Come As You Are is to break down barriers of access in the concert space. Concert music has contributed greatly to performing arts though it has also, at times, stifled vulnerability, maintained privilege and created exclusive expectations of formality. Such steep barriers create separation between creators, performers and audiences. This can lead to the music and its spaces feeling inaccessible to those who may feel they lack the privilege, training and/or formality to be welcomed into an experience. Come As You Are aims to open up these barriers through reimagined musical experiences and storytelling in the concert space.
This event is family friendly and accessible for people with physical and cognitive disabilities.
WHEN:
June 15, 2024
4:00-6:00PM
The Lyric Opera of Kansas City
1725 Holmes St, Kansas City, MO 64108
2024 CAYA FELLOWS
Nina Cherry
Nina Cherry is a Kansas City-based writer and musician. Aiming to place meaningful, diverse stories in the spotlight, Nina specializes in arts coverage and historical features as a frequent contributor for Kansas City Magazine and The Pitch. As a versatile multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter, she enjoys playing an array of genres, from jazz to soul and beyond. With a bachelors in Music Theory from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, Nina currently teaches percussion, piano and voice lessons and accompanies for the Kansas City Ballet School.
Robert Feng
Robert Ellsworth Feng is a Chinese-American librettist from Kailua, HI who creates impactful and entertaining works that often find themselves interwoven with his identity and experiences as an Asian-American. Robert’s goal is to help create an equitable industry and a stage that reflects the diverse and multicultural audiences of today.
Feng premiered his first opera with Nick Bentz titled "Having Guests for Dinner", a 1-Act Horror/Comedy. It received its virtual premiere with New Opera West as a micro-opera in 2020 and has since been performed live with Hartford Opera Theater in 2021. It will receive its full length premiere with the Western NY Chamber Orchestra, /Kor/ Productions, and SUNY Fredonia in 2024. Robert has also collaborated with Felix Jarrar on the art song “When they killed us, did you say they killed Americans?”, responding to the 2021 Atlanta Spa Shootings, and the supernatural horror opera “You do not recognize the bodies in the water,” which was workshopped at OPERA America in 2022.
Robert is the recipient of the Peabody Career Development Award and holds degrees from Peabody Conservatory and Manhattan School of Music.
Luke “Skippy” Harbur
Beatboxing specialist and performer Luke "Skippy" Harbur is a vivacious artist known for his cross-pollinated brand of alternative music touching on hip hop, Broadway, EDM, and singer-songwriter influences. His trailblazing project musicbyskippy features different live performance experiences for multigenerational audiences, garnering community, state, and national awards. The Overland Park, Kansas native is based out of Kansas City, Missouri, developing songwriting, beatboxing, singing, beat production, rapping, & keyboard playing skills to express his core mission: performances promote safe havens for authenticity. Since November 2021 he’s written, produced, and published over 40 songs, created 8 original productions, and exceeded 300,000 total music streams.
Yunfei Li
Yunfei Li is a composer, and violinist based in Kansas City, MO. Yunfei writes music characterized by exploring new sounds on instruments and music software. She takes inspiration from the sounds of nature and has converted nature sounds into musical language as part of her original compositions. With a background that includes both Eastern and Western classical music, she is also inspired by a variety of modern music styles including pop music, electroacoustic music, and film music.
Her music has been performed at ClarinetFest, Seal Bay Music Festival, Women Composers Festival of Hartford, Electronic Midwest Festival, Festival of Contemporary Art Music at Washington State University, Atlantic Music Festival, Sewanee WinterFest, Northwestern University New-Music Conference and Festival, The Walden School, Arts Letters & Numbers, Turn Up Festival, North Star Music Festival, New Music on the Bayou, SCI Region V Conference, 2024 CMS Great Lakes and Southwest Chapter Conferences, SHE Festival, CAMPGround24. Yunfei is a fellow of Ucross Foundation 2023. Her music has been featured by News & Record in North Carolina, KCUR 89.3, Classical WSMR and Johnson County Library(KS). For more information please refer to her website: www.yunfeilimusic.com.
