AWC LEADERSHIP TEAM
The AWC has an incredible team who all volunteer their time and talent to creating unique and entertaining events. We are lucky to have such a talented and dedicated group who are passionate about spotlighting the works of marginalized genders. Thank you to them for their incredible and tireless work.
Marissa Barnathan (she/her) – Marissa is pursuing her MFA in Directing at ASU, currently in her 2nd year of the three year program. She is a multi-hyphenate artist who works as a director, choreographer, dancer, singer, actor, and activist. Recent productions at ASU include: The Rake's Progress (Choreographer & Assistant Director), The Wolves (Director), Safe at Home (Choreographer), La Comedia of Errors (Choreo. & Asst. Director), and Healing Wars (Asst. Director). Marissa uses the performing arts as a vehicle for positive social change, so she is thrilled to be a part of AWC, both on the leadership team and as an artist! #breakupwithplastic www.marissabarnathan.com
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Praised for her versatility, South Georgia native Yophi Adia Bost is a passionate educator and performer of several genres. She has performed professionally in genres ranging from Musical Theatre to Opera to Jazz for over 20 years. She received her BM in Choral Music Education with a MT minor from UNC Greensboro, and her MM in Musical Theatre/Opera from Arizona State University. Currently, she is based in Phoenix, AZ teaching voice in the Popular Music Program at ASU, and on the Voice Faculty at Chandler Gilbert Community College. She strives to spread love, light and laughter on and offstage. Instagram: @yophiadiamusic
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Zoë Cummard (She/Her)- Zoë is overjoyed to have the opportunity to be a part of the Arizona Women’s Collaborative. Zoë is a senior Music Learning and Teaching and Vocal Performance double major and has most recently finished performing in ASU’s production of The Rake’s Progress. She has found so much fulfillment and joy with the AWC, both as a leadership team member and as a performer.
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Karen Kelley (Mezzo-Soprano) is originally from Jefferson City, MO. She is currently in the second year of her Master’s in Music degree for Opera Performance at Arizona State University. She has performed with various programs including Springfield Regional Opera, Harrower Opera Workshop, the American Institute for Musical Studies, and the Opera Steamboat Artist Institute. Her most recent role performed this season was Pythia in ASU’s production of We’ve Got Our Eye On You by Nkeiru Okoye. Some of Karen’s favorite roles performed include Maurya in Vaughan Williams’ Riders to the Sea, Dritte Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and the Witch in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel. This summer, Karen will perform with Opera Steamboat in Colorado as a Resident Mezzo Artist. She is grateful to be a part of the AWC Leadership Team and work with such incredible people and artists!!
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Michelle Perez (She/Her/Hers) is a Mexican-American soprano known for technical mastery, stylistic versatility, and compelling characterizations. She sees every musical performance as an opportunity to communicate authentically, whether giving consolation to the hopeless or empowering someone to pursue their own dreams. From soloing in Mozart’s Requiem to Phillip Glass’ Songs from Liquid Days, her thorough training provides the security to embrace spontaneity and feeling in the moment. Recently, she has performed as Anne Truelove in The Rakes Progress, Marie in La fille du régiment, and Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel. Michelle will be completing her MM in Opera Performance this spring.
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Artistic Director and Co-founder of the Arizona Women’s Collaborative, Stephanie Sadownik (she/her) is also a charismatic and versatile performer, educator, and stage director. She has been an Apprentice Artist with Sarasota Opera, PORTopera and a three-time Opera Fellow awardee for the Aspen Opera Center. Ms. Sadownik has directed the following shows for ASU's MTO program: an original adaptation of The Fairy Queen, Trouble in Tahiti, Nora at the Altar-Rail, Hand of Bridge and The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace by Kamala Sankaram, and We’ve Got Our Eye on You by Nkeiru Okoye. She is passionate about new music and supporting marginalized genders in her work. As Artistic Director of AWC it is her mission to hold space for those voices usually on the sidelines. Including this year's cycle of the AWC Concerts, she is proud to say AWC has premiered 27 new works featuring women and non-binary writers, composers, performers, visual artists and dancers.
Stephanie Weiss, mezzo-soprano, is an assistant professor of voice at Arizona State University - Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts - School of Music, Dance and Theatre. She earned her bachelor's in music from New England Conservatory (voice), bachelor's in biology and drama Tufts University, master's in music from University of Missouri-Kansas City, Professional Studies Diploma from Mannes College of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts from University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Previously, she was assistant professor of voice at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a teaching fellow with the Metropolitan Opera Education Department, and has served on the faculty of COSI (Centre for Opera Studies in Italy) in Sulmona, Italy. She currently is on the faculty at Dramatic Voices Program at Opera Programs Berlin and since 2010, she has been on the voice faculty at AIMS in Graz.
A San Diego native, she was a Midwest Regional Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and at Mannes College of Music, a recipient of a Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation. As the winner of the American Berlin Opera Foundation Competition (now Opera Foundation), she became a member of Deutsche Oper Berlin as a Stipendiatin and continues to be a regular guest artist with the company. Roles at the Deutsche Oper Berlin have included Frasquita (Carmen), Musetta (La bohème), Erste Dame and Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Gerhilde and Grimgerde (Die Walküre), and Schlafittchen (Berlin premiere of Das Traumfresserchen), Marianne Leitmetzerin (Der Rosenkavalier), Aufseherin (Elektra), Johanna [cover] (Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna), and Venus [cover] (Tannhäuser) in the company's tour to Beijing.
On the concert stage, she debuted with the Berlin Philharmonic as the Cook in "Le Rossignol" under the baton of Pierre Boulez. She has also sung the role of Rose in "Lakmé" at Carnegie Hall with Opera Orchestra of New York under Eve Queler. She performed "Wesendonck Lieder" with the Henderson Symphony Orchestra, Mahler's "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen" and Symphony No. 4, and Strauss' "Vier letzte Lieder" with the L'viv Philharmonic (Ukraine), and Santuzza in "Cavalleria rusticana" with Singakademie Potsdam.
A versatile performer, she has also been seen at Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin as Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro) and Marthe (Faust), Oper Frankfurt as Musetta (La bohème), Oper Leipzig as Grimgerde (Die Walküre) and Stadttheater Bern, Oper Dortmund, and Oper Köln as Marianne Leitmetzerin. Other notable performances have included Venus in "Tannhäuser" with Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin, and the title role of Johanna in "Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna" by Walter Braunfels at Oper Köln.
An advocate of new music and art song, she performs frequently with her 'duo au courant' partner, pianist Christina Wright-Ivanova. They performed the world premiere of Jonathan Stark's song cycle "Passageway" at the National Opera Center and presented a lecture recital in Sydney, Australia. Recently, the duo's debut CD, "Sacred & Profane - Duo au Courant performs Song Cycles of Daren Hagen" was released on Albany Records and distributed by Naxos.