In This Issue

CLICK HERE TO SEE the Winners

of the 2018-19 Opera Production Competition
 

Nomination Slate for Officers and Board Election

Susan Gonzalez began her career at the age of 8 as a professional actress on stage and screen. She has appeared in International festivals, concerts, and with major opera companies around the world. Her credits include a leading role in the BBC series, SAILOR, which was awarded Great Britain’s SUN AWARD for excellence. An EMMY award nomination followed for a television version of Il Barbierre di Siviglia featuring Susan as Rosina.  She sang Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Baroness von Freimann in Der Wildschütz, and Norina in Don Pasquale for a national tour with the National Opera Company. Susan went on to sing Violetta in La Traviata with Lyric Opera of Chicago at Grant Park, and New Orleans Opera, Adina in L’elixir d’amore for Chicago Opera Theater, and Lake George Opera Festival, Mimi in La Boheme at Dayton Opera, and many others.  Her international credits include debuts with the Bolshoi Opera at Cheboksary’s Pushkin Festival, Yoshkarola Opera Theater and Nishny Novgorod State Opera House singing leading roles in La Traviata, Eugene Onegin and Faust. Susan is currently the Director of the Hunter Opera Theatre at Hunter College in New York City producing and workshopping new operas.  She has directed works for D’ell Arte Opera Ensemble, New Jersey State Opera and Bronx Arts Ensemble. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and Master and Doctorate degrees from Eastman School of Music. 
 
 
Rebecca L. Renfro is an Associate Professor at Sam Houston State University, where she holds the title of Director of Opera.  Dr. Renfro’s directing credits include productions for Greater Worcester Opera, Opera del West, University of Connecticut Opera Theater, Lone Star College, Lone Star Lyric Opera, and the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival.  Under Dr. Renfro’s leadership, SHSU Opera has garnered national recognition, having been selected as an NOA Opera Scenes Competition finalist from 2011-2018; winning second place in 2015 and 2018 in the NOA Music Theatre Division.  The ensemble was awarded an NOA Production Competition prize in 2012, and was honored with the American Prize in Collegiate Opera in both 2014 and 2015. SHSU Opera made its international debut in May of 2018 with a collaboration with Kobe College of Dido and Aeneas in Osaka, Japan. Dr. Renfro was selected as the 2012-2014 winner of the NOA Dissertation Competition, and has served as a State Governor for the NOA Texoma Region, as well as served as a member of the nominating board for NOA in 2018. She currently serves on the executive board of Greater Worcester Opera in Massachusetts, and was a founder of Opera del West, a regional opera company based in Natick, MA.  In addition to her work as a musician, Dr. Renfro holds a degree in accounting and worked as an accountant and auditor in the oil and gas industry for five years.
 
  
Dr. Marc Callahan holds degrees from Oberlin College, the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, the École Normale de Musique de Paris, and the Schola Cantorum. His operatic career has taken him around the world, performing at houses such as: The Royal Opera House, Opera North (UK), Santa Fe Opera, Théâtre des Champs Élysées, Théâtre du Capitole, Opéra National de Lyon, Opéra de Montpellier, Opéra Comique, Théâtre Royale de Versailles, and the Opéra de Marseille. He has recorded with Virgin Classics, FRA Musica, Passavant, Newport Classic, Editions d’Ambronay, and Radio France. Opera magazine has reviewed him as “a powerful baritone, providing wickedly glamorous tone.” As a director and designer, he has received critical acclaim for his production of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes, saying it was “designed and directed with jaw-dropping invention.” He has worked on productions at the Royal Opera House, the Aldeburgh Festival, the Holland Festival, Scottish Opera, Miami Music Festival, the New World Center, Théâtre du Châtelet, and the Théâtre du Capitole. Recent productions include: The Marriage of Figaro, Cendrillon, and The Blue Forest, Help, Help, the Globolinks!, Der Jasager, Lohengrin, Alcina, Die Walküre, and L’incoronazione di Poppea (“…devising a brilliant production of remarkable dramatic intimacy.”).
 
 
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Minnita Daniel-Cox attended Bowling Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Music in Music Performance. Upon completion of her baccalaureate studies, she attended The University of Michigan where she received her both her Master of Music and her Doctorate of Musical Arts degrees. Most recently, Dr. Daniel-Cox performed an American Music Recital tour in Bulgaria and has been a featured soloist with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra, and Bach Society of Dayton. Two of her notable roles have been Sister Rose in Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and Anna Gomez in Menotti’s The Consul, both performed with Dayton Opera. She has appeared with the University of Dayton, Yellow Springs, Flint, Ann Arbor, and South Bend Symphony Orchestras as well as the Defiance and Packard Symphonic Bands. Her research regarding the musical settings of texts by poet and Dayton native, Paul Laurence Dunbar, led to her establishment of the Dunbar Music Archive. Dr. Daniel-Cox has a passion for teaching and has taught music courses or applied voice for programs at Western Michigan University, University of Michigan, Bowling Green State University, and within the award-winning music program at Grosse Pointe South High School. After serving four years as Artist-in-Residence, Dr. Daniel-Cox is now Assistant Professor of Voice and Coordinator of the Voice Area at the University of Dayton where she teaches applied lessons, music courses, serves as Artistic Director of the yearly musical/opera productions, and coordinates the Vocal Performance Institute, a summer program for high school aged singers.