MARYLAND OPERA STUDIO FACULTY

Steven Bailey is a pianist of wide-ranging versatility. He has performed extensively throughout the United States and abroad as a soloist and collaborative musician in repertoire from the Baroque era through the present.

Mr. Bailey has appeared in concert with singers such as Deborah Voigt, Frederica von Stade, Susanne Mentzer, Elsa van den Heever, Christine Brewer and Thomas Moser. He has performed as concerto soloist with Symphony Parnassus, Diablo Valley Symphony, UC-Davis Symphony and other orchestras and has regularly been featured in America on Bach Soloists performances as guest soloist and continuo organist. Recent engagements have found him in Abu Dhabi, New York City, Boston and Philadelphia, as well as solo performances in San Francisco for the Wagner and Liszt Societies. His acclaimed solo recording “The Art of the Opera Transcription” includes seven virtuosic arrangements by Franz Liszt.

He often collaborates with composers, including Jake Heggie, David Conte, Elinor Armer, John Corigliano, Mark Adamo and Vartan Aghababian, in premieres and performances of their music. He is a co-founder of the vocal chamber music ensemble CMASH and is featured with CMASH soprano Ann Moss on her CDs “Currents” and “Love Life”, both recorded at Skywalker Sound and produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Leslie Ann Jones.

Mr. Bailey was musical director for San Francisco Parlor Opera’s productions of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Così fan Tutte, Gounod’s Faust, Puccini’s Tosca and Floyd’s Susannah. He was also a long-time faculty member of the Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute.

Mr. Bailey holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Boston University. He was previously Principal Coach for the Voice Department at San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he taught for 28 years. He now joins the faculty at the University of Maryland, College Park as Principal Coach of the Maryland Opera Studio.

Corinne Hayes is a stage director and educator, and has recently been named Director of Acting for the Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland; in Spring 2023, she leads a new production of Don Giovanni in collaboration with the Maryland Opera Studio and the School of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies. In addition to her role at the university, Corinne serves as Artistic Advisor for DC-based opera theater company IN Series, where she works closely with Artistic Director Timothy Nelson; with IN Series, Corinne conceived and directed a virtual production of Melissa Dunphy’s The Gonzales Cantata, directed the world premiere of ZAVALA-ZAVALA and has served as Creative Producer on Black Flute, BOHEME in the Heights and OTHELLO/DESDEMONA. Corinne’s long association with Washington National Opera includes serving as Assistant Director to Francesca Zambello (Candide, The Little Prince) and E. Loren Meeker (Don Giovanni).

In recent seasons, Corinne has created new productions for Miami Music Festival, Opera Mississippi and Winter Opera St. Louis; beyond the rehearsal hall, Corinne has presented courses and lectures at the University of Maryland, Temple University, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Webster University. As an assistant and associate director, Corinne is honored to have worked with such notable artists as Ken Cazan at Central City Opera, James Darrah at Opera Philadelphia and Tito Capobianco at Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia.

Soprano Theresa “Teri” Bickham has been praised for her “expressive legato line” and “fine piano nuances.” She made her European debut singing scenes from La Traviata under the direction of Maestro Eduardo Müller. Dr. Bickham has performed with opera companies throughout the United States including Houston Grand Opera, Opera New Jersey, Opera in the Heights, Loudoun Lyric Opera and Opera Camerata of Washington. She has performed a diverse repertory of operatic roles that include a specialization in Mozart heroines (Donna Anna, La Countessa, Fiordiligi), Italian opera (Adina, Violetta, Musetta), German operetta (Rosalinde, Hanna Glawari) and contemporary American opera (A Bird in Your Ear, The Beautiful Bridegroom.)

Dr. Bickham is a frequent guest artist in the United States and Europe. Recent concert appearances include works by Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart, Handel, Brahms, Rossini, Orff, Vaughn Williams and numerous orchestral pops performances. In competition, Dr. Bickham was an international semi-finalist in the Concorso Lirico Internazionale per Cantanti lirici Rosa Ponselle in Caiazzo, Italy. She has also been the winner of national and regional competitions including: The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions-Mid-Atlantic Regional Finalist, Palm Beach Opera Semi-Finalist, Shreveport Opera Singer of the Year Finalist, MD/DC National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston.

