REGISTER | PROGRAM | SCHEDULE | HOTELS | SPONSORS | ADVERTISE | GALA | COMMITTEE
PRESENTER BIOS
Read the biographies of the 11th ICVT presenters and performers. To locate a specific person, select the individual letter of their last name.
A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
A
Tina Alexander-Luna
Canadian Mezzo-soprano, Dr. Tina Alexander-Luna is a native of Ottawa, Ontario. She holds a Bachelor of Music (University of Lethbridge), Master of Music (University of Ottawa), and Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Performance (University of Toronto).
Equally at home in Opera, Concert, CCM, and Choral settings, Dr. Alexander-Luna has performed with Opera Chorus Canada, Canadian Chamber Choir, Theatre of Early Music, and has been a chorus member with the Canadian Opera Company. Highlighted roles include Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneaus, and the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors.
Dr. Alexander-Luna most recently taught as a tenured faculty member at Northwestern Polytechnic (formerly GPRC) where she had a thriving voice studio and was co-founder and artistic director of the Peace Region Music Series, a concert series aimed at making professional live classical music more accessible in and around Northern Alberta and is In demand as a clinician, adjudicator, and guest soloist.
Gwendolyn Alfred
Praised for her “bright and passionate tone” (Houston Chronicle), soprano Gwendolyn Alfred made her Houston Grand Opera debut in a newly-commissioned work which landed her in the prestigious Texas Monthly magazine. Her Houston Symphony debut featured her as a soloist in their touring Summer Community Concert Series and she additionally sang the soprano solos in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Houston Civic Symphony & Fort Bend Symphony) and Carmina Burana (Fort Bend Symphony). Dr. Alfred is an Assistant Professor of Voice at Texas Christian University. Alfred has performed recitals on “The Black Female Composer” nationally and has presented her research at the Texoma NATS Regional Conference. Her most recent presentation of this material was featured at the 2020 NATS National Virtual Conference, the Spring 2021 Edition of the NATS Journal of Singing, and The International Florence Price Festival.
Belinda Andrews-Smith
Dr. Belinda Andrews-Smith is a musical theatre director and vocal pedagogue with over 25 years of university teaching experience. From 2022-2024 she was the head of the musical theatre BFA at Tulane University, where she taught voice and directed the program’s musicals. Andrews-Smith has directed over 40 productions in her academic career, and in 2020, she was honored by the American Prize, with a first-place win for outstanding stage direction for her production of Chicago. In addition to directing, Dr. Andrews-Smith is an innovative voice teacher. Her vast knowledge of musical theatre and classical singing techniques have transformed her actors’ experiences on the stage and in the classroom. Students of Dr. Andrews-Smith have won numerous awards at state and national musical theatre singing competitions and many of her students have gone on to successful Broadway and National Broadway tour debuts.
Noel Archambeault
Dr. Noël Archambeault is an Associate Professor of Voice at the University of Delaware where she teaches Voice and Pedagogy. Dr. Archambeault has been published in the Voice Foundation’s Journal of Voice and the ACDA Choral Journal and has been a guest presenter for the International Congress of Voice Teachers, the Voice Foundation and the International Association of Jazz Educators. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of the Incarnate Word, a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College of Rider University, a Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from Texas Tech University, and a certificate in Vocology from the National Center for Voice and Speech. As a singer, she is in great demand as an interpreter of contemporary music and is the founder and director of the Chicana Art Song Project.
From San Francisco to the Vienna State Opera, from Zerbinetta to Salome, Canadian soprano Jane Archibald is known for mastering the most relentless of tessituras with ease, grace, and breathtaking artistry in roles such as Daphne, Mathilde, Donna Anna, Lucia and Konstanze to name just a few. After beginning her career in her native Canada, she became an Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera. She then joined the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera, debuting many coloratura roles. She has since gone on to perform regularly in the celebrated opera houses and concert halls of the world. In 2023, she was awarded an honourary doctorate from her alma mater, Wilfrid Laurier University.
Her career thus far has taken her to the Metropolitan Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Paris Opera, La Scala Milan, Teatro San Carlo, Carnegie Hall, Barbican London, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Zurich Opera, Frankfurt Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Canadian Opera Company, major orchestras in London, Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Madrid, Hamburg, Tel Aviv, Cincinnati, Salzburg and opera houses and festivals in Lyon, Glyndebourne, Geneva, Hyogo, Copenhagen, Toulouse, Baden-Baden, Aix-en-Provence and Santa Fe, among others.
Jane is a Juno-award winner who appears on numerous CD and DVD recordings, most recently in the celebrated release of Bernstein’s Candide, with Marin Alsop and the London Symphony Orchestra. More information can be found at www.janearchibald.com Jane is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with her husband, tenor Kurt Streit and their family.
Morag Atchison
Dr Morag Atchison has firmly established herself as one of New Zealand’s leading sopranos and pedagogues. She studied at the University of Auckland and Royal Academy of Music, and was a Kathleen Ferrier finalist. Operatic and concert engagements include Berta, Barber of Seville; Lady-in-waiting, Macbeth; First Lady, Magic Flute, and Helmwige, Die Walküre. Britten War Requiem, Verdi Requiem, Tippett A Child of our Time and Beethoven Ah! Perfido.(NZ), recital with the Toronto Children’s Chorus, Vivaldi Gloria (Venice & Royal Albert Hall), Ginastera Cantata Para América Mágica (Aspen), and Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire (London). Morag features on the soundtrack for Mortal Engines (2018) and her debut CD The Distance (Atoll) was released in 2022. Morag is a Senior Lecturer (Voice) at the University of Auckland and vocal consultant for the New Zealand Youth Choir and Auckland Chamber Choir. In 2019 she was elected as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
B
Chadley Ballantyne
Chadley Ballantyne, DMA, is a member of the voice faculty at Stetson University, where he teaches applied voice and voice pedagogy. He frequently presents and gives guest lectures on voice pedagogy, focusing on both classical and commercial music singing techniques. His scholarship particularly emphasizes voice acoustics, vibrotactile awareness in singing, and the adolescent voice. He has presented at conferences including the Pan-American Vocology Association, NATS National Conferences, National Opera Association, and the Voice Foundation Symposium. Chadley also co-instructs the Acoustic Vocal Pedagogy Summer Workshop. He is a contributing author to The Evolving Singing Voice: Changes Across the Lifespan, The Vocal Athlete: Application and Technique for the Hybrid Singer, Third Edition, and The Oxford Handbook of Voice Pedagogy, Second Edition.
Linda Barcan
Mezzo-soprano Linda Barcan holds a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours from the University of Newcastle, a Graduate Diploma in theatre voice pedagogy from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), and a Masters of singing voice pedagogy from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. As a performer, Linda’s affinity for contemporary opera, oratorio and chamber music has seen her collaborate in several Australian premieres. She is known as an advocate for contemporary art song, interpreting works by Australian female composers like Art and Life (Linda Kouvaras) and The Domestic Sublime (Katy Abbott). Recent recordings include Women of Note: A Century of Australian Composers Volume 2 (ABC Classics), Gardener of Time: Barry Conyngham at 75 (Move Records), and Linda Kouvaras: Instrumental music, chamber works and songs Volume One (Toccata Classics). Linda has 25 years’ experience as a singing teacher in secondary and tertiary sectors, and is currently Lecturer in Music (Voice) at the University of Melbourne.
Erin Bardua
Soprano Erin Bardua's practice encompasses new compositions, early Western classical music, works by systemically underrepresented artists, and commercial styles. She strives to help artists use their voices as singers, communicators, and creators with autonomy and agency. Her approach is student-led and evidence-based, emphasizing consent, inclusion, and accessibility.
Bardua's collective Essential Opera has produced several recordings and films: JUNO- and ECMA-nominated Etiquette (Monica Pearce) film debuted in 2024, also an EP on the Leaf Music label; Mirror mirror (Anna Pidgorna), on Leaf Music; and December (Pearce). Now in development: In Her Hands: The Tragedy of Lady Macbeth (Fiona Ryan).
Bardua has created programmes of works by women composers for the Early Music Society of the Islands and Salt Spring Baroque, and performed with Victoria Baroque and the Sackville Early Music Festival.
She has been on faculty at Mount Allison University, Halifax Summer Opera Festival, COSA (Centre for Operatic Studies and Appreciation), and Victoria Baroque Institute.
Maureen Batt
Maureen Batt, soprano | artistic director | producer | recording artist | educator focuses on new music, collaborating with composers to commission, première, and re-perform their works. Celebrated for her “rich, warm sound and masterful acting” (Opera Canada), Maureen has created 13 Canadian opera roles.
Her discography includes two-time ECMA-winning Lighthouse (with Grej); JUNO-nominated Breathing in the Shadows; Durme, Durme: Four Ladino Folk Songs; Aunt Helen; Mirror, Mirror; and Lady of the Lake, and Etiquette with Essential Opera. She has an MMus from the University of Toronto, a BMus from Dalhousie University, and a BA from St. Thomas University.
Maureen specializes in embodied voice, voice and movement play, gender affirming voice work, and wholeness activism. She is a regular vocal coach on faculty at the HSOF, a frequent festival adjudicator and guest clinician, and offers consulting services on new music vocal scores, grant writing, project management, and producing.
Maureenbatt.com @maureenbattsoprano
Affiliations and memberships: NSrTMA, CLC, Music NS, ECMA, CMC (National Board Member; Atlantic Council Chair)
Helen Becqué
Belgian pianist Helen Becqué gave her European début at the age of nine, performing a solo recital in a benefit concert for cancer awareness. Since her precocious youth and subsequent studies (including with Europe’s pre-eminent Lieder coach, Helmut Deutsch), Helen has emerged as a consistently thoughtful, emotionally-committed, and technically-scintillating recitalist, and opera devotee. Helen’s experience as an opera coach and orchestra keyboard player has seen her appear in diverse operas, including Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Weill’s Street Scene, and Verdi’s La Traviata. A lauded vocal coach and teacher, she instructs her University of Toronto classes in German Lieder and Song Interpretation. A deft performer, soloist, and collaborator, Helen is at home with ensembles and orchestras in Madrid, Munich, Brussels, New York, and Toronto, and has proven instrumental to many notable recordings and world premieres, including that of Three Songs from the Tang Dynasty by Alice Ping Ye Ho in Toronto.
Julia Bentley
Mezzo-soprano Julia Bentley followed apprenticeships with the Santa Fe Opera and the Chicago Lyric Opera with leading operatic roles including Carmen, Rosina, Dorabella, Despina, and both Rossini and Massenet Cinderellas, from Anchorage to New York. Recognized by the New York Times for her “rich sound, deep expressivity and uncanny sense of pitch,” she was featured as a soloist with orchestras led by George Manahan, Raymond Leppard, Oliver Knussen, Robert Shaw and Pierre Boulez. She is honored to have been Grammy-nominated for her work with The New Budapest Orpheum Society for their exploration of Jewish cabaret, As Dreams Fall Apart, and has served as an Associate Professor of Voice and Graduate Art Song Literature at the Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana. She has recently been certified as an SLPA en route to completing a second Masters Degree in Speech Language Pathology.
Jae Bernado
Jae Bernado (they/them), MS, CF-SLP, is a performer, singing teacher and voice therapist with a passion for helping people use their voices expressively. Jae is a Speech Language Pathology Clinical Fellow at the University of Washington Medical Center, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, where they evaluate and treat patients with a variety of voice, upper airway and swallowing concerns. Additionally, they are an Affiliate Teacher at the Voice Studio of Jordyn Day, where they seek to empower singers of various genders and genres by helping them learn to use their voices more efficiently and sustainably, resulting in freer, less effortful, more expressive singing. Jae has performed with several organizations including Seattle Opera, Lowbrow Opera Collective, Seattle Pro Musica and Seattle Trans and Non-binary Choral Ensemble. They are a member of the Puget Sound Chapter of NATS, the Pan American Vocology Association and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Elizabeth Benson
Dr. Elizabeth Ann Benson is recognized as a dynamic scholar, pedagogue, and performer. Her book, Training Contemporary Commercial Singers is hailed as “a remarkable and long-awaited contribution to the world of voice pedagogy” (Journal of Singing). Her current research interest examines issues of equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging within the voice studio. She co-authored the groundbreaking articles, “Fat Liberation in the Singing Voice Studio” (Voice and Speech Review) and “Anti-Fat Bias in the Singing Voice Studio,” (Journal of Singing) with Kate Rosen, and “Practicing Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Singing Voice Studio,” (Voice and Speech Review) with Trineice Robinson-Martin and Marisa Lee Naismith. She is an Associate Professor of Music Theatre Voice at Auburn University and the founder of Benson Music Studios. Singing career highlights include opera (Carnegie Hall), musical theatre (Symphony Center), rock (The Hard Rock Café Atlanta), and virtual and live cabaret shows. www.elizabethannbenson.com.
Christiaan Bester
Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “Impressive,” South African lyric baritone, Christiaan Bester made his professional debut as Schaunard in La Bohème for Pro Musica Theater in South Africa and his European debut as Zaremba in Polin Blut for the Americke Jaro Festival in the Czech Republic. Additional critical acclaimed roles include: Tom/John (The Face on the Barroom Floor, Tulsa Opera), Major General (The Pirates of Penzance), Gianni Schicchi, Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva, Belcore, Enrico, Marcello, Germont, Aeneas, Guglielmo, Escamillo, Prince Moritz Popolescu, Basil (Der Graf von Luxemburg) and Dr. Malatesta. Christiaan is a sought-after performer, recitalist, presenter and clinician with regular presentation, performances and masterclasses throughout the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and South Africa. Dr. Bester is currently serving as Assistant Professor of Voice at Oklahoma State University.
Ho Eui Holly Bewlay
Korean American soprano, Ho Eui Holly Bewlay, exemplifies the fusion of performance excellence and pedagogical innovation. Her operatic and solo concert engagements in the USA, South Korea, and Europe, alongside her recognition for outstanding undergraduate course development and education contributions, highlight her impact on both the stage and in academia. As a professor in Music at SUNY Buffalo State, Bewlay's leadership in coordinating the voice program and teaching applied voice and vocal pedagogy showcases her dedication to nurturing emerging talent. Her co- founding of a female baroque music ensemble and authorship of pedagogical materials further reflect her commitment to expanding the scope of vocal music education and performance.
Elizabeth Blades
For over 5 decades, Elizabeth Blades has taught in higher education, serving on music faculties including Shenandoah University (VA), Heidelberg University (OH), the Eastman School of Music, Nazareth College, and Alfred University (NY). She holds advanced degrees from University of Kansas (MS) and the Eastman School (MM, DMA). Blades is the author of A Spectrum of Voices: Prominent American Voice Teachers Discuss the Teaching of Singing (2018), as well as coauthor (with Samuel Nelson) of Singing With Your Whole Self: A Singer’s Guide to Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement (2018), and The Feldenkrais Method for Instrumentalists (2024), all published by Rowman & Littlefield.
Dr. Blades is an active soprano experienced in many forms of voice performance: opera, oratorio, musical theater, recital and folk/Celtic. She is a Certified Core-Singing™ teacher and is Founder/Director of Vocalhealthworks and Harmony House Online Music Studio.
Carole Blankenship
Carole Choate Blankenship, soprano, is Professor of Music and Chair of the Department of Music at Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Blankenship has performed art song recitals in Sintra, Portugal; Marktoberdorf, Germany; The Foundling Museum, London; The Cell Theatre, New York; and The American Legation in Tangier, Morocco. She has presented papers and lecture recitals at University of Lisbon, Portugal; Queensland Conservatorium, Brisbane, Australia; The Royal College of Music, Stockholm, Sweden; and on a tour of the American Language Centers of Morocco (2019). Carole’s research is focused on the songs composed for the Composers Forum Laboratory in New York, 1935-1939, and the unpublished songs of Paul Frederic Bowles, 1910-1990. Carole has served the National Association of Teachers of Singing in many capacities including Vice President for Auditions (2012-2016), President Elect (2018-2020), and President (2020-2022).
Carolina Botero
Born in Barranquilla, Colombia, Carolina studied piano and voice for over a decade and performed on numerous occasions for Amira De La Rosa Opera house in Barranquilla. She completed her undergraduate studies at Catholic University in Washington DC, her Master’s in Vocal Performance at University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX and her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance at University of Washington. Her performance repertoire from operas includes, La Calisto, Orphée et Eurydice, La Périchole, Dialogues of the Carmelites, L’Elisir d’amore, Die Zauberflöte, Don Pasquale, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermaus, Cosí fan tutte, Der Freischütz. Her performance repertoire from musicals includes, She Loves Me, Fiorello! and West Side Story. She has performed in Seattle, Tacoma, Washington DC, New York City and Houston. Additionally, while living in Houston, she performed for the Houston Grand Opera for several seasons. As a vocal performer she has received rave reviews from El Heraldo (Colombia), The Washington Post (DC), The Times Herald (NY), The Houston Chronicle and El Rumbo (TX). Carolina is an active performer in the operatic repertoire as well as the Spanish and Latin American repertoire. She has performed for the Isla Foundation, Latino Chamber Music Festival and University Washington in Seattle, showcasing songs from diverse Spanish and Latin American composers. Carolina is multilingual speaking fluently in Italian, Spanish and English. Carolina has a passion for teaching operatic, CCM styles of music and loves to work with students of all ages. She currently teaches as an Independent Voice Studio in Frederick, MD and serves as Voice Faculty at the Peabody Preparatory Institute.
