Kelli Estes - Artistic Director and Co-founderCalifornia native Kelli Estes is known for singing the high-flying and eccentric leading ladies of the opera, oratorio and musical theater stages. She is an original cast member of Opera Company of Brooklyn, Opera in the Heights, Allentown Concert Opera and Philadelphia's Center City Opera Theater, a member of the prestigious Actor’s Equity Association and The Lambs, America’s first professional theater club. Kelli’s B.A. (California State University Fresno) and M.M. (University of Houston) degrees have helped her carve out a wide-ranging career in the creative lyric arts that continues to evolve. A New Yorker since 1999, Kelli has expanded her lyrical interests to include writing and directing. Currently, the Director of the annual musical review, The Other Side, and the children’s choir, Small Voices, in Englewood, NJ, the Author and Director of Imagine That, an interactive musical theater workshop in Park Slope Brooklyn, NY, and Your Songs, a 5-part concert series for the elderly in Palm Springs, CA. Kelli’s recent singing engagements include the premiers of Michael Remson’s one-act opera, Sorry, Wrong Number with Lone Star Lyric (June, 2010) and Kurt Erickson’s song cycle, Chicago Songs in New York, Houston and San Francisco (Fall, 2010).
Michael RemsonMichael Remson is a composer, librettist, author, educator and Executive and Artistic Director of the American Festival for the Arts (AFA). Serving more than five hundred K-12 students each year, AFA has become one of Texas’ most acclaimed providers of the nation’s finest music education training and performance opportunities. In addition to his service to AFA, Dr. Remson maintains an active schedule as a composer and librettist. He has received numerous grants, commissions and fellowships, and his works have been performed throughout the United States and in Europe by such organizations as Texas Tech University Opera, Abilene Collegiate Opera, Houston Grand Opera/Opera To Go, Houston Ballet Academy, Nucleus Ensemble, the Bulgarian Composers Collaborative, Rhode Island College Choruses, Lone Star Lyric Theatre Festival and New York City Opera’s VOX series. Dr. Remson has received awards and grant support from the American Music Center and the Houston Arts Alliance. He served as Composer-in-Residence with the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as recipient of a prestigious award from the Americans for the Arts Foundation (ARTS-USA), the Northern Ireland Arts Council and the Irish Arts Council. He serves on the faculty of the Houston Ballet Academy and the University of Houston Moores School of Music. He has published two books on American music and has written numerous articles, most recently for the Journal of Film Music. Dr. Remson grew up in New York City and completed doctoral studies in composition and libretto writing with Grammy Award winner Carlisle Floyd, Robert Nelson and Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Albee. He is an alumnus of New York University, the University of Houston and Carnegie Mellon University. Excerpts of Dr. Remson's works can be found on his web site. For more information on AFA, click here.
Jeremy M. Wood - Music DirectorMr. Wood is originally from Missouri and has lived in Houston for several years. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Piano Performance and History from Southwest Baptist University and a Masters Degree in Piano Accompanying and Coaching from Baylor University. After ten years as a freelance pianist, accompanist, coach and director in opera, musical theater and church music, he took a position at St. Agnes Academy in Houston as Director of Performance Workshop and Departmental Pianist in 2002. He also became Director of Music at First Christian Church of Houston during the same year. Mr. Wood resides in Pearland with his wife, Tracy.
Advisory board...
Lois Alba - SopranoRome Opera, Philadelphia Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Co-Founder of Opera in the Heights, Lois Alba Aria Competition
Master Teacher of Voice
Cynthia Clayton - SopranoNew York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Utah Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Cleveland Opera
Assistant Professor of Voice, University of Houston
Roger Keele - Composer, Pianist, Stage and Music DirectorOpera in the Heights, Ars Lyrica Houston, Houston Chamber Choir, St. Cecilia Chamber Music Society
Co-founder and Music Director (2007-2009), Lone Star Lyric Theater Festival
Buck Ross - Stage DirectorNevada Opera, Houston Grand Opera, El Paso Opera, Utah Opera
Founder and Director, Moores Opera Center
Omari Tau - Composer, Librettist, BaritoneHouston Grand Opera's Opera To Go!, Theatre Under The Stars, The Alley Theatre
Disney's The Lion King Touring Company
Hector Vasquez - BaritoneMetropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera
Program Director, Houston Grand Opera Studio