Meet our Teaching Artists:
Peter Joshua Burroughs, critically acclaimed as a versatile singing actor, is a tenor whose career encompasses opera, oratorio, musical theatre, and even Shakespeare. As recitalist, Mr. Burroughs has been hailed as intimate and engaging, with solo recital repertoire ranging from classical Lieder to Spanish and Latin American dance music. His seven year long association with the Spanish Dance Society led him to perform with Spanish Dance Theatre, USA in Beyond Flamenco at London's Covent Garden. His 1999 Washington National Opera debut was as Ezekiel Cheever in The Crucible. Last season, Mr. Burroughs was Francis Flute in Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and Monsieur Triquet in Eugene Onegin with the Maryland Opera studio, as well as Gonzalve in L’Heure Espagnole with Alexandria Symphony Orchestra. He continues a busy season with concerts in the DC area, as well as singing the Tenor Solo in Carmina Burana with The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Burroughs has also been a teaching artist for WNO’s Education Department for over ten years, working with students in the DC School Partnership Program and the outreach library programs.
Anamer Castrello, a native of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, stands out as one of the most impressive and versatile artists and singers in the Washington, DC, area. Praised by the Washington Post as "the richest and most expressive voice... Castrello has enough wattage to light a small town," she holds a MM in Opera Performance from the University of Maryland, an MA in Music Education for Colleges and Universities from New York University. In addition to her various opera appearances, Ms. Castrello has been presenting her shows Soul of Latin America, Latin American Essence and Sabor y vida/Essence and Life, directed by Abel Lopez, throughout the United States. That program, devoted to song classics from south of the border, is the inspiration of her first solo CD titled Anamer Castrello Latin American Mezzo, Latin American Hits.
Juliet Coates is a Certified and Licensed Therapeutic Recreation Specialist with more than 36 years of professional experience as a Performing/Theater Arts Manager. She has worked in the metropolitan area with Municipal and State Recreation Departments, public schools, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, Washington National Opera, and various educational and therapeutic boards. Ms. Coates has taught a variety of different dance styles and is involved in theater throughout the Washington, DC area. Ms. Coates started her work with WNO through the Theatre Arts Program at C. Melvin Sharpe Health School for students with physical disabilities. Participating with the Washington National Opera Education Department fulfills Ms. Coate’s lifelong mission “involvement in the arts is the most valuable therapeutic vehicle for growth, development and preparation for life!”
Sage Costanzo has developed an extensive background in the dramatic arts ranging 24 years. Educated and achieving a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with a minor degree in Theater at George Mason University, VA, Sage used her degree to pursue playwriting. A professional playwright of 12 years, Sage has had her plays produced throughout the DC metro area.
Then in 2004 she created The Starving Artist Theatre, a nonprofit organization. A theatre that’s mission is to be the catalyses for all artists to enter the professional world of the performing arts. This is Sage’s third year with the Washington National Opera as a teaching artist.
Mary Gresock, soprano, has had the pleasure of working with Washington National Opera in various artistic and creative ways. She began as a singer in the chorus, then eventually was cast in roles such as Anna Gomez in The Consul, which was directed by the composer, Gian Carlo Menotti. With the Opera Camp, she directed Brundibar , Thunder of Horses, and guided students through the process of creating, producing and performing their own original opera, Rage of Jealousy. Other projects have included singing in various outreach opera/ educational programs, creating and singing "O" is for Opera for preschoolers in DC Public Schools, collaborating with teachers and their students partnerships such as Music! Words! Opera! ,Children Create Opera, and D.C.P.S. Creative Opera Residencies. She has been an instructor for Opera America's Music! Words! Opera! curriculum, and she is a recent graduate of TAI -- Teaching Artist Institute, which specializes in linking the arts to curriculum standards. Mary continues to sing/act in the D.C./ Baltimore area, teach voice, serve as an educational artist for The Wolf Trap Institute, and direct/perform assembly programs and residencies for her own Odyssey Opera Theatre.
