A world-class faculty
““To be able to work in 90-minute sessions with some of New York’s most knowledgeable music insiders is not an experience most YAPs and summer programs can offer.””
Our 2024 faculty includes:
LeAnn Overton, Artistic Director
Jan Prokop, Body Mapping
Lori Schiff, Alexander Technique
Eleanor Taylor, Alexander Technique
Barbara Fusco Spera, Yoga for the Creative Heart
Roger Malouf, Senior Vocal Coach
David Holkeboer, Performance Pianist
Anthony Pulgram, Improvisation
Anne Kuite, Movement
Kristen Kemp, Vocal Coach
Craig Rutenberg, Master Class
Karen Driscoll, Master Class
Ginny Stephens, Pianist
““I really appreciate how much the faculty was on the same page. It was great to hear the same concept in very different ways – the instruction was extremely fluid and complimentary.””
Leann overton, director, vocal coach
Performer and pedagogue LeAnn Overton currently serves on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music and the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University. Ms. Overton has also taught on the faculties of Long Island University Post Campus, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, the New York Actor’s Studio and the Mannes School of Music. As music director/coach Ms. Overton has worked for several summer programs and opera companies including Vocal Arts Festival, Colorado Springs, Lingua e Canto, Songe D’été en Musique outside of Quebeque, Oberlin in Italy, Music Festival of Lucca, Italy, Cincinnati Opera and Tulsa Opera. Ms. Overton has been the stage director for several opera workshops. At Montclair State University she designed a semester course for the voice and music education major which introduced the basic skill set needed for today’s singing actor. In her capacity as “Artistic Director” of Oberlin in Italy’s Concert Group, Ms. Overton coached and staged many recital programs exclusively featuring the bel canto repertoire.
Ms. Overton was opera workshop co-director alongside Professor Ruth Golden during her tenure at LIU Post Campus. In addition to performing opera, Ms. Overton has enjoyed listening to the world’s best singers via her position as title caller at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City. Ms. Overton earned her Masters of Music degree in “Vocal Coaching/Accompanying” at the University of Illinois under the tutelage of world renowned accompanist John Wustman.
jan prokop, body mapping
Currently an Adjunct Professor of the musical theater voice faculty at Montclair State University, soprano Jan Prokop has presented master classes, seminars and workshops for the Voice Foundation Symposium and NYSTA’s Professional Development Program and throughout the U.S. and Brazil. She is an adjunct professor in the Department of Otolaryngology & Surgery at the University of Utah, maintains a voice studio in NYC and has served on the faculties of the CAP21 at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Columbia University’s Teachers College and was a founding faculty member of The Actors Studio MFA Program at the New School. A Van Lawrence Fellow, Dr. Prokop works with leading laryngologists, voice therapists and speech scientists in the rehabilitation of injured voices and voice research. She has appeared throughout the U.S., Europe, South America and the Middle East in opera, oratorio, concert, cabaret and musical theater. Dr. Prokop received her licensing as an Andover Educator in the fall of 2015.
lori schiff, Alexander technique
Lori Schiff is a full time professor of The Alexander Technique at The Juilliard School and a guest teaching artist for various schools and organizations nationally and internationally. She has been a faculty member of the Juilliard School since 1991 and was in residence at The Aspen Music Festival and School from 1993 - 2015. Ms. Schiff qualified as a Teacher of the Alexander Technique at ACAT-New York in 1987 and continued with postgraduate training with Walter and Dilys Carrington at the Constructive Teaching Centre in London. She is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Music in Trumpet Performance and has her Masters degree in Music from the Manhattan School of Music.
