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| BRUCE EARNEST, IPAI GENERAL DIRECTOR |
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Bruce has appeared in over 50 operatic and musical theatre roles in Europe and the United States and has appeared with the Munich State Theatre, State Theatre Passau, Opera Roanoke, The Berkshire Opera, Passinger Theatre, Dayton Opera, Orlando Opera, Worcester Light Opera, Florida Grand Opera, The Vienna Folks Opera, Virginia Opera, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Berkshire Theatre Festival, The Vineyard Playhouse, Walt Disney World, Saint Cecilia Ensemble, The Springfield Symphony, the Hamburg Musical Orchestra and the Orlando Philharmonic. His directing or music directing credits include; Side by Side by Sondheim, Big River, Little Shop of Horrors, Tin Types, Into The Woods, The Fantastiks, Baby, Oklahoma, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Camelot, The Saint of Bleeker Street and many others.
He has conducted masterclasses and workshops on singing for the stage and musical theatre acting interpretation in the United States and throughout Europe and has over 30 current or past students working in major productions in the UK, Europe, on Broadway and in National tours in the United States. He is former co-founder and Program Director of Music Theatre at the University of Central Florida, Interim Associate Professor of Voice at Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, Associate Professor of Music Theatre at the Bavarian Theatre Academy/Hochschule in Munich, Voice and Artistic Consultant for Stage Entertainment and European productions of AIDA by Elton John, Mama Mia, and Phantom of the Opera.
Professor Earnest earned his Bachelor of Arts in Musical Theatre/Administration from Westfield State College, a Master of Music Degree from the University of Miami. As an international program administrator, he was co-founder/Managing Director of MusicTheatre Bavaria a professional training program for music theatre and opera located in Oberaudorf, Germany until 2002 and served as Executive Director of the Northland Educational Summer Program in Orlando, Florida and Bavaria, Germany from 2002-2005.
He is currently Director of Musical Theatre and Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of South Dakota. Mr. Earnest is also the Artistic Director for the USD Playhouse and is consultant to the newly formed Dakota Lyric Opera. His teaching/administrative responsibilities at the University include teaching courses in Musical Theatre Voice, Musical Theatre Acting, Musical Theatre History, Arts Management as well as coordinating enrollment activities, music and stage direction, and program development for the new Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre.
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| ROBERT TANNENBAUM, EUROPEAN OPERA LIAISON/MASTER CLINICIAN |
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Robert Tannenbaum is a dynamic stage director, making a reputation both in Europe, where he is one of the few active American directors, and America. He was the youngest and only American General Director and C.E.O. of a German state theater, the Stadttheater Giessen, where he presented a year-round program of opera, musicals, plays, dance, and symphony concerts with a staff of more than 200 full-time employees and a yearly operating budget of 15 million dollars.
Prior to becoming General Director in Giessen, he served as Director of Opera at the Städtische Bühnen in Münster. At the same time, he was engaged as a guest director for new productions throughout Germany, France, and the U.S.A., including, most notably: Der Traumgörge in Bremen; Cardillac, Don Carlo, and The Mikado in Freiburg; The Rape of Lucretia in Cologne; Turandot in Kassel; La Fanciulla del West in Tulsa; Idomeneo for Chicago Opera Theater; L'Italiana in Algeri in Bogota, Colombia; Die Entfürhrung aus dem Serail for L’Opera du Nice and Aida in Dayton.
Upon completion of his education at Columbia University in New York, Mr. Tannenbaum began a short-term apprenticeship with the San Diego Opera that became a four year association as Resident Stage Director. In that capacity, he directed 20 operas, including Aida, Faust, La Cenerentola, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Gianni Schicchi, and the west coast premieres of John Philip Sousa's The Free Lance and Rimsky-Korsakov's Mozart and Salieri.
