Our Masterclasses

Every Schmidt Youth Vocal Competition offers a master class as part of the day-long event. It is an opportunity for three or four of the competitors to receive hands-on coaching from one of our judges.

The following are brief biographies of judges from recent Schmidt competitions.  As you will see they have a vast range of experience and are dedicated teachers.  We invite them solely to support and advise the young singers attending our competitions.

An Amazing Operatunity

Dr. Alfonse Anderson, Vocal Area Coordinator and Associate Professor of Voice at University of Nevada Las Vegas received his bachelor and master's degrees in music from Texas Southern University, and DMA in voice and pedagogy from the University of Arizona.
He has taught voice for over 15 years and in that time his students have won regional, national and international vocal competitions with such notable organizations as the Bel Canto Competition, MET Opera, NATS, Leontyne Price, Palm Spring Vocal Competition to name a few. Many of his students have performed in Young Artist Programs such as the internationally famous Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Chautaugua Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Aspen Music Festival, Des Moines Opera, Opera North and Portland Opera.
Dr. Anderson has performed in the United States with such notable organizations as the Houston Grand Opera, Arizona Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Minnesota Opera, Oakland Opera, Virginia Opera, Opera South, Opera Columbus, Opera North and Chicago Opera Theater.
Dr Anderson has performed in concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra, Chautauqua Symphony, Warsaw Symphony and Krakow Symphony. He also performs frequently in recitals and concerts in many major cities such as Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York City to name a few. Dr. Anderson has also performed throughout Europe, South America and Poland in concerts and operatic performances.
Dr. Anderson performed the role of "the Leader" in the premier recording of the opera Bandanna by Daron Hagen. In Las Vegas he is regularly heard singing with Opera Las Vegas and The Tenors – 3.
Dr. Anderson is a regular member of the internationally famous" American Spiritual Ensemble". This recorded ensemble is made up of opera singers from throughout the United States and Canada. They perform concerts regularly throughout United States and Europe.
Dr. Anderson is frequently engaged as an adjudicator for regional and national competitions. He also performs recitals, masterclasses and lectures on the "Contributions of African-Americans to the World of Music."

 

Philip Frohnmayer won top prizes in the Munich International Competition and began his European Career singing leading roles in Mozart and Verdi operas in Germany, Luxembourg and Holland.  He created the role of Frere Leon in the Dutch radio premiere recording of Olivier Messiaen’s St Francois d’Assise, with performances in Madrid, Bon and Utrecht.  He has presented recital ours in the republic of Georgia, France, and Latin America and throughout the United States.
Philip Frohnmayer regularly appears as a soloist with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the New Orleans Opera, he has performed Handel’s Messiah, Brahms’ Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Erste Walpurgis, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and the world premier of Steven Dankner’s Odyssey of faith. 
Mr. Frohnmayer received his A.B., from Harvard University and his M.M. from the University of Oregon and the Stuttgart Hochschule fur Musik.  His teachers include Hans hotter and French baritone Martial Singher.
Mr. Frohnmayer joined the faculty of Loyola University in New Orleans in the fall of 1982 where he received the Dux Academicus award for distinguished teaching, scholarship, and service to Loyola University. His students have consistently been top prize winners in major contests, including the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) young artist’s auditions, the Houston Grand Opera Auditions, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. They have also participated in leading summer festivals and apprentice programs including the Brevard, Chautauqua, and Aspen Festivals, The Ohio Light Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera Young Artist Development Program, and La Scala in Milan. In the summer of 1998, he joined the voice and opera faculty of the Aspen Festival School.
Together with his wife, Ellen Frohnmayer, he has recorded for Centaur and Albany Records.

 

Richard Kagey has been involved through design and stage directing in over 150 productions of operas, musicals, and plays for Professional Regional Companies, National Tours, and Universities. A native of Ohio, he began his career as a singer/actor moving into directing and designing in college. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ohio University and a Master of Fine Arts from Illinois State University. For over 30 years he has held the title of director of productions for the Seagle Music Colony, a summer program for singers. He worked in the Broadway Theater for 6 years on productions that include: Evita, Sweeney Todd, The Gin Game, and Merrily We Roll Along. In addition to his professional career Richard has been a professor at Skidmore College in New York , North Carolina Weslyan College, Castelton State College in Vermont and Frostburg State University in Maryland, where he was Chair of the Division of Performing Arts for 14 years.

In June Mr. Kagey was assistant director to Frank Casaro on Thomas Pasatieri's acclaimed world premiere on Frau Margot at Forth Worth Opera. In August he directed the west coast premiere of The Hotel Casablanca for the San Francisco Opera Merola Program. Currently he makes his home in Atlanta where he is the educational coordinator for The Atlanta Opera.

