Opera Breve
Our Faculty
Keith Harris
Metropolitan Opera baritone, voice coach/instructor
Praised for the distinctive warmth of his voice, clear diction, and exceptional musicianship, American baritone Keith Harris is captivating audiences in his performances on both operatic and concert stages. This season, Mr. Harris returns to the Metropolitan Opera for their production of The Merry Widow. Recent performances include Valentin in Faust with Toledo Opera, a return to the Metropolitan Opera for their production of Werther, Marullo in Rigoletto with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Silvio in Pagliacci with Opera Tampa, and several appearances with the Festival lyrique international de Belle‐Île en Mer in France.
Jeanne Lehman
vocal instructor/coach, Broadway star
For over 45 years, Ms. Lehman has enjoyed a varied and exciting career embracing theatre, television, concerts, cabaret, and recordings, and has carried her from Broadway to International stages. She recently played the role of “Mrs. Potts” in the Broadway production of Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. She was also seen on Broadway as the “Mother Abbess” in THE SOUND of MUSIC, with Richard Chamberlain, Rebecca Luker, and Laura Benanti, continuing her role on the Broadway National tour, Atlanta’s Theatre of the Stars tour, the St. Louis Muny, Stage West (Canada), and the Stratford Festival of Canada where she also appeared as “Mrs. Blair” in INHERIT THE WIND.
Audiences have seen her as “Mrs. Potts” in the Los Angeles Company of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, in productions at the Sacramento Music Theatre, North Carolina Theatre Co., Michigan Opera Theatre, Ogunquit Playhouse, North Shore Theatre, the ABC/CBS special BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: A CONCERT ON ICE, and have heard her sing the title song for Michelle Kwan’s ABC special DISNEY’S TOP TEN FAVORITES.
Other Broadway credits include: RODGERS AND HART, JEROME KERN GOES TO HOLLYWOOD, GOING UP, A MUSICAL JUBILEE (with John Raitt, Tammy Grimes, Lillian Gish, Patrice Munsell), and IRENE in which she also toured and played the title role as standby to both Debbie Reynolds and Jane Powell. Also on tour she was “Mrs. Molloy” in HELLO DOLLY with Carol Channing, “Eve” in APPLAUSE with Lauren Bacall and Eleanor Parker; and played both “Abigail Adams” and “Martha Jefferson” in the second national company and the Bicentennial production of 1776.
Off-Broadway credits: PUTTING IT TOGETHER/standby to Julie Andrews (Manhattan Theatre Club); LINGOLAND (York); “Jenny”/COMPANY (York); “Ruth”/ MILK AND HONEY (American Jewish Theatre); GROUCHO: A LIFE IN REVIEW (Lucille Lortel); GERSHWIN: 100 YEARS. She has appeared with Peter Howard and Lee Roy Reams at the Algonquin Hotel’s famous Oak Room in PETER HOWARD CELEBRATES BROADWAY, and with Steve Ross in NOEL COWARD AND HIS LADIES.
PBS Performances/Recordings: SONDHEIM: A CELEBRATION AT CARNEGIE HALL (featured with Madeline Kahn/Mark Jacoby); SKITCH HENDERSON AT 80/BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION; A JEROME KERN TREASURY, BROADWAY SHOWSTOPPERS; KURT WEILL ON BROADWAY (w/Thomas Hampson); VICTOR HERBERT SELECTED SONGS; LINGOLAND; SIMPLE GIFTS, CAROLS FROM THE ABBEY for Broadway Cares/Equity fights Aids;
Nationally/Regionally, she has starred opposite John Schuck/SHE LOVES ME; David Birney/MY FAIR LADY; Giorgio Tozzi, Noel Harrison/FANNY; Gary Beach, Orson Bean, Larry Kert, Jimmy Brennan, Gary Sandy/THE MUSIC MAN; and Barry Williams/I DO! I DO! Other favorite roles include: “Anna”/THE KING AND I (Augusta Opera); “Magnolia” and “Julie”/ SHOW BOAT; “Guenievere”/CAMELOT; “Glinda”/THE WIZARD OF OZ (w/Cathy Rigby); “Maria”/SOUND OF MUSIC (6 productions); and “Julie”/CAROUSEL. At the famed Goodspeed Opera House, she originated the role of “Mrs. Larue in MRS. MCTHING, and played “Betsy”/DEAREST ENEMY, and “Kitty” in WHERE’S CHARLEY?
CARNEGIE HALL: She appeared opposite Jon Lovitz in VERY WARM FOR MAY, and was the leading lady in OH, BOY!; OH, LADY, LADY!; ZIP! GOES A MILLION; and NO, NO, NANETTE! At Town Hall, she played the title roles in EILEEN (w/Maureen O’Sullivan) and LEAVE IT TO JANE.
