SROpera Artistic Staff
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Christopher Koch is currently Associate Professor of Music and Director of Orchestras and Wind Symphony at Drury University, Music Director of the Springfield Regional Opera, Music Director of the Springfield-Drury Civic Orchestra, and was Music Director of Ensemble 21, Springfield's professional contemporary music ensemble. He has appeared as a guest conductor with orchestras across the United States, Australia, and Canada and is nationally active as an early music specialist (recorder) in numerous recital, concerto, and conference performances. Under his direction, Drury ensembles have toured regionally and performed at conferences of the Missouri Music Educator's Association and Arkansas Music Educator’s Association, participated in national composer commission projects, and been recognized nationally by the College Band Director's Association, the American Prize Competition, and by numerous granting organizations. He received his Bachelor of Music degrees in flute performance and music education from the Eastman School of Music, Master of Music degrees in flute and orchestral conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, and the Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from the University of Washington. He is also a contributing author for the book series A Composer’s Insight: Thoughts, Analysis, and Commentary on Comtemporary Masterpieces for Wind Band (Meredith Music Publications). Dr. Koch resides in Springfield with his wife Danielle and daughter Ella.
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Executive Director and
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Artistic Director
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Michael Spyres was born and raised in the Ozarks and grew up in an extremely musical family. Mr. Spyres is one of the most sought after Tenors of his generation. Accomplished and acclaimed in the widest range of repertoire his career has taken him from the genres of Baroque to Classical to 20th century while firmly establishing himself as an expert within the Bel Canto repertoire as well as within Rossini and French Grand Opera.
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Michael has worked with some of the world's most renowned conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Valery Gergiev, Michele Mariotti, Alberto Zedda, and Evelino Pidò. In his meteoric rise Michael has quickly established himself as one of the greatest singers of his generation and has already sung at many of the world's most prestigious Opera houses and festivals worldwide such as Teatro San Carlo, Teatro La Scala, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Opera National de Bordeaux, Opera Comique, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Minnesota Opera, Opera Theatre Saint Louis, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Nederlands National Opera and the Chicago Lyric Opera.
In addition to his operatic career Mr. Spyres is equally accomplished within the concert world and has given concerts and recitals in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Pesaro, Bologna, Napoli, , Tokyo, Cape Town, Shanghai, Vienna, Dresden, Munich, Paris, Amsterdam, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago,
Michael Spyres has recorded Donizetti's Les Martyrs (Opera Rara), Rossini's Guillaume Tell, La gazzetta, Otello, Le siège de Corinthe (Naxos), and Petite Messe Solennelle (Naive), Mazzoni's Antigono (Dynamic), Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots (ASO), Schumann's Faust-Szenen (ASO), Verdi's Otello (CSO) and his solo album A Fool For Love (Delos).
Ciro in Babilonia from Pesaro (Opus Arte), Aureliano in Palmira (Arthaus), Guillaume Tell (Bongiovanni), and Les Contes d'Hoffmann from Barcelona (Erato) are available on DVD/Blu-Ray.
In addition to his operatic career Mr. Spyres is equally accomplished within the concert world and has given concerts and recitals in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Pesaro, Bologna, Napoli, , Tokyo, Cape Town, Shanghai, Vienna, Dresden, Munich, Paris, Amsterdam, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago,
Michael Spyres has recorded Donizetti's Les Martyrs (Opera Rara), Rossini's Guillaume Tell, La gazzetta, Otello, Le siège de Corinthe (Naxos), and Petite Messe Solennelle (Naive), Mazzoni's Antigono (Dynamic), Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots (ASO), Schumann's Faust-Szenen (ASO), Verdi's Otello (CSO) and his solo album A Fool For Love (Delos).
Ciro in Babilonia from Pesaro (Opus Arte), Aureliano in Palmira (Arthaus), Guillaume Tell (Bongiovanni), and Les Contes d'Hoffmann from Barcelona (Erato) are available on DVD/Blu-Ray.
Business Manager/Education Director
Sean Spyres is a performer and teacher from Springfield, Missouri. As a teacher, Spyres has taught K-12 Music, Drama, and started the first band program ever in the Chadwick R-1 school history. Sean has also taught numerous master classes, specifically on musical theatre vocal technique for the students of Tony Award nominee and Broadway veteran, Robert Westenberg. In addition to his academic teaching Mr. Spyres continues to maintain a successful private voice studio for over 12 years.
On the concert stage, in 2015 Spyres performed the role of Judas in “Jesus Christ Superstar” and was the tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with Springfield Mid-America Singers. Other regional performances include tenor soloist in Haydn’s “The Creation,” The Defendant “Trial by Jury,” Nanki-Poo “Hot Mikado,” Dancairo/Morales “Carmen,” Borsa “Rigoletto”, and
Benoit/Alcindoro “La Boheme” with Springfield Regional Opera (SROpera), as well as Frederic in "Pirates of Penzance" and Blind in "Die Fledermaus" with Light Opera Oklahoma (LOOK).