Pryse
Pryse is a recent graduate of Music Composition from the University of North Texas under the guidance of Dr. Sungji Hong, Dr. Joseph Klein, Dr. Kirsten Soriano, and Professor David Stout. Their most notable achievements include performances at the SEAMUS National Conferences at the University of Virginia and the University of North Texas, a Finalist placing in the Marion Brown Prize residency 2023, an Honorable Mention Finalist placing in the 2023 Flute New Music Consortium Flute and Electronics Category, a Semi-Finalist placing in the Instrumental Chamber Music category of the American Prize 2018 and being featured on National Public Radio for the premiere of their first symphony by the Crozet Community Orchestra under the direction of Philip Clark. Their music focuses on exploring improvisation and other forms of collaboration, as well as theatrical multimedia productions which utilize live and fixed electronics, poetry recitations, cake decoration, and other performance elements.
M. Joseph Willette
M Joseph Willette (b. 1997) is a composer and educator currently residing in the bustling city of Lincoln, Nebraska. Often drawing inspiration from queer spaces and culture, Joey (they/them) uses delicate timbres, rich sonorities, and driving beats to capture the idyllic intimacies and onerous tribulations of the human experience. Joey’s music for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, wind band, choir, and film has been performed around the world. Recent projects include collaborations with Jeb Wallace, Ann Ellsworth, Alexander Shuhan on “Rites of Janus”, which premiered in 2023 at the iconic Knob Fest in Wichita, Kansas.
Joey is pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Composition at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, studying with Dr. Greg Simon. They hold a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Troy University, and a Master’s degree in Music Composition from Wichita State University, where they studied with Dr. Traci Mendel and Dr. David MacDonald, respectively.
James A. Devor (b. 1998) is an American composer, sound artist and double bassist whose styles pulls from a diverse array of musical backgrounds. His music grapples with rapidly-changing human emotions and attempts to sort through the natural chaos of the world. When writing, he focuses on the act of collaboration which occurs between the composer, performers and audience. While having a catalogue which includes solo, chamber, and large ensemble compositions, James has a particular affinity for art song and vocal music. His recent compositional interest is how live electronics can enhance and supplement the sound of musicians in real time. As a double bassist, James regularly performs new solo and chamber works.
James received a dual Bachelor of Music degree in music theory & composition and music education: instrumental performance from West Chester University of Pennsylvania, studying double bass with Peter Paulsen and composition with Robert Maggio. He completed his Master of Music in music composition at The Hartt School – University of Hartford, studying composition with Keen Steen and Robert Carl and double bass with Robert Black. James has also studied privately with composers Libby Larsen and Daron Hagen.
Find more at: www.jdevormusic.com
Sean Pflueger is a Washington DC area singer and composer and arranger with a focus on works for the voice. His music has been performed by The College Light Opera Company, Forgotten Opera Company, Loudoun Lyric Opera, Opera on Tap, and churches in the DC metro area. His most recent opera, Brunch with the Boys, received rave reviews at the Capital Fringe Festival 2024, including Pick of the Fringe. BroadwayWorld.com said “The very ambitious and ear-entrancing music by Sean Pflueger was adventurous in scope and sound.”
His one act operetta, The Pier Point Lobster Race, was commissioned by the College Light Opera Company for their 50th anniversary season. Composition Selections: Children in the Mist, based on the Stephen King story, Do Not Disturb, an original operatic farce, and Brides and Mothers, a one act opera. Mr. Pflueger is the recipient of the Strauss Fellowship from the Arts Council of Fairfax County for music composition. As an opera singer, he has performed with many organizations including Washington National Opera, Washington Concert Opera, and Wolf Trap Opera Company.
Clint Borzoni is an award-winning composer of Ecuadorian and Italian descent. His “highly original yet lyrical music…[and] natural gift for melody and harmonic structure” (The Huffington Post) and “sweeping melodies and emotional and dramatic range” (Opera News) has resulted in international performances and premieres.