A POPULAR GUEST SOLOIST, Ms. Lehman has headlined numerous times at Carnegie Hall with Skitch Henderson and THE NEW YORK POPS (with subsequent Japan tours); with Peter Nero and the PHILLY POPS (Mann Center for the Performing Arts/Academy of Music, Philadelphia); and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (Hollywood Bowl); Tonhalle Symphony Orchestra (Zurich); London Sinfonietta (Royal Festival Hall); the Library of Congress; and with Symphony Orchestras in Oslo, Korea, Dallas, Sacramento, Vancouver, Toronto, Tulsa, Florida, Minneapolis, Ives Center, Salt Lake City, San Diego; in tributes to such legends as Rodgers, Hammerstein, and Hart; Lerner and Loewe; Stephen Sondheim; Cole Porter; George and Ira Gershwin; Irving Berlin; Noel Coward; Jerome Kern; Jerry Herman; and more!
Television audiences have seen her in numerous commercials; LAW AND ORDER:SVU; KATE AND ALLIE; and in guest star roles on ALL MY CHILDREN; ONE LIFE TO LIVE; AS THE WORLD TURNS; LOVING; THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES; and MOLLY DODD. Current commercial: Colonial Penn Life Insurance.
HER FAVORITE ROLE: wife of the late ACTOR/SINGER, LARRY FRENCH
Other items of interest: Jeanne is currently in her 7th term as a Councillor for Actors Equity Association; has traveled as Vocal Consultant for professional theatre companies in Korea (most recently Kyundai Theatre Company) and Japan with her husband Larry French; gives frequent presentations “Dreams Do Come True” on the Disney Cruise Lines; and is a Stephen Minister and Deacon at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in NYC.
Gary R. Ramsey
Alexander Technician
M.F.A. Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University (Scholarship Program); B.F.A. Stephens College, (Scholarship Program); Technical Training under Jacklyn Maddux; Certified Alexander Technique Teacher (ACAT); Worked with renowned Breathing Coordinators’ Dr. Carl Stough and Jessica Wolf. Coached: Ethan Hawke, Broadway production of “Macbeth”, Tom Skerritt, Broadway production of ” A Time to Kill”, Colin Quinn, Broadway production of “Long Story Short”, directed and produced by Jerry Seinfeld. Victoria Clark, “The Light in the Piazza, Vivian Beaumont, (Tony Award). Siobhan Fallon, one-woman show, “Momma”, Atlantic Theatre Company. Dialect Coach: one-woman show, Priscilla Lopez, “Class Mothers ‘68”, Clurman Theatre. “Mrs. Dally Has a Lover, Judith Ivey, Westbeth Theatre. He has appeared Off-Broadway, Regionally and abroad as an actor. Teaches acting: St. Mary’s College, Leap Program. Currently singing opera both regionally and internationally. www.garyrramsey.com
Ben Sheaffer
Associate Artistic Director, stage direction, coaching arias and songs as monologues, Broadway star
On Broadway, Ben played Rolf in The Sound of Music and appeared as the courier and Thomas Jefferson in 1776. Off-Broadway, he originated the role of Simon in Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi(MTC). Broadway workshops include: The Boy From Oz w/Hugh Jackman, and When You Wish (Disney). Ben recently performed with the Ocean City Pops Orchestra. Favorite regional credits include: The Middle of Nowhere (Prince Music Theater), Dear World (Goodspeed Opera House), Cabaret (Media Theatre), Bus Stop (Ivoryton Playhouse), The Importance of Being Earnest (Monomoy Theatre). Film and Television: “Gods and Generals,” and “One Life To Live.” Ben is a 1997 graduate of The North Carolina School of the Arts. Ben, who is a faculty member of Opera Breve, taught Music Theater with the Opera Breve Vocal Intensive held at Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, Tx, in the summer of 2011. Ben also returned to Wichita Falls this fall to hold a Master Class at Backdoor Theatre. He held an educational two day event. "Standing on the shoulders of Giants". Eternal love and gratitude to Aimee.
Benjamin Spierman
Stage Director
Benjamin Spierman began his professional life working for the Bronx Council on the Arts as their Grants Coordinator and as the Founding Director of their Business Center for the Arts. Opera called, however, and he began working across the country as a Stage Manager and Assistant Director. In those capacities, he worked for Central City Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Light Opera Oklahoma, Mississippi Opera, Mobile Opera, Opera Theater of Saint Louis, Palm Beach Opera, Rogue Valley (OR) Opera and Virginia Opera. Most notably, he was the Assistant on the Saint Louis’s Lewis and Clark Bicentennial premiere production of Dream of the Pacific and on Central City’s American premiere production of Britten’s Gloriana (where he also directed opera scenes and Central City’s annual production of Henry Mollicone’s The Face on the Barroom Floor).
As a director, his work includes critically acclaimed productions of both familiar and unfamiliar pieces. The former are represented by productions of Madama Butterfly, The Merry Widow, Le nozze di Figaro, and La fille du regiment (Indianapolis Opera); Turandot and Don Giovanni (Dayton Opera), Amahl and the Night Visitors (Opera Company of the Highlands – Newburgh, NY) and Tosca and The Pirates of Penzance (Imperial Symphony Orchestra, Lakeland, FL); the latter by critically acclaimed New York premiere productions of Kirke Mechem’s The Rivals, Vaughan Williams’s The Poisoned Kiss and the Weber/Mahler posthumous collaboration Die Drei Pintos, all for Bronx Opera (of which he is Associate Artistic Director and Resident Stage Director). He is also Resident Stage Director of Long Island’s North Shore Music Festival; for them, he has directed Rigoletto, Don Pasquale, Pagliacci and The Barber of Seville.
