2022 Young Artists
Fairhope
Allie Marsh, Soprano
Park City, UT
Allie Marsh is a soprano from Park City, Utah. She is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Utah to enhance her skills as an artist as well as an Arts Administrator. Ms. Marsh has been able to work as the Executive Assistant for Opera Mississippi, serve as President of the University of Utah Chamber Choir, Secretary and Treasurer for the University of Utah Student Opera Guild while also performing roles including Dido in Dido and Aeneus, cover for Mrs. Lovett and Ensemble in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Ino in Handel’s Semele. Allie is thrilled to be participating in the International Performing Arts Institute, Fairhope and to have such a wonderful opportunity to work with the team to bring IPAI back to Fairhope this year as Assistant to the Artistic Director, Stacey Trenteseaux.
Aoife Shanley, Soprano
Denver, CO.
Aoife Shanley, soprano, is currently attending the University of Denver pursuing a Master of Music degree studying with Dr. Catherine Kasch. This past year as part of the Lamont Opera Theater, Ms. Shanley performed L’écureuil and La chatte in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges and La Marchande de Journeaux in Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tiresias. She is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music where she studied with Dr. Mary Schiller and received the 2015 honor award for lieder performance. This coming season, Ms. Shanley will cover Javotte in Massenet’s Manon at Boulder Opera.
Bennett Chew, BARITONE
Park City, UT
Bennett Chew is a 22 year old baritone from Salt Lake City, Utah. This spring, Chew has graduated with his Bachelors in Music with an emphasis in Vocal Performance from the University of Utah. Past roles include Judge Turpin from Sweeney Todd (Kingsbury Hall), Count Ceprano from Rigoletto (Kingsbury Hall), Don Quixote from Master Peter's Puppet Show (Studio 115), the High Priest and King Cadmus from Semele (Libby Gardner Concert Hall), and Sharpless from Madama Butterfly (Lyrical Opera Theater). He will be performing as Captain Swabby from The Mermaid in Lock No. 7 (Studio 115) this fall, and the title character from Gianni Schicchi (Lyrical Opera Theater) next year.
Chery Brendel, Soprano
Cleveland, TN.
Dr. Chery Brendel, soprano, is a singer and a teacher of singing. She received her Bachelor of Music in performance from Evangel University (Springfield, MO), her Master of Music in performance from Temple University (Philadelphia) and her Doctor of Musical Arts in performance from the University of Georgia. She has maintained a steady career as a performer in a variety of styles and repertoire in the US and Europe. She has taught studio voice at the university level for three decades and is proficient in classical and commercial pedagogies. She began her singing career as a CCM artist and later turned almost exclusively to classical repertoire. Opera roles to her credit include Königen der Nacht (Die Zauberflöte, Mozart), La Fée (Cendrillion, Massenet), Kathie (The Student Prince, Lehar), Adina (L’elisir d’amore, Donizetti) Despina (Cosi fan tutte, Mozart) and Laetitia (The Old Maid and the Thief, Menotti) among others. Brendel’s chief career focus has been assisting undergraduate and graduate level singers in finding their voices and preparing for a lifetime of singing. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of voice at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee where she resides with her husband, tenor Ron Brendel and their daughter, actor, Anna Marie Brendel.
kamron glover, tenor
Hattiesburg, MS.
Born in Warner Robins, Ga., tenor, Kamron Glover has performed various roles such as Mr. Rushworth in Mansfield Park by Jonathan Dove, Sam Kaplan in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene, Willie Stroker in the US premier of Choir Practice by Stephen Chatman, and Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Mr. Glover earned his B.A. in Music from Valdosta State University and his master’s in Vocal Performance from Georgia Southern University, where he was recognized as The Outstanding Collaborator of 2020. Kamron has performed with Moon River Opera, Peach State Summer Theater, and the Natchez Festival of Music. In the fall Mr. Glover will be attending the University of Southern Mississippi as a teaching assistant to pursue his doctorate.
Kanani Crandall, Soprano
Mobile, AL.
Kanani Crandall is an up and coming soprano who recently launched her professional career through Opera Mississippi as Sister Genovieffa from Puccini's Suor Angelica. Crandall currently studies under Dr. Maryann Kyle, as well as Drs. Stephanie and Graham Anduri through their Infuse and Transformative Singer programs. During her seven semesters at Young Harris College, she studied under Mrs. Karen Calloway and performed in two church choirs, jazz band, pep band, YHC’s Mountain Community Chorus, YHC’s Concert Choir and YHC’s Chamber choir with at least one solo in every show. Kanani placed 3rd at the NATS South-East Regional level in 2020 and was a soloist at the GMEA Honor choir earlier the same year.