Eleanor Taylor, Alexander Technique
Alexander Technique teacher Eleanor Taylor, m.AmSAT, is on the faculty of the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. She is thrilled to return for the 6th summer to Respiro Opera! She has also taught at the Manhattan School of Music and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and currently serves on the faculty at the Riverside Initiative for the Alexander Technique, where she has developed the “Breathing & Voice” course for trainees in their teacher certification program. She maintains a private teaching studio in Manhattan, specializing in working with singers and actors to improve performance, prevent injury and reduce anxiety using the Alexander Technique. She is also a certified instructor in Jessica Wolf’s Art of Breathing, and holds B.M. and M.M. degrees in vocal performance from New England Conservatory and the University of Minnesota. Eleanor is currently Chair Elect of the American Society for the Alexander Technique, and serves on the peer-review board for the international publication the Alexander Journal. www.eleanortaylorAT.com
BARBARA FUSCO-SPERA, YOGA INSTRUCTOR
Mezzo-Soprano, Yoga Instructor, 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training from LI Kula Yoga and Rahini Yoga; currently training in Yoga and Pranayama at Always at Aum Yoga Studio of Long Island. Founder of Yoga for the Creative Heart which combines body movement and breath to release the voice. Co-creator of the Vocal Program of Songe D'été en Musique Festival in Quebec where in addition to teaching voice and performing , she also leads classes in yoga for singers. Ms. Fusco has performed extensively has in the tri-state area as well as throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Europe and Africa. She has sung roles with the Center for Contemporary Opera, Opera on the Sound, and the Wagner Training Center in New York. Her orchestral appearances include the Tilles Center on Long Island, Bach and Beyond Concert Series in East Hampton, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, the Adirondack Festival Orchestra at Saranac Lake, Alice Tully Hall under the direction of Robert Craft, and at the L’Èglise de la Madeleine in France. Since 1994, has been a featured soloist with the acclaimed Musica Viva of New York under the baton of Walter Klauss. Ms. Fusco is Director of Vocal Studies at LIU Post and maintains a thriving vocal studio in Suffolk County, Long Island.
ROGER MALOUF, senior VOCAL COACH
Roger Malouf was Assistant Conductor with the Metropolitan Opera, where he worked on productions led by maestros Levine, Luisi, Gergiev, Rattle, Maazel, Domingo, Nézet-Séguin, Rudel, Armiliato, and Davis, among others. He was an Assistant Professor at Mannes College of Music, and Co-Director of the Opera Workshop in the Extension Division. He has served on the staff of New York City Opera and The Juilliard School. As a vocal coach, he is on the faculty of the Bel Canto Institute in Italy, and has taught at the International Vocal Institute in Croatia, the American Institute for Musical Studies (AIMS) in Austria, and at Portland State University’s Deutsche Sommerschule am Pazifik.
Mr. Malouf has served as an accompanist for the Belvedere Competition at the Wiener Kammeroper and for the Jugendfestspieltreffen at the Bayreuth Festival. He has given master classes in opera for Manhattan Opera Studio, and in art song at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has coached singers in the Young Artist Program at Opera New Jersey. Two innovative summer festivals in the state of New York have invited him to work with their singers: Respiro Opera NYC and RESONANZ in Albany. He is a frequent adjudicator for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Altamura/Caruso Vocal Competition.
As a conductor, Mr. Malouf has presented opera in concert performances with the West Side Opera (New York) since 1995. He has conducted for the Natchez Opera Festival, the Little Opera Theatre of New York, Brooklyn Repertory Opera, and for the concert series at Trinity Church on Wall Street. In addition to organizing and performing in recitals of the complete songs of Bellini and Verdi for Trinity Church, he has accompanied recitals at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, and has played for master classes given by Martina Arroyo, Anna Moffo, Sherrill Milnes, and Gérard Souzay. Mr. Malouf studied with the distinguished musicians Aube Tzerko, Gwendolyn Koldofsky, David Garvey, and Brooks Smith in California, and with Dieter Weber and Noel Flores in Vienna.
