Jennifer Barrett
Chicago-area native, Mezzo-Soprano Jennifer L. Barrett holds a BA in Vocal Music Education from North Central College, and a MA in Vocal Pedagogy from Northeastern Illinois University. Post-graduate studies have included Singing Voice Therapy, Hennessy Bodywork for Singers, and the Estill Voice Method. Recent performance highlights include Third Eye Theater Ensemble's final production, The Consul, as well as the US debut of John Plant’s I will fly like a bird, with Thompson Street Opera. Her performance as Zofia was highly acclaimed by Chicago Classical Review, Chicago Theater Review, and was given special end-of-year recognition by Vocal Arts Chicago.
As a company member of New Moon Opera in Chicago, Barrett has appeared in Gianni Schicchi, Viardot’s Cendrillon, Mesdames de la Halle, Trouble in Tahiti, The Old Maid and the Thief, and Hansel and Gretel. Other area company credits include The Savoyaires, New Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera on Tap Chicago, Main Street Opera, and The Floating Opera Company. Jennifer is honored to also serve the Chicago opera community as an up-and-coming opera director. She reinstated the North Central College OpShop (Opera Workshop) program two years ago, to great acclaim. This semester she made her directorial debut at Roosevelt University's OperaFest, directing Giannini's Beauty and the Beast and Ching's Remove Shoes Before Entering, along with a scene from Massenet's classic opera Manon. Jennifer began her twenty-fifth year of private voice instruction this fall, in her home studio and as a professor of Classical and Musical Theater Voice at North Central College. She also serves as the Alto section leader at First United Methodist of LaGrange. Jennifer currently resides in Joliet with her wife, Tracey, and she has two children: Rebecca and Aiden. |
Maggie Blackburn
A recent graduate of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Maggie has earned both her Masters and Performer Diploma in Vocal Performance. Maggie made her role debut as Ella in Patience with the University Gilbert and Sullivan Society. She studied under the tutelage of Patricia Havranek, which saw her through performances in West Side Story, Dialogues des Carmélites, and L'elisir d'amore. Additionally, Maggie was part of a six-female sextet featuring a work by Gabriela Ortiz titled Rio Bravo. Concert performances include the soloist for Fauré's Requiem at IU as well as Opera Workshop Scenes where she most recently appeared as Lisette in La Rondine.
A recipient of the Thomas J. Smith Scholarship and Clyde William Young Scholarship, Maggie received her undergraduate Bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where she studied under Dawn Harris. Highly involved in the performance community, she received the IOTE Encouragement Award and Excellence Award. Additionally, she was a finalist in the New York Lyric Opera Theater National Competition. Her roles there include Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Rapunzel in Into the Woods. During the summer, Maggie was a young artist at the Greensboro Light Opera and Song summer program where she performed the role of Rose Maybud in Ruddigore, one of the Bird Girls in Seussical Jr!, an outreach with GLOS for young children, and was involved with the chorus of Trial by Jury. Previous summer excursions also include participating in Scuola Italia's Corso Estivo per Giovani Cantanti Lirici, a summer program located in Sant'Angelo in Vado, Italy. |
Marie Groh
Email: [email protected]
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Marie Groh boasts a rich and diverse career spanning 21 years in the Chicago area. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in musical theatre from Millikin University, she has been actively involved in teaching private voice, group voice classes, music directing, directing musicals, and performing.
Marie has an extensive performance history with various theaters, both locally and regionally. She has graced stages at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Theatre at the Center, Light Opera Works, Porchlight Music Theatre, Steel Beam Theatre, Vero Voce, Summer Place Theatre, and Music Theatre of Wichita in Wichita, Kansas. Notable roles include Maria in "WEST SIDE STORY," Aldonza in "MAN OF LA MANCHA," Marsinah in "KISMET," Sylvia in "SWEETHEARTS," Anna Held in "TINTYPES," Tzeitel in "FIDDLER ON THE ROOF," and Sara Stone in "NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY." |
Marie's performance career also includes memorable portrayals such as Claudia in "NINE" (Jeff Recommended) with Porchlight Music Theatre, Svetlana in "CHESS" at Steel Beam Theatre, Woman 3 in "MIDLIFE: THE CRISIS MUSICAL," and Miss Todd in Menotti’s "OLD MAID AND THE THIEF" at Vero Voce. She played Louisa in "THE FANTASTICKS" and recently took on the role of Donna in "MAMMA MIA" at Summer Place Theatre.
During her time at Millikin University, Marie embraced various roles, including Carlotta in "PHANTOM," Sara Jane Moore in "ASSASSINS," The Witch in Humperdinck’s "HANSEL AND GRETEL," and Beatrice in "A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE."
