2026
FACULTY
Jennifer Rowley
Founder and Director
Voice Teacher
American soprano, Jennifer Rowley, is acclaimed worldwide for her unforgettable voice and remarkable stage presence in a richly varied repertoire that spans many of opera’s greatest heroines. She has appeared at The Metropolitan Opera as Roxanne in Cyrano de Bergerac, the title roles of Tosca and Adriana Lecouvreur, Leonora in Il Trovatore, and Musetta in La Boheme; at Opernhaus Zurich and Opera Philadelphia as Amelia Grimaldi in Simon Boccanegra, at the Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro Colon and Teatro Lirico di Cagliari in the title role of Aida; Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Staatsoper Berlin, Opera National de Paris, and Opera de Rouen in her signature role of Leonora in Il Trovatore; the Teatro Regio Torino in Torino and National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China as Minnie in La Fanciulla del West; at the Semperoper Dresden as both Tosca and Valentine in Les Huguenots; at Teatro Verdi Salerno in the title role of Manon Lescaut; at Teatro Carlo Felice, Dallas Symphony, and Palm Beach Opera in the title role of Madama Butterfly; the National Theatre Prague as Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Musetta, and most recently in her role debut as Turandot with Florida Grand opera among many others.
On the concert stage, Ms. Rowley has performed concert performances of Tosca with the Israel Philharmonic led by maestro Zubin Mehta and the Philadelphia Orchestra. She was the soprano soloist in Beethoven's colossal Missa Solemnis with thePhiladelphia Orchestra both in Philadelphia at the Kimmel Center, and NewYork City’s Carnegie Hall, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She was the soprano soloist for Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, Symphony of a Thousand with maestro Fabio Luisi at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, was the soprano soloist with St. Cecilia Chorus and Orchestra in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at Carnegie Hall as well as with Valentina Peleggi and the Richmond Symphony, and Tove in Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder with the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado São Paulo.
An avid mentor to young artists, Ms. Rowley is the founder and director of AriaBootcamp, a 501(c)3 educational charity, and a training program focusing on world class training of emerging professional operatic artists. She holds an annual Artist in Residence position at Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory and is currently on voice faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music. She is highly sought after for her seminar series and masterclasses across the globe. A winner of many international competitions, she was awarded the Richard Tucker Career Grant, was a top prize winner of the Lucia Albanese Puccini Foundation, the Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Opera Index Awards, and was a district winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Consul Awards, now Laffont Competition.
Jason Ferrante
Voice Teacher
Recognized as one of the most sought-after American voice teachers active today, Jason Ferrante has been teaching singing and performing internationally for two decades. His students appear on the greatest operatic and concert stages of the world including the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Salzburg Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall and Glyndebourne. They have been winners and participants in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, The George London Awards and most of the major singing competitions in the USA.
He is regularly sought-out by professional singers for technical advice and by schools, opera companies and training programs for masterclasses and lessons. In 2021, Ferrante served as voice teacher and Director of the Studio for Wolf Trap Opera. In 2025, he continues as voice teacher on the voice faculties of the training programs at Banff, Canadian Opera Company, Pensacola Opera, Portland Opera, Arizona Opera, Nashville Opera, Florentine Opera, Charlottesville Opera and Brevard Music Center. In previous seasons, he taught for Florida Grand Opera, Virginia Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Kentucky Opera and Opera Omaha.
He is a regional and district judge for the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, the Schmidt Vocal Competition, and the National Opera Association Production Competition. Ferrante holds both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School where his primary studies were with Beverley Peck Johnson and Cynthia Hoffmann. While at Juilliard, Ferrante was nurtured by many of the finest language coaches in the singing world including Nico Castel, Thomas Grubb, Corradina Caporello, Richard Cross, and Kathryn LaBouff. His primary acting studies were with Edward Berkeley and Frank Corsaro. His further studies were at Wolf Trap, Tanglewood and Aspen as well as the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan and the University of Miami School of Music in Salzburg.
