A native of Statesville, North Carolina, baritone Scott Lee has been praised for his “…substance and velvety bass voice” by the Winston-Salem Journal. In recent years, he has performed with Piedmont Opera, The Princeton Festival, Opera Theater of the Rockies and Magnolia Baroque. In 2020, Lee received the Ron Payne Encouragement Award at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in Charlotte, NC. His most recent engagement was the role of Antonio in Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix, where “the opportunity to experience a staging of Linda di Chamounix was a rare gift to UNCSA’s audiences, but singing such as Lee’s is still rarer not only in student production but upon all the worlds stages.” (Voix des Arts) Lee received his Bachelor of Music degree and Master of Music degree from UNCSA. In addition to performing, Lee is a seasoned teaching artist, having served as a member of UNCSA’s ArtistCorps. He is a student of Dr. Marylin Taylor.

Sara Schoch is an award-winning actress who combines her 15 years of musical theater experience with her passion for teaching students the techniques of the profession.

In 2015, she was recognized by the city of Boston as a Certified Artist, a designation given to artists who have substantial talent and whose vast body of work contributes significantly to the arts in Boston and state as a whole. She is also a two-time winner, and four-time nominee, for the New Hampshire Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Musical, which she won in 2012 for her performance as Mother in “Ragtime.”

As a professional actress, Schoch is continuously honing her craft. She has appeared in more than 150 professional productions and worked with many Broadway veterans, including Marc Kudish, Kerry O’Malley, Rob Gallagher, Raymond Sage, Robbie Sella, and the legendary Jack Dabdoub. She played Jenny Hill in the premier of Andrew Lippa’s “Big Fish,” rewritten by Lippa and screenwriter John August for a smaller cast in regional theatres. Her other production highlights, include playing Cathy in “The Last 5 Years” (Artie nomination), Roxie in “Chicago,” Kate/Lilli in “Kiss me, Kate!” (New Hampshire nomination), Christine in “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” (New Hampshire nomination), and Julie in “Some Enchanted Evening” (Joseph Jefferson nomination).

Some of her students and mentees have appeared in the Broadway productions of “Aladdin,” “Finding Neverland,” “Les Miserables,” and the revival of “The Color Purple.”

Marci J. Duncan earned a BA in performance at Florida A&M University and her Masters in Acting at the University of Florida. She studied television and film acting with Evonne Suhor at Orlando’s Art Sake Acting Studio, where she is a resident ensemble member, substitute instructor, and has starred in three consecutive seasons in their Play De Luna Series. Some of her extensive acting theatre credits include: Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, Crowns, Pretty Fire, The Contract, The Mountaintop, The Best of Enemies and Florida Girls. Marci’s film work includes (Just) Another Day co-starring with Jamie Hectar from HBO’s The Wire and Life is not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story, working with Debbie Allen and Fantasia Barrino, and a NBC network television series called Young Rock starring Dawyne “The Rock” Johnson. This is Marci’s seventh year as professor and director in the theatre department at the University of West Florida and is currently the president of the Florida Theatre Conference.

Brianna Ascione is a dancer, actor, and singer based in New York. Beginning to dance at two-years-old, she graduated from the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts in Dance at the Morris County School of Technology (2018), and is a recent graduate of Marymount Manhattan College (2022) with a BFA in Dance with a Jazz Concentration. She grew up training in all styles of dance at The Dance Academy of North Jersey, and studies voice with Marianne Wells. She is represented by Lucille DiCampli Artist Representation. Brianna has performed in theatre and dance, as well as in television and film. She also has a background in choreography.

Some of her credits include: Off-Broadway: The Little Match Girl: The Concert (Goose Two/Ensemble). Regional: Gypsy at Goodspeed Opera House (u/s Dainty June & Ensemble Swing), Dames at Sea at Bucks County Playhouse (u/s Ruby & Joan), Grease at Mayo Performing Arts Center (Sandy Dumbrowski), West Side Story at Mayo Performing Arts Center (Anybodys), Mary Poppins at Centenary Stage Company (Ensemble). Other: A Chorus Line (Cassie), Into The Woods (Little Red Ridinghood), Big Fish (Jenny Hill), Catch Me If You Can at (Ensemble), The Government Inspector (Svetsunov), His Play (She), The Next Screenplay (Perry). Television/Film: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Season 3, Episode 8), “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Season 4, Episode 5), Marry Me.

In addition to her passion and aspirations for performing, Brianna also has a passion for educating young dancers and actors, helping them to achieve their full potential and more in the performing arts. She currently teaches and choreographs at The Dance Academy of North Jersey, Mayo Performing Arts Center, Delbarton School, Morris County School of Technology, and Roxbury High School. Brianna has also been the Choreographer at Delbarton School for shows such as Working (2021), Something Rotten! (2022), and The Drowsy Chaperone (2023).