Described by John O’Connor of the Munster Express, Ireland “Lingling He as the Gypsy Queen was fantastic and she had such force and dramatic quality”. Mezzo-soprano Lingling He received her Graduate Performance Diploma in voice from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, and a Master of Music degree in voice from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, School of Music. As a teaching artist with Washington National Opera Education Department, Lingling has been singing with WNO since 2005. Her opera roles included Tigrana in Puccini’s rarely performed opera Edgar, and Musetta in Leoncavallo’s La Boheme. She also performed the roles of Dorabella (Cosi Fan Tutte), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), and Gypsy Queen (The Bohemian Girl). Her soloist oratorio performances include Verdi’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah and Alexandra’s Feast, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Mozart’s Mass in c minor, among others. She has won numerous awards and competitions in the United States and abroad, and performed concerts and recitals world wide including China, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and the United States.
Yvette Holt was a music teacher in the DC Public Schools for thirty-five years. Additionally, she has been a member of the Washington National Opera Chorus since 1979, performing in such operas as La Bohème, Tosca, The Marriage of Figaro, Carmen, Samson et Dalila, and most recently, Don Quichotte, Turandot, Verdi’s Requiem Mass, and Porgy and Bess. She has appeared as a soloist and chorus member with many groups in the greater Washington DC area, including the Nevilla Otley Singers, the Paul Hill Chorale, the Choral Arts Society, University of Maryland, Baltimore Opera and Wolf Trap. Ms. Holt is currently Teaching Artist with the WNO – DC School Partnership Program. She is a consultant and adjudicator for DC Public Schools, the Future Festival Talent Competition and the She leads voice workshops in the District of Columbia and Prince George’s County Public Schools. Ms. Holt holds a Masters degree in Music Education and Voice from Howard University.
Angela Knight is in her 12th season with the WNO. She has performed roles such as The Second Lady in Sly both for American audiences and the WNO tour to Japan, Barbarinna in Le Nozze di Figaro The Cretan Woman in Idomeneo and Betty Paris in The Crucible. After winning the International Star Alliance Competition she traveled to China to sing her originally composed song Le Jardin at the Great Hall of China for the Chinese Prime Minister, Ambassadors to China and other dignitaries. She recently won four Gold Medals at the World Competition of Performing Arts in Hollywood, California. She is the composer of her first CD and Live show Giubileo which showcases internationally. She has been part of the WNO Education Department for seven years and taught originally for the summer Opera Kids Camps. She enjoys her own private voice and piano studio and routinely singing the National Anthem for the Washington Redskins.
Tom Minter is a playwright and author. He first studied playwriting at Pomona College, but then was side tracked into a career in the hospitality industry for many years. In 1989 he moved to London to immerse himself in theatre. He was nurtured by The New Playwright’s Trust, who also presented his first play at The Theatre Museum in Covent Garden. He subsequently has had productions of his work in London, Berlin, New York, Philadelphia and DC. Tom returned to the States, and Washington, DC, in 2000. He has worked with the Washington National Opera since 2005, writing articles for both the Playbill and WNO Magazine, as well as educational materials for special programs. He also wrote WNO’s first online Rehearsal Journal, covering the company’s production of Bill Bolcom’s A View From The Bridge. This is his second year working in the WNO-DC School Partnership Program.
Matthew Osifchin originally from Doylestown PA has enjoyed a rich and diverse career performing opera and oratorio throughout North America and Asia. Mr. Osifchin has appeared on Japanese television in a concert of Duets and Arias in Tsukuba, Japan. He has also been successful in numerous competitions including, finalist in the NSO Young Soloists competition, 3rd place in the Marie E. Crump vocal competition and 1st place in the Gretchen Hood competition. Mr. Osifchin’s repertoire includes, among others, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Enrico in Lucida di Lamermoor, and Belcore in L’Elisir d’amore. Upcoming performances include the Bass solo in J.S. Bach’s Cantata 140 and appearances with the Washington Vocal Arts Society. On April 10, 2010, Mr. Osifchin will be making his Carnegie Hall Debut as Pontius Pilate in the world premiere of the opera Oh, my son composed by Marcos Galvany. In addition to peforming Mr. Osifchin teaches at the VPA of Suitland High School. He has had numerous students receive full scholarships to some of the most prestigious music schools in the country and has produced national finalists in both the Classical Singer High School, and the NFAA competitions.