An avid recitalist, Dr. Bickham has performed recital tours in Maryland, Virginia, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, Washington and Washington DC. Her passion for art song has led to diverse programs specializing in music by underrepresented composers and poets, repertoire written for specific voices, and the exploration of the performer’s role in the creation of music. These programs led to the release of her first album, “Voices of Women,” by Albany Records in 2021.

Dr. Bickham’s performance experience has culminated in her passion for training young professionals. Her students have been recognized for their polished performances and exemplary teaching. Former students have attended prestigious schools that include The Juilliard School, Indiana University, the University of Maryland, the University of Tennessee, the University of Denver Lamont School of Music, Bard College Conservatory of Music, Ithaca College, Boston Conservatory and Roosevelt University. In addition, they have won prizes with the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Annapolis Opera, the National Society of Arts and Letters, National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Classical Singer competitions. Many students are performing professionally with such companies as The Metropolitan Opera,
Opera Theater of St. Louis, Marilyn Horne: The Song Continues Masterclass Series at Carnegie Hall, Annapolis Opera, Knoxville Opera, New York Lyric Opera, Disney Cruise Lines and Creativiva Entertainment.

Dr. Bickham is proud of the many music educators that she has taught. Her former students are passionate, respected, and impactful educators throughout Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and other areas in the United States.

Dr. Bickham holds degrees from the University of Maryland College Park (DMA), the University of Houston (MM) and Towson University (BM) and received additional training as a young artist at Opera New Jersey and AIMS in Graz. She had the privilege to teach at Towson University and University of North Carolina Greensboro before joining the faculty of The University of Maryland College Park School of Music in 2023.

Versatile American bass-baritone Kevin Short is thrilling audiences around the globe in a wide range of repertoire ranging from the depths of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Monteverdi’s L’Coronazione di Poppea to Verdi’s Attila, Carmen’s Escamillo and Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer.

A sampling of his North America appearances include performances with the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Washington Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera Pacific, Florida Grand Opera, Opera Festival of New Jersey, Sarasota Opera Company, Spoleto Opera Festival, Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, Edmonton Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and the Opera de las Americas.

His European and Asian credits include appearances with multiple opera companies, orchestras, and festivals. A few of which include Paris’ Opera Comique, Welsh National Opera, Kazan State Theater-Russia, Theatre Caen, Grand Theatre du Luxembourg, Oper der Stadt Köln, Stadttheater Stuttgart, Theater Aachen, Theater Basel, Theater Bern, Theater St. Gallen, Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos, Savonlinna Festival-Finland; Bregenzer Festspiele-Austria, Baden-Baden Festspiele-Germany, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence-France, Festival Montpellier-France, l’Opéra de Rouen-France, l’Opéra de Reims-France, Saito Kinen Festival in Matsumoto, Japan and festivals in Beijing, China; Hanoi, Vietnam; and Granada, Valencia, and Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Kevin also enjoys an active concert and recital schedule and has worked with the Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Handel and Haydn Orchestra-Boston, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Filharmonisch Orkest, Swiss and Italian RAI Orchestra, Radio France Orchestra, Marseille Philharmonie, Gulbenkian Orchestra-Lisbon, Portugal, Parma Reggio Emilia Orchestra, Malta Philharmonic, Thüringen Symphony Orchestra-Germany, Jena Symphony-Germany,Moscow Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Symphony, Russia, Omsk Philharmonic-Russia, Siberian State Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic, Hiroshima Symphony, the Kazan Symphony for the opening of the Universiade Games in Kazan, Russia, and the Winter Olympics Festival Orchestra for the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Kevin received his training at Morgan State University, B.S., the Curtis Institute of Music, M.M., and the Juilliard School of Music’s American Opera Center.  While attending these institutions he was a prize winner in numerous competitions and garnered many awards. A few highlights include the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Internazionale Concorso per Voce Verdiane, the Rosa Ponselle International Vocal Competition, the Bruce Yarnell Competition for Basses and Baritones, the Liederkranz Competition, and awards from the Sullivan Foundation, Opera Index, Shoshana Foundation, and the George London Foundation.

