Joyce Castle 

One of America's most gifted singing actresses, mezzo soprano, Joyce Castle has sung with the New York City Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Seattle Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, and Washington Opera-indeed in opera companies across the U.S., Canada, Europe, Israel and Japan.

Since her debut with the New York City opera in 1983, she has sung leading roles to great acclaim: Augusta in The Ballad of Baby Doe, Old Prioress in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Claire in The Visit of the Old Lady and Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd to mention a few.  Among the many roles she has sung at the Metropolitan are Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, The Witch in Hansel and Gretel and Frugola in Il Tabarro.

Some of the conductors with whom Miss Castle has performed are: James Levine, Seiji Ozawa, Raymond Leppard, James Conlon, David Zinman and Michael Tilson-Thomas. With Leonard Bernstein at the piano she sang the first performance of his work "Arias and Barcarolles."

Miss Castle has been closely associated with other composers. She sang the premiere of Strawberry Fields by Michael Torke at Glimmerglass Opera (her performance was seen on PBS Great Performances Series), Dream of Valentino by Dominick Argento at the Kennedy Center, Where's Dick by Stewart Wallace at Houston Grand Opera and Esther by Hugo Weisgall at New York City Opera.

Her discography includes: Menotti's The Medium, Menotti's The Consul, Bernstein's Candide, Michael Torke's Strawberry Fields, Vocal works of Joseph Fennimore, Vocal works of Stephan Wolpe, and Sondheim.

Miss Castle is on the voice faculty at the University of Kansas, Lawrence.
                                       Dr. James Seaver

Dr. Seaver has spent more than 50 years sharing his love of opera through his weekly Kansas Public Radio program “Opera is My Hobby.” A lifelong opera fan, who considered a career as a singer before attending college, Seaver has channeled his considerable expertise into giving KPR listeners the joy he has gained from the singers, composers and musicians that have made opera the grand art that it is. As a result of this program, he has been invited to appear on several national radio broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and has often judged regional contests of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions.

Dr. Seaver was a history professor at the University of Kansas when KANU went on the air in 1952. “Opera Is My Hobby” went on the air four days after the station did, and both have been going strong ever since. Dr. Seaver retired as a professor of ancient history in 1993 and lives with his wife Virginia in Lawrence, KS.

 
   Antonia Felix

Antonia Felix is the author of fifteen nonfiction books including the biographies Condi: The Condoleezza Rice Story (Newmarket Press), Wesley Clark: A Biography (Newmarket Press), Laura: America’s First Lady, First Mother (Adams Media, New York Times bestseller), Andrea Bocelli: A Celebration (St. Martin’s Press) and Christie Todd Whitman (Pinnacle 1996). Her Rice biography has been described as “a pleasure to read” by the Washington Post; “very highly recommended reading” by Midwest Book Review, “a must read” by the Chicago Star, and “a well written . . . thorough and engaging profile” by Publishers Weekly. The book has been published in seven foreign editions, excerpted in the national and international press including the London Times and Russia’s weekly newsmagazine Itogi, and recorded by the author for Oasis Audio.
    Ms. Felix’s extensive media appearances include CNN, CNN International, BBC, MSNBC, SkyNews, NPR’s “Talk of the Nation,” C-Span’s “Washington Journal” and “Booknotes,” FoxNews Channel, “Inside Edition,” “Entertainment Tonight,” and many other national and regional television and radio programs. In addition, she has delivered speeches at institutions including the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas, served as a panelist on a U.S. House of Representatives caucus on the role of women in forming democracies in the Middle East, appeared as a keynote speaker at the Iowa Book Festival, and spoken in many other venues. Ms. Felix is also an operatic soprano who has performed throughout the United States and Europe. She holds an M.A. in English Literature from Texas A&M University and is an instructor in English at Emporia State University in Kansas. 

