Alumni Highlights

Patrick Massey

(M.M. '10, voice)

On May 31, Massey sang for the 10th anniversary celebration of Guerilla Opera, Boston Conservatory’s ensemble in residence. The performance included fellow alumni.

Stephen Petrovich

(B.F.A. '10, musical theater)

Petrovich, who is now a columnist for On Stage, interviewed former classmate Paul HeeSang Miller (B.F.A. 10, musical theater) about Miller’s role in the upcoming Broadway revival of Miss Saigon.

Katherine Waters

(M.M. '11, music education)

Waters is currently teaching at Algoquin Regional High School. She teaches 4 curricular choirs, two student-run a cappella groups, and a men's chorus. The Yellow Jackets, a famous a cappella group, recently did a workshop with her two a cappella choirs. Katherine was a music instructor and choir director at Indiana University at Kokomo, and has sung with the Indianapolis Opera Chorus. She has also been a lead performer and/or director with Kokomo Civic Theatre, Southborough Players, Stageloft Repertory Theater, Performing Arts Center of MetroWest, and River's Edge Players. Katherine has performed as a guest artist with choirs and orchestras in Indiana, Massachusetts, and Germany.  

Isaac Bray

(M.M. '12, voice)

Bray was recently the featured baritone soloist in the Bangor Symphony Orchestra's performance of William Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast.

Courtney Miller

(M.M. '11, P.S.C. '12, voice)

Miller, a former student of Rebecca Folsom, was accepted into the Florida Grand Opera Young Artist Program.  

Shoba Narayan

(B.F.A. '12, musical theater)

Narayan recently made her Broadway principal debut as Natasha in Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812. The performances made Narayan the first South Asian female in a principal role since Bombay Dreams.

Andre Cerullo

(B.M. '13, piano)

Cerullo is currently the associate music director/conductor for the Hamilton national tour. He has also worked as the associate music director/conductor for the national tours of Pippin and West Side Story.

Jessie Jeanne Stinnett

(B.F.A. '13, dance)

Jessie Jeanne & Dancers (JJ&D) is launching a new work titled Beneath Crystal Skin, choreographed by Stinnett. Stinnett, who has recently returned to Boston after earning her master's degree in Boston, was awarded the LAB grant from The Boston Foundation with support from The Barr Foundation for 2017. Donations toward the future of JJ&D can be made here.

Jessie Jeanne & Dancers also recently collaborated with Galatea Fine Arts Center for teXtmoVes, a multimedia piece including dance, movement, poetry, spoken word, and visual arts.

Cameron Tedoldi

(M.M. '13, music education)

Tedoldi has recently been named the next music department head for Foxboro Public Schools. She has served in the district as the orchestra director for grades 5-12 for the past seven years and will replace her former teacher, Steve Massey.

Emily Pecoraro

(M.M. '14, woodwinds)

Pecoraro will be playing reeds for the Providence Performing Arts Center's performance of the 42nd Street national tour. She will be joined by fellow alumni Matt Lowy (music director/conductor) and Andrew Winans (ensemble).

Vanessa Becerra

(M.M. '14, opera)

Becerra, a former student of Rebecca Folsom, won a Grammy for Best Operatic Recording in The Ghost of Versailles with L.A. Opera. In the summer of 2017, she will play Laurie in Oklahoma! with Glimmerglass Opera.   

Tascha Anderson

(M.M. '15, voice)

Anderson, a former student of Rebecca Folsom, was recently accepted into the Chautauqua Opera Studio Artist Program for the summer of 2017.

Scott Ballantine

(M.M. '15, opera)

Ballantine, a former student of Rebecca Folsom, was recently accepted into Utah Festival Opera for the summer of 2017.

Michelle Geosits

(B.F.A. '15, dance)

Geosits recently played Amber in Hairspray at the Palace Theatre in Los Angeles. In October of 2016, she performed a concert at 54 Below.

Matthew Smith

(M.M. '15, cello)

Smith was one of the two winners of the 2017 Boston Conservatory at Berklee Alumni Entrepreneurial Grant.