david holkeboer, vocal coach/accompanist
David Holkeboer maintains a coaching studio in New York City and collaborates with singers in recitals. Mr. Holkeboer has worked with the Chamber Opera Theatre of New York, the First American Music Theatre Festival in Philadelphia, the O’Neill Theatre Center in Connecticut, the International Vocal Arts Institute, the Florentine Opera in Milwaukee, the Johanna Meier Opera Theatre Institute, the Respiro Opera NYC program in New York City, Opera Lirica in Orvieto, Italy, and with the Career Blueprints program of Opera America. He has performed in over forty Community Concerts across the country with soprano Alba Quezada and has recorded a recital program with Mark S. Doss at the Sirius Satellite Radio studios for broadcast. He recorded a CD of the songs of Robert Kahn with tenor Martin Dillon. He has been the provided pianist for auditions for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Oratorio Society of New York Solo Competition, the Liederkranz Foundation Art Song Competition, Career Bridges, the George London Foundation, the Lindemann Young Artist Program, the Neue Stimmen Program, Verbier Festival, and the Zurich Opera Studio, Tanglewood, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera North, Opera in the Heights, Shreveport Opera, and the Omaha Symphony. He has appeared as collaborative pianist in performances with many singers including John Bellemer, Ariel Bybee, Phillip Cokorinos, Susan Dunn, Faith Esham, Scott Hendricks, Ruby Hinds, James McCracken, Rod Nelman,William Andrew Stuckey, Erika Sunnegårdh, Sandra Warfield, Constantinos Yiannoudes and Regina Zona. He graduated Calvin College in Michigan, and received a Master of Music from the University of Illinois studying with John Wustman.
ANTHONY PULGRAM, IMPROV INSTRUCTOR
London Opera News calls American tenor Anthony Pulgram “a commanding and charismatic singer, with rich lyric tone.” The Atlanta native has performed in major opera houses throughout the US, Canada and Europe including New York, Paris, Vienna, Victoria BC, and Palermo.
His roles as principle tenor at the New York City Opera include Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Don Jose in Carmen, Apollo in Daphni, Commissioner in Dialogues des Carmélites, and Alpheus in Lysistrata. Other notable portrayals include Apollo in Daphne with Pacific Opera Victoria in British Columbia, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with Des Moines Metro Opera, Narraboth in Salome with Orlando and Cavaradossi in Tosca with Opera North.
In concert, Mr,. Pulgram has appeared as a soloist with the New York Philharmonia Virtuosi, Mid-America Productions at Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, the Steamboat Springs Symphony in Colorado, the Harrisburg Symphony and the Temple Symphony in Texas.
A champion of contemporary music, he has created the title role of several world premieres in New York City, including Arjuna in Arjuna’s Dilemna with American Contemporary Opera, Sir Gawain in Gawain and the Green Knight with American Opera Projects, and the poet Sean in David Strickland's Phoenix Part (A Poet’s Journey) for Theatre for the New City. He is a frequent soloist at the annual American Composer Alliance Festival in New York City.
An alumnus of Duke University, Columbia University and the Manhattan School of Music Mr. Pulgram has won awards from the International Belvedere Competition in Vienna, the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation in New York, the Rosa Ponselle International Vocal Competition in New York, and the Atlanta Pro Mozart Society. From 1999 – 2012 he served on the Voice Faculty at Long Island University: LIU Post.
A professionally trained actor (Duke University, Chautauqua Institute) and current member of The Studio, Mr. Pulgram appears on stage and in film in both contemporary and classical repertoire. A recent graduate of the Peoples Improv Theater (PIT) training program, he is an improv performer and incorporates improvisation techniques in his teaching - both one-to-one and in group coaching.
Mr. Pulgram maintains a private studio in Manhattan where he serves as an acting/presentation coach to singers, actors, nonprofit and for-profit executives. He uses a variety of theater techniques to help individuals find authenticity and spontaneity, and the accompanying emotional and physical freedom to heighten their artistic expression. Since 2006, he has served as an adjunct faculty associate instructor at Columbia University School of Professional Studies coaching graduate students on the art of presentation.
