Emily Sylvester

Emily is a senior vocal Music Education major from Churchville, NY. Winner of the 2022/23 RWU Concerto/Aria competition, Emily performed as soloist with the Roberts Symphony Orchestra, and sang the role of Fiordiligi in the 2022 RWU Opera Theatre production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte. She won first place in the National Teachers Association of Teachers of Singing District Competition in October 2023, was a finalist at the Civic Morning Musicals Competition in the fall of 2022 in Syracuse, NY, and was second place in the 2021 NATS Eastern Regional Competition. A soloist in recent performances of Handel’s Messiah, Emily will perform the role of Belinda in the Roberts Opera Theatre production of Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas this spring.

Nick Lopez

Nick is a senior vocal Music Education major from Syracuse, NY. Nick is a very active member of the Music Department, where he performs with the Robert's Chorale, the Jazz Combo, and is an assistant conductor for The Redhawk Voices tenor-bass Choir and the Coro di Voci Treble Choir. In the spring of 2023, he appeared in scenes from Mozart’s The Magic Flute as Papageno in the Roberts Opera Theatre scenes production, Into the Unknown. After Roberts, Nick plans to pursue a master's degree in Music Composition.

Amethyst Scherer

Amethyst is a senior Music Therapy major from Panama City, FL, with an emphasis on vocal performance.  At Roberts, she has performed as soloist with the RWU Chorale and Orchestra, and the RWU Gospel Choir.  She recently performed as soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the RSO and in the Roberts Opera Theatre scenes production, Into the Unknown, last spring. Off-campus, Amethyst has performed the National Anthem for the Red Wings and other professional sporting events over 150 times. In March, she participated in the 2023 National Association of Teachers of Singing Eastern Region Competition in Saratoga Springs, NY.  Amethyst plans to pursue a master's degree in vocal performance after her graduation in May, 2024.

John Jack Mitchell

 John is a junior Music Education major from Greece, NY. At Roberts, Jack performed the role of Guglielmo in the RWU Opera Theatre production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, and was tenor soloist in recent performances of Handel’s Messiah with the Roberts Symphony Orchestra and Chorale. Last March he was third place winner at the 2023 National Association of Teachers of Singing Eastern Region Conference auditions.

Ruth Michel

Ruth is a senior vocal Music Education major from Lansdale, Pennsylvania. She is a member of the Roberts Chorale, she serves as an assistant conductor for the Coro di Voci treble vocal ensemble, sings in the Gospel Choir, and plays cello in the Roberts Symphony Orchestra. Ruth has performed as a soloist with the RSO and the RWU Jazz Combo, and she was the runner-up in both the 2022 and 2023 Roberts Concerto/Aria Competition. This spring she will conduct the performances of Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas with Roberts Opera Theatre.

Lauryn Beyer

Lauryn is a sophomore Music Therapy major at Roberts Wesleyan University. She graduated from Hilton HS in 2022, where she performed in vocal ensembles and theater productions, and played bass keyboard in the jazz band. She has participated in several vocal competitions since coming to Roberts and is a soprano in the Roberts Chorale.

Murphy McDermott

Murphy is a junior Vocal Performance major from Appleton, NY. She is a soprano in The Roberts Chorale and has performed with the ensemble as soloist in Handel’s Messiah. Murphy has sung in NYSSMA, NATS, Classical Singer competitions, the Schmidt Vocal Competition, and has performed at Carnegie Hall three times as a participant in the Crescendo International Vocal Competition.

Victoria Heffner

Victoria is a sophomore Music Therapy major is a sophomore Music Therapy major with a concentration in voice at Roberts Wesleyan University. Most recently, she was a soprano soloist Handel’s Messiah with The Roberts Chorale and Symphony Orchestra, and went on tour with the ensemble last May to the Baltic nations.

