Bryn-Julson Studio

Mary Burke, BM1

Mary’s love of song began as a 5 year old in the St. Mary of Sorrows Church Choir. She performed actively in choir groups throughout her elementary and middle school years. At Westfield High School (WHS) she has sung with the Women's Ensemble, Bel Canto, and Chamber Singers. Mary was selected for the Fairfax County District Honor Choir (2007-2011) and the 2011 Virginia All-State Choir. She was chosen for the Virginia Honors Choir, the most select high school choir group in Virginia, in the Fall of 2011. Mary has performed at the Virginia Governor’s Mansion and at a variety of business events in the area over the last two years. In addition to singing, Mary has branched out and explored musical theater performance. In 2010, she participated in the WHS Broadway & Beyond show performing a medley of numbers from Hairspray, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Legally Blonde, and Mamma Mia. She is a current member of the WHS 2011-2012 Show Choir Ensemble. Mary has been a student of Anne Hurley-Cole since Fall 2010.  In the Spring of 2012, Mary won first place at the NVMTA music competition.

Sun A Cheong, GPD1

Soprano Sun A Cheong, she was born in Seoul, Korea. Her mother is a voice teacher. Because of this, she has always lived with music and becomes to love it. During her elementary school years, she won the first prize in her school's arts contest (in voice) every year (1990-93). In her high school years, she won the 2nd prize in the nation-wide musical contest in 2000, sponsored by Department of Education in Korea. In 2001, she won the 3rd prize in the musical concours sponsored by Korean American Youth Cultural Friendship Association.

In 2002, she entered into Kyungwon University. She was invited to sing in a concert of Superior Musicians of Voice Department. She has performed the role of 2nd Lady in W.A Mozart’s The Magic Flute in 2005. Then, she acquired Bachelor Degree in 2006. And she entered into the graduate school. She served as an Educational Assistant. She held her first recital in 2007. She received a scholarship for obtaining a high GPA. In 2008, she wrote her master's thesis on Debussy's Melodies <Ariettes Oubliées>. She graduated with a Master of Music in 2009.

She is the first year GPD student of Ah Hong and Phyllis Bryn-Julson.

Peter Scott Drackley, BM

Rachel Grider, MM2

Rachel Grider is from Modesto, California. She graduated from California State University Stanislaus in June of 2011 where she received BM degrees in vocal performance and composition. There, Grider studied voice with Dr. Joseph Wiggett and composition with Dr. Deborah Kavasch. She has performed and studied a number of roles including Pamina, from The Magic Flute. She has also been a member of various choral groups, including the Modesto Symphony Orchestra Chorus and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society.

Grider is currently in her second year at Peabody Conservitory where she studies voice with Phyllis Bryn-Julson and composition with Dr. Judah Adashi. Her main interest is nineteenth-century Russian music, whichh she has studied in depth with Vera Danchenko-Stern and John Shirley-Quirk. She is also a music theory graduate assistant to Dr. Courtney Orlando. She will receive MM degrees in voice performance and music theory pedagogy in May of 2013. She then plans to get a DMA or PH.D in either theory, composition, or vocal performance.

Katharine Harris, BM3

Katharine Mattie Harris is a junior at Peabody Conservatory studying with the wonderful Phyllis Bryn-Julson. Katharine hales from the small but powerful New Orleans, Lousiana where she began with a small step stool as her stage and a Pocahontas constume as her wardrobe. She performed in her first show at age 6 as Gretel in the Sound of Music, a role for which she won the prestigious Big Easy award. Since then, she has played numerous roles including Louissa from the Fantasticks and Eva Perone in Evita. Current projects inculde covering the role of the Stage Manager in Peabody's outreach opera "Ariel's Tempest." Katharine would like to thank her parents, family,  friends, and teacher for their support, love, and most importantly humor as she persues her love of performing.

Sarah Hayashi, BM4

Sarah Hayashi, soprano, fell in love with opera at the age of three and joined the Peabody Children’s Chorus where she performed in productions of Carmen and Hansel and Gretel with the Baltimore Opera Company. She continued on to study voice at the Peabody Preparatory. In the summer of 2011, she attended the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, where she was chosen to sing Gilda in the quartet “Bella figlia dell’amore” from Verdi’s Rigoletto with the AIMS Festival Orchestra under the baton of Alexander Kalajdzic. Sarah also had the opportunity to sing for Barbara Bonney in a master class while at AIMS. In the summer of 2012, she attended SongFest at the Colburn School where she participated in master classes and concerts given by Margo Garrett, Libby Larsen, Martin Katz, Graham Johnson, among others.

