Faculty
Dr. Leslie John Flanagan
Associate Professor of Music (Voice)
Office: Carpenter Hall 210
Australian baritone Leslie John Flanagan has performed leading roles throughout Australia, Europe and the USA, including performances at the Sydney Opera House, in London at English National Opera’s Coliseum, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Janacek Theatre in Brno and at the Edinburgh Festival. Recent operatic performances include Mitrovsky in the première of Twice Upon a Birthday for The Metropolitan Opera Guild, and Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte) with Southern Plains Opera. Dr. Flanagan earned the bachelor’s degree in music from the Queensland Conservatorium in Brisbane, Australia, and the master’s degree in opera performance from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Music) in Glasgow, Scotland. Upon completion of his master’s studies, he became an inaugural member of English National Opera’s prestigious Jerwood Young Singer’s Programme in London.
Roles with English National Opera, included Rossini’s Figaro, Guglielmo Cosi fan tutte, Schaunard La Boheme, Morales Carmen, Barney in the world première of Mark Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassie alongside Gerald Finley, Donner Das Rheingold, and Ned Keene Peter Grimes. Other credits included Guglielmo in Paris, Escamillo Carmen for the Longbourough Festival Opera, Silvio Pagliacci for Haddo House Opera, the title role in Don Giovanni (Edinburgh Festival), Smirnov The Bear, and Demetrius A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Papageno The Magic Flute in Australia and Carmen and Dead Man Walking with the Fort Worth Opera. Dr. Flanagan is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Australian Singing Competition’s Royal Conservatory of Scotland Award, the Sir Alexander Gibson Memorial Scholarship, the Texaco International Opera Prize, the Shreveport Singer of the Year Competition Delbert Chumley Award, and the Benton-Schmidt Competition; he was a Semi-Finalist in the Kathleen Ferrier Awards, Quarter-Finalist in the Montreal International Singing Competition, representing Australia and the audience prizewinner and first runner-up in the Birmingham Opera Competition.
Concert engagements include Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Canterbury Choral Society and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Carmina Burana with Sir David Willcocks at the Royal Albert Hall, London, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra, Britten’s War Requiem at the Bratislava and Brno International Music Festivals, a concert performance of Prokofiev’s War and Peace at the BBC Proms, and a recital of German Lieder with pianist Wolfram Rieger at London’s Wigmore Hall. He has worked with many of opera’s and classical music’s leading conductors, accompanists and directors, including Sir Charles Mackerras, Edward Gardner, Paul Daniel OBE, David Parry OBE, Graham Johnson, Sir Jonathan Miller, Keith Warner, Deborah Warner, David Freeman and Spanish director Calixto Bieto.
Dr. Flanagan’s professional recording credits include the First Apprentice on Chandos’ recording of Wozzeck, Barney in ENO’S live world premiere recording of The Silver Tassie, also available on DVD from the BBC, Bach’s St. John Passion with the BBC, and on Roger Webster’s Travels with my Trumpet with English soprano Janis Kelly.
Dr. Flanagan’s students have performed at opera houses throughout the United States, including the Santa Fe Opera, Washington National Opera, and Houston Grand Opera. Current and former students have also been accepted to young artist and postgraduate level programs, including the Cafritz Young Artist program at Washington National Opera, the young artist studio at Opera Colorado, the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and the Mannes School of Music in NYC, among others. His students have won awards at national and international competitions, including NATS, the International Mediterranean Music Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Dr. Flanagan continues his active national and international singing career while teaching and conducting masterclasses throughout the USA, UK, and in his native Australia.
Acclaimed in the German press for her “phenomenal coloratura-technique and superior high register”, soprano Valerie Bernhardt’s voice has also been praised for her “molten mezzo quality and lovely high range” by the Washington Post.
Recently, Valerie was pleased make her debut with the Lyric Opera of Rochester, reprising the role of Victoria Woodhull in Victoria Bond’s Mrs. President.