Anne Kuite, Movement
Anne Kuite is a dance and movement instructor and a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher (NCPT). Anne served on the dance faculty at the University of Miami, Florida (2009 – 2018), teaching modern dance and somatic movement, as well as dance improvisation and composition. A frequent choreographic collaborator with Frost Opera Theater in the Frost School of Music, Anne also led classes and workshops in movement for singers.
Anne received her Pilates teacher training through Polestar Pilates in Miami following studies in New York with Irene Dowd. A Pilates instructor for over 12 years, Anne currently works with private clients and group classes at Kinespirit Riverside, a Gyrotonic and Pilates Studio in New York City. Clients include fitness beginners, post-rehabilitation clients, and persons with special conditions (Parkinson’s, Osteoporosis), as well as dancers and athletes. Anne’s instructional methodology is based on the study of Pilates, dance, Iyengar yoga, anatomy, kinesiology, neurology and the biomechanics of movement.
Originally from Chicago, Anne’ teaching career began with dance positions at New Trier, Mather, and Lyons Township High Schools, and faculty positions at Millikin University and Harper College. She holds degrees in Dance Education from Illinois State University, and an MFA in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She manages a busy private practice of fitness and special needs Pilates-based neuromuscular reeducation clients.
Kristen Kemp, Vocal Coach
A Florida native, vocal coach and pianist Kristen Kemp has worked with numerous opera companies throughout the United States, including Cincinnati Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Sarasota Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Martina Arroyo Prelude to Performance, Opera North, Chelsea Opera, as well as the Opera Theatre of Lucca, Italy, in association with the University of Cincinnati Conservatory.
Kristen served on the music staff of Sarasota Opera from 2003-2015, where she was also the Studio Artist Director for her last five seasons. As a member of the coaching staff for Sherrill Milnes V.O.I.C.Experience, Kristen has had the pleasure of working with the programs in New York, Florida and Savannah since 2010.
After moving to New York City in 2013, Kristen has been a frequent performer and collaborator at the Mannes School of Music, Hunter College, and numerous concerts with piano and orchestra at Carnegie Hall and David Geffen Hall. Additionally, each February Kristen joins the Metropolitan Opera Guild Opera Singers Intensive, coaching students in a week-long training program.
In 2018, Kristen joined the faculty at Manhattan School of Music as a coach in Opera Theater. She received her Master’s degree in collaborative piano and Artist Diploma in opera coaching from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
KAREN Driscoll, masterclass
Karen Driscoll is John J. Cali School of Music's Head of Artistic Operations/Opera as well as a Clinical Specialist of Voice. Ms. Driscoll recently directed Cali Chamber Opera's The Ghosts of Gatsby, The Beautiful Bridegroom and has led multiple scenes programs for MSU's Opera Workshop classes, as well as role preparation productions including Sweeney Todd and La Bohème to name a few. She has also enjoyed collaborating on many occasions as not only a soprano soloist with MSU Singers and Chorale choirs but also as director of Considering Matthew Shepard. As a soprano, Ms. Driscoll has sung leading roles with Seattle Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Florentine Opera, L'Opéra de Montréal, Vancouver Opera, Virginia Opera, Baltimore Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, National Lyric Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Columbus, Toledo Opera, Opera Carolina, Hawaii Opera Theater, New Jersey State Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Long Beach Opera, Worcester Chorus and Masterwork Chorus to name a few. She is a native of Ohio where she began her music studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and also where she holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Master of Music Degree in Vocal Performance.
Ginny Stephens, Pianist
Ginny Stephens is a piano teacher, collaborative artist/vocal coach, and choral accompanist. Most recently, she toured the UK with an award-winning choir and performed in cathedrals in Scotland and England. She is an adjunct professor at Montclair State University where she accompanies and coaches musical theater and classical voice students. She performed The Beautiful Bridegroom by Dan Shore with the MSU opera last fall. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Bob Jones University and a Master of Music Degree in piano performance from Colorado State University. Some of her other favorite musical experiences include working for the Virginia Opera as the opera chorus accompanist and performing art songs in concert with baritone, John Lueck. Ginny lives in Wayne, NJ with her husband Karl. They have three adult daughters.