 Her roles include Fire, Princess, and the Nightingale in Maurice Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges, Belinda in Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and Despina in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte. Upcoming performances include Lucia in Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia in April 2013.

Sarah is currently a fourth–year Bachelor of Music degree student studying with soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson and tenor Stanley Cornett at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.

Belinda Lau, MM2

Soprano Belinda Lau is quickly emerging as a sought-after performer both in opera and as a recitalist.  Her performances have been described as “mesmerizing” and her crystal clear voice as full of a “beauty and sensitivity that makes her an immediate stand out.”  Most recently, Belinda has appeared on the stage of Music Theater Bavaria 2012 as Violetta (La Traviata), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), and Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier).  Past roles include leads from Cosi fan tutte (2010), Die Zauberflöte (2010), Rigoletto (2010), Gilbert &Sullivan's Trial by Jury (2009), Le nozze di Figaro (2009), and Don Giovanni (2008).  Equally in demand on the concert stage, Belinda has sung the soprano solos in Faure's Requiem and Handel's Messiah.  
A Los Angeles native, Belinda began her vocal studies at a young age, singing with San Marino's award-winning Chamber Choir and participating in musicals such as Bye Bye Birdie and Little Shop of Horrors.  Her extensive vocal education includes training with the Intimate Opera Company, Songfest Young Artist Program, Barcelona Festival of Song, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, The Amalfi Coast Music Festival and Institute, OperaWorks, and, most recently, Music Theater Bavaria.

Jiyoung Lee, MM1

Coloratura Soprano Jiyoung Lee sings opera roles, art songs, and concert masterworks. During the current season, she will appear as Ellen in the opera Lakmé by Léo Delibes produced by the Peabody Opera Theatre and also cover for the lead role. In 2011, she was a featured soloist at City Center in New York performing Les oiseaux dans la charmille from Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffman. She has performed in recitals in the U.S. and her native Korea, charming audiences with coloratura favorites such as The Queen of the Night Aria from The Magic Flute and O luce di quest’ anima by Donizetti. She earned the Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Sungshin Women’s University in Seoul, South Korea and is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland, where she studies with Dr. Phyllis Bryn-Julsin.  In addition to being an accomplished singer, Ms. Lee enjoys dancing and regularly attends ballet classes at Peabody.

Huanhuan Ma

Huanhuan Ma, soprano, was born in Chongqing. She got her Bachelor Degree in Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, the top Conservatory in China. In 2008, she was recommended by Conservatory to be an exchange student in Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music for one year. In fall 2011, fortunately, she gained a scholarship and was accepted by Peabody Conservatory, to further her study with a Masters of Music. In Peabody Conservatory now she is studying with Phyllis Bryn-Julson, chair of the voice department.

In October 2011, Huanhuan won the 2nd prize of the 4th Madama Butterfly International Competition in Nagasaki, Japan. She had two recitals in Beijing. She has done scenes from La Traviata as Violetta, Le Nozze di Figaro as Susanna, Romeo and Juliet as Juliet, Madama Butterfly as Butterfly, and the chorus of The Rake’s Progress. In June 2011, she was selected to perform in a master class with Mexican tenor, Francisco Araiza, in Zurich. In August 2011, she had a master class with outstanding Japanese Soprano, HAYASHI Yasuko, who has sung as one of the leading soprano in La Scala, Milan, for 25 years. In November 2012, Huanhuan travels to Nagasaki and Tokyo for several concerts as a soloist with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. That month she will also sing Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at the Baltimore Lyric Opera House.

Anaïs Naharro-Murphy, BM4

Anaïs Naharro-Murphy has been singing and playing in the Baltimore area from a very tender age at the Peabody Preparatory to finally studying voice under the tutelage of Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Marianna Busching, coach Robert Muckenfuss, and jazz voice teacher Jay Clayton. Anaïs discovered a true love for music in high school when joining the Baltimore City College Choir under the direction of Ms. Linda R. Hall, who is a great source of inspiration and of choral and solo opportunities to this day (Alumni soloist, Spain concerts, Carnegie Hall). Recently, Anaïs has sung in scenes of Cendrillon, The Ballad of Baby Doe, Don Giovanni, Lakme, L’elisir d’amore, La Bohème,  The Old Maid and the Thief, and Le Nozze di Fiaaro with Peabody Opera Potpourri, Crittenden Summer Workshop, and Little Patuxtent Opera Institute. Opera roles include that of Ruth Putnam (Ward’s The Crucible), Lay Sister (Puccini’s Suor Angelica), and Gretel (Humperdink’s Hansel and Gretel). Anaïs was also featured as a soloist with the Peabody Singers during the Rossini celebration concert in February 2012 and in the fall will be performing a scene from Massenet’s Werther.