For further information on his performance career visit www.jasonferrante.com/teaching
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Anthony V. Manoli
Musical Coach
Pianist and Coach Anthony V. Manoli has worked with some of the leading opera companies throughout the world including the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Theatre Des Champs-Elysees, Opera Lausanne and L’Opera du Rhin as assistant conductor and coach/pianist. In addition, The Washington National Opera and Los Angeles Opera have engaged him as an assistant conductor. Mr. Manoli has collaborated with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Seiji Ozawa, Claudio Abbado, Robert Shaw, Sir Andrew Davis, Richard Bonygne and Sir Colin Davis.  Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Mirella Freni, Jose Carreras, Rockwell Blake, Edita Gruberova and Barbara Frittoli are just some of the singers with whom he has worked. 
Mr. Manoli has coached at the Academie Bastille, Domingo-Cafritz Washington National Opera and Los Angeles Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program. In addition, he has worked with the Canadian Opera Company’s Young Artist Ensemble as well as the Young Artist Program for Palm Beach Opera. He is a faculty member of the Mannes College of Music in New York City where he also maintains an active private coaching studio. He appears frequently with Sondra Radvanovsky in recital and has collaborated with tenors Stephen Costello and Matthew Polenzani in concerts within the United States.
Ksenia Leletkina
Russian Diction
Russian born pianist Ksenia Leletkina enjoys a vigorous career as a sought-after vocal coach, pianist, and Russian diction specialist. She is currently on faculty at the Juilliard School of Music and on staff at the Metropolitan Opera. As an author and editor, her recent publications include Anthology of Russian Songs and the second volume of Libretti of Russian Operas for Leyerle Publications. 
Dr. Leletkina taught courses and workshops on Russian diction at Eastman School of Music, NATS, Palm Beach Opera, Opera Naples, and Lindemann Young Artists Development Program for the Metropolitan Opera. Her other engagements include five seasons with Palm Beach Opera where she served as Principal Coach; Eastman Opera Theatre as a coach and music director; as well as musical coach at Opera Naples and the Renata Scotto Opera Program among others.  
Dr. Leletkina earned her Doctoral degree from Eastman School of Music in Accompanying and Chamber Music, and her Masters degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, double majoring in Piano Performance and Collaborative Piano
José Meléndez
Musical Coach
Pianist José Meléndez is widely in demand as a vocal coach, conductor, and collaborative artist. His professional engagements have taken him to Europe, South and Central America, Asia, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and throughout the mainland United States. He is committed to the artistic development of
young and emerging singers and has been associated with numerous young artist programs, competitions, and training centers.
Mr. Meléndez holds a full-time position at the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia, where he is Assistant to the Music Director, Orchestra Librarian, and part of the music staff. He serves as Assistant Conductor, Collaborative Pianist, and Vocal Coach for various AVA productions and events, and he is also the Music Director of Concert Operetta Philadelphia, an organization dedicated to the performance of operetta in concert. In fall 2024, he joined soprano Othalie Graham as co-chair for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Philadelphia District, and also serve as the pianist for the Mid-Atlantic District and Region.
Throughout his prolific career, Mr. Meléndez has held professional positions with Glimmerglass Opera (Principal Coach), Opera Company of Philadelphia, Hawaii Opera Theatre (Chorus Master, Repetiteur, Studio Artist Coach), Ocean City (NJ) Pops Orchestra (Conductor), Connecticut Grand
Opera, Bay Area Summer Opera Theater (Conductor), Westminster Opera Theater (Music Director), Indianapolis Opera, and Opera de Puerto Rico. For over a decade, he worked with Opera New Jersey as Assistant Conductor and Principal Coach and as Music Director of the Young Artist Program.
Lucy Tucker Yates
Italian Diction
In November 2022 Miss Yates made her Lincoln Center debut as maestro al cembalo for Rossini's Maometto II with Teatro Nuovo. In 2020 she joined LA's The Industry on keyboards for Sweet Land (Du Yun/Raven Chacon) and was made a company member. In 2018 she made her conducting debut as maestro al cembalo at Seattle Opera with the "extremely inventive" O+E (Gluck/Calzabigi 1762 Orfeo ed Euridice), in an "elegantly poetic" English version she created. In 2014 she made her Rossini Opera Festival debut as onstage continuo fortepianist and assistant conductor to Will Crutchfield in Mario Martone's staging of Aureliano in Palmira.