Caleb Williams

Caleb is a freshman Music Education major from Syracuse, NY.  A member of The Roberts Chorale, Caleb was a soloist in the RWU Christmas Gala performances of Handel’s Messiah, and has sung in numerous musical theatre productions.  He also plays trumpet in the Roberts Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and Jazz Ensemble.

Logan Smith

Logan is pursuing a degree in Music Therapy with a minor in Social Work at Roberts, where she is a member of the Roberts Chorale. Logan was a soloist with the RSO in recent performances of Handel’s Messiah, and she appeared as Susannah in The Trees on the Mountain by Carlisle Floyd in the 2023 Roberts Opera Theatre spring opera scenes production, Into the Unknown.  Alongside her studies, she loves her job as an Instrumental and Vocal Coach at Discovery Charter School in Rochester, where she teaches performing arts, leads two choirs, and gives individual music lessons. She will sing the title role of Dido in the Roberts Opera Theatre spring production of Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas.

Lauren Zielinski

Lauren is a senior vocal Music Education major from Hamburg, NY. A member of the Roberts Chorale, Gospel Choir, Jazz Combo, and is a student conductor of the treble ensemble, Coro di Voci, she also serves as President of the Roberts Chorale.  In April 2024, Lauren will be the featured soloist with the Irondequoit Chorale, performing works by Gershwin and Bernstein.  She placed third in her division at the NATS District Competition in October, 2023, and was a finalist at the 2022 Civic Morning Musicals Competition in Syracuse.  She was a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the RSO in December 2023and will appear next in Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas this spring with the Roberts Opera Theatre.

Julie Runion, Accompanist

Julie is Adjunct Professor of Piano, Accompanying, and Piano Pedagogy at Roberts Wesleyan University in Rochester, NY. She holds the MM degree in Piano Performance from the University of South Carolina and a BM in Piano Performance from Houghton College. In demand as a collaborative pianist, she has performed at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, on WXXI’s Live from Hochstein series in Rochester; on the Friends of Music series at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Buffalo; and with the Rochester Morning Musicale Society.

Chad DeHaven

Chad has performed the roles of Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Tamino in The Magic Flute, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Alfredo (cover) and Giuseppe in La Traviata, and Candide in Bernstein’s Candide in full productions or scenes programs with Finger Lakes Opera, Rochester Lyric Opera, RWC Opera Theatre, and UMKC Opera Theatre. On the concert stage, he has appeared as tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Schubert’s Auf dem Strom, and in numerous recitals and gala concert performances. Fluent in German, Italian, French, and Spanish and proficient in Russian and Dutch, Chad is a licensed pilot who currently works as a registered nurse, having graduated from Genesee Community College in 2012 with an emphasis in emergency medicine; he also devotes much of his time to building his small business. A resident of Brockport, NY, he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Music Performance, magna cum laude, from Roberts Wesleyan University, where he participated in master classes with Metropolitan Opera tenors Ben Heppner and Michael Sylvester.  He continued his studies in vocal performance in the graduate program at the University of Missouri/Kansas City on full scholarship.  

Jessica Moss

Jessica has recently performed Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen with Opera Theatre of Connecticut, Monica in Menotti’s The Medium with Northern Lights Opera, Zina in Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters and Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with Miami Music Festival, the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Amalfi Coast Opera Festival, Cendrillon in Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon with Houston Operativo, and Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan Tutte and Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel by Humperdinck with The Peabody Opera. She will reprised the role of Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with Sunny Side Opera, Inc. in the summer of 2023. 

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Jessica has participated in master classes led by Metropolitan Opera singers Ben Heppner, Eric Owens, Sherril Milnes, Michael Sylvester, Erie Mills, and Jonathan Beyer, and Eastman School of Music professors, Jan Opalach and Wilson Southerland.  She holds the M.M. degree in Vocal Performance from Peabody Conservatory where she studied with Phyllis Bryn-Julson, and B.S. in Music Performance from Roberts Wesleyan University as a student of Constance Fee. The guest artist for the OGR Donor’s Recital in May of 2023, Jessica has recently joined the OGR Board.