Brieann Pasko, MM2

During the 2012-2013 season, soprano Brieann Pasko will sing the rôle of Miranda in Ariel’s Tempest by Douglas Buchanan and Roger Brunyate presented at the Baltimore Theater Project. At the same venue, she will also appear as Danica in the U.S. premiere of Ana Sokolociv’s opera, Svadba. Previously, Ms. Pasko has performed diverse rôles and scenes such as Adina from L’Elisir d’Amore, Betty in The Crucible, Cendrillon in Massenet’s Cendrillon, the Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel, and Sister Constance in Dialogues of the Carmelites. Aside from opera, Brieann was featured as a soloist with the Charm City Collegium in Baltimore, Maryland.  Ms. Pasko is also an accomplished percussionist  and, from 2006-2010, taught percussion at two high schools in Pennsylvania. She earned the Bachelor of Music degree from West Chester University of Pennsylvania currently studies with Phyllis Bryn-Julson at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. She will graduate in May 2013 from Peabody with a Master of Music degree in vocal performance.

Lisa Perry, DMA1

Praised for her “pure, gleaming timbre” and “bright, agile singing”, soprano Lisa Perry has become a familiar face within the Baltimore/ Washington, D.C. music scene.  She is a regular performer with two of the area’s top new music ensembles:  Baltimore’s Lunar Ensemble and Washington D.C’s Great Noise Ensemble.  In 2012, Lisa took part in a mini-tour with Baltimore’s Rhymes with Opera, premiering works in Manhattan, New York and New Haven, Connecticut. Recent performances include the Lady with the Hand Mirror in Dominick Argento’s Postcard from Morocco, Louis Andriessen’s De Materie, Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians, Sean Doyle’s Letters from Zelda, le feu, princesse, and rossignol  in Maurice Ravel’s  L'enfant et les sortileges, Adam Matlock’s Red Giant (world premiere; Rhymes with Opera), Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire , and George Crumb’s Ancient Voices of Children. Lisa received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Composition from Michigan State University (2008), her Master’s Degree from Peabody in Voice Performance (2011) and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Peabody under the direction of Phyllis Bryn-Julson.

Delaney Rosen, MM4

Mezzo soprano Delaney Rosen, who has been praised in The Baltimore Sun for her “tender tone” and “sensitive phrasing”, began her vocal training at the prestigious Colburn School of the Performing Arts in Los Angeles with soprano Kay Montgomery. She is currently in her fourth year of study at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where she studies with soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson and mezzo soprano Marianna Busching, and coaches with Ron Gretz. At Peabody, She has performed as a chorister and soloist with the Peabody Singers, and has appeared in opera scenes from The Ballad of Baby Doe, Il Trovatore, Cendrillion, La Fille de Regiment and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Delaney made her solo operatic debut in March of 2012 with the Peabody Opera Theater in their production of Robert Ward’s The Crucible as Rebecca Nurse, and will sing the role of Malika in Lakmé in the spring of 2013.

In her free time, Delaney, who is “Lane” to her friends and family, loves being outdoors, drinking coffee, reading, baking, and discovering new music. When she is not at school in Baltimore, she can be found at her home in Los Angeles, California.

Elizabeth Reeves

Soprano Elizabeth Reeves is a senior in the studio of Phyllis Bryn-Julson.  She recently sang the role of Sister Constance in Dialogues of the Carmelites with the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center.  Other roles include Musetta in La bohème (Tuscia Operafestival), Veronica in the premiere of Don Cesarino (Peabody Opera Études), Lay Sister in Suor Angelica (Bel Cantanti Opera), White Cat/Shepherd in L’enfant et les sortilèges (Peabody Opera Theatre), and Elegant Lady in Les mamelles de Tirésias (Peabody Opera Theatre).  In the upcoming season, she will be covering Zerlina in Peabody Opera Theatre’s production of Don Giovanni at the Modell Lyric Opera House.

