degree, Ms. Finnegan spent her summers studying at several music festivals including The Daniel Ferro Vocal program, Bay Area Summer Opera Theatre (BASOTI) in San Francisco, L’Académie International d’Eté de Nice in France, the Festival de Musica Classica de Puigcerda in Spain, and the Duxbury Summer Festival and Institute. Upon graduation, Ms. Finnegan continued to reside and work in New York City for two years and studied voice privately with Juilliard professor, tenor Robert White. Before moving to Baltimore to pursue her Master of Music degree, Ms. Finnegan performed with New Jersey Opera’s Summerfest, covering Edith in The Pirates of Penzance and singing First Spirit in Die Zauberflöte.

Joseph Haughton is a tenor vocalist with the Air Force Band in Washington DC.  He was a regional finalist for the Metropolitan Opera Competition for the Gulf Coast Region in 2004, the Great Lakes Region in 2005, and Middle Atlantic Region in 2007.  Recently Joe has kept himself busy playing a tennis match between celtic music and the opera stage.   Joe has appeared with Washington Concert Opera, Mobile Opera, Pensacola Opera, Ashville Lyric, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Opera Theater, Annapolis Opera, the Maryland Opera Society, Chautauqua Opera, and the Chesapeake Chamber Opera.  His recent roles include Belmonte, The Magician (Consul), Spoletta (Tosca), Beppe, Camille, Almaviva, Basilio, and Belmonte.  In the world of Celtic Lore, Joe and his band Points of Roguery have just finished a tour in Kyrgystan and the Middle East.  Joe researches, transcribes, and arranges most of the band’s repertoire.  He owes much of his musical success to his parents’ unwavering support and the incredible teaching of Claudia Catania and Paul Oorts.

Megan brought imaginative life to Hansel in Peabody Opera Outreach’s Hansel and Gretel and has given emotional performances as Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti E I Montecchi, L’enfant et les Sortilèges and in the world premiere of The Yellow Wallpaper. In collaboration with Great Noise Ensemble, Megan gave the Washington D.C. premiere of Andrew E. Simpson’s “Lotus and Poppy” in December, 2009. Also in 2009, Megan was a soloist with the Mid Atlantic Symphony Orchestra and performed as the Alto Soloist for Mozart’s Vespers of the Solemn Confessor with the Loyola Chorale. She made her D.C. debut in Handel’s Messiah with the CHANDOS Orchestra in 2007. In August ’07, Megan returned from a successful experience in the lieder studio of Harold Heiberg at AIMS in Graz, Austria. She sang in celebrated performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Augustana Orchesta; and Mozart’s Requiem with South Dakota Chamber Symphony. Megan also had the honor of singing as a soloist on the Augustana Choir tour of Tanzania, Africa.

Bass Baritone Jarrod Lee hails from Sylacauga, Alabama. A graduate of the

Maryland Opera Studio, Jarrod studies voice under Dominic Cossa. Operatic roles include: Joe Louis in the world premier of Shadowboxer , and Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore with the Maryland Opera Studio, Samuel in Pirates of Penzance with Young Victorian Opera, Custom House Sergeant in La Boheme with Opera Birmingham, Jailer in Tosca with Summer Opera Theatre Company, Giuseppi in Gondoliers, Sergeant in Pirates of Penzance, Falstaff in Merry Wives, Mikado in Mikado with Jacksonville Opera Theatre. His roles for the season will include Basilio in Barber of Seville with the Maryland Opera Studio. Jarrod earned a B.A. in Music Education from Jacksonville State University, Alabama and studied voice under Dr. Richard Armstrong.

German-born mezzo-soprano Kala Maxym recently returned from a year as Principal Artist with Diva Opera, the UK’s foremost chamber opera company, where she sang over 40 performances of Cherubino, Hänsel, and Loena (La belle Hélène) in venues throughout the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and France. During the 2007 season, Kala was a Young Artist with Opera Santa Barbara where she appeared as Giovanna and covered the role of Maddalena in Rigoletto; she also returned to Chicago Opera Theater for a second season as a Young Artist to cover the title role in Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict.  Other recent roles include the covers of Nancy T’ang in Nixon in China and Ursula in The Padlock for Chicago Opera Theater; Flora and Alisa with the Aspen Opera Theater Center; and Nancy in Albert Herring, Nefertiti in Akhnaten, and Sor Rosa in With Blood, With Ink with the The Boston Conservatory Opera.  Kala is the Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer of TOI: The Opera Insider, an online networking community for opera lovers and opera professionals from both sides of the curtain: www.theoperainsider.com. 

A native of Frederick, MD, mezzo-soprano, Stephanie Sadownik recently earned a Masters of Music from the Maryland Opera Studio and is an active singer, recitalist and teacher in the Baltimore/ DC area.  While at the studio she performed the roles of Hermia and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Amastre in Xerxes, and Olga in Eugene Onegin as well as covered Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte and Thelma in the world premiere in John Musto's Later the Same Evening.  Ms. Sadownik's opeartic roles include: the Monitor and the Abbess, Suor Angelica; Marcellina, Le Nozze di Figaro; the Sorceress, Dido & Aeneas.  For the past two summers Ms. Sadownik has attended the Aspen Music Festival to perform numerous scenes and cover Tisbe in La Cerentola and Bianca in Rape of Lucretia and this June she returns to reprive Bertha and sing Samira in Ghosts of Versailles.  Ms. Sadownik holds a Bachelor of Music from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music and studies with baritone, Dominic Cossa.