Craig Rutenberg, MasterClass
Pianist and vocal coach Craig Rutenberg was born in New Haven, CT After studies at Georgetown University in German and Italian, he studied with John Wustman at the University of Illinois for two years before leaving for Paris, France to concentrate his studies on French Mélodies with Pierre Bernac. While living in Paris he also worked for the Opéra-Studio de Paris and prepared opera and vocal music for Pierre Boulez at L’I.R.C.A.M. He also studied chamber music with violinist Miriam Solovieff. In 1979 Mr. Rutenberg was invited to the Glyndebourne Festival Opera where he continued to coach every summer for the next ten seasons. While in the UK, he pursued further studies with Martin Isepp and Geoffrey Parsons. Mr. Rutenberg joined the music staff of the Houston Grand Opera and Opera Studio in 1980 and in 1986 joined the music staff of The Metropolitan Opera, becoming Head of Music in 1989. He has also coached at The San Francisco Opera, The Lyric Opera of Chicago, Covent Garden, ENO, The Royal Opera in Stockholm as well as Gothenburg, the Royal Opera in Copenhagen and in Oslo at The National Opera. He remains a vocal advisor at the Mariinsky Opera. In recital, Mr. Rutenberg has appeared with Thomas Hampson, Jerry Hadley, Ben Heppner, Olaf Bär, Diana Damrau, Felicity Lott, Christine Brewer, Maria Guleghina, Harolyn Blackwell,Susanne Mentzer, Sondra Radvanovsky, Bryn Terfel, and Placido Domingo amongst others. He has also recorded with or performed on radio and television with most of these artists. His recordings appear on DG, Naxos, EMI/Angel, BMI and Warner.
““Why participate in Respiro? You will be taken out of your comfort zone, have your performance weaknesses targeted by super knowledgeable, friendly and awesome faculty, receive tools to practice and improve. You will return home with increased confidence as a performer and singer.””
past faculty
ken benson, artist manager, masterclass
Ken Benson is one of the leading managers for opera singers, including 25 years as Vice-President of Columbia Artists Management, Inc.,where his artists included Thomas Hampson, Aprile Millo,, Jerry Hadley, Florence Quivar, Susanne Mentzer, Marcello Giordani and Jamie Barton. He is Vocal consultant at Juilliard School of Music, and he regularly gives classes and consultations at Yale, UCLA, Mannes, Manhattan School of Music, Boston Conservatory, DePaul, Roosevelt and Indiana Universities. He also offers private consultations. Mr. Benson is invited to serve as adjudicator for the Metropolitan Opera National Council’s auditions, as well as to judge in most of the major vocal competitions throughout the US. Frequently, he lectures on operatic subjects, includes a series of talks on Wagner’s “Ring” at the Metropolitan Opera House. He is also heard as frequent Host and panelist on the Metropolitan Opera broadcast’s Opera quiz. As a writer, he regularly contributes to such publications as Opera News and Classical Singer magazine. He has recently returned to Artists Management, representing a select group of the most talented singers from the emerging generation. www.kenbensonartists.com
Alan Johnson, Vocal Coach
Alan Johnson is a Professor in the Department of Vocal Performance and Music Director/Conductor of the Frost Opera Theater at the Frost School of Music, at the University of Miami. In a professional career of 30 plus years, he has collaborated with distinguished singers in concert and opera, both nationally and internationally. As music director, conductor, pianist, vocal coach, and new opera advocate, he has prepared, performed, and premiered many of the most notable and progressive works in opera and music theater. His work has garnered Bessie and Drama Desk awards as well as an OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence in Music Direction, and a Joseph Jefferson Award for Outstanding Music Direction for the premieres of The Sound of a Voice and Hotel of Dreams, two one-act operas by Philip Glass and David Henry Hwang. His long association with Philip Glass has included musical direction for premieres in opera (In the Penal Colony, The Sound of a Voice), dance/musical theater (Provenance Unknown, The Mysteries and What’s So Funny?!), and theater (Henry IV Parts I and II, Cymbeline, In the Summer House), as well as music preparation for the premieres of Book of Longing, The Making of the Representative for Planet 8, Hydrogen Jukebox, Orphée, and La Belle et La Bête. Honors also include the 2012 Phillip and Patricia Frost Award for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship, University of Miami Provost Research Awards featuring