Elizabeth’s collaboration with composer Jake Runestad has produced two short operas: The Toll, which premiered as a part of the Peabody Institute’s Opera Études program and received a subsequent performance at the Virginia Arts Festival, and The Abbess and the Acolyte, which was performed at the Virginia Arts Festival.  She also collaborated with composer Ethan Braun to create Don Cesarino, which premiered at Peabody in 2012.  In addition to her musical studies, Elizabeth is a B.A. candidate in French at Johns Hopkins University.

Natanya Washer, BM

Natanya Washer, born in El Paso, Texas, is currently working on her BA in Vocal Perfomance at Peabody Institute.  Performing with the El Paso Opera Company for four year, she sang in Carman, La Boheme, Tosca, Il Trittico, and Aida under the direction of Raymond Harvey. She also received the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Scholarship Award and performed on "From the Top" with NPR in the summer of 2009. In 2007, Natanya was named the first "youth" soloist asked to sing with the El Paso Symphony.

Amanda Williams, MM2

Amanda M. Williams is a second year graduate student studying with Ah Young Hong and Phyllis Bryn-Julson. She is originally from Bushkill, Pennsylvania. Amanda began studying at West Chester University with Dr. In Young Lee and Randall Scarlata.  At West Chester Amanda was the winner of West Chester’s Roz Patton Music Scholarship, the Friday Memorial Scholarship, and Joy Vandever Scholarship.
With West Chester Opera Workshop Productions of Maurice Ravel’s L’enfant et le sortileges/La chatte blanche, Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites/Soeur Mathilde, and Francesca Caccini’s La liberazione di Ruggiero/Vistola fiume.  She also participated in masterclasses conducted by Benita Valente, Drew Minter, and Julianne Baird, as well as noted accompanists Martin Katz and Laura Ward.
At Peabody she participated in Opera Etudes, a program of original works created for the singers. She has also performed in a production of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte as Fiordiligi with an independent Peabody student orchestra.  Amanda was also a finalist in Peabody’s Sylvia Green Voice Competition in 2012.  Currently, she will be in the opera chorus of Don Giovanni at the Baltimore Lyric Opera House in 2012, and will perform the role of Stage Manager in the Opera Outreach production of Tempest.

Melissa Wimbish
Tammie Woods

Soprano Tammie Woods is a graduate student at the prestigious Peabody Institute of the John Hopkins University and holds a bachelors degree from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, England.  She is currently the student of Phyllis Bryn-Julson and has won numerous awards in voice including the 1999 Presidential Scholar in the Arts award where she received a medallion from President Bill Clinton and had the opportunity to sing at the Kennedy Center in a gala performance for the National Foundation for the advancement of the Arts in Washington DC. She is a National Opera Association Legacy award recipient, a two time Act-So competition winner, a regional finalist for the National Metropolitan Opera young artist completion, as well as an awardee in the National Association for Negro musicians competition. She has worked with a number of prestigious opera houses including Utah Festival Opera, Dallas Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, and San Francisco Opera.

Seol Ah Yoo, BM2

The Korean soprano, Seol-Ah Yoo, started singing when she was 8 years old. She studied classical vocal music under Hye-Suk Hwang while attending Sunhwa Arts School and Seoul Arts High School in Korea. She won the 1st prize at The 23th Korean Voice Competition, the 2nd prize at The Eumag Chunchu Competition and 3rd Prize at The 19th Sungjung Music Competition.
 
Right after the graduation from the high school, she went to Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of National University of Singapore for her Bachelor’s Degree with a full scholarship in 2011. She studied voice under Alan Bennett and had master classes from Sally Anne Russell and Nancy Yuen while there. She came to Peabody Institute this year for the joint degree program.
 
She is currently a sophomore studying voice in Peabody under Phyllis Bryn-Julson

Molly Young, MM

Soprano Molly Grace Young recently finished coursework for the Master's degree in Voice Performance at Peabody and is currently working on a Master's in Early Music in the studio of soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson. Ms. Young graduated with a BM in Voice from Western Michigan University where she was a frequent soloist with the choral department and toured Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 with the University Chorale and Seraphic Fire to Mexico City in May of 2010. She also appears on the 2011 Grammy-nominated recording of Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem with Seraphic Fire and the Professional Choral Institute. Roles performed at WMU include Papagena in both scenes and mainstage productions as well as First Witch in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. In Baltimore, Ms. Young has performed with the Concert Artists of Baltimore, Peabody Opera Theatre and the American Opera Theatre, most recently as the title role the world premiere of the staged version of Melissa Dunphy’s Gonzales Cantata. At Peabody, Ms. Young has been featured in Mozart's Requiem and the Vivaldi Gloria. Ms. Young sings with the professional choirs of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.