ArtsBridge Faculty
Please note: not all faculty are currently teaching at ArtsBridge programs.
Pianist and Vocal Coach Jason Aquila is the Music Director for the Voice Performance program
at the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory. He recently prepared the BW production of Dido and
Aeneas, which he also led from the harpsichord. Jason has served as coach and assistant
music director for many recent productions at Baldwin Wallace, including La Boheme, Hansel
and Gretel, La Finta Giardiniera, The Tragedy of Carmen, Dialogues of the Carmelites. Il
Matrimonio Segreto, and The Rake’s Progress.
He has performed with acclaimed artists including soprano Jennifer Rowley, mezzo-soprano
Mary Ann Hart, flutist Donald Peck, American Horn Competition winner Andrew Pelletier,
violinist Xiang Gao, and various members of the Cleveland Orchestra.
Jason has served as an official collaborative pianist for the International Horn Symposium, and
for the Music Teachers National Association Convention.
Jason received a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from Florida Southern
College, and a Master of Music degree in Accompanying and Chamber Music from the
Cleveland Institute of Music.
Before joining Baldwin Wallace, Jason served as the Coordinator of Accompanying at Western
Illinois University for 10 years.Enter answer here
John is an actor, writer, director and producer for both stage and screen. He is currently in post-production for a feature-length film he’s directing featuring Annette Bening, Laura Dern, Common, Michael C. Hall, among others. He wrote and directed the award-winning short film, Children of the Struggle, about the fight for Black civil rights which was seen in film festivals across the country, aired on PBS and is in dozens of high school and college libraries nationwide. In 2019 he directed a film about iconic acting coach Ivana Chubbuck which is distributed through Films for the Humanities and was a consulting producer for the indie film hit, MFA seen on Netflix. He has directed theatre at such venues as the Kirk Douglas Theatre, The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center and LaMama. He is a Full Professor of Theatre at Chapman University.
Heather Benton is an actor/ director that specializes in integrated approaches to actor training and physical theatre. She has created and/or performed original and devised work in New York City: Performateria: Immersive Theatre Festival(Blessed Unrest), undergroundzero festival (Chasing Immortality: A Performance Lecture, Automotive, Half Awake and Falling Through the Sky), East River Commedia (Serenade and Philosopher Fox, The Magnificent Cuckold), Theatre Trouve (Living with Betty).Regionally: Montana Repertory Theatre, Missoula, MT (Dark Matter: Underking 1 and the Code of Light). University/ Conservatory Theatre: The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York, NY (Paradise Ridge: a Lopahkin Development, House on Fireand Dark Matter) Kenyon College (Blood: of Brothers and Sisters) and Montclair State University (Sentience, Sex, Love and Information, Penance: Ghost of Don Juan). Acting Credits:National Tours: Montana Repertory Theatre (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Trip to Bountiful). Regional Theatre: American Repertory Theatre (Highway Ulysses dir. Robert Woodruff and Children of Herakles dir. Peter Sellars), A Contemporary Theatre, North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, Sierra Repertory Theatre, Village Theatre, Luna Stage, Children’s Theatre Company etc... Benton is the Program Coordinator for the B.F.A. Acting Program in the Department of Theatre and Dance at MSU. Previously, she was a member of the core faculty and the Head of Movement at theAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, NY. She is a member of Actor’s Equity Association and the Devising Chair for Region 2 of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Benton received her MFA in Acting from American Repertory Theatre/ Moscow Art Theatre at Harvard University.
Julie Boyd is an accomplished Actor, Educator, Director and Coach based in New York City. She has decades of experience at the highest levels of University training programs and is the Director of the Fordham Summer Musical Theatre Workshop. New York acting credits include "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (Roundabout/PBS) directed by Jerry Zaks, and "Noises Off" (Broadway) directed by Michael Blakemore. Regional theatre includes productions at Long Wharf, the McCarter, the Kennedy Center, Williamstown, the Goodman, and the Guthrie. Boyd also works extensively in film and television. She received her BFA from the University of Utah and her MFA from Yale Drama School. Her in-depth knowledge of acting and training sets her apart as one of the best in the business whether she is teaching, directing or acting. Her gentle approach, coupled with her rigorous work ethic are her hallmarks of excellence.
Victoria Bussert balances the professional and academic worlds dividing her time between an active career as an award-winning free-lance director while holding the position of Director of Music Theatre for Baldwin Wallace University. Nationally, her work has been seen at Manhattan Theatre Club, York Theatre, New World Stages, Goodspeed Opera, Playhouse Square, Portland Stage, Dallas Theatre Center, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and the Beck Center for the Arts among others. Her international credits include Friar Tuck in Russia, The Who's Tommy in Brazil, the Danish Premiere of Avenue Q (2012 Reumert Award Nomination) and the European Premieres of LIZZIE and [title of show] for the Fredericia Teater in Denmark. Recent productions include the critically acclaimed production of Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 for the Idaho Shakespeare Festival/Great Lakes Theatre, the regional premiere of Ride the Cyclone for Beck Center for the Arts and Ordinary Days for Playhouse Square.
