Mezzo-Soprano Emily Triebold is thrilled to be returning to the Pensacola Opera stage. Native to Wisconsin, Emily has been praised for her acting abilities in both dramatic and comedic roles.
While tenured as an Apprentice Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera, Emily covered the roles of Minskwoman (Flight) and Julia Child (Bon Appétit!) and played the roles Mrs. Splinters (The
Tender Land) and Baroness (Candide). As both a Resident Artist and Mainstage Artist with Pensacola Opera, she was seen in various concerts and performances, covering Hannah After
(As One) and Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and singing the roles of Ines (Il trovatore) and Mrs. Cripps (H.M.S. Pinafore). This past year, Emily sang Giovanna (Rigoletto) with Nashville Opera as a
Mary Ragland Emerging Artist and covered the role of Martha (Sky on Swings) as a Young Artist with Opera Saratoga.

Praised for his sweet tone and nuanced stagecraft, tenor Alexander Scheuermann has been called “a performer’s performer,” appearing in both theatrical and concert settings across the US and Europe. Recent roles include the cover of Tim Laughlin in Fellow Travelers with Des Moines Metro Opera, Remendado in Carmen with Salt Marsh Opera, Marco in The Gondoliers with Winter Opera St. Louis, and Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance with Opera Tampa. He makes a role and company debut as Fenton in Falstaff with Raylynmor Opera in 2022. Alexander has been a resident artist with Pensacola Opera and Kentucky Opera, and holds degrees in voice from Florida State University and the University of Houston.

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Bass-baritone Justin Hopkins has recently worked with Geneva Opera, Teatro la Monnaie Brussels, Opera Vlaanderen Antwerp and the St Gallen Theatre. Roles included TITUREL Parsifal, PUBLIO La Clemenza di Tito, LORD KRISHNA, PARSI RUSTOMJI Satyagraha and LE BAILLI Werther, COLLINE La Bohème and NARUMOV Pique Dame. In the USA he has sung with the Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Philadelphia, Opera San Antonio, and others, roles such as SPARAFUCILE Rigoletto, IL RE Aida, OROVESO Norma and LEPORELLO Don Giovani. Concert appearances have included collaborations with Boston Pops, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, and BBC Concert Orchestra in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall Boston, Lincoln Center and Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. He was the 2012 Lotte Lenya Competition 2nd place winner.

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Dr. Sheila Dunn earned her Doctor of Music degree in vocal performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Since joining UWF in 2007, she has taught applied voice, vocal literature, vocal pedagogy, opera workshop and Women in Popular Music. As part of the UWF Irish Experience study abroad program, she performs and presents masterclasses at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

Her research areas include living and diverse composers of art song and portrayals of women in music of the Tin Pan Alley era. She maintains an active performing career in opera and as a concert artist and recitalist. Select roles include Kitty Hart (Dead Man Walking), Mabel (Pirates of Penzance), Beth (Little Women), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Costance (Les Dialogues des Carmélites), Blonda (Abduction from the Seraglio), Despina (Cosí fan tutte), and Johanna (Sweeney Todd). In 2019, she performed a solo concert as part of the Les Dimanches Musicaux concert series at The American Cathedral in Paris.

Dr. Dunn served from 2013-2022 as the director of the Dr. Grier Williams School of Music at the University of West Florida. The Williams School of Music was established in 2020 after receiving the largest cash gift from a living donor in the history of the university with a scholarship endowment that is estimated to be in excess of 7.5 million dollars. An additional $1M endowment will allow the school to fulfill its five-year plan and work toward achieving long-term goals. Dr. Dunn is thrilled to return to her faculty role as director of voice, and to enjoy more adventures and laughter with her loving family.