After leaving San Diego, Mr. Tannenbaum joined the directing staff in Wuppertal, Germany, where he staged revivals of Der Ring des Nibelungen, Nabucco, and Lortzing's Der Wildschütz. In the fall of 1985, he went to Los Angeles to serve as Company Manager to assist the Deutsche Oper Berlin's presentations of Tosca, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Die Tote Stadt. In 1987, he staged his first new production in Europe, von Dittersdorf's Doktor und Apotheker. That same year, he joined the directing staff at the Cologne Opera, where he directed his new production of The Rape of Lucretia. He also returned to San Diego as a guest to direct Rigoletto and, the following year, Fidelio.
In recent seasons he directed La Traviata for the Florentine Opera Company (Milwaukee), New Orleans Opera and Merola Opera, Don Giovanni for the Orlando Opera, Carmen and Tosca for Cincinnati Opera, Die Fledermaus for the Florida Grand Opera and for Yale Opera, Il Trovatore for Edmonton Opera, and Johann Strauss’ Eine Nacht in Venedig for the Landestheater Linz in Austria and the Städtische Bühnen Nürnberg in Germany, Nabucco for L’Opera de Montreal, Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims for the Landestheater Linz and the European premiere of William Bolcom’s A View From the Bridge for Theater Hagen, as well as serving a short term as General Director for the New Orleans Opera Association.
In the fall of 2002, Robert Tannenbaum assumed the position of Director of Opera for the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe where he has directed new productions of Il Trittico, Luisa Miller, Werther, Don Giovanni, Elektra, L’Elisir d’Amore, Eugene Onegin, Idomeneo, Simon Boccanegra, Die Frau ohne Schatten and a cycle of 3 new operas by the English composer Michael Nyman, Facing Goya, Man and Boy: DADA and Love Counts. Other productions during this period included Il Trittico for Theater Graz in Austria, a new production of Der Rosenkavalier for the Theater Erfurt in Germany, Elektra in Kiel, Germany and Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Los Angeles. In addition, Robert’s production of Michael Nyman’s Man and Boy: DADA was presented by the National Theatre in Prague, Czech Republic in the 2004/2005 season. Upcoming engagements include additional new productions of Don Carlos, Der Rosenkavalier and Cosi Fan Tutte.
As an educator, Mr. Tannenbaum has served on the faculties of the Conservatory of Music in Graz, Austria, Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Düsseldorf Conservatory of Music, San Diego State University, Bowling Green State University, University of Illinois, and with the young artists' programs of the San Francisco Opera Center, Houston Grand Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera and the Metropolitan Opera National Council. Robert Tannenbaum is presently serving as Professor of Opera at the Conservatory of Music and Theater in Munich, Germany.
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| DARLA EARNEST, DIRECTOR OF FACULTY AND STUDENTS/VOICE |
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As a master class instructor and
vocal technician specializing in musical theatre belting technique as well as
operatic vocal technique, soprano Darla Earnest has worked in Austria, Germany and the
United States producing students currently working in the musical theatre and
classical music industries worldwide. Her students can be seen in touring productions of
musicals as well as in opera houses, conservatories, universities and young
artist programs around the globe.
Her energetic approach to teaching has been called “refreshing”,
“disarming”, “passionate” and
“fun” by her students.
Studying under Metropolitan
Opera soprano Dr. Barbara Daniels and Ms. Daniels’ former teacher, Lucille
Evans, Ms. Earnest developed into a “true Puccini soprano” as well as securing
a technique for belting that is well suited to the modern ingénue repertoire for 20th and 21st
century musical theatre.
As a performer, Ms. Earnest
has a diverse career that includes being a member of the vocal jazz ensemble
“Voices of Liberty” at Walt Disney World’s EPCOT, as well as being the soprano
soloist in EPCOT’s Italy specializing in Neopolitan songs and Italian opera
arias. She has also sung numerous
musical theatre and opera roles including Grace Farrell in Annie, Laura in the world premiere of Parable, the Soprano role in Trouble in Tahiti, Lead Role in Nightclub Cantata, Anna in The King and I, and The Sound of Music’s Maria, Ms. Southingham in a modern adaptation of
Mozart’s Impresario, Nella in Gianni
Schicchi, Valencienne in The
Merry Widow, Gretel in Hansel
& Gretel, Edwina in Mystery
on the Docks, Gasparina in La
Cantarina, Maria in Monkey See,
Monkey Do, Blonda in The
Abduction from the Seraglio, and
Drusilla in The Coronation of Poppea.
