Houston-based pianist and coach Madeline Slettedahl is an acclaimed collaborator known for her “exciting” and “extraordinarily expressive” performances (Seen and Heard International). In the 2021-2022 season she joined the Houston Grand Opera music staff, assisting on their productions of Carmen, Dialogues des Carmélites, and Roméo et Juliette. In the summers of 2020 and 2021, Madeline … Read more
Arica Jackson was raised in West Bloomfield, Michigan and later moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan where she graduated from Forest Hills Eastern high school. She earned her BFA in drama from Carnegie Mellon University in 2017. Upon graduation, she joined the first national tour of the Broadway musical, Waitress. She made her Broadway debut in … Read more
Acclaimed as a violinist of “compelling presence, fearless attack, and technical aplomb and bravado” (New London’s The Day), Chelsea Starbuck Smith is a young artist known for her infectious enthusiasm for the violin. She has performed as solo and chamber artist in venues across the United States and abroad, including Madison Square Garden, David Geffen … Read more
A winner of the 2019 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Miles Mykkanen garners recognition and praise on the world’s concert and operatic stages for his “focused, full-voiced tenor” (New York Times). Of his performance in the title role of Albert Herring, Opera News reported, “Miles Mykkanen displayed a lovely lyric voice with an appealing honeyed sweetness in the … Read more
Pianist Jordan Jones-Reese is thrilled to return to Emberlight this summer after joining Emma Stratton in All That Jazz in the 2022 season. Current and past Broadway credits include Ain’t Too Proud, Disney’s Aladdin, Miss Saigon, MJ: The Musical, Wicked and Spamalot. Select Off-Broadway credits: Assassins, Jerry Spring: The Opera, and Nine. Jordan has appeared … Read more
With a diverse background in the arts, healthcare, public relations, and philanthropy, Cindy Franck brings her masterful leadership, creative eye and astute understanding of the human spirit to the Emberlight Festival. Cindy Franck has been a member of Theatre North’s Board of Directors for 44 years, where she currently serves as the Production Director. She … Read more
Daniel Mykkanen is well known for his superior musicianship and dedication as a musical educator to thousands of students over the last four decades. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Northern Michigan University and a Master of Music Education from University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. Since 1977, Mykkanen’s students have received top … Read more
American soprano Ann Toomey is a 2016 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions national semifinalist and a 2019 Richard F. Gold Career Grant Recipient. In early 2020, She made her European debut to critical acclaim as the title role in Suor Angelica at the Berlin Philharmonie, under the baton of Kirill Petrenko. In the 2021-2022 season, … Read more