Ms. Bernhardt’s 2014-2015 season saw her join the Lyric Opera of Chicago where she covered the role of Elisabeth in its production of Tannhäuser. During the 2013-14 season, she reprised the role of Abigaille in Verdi’s Nabucco with ArtsNaples World Festival/Opera Naples, sang the title role in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah with Coro Lirico in Morristown, NJ, and was the soprano soloist in Bruckner’s Te Deum with the New Jersey Symphony at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark NJ.
During the 2012-2013 season, she made her debut with Anchorage Opera in the World Premiere of Victoria Bond’s opera, Mrs. President. She portrayed the title role of Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for the U.S. Presidency in 1872. Valerie also sang the role of Brünnhilde in Die Walküre in concert with New York Lyric Opera Theater.
The 2011-2012 season brought Valerie back to Boheme Opera NJ in Trenton to perform the title role of Tosca, and a reprise of her performance of the title role of Turandot with Coro Lirico in Basking Ridge, NJ. She also returned to Carnegie Hall to perform Mozart’s Requiem with the St. Cecilia Chorus and Orchestra in a memorial tribute to the late David Randolph.
In 2009-2010, Valerie appeared on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera, as a cover in From the House of the Dead by Janácek and sang the title role of Aida with Coro Lirico. In 2008-2009 Valerie sang the role of Brünnhilde in Wagner’s Siegfried with New Jersey Concert Opera, Abigaille in Nabucco and Turandot with Coro Lirico, and Tosca with Opera at Florham. Ms. Bernhardt also made her German operatic debut in July 2009 as Abigaille in Verdi’s Nabucco with Theater Pforzheim.
She made her Carnegie Hall debut with Eve Queler's Opera Orchestra of New York in Donizetti's Adelia, as well as her New York City Opera debut in Janácek's The Cunning Little Vixen. Other operatic roles include Mimi in Puccini's La bohème with the Pittsburgh Opera and Boheme Opera of New Jersey; Valentine in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico; Hélène in Verdi's Jerusalem with the Opera Orchestra of New York; the First Lady in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with The New York City Opera and Pittsburgh Opera. Ms. Bernhardt has covered the role of Desdemona in Verdi's Otello and the title role of Anna Bolena with Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall. She also made several appearances at Carnegie Hall with the St. Cecilia Chorus and Orchestra to perform Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem, Mozart's Requiem, and C.P.E. Bach's Magnificat.
Ms. Bernhardt has earned two graduate degrees in voice from The Juilliard School, and has trained at the opera programs at Chautauqua, Aspen, The Pittsburgh Opera Center, and the Daniel Ferro Vocal Program. Valerie was a participant in the Wagner Emerging Singers Program founded by the late Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart under the auspices of the Wagner Society of Washington, DC.
Valerie has distinguished herself in various competitions, including the 2007 Liederkranz Foundation Competition (3rd Prize, Wagner Division) as well as the Palm Beach Vocal Competition, and Opera at Florham Vocal Competition, and has won career grants from The Wagner Society of Washington, DC, The Wagner Society of New York, Opera Index, and The Sullivan Foundation.
American Tenor Joel Burcham has performed numerous operatic roles with professional opera companies all around the United States, including Utah Opera, Central City Opera, Opera Omaha, Madison Opera, Knoxville Opera and Painted Sky Opera. Jim Edwards of the Chicago Tribune once described Mr. Burcham’s voice as “lyrical and smooth as silk, but when he opened up his voice, beautiful, loud, steely notes poured forth,” and Chris Shull of the Wichita Eagle described it as a voice of “clarion tone and operatic power.” Joel’s most successful roles include Alfredo – La Traviata, Don José – Carmen, Pinkerton – Madama Butterfly, Cavaradossi – Tosca, and Faust – Faust.
As a concert soloist, Mr. Burcham has performed with Utah Symphony, Hawaii Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Madison Symphony, Colorado Mahlerfest, South Bend Symphony and the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria. Joel’s guest soloing is well-acquainted with Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Missa Solemnis, Mozart’s Reqieum, Verdi’s Requiem, Haydn’s Creation, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Britten’s War Requiem and Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. As a recitalist, Mr. Burcham’s most-performed song cycles include Schumann’s Dichterliebe, Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte, Britten’s The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, and Schubert’s Die Winterreise. In 2014, Joel was awarded a Faculty Investment Program Grant through the University of Oklahoma’s Research Council to commission and premiere a new work setting nine sonnets of John Donne for voice and piano by American art song composer Juliana Hall. Dr. Burcham and Dr. Elizabeth Avery premiered this new work at the University of Oklahoma in November 2014.
