Opera Theatre & Vocal Performance at Florida Atlantic University
Established in 1966, Florida Atlantic University Opera Theatre ranks among Florida’s longest-standing university opera training programs and serves as a central performance component of Florida Atlantic University’s undergraduate and graduate Vocal Performance programs. Under the direction of Associate Professor of Voice Dr. Mitchell Hutchings, singers receive rigorous vocal and musical preparation alongside meaningful performance experience, with training designed for the demands of 21st-century opera through a balance of tradition, crossover repertoire, modern technology, and active collaborations.
Housed within Florida Atlantic University, a Research 1: Very High Research institution ranked among the nation’s top 100 public universities, Florida Atlantic University Opera Theatre is also FAU’s first international performing ensemble. Through FAU Opera in Italy, singers may earn college credit while studying vocal performance, Italian language, lyric diction, opera repertoire, and performance in Italy in collaboration with the Conservatorio Giacomo Puccini La Spezia.
The program places primary emphasis on solo vocal development and stage performance, with students working in opera, musical theatre, commercial music, and crossover repertoire under the direct guidance of voice and opera faculty. Training includes vocal technique, repertoire development, acting, stage movement, dramatic interpretation, and stylistic communication across genres.
Collaboration is central to the training experience. Students work regularly with directors, conductors, pianists, choreographers, guest artists, and clinicians, developing the professional habits required in opera and lyric theatre. Relationships with opera organizations and artists at the local, national, and international levels support master classes, workshops, and professional engagement throughout the academic year.
Students in the Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Master of Music in Vocal Performance programs receive comprehensive training in applied voice, opera and lyric theatre, language and diction, vocal pedagogy, musicianship, and stage performance. Coursework, private study, and performance opportunities are designed to prepare singers for professional performance, advanced graduate study, teaching, and international artistic work.
Vocal Performance Degrees at Florida Atlantic University The Vocal Performance curriculum is designed to develop each singer artistically, technically, linguistically, and professionally. Students study applied voice, acting, movement, audition preparation, dramatic interpretation, language and lyric diction, vocal pedagogy, musicianship, and repertoire ranging from the Baroque era through contemporary works. Public performance opportunities each semester may include opera, operetta, zarzuela, musical theatre scenes, concerts, and fully staged productions.
Voice majors study with experienced artist-faculty and work in a collaborative environment with directors, conductors, pianists, choreographers, and guest clinicians. Individualized instruction supports each singer’s technical development, artistic growth, repertoire choices, performance preparation, and long-term vocal health.
Audition for Vocal Performance at Florida Atlantic Prospective undergraduate and graduate singers are invited to audition for Florida Atlantic University’s Vocal Performance programs. Applicants may pursue the Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance or Master of Music in Vocal Performance, with opportunities for individualized voice study, opera and lyric theatre performance, language and diction training, vocal pedagogy, and international study through FAU Opera in Italy.
21st-Century Vocal Performance Training Florida Atlantic’s approach to vocal performance reflects the evolving demands of 21st-century singers while maintaining rigorous training in voice, musicianship, language, and performance. In addition to traditional opera and lyric theatre study, students engage with lyric diction, vocal pedagogy, arts entrepreneurship, crossover repertoire, and technology-informed performance. This broad preparation supports singers pursuing graduate study, professional performance, teaching, and creative work across today’s changing musical landscape.
Through public performances, fully staged productions, FAU Opera in Italy, master classes, and international collaborations, students gain hands-on experience that connects private study and classroom training with professional artistic practice. These experiences support vocal and dramatic development while helping singers build the independence, adaptability, and professional skills needed for graduate study and performance careers.
2026–2027 Florida Atlantic Opera Theatre Season Production to be announced October 30 & 31, 2026 Location: University Theatre, Boca Raton
Production to be announced March 20 & 21, 2027 Location: University Theatre, Boca Raton Tickets: https://fauevents.com/
Opera in Italy Education Abroad Program Spend four weeks on the Italian Riviera studying opera, Italian language, diction, and performance while earning up to 10 university credits through Florida Atlantic University. May–June, 2027 Location: Italian Riviera | La Spezia, Italy
Students study Italian language, applied voice, lyric diction, opera repertoire, and performance while working with faculty and international collaborators in partnership with the Conservatorio Giacomo Puccini La Spezia. Participants perform in concerts, attend master classes, and engage directly with Italian musical culture while earning academic credit through Florida Atlantic University.
The program is designed as an integrated academic experience in which vocal technique, Italian language, lyric diction, repertoire, dramatic interpretation, and cultural context are studied together. This structure allows singers to connect private study, classroom learning, and performance practice while developing greater artistic independence in an international setting.
