Isaiah Batey

Isaiah Batey (tenor), is a Vocal Performance graduate student at The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University . He graduated with his Bachelors of Science in Music Liberal Arts at Tennessee State University. Batey has a profound passion for Opera music with a desire to broaden his knowledge in a wide range of genres within music. Batey had the opportunity to be apart of a partnership with Tennessee State University’s Big Blue Opera Initiative and the Nashville Opera in performance and master classes. In addition to being an active member of the Nashville Opera program, he also has been able to foster meaningful relationships with Concert Chorale of Nashville and the W. E. Crimm Singers. Batey hopes that his education and experiences prepares him for his ultimate desire and aspiration in life; having a career in Opera.

Joshua Coleman

Joshua Coleman sings with compassion and love for the art. Voice teacher Dr. Carl DuPont of Peabody Conservatory has regarded his voice as “the comfort from warm sheets fresh out of the dryer on winter evenings”. Mr. Coleman was a competitor in the 2022-2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition where he took home an Encouragement Award. Recent winner of both the 2020 and 2022 State and Regional rounds of the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition. Mr. Coleman was also awarded Runner Up at the 2019 Marian Anderson Vocal Competition.

Most recently, Mr. Coleman has collaborated with Peabody Opera, Peabody Next Ensemble, Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Choir. Some works include the opera(s): Earth to Kenzie by Frances Polluck, Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck, Les Mamelles de Tirésias by Frances Poulenc, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and more. He has performed in larger masterworks such as Gabriel Fauré’s Fauré Requiem, conducted by Tom Hall of Baltimore Choral Art Society. Along with G.F. Handel’s The Messiah excerpts conducted by the late Michael Britt of Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Mr. Coleman is currently pursuing his B.M. in Vocal Performance.

Valerie Dzielski

Valerie Dzielski is an explorative, emotive performer of a variety of genres. Valerie loves languages and history, the research of which informs her interpretations and inspires her to invite audiences to connect with the shared human experiences and emotions from stories across every era.

Valerie’s pursuit of a Master of Music degree in voice performance at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University supports her to engage with diverse, relevant repertoire as she continues to deepen her understanding of language and artistic communication. She enjoys exploring lesser-known works in her solo vocal repertoire. In Spring 2023, she completed an independent study of Polish diction and art song lead by Dr. Laura Kafka-Price. Valerie is the 2023 recipient of the Polish American Arts Association Scholarship for her study and performance of Polish art song. Valerie has long had a curiosity for the language and culture of Poland and a drive to explore the fascinating history and politics encapsulated in Polish songs.

Valerie is cantor and soprano section leader at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore. She has previously worked in music ministry at the Basilica of the Assumption in Baltimore and the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Altoona. Valerie graduated from Westminster Choir College with a Bachelor of Music degree in voice performance in 2020.

Lulu Hassanein

Lulu Hassanein is a Maryland-based, versatile storyteller, performing across many genres: classical and contemporary, operatic, musical, and straight theatre. Lulu is an empathetic and emotive performer, who seeks to create an intimate relationship with her listeners so they are able to engage in and enjoy the story and performance. She is praised for her thorough attention to detail in her craft. Having grown up speaking Arabic at home, Lulu is passionate about language and language learning. The beauty of cultural and human connection, not only through music but through language, inspires her. Roles she has portrayed include Rapunzel (Into the Woods, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival), Yasha (The Cherry Orchard, JHU Theatre), and Madge (Picnic, JHU Barnstormers). Lulu is an undergraduate at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, pursuing degrees in Vocal Performance and Music Education.

Kyubin Kwon

Elizabeth Lentz

Elizabeth Lentz’s big soprano voice, engaging performances, and unshakable commitment to her practice have set her apart from the very beginning, from her upbringing on a small dairy farm in central Pennsylvania to the world of classical music. Elizabeth is passionate about making high level performance art more accessible to students in underserved rural communities, like the one in which she grew up, and hopes to someday contribute to the artistic development of her hometown.

Elizabeth fostered her musical ambitions from an extremely young age, playing the piano, violin, and flute by the time she finished elementary school. Classical singing is where she found her niche, particularly the operatic genre and its performance. Elizabeth hopes to play a role in keeping the operatic genre alive by making it more accessible to a wide variety of audiences.

Elizabeth has been featured as a soloist in the Peabody Camerata (2023) as well as the 2020 Pennsylvania Music Educator’s Association (PMEA) Region V Choir and Susquehanna Young Women’s Chorale (2019, 2021). She had her first musical theater experience as Ursula in her high school production of “The Little Mermaid” (2022). Recently, Elizabeth has received accolades through competing in NATS: first place at MD/DC and second at Mid-Atlantic Regionals, qualifying her for the national level of auditions.

In 2020, Elizabeth had the transformative opportunity to work with world-renowned mezzo-soprano, Denyce Graves, after which she solidified her goal of attending the prestigious Peabody Institute. That goal came to fruition, as Elizabeth is currently pursuing her BM in Vocal Performance with a minor in Opera Studies at The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University under the instruction of Baritone, Dr. Carl DuPont, and is pursuing performance opportunities at home in central Pennsylvania.

Valarie Miles

With rich and warm vocals paired with engaging portrayals on-stage, mezzo-soprano Valarie Miles speaks to souls throughout concert halls, churches, and opera houses in the United States, Europe, and Africa. Sought after as a meticulous performer, Valarie has hailed the stages of Tasos Opera Institute, Baylor Opera Theatre, Brevard Music Center, and Amarillo Opera Theatre. During the 2022-23 season at Baylor Opera Theatre, she will perform the role of Angelica in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience. Last season, she performed the roles of La Ciesca in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Mrs. Splinters in Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land.

Valarie made her debut with the Amarillo Opera as Ruthless the Ugly Stepsister in Seymour Barab’s Cinderella. She starred in several Amarillo Opera productions, including Evita, La Traviata, Dream of the Pacific, Brundibar, and The Ballad of Baby Doe. While there, she grew under the direction of Dean Anthony, Craig Schulman, and Linda Hughes.

While at the Taos Opera Institute, Miles represented the group of young artists as a Santa Fe Opera Guild featured artist and received praise for her “mastery of languages.” She also had the pleasure of performing various roles in Michael Ching’s production of Speed Dating Tonight and the partial role of Hansel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, where her performances were praised as “excellent” and “hilarious.”

Miles has sung in many national competitions, placing as a finalist in the 2022 Texoma Region National Association of Teachers of Singing auditions and a finalist in the 2019 Schmidt Vocal Competition.

Valarie holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Baylor University, where she studied with Dr.Jamie Van Eyck. Valarie is currently pursuing her Master of Music at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, where she studies under Dr. Carl Dupont. She is the proud recipient of the institution’s Pathways to DMA Fellowship.