Miss Yates first drew international attention as Violetta in a 2002 Franco Zeffirelli production of La traviata (Teatro Verdi di Busseto) and as Monica in The Medium at Spoleto under Gian Carlo Menotti's direction. Critics called her Gilda “perfect” (Piedmont), her Beatrice di Tenda “dazzling” (Fletcher), and her Fiordiligi “deliciously feminine” (Aldeburgh). She appeared as Nedda in Pagliacci at Sarasota Opera and as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Opera Company of North Carolina.
Through twenty years of playing, coaching, and writing alongside Will Crutchfield for Bel Canto at Caramoor and Teatro Nuovo (where she is now Director of Language Studies), Miss Yates has emerged as a cogent and lyrical translator and teacher of Italian grammar and poetry. She has served as dramaturg, titlist, and coach for the New York City Opera. She has taught and coached for over a decade for dell'Arte Opera Ensemble under Christopher Fecteau. She has given master class series on the history of the Italian poetic tradition for Portland Opera and on the mechanics of Italian verse for Fort Worth Opera. She is a Lecturer in Opera in the Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA.
John Simmons
Musical Coach
Pianist John Simmons holds and MM in piano performance from Peabody Conservatory (student of Yoheved Kaplinsky); an Artist Diploma in piano performance from the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Vienna, Austria (student of Paul Badura-Skoda). He was appointed to Cleveland Institute of Music Opera Faculty in 2005.
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Mr. Simmons has appeared in numerous recitals in Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy and in the U.S. at Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall and the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York City. He has performed with
such artists/ensembles as Jonas Kaufmann, Christopher Maltman, John Aler, the London Symphony Chorus, the Westminster Choir, the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, the Spoleto Festival Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra in the Beyond the Score Series. Mr. Simmons has coached, taught and performed at
AIMS, the Spoleto Festival USA, the Centro Studi Italiani, the Amalfi Coast, Shaker Mountain and Lincoln Center festivals. He was pianist/coach for two seasons at the Graz Oper and teaching assistant at the Hochschule für Musik in Graz, an associate coach at the Juilliard Opera Center for three years and on the coaching faculty at the CW Post campus of Long Island U for 6 years.
While in New York, Mr. Simmons played in the voice studios of many
well known teachers including Doris Yarick Cross and Anna Moffo. He was music director and pianist for New York Opera Project‘s production of Barber‘s Vanessa in 2004 and assistant conductor for the Lincoln Center Festival and U of Michigan, Ann Arbor productions of The Silver River by Bright Sheng in 2002 and 2007. Mr. Simmons serves as music director and conductor for Nightingale Opera Theater in Hudson, Ohio. Recent conducting engagements include performances of Jake Heggie’s Two Remain in Cleveland and Melbourne, Australia.
François Germain
French and German Diction
Musical Coach
François Germain is an internationally recognized vocal coach, pianist, and educator whose work bridges performance, pedagogy, and scholarship in opera and art song. A native of Aix-en-Provence, France, he has built a career spanning Europe and North America and is widely regarded for his stylistic authority, linguistic expertise, and collaborative work with singers.
In Europe, Dr. Germain has been regularly engaged since 2017 as guest vocal and language coach at the Semperoper Dresden, collaborating on major French productions and working closely with conductors, directors, and international casts. In the United States, he is Program Director of Opera Theater and Associate Professor of Voice Studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music and also serves on the faculty of Jennifer Rowley’s Aria Bootcamp.
As a recitalist and collaborative pianist, he has appeared throughout Europe and North America, including at the American Church in Paris, Steinway Hall in New York, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and has also appeared as a substitute keyboardist with the Cleveland Orchestra. Dr. Germain holds a Doctor of Music degree in piano performance from the Université de Montréal and a Master’s-level diploma in political science from the Sciences Po Aix, where his research examined the cultural politics surrounding the music of Dmitri Shostakovich.