As a secondary musical interest, Dr. Burcham is an avid fan, professor and practitioner of heavy metal music and hard rock. He co-developed a course in heavy music for undergraduate non-music majors at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Dr. Burcham re-booted the same course at the University of Oklahoma, and MUNM 2513 Music in the Rock Era: Heavy Metal is an active course in the University of Oklahoma General Education quadrant for non-music majors. Joel has a heavy metal recording project called Thlipsis where he serves as primary songwriter, lyricist, vocalist and rhythm guitarist, with singles on Spotify, Apple Music and iTunes.
Dr. Joel Burcham has music degrees in vocal performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (DMA), the University of Arkansas (MM) and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (BM). He currently serves as Associate Professor of Voice at the University of Oklahoma School of Music, and he has previously served on the voice faculties of the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
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Acclaimed by critics for her portrayal of the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, Lorraine Ernest has captivated audiences in opera houses across the United States and Europe. Peter G. Davis of New York Magazine remarked, “Lorraine Ernest brought down the house with her spectacular arias.” Ms. Ernest has performed this signature role with notable organizations, including the New York City Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Washington National Opera, and the Denver Symphony Orchestra, under the distinguished baton of Marin Alsop. Her engagements also include performances with Opera Grand Rapids, Palm Beach Opera, Central City Opera, and the Volksoper in Vienna.
Her repertoire further encompasses a celebrated debut with the Opera Company of Philadelphia as Elvira in L’Italiana in Algeri, a performance that was broadcast nationwide on PBS and featured a stellar cast, including Stephanie Blythe, Juan Diego Florez, and Arthur Woodley. Other significant performances include her Carnegie Hall debut, where she sang the role of Mademoiselle Jouvenot in a concert version of Adriana Lecouvreur with the Opera Orchestra of New York, as well as her debut with the Los Angeles Opera in the role of Princess Tatishchev alongside Placido Domingo in Nicholas and Alexandra. Additionally, her extensive repertoire includes the title roles of Lucia di Lammermoor, Lakme, the lead role of Violetta in La traviata, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Olympia in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, Musetta in La bohème, and Adele in Die Fledermaus.
Beyond her accomplished solo performance career, Lorraine Ernest received her Bachelor of Music and Masters degree from Oklahoma City University. As well, she was invited and attended the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, where she obtained her Artist Diploma from the world-renowned institution. Now dedicated to teaching the next generation of vocalists, she has served on the voice faculties at Montclair State University, Seton Hall University, and is currently on the faculty of the University of Oklahoma. Her students have achieved remarkable success on and off Broadway, with affiliations to esteemed organizations such as Utah Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Washington National Opera Young Artist Program, San Francisco Opera, and various companies across Asia, Europe, and the United States.
Dr. Hyun Kim, a versatile artist, maintains a diverse career encompassing various roles such as pianist, vocal coach, conductor, and educator. Before joining the University of Oklahoma as an assistant professor of vocal coaching, she held positions as an assistant teaching professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) and visiting professor in Collaborative Piano, as well as Music Director/Conductor of the University Opera Theater at the University of Arkansas. Internationally recognized, she has been appointed as a visiting professor at institutions such as the Federal University of Santa Catarina and the University of Campinas in Brazil. Actively engaged in international scholarly organizations, Kim also serves on the board of the Sintonize Produtora Cultural-International Music Festival in Brazil. Her performances and interviews have been broadcast on KBS, KVOD-FM Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, and NGT Sao Paulo. After her early education in Korea, Kim earned degrees from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris. Currently, Kim is involved in an installation exhibition project in partnership with the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, sponsored by the Walton Family Foundation.