Learn more about FAU Opera in Italy, including program dates, academic credit, application information, and international performance opportunities, at operainitaly.org
Guest Artists, Clinicians, and International Collaborators Recent guest artists and collaborators include internationally active singers, voice pedagogues, pianists, conductors, composers, and arts professionals. Pedro A. Arroyo, tenor Lindsey Blackhurst, soprano Manuel Castillo, tenor Ray Chenez, countertenor Rachel Copeland, soprano Esha Datta, soprano Jennifer Davison, soprano Saundra DeAthos, soprano Sara Duchovnay, soprano Martha Eason, soprano Matt Edwards, baritone Donald George, tenor Clay Hilley, heldentenor Kim Josephson, baritone Joanna Latini, soprano & arts administrator Marcello Lippi, baritone Michela Lombardi, jazz vocalist Desiree Maira, mezzo-soprano Harold Meers, tenor Marina Melaranci, mezzo-soprano Fabio Menchetti, pianist Andrew Potter, bass Karen Roethlisberger Verm, pianist Dilan Şaka, mezzo-soprano Ana Seixas, soprano Helen Tintes, mezzo-soprano Craig Verm, baritone
Recent Opera, Operetta, Zarzuela, and Musical Theatre Productions at Florida Atlantic Florida Atlantic Opera Theatre presents repertoire spanning historic and contemporary opera, operetta, zarzuela, and musical theatre, providing singers with opportunities to develop roles and stage experience across a broad range of styles.
Distinguished Alumni Florida Atlantic University Vocal Performance alumni have built careers in major opera companies, orchestras, universities, professional ensembles, and arts organizations in the United States and abroad. Alumni achievements include performances at the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Vienna State Opera, Carnegie Hall, and leading American and European opera companies, as well as university faculty appointments, doctoral study, conducting, voice science, and opera scholarship.
Performers, Educators, Conductors, and Arts Leaders
Dean Peterson, B.M. in Vocal Performance Internationally active bass-baritone whose career has included engagements with the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Cincinnati Opera, San Diego Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Palm Beach Opera, and Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall. He also appeared with the Vienna State Opera during its tour to Beijing. Peterson created the role of Rucker Lattimore in the world premiere of Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree at Houston Grand Opera. His repertoire has included works such as Mefistofele, Faust, Le nozze di Figaro, The Tales of Hoffmann, L’italiana in Algeri, Lohengrin, Don Carlos, Bluebeard’s Castle, and Susannah.
Robyn Marie Lamp, B.M. in Vocal Performance Earned the Master of Music from Louisiana State University. Her professional affiliations include Boston Lyric Opera, Sarasota Opera, Bel Canto at Caramoor, Opera Tampa, Winter Opera St. Louis, Gulfshore Opera, Opera in Williamsburg, First Coast Opera, Seraphic Fire, South Florida Symphony Orchestra, Palm Beach Symphony, Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Miami, Master Chorale of South Florida, and Carnegie Hall. She is co-founder of Amelia Island Opera and Executive Director of the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival.
Rose Mannino, B.M. in Vocal Performance Earned the Master of Music from Louisiana State University and the Specialist in Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Michigan. She serves as Lecturer of Voice at the University of Michigan, where her teaching and performance activities include collaborations with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra. Additional performance experience includes LSU Opera, Oakland Choral Society, Detroit Community Chorus, and Starkville Symphony.
Laura Romero Arias, B.M. in Vocal Performance Earned the Master of Music in Opera Performance from the University of Oklahoma. Her professional and training affiliations include Theater für Niedersachsen in Germany, Opera in the Ozarks, the Vienna Summer Music Festival, and the University of Oklahoma Opera Theatre.
Verlene Faust, B.M. in Vocal Performance Vocalist in the United States Army Field Band’s Soldiers’ Chorus, one of the U.S. Army’s professional touring ensembles.
Damijan Karanfilov, M.M. in Vocal Performance Earned the Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Florida Atlantic University. Originally from North Macedonia, he is a baritone with the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, one of Croatia’s leading national opera companies. His repertoire includes principal and featured roles in works by Verdi, Massenet, and Zajc, including Rigoletto, Werther, and Nikola Šubić Zrinjski.
James White III, B.M. in Vocal Performance Tenor and musical-theatre performer whose professional engagements include Cincinnati Opera, Florida Grand Opera, South Florida Symphony Orchestra, and Gulf Coast Symphony. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and the American Guild of Musical Artists.