Judith G. Wolf, Ph.D. is a poet and promoter of the arts. Her published poetry collections include
Weeping Shadows, Tidbits, Otherwise, Tidbits Two, I Hate Being in Love Alone and Tidbits Again. Wolf is the librettist for the opera In Love Alone and the Oratorio After (Clint Borzoni composer.) In addition to Poems of Life (Composer Kenneth Fuchs, which won a Grammy in February 2019 as part of a four-selection recording of Fuchs’ music), Wolf’s poetry has been set to music by composers Clint Borzoni, Persis Vehar, Michael Lewis and Mason Bates. Wolf founded Arizona Spark, which supports the development and production of innovative new operatic works for Arizona Opera. Wolf’s diverse educational and professional background includes a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, a master’s degree in Elementary and Remedial Education, and far-reaching experience in arts administration. She serves on several boards of directors including Arizona Opera, the HonorHealth Foundation and The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition (President of the Board.) Wolf cofounded Young Arts Arizona Ltd., a nonprofit art organization that serves at-risk children by exhibiting their artwork and teaching art to children not served by other organizations. She is a Reiki master and a Doctor of Ministry through the Universal Life Church. For complete information, see: judithgwolf.com.
Jamey Guzman is a composer and storyteller who uses the unique power of the human voice to tell necessary underrepresented stories with excitingly experimental and innovative techniques. Her music explores themes of identity, connection, and humanity, and has been heard on stages from Los Angeles to Paris to Madagascar. Jamey has received commissions from The Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana; Really Spicy Opera for their 2023 tour of Paris and Madagascar; Strange Trace Opera for Defensive Holding, a filmed chamber opera for their 2023 season; ENAEnsemble for new monodrama Behind the Counter; Paradox Opera for an aria for Autonomy, a benefit concert for Planned Parenthood; and SONIT for a flute soliloquy celebrating Salvadoran folklore. Her operatic and choral music has been recently featured by Nightingale Opera Theatre’s Young Artist Program, the N.E.O. Voice Festival, and Really Spicy Opera at Fondation des États-Unis in Paris, with an upcoming evening-length song cycle commissioned by Opera Arlington. Also a passionate composition teacher, Jamey serves as faculty at the Jacobs Composition Academy, holds an Associate Instructor role in IU’s Music Scoring for Visual Media department, and has taught composition through the Jupiter Opera Development Foundation and Cazadero Music Camp.
2024 PERFORMERS
Lauren Auge
Soprano, Lauren Auge, made Kansas City her home in 2017 during her time as a Resident Artist with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Highlights included her operatic debut at the Kauffman Center in Verdi’s Rigoletto, a recital series of American song composers, and a collaboration with the New York Festival of Song. She was named a Semi-Finalist in the Loren L. Zachary National Competition and the SAS Performing Arts Vocal Competition, a 2nd place winner in Piccola Opera’s Opera Idol competition and was a winning finalist in NYIOP’s International Anonymous Project. In 2019 Lauren was a featured Fellowship Artist with the Atlantic Music Festival in Maine collaborating with celebrated pianist, Arlene Shrut. International projects have included time in China as a Young Artist with the iSing International Festival that culminated in debut performances in Suzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing at the illustrious National Center for the Performing Arts. And her debut in the Czech Republic as a Voice Fellow with Opernfest Prague. Recent projects saw Lauren take on the challenging heroine, Leonora, in Verdi’s Il Trovatore with KC Festival Opera and back to back concert performances of Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro with Opus 76. In addition to her performing, Lauren has a full studio as a Professor of Voice at Kansas City Kansas Community College, teaches privately across the Kansas City metro, music directs with Storybook Theatre and is the alto section leader and assistant conductor of the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Choir.
Gwen DeLaney
Gwendolyn DeLaney is a mezzo-soprano originally from Boise, Idaho who now calls Kansas City home. She is currently studying with Dr. Aidan Soder at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. An avid proponent of new music and innovative concert experiences, Gwendolyn is thrilled to be a part of this program with No Divide KC and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Recently, Gwendolyn has been seen as the Alto Soloist for Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with Missouri Southern State University, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with Heartland Opera Theater, and Maestro Spinelloccio in Gianni Schicchi with UMKC Opera Theater. She is also an active chorister and performs with Cardinalis and KC VITAs. This summer, she will go to Bay View Music Festival in Michigan to tackle her first Rossini role with Tisbe in La Cenerentola while also covering the title role. When she is not performing, she can usually be found with her nose in a book, playing board games with friends, or spending time with her cat Bones.