Dr. Nicole Kenley-Miller
Assistant Professor of Music
Opera Stage Director
Email: nicolekenleymiller@ou.edu
Office: Reynolds Performing Arts Center 1265
Website: nicolekenleymiller.com
Dr. Nicole Kenley-Miller is known for her colorful and embodied productions of opera and music theatre, both on stage and film. Her work has premiered off-Broadway in New York and has been featured on The Kennedy Center’s Arts Across America Series. She is very much at home both on and off the stage as a director, producer, singer, and creative artist. Her long career as a professional singer is the foundation on which her stage direction is built, providing a unique understanding of the needs of singing actors.
She previously served as Production Manager and Stage Director for University of Houston's Moores Opera Center, where she directed and produced Sondheim on Sondheim, The Bartered Bride, Albert Herring, La Rondine, The Secret Marriage, and Gianni Schicchi. For the screen, she created opera films of Trouble in Tahiti and A Hand of Bridge featuring the students at UH. Her direction and design concept for the films garnered multiple awards from national and international film competitions and took First Prize in both The American Prize and National Opera Association Opera Production Competitions.
Most recently, she has served as the first new stage director in the forty-year history of Houston's Gilbert and Sullivan Society, directing The Pirates of Penzance in the summer of 2023, about which the Houston Press called her direction "immensely likable" and "full of ingenuity." She has also directed professionally for Houston's Opera in the Heights in sold-out productions of Amahl and the Night Visitors and La Bohème, the latter for which Opera Magazine noted her "spirited handling" of the stage direction.
In Summer of 2024, Dr. Kenley-Miller made her European directing debut in a production of Il filosofo di campagna, a co-production of the Pergolesi Foundation in Jesi, Italy, and the FIO-Italia Festival in Urbania. The production was enjoyed by audiences in the historic Bramante Theatre in Urbania and an open-air performance in Morro d'Alba. She will be returning to direct again with the Pergolesi Foundation and FIO-Italia in the future.
As Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Sugar Land Opera, she helped establish the former Imperial Theatre, the first professional theatre space in Fort Bend County. There she directed Hansel and Gretel, The Impresario, and the US premiere of Howard Blake's The Station for Sugar Land Opera, in addition to producing a wide range of programming including theatre, choral society, and educational opera and musical theatre workshops.
Throughout her career, she has worked fluidly between the opera and music theatre genres. She directed the first musical produced by the Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts at University of Houston, a collaborative production of Little Shop of Horrors between the Schools of Music and Theatre and Dance. Previously her work in music theatre has included Camelot and a revue of Rodgers and Hammerstein for Lone Star College – Cy Fair; a revue of Leonard Bernstein's music for Houston Baptist University; Annie for the Navasota Arts Alliance; and multiple music theatre workshops for the former Imperial Performing Arts in Sugar Land.
Her latest creative venture is the founding of Intersection Arts, an organization which explores the convergence of different art forms to speak to social and cultural issues of our day. Its first production was The Women Have Something to Say, a newly-composed theatrical music work that premiered in 2021 in Houston which celebrates women’s voices. Excerpts of the show were featured on the Kennedy Center’s pandemic livestream series Arts Across America and a new version of the work premiered off-Broadway at Nancy Manocherian's the cell theatre in New York City in May 2023.
- DMA (Vocal Performance, minor in Opera Directing) - University of Houston
- MM (Vocal Performance and Opera) - Eastman School of Music
- BM (Vocal Performance) - Hardin-Simmons University
One of America's leading bass-baritones, Mark McCrory quickly rose to prominence at an early age and has garnered attention for his strong, commanding, wide-ranging voice and his versatility as a performer in both comic and serious roles.