Award-winning director, choreographer, and master teacher Greg Ganakas’s credits include Broadway, Off-Broadway, national tours, international productions, and television. He has worked for DisneyLive Entertainment, Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Madison Square Garden. His regional theatre credentials include Tony Award-winning Goodspeed Opera House, Dallas Theatre Center, The Northshore Music Theater, The Long Warf Theater and The Paper Mill Playhouse. He has staged productions for Glimmerglass Opera, Minnesota Opera, Opera Omaha, and Central City Opera, among others. His production of  “An Evening of Gilbert and Sullivan”, featuring Beverly Sills and the Boston Pops, was filmed live at Boston’s Symphony Hall as part of the PBS Great Performances series. Additionally, he has staged the 50th anniversary production of West Side Story at the Globus Theatre in Russia, the Maputo Music Festival in South Africa, the world premiere of Singapora The Musical in Singapore, and the Ravenna Festival, in Italy, celebrating Puccini’s La bohème.

Mr. Ganakas earned an Emmy Award for his production of “Izzo Goes to Broadway”, the Helen Hayes Award, The Kennedy Center Theater Festival Award, and New York University’s Distinguished Teaching Award. A committed educator, he served on faculty at New York University, where he founded their nationally renowned Music Theater program.

He has had the privilege of collaborating with distinguished artists such as Dame Julie Andrews, Betty Buckley, Kristen Chenoweth, Joel Grey, Marvin Hamlisch, Jerry Herman, Patti LuPone, Idina Menzel, Alan Menken, Maestro Riccardo Muti, Sarah Jessica Parker, Harold Prince, and Chita Rivera.

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American conductor Cody Martin was recently named Music Director at Pensacola Opera, where he was previously the Director of Education and Director of the Artists in Residence Program since 2017.  During the 2023-24 season, he leads a production of Lucia di Lammermoor and serves as associate conductor and chorus director for Die Fledermaus, in addition to continuing his work with the company’s nationally respected Jan Miller Studio Artist Program. He also appears as guest conductor for Florida State Opera‘s The Cunning Little Vixen. Recent seasons have seen Cody leading productions of Carousel, Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, As One, Florencia en el Amazonas, Man of La Mancha and María de Buenos Aires in Pensacola, in addition to various concert appearances. He made his debut with Fargo-Moorhead Opera conducting Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers in 2019. Other companies Cody has enjoyed working with include Des Moines Metro Opera, Arizona Opera, Opera Birmingham, Virginia Opera, and the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center.

Cody holds degrees from Murray State University and Florida State University. He lives in Pensacola with his former shelter dog, Rosina, a corgi/dachshund mix (@rosinathelongdog).

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A native of Statesville, North Carolina, baritone Scott Lee has been praised for his “…substance and velvety bass voice” by the Winston-Salem Journal. In recent years, he has performed with Piedmont Opera, The Princeton Festival, Opera Theater of the Rockies and Magnolia Baroque. In 2020, Lee received the Ron Payne Encouragement Award at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in Charlotte, NC. His most recent engagement was the role of Antonio in Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix, where “the opportunity to experience a staging of Linda di Chamounix was a rare gift to UNCSA’s audiences, but singing such as Lee’s is still rarer not only in student production but upon all the worlds stages.” (Voix des Arts) Lee received his Bachelor of Music degree and Master of Music degree from UNCSA. In addition to performing, Lee is a seasoned teaching artist, having served as a member of UNCSA’s ArtistCorps. He is a student of Dr. Marylin Taylor.

Sara Schoch is an award-winning actress who combines her 15 years of musical theater experience with her passion for teaching students the techniques of the profession.

In 2015, she was recognized by the city of Boston as a Certified Artist, a designation given to artists who have substantial talent and whose vast body of work contributes significantly to the arts in Boston and state as a whole. She is also a two-time winner, and four-time nominee, for the New Hampshire Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Musical, which she won in 2012 for her performance as Mother in “Ragtime.”

As a professional actress, Schoch is continuously honing her craft. She has appeared in more than 150 professional productions and worked with many Broadway veterans, including Marc Kudish, Kerry O’Malley, Rob Gallagher, Raymond Sage, Robbie Sella, and the legendary Jack Dabdoub. She played Jenny Hill in the premier of Andrew Lippa’s “Big Fish,” rewritten by Lippa and screenwriter John August for a smaller cast in regional theatres. Her other production highlights, include playing Cathy in “The Last 5 Years” (Artie nomination), Roxie in “Chicago,” Kate/Lilli in “Kiss me, Kate!” (New Hampshire nomination), Christine in “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” (New Hampshire nomination), and Julie in “Some Enchanted Evening” (Joseph Jefferson nomination).

Some of her students and mentees have appeared in the Broadway productions of “Aladdin,” “Finding Neverland,” “Les Miserables,” and the revival of “The Color Purple.”

