Life in the Broadway/Opera World
May 2021 12 for 12 + Webinar
Available now on the LMEA YouTube Channel – Click here
12 for 12 + welcomes Andre’ Courville, Kelly Singer, Joey Joseph, Arnold Rawls, and Greg Oden. Our Louisiana guests on this session bring valuable, encouraging, practical and remarkable insight into being a professional musician as a Broadway or Opera musician. High school students, college students and music educators will enjoy hearing about their life’s journey of how their dreams turned into reality.
Meet the Presenters:
Andre’ Courville. Praised by Opera News for his “splendid, lush bass-baritone”, André Courville is gaining momentum as a rising star on stages throughout the world. Recent and upcoming seasons bring performances in Italy with Opera di Firenze as Le Grand Prêtre des Mexicains in Fernand Cortez, in France with Opéra National de Bordeaux’s Mozart/DaPonte Trilogy, with the Berkshire Opera Festival as the title role in Don Giovanni, with Houston Grand Opera as Alidoro in La cenerentola and Titurel in Parsifal and in Switzerland as Lord Cecil in Maria Stuarda with Oper Zürich.
Highlights of previous seasons include Masetto in Don Giovanni with The Dallas Opera, the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro at Arizona Opera and Karlsruhe’s Badisches Staatstheater in Germany, Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Opéra National de Bordeaux, Leporello in Don Giovanni at the Guangzhou Opera House in China, the Marquis in La traviata with the Santa Fe Opera, and a return to the Philadelphia Orchestra as the Jailer in Tosca under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Trained at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, he garnered critical acclaim for performances there of many important roles including Méphistophélès in Faust, Mustafà in L’Italiana in Algeri, and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor.
An equally busy concert performer, he has appeared at Carnegie Hall for numerous seasons since his debut there with Opera Orchestra of New York. Other recent performances include the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the bass solos in Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor at the Spoleto Festival USA, and Bach’s Cantata 150 with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
A Louisiana native, Courville is the recipient of top awards in eight national and international vocal competitions, including First Prize in Los Angeles’s Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition and Top Prize in New York’s Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition.
Joey Joseph, a native of Monroe, Louisiana, has been living and working as a conductor/pianist in New York City for the last 15 years. Broadway orchestra credits include: Frozen, Hello Dolly (with Bette Midler), Waitress, Pippin, and Bring It On:The Musical. Currently he is the assistant conductor/keyboardist for BeetleJuice the Musical on Broadway. National tours include Aida, Hairspray, and The Color Purple.
Greg A. Oden is a sought after composer, conductor, and arranger. He has performed with Maynard Ferguson, The Cathedrals, The Continental Singers, Tim McGraw, and numerous other performers. He can be heard on the new Taylor Fife CD In These Fields. Taylor Fife and its music can be heard on ITunes, CDBaby.com, and other music outlets.
Currently, he is the Music Coordinator for the Ouachita Parish School System. His main teaching responsibilities are as the Director of Choral Activities at West Monroe High School. The choral program at West Monroe High School includes around 300 singers and includes from 9th through 12th grade. Mr. Oden has conducted choirs in many of the great cathedrals of the world including St. Peter’s (Rome), St. Marks (Venice), St. Francis Basilica (Assisi), Notre Dame (Paris), St. Paul’s (London), and Salzburg Dom (Salzburg). Also, members of the West Monroe Choral program have performed at Carnegie Hall five times with world-renowned conductors John Rutter and Eric Whitacre. He made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in March of 2016.
A graduate of the Northeast Louisiana University, Mr. Oden has served on the LA-ACDA Board of Directors, President of the North Louisiana Chapter of NATS, District 1 Choral Directors Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He served as the LMEA District 1 Director from 2009 – 2020. He currently serves as the LMEA Vocal Chairman. In his 27 years as a member of LMEA, he has served as the District 1 Vocal Chairman for 27 years. He was instrumental in bringing computer aided All State Judging and assisted in All-State Assessment for over 20 years. He has recently been appointed to the Board of LMAA. He is married to Kristen Anderson Oden and is the father of two children, Blake and Morgan.
Kelly Singer. Praised for her “bright soprano” (Opera News), “impressive Praised for her “bright soprano” (Opera News), “impressive artistry”, and “vocal fireworks” (Voce di Meche), Kelly Singer is being hailed as a promising young talent in opera. She has won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Arkansas District three times, placed second in the prestigious Joan T. Ades Vocal Competition, third in the Houston Saengerbund Awards, and was most recently named a 2020 Riverside Opera Vocal Competition Winner.
Select featured solo performances include Beethoven’s Choral Fantasia with the Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, Home for the Holidays with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and Handel’s Messiah with the Arkansas Choral Society”, and “vocal fireworks” (Voce di Meche), Kelly Singer is being hailed as a promising young talent in opera. She has won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Arkansas District three times, placed second in the prestigious Joan T. Ades Vocal Competition, third in the Houston Saengerbund Awards, and was most recently named a 2020 Riverside Opera Vocal Competition Winner. Select featured solo performances include Beethoven’s Choral Fantasia with the Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, Home for the Holidays with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and Handel’s Messiah with the Arkansas Choral Society.