Concert works to her credit
are various Rodgers and Hammerstein tributes, Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass, Bach’s Jesu, Meine Freude, Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Schubert’s Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, Menotti’s Steal Me, Sweet Thief, and a one-woman revue called “From Beethoven to
Broadway” at the National Music Museum.
Her 2008 engagements include being the soprano soloist in the Brahms
Requiem under the baton of New York
Philharmonic’s Assistant Conductor, Delta David Gier and making her debut in
the role of Liú in Puccini’s Turandot with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, also conducted by maestro
Gier.
Darla was most recently on
the voice faculties of the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater/Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding (Conservatory for Music and Theater/Bavarian Theater Academy) and in the Prinzregententheater both in
Munich, Germany; the Musikschule Rosenheim in Rosenheim, Germany; as well as being affiliated
with the Innsbruck Conservatory in Innsbruck, Austria. She is currently an adjunct Professor
at the University of South Dakota teaching Musical Theatre Vocal Technique as
well as an introductory Ethnomusicology course. Darla holds a Master of Arts in Ethnomusicology from
Bethel University and a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the
University of Central Florida where she studied under lyric soprano Elizabeth
Wrancher. An Orlando, Florida native, she was a Resident Artist with the Orlando Opera Company for several years. Ms. Earnest is the
Director of Faculty and Students for the International Performing Arts
Institute (IPAI) in Germany, and is married to tenor Bruce Earnest.
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| AIDAN SODER, COORDINATOR OF ART SONG AND LIED STUDIES |
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Dr. Aidan Soder, mezzo soprano, joined the voice faculty at the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory of Music in the fall of 2007 as an Assistant Professor of Voice after having previously served on faculty at the University of South Dakota. Her versatility as an artist is evident through the diversity of her orchestral, chamber, opera, and art song repertoire. Chamber music performances include a wide variety of 20th century works, including Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire, Luciano Berio’s Circles, and Ravel’s Chansons Madécasses. Dr. Soder made her professional debut in 2000 with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra as Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance, and in 2004, she made her debut with the Houston Symphony in Mahler’s Das klagende Lied under the baton of Maestro Hans Graf. Additional concert and oratorio credits include performances of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Mass in C, the Bach Magnificat, and the Requiem masses of Duruflé, Mozart, and Verdi. As a Young American Artist for two consecutive seasons with Glimmerglass Opera, Dr. Soder performed the role of Mrs. Vandeveer in Sousa’s The Glass Blowers and added Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro to her repertoire, which also includes Britten’s Albert Herring and The Rape of Lucretia; Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, and Madama Butterfly; and Massenet’s Werther.
In the spring of 2006, Dr. Soder performed at the Kennedy Center (Terrace Theater) as part of its Millennium Stage performing arts initiative, The Conservatory Project. Other recent performances include Handel’s Messiah with the Omaha Symphony, Haydn’s Mass in Time of War with the Nebraska Choral Arts Society, and the Civic Opera Theatre of Kansas City’s Everlasting Universe. Future engagements include a return to the Omaha Symphony for Copland’s Old American Songs, a trio of one-act operas (The Old Maid and the Thief, A Hand of Bridge, and A Game of Chance) with the Greenwood Music Festival in South Carolina,UMKC performances of Pierrot lunaire and the Brahms and Schumann Liebeslieder, and recitals in Kansas, Missouri, and Texas with pianist, Dr. Elvia Puccinelli (University of North Texas), and baritone, Dr. Robert Best (Baylor University).
In the summer of 2004, Dr. Soder was one of twelve collegiate voice teachers chosen to participate in the NATS Intern Program where she worked with nationally renowned master teachers Linda di Fiore, Clifton Ware, Deborah Baxter, and Robert McIver. Well-regarded as a pedagogue and technician, Dr. Soder has presented masterclasses in Texas, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Nebraska.
