Richard is a South African born immigrant, a United States Marine, and combat veteran (Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003). His recent directing credits include: La bohème (Puccini); Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini); La traviata (Verdi); and Carmen (Bizet). Richard was an esteemed member of the chorus for eight seasons with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City where he worked with some of the greatest artists in the operatic

community. Mr. Gibson was honored to sing ‘God Bless America’ at game 2 of the 2014 World Series. He is the founder of the Voices Honoring Veterans Chorus as well as Chandler Opera Company.

Soprano Emily Gibson has been acclaimed as “a star equipped with a stellar soprano voice” by Broadway World, and praised for her “blooming high notes” by Opera Today. Emily is a versatile singer also noted for having a “delightful tapestry of vocal color” by Broadway World. Recent role credits include Violetta in La traviata (Verdi); Mimì and Musetta in La bohème (Puccini); Giannetta in L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti); Tatyana in Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky); Marie in The Bartered Bride (Smetana); Micaëla and Frasquita in Carmen (Bizet). 

Ms. Gibson has a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, and a Master’s degree in Opera Performance from Arizona State University. Emily is Vice President and Co-Founder of Chandler Opera Company.

Elisabeth Coleman completed her Masters Degree in Vocal Performance at Bringham Young University. She has performed across the United States, but calls Mesa her home. Her operatic roles include Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Alice Ford (Falstaff), Manon (Massenet’s Manon), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), First Lady (Die Zauberflöte), and

Annina (La Traviata). Elisabeth is a frequent featured soloist with Millennial Choirs and Orchestras in Arizona, California, Utah, and Idaho.

Dale DeWood has been praised for his ‘ample, sensuously edged bass-baritone’ as well as his ‘fantastically sharp’ comedic timing. Passionate for the musical stage in all its forms, Dale’s previous operatic and theatrical roles include Leporello (Don Giovanni), Gianni Schicchi (Gianni Schicchi), Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro), Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte) Javert (Les Misérables), and Judge Turpin (Sweeney Todd). He has performed extensively with Opera Memphis, as well as two seasons with Opera NEO; the San Diego residency program. He holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of Memphis’ Scheidt School of Music. 

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John Pierce Kraft is an Arizona based opera singer and actor with nearly 30 years of music experience. He was born in Connecticut, received his Bachelor’s at DePauw University in Indiana, and his Master’s in opera at Arizona State University. John made his debut with Chandler Opera Company in their inaugural production of La bohème as Alcindoro and Benoît. He recently performed Dr. Grevil in La traviata and has been a frequent performer in their Welcome to the Opera concert series. He can be heard in the audio series “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” as the Tin Woodman from Starrynight Productions and Soundbooth Theater.

Nicole Larsen has a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of New Mexico and received her Masters in Opera/Musical Theater Performance from Arizona State University in the spring of 2017.  In between degrees, Nicole's time was spent developing a music and choir program at a Montessori elementary school, directing and organizing several music education and outreach programs with the New Mexico Jazz Workshop, and performing around the world as the lead singer for Celebrity Enterprises.  Since then, she's enjoyed an international tour with Artrageous, as well as several operatic appearances in Germany.  Last season, Nicole enjoyed being a soloist with Arizona Cantilena Chorale. Now an Arizona Opera Ambassador, Nicole comes from a diverse musical background,  and has experience singing in jazz, musical theater, pop and classical styles.

Mezzo-soprano Sedona Libero is known for the authenticity, playfulness, and passion that she brings to the operatic stage. Libero made her professional debut with the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in 2018 and her professional symphonic debut in Mozart’s

Requiem with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. In 2024, she performed as a Studio Artist with Teatro Nuovo, has also appeared as a Young Artist with Opera Southwest, and as an Emerging Artist at the Seagle Festival. She has performed locally in Arizona as a Teaching Artist with Arizona Opera’s OperaTunity tour, and has been a regular guest

artist with Chandler Opera Company. Libero completed her graduate training at University of Michigan and baccalaureate work at Northern Arizona University. In 2024 she won the regional district for the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Vocal Competition. She is also a 2025 Studio Artist for Arizona Opera.

Baritone Mauricio Perusquia earned his MM in Opera Performance from Arizona State University and BM in Voice Performance from the University of Texas at El Paso. Mauricio has been a member of the Operatunity Troupe of Arizona Opera, bringing music to schools in the Phoenix area. Mr. Perusquia enjoys new works and has engaged in a number of them, to include Arizona Opera’s production of Silent Night, the New Works reading of the jazz interactive opera, Marie Begins, as well as concert works such as Cipher. He has also spent time as a Resident Artist with El Paso Opera and their Curbside Opera initiative.

Aaron Matthew Smith is a Tenor and Arizona native.

Recently, he has performed with Arizona Opera, Druid City Opera, First Coast Opera, and at the Brevard Music Festival, including roles such as Mr. Earlanson in A Little Night Music, The Wigmaker in Ariadne auf Naxos, Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress, Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor and Alfredo in La Traviata. Aaron also enjoys performing concert works. He was privileged to appear as the soloist in Joseph

Julian Gonzalez’s work Misa Azteca and as the tenor soloist cover in Verdi’s Requiem under Keith Lockhart. This season he looks forward ton his First Coast Opera debut in A Stranger’s Tale and Copland’s America. Aaron made hisChandler Opera Company debut as Alfredo in La Traviata

Soprano Melissa Solomon is currently an Ambassador with

Arizona Opera, Artist in Residence with the Scottsdale Philharmonic, and a member of the Arizona Opera chorus. She recently covered the roles of Sandrina in The Secret Gardener and Musetta in La Bohème with Arizona Opera (AZO). Additional roles include Agatha (world premiere of Frankenstein, AZO), Maria cover (The Sound of

Music, AZO), Echo (Ariadne auf Naxos, AZO), Johanna (Sweeney Todd, Music Theatre Alliance of Arizona), Despina cover (Così fan tutte, AZO), Maria (The Sound of Music, Scottsdale Desert Stages Theatre), Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare, Halifax Summer Opera and ASU). Melissa teaches voice lessons in her home studio in Gilbert.