Thaddaeus Bourne
2022 Latin GRAMMY® Award winning album vocalist Thaddaeus Bourne has been praised for his rich baritone (Brooklyn Discovery), his lyrical and touching singing (Parterre Box) and his suave stage presence (Opera News). Originally training as a flutist, he began voice lessons as a means of studying breath support and quickly discovered the joy of making loud noises in foreign languages while playing with swords. Dr. Bourne has sung over forty roles performing in the USA, Europe, Africa, and Latin America. His previous faculty appointments include the University of Florida, Troy University, Butler University, Earlham College, and the University of Connecticut.
Joanne Bozeman
Joanne Bozeman, a graduate of the University of Arizona, has been a singing teacher for nearly 50 years. As a faculty member of Lawrence University’s Conservatory of Music, she taught singing and related courses, and was an actively performing soprano, specializing in recital repertoire, oratorio, and chamber music. Joanne developed a keen interest in the relationship of hormones with voice and the female lifespan, and co-authored the book, Singing Through Change: Women’s Voices in Midlife, Menopause, and Beyond, released in 2020. Her other serious interest concerns the singing voice and hypermobile conditions and postural orthostatic tachycardia (POTS.) Joanne is a frequent presenter for many organizations, including the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the International Congress of Voice Teachers, the British Voice Association, Pan American Vocology Association and numerous voice education collectives. Retired from academia, Joanne continues to be engaged with the voice community as an independent teacher and researcher.
Kenneth Bozeman
Kenneth Bozeman, author of Practical Vocal Acoustics and Kinesthetic Voice Pedagogy, served as Professor of Music at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin for 42 years. He was awarded the Van Lawrence Fellowship by the Voice Foundation in 1994 and is on the editorial boards of the NATS Journal of Singing and the Voice Foundation’s Journal of Voice. He has twice been a master teacher for the NATS Intern Program and was inducted into the American Academy of Teachers of Singing in 2019. He was honored to be a keynote speaker for the British Voice Association (2021) and the International Congress of Voice Teachers (2022). He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the CCM Vocal pedagogy Institute in 2024. His work explores the acoustic landscape that all voices inhabit, describes the inherent relationships of its components, and seeks ways to motivate efficient singing while respecting both acoustic reality and effective historic pedagogy.
Jenna Brown
Jenna Brown is a UK-based classical mezzo-soprano. She is a doctoral candidate at University College London, researching imagery in vocal pedagogy. She is a fellow of the RSA and a qualified voice rehabilitation specialist and vocal massage therapist running Bristol Voice Care and providing choral coaching. She is an editorial board member for Voice and Speech Review and Cambridge Educational Research e-Journal, as well as a visiting lecturer at Voice Study Centre, a tutor-mentor on the MA/PGCert Voice Teaching at University of Chichester, and a tutor and assessor for Vocal Health Education's Certificate of Teaching Inclusively. Jenna has presented lectures and workshops at over 20 international conferences, and authored several publications on voice and choral pedagogy, including in the Journal of Voice, Voice and Speech Review, Australian Voice, Journal of Popular Music Pedagogy and Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, as well as writing on singing for Music Teacher Magazine.
Karen Brunssen
Karen Brunssen, NATS Past-President, Professor of Voice and Co-Chair of Music Performance, Bienen School of Music, Northwestern University. She is a frequent vocal clinician, master teacher, panelist, adjudicator and presenter, recently at the 2020 NATS Virtual Conference, 2020 Eurovox, 2019 ACDA Conference, 2017 and 2022 ICVT, numerous teaching residencies at Cambridge University and the Zürcher-Sing Akadamie, the International Symposium on Singing in Newfoundland, Opera America, Chorus America, Podium2016-Choral Canada, Philippines Choral Directors Association, Camarata virtual presentations in South Korea, Her spirited presentations, articles, and book, The Evolving Singing Voice: Changes Across the Lifespan, (Plural Publishing), chronicle changes in respiration, vibration and resonance, and the impact on realistic, age appropriate expectations for vocal development throughout a lifetime of singing. Karen attended Luther College and did graduate work at the Yale School of Music and Kent State University. She is recipient of the Weston Noble Award by Luther College and was awarded the Northwestern University Alumni Association the “Excellence in Teaching Award.” Karen is a Consultant Editor with Plural Publishing.
C
Philipp Caffier
Philipp P. Caffier (MD, PhD) is a Professor of Phoniatrics and senior physician at the Department of Audiology and Phoniatrics, Charité – Berlin University Medicine, Germany. He is a specialist in phoniatrics and pediatric audiology, otorhinolaryngology, and allergology. Prof. Caffier’s main areas of expertise are voice diagnostics, musician’s medicine, phonosurgery, laryngology, and LASER medicine.
Before studying medicine at the Humboldt University Berlin, he attended the music secondary school Georg-Friedrich-Händel, was a member of the choir Rundfunk-Kinderchor Berlin, and earned a degree in classical, folk and modern dance. 2003 medical doctorate (Dr. med.), 2011 habilitation (Priv.-Doz.) and postdoctoral lecture qualification (venia legendi).
Prof. Caffier is a board member of the German Association for Hearing- and Speech-impaired Children and Adults (since 2013), and a member of BCMM, DGPP, DGHNO-KHC, DGLM, and UEP. Since 2014 he is also a board member of the German Voice Teachers Association (BDG) in scientific advisory capacity.
Amy Canchola
Dr. Amy Canchola, DMA, is an accomplished vocalist and educator with a passion for promoting the music of Latina women and Mexican composers. As a member of Duo Atesorado, she continues to explore and celebrate diverse musical traditions commissioning the works of Mexican women for voice and guitar. Dr. Canchola's dedication to her students shines through both off and on the stage. Dr. Canchola has recently attended the NATS Science-Informed Pedagogy Institute, the Group Voice Intensive, and was the 2023 winner of the NATS Clifton Ware Group-Voice Pedagogy Award. She is a member of NATS, Mu Phi Epsilon, MTNA, PAVA, and the Voice Foundation. She cherishes time with her husband and four children. Discover more about her work and performances at www.amycanchola.com.
Joanna Cazden
Joanna Cazden MFA, MS-CCC is a singer and speech-language pathologist known for voice work that is cross-disciplinary, humanistic, practical, and well-informed. She has presented at national and international conferences including NATS (2004, New Orleans), The Voice Foundation Symposium, Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA), American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA), and lectures for CEUVOS (Mexico), Fitzmaurice Institute, and Voice Study Centre (UK). She is Certified in Performing Arts Medicine and from 2001-2020 she treated singers in all genres as senior therapist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Voice Clinic, Los Angeles. Music credits include six solo albums, three national tours as a singer-songwriter, and ongoing projects including two songs about COVID available on her Youtube channel. Her book Everyday Voice Care: the Lifestyle Guide (Hal Leonard) is in wide use; other publication credits include Journal of Voice, Voice and Speech Review, Onstage magazine, and numerous online posts and interviews.
Vania Chan
Dr. Vania Lizbeth Chan maintains an active career as a versatile vocalist - performing, teaching, and pursuing academic research. She is interested in mindfulness applications to voice pedagogy, exploring and developing self-regulatory strategies that strengthen awareness and enhance learning efficiency. Vania completed her M.M. at the Manhattan School of Music and her PhD at York University. Career highlights include her Carnegie Hall debut (winner of the Barry Alexander International Competition), touring shows in Europe, and being featured on TV in the CBC broadcast of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards. Currently a Toronto based musician, she performs with several Canadian companies, premiering and recording roles in new operas and musical works. Vania is co-artistic director of the annual Asian Heritage Month concert in Toronto. She is excited to join a committee of established educators in bringing the International Congress of Voice Teachers to Toronto in 2025. Website: www.vaniachan.com.
Chuck Chandler
Chuck Chandler is an award winning voice teacher, frequent recitalist, master clinician, and presenter of pedagogical scholarship in the U.S. and abroad with recent performance and academic engagements in Austria, Sweden, Italy, and at Carnegie Hall, as well as colleges and universities throughout the US. He has published research in the NATS Journal of Singing and published recordings with Centaur as well. Equally comfortable with opera and oratorio, Chandler garnered success with extensive performance credits. His students have won competitions including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and have appeared with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, among others. He holds a Doctorate from University of Kentucky and serves as the coordinator of voice at DePaul University and on faculty at Red River Lyric Opera’s young artist training program.
Michael Ching
Michael Ching is the composer/librettist of SPEED DATING TONIGHT! and BUOSO'S GHOST. His new opera, NOTES ON VIARDOT, was recently commissioned and premiered at University of South Dakota-Vermillion and subsequently performed at Arizona State University. It will be performed next year at Baylor University. Michael is the former Artistic Director of Opera Memphis and completing his work as composer-in-residence at Savannah Voice Festival. This spring, Northern State University will premiere his opera with Marla Fogderud, HAZEL MINER. He is working on a new opera for Taos Opera Institute where he is composer-in-residence. Michael is opera and art song consultant for EC Schirmer Music Publishers, which recently published his ARRANGEMENTS AND DERANGEMENTS OF SCHUBERT and ESSENTIALS, six songs with lyrics by Reg Huston. Michael is on the board of directors of the National Opera Institute.
Chris Citera
Chris Citera is a doctoral candidate in Music and Music Education at Columbia University, Teachers College, studying applied voice pedagogy, where he also completed his M.A., and Ed.M degrees. He currently serves as the Head of Voice and Music in the BFA musical theater program at Molloy University/CAP21 and teaches voice and voice pedagogy as an Adjunct Instructor in the Vocal Performance program at New York University. He has previously served on the faculties of Pace University and the University of Texas Arlington’s BFA musical theater programs.
Logan Contreras
Logan Contreras is Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of Northern Colorado. She holds her MM and DMA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and BM from the University of Northern Colorado. As the founder of the Kassia Database and co-coordinator of the Art Song Works Database at the Institute for Composer Diversity, her research focuses on the art song of women composers and supporting composers from underrepresented groups. In addition, she holds a teacher certification from the Mindfulness Institute for Emerging Adults.
Josaphat Contreras
An accomplished educator researcher and singer, Contreras’ recent artistic feats include a National Opera Association first prize win for his Mariachi research, international debut as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the historic Teatro Ángela Peralta in Mazatlán, Mexico, solo debut with the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, a sold-out run of On Site Opera’s production of Bach’s Coffee Cantata as the narrator cover and closing night performer, and an eight-show run with the Boston Pops Orchestra as one of the eight Holiday Pop singers at Symphony Hall. This spring, he will serve as Mariachi artist-in-residence at Arizona State University. In April 2024, Josaphat was named a 2024-2025 Fulbright Scholar and will continue his mariachi research at the National Mariachi Conservatory in Mexico city, Mexico.
When Josaphat is not working in music, he enjoys spending time with his partner Amanda Contreras, their daughter Ava Michelle, and their two dogs Rufus and Delilah.
Robin Cotton-Cobb
Soprano Robin Cotton Cobb has performed many roles in the lyric soprano operatic, oratorio,musical theater (both traditional and contemporary) repertoire; and is currently a top vocal pedagogue in all of these genres. Her students are performing on Broadway, Off Broadway and in current National and International Tours. Her Sam Houston State University graduated college students performing professionally include: Katie Rose Clarke; Current Beth in Merrily We Roll Along on broadway; Ellen in Ms. Saigon revival ,‘Glinda’ in Broadway’s Wicked for 12 years and is the longest Glinda to perform the role on broadway, ‘Clara Johnson’ in “The Light in the Piazza” at The Kennedy Center in 2006, toured as ‘Clara’ in the National tour through 2008, toured as ‘Glinda’ in Wicked through 2012 and broadway through 2019. She was also Nkrumah Gatling’s collegiate voice professor; currently Coalhouse at The Signature Theatre through January 2024; John understudy/ ensemble for Ms. Saigon revival, Hair on broadway, John-national tour Ms. Saigon and in the national tour of Hair. She also has students who are currently or have recently performed on Disney, Carnival, Holland America and Royal Caribbean cruise lines, in addition to Regional theaters across the country. Recently she performed the role of Diana Goodman in Next to Normal at the East End Theater in April 2017; Orthlinde in Die Walkure for the Austin Lyric Opera; and as soprano soloist with the Colorado Symphony in Bernstein’s Mass and Handel’s Messiah with the Austin Civic Chorus. She has performed the following musical theater and operatic roles: Desiree: A Little Night Music, Marion: The Music Man, Fiordiligi: Cosi Fan Tutte, Marguerite: Faust, Donna Anna: Don Giovanni, Madeline: The Face on the Barroom Floor, Micaela: Carmen, Nedda: I Pagliacci, Cleopatra: Julius Ceasar, Angelica :Suor Angelica, among other lyric soprano roles, and a series of musical theater evenings performed with the Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra featuring songs by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Jerome Kern and Harold Arlen. She holds a BA in Psychology and an M.M. in Vocal Pedagogy from the University of Texas at Austin.
Ian Cusson is a composer of art song, opera and orchestral work. Of Métis (Georgian Bay Métis Community) and French Canadian descent, his work explores Canadian Indigenous experience including the history of the Métis people, the hybridity of mixed-racial identity, and the intersection of Western and Indigenous cultures.
He studied composition with Jake Heggie (San Francisco) and Samuel Dolin, and piano with James Anagnoson at the Glenn Gould School. He is the recipient of the Chalmers Professional Development Grant, and grants through the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, the Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council.
Ian was an inaugural Carrefour Composer-in-Residence with the National Arts Centre Orchestra for 2017-2019 and was Composer-in-Residence for the Canadian Opera Company for 2019-2021. He was Co-artistic Director of Opera in the 21st Century at the Banff Centre and the recipient of the 2021 Jan V. Matejcek Classical Music Award from SOCAN and the 2021 Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize. Ian is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers.
He lives in Collingwood with his wife and four children.
D
Alison d'Amato
Dr. Alison d’Amato (she/they) is Associate Professor of Vocal Coaching at Eastman School of Music. She has worked for more than twenty-five years as a collaborative pianist, teacher, and music director. A trailblazer in the field of art song, she is dedicated to generating new music and merging its past with its present.
Dr. d’Amato’s broad experience has made her a valued partner in creative initiatives. In 2003, she became Artistic Co-Director of Florestan Recital Project, one of the earliest organizations to champion art song performances, recordings, and mentoring. She is Program Co-Director of (Art) Song Lab, which brings together writers, composers, and performers to create new works. In 2022, she assumed the role of Artistic Director for ArtsBridge Summer ArtSong. In all her activities, Dr. d’Amato seeks to energize relationships in music and bring students’ love for their art to the forefront of their projects.
Alexis Davis-Hazell
American mezzo-soprano Alexis Davis-Hazell’s performances have earned accolades for the dramatic intensity she brings to supporting characters. Alexis’ soloist appearances since contributing to the GRAMMY™ award-winning album Gretchaninov: Passion Week with the Phoenix Chorale include: symphonic works with orchestras in the southeast and southwest U.S.; International Alonzo Ortiz Tirado Opera Festival in Sonora, Mexico; a variety of roles with regional opera companies in the U.S.; and over 130 performances of Porgy and Bess at international venues, including Dresden Semperoper, Mikhailovsky Opera, Kuressaare Operadays Festival, Palacio de Bellas Artes, and San Francisco Opera. She serves as Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Alabama School of Music, and National President of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Dr. Davis-Hazell’s research interests include Diction pedagogy, Russian art song literature, impact of performing arts training on well-being for Alabama youth, and vocal literature by African American women composers.
Katie DeFiglio
Dr. Katie DeFiglio (she/her) is a singer, voice teacher, composer, and pedagogue located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Pedagogy at Shenandoah Conservatory, and is currently the Music Director and Lead Instructor of Voice at Keystone State Music Theater Academy. Dr. DeFiglio has extensive experience teaching all ages and multiple vocal styles, including musical theater, classical, and CCM styles, and she incorporates current voice pedagogy techniques and somatic practices developed through her experience with Estill Voice Training, the Shenandoah CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute, Michael Chekhov Acting Technique, and the Emotional Body Method in her teaching and compositions. She is dedicated to using her pedagogical knowledge and teaching experience in her creative work, providing tools and exercises for singers and voice teachers that address vocal challenges in a fun and innovative way.
