Kirsten Nordland is a rising dramatic artist currently residing in Northwest Ohio. Most recently, Nordland joined the Toledo Opera Guild as a chorister for the 2023-2024 season. Her most recent credits include Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro with the Trentino Music Festival in Trentino, Italy; Nerone in L’incoronazione di Poppea at Bowling Green State University; and the Stewardess in Jonathan Dove’s Flight at NUOVA Vocal arts. Nordland is also an avid social activist & digital portrait artist. She strives to combine her passions to help serve the longevity of opera.
a DMV actor and passionate storyteller, Justin made his SOT debut in 2023 as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing/Béatrice et Bénédict, charming audiences with his amiable performance. An Army brat, Justin lived in Louisiana, Texas, Missouri, Hawaii, and Tennessee before high school. After studying at Longwood University, he moved to Northern Virginia and has performed in Art of Murder, Nightfall with Edgar Allan Poe, Finding Neil Patrick Harris, and Madame Quixota’s Last Words. By day, he’s a magazine editor for Tax Notes Today; by night, he enjoys hiking, video games, and horror novels. Thanks to friends and family for their support!
Praised for his “Deeply human Marcello” (La bohème) by Opera Codebar (Paris, France), JP Gorski returns to SOT as Gregorio for Romeo & Juliet. Audiences will recognize JP from numerous roles such as Iago (Othello), Peter (Hansel & Gretel), the title role of Macbeth, and from Much Ado About Nothing where he portrayed the dual roles of Berlioz’s Somarone and Shakespeare’s Dogberry. After graduating from James Madison University, JP studied at Bel Canto in Tuscany (Tuscany, Italy) where he performed as Figaro (The Barber of Seville), and the title role of Rigoletto. JP has performed with numerous companies including Charlottesville Opera (Virginia), Sarasota Opera (Florida), and Annapolis Opera (Maryland) where he appeared as Second Armored Man in The Magic Flute (November 2023) and The Commissioner in La traviata (March 2025). JP currently works as a Branch Coordinator for ABC, an Apria company, and a data entry clerk for Reaching Potentials VA, LLC.
A resident of Arlington, Virginia, James McKenzie is a retired member of The United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own.” As a trumpet player, his duties included sounding “Taps” in Arlington National Cemetery for fallen soldiers. He has also participated in inaugurations, concerts, and other military ceremonies and events at the White House, the Pentagon, the National Mall, and throughout the country and overseas. James holds music degrees from Sam Houston State University and Rice University. After catching the acting bug, he graduated from the Honors Conservatory Program of The Theatre Lab School of Dramatic Arts, where he was in productions of As You Like It, and David Mamet’s Reunion. James was previously seen as Leonato in Grassroots Shakespeare DC’s production of Much Ado About Nothing.
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.
Jason Guerrero is glad to be returning to SOT as Benvolio and Friar Jean/Romeo Cover. Jason is a Junior Vocal Performance major and Music Composition minor. He uses his musical background to better serve God and his community as a cantor to the Archdiocese of Washington, regularly singing at Annunciation Church, Saint Dominics, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. As an artist in Opera, Jason recently made his Kennedy Center Debut on the Millennium Stage, as a soloist, singing for selections from La Traviata as Alfredo Nadir in the famous Pearl fishers duet. Before that Jason played Rodolfo in CUA’s 2025 production of La Boheme. He appeared as Donald in the Loudoun Lyric Opera’s production of Gallantry. Jason is also composer and song writer, having performed original music at such venues and festivals as Flowjam Festival, Annmarie Sculture Gardens Artsfest, and Día De los Muertos DC. Jason has worked with local nonprofit organizations like David’s Tent, Youth With a Mission DC, and One More Plate.
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.