New York tenor Jacob Rivera earned the Master of Music degree from Purchase College’s Conservatory of Music. While at Purchase, he portrayed Ezekiel Cheever in The Crucible, King Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Liberto/Lucano in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and The Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas. During the summer of 2022, Jacob appeared with Miami Music Festival in Bizet’s Carmen (El Remendado) and Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Flute). He has won Gold Prize in the Contemporary Modern Division in the World Class Music Awards, Fourth Place in the International London Music Competition, and Third Place at the Lyra New York International Art Song Competition. He was also a Finalist this year at the The International Vienna Competition where he earned an Honorable Mention, and he is a Finalist at the upcoming American Song Prize Competition.
Maryland tenor Jason Guerrero is proud of his heritage of mixed American and Salvadoran descent. Jason earned the Associate of Arts degree in Voice Performance from Montgomery College and is continuing toward a Bachelor of Music in Voice at The Catholic University.
Jason previously appeared as a Dancing Shepherd in Shakespeare Opera Theatre’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, and he most recently played to Virginia audiences as Donald in Loudoun Lyric Opera’s production of Gallantry. Jason also enjoys performing Latin rock and rap. He has played for the Dia De Los Muertos DC festival and has performed original music at Flow Jam Festival and the Ann Marie Sculpture Garden Arts Festival. Jason regularly cantors at St. Raphael’s Catholic Church in Rockville, Maryland.
A resident of Washington, D.C., bass-baritone Joseph Wilson has performed to high acclaim in the United States, Canada, and Italy. Recent highlights include Arts on the Horizon’s production of By the Seashore, Prunier in La Rondine, Schaunard in La Bohème with Operavision Academy in Busseto, Italy, and Tinca/Venditore di canzonette in Il Trittico with Opera Niagara. Other roles include Riccardo in I Puritani, Belcore in L’Elisir D’Amore, Argante in Rinaldo, Guglielmo in Le Villi, Rodolfo in La Sonnambula, Giorgio Germont in La Traviata, and Guido Monforte in I Vespri Siciliani. Mr. Wilson has appeared in concert with Maryland Lyric Opera and Piedmont Symphony Orchestra, and he has had the pleasure of working with high profile artist mentors like Richard Bonynge, Jeffrey Gall, and Marco Gandini. In 2022, Joseph was a semi-finalist in the Premiere Opera Foundation Competition. More information on Mr. Wilson can be found on social media: @joseph.michael.wilson
Washington, DC based coloratura soprano Danielle Bendjy is a graduate of Harvard College, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Trinity College Dublin. As a professional translator of Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese into English, she is as interested in translating opera as she is in performing it. Past roles include Marianne in The New Moon, Amahl in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Isabel in El Capitan, Fanchette in Le Mariage aux lanternes, Monica in The Medium, Clorinda in La Cenerentola, and Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte.
Casey Kaleba founded and runs Tooth & Claw. He has coordinated violence for opera, television, music videos, and more than 400 theatrical productions. That work includes arranging fights at the Guthrie Theatre, Spoleto Festival, Folger Theatre, Signature Theatre, Round House Theatre, Keegan Theatre, Wolf Trap Opera, Avant Bard, Hub Theatre, Washington National Opera, Source Festival, Olney Theatre Center, and Constellation Theatre. A company member with Rorschach Theatre and Brave Spirits Theatre, Casey has staged fights for knights, musketeers, princesses, zombies, wolves, pirates, ninjas, and at least one alien tentacle. Casey has trained with movement artists from across the globe, including Fight Directors Canada, the Society of Australian Fight Directors, British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat, Dueling Arts International, Dell’Arte, Combat Circus, Rapier Wit, and the British Academy of Dramatic Combat. Recently he has served as the audition choreographer for Marvel Universe Live. He holds an MA in Theatre History from the University of Maryland.
A Certified Teacher and Fight Director with the Society of American Fight Directors, Casey has taught theatrical combat workshops and courses for a wide range of programs. He has taught at the University of Maryland, Catholic University, University of Mary Washington, Old Dominion University, Chesapeake College, Davidson College, James Madison University, Montgomery College, University of South Carolina, the Virginia Governor’s School, and Virginia Theatre Association, as well as scores of high schools, festivals, professional development workshops, libraries, and camps. He has served as a teaching artist for the Shakespeare Theatre, Round House Theatre, English Speaking Union, and Folger Library. Casey has been a guest instructor for Fight Directors Canada and the Nordic Stagefight Society, and an instructor at the Paddy Crean Workshop – the largest international stage combat workshop. Casey is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
James is looking forward to his Shakespeare Opera Theatre debut as Amahl. Recent roles include Coachman in Pinocchio, Iago in Aladdin Jr., and Augustus Gloop in Willy Wonka Jr. He also enjoys gymnastics and basketball.
Prized for his strong bass voice, Mr. Allen has performed with SOT since 2018, portraying King Claudius in Hamlet (2020), Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet (2019), and covered Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitor (2018). Since 2020, he assumed a new role with SOT as Associate Producer for Audience Development.
Amy Baska is pleased to be working with SOT again. She previously was seen in SOT’s “Hamlet” as Horatio, and as every one of Henry VIII’s wives in “Elizabethian Entertainments.” Amy holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from The Hartt School, a degree that was a heck of a lot of fun to earn but in no way prepared her to be a tax paying member of our society. She has worked with a lot of DMV theatres, played music with a lot of regional bands, and saw a lot of shenanigans when she was working for IATSE Local 22. Word to my mother.
JáVonn B. Bright is an award winning, opera singer, conductor and speaker. The American baritone hails from Washington, District of Columbia. He is a proud alumnus of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. He’s also studied at Morgan State University and The Boston Conservarory. Recently, he made history by being the first African American nominated by the Vatican courts to receive the prestigious “Medaglia Beato Angelico,” a medallion commissioned by Pope John Paul II, due to his excellent artistic presentation while touring Italy.
With international critical acclaim, Bright has had the privilege to tour extensively through the Americas, Caribbean and Europe. He has performed for dignitaries such as the Prince of Wales (Prince Charles), the Duchess of Cornwall (Princess Camilla), President Barack, Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. He has performed with acclaimed artist such as Patti LaBelle, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and American Soprano Karen Slack.