Sarah DeYong
Sarah DeYong is an active performer and a passionate voice professor and pedagogue currently teaching at Oklahoma City University. She earned her MFA in Musical Theater Vocal Pedagogy from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, under the tutelage of Kevin Wilson. Sarah is an advocate for Trauma-Informed Voice Care, presenting on this topic at national conferences such at the National Association for Teachers of Singing, and the Pan-American Vocology Association, as well as publishing her thesis, “Voice Teaching within a Student’s Window of Tolerance: Upholding an Ethical Scope of Practice in a Trauma-Informed Voice Studio.” In her studio, Sarah utilizes science-informed pedagogy, evidence-based nervous system support, as well as methods of speech, movement and acting training to make her teaching accessible to as many students as possible, including multicultural students, neurodivergent students, and students with a history of trauma or mental health struggles.
Sequina DuBose
Dr. Sequina DuBose, an interpreter of contemporary and hybrid works, recorded B.E. Boykin’s song cycle, Moments in Sonder, as part of the WDAV (89.9 Classical Public Radio) Recording Inclusivity Initiative in 2023. Her debut album, Blurred Lines: 21st Century Hybrid Vocal Literature, launched in 2022 under Albany Records. Recent credits include soprano soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with Western Piedmont Symphony, Clara in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Opera Carolina, and premieres with the Virginia Arts Festival.
A versatile actress and crossover artist, DuBose has appeared as Deena Jones in Dreamgirls, Cleopatra in an off-Broadway Antony and Cleopatra, Lady in Blue in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide…, and Chloe in the New York Musical Theater Festival’s 7:32, The Musical. She performs regularly with The American Spiritual Ensemble and Chorale Le Chateau, and has performed with Detroit Opera, Tulsa Symphony, JLCO, and Royal Danish Opera. Currently Assistant Professor at UNC Charlotte, Dr. DuBose is an arts advocate and board member with WDAV, The International Florence Price Festival, and ArtsCentric.
Megan Durham
Megan Durham (she/her), serves on the voice faculty at the University of Louisville and works as a singing voice specialist. Incorporating trauma-informed care into her pedagogy, she is a facilitator of YogaVoice®, LifeForce Yoga®, Transcending Sexual Trauma Through Yoga, and Movement For Trauma (Jane Clapp). Megan serves on the board of directors for the Voice and Trauma Research and Connection Group, co- founded by Dr. Elisa Monti and Heleen Grooten. Megan holds a Master of Music degree in voice pedagogy and performance from Westminster Choir College of Rider University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from the University of Richmond. She is a Recognized Vocologist with the Pan American Vocology Association, and completed her certification in singing voice habilitation with Dr. Karen Wicklund at the Chicago Center for Professional Voice.
E
Darryl Edwards
With magnetizing insight, Darryl Edwards confidently creates and revives pathways with performing artists and audiences. Toward storytelling and discovery, he melds his vibrant international experiences to gather and empower singers to their fullest realizations in radiating the world’s interactive dramas.
As Professor of Voice at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, the Centre for Opera Studies & Appreciation (COSA Canada), and their exciting communities of meaning-makers have led him to be an innovator in teaching, learning, and performance.
With a DMA (Michigan), B.Mus., B.Ed., M.Mus. (Western), and performing and teaching experiences in the USA, U.K., China, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, Syria, Singapore, Brazil, New Zealand, and Norway, he flourishes in the creation and nurturing of learning, performers, and performances.
Dr. Edwards celebrates his accomplishments and his compelling work with young artists in cascades of remarkable performing events and outcomes in darryledwards.ca and cosacanada.org.
Heidi Moss Erickson
Heidi Moss Erickson received a dual biology and voice degree at Oberlin College, where she worked in the voice lab of Richard Miller. Her more than 20 year performing career spans both opera and concert repertoire, with a focus on new music. Her postgraduate research on telomeres at Rockefeller University led to prestigious publications, including a landmark paper in Cell which demonstrated that the ends of DNA are looped.
In 2007 she came down with a rare CNVII nerve injury which resurrected her passion for how the brain controls the voice. Her courses and lectures on neuroscience and music have been featured both nationally and internationally at conferences and universities, including at Renee Fleming’s renowned “Music and the Mind” events. Her many published writings link neuroscience with vocal pedagogy and she uses these ideas in vocal rehabilitation. She is working on a book called "Singing in the Brain" that hopes to serve as resource for singers of all levels and genres. She is an associate professor at the University of the Pacific.
Lynn Eustis
Lynn Eustis, soprano, is currently Chair of Voice and Associate Professor at Boston University, where she joined the faculty in 2012 after thirteen years at the University of North Texas. She holds degrees from Florida State University (DM), The Curtis Institute of Music (MM), and Bucknell University (BM, Phi Beta Kappa). She has sung over thirty operatic roles, most notably the title roles in Lucia di Lammermoor and The Daughter of the Regiment. She was heard in the U.S. premiere of Annelies: The Anne Frank Oratorio.
Dr. Eustis is the author of A Singer’s Epiphany: Faith, Music, and Mortality (2020). Her other books include The Singer’s Ego, the Finding Middle Ground series, and The Teacher’s Ego. A regular guest clinician at the Royal College of Music in London, Dr. Eustis is a native of Long Island, New York.
F
Linda Fletcher
Linda Fletcher, a dedicated RCM certified voice teacher is actively involved in the music community as a teacher, composer, singer, adjudicator, clinician, accompanist and music director. Her students have won many provincial and international awards including numerous RCM gold medals. Several now perform professionally on international stages and as composers and recording artists. Linda received the Lifetime Achievement in the Arts award, in recognition of her many contributions to the teaching of music , the ORMTA Special Teacher award and in 2016 was the inaugural recipient of the RCM Teacher of Distinction award. Linda has been a presenter/clinician for the RCM “Artistry and Innovation” Summit and ORMTA Linda was part of the creative team for the 2012 RCM voice series, a compiler and editor for the 2019 series and is currently working on new vocal arrangements for the 2025 RCM Voice series. Many of her compositions and arrangements are included in the Voice Series 2019 and syllabus.. She is compiler and editor of the Canadian song books “Sing!” Linda is on the Full Voice team and some of her newest songs are distributed by Full Voice Music Inc. (www.thefullvoice.com) Other songs (many on the RCM syllabus) can be found at linda@lindafletcher.com Her vocal and choral compositions are performed internationally Linda is co-founder and president of the Oakville Vocal Arts Festival and is currently a NATS Ontario board member. Linda and husband John are blessed with four children and five grandchildren who also share her love of music.
Juliana Franco
Praised for her timbre, vocal technique, and musicality, the soprano is known for her versatility, performing in operas, chamber music, musicals, and dubbing. She began her musical studies at six with the Coral das Meninas Cantoras de Petrópolis and debuted professionally at 11 as a soloist in the Symphony of Two Worlds with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra. Music has since been essential to her life. She performs frequently in Brazil, the U.S., and Europe. She also lends her voice to film and TV characters, including young Anastasia in the Brazilian version of the film. A Doctor of Voice Pedagogy and Master of Opera from the University of Maryland, she researches Brazilian Portuguese diction in singing, presenting recitals and lectures globally. She recently shared her research at conferences such as NATS, in Chicago, ICVT, in Vienna, PAVA, in Miami and The Voice Foundation in Philadelphia. Upcoming engagements includes concerts the Petrobrás Symphony Orchestra and Campinas Symphony Orchestra in Brazil.
Peter Fullerton
Mr. Peter Fullerton (he/him) is a transmasculine singer and voice teacher based in Portland, Oregon, USA. He earned a BA from Oberlin College and an MA in Gender and Media from the University of Sussex. After 8 years of voice training as a Western classical soprano, he began testosterone therapy in 2009 and subsequently retrained as a tenor. As a voice teacher, he specializes in transgender voice training, with a niche interest in testosterone’s effects on the voice. He offers voice training services in person and online through Gender Expansive Voice LLC (DBA Peter Fullerton Voice Studio). He has worked with over 70 singers who use testosterone therapy in one-on-one sessions, and has additionally served over 400 singers from 12 different countries through the “Singing on Testosterone” online info session he co-teaches with colleague Eli Conley.
G
Joshua Glasner
Joshua Glasner, M.M., Ph.D. is a Clinical Fellow in Voice and Upper Airway Speech-Language Pathology at the Lions Voice Clinic of the University of Minnesota. He also serves as adjunct faculty for New York University’s online Certificate in Vocology in the School of Professional Studies. His multidisciplinary research involves broad-ranging topics ranging from historical voice pedagogy and recording technology to the perception of the singing voice and treatment efficacy. Dr. Glasner’s scholarly work has been presented at various national and international conferences, and has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Voice and the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. Dr. Glasner holds degrees in voice performance and voice pedagogy from the University of Delaware and Westminster Choir College, a certificate in vocology from the National Center for Voice and Speech, and a research doctorate from New York University.
Guilherme Godoi
Born in Campinas, Brazil, collaborative pianist Guilherme Godoi completed his bachelor’s degree in piano performance at Campinas State University and moved to the United States for his graduate studies. While earning his master's degree in piano performance at Ohio University, he found his passion for chamber music and collaboration, and decided to pursue a doctoral degree in collaborative piano at Florida State University. He has presented lectures on Brazilian music at conferences and served as adjudicator for piano competitions in his home country and abroad.As a performer, Dr. Godoi has appeared throughout the U. S., Brazil and the Middle East, in solo and chamber music recitals.
His frequently cited doctoral treatise on Brazilian Portuguese diction, provides coaches and singers a pedagogical approach to learning BP using the English language as a bridge, and an overview of the operatic works of Brazilian composer Antônio Carlos Gomes.
Prior to moving to Sharjah with his family, he was a staff pianist at Coastal Carolina University (USA) and worked at The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam (USA) as a vocal coach for opera productions and student recitals. Dr. Godoi currently works as a music professor at the American University of Sharjah specializing in piano, music technology, and lighting and sound.
Jeanne Goffi-Fynn
Jeanne Goffi-Fynn is the Program Director and Senior Lecturer in the Program of Music and Music Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her areas of interest include Performance across the Lifespan (Life-Long Learning), Applied Studio Teaching (Student-Centered), Voice Development and Pedagogy across Styles, Collaborative Mentoring, and Ensemble Singing. She is also a Singing Voice Specialist with a focus on Muscular Tension Dysphonia (MTD). Prior to joining Teachers College, Columbia University, she served on the faculty of New York University, the New School Actors Studio
M.F.A. Program, William Paterson University, and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA). Additionally, she has completed internships in vocology at the Grabscheid Voice Center at Mt. Sinai Hospital and St. Luke;s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. Jeanne has presented workshops, master classes and pedagogical presentations for numerous organizations, including the National Association of Teachers of Singing National Conference (NATS), New York Singing Teachers Association (NYSTA), College Music Society (CMS), International Congress of Voice Teachers(ICVT), The Voice Foundation, the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and InternationalSociety for Music Education (ISME). She is a member of the American Academy of Teachers of Singing (AATS) and serves on the Board of Overseers of Opera America. She is past President of NATS-NYC and she is Chair of the National NATS Mentoring Initiatives. Recent publications include “Voice Production on a Broadway Tour”, “Advancing the Culture of Mentoring”, and “Mentoring Takes Two”.
Carmen Gorgichuk
Alberta based pianist, Carmen Gorgichuk, holds a Bachelor of Music (University of Alberta) and a Master of Music in piano performance (University of Victoria).
Carmen joined the music faculty at Northwestern Polytechnic (formerly GPRC)) in 1997 as an instructor of piano and theory. She developed a Women in Music course focusing on the lives and achievements of women composers and artists. She performed lecture recitals across Alberta on women composers and has been interviewed by CBC and CKUA radio about her research. Carmen published a chapter called “Sisters of Faith and Genius: Hildegard of Bingen and Nannerl Mozart,” in The Composer on Screen- Essays on Classical Music Biopics, McFarland Publishers. She recently completed music business studies at Berklee College Boston and developed Music Business, an interdisciplinary course for business and music students. During her career, she enjoyed working with her students many of whom won awards at the local, provincial, and national level.
Tania Grant
Tania Grant is a highly sought after and experienced voice and singing teacher, choral conductor, and musical theatre vocal director in her hometown of Geelong, in the state of Victoria, Australia. She holds voice qualifications from the Melba Conservatorium of Music, Victorian College of the Arts, National Institute of Dramatic Art, Berklee Conservatory (US), New York Voice Centre, Vocal Health Education (UK) and was fortunate to work with the late Kristin Linklater in her home in Orkney, Scotland in 2016. Tania is also a recital performer, conference presenter, masterclass facilitator, adjudicator and public speaking teacher.
Coady Green
One of Australia’s leading concert pianists, Coady Green is acknowledged as a major talent on the international concert circuit. In 2005, Coady relocated to London after winning almost all the most prestigious awards that his native Australia had to offer. During his eleven years in London, he frequently performed at the major UK venues and held teaching positions at the University of London and at the Royal College of Music. He has performed in major concert venues in over 20 countries. He is a frequent guest lecturer at leading international tertiary institutions. He teaches and lectures at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, The University of Melbourne. He is currently working on recording the complete solo and chamber music of Australian composer Linda Kouvaras in eight albums, and the complete Etudes and Preludes of Anton Rubinstein, both for renowned UK label Toccata Classics. The first Kouvaras album was released internationally in May 2024.
H
Joel Harder
Acclaimed Canadian pianist Joel Harder is sought-after as collaborative partner, pedagogue, vocal coach, and chamber musician. Equally at home in performance of chamber music, song, and operatic repertoire, he has performed at renowned venues
across North America and Europe. This Fall, Mr. Harder was featured as a pianist on Joyce DiDonato’s Masterclass Series at Carnegie Hall, filmed live on Medici TV. A passionate purveyor of Art Song, Mr. Harder has been a regular artist with the Brooklyn Art Song Society (BASS) for 7 years, where he has performed works ranging from Schubert song cycles to newly commissioned premieres. Mr. Harder received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in collaborative piano
from The Juilliard School. In 2015, Mr. Harder joined the faculty at SUNY Binghamton as Assistant Professor where he headed up a graduate program in Collaborative Piano, and recently joined the artistic faculty at the Manhattan School of Music.
Lynn Helding, voice teacher and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Singing, is the author of The Musician's Mind: Teaching, Learning and Performance in the Age of Brain Science, deemed “Essential” by CHOICE Magazine, and “ground-breaking ... an invaluable contribution to the field of music pedagogy” by Renée Fleming. Pedagogy honors include the 2005 Van Lawrence Voice Fellowship, membership in the American Academy of Teachers of Singing, and the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Contemporary Commercial Music Vocal Pedagogy Institute at Shenandoah University as “a legendary figure in the field of voice pedagogy.” Her stage credits include leading roles in opera, oratorio and musical theatre, and recitals via multiple tours throughout the United States, Australia, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Iceland. She is Professor of Practice in Vocal Arts and Opera and coordinator of Vocology and Voice Pedagogy at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music.
Versatile artist, teacher, arts administrator, and baritone Allen Henderson is currently Executive Director of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), the world’s largest professional association of voice teachers, promoting continuing education for voice teachers; publishing a recognized scholarly journal, Journal of Singing; and promoting voice education among a wide array of constituencies, from recreational singers to voice educators and medical doctors. In this position he also serves as administrator for the International Congress of Voice Teachers held every four years at locations around the world. He is a Professor of Music at Georgia Southern University where he teaches voice and foreign language diction. He holds degrees from Carson Newman College (BM), The University of Tennessee (MM). and the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. Henderson has had multiple residencies teaching in Singapore at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and in China. In the United States he was on the faculty of SongFest in 2015. He was honored to serve as a master teacher for the prestigious NATS Intern Program in 2013. In 2018 he was inducted into membership in the American Academy of Teachers of Singing. Recently, he served as president of the American Traditions Vocal Competition.
Christian T. Herbst is an Austrian voice scientist and voice pedagogue. After earning a Masters’s degree (voice pedagogy) from Mozarteum University, Salzburg, Austria, he has been active as a voice teacher for the past three decades. During his still ongoing teaching activity, Christian became increasingly interested in the physics and the physiology of voice, culminating in a doctorate in Biophysics awarded 2012 from the University of Olomouc, Czech Republic. Since then, Christian’s academic work focuses on basic voice science, singing voice science and pedagogy, and voice production of mammals. He has to date published more than 70 peer-reviewed papers (three in the prestigious Science magazine) with a total of about 2,500 citations. Christian has given more than 150 lectures at international conferences (about half as invited speaker), and he has received eleven international scientific awards for his academic work. He is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Voice and the Journal of Singing, and he is an advisory board member of The Voice Foundation. See www.christian-herbst.org for further details.
William Herzog
Assistant Professor of violin at Northern Kentucky University, William Herzog has been praised for “his deep understanding of the technical, psychological, and emotional aspects of violin-playing, and his ability to communicate this knowledge clearly
and empathetically.” His pedagogical writing and presentations have been featured by ASTA, the Kentucky Music Educators Association, American String Teacher, and Strad Magazine, and he regularly receives invitations to speak at universities and high schools across the continent. In addition to his teaching, he is a seasoned chamber musician and soloist and holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, and Indiana University.