concerts of music by composers Philip Glass and Anthony Davis, and a Rockefeller Residency in Bellagio, Italy with composer Mary Ellen Childs. He has held the position of Music Director at the John Duffy Institute for New Opera at the Virginia Arts Festival since 2009 and appears regularly in recital with singers, most recently in New York, California, Alabama, New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, North Carolina, Iowa, and Wisconsin. As conductor of Frost Opera Theater, Alan has programmed and led repertory from the Baroque period to the present day. He holds a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from the University of Miami and a Master of Music in Vocal Coaching and Accompanying from the University of Illinois, mentored by legendary pianists Ivan Davis and John Wustman.
Rich Fryling, Stress Management for Peak Performance
Rich Fryling marries 25 years of corporate experience with a lifetime of personal development. Rich is founder and CEO of The Walking Brand, a company dedicated to helping corporate leaders change their relationship to stress so they can more effectively lead healthy and thriving teams. Rich is also co-founder of BetterU, a mind training company that helps people achieve their most important personal goals by developing the skills of Focus, Relaxation and Connection. Rich has held senior marketing roles in New York City based advertising firms, helping companies like Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Chase, Glaxo SmithKline, Walmart, Kimberly Clark, Fresh Direct, build world class brands. Rich holds a 5th degree blackbelt in Shinshin Toitsu Aikido and is Head Instructor of New York Ki Aikido. He is a certified associated lecturer and examiner by Ki no Kenkyukai in Japan.
NICk NETOS, ARTIST MANAGER
Nick Netos, founder, President and CEO of Alpha Artists Management LLC, earned a B.S. in Music from the University of Maine, M.M. in Vocal Performance from Boston University and a Certificate of Arts Administration from New York University. As a classically trained singer, he sang throughout the US and Canada with regional opera companies and also performed in musical theater and film during his career. For five years he was an Associate for a London-based artist management company responsible for the start-up of that company’s New York bureau co-managing the careers of over 70 artists. He is the former Managing Director of Encompass New Music Theater which specialized in contemporary opera as theater. Additionally, he has a combined thirteen years corporate experience in financial services with Goldman Sachs & Co. as a Business Analyst; and, as an Associate in Marketing and Communications with JPMorgan Chase and the former Bear Stearns Asset Management group. Now in its tenth year, Alpha Artists Management has grown into a niche management agency serving vocal artists and conductors globally in their pursuit of excellence in their craft. The company has collaborated with important companies both at home and abroad. The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Glyndebourne, Deutsch Oper Berlin, Opera North (UK), Saltzburger Landestheater, Den Norske Opera, Minnesota Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Florida Grand Opera, Florentine Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, Boston Lyric Opera, Bard Music Festival, Moscow Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic along with numerous others, are companies Alpha Artists has liaised with on behalf of their artists.
dillon mccartney, artist manager, guest lecturer
Dillon McCartney’s experience encompasses multiple facets of the performing arts including performance, casting and artist management. Most recently, he managed the careers of classical singing artists as the Senior Artist Manager at Robert Gilder & Co. where he led the New York City office. While there he utilized the numerous contacts he had developed in opera casting during his fourteen-year tenure with NYIOP Inc., LLC as Director of Business Development and Special Events. Since NYIOP’s inception, he worked directly with David Blackburn, Founder and CEO of the company, facilitating almost every aspect of this innovative company, presenting veteran as well as emerging talent to more than 150 international opera houses including: The Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, La Scala, Arena di Verona, Bolshoi Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Gran Teatro del Liceu, Chicago Lyric Opera, Salzburg Festival, San Francisco Opera, Théâtre de Paris, Chinese National Opera Bejing, Oper Zurich, Bayreuth Festival and Opera Australia.