In addition to her performance career, Marie has made significant contributions as a director and vocal director. Credits include "MISS SAIGON" and "CINDERELLA" at Jedlicka Performing Arts Center (Vocal Director), "THE KING AND I" for Magical Starlight Theatre in Naperville (Director), "ANYTHING GOES" and "BARNUM" with Summer Place Theatre (Vocal Director), and "GREASE" at Wheaton Warrenville South High School (Vocal Director).
Marie was a faculty member of The School of Performing Arts for five years until its closure in June 2019. During her tenure, she served as the group voice instructor and one of the private voice teachers. Notably, she directed and vocal directed the school's production of "WEST SIDE STORY" in the summer of 2018.
Her dedication to education extends to her role as a vocal clinician for Indian Prairie School District 204, where she has been involved in their annual IHSA Solo and Ensemble Festival. Marie spent a year singing with the big band, Swing Assembly, and has been a Dickens Caroler with The Festive Singers for the past 17 seasons.
During her time at Millikin University, Marie embraced various roles, including Carlotta in "PHANTOM," Sara Jane Moore in "ASSASSINS," The Witch in Humperdinck’s "HANSEL AND GRETEL," and Beatrice in "A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE."
In addition to her performance career, Marie has made significant contributions as a director and vocal director. Credits include "MISS SAIGON" and "CINDERELLA" at Jedlicka Performing Arts Center (Vocal Director), "THE KING AND I" for Magical Starlight Theatre in Naperville (Director), "ANYTHING GOES" and "BARNUM" with Summer Place Theatre (Vocal Director), and "GREASE" at Wheaton Warrenville South High School (Vocal Director).
Marie was a faculty member of The School of Performing Arts for five years until its closure in June 2019. During her tenure, she served as the group voice instructor and one of the private voice teachers. Notably, she directed and vocal directed the school's production of "WEST SIDE STORY" in the summer of 2018.
Her dedication to education extends to her role as a vocal clinician for Indian Prairie School District 204, where she has been involved in their annual IHSA Solo and Ensemble Festival. Marie spent a year singing with the big band, Swing Assembly, and has been a Dickens Caroler with The Festive Singers for the past 17 seasons.
Contact info:
Cell: 815-258-8208 Email: [email protected] |
Jeff Ray
Baritone Jeffrey Ray is an alum of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center. He has performed in operatic and concert halls throughout the United States and Europe. Highlights from his career have included numerous performances with Lyric Opera of Chicago and Berlin’s Deutche Oper. He has been heard frequently in the roles of Don Giovanni, Figaro in Il Barbiere di Seviglia, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Marcello in La Boheme, Valentin in Faust, Lescaut in Manon, and the Father in Hansel und Gretel. Jeffrey has performed Handel’s Messiah at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fischer Hall. He has sung with the Berlin Rundfunks Orchester, the Munich Bach Festival, and has been featured at the Ravinia Festival where he is also an alum of the Steans Institute.
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Mr. Ray has an extensive voice studio which includes teaching at The University of Chicago, North Park University, and The University of Saint Francis. His students have gone on to sing on Broadway as well as with National Touring shows. They have also sung with the Lyric Opera of Chicago Chorus, CSO, and the Grant Park Chorus., His students have been chosen as winners of the Joliet Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, the North Shore Opera Idol Competition, as well as the Classical Singer High School Competition.
He is in constant demand as a recitalist and clinician. He has been heard Live from the Levin Studio on WFMT, and received accolades for his recital performance at Atlanta’s Spivey Hall where he will return once again to perform in 2014.
Jeffrey enjoys having the opportunity to perform with Chicago area orchestras. Over the years he has been heard singing Broadway classics, Operatic hits and oratorio favorites with the Park Ridge Symphony, The University of Chicago Symphony, DuPage Symphony, DuPage Opera, Joliet Symphony and the Elgin Symphony.
Mr. Ray can often be heard singing the National Anthem for our Chicago Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, and Cubs. Jeffrey lives in Plainfield IL with his wife and three children.
He is in constant demand as a recitalist and clinician. He has been heard Live from the Levin Studio on WFMT, and received accolades for his recital performance at Atlanta’s Spivey Hall where he will return once again to perform in 2014.
Jeffrey enjoys having the opportunity to perform with Chicago area orchestras. Over the years he has been heard singing Broadway classics, Operatic hits and oratorio favorites with the Park Ridge Symphony, The University of Chicago Symphony, DuPage Symphony, DuPage Opera, Joliet Symphony and the Elgin Symphony.
Mr. Ray can often be heard singing the National Anthem for our Chicago Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, and Cubs. Jeffrey lives in Plainfield IL with his wife and three children.