Mr. McCrory recently made his European debut with the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma as Marco in William Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge, a role he created in the world premiere at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Recent performances include Sparafucile in Rigoletto for Nashville Opera, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor for Mobile Opera, Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Virginia Opera, Ferrando in Il Trovatore for Kentucky Opera, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro for New Orleans Opera, the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance with The Living Opera, Nourabad in Les Pêcheurs des Perles with Indianapolis Opera, Escamillo in Carmen with the East Texas Symphony/Opera East Texas, and Tom Carter in the Texas premiere of Thomas Pasatieri’s Hotel Casablanca with Abilene Opera. He has enjoyed a long association with The Dallas Opera and performed numerous roles including Lord Rochefort in Anna Bolena, the Duke of Verona in Romeo et Juliette, Nikitich/Police Officer/Chernikovsky in Boris Godunov, Montano in Otello, the First Nazarene in Salome, the High Priest in Nabucco, and Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos as well as roles in Die Zauberflöte, La Rondine, Lohengrin, Macbeth, The Merry Widow, La Traviata, and The Aspern Papers.
As an alumnus of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists (now the Ryan Opera Center), he performed many roles with the Lyric Opera of Chicago including Monterone in Rigoletto, Zuniga in Carmen, and Marco in the world premiere of Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge, a role he repeated with the Portland Opera. Mostly known for his Mozart portrayals, Mr. McCrory has performed the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro with Hawaii Opera Theatre, Minnesota Opera, Opera Festival of New Jersey, and Opera Longview and the title role in Don Giovanni with Opera Pacific, Madison Opera, and Wichita Grand Opera. Other notable past engagements have included Olin Blitch in Susannah with Hawaii Opera Theatre, Capellio in Bellini's I Capuleti e I Montecchi for the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Claudius in Thomas' Hamlet with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Sparafucile in Rigoletto and Nettuno/ Tempo in Il Ritorno D'Ulisse in Patria for Glimmerglass Opera, Friar Lawrence in Romeo et Juliette for Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Zuniga in Carmen for the Florentine Opera and Baltimore Opera, Angelotti in Tosca for the Florida Grand Opera, the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance for Opera Longview, and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor and Ferrando in Il Trovatore for the Portland Opera.
On the concert stage, Mr. McCrory has appeared as Don Fernando in Fidelio with the Chicago Symphony conducted by Daniel Barenboim, bass soloist in the Verdi Requiem with the Quad Cities Symphony and the Canterbury Choral Society, Handel's Messiah with the Richmond Symphony, Pacific Symphony, and the Canterbury Choral Society, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass with the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Chicago Youth Symphony, and in performances with New York's Mostly Mozart Festival in Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri. He also appeared in a duo recital with Dolora Zajick at the Morgan Library in New York in the George London Foundation Recital Series. His recordings include Marco in A View from the Bridge (world premiere) by William Bolcom with Lyric Opera of Chicago on New World Records and Bass Soloist in Every Matter Under Heaven (premiere oratorio) by Lee Johnson on Jammates Records.
Mark McCrory is a winner of numerous competitions and awards, including first place in the 2002 Opera Index Competition, a George London Foundation Award (1999) and a Sara Tucker Study Grant (1998). Previously, he was a 1994 national winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a 1997 Sullivan Foundation Award Winner. He also won first place in the MacAllister Awards Competition in both the Professional Division (1997) and College Division (1994).
A native of Dallas, Texas, Mark McCrory received both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Vocal Performance at the University of North Texas, where he was a student of Dr. Edward Baird. While in the Lyric Opera Center, he studied voice with Margaret Harshaw and currently studies with Armen Boyajian. In the fall of 2014, he joins the faculty at the University of Oklahoma, having previously taught at the University of Missouri and the University of North Texas.
Pianist Erin Palmer, hailing from Douglas, Georgia, is a dynamic vocal coach most recently based at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her extensive career encompasses both secondary and higher education teaching as well as performing across multiple genres from concerti to piano bar standards. A Repetitor for the American Institute for Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, she has also collaborated with elite organizations including the Marcello Giordani International Voice Competition, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Atlanta Opera, Charlotte Symphony, and Opera Carolina.
Erin's training includes the University per Stranieri di Perugia, Alliance Francaise d'Atlanta, ActiLingua Academy Vienna, SongFest, AIMS, and the Eastern Music Festival. She holds a DMA from the University of North Carolina - Greensboro and performance degrees from Valdosta State University. Most recently, she was a distinguished member of the inaugural 2022 Piano-Vocal Accompaniment Residency at McGill University and University de Montreal. Aside from music, Erin is passionate about traveling and eating.