       A. Wayne Potter

Wayne is President/CEO of the Topeka-based wealth management and consulting firm, Integrated Wealth Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor.  Wayne and his wife Vicki also are actively involved with several organizations to organize and promote a variety of musical events in Northeast Kansas.  In addition to recently joining the KCO Board, Wayne currently serves as President of the Executive Committee for the IN HIS STEPS Foundation (at Topeka Community Foundation), is the Assistant Executive Director of the COLEMAN HAWKINS LEGACY JAZZ FESTIVAL, INC., Chairman of the Development Committee for FRIENDS OF WASHBURN MUSIC and serves as the Program Chairman for TOSCA (Topeka Opera Society Concert Assocation).   Wayne also works with many of his personal clients as Philanthropic Development Officer in coordination with both national and local philanthropic organizations.
      Wayne is a versatile all-around musician and particularly enjoys singing opera, oratorio, operetta, sacred music and jazz.  Before earning his Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance from Northern Arizona University in 1983 he had worked for more than 10 years as Founder and Musical Director of the nationally acclaimed contemporary gospel group “ETERNITY.”  He performed an average of 450 concerts each year as trombonist and featured soloist with the group and played trombone, piano and electronic keyboards professionally on stage and in the recording studios of Nashville, Hollywood, Orlando and Anderson, Indiana.  He has written and arranged music and orchestrations for performing groups and toured nationally and internationally. Following his graduation from touring as well as from his formal educational pursuits, he served several different churches in Florida, Arizona, New Jersey and Kansas as Minister of Music and Artist in Residence where he directed choirs, orchestras and ensembles for over twenty years. 
      His first opera role was “Nanki-Poo” in Northern Arizona University’s staged production with orchestra of “The Mikado” followed later in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” as “Tamino.” Other tenor solo roles with chorus and opera productions in Arizona, New Jersey and Kansas followed.  Since coming to Topeka in 1986, he has performed regularly under the direction of Dr. Kevin Kellim as choir member as well as featured soloist with the Topeka Festival Singers.  He has acted, sung and played keyboards in Topeka Civic Theatre productions (“Oliver,” West Side Story,” “Tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber”), played bass trombone in the Topeka Jazz Workshop Band, and appeared in various TOSCA programs in various tenor roles.  As an actor, he created the lead role of “The Rev. Henry Maxwell” for Philip Grecian’s stage play “In His Steps” and has been in each production of that stage play in Topeka, Holton, Emporia and Wamego since.  His most recent opera role was as the “DUKE of MANTUA” in the August, 2007 TOSCA concert production of “RIGOLETTO” at Washburn University.

 
 Professor John Lennon

Professor of Vocal Performance and Director of the Opera Theater at Emporia State University for over thirty-four years, Mr. Lennon’s students have won innumerable, prestigious awards and many have distinguished careers in opera and teaching. Sixteen Regional Metropolitan Opera Audition winners have come out of Lennon’s studio.

Receiving a Fulbright Scholarship for study in Germany, he has sung over thirty-seven operatic roles throughout Germany and later with the Chicago Lyric Opera.
In 1992 he was approached by the neurosurgeon C. Norman Shealy, Director of the Holos Institute and together they formed the John Lennon Institiute of Postural Studies, a non-profit organization dedicated to studying the interrelationship between posture and breathing habits on health and well being. Prof . Lennon has presented Posture and Breath workshops throughout the United States. He currently resides in Emporia, KS.

 Dr. Stanford Felix, President/Artistic Director

Assistant Professor of Voice at Emporia State University,  Stanford Felix has performed extensively on the opera and concert stage. A bass-baritone, his many operatic roles include Sir John Falstaff in Falstaff, Mephistopheles in Faust, Junius in The Rape of Lucretia, Dr. Bartolo in The Barber of Seville, Leporello in Don Giovanni, Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro, Jaffrey in House of the Seven Gables, Joel in A Death in the Family and the Rev. John Hale in The Crucible.  He has been a guest artist  with companies such as the Minnesota Opera, Orlando Opera, Des Moines Opera, L’Opera Français de New York, American Chamber Opera as well as the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra and the Carmel Bach Festival.

Dr. Felix’s concert work includes performances of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and most of the major oratorio, cantata and requiem repertoire. He has been featured on a Virgin Records recording of Britten's Paul Bunyan, which won the "Best Opera Recording of the Year" Gramophone award.

Basing his singing career in New York City for 14 years, he was on the singer rosters of Sheldon Soffer and Pentacle artist managements and worked with such conductors as Yves Abel, Stewart Robertson, Paul Nadler, Philip Brunelle and Gerhard Samuel. Dr. Felix received his Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New York, and obtained his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Voice Performance and his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre and Voice from the University of Kansas, Lawrence. He has taught on the voice faculty at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, where he was musical director/conductor of the opera department. A composer of many choral pieces and art song compositions, Dr. Felix is a member of The American Composers Forum, the College Music Society and the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). He is a native of South Dakota.