My Students

An excerpt from Mike Anderle's performance in the 2015 Sing Along Messiah.

An excerpt from Nick Huff's performance in the 2015 Sing Along Messiah.

This aria is "Il lacerato spirito" and it comes from the prologue to Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Simon Boccanegra."   The character of Jacopo Fiesco has just discovered that his beloved daughter has died - and the aria conveys the mixture of anger and grief which he is feeling.  I really love the way Nic sang

Nic Sluss-Rodionov lived for a time in France and spoke French beautifully, so it's no surprise that he sings two of the Don Quichotte Songs of Maurice Ravel will exceptional grace and skill.

It's hard not to feel a special chill when listening to my former student Nic Sluss-Rodionov sing Schubert's "Death and the Maiden."  This song is very seldom sung by male singers,  but I love how Nic so beautifully embodied both the fear of the maiden in the first half as well as the quiet, soothing

Here is another excerpt from the senior recital of bass-baritone Nic Sluss-Rodionov.   He had a deep and rich affinity with the Lieder of Franz Schubert and I especially love the way he sang "Der Wanderer."  The text is uttered by someone who finds themselves wandering in a strange land, far from home, surrounded by

I regret that my former student Nic Sluss-Rodionov never had the chance to perform the role of Leporello in a full performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni.  He would have been absolutely perfect in the part. Leporello is Don Giovanni's right hand man - and in this so-called Catalog Aria,  he is describing to Donna Elvira

This is from the senior voice recital of Nicholas Sluss-Rodionov,  a former voice student of mine who was killed in a car accident earlier this year;  He was 33 years old. His recital was chock full of difficult music,  and he began the program in blazing fashion:  with "Why do the nations so furiously rage?"