Alice Ping Yee Ho is an acclaimed award winning Chinese Canadian composer. Her eclectic and prolific compositions include operas, orchestras, chamber, dance, and theatre. Her notable awards include the 2022 Symphony Nova Scotia’s Maria Anna Mozart Award, 2022 Barlow Endowment Commissioning Award, 2019 Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize, 2014 Prince Edward Island Symphony Composers Competition, and the 2013 Mavor Dora Moore Award for her opera “The Lesson of Da Ji”.
Her works have been performed by major ensembles including Finnish Lapland Chamber Orchestra, Luxembourg Sinfonietta, Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, China National Symphony, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Polish Radio Choir, Estonia's Ellerhein Girls' Choir, Esprit Orchestra, as well as the Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Victoria, Nova Scotia, Hamilton, Kitchener Waterloo, and Windsor Symphonies.
A twice JUNO Award Nominee, she has an impressive discography released on the Centrediscs, Naxos, ATMA, Navona, Marquis Classics, Blue Griffin, Electra, Leaf Music, and Phoenix labels. She has ten solo albums of her music written for different genres, including three full length opera recordings of “Chinatown”, “The Monkiest King”, and “The Lesson of Da Ji” which won the 2016 Critic Choice of New York Opera Reviews.
A noted classical pianist and an active advocate of contemporary music, Alice makes her home in Toronto. Website: www.alicepyho.com
Sarah Holman
Mezzo-Soprano Sarah Holman, a passionate vocal artist and educator, is a Professor of Voice and Opera at Wheaton College Conservatory. Her captivating mezzo-soprano voice in the Dean Wilder Singers was heard throughout the United States, South Korea, and Mexico in sacred and secular concerts. She has appeared on stages across the country with regional opera companies portraying diverse characters ranging from the mournful Mother in The Consul to the tragic Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible. Her concert repertoire spans centuries, from Baroque masterworks by Bach and Handel to the Romantic symphonies of Mahler. In 2024 she released an album of newly commissioned sacred art songs featuring works by Wheaton College poets and composers. Her dedication to the vocal arts extends beyond performance having served most recently as the National Association of Teachers of Singing International Region Governor where she has fostered connections between voice professionals worldwide.
Ian Howell
Ian Howell, DMA is the founder and chief educator at the Embodied Music Lab. He has held research, voice pedagogy, and applied voice positions at the New England Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Oberlin College. He is a Grammy Award winning performer and recording artist, was awarded special recognition from AATS for his work to facilitate online teaching during the Pandemic, won the 2022 Van L. Lawrence award for his research into vocal fold oscillation patterns in high-pitched singing, and was inducted into the American Academy of Teachers of Singing in 2023. He now teaches voice and offers professional development to the voice teaching community. His first book, Advice for Young Musicians, was published in 2023.
Chichou Hsieh
Hails from Taiwan, Chichou Hsieh has recently completed a year-long visit to Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts. He is the recipient of the Fulbright Non-Academic Professional Grant for 2023-24. Currently a DMA candidate at Taipei National University of the Arts, Chichou possesses expertise in singing, production, administration, and education. He has contributed to the production of operas such as Help, Help, the Globolinks! (2022), Der Schauspieldirektor (2021), and Rita (2014), among others. Additionally, Chichou serves as the general director of the Livingsprings Chamber Orchestra.
Emily Hudson
Emily Hudson is a PreK-12 certified music educator with degrees in Music Education from Columbia University, Teachers College, and Boston University and holds a certificate in Instructional Leadership from the prestigious Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has served as the Music Director of the Blue Ribbon-winning Saint Ignatius Loyola School in NYC for the past 12 years, where the U.S Department of Education cited her curriculum as “A well-articulated Performing Arts curriculum [that] builds a mastery of skills…” Additionally, she teaches applied voice in the BFA musical theater program at Molloy University/CAP21. Together, they have served as Assistant Director and Curriculum Consultant, respectively, for the Singers’ Workshops at Teachers College, a not-for-profit committed to assisting all singers develop their vocal, musical, and communicative capabilities across the life-span, developed by singing voice specialist, Dr. Jeanne Goffi-Fynn.
William Hudson
Highly sought after as a specialist in historical performance, tenor William Hudson has been described as “positively hypnotic” by Gramophone magazine. He earned his Doctor of Music from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in Early Music Vocal Performance. In 2017, Dr. Hudson was awarded a prestigious grant from the NEH to teach performance practice. In 2009 he was the winner of the Noah Greenberg award recognizing of his contributions to the field. He has taught at the Madison Early Music Festival and given lecture-demonstrations at universities throughout North and South America, including the being the Baroque style coach for a number of productions. He is currently editing 17th-century Italian cantatas for use in the voice studio.
Dr. Hudson is the Director of the School of Music at Nazareth University and Associate Professor of Voice.
Diane Hughes
Diane Hughes (PhD) is a Professor of Music (Vocal Studies) at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Her research areas are centred on the voice and include singing, vocal pedagogy, recording, and popular music and song. She has authored numerous publications on contemporary singing, artistry, music education, and vocal health and care. Her publications include The New Music Industries: Disruption and Discovery (Hughes et al. 2016, Palgrave Macmillan), and The Singing Voice in Contemporary Cinema. Genre, Music and Sound Series (Hughes and Evans eds. 2020, Equinox). Di has been awarded for her innovative contributions to student learning in voice at the University and national levels. She was National President for both the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing Ltd (2013-2017) and the Australian Voice Association (2020-2022). She is currently the Discipline Chair of Creative Arts at Macquarie University.
Shelli Hulcombe
Shelli Hulcombe is a Senior Lecturer in Voice (Classical, Musical Theatre and Pedagogy) at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University. She completed undergraduate and postgraduate performance studies in Australia and the UK, and also holds a Master of Music Studies majoring in Vocal Pedagogy (Griffith University).
Shelli has appeared in principal operatic roles and concert performances with many of Australia’s leading state orchestras and ensembles, as well as undertaking international engagements in the UK, Europe and South East Asia.
Shelli is a passionate educator of both singers and singing teachers. She served as President for ANATS (The Australian Association of Teachers of Singing) from 2017-2021. She has presented papers and workshops at leading national and international conferences and is in demand as an adjudicator and masterclass presenter. Her research interest focusses on the use of cross-genre training to improve performance outcomes for classical singers.
Daniel Hunter-Holly
Daniel Hunter-Holly is a Professor of Music and Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. An active recitalist, having performed throughout North and Central America, he is also an acclaimed educator, receiving a University of Texas System Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award in 2015. Recent presentations at international and national conferences include topics such as “Projected Imagery in Opera” (National Opera Association National Conference, 2018), “Assessment Tools for Applied Voice Teachers” (International Congress of Voice Teachers, 2017), and “Incorporating Movement and Vocal Improvisation Training into the Undergraduate Voice Curriculum” (College Music Society National Conference, 2017). He holds degrees from The Ohio State University, the University of North Carolina Greensboro, and the University of California Santa Barbara, with additional training at SongFest, OperaWorks, and the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar.
Bryan Hymel
Praised by The New York Times for his “unflagging stamina and impetuous abandon” during his 2012 Metropolitan Opera debut as Énée in Les Troyens, Bryan Hymel went on to be awarded the Metropolitan Opera’s Beverly Sills Artist Award for his achievements in the production. Hailed the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung for his “range of expression and vocal power combined with the subtle art of characterization,” he is also the winner of the 2013 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera for his trio of performances in Les Troyens, Robert le diable, and Rusalka at London’s Royal Opera House. Hymel’s career highlights include debuts and return engagements at the world’s most accomplished opera houses and festivals. Hymel made his Covent Garden debut in 2010 as Don José in Carmen and has since returned for performances in Rusalka, Les Troyens, Robert le diable, Les Vêpres siciliennes and Don Carlo. Hymel made his widely anticipated debut in 2015 at the Opéra National de Paris for performances of La Damnation de Faust, and returned later in La Traviata and for the famed Paris’s Bastille Day celebration concert. He made his Teatro alla Scala debut as Don José in 2010 (later reprising the role with the Canadian Opera Company and in his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper) and he returned for opening night for performances of B.F. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.
I
Katherine Isaacson
Katherine Isaacson (she/her) is a cisgender woman and ASHA certified Speech Language Pathologist currently licensed to practice in the states of California, Colorado, Hawaii, and New Mexico. She has a passion for serving the transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse community and their voice modulation needs. Kat uses a highly effective curriculum combining aspects of Water Resistant Therapy, Straw Phonation, and the Stanley Method to teach resonance placement and control. She founded New Mexico Gender Voice Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2022; she launched Gender Voice SLP, LLC in 2024. She presents regularly to various healthcare professionals on her unique gender affirming voice training curriculum. Kat earned her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology at University of New Mexico, and her Bachelor of Arts in English at University of California, Davis. She previously served on the New Mexico Speech-Language Hearing Association (NMSHA) Board.
J
Britta Johnson is a composer, lyricist and writer based in Toronto. Her original musical LIFE AFTER had an extended, multiple Dora Award-winning run at Canadian Stage before playing at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. It will open at the Ed Mirvish Theatre in the Spring 2025. Her other writing credits include: With Sara Farb, KELLY V. KELLY (CanStage, winner of the Playwright’s Guild of Canada Best New Musical award). With her sister Anika Johnson: DR.SILVER (Musical Stage Co./Outside the March), BRANTWOOD (Theatre Sheridan), JACOB TWO-TWO (YTP), TRAP DOOR (Theatre Sheridan). With Katherine Cullen: STUPIDHEAD! (TPM). Most recently, she was a co-creator of Tim Hortons’ 60th Anniversary musical, THE LAST TIMBIT which is currently streaming nationwide on CraveTV. She was the inaugural Crescendo Artist with Musical Stage Company which included a commitment to produce three of her shows in three years and was named one of Fifty to Watch by the Broadway Women’s Fund of America. Upcoming projects include commissions from the Stratford Festival, South Coast Rep in California and Opera Avalon.
Darrell Jordan
Seattle-based lyric baritone Darrell J. Jordan has been praised for his “shining, beautiful voice” (Broadway World) and his "expressive baritone and facial expressions" (The SunBreak). In addition to singing over 40 operatic roles, his recent solo concert engagements have been with Amherst Early Music Festival, Odyssey Chamber Music Series, Rolla Choral Arts Society, Choral Arts Alliance of Missouri, Missouri Symphony, Southside Philharmonic Orchestra, Toledo Symphony, Thalia Symphony, Olympia Chamber Orchestra, Salt Water Music Series, Seattle Art Song Society, Harmonia Orchestra, and Seattle Choral Company. He has presented research at the Voice Foundation (NW chapter), the Northwest Voice Conference, NAfME, Edmonds Music Teachers Association, and will be published in the International Journal of Music Education. For more information, please visit: www.DarrellJJordan.com
David Juncos
David G. Juncos, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist and performance coach from Philadelphia, PA. He earned his Clinical Psychology doctorate from La Salle University in 2015. He has over 17 years’ experience in treating a variety of clinical problems, including anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders. He specializes in treating music performance anxiety (MPA) and has presented internationally on his research in using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to treat MPA and enhance music performance. He is affiliated with the Voice Study Centre (UK), a provider of postgraduate study in Voice Pedagogy and Performance Coaching. There, he lectures on MPA, ACT, Motivational Interviewing, achieving peak performance, statistics/research design, and he trains music teachers in ACT coaching to help them manage students’ MPA and related problems. He is also an amateur songwriter and has performed solo and in bands throughout the Philadelphia area as a vocalist, guitarist, and keyboardist.
K
Cecilia Kao
Taiwanese pianist Cecilia Lo-Chien Kao is a dynamic performer that has collaborated with several distinguished artists including Lynn Harrell, Stefan Jackiw, Robert McDuffie, Bion Tsang, Gerardo Ribeiro, David Coucheron, and Jennifer Stumm, members of the Tokyo, Emerson, Juilliard String Quartets, among many others. Kao is an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in Music and Collaborative Piano Artist at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. She is also the co-founder and artistic director of the Scheherazade Music Festival in Manhattan, Kansas, and the Coordinator of Collaborative Piano at the prestigious Meadowmount School of Music in Westport, New York. Prior to her move to the U.S., she was one of the first pianists to receive the Master of Arts degree in Collaborative Piano from National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei, where she also received her bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance. Cecilia Lo-Chien Kao is a Yamaha Artist.
Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野
Heralded as “an artist with extraordinary things to say” (The Globe and Mail) and “a force of nature” (Toronto Star), Nikkei Canadian settler Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 (they/he) is a transgender opera singer and interdisciplinary theater creator based in Tkarón:to (colonially known as Toronto, Canada). Teiya comes from a background of nearly 20 years of singing both traditional and contemporary operatic roles across Turtle Island and Europe including the Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly), and the soprano solos in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Verdi’s Requiem. Their critically acclaimed operatic-play The Queen In Me recently had a sold-out run at the National Arts Centre, and has played at the Belfast International Arts Festival, Meridian Arts Centre, Canadian Opera Company (world premiere), and will tour the west coast starting with Opera Kelowna in 2025. In his practice Teiya explores the intersections of identity through reimagining the operatic and classical music canons in works such as the iterative Butterfly Project, Little Mis(s)gender (in development with Queer AF Collective), and Dichterliebe: Whose Love?, among others. He recently launched an autoethnographic multidisciplinary series about his transition entitled Project T with its first performance in New York (ChamberQUEER, June 2024). For more information visit www.teiyakasahara.com or follow @teiyakasahara or @projecttdoc.
Katri A. Keskinen
Katri A. Keskinen is a popular music voice teacher, educator, researcher, and musician currently based in Helsinki, Finland. Her doctoral research at the University of the Arts Helsinki examines how societal changes affect the conceptualization of voice teacher professionalism. She is also interested in how the transformations in the discipline are approached in recent literature and Nordic institutionalized voice teacher education. Keskinen has presented her research in various music education and singing voice conferences in Europe and the United States and published her studies in Research Studies in Music Education and Journal of Popular Music Education.
Vindhya Khare
Dr. Vindhya Devi Khare is the Coordinator of Vocal Performance at Florida International University in Miami, Florida and an Associate Teaching Professor of Voice. She received her D.M.A. Degree in Vocal Pedagogy and Performance from the University of Miami Frost School of Music with doctoral research on the influence of sex hormones and the female singing voice. She has presented her research at the NATS Conference in Chicago, Endicott College in Madrid, Spain; the International Congress of Voice Teachers in Stockholm, Sweden; Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh; the Savannah Voice Festival, and the Sherrill Milnes Florida Voice Program. She also holds a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Florida International University, as well as an undergraduate degree in piano from California State University, Northridge.
Nicholas Klein
A teacher, singer, conductor, and pianist/accompanist/coach based out of Cleveland, OH, Nicholas Klein, tenor, is often known for his warmth and clarity of tone in addition to his exceptional musicianship. A recent recipient of the NATS Emerging Leaders Award, Dr. Klein is a member of the music faculty at Cleveland State University as the Head of Voice in the School of Music. Prior to his time at CSU, Dr. Klein was on faculty at Eastern Washington University and Seattle Pacific University. Nicholas holds a DMA in Vocal Performance from the University of Washington. Nicholas has been recognized both nationally and internationally as a soloist and chorus member for his performances across the United States, as well in Hungary, Switzerland and Italy.
Jay Marchand Knight
Jay Marchand Knight (they/them//iel) is a nonbinary, BIPOC, neurodivergent scholar and singer building bridges in the field of voice pedagogy. They are Frederick Lowy Fellow at Concordia University, studying implicit bias and voice-gender perception and a lecturer at McGill University. They are active in research-creation with RISE Opera, an experimental project exploring human crises. Passionate about equity in formal singing, their musical creations explore ways to make engagement with music accessible to those who have been traditionally excluded from these spheres. Jay teaches at The Voice Lab, Inc., a Chicago-based school that works with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Upcoming performances include the title role in Carmen with Jupiter Opera. Recent appearances include Giulio Cesare (Handel) in Opera Queens’ Night of a Thousand Cleopatras and The Duchess in The Gondoliers with Lakeshore Light Opera. Jay is a parent of 3 kids, 2 bunnies, 1 degu and is a former middle school teacher.
L
Hanna Lammi
Vocalist, voice teacher Hanna Lammi has been a board member of the Finnish Association of Teachers of Singing (FINATS) since 2021. She curated the association’s project of ethical guidelines for singing teachers.
Currently, she teaches at the Porvoo Region Music Institute in Finland, bringing over 20 years of experience as a voice teacher. As a classical soprano, Hanna Lammi performs as a soloist and as well as a professional choir singer. In her role as a voice coach and pedagogue, she has specialized in incorporating body-mind awareness into vocal training. She also contributed as an editor to the publication “The singer's body and mind - psychophysics, interaction and creative practices in teaching singing” (Metropolia Taito, 2021, yet to be translated into English). Additionally, she has co-edited a collection of classical vocal repertoire for elementary/intermediate level, featuring works by contemporary Finnish composers.
