Mara Barrett is a proud graduate of the Theatre Program at The College of William and Mary. Some of her performance credits include The Rocky Horror Show (Richmond Triangle Players), The Addams Family (Dogwood Dell), The Great Gatsby (Quill Theatre), Times Square Angel (Richmond Triangle Players), A Chorus Line (Richmond Triangle Players), Free Man of Color (The Heritage Ensemble Theatre Company), Something’s Afoot (Swift Creek Mill), and Virginia Rep on Tour. She has also appeared as Musetta in in CCO's production of La bohème.

David Brown studied Percussion at The Juilliard School of Music in New York City and maintains his love of performing. Before college, he won the National Symphony Orchestra Young Soloist competition.

Mr. Brown spent 3 years touring with the Blue Devils Drum & Bugle corps from Concord, Ca. He has several works for Marimba that were published in the late 90’s. Singing is a recent passion and he strives for continued improvement in various styles.  He currently studies with tenor James Taylor.

Alan has been a mainstay in the Richmond classical music scene since his debut at VCU Opera in 2011. Some of his favorite past roles include both Figaro and Conte d'Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Slook in Rossini's La Cambiale di Matrimonio, the Pirate King in Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance, Silvio in Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci, the title role in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Marcello in Puccini's La bohème, and High Priest in Samson et Dalila.

Born in Richmond, VA, baritone Kirkland Fenerty holds a Bachelors of Music from James Madison University, and has studied internationally with AIMS in Graz, Austria and Opera Al Mare in Cesenatico, Italy. Past operatic credits include the title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Marcello and Shaunard in La bohème, Nick Shadow in Stravinsky's The Rake’s Progress, Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, and Wagner in Gounod's Faust. Chorus credits include Heggie's Dead Man Walking, Monteverdi's L’Incoronazione di Poppea, and Wagner in Gounod's Faust.

Fredrick Newhouse is a native of Richmond, Virginia. He has studied vocal performance at VCU and is currently a student of James Taylor. After a long hiatus, he is making his return to opera to debut his first lead role as Rodolfo. Fredrick has performed in the chorus with VCU Opera in Lehár’s The Merry Widow and Mozart’s The Magic Flute. He has also performed the joyous role of Lippo Fiorentino in the “Ice Cream Sextet” from Kurt Weill’s Street Scene. In May, Fredrick will be participating in a workshop for Damien Geter's Loving vs. Virginia with Virginia Opera. He is extremely excited to be performing opera again and eagerly anticipates the future.

Catherine studied as a vocal performance major at Virginia Commonwealth University and is a former member of the production staff for VCU’s award-winning opera department, as well as a board member for Commonwealth Concert Opera. Catherine has performed in a variety of genres at a variety of venues, but her favorite has always been opera. Favorite past performances include Dalila in Samson et Dalila, Azucena in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Ms. Todd in Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief, Third Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Princess Ida in Gilbert & Sullivan's Princess Ida, Maria Rainer in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music, and Nick Bottom in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. After participating in several musical workshops of the piece, Catherine will be performing in the chorus for the world premiere of Loving v. Virginia in May of 2025 with Virginia Opera.

Elizabeth Robideau studied vocal performance at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has performed in oratorio, opera, operetta and recital. Her oratorio performances as soloist include Handel’s "Messiah", Mozart's "Requiem", Bach's "Magnificat" and "Mass in B minor" and Vivaldi's "Gloria". Operatic roles include Maura in Riders to the Sea by Vaughan Williams, Lucilla in Rossini's La scala di seta, Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice and the title role in Benjamin Lees’ Medea. She has also appeared in many Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, such as The Yeomen of the Guard" (Phoebe) and The Pirates of Penzance (Edith). She recently participated in the workshop for Geter's Loving v. Virginia with Virginia Opera.

A native of England, Ms. Robideau has also performed as Mad Margaret in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Ruddigore at Gawsworth Hall in the UK. She is currently studying with James Taylor.

James Taylor, M.M. (Yale University), is an internationally celebrated performer. At home in opera, concert, recital, and musical theatre, he has appeared with numerous opera companies, symphonies, and theatres, including the New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opera Carolina, Göttigen Handel Festspiele, Theatre Augsburg, and the Nederlandse Reisopera. In his earlier roles as a baritone, Mr. Taylor performed the title roles in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Le Nozze di Figaro, Marcello in La Boheme, as well as thirty-three others. As a tenor, his performances have included Siegmund in Die Walküre, the title roles in Lohengrin and Parsifal, Don Jose in Carmen, Manrico in Il Trovatore, Cavaradossi in Tosca, and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. 

His many concert performances include Handel's Messiah, Bach's Magnificat, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and Mozart's Requiem. An avid recitalist, Mr. Taylor has presented programs in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Breda, and Groningen in the Netherlands, Munich, Augsburg, and Dusseldorf in Germany, Klagenfurt, Linz, and Vienna in Austria, and Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, as well as several universities and colleges across the United States.  He has sung Schubert's "Winterreise", "Die schöne Müllerin", and "Schwanengesang", Schumann's "Dichterliebe", "Liederkreise" Op. 24 & Op. 39, Brahms' "Vier ernste Gesange", "Ziguenerlieder" and "Die schöne Magelone", and Wagner's "Wesendonk Lieder".

A talented and sought-after educator, he has served as Director of Opera at Drake University and the University of Alabama and has been on the music faculties of VCU and the University of Virginia. His students have gone on to such prestigious schools as the New England Conservatory, Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, Yale University, and the Royal College of Music. Several of his students perform regularly with the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Semperoper, Glyndebourne, the Opera Comique, Utah Opera, Central City Opera, Landestheater Niederbayern, Opera Frankfurt, and the Oldenburgisches Staatsoper.