Arnold Rawls. Tenor Arnold Rawls has delighted audiences with his unique combination of vocal and dramatic skills in performances ranging from art song to opera. He has been hailed for having a “powerful, clarion-sounding tenor,” a “firm, pliant lyric tenor with ringing high notes,” as well as a “flair for acting.” His Radamès recently thrilled audiences as he “rose to the occasion”, singing the famous “Celeste Aida” with a creamy tone and a beautiful sense of Italian lyricism. It included a dazzling high B-flat that seemed to ring for an eternity.” (Omaha World Herald)
Recent performances have included Mr. Rawls singing Calaf in Turandot and Manrico in Il Trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera, Radamès in Aida with Opera Australia (Sydney and Gold Coast) and the Pacific Symphony (Costa Mesa, CA), Don Josè in Carmen with the Bregenzer Festspiele (Austria).
Additional highlights include the role of Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with Theater St. Gallen (Switzerland), and as Manrico in Il Trovatore with Opera Australia (Sydney Opera House) and the Sacramento Opera where he was praised for his “pliant and super clear tenor.” (San Francisco Classical Voice) In addition, he has offered recitals at the Goddard Center in Oklahoma as well as the Southern Region of NATS in Arkansas. of Hagenbach in La Wally with Oper St. Gallen (Switzerland) and Dallas Opera and Erik in Die Flegende Höllander also with Oper St. Gallen (Switzerland), Calaf in Turandot with the Bregenzer Festspiele and Pensacola Opera (Florida).
Engagements during the last few seasons include Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos at Theater St. Gallen in Switzerland, San-Lui in Leoni’s L’Oracolo, Roberto in Le Ville and Apollo in Daphne all with Oper Frankfurt, and Manrico in Il Trovatore both for his debut with the Sydney Opera House and with The Metropolitan Opera.
With the Arizona Opera and Vancouver Opera he portrayed Radamès in Aida, with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Pensacola Opera and Arizona Opera he sang Calaf in Turandot, with Opera Grand Rapids he sang Manrico in Il Trovatore, and he returned to the Bregenzer Festpiele as the title role in Andrea Chénier where The New York Times reported “Chénier, long a cherished role of Italian dramatic tenors, finds a creditable exponent in the American tenor Arnold Rawls, whose voice has an easy flow in midrange yet rang out excitingly in the big, high-lying moments.”
Further highlights include Radamès in Aida with the Bregenzer Festspiele in Austria, Opera Omaha, Florida Grand Opera, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Manioc in Il Trovatore with the Seattle Opera, Bregenzer Festspiele, and Indianapolis Opera, Turridu in Cavalleria Rusticana with Granite State Opera, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Indianapolis Opera, and Canio in Pagliaci with Lyric Opera of Chicago. He portrayed Erik in Der fliegende Holländer and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the Madison Opera, Cavaradossi in Tosca with Florida Grand Opera, Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera with the Des Moines Metro Opera, Sam in Susannah with Opera Pacific, and sang the leading role of Standing Bear in the World Premiere of Anthony Davis’ Wakonda’s Dream with Opera Omaha.
Concert performances include Verdi’s Requiem with the Madison Symphony, Oberlin Conservatory, the Washington Chorus at the Kennedy Center, and with the Concert-Chor Concordia/Koncertchor Flensbur/Neue Philharmonie Westfalen at the Köln Philharmonie. He sang the role of San-Lui in Franco Leoni’s L’Oracolo with the Teatro Grattacielo at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, participated in gala concerts with the Abilene Symphony, Opera Omaha, and Las Vegas Philharmonic, sang Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Southwest Florida Symphony, and offered recitals throughout the United States.
He has performed as Manrico in Il Trovatore with Teatro Lirico, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the Granite State Opera, Calaf in Turandot with Opera Omaha, Nevada Opera and Mobile Opera, and Alfred in Die Fledermaus with the Nashville Opera. He portrayed Don Jose in Carmen with the Madison Opera, the Duke in Rigoletto with Teatro Lirico, and Canio in Pagliacci with the Opera Theatre of Highland Park. He portrayed Dick Johnson in La fanciulla del West with the Utah Festival Opera, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Arizona Opera, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana with the Pine Mountain Music Festival, and Alfredo in La Traviata with the Natchez Opera Festival.
In concert he has sung Manrico in Il Trovatore with the Elmhurst Symphony, Don Jose in Carmen with the DuPage Symphony, and Calaf in Turandot with the Beloit Janesville Symphony. He was a soloist for Verdi’s Requiem with both the Lake Charles Symphony and Southwest Missouri State University, and for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in San Ramon, California and in St. Charles, Illinois. His concert repertoire also includes Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Handel’s Messiah, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Schumann’s Requiem, and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria.
He is a recent recipient of a major grant from the Olga Forrai Foundation. Arnold and his family live in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where he bases his career. His vocal journey began at University of Louisiana, Monroe under Metropolitan Opera Soprano Margaret Kalil.