Gran Wilson, a native of Bessemer, Alabama, has distinguished himself as an interpreter of the bel canto repertoire with a performing career spanning three decades and four continents. He has sung with companies such as the New York City Opera, Boston Symphony, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Australian Opera, Oper Frankfort, Netherlands Opera, Vlaamse Oper, Teatro di San Carlo Lisboa, Opera de Nice, Teatro Galdos Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, L'Opera de Toulon, L'Opera Royal de Wallonie, Theatre Graslin Nantes, L'Opera de Nancy et de Lorraine, St. Paul Symphony, Edinburgh Festival, Lincoln Center Festival, Spoletto USA Festival, and Mostly Mozart Festival.

Mr. Wilson can be seen on Kultur Video as Tamino in the Australian Opera's Magic Fluteconducted by Richard Bonynge. A best-seller in Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Company's telecast was a nominee for the Australian Emmys. He has also been seen in televised broadcasts throughout Europe. In the U.S., Mr. Wilson has appeared on "Live from Lincoln Center" in Anna Bolena with Dame Joan Sutherland, and on "CBS Morning" as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi'sRigoletto.

On radio, Mr. Wilson has been heard on NPR affiliates with The Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Seattle Opera, Miami Opera, St. Louis Opera, Central City Opera, Boston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Richmond Symphony.  Mr. Wilson was chosen by composer Ned Rorem as the tenor in his premiere of "Swords and Plowshares" heard on live broadcasts of The Boston Symphony. His recording of Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite with Gerard Schwartz and the Seattle Symphony is on the Delos Label.

Locally, Mr. Wilson has appeared with the Washington National Opera, National Symphony, Baltimore Opera, Opera Vivente, Washington Lyric Opera, Capital Symphony, Hopkins Symphony and Baltimore Choral Arts Society.  Mr. Wilson often performs on campus in collaborations with the Maryland Opera Studio and various ensembles, including the University of Maryland String Orchestra for a "Music of the Mind Series" concert performance of Britten's Les Illuminationswhich can be viewed on YouTube.  Mr. Wilson resides in College Park, and maintains an active teaching and performing schedule throughout the United States.

American mezzo-soprano Delores Ziegler has been heralded as "the mezzo we have been waiting for" by Martin Bernheimer in the Los Angeles Times. Her career takes her to every major theater in the world and into collaboration with the great directors and conductors of our time. Many of these extraordinary performances have been recorded and released as audio recordings and on video and film.

With a repertoire that extends from bel canto to verismo, Ms. Ziegler has appeared in the world's greatest opera houses. At the Vienna Staatsoper, she made a debut as the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos, returned for Idamante in a new production of Idomeneo, for Dorabella in a new Cosi fan tutte and for Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier. At Teatro alla Scala she has opened the season as Idamante in a new production of Idomeneo, as well as having appeared as Dorabella, Romeo in I Capuleti e I Montecchi and Meg Page in a new production of Falstaff. She opened the prestigious Salzburg Festival as Sextus in a new staging of La Clemenza di Tito. At the Glyndebourne Festival she was heard as Dorabella and at the Bastille in Paris she sang Cherubino and Idamante.

Highlights of her many appearances in Germany include the Composer in a new production of Ariadne auf Naxos in Munich, Marguerite in a new staging of La Damnation de Faust in Hamburg and Salieri's Falstaff in a new production by Cologne. Other European appearances have included the Florence May Festival, where she sang Idomeneo, Octavian and Dulcinée in Massenet's Don Quixotte, Athens Festival for her first Gluck's Orfeo and Dresden for a rarity, Bertoni's Orfeo.

An acclaimed interpreter of bel canto mezzo roles, she has the honor of being the first singer in operatic history to sing Romeo in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Bolshoi in Moscow, at the San Francisco Opera and in Japan. In another milestone, Ms. Ziegler is the most recorded Dorabella in operatic history, first on two audio recordings, one with Bernard Haitink on EMI and another on Teldec with Nikolaus Harnoncourt. She can also be seen as Dorabella in a videodisc of the La Scala production with Riccardo Muti and in a film of "Cosi" which has been televised throughout Europe, this the last project of director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle.In South America she has performed Adalgisa in Norma at the Teatro Colon in Argentina and in Rio de Janeiro. In the United States, this Georgia native has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as Octavian, Dorabella, Cherubino and as Siebel. Her initial appearances at the Lyric Opera of Chicago were as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte.