Paul Curran
Stage Director, Acting
Award winning director Paul Curran is one of the most sought after stage directors of his generation. Recent engagements include Tristan und Isolde at San Francisco Opera; La Fanciulla del West in Bologna; Il Trovatore Torino; Tosca, Otello with Canadian Opera; Carmen at Opera Philadelphia and Seattle Opera; My Fair Lady in San Carlo, Napoli; Der fliegende Holländer at the Teatro Comunale di Firenze, Pique Dame with Grange Festival Opera and The Bartered Bride at Garsington Opera.
Past highlights include La Donna del Lago (DVD) at the Metropolitan Opera, The Tsar’s Bride at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and Tannhäuser at the famed Teatro alla Scala, Milan. Mr. Curran was the Artistic Director of the Norwegian National Opera 2007 to 2012.
Other important projects include Pastorale (World Premiere), Staatstheater Stuttgart; Becoming Santa Claus (World Premiere, DVD), Dallas Opera; Ariadne auf Naxos, La Fenice Venice; Der Fliegende Holländer, Bologna; Maggio Musicale Firenze; Rusalka, New National Theatre Tokyo; La Cenerentola, Teatro Maestranza, Seville; Tristan und Isolde, La Fenice Venice; and Peter Grimes at the Savonlinna Opera Festival. His production of Humperdinck’s Die Königskinder with Teatro San Carlo won the Italian Critics’ Prize, Premio Abbiati.
For Hamlet for the Clerkenwell Music Series he worked with designer Vivienne Westwood. Other past collaborations include Norwegian National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Royal Danish Opera, Santa Fe, Spoleto Festival USA, Washington National, Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago Lyric Opera, Teatro Sao Carlos Lisbon, Göttingen Händel Festival, Brisbane Baroque
Festival, Les Arts Valencia, Opera di Roma, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Covent Garden Festival, and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Curran is a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Sydney.
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Scott Skiba
Stage Director, Acting (Video)
Award-winning Stage Director Scott Skiba has led more than 80 new productions, earning recognition for his imaginative stage direction and dynamic physical approach to storytelling that is “masterful…ingenious…first-rate...vivid and emotionally charged."
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For Cleveland Opera Theater Scott has directed La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Le nozze di Figaro, A Streetcar Named Desire, Tosca, La Rondine, Gianni Schicchi, Il Tabarro, Pagliacci, The Threepenny Opera, the Cleveland premiere of Evan Mack and Joshua McGuire’s The Ghosts of Gatsby for The National Opera Association in a co-production with Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, and the World Premiere of La Casa de Bernarda Alba by Griffin Candey with libretto by OBIE Award Winner Caridad Svich a co-commission with Baldwin Wallace Conservatory.
Scott has made multiple company debuts in recent years including Roméo et Juliette for Pensacola Opera, Macbeth for Opera Tampa, The Ballad of Baby Doe with Toledo Opera, Faust and Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Natchez Festival of Music, The Student Prince at Opera Grand Rapids, Carmen for Opera Western Reserve, Suor Angelica and La Bohème for Mobile Opera, and Don Giovanni and La Tragédie de Carmen for Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. Scott is the recently appointed Production Director for Opera Western Reserve.
Priti Gandhi
Industry Consultant and Career Coach
Priti Gandhi is an established arts executive and nationally recognized leader in artistic administration, talent strategy, and institutional advancement within the opera field. Her career spans more than 25 years and includes a distinguished 20-year international performing career with organizations such as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera, Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, and UNAM in Mexico City before transitioning into senior executive leadership.
Most recently, she served as Associate Director of the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition, overseeing nationwide operations across 37 districts and 12 regions, coordinating the Grand Finals concert on the Metropolitan Opera stage, managing financial and administrative structures, cultivating donor relationships, and serving as a national representative and vocal scout for emerging talent. Previously, she has served as Artistic Director of Portland Opera and as Chief Artistic Officer and Vice President of Artistic at Minnesota Opera, where she oversaw multi-million-dollar artistic budgets, led
programming and casting strategy, negotiated complex artist contracts, restructured departmental operations, and advanced diversity and community engagement initiatives.
