Mara Barrett is a proud graduate of the Theatre Program at The College of William and Mary. Some of her performance credits include The Rocky Horror Show (Richmond Triangle Players), The Addams Family (Dogwood Dell), The Great Gatsby (Quill Theatre), Times Square Angel (Richmond Triangle Players), A Chorus Line (Richmond Triangle Players), Free Man of Color (The Heritage Ensemble Theatre Company), Something’s Afoot (Swift Creek Mill), and Virginia Rep on Tour. She has also appeared as Musetta in in CCO's production of La bohème.

Alan has been a mainstay in the Richmond classical music scene since his debut at VCU Opera in 2011. Some of his favorite past roles include both Figaro and Conte d'Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Slook in Rossini's La Cambiale di Matrimonio, the Pirate King in Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance, Silvio in Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci, the title role in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Marcello in Puccini's La bohème, and High Priest in Samson et Dalila.

Born in Richmond, VA, baritone Kirkland Fenerty holds a Bachelors of Music from James Madison University, and has studied internationally with AIMS in Graz, Austria and Opera Al Mare in Cesenatico, Italy. Past operatic credits include the title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Marcello and Shaunard in La bohème, Nick Shadow in Stravinsky's The Rake’s Progress, Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, and Wagner in Gounod's Faust. Chorus credits include Heggie's Dead Man Walking, Monteverdi's L’Incoronazione di Poppea, and Wagner in Gounod's Faust.

Emily Nesbitt is an American dramatic soprano from Northern Virginia. She made her Richmond opera debut with VCU in 2015 in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers and went on to sing many roles with them, her favorites being the Countess in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Nedda in  Leoncavello's I Pagliacci, Nella in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, and Lakmé in Délibes' Lakmé. Her other notable roles include singing Mother Marie in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites and Mimi in Puccini's La bohème with La Musica Lirica. Emily has been in many Puccini operas but La bohème was her first and remains her favorite. Her debut as Mimi was in Italy with La Musica Lirica and she recently reprised the role again back home with Commonwealth Concert Opera.

Catherine studied as a vocal performance major at Virginia Commonwealth University and is a former member of the production staff for VCU’s award-winning opera department, as well as a board member for Commonwealth Concert Opera. Catherine has performed in a variety of genres at a variety of venues, but her favorite has always been opera. Favorite past performances include Dalila in Samson et Dalila, Azucena in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Ms. Todd in Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief, Third Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Princess Ida in Gilbert & Sullivan's Princess Ida, Maria Rainer in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music, and Nick Bottom in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. After participating in several musical workshops of the piece, Catherine will be performing in the chorus for the world premiere of Loving v. Virginia in May of 2025 with Virginia Opera.

Elizabeth Robideau studied vocal performance at Duquesne University of Pittsburgh. She has performed in oratorio, opera, operetta and recital. Her oratorio performances as soloist include Handel’s "Messiah", Mozart's "Requiem", Bach's "Magnificat" and "Mass in B minor" and Vivaldi's "Gloria". Operatic roles include Maura in Riders to the Sea by Vaughan Williams, Lucilla in Rossini's La scala di seta, Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice and the title role in Benjamin Lees’ Medea. She has also appeared in many Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, such as The Yeomen of the Guard" (Phoebe) and The Pirates of Penzance (Edith). She recently participated in the workshop for Geter's Loving v. Virginia with Virginia Opera.

A native of England, Ms. Robideau has also performed as Mad Margaret in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Ruddigore at Gawsworth Hall in the UK. She is currently studying with James Taylor.

James Taylor, M.M. (Yale University), is an internationally celebrated performer. At home in opera, concert, recital, and musical theatre, he has appeared with numerous opera companies, symphonies, and theatres, including the New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opera Carolina, Göttigen Handel Festspiele, Theatre Augsburg, and the Nederlandse Reisopera. In his earlier roles as a baritone, Mr. Taylor performed the title roles in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Le Nozze di Figaro, Marcello in La Boheme, as well as thirty-three others. As a tenor, his performances have included Siegmund in Die Walküre, the title roles in Lohengrin and Parsifal, Don Jose in Carmen, Manrico in Il Trovatore, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Samson in Samson et Dalila and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. 

His many concert performances include Handel's Messiah, Bach's Magnificat, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and Mozart's Requiem. An avid recitalist, Mr. Taylor has presented programs in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Breda, and Groningen in the Netherlands, Munich, Augsburg, and Dusseldorf in Germany, Klagenfurt, Linz, and Vienna in Austria, and Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, as well as several universities and colleges across the United States.  He has sung Schubert's "Winterreise", "Die schöne Müllerin", and "Schwanengesang", Schumann's "Dichterliebe", "Liederkreise" Op. 24 & Op. 39, Brahms' "Vier ernste Gesange", "Ziguenerlieder" and "Die schöne Magelone", and Wagner's "Wesendonk Lieder".

A talented and sought-after educator, he has served as Director of Opera at Drake University and the University of Alabama and has been on the music faculties of VCU and the University of Virginia. His students have gone on to such prestigious schools as the New England Conservatory, Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, Yale University, and the Royal College of Music. Several of his students perform regularly with the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Semperoper, Glyndebourne, the Opera Comique, Utah Opera, Central City Opera, Landestheater Niederbayern, Opera Frankfurt, and the Oldenburgisches Staatsoper.

Mr. Taylor has had the pleasure to work with many of the top Artist Teachers in the business, such as Jon Fredric West, Sherrill Milnes, Richard Cross, Doris Yarick-Cross, Jackson Sheats, Andrew Gainey, and Seth Riggs. He has also participated in Master Classes with Placido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, and Regine Crespin.

Sasha Wang is a senior at VCU studying biochemistry, health services, and piano performance on a pre-medicine track. She is one of the solo accompanists at VCU and is the pianist for VCU Symphony and VCU Opera. Sasha studied under the tutelage of Lisa Emenheiser Sarratt since 2008 and has placed in numerous competitions from VMTA State Auditions to the Washington Steinway Competition. She is currently studying under Dr. Sonia Vlahcevic with plans to graduate in May of 2025. Outside of music, Sasha works as an EMT in Chesterfield County, a care technician at VCU Main Hospital, and has published multiple articles in a variety of journals across the medical field for cancer research and music therapy.