On January 6, 1986, Delores Ziegler was featured in the initial "Pavarotti, Plus! - Live from Lincoln Center" PBS Television Special. Ms. Ziegler had the honor of making her Carnegie Hall debut as soloist in the Rossini Stabat Mater with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra, this in Maestro Muti's last performance in America as music director of that prestigious orchestra. She has also appeared with orchestras throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. With London's BBC Symphony she sang Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder; with Santa Cecilia in Rome the St. John Passion and at Aix-en-Provence and in Venice, the Rossini Stabat Mater. She is a gifted Lieder singer and has appeared in that capacity in such cities as Paris, Florence, Vienna, Cologne and Bonn. In 1992 she made her New York City recital debut in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall Series.

Delores Ziegler has a discography of twenty-one recordings that includes the Mozart Requiem, Mozart's Great Mass and the Mahler Symphony #8 on Telarc with Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony; Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra on EMI; the Bach B-minor Mass with Nikolaus Harnoncourt on Teldec; both the Boccherini and the Pergolesi Stabat Maters on Frequenz conducted by Claudio Schimone; and the Mozart Coronation Mass on Deutsche Grammophon with James Levine and the Berlin Philharmonic.

In addition to the two Cosi sets, Ms. Ziegler's complete opera recordings include two of La Clemenza di Tito – one as Sesto conducted by Riccardo Muti on EMI and one as Annio with Nikolaus Harnoncourt on Teldec; the title role in Bertoni's L'Orfeo with Claudio Scimone on Frequenz; Margarad in Lalo's Le Roi d'Ys with Armen Jordan on Erato Disque; Fatima in Weber's Oberon with James Conlon on EMI; and Meg Page in Falstaff with Riccardo Muti on Sony Classical. Ms. Ziegler recently recorded Sara in Roberto Devereux and Giovanna Seymour in Anna Bolena for the Nightingale label with Edita Gruberova, both conducted by Elio Boncompagni. Her most recent CD is Ned Rorem's song cycle "The Evidence of Things Not Seen"; she took part in the world premiere of this work in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall.

Countertenor John Holiday has performed at world-renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, London’s Barbican Center and the Philharmonie de Paris. His career highlights include a tour with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and the world premiere of Daniel Bernard Roumain’s We Shall Not Be Moved with Opera Philadelphia and the Dutch National Opera. In 2021, he curated The John Holiday Experience (JHE) to showcase his affinity and talent for many different genres from pop and jazz, to R&B.

Mr. Holiday joined the Des Moines Metro Opera for their 50th Anniversary Season in Summer 2022 as Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. His appearance as a featured artist with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles in August marked the start of his 2022- 23 season, which will also include Holiday’s debut as the title role in a new imagining of Broschi’s Idaspe with Quantum Theatre in Pittsburgh and his return to the Metropolitan Opera for the highly-anticipated stage premiere of Kevin Puts’ The Hours.

The 2021-22 season was filled with many exciting debuts for Holiday, beginning with his debut at the Hollywood Bowl under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel in an all-Gershwin program with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; followed by his Metropolitan Opera debut in Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice as Orpheus’s Double under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin; as well as his debut with the New York Philharmonic in Handel’s Messiah under the baton of Jeannette Sorrell; and capping off the season with his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Barrie Kosky’s production of Agrippina in the role of Nerone. Holiday also released three pop singles -“Alive in Me”, “Waste Mine" and “Love Finds A Way”.

Holiday has also received numerous accolades, such as the 2017 Marian Anderson Vocal Award; the 2014 Richard Tucker Foundation’s Sara Tucker award; first place at the 2013 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, the 2012 Sullivan Foundation, the 2011 Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition; and third place winner in the 2014 OPERALIA competition. 

Naomi Jacobson holds a master’s degree in acting from Temple University and has been a professional actress and teacher for the last 30 years. An award-winning actress, she’s performed in classics and numerous world premieres in theatres all over the country. Credits include the Shakespeare Theatre Company (affiliated artist), Arena Stage, the Kennedy Center, Ford’s Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre (company member), Signature Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Round House Theatre and Theater J, as well as Center Stage, Arizona Theatre Company, the Guthrie Theatre, the Goodman Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory, Delaware Theatre Co and the Berkshire Theatre Festival. She’s taught in the Maryland Opera Studio for the last 20 years and locally at George Washington University, Catholic University, Theatre Lab and Shakespeare Theatre Company. A professional public speaking coach, she also teaches voiceover technique for EDGE Studio out of NYC and spearheads the Actors Arena through Arena Stage, continuing education for professional actors. Her TV/Film work includes Homicide, Her Father’s Eyes for A&E, narration for PBS, NPR, Discovery Channel and Smithsonian, along with audio books for Harvard University Press. Jacobson has received three Helen Hayes Awards along with 16 nominations, a Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship (with Lynn Redgrave), the Anderson-Hopkins Award for Excellence in Theatre and an Individual Artist Grant from the D.C. Arts Commission for her work as an actress.