Marci J. Duncan earned a BA in performance at Florida A&M University and her Masters in Acting at the University of Florida. She studied television and film acting with Evonne Suhor at Orlando’s Art Sake Acting Studio, where she is a resident ensemble member, substitute instructor, and has starred in three consecutive seasons in their Play De Luna Series. Some of her extensive acting theatre credits include: Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, Crowns, Pretty Fire, The Contract, The Mountaintop, The Best of Enemies and Florida Girls. Marci’s film work includes (Just) Another Day co-starring with Jamie Hectar from HBO’s The Wire and Life is not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story, working with Debbie Allen and Fantasia Barrino, and a NBC network television series called Young Rock starring Dawyne “The Rock” Johnson. This is Marci’s seventh year as professor and director in the theatre department at the University of West Florida and is currently the president of the Florida Theatre Conference.

Brianna Ascione is a dancer, actor, and singer based in New York. Beginning to dance at two-years-old, she graduated from the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts in Dance at the Morris County School of Technology (2018), and is a recent graduate of Marymount Manhattan College (2022) with a BFA in Dance with a Jazz Concentration. She grew up training in all styles of dance at The Dance Academy of North Jersey, and studies voice with Marianne Wells. She is represented by Lucille DiCampli Artist Representation. Brianna has performed in theatre and dance, as well as in television and film. She also has a background in choreography.

Some of her credits include: Off-Broadway: The Little Match Girl: The Concert (Goose Two/Ensemble). Regional: Gypsy at Goodspeed Opera House (u/s Dainty June & Ensemble Swing), Dames at Sea at Bucks County Playhouse (u/s Ruby & Joan), Grease at Mayo Performing Arts Center (Sandy Dumbrowski), West Side Story at Mayo Performing Arts Center (Anybodys), Mary Poppins at Centenary Stage Company (Ensemble). Other: A Chorus Line (Cassie), Into The Woods (Little Red Ridinghood), Big Fish (Jenny Hill), Catch Me If You Can at (Ensemble), The Government Inspector (Svetsunov), His Play (She), The Next Screenplay (Perry). Television/Film: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Season 3, Episode 8), “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Season 4, Episode 5), Marry Me.

In addition to her passion and aspirations for performing, Brianna also has a passion for educating young dancers and actors, helping them to achieve their full potential and more in the performing arts. She currently teaches and choreographs at The Dance Academy of North Jersey, Mayo Performing Arts Center, Delbarton School, Morris County School of Technology, and Roxbury High School. Brianna has also been the Choreographer at Delbarton School for shows such as Working (2021), Something Rotten! (2022), and The Drowsy Chaperone (2023).

Award-winning director, choreographer, and master teacher Greg Ganakas’s credits include Broadway, Off-Broadway, national tours, international productions, and television. He has worked for DisneyLive Entertainment, Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Madison Square Garden. His regional theatre credentials include Tony Award-winning Goodspeed Opera House, Dallas Theatre Center, The Northshore Music Theater, The Long Warf Theater and The Paper Mill Playhouse. He has staged productions for Glimmerglass Opera, Minnesota Opera, Opera Omaha, and Central City Opera, among others. His production of  “An Evening of Gilbert and Sullivan”, featuring Beverly Sills and the Boston Pops, was filmed live at Boston’s Symphony Hall as part of the PBS Great Performances series. Additionally, he has staged the 50th anniversary production of West Side Story at the Globus Theatre in Russia, the Maputo Music Festival in South Africa, the world premiere of Singapora The Musical in Singapore, and the Ravenna Festival, in Italy, celebrating Puccini’s La bohème.

Mr. Ganakas earned an Emmy Award for his production of “Izzo Goes to Broadway”, the Helen Hayes Award, The Kennedy Center Theater Festival Award, and New York University’s Distinguished Teaching Award. A committed educator, he served on faculty at New York University, where he founded their nationally renowned Music Theater program.

He has had the privilege of collaborating with distinguished artists such as Dame Julie Andrews, Betty Buckley, Kristen Chenoweth, Joel Grey, Marvin Hamlisch, Jerry Herman, Patti LuPone, Idina Menzel, Alan Menken, Maestro Riccardo Muti, Sarah Jessica Parker, Harold Prince, and Chita Rivera.

Artist Website >>

American conductor Cody Martin was recently named Music Director at Pensacola Opera, where he was previously the Director of Education and Director of the Artists in Residence Program since 2017.  During the 2023-24 season, he leads a production of Lucia di Lammermoor and serves as associate conductor and chorus director for Die Fledermaus, in addition to continuing his work with the company’s nationally respected Jan Miller Studio Artist Program. He also appears as guest conductor for Florida State Opera‘s The Cunning Little Vixen. Recent seasons have seen Cody leading productions of Carousel, Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, As One, Florencia en el Amazonas, Man of La Mancha and María de Buenos Aires in Pensacola, in addition to various concert appearances. He made his debut with Fargo-Moorhead Opera conducting Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers in 2019. Other companies Cody has enjoyed working with include Des Moines Metro Opera, Arizona Opera, Opera Birmingham, Virginia Opera, and the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center.

Cody holds degrees from Murray State University and Florida State University. He lives in Pensacola with his former shelter dog, Rosina, a corgi/dachshund mix (@rosinathelongdog).

>> Artist Website