William Sharp > My Studio >
My Studio
DIANA CANTRELLE PC1
Diana Cantrelle, Dramatic Mezzo-Soprano has performed with the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, Peabody Opera Theatre, Washington Concert Opera, Young Victorian Theatre, Washington Savoyards, L’Alliance Française, Silesian State Theatre (Czech Republic), Cincinnati Opera, Townsend Opera Players (California), Elysium (German Tour), Pacific Symphony, Opera Santa Barbara, Pacific Repertory Opera, Opera Pacific, and Atlanta Opera.
Her one-woman show Demented Diva — Soir de la Comédie (includes her original work The History of Opera in the Time it Takes to Cook a Hamburger! ) showcases her talents as a composer, actress and singer, with concerts performed in Corfu, Greece (televised), US and Europe. Some favorite roles are Baba in The Medium, Suzuki - Madame Butterfly, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Charlotte - Werther, Dorabella - Cosi Fan Tutte, Aldonza - Man of La Mancha, Mother - Amahl & the Night Visitors.
Miss Cantrelle is continuing her voice studies at the Peabody Conservatory of Music with international baritone — William Sharp, and coaches with François Loup (Maryland Opera Studio) and James Harp (Baltimore Opera).
Recent performances include: Katisha in The Mikado, Ruth in Pirates of Penzance, Madelon in Andrea Cheniér, Martha in The Secret Garden, and Sweeney Todd at Wolf Trap. She has won awards from: Pasadena Opera Guild, American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria; Zertifikat Deutsch als Fremdsprache (Germany); MET Opera National Council; and the MacAllister Awards.
Upcoming performances include: The Witch in Hänsel & Gretel, The Magic Flute – Third Lady and a Carmen – title role. Miss Cantrelle, a devotee of French repertoire is creating a new children’s opera Le Chat Botté (Puss in Boots) based on the original Charles Perrault beloved fable. She also has a new CD - Vive la France — CD to be released in 2009.
LILIANA CASTELBLANCO MM1
Soprano Liliana Castelblanco currently resides in
ELIZABETH COOPER GPD1
Originally from Long Island, Elizabeth was just a train ride away from the musical
scene of New York City. The only musician in her family, Ms. Cooper created many of her opportunities serendipitously. Originally a flutist, studying with internationally recognized performer Samuel Baron, Elizabeth changed to vocal studies at Choate Rosemary Hall. She went on to study performance and education at New York University.
Elizabeth is currently pursuing a Masters in Music at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University where she studies with William Sharp. Under the tutelage of Roger Brunyate and JoAnn Kulesza she has both assistant directed and covered Female Chorus in the Peabody Opera Theater production of The Rape of Lucretia. She performed in the opera chorus of Les Contes d'Hoffmann, directed by Garnett Bruce, and sang the role of Alida Slade in Robert Ward's Roman Fever. In addition, she assisted with the Peabody Outreach production Papageno!
Ms. Cooper has previously taught in the New York public school system; during her tenure on the faculty of Southold Union Free School District, she was a jack-of-all-trades: general music teacher, choral director, program coordinator, choreographer, and staging coach. While teaching, she has performed with the Riverhead Faculty and Community Theater, The National Theater Workshop of the Handicapped, and appeared as a guest soloist with The Peconic Bay Masterworks Choir.
Elizabeth's interests also reach into visual arts. She is an amateur painter, photographer, and metalsmith. She continues to study in hopes that she will find a way to incorporate various arts media, creating comprehensive outreach programs that boost student desire for exploration and imagination.
PAUL CORUJO MM2
California native Paul Corujo has been establishing himself as a baritone soloist with works such as Charpentier’s Judicium Salomonis with the UC Davis Chamber Singers and J.S. Bach’s Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ with Apollo Arts. Most recently he made his opera debut, playing the role of Zuñiga in a production of Bizet’s Carmen with the San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows. During his time as an undergraduate at UC Davis, Corujo has worked under Jeffery Thomas, David Nutter, Kern Holoman and guest artist Martin Neary. He began his voice studies at UCD with David Newman in 2003, and in 2005 continued under Zoila Muñoz. He is currently pursuing a Masters degree in vocal performance at the Peabody Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of William Sharp.
ELIZABETH HUNGERFORD BM3 (ALSO WITH HONG)
Elizabeth Hungerford is a cantor and chorister at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Since arriving in Washington in 2003, Elizabeth has been featured in eight recordings, including one recorded at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. Live television performances include solo works by Handel, Bach and Victoria. Elizabeth has also been a featured soloist on Public Radio Internationals Carols for Christmas program.