Kimberly Lazzeri
Kimberly Gelbwasser Lazzeri, soprano, is Associate Professor of Voice in the Music Program at Northern Kentucky University (NKU). Dr. Lazzeri recently completed a three-year term as Music Program Head at NKU. Of her singing, American composer Jake Heggie wrote, “In addition to a wonderful humanity, beautiful voice, and depth of feeling, Kimberly also brought joy: the joy I feel is essential to singing—and sometimes missing! She loves to sing and she loves to sing songs.” In Fall 2023, she was awarded a sabbatical to record an album of classically-arranged Yiddish folksongs through the generous support of the Ohio Arts Council, the Susan and Murray Bloom Jewish Music Foundation, and NKU. Dr. Lazzeri is a former President and Vice President/Secretary of the Kentucky Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. She holds degrees in Vocal Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University.
Alexander Lee
Hailed by Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times for his “bright tenor voice and vitality,” tenor Alexander Wook Lee is a dynamic performer, conductor, and music educator renowned in the realms of opera and classical music. A South Korean native, Dr. Lee has been a soloist with the Korea National Theater and the Korean Broadcast Station as a staff pianist. He was a Sergeant with the Ministry of National Defense Band in South Korea, where he excelled as a composer, arranger, and singer. He has collaborated with the Turkish National Symphony Orchestra and the National Korean Music Symphony and took first place in the Korea Singing Competition in Seoul. He has done many recitals in the US, South Korea, Turkish War Museum, Brahms Salon in Vienna and more Dr. Lee serves as an Associate Professor of Voice Music and Opera Director at Marshall University in Huntington, WV, where he is Coordinator of Voice Studies. He is honorary president of the South Korea Chapter of NATS and is the NATS International Region Conference Coordinator. Dr. Lee received a Doctoral degree from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, a Master's degree from Manhattan School of Music, and a Bachelor's degree from Myongji University in South Korea.
Dana Lentini
After cultivating techniques as a singer, performer, and music educator, Dana Lentini created Born 2 Sing Kids to nurture young singers of all developmental stages through a systematic and customized approach. She is also passionate about teacher development, helping teachers learn about the unique differences when working with the child singer. Dana has been sought after internationally as a presenter for professional music organizations and universities and has been featured on numerous podcasts. For NATS, she has served as a Premium Workshop presenter at national conferences, guest presenter for local NATS organizations, advisory panel member for the NSA Children and Youth categories, co-author of the article published in the Inter Nos e-magazine (NSA and Inclusion of Children and Youth in an Audition Culture), steering committee member, and NATS Affinity Group leader. Her specialized approaches to teaching and repertoire can be found in Teaching the Child Singer: Pediatric Pedagogy for Ages 5-13, and the Singing Kids’ Songbook, both published by Hal Leonard. More information about Dana’s consulting, courses, and resources on teaching children in the private studio are offered through her website at danalentini.com.
Richard Lissemore
Dr. Richard Lissemore is a singing voice physiologist, educator, and practitioner. As a performer, he enjoyed a long performance career that spanned opera, orchestra concerts, musical theater, and voiceover for radio and television. As a singing teacher, his students have appeared in Broadway and touring productions throughout the world.
Dr. Lissemore earned an Artist Diploma at the Juilliard Opera Center, a Master of Music from Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, and a degree in microbiology and music from Rutgers University. More recently, he earned a Ph.D. in Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences from The City University of New York. His research, which has been presented at international conferences and has won numerous awards, involves articulation and acoustics in professional singers. Professional memberships include Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), The Voice Foundation, The Acoustical Society of America (ASA), and the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA).
Known for “arresting and strangely alluring” music (Gramophone) that asks “slow burning, sometimes fiery questions” (The New York Times), Cecilia Livingston specializes in composing for voice. She is composer-in-residence at the Canadian Opera Company (2022-) and was composer-in-residence at Glyndebourne (2019-22). Winner of the Ontario Arts Foundation’s 2024 Louis Applebaum Composers Award “for excellence in composition for theatre, music theatre, dance or opera”, her music is driven by melody, mixing styles to create work that is lyrical and unsettling. Cecilia’s work has been heard at Glyndebourne, Teatro Colón, Teatro Carlo Felice, Bang on a Can’s summer festival, Toronto’s Nuit Blanche festival, in recital at Carnegie Hall, the Barbican, and the Kennedy Center, with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, Tafelmusik, and Soundstreams, and is available on recording from Deutsche Grammophon. She is a contributor on opera creation to ‘The Cambridge Companion to Composition’ and she is Vice-President of the Canadian League of Composers. Cecilia is represented by Stratagem Artists in New York. https://cecilialivingston.com
Robert Loewen
Robert Loewen, baritone, D. Mus. (McGill University). His teacher career includes The Crane School of Music, McGill University, and presently at The Royal Conservatory School and the Phil and Eli Taylor Academy of The Royal Conservatory of Music. Dr. Loewen is a Senior Examiner of the Royal Conservatory of Music, and recent Voice Discipline Specialist of the RCM Certificate Program. Dr. Loewen is Director of the Royal Conservatory Oscar Peterson School High School Intensive. Robert Loewen has been a lead voice presenter for the Royal Conservatory across North America.
Dr. Loewen’s students have been admitted into North America’s leading voice programs including the Curtis Institute of Music, Eastman School of Music, Julliard School of Music, Indiana University, Manhattan School of Music, McGill University, University of Toronto, The Glenn Gould School, and Oxford University. Former students have sung at the major operas houses of North America and Europe.
Madison Lombardo
Madison Lombardo is a musician, teacher, and collaborator. Madison holds a Master of Music in Voice Performance, and has performed around the world and in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest professionally. She maintains a successful voice studio in Seattle, WA, specializing in young, neurodivergent singers. Madison also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and was trained at the Thompson Center for Autism in Columbia, MO. She has 15+ years of working hands-on with people of varying abilities and neurodiversities, both in and out of the music world.
Emily Lowe
Emily, currently pursuing a Master's in voice pedagogy, is an international speaker on Gender Inclusivity in Vocal Education. As the founder and Senior Partner of the Lowe Academy of Music and the Arts, she manages a team of music tutors within both primary and secondary school settings in the UK, amassing 11 years of dedicated voice teaching experience.
Her passion lies in creating an inclusive framework for adolescents, contributing to the emerging field of trans*+ and gender-expansive voices, with the goal of empowering young voices in an environment where every voice can thrive authentically.
Emily's recent 2024 international conferences include "Gendering Music Matter" at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) the 58th NATS National Conference in Knoxville (Tennessee), the AOTOS Summer Conference in Stafford (UK), and PEVoc Voice Moves in Santander (Spain).
M
Lorna MacDonald
Lorna MacDonald is Professor and Lois Marshall Chair in Voice Studies at the University of Toronto. Her multi-faceted career garnered multiple awards in singing, (Metropolitan Opera, Dallas, Fort Worth, Shreveport Opera, and National Opera Association), for teaching, (Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations 1999, the U of T 2013) and for research, (Parks Canada CEO Award of Excellence 2016) for The Bells of Baddeck – the Alexander Graham and Mabel Bell Story (MacDonald/Burry). The work's creator, librettist and producer, Opera Canada reviewed it as “a tour de force production. Lorna was the Sir Ernest MacMillan Honorary Member in Music (Arts and Letters Club 2018) for dedication to Canadian music, and the William Vessels Master Teacher (2023), NATS Intern Program. Lorna created the graduate voice pedagogy program at U of T and designed and led the Cochlear-Implanted Singing Study protocol for speech effectiveness in deaf adolescents at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.
Lesia Mackowycz
Toronto-born soprano Lesia Mackowycz began performing globally during childhood with the Toronto Children's Chorus, where she was featured as a soloist on over 10 recordings, including a Juno Award-winning album. She studied at McGill University and Lübeck University of Music (Germany), graduating with honours. Renowned for her coloratura voice and acting skills, her repertoire includes over 50 performed roles. Ms. Mackowycz has sung in concert halls worldwide, including Shanghai, Toronto, and Sydney, and was a soloist at Kiel Opera (Germany) for twelve years. A Canada Council for the Arts grant recipient, she excels in contemporary music, performing in venues across Europe, China, and North America. As a dedicated teacher and published journal author, she holds positions at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts and Dr. Hoch’s Conservatory of Music. Her interests include advancing vocal pedagogy with cutting-edge technologies, holistic, and body mapping-based teaching approaches.
Nadine Manion
Nadine Manion is an experienced singing teacher specialising in contemporary and musical theatre styles. She holds a Bachelor of Creative Arts from the University of Wollongong and a Master of Speech Pathology from Charles Sturt University. She is a Summer Vocology Institute trained vocologist with a special interest in vocal health. As an Adjunct Research Fellow at Griffith University's Creative Arts Research Institute, she conducts research in transgender and gender diverse singing pedagogy. Her notable achievements include the prestigious Dr. Iain C. Medgett Churchill Fellowship in 2020, which enabled her to explore vocal technique and care for transgender voices in the US and UK. Additionally, she is a sessional academic at Macquarie University and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and serves as the National Vice-President of the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing.
Brian Manternach
Brian Manternach (he/him) is an associate professor in the University of Utah Department of Theatre and a research associate for the Utah Center for Vocology, where he is on the faculty of the Summer Vocology Institute. His students have been cast in film, TV, Broadway tours, Off-Broadway, regional theatre, and cruise lines.
He earned the Teacher of the Year Award from Cal-Western NATS, the Faculty Excellence in Research Award from the University of Utah College of Fine Arts, and the NATS Voice Pedagogy Award, and has given presentations for Voice Foundation, Fall Voice, International Physiology and Acoustics of Singing Conference, PAVA, NATS, and TEDxSaltLakeCity, among others.
He is an associate editor for the Journal of Singing, a columnist for Classical Singer, and has been published in numerous additional voice-related books and journals. He holds a Doctor of Music degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. brianmanternach.com
Sophia Maritz
Sophia Maritz is a dedicated student at Stetson University, pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Music Education. With a strong commitment to advancing research in her field, Sophia has undertaken several projects during her time at West Orange High School. She participated in a group soft research study examining the benefits of renewable energy compared to non-renewable sources, demonstrating her analytical skills and interdisciplinary interests. Additionally, she conducted an individual soft research project on the positive impacts of music education on students' overall academic performance, highlighting her passion for integrating music into education. Her human research project further explored the effects of listening to music on the efficiency and accuracy of students' homework completion. Eager to contribute to the growing body of knowledge in music education, Sophia is driven by a desire to conduct further research that will inform best practices and enhance educational outcomes through the power of music.
Lynn Maxfield
Lynn Maxfield, PhD, is the Director of the Utah Center for Vocology at the University of Utah where he teaches at and directs the Summer Vocology Institute. He is an Associate Professor in the School of Music, serves as the contracted Voice Coach at the University of Utah Voice Disorders Center and is Associate Editor of the Mindful Voice column of the NATS Journal of Singing.
Luca McCauley
Luca McCauley (he/him) is a Tenor in his third year of the Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance at the University of Toronto, studying under Dr. Darryl Edwards. At the age of 15, McCauley left his hometown, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, to attend the prestigious performing arts high school, Interlochen Arts Academy, as a classical voice major.
McCauley has had the pleasure to sing with the University of Toronto MacMillan Singers and Concreamus Chamber Choir. In April 2024, he performed as part of the choral ensemble for Andréa Bocelli in Concert at the Scotia Bank Arena. Some other credits include Considering Matthew Sheppard (Soloist and Chorus - MacMillan Singers and Concreamus Chamber Choir) and The Art of Love (Soloist and Chorus - COSA Canada Summer Vocal Intensive 2023).
McCauley strives to support fellow young artists and to foster the art of the future through the beauty of classical music and opera.
Edrie Means Weekly
Co-Founder of the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute. 2021 Van Lawrence Fellowship Awardee. Recognized expert in training singers in all vocal styles and an active professional singer. Master teacher, NATS Intern Program, 2012. Students on Grammy recordings, films, Broadway, Off-Broadway, national/international tours, television (The Voice, American Idol, Kidz Star USA), cruise ships, concert halls and opera houses. Regularly presents at the Voice Foundation, NATS Chapters/National Conferences, PAVA, SETC, and universities throughout the United States. Authored several publications in Journal of Voice, Journal of Singing. Contributing author; Teaching Singing in the 21st Century, The Vocal Athlete, The Voice Teacher’s Cookbook and Training Contemporary Commercial Singers. Edrie’s performances have been broadcast on radio/television, recorded by Decca and Koch. Standby for Broadway stars Patti LuPone, Elaine Paige, and Linda Lavin. On the Advisory Boards for the NATS NMTC and NSA, Voice Foundation, PAVA and MTEA. Biological father is The King of Bluegrass, Jimmy Martin.
Laura Menard
Laura Menard, PhD, OCT, is Associate Artistic Director - Youth Choirs at VIVA Singers Toronto, working with the Main and Chamber Youth Leadership Singers. Laura also enjoys making music as Soprano Lead of the VIVA Chamber Singers. A high school teacher with the Toronto District School Board since 2007, Laura is currently a Course Instructor at OISE at the University of Toronto and Brandon University; and Senior Administrator of SoundLife Scarborough, an accessible community-engaged music hub operating out of the University of Toronto Scarborough. Laura’s research and pedagogy focus on intersections between sound, agency, and space; and equitable and inclusive music education practices. She is passionate about creating safe spaces for musicians of all ages and stages to take risks, embrace their voices, develop skills, and expand their creative horizons.
Freya Meredith-Hanson
Freya Meredith-Hanson (DipMT BMus MFA), a Worimi/Wonnarua woman, is a pioneering interdisciplinary performing arts practitioner, academic and advocate. An early-career researcher, Freya was recently recognised as the first Australian First Nations singing voice researcher. Her primary research, published in the Australian Voice journal, focused on sustainability of music theatre belting in late-adolescent female voices. She is an advocate for reform within Australia's performing arts landscape, with particular emphasis creating access to training in vocal performance and pedagogy for First Nations people. Through ongoing research and advocacy, Freya is dedicated to inspiring others to join her in fostering an equitable and validating industry for all. Ngarkatowa nyiirun kilibiinbiin.
Madeline Miskie
Madeline Miskie’s primary focus as a voice teacher, yoga teacher and performer is the holistic integration of the entire body as the instrument. Uniquely, her process of teaching and learning revolves around discovering obstacles to free sound, unlocking physical awareness, releasing tension and eventually re-patterning breath and movement towards optimal efficiency and ease. The following organizations have hosted Madeline as a lecturer, workshop leader & clinician: The American Guild of Organists (AGO), The National Association of Teachers of Singing (MD/DC and Arizona Chapters and the Mid-Atlantic Region), the American Choral Directors Association (MD/DC Chapter), Peabody Preparatory (Baltimore) and the University of Maryland. Madeline is an eight year member and former Vice President of the Maryland / DC Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). She is a proud alumna of the Eastman School of Music (B.M.) and the University of Maryland (M.M., D.M.A.) and the owner & founder of Windsong Voice & Yoga, based in Columbia, MD.
Camila Montefusco
Camila Montefusco is a storyteller at heart. Hailed for her “lush steady tone” (Stage Door), the Brazilian-born mezzo-soprano joins the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal in the 24/25 season. A current Emerging Artist with Pacific Opera Victoria and Opera on the Avalon, this season features her two first national tours in the artistic rosters of Prairie Debut and Debut Atlantic. As a co-founder of the Obsidiana Duo, Camila strives to amplify the voices of communities that have long been silenced. Whether in opera or recital, she hopes to connect with audiences through art and inspire change in a world that hungers for it.
Cheri Montgomery
Cheri Montgomery is a member of the voice faculty at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University and an author and lecturer on the topics of voice and diction. Her published texts include: the Lyric Diction Workbook Series (for English, Italian, Latin, German, French, Spanish, and Russian lyric diction courses); the "IPA Handbook for Singers", "Phonetic Readings for Lyric Diction", and "Phonetic Transcription for Lyric Diction" (for the abbreviated lyric diction course); and "A Sketchbook Atlas of the Vocal Tract" and "The Singer’s Daily Practice Journal", volumes I, II, III (for private and class voice). She is co-author of "Exploring Art Song Lyrics" published by Oxford University Press and "Exploring English Lyrics", with Dr. Allen Henderson, published by Rowman & Littlefield.
Barbara Hill Moore
Barbara Hill Moore is Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Meadows Foundation Distinguished Professor of Voice at SMU Meadows School of the Arts.