Professor and Director of the A. Max Weitzenhoffer School of Musical Theatre at the University of Oklahoma. Go Sooners! Following a long acting career in New York and around the world, Ashton earned his MFA in Directing with an emphasis in Musical Theatre from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) in 2010. He then went on to coordinate the Musical Theatre Performance program and serve as Associate Chair and Academic Director for the nation’s largest Theatre Department at Columbia College Chicago. He’s had the privilege of working with students that have gone on to Broadway, National Tours, Regional and stock theatres all over the country.
Ashton's acting credits include three seasons on Broadway in Susan Stroman’s annual A Christmas Carol starring Tim Curry, F. Murray Abraham and Jim Dale, and he was featured in the National Touring companies of The Producers (US and Tokyo), Fiddler on the Roof with Theodore Bikel, the Tommy Tune revival of Grease! with Adrian Zmed, Sutton Foster and Marissa Jaret Winokur, Will Rogers Follies, I Love New York, and My Fair Lady (Europe). Ashton has also played roles in many regional productions around the country including: Titanic (Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma), The Music Man (Little Theatre on the Square), The Spitfire Grill (Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Arkansas Rep.), Forever Plaid (Flat Rock Playhouse, NC), Joseph…Dreamcoat and Cats (Ogunquit Playhouse, ME), West Side Story (Westchester Broadway Theatre, NY), Kingdom (World Premiere with the Denver Center Theatre Company), and he earned his Equity card in The Secret Garden at the Paper Mill Playhouse.
His directing work includes Hello, Dolly!, Disney's Beauty and the Beast and How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at The Little Theatre on the Square, [title of show] and The Marvelous Wonderettes at Open Door Theatre in Chicago, Bye Bye Birdie and Annie Get Your Gun for the Wilmette Starlight Theatre; Anything Goes, Orpheus Descending, Urinetown and Godspell at CCM, and Rent, Victor/Victoria, Oklahoma!, Once On This Island, and Sweet Charity at Columbia College Chicago, and most recently Legally Blonde for the University of Oklahoma. Professor Byrum earned his undergraduate degree in Musical Theatre from Catawba College. Originally from Winston-Salem, NC, he and his wife, Gina, and their 10-year-old son, Dylan, moved to Norman, OK, from Oak Park, IL.
Steve lives in Minneapolis with his brilliant wife Georgina Stoyles and amazing
daughter Zoey. He has been part of the faculty for the University of Minnesota BFA Actor Training Program since 2005, teaching Play Analysis, Acting Shakespeare, Auditioning, and Period Styles, and has directed several Shakespeare productions at the university and regionally. Acting credits include roles at the Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Texas, and Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festivals, Hope Repertory (Holland, MI), Riverside (Iowa City), and at Chicago area theaters. Originally from the Philadelphia area, Steve received his M.F.A. from the University of Delaware’s Professional Theater Training Program and was a founding member of the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express (now the American Shakespeare Center), taking part in four of their tours as both an actor and director.
Salvatore Champagne has appeared in opera houses and concert halls throughout the United States and Europe. His career began in 1988 when he was chosen to be the tenor soloist in a European tour of Leonard Bernstein's Songfest conducted by the composer. Immediately thereafter he joined the ensemble of the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, Germany, appearing in a wide range of leading lyric tenor roles. For the next ten years he was engaged as guest artist in many of Europe’s finest opera houses, among them the Opernhaus Zürich, Opéra du Rhin, Teatro Bellini, and the Bayerische Staatsoper.
In addition to his opera performances Champagne has appeared in recital and concert with such performing organizations as the London Philharmonia, Cologne Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. His singing has been recognized with numerous awards, including prizes at the Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition and the International Singing Competition s’Hertogenbosch, as well as grants from MUSICA, the Sullivan Foundation, and the National Institute for Musical Theater.
In 2004, at the suggestion his teacher and mentor, Richard Miller, Champagne joined the voice faculty of his alma mater, Oberlin College Conservatory, where he now serves as Professor of Singing and Director of the Vocal Studies Division. He is currently a much sought after teacher and gives lectures and master classes throughout the United States. Mr. Champagne’s students have won many prestigious competitions, including the Metropolitan Opera Council auditions, and appear regularly with premiere performing organizations throughout the United States and abroad.
Pianist Dr. Alison d'Amato is passionately engaged as performer and teacher in the full spectrum of collaborative musical genres, particularly skilled in song and text-based genres. A valued colleague and innovative mentor, she is Artistic Co-Director of Florestan Recital Project, Assistant Professor of Vocal Coaching at Eastman School of Music, Program co-Director of Art song Lab, and Lecturer in Voice at University at Buffalo. In all these activities, Dr. d’Amato is dedicated to energizing the relationships and communication inherent in music and bringing students’ love for their music to the forefront of their projects.