Elizabeth holds a degree in social work from Seattle University and is currently studying for a second bachelors degree in vocal performance at The Peabody Conservatory.
CHRISTOPHER MANNA MM2
Christopher Manna is a tenor hailing from the Baltimore/Washington
area. He studied at the University of Maryland under the
internationally renowned tenor Gran Wilson and president of the National
Association of Teaching Singers, Martha Randall. He has also studied in
France under Madame Silvestre of the Avignon Conservatory, with New York
Metropolitan Opera vocal coach Charlie Riecker, and currently at the
Peabody Conservatory with Grammy award winning baritone, William Sharp.
He has performed such roles as Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas), Lysander (A
Midsummer Night’s Dream), Jepthe (Jepthe), and as the tenor soloist in
Bach’s Magnificat and Christmas Oratorio, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and
St.Paul Oratorios, and Handel’s Messiah and Te Deum. This season, he
will perform the roles of: Monostatos (Die Zauberflöte), Prologue (The
Turn of the Screw), and Arithmetic (L’Enfant et les Sortilèges) with
the Peabody Conservatory.
FRANK MENDOZA BM1
Performances
Opera Scene recitals with the Concordia Opera 2004-Present
Mozart Requiem (Baritone Soloist) 2008
Concert with the American Boychoir At Fukui Hall in Fukui Japan 2008
Papageno Area performed at the Liederkrans Society New York 2007
All-Eastern Mixed Chorus Performance in Atlantic City 2007
All-State Mixed Chorus Performance 2007
Region II Mixed Chorus X2 Performances 2005, 2007
Memorial Service for fallen firefighters at St Patrick’s Cathedral New York City 2001
Brahms’s German Requiem Carnegie Hall Under the Kurt Masur 2001
Mahler’s 3rd performed at Lincoln Center with the American Boychoir 2001, 2003, 2004
Summer Study
Tanglewood Summer Program Summer of 2008
Interlochen Summer Program Summer of 2007
BENJAMIN MOORE MM1
Benjamin Moore, baritone, is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and is a first year Masters student studying with William Sharp. He holds a B.M. in Music Education from Furman University in Greenville, SC, where he studied with Dr. Bingham Vick, Jr. Mr. Moore was an active member of the Furman University Music Department. He was a member and student conductor of the national and international touring choir, Furman Singers, who toured with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra under the direction of Furman alumnus Keith Lockhart in 2007. He also toured Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Switzerland with the Furman Singers in 2006 and 2008. Benjamin was selected twice to participate in Furman University Music Department’s Fall Honors Recital and was one of the soloists in Carmina Burana and in Handel’s Messiah. While at Furman, Benjamin was in the Furman Opera Theatre’s production of The Pirates of Penzance in 2006. In 2006 Benjamin had the opportunity to travel to Philadelphia for coachings with David Arnold, Jeffrey Brillhart, and Randall Scarlata. He has sung in masterclasses for mezzo soprano, Elizabeth Bishop and tenor, Keith Jameson. In the summer of 2007, Benjamin was a young artist in the Lyrique-en-Mer/Festival de Belle-Ile in Belle-Ile, France, during which he performed as a member of the chorus in La Traviata and Les Contes D’Hoffmann. In January 2008 he was a soloist with the Greenville Pops Orchestra.
In 2008-2009, Benjamin can be seen as Harašta in the Peabody Opera Theatre’s production of The Adventures of Sharp-Ears the Vixen and as Dottore Grenvil in La Traviata (also covering Germont).
JAMES PARKS BM3
A young and aspiring artist, James Parks is a native of Frederick, MD. James’ career started when he was but four and sang an innocent rendition of Love Shack at his parent’s square dance. From there he began disrupting second grade classes by breaking out in song. On one occasion the teacher allowed him to get the entire class singing a song from their schools musical. Finally in the third grade, the music teacher told his parents he should be in the Frederick Children’s Chorus and music officially entered James’ life.
In middle school James auditioned for his first musical with the FrederickTowne Players. It was an utter disaster, but somehow he received a quite substantial role. From there he got involved with the Maryland Ensemble Theater which would provide the second most influential thing in his life, the theater. As middle school ended it was very clear to James that he needed to be in the Advanced Music Studies at Governor Thomas Johnson High School and made the appropriate requests to get there.