Hill Moore has performed with orchestras throughout the United States and Europe. She was a frequent performer in Europe, especially Germany, singing opera, concert, and recital, and premiering new American works. Hill Moore founded SPIRITUAL VOICES in 1990. The ensemble of five soloists and accompanist specializes in the performance of the earliest composed Negro spirituals and African American art song repertory. She has served as master teacher, mentor and advisor to aspiring young vocal artists in classes, lessons and advisory sessions throughout the U.S. and South Africa, giving master classes throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Hill Moore is board president and founder of the Bruce Foote Memorial Scholarship Foundation, providing significant financial assistance to singers of any gender, race, or ethnicity for excellence in singing.
Jeremy Ryan Mossman
Jeremy Ryan Mossman (BM, MM, 500CYT) is a teacher of voice, movement, and wholistic expression. Jeremy has recently moved on from academic teaching after 15+ years in order to focus on teaching in more creative and integrative ways while sharing his passion for wholly embodied singing. Knowledgeable in both biomechanics and biotensegrity, Jeremy has a unique way of reconciling long-held beliefs with new understandings about the body and teaching voice, which he teaches to other voice teachers in his program, Body Based Voice Ped.
Jeremy has been a presenter at several conferences and symposia, including The Voice Foundation, the Musical Theatre Educator’s Alliance, and The Estill World Symposium, and has also taught masterclasses and workshops in around the US & Canada, various cities in China, and also contributed to the British Fascia Symposium in 2022. Mossman’s pedagogical ideas have been published in all three editions of The Vocal Athlete Workbook, The Singing Teacher’s Cookbook, and Classical Singer Magazine.
Mutsumi Moteki
Mutsumi Moteki just retired from the University of Colorado Boulder after 31 years of teaching as a vocal-coach-pianist. As a collaborative pianist she has appeared in many voice recitals in the U.S., Austria, Switzerland, Japan, Mexico, Macedonia, Sweden, Brazil, and Germany. As a vocal coach she combines her diction teaching experience with her love for poetry and her fervent goal to spread the beauty of legato singing. She has given master classes for singers and pianists in the U.S., Egypt, Brazil, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan, and she was one of the featured master-class presenters at the NATS Summer Workshop in 2017. A passionate promoter of art songs from Japan, as well as from other East-Asian countries, she often presents these songs in lecture-recitals and workshops. With Dr. Kumiko Shimizu, she co-created the Japanese Art Song Anthology, volumes 1 and 2, which are available from Classical Vocal Reprints.
Adam Moxness
Adam is an Instructor of Theatre and Music Theatre Voice in the Conservatory for the Performing Arts at Viterbo University. He received his MFA in Musical Theatre Vocal Pedagogy from Boston Conservatory and is continuing his education in voice science through the MSSLP program at Viterbo. He is a professional actor, singer, and musician with work both on stage and behind the camera. Adam is passionate about cultivating and creating accessible and inclusive spaces both as an educator and as an artist. He believes the most powerful gift any individual has to offer the world is themselves — rediscovered through a sense of childlike play. INSTA: @adamoxness/ @udvt.studio
N
Marisa Lee Naismith
Dr. Marisa Lee Naismith has been commercially active in the CCM industry for over 45 years, as an award-winning vocalist, singing teacher, voice researcher, mentor, podcast host, and author of "Singing Contemporary Commercial Music Styles: A Pedagogical Framework." Her PhD research focused on the training of CCM singers, and she has presented her insights at prestigious conferences which include ICVT in Stockholm and Vienna, The Voice Foundation’s Symposium in Philadelphia, PEVOC in Florence and Copenhagen, and ANATS in Hobart, Leura, and Adelaide. Dr Naismith has co-authored articles in the Journal of Singing and Voice and Speech Review. In 2021, she launched the podcast "A Voice and Beyond," aimed at empowering individuals. Recently, she has lectured and conducted master classes at San Diego State University, NATS San Diego, San Francisco Music Conservatory, and Cal Poly Humboldt. Dr Naismith currently teaches in the Bachelor of Music Program at Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University.
Hailed as “thrillingly powerful” by the New York Times and “a major talent” by the Toronto Star, 2024 Dora award winner Marcus Nance masterfully straddles the worlds of opera and musical theatre. He won My Entertainment World's 2023 Critics' Pick Award for Performer of the Year where they described him as "one of Canada's greatest musical theatre talents”.
Performance highlights include Broadway, Vancouver Opera, Stratford Festival (twelve seasons), New York City Opera, Toronto Symphony, Chicago Opera Theatre, Santa Fe Opera, NAC Orchestra, Glimmerglass Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Windsor Symphony, Hawaii Opera Theatre, NY City Centre Encores!, Charlottetown Festival, Toronto Jazz Festival, and the Shaw Festival. He has been seen on television and film in a variety of singing and non- singing roles and was nominated for a Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year for Dark Star Requiem. Marcus Nance received his Bachelor of Arts in Music from California State University, Fresno and has done graduate work at UT Austin and the University of Illinois. He is on the faculty of Sheridan College.
Martin Neron
Martin Néron is faculty at WCC and artistic director of the Vocalis Consort, an ensemble which strives to showcase overlooked vocal works. He designed and managed the Canto Latino CyberChallenge Competition in 2021, which showcased vocal repertoire from Latin America. Martin has held residencies at WSU Pullman, SUNY Potsdam, UK Lexington,Tennessee TU, and Fundación Armonía (Ecuador), and led masterclasses and lectures at Harvard, Princeton, Rowan, Boston Conservatory, and Butler University, OSU Columbus, NATS, and Universidad Central del Ecuador among others. He was on the faculty at the Taos Opera Institute (2019-2021), and Vice-President of the Joy in Singing Foundation (2017-2019), and has moved on to be co-founder, co-artistic director, and Vice-President of the newly incorporated Federation of the Art Song. Praised as “an attentive partner” (Opera News), Martin has collaborated on several recordings of art songs. His scholarly work is featured in the Journal of Singing and Leyerle Publications.
Theodora Nestorova
Bulgarian-British-American soprano, researcher, and teacher Theodora Ivanova Nestorova is a Ph.D. candidate in Interdisciplinary Studies/Applied Performance Sciences at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. As a voice scientist and educator, Theodora's vibrato research work has been published in the Journal of Voice and been awarded best paper, poster, and presentation at international conferences such as National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA). An active, versatile vocalist, Theodora is the first-place winner of the American Prize in Vocal Performance and regularly performs across genres as one-half of the experimental soprano-cello duo, Pizzicanto. Theodora holds an M.B.A. in Arts Entrepreneurship (Global Leaders Institute for Arts Innovation), a M.M. in Vocal Pedagogy/Music-in-Education (New England Conservatory), and a B.M. in Voice Performance/Musicology (Oberlin Conservatory). A former Fulbright Scholar to Austria, Theodora was a Grant Recipient at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
Marion Newman is Kwagiulth and Stó:lō First Nations with English, Irish and Scottish heritage. Born in Bella Coola, Marion grew up in Sooke, BC, immersed in and embraced by her community and culture. She is one of Canada’s most accomplished singers in repertoire ranging from Charpentier to Cusson and operatic roles including Carmen and Rosina (The Barber of Seville). Nominated for a Dora Award for her leading role in the world premiere of Shanawdithit (Nolan/Burry) with Toronto’s Tapestry Opera, Ian Ritchie wrote “she invests her character with towering dignity and courage”.
Recent performances include “Songs from the House of Death” (Cusson) with Regina Symphony and Beethoven’s Ninth with Symphony Nova Scotia. With Opera Kelowna, Marion performed with soprano Melody Courage in “Wreckonciliation,” approaching classical opera works through an Indigenous lens.
Marion created the role of Dawn with the Welsh National Opera world premiere of Migrations (Todd) and starred in Missy Mazzoli’s “Song from the Uproar” with City Opera Vancouver. This season, Marion is Maddelena in Rigoletto with Pacific Opera Victoria. Upcoming new works include Mimi in Indians on Vacation, an operatic adaptation (Cusson/Vavrek) of the novel by Thomas King, with Edmonton Opera.
A driving force for truth and reconciliation within the context of classical music, she is helping lead colleagues and audiences through long overdue discussions about the very nature of what it means to call something “Canadian music.”
Marion is Assistant Professor of Voice at University of Victoria’s School of Music and is the host of CBC’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera.
Stephen Ng
Heralded for his “powerfully expressive voice” (Washington Post), and “a superb singer . . . with a soaring voice in the extreme registers that could be simply described as amazing” (New York Concert Review), Stephen Ng is known as an opera, oratorio, recital, and new music performer. His portrayal of Evangelist in Bach’s Passions has received much acclaim, and he has performed as soloist with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, De Nederlandse Opera, Orchestra Iowa, Washington Bach Consort, and Lucerne, Tanglewood and Aspen Festivals, working with conductors such as James Levine, Nicolas McGegan, and Pierre Boulez. His CD Janáček’s The Diary of One Who Vanished was released by Clear Note Publications. Of this, Journal of Singing writes “Ng, a tenor with an impressively eclectic resume, is simply superb in every respect. His voice is gorgeous and distinctive.” Stephen began his vocal training in Hong Kong and subsequently received his M.M. at New England Conservatory and D.M. at Indiana University. He has taught at Florida’s Stetson University and is currently Professor of Voice at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
John Nix
John Nix is Professor of Voice and Voice Pedagogy at UT-San Antonio. His mentors include Barbara Doscher and Ingo Titze. His students have performed with the Santa Fe, Arizona, Chautauqua, St. Louis, Nevada, Omaha, and San Antonio Operas, and two have been NATS Intern Master Teachers. In addition to voice teaching, he performs research and has over 50 published articles and 9 book chapters; he co-chairs the NATS Voice Science Advisory Committee, is an Associate Editor for The Journal of Singing, and is a member of the American Academy of Teachers of Singing. Prof. Nix is editor/annotator of From Studio to Stage: Repertoire for the Voice (Scarecrow, 2002), vocal music editor for the Oxford Handbook of Music Education (OUP, 2012), one of three general editors for the Oxford Handbook of Singing (OUP, 2019), and one of two general editors for the Oxford Handbook of Voice Pedagogy (OUP, pending 2025).
O
Sandra Oberoi
Singer, voice teacher, researcher and music educator from India, Sandra Oberoi founded Harmony-The Music School in 2008 with a vision to encourage purposeful musiking. Artistic Director of the award-winning youth choir, ‘The Harmony Chorus’, she has successfully led the group on national and international concert tours and competitions since 2011. Her students have performed at the Carnegie Hall, Musikverein, won prestigious international competitions, and earned scholarships to top music conservatories and universities around the world. Sandra has performed extensively, led masterclasses, and presented worldwide on topics that include exploring vocal versatility, vocal health, culturally responsive pedagogy, music with a social agency. Through Harmony International, she continues to curate professional development opportunities for music teachers in addition to creating unique music experiences for young people globally.
May Oskan
May Oskan is a second year MA student in the Voice Study Centre voice pedagogy program at University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Her research focuses on evidence-informed teaching strategies for popular music singing styles, including rough-sounding vocal effects common in rock, soul, and metal music. In addition to voice, May also teaches musicianship, songwriting, and piano fundamentals, and offers performance and creativity coaching.
Her passion for fostering students’ creative and personal growth has led her to research Acceptance and Commitment Training as a performance coaching intervention, particularly the model’s potential impact on creative self-efficacy and flow state experiences. May teaches in her Oakland, California studio and online, and runs a group voice program called The Vocal Gym. She has presented her work in regional, national, and international conferences.
Elaine Overholt is one of North America’s most respected and treasured singers, voice teachers, performance coaches, producers and pianists. Her diverse training in piano, classical voice, gospel, theatre, pop, choral and rock, has led her to a deep understanding of all vocal styles.
At Western University, Elaine accompanied singers studying a variety of classical vocal techniques. She was tutored in voice by international opera teachers, graduating with a degree in Voice Performance. Despite the encouragement of her professors to pursue a classical career, Elaine did what has been her hallmark – she explored new frontiers and re-embraced her passion for pop, rock, and theatre. She figured out how to apply great vocal technique and powerful performance training to all forms of singing.
Elaine’s career has included the unique opportunity to perform with international recording stars (Ray Charles for one!) and her teaching skills are well known in Hollywood, having coached all the stars of the Oscar-winning ‘Chicago’, as well as ‘Hairspray’, ‘CODA’ and many other films. Coaching Ellen DeGeneres twice on her talk show was a real treat.
She has worked alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber and her own TV series ‘Big Voice’, aired to rave reviews. She even coached the dancers of The National Ballet & The San Francisco Ballet in ‘West Side Story Suite’. Major record labels send their artists to Ms. Overholt to keep them in top touring shape, including stars ranging from Shawn Mendes to Jully Black to Triumph.
Elaine’s life’s work is helping to unlock the power of the human voice through healthy, soulful, passionate singing and speaking.
P
Jordyn Palmer
Jordyn Day Palmer is a voice teacher and performer in Seattle specializing in pop, musical theatre, and contemporary style. She has been a clinician for the USA Department of Defense Education Honors Music Festival ("Making All the Pieces Fit"), a presenter at the Northwest Art and Science of the Performing Voice (“Stylistically Relevant Exercises for Training the CCM Singer”), and a guest on NATS CHAT (“The Broad Spectrum of CCM: Style and Application”). Jordyn is the lead female voice of the award-winning, pop a cappella group, Restless Vocal Band, as well as an in-demand singer for various other projects. Her students have been seen and heard on regional and national stages, on tours, TV competitions, commercials and radio stations. She was a recipient of the Joan Frey Boytim award in 2020. Jordyn is currently on the NATS Advancement Committee.
Daniel Parsley
Daniel Parsley enjoys an active career as a conductor, conductor, scholar, church musician and professional chorister. Daniel currently serves as Director of Choral Studies and Chair of Graduate Conducting Programs at Boston University. Daniel currently holds dual appointments in the Boston University School of Music and School of Theology where he leads the comprehensive MM, MSM, and DMA conducting program. Prior to joining the faculty at BU, he served as Director of Choral Activities and program head for the music department at Thomas More University. Dr. Parsley currently serves as associate conductor for the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra (CCO) and artistic director for the CCO's We Are One festival series. He has performed with many choruses himself as a professional singer, including the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, Cincinnati May Festival Chorus and Youth Chorus, Toledo Opera, Tuscia Opera Festival (Viterbo, Italy), and Berkshire Choral Festival.
Nicholas Perna
Tenor Nicholas Perna’s voice has been hailed by the Houston Chronicle as “an impressive sound,” and the South Florida Sun Sentinel praised his “emotionally driven performance.” Dr. Perna is Associate Professor and Director of Vocal Pedagogy at the University of Colorado Boulder. He has publications in Journal of Singing, Journal of Voice, and VOICEPrints. A Presser Music Foundation awardee he has presented research on four continents at events such as the Voice Foundation’s Symposium, ICVT, NATS National Conference, and Physiology and Acoustics of Singing (PAS). Perna is currently Vice President for Outreach for NATS and he is Executive Director of Opera Mississippi. He is the creator and co-host of the VocalFri Podcast, http://www.vocalfri.com. Perna holds graduate degrees from the University of Miami & the University of Houston. Read more at nicholasperna.com.
Amy Pfrimmer
Amy Pfrimmer is a professional singer on international and national stages, Associate Professor of Music, and the Lillian Gerson Watsky Professor in Voice at Tulane University, where she serves as Voice Area Coordinator, Director of Tulane Opera and Director of the Tulane Vocal Arts Festival. She is also artist faculty of the FIO-Italia summer festival in Urbania, Italy. A specialist in 19th and 20th Century French mélodie, Pfrimmer's artistic collaborations have taken her across Europe and North America and have included over forty roles in opera and operetta, oratorio, recital, and concert, as well as music and stage directing. Her diverse repertoire ranges from the concert works of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, and the sacred works of Dave Brubeck, to operatic repertoire spanning La bohème to such contemporary American works as Dead Man Walking and Charlie Parker’s Yardbird.
Rebecca Pieper
Rebecca Pieper studied Vocal Performance and Music Education at Westminster Choir College. She loves being on both sides of the stage as a director/music director as well as an avid performer in Cabarets, Musicals, Opera and Plays. In her over 20 years as an independent voice teacher, she has grown her private music and performing arts studio into a Multi-Teacher Studio that serves over 300 families in the Lehigh Valley area of PA and beyond. She thoroughly enjoys working with students of all ages and abilities privately and was at DeSales University as an Adjunct Professor of Voice Musical Theatre Department for 12 years. Within NATS, she has been serving as the President of the Lehigh Valley Chapter and is thegovernor of the Eastern Region. In 2024 she will be presenting a Premium Workshop on the Running an Independent Studio Business as well as a Breakout Session on Collaborative Adjudication at the NATS 2024 National Conference in Knoxville, TN.
Ellen Pieterse
Ellen Pieterse is voice teacher and methodology teacher at the conservatoire of ArtEZ University of the Arts in Music and Music Theatre department in The Netherlands. (Arnhem and Zwolle)
After serving the maximum of two terms as chairwoman of the NVZ, the Dutch association of teachers of voice in The Netherlands, she is now president-elect for the executive board of the European Voice Teachers Association.