 

Everett McCorvey, tenor, is a native of Montgomery, Alabama. He received his degrees from the University of Alabama, including a Doctorate of Musical Arts. He has performed in many cities around the world and theaters across the country, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Kennedy Center, Aspen Music Festival, Blossom Music Festival, Whitewater Opera Company, Radio City Music hall, Birmingham Opera Theater, Teatro Comunale in Florence, Italy, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, England, as well as performances throughout Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary. He is tenor soloist on a CD recording conducted by Maestro Julius Williams featuring the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra performing the symphonic works of African-American Composers, which was released in the fall of 1994. A new CD with Maestro Williams was released in 2004 with Mr. McCorvey as tenor soloist. He has returned to the Czech Repbulic to perform with the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic under the baton of Maestro Kirk Trevor as well as to the Slovac Republic. He has also appeared in television movies and feature films including The Long Walk Home.

Mr. McCorvey’s operatic roles include Don Jose in Carmen, Ferrando in Cosi Fan Tutte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Fenton in Falstaff, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Puck in La Grande Duchess de Gerolstein, and many others. Orchestra and Oratorio works include the Beethoven Symphony #9, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Creation, Bach’s Mass in B Minor and the St. Matthew Passion, among others.

Mr. McCorvey toured the United States, Europe and the Far East with the Sherwin Goldman Production of Porgy and Bess. In 1992 he played the role of Peter in the Asian debut of Porgy and Bess, in Tokyo, Japan. Mr. McCorvey has served on the faculty of the New York State Summer School of the Arts in Saratoga Springs, New York where he was Artist-in-Residence and Associate Conductor, and he has been a frequent advisory panelist and on-site reviewer for the National Endowment for the Arts Opera/Musical Theatre program in Washington, D.C.

Mr. McCorvey is the founder and Music Director of the American Spiritual Ensemble, a group of 16 professional singers performing spirituals and other compositions of African-American composers. In the short 10-year history of the group, the group has presented over 100 concerts including two tours of the United States and nine tours of Spain. The American Spiritual Ensemble has released three CDs: On My Journey Now – The American Spiritual Ensemble on Tour, Ol' Time Religion and Lilly of the Valley.

Mr. McCorvey is also a teacher and vocal advisor to many students in the profession.

He holds the rank of Director of Opera and Lexington Opera Society Endowed Chair in Opera Studies.

Baritone Thomas Potter made his professional opera debut in 1986 singing "Giorgio Germont" in matinee performances of LA TRAVIATA for the San Francisco Opera Center.  Prior to his Adler Fellow apprenticeship in San Francisco, Thomas earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from Indiana State University, followed by a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance at Indiana University.  His voice teachers there were Signor Nicola Rossi-Lemeni and Madame Virginia Zeani.
Thomas' operatic repertoire centers around the great Verdi baritone roles such as "Renato" in UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, "il Conte di Luna" in IL TROVATORE, MACBETH, and RIGOLETTO.  He has also had a great deal of success as "Baron Scarpia" in TOSCA, and as "Jochanaan" in Strauss' SALOME.  See link on the sidebar for a complete list of Potter's Operatic Repertoire.
Potter has sung leading roles with numerous International music festivals, including the Spoleto Music Festival in both Italy and the USA venues [Philip Glass' opera HYDROGEN JUKEBOX], the Ravenna (Italy) Music Festival [ATTILA], the Bregenzer (Austria) Festspiele [NABUCCO], the La Biennale Festival [Ivan Vandor's APPARITIONS] in Venice, Italy, and the Festival de Inverno - Campos do Jordão [William Walton's BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST] in Brazil.
A few of the opera companies with which Potter has performed include the Teatro Comunale 'Giuseppe Verdi' in Trieste [DON CARLO], Palm Beach Opera [SALOME, RIGOLETTO, & CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA / PAGLIACCI], Nashville Opera [TURANDOT], Opera Cordoba [TOSCA], Opera São Paulo [CARMEN & NABUCCO], Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg [DON CARLO], Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe [ATTILA], Atlanta Opera [RIGOLETTO & UN BALLO IN MASCHERA], Utah Opera [SAMSON ET DALILA], and Indianapolis Opera [LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, HÄNSEL UND GRETEL, MACBETH, IL TROVATORE, SAMSON ET DALILA, TURANDOT, LA BOHÈME, THE CRUCIBLE, and FALSTAFF].
As a winner of the Luciano Pavarotti International Vocal Competition in Philadelphia Potter was awarded the opportunity to sing alongside Mr. Pavarotti in the resulting production of Verdi’s opera UN BALLO IN MASCHERA.  In 1992 he was a recipient of a study grant from the Licia Albanese - Puccini Foundation.
Concert work continues to play an important role in Potter's career, with credits such as performances of Britten’s WAR REQUIEM in the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy, Walton's BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST with the São Paulo [Brazil] State Symphony and Chorus, Verdi’s MESSA DA REQUIEM and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, each with the Florida Orchestra, and several soloist appearances in New York City's Carnegie Hall [including the North American premiere of Sir David Willcock’s CEREMONY OF PSALMS, a five movement piece for baritone soloist, orchestra, and chorus.], the Italian premiere of Michael Torke’s MASS at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Haydn’s THE CREATION with the Elgin Choral Union in Illinois, and a concert of ROGERS & HAMMERSTEIN and LERNER & LOEWE favorites with the San Francisco Symphony.
From 1994 to 2000, Mr. Potter was engaged by the Stadttheater St. Gallen in Switzerland, singing the roles of "Scarpia" in TOSCA, "Jochanaan" in SALOME, "Alfio" in CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA, "Ezio" in ATTILA, "Amonasro" in AIDA, and "Giorgio Germont" in LA TRAVIATA, among others.
In the Fall of 2000 Potter moved back to the United States to begin a new career as a university professor.  He taught for five years in Indiana before joining the University of Central Florida in August of 2005, where he teaches voice and is the Director of UCF Opera.  Professional affiliations include membership in Opera America, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and Pi Kappa Lambda.

