Kathy Pyeatt, Director

Kathy first became involved with the Wisconsin District MONC as a singer, when her teacher and mentor Pat Crump, convinced her she might just be able to sing opera. The first year was a bit nerve racking and Kathy’s main goal was simply not to faint. Luckily she did not and she actually won an award for “most promising female”. Kathy auditioned for four years and won various prizes and places and eventually won the District Auditions in 1996 and placed second at the Upper Midwest Regionals in 1997. She has gone on to sing with leading orchestras and opera companies through out the United States. Recent performing highlights include Fiordiligi (Cosi Fan Tutte) with the Skylight Opera Theatre, the title role in Puccini's Tosca with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra in Missouri, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus with St. Petersburg Opera, Hanna in The Merry Widow with the Muddy River Opera and the title role in Annelies with the Key Chorale in Sarasota, Florida. Upcoming Kathy will portray Lady Billows in the Florentine Opera's production of Albert Herring and Tosca with the Asheville Lyric Opera and Bryan Symphony Orchestra.Kathy joined Pat as Co-Director in 2003 and became sole Director in 2007. She is really enjoying giving back to the organization that gave her a start. Kathy is currently restoring a 100 year old home in Cedarburg along with her husband, Dan Kerkman, 9year-old daughter Emma, and her naughty chocolate labrador, Mocha.

Patricia Crump, Director Emerita

This is Pat's 38th year of service to the Wisconsin District MONC Auditions. She served 7 years as Treasurer, 25 years as Director, and 4 years as Co-Director. Pat's life work was teaching singing. She has many students who are teaching, performing or both and is very proud of them. There is no one of which she is prouder than Kathy Pyeatt, who has not only distinguished herself vocally but has brought the Wis. Met Auditions into the computer age, serving as a model for other districts. Pat is also grateful for the loyal Wis. Met Audition Board. Most are singers also, and give freely of their time and energy to maintain our reputation as one of the best districts in the country. This history would not be complete without giving credit to my right hand helper of these 38 years of Met work (actual years - 53!), my husband Phil. He has helped with every facet of this work from the beginning and is still our chief financial advisor. We wouldn't be where we are without him, nor would I.

Julie Calteaux, Media Coordinator

Helen Ceci, Secretary & Publicity

Helen Ceci is secretary of WI MONC, and is also in charge of publicity. Back in the Dark Ages she sang in the Met Auditions. She graduated from Oberlin Conservatory of Music with a BFA in Vocal Performance, which included a year of study and performance at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. She has performed in many local concerts, operas and solo recitals for such groups as Milwaukee Opera Company, Florentine Opera on Wheels, Civic Music Association, Sullivan Chamber Ensemble, Bach Chamber Choir, Ceciliana Quartet, Pike River Musicians. She currently teaches private voice to an enormous number of promising students. She lives on the East Side of Milwaukee with her little dog, Thumbelina, and when she is not teaching she likes to read, cook, camp, hike and sew.

Marguerite Greinke, Treasurer

Marguerite has been involved with the Wisconsin District MONC for over 20 years as a volunteer. She is also a singer, having performed with the Florentine Opera, Milwaukee Choristers, and several church choirs. Marguerite sits on the Board of Directors for the Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Harmony Club and Supporters of Opera Singers. She also belongs to the MacDowell Club, Waukesha Music Club and Harmony Club. Marguerite graduated from UW-Madison and worked as a Medical Technologist at Lutheran Hospital, Fairview Clinical Lab, and Bayshore Lab.