She works as a performing artist as well, mainly classical repertoire and specializes in thematic and theatrical classical song recitals. She is currently working on a music theatre performance about the life and loves of Alma Mahler. She has worked years as member of professional choirs and ensembles in The Netherlands.
She is co-founder of a project called ‘Zingkwartier’ which intends to bring back voice and music lessons to primary schools in The Netherlands by using the American Ward-method, developed by Justine Ward.
Edwin Pitt Mansfield
With a reputation for working with exceptional young voices, Edwin is an educator, performer and musical director. Edwin is Head of Choral Music and teaches singing at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts. He is a deputy vocal teacher at the Royal College of Music Junior Department and an examiner for Trinity College London. Edwin chaired the Association of Teachers of Singing (UK) from 2022-2024 having been part of the council since 2016 and was elected to the board of the European Voice Teachers Association in 2025. When not working in schools, he runs a busy private teaching studio from his home in Hertfordshire. As a conductor, he is Musical Director of the Buckinghamshire County Youth Choir. Edwin completed and MA in Music Education at UCL, with a specialism in working with teenage young singers and has a particular interest in male voice change, leading workshops and presenting at conferences on the topic. He was a judge on the Music and Drama awards 2025 and is a regular contributor to Music Teacher magazine. He trained at Junior Guildhall School of Music and Dance and subsequently at Trinity College of Music. He has sung roles and chorus for opera companies and choirs throughout the UK and France alongside many lieder and English song recitals. www.edwinpittmansfield.com
Richard Pohl
Richard Pohl, PhD, a Czech pianist and president for European exchanges at the World Piano Teachers Association in China. He has performed globally and won the Dittersdorf chamber music competition at the age of 14. He taught at the Janá?ek Academy of Music, where he graduated and earned his doctorate. He moved to China in 2016 as a concert artist and teacher, teaching at Jiujiang University and Changshu Institute of Technology, and lecturing at conservatories and other isntutions. He’s a top expert on Czech music, participating in cultural and diplomatic events, and helping young Chinese talents study music in Czech Republic. He’s a Petrof Artist and has received several awards for his contributions, including Janá?ek Premium Award and Suzhou Friend Award.
Kathy Kessler Price
Kathy Kessler Price, Ph.D., is a professor of voice at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, where she also directs the Presser Voice Laboratory and the Westminster Voice Pedagogy Institute. In 2018 she was awarded the Distinguished Teacher of the Year. She is currently the New Jersey Governor of NATS.
Kathy has performed as soprano soloist and/or conductor of the women’s ensemble, Philomela, at such venues as the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall, National Museum for Women in the Arts, The White House, and in recitals in the Czech Republic, Brazil, and Croatia.
Her writings are in the Journal of Research in Music Education, the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing, and the Journal of Singing. She contributed to The Voice Teacher’s Cookbook and co-authored with James Jordan the books The Anatomy of Tone and Intonational Solfege. Price co-authored a chapter for the Oxford Handbook of Voice Pedagogy.
Q
Feryal Qudourah
Indo-Caribbean and Palestinian American Singing Artist Feryal Qudourah, has received awards from numerous competitions and music festivals, including the Metropolitan Opera, Caribbean Tarang, and St. Petersburg Opera. Feryal made her Florida Opera debut performing the lead role of Lucy, in their 2012-2013 season production of Menotti’s opera, The Telephone with just a few days notice. Some other roles include Cunegonde (Candide), Pamina (The Magic Flute), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Tiresias (Les Mamelles des Tiresias), Juliette (Romeo et Juliette), First Witch (Dido and Aeneas), Micaela (Carmen), Barbarina (Le Nozze de Figaro), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), and Berenice (Berenice) . Major works performed as a soloist include, Haydn's Lord Nelson mass and Paukenmesse, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, Handel's Messiah and Solomon, Vivaldi's Gloria, Mozart's Coronation Mass and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 3. Apart from her love for opera, Feryal has also studied and performed Bollywood film songs and Indian Ragas under the tutelage of Dr. Ruby Malik at the Mahatma Ghandi Institute in Trinidad and Tobago. She particularly enjoys singing and continuously finding a nexus between music from the Eastern and Western hemispheres through her research on Arabic Art Song. Dr. Qudourah has previously taught at the State University of New York(Potsdam), and Coastal Carolina University as an Assistant Professor of Music in Voice and Music Education. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Music at the American University of Sharjah. She is delighted and grateful to be judging today's competition full of promising young musicians!
R
Kari Ragan holds degrees from the University of Washington (DMA), and Indiana University (MM, BM). In 2012, Dr. Ragan was the recipient of the prestigious Van. L. Lawrence Award, the NATS Foundation Pedagogy Award (2009), earned the NYSTA Distinguished Voice Professional Certificate (2009), the Wicklund Singing Voice Specialist Certificate (2010), and was selected to be a Master Teacher for the NATS Intern Program (2021). As a singing voice rehabilitation specialist (SVS), Dr. Ragan works in affiliation with the University of Washington Laryngology program to help rehabilitate singers with injured voices. She has maintained a thriving Independent Voice Studio for forty years and served on the voice faculty at the University of Washington. Dr. Ragan served as the NATS Advancement Committee Chair and is currently on the NATS/Rowman & Littlefield Editorial Board and the moderator of NATS Chats. She is the co-founder and chair of the Northwest Voice: The Art and Science of the Performing Voice Conference and Program Chair of the ICVT Toronto, 2025. Plural Publishing released her book A Systematic Approach to Voice: The Art of Studio Application in 2020.
Samyukta Ranganathan
Samyukta is an awarding-winning singer of Indian Classical Music (ICM) with an active teaching and performance career in New York City. Samyukta holds an MA in Voice Pedagogy for Indian Classical Voices at the Voice Study Centre and the University of Wales Trinity St David. Her research includes laryngeal registration for ICM singers, the mechanics of ICM vocal ornamentation and how to teach it, and incorporating compassion into ICM classroom settings with a goal to bridge the gap between scientific vocal technique and the oral tradition of ICM. She was able to present her research at several conferences and has been published in the journal, Australian Voice. Samyukta also holds a Voice Teacher Training certification from New York Vocal Coaching.
Carol Ratzlaff
Carol Ratzlaff, MMus, OCT, is the Founder and Artistic Director of VIVA Singers Toronto. She maintains an active career as a choral conductor, educator, singer, and private voice teacher, after her retirement from the Toronto District School Board. Having recently joined the Faculty at the Oscar Peterson School of Music, Royal Conservatory of Music, Carol has also continued to share her passion for vocal music education as a Sessional Instructor at various universities. Carol has performed across Canada and internationally as a member of several Toronto-based professional choirs. She is currently a PhD student in Music Education at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto where she is researching pathways to inclusive spaces for singers with disabilities.
Yvonne Gonzales Redman
Yvonne Gonzales Redman is a Professor of Voice at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She began her musical career as a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Award. She was a Lindemann Young Artist and enjoyed an 18-year career as a main stage soprano at the Metropolitan Opera with nearly 200 onstage performances as a principal soloist, including 26 live radio and television broadcasts that are still regularly broadcast over Sirius XM radio. Her experience rehearsing, performing, and teaching in multiple acoustic spaces has inspired her current research interests related to the impact that our musical work environments have on our voicing, hearing, and perception. This has resulted in several interdisciplinary research studies presented at national and international conferences and publications in the Journal of Voice, Journal of Singing, and the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.
Daniel Robinson
Dr Daniel K Robinson (aka Dr Dan) is nationally recognised as one of Australia’s leading Contemporary Singing Voice Teachers with 30 years of teaching experience and 25 years of performance on the stage. The combined industry strengths of high-level academic credentials and current gigging know-how position Daniel greatly to assist his students’ vocal and artistic development. Daniel is on the International Editorial Board of the Australian Voice Journal. In the past, Daniel has served on the national board of the Australian Voice Association (AVA) as the National President and as National Vice President of the Australian National Association for Singing Teachers (ANATS).
Leanne Regehr
Leanne Regehr is a versatile and sensitive pianist who is widely recognized for her intuitive ability to collaborate with other musicians across an extensive range of repertoire. She is the featured soloist in a live recording of Victor Davies' Mennonite Piano Concerto with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and is currently based in Edmonton where she serves on the faculties of the University of Alberta and The King's University.
Leanne's reputation in opera has grown through engagements as a répétiteur with Shreveport Opera, Mercury Opera, and Edmonton Opera. Her dedication to the development of young singers has been shown through her work as a faculty member with Opera NUOVA and Cowtown Opera Summer Academy, as a staff pianist for Sherrill Milnes' VoicExperience Program in Florida, and as a Coaching Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival. She has performed with many organizations including the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, Pro Coro Canada, Da Camera Singers, Luminous Voices, and the Academy Concert Series in Toronto.
Leanne completed her Doctor of Music in Piano Performance at Northwestern University and explored further studies at the Banff School of Fine Arts, the Universitat Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Aspen Music Festival. She has enjoyed playing the masterworks of the choral repertoire during her sixteen seasons as accompanist with the Richard Eaton Singers, and freelances as a soloist, vocal coach, recital partner, and adjudicator.
Trineice Robinson-Martin
A specialist in the pedagogy and performance of Black American music styles, Dr. Trineice Robinson-Martin serves on the faculty at Princeton University as the Jazz/Pop vocal instructor, lecturer, and ensemble director. In addition to Princeton, she is a teaching resident at Yale University, Institute of Sacred Music for Music in the Black Church program, and is an internationally recognized clinician and performer. The creator of Soul Ingredients® Methodology, Voice & Teacher Training Academy, Dr. Trineice serves as guest faculty for the LoVetri Institute of Somatic Voicework™, is the executive director of the African American Jazz Caucus, board vice president for the Jazz Education Network, editorial board member for the Journal of Singing, and a member of the American Academy of Teachers of Singing. Her latest album All or Nothing was released Aug 2021 and is available on all digital platforms. Visit www.DrTrineice.com for more information.
Tessa Romano
Dr. Tessa Romano (they/them) is Head of Voice at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. They hold a DMA from the University of Colorado Boulder, an MM from the University of Michigan, and an AB in Music and Italian from Princeton University. Dr. Romano is Co-Vice President of the New Zealand Association of Teachers of Singing and a Board Member of the New York Singing Teachers’ Association. Publications include “Types of Testosterone Therapy and their Effects on the Voices of Transgender Singers” in the Journal of Singing and “The Politics of Performance: Teaching and Performing Indigenous Musics within the Vocal Conservatory” within the upcoming publication Decolonising and Indigenising Music Education Volume 2 (Routledge).
Marci Rosenberg
Marci is a singer, speech pathologist, and clinical singing voice specialist. She has worked clinically for over 20 years at The University of Michigan Vocal Health Center, and she serves as the on-site vocal health consultant to the Department of Musical Theatre at the University of Michigan. Marci teaches workshops and lectures and is a featured author in several voice pedagogy books. Among the first cohort to receive the PAVA-RV distinction, Marci is an active PAVA member serving as Chair of the PAVA Symposium Oversight Committee. She was recently a featured voice expert on the award-winning Canadian science documentary program The Nature of Things - A User’s Guide to the Voice. In addition to her clinical practice, Marci maintains an active private voice studio and consulting practice. Her varied clients include performers, executives, and teachers spanning the Boardroom, Broadway stage, Metropolitan Opera, and everything in between. See marci-rosenberg.com for further information.
S
William Sauerland
Dr. William Sauerland is Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies for the School of Music at Purdue University – Fort Wayne, conducting choral ensembles, teaching classes in applied voice and music education, and supervising student teachers. Sauerland has presented at dozens of international, national, and regional conferences, most recently for the American Choral Directors Association, International Society for Music Education, Narrative Inquiry in Music Education, National Association of Teachers of Singing, Research in Music Education, and the Royal Musical Association. His publications appear in the Choral Journal, Journal of Singing, Journal of Music Teacher Education, and in two choral textbooks, Resonance (Pavane Publishing, 2021) and The Choral Conductor’s Companion (GIA Publications, 2020). Sauerland’s book Queering Vocal Pedagogy was published by Rowman & Littlefield in June 2022. He has forthcoming chapters with Oxford University Press and Routledge Press.
Christina Lalog Seal
Praised for her “effortless” playing, Christina Lalog Seal is a collaborative pianist, published musician, and piano faculty member at Northern Kentucky University. A few of Dr. Seal’s performance highlights include broadcasts on Wisconsin Public Radio, collaboration with the Mark Morris Company at Tanglewood, and a recording of Festive Arias for Soprano and Trumpet, Volume II.
Lori Sen
Turkish mezzo-soprano and Fulbright alumna Dr. Lori Sen is known for her versatility in many vocal genres, including opera, art song, musical theatre, and jazz, as well as for her teaching and research interests in vocal literature, voice pedagogy, and voice science.
A leading expert of the Sephardic Art Song genre, Dr. Sen is the first ever to catalogue this repertoire that comprises Western classical settings of traditional Sephardic folk literature, and to create a Ladino lyric diction guide exclusively for singers. Since 2017, she has introduced this genre to audiences through recitals and lectures in the U.S. and abroad.
Dr. Sen is currently on the voice faculty at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and University of Maryland School of Music. She also serves as an ambassador for the Barcelona Festival of Song, and is a board member at the International Florence Price Festival.
Travis Sherwood
Travis Sherwood serves as Assistant Professor of Voice, Voice Area Coordinator, and Director of SDSU Opera Theatre on the faculty of San Diego State University, School of Music and Dance. His students have been accepted to leading graduate programs as well as won regional and district competitions. Dr. Sherwood is an active performer on the operatic, concert, and recital stages. Offstage, Dr. Sherwood frequently lectures, presents, and publishes on the subjects of student-centered pedagogy, artistic literacy, voice pedagogy, and vocal literature.
Dr. Sherwood holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and a Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music Degree from Westminster Choir College in music education and vocal performance. Additional studies include a certificate from the “Académie Internationale d’Eté de Nice” in “Interprétation chant & piano” under the instruction of Dalton Baldwin.
Christopher Sierra
Peruvian-American tenor Christopher Sierra is a versatile artist with a repertoire spanning classical, musical theatre, and contemporary commercial music. They have performed with prestigious opera companies, including Lyric Opera of Chicago, Santa Fe Opera, and Spoleto Festival USA. Notable roles include the title role in William Grant Still’s Mota, Catone in Catone in Utica, and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. Dr. Sierra has showcased their talent in concert works like Handel’s Messiah and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. As a recording artist, they have featured on several albums with the Westminster Choir and the Grammy-nominated Westminster Williamson Voices. An avid recitalist, Dr. Sierra co-founded the Vocalis Consort and excels in presentations centered on songs of the Spanish-speaking diaspora. They also perform with groups such as Sweet Honey in the Rock and deliver lectures on the intersection of contemporary commercial music and classical singing.
Luciano Simoes Silva
Luciano has 20 years of experience as a university voice professor and more than 30 years as a voice teacher and singer, currently teaching at his own studio in Germany and supervising the Arte Maior Music School voice curriculum. He holds a doctorate of musical arts from Michigan State University in voice performance, and two master’s degrees (MM, choral conducting and MA, musicology) from the same university. He has completed two post-doctoral researches, investigating the Fado voice and Belt. He is the official translator to Brazilian Portuguese of The Structure of Singing, by Richard Miller, published in 2019. His pedagogical work and research focuses on cross-training and voice building for the hybrid singer, having presented research at many conferences, including PEVoC 2024 and 2019, NATS International Region 2024, ICVT 2022 and 2017, and PAVA 2022 and 2021, and published at VASTA Voice and Speech Review and the Journal of Voice.
Don Simonson
Donald Simonson is Emeritus Morrill Professor of Music and Theatre at Iowa State
University. There he taught voice, voice pedagogy, and conducted music theater and opera. He has served NATS from chapter auditions chair to district and regional governor. In 1998 he conceived and coordinated the first ever Call for Papers for a NATS Conference. He coordinated Poster Papers for both NATS and ICVT until elected VP for NATSAA in 2006. In 2008 he was elected NATS President Elect, moving to the role of President in 2010 and Past President in 2012. His service includes numerous designations as a Master Teacher for the NATS Intern Program. In 2015 he was elected to membership in the American Academy of Teachers of Singing. In addition to his NATS activity and teaching, Simonson has been active in the research lab, with the results published/presented at conferences and symposia both here and abroad.