Kimberly Saunders Randall has performed in concert and opera throughout the Eastern/Central United States, in Guam, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, and in the Asian cities of Manila, Seoul, Bangkok, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Xi'an and Shenyang, China, where the Xi'an, China newspaper and television praised her "perfect. . . intoxicating performance."
Ms. Randall, formerly a mezzo-soprano, made her professional operatic debut in Frankfurt, Germany, singing the role of "Suzuki" in MADAMA BUTTERFLY. She has performed regionally with Boston Lyric Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, the Chautauqua Opera and Indianapolis Opera, and her operatic repertoire has migrated from mezzo to soprano, focusing on the repertoire of Puccini. Her soprano oratorio repertoire includes Verdi's REQUIEM, Mendelssohn's ELIJAH, Mozart's REQUIEM Dvorák's TE DEUM, and Handel's MESSIAH.
A native of Maine and graduate of Smith College, Ms. Randall also holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Voice Performance and Pi Kappa Lambda membership from Boston University's School for the Arts. She continued her operatic training at the Minnesota Opera Institute, the Chautauqua Institute, Opera North in New Hampshire, and the Des Moines Metro Opera, and has studied voice with Patricia Craig, Joan Heller, Patricia McCaffrey, Mark Schnaible and Virginia Zeani.
In 2005-2006, Kimberly joined the voice faculty at the University of Central Florida where she has taught diction, song literature and directed the Summer Vocal Arts Camp for high school students. Prior faculty appointments include Indiana State University and the DePauw University School of Music in Greencastle, Indiana, where she served as an assistant voice professor, taught applied voice, diction for singers, served as the Assistant to the Dean for Recruiting and Programs, and received a Mellon grant to travel to China and teach Master Classes at its foremost conservatories.
Active as a performer, teacher, adjudicator and Master Class clinician, Kimberly Randall maintains a private voice studio, is a member of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing).

 

Bass-Baritone Benjamin Smolder has enjoyed a varied regional and international performance career. He has performed opera in houses in the Czech-Republic, Italy, Spain, Vienna, and Cairo. He has performed roles with the Spoleto Festival, Des Moines Opera, and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, including Reverend Hale in Ward's "The Crucible", Don Prudenzio in Rossini's "Viaggio a Reims", Don Alfonso in Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte", Death in Holst's "Savitri", Collatinus in Britten's "Rape of Lucretia", and Figaro in "Le Nozze di Figaro". He has also gained a reputation regionally as an oratorio soloist and has performed with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Wheeling Symphony, and the Lexington Philharmonic. His oratorio repertoire includes over thirty works with emphasis on the passions and oratorios of Bach. Mr. Smolder was a national finalist in the Wurlitzer Competition and winner of the Greenbriar Song Festival.
He has taught voice for Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, University of Kentucky, University of Dayton, and was appointed as the youngest member of the voice faculty at the West Virginia Governor's School for the Arts. During the summers he has acted as vocal coach and accompanist for Downtown Theater Classics, an equity theater based in the Aronoff Center for Arts. Mr. Smolder can be heard on a new CD of Copland's "The Tender Land" as Grandpa with the Bahu-Slave Martinu Orchestra (Albany Records).