Benjamin Sokol
Benjamin Sokol recently completed his Masters of Music at Manhattan School of Music. This season, he sang the role of Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Benjamin Britten, and Der Tod in Der Kaiser Von Atlantis by Viktor Ullmann and was a semi-finalist in the Premiere Opera Foundation competition.
This summer, he will be a Young Artist at the Merola Opera Program, where he will sing Commendatore in Don Giovanni, and Mefistofeles in Act II of Faust in the Schwabacher Summer Concert.
This fall Benjamin will be continuing his studies at Manhattan School of Music in the Professional Studies Certificate program, under the tutelage of James Morris.
“I cannot thank the Savannah VOICE Festival and VOICExperience enough. For young singers, it is so rare to receive mentorship and instruction at such a high level, not to mention the immense support artists receive from all of the patrons. I would not be the artist I am today without this organization.”
Emerson McAlister
We recently caught up with Emerson (they/he), formerly Emma, McAlister (as he has asked to be introduced), a lyric baritone currently based in San Francisco.
You may remember seeing him in our 2018 production of Speed Dating Tonight! by Michael Ching. He describes the role as “a very vulnerable and sad character in an opera that is generally funny” and said he enjoyed the experience of premiering a character whom had been written specifically for our production.
In addition to Speed Dating Tonight, during his time at the Savannah VOICE Festival Emerson sang in Master Classes and worked closely with Maria Spacagna in the Milnes VOICE Studio training program. He also began coaching the role of Countess in Le nozze do Figaro with Sherrill Milnes, a role he would sing in the Fall of 2019 at Carnegie Mellon University.
Emma Peterson
Emma Peterson made her Savannah VOICE Festival debut singing the role of Zerlina in our production of Don Giovanni during our 2023 Season. We sat down to talk about what she is up to now and ask her and about her experience balancing her work as a freelancer singer with being a new mom.
Emma has performed roles including Contessa di Folleville in Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims, Yvette in the Canadian premiere of Weinberg’s The Passenger, and was most recently seen as Zerlina in Opera Tampa’s production of Don Giovanni, directed by our very own Maria Zouves. She also concertizes in the United States and Canada.
Upcoming, she will be performing the role of Violetta in La Traviata with Bellevue Opera this fall and singing with several choirs around Seattle.
Kerby Baier
Currently based in North Carolina, Kerby Baier was a studio artist with the Savannah VOICE Festival in 2020 and 2021. She teaches voice at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and sings with North Carolina Opera’s chorus and the
Servire Chorus, a professional vocal ensemble that is also act as a service organization through partnerships with local charities,
She is currently an artist in residence with Opera Colorado where she sang Zerlina this fall in their mainstage production of Don Giovanni, a role she learned and prepared during her time in the Milnes VOICE Studio. She has also sung the roles of Adina in L’elisir d’amore and Tisbe in La Cenorentola with Opera Colorado.
“I want to send a big thank you to Maria for all of that work she personally did with me. In November of last year I sang Zerlina with Opera Colorado. All of the preparation Maria did with me went so far in bolstering my confidence and readiness for the role. This was my first mainstage role, and because of the time she took with me, I felt I could really offer my best.”
Vianca Alejandra
Since her time as a studio artists in 2019, Vianca Alejandra performed extensively around the globe. After graduating from Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music in 2022, she became a member of the New York Philharmonic Chorus and was appointed Assistant Conductor to The Dessoff Choirs.
She performed the role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with the International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia in Morelia, Mexico and debuted as Kathie in The Student Prince with Regina Opera in Brooklyn. She was the 2023 Puerto Rico District Winner of The Metropolitan Opera House Laffont Competition.
This season she performed as a member of the New York Philharmonic Chorus at both premieres of Émigré with the New York Philharmonic in NYC and with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in Shanghai, China. She was also part of the Deutsche Grammophon recording of the piece. In March of 2024 she made her Carnegie Hall debut.
“I will always cherish my memories of the Savannah Voice Festival. The many benefits I received from the program included learning from the legendary Sherrill Milnes, gaining important experience for my musical resume, talking to singers at various stages of their careers, and being part of a truly welcoming artistic community. My time in the program also coincided with a painful stage of my life. My dear mentor and former faculty from the SVF program, Antonio Barasorda, had passed away shortly before the program began. I will never forget the support and compassion that I received from the program faculty and community, especially from Maria Zouves. This support motivated me to continue performing and return a second year. I am ever grateful to them.”
Liz Lang
Liz Lang joined the VOICE family in 2019 when she won the Sherrill Milnes American Opera Award at the American Traditions Vocal Collection.
Since that initial meeting she has been involved with the festival in each subsequent year with highlights including her solo, headliner recital “Prohibition” and Mimì in La Bohème in 2021, Fiona in Brigadoon in the 2022 season, and as a soloist in concert with The Fabulous Equinox Orchestra the 2023 season. Of her time in Savannah she says, “I’ve made some of my best friends in Savannah. As soon as I met the VOICE staff and artists, I knew they were family.”
Santiago Ballerini
Santiago Ballerini, tenor, is a long-time favorite of Savannah VOICE Festival’s audiences, singing with our Festival since Season 1. You may remember him as the titular young lover Romeo in Roméo et Juliette (left, below) in 2016 or our 2017 Barber of Seville (right, below).
Santiago has been involved with the Milnes VOICE Programs at all levels: training within the programs, performing roles and recitals in the Festival, and even teaching in the Milnes VOICE Studio when it moved online for the 2020 season.
Andrew Bisantz
This week we caught up with Maestro Andrew Bisantz. Maestro Bisantz has been been with the company since 2007, beginning with his involvement in VOICExperience in Florida. In 2014, he conducted the company’s first production in Savannah, Don Giovanni. He has subsequently conducted Carmen, Le nozze di Figaro, Dialogues of the Carmelites, La bohème, Michael Ching’s A Royal Feast, The Medium, Ching’s Alice Ryley and Anna Hunter, and Don Giovanni in the 2023 season.
Peter Lake
Peter Lake has been a beloved member of the VOICE Family since 2017. The last time we saw him at the festival he dazzled audiences with his Mario Lanzo Concert at the Charles H. Morris Center. After leaving Savannah, Peter performed as a featured ensemble member for Pensacola Opera’s Forty Forward: Celebrating Four Decades of Opera in Pensacola at the historic Saenger with full orchestra as well as giving many concerts throughout the fall of 2022.
Elizabeth De Trejo
Elizabeth De Trejo served as the Director of Camp VOICE, the Sherrill Milnes VOICE Programs training opportunity for high school students for two summers. She delights in sharing her knowledge with young artists, empowering them to go into the world to create joyfully.
She first met Sherrill Milnes and Maria Zouves while singing the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor at Opera Tampa and was subsequently invited to sing in the the Savannah VOICE Festival’s 2014 production of Don Giovanni in the role of Donna Elvira.