A graduate of Rice University’s prestigious Shepherd School of Music in Houston, TX, Dr. Soder's scholarly and performing interests include performance practice-related issues in contemporary music, French mélodie of the early twentieth century, and art song of living, American composers. Dr. Soder was awarded a PEO Scholar Award in 2005 which allowed her to spend two months in Vienna, Austria conducting research for her dissertation at the Arnold Schönberg Center. Her document, which is to be published this year by Edwin Mellen Press, is on Schoenberg's famous chamber work, Pierrot lunaire, and is a study of Sprechstimme and vocal performance practice.
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| LANI HARRIS, COORDINATOR OF ACTING STUDIES |
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A Fulbright Scholar and Full Professor, Lani’s International work includes theatre research in Mexico, teaching acting at MusicTheater Bavaria in Germany, directing and performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Scotland). In spring 2004, her paper on ‘Acting Chekhov’ was presented at the FIRT Conference, St. Petersburg, Russia. Her original play Air Born was produced at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1996, and in 2006 she directed a new play, Something’s Missing, both in Los Angeles and at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Her MFA in Directing/Acting is from the University of Southern California (1980), under the direction of John Houseman. She studied acting with Stella Adler and Nina Foch. She has acted and directed professionally in Los Angeles, served nine years as Artistic Director for a northern California theatre (RCT Theatre), where she founded a Summer Shakespeare program. Past Chair of the SETC College/University Division, she has also been a director for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival of New Plays since 1999 and a Festival Adjudicator/ Respondent for Irene Ryan Acting Finals (Region VIII) since 1995.
A faculty member of the University of Central Florida since 1997, she was chosen as a Provost’s Fellow in 2006. Tenured at UCF, she has served as a Faculty Associate in the Office of International Studies since 1998. She is also the past Director of Undergraduate Studies in Theatre.
Lani has acted and directed extensively at UCF Conservatory Theatre and has received the ‘TIP’ award at UCF for excellence in teaching innovation. She has played the Mother in Equus ,Clairee in Steel Magnolias and directed Quilters, Run for Your Wife, Sabrina Fair, A Piece of My Heart, Toys in the Attic, LuAnn Hampton Laverty Oberlander, Sylvia, Impossible Marriage, Something’s Missing by Ken Gray, and Under Fire, the winner of America’s Best New Play contest 2001. In 2005, she directed a play from Mexico that was part of her Fulbright Project The Woman Who Fell From The Sky. This was the first play from UCF ever nominated and performed at the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival regional competition. She is the only director at UCF to have had two productions nominated to the KC/ACTF Regional Finals (Region IV).
She established the Professional Theatre Internship program in the Theatre Department and served as Professional Internship Coordinator for eight years. Previous teaching includes the graduate program at The University of Alabama, and in California Universities at Chico and Bakersfield. She has also taught and directed at Shasta College, Butte College and College of the Redwoods in California. In 2000 she directed Impossible Marriage, True West in 2004, and Born Yesterday in 2007 for Court Theatre summer repertory in California. She directed Spoon River Anthology and Orabelle’s Wheelbarrow at the Orlando Repertory Theatre. She has performed with Disney and worked with the Disney Institute.