High school provided a breeding ground for both music and theater and really focused James’ life. In 2004 he became a founding member of a youth acting troupe named Actors Anonymous that would successfully perform from the Maryland Ensemble Theater for another three years. James continued with the Frederick Chamber Singers and was the Conducting Intern for the Frederick Children’s Chorus his senior year. As his senior project he recorded a Christmas album and sold it throughout Frederick, MD giving all proceeds to Christmas Cash for Kids, a local charity. By the end of high school James had performed with many theaters including The Maryland Ensemble Theater, Way Off-Broadway, FrederickTowne Players, MET-X, The Fun Company, SAB Productions, Patriot Point, Village Dinner Theater, and TJ Stage.
After high school James applied and was accepted to the nation’s oldest conservatory, Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins. Thus far his Peabody Career has included performances in Les Contes D’Hoffman, Die Zauberflöte, L’Histoire du Soldat, Ring Dang Doo, and he will be appearing this year in the outreach opera, Hansel and Gretel as the Father. James is also an active member of Peabody’s student government Oasis, and an RA. He is the founder and director of Peabody’s theatrical Improv workshop which has been a success for the past two years.
James has been awarded two finalist positions in the Frederick Talent Search, 1st place in the 2004 Shepherd College Vocal Competition, 2005 MD Distinguished Scholar in the Arts, and Honorable Mention in the 2007 Sue Geots Ross Memorial Competition. James has also participated in a master class with Ruth Drucker.
James currently studies with William Sharp and coaches with Ernest Ligon at The Peabody Conservatory. Past teachers have included Carol DeSantis and Judy DuBose. James plans to continue his studies in the arts after Peabody with the eventual dream of performing in New York even if just on street corners.
When not singing or acting, James can usually be found exploring the urban jungle that is Baltimore, reading historical fiction or theology, having abstract philosophical conversations, or giving out ROCKSTAR energy drinks as he is the Student City JHU Representative.
ANDREW SAUVAGEAU GPD1
Andrew Sauvageau, Baritone, is a first
year graduate performance diploma student and a member of the studio of
William Sharp. A native of Oregon, Mr. Sauvageau
completed his undergraduate at the University of Oregon, studying with
Milagro Vargas. There he participated as a soloist for both the opera
department and the symphony orchestra. His roles with the opera there
included Betto in Gianni Schicchi, Norton in La Cambiale di Matrimonio
and Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro. With University of Oregon’s
Symphony, Mr. Sauvageau performed in
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony as baritone soloist, and had the privilege
to work with Helmuth Rilling as soloist in both Bach’s Magnificat and
Mozart’s C Minor Mass.
Mr. Sauvageau’s work at Peabody
includes the role of Papageno with both the Opera Mainstage and with
the Opera Outreach Program, and the roles of Luther, Crespel and
Schlemihl in the Opera Mainstage production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann.
He has also appeared as baritone soloist in Haydn’s Harmoniemesse and
Puccini’s Messa di Gloria with Peabody Concert Orchestra, as soloist in
J.S. Bach’s Johannes-Passion with the Baltimore Baroque Band and as a
soloist and speaker with the Peabody Camerata. Mr. Sauvageau
was recently selected to represent Peabody at the Marilyn Horne
Foundation Auditions for their annual festival, The Song Continues….
BEN SHAVER BM1
Ben Shaver, a native of Richmond, VA, began his musical studies at age ten. Beginning as a pianist, Mr. Shaver began his study of voice at age 16 in the studio of William Gorton. He continued his studies in voice while studying under Deidra Palmour Gorton. He has previously attended in 2006 the Virginia’s Governor’s School for the Performing Arts and in 2007 as well as 2008 he attended the Boston University Tanglewood Institute where he studied with George Case and attended the master classes of Stephanie Blythe, Heidi Grant Murphy, Marcus Haddock, Dr. Jerold Pope and Renee Fleming as well as Boston University Faculty such as Penelope Bitzas and Phyllis Curtin. Mr. Shaver has been the recipient of the Virginia Lions Club Bland Memorial Competition scholarship for the 3 years and was recently the first recipient of the Robert Stamback Award. He has also been awarded the title of the number one tenor in Virginia this past year and the number one tenor in the district for the past 2 years. Ben Shaver is a first year Bachelor’s of Music candidate and is studying with William Sharp. Mr. Shaver is preparing for his upcoming Peabody Opera debut in Leoš Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen as the Schoolmaster as well as a chorister in Verdi's La Traviata.