Alison has developed several projects that explore interdisciplinary collaborations and new approaches to the performer-audience relationship. Since 2003, Alison has been Artistic Co-Director of Florestan Recital Project (
www.florestanproject.org), engages audiences and artists in a broad spectrum of art song collaborations through performances, recordings, and mentoring. From 2007-2015, she was a Founding Faculty member of Vancouver International Song Institute (VISI), a summer program for innovative performance and interdisciplinary study. In 2011, she co-created the Art Song Lab (
www.artsonglab.com), a program that facilitates creative interaction between writers, composers, and performers from around the world to advance the genre of contemporary art song.
Alison has been a guest artist at The AmBul Festival (Sofia, Bulgaria), SOURCE Song Festival, Boston Conservatory, Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto), Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, SUNY Fredonia, and Dickinson College. In addition to traditional masterclasses in collaborative repertoire, Alison has shared classes with colleagues in Humanities, musicology, poetry, composition, and performance disciplines.
Recent recording projects include
The Complete Songs of Virgil Thomson (New World Records) and
Music for Violin and Piano by Joseph Achron with violinist Michael Ludwig (Naxos). Recent concert activities feature programs at the Schubert Club (St. Paul, MN), premieres with Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), Wordsong, and the Buffalo Chamber Players, and recitals with acclaimed soprano Tony Arnold.
Byron was awarded the 2011 Society of Director’s and Choreographer’s Joe A. Callaway Award and an Audelco Award for excellence in choreography for the Off-Broadway production of Langston in Harlem. A two-time winner of Atlanta’s Suzi Bass Award in choreography for the Alliance Theatre’s productions of Sophisticated Ladies and Jelly’s Last Jam, his work as Choreographer, Assistant Choreographer and/or Assistant Director has been represented at Ensemble Theatre Company, San Jose Repertory, Cleveland Playhouse, Arizona Theatre Company, Baltimore Center Stage, The Goodman Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, City Center Encores, North Shore Music Theatre, Hartford Stage, Trinity Repertory, Two River Theatre Company, Pioneer Theatre Company and the Maltz Jupiter Theatre.
As a performer, Byron has been seen on the PBS Dance in America Special Fosse, and the series Broadway: The American Musical. He has been a featured player in the Broadway companies of: Fosse, Play On, Oh Kay, and The Tap Dance Kid, in addition to numerous national tours, regional productions, TV specials, commercials, industrial shows and films. Prior to joining the Department of Drama’s New Studio on Broadway, Byron was a full-time faculty member at Carnegie Mellon’s School of Drama - teaching dance.
Rick Edinger (he/they) is a proud queer AAPI music supervisor, conductor, educator, vocal coach, pianist, and actor. They serve as the Area Chair for the Acting/ Music Theater program & Associate Professor of Music Theater at Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama. For the School of Drama, they have served as Music Director or Music Supervisor on Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens (Gary Kline, director), …Great Comet, Cabaret, Godspell (Tomé Cousin, director), Into the Woods (Matthew Gardiner, director), and HAIR (Jason A. Sparks, director), as well as Vocal Coach/Music Advisor for A/B Machines (Phillip Gates, director).
Recent Music Supervisor or Music Director credits include: The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical (La Jolla Playhouse; Christopher Ashley, director), The Visitor (The Public Theater; Daniel Sullivan, director), Trading Places (Alliance Theatre & Pre-Broadway Workshop; Kenny Leon, director), Joy: A New Musical (George Street Playhouse; Casey Hushion, director), In the Mood (developmental workshop- Chris Maring Productions; Kenny Leon, director), Songs for a New World (New City Music Theatre; Miles J. Sternfeld, director), and The Amazing Mr. X (developmental workshop- Michael Cassel Group; Jenny Koons, director).
As a strong advocate for the development of new works, Edinger plays a large role in the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s (NAMT) annual endeavors as a member of the NAMT Board of Directors. For NAMT’s annual Festival of New Musicals, they have served as consultant on MAYA (Arpita Mukherjee, director), Hart Island (Raja Feather Kelly, director), The River Is Me (Schele Williams, director) and Interstate (Jesca Prudencio, director).
In a past life, Rick made his Broadway debut (as an actor) in Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures and worked on all of Sondheim’s notable 75th birthday concerts in New York and Los Angeles.
For more information: www.rickedinger.com. Instagram: @rickedingernyc
Helen Farmer (she/her) regional credits include: Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, The Stratford Festival, Crossroads Theater, The Classical Theatre Lab, Shakespeare in the Rough, Theatre and Co, Dorset Theatre, and Co-Lab Arts. New York theatre includes work with Ensemble Studio Theatre, Project Y Theatre, Boundless Theatre Project. Recent projects include: the US premiere of Kotryna Gesait’s
Cocoon and the audio pod cast series
"The Lovely Dark". Originally Canadian, Helen was trained as an improviser at Keith Johnstone’s Loose Moose Theater, worked at Toronto’s Second City and is a veteran of several Fringe Festival shows. A Meisner trained actor Helen received an MFA in acting from Rutgers University’s MGSA. She pursed Meisner teacher training under the tutelage of Kevin Kittle (formerly of MGSA) and spent several years working alongside him while at Rutgers. Helen is a certified Alexander technique teacher and was part of ArtsBridge’s inaugural GapYear program, where she taught Movement for the Actor. After 9 years at Rutgers teaching in both the BFA and MFA programs, Helen has recently started a new role as the Head of Acting at the Molloy University/ CAP 21 program in New York.