Jessica Wald, B.M. in Vocal Performance Earned the Master of Music in Opera Theater from Rutgers University. Her professional and educational affiliations include Palm Beach Opera, Rutgers Opera Theater, and Carnegie Hall, with performances in productions of L’Orfeo, Les contes d’Hoffmann, Le nozze di Figaro, Alcina, and Dan Shore’s An Embarrassing Position.
Edgar Miguel Abréu, B.M. in Vocal Performance Earned the Master of Music from Florida International University. A tenor, vocal coach, musical director, and educator, he is affiliated with Florida Grand Opera, the University of Miami, and New World School of the Arts. His performance experience includes productions of Il barbiere di Siviglia, Norma, Salome, Doña Francisquita, and Ariadne auf Naxos, as well as an appearance as tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
Junchan Zhao, B.M. & M.M. in Vocal Performance Chinese soprano whose professional affiliations include Palm Beach Opera and international vocal competitions in the United States and Austria. Her performance experience includes Palm Beach Opera productions of Roméo et Juliette and Le nozze di Figaro.
Jamile Evaristo, M.M. in Vocal Performance Brazilian soprano whose concert and choral affiliations include Coral USP, the University of Campinas Symphony Orchestra, and the Master Chorale of South Florida. Her performance career spans Brazil and the United States.
Adriana Fernandez, M.M. in Vocal Performance Soprano and voice teacher whose performing and training affiliations include Sarasota Youth Opera, Washington National Opera, Berlin Opera Academy, and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.
Juan Mansilla, B.M. in Vocal Performance Singer, composer, conductor, actor, and educator. His stage experience includes the title roles in Don Giovanni, Gianni Schicchi, and The Phantom of the Opera. As a conductor, he has led performances of Handel’s Messiah, Saint-Saëns’s Oratorio de Noël, and original works for chorus and orchestra.
Susan Dorchin, M.A. in Music Singer, voice pedagogue, vocal-rehabilitation specialist, and university instructor. Her early performing experience included the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus, The Royal Ballet, New England Opera Center, and Light Opera of Manhattan. Before joining Florida Atlantic University, she maintained a private voice studio in New York City for twenty years and taught at Texas Tech University. At FAU, she developed courses in vocal pedagogy, vocal literature, and Alexander Technique and wrote and hosted the radio program Opera Theater on WXEL for eleven years.
Stacie Rossow, B.M. in Vocal Performance & M.A. in Music Conductor, scholar, and Professor of Music at Florida Atlantic University. Her work includes recordings and performances with an internationally recognized Irish ensemble, premieres of works by composers David Rossow and Michael McGlynn, and ongoing artistic leadership. She has led performances and touring projects and was selected as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar to Ireland for work in choral conducting.
Monica Berovides-Hidalgo, B.M. in Vocal Performance & M.A. in Music Conductor, music director, singer, and educator. She serves as assistant conductor and artist in residence with Schola Cantorum of Florida, directs the Schola Cantorum Music Academy, and serves as Director of Worship at First United Methodist Church of Coral Springs.
Voice Science, Opera Scholarship, and Doctoral Achievement Florida Atlantic’s broader vocal and opera community also includes alumni whose advanced research has contributed to voice science, vocal pedagogy, opera scholarship, critical editing, and the recovery of historic repertoire.
Ana Flavia Zuim, Ph.D. in Comparative Studies Voice scientist, conductor, pianist, vocal coach, and educator whose work bridges vocal performance, pedagogy, acoustics, and voice research. She is an Associate Professor of Vocal Performance at NYU Steinhardt, has conducted research on the voices of Broadway performers, and currently serves as President of the Pan American Vocology Association. Dissertation: Speech Inflection in American Musical Theatre Compositions
Barbara Salani, Ph.D. in Comparative Studies Musicologist, pianist, critical editor, and opera scholar whose doctoral work combined musicology and Italian studies. Her research led to the recovery, reconstruction, critical edition, and modern revival of Pietro Carlo Guglielmi’s Amalia e Carlo. Her work has involved Florida Atlantic University, the Castello di Castiglione del Terziere, the Conservatorio di Musica San Pietro a Majella, and the Conservatorio “Giacomo Puccini” in La Spezia. Dissertation: Amalia e Carlo by Pietro Carlo Guglielmi in Napoleonic Naples: Unearthing A Forgotten Opera
Recent Advanced Degree Placements Recent Florida Atlantic Vocal Performance graduates have continued into advanced master’s and doctoral study at universities and conservatories across the United States.
Christopher Berrios, M.M. in Vocal Performance Accepted into the Doctor of Musical Arts program at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Amber Caroglanian, B.M. in Vocal Performance Earned the Master of Music from Louisiana State University and is currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of South Carolina.
*Funded in part by the European Union and Italy’s Ministry of Education, Universities and Research