When tenor Rolando Sanz is not performing leading roles with major opera companies, he is thrilled to share his expertise on the other side of the stage, returning to his roots on the podium. Mr. Sanz has appeared as conductor with various organizations across the country, including Centerstage Theatre Company, as former music director of the Greater New Haven Chorus, and most recently acting as rehearsal conductor for Long Beach Opera's production of Richard Strauss' Die Schweisame Frau. He studied conducting under Leo Nestor of The Catholic University of America and Shinik Hahm at Yale University.  Mr. Sanz has had the privilege of singing under many esteemed conductors, including James Conlon, Julius Rudel, Stephen Lord, Michael Stern, George Manahan, Antony Walker and Warren Jones, to name a few. His close collaborations with such elite masters of the classical repertoire allow Rolando a keen insight into the stylistic and musical demands of the classical vocal repertoire. His experience both on the stage and on the podium allow him to fully understand and nurture the needs of singers.

Ms. Thomas is a first year Graduate Performance Diploma student at the Peabody Conservatory, in the studio of Steven Rainbolt. She received her Bachelors of Music in Vocal Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory in 2007, where she studied with Gerald Crawford. Ms. Thomas also holds a Master's Degree in Voice from the Peabody Conservatory (2009).  Roles sung by Ms. Thomas thus far at Peabody include “La Soeur Jumelle” in Milhaud's Les Malheurs d'Orphee, “2nd Knaben” in Mozart's The Magic Flute, and “Frau K.” in Dora. Recently she was the soprano soloist in Bach's Magnificat, performed with the Peabody Concert Orchestra and Peabody-Hopkins Chorus. She is also the recipient of the George Woodhead Prize in Voice (2009). In her spare time, Ms. Thomas enjoys yoga and loves to travel!

William Davenport is rapidly garnering attention for his strong lyric tenor and Italianate style.  Of his performance in La Traviata, the Baltimore Sun remarked, “He already knows how to shape a Verdi melody quite elegantly.”  A native of Maryland, he is currently in his fourth year at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, studying with Dr. Stanley Cornett.  A frequent performer on the Peabody stage, in both opera and concert, Mr. Davenport has been heard most recently as tenor soloist in Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle with the Peabody Singers.   Previous concert credits include Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, also with Peabody, Mozart by Candlelight with Annapolis Opera, and a Messiah with the Frederick Chamber Singers and Orchestra.  On the operatic stage at Peabody, Mr. Davenport has been seen as “Alfredo” in La Traviata, “Tamino” in Die Zauberflöte, “Le théière/La rainette,” in L’enfant et les Sortilèges, and in the spring will tackle “Alfred” in Die Fledermaus.  In addition to his Peabody training, Mr. Davenport has recently finished apprenticeships with Glimmerglass Opera and Chautauqua Opera.

Valerie Kopinski, soprano, is a native of Germantown, Maryland where she graduated as a Pressor scholar in Voice from the University of Maryland. She completed her Master’s degree at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, under the tutelage of Rita Shane. While at Eastman she appeared in the roles of Mme. Lidoine in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. Ms. Kopinski has sung as an apprentice artist with Centro Studi Italiani and the Des Moines Metro Opera. In February, 2009, she was named a National Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions. Most recently,

Ms. Kopinski joined Sarasota Opera as a studio artist for their 2010 winter season, performing the roles of the Mother and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel.

Soprano Jessica Lennick is in great demand for her silvery voice and sensitive musicianship.  She has just finished a season as an Apprentice Artists for Center City Opera Theater in Philadelphia. An accomplished musician, Ms. Lennick counts among her specialties an affinity for new music.  She has recently premiered the role of Patrick Leahy in The Gonzales Cantata (which received attention from The Rachel Maddow Show and Fox News), sang Pierrot Lunaire with the Peabody Camerata, and was Anna Freud in the Maryland premiere of Dora.  Jessica also specializes in pyrotechnic displays of coloratura as seen in her triumph as the Queen of the Night.  Local blog Operatically Inclined described her as “Magnificent… a true star-blazing monarch” while Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun praised her for “landing firmly on the stratospheric notes and putting sufficient bite into the delivery.”  When she’s not traveling or singing Ms. Lennick attempts to sate a prodigious reading addiction with fantasy novels, non-fiction of all stripes, and most especially comic books (her collection of which is 3,000 strong and growing.)

Victoria Crutchfield is at the beginning of her career as a stage director. She graduated in May 2010 magna cum laude from Harvard University, where she staged full productions of The Rake’s Progress and John Eccles’ Semele and co-founded an opera scenes program for undergraduates while earning her Bachelor’s degree in Literature. She also completed a Secondary Degree in Dramatic Arts, studying acting with Thomas Derrah and Scott Zigler, and appeared on stage in Georg Büchner’s Danton’s Death, Jean-Paul Sartre’s Les Mains Sales, and Purcell and Dryden’s King Arthur. Her assistant directing credits include Il barbiere di Siviglia for Bel Canto at Caramoor, and Turandot and Der Rosenkavalier for the Lowell House Opera; she will assistant direct Bronx Opera’s Fra Diavolo this winter.

Praised for the precision and clarity of her voice, Nola Richardson is an upcoming

young artist with a dynamic stage presence and a sensitive and expressive performance style. She specializes in the soubrette and coloratura repertoire and particularly enjoys the works of Mozart and Strauss. Born in Sydney, Australia, and raised in Colorado, Nola received musical training on the violin from a young age. She studied Vocal Performance, Violin and Fine Arts Management at Illinois Wesleyan University, where she received her BM.  Now a Master of Music student in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy at the Peabody Conservatory, Nola studies with renowned soprano, Phyllis Bryn-Julson. She made her Peabody Opera debut as the Cricket in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen and starred as Calisto in the spring performance of Cavalli’s La Calisto. In the fall of 2009, she was again featured as L’amour in Rameau’s Adonis. Nola is also experienced in other musical genres and will complete a second MM in Early Music in December of 2010.