Sought out for her “powerful and dramatic performance” by The Washington Post, Waka Osifchin has performed throughout the US and Japan. Her recent operatic performances include Mimi (La Bohème), the title role in Madama Butterfly with the Maryland Opera Society, and Gretel (Hansel and Gretel) with Opera Bel Cantanti. Other notable roles in her repertoire include Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Sesto (Giulio Cesare), and Laetitia (The old maid and the thief). Recently, she performed at the U.S. House of Representatives as a soloist for “Charles Vanik: A celebration of life” a memorial service. Dr. Osifchin has had great success in performing contemporary music. She was the soprano soloist in “The Kirchner Project” at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in which she performed Chamber Music of American composer Leon Kirchner. In 2009, she performed Stephen Gorbos’ Four Sonnets at the President’s festival, and Shostakovich Symphony No.14 with the CUA symphony orchestra. She also teaches voice at the International School of Music in Bethesda and Suitland High School. Her students have been successful in competitions and received scholarships to some of the most prestigious music schools.
Richard Payne Deliberate, methodical instrumentation cascades the Richard Payne Trio’s blend of jazz, gospel and classical music. Richard Payne is the founder and director of the group. The Trio has recently released a new CD entitled Velocity in which all compositions were composed by Richard. His other musical compilations include Unconditional Love (a collection of solo piano pieces) and Dedications (featuring diverse music of the Trio). Richard studied music at Virginia State University, Howard University and the University of North Texas. He is currently a staff member at Unity of Washington, D.C., Educational Consultant for the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra and Teaching Artist for the Washington National Opera.
Jessica Pearson is a DC area playwright, director, actor and teacher. Recently, her work as a theater director has been seen with The Starving Artists, The HoboJungle Theater Company, and The Catholic University Thornton Wilder Festival, and her upcoming production of Art with Nu Sass Productions will open in February. Her play, The Last Wisp of Cotton, was seen as a part of Cap Fringe '09. She is currently working on a new play, The Tragical History of Eleanor Bloom, which will be produced by The HoboJungle.
Garrett Phelan, poet and teaching artist with the Washington National Opera’s education program, has extensive experience as a teacher of literature and history. Garrett most recently was Principal of César Chávez Public Charter High School for Public Policy where he also taught a course on civil rights. A Jenny McKean Moore Poetry Fellow in the fellowship led by Pablo Medina at The George Washington University, Garrett’s poetry has been published in All About, The Hartford Courant, Minimus, Heeltap, Articulate, Arlington Artsletter, English Journal and Potomac Review, among other publications. He was a contributing author to the book The Right to Literacy in Secondary Schools, edited by Suzanne Plaut with a forward by Ted Sizer. Garrett also edits and writes for a quarterly newsletter, Along the Path, for the Mindfulness Practice Center of Fairfax, a meditation center.
Jane Phelan has extensive experience in fine and performing arts with over twenty years as a costume designer for theatre and dance, working on productions for many professional theatres in the Washington, DC area from Liz Lerman/Dance Exchange to the Kennedy Center Performances for Young Audiences. Ms. Phelan has designed and taught workshops integrating the arts across the curriculum for schools, arts and humanities organizations such as the Kennedy Center, the DC Collaborative on the Arts and Humanities, and the Arlington Humanities Project, among others. As a resource teacher at the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center, she created a museum-based movement and art program for young children. She has an MA in Education from The George Washington University and a BFA from the Corcoran College of Art and Design.