Robert Feng
Hailed by Opera News as "a booming, well-crafted bass," Chinese-American singer Robert Ellsworth Feng is a born collaborator who creates powerful performances. Performance highlights include La bohème (Colline), An American Dream (Papa), Gianni Schicchi (Betto di Signa), Nolan Gasser's The Secret Garden (Ben Weatherstaff), The Pirates of Penzance (Pirate King), Dichterliebe (Soloist), and Madama Butterfly (Bonze/Prince Yamadori) with Hawai'i Opera Theatre, the co-production of Paola Prestini’s Sensorium Ex with Washington National Opera/Vision Into Art/Beth Morrison Projects, Robert le Diable (Bertram) with St.Johns in the Village, the Mozart Requiem (Bass Soloist) with Mid America Productions and the Glens Falls Symphony respectively, The Garden of Alice (Mad Hatter/Frog Footman/Card #7) with City Lyric Opera, Roméo et Juliette (Frère Laurent), Fiddler on the Roof (Constable/Russian Solo), Daniel Crozier’s With Blood, With Ink (Archbishop Sejas cover), and the world premiere of Robert Carl and Russell Banks’ Harmony (Rev.Joseph Twichell) with Seagle Festival, Juana (Padre Antonio), Il ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (Il Tempo), and Anna Bolena (Rochefort) with dell’Arte Opera Ensemble, Les pêcheurs de perles (Nourabad) and Don Giovanni (Il Commendatore) with /Kor/ Productions, and Prince Igor (Khan Konchak) with Russian Opera Workshop.
Not limited to performing standard repertoire, Feng remains active in premiering and performing works by living composers. These include the aforementioned Harmony and Sensorium Ex, Yunfei Li’s Chew On This (Shou Zi Chew) with Lyric Opera of Kansas City/No Divide KC, Felix Jarrar's You do not recognize the bodies in the water (Body/Interviewer) at OPERA America, and Tony Small’s Qadar (Detective/Body Guard) with the Smithsonian Museum. Robert placed first in the Dorothy Lincoln Smith Regional Voice Competition, first in the Mozart International Competition Vienna, second in the NY Classical Music Society International Voice Competition, third in the Beethoven Club of Memphis Savell Competition, third in the Lyra Mozart International Voice Competition, and third in the Opera for Earth Vocal Competition. Robert is also the recipient of the MI Opera Role Award, Seagle Festival Guild Scholarship, the George Woodhead Prize in Voice, and the Peabody Career Development Award.
For the 2024-25 season, Robert will join Opera Memphis as a Handorf Company Artist where he will perform in their 30 Days of Opera concert series, the Mozart Requiem (Bass Soloist), The Rake’s Progress (Nick Shadow), Carmen (Zuniga), and the world premiere of Robert Patterson’s Pretty Little Room (The Doctor). Robert holds degrees from Peabody Conservatory and Manhattan School of Music.
Riley Findley
Baritone Riley Findley's recent roles include Gregorio (Roméo et Juliette) with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Gianni Schicchi (Gianni Schicchi) with Opera Lucca, Morales (Carmen) with Lawrence Opera Theatre, and Albert (Werther) with William Jewell College. His future engagements include Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro) with the Canto Vocal Program, and a concert soloist with the Youth Symphony of Kansas City.
Matteo Generani
Matteo Generani, is an Italian pianist, winner of national and international competitions, including the "Villa Oliva" Competition (Italy, 2018), the White Lake Young Artist Solo Performance (Michigan, USA, 2019) and the Jefferson City Symphony Orchestra Piano and Orchestra Competition (Missouri, USA, 2020). His concert activity spans Europe and the United States, both as soloist as in chamber ensembles. He is the co-founder of both the Medhelan Duo with violinist and violist Doriano Di Domenico, and the Neo-Art Piano Duo with pianist Regina Tanujaya. In May 2020 he recorded the Etudes Op. 23 by living Italian composer Giovanni Albini, and in December 2024 it will be released his CD on Martucci Piano Works with the Naxos Recordings Label. Matteo is also the festival coordinator and assistant to the artistic director of the Piano Lieven Foundation and co-artistic director of Classical Music Express.