Melissa Foster is an educator, voice specialist, theatre artist, researcher, and speaker. As a voice teacher, she specializes in musical theatre, pop styles, the history and performance of hip-hop, and opera/musical theatre crossover.
Foster is Associate Professor of Instruction in the Musical Theatre area of the Department of Theatre at Northwestern University. She is on faculty for The CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute with a focus on “Teaching Pop Styles,” she is a rap and R&B coach for Rock the Audition, and she is a resident vocal consultant for the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She has also been guest faculty for Broadway Breakthru, IHSTA, Stagelighter, The Cherubs Program, and she serves as artist in residence for the ArtsLink Foundation.
Foster has taught countless masterclasses and workshops around the world. Highlights include a co-taught, live-streamed Masterclass with world renowned opera legend, Renee Fleming. Foster’s Presentation of “Rocking the Singing Boat: Pop, Rock, Singer Songwriter, Folk, Country and R&B Styles” has been seen in numerous venues nationwide -- most recently in San Francisco, South Bend, New York, Chicago, Palo Alto and Birmingham. Upcoming guest lectures include multiple universities including Temple, Goshen, Samford, and Oakland. This summer, Foster is presenting at the National conference for the National Association of Teachers of Singing with a 4-hour featured workshop on Hip-Hop and Accessibility. Internationally, Foster is a Visiting Artist and Master Technician for a coalition of institutions and universities in Xi’an, China, Guangzhou, China, and Hong Kong. She is the Chair of Voice for the Musical Theatre Educators Alliance and is also on their executive committee.
Currently, Melissa is writing a book entitled “Hip-Hop: Rap and R&B~ A Performers Guide” (release date 2023) (Rowman and Littlefield Publishing). She lives in Chicago with her Husband Matt, and their 9-year-old daughter, Viva.
Quin is a professional theatre director recently transplanted from the NYC. His NYC directing credits include: The Picture of Dorian Gray (Sonnet Repertory Theatre), The Dinner Party (Lincoln Center Institute), Babette’s Feast (World Premiere-Threads Theatre Co.), Hot Cripple (Seeing Place Theater), Things We Want (TheatreLab), Red Light Winter(DPVCT), Modern Love (Theatre Row), The Power of the Crystals (NYC Fringe Fest). Regionally he has directed Shostakovich's Hamlet (Aspen Music Festival, John Mauceri-conductor). Quin is a graduate of The New Actor's Workshop where he trained under Mike Nichols, Paul Sills, and George Morrison. He received his BFA in directing from UNCSA where he now serves on the faculty teaching acting and directing and serves as the Director of Recruitment. At UNCSA he recently directed Stephen Adley Guirgis' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Vaclav Havel's The Memorandum and CP Taylor's Good with an orchestra of 20 onstage. He has also directed workshop productions of Shakespeare's All's Well that Ends Well, Two Gentlemen of Verona and Othello.
Hanley is a sought-after pedagogue, combining his experience as a classical singer and teacher into well-rounded classical and musical theater teaching styles. His students have achieved success in a variety of genres including musical theater, opera, and commercial music. From 2013 to 2015, Hanley served on the faculty of Syracuse University's Department of Drama and Setnor School of Music, where he taught voice, voice for musical theater, and musicianship courses. Hanley was most recently seen at the Aspen Music Festival in 2015, performing the role of Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, and as a guest artist with Penn State Opera Theatre in La Bohème. Other notable credits include James Vane in The Picture of Dorian Gray (Aspen Opera Theater Center, 2014), Spinelloccio in Gianni Schicchi (Aspen Opera Theater Center, 2013), and the title role in Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor (Eastman Opera Theatre, 2010). Hanley is actively engaged in academic research and recently presented his work Bridging the Gap between Theatre Voice Training and the Male Singing Voice with colleague Jared Trudeau at the Fall Voice Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He also studied entrepreneurship and the integration of entrepreneurship in Conservatory curricula as a Kauffman Entrepreneurial Scholar at the University of Rochester. Hanley holds a B.M. from the Eastman School of Music and an M.M. in voice pedagogy and performance from Penn State University. Hanley was a 2016 NATS Teaching Intern and maintains private voice studios in Boston and New York. Additionally, he serves on the voice faculty of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and the Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Michael will be teaching voice in ArtsBridge 2 this summer.
Colleen Longshaw Jackson is a Cleveland, Ohio native. She is currently the director of community partnerships and programming at Cleveland Play House. At Cleveland Play House, Jackson was part of the team to develop and implement the CARE program (Compassionate Arts Remaking Education). CARE is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. CARE uses theatre education to teach social emotional competencies and to increase English Language Arts scores in the K-12 student population.