Mr. Taylor has had the pleasure to work with many of the top Artist Teachers in the business, such as Jon Fredric West, Sherrill Milnes, Richard Cross, Doris Yarick-Cross, Jackson Sheats, Andrew Gainey, and Seth Riggs. He has also participated in Master Classes with Placido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, and Regine Crespin.

Jessica Voutsinas is a coluratura sporano from Richmond, Virginia. She's performed with companies along the East Coast, including Opera Ithaca, Classical RVA, and Commonwealth Concert Opera in beloved roles Susanna in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, Dorothée in Massenet's Cendrillon, and Musetta in Puccini's La bohème. Jessica has also sung in the chorus for I Pagliacci and performed in the choral works Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, Messiah by George Frideric Handel, and Prayers of Kierkegaard by Samuel Barber. She graduated from Ithaca Conservatory in 2018, and has studied with renowned singers Dawn Pierce and James Taylor.

Justin Lee enjoys an active career as both a solo and collaborative pianist. He is an in-demand accompanist across the Richmond area and is currently an adjunct music faculty member at both University of Richmond and Brightpoint Community College's Midlothian Campus.

A Richmond area native, Justin holds two degrees in piano performance: a BM from Virginia Commonwealth University (2015), and an MM from University of North Carolina School of the Arts (2018). Past teachers include Buckner Gamby, Yin Zheng, and Dmitri Shteinberg.

Ceili (pronounced KAY-Lee) Galante is a multi-dimensional performer, musician, and arts advocate with a deep passion for uplifting voices and stories deserved to be told in the modern age. Their combined studies of choral music, theatre, Appalachian roots traditions, and jazz serve as the foundation for their extensive career in Richmond- whether providing vocals for Cassidy Snider and the Wranglers or Ant the Symbol, co-creating folk punk band The Great Beforetimes, performing and arranging music for Firehouse Theatre’s Ghost Quartet, leading quartets at Gallery 5’s Jazz Nights, or hosting In Your Ear Studio’s Shockoe Sessions Live, Ceili has become a staple in the local performing arts scene. Their upcoming EP- Ceili Galante will get back to your shortly, is scheduled to be released on all streaming platforms March 16th, 2025.

Alexander Wilkerson is a conductor, arranger and musician from Richmond, Virginia. Since 2021 he has served as director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Large Brass Ensemble.  As director he traveled with the ensemble to perform in the opening night of the Delaware Contemporary Art Museum as a part of the exhibit Through a Glass Darkly, in which musical visualizations were created with lasers and mirrors mounted on brass instruments responding to vibrations.  He also has served as assistant conductor with the Bay Youth and Richmond Youth Symphony Orchestras. Internationally he has served as Director Invitado of Fundacion Tocando Puertas’ Festival in Cartagena, Colombia.  For the last two years he has participated in this global education program where he performs and conducts in the festival.  Through the festival he also teaches underprivileged Colombian students from beginner to advanced.  An avid lover of opera, he has served as assistant conductor for the Saluzzo Opera Academy's production of Handel's Guilio Cesar in 2024.  As a performer he has performed and taught across Virginia in a wide variety of ensembles, venues, and schools.

Aliex made n which musical visualizations were created with lasers and mirrors mounted on brass instruments responding to vibrations.  He also has served as assistant conductor with the Bay Youth and Richmond Youth Symphony Orchestras. Internationally he has served as Director Invitado of Fundacion Tocando Puertas’ Festival in Cartagena, Colombia.  For the last two years he has participated in this global education program where he performs and conducts in the festival.  Through the festival he also teaches underprivileged Colombian students from beginner to advanced.  An avid lover of opera, he has served as assistant conductor for the Saluzzo Opera Academy's production of Handel's Guilio Cesar in 2024.  As a performer he has performed and taught across Virginia in a wide variety of ensembles, venues, and schools.

Alex last conducted Samson et Dalila for CCO in September 2024. Additionally, he is now the resident conductor for RESONANCE.

A native of Richmond, Virginia, W. Weldon Hill holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music education from Virginia Union University (Richmond) and Master of Music (composition) and Doctor of Philosophy (musicology) degrees from the Catholic University of America.  He also completed post-graduate work in jazz studies at Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond). He subsequently won highly coveted fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Plan for Social Excellence and earned post-doctoral certifications in higher-education leadership at Harvard University (Management Development Program) the American Council on Education.

A stalwart practitioner in higher-education administration Dr. Hill’s career in higher education spans three universities as a faculty member, Dean, and Provost over his 40-year career.  He as published and presented at numerous professional meetings on topics such as economic development, ethnomusicology, town-and-gown partnerships, and educational leadership, Dr. is also involved in educational and public affairs outside the university, having most recently served on the New College Institute Board of Directors (Martinsville, Virginia; appointed by Gov. Ralph Northam) and, currently, the Chairs the Culture Works Board of Directors (Richmond, Virginia).

Now retired from higher education, Dr. Hill devotes his attention to music of multiple genres as composer, producer, performer, and musicologist. Many scholars consider his the definitive treatise on the Sacred Concerts of Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington. Perhaps most well known as a pianist, Dr. Hill primarily performs with his own trio/quartet. He has shared the stage with numerous nationally known artists including Joe Williams, Herb Jefferies, Panama Francis, Ethel Ennis, Benny Carter, Milt Hinton, Billy Pierce, Steve Wilson, Carmen Bradford, Lori Williams and Byron Stripling. He has also performed with the United States Air Force Rhythm and Blue Ensemble, the Glen Miller Orchestra, and the Virginia Symphony and Jazz Orchestra.  His discography spans nearly 40 years, including his own recordings as well as those featuring Jon Faddis, Rene Marie, and Joe Kennedy, among others.