Made possible by National Endowment for the Arts

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Christina Mancheni, Soprano, is an exciting communicator and artist on the operatic and concert stage. Her performance credits include appearances with companies such as Opera Las Vegas, Utah Opera, New Jersey State Opera, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Ocean City Pops, Chamber Music Society of North Jersey, and Concert Operetta Theater. Christina was also a featured artist in the prestigious St. Bart’s Music Festival, under the direction of Maestro Steven Mercurio.  Her operatic credits include, Ma Zegner in Proving Up, Madame Hertz in Der Schauspieldirector, the title role in Alcina, Sister Genovieffa in Suor Angelica, Nella in Gianni Schicchi, The Fairy God Mother in Cendrillon, Despina in Così Fan Tutte, Papagena in The Magic Flute, and she premiered as Anne in Body of Art. Christina is an avid performer of operetta music with credits including Mascha in The Czarevitch, Fanchette in The Sea Cadet, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Salomea in Frederica, Nichette in Madeleine, and Mariana in Luisa Fernanda. Solo concert appearances include Handel’s Messiah, Brahms’ Requiem, and Vivaldi’s Gloria. Christina has also placed in several regional competitions. She won first place in the prestigious New Jersey State Opera Alfredo Silipigni Vocal Competition. She has also won awards from the Gerda Lissner Foundation as well as from The National Association of Teachers Singing. 

Mezzo-Soprano, Courtney Ankerfelt, is a Minnesota native currently residing in Las Vegas, NV after attending the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music in Southern California. While attending conservatory, along with performing in both full productions and opera scenes, Miss Ankerfelt, was the Concerto Competition winner, the mezzo soloist for Mahler’s 2nd symphony, received a grant from the Opera Buffs organization and found her love for negro spiritual. Courtney was a part of the American Wagner Project for three years through the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices. Miss Ankerfelt’s recent engagements have included; The Ring: Las Vegas as Flosshilde/Waltraute with Vegas City Opera, the Voices of Women concert series with Vegas City Opera where she recently performed selections from Maya Angelou’s Calypso Blues collection with Vegas City Opera in, Caged Bird: A Celebration of Maya Angelou, and the Opera in the Movies touring concert with Vegas City Opera. Upcoming engagements include Jenny in Vegas City Opera’s production of The Three Penny Opera and the benefit concert for the Jessye Norman School of the Arts in Augusta, GA.

Maria Kolesnyk is a Ukrainian pianist who began her piano studies at age 5. During her years in Ukraine, Maria collaborated with various orchestras to perform concertos and symphonic works by Mozart, Liszt, and Turina. In 2013, she moved to the United States to study under the guidance of Dr. Mykola Suk at UNLV.  During her undergraduate years, Maria participated in numerous competitions and performances. She was awarded scholarships to attend Vianden Music Festival and School in Luxembourg and IKIF (New York). While participating in many masterclasses over the years, she worked with internationally renowned musicians such as Jerome Rose, Jerome Lowenthal, Lang Lang, as well as collaborating with a flutist in a masterclass with Sir James Galway. Maria has also been featured as a soloist with different orchestras, performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Henderson  Symphony Orchestra and Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the UNLV Symphony Orchestra. She has also been invited to give solo recitals in numerous venues in Las Vegas, as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico and Kiev, Ukraine. Currently, she works at UNLV as a part-time piano faculty, and also as a piano instructor and collaborative pianist at Nevada School of The Arts. Maria is also an active freelance participant in the music community in Las Vegas, working as an accompanist for vocalists and instrumentalists as well as maintaining a private studio designed for students of varying ages, levels, backgrounds, and goals.

Richard L. Hodges, is a native of Greensboro, N.C. Richard is a 2019 nominee for Best Lead in an Opera/ Musical with the Las Vegas Valley Awards for his role in Gianni Schicchi with Vegas City Opera. His other recent roles include the Preacher in Sweet Land with The Industry L.A., Michele in Il Tabarro, , and Hamlet in the opera Hamlet to name a few. Some of his other roles include Frank in Die Fledermaus, Porgy from Porgy and Bess and Peter in Hansel and Gretel. He is an Emerging Artist in the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices program and has received several awards. Most notable he was a finalist in the American Institute of Musical Studies, Meistersinger Competition. He was also one of the 2018 UNLV Concerto Competition Winners. He has been featured in numerous orchestral and chamber concerts which include performances of various operatic arias and scenes as well as master works such as Here and Now by Christopher Theofanidis with the UNCG Orchestra and combined choirs and the Messiah by Handel. Mr. Hodges has been a featured soloist and recitalist performing with Angels Vocal Arts, The Industry LA, Vegas City Opera, Opera Las Vegas, Henderson Symphony Orchestra, the UNLV String Orchestra, the famed UNLV Wind Orchestras, Greensboro Opera Company, North Carolina Opera Company and other organizations throughout his career. Mr. Hodges is a writer, director and composer. Black Swan Radio Hour is his fourth premiere with Vegas City Opera including, Women of the Black Panthers, Maya Angelou: A Caged Bird, Coretta Scott King: My Journey, Harriet Tubman: Road to Freedom and Sojourner Truth: Ain't I Am Woman. Richard received his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Master of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Bachelor of Music from North Carolina Central University. He currently serves as the Assistant Professor of Music, Director of Voice Studies at Western Washington University.

This program is made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts as part of Vegas City Opera's POCO Program (People Of Color in Opera).