SROpera Artistic Staff
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Christopher Koch is currently Music Director of the Springfield Regional Opera, Music Director of the Missouri Philharmonic, Music Director of the Madrona Festival, and a co-founder of the Ozarks Performing Arts League. He also serves as Executive Director of the Springfield Regional Opera and was formerly music director the the contemporary group Ensemble 21. He has appeared as a guest conductor with orchestras across the United States, Australia, and Canada and is active nationally as an early music specialist (recorder) in recital, concerto, and conference performances. Additionally, he is a fierce advocate for new music and has been privileged to work on projects or commissions with numerous composers including John Corigliano, Steven Stucky, Christopher Rouse, James Mobberley, Jonathan Newman, Nicolas Maw, Angelica Negron, Carlyle Sharpe, and DJ Sparr. Koch also spent two decades in higher education, most recently at Drury University. Under his direction, Drury ensembles toured regionally and performed at multiple state conferences, participated in composer commission projects, and were 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) and resides in Oregon 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
Resident Stage Director
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Mezzo soprano and stage director Dr. Ann Marie Wilcox-Daehn thrives on a performing career that includes oratorio, opera, art song, and musical theater. A frequent oratorio soloist, she has soloed at Carnegie Hall in the Mozart Requiem, Haydn’s Creation Mass, and Vivaldi’s Gloria and locally with the Springfield Symphony as the mezzo soloist forBeethoven 9 and Mahler 2. Internationally and domestically she performs in solo and chamber recitals with traditional as well as more obscure repertoire. Of the over 35 opera roles to her credit, favorites include Carmen; Dorabella in Cosí fan Tutte; Isabella in The Italian Girl from Algiers; Angelina/Cinderella in La Cenerentola; Aldonza in Man of la Mancha; Petra in A Little Night Music; and she created the role of Rosemary for the world premiere of Libby Larsen’s jazz opera, Picnic. Most recently she has been featured at the Springfield Regional Opera as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro and Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti. Wilcox-Daehn can be heard on the Albany Record label as Adah in Naughty Marietta, Bertha in The Red Mill, singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” on Gold & Silver: Celebrating 25 Years of Ohio Light Opera and she recently recorded the wind ensemble arrangement of De Toda La Eternidad by Libby Larsen with Dr. John Zastoupil and the MSU Wind Symphony. Her collaboration with pianist Dr. Elizabeth Avery earned the pair the Ernst Bacon American Prize for their performance of songs by Sergius Kagen. The team will be touring in 2019-2020 with a recital of songs by female composers that include Malibran, Viardot, Clara Schumann, Crawford Seeger, Price, and Larsen.
As the Director of the Missouri State University Opera Theatre, Wilcox-Daehn has staged and produced performances that span many style periods including full operas by Purcell, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Offenbach, Johann Strauss, Puccini, Menotti, and living composers including Trinkley, Kirchoff, Ching, and Conte. The ensemble performs for outreach events and concerts throughout Springfield and has excelled on the national stage with multiple first place in the nation accolades from the National Opera Association’s National Scenes Competition. Wilcox-Daehn is currently an Associate Professor of Voice and Opera. She serves as the Central Region Governor for the National Opera Association, is the Resident Stage Director for the Springfield Regional Opera and is a proud member of Actor’s Equity and AGMA. |
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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Stage Manager
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Lee Scarborough Chappell is known for her tenacity both on and off the stage as a singer, stage manager, and director. A native of Springfield, Lee has performed throughout the US and in Europe. Most recently a Young Artist with the Springfield Regional Opera she covered the role of Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, as well as Stage managed the production. After her time as a Young Artist Lee joined the company for their Mozart vs. Salieri Night performing Eleonora in Salieri’s Prima la Musica e poi le parole. Another of her recent appearances includes her performance of Fredrika in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music with Alamo City Opera.
Her signature roles include Adina in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Suor Genovieffa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Adele in Strauss Jr.’s Die Fledermaus, Marcelline from Beethoven’s Fidelio, and Sister Constance from Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites. |
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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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