Mr. McCartney’s insight and perspective into the casting process and artist management, cultivated over nearly fifteen years of “sitting behind the table” at thousands of auditions, his ongoing relationships with New York’s leading operatic talent managers and industry professionals along with his own thirty years of experience singing opera, musical theater and concert repertoire on many of the world’s greatest stages have made him a successful, effective and sought after audition coach and consultant.
He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University from which he graduated with University and College Honors.
deborah birnbaum, voice teacher, guest lecturer
Deborah Birnbaum (Guest Lecturer 2015, 2016) is an internationally established teacher. Her expertise in breath technique originates from her own private vocal studies with renowned soprano, Montserrat Caballé. Widely sought after as a teacher/clinician, Ms. Birnbaum has a unique ability to help singers assimilate the mechanics of bel canto breath support while working within the context of their vocal technique. Ms. Birnbaum is regularly scheduled for guest teaching engagements at the Metropolitan Opera (National Council Auditions), San Francisco Opera (Merola and Adler Fellowship Program), Houston Grand Opera Studio, Wolf Trap, Glimmerglass Opera, Rice University, Los Angeles Opera (Domingo-Thornton young Artist Program) and the Washington Opera (Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program). In addition, Ms. Birnbaum has served as a judge for several prestigious vocal competitions including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, (District Level), the Gerda Lissner Foundation and the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation.
Bill connington, alexander technique
Bill Connington (Guest instructor 2014, 2015) is considered one of the world’s leading experts in the Alexander Technique and applying it to performance. A lecturer in acting at Yale School of Drama, he is also former Chairman of the Board of the American Center for the Alexander Technique, he is author of “Physical Expression on Stage and Screen: A Performer’s Guide to the Alexander Technique” (Bloomsbury). Bill has taught at The Juilliard School Opera Center, The Actors Studio Drama School, and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He specializes in working with classical singers, and has collaborated with some of the most well-known voice teachers and coaches.
maxine davis, feldenkrais, guest lecturer
Maxine Davis (2017 Guest instructor)received her Bachelors in Music Education and a Masters in Performance from SUNY at Fredonia and subsequently received a Fulbright grant to study voice with Herta Topper and Erik Werba at the Hochschule fur Musik in Munich Germany. After moving to New York City she pursued a career as a singer and voice teacher and was introduced to The Feldenkrais Method through her studies with Anat Baniel. Those lessons were so transformative that she took the New York Feldenkrais Training with Anat and since her graduation in 1991 she has been working with musicians, performers, people dealing with a wide variety of issues with pain and motor skills as well as people wanting to discover their own authentic voice and path.
Maxine has given presentations for Classical Singers Magazine Conventions, the New School, the viola studio of Heidi Castleman at Juilliard, and NYU, as well as workshops at SUNY at Fredonia, Duke University, UNC at Greensboro North Carolina and Rutgers University. Since 1998 she has been providing Feldenkrais lessons as part of the Voice program of Marlena Malas at Chautauqua Institution. She currently lives in New York City and maintains a private studio as well as teaches weekly class at The 92nd St. Y and on the Upper West Side.
