Meet the Cast & Crew of Werther

Shay Hamblin

Werther

Rising young lyric tenor Shay Hamblin has been heard in operatic works ranging from Rossini, Donizetti, and Massenet as well as in more contemporary works of Weill and Moore. With a voice lauded as “brilliant” and “engaging,” he has been a featured soloist on recital series throughout Southern California, including Sundays at Four and Music in the Park. Mr. Hamblin has performed with the La Jolla Symphony Chorus and in concert at the famed Soraya Center for the Performing Arts in Northridge. With a degree in Vocal Performance from CSUN, where he was a member of the elite University Singers, he has held soloist positions at several Orange County churches and done temple work in Thousand Oaks. The tenor has sung under the baton of Paul Smith and coached in OperaWorks with Ann Baltz. Specializing particularly in the French repertoire, favorite roles include Faust, Roméo, Don José, Werther, and Hoffmann. Equally at home on the concert stage, he has essayed song cycles of Schubert and Vaughan- Williams and oratorios of Mendelssohn (notably Elijah) and Handel (particularly Messiah).

Rae Shrum

Charlotte, Director

Lyric mezzo-soprano Rae Shrum is gaining increasing notice on both concert and operatic stages, including recent debuts with Independent Opera Company as Oksana in the Ukrainian opera Cossack Beyond the Danube and in Santa Monica as Die Fledermaus' Prince Orlofsky. Specializing particularly in “pants parts,” favorite roles include Cherubino, Stéphano, Hansel, and Nicklausse. Her extensive concert repertoire includes the Rossini Stabat Mater, Handel’s Dixit Dominus, and both Mozart’s Mass in C and Requiem. With a voice hailed by critics as “agile and enticing,” the mezzo has been featured in concert series throughout Southern California, including Pacific Symphony’s Outreach Program and with the Long Beach Camerata Singers, Long Beach Symphony, and Los Angeles Chorus. She received her training at Chapman University and was a 2021 semi-finalist in the prestigious Palm Springs Opera Guild of the Desert Vocal Competition.

Brenda Osorio

Sophie

SoCal native and emerging soprano Brenda Osorio has studied opera in Los Angeles, Italy, and Colombia. With a voice that has been described both as “pure” and “possessing a vibrant clarity,” her favorite roles include Adele in Die Fledermaus and Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Brenda has performed as a soloist and professional chorister in concerts throughout Southern California, the most recent being at Los Angeles Walt Disney Hall. Beyond her operatic repertoire, she is also an experienced musical theater singer, performing roles such as Cinderella (Into the Woods), Velma (Hairspray), and Cosette (Les Miseràbles). Brenda is currently continuing her vocal studies in Los Angeles and looks forward to soon obtaining her bachelor’s degree in voice performance.

Jamie Sanderson

Albert, Asst. Director

Jamie Sanderson, baritone, possesses a voice that critics have described as “mellifluous” and

“commanding.” He is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, but now resides in Los Angeles and performs with many local companies. He recently performed the roles of Morales and Zuniga in Bizet’s Carmen, as well as The Wolf in Cesar Cui’s Little Red Ridinghood, and Prince Ivan-Korolevich in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Kashchey the Deathless. Jamie is also a Fox Singer with the Verdi Chorus in Santa Monica.

During the pandemic he played the first priest in Opera Neo’s virtual production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. In 2019 he played the Captain in Opera Neo’s production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. Jamie earned a Master of Music from the Peabody Institute and a Bachelor of Music from the University of California, Irvine. At the Peabody Conservatory, Jamie performed as Marco in Gianni Schicchi, Le Baron in Massenet’s Cherubin, the Father in an outreach production of Humperdinck’s Hänsel and Gretel, and covered Manfred in Jake Heggie’s Out of Darkness: Two Remain. He was also featured as a street singer in Leonard Bernstein’s Mass under Maestro Marin Alsop.