Jackson is a Certified Trauma Professional, a certification she uses in conjunction with anti-racism and equity, diversity and inclusion facilitation and training. She works to dismantle white supremacist culture within organizations by helping organizations to identify existing ideologies and work to destroy the root of oppression and systems in place to keep them thriving.
She is an inclusion, diversity, equity and access training facilitator and trainer. She centers her EDI work around helping arts organizations and educational institutions. Her group facilitation techniques help to navigate communication around difficult topics and create a plan to keep those lines of communication open. She helps organizations with strategic planning and empowers faculty, staff and students.
Jackson became a member of the Actor's Equity Association in 2003 and continues to work as a professional actress. Her work as an actress and commitment to the craft make dismantling oppressive systems within theatre a burning priority and one which she is passionate about improving.
Credits include: "Kiss Me, Kate" (National Tour), "The Groove Factory" (New York Music Theatre Festival), "Hairspray" (Northshore Music Theatre, Porthouse Theatre), "Pipeline" (Cleveland Play House), "The Full Monty" (Northshore Music Theatre), "The Piano Lesson" (Cleveland Play House), "Starmites" (Porthouse Theatre), "Made in America" (Dobama Theatre), "A Christmas Carol" (Great Lakes Theatre), "The Color Purple" (Karamu House), "Dreamgirls" (Cain Park), "Once On This Island" (Porthouse Theatre), "Big River" (Porthouse Theatre), "Avenue X" (Cain Park), "Godspell" (Porthouse Theatre, Cain Park), "Aida" (The Beck Center), "The Buddy Holly Story" (Carousel Dinner Theater), and "Twelfth Night" (Ohio Shakespeare Festival).
Previous Teaching:
Associate Professor of Acting and Directing UNCSA
Assistant Professor, Head of BFA Acting The Theatre School at DePaul University
Assistant Professor Carnegie Mellon University
Directing credits include: Richard III (Utah Shakespeare Festival), Down in the face of
God (UNCSA), Fences (Resident Ensemble Players Rep) A movie star has to star in black
and white, Suddenly last summer (UNCSA), Othello, Twelfth Night, Pericles (Notre Dame
Shakespeare) Julius Caesar (Shakespeare Theatre Company: Academy for Classical Acting)
Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet (DePaul University, fall 2016), Seven Guitars, Once on this
Island (Carnegie Mellon University) Underneath the Lintel (12 Peers theatre).
Theatre Credits include: Teatro Vista, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Kennedy
Center, Resident Ensemble Players, Texas Shakespeare Festival, Alabama Shakespeare
Festival, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Richmond Shakespeare Festival, Michigan
Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre.
Acting: Notable works include: Benedick in Much ado about Nothing, Othello in Othello,
Dogberry in Much ado about Nothing, Booth in Top dog/underdog, Mercutio in Romeo
and Juliet, John Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest, Oberon in A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, Hud in Hair, Cleante in The Imaginary Invalid,
Bill Walker in Major Barbara, Cory in Fences.
Television: The Orville, Chicago Med,
Film: Widows (directed by Steve McQueen), The world without you, Sister Carrie
Voice-overs and commercial: Kellogg’s Raisin Bran, Honey Nut Cheerios, Dodge Ram,
PBS, TD Bank, The Pennsylvania Lottery and Subway.
Russian-American soprano Dina Kuznetsova has attracted considerable attention for her outstanding musicianship and captivating stage presence and has graced the stages of many of the world’s greatest opera houses. From the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Gianni Schicchi with Sir Antonio Pappano), Staatsoper unter den Linden (Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Daniel Barenboim), Wiener Staatsoper (Juliette with Claude Schnitzler) and Bayerische Staatsoper (the title role in Rodelinda with Ivor Bolton) to the San Francisco Opera (Pamina in The Magic Flute with Donald Runnicles) and Metropolitan Opera (Samaritana in Francesca da Rimini with Marco Armiliato), Kuznetsova has earned the reputation as one of today’s most compelling sopranos.
The Guardian said of her performance in Rusalka, “Dina Kuznetsova is glorious in the title role, unleashing torrents of sound and emotion in ways that are breathtaking,” and called her Butterfly “gleaming, penetrating and arresting.” Opera News wrote of her Tatiana: “Dina Kuznetsova gave a striking performance. She projected her versatile soprano with great agility and strength,” and Anne Midgette called her “a standout… with her warm, clear voice” (The Washington Post).
An alumna of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s young artist program, Kuznetsova went on to star in a number of new productions at the theater, including Cunning Little Vixen, Rigoletto and, marking her role debut as Tatyana, Eugene Onegin opposite Dmitry Hvorostovsky under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis. Since that debut, she has built a name as an outstanding interpreter of Tchaikovsky’s leading lady, attracting acclaim from her many subsequent productions. Other highlights have included Desdemona (Otello) with the Gulbenkian Orchestra under Lawrence Foster, Alice Ford (Falstaff) at Glyndebourne under Vladimir Jurowski (available on DVD) and CioCio San in Anthony Minghella’s production of Madama Butterfly at English National Opera under Gianluca Marcianò and, in original version, at Atlanta Opera and Pittsburgh Opera. Kuznetsova reprised her Rodelinda for the Bolshoi Theatre in Richard Jones’ production under Christopher Moulds, a production that won the prestigious Golden Mask award.
