Voice Faculty

Prior to this appointment he served on the Opera Studies faculty of Indiana University where he administered and served as Music Director and Conductor of the Martina Arroyo Opera Program. He is also founding Music Director and Conductor of the Seoul International Opera Program in Korea. Born in Belgium, Kevin acquired a diverse musical education in both Europe and the U.S. including studies with Murray Perahia, Gyorgy Sebok, Daniel Blumenthal and Ralph Votapek.  As a pianist, Kevin has been a frequent soloist in such venues as Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, New York’s Carnegie Hall and Vienna’s Musikverein.  In response to performances and promotion of both standard and contemporary music, Kevin was named a Fellow of the Flemish Community by the Belgian government in 1998.

In addition to work as a soloist, Kevin has been long active as a conductor of opera including conducting residencies at the National Opera La Monnaie in Brussels, The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden and The National Opera Studio in London.  He has also served as principal guest conductor for Opera Illinois (Peoria) and four seasons as Guest Music Director and Resident Conductor of the Illinois Opera Theatre at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Champaign-Urbana.  He also has a life-long association with standard orchestral literature as well as a devotion to contemporary music.  He has conducted the Northern Illinois Philharmonic, the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, and was Resident Conductor of the Illinois New Music Ensemble from 2003-2005.  Kevin combines these various disciplines into annual residencies in Asia where he regularly leads masterclasses and workshops for pianists, accompanists, singers and conductors. In September 2009, Kevin will be in Artist-in-Residence for the Second Annual Cultural Arts Festival in Chongqing, China where he will perform a solo recital, conduct a concert with the Southwest University Symphony Orchestra and present a series of masterclass and lecture-recitals.

• www.kevinclass.com
• www.youtube.com/kjclass
• Kevin Class Press Kit

Ms. DiSimone has sung at opera houses in America including Glimmerglass Opera, Sarasota Opera, Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Boston, New York Grand Opera, Texas Opera Theater and Des Moines Metro Opera  as well as opera houses in Italy, Germany and the Czech Republic.  She made her Carnegie Hall debut as Fenena in Verdi’s Nabucco and returned for performances of Handel, Mozart, Beethoven and Mascagni.  A finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions her repertoire includes most of the standard mezzo repertoire as well as Wagner, Strauss and contemporary works by Harbison and most recently, Elizabeth Proctor in Ward’s The Crucible. She has sung as a soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Shreveport Symphony and Hartford Symphony.  She has been on the faculty of Clark University, Wake Forest University and the Berkshire Choral Festival.

MP3 Music Samples:

• Va, laisse couler mes larmes From "Werther" by Massenet.
• Das verlassene Mägdlein by Hugo Wolf.
• Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer performed with orchestra "Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht."

FULL BIO: Lorraine DiSimone

Research/Creative Activity: Lorraine DiSimone

Eileen Downey is currently Lecturer of Piano at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, where she is a vocal coach and collaborative pianist, as well as a rehearsal pianist for Knoxville Opera.  She was previously a member of the adjunct faculty at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, TX, as well as a frequent collaborator with the Texas Christian University School of Music.

Ms. Downey was one of the 2011 staff accompanists for the AIMS in Graz program.  She traveled to Austria after attending the SongFest program in Malibu, CA as a second-time recipient of the SongFest at Pepperdine Marc and Eva Stern Fellowship.  During the previous summer, Eileen traveled to Spain to play a recital with the winner of the 2nd annual Miguel Zanetti Competition and participate in Project Canción Española’s International Festival: Interpretation of Spanish Song.  Ms. Downey is an alumna of the Merola Opera Program of the San Francisco Opera Center, where she spent the summer of 2008.  She has also worked as a Fellowship Coach for the Aspen Opera Theater Center, a coach/accompanist for the Opera North Young Artist Program, a studio pianist for the Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, Italy, and a pianist for the Texas Christian University Summer Institute of Art Song in Spanish and Project Canción Española Competition.

Since his professional directing debut in 1996, James Marvel has directed over 80 productions in the United States, England, Scotland, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. In 2008, he was named Classical Singer Magazine’s “2008 – Stage Director of the Year.” His new production of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress for the San Francisco Opera Merola Program was named “Best Production of the Year” by the San Francisco Chronicle. James served as Co-Director with Henryk Baranowski at Teatr Wielki in Lodz, Poland on Philip Glass’ Akhnaten, which won 2 Golden Mask Awards for Best Direction and Best Production of the Year.

He has taught master-classes and given lectures at Indiana University, North West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa, The Juilliard School, University of Toronto Center for Opera  in Sulmona, Italy, Utah State University, University of Southern California, Sacramento State University, Boston University Opera Institute, and University Of Tennessee Department of Theatre. He has also been an instructor at many Young Artist programs including Wolf Trap and Opera of the Avalon in Canada.

Other career highlights include groundbreaking new productions of Les Pecheurs De Perles for Opera Boston; La Voix Humaine at Florence Gould Hall in New York City and for the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, Belgium; and Tosca at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.

In additional to his degrees, James has studied at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic (Summer 1996). He is a Recognized Actor / Combatant in Rapier and Dagger in the Society of American Fight Directors (2000).

James Marvel Website: http://www.jamesmarvel.com/

International leading soprano CECILY NALL has appeared throughout the United States with the San Francisco Opera, Opera Theater of Saint Louis, Baltimore Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Atlanta Opera, Opera Memphis, Indianapolis Opera, West Palm Beach Opera, Utah Opera, and Florentine Opera, among others. In Europe, Ms. Nall was engaged as a principal artist with the Stadttheater Aachen and Staatstheater Darmstadt, and appeared as a guest artist with numerous German theaters including Leipzig, Dortmund, Mannheimn, Hannover, Wiesbaden, Wuerzburg,and Bielefeld, to name a few. Additional international appearances have included performances as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Festival Dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, and as Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile. From 2004-2007, Ms. Nall was Assistant Professor of Voice at the College of Music, Florida State University. While there, she performed several solo and collaborative recitals at the College of Music, and appeared as soloist with the Tallahassee Community Chorus and the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. Cecily Nall was Artist-in-Residence at the Musical Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio from 1997-2004.