Other work in and around New York City has included Verdi’s Falstaff and Massenet’s Cendrillon for Rutgers University (both winners of National Opera Association prizes) and a Blackbox production of Ariadne auf Naxos for the NYC’s dell’Arte Opera Ensemble (winner of the American Prize for Opera). Recent regional work includes Bellini’s Norma and Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette for Florida’s St. Petersburg Opera, Carmen (for Opera Idaho and Minnesota’s Northern Lights Music Festival) and Hansel and Gretel and Gianni Schicchi/Buoso’s Ghost (Amarillo Opera). His most recent work includes returns to the Northern Lights Festival (for The Merry Widow), the North Shore Music Festival (for Il tabarro and Gianni Schicchi); and to Opera Idaho for The Magic Flute (a production which toured that state). 2016 will (or has) sees return engagements at Bronx Opera, Opera Idaho, Rutgers, and the North Shore Music Festival, as well as his debut at Syracuse Opera, directing La bohème. Also a sought-after dramatic coach, he has worked with singers at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College (CUNY), Westchester Summer Vocal Institute (NY), the Buck Hill-Skytop Music Festival (PA) and the Opera Breve Vocal Intensive (TX), in addition to coaching privately. He is a native and resident of The Bronx, New York, where he lives with his wife and frequent artistic collaborator, soprano Hannah Spierman.
Lenora Eve
Founder/Executive Artistic Director, vocal instructor, accompanist/coach
Lenora Eve founded Opera Breve in 2009. She was privileged to be the alto soloist in Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass at Carnegie Hall in New York. For 20 years, Lenora has been an established and acclaimed teacher and coach. Her vocal studio boasts an eclectic variety of students, including those from the world of Broadway, opera, and some of the most esteemed Jewish cantors and artists from the Hebrew contemporary music scene. As a student of the distinguished author and teacher, Cornelius Reid, she was able to learn the concepts and principles, which are the foundation of the technique she now passes on to others. Ms Eve has sung nationally and internationally in operatic and musical theater roles including eight roles with Amato Opera in New York City; Broadway national tour of The Sound of Music with Richard Chamberlain; and State Fair with John Davidson. In addition, Ms Eve was in International Tour of The Sound of Music with Marie Osmond traveling to Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong and Seoul, Korea. In Germany, she has been a guest artist in several operatic productions and concerts with the Landestheater Detmoldd , and recently, sang a series of duet concerts entitled Wenn die beste Freundin. Originally from Texas, Lenora graduated from North Texas University with a Masters of Music Degree.
Past Faculty
2014 Faculty
Lenora Eve: Artistic Director, Voice, Scenes Stage Director
Christy Lee: Scenes Program Music Director, Coach
Brian Osborne: Music Director, LITTLE WOMEN
JJ Hudson: Stage Director, LITTLE WOMEN
Abigail Payne Sanders, Associate Music Director/Coach, LITTLE WOMEN
Stephen Dubberly: Conductor, DON GIOVANNI
Carroll Freeman: Stage Director, DON GIOVANNI
Randy Toler Ahmed: Assistant Director
Grant Jones: Pianist/Coach, DON GIOVANNI
Scott Susong: Stage Director, CAROUSEL/Musical Theatre Showcase
Jad Bernardo: Music Director, CAROUSEL/ Musical Theatre Showcase
Erin And Michael Sherry: Choreographers/Guest Artists, CAROUSEL
Dr. Stephen Austin: Guest Teaching Artist, Master Class
Jonathan Moots: Guest Artist
2013 Faculty
Lenora Eve: Voice, Scenes Director
Eugenie Grunewald: Stage Director, GIANNI SCHICCHI, Distinguished Artist in Residence
Rachel Kapelski: Music Director, GIANNI SCHICCHI
Abigail Payne Sanders: Associate Music Director, GIANNI SCHICCHI
Brian Osborne: Conductor, LE NOZZE DI FIGARO
Benjamin Spierman: Stage Director, LE NOZZE DI FIGARO
Scott Susong: Stage Director, THE HOTEL CASABLANCA/ Musical Theatre Showcase
Ben Sheaffer: Director, Sondheim Showcase
Spencer Blank: Music Director, THE HOTEL CASABLANCA
Jad Bernardo: Music Director, Musical Theatre Showcase
Dr. Don Maxwell: Voice
Dr. Stephen Austin: Guest Teaching Artist, Master Class
Jonathan Moots: Guest Artist
Other Selected Past Faculty
Dr. Don Maxwell (Vocal Instructor, 2011-present)
Gary Norden (Coach - Opera, 2011, 2012)
Brian Osborne (Collaborative Pianist, 2012, 2013, 2014)
Jad Bernardo (Collaborative Pianist, 2013, 2014)
Benjamin Spierman (Director 2013)
Scott Susong (2013, 2014)
Spencer Blank (2013)
Grant Jones (2013, 2014)
Abigail Payne Sanders (2013, 2014)