Egan Carroll

Schmidt

Egan Carroll is a graduate of the Santa Monica College Applied Music Program and was recently accepted into California State University, Northridge for Fall of 2022. He’s been singing opera since 2015 and has sung roles such as: Dan Cairo (Carmen), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Tamino (The Magic Flute), and most recently Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus). In 2013, Egan had the privilege of singing under the direction of Eric Whitacre at Carnegie Hall and premiered his work, “After great Pain”. He was also selected to sing for Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Honor Choir for his piece “Glow” that was featured in Disney’s California Adventure “World of Color: Winter Dreams”. Most recently, he sang chorus for Wayne Shorter’s Jazz Opera fusion project “Iphigenia” alongside Esperanza Spalding and others. He currently studies under Shigemi Matsumoto at CSUN.

David Ingram

Johann

Described as having “a stellar voice” (Hollywood Fringe Festival) David Ingram is a graduate from the University of Arizona with a bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance. David has over 13 years of experience performing for audiences and has performed in China, Mexico, and all over the US in roles such as Don Alfonso, Paris, and Dr. Caius. David is excited to be continuing his education at Cal State University Northridge under Maestro Dr. Hugo Vera. David most recently performed the role of Fridtjof Nansen in Lawrence Opera Theater’s company premiere of White Horizon by Lisa Neher. David is currently working on the roles of Johann from Werther, Lucas from L’ivrogne Corrigé, Car Guy from Speed Dating Tonight, and Marcello from La boheme. David expects to graduate with his Masters in Vocal Performance in spring 2023.

Michal Dawson Connor

Le Bailli

Michal Dawson Connor is an accomplished performer and composer of choral, chamber, and solo vocal works, with a particular emphasis on Slave songs created before the Civil War. He was born in Jamestown, New York and is a proud alumnus of Carnegie-Mellon University as well as L’Ecole Hindemith in Vevey, Switzerland – where he studied voice with Blake Stern and Helen Boatwright. Championing American composers has always been a high priority for him, and Mr. Connor has conceived extensively throughout North America and Europe, specializing in the rich vocal repertoire of Charles Ives, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, and many others. Mr. Connor was instrumental in Repertory Opera Company’s ability to Keep the Music Alive during COVID shut down, performing in street block concerts, parking pot and courtyard concerts and its current Music at Noon performance.

Mr. Connor’s Broadway credits include featured performances in the Tony-Award winning productions of Ragtime and Showboat, as well as starring roles in productions of The Most Happy Fella, Big River, and Porgy and Bess. In addition to soloing on multiple occasions for President Ronald Reagan, he’s immensely proud of performing for Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Reverend Bill Graham, and Elizabeth Dole. And, more recently, Brigadier General Charles McGee of the Tuskeegee Airmen and Billy Jean King. Mr. Connor is a published author of “The Slave Letters,” currently available on Amazon.com. On network television, he was a guest star on “Friends”, as well as several appearances on the Emmy Award winning show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and “The Surprise Gardener.”

Galina Barskaya

Music Director

Galina Barskaya began studying piano at the age of four and started to perform professionally as early as seven years old. She got her BM and MM at Kiev State College and Kiev State Conservatory in USSR, where she studied piano, organ, conducting, music history, and composition. She toured extensively in Russia, Ukraine, and other parts of the former USSR.

Since coming to the United States in 1993, Ms. Barskaya has established herself as a soloist, chamber musician, accompanist, and teacher. Ms. Barskaya has been on staff at Santa Monica College and California State University at Long Beach as well as a founding member of several chamber ensembles. In the Los Angeles area, she has performed at numerous venues including the Alex Theater and the prestigious Hollywood Bowl.

But primarily, she is a conductor and music director. She's been involved in different religious music programs as Music Director/Conductor (as well as pianist/organist) at the Emerson UU Church, Kehillat Israel, and Lutheran Church of the Master. She created the "Musical Explorations" concert series and was its founding Artistic Director 2001 to 2009. Before founding Independent Opera Company, she was also Music Director of the LA Metropolitan Opera–an opera company based in the Pacific Palisades–from 2009 to 2012. She guest conducted at Vineyard Touring Opera. In 2020, Ms. Barskaya appeared as an “orchestra” in Valley Opera & Performing Arts’ production of Faust, stepping into this role in less than one week's notice.

Presently, she is on the faculty of Occidental College, the Music Director at St. Andrews Lutheran Church, the Music Director of Mesopotamian Opera Company, and the Founding Music Director/CEO of Independent Opera Company. Galina is also a composer, whose music was featured in an educational film titled Birth in Action.