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| LUCY MAURO, COORDINATOR OF COACHING & ACCOMPANYING |
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Lucy Mauro is an Assistant Professor of Music and the Director of Accompanying at Radford University in Virginia. She frequently conducts master classes, workshops and other presentations, often with tenor Donald George, specializing in such areas as developing musical expression and communication, the nineteenth-century German Melodram, and the art of collaborative performance. During the 2007-2008 season, she has performed with Mr. George at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, University of Missouri at Columbia, West Virginia University, Marshall University, Western Illinois University, Longwood University, Virginia Tech, Concord University, the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities in Honolulu, Metropolitan State College of Denver, and the MTNA National Conference in Denver, among other venues. In addition, she and Mr. George are on the roster of artists and presenters for the 2008 Asolo Song Festival and Institute in Italy and the 2008 WVMTA conference and have been invited to perform at the 2009 Mozart Festival in Wuerzburg, Germany. They bring a new approach to the traditional recital, incorporating multimedia that includes narration and projected images, and have created concert experiences of literary, musical and artistic appeal. Other recent performances for Ms. Mauro include those at Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress with Joyce Castle, Kurt Ollmann and Scott Dunn, the Embassy of Poland in Washington, D.C. with Polish music specialist Laura Kafka, the reunion of the French Piano Institute at Shepherd University, Music at Ogontz in New Hampshire with Freda Herseth and Carmen Pelton, Washington and Lee University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Washington County Fine Arts Museum in Maryland, the Contemporary American Theater Festival, and the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg. She has recorded for Capstone Records and is also the co-editor of Essential Two-Piano Repertoire and other forthcoming piano ensemble books from Alfred Publishing, Co., Inc. Ms. Mauro is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University from which she received Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorate degrees and where she studied with Ann Schein and Julio Esteban and collaborative piano with Samuel Sanders. |
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| PATRICIA DOWNEY, COORDINATOR OF DANCE STUDIES |
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Patricia Downey joined the USD Theatre faculty in 2007 as Associate Professor. She has earned a Bachelor of Science in Education with a specialization in Theatre and Speech from Missouri Western State University, a Masters in Theatre from Central Missouri State University, and a Masters in Dance from The Ohio State University. Currently, she is ABD from the University of Missouri-Columbia where she completed her course work for Ph.D in Theatre. Her area of expertise is movement and dance. She has choreographed over 50 musicals in a variety of regional theatres and academic institutions throughout the Midwest. She teaches the musical theatre dance curriculum at USD as well as choreographing departmental productions. Her research interests are in the area of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Her professional affiliations include the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), Mid-America Theatre Conference (MATC), Association of Theatre Movement Educators (ATME), and the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD). Professor Downey is a certified instructor of Stott Pilates. |
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| RUSSELL SVENNINGSEN, VOICE FACULTY |
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Tenor Russell Svenningsen is in demand as a singer, conductor, clinician and educator. Currently Director of Choral Activities and Vocal Studies at Southwest Minnesota State University and co-founder and Artistic Chair of Choirs of Note™, Mr. Svenningsen holds a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and a Bachelor’s degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. He is presently completing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Boston University.
Prior to coming to Southwest Minnesota State University, Mr. Svenningsen was at the College of Mount St. Joseph. As a conductor and clinician of wide regard, Mr. Svenningsen has also worked in various schools in Ohio and Minnesota. Mr. Svenningsen has studied with such distinguished conductors as Dale Warland, Elmer Thomas, Jon Washburn, Rene Clausen, Earl Rivers, Mark Gibson, and John Leman.
Russ has appeared as a soloist and member of major ensembles and orchestras throughout the United States and abroad. He is a heldentenor of renown. Most recently, his opera credits included the role of “Judge” in a modern adaptation of Mozart’s The Impresario with Dakota Lyric Opera.
Mr. Svenningsen is committed to the advancement of music students and programs. He is also known to be a champion of new musical works, programming new music by talented yet unheralded composers.
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| NANETTE HOFER, PIANIST/DIRECTOR |
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A versatile perfomer and director, Nanette has sung with "The Young Americans" in numerous musical theatre productions with performances at Disneyland, with NYC Opera members and at the world-renowned Los Angeles Music Center Opera Company. She has also sung with the William Hall Chorale in Los Angeles, the Tampa Bay Master Chorale and the Florida Orchestra. As a director, Nanette has served as Vocal Coach/Music Director for several theaters in the U.S., and has directed numerous full-scale musical productions.
As an educator, Ms. Hofer has held positions as a Choral Conductor, Guest Clinician for Show Choirs, Fine Arts Coordinator, Music Specialist, and Director of Music and Drama for children and youth; and has developed, supervised and directed educational programs. Nanette is a graduate of the University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota and is currently completing her Masters in Fine Arts in Theare
Direction and Masters of Music in Vocal Performance at the University
of South Dakota. |
| Guest Artists & Master Clinicians |
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| ROBIN BROSCH, MASTER CLINICIAN |
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Currently the Artistic Director for Joop Van den Ende Academy, Robin
Brosch graduated from the Maria Körber Acting School in Berlin where he attended from 1987 until 1990. After his initial theater engagements in Berlin where he played classical lead roles, he moved on to Augsburg and Kaiserslautern where he played Romeo in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliette", Lionel in Schiller's "Die Jungfrau von Orléans" and Moritz Stiefel in Wedekind's "Frühlings
Erwachen". It was during this time that he discovered his passion for musical theatre.
