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Arlyn M. Brewster OperaTunity Program

Experience an opera performance at your school, community center, or library through a fully staged, 40-minute adaptation of a classic, or an original story! Performances are presented in English and designed for K-8 audiences.

 

View All OperaTunity Alumni

 

2023/24 Arlyn M. Brewster Education Teaching Artists

 

Logan Talarico, Phoenix Tour Supervisor, tenor

Logan Talarico, Phoenix Tour Supervisor, tenor

From choirs to concerts to operas, Logan Talarico has been singing since the age of 12. He was most recently seen as a featured soloist in Scottsdale Philharmonic’s performance of Handel’s Messiah and can be seen on-stage performing in the opera choruses of Arizona Opera and Chandler Opera. He studied vocal performance at Arizona State University under the teachings of Dr. Amanda DeMaris and had his operatic debut as Spinelloccio in ASU’s 2019 production of Gianni Schicchi. Talarico can also be found singing at Church of the Nativity in Scottsdale and is a board member for Arizona North Star Arts.

 

 


Helen Hendricks, soprano

Helen Hendricks, soprano

Helen Hendricks is an operatic soprano well-versed in a variety of styles including Jazz, Pop, Rock, Musical Theatre, and Classical. In addition to being a singer, Hendricks also plays and teaches tuba (as well as other brass instruments) and piano. Hendricks has been seen on the ASU stage in the 2019 production of Suor Angelica as Suor Clarlario and in the 2018 production of Bernstein’s Mass. In addition to her operatic engagements, Hendricks can be seen regularly at Mystery Mansion Dinner Theatre playing the role of Fanny. Hendricks is a coloratura soprano who enjoys performing the music of Strauss, Verdi, Donizetti, Mozart, and Massenet. Hendricks is a Phoenix native and lives with her lovely cat, Mendelssohn. When not working on music, Hendricks enjoys crocheting, reading, studying foreign languages, and sewing.

 


Sedona Libero, mezzo-soprano

Sedona Libero, mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano Sedona Libero takes the stage with authenticity, playfulness, and passion. Most recently, she appeared as Ernestina in Opera Southwest’s production of Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro. She was a semi-finalist in the Loren L. Zachary Society National Vocal Competition 2023, and appeared with Orchestra Northern Arizona to sing selections from Bizet’s Carmen. In 2022, she jumped in to sing Rosina in the Chandler Opera Company’s The Barber of Seville. She was a 2019 Emerging Artist at Seagle Music Colony where she performed as Rosie Chaney in Kevin Putz and Mark Campell’s The Manchurian Candidate, and as Carmen in Marius Constant’s adaption of Bizets’s opera, La tragédie de Carmen. She was slated to cover the title role in Carmen in 2020 with Hogfish Opera, however, due to COVID-19, performances were subsequently canceled. This did not stop her from preparing the full role during lockdown. She graduated with her Masters in 2019 from the University of Michigan and received her Bachelors of Music from Northern Arizona University in 2016. She made her professional debut with Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in 2018 as Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti, and made her professional symphonic debut a year later as the Alto Soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. She appeared as Ruggiero in the University of Michigan School of Music’s 2019 production of Handel's Alcina, and to acclaim as Cherubino in the 2018 production of The Marriage of Figaro. She has also performed overseas in Austria with the American Institute of Musical studies (AIMS) in 2016.

 


John Momeyer, tenor

John Momeyer, tenor

John Momeyer is a tenor with a degree in vocal performance from Arizona State University. He has received instruction from prominent artists such as Dr. Amanda DeMaris, Dr. Justin Carpenter and Mary-Sue Hyatt. John was recognized by the National Association of Teachers of Singing by receiving first place in the 2021 Arizona Division Vocal Competition, second place in the 2022 Cal-Western Region and also made Semi-Finals for their 2022 National Competition.