Professor Lorne Richstone was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. From 1982 to 2006 he was on the coaching staff of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Germany, where he played under a host of prominent conductors and coached and appeared in performance with many of the world’s leading singers.
In addition to his duties as an opera coach, Mr. Richstone taught vocal repertoire at both the Hans Eisler Hochschule für Musik and Universität der Künste in Berlin. He is presently artistic advisor to the Hong Kong Festival and has performed frequently at the Macau International Music Festival in China. He has concertized and has given master classes in Germany, United States and Canada. He coached "Magic Flute" for the Opera Lyra Ottawa, Canada, "Don Carlos" in Riga, Latvia, "Carmen" in Shanghai, China, and "Romeo et Juliette," "Le Nozze di Figaro," and "Rigoletto" at the International Music Festival Macau, China. At the prestigious Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland he played productions of "Madama Butterfly" and "Der Fliegende Holländer".
His recordings include "Carmina Burana" (Orff) and "Salome" (Strauss) for Deutsche Gramophon, "La Vita Nuova" (E. Wolf-Ferrari) for Koch-Schwann and "Jakob Lenz" by W. Rihm for Harmonia Mundi.
Lorne Richstone joined the University of Oklahoma School of Music in September 2006 as Assistant Professor of Vocal and Opera Coaching.
Dr. Jonathan Shames
Professor of Orchestral Conducting
OU Opera Theater Artistic Director
Email: jshames@ou.edu
Dr. Jonathan Shames is Director of Orchestral Studies, Music Director and Conductor of the OU Symphony and Artistic Director and Conductor of OU Opera Theater. His previous positions included the music directorships of the Wyoming Symphony; the Olympia (Washington) Symphony; and the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras and its Marrowstone Music Festival. He came to OU from the University of Michigan, where he was Associate Director of Orchestras and directed the University Philharmonia and Contemporary Directions Ensemble.
Shames' work as musical assistant to Sarah Caldwell of the Opera Company of Boston (at age 19) led to his first conducting opportunities, when Caldwell invited him to lead performances of Puccini's Girl of the Golden West and Mozart's Don Giovanni. Since that time, he has frequently been associated with the company, leading several tours and Boston performances. Shames has performed with the Clermont-Ferrand (France) Conservatoire Orchestra, the Reno Chamber Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, Sewanee Festival and Pine Mountain Festival Symphony Orchestras. His performance of Anthony Brandt's opera The Birth of Something, with the Houston-based ensemble Musiqa, appears on Albany Records.
As a pianist, since winning a finalist diploma in the 1982 Moscow International Tchaikovsky Competition, Shames has performed in France, Finland, South Korea, and Russia, as well as across the U.S. Together with his wife, pianist Stephanie Leon Shames, he founded and served as artistic director of The Boston Players, a chamber music ensemble that performed from 1992 to 1997. He has recorded with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and Cologne Radio Symphony, toured with the Novosibirsk (Russia) Philharmonic and the Radio and Television Orchestra of Belgrade, and appeared as soloist with the Seoul (S. Korea) Sinfonietta, Tomsk (Russia) Symphony, and in the U.S., the Boston Pops, the Reno Chamber Orchestra, and the symphonies of Seattle, Tacoma, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Chattanooga and Springfield (MA). Shames' performance of Daniel Asia's Scherzo-Sonata, a work written for him, appears on Summit Records.
Shames studied piano performance at the University of Michigan with Theodore Lettvin and Leon Fleisher. He was a conducting fellow of the Tanglewood Institute in 1994 and has worked with Seiji Ozawa, Bernard Haitink, Gustav Meier, Gerard Schwarz and Samuel Jones. He has taught at Cornell University, SUNY-Binghamton, Rutgers University, the Chautauqua Institute, Oberlin Conservatory and Interlochen.
- DMA (Piano Performance) - University of Michigan
- MM (Piano Performance) - University of Michigan
- BA (Philosophy) - Yale University