Award-winning baritone Corey McKern continuously earns critical acclaim and accolades in every appearance he makes. Of his performance as Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, critics hailed: “Corey McKern… has all the goods to rise to star stature – timing, stamina, vocal heft and an easy-going stage presence – especially telling in Figaro’s signature aria, ‘Largo al factotum della citta.’” Recent engagements include the role of Older Thompson in Glory Denied with Opera Birmingham and performances as a soloist in Carmina Burana with Missoula Symphony, and Handel’s Messiah with the Alabama Symphony. Other engagements include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Tallahassee Symphony and a return to the Florentine Opera for a concert of “Opera’s Greatest Hits.” Upcoming, Corey will return to Pensacola Opera as the title role in their production of Don Giovanni.

Of his performance in La bohème, the Santa Fe New Mexican said, “Corey McKern’s resolute, robust-voiced and rambunctious Marcello, a perfect picture of a wannabe Parisian painter, was one of the best I’ve ever heard.” Mr. McKern garners attention at leading opera houses for his charming and dynamic portrayals of his signature roles: Marcello in La bohème in his Asian début at Opera Hong Kong, Santa Fe Opera, Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, Nashville Opera, and Opera Grand Rapids; Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Nashville Opera and Opera Birmingham; the Count in Le nozze di Figaro with Nashville Opera, Opera Cleveland, Opera Columbus, Michigan Opera Theatre, Tulsa Opera, Opera Birmingham, and Syracuse Opera; Gabriel von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus with Nashville Opera and Florentine Opera; Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with Opera Omaha, Arizona Opera, Opera Birmingham, and Tulsa Opera; as Silvio in Pagliacci with Austin Lyric Opera, Arizona Opera, Opera Birmingham, and Central City Opera.

Praised by the Houston Press for how he “…amazes with a clarion tenor that has the reedy projection of superstar-from-yore Jan Peerce.”  Peter Lake is an internationally performing lyric-tenor who debuted in the world premiere of Michael Ching’s Alice Ryley/Anna Hunter this August at the Savannah VOICE Festival.  In June he performed with the Timberlake Playhouse as Tito Merelli in their production of Lend Me a Tenor.  In the fall of 2021 Peter performed Don José in Mobile Opera’s Carmen and debuted an original cabaret celebrating the music of Mario Lanza with Opera Mississippi.  Other notable roles for Peter include: Rodolfo in La bohème, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, the Duke in Rigoletto, and Alfredo in La traviata.

After graduating from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, Hanan attended the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Performance credits for the Curtis Opera Theatre include Alcina (Bradamante), The Rape of Lucretia (Lucretia), Così fan tutte (Dorabella), The Death of Klinghoffer (Austrian Woman), The Consul (Vera Boronel), L’incoronazione di Poppea (La Fortuna) and Le nozze di Figaro (Barbarina), among others. Hanan has also sung roles for Palm Beach Opera (Third Lady in The Magic Flute), Pensacola Opera (Meg in Little Women, Giovanna in Rigoletto and Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd), Chautauqua Institute Opera Festival (Third Lady in The Magic Flute, Carmen in Carmen, Gianetta in L’elisir d’amore) and roles at the Interlochen Arts Academy. Hanan sang Anita in West Side Story in a gala concert performance with the Opera Orchestra of the Teatro Regio in Turin, Italy. Hanan also sang the mezzo-soprano solo in Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Pensacola Symphony.

She has been presented in concert at the Spoleto Festival dei due Mondi in Italy and in gala performances in the Netherlands and Ireland. In addition she enjoys oratorio and chamber music and has performed a variety of works with the Curtis Chamber Orchestra and the Chautauqua Institute Chamber Group. Hanan has performed the Messiah with many choral societies nationally and internationally among other works. Hanan taught voice lessons at the Chautauqua Institute for three summers. In addition to maintaining a private studio, she also taught at the University of West Florida.

Hayley Abramowitz, soprano, is dually based in Houston, TX and Washington, DC. They hold degrees from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (MM ’20, PD ’21) and from the University of Maryland School of Music (BM ’18), where they studied with Carol Vaness and Delores Ziegler respectively.