Also a singer and string bass player, Robin combined his acting and musical skills in roles such as Albin in "La Cage aux Folles". Since 1996 Robin has made his home and career in Hamburg where he played Buddy Holly in the musical "Buddy" to much acclaim, the Protagonist in "Sixty Sixty" and Swinging St. Pauli in Schmidt's "Tivoli". In addition to his stage roles, Mr. Brosch has appeared in numerous European film and television productions such as "Wolfs Revier", "Hausmeister Krause" and "Tatort". Most recently Robin has appeared in the role of Bruce Ismay in the musical "Titanic".
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| Elizabeth Eaton, Master Clinician |
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Elizabeth Eaton, Voice
Stage Entertainment-Hamburg
After completing her studies at the University of Washington and professional performances in her hometown of Seattle, Elizabeth Eaton made the journey over the Atlantic. Her first engagement was with the Baden-bei-Wien Opera House and shortly thereafter at the renowned Köln State Theatre, where she was seen in numerous productions such as Harry Kuper's staging of "Das Schlau Füchslein", the Jean Pierre Ponnelle staging of "Die Zauberflöte" or the prize-winning, highly praised Opera Studio production of Benjamin Britten's "The Rape of Lucretia".
Elizabeth was then engaged at the Musiktheater der Stadt Oberhausen and as a guest soloist with various orchestras including WDR-Rundfunk-Orchestra or Westfalian Symphony Orchestra as well as working with other theater groups. Among her favorite roles are Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Musetta in La Boheme and many others. In 1995 Elizabeth moved to northern Germany to take over the role of Maria Elena in "Buddy - The Musical". Ms. Eaton currently works as a voice teacher at the Joop Van den Ende Academy in Hamburg, Germany.
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| Donald George, Master Clinician |
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Donald George
was born in San Francisco, California and grew up in New
Orleans, Louisiana, where he studied at Louisiana State
University in Baton Rouge, afterwhich he studied voice in
Germany with Prof. Josef Metternich. He has sung in well
known opera house such as Opera Bastille, La Scala,
Chatelet, Opera Capitole Toulouse, Staatsoper in Vienna,
Berlin and Hamburg, the Kennedy Center and the Theatre de
la Monnaie Brussels. He has also appeared in famous
festivals such as the Salzburg Festival, the Jerusalem
3000 Festival, the Blossem Festival with the Cleveland
Orchestra and the London "Proms". He has sung
with the well-known conductors: Kurt Masur, Christoph von
Dohnàyi, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Leonard Bernstein, Sir
Yehudi Menuhin or Jeffrey Tate. His large selection of CD
recordings includes the Verdi "Requiem" under A.
Rahbari, "Elias" under K. Masur and also the
"Schöne Müllerin" song cycle. A new CD of
Bernstein’s "Candide" will appear this
fall in which Donald George sings the title role. Donald
George has also sung Candide previously with Leonard
Bernstein conducting. Highlights of next season will be
"Traviata" & "Entführung" at the
Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich, "L’amour
de trois Oranges" at the Gran Teatro La Fenice in
Venice, La Boheme at the Komische Oper Berlin, and Paul
McCartney’s "Liverpool Oratorio" in Orléans. |
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| KATHLEEN MILLER, MASTER CLINICIAN |
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Kathleen Casey Miller was born and raised in Madison, South Dakota, and attended Dakota State University, the University of South Dakota and graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, with a degree in Music Education K-12.