Mark Jaster studied with 20th-century masters Marcel Marceau and Etienne Decroux.  He served as teaching assistant to Mr. Marceau and teaches frequently in artist residencies, theatres, and dance programs. Movement consultant credits include Center Stage, Ford's Theatre, Round House Theatre, Adventure Theater, and Constellation Theatre.  Jaster has had a long career touring solo mime shows to countless venues, including Wolftrap’s Theater-in-the-Woods, the Philadelphia International Children’s Festival, The Cincinnati Playhouse, and The Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  He has appeared many times for over 30 years with the Washington and Cambridge Christmas Revels, as Herr Drosselmeyer in the Maryland Youth Ballet's Nutcracker, and as A Fool Named ‘O’ at The Maryland Renaissance Festival.  From 1996-2016 Mark performed as “Dr. Baldy” at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC with The Big Apple Circus' Clown Care Program. Since 2006, he has co-directed Happenstance Theater with Sabrina Mandell, devising and appearing in critically acclaimed collaborative, original works of "Visual, Poetic Theater." In 2016 he won the Helen Hayes/Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for his performance in Impossible! A Happenstance Circus.

Sarah Beth Oppenheim comes from: 38 dance studios, 4 particular kitchens, and 2 synagogues from the Wild Wild West, skyscrapered NYC, trampoline sidewalks of Berlin and begrudgingly beautiful sunsets over the Potomac. She likes to use scraps, abandoned tools and painters tape to cut and paste curious inquisitions into everything from pelvis-motored site-specific choreography to burritos. She believes in deepest plie to bend traditions, antiracist pedagogy to bend academia and dance as an everything salve. As an Artist Mom, she mines, swaps and alchemically mixes choreographic research, community engagement and arts & crafts between stage, studio, classroom and nursery. Work/love currently supports her as a Teaching Artist at Dance Place, Adjunct Professor at AU and UMD and BlackLight Summit Mentorship & Education Coordinator. Her most rewarding artistic moments are spent dreaming up risky-lush, razor-sharp, hypermagicalrealism with the dancers of Heart Stück Bernie

David Lefkowich is an accomplished stage director, choreographer and fight director who has enjoyed success with different companies including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatre alla Scala, Gran Teatre Liceu in Barcelona, Spain, La Monnaie in Brussels, Belgium, San Francisco Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Colorado, New York City Opera, Minnesota Opera, and Glimmerglass Opera.  Lefkowich is a guest artist and performs master classes at several Young Artist programs and universities including the San Francisco Opera Center Adler Fellowship Program and Merola Opera Program, Atelier Lyrique at L’Opéra de Montréal, Indiana University, the Juilliard School, McGill School of Music and Ithaca College.  A graduate from Northwestern University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Theatre, Lefkowich has a certificate from École Jacques-Lecoq in Paris, France.  Lefkowich also serves as the Artistic Director of Out of the Box Opera in Minneapolis, MN, a company dedicated to creating high-quality operatic experiences in site-specific locations.

Diana Bradley, M.Ed., has been a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique since 1979. Her training includes a 13-year apprenticeship with Marjorie Barstow, an innovative first generation teacher, trained directly by F.M. Alexander. She has a 10-year background in modern dance and 16 years of training in Aikido, a Japanese martial art in which she holds a 3rd-degree black belt.

A founding member of Alexander Technique International (ATI), she has traveled to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii presenting workshops. In various capacities, Diana has taught performing artists at The Baltimore School for the Arts, University of Maryland, Catholic University and Arena Stage. She has been the guest clinician at the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers Festivals and at the International Congress of Carollonneurs. Recently she completed a two-year training in Gestalt Therapy at the Washington Center for Consciousness Studies.