 

 

 


Mauricio Perusquia, baritone

Mauricio Perusquia, baritone

Mauricio Perusquia, baritone, holds an Masters of Music in Opera Performance from Arizona State University and a Bachelors of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Texas at El Paso. Perusquia has engaged in many new Opera works such as Arizona Opera’s Silent Night and the New Works reading of the jazz interactive opera, Marie Begins, as well as concert works such as Cipher. With Arizona State University’s Music Theatre and Opera, Perusquia performed the roles of Frank in Street Scene and Simone in Gianni Schicchi, as well as participating in many productions including Trouble in Tahiti and Bernstein’s Mass. Perusquia has also performed many roles with Gilbert and Sullivan Company of El Paso for which he is on the board of directors, and is a past Joan Quarm Scholarship winner. Perusquia is a proud alumnus of the music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a former member of First Presbyterian Church of El Paso’s scholarship singer program, and a current Valley Singer at Valley Presbyterian Church.

 

 


Mackenzie Lynn Marr

Mackenzie Lynn Marr, pianist

An expressive musician and sensitive collaborator, Mackenzie Lyn Marr is currently based in Phoenix, where she is a doctoral student in collaborative piano at Arizona State University. She holds a Master's degree in collaborative piano from the University of Maryland, and has had additional studies at SongFest, Source Song Festival, the Castleman Quartet Program, Bay View Music Festival (Opera Fellow), The Atlantic Music Festival, and the Chamber Music Institute at Holy Cross.

Dedicated to new music and collaborative work, Mackenzie is a member of The Evelyn Duo, alongside soprano Shari Eve Feldman. The duo is dedicated to works by contemporary composers, particularly women, and has performed at the Music by Women Festival, New Music DC, Dark Water Women in Music Festival, Washington Arts Club, the Epiphany Concert Series, and have been guest performers/clinicians at Hartwick College.

Mackenzie also holds a Master's degree in piano performance from the University of Georgia, where she received the Jan Fowler Cross Scholarship for piano, and specialized in Pedagogy. She has taught at the International School of Music (Bethesda, MD), Washington Episcopal School, and the University of Georgia Community Music School. Most notably, she has given presentations at the MTNA National Conference and the MTNA Collegiate Piano Pedagogy Conference on her work teaching distance lessons to high school girls at the Moi Girls School in Eldoret, Kenya. A dedicated scholar herself, Mackenzie is also a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society and the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.

 


Joshua Borths, writer

Joshua Borths, Writer (operaclassroom.com)

Joshua Borths is a stage director, writer, educator, and administrator with over a decade of experience in the opera industry.

Originally from Cincinnati, OH, Borths currently works with Des Moines Metro Opera and Virginia opera after having served as the Director of Opera & Musical Theater and Professor of Music History at Capital University in Columbus, OH and as Director of Education at Arizona Opera. His children's opera adaptations have been seen by hundreds of thousands of students across the country, and he is a frequent guest lecturer.

At Capital University, Borths produced and managed all of the opera and musical theatre programming while also serving as the Professor of Music History. Additionally, he created a joint Resident Artist Program with Opera Columbus creating innovative programming for both institutions. With Arizona Opera, Borths more than doubled the reach and scope of the department through innovative programming and cultural engagement.

As an educator, Borths has taught at Shenandoah University, been a Visiting Professor at the Crane School of Music (SUNY Potsdam), directed Maryland Opera Studio, and been guest panelist at the Opera America Conference. He collaborated with TED Ed on their first opera resources and was featured in Opera News for his innovative approach to opera education.

 


For more information about Arizona Opera Education Programs, please contact Director of Education, Cassie Hollerbach, at chollerbach@azopera.org.


Arizona Opera’s Education and Community Engagement programs are made possible, in part, thanks to the support of: The Molly Blank Fund, Dr. Rex Brewster, Invest in Kids Charitable Gift Fund, The Moreno Family Foundation, The Ted Stephan Teaching Artist Endowed Fund, The Arizona Republic, Cardinals Charities, The City of Peoria, and a consortium of individual donors.

If you are passionate about continuing the traditions of opera for the next generation, this is your opportunity! For more information about supporting this program, or to inquire about sponsoring an apprentice, contact Ashley Parks at 602.218.7337 or aparks@azopera.org.