After moving to Orlando, Florida in 1978, Ms. Miller performed as a soloist with the Florida Symphony Orchestra, the Orlando Opera Chorus and the Montovani Chorus. Kathleen also toured for several seasons as the mezzo-soprano soloist for the New Romberg Orchestra. While performing with the Orlando Opera Chorus, she was introduced to the works of F.M. Alexander’s by visiting music director, Ann Baltz (currently director of OPERAWORKS, INC.). Kathleen also studied privately with Richard Torigi, former vocal teacher from the Julliard School of Music. Combining vocal technique and the Alexander Technique is now the basis for Ms. Miller’s vocal master classes. As a master clinician in the United States, Kathleen has trained all levels of opera and musical theatre performers using Alexander Technique exercises and vocal exercises in her master classes.
Ms. Miller was instrumental in starting the Resident Artist Program for Orlando Opera. Writing and performing in an in-school program, “Recipe for an Opera,” Ms. Miller and the cast performed for thousands of students in Orange and Seminole counties in Florida, over a period of four years. The school program was very well received, and for the last 15 years, Orlando Opera has employed four resident artists every year, providing them training and performing experiences. Ms. Miller has been part of the resident artist program, both as a singer and as an advisor and coach.
Musical theater roles performed by Ms. Miller have included Fiona McLaren in Brigadoon, Mrs. Lovette in Sweeney Todd, Marie Dindon in La Cage Aux Folles, Jenny Lind in Barnum, and Lalume in Kismet. Roles performed in opera have been Second Lady in The Magic Flute, Princess Margaret in The Student Prince, Flora in La Traviata, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana, the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors and Mercedes in Carmen.
Currently, in addition to her travels as a master clinician, Ms. Miller is a soloist and assistant choral conductor at St. James Cathedral in Orlando, Florida. Ms. Miller is married to Steven Miller, formerly of Beresford, South Dakota, and they have three grown children.
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| DR. DONALD SEAY, MASTER CLINICIAN |
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Dr. Donald W. Seay, former Chair/Artistic Director for the Department of Theatre, is a tenured, full professor, with primary teaching responsibilities in performance. In addition to the PhD degree in Arts Administration/Theatre from Texas Tech University, Dr. Seay holds the MFA degree in Scenic Design from the University of Minnesota, and the MS and BS degrees in Acting and Directing from the University of Southern Mississippi. His minors are in art and dramatic literature. Dr. Seay received additional training in acting at the Alley Theatre Academy, stage fencing at the McCarter Theatre and dance at the New York School of Ballet. Having worked as an actor, director, designer, teacher, administrator, and consultant, Dr. Seay's theatrical training and experience is extremely broad. Throughout his career, Dr. Seay has been actively associated with over 250 productions. Prior to his position with UCF, he served as Chair/Artistic Director of the Department of Theatre and Dance at Otterbein College and at St. Edward's University, departments both noted for their professional theatre training programs. In the summer of 2000, he taught acting for Music Theatre Bavaria in Oberaudorf, Germany. McMillen and Tozer Grants enabled him to study and conduct research in England, France, East and West Germany, Finland, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. In 1991,he visited Czechoslovakia and the former Soviet Union as a national delegate representing theatre education and training. A member of Actors' Equity Association, Don's professional credits include work with the McCarter Theatre, the Alley Theatre, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, the Guthrie Theatre, the Erie Playhouse, the Mary Moody Northen Theatre, the Orlando/UCF Shakespeare Festival and the Orlando Repertory Theatre. Dr. Seay is active in the American College Theatre Festival, the Southeast Theatre Association, Florida Thespians, and the Florida Theatre Association. Some of his directing credits at UCF include productions of Rumors, The Good Doctor, The Foreigner, Good, Camelot, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Taffetas, Amadeus, Glengarry Glen Ross, Death of a Salesman, The 5th of July and Dancing at Lughnasa. Some of his acting credits in Orlando include Dysart in Equus, Linus Larrabee, Sr. in Sabrina Fair, W. O Gant in Look Homeward Angel, Weller Martin in the Gin Game, Lepidus in Anthony and Cleopatra, Anton Schill in The Visit , Nicola in Arms and the Man and Martin Vanderhof, Sr. in You Can’t Take It With You.
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