Among her credits, she is a frequent speaker on national industry panels, a member of the artistic advisory council of the Asian Opera Alliance, and past advisor on grant panels for new works (such as the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Midwest, and Opera America).
Ms. Gandhi is an Executive MBA graduate in Arts Innovation from the Global Leaders Institute, the American Express Women in Leadership Academy, an alumna of the Opera America Leadership programs, and a frequent judge for competitions such as the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the Richard Tucker Awards, the Jensen Foundation, the Atlanta Opera 96 Hour Festival, and the Belvedere Competition. Currently, she is an active career mentor for emerging professionals in the field, as well as new works advisor at Atlanta Opera.
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Matthew Holler
Photographer
New York City based photographer Matthew Holler got his start shooting fashion editorials for luxury publications in Southwest Florida. The early collaborations with designers, hair and makeup artists, stylists and models helped to influence a sophisticated sun-drenched aesthetic that Matthew brings to his clients both in the studio and on location. With a keen eye for the way fabric moves and falls on the body, the enigmatic quality of light and shadow and a love for Renaissance and Baroque painting, Matthew’s work focuses on movement and energy while showcasing the subject’s own unique personality.
Matthew received a BFA in Photography and Digital Imaging from Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL. His photography career spanning over fifteen years across dozens of industries has awarded him the opportunity to work with some of the most inspiring artists in fashion, music and ballet. His work has been featured in numerous publications within the US and internationally, including Vogue, Vogue Brasil, Pointe Magazine and Forbes.
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Melissa Collette Brown
Hair and Makeup Designer
Melissa Collette Brown is a celebrity makeup artist and hair stylist with 30 years of experience in the industry. She has had the immense pleasure of lending her artistry to prominent brands including Benefit Cosmetics, Alter'd State, Harley Davidson, Kohl's, Nike, Dillards, SyFy Channel, HSN and Fox, among numerous others. Notable celebrity clients include: Christie Brinkley, Octavia Spencer, June Ambrose, Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy and Snookie.
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Her extensive work in all mediums of print, film, live television, bridal and special occasion have given her the ability to create looks that are beautiful in any capacity.
Paige Sosa
Photo Shoot Stylist
Paige Sosa is a fashion stylist with over a decade of experience in the fashion industry. She began he career in 2012 as an e-commerce coordinator in the photo studio of a Florida-based department store. With the encouragement and collaboration of a colleague, she helped develop a styling role to elevate the visual presentation of the company’s website. This opportunity led to her promotion as Lead Fashion Stylist, where she oversaw styling for all advertising campaigns.
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In 2020, when the pandemic reshaped the industry, Paige transitioned into freelance work, focusing on wardrobe styling and production assisting. This shift allowed her to expand my creative network and collaborate on a variety of projects.
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She truly loves the industry and the incredible people she meets along the way. Being on set with passionate, creative individuals is where she feels happiest.
GUEST ARTISTS - COMING SOON
Digitelle
Social Media and Branding
Digitelle is passionate about equipping independent creatives & non-profits in the performing arts with savvy social media marketing techniques. Our mission is to amplify your voice, foster collaboration, and work together to up the game of a historic industry by being an experienced resource for best practices and marketing strategy.
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We seek to establish a world in which classical creatives, arts organizations, and all non-profits think more like businesses and entrepreneurs. We see good, strategic marketing as a way forward for a historic industry facing the difficulties of modernizing.
From the Co-Founders:
Hi! We are Max Potter and Antoni Mendezona - the brains behind Digitelle’s not-so-typical journey. Max, a seasoned digital marketing expert and mezzo-soprano, and Antoni, a social media strategist and soprano, bring over 2 decades of combined expertise to the table.
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As seasoned performers, we know what it’s like to be your own marketing team. Whether it's creating killer content, devising genius strategies, or developing impactful audience connections through copywriting, we've done it. Digitelle is your go-to resource for mastering the social media game. But here's the twist – at Digitelle, we're not here to run your social media; we're here to arm you with the knowledge to effectively do it yourself.