Slavic and Russian repertoire has been central to Kuznetsova’s career. Her roles have included the title roles of Katya Kabanová (Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile, Staatsoper Hamburg, Opera New Zealand), Rusalka for the Glyndebourne Festival under Sir Andrew Davis (followed by performances in Teatro di San Carlo, Naples and Opera Montpellier) and Jenůfa in Jorge Lavelli’s production for Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile.
Kuznetsova’s notable orchestral engagements include appearances with National Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Radio France, Sydney Symphony, Gulbenkian Orchestra and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, among others. A keen recitalist and chamber musician, Kuznetsova appeared regularly at both the New York Festival of Song and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She is featured as part of the Music@Menlo series of CDs performing songs by Dvořák, Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff. She has performed at numerous chamber music festivals throughout the country, including La Jolla Music Festival, LaMusica in Sarasota and Moab Music Festival.
As a recitalist, she was praised by New York Concert Review: “Six Romances, Op. 38, of Rachmaninoff were given dramatic, projective performances by world-class singer Dina Kuznetsova, with Mr. Tchaidze.” San Francisco Chronicle said of her recital: “Soprano Dina Kuznetsova, accompanied by Derek Han, was a splendid soloist, singing with fervor and beautifully judging the small hall’s acoustics—each vocal attack was scaled for maximum impact without a hint of oversinging.”
Kuznetsova is a long-standing member of New York Festival of Song Artist Council. Kuznetsova joined the CIM faculty in 2018.
Kathleen is a native of Montana. She holds a BFA from University of Montana and a diploma from The Juilliard School of Drama. Her professional acting credits include
Broadway: THE FATHER, FISH IN THE DARK, ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, A DEATH OF A SALESMAN, CORAM BOY, THE CONSTANT WIFE, AFTER THE FALL, A FEW GOOD MEN. Off- Broadway: GATES OF GOLD, MIND GAME, THREE TRAVELERS, COMEDY OF ERRRORS, TWELFTH NIGHT, WINTERS TALE. Regional Theater: DOLL’S HOUSE PART 2, Weston Playhouse, DEATH OF A SALESMAN, Pittsburgh Public, OUTSIDE MULLINGAR, Philadelphia Theater Co., THE BIRDS, Barrington Stage, EQUUS, Guild Hall, MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN, McCarter, RICHARD III, New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, BEYOND THERAPY, GOOD GERMAN, Westport playhouse (CT critics nom best Actress), OUR TOWN, SYLVIA, SIGHT UNSEEN, HUMAN EVENTS, George Street Playhouse TV: “Blindspot”,“Elementary”," Chicago Justice", "Person of Interest", "The Black Box”, "The Good Wife", "New Amsterdam", "Law and Order", “CI" and "SVU", "Third Watch”, "Pennsylvania Miners Story" MOW. FILMS: A Happy House, Morning Glory, Music and Lyrics, School of Rock, Life with Mikey, It could Happen to You. She has appeared in numerous commercials, voice overs and is a frequent book narrator.
Kathleen studied mask with Pierre Lefebvre and Mina Yakim. She currently teaches Mask work at Rutgers University, and the Actors Center, and previously at UCSD, Cap21 as well as other studios. She has also taught make the transition from school to the business at Juilliard since 1995. She directed IT IS SO IF YOU THINK SO at Rutgers and DOLORE’S at the Playroom in NYC and a 6 part web series called PILLOW TALK which she also wrote and produced and was picked up by the Huffington Post. Kathleen is a founding member of the Cape Cod Theater Project. She is also a proud arts volunteer for ASTEP (artists striving to end poverty) where she most recently was in India at Shanti Bhavan teaching theater.
Dr. Justin John Moniz serves as Associate Director of Vocal Performance and Coordinator of Vocal Pedagogy at New York University’s (NYU) Steinhardt School where he holds the rank of Associate Professor. Moniz is also a member of the Vocal Arts Faculty at Manhattan School of Music where he teaches vocal wellness and physiology. His students regularly appear on Broadway, off-Broadway, on national tours, in regional theaters and opera houses, and on national television. A leading expert on contemporary vocal pedagogy, Moniz is regularly engaged as a guest clinician and consultant for organizations including the National Association of Teachers of Singing, National Opera Association, The Royal Conservatory of Music, New England Conservatory, Boston University, and Berklee College of Music. As a voice teacher, researcher, and NASM Certified Personal Trainer, he is particularly passionate about identifying the parallels between the worlds of voice science and sports medicine, more specifically concerning vocal load, efficiency, and sustainability. In 2022, he was the recipient of the Yamaha Corporation Top 40 Music Educator Award and named a Musical America Top Professional of the Year. Moniz serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Singing, where he is the author of “The Versatile Voice” column. www.justinjohnmoniz.com 
Born in New York, Soprano Gabriella Sam has studied at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music under the guidance of Dr. Gwendolyn Detwiler. Currently, Ms. Sam has had the honor to teach at Penn State University in Musical Theater voice.
