Artists

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.

Chinese-American soprano Bizhou Chang is quickly becoming known for her warmth of tone and thrilling interpretations of opera’s most beloved roles. This season, she returns to Opera Columbus, singing Pamina in the world premiere of The Temple: A Magic Flute Experience—an immersive production based on Mozart’s The Magic Flute—and she appears as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with Pensacola Opera.

In the 2022-23 season, Ms. Chang performed Mimì in La bohème with Pensacola Opera and made her company debuts as Liù in Turandot with Opera Southwest and Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with Knoxville Opera. She returned to Guerilla Opera for the concert presentation and theatrical workshop of Emily Koh’s Her: Alive|un|dead, and she appeared as a featured soloist in Pensacola Opera’s 40th anniversary gala concert Forty Forward, along with the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra.

During the 2021-22 season, Ms. Chang made her role debut as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Pensacola Opera, performed the role of Maria in the world premiere of Island of Hope, Island of Tears by Gabriele Vanoni with Guerilla Opera, and appeared as Violetta in an immersive production of La Traviata with Opera Columbus and Out of the Box Opera.

During the Covid-19 impacted 2020-21 season, Ms. Chang made her art film debut as Mimì in an innovative film version of La bohème directed by Laine Rettmer with More than Musical (Hong Kong), a co-production of Opera Omaha, Tri-Cities Opera, and Opera Columbus. She also performed Mimì in a new production of La bohème with Opera Columbus and returned to Pensacola Opera as Micaëla in Carmen.

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Baritone Jack Chandler is from Arlington, Virginia. Mr. Chandler’s recent credits include Belcore (L’elisir d’amore), Le Dancaïre and Morales (Carmen), Bill Bobstay (H.M.S. Pinafore), Schaunard (La bohème), Slim (Of Mice and Men), Claudio (Béatrice et Bénédict), Sir Berkley (Der Vampyr), Mr. Lindquist (A Little Night Music), Sciarrone (Tosca), Stewpot (South Pacific), and Dottore Grenvil (La Traviata). In the 2020-21 season, Jack was an Artist in Residence at Pensacola Opera, where he covered the role of Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen. He also covered the role of Captain Corcoran in the company’s production of H.M.S. Pinafore. Upcoming performances include Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) at Florida State Opera in October, and a return to Pensacola to sing Fiorello and the Official in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia in March 2022.

Jack is an alumnus of the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he studied with Vinson Cole for three summers. He earned a master’s degree from Florida State University under the instruction of David Okerlund.

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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