Pasta & Puccini

Dr. Sheronda McKee, soprano, originally from Phoenix, Arizona has been appearing on stages in both the United States and Europe. Recently she finished her Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas under the guidance of Dr. Alfonse Anderson. She is currently performing with Opera Las Vegas and Opera On Tap Las Vegas. Most recent roles performed with UNLV Opera include Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) and Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos). She has also performed the title role in Puccini’s "Suor Angelica" for the International Lyric Academy during the Tuscia Opera Festival. In concert and in scenes she has played Violetta (La Traviata), Nedda (I Pagliacci), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor) and others.

Sheronda has been a featured soloist in Handel’s Messiah as well as Mozart’s Requiem. She has traveled to Viterbo and Tarquinia in Italy with the International Lyric Academy and Graz, with the AIMS Program (American Institute of Musical Studies) where she was an alternate in the 2010 Meistersinger Vocal Competition. Recent awards include the Pasadena Opera Guild Scholarship, the Encouragement Award from MONC (Metropolitan Opera National Council) as well as First place in NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing). She most recently appeared with Opera Las Vegas in Opera Legends in Black.

Soprano Olivia Yokers is well regarded for her thrilling voice and versatility onstage. Her notable roles include Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance (Dayton Opera, Tulane Summer Lyric, Utah Festival Opera), Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Dayton Opera, Chance Opera Theatre), and Miss Honey in Matilda (Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma). Miss Yokers has performed as a solo artist with Virginia Opera, Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, and Oklahoma City’s Canterbury Voices. In concert, she performed masterworks such as Haydn’s Creation, Handel’s Messiah, and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem. With Opera Las Vegas, Miss Yokers performed the roles of Lily in the debut of Letters to Lily, Adriana in Behold the Man, and Musetta in La bohème. Miss Yokers serves as the Director of Opera and Assistant Professor of Voice at Stetson University in Deland, Florida.

Praised by Opera Today for his “sizable lyric instrument” and “honeyed tone on all registers”, Arnold Livingston Geis is a graduate of Washington National Opera’s prestigious Cafritz Young Artist Program. In the 2023/24 season, Geis begins as tenor soloist with the Phoenix Symphony's Carmina Burana and he returns to Lincoln Center, making his NY Philharmonic debut creating the role of Josef in Aaron Zigman's Oratorio Émigré (US premiere) after singing the World Premiere in Shanghai, China with the Shanghai Philharmonic. Recording with Deutsche Grammaphon to follow. Geis created the role of  Mr. Marks in Lynn Nottage and Ricky Ian Gordon’s Intimate Apparel with Lincoln Center Theater in the 2021/22 Season. He also sings Agamemnon in Wayne Shorter & Esperanza Spalding’s Iphigenia at MASSMOCA, The Majestic Theater in Boston, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C. Geis' recent season included Obadiah in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Concordia University in Orange County, CA and Beadle in Sweeney Todd with Opera Saratoga, and finished the summer at the Hollywood Bowl as a tenor soloist in Orff's Carmina Burana with the LA Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. Geis began the 2022/23 season with Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore with Pacific Opera Project and the tenor soloist in Haydn’s The Creation with the Los Angeles Master Chorale at Walt Disney Concert Hall. He sings Rodolpho in La Bohéme with Greensboro Opera, The Shepherd in Tristan und Isolde with the LA Philharmonic, Handel's Messiah with The Dream Orchestra, Tamino in The Magic Flute with Pacific Opera Project, Pirelli in Chautauqua Opera's Sweeney Todd, and ended the season at the Hollywood Bowl as a tenor soloist with the LA Phil in Chris Thile's Attention!

Baritone André Chiang has been described as “vocally commanding” (Oregonian), “handsome of voice” (Opera News), and lauded with “let’s hear more from this singer” (Washington Post). Chiang’s engagements include Ping (Turandot) with OperaDelaware, Marcello (La bohème) and Artist Martinez/Ecce Homo (Behold the Man - world premiere) with Opera Las Vegas, and Escamillo (Carmen) with Opera Western Reserve. Chiang has also been seen with the Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Opera Philadelphia, the Atlanta Opera, Portland Opera, Virginia Opera, New Orleans Opera, Opera Las Vegas, Mobile Opera, and other American opera companies.

As an educator, Chiang was a 2018 NATS Intern and in the first cohort of Pan American Vocology Association – Recognized Vocologists (PAVA-RV). Chiang is an Assistant Professor of Voice at Emory University, an Instructor of Voice at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, and runs a private online and in-person studio teaching acoustic and amplified styles.

Deborah Gordillo, originally from New York City, is a winner of the Prix D’Excellence, France, and the New York Artists International Competition. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, for President George W. Bush at the White House, and has served as accompanist for studios of Metropolitan Opera tenor Nico Castel and cellists Gary Hoffman and Timothy Eddy.

Mrs. Gordillo sang in the choir of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, where she became its sole Composer-In-Residence in history after winning the competition to compose the New York Archdiocese’s bicentennial hymn. Commissions include orchestral arrangements for the New York Papal masses in 2008, a Spanish mass, additional mass parts, anthems, and orchestrations. Her choral works were performed throughout New York State and at the Vatican.

Mrs. Gordillo served on the faculties of her alma mater, the Mannes College of Music, and Eugene Lang College. She teaches music theory, piano, ear training, and has written textbooks for beginner through undergraduate music theory levels.