Emma Sorenson

(M.M. '15, opera)

Sorenson, a former student of Rebecca Folsom, was recently accepted to the Cincinnati Young Artists Program for the summer of 2017.

Andrew Winans

(B.F.A. '15, musical theater)

Winans will be performing in the Providence Performing Arts Center's performance of the 42nd Street national tour. He will be joined by fellow alums Emily Pecoraro (reeds) and Matthew Lowy (music director/conductor.)  

Blake Zolfo

(B.F.A. '15, musical theater)

Zolfo will be featured on the original cast album of the recent off-Broadway production, Kid Victory. The recording is slated to be released this fall by Broadway Records.

Anna Bridgman

(M.M. '16, opera)

Bridgman, a former student of Rebecca Folsom, has been accepted into the Sarasota Opera Young Artist Program.

Eric Ferring

(M.M. '16, opera)

Ferring, a former student of Rebecca Folsom, was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions Pittsburgh as well as the Encouragement Award Norther Region MONC. He has been accepted into Santa Fe Opera for the summer of 2017 and is a Pittsburgh Opera Young Artist.  

Steven Myles

(G.P.D. '16, opera)

Myles, a former student of Rebecca Folsom, has been accepted into Glimmerglass Opera for the summer of 2017.  

Gabrielle Reyes de Ramírez

(B.M. '16, voice)

Gabriella Reyes de Ramírez was one of the nine finalists who performed at the prestigious Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Finals Concert last month, hosted by opera star Renée Fleming.

Daniel Stackhouse

(B.M. '14, M.M. '16, oboe)

Stackhouse recently won the Boston Woodwind Society's 2017 Ralph Gomberg Oboe Merit Award Competition. He impressed the judges by playing Strauss’s Concerto in D Major.

Matthew Lowy

(B.M. '15, composition)

The national tour of 42nd Street will be performed at the Providence Performing Arts Center. Lowy will be music directing and conducting, and will be joined by fellow alumni Emily Pecoraro (reeds) and Andrew Winans (ensemble). 

Abigail Dock

(M.M. '15, P.S.C. '17, voice)

Dock recently won the Encouragement Award in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions Connecticut District, and participated in Portland Opera. In the summer of 2017, she will be singing Amastra in Xerxes. Dock won the 3rd Place in the National Opera Association Competition. Dock was a student of Rebecca Folsom.

Simon Dyer

(M.M. '15, G.P.D. '17, voice)

Dyer has recently been named a Boston Lyric Opera Emerging Artist, and has been accepted to the Santa Fe Opera Young Artist Program for the summer of 2017, and Florida Grand Opera's Young Artist Program for the fall of 2017. Dyer is a student of Rebecca Folsom.  

Rudy Giron

(M.M. '17, voice)

Giron recently won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions Puerto Rico District and the Legacy Encouragement Award at the National Opera Association Competition.  He is a student of Rebecca Folsom.

Ryan Stoll

(M.M. '17, opera)

Stoll, a student of Rebecca Folsom, has been accepted into Des Moines Metro Opera for the summer of 2017.   

Michaela Wolz

(B.M. '17, voice)

Wolz, a student of Rebecca Folsom, was accepted into the St. Louis Young Artist Program for summer 2017.  

Bonnie Cochran

(M.M. '00, flute)

Cochran was one of two winners of the 2017 Boston Conservatory at Berklee Alumni Entrepreneurial Grant.

Nick Adams

(B.F.A. '05, musical theater)

Adams, along with other Broadway, Hollywood, theater, dance, and music artists, recorded the iconic Beatles song "A Little Help From My Friends," which was released on National Arts Advocacy Day to support the arts in America.

Aliana de la Guardia

(B.M. '05, M.M. '07, voice)

On May 31, de la Guardia sang for the 10th anniversary celebration of Guerilla Opera, Boston Conservatory’s ensemble in residence. The performance included fellow alumni.

Augustine Gonzales

(G.P.D. '07, piano)

Gonzales recently presented the official UNDERTALE Piano Collections Album based on the popular Toby Fox videogame. The release included a 15-track piano album performed by Gonzales as well as a collection of sheet music for intermediate piano players, which was arranged by pianist and project producer David Peacock, a Berklee alumnus. The release charted on the Billboard classical albums of the week.