FULL BIO: CecilyNall.pdf

Tenor Andrew Skoog recently performed Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and in 2006, reprised the work in his International debut with the Bergen Philharmonic in Bergen, Norway.  He made his New York debut at Carnegie Hall in Handel’s Messiah with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and has also performed with the American Symphony Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall.  Other recent orchestral credits include the Minnesota Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Toledo Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Shreveport Symphony, Tulsa Symphony, and Baton Rouge Symphony.  His made his operatic debut with the Lyric Opera of San Antonio as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.  A regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and the Dallas Opera Career Development Grant Auditions, his operatic credits include such roles as Sam Polk in Susannah, Alfred in Die Fledermaus, Pong in Turandot, Camille in The Merry Widow, as well as roles in Carmen, The Pirates of Penzance, Rita, Werther, Savitri, L’Enfant et Les Sortileges, and The Love for Three Oranges. 

MP3 Music Samples:

• Olim lacus colueram from Carmina Burana
• Not While I'm Around from Sweeny Todd by Stephen Sondheim

FULL BIO: Andrew Skoog

Research/Creative Activity: AndrewSkoog

Ms Bennett Stephens served as area coordinator from 2005-2008 and is responsible for both the undergraduate and graduate Voice Pedagogy Programs. She is currently serving on the National Board of Directors for the National Association of Teachers of Singing as the Mid-South Regional Governor. In the summers, Ms Bennett Stephens serves on the faculty of the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. She received the 2010 University of Tennessee School of Music Distinguished Teaching Award.

Ms. Bennett Stephens made her professional debut with the Graz Opera, Austria where she earned critical acclaim for her vocal refinement and finesse as well as her genuineness on stage. She has charmed audiences with her performances in regional opera companies throughout the United States including representative roles such as Cio-cio san (Madame Butterfly), Pamina (The Magic Flute), Countess (The Marriage of Figaro), Marguerite (Faust) Gilda (Rigoletto) and Hanna (The Merry Widow). To her credit, as well, are performances of the Verdi heroines Lady MacBeth, Odabella (Attila), Luisa Miller, and Giovanna d’Arco.  Demonstrating a singular versatility, Ms. Bennett Stephens’ growing list of operetta credits include The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore, Pirates of Penzance, Yeomen of the Guard, Iolanthe, Ruddigore and The Student Prince.

In the spring of 2004, Marjorie was praised while in Russia for her concert performances and master classes at the Moscow Conservatory and the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Among her recent interpretive triumphs are her performances of the Edvard Grieg Norwegian song cycle, Haugtussa, and her recent performance with orchestra of the Richard Strauss masterpiece, Vier Letzte Lieder.

Her students are singing professionally and teaching at major universities throughout the US. Recent student accomplishments include: first place, Opera Birmingham; San Francisco Opera Center Merola Opera, Central City Opera, Orlando Opera and Shreveport Opera apprenticeships; first place, AIMS Meistersinger Vocal Competition; regional finalists Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions; Singer of the Year Vocal Competition, Shreveport Opera; Palm Beach Opera Finalist; Marguerite McCammon Voice Competition, Ft. Worth Opera; NATSAA National Finals; National Opera Association Finalist; Orpheus Vocal Competition Finalists; and NATS Mid-South Regional winners.

Research/Creative Activity: Marjorie Stephens

Having been one of the most requested bass-baritones in the U.S. during his most active years, Mr. Wentzel has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, Theatre of St. Louis, Florida Grand Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Central City Opera, San Diego Opera, and Washington Opera, in such roles as Don Giovanni, Leporello, Figaro, Basilio, Colline, Méphistophélès, Escamillo, Olin Blitch, and Banquo. A popular concert singer and recitalist, he appears regularly with major symphony orchestras including the Boston Symphony and the National Symphony. During the summer of 2006 Mr. Wentzel appeared in the world premier of Stephen Hartke's The Greater Good at Glimmerglass Opera. The production has been recorded on the Naxos Era label. He also recorded Berlioz' L'Enfance du Christ with Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony on the Decca label. Mr. Wentzel's other recordings include the Dvorák Te Deum with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra on the Koss label, and the role of Godoy in Menotti's Goya, recorded live at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, on the Nuova Era label. His performance of Shojo in the world premiere of Minoru Miki's Joruri with Opera Theatre of St. Louis is available on Videodisc and VHS. 

He has been at the University of Tennessee since January, 1996, where he has established a strong reputation as a trainer of young professionals. Working with the Knoxville Opera, Mr. Wentzel revitalized the Knoxville Opera Studio, attracting talented young singers to gain on the job training in the professional setting. Students from his voice studio have participated in some of the most prestigious apprentice programs in the United States while advancing their careers.

Mr. Wentzel and his wife, mezzo soprano and healthcare professional Karen Nickell have become integral parts of the musical fabric of the city serving on the Board of the Knoxville Opera and performing with the Knoxville Opera, Knoxville Symphony and other local organizations. Additionally, Mr. Wentzel is the official "Anthem Man" of the UT VOLS football games.

MP3 Music Samples:

• Word Like Fire
• Lord God of Abraham

FULL BIO: Andrew Wentzel

For booking and professional information please visit Herbert Barrett Management

Research/Creative Activity: AndrewWentzel