Hayley spent the 2021-22 season as a chorister with the Houston Grand Opera, performing in Carmen, Dialogues of the Carmelites, Die Zauberflöte, and Turandot. They also presented a recital as part of the Living Arts Concert Series, featuring Mozart’s rarely performed concert aria, Popoli di Tessaglia.

Favorite roles include Romilda (Serse), Nella (Gianni Schicchi), Blumenmädchen (Parsifal), Lucy (The Telephone), and Mme. Herz (Die Schauspieldirektor). A third-place winner in the inaugural Cincinnati SongSLAM, Hayley is also a passionate advocate of new music, having presented numerous premieres in the past several years. Particularly dear is William Kenlon’s Longfellow Mosaic for soprano and Pierrot ensemble.

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Kayla Nanto is a dynamic mezzo-soprano with a lush and versatile sound who is based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This season, Kayla joined Pensacola Opera as a Jan Miller Studio Artist where she appeared as Nettie Fowler in Carousel and as a featured soloist in various concerts. She is a recent winner in the Georgia District of The Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition.

During the 2021-2022 season, Kayla was a winner in the Colorado/Wyoming District of The Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition.  This past summer, sang the title role in Carmen with Painted Sky Opera and was recently a Studio Artist with Fort Worth Opera, with whom she made her mainstage debut as Flora in La traviata. In addition, she returned as a Performing Artist with The Dallas Opera’s Education and Outreach program. 

​Some of Kayla’s other recent engagements include Second Witch in Dido and Aeneas and Eustazio in Rinaldo with American Baroque Opera Company, Alto soloist in Messiah with Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Frida Kahlo/Mother in the world-premiere of Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World with Fort Worth Opera, Alto Soloist in Petite Messe Solenelle with University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Suzuki (cover) in Madama Butterfly with Opera Fort Collins, Ulisse in Achille in Sciro with Orchestra of New Spain, and Edith in Pirates of Penzance with Loveland Opera Theatre.

Kayla holds degrees from University of North Texas (Master of Music) and University of Northern Colorado (Bachelor of Music).  During her time at University of North Texas, she performed the roles of Siébel in Faust, Petra in A Little Night Music, and Flora in La traviata.  While at University of Northern Colorado, she performed the roles of Angelina in La Cenerentola and the title role in Carmen.

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Complemented on his “affectionate vibrato” (OperaWire), tenor, Randy Ho is looking forward to joining the team at Pensacola Opera as an Artist in Residence. This season, Mr. Ho will be singing as Parpignol and covering Rodolfo (La bohème), and singing Enoch Snow (Carousel).

Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, Mr. Ho is a recent graduate of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Ho holds a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration concentrating in Marketing from the University of Denver.

Most recently, Mr. Ho will be showcased in Pittsburgh Festival Opera’s scenes program singing excerpts from Faust, La Traviata, and Carmen. Previously, Mr. Ho has been featured as a studio artist at Carnegie Hall’s Song Studio led by world-renowned Soprano Renee Fleming, Peabody Opera Theater productions of La scala di seta (Dorvil), Hin und Zurück(Robert), Postcard from Morocco (Man with old Luggage), Lamont Opera Theater’s production of Il trittico (Rinuiccio), and as a soloist with The National Repertory Orchestra, Denver Opera Collective, and The Denver Spirituals Project.

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.

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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Praised for his “skill and verve” (New York Times), Shannon celebrates nearly 30 years as a professional operatic pianist, vocal coach, conductor and administrator. During this time, Maestro Shannon has held leadership positions with Sarah Caldwell’s Opera Company of Boston (Artistic Administrator, Assistant Conductor, Conductor), Virginia Opera (Artistic Administrator, Associate Artistic Director, Conductor), Pensacola Opera (Music Director and Principal Conductor, Artistic Director), Shreveport Opera (Music Director and Principal Conductor), Mobile Opera (General and Artistic Director, Principal Conductor) and the Janiec Opera Company of the Brevard Music Center (Resident Conductor and Vocal Coach).