Brian Calhoon

(M.M. '09, percussion)

On March 16, Calhoon played in Marimba Cabaret at Club Cafe in Boston. The cabaret features musical theater and pop covers for marimba, vibraphone, and voice.   

Susan Goforth

(B.F.A. '91, musical theater)

In 2015, Goforth directed and performed in the film 10 Days in a Madhouse with Pendagron Pictures. The film, which competed in the Academy Awards and was featured at the Los Angeles Women’s International Festival, starred Christopher Lambert, Caroline Barry, and Kelly Le Brock.

Paul Skavnak

(M.M. '92, voice)

Skavnak is now a member of Singers in Accord, a member-led choral ensemble. The chorus was created in 2009.  

Sharon Montella

(M.F.A. '92, dance)

Montella recently recorded backup vocals on a CD, is teaching at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and has opened a hip-hop dance company. She has also taught yoga and kung fu, and has performed many singing roles in musicals. She performs regularly at Internal Matter Restaurant and Cafe in South Boston singing Broadway, classical, jazz, and blues.

Scott Ethier

(M.M. '96, composition)

Ethier was the winner of Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s 150th Anniversary Composition Competition. His work was premiered by Boston Conservatory students on February 10, 2017.

Diane Arvanites

(B.F.A. '80, dance)

Faculty member and Distinguished Alumni Award Winner Diane Arvanites recently presented Dig, Mine, Excavate with coartistic director Tommy Neblett at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, Massachusetts. The performance included special guest artists who are a mix of Boston Conservatory at Berklee faculty and alumni. Guests included Kurt A. Douglas, Ruka Hatua-Saar, Callie Chapman, Naoko Brown, Lonnie Stanton, Danielle Davidson, Shoshana Moyer, Flora Kim, and Justin Daniel.

Robert Martel

(B.M. '80, music education)

Martel will retire in June after 37 years of teaching music, most recently at Dover-Sherborn Regional High School in Dover, Massachusetts.

John Gidcomb

('81)

Gidcomb now has his own voice-over company, Loop de Loop, where he works on movies and TV. He used to run Groudling Theater and worked as a director in Los Angeles. Gidcomb currently works as a teacher.   

Stanley Hoffman

(B.M. '81, composition)

Hoffman has released a new video for "Seascapes," composition he wrote for SATB chorus and low flutes. The piece was recently published by ECS Publishing Group. This performance is conducted by Matthew Culloton, with Barb Leibundguth on alto flute, and Trudy Anderson on bass flute.

Rosemarie Kelly

(B.M. '87, voice)

Kelly is currently performing the musical Chess with the Windham Acting Troupe.

Victoria Livengood

(B.M. '85, voice)

Livengood was recognized at the 2017 Grammy Awards. She contributed to L.A. Opera's recording of Ghosts of Versailles, which won Best Opera Recording and Best Engineered Album, Classical.

Thommie Walsh

('70, dance)

Thommie Walsh is a Tony Award–winning choreographer who created the role of Bobby in the original production of “A Chorus Line.” He received two Tony Awards for choreography in 1980 for “A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine” and for “My One and Only,” in 1983. In addition to his choreography, Thommie is a director, performer, record promoter, and most recently, a real estate agent.

Franklin Zarba

(B.M. '60, double bass and trombone)

Zarba won a singing competition, Italia e Canto, in Naples, Italy. He was presented with an award in Boston by Pirandello Lyceum and sang at the Hyatt in April.

Cherill Mann

(B.F.A. '62, dance)

In May 2017, Mann acted in That Woman's Child at The Complex Theater in West Hollywood.  

Frances Rosser

(B.F.A. '74, dance)

Rosser is the director of Ballet Durango and Durango Youth Ballet.

Karen Peterson Corash

(B.F.A. '76, dance)

The Karen Peterson Dancers (K.P.D.) premiered their newest project at the Miami Dade County Auditorium in Miami, Florida in May 2017. The multimedia performance included the art of video and visual artist Maria Lino, and fourteen dancers performing the choreography of Juan Maria Seller, Katrina Weaver, and Peterson Corash.