gorden schermer, accompanist, 2014 & 2015
Gordon Schermer (Pianist 2014, 2015) is an extremely versatile musician equally at home in opera, art song, musical theater and chamber music. His performances have taken him across the United States as well as Canada, Italy, Austria and Israel. He has performed in venues such as Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall in New York and the Salle Bourgie in Montréal. In Montréal, he helped recreate a unique two-piano transcription of Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias originally arranged by Benjamin Britten for the Aldeburgh Festival. He has been a fellowship coach at the Aspen Music Festival and School where he served as the children’s chorus master for Puccini’s La bohème and rehearsal pianist/coach for Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. In addition, he was also chosen to play the Verdi Requiem for renowned conductor Leonard Slatkin. He was selected as the official accompanist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Central Illinois district in both 2006 and 2007. Mr. Schermer has appeared in master classes given by Marilyn Horne, Sherrill Milnes, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Catherine Malfitano and Nathan Gunn among others. A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Mr. Schermer now resides in Manhattan. He is an adjunct professor at Montclair State University and a staff member at Manhattan School of Music and the Bard College Conservatory of Music. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master’s Degree in Accompanying from Manhattan School of Music. His teachers have included Ian Hobson, Kenneth Merrill and John Wustman.
SOYEON KIM, PIANO ACCOMPANIST
Soyeon Kim has appeared as a solo and collaborative pianist throughout the United States, Europe and Korea. In 2010, she performed at the Water for Haiti Benefit Concert at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, and has performed in many similar venues including the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Sejong Center and ArKo Arts Theater in Seoul, Korea, the Croatian Music Institution in Zagreb, Croatia, Konzerthaus in Berlin and Gasteig in Munich, Germany. She has also performed in many chamber series including those sponsored by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Cathedral Saint John Divine, Trinity at One, and Music at Penn Alps. She has won awards in several competitions including First Prize and Best interpretation in the Liszt in William Garrison Piano Competition, Second Prize in the Artur Balsam Competition for Duos, and the New Triad Foundation Fellowship. She has participated in masterclasses with such artists as Marilyn Horne, Thomas Hampson, Anna Moffo, Dalton Baldwin, Fiorenza Cossotto, and Giacomo Aragall. She has received B.M. and M.M. degrees in piano performance from Seoul National University, and a M.M. degree and D.M.A. degree in Collaborative Piano from Manhattan School of Music. She serves as Head of music of staff at Bel Canto in Tuscany in Italy.
Sandra Hormozi, Vocal Agent
Sandra Hormozi is a member of the Encompass Artist Management team and has appeared as the Professional Development Audition Masterclass guru and Artistic Consultant in such programs as the Russian Opera Workshop at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, the Atelier d'Excellence Career Development program, the SoftlyLoud Career Development program, Classical Lyric Arts and the Academia di Alto Perfezionamento Vocale D’Annunzio Lombardi. She has also served as a jury member for the Zenith Competition, Camerata Bardi International Vocal Competition, James Toland Vocal Arts Competition and is the Artistic Secretary for the Vincerò International Italian Vocal Competition and US auditions coordinator and member of the jury for the auditions. Sandra possesses the knowledge of the music, business, and philanthropic industries from the inside-out. Known for many years for her singing, Ms. Hormozi’s background has given her fine-tuned appreciation for artistic excellence and the realities and practicalities of the current state of the industry. Her work with premier operatic artists and business leaders has set the bar high for artistic standards, tempered with a down-to-earth work ethic.
Sandra Hormozi began at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. She was a Studio Artist with Central City Opera, a Young Artist with Sarasota Opera and spent two summers as an Apprentice Artist with Santa Fe Opera. She then completed two years as a Young Artist with Pittsburgh Opera, under the leadership of famed director, Tito Capobianco, where she performed a wide range of roles both in the mezzo-soprano and ultimately in Europe soprano repertoire. Sandra has also sung many concerts around the world and was a finalist of the Luciano Pavarotti International Vocal Competition and district winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She has participated in numerous master classes and worked with legendary artists Franco Corelli, Regine Crespin, Birgit Nilsson, Evelyn Lear, Martin Katz, Hermann Prey and Renata Scotto.