David Sisco
David Sisco (he/him) is adjunct voice faculty at NYU Steinhardt. In his over 20 years of teaching, he has served on the facilities of Northeastern University, Suffolk University, Marymount Manhattan College, and Wagner College. David maintains a private studio and teaches around the country and internationally. Sisco has presented at ANATS, NATS, ICVT, and MTEA conferences and at the Voice Foundation Symposium. David co-authored two books with colleague Laura Josepher: Mastering College Musical Theatre Auditions (3rd edition) and Performing in Contemporary Musicals (Routledge). He is currently completing his third book, Wholehearted Teaching: An Integrative Approach to Vocal Training. A recipient of the 2010 NATS Art Song Composition Award, David is an award-winning composer. His work has been heard at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and he has been commissioned by Cayuga Vocal Ensemble, Florida International University Concert Choir, Manhattan Girls Chorus, and Minnesota State University Moorhead Concert Choir. www.davidsisco.com
Praised for her “sizeable voice that captured all of the vacillating emotions” (The New York Times), Karen Slack is "not only one of the nation's most celebrated sopranos, but a leading voice in changing and making spaces in classical music” (Trilloquy).
Highlights of Slack’s 2024-2025 season include a nationwide tour of her new commissioning project, African Queens, an evening-length vocal recital of new art songs by acclaimed composers Jasmine Barnes, Damien Geter, Jessie Montgomery, Shawn Okpebholo, Dave Ragland, Carlos Simon, and Joel Thompson. She will perform African Queens at the Ravinia Festival (world premiere), Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, 92NY, Washington Performing Arts, Denver Friends of Chamber Music, and Newport Classical Festival.
During the season, Slack will perform in the world premiere of Damien Geter’s Loving V. Virginia with the Virginia Opera and Richmond Symphony; reprise the role of Mama in Minnesota Opera’s production of The Snowy Day; and feature as soloist with the Fresno Philharmonic. In July 2024, she releases a new recording project, Beyond the Years, in collaboration with ONEComposer and pianist Michelle Cann on Azica Records.
She has performed on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, Scottish Opera, San Francisco Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and many others. She has appeared with the Melbourne and Sydney symphonies, the Bergen Philharmonic, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and performed as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra in the world premiere of Hannibal Lokumbe’s Healing Tones led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
A recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, Slack is an Artistic Advisor for Portland Opera, serves on the board of the American Composers Orchestra and Astral Artists, and holds a faculty position at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta, Canada. She has been named Lyric Unlimited Artist-in-Residence at Lyric Opera of Chicago for the 2024-2025 season as well as Artist-in-Residence at leading entrepreneurial institution Babson College.
A native Philadelphian, Slack is a graduate of the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music and the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program. For more information, please visit www.sopranokarenslack.com
Anne Slovin
Anne Slovin is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of Notre Dame. She is the co-editor with Dr. Katherine Meizel of the upcoming open access resource Disability and Accessibility in the Voice Studio and has recently presented her research on disability and voice pedagogy at the London Conference in Critical Thought. Anne also explores research topics in musical theater; her work on Ethel Merman and Great Depression trauma will appear in the new Oxford Handbook of Music, Sound and Trauma, and in May 2024 she presented a paper on Jewish women in musical film at the Great American Songbook Foundation. Anne’s work has a performer in the 2023-2024 season has exemplified her versatility, with repertoire ranging from the title role in Lehár’s Merry Widow to the twelve-tone works of Ernst Krenek. Anne was a member of the 2024 class of NATS interns at Florida State University.
Brenda Smith
Brenda Smith, DMA, a lyric soprano, teaches studio voice, singer’s diction, and vocal pedagogy at the University of Florida in Gainesville. She is widely recognized for her contributions to the concept of lifelong singing through proper voice care. Brenda Smith’s most recent publication is Diction in Context: Singing in English, Italian, German, and French. She is the author of So You Want to Sing for a Lifetime: A Guide to Performer, a publication sponsored by the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Dr. Smith and Dr. Robert T. Sataloff have collaborated on a variety of projects to promote vocal health through choral singing. They are the co-authors of two textbooks, Choral Pedagogy, Third Edition and Choral Pedagogy and the Older Singer that unite voice science, vocal pedagogy with choral conducting. Brenda Smith serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Voice and is a Consulting Editor for Plural Publishing. In recognition of demonstrated excellence in teaching and her interest in voice science, Dr. Smith received the Van Lawrence Fellowship in 2000, presented by The Voice Foundation and the NATS. Before joining the University of Florida faculty, she taught at Westminster Choir College, Dickinson College, and Rowan University.
Lori Sonnenberg
Lori Sonnenberg is a highly specialized Voice SLP and Singing Voice Specialist with over 25 years’ experience in the Singing and Speech Pathology fields having worked exclusively with voice, singing and upper airway disorders. In the last decade her work has become uniquely sub-specialized helping singers resolve issues around MTD type diagnoses, vocal pathologies, post-op recovery, and problematic technical voice issues. Lori began her career in a busy full-time laryngology clinic and is now the owner of her private practice providing comprehensive voice care in Chicago. She is passionate about giving her clients the tools they need to get results that last and equipping them with a skill set for long-term success. She is a certified member of the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) holding the Certificate of Clinical Competency (CCC-SLP) and is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS).
Laura Storm
Soprano Laura Storm is a devoted pedagogue and an active performer of stage, concert, and chamber repertoire. Opera and musical theater highlights include the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica at the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Salerno, Italy; Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus; Alice Ford in Falstaff; The Governess in The Turn of the Screw; Penelope Pennywise in Urinetown; Desirée Armfeldt in A Little Night Music; and Nellie Forbush in South Pacific. As a clinician Dr. Storm has worked with students at venues in Texas, California, and Nevada, and in 2019 she presented Master Classes at Hebei Art Academy in Shijiazhuang, China and Guizhou University in Guiyang, China as part of a student/faculty cultural exchange. Before joining the Butler faculty, Dr. Storm served as Professor of Voice at Henderson State University where her teaching duties included applied voice, vocal pedagogy and lyric diction.
Marita Stryker
Marita Stryker is an Assistant Professor of Music (Contemporary Voice and Musical Theatre) at St. Olaf College, PAVA-recognized Vocologist, and movement specialist. After a long and varied career on the stage, her teaching brings together a passion for contemporary singing styles, accessible voice science, and the mind-body connection that keeps the artist balanced, aware, and receptive. Prior to St. Olaf, Marita was the founding voice teacher for the Contemporary Musicianship and Entrepreneur Development program at Shenandoah Conservatory. She has also held positions at Oklahoma City University and Senzoku Gakuen College of Music in Tokyo. She is the Vocal Director for Texas Arts Project, and has presented papers and workshops at the The Voice Foundation Symposium, NATS, MTEA, Texas Thespian State Festival, and PAVA. Her research explores how to best support singers navigating chronic conditions such as hypermobility and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) in both the voice studio and rehearsal.
Ying-Shan Su
Ying-Shan Su, piano Taiwanese pianist, Ying-Shan Su joined the faculty at Nicholls in fall 2022. Prior to Nicholls State, she has served as the collaborative pianist at Northwest Missouri State University, Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Lee University. She also taught at both Lee University and Cleveland State Community College as a piano instructor. Dr. Su has received the Government Scholarship to Study Abroad from Taiwan’s Ministry of Education to pursue a doctorate degree in collaborative piano. She has participated in festivals and conferences such as the Women Composers Festival of Hartford, the Music by Women Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the National Orchestral Institute and the National Collegiate Choral Organization National Conference. She has also been a featured pianist on several CDs for the Naxos and Delos record labels.
Hungarian-Canadian, mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó is highly sought after in North America and Europe as an artist of supreme musicianship and stagecraft. She is known for her promotion and performance of contemporary Canadian works. She regularly performs with the Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, Tapestry Opera, Early Music Vancouver, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Internationally, she has performed with San Francisco Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Stadttheater Klagenfurt, and Wexford Festival Opera. In 2018, Krisztina made her Royal Opera début in George Benjamin’s opera, Lessons in Love and Violence, the recording of which received a Grammy nomination for Best Opera Recording. Her discography includes Dean Burry: The Highwayman (Centrediscs), Found Frozen: Songs of Jeffrey Ryan (Centrediscs), Ana Sokolovic – Sirens (Naxos), and Talisker Players Where Words and Music Meet (Centrediscs). Ms. Szabó is Assistant Professor of Voice and Opera at the University of British Columbia School of Music.
T
Yolanda Tapia
Yolanda Tapia is an international pianist, educator, vocal coach, and Fulbright Scholar based in Toronto. She collaborates with the University of Toronto, El Sistema Toronto, and the Community Music Schools of Toronto. As co-founder of Obsidiana Duo, Yolanda promotes Ibero-American and Canadian composers, with national tours through Prairie Debut and Debut Atlantic.
Originally from Mexico, she has performed with the Xalapa Symphony Orchestra and CSU Symphony Orchestra, winning awards such as Mexico’s Chamber Music National Competition, and the CSU and Xalapa Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competitions.
Yolanda has given masterclasses at the University of Veracruz, FIM Loja in Ecuador, and Cambrian College. She has presented at CollabFest2021, Latin American Chamber Players, and Western University. She co-founded www.collaborativepianist.info and Cybercollab 2021. Yolanda completed a residency with Holland America’s Lincoln Center Stage Piano Quartet.
She holds a Master of Music from Colorado State University and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Western Ontario.
Alison Taylor
Alison Taylor is a life-long voice explorer and movement maverick. Her work supports her desire for connection, creativity, and belonging, and draws on her experiences as a performer, voice educator, certified Alexander Technique and Wholeness in Motion practitioner, and Gestalt therapist. Through her unique combination of expertise, she nurtures a whole-self understanding that can invite ease, awareness, and vitality into a person’s life and art. Alison maintains a private studio teaching SenseAble Singing - a fusion of vocal technique, sensory awareness, and movement. She has enjoyed working with performers both as a guest clinician and in longer-term faculty positions at post-secondary institutions. Alison also welcomes clients into her private practice as a Gestalt therapist where she supports people to bring curiosity and awareness to the creative ways they have adapted to the world, so that they can find more flexibility in their responses to everyday life and interpersonal relationships. Connect with Alison online: https://linktr.ee/alisonjanetaylor Affiliations and memberships: Alexander Technique Canada, CRPO
Mark Tempesta
Mark Tempesta is Assistant Professor of Voice and Vocal Pedagogy at the University of North Texas. Previously ,Dr. Tempesta taught and managed voice pedagogy at New England Conservatory. His own research areas have included comparing the laryngeal gestures and vocal fold vibrational patterns of contemporary style singers and classical singers, and how these overlaps can be used to enhance student learning outcomes; exploring small timescale acoustics and how they can inform our understanding of the physical action of the vocal folds at onset; and the effect of meditation on motor learning in musical contexts. He is also passionate about enabling voice students to do their own research and has helped guide student projects on topics ranging from the effects of hormone replacement therapy on registration and resonance in trans voices, to the effects of vocal training on breathing patterns in speech and daily life.
Meg Tsai
Praised for her “most genuine performing” by Birmingham Post (UK), MJ Meg Tsai is a soprano originally from Taipei, Taiwan and currently based in Ruston, Louisiana. Meg was most recently seen as Annina in La Traviatawith National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Lola in Cavalleria rusticana with the Louisiana Opera, Narrator in The Hiding Tree with Spotlight on Opera. She holds her degrees of Doctor of Musical Arts from University of North Texas, Master of Music and Post Graduate Diploma from Birmingham City University Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, UK, and a Certificate in Television Director of Performing Arts from Taiwan Ministry of Culture. Meg is currently teaching at Grambling State University, serves as the general director of Opera and Musical Theater Workshop. She is also an active member of HBCU Opera & MT Collective, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
WeiShu Tsai
Taiwanese baritone, WeiShu Tsai has been described for his singing as well as his stage presence as “technical mastery and high-energy, contagious charisma”. His repertoire is large and diverse, ranging from the seventeenth century to the present. Tsai has appeared in various international opera and concert productions with acclaimed orchestras and opera companies, including The Dallas opera, Shreveport Opera, Taiwan Philharmonic, National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan, and Monroe Symphony Orchestra. As a scholar, Tsai’s study and presentation on Taiwanese art songs has been selected in multiple conferences including Southern NATS Conference, HBCU Opera and Musical Theater Collective, and Asian Classical Music Initiative. With an extensive and rich teaching experiences, Tsai is the Assistant Professor of Music at Tarleton State University. He is also an active member in both NATS Southern and Texoma Region.
U
V
Shelby VanNordstrand
Shelby VanNordstrand has appeared as a soprano soloist from the United States to Indonesia, China, Japan, Hawai’i, Lithuania, and Oman. She is especially passionate about new art song and opera and loves to be involved in the creation of new works. You can hear her on the album “Storms & Stars, songs for soprano and piano by Jodi Goble”, available for streaming on all major platforms. She was awarded an honorable mention in The American Prize, Women in Art Song in 2023. As a teacher, her students have been named winners of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Student Auditions at the state, regional, and national levels and winners of the National Opera Association's Collegiate Opera Scenes Competition. As a clinician, she has presented at the National Collegiate Music Society Conference, the National Opera Association Conference, and other state and regional conferences. She currently serves as Vice President for Conferences with the National Opera Association and serves in regional leadership with the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Shelby joined the faculty of the Department of Music and Theatre at Iowa State University in the fall of 2024. Previously, she served as Associate Professor of Voice at the University of Nebraska Omaha. @shelbyvn
W
Xingxing Wang
Associate Professor Dr Xingxing Wang is a lyric coloratura soprano, art song recitalist, educator, researcher and member of the Petrof Art Family. Xingxing was born in Chongqing, China and undertook studies in New Zealand and Germany for thirteen years. She holds a bachelor’s degree and postgraduate diploma from the New Zealand School of Music. Xingxing undertook her doctoral studies in Germany at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig, where she completed the prestigious Meisterklassenexamen with distinction.
Xingxing currently serves as Associate Professor of Voice at Changshu Institute of Technology. She remains busy in China as a concert soloist and recording artist. Her critically acclaimed album Magical Songs was released in 2020. In 2022 she released a series of classical music videos that have garnered millions of views. In 2023 Xingxing returned to the NZSM to present a lecture recital of art songs based on classical Chinese poetry. This was well-received and elicited discussion among music scholars and sinologists.
Jenevora Williams
Dr Jenevora Williams is an expert in the fields of vocal health and singing teaching. After a successful career in Opera, Jenevora turned her attention to investigating healthy and efficient vocal function. The combination of academic study and practical experience has resulted in a unique perception for understanding the human voice. She was the first singing teacher to be awarded a PhD in voice science in the UK, and won the 2010 BVA Van Lawrence Prize for her outstanding contribution to voice research. Her book, Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults, has been enormously popular with singing teachers throughout the world. She is well-known for her imaginative and rigorous international training courses for singing teachers and voice professionals. She now runs Vocal Health Education and Evolving Voice, training the first generation of Voice Rehabilitation Specialists worldwide. As a teacher of singing, she works with professional singers of all ages in both voice rehabilitation and career mentoring.
X
Y
Z
Brenda Iglesia Zarco
Brenda Iglesias has been an invited artist with distinguished companies and orchestras in her native Mexico and the US, including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, and Orquesta Sinfónica Carlos Chávez. A performer with a unique tone, her repertoire includes the key contralto and mezzo-soprano roles in opera and concert. Iglesias is a fierce advocate of Latin American art song. She recently presented her research on early Mexican art song at the 50th Society of American Music Conference. She has received numerous accolades, including Mexico’s prestigious FONCA (National Endowment for the Arts) scholarship, a prize at the Carlo Morelli National Singing Competition, and full merit scholarships for all her graduate studies. Iglesias holds both Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. She has been an Assistant Professor of Voice at Binghamton University SUNY since 2022.
Dana Zenobi
Dana Zenobi enjoys a multifaceted career as voice pedagogy scholar, educator, and interpreter of Art Song by women. Recipient of the 2020 National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Voice Pedagogy Award, Dr. Zenobi has presented at national and regional NATS conferences, the International Music By Women Festival, the Voice Foundation, the Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA), the Voice Study Centre, and Bel Canto Boot Camp. Performances and studio teaching have received accolades from The American Prize. Her 2022 album and score anthology Joys Abiding: Duets by Historical Women Composers (Navona Records/Classical Vocal Reprints) with baritone Oliver Worthington and pianist Chuck Dillard was warmly received. Currently Associate Professor of Voice at Butler University, Dr. Zenobi earned both DMA (Voice Performance & Pedagogy) and MM (Opera Performance) from The University of Texas at Austin. She holds a dual Bachelor’s degree in Music and Women’s Studies from Duke University. www.danazenobisoprano.com
Zita Zimmermann
Singer, Voice Teacher and Performance Coach from Switzerland. After her Studies in Basel (Switzerland) and New York with Kate Johnson, she teaches at her private Studio in Zürich and online. As a Mezzosoprano she is a Member of the professional Ensemble "Canticum Novum Zürich" and performs regularly as a Soloist.
In her book "Starke Stimme - Souveräner Auftritt" (ISBN-978-3-7519-0171-0) she shares powerful tools to strengthen the Speaking Voice, and shows ways to change anxiety into confidence. She helps musicians and public speakers to perform with more freedom and joy.
As a Performance Coach she gives Workshops at Universities, Music-schools and other institutions.