Song Lyu
Soprano Song Lyu, Doctor of Music Arts, and Artist Certificate in Voice Performance under American Mezzo-Soprano Joyce Castle from the University of Kansas; MM and BA, Sichuan Conservatory of Music; operatic stage performances include Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, The Second Knitter in Game of Chance, La Fortuna in L’incoronazione di Poppea, and Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw; other performance experiences include solo soprano in the world premiere of Psalm Symphony, H. 175 by Leo Sowerby, and the roles in scenes of Lakmé, La Traviata, La clemenza di Tito, Così fan Tutte, Lucia di Lammermoor, Into the Woods, Hansel and Gretel, etc. Her coming performances include the summer music season at Webster Groves Presbyterian Church in St Louis, and the artist concerts at ICVMI Summer Camp. She is also active in academic and community music events. She founded the KU Chamber and Vocal Music Org (KUCVM), the International Chamber and Vocal Music Institute (ICVMI), and the Kansas
Golden Choir. She teaches voice at Webster University and is the soprano assistant at Webster Grove Presbyterian Church in St Louis, MO. She has attended many concerts at KS and MO, and directed the 2022 “Singing at KC” Vocal Audition, the voice section of the 2023 KCCA Lunar New Year Gala, the two ICVMI international chamber music competitions, and the Midwest Chamber& Voice music workshops at KU.
Kelli Van Meter
Soprano Kelli Van Meter (they/she) has been critically acclaimed for the “dramatic power” and “searing high notes” they bring to their interpretations of some of the most iconic heroines in the soprano repertoire. As a consummate musician and colleague, they recently made an exhilarating debut with the Kansas City Symphony as the soprano soloist in Handel's Messiah with under 12 hours notice.
A dedicated advocate for queer artistry and representation, Kelli collaborated with the Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City appearing on their New Music Compositions concert in May 2023, which showcased the work of four queer composers.
Kelli recently finished their tenure as the Soprano Resident Artist at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. There, they sang Sister Margaretta in The Sound of Music, Woglinde and Waldvogel in The Journey to Valhalla, and Mother in Sketchbook for Ollie. They also created the role of Querulous String in the world premiere of Rosabella Gregory and Dina Gregory’s opera, The Haberdasher Prince. This August, Kelli will perform their role debut of Donna Anna in the Lawrence Opera Theatre’s production of Don Giovanni.
Kelli is currently based in Kansas City with their partner, mezzo-soprano Emily Stott and their three cats, Morris, Marietta, and Bonnie. In their spare time, Kelli enjoys being outside, reading a good book, and game nights with friends.
Jonathan Ray
Jonathan Ray is very excited to return to LOKC to be a part of these exciting new works! Jonathan hails from Russellville, Arkansas. Jonathan holds a DMA in Vocal Performance and Choral Conducting from Louisiana State University, an MM in Vocal Performance from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a BME in Vocal and Instrumental Music Education from Arkansas Tech University. He serves as Assistant Professor of Music at Central Methodist University, as well as music director of traditional worship at First Baptist Church of Columbia. He is also artistic director for Landlocked Opera which he manages with his wife Christina.
Jonathan has appeared with such companies as Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, The Lyric Opera of Kansas City (where he was an apprentice from 2017 to 2019), Heartland Opera Theatre, The Missouri Symphony, Opera in the Rock, and The Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. His opera credits include many principal tenor roles in shows such as Così fan tutte, Roméo et Juliette, Die Fledermaus, La Traviata, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, Béatrice et Bénédict, and Candide. Other recent engagements include the tenor solos in Mozart's Requiem in D minor, Stravinsky's Cantata, Orff's Carmina Burana, and Bach BWV 78 and 148.
Jonathan's directing credits include Die Zauberflöte with Landlocked Opera and Le nozze di Figaro and Die Fledermaus with Central Methodist. His appearances as music director and conductor include Le nozze di Figaro, Into the Woods, and Merrily We Roll Along with Central Methodist and The Murderess with Landlocked Opera and Opera Kansas.
When he isn't making music, Jonathan loves spending time with his beautiful wife Christina and their wonderful daughter Lucy.
Emily Stott
Emily Stott (she/her) is a mezzo-soprano, performing on stages in the Kansas City area and beyond. She holds a master’s degree in Opera Performance from the UMKC Conservatory. Most recently, Emily was seen in the premiere of Stacy Busch’s She Breathes Fire––a large work for vocal septet and fixed electronics. Outside of performance spaces, she loves camping, hiking, and playing board games with her partner, soprano Kelli Van Meter. Emily feels passionately about accessibility in the arts, and is thrilled to be a part of Come As You Are again this year!