Opera roles performed include: Lily in Porgy and Bess, Ann Putnam in Robert Ward’s The Crucible, Mayme
in Ricky Ian Gordon’s Intimate Apparel, Fox in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Mother
in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Suor Angelica in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, New Prioress in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, Musetta
in Puccini’s La Bohème, Mrs. Ford in Nicolai’s Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor, and Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. Ms. Sam has also covered the roles of Bess in Porgy and Bess and the Glimmerglass Festival as well as the Foreign Princess in Rusalka at the Des Moines Metro Opera. At Cincinnati opera she has also had the honor of covering the roles of Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos and Serena in Porgy and Bess.
John Simpkins has recently directed the World premieres of Legendale (Denmark’s Fredericia Teater) and Raging Skillet (Theaterworks Hartford – starring Dana Smith-Croll, Marilyn Sokol, George Salazar). He directed the three-time Drama Desk nominated Off-Broadway production of Bloodsong of Love: The Rock and Roll Spaghetti Western (by Joe Iconis) at Ars Nova. He also directed Iconis’ The Black Suits at LA’s Center Theatre Group (Kirk Douglas Theatre – starring Annie Golden, Will Roland, Veronica Dunne). New York credits include the Off-Broadway productions of The Bus(59E59 Theatre); ReWrite (Urban Stages); The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (Theatreworks, USA- Lucille Lortel Theatre); Things to Ruin (which he co-conceived and directed productions of at Second Stage, Le Poisson Rouge, Zipper Factory, Joe’s Pub, Ars Nova, NYMF) and The Black Suits (SPF at the Public Theatre – starring Annie Golden, Jason Tam, and Krysta Rodriguez).
Regional productions include Legendale (Human Race Theatre Company – starring Max Crumm); Quartet (starring Elizabeth Franz); The Black Suits (Barrington Stage – starring Ben Platt); Hairspray(North Carolina Theatre – starring Dale Hensley, Dirk Lumbard); Damn Yankees (Engeman Theatre – starring Andre De Sheilds, Felicia Finley); A Wonderful Life (Engeman Theatre); Annie (Sacramento Music Circus- starring Mark Zimmerman, Jim Walton, Adinah Alexander); Cabaret (Sacramento Music Circus- starring Teri Ralston, Jacquelyn Piro, Max von Essen); Evita (Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma- starring Kate Chapman, Eric Michael Gillet, Dan Cooney).
John is the former Artistic Director at Sharon Playhouse – where his direction included Merrily We Roll Along (starring Jason Tam, A.J. Shively, Lauren Marcus); Big River; Falsettos (starring Kyle Barisich); Les Miserables; Judge Jackie (starring Klea Blackhurst); They’re Playing Our Song. A strong supporter of the development of new work, he has directed workshops/ readings/ productions of Georgie: The Life and Death of George Rose (starring Ed Dixon); True Love (Sarah Schlesinger/ David Evans); Adam Lives (Goodspeed Opera House); Hellraisers (Barrington Stage); Fantasy Football, the Musical; All the Kids Are Doing It; When the World Ends (Nick Blaemire- Ars Nova); Ripper (NAMT); Party Come Here (David Kirshenbaum/ Daniel Goldfarb); Go-Go Beach (NYMF – 37 Arts); Pool Boy(Tsakalakos/ Allard); Next Thing You Know (Berkshire Theatre Festival); Queen Esther (Merkin Hall); Half Married (Cunningham/ Antin); Plastic! (Maddock/ Iconis/ Jacobs - York Theatre), 29 (Alter/ Newman), Lyrical Langston Hughes (New Triad- Lincoln Center), Blood Drive (Rachel Sheinkin), Beasts and Saints (Mindi Dickstein) and Like You Like It (Buck/ Acquisto).
Prior to joining Penn State, John was a member of the music theatre faculty at New York University - where he directed Sweet Smell of Success, Floyd Collins, A Man of No Importance, The Fix, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Violet, Urinetown, Merrily We Roll Along, Parade, Fiorello! and A New Brain. His production of Parade was preserved and is on reserve at Lincoln Center’s Theatre on Film and Tape Archive. He holds a Bachelor of Music from Miami University and a Master of Arts from NYU.
Catherine A. Walker is an associate professor of music in the Department of Musical Theatre and has worked extensively as a music director, conductor, vocal coach, pianist, educator, and clinician for over 35 years. Walker serves annually as a mentor and judge for the national Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Vocal Academy. Other music direction credits include: The 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle; The Augusta Barn Theatre’s production of Shenandoah starring Robert Newman; Island Center Productions, St. Croix, USVI; Three-D Productions National Touring Company; Derby Dinner Playhouse, Louisville; Red Barn Playhouse, Saugatuck, Michigan; and Farmers Alley Theatre, Kalamazoo, Michigan. Walker was the featured pianist for “Wicked Divas” with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and “Family Night at the Movies” with the Saginaw Symphony Orchestra. She has also served as the music director and pianist for various cabaret performances including “An Evening with Lauren Kennedy” and “An Evening with Scott Coulter.”
