FACULTY

CINDY SADLER, Director. Mezzo-soprano Cindy Sadler is well-known in the classical community as a singer, teacher, writer, and consultant; and increasingly, as a stage director. A busy professional singer and frequent lecturer on the business of singing, she brings current experience to her students. Most recently, she has appeared as Baba the Turk in the Rake's Progress with the Princeton Festival, the Marquise de Berkenfeld in La Fille du Régiment with Opera Idaho and the Sugar Creek Festival, with Chicago Lyric Opera, covering Stephanie Blythe as Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera and Katisha in The Mikado; as Katisha at Syracuse Opera, as the Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica at San Antonio Opera, and as Marcellina in The Marriage of Figaro and Mrs. McLean in Susannah at Des Moines Metro Opera. Upcoming engagements include Gertrude in Romeo et Juliette at Florida Grand Opera and San Antonio Opera, Marcellina in The Marriage of Figaro at Kentucky Opera, and The Old Baroness in Vanessa with Sarasota Opera. Ms. Sadler has appeared on the stages of Chicago Lyric Opera, Opera Pacific, Arizona Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Austin Lyric Opera, New Orleans Opera, and the Hollywood Bowl, among many others. She has published over 100 articles in Classical Singer Magazine and is widely recognized for her “Ask Erda” advice column. She travels the country to consult with singers and lecture on singing careers in her Business of Singing, most recently to the Des Moines Metro Opera Young Artists Program, Sieur Du Luth Summer Opera Training Program, UCLA, the CoOPERAtive program at Westminster College of the Arts, Portland State University, and the Classical Singer Convention. She has recently retired after a six year tenure on the music faculty of St. Edward's University to pursue her singing career fulltime. She has served as Executive Director of the Astoria Music Academy in Oregon, and this is her fifth year as Director of Spotlight on Opera. For more information, please visit www.cindysadler.com, www.thebusinessofsinging.com, and www.thenext100pounds.com.

Bruce Cain, Assistant Director. Baritone Bruce Cain is an Associate Professor of Music at the Sarofim School of Fine Arts at Southwestern University, where he is the principle voice teacher and director of the Opera Theatre. His career began as an apprentice with the Chautauqua Opera and then on to Chicago, where the Sun-Times hailed his debut with the Chicago Symphony as "an eloquent soloist" and the Chicago Tribune joined in praising his "sensitivity" as an artist. Dr. Cain’s most recent operatic appearance was at the Natchez Opera Festival playing Papageno in Mozart’s Magic Flute, andin Chicago portraying Ford in L’Opera Piccola’s Falstaff. His other roles include Dr. Lomax in Austin Lyric Opera’s premier of Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree, Belcore in The Elixir of Love, Dr. Blind and Falke in Die Fledermaus, Marcello and Schaunard in La Bohème, Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutté, and a gambler in Prokofiev’s The Gambler, with the Chicago Lyric Opera. He has often appeared with the Austin Symphony, the Austin Vocal Arts Ensemble, and the Georgetown Festival of the Arts, as well as in concert venues across the U.S. and at the famed Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Recent performances include: Mozart’s Requiem with the St. Edward’s University Madrigal Singers, the role of Schoenberg, in Southwestern’s premier of Jason Hoogerhyde’s The Color of Dissonance, and the role of Kraus in Mendelssohn’s Son and Stranger, with the Georgetown Festival of the Arts.

Chuck Dillard, Music Director. Originally from South Carolina, Chuck Dillard has been praised as an educator, chamber musician, vocal coach, and soloist. He has been heard from coast to coast with orchestras, choirs, chamber musicians, and in instrumental and vocal recitals. As an opera pianist, he has worked with several major companies including Central City Opera, Opera Colorado, Opera Carolina, and summer programs in Santa Barbara and Aspen among others. As an educator, he regularly participates in outreach performances for school children as well as having served as instructor at Furman University and the University of Colorado. In the fall, Mr. Dillard will be joining the newly formed collaborative piano department at the University of Texas at Austin. He holds degrees from the University of Maryland, Furman University and is currently completing his doctorate at the University of Colorado.

Rebecca Herman, Stage Director/Dramatic Coach. Rebecca Herman recently made her directing debut at Tulsa Opera directing Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti for the company’s collaboration with the Philbrook Museum’s exhibit American Streamlined Design and will be returning to Tulsa Opera in the 2011-12 season. Other directing credits include Mozart’s Bastien und Bastienne at the Butler Opera Center at The University of Texas at Austin and Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, Barber’s Hand of Bridge and Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Acts I & II for Spotlight on Opera. She has also directed numerous opera scenes for the Butler Opera Center, Spotlight on Opera, and Butler Opera Center Young Artists Program. Additionally, Rebecca has worked with Austin Lyric Opera as the Assistant Director for their productions of Dialogues of the Carmelites, La Boheme, L’Etoile, Hansel and Gretel, La Traviata, and Flight.  This is Rebecca’s third season with Spotlight on Opera.Rebecca holds a MM in Opera Directing from The University of Texas at Austin and two degrees from Lawrence University in Appleton, WI: a BA in English Literature and a Self-Designed BM in Opera/Vocal Studies that combines study of theater, voice, and music history.

Leah Knight, Voice Faculty/Production Assistant. Leah Knight began her classical studies at the age of three with violin, piano and voice lessons. Ms. Knight has performed as soloist for the University of Texas Vocal Gala, UT Chamber Singers, the CNN Bicentennial broadcast, Armed Forces Radio Network and by invitation at the Moscow Conservatory of Music, Russia. Ms. Knight has debuted many composers’ works, including the role of “La Elquesaíta” in the U.S. Premiere of Tentaciones de San Antonio and sacred works by Russell Schulz-Widmar. Her roles include “Virtu” from L’incoronazione di Poppea, “Tatiana” from Eugene Onegin, “Die Erste Dame” from Die Zauberflöte (performed in Salzburg, Austria), “La Contessa” from Le nozze di Figaro, the title role from Suor Angelica and "Martha" in A Secret Garden for which she won a Best Actress in a Supporting Role “Sammy” award. Her sacred repertoire includes Mozart’s Solemn Vespers, Coronation Mass, Mass in C Major, Missa Brevis in C Major, Haydn’s St. Nicholas Mass, Rutter’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Mass in c minor. She has participated in master classes with many notable people including Charles Reicker of the Metropolitan Opera, Cynthia Lawrence of the Metropolitan Opera and Mignon Dunn of Manhattan School of Music. Leah completed her Bachelor’s under the University of Texas’ Martha Deatherage and her Master’s in Music under Rose Taylor. She has been a featured soloist for such notable people and organizations as Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, Dr. Hector P. Garcia, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Conference for Community and Justice (formerly known as National Conference of Christians and Jews). Ms. Knight participated as an Apprentice Artist with Sarasota Opera and Des Moines Metro Opera for the 2007 season. She is an adjunct professor of Vocal Studies and Fundamentals of Voice at St. Edward’s University for and is currently performing around Austin with Cindy Sadler’s “Spotlight on Opera” program while maintaing a private voice and piano studio.