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KathArine Schwab, Soprano
Austin, TX.
Katharine Schwab currently studies vocal performance at Stephen F. Austin State University, where she has appeared in various productions including Strauss’ Die Fledermaus and Copland’s Tenderland. In addition, she has performed internationally as a vocalist touring in Normandy and Paris as a member of both the Round Rock Community Choir and Chamber Ensemble. She is also an award winning singer having been a finalist earning superior ratings at various statewide and regional competitions from the University Interscholastic League to the Texoma Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Currently, she splits her time between Austin, TX and Nacogdoches, TX."
Kay Gucciardo, Soprano
Baton Rouge, LA.
Soprano Kay Gucciardo is a Michigan native pursuing a Master of Music in Voice Performance from Louisiana State University under the instruction of Sandra Moon. At LSU she has performed Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, as well as appeared in scenes featuring Zdenka from Strauss’s Arabella and Mercedes from Bizet’s Carmen. She graduated with honors in 2021 from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University where she was seen in productions of Verdi’s La Traviata and Handel’s Giulio Cesare. Currently, she is a chorus member with Opéra Louisiane in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, performing in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors and Offenbach's Les Contes d’Hoffmann.
Kiana Love, Mezzo-Soprano
San Marcos, TX
Kiana Love is a blossoming mezzo-soprano going into her Senior year at Texas Tech University where she studies Vocal Performance under the direction of soprano Dr. Rebecca Wasco-Hays. She has taken part on stage as Dorabella in Mozart's Cosí fan tutte, Marcellina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Nursemaid #2 in Kurt Weill's Street Scene and in the chorus in Dialogues of the Carmélites. Upcoming, she has the role of La Badessa in Suor Angelica by Puccini. She has also been an avid help off stage, being assistant stage manager for La Clemenza di Tito in Spring 2022.
Margaret Branyon-Goodman,
Mezzo-Soprano
New Orleans, LA.
Mezzo-Soprano Margaret Branyon-Goodman is a recent graduate of Loyola University New Orleans with an M.M. in Vocal Performance. She recently performed as La Badessa in Suor Angelica and as Zita in Gianni Schicchi with Loyola Opera as well as singing with the New Orleans Opera Chorus in La Bohéme. She is excited to be attending IPAI for a second time and is looking forward to performing in Fairhope and Kiefersfelden.
Nora Cullinan, Soprano
Los Alamos, NM.
Nora Cullinan is a soprano from Los Alamos, New Mexico, about to enter her senior year at Loyola University New Orleans. She found her home in the spotlight in her first performance of The Sound of Music when she was eight years old, and has pursued music and theatre in all its forms ever since. Past roles include Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, First Witch in Dido and Aeneas, Irene Molloy in Hello, Dolly!, and Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. She is honored to have been chosen as Loyola’s 2022 Presser Scholar for outstanding musical and academic performance, and she is excited to continue to hone her skills at IPAI Fairhope this summer.
Rebecca Greenawalt, Soprano
Denver, CO.
Rebecca Greenawalt is a Denver-based soprano who recently returned to the vocal arts after twenty years in the business world as a senior operating executive, strategist, and advisor. Ms. Greenawalt is currently pursuing a graduate Certificate in Performance at the University of Denver, where she performs a variety of opera and concert roles. Ms. Greenawalt holds a BA in Economics from Harvard University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. She is a founding member of Coro Mundi, an international festival choir.
Regan lewis, Soprano
Denver, CO.
Regan Lewis is a Soprano from Denver, Colorado. She currently attends the University of Denver studying Vocal Performance at the Lamont School of Music for her undergraduate degree. Some of her most recent engagements include playing the role of Papagena and covering the role of Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte as well as La Princesse in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges with Lamont Opera Theatre.
Taylor Witherspoon, Soprano
New Orleans, LA.
Taylor Witherspoon, Soprano, is from Jonesboro in Louisiana and is a graduate of Loyola
University of New Orleans in Vocal performance under the study of Luretta Bybee. Taylor has
been singing and performing since she was in high school. Her senior year of high school, she
was given the opportunity to sing with the national honors choir in Carnegie Hall and later in her
undergraduate, at University of Louisiana at Monroe, she was able to continue her craft in Italy
at a program called Music in the Marche. While performing scenes with Music in the Marche,
Taylor performed in Suor Angelica by Puccini as the title role and in L'incoronazione di Poppea
by Monteverdi as Poppea. At Loyola, Taylor worked towards becoming a great musician and
having a wonderful representation before her graduation and traveling to other countries to
further her career and education. She aspires to perform with an amazing opera company and
travel the world doing beautiful productions while inspiring others to the same.