Tanya Kruse Ruck, Assistant Director

Tanya Kruse Ruck holds a BA in Music from Luther College and a MM in Vocal Performance from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.  Previously, she taught voice at Luther College and has been on the voice faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee since 2003.  There, she teaches Italian Diction for Singers, Class Voice, Voice Lessons for both classical singers and musical theatre majors, Song Literature, and directs Opera Scenes.  Tanya also maintains a small studio of high school students and adults at home.  Tanya served as the Vice President of the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) from 2005-2009, and and has been President since 2009.  She was one of 12 people selected to participate in the NATS Internship Program, under the master teacher Scott McCoy in 2005.  She is currently the Assistant Director for the Wisconsin Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Tanya enjoys performing as well as teaching.  Recently, she was seen as La Contessa in The Skylight Opera Theatre’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro.  Also at Skylight Opera Theatre, Tanya has been seen as Cio-Cio San (Puccini, Madama Butterfly) and Margaret (Carlson, The Midnight Angel). Some of her other favorite roles include Rusalka (Dvořák, Rusalka), Fiordiligi (Mozart, Così fan tutte), and Angelica (Puccini, Suor Angelica).  Tanya has appeared as soloist with the Bel Canto Chorus (Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonnelle, Barber’s Prayers of Kierkegaard) and in a joint recital with Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Principal Clarinetist Todd Levy at the Pabst Theater.  She performed as soprano soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with members of the Milwaukee Symphony and combined choirs in 2010.  Tanya has sung the soprano solo in Strauss’ Vier letze Lieder, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Solemn Vespers, Schumann’s Spanische Liebeslieder, Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5, and Handel’s Messiah.

Christopher Larkin, Conductor

Cynthia Lawrence, University of Kentucky

Soprano Cynthia Lawrence has sung on five continents and is hailed as one of America’s most exciting singing actresses.   This past year Miss Lawrence sang Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with the National Symphony of Santo Domingo in a celebration concert under the baton of Maestro Antonio Molina as well as singing Tosca at Opera North Carolina and with Milwaukee’s Florentine Opera. She has appeared in the Alltech Celebration of Song, and was a featured soloist in the World Equestrian Games which was held in Lexington, Kentucky and broadcast worldwide. Her Lady Macbeth at Palacio Das Artes, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil and was a smash sell-out and she was a featured performer in the 75th Anniversary Gala of Florentine Opera in Milwaukee. In the fall of 2008 she was honored to be a selected soloist and speaker in the just released DVD “A Tribute to Pavarotti: One Amazing Weekend in Petra”. The previous December Cynthia sang the Gala Concert with Opera Fort Collins and was also in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where she sang four concerts at the “Journey Through Time” festival and exhibition. During the summer she starred in a gala concert in Lima, Peru. During the past several seasons, she sang Madame Butterfly with the Lithuanian Nation Opera in Spain and Opera Carolina, Maddelena with Ben Heppner as Andrea Chenier with CulturArte de Puerto Rico, Lady Macbeth, with the Metropolitan Opera and the Florentine Opera. The year before Last year she sang Tosca with The Royal Albert Hall, London as well as with The Vancouver Opera. In previous seasons at the Metropolitan Opera she sang as Madame Butterfly and Tosca. She also sang Elettra in Idomeneo at The Washington Opera, Cio-Cio-San for Connecticut Opera and Tosca for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. She also appeared at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Candace in A Wedding, and Opera Carolina, Atlanta Opera and Portland Opera as Tosca.

Miss Lawrence has appeared over 70 times in concert with Luciano Pavarotti; touring cities and countries such as Doha, Qatar; Italy; Chile; Venezuela, Argentina; Germany; Norway; Japan; China; Malaysia; England; Canada; South Africa, and throughout the United States. This Fall - Miss Lawrence will be singing Cio Cio San with the Lithuanian National Opera in Guangzhou, China; a Gala Celebration of the opening of the Charles and Reta Ralph Opera Center in Colorado as well as Britten’s War Requiem with the Louisville Choral Arts Society here in Kentucky. She resides with her two daughters and husband, Mark R. Calkins who is the Director of Music and Voice Professor at Berea College, in Berea, Kentucky. She maintains a private studio and is a frequent judge for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and enjoys conducting Master Classes for singers, performers and colleges. Recently she and Mark gave a joint Master Recital at the 4th International Conference on the Acoustics of Singing held at the University of Texas, San Antonio.