Chinese Mezzo-soprano Wan Zhao earned her Bachelor’s degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She later completed a Master’s degree and a Professional Studies Diploma at Mannes School of Music in New York City. Wan made her operatic debut in 2017 as Erika in Samuel Barber’s Vanessa with The Mannes Opera, where she received critical acclaim from The New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini for her “rich, penetrating voice.” In 2019, she debuted several roles, including Soon-Yi Nam in Chautauqua Opera’s production of ¡Figaro! (90210). That same year, she performed as an alto soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra at NJPAC. Her operatic roles include Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Baba the Turk (The Rake’s Progress), and Olga (Eugene Onegin). Wan won the Golden Prize at the World Classical Music Awards in 2022 and was named a finalist for the 2024 Frances Walton Competition. She is currently pursuing her DMA degree at Arizona State University under the guidance of Dr. Stephanie Weiss, where she also serves as a Faculty Associate in the Voice Area.

Dr. Jeremy Peterman, pianist and organist, is active in the Phoenix Metropolitan area as a performer, recording artist, instructor, and vocal coach. He is proud to have been involved with every Chandler Opera Company production since its founding. Growing up in central North Carolina, he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

where he majored in Romance Languages and Piano. While earning his doctorate from Arizona State University, he was already playing for many productions of both Arizona Opera and Phoenix Opera, as well as under the baton of Michael Christie (Phoenix Symphony) in

Stravinsky’s Petrushka, John Adams’ On the Transmigration of Souls, and Golijov’s Ainadamar. In 2016, he completed his final summer as director of church music at the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in beautiful Graz, Austria—having been involved with the

program every summer since 2003. Dr. Peterman is the organist/handbell director at La Casa de Cristo Lutheran Church and he frequently collaborates with Arizona Musicfest and the Grammy Award-winning Phoenix Chorale. He has also recently been featured at the organ with the Phoenix Boys’ Choir and the Phoenix Symphony.

Dr. Peterman is the Principal Pianist of Chandler Opera

Company.

Catalin Rotaru, double bass, joined the School of Music at Arizona State University in 2005. Mr. Rotaru is in demand as a performer and clinician throughout the world. He is a graduate of the National University of Music from Bucharest, Romania and holds a master’s degree in music performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

He served as associate principal bass in the Romanian National Radio Orchestra, principal bass in the Sibiu Philharmonic Orchestra, Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra of Bucharest, associate principal and principal bass in Sinfonia Da Camera, and principal bass of the Orchestra Sinfonica Europea. In 2013, was honored with the “Recognition award for Solo Performance” by the International Society of Bassists. In 2012, Mr. Rotaru recorded his third CD, in collaboration with the National Symphony Orchestra of Paraguay, which includes the world premiere of a double bass performance of the famous violin concerto no. 5 by W.A. Mozart. Recently, Rotaru has been a frequent solo performer as recitalist or guest soloist with numerous symphony orchestras and gave master classes at many prestigious institutions and festivals in the United States, Asia, Europe and South America. Mr. Rotaru performs on a modern instrument made in Italy by Luciano Golia and a bow made by Marco Pasquino, and is a Pirastro Strings endorsing artist.

Esther Witherell is a violinist with a passion for making music meaningful for students and audiences. Originally from Upstate NY, she moved to AZ in 2019 to study music at ASU, earning her Master’s and Doctorate in Violin Performance by 2024. She has appeared as soloist and concertmaster with the Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra, as concertmaster with the Chandler Opera Company, and with the local string trio Simply Three. She currently freelances with local orchestras including West Valley Symphony and Sedona Symphony. She presents solo sacred music recitals, most recently an instrumental Tenebrae on April 13th. She maintains a private violin studio in Tempe, AZ,

Grace Wills is an accomplished Phoenix-based violinist and violist. With over 22 years of performance experience, Grace enjoys performing in a variety of musical genres such as classical, pop, rock, jazz, folk, and musical theater. She is currently Principal Second Violin in the West Valley Symphony and regularly performs in many ensembles throughout the state, including Arizona Opera, MusicaNova Orchestra, Arizona Philharmonic, The Phoenix Theatre Company, and Arizona Broadway Theatre. Grace received bachelor’s degrees in Violin Performance with Dr. Katherine McLin and in Economics with a minor in Health Care Compliance and Regulations at Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University. Grace played violin in Chandler Opera Company’s inaugural performance of La bohème.

Emilio Vazquez is a Phoenix-based violinist, violist, teaching artist, and arts leader with a B.M. and M.M. in Violin Performance from Arizona State University. He is Board President of Tetra String Quartet and co-founder of Lunar Calendar, an immersive live concert production

company. Emilio is passionate about curating creative spaces that inspire connection and expression. Emilio played violin in Chandler Opera Company’s production of La traviata.