Catherine Weidner is a professor in the Schol of Music, Theatre & Dance at Ithaca College. She is a teacher, professional director and actor. She served as Chair from 2013-2021, and as Interim Director of Ithaca College’s London Center in 2021-2022.
Her professional directing includes multiple seasons for Theater at Monmouth in Maine, including Two Gentlemen of Verona, Othello, As You Like It, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. For the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, NY, she served as Voice and Text Coach for Joe Calarco’s Shakespeare’s R&J, and appeared on stage in Little Women, Third and Other Desert Cities.. Other professional credits include directing a one-person Henry V for Austin Shakespeare, an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma for Nebraska Repertory Theatre; Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus, and Merry Wives of Windsor for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, and Or, by Liz Duffy Adams at Caffeine Theatre in Chicago. For Ithaca College, she has directed Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Company and Cabaret. As an Equity actress she has worked at The Kennedy Center in A Streetcar Named Desire with Patricia Clarkson, Amy Ryan and Noah Emmerich, directed by Garry Hynes; at Center Stage in Baltimore in Blithe Spirit, and Mary Stuart; and at Arena Stage in Washington, DC in The Heidi Chronicles, directed by Tazewell Thompson. Her film credits include The Night House featuring Rebecca Hall, There is a Hole in the Ground by Aidan Cronin, and One by Le Wang. She has worked at The Guthrie Theater under Garland Wright, Theatre de la Jeune Lune under John Clark Donahue, the La Jolla Playhouse under Des McAnuff, and with Bread & Puppet with Peter Schuman. She holds a BFA in Acting from Ithaca College and an MFA in Directing from the University of Minnesota, and trained at Complicite in London, The Second City in Chicago and The Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. For ten years she was the Program Director of The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting at the George Washington University, offering a one-year MFA in Classical Acting under the leadership of Michael Kahn. From 2007- 2013 she taught Classical Acting and Heightened Text at The Theatre School at DePaul University, where she served as Head of BFA Acting. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SDC). Related writing projects include: an iambic pentameter adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel The Woodlanders, a comic operetta libretto of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s masterpiece The Rivals, and an adaptation of George Eliot’s novel Silas Marner for families and young audiences.
Kevin Wilson joins the Wanda Bass School of Music in the Fall of 2024. A native of Oklahoma, he comes to Oklahoma City University after spending 16 years as a Professor of Voice and Director of Vocal Pedagogy at the Boston Conservatory. While at the conservatory, he established the Master of Music degree in Vocal Pedagogy, the Master of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre Vocal Pedagogy, and the annual Vocal Pedagogy Professional Workshop.
His students have appeared in over 40 Broadway productions, originating six roles, as well as in numerous national tours, regional theaters, and prestigious venues such as the Metropolitan Opera, Boston Lyric, Chicago Lyric, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Baroque, and the Oregon and Carmel Bach Festivals. His students have been finalists and winners in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Tafelmusik Baroque Competition, NATS Boston and National Voice Competitions, and the Classical Singer Competition. They have also received multiple nominations and awards, including Tony, Grammy, and Daytime Emmy awards.
Mr. Wilson travels the world as a clinician, adjudicator, and lecturer, giving masterclasses on vocal health, musical theater, and classical pedagogies. He often presents Securing Belt, Mix, and Legit for Musical Theatre, Foundations of Voice Teaching, and Navigating the Filter, which all teach how to prepare students to make vocal adjustments for a variety of singing opportunities from Classical Voice to Contemporary Musical Theater. He has conducted masterclasses and guest lectures at several prestigious institutions, including the San Francisco Conservatory, New York University, New England Conservatory, Mannes, Columbia University, University of Miami, Arizona State University, University of Southern California, Brown University, and Harvard University. He has presented at the National Association for Teachers of Singing (NATS), the Voice Foundation, the Pan-European Voice Conference, and the Southwest American Choral Directors Association. In addition to his teaching activities, Mr. Wilson serves as the Vice President for Workshops with the NATS National Board of Directors.
In 2009, he was recognized as a Master Teacher by NATS for the prestigious intern program, and in 2023, he was deemed a Recognized Vocologist by the Pan-American Vocology Association. He serves as a peer editor for various trade journals in voice and pedagogy and has published in The Oxford Handbook of Vocal Pedagogy (Oxford 2025), the NATS Journal of Singing (JOS Nov. 2023), Performing in Contemporary Musicals (Routledge 2022), and Training Commercial Contemporary Singers (Compton 2019).
Mr. Wilson holds a Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy from the New England Conservatory and a Bachelor of Music in Voice from the University of Central Oklahoma. He has pursued additional studies in voice at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory and in vocal anatomy and physiology at Boston University Sargent School of Health. He has studied voice and speech with Kristin Linklater and Catherine Fitzmaurice. He maintains private voice studios in Oklahoma City and New York City.
Halley Shefler
Shaun Ramsay