David Starkey, General Director Asheville Opera

David Craig Starkey has a diverse career spanning all aspects of opera, musical theater, and large entertainment production. Mr. Starkey received a distinguished degree of Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from Youngstown State University and a Master of Music degree in opera performance from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. His vocal studies have been with pioneers of the vocal arts; Giorgio Tozzi, Dale Moore, Mark Oswald, and his father, Dr. David E. Starkey. With over thirty baritone roles in his performing repertoire, his career has included Amato Opera, New York City Opera, his European debut at the Bregenz Festspiele in Austria, the Huntington Theatre and North Shore Theatre in Boston, along with being a soloist and collaborator with Erich Kunzel and Cincinnati Pops Orchestra marking his solo debut at Carnegie Hall and the Telarc Records.

Mr. Starkey is the founder and General & Artistic Director of the Asheville Lyric Opera in Asheville, North Carolina, a leader in regional opera and co-producing in the southeast. In their 14th season, the opera company has transitioned into an artistic business leader with corporate relationships through out the greater southeast region. Inspired by his mentors, Paul Kellogg, former director of New York City Opera and Lesley Koenig, former director of production of the Metropolitan Opera, they outlined the building blocks for a thriving arts organization; which combines artistic producing and sound business practices. Mr. Starkey has been affiliated with numerous institutions, including Manhattan School of Music, Yale Opera, Indiana University Opera Theatre, New Jersey State Opera, Opera North (US), University of Miami, University of Connecticut, Gateway Candlewood Playhouse, Brevard Music Center, Sounds of South Dakota, and Mars Hill College were he is the director of opera.

Jamie Johns

Currently a freelance musician, pianist/conductor Jamie Johns has been the Director of Opera and Musical Theatre at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, the Resident Music Director at the Skylight Opera Theatre (now Skylight Music Theatre) and the Education Director at Orlando Opera. Conducting highlights include The Marriage of Figaro, Carmen, Romeo and Juliet, The Coronation of Poppea, and La Traviata. Favorite shows on which Jamie has served as music director are No, No, Nanette, The Last Five Years, Little Shop of Horrors, Cabaret, Archy and Mehitabel,Jacques Brel…, Rent, and The World Goes Round. In addition to shows, Jamie enjoys arranging and playing cabaret performances and recitals. Accompanying Gary Briggle as Noel Coward, Jamie has performed A Talent to Amuse; an evening with Noel Coward, in Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Sarasota, Sacramento, Iowa City and St. Paul.  Other companies that Jamie has worked for include Lyric Opera Cleveland, Madison Rep, Milwaukee Rep, Bel Canto, Present Music, Writers’ Theatre (Chicago), First Stage Children's Theatre, Sunset Playhouse,  and Milwaukee Opera Theatre.

Celeste Rue

Celeste Rue is one of the most sought after coach/accompanists in the Chicago area. She is coach/accompanist for the Lyric Opera of Chicago's Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center and the Grant Park Music Festival and Chorus. She also works with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Chicago Opera Theatre, Music of the Baroque, Light Opera Works, Hush Opera, Ars Musica, the Apollo Chorus, the Chicago Children’s Choir and Music By the Lake at Aurora University in Williams Bay. She has performed on the Chicago Symphony Pre-Concert series and the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series. Ms. Rue was chosen to perform in a concert of Chicago's Own in the Gala opening week of the Grant Park Music Festival's Millennium Park and was also a featured soloist in the closing concert of Ravinia's 100th anniversary season. As an audition accompanist, she has played for Wolf Trap, Santa Fe, Houston, Seattle, Sarasota, Glimmerglass, and Chautauqua. At Ravinia, she has worked with conductors James Conlon, Christoph Eschenbach, Eric Kunzel, Andrew Litton and John Axelrod. Ms. Rue has worked with a number of internationally renowned artists including Placido Domingo, Ana Maria Martinez, Sylvia McNair, Harolyn Blackwell, Nicole Cabell, Anna Christy and Patti LuPone. Other engagements include the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Opera in the Neighborhoods, Playback Concerts with the Grant Park Music Festival, a Master Class with Renee Fleming, and recently at Ravinia, Maestro Axelrod's assistant for One Score, One Chicago. Upcoming recitals are for the Lake Geneva Lyric Opera Chapter.