In 2006 Spyres made his European debut singing Don Ottavio in Mozart's "Don Giovanni" in Hartberg, Austria and also sang the role of Doge in Rossini's "Otello" in a production at the Rossini Festival in Bad Wildbad, Germany that is currently available under the Naxos label.Spyres also toured Japan with the Baden Stadttheater performing Gastone in "La Traviata" and sang as a tenor ensemble soloist with the Arnold Schoenberg Chor at the Aix en Provence Opera Festival. While working in Vienna, Spyres sang as a soloist with the Arnold Schoenberg Chor for a number of Mozart works dedicating the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth and also worked at the Raimund Theater as a soloist for the annual Weihnachtskonzert. Spyres received a Masters of Music in Opera Performance in 2003 from Wichita State University and a BM from Drury University in 2001.
On the concert stage, in 2015 Spyres performed the role of Judas in “Jesus Christ Superstar” and was the tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with Springfield Mid-America Singers. Other regional performances include tenor soloist in Haydn’s “The Creation,” The Defendant “Trial by Jury,” Nanki-Poo “Hot Mikado,” Dancairo/Morales “Carmen,” Borsa “Rigoletto”, and
Benoit/Alcindoro “La Boheme” with Springfield Regional Opera (SROpera), as well as Frederic in "Pirates of Penzance" and Blind in "Die Fledermaus" with Light Opera Oklahoma (LOOK).
In 2006 Spyres made his European debut singing Don Ottavio in Mozart's "Don Giovanni" in Hartberg, Austria and also sang the role of Doge in Rossini's "Otello" in a production at the Rossini Festival in Bad Wildbad, Germany that is currently available under the Naxos label.Spyres also toured Japan with the Baden Stadttheater performing Gastone in "La Traviata" and sang as a tenor ensemble soloist with the Arnold Schoenberg Chor at the Aix en Provence Opera Festival. While working in Vienna, Spyres sang as a soloist with the Arnold Schoenberg Chor for a number of Mozart works dedicating the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth and also worked at the Raimund Theater as a soloist for the annual Weihnachtskonzert. Spyres received a Masters of Music in Opera Performance in 2003 from Wichita State University and a BM from Drury University in 2001.
SROpera Affiliate Artists
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Chorus Master
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Dr. James R. Davidson currently serves as the Director of Music
Education and Director of Choral Activities at Drury University, Assistant Director of Music Ministries and Organist at First and Calvary Presbyterian Church, and Chorus Master of the Springfield Regional Opera. Previous appointments include Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Springfield Chamber Chorus, Korrepetitor of the Neue Eutiner Festspiele in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and Director of Choral Activities at Ozark and Hazelwood Central High Schools in Missouri. In addition to his academic and administrative duties, Davidson maintains an active performance career as a conductor, collaborative keyboardist, and chorister. He received the Bachelor of Science degree in Education (Vocal/Choral Emphasis) and Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Missouri State University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Kansas School of Music, where he was awarded the Sandra Keller- Daugherty Outstanding Choral Conductor Award. His professional affiliations include the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, ACDA, NAfME, and MMEA. |
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Amy Andreassen is Assistant Conductor of the Springfield
Regional Opera and of the Springfield-Drury Civic Orchestra. She is also an accomplished horn player and frequently performs throughout Southwest Missouri and Northwest Arkansas in a variety of ensembles including SoNA, Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, Springfield Symphony, Springfield Regional Opera Orchestra, and the Springfield-Drury Civic Orchestra. She earned a Master of Music degree in Horn Performance from Northern Illinois University in 2000, with emphases in conducting and theory. She was Director of Instrumental Activity at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska from 2000 to 2003. Classroom work quickly became one of her most rewarding endeavors. |
Assistant Conductor
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Accompanist
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Brian Christian is a professional pianist and composer. While earning his B.A. in Music from the University of California at Berkeley, he won first prize in the collegiate division of the
Bartok-Kabalevsky- Prokofiev International Piano Competition, and he also won the concerto competition at Berkeley. He worked with student singers in the production of his opera “The Little Prince.” During this time, he studied piano with Jeanne Stark and opera coaching and accompanying with Jonathan Khuner. While earning his M.M. in Composition at the Peabody Institute, he composed an opera scene “Eva” which was performed by the Peabody Opera department. He had composition lessons with Kevin Puts, Chen Yi, Libby Larsen, and Nicholas Maw. He studied opera coaching and diction with Eileen Cornett. Upon graduating from Peabody in 2008, he was awarded the Gustav Klemm award for exemplary work in composition. Currently Mr. Christian works as an adjunct music instructor at College of the Ozarks. He plays the piano for worship services at Grace Reformed Community Church in Harrison, and has participated in the Taneycomo Festival Orchestra summer festival for the past two summers. In his spare time he maintains his house, and his household of a wife and three children. |