Janine Hawley
High School Voice Director
American mezzo-soprano Janine Hawley has achieved accolades for her critically acclaimed performances of roles ranging from Carmen to Cherubino in opera houses throughout the United States. Ms. Hawley has distinguished herself in several productions of Carmen, where Opera News noted that “she placed her stamp on Bizet’s Gypsy at her first entrance, a tough provocative Carmen providing the sensual centerpiece for the evening, negotiating all the arias with lithe grace, her portrayal gaining in tragic stature as the opera reached its climax.” She has worked with the Washington Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, New Orleans Opera, New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Utah Opera, Opera Festival of New Jersey, Boston Lyric Opera, Tulsa Opera, Connecticut Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Charlotte Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Sacramento Opera, Chautauqua Opera, among others. Other roles performed have been Elizabeth in The Crucible, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Komponiste in Ariadne auf Naxos, Nicklausse in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Stèphano in Romèo et Juliette, Siebel in Faust, Isabella in L’Italiana in Algeri, Angelina in La Cenerentola, and Suzuki in Madame Butterfly, receiving great critiques that praise her lush quality, dark timbre, technical facility and charming stage presence.
Beginning her career in Musical Theatre, Ms. Hawley performed in regional theaters across the country in Candide, Naughty Marietta (Paper Mill Playhouse), Sweeney Todd (Paul Gemignani conducting, NYCO), Music Man (with Bob Gunton, NYCO), Carousel (Augusta Opera, Monomoy Theater, Cape Cod), Quilters (Monomoy Theater, Cape Cod), A Little Night Music (Piedmont Opera), Desert Song, Guys and Dolls, The Sound of Music, and Hello Dolly! Concert performances are an equally important aspect of Ms. Hawley’s art and conductors are drawn to her impressive musicianship, mastery of styles and sensitive interpretations. She has worked with the famed Detroit Symphony, Vancouver, Colorado, North Carolina, Omaha, Winston-Salem Symphonies and in such concert venues as Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Weill Recital Hall. Ms. Hawley made her international debut with the Jerusalem International Symphony singing Mahler’s famed Second Symphony in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Distinguishing herself in the repertoire of Mahler, in the last few seasons she added the Kindertotenlieder and Rückert Lieder to her symphonic work, which includes Mahler’s 2nd Symphony with the Valdosta (GA), Fargo-Moorhead and Fairfax (VA) Symphonies and the Third Symphony with the Hartford and Chautauqua Symphonies (NY) and Louisville Orchestra. The Louisville Courier-Journal stated “Hawley proved an astute interpreter, not giving too much voice too soon yet eliciting a dark, potent vocal color. In a single song, she provided a miniature dissertation of how to rip open one’s heart, filling the void with sounds of desolate, unforgettable beauty.” Other notable engagements include the New York premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti’s autobiographical cantata, Landscapes and Remembrances, in celebration of the composer’s birthday with the Little Orchestra Society. Her Carnegie Hall debut was as soloist in Vivaldi’s Gloria, and she returned to sing Handel’s Messiah, both with John Rutter conducting.
Ms. Hawley is currently Professor of Voice and Assistant Dean for Academics and Administration at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Anna McRay
Voice Faculty
Anna McRay is a pianist, teacher, and collaborator with a vibrant accompanying schedule of both classical and musical theater repertoire. Along with her work as a collaborative pianist, Anna fosters a deeply rooted passion for the intersection of arts and well-being, both relating to injury-prevention and the health of performing artists as well as the leveraging and uplifting of the arts in community and public health spaces.
Anna currently serves as an adjunct lecturer of piano at Wake Forest University and as a staff pianist at Wake Forest, at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem, NC.
Allison Pohl
Voice Faculty
Soprano Allison Pohl’s vivacious stage presence and spirited singing have inspired enthusiastic responses across three continents. Her work has received positive reviews for her “sparkling voice” (outerstage.com) and “exuberant” performances (Opera News). Of her performance in L’elisir d’amore at Virginia Opera, The Washington Post wrote: “Allison Pohl stood out with a ripe, flavorful soprano and ample character.”
Her 2023-2024 season includes Violetta in La Traviata at Opera Bend, Social Worker/Reporter in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X at Seattle Opera, Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire at Tacoma Opera, Tatyana in highlights from Eugene Onegin with SkyOpera, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro at Vashon Opera, a solo recital in Freeport, New York, Handel’s Messiah with Symphony Tacoma, a concert series of Ukrainian and Polish music, and several concerts curated by Maestro Keith Lockhart.
Allison has appeared with opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States, including Boston Lyric Opera, New York City Opera, Virginia Opera, Opera Saratoga, Tacoma Opera, Vashon Opera, Opera in the Heights, Opera Providence, Opera on the James, Seattle Symphony, Canton Symphony, Symphony Tacoma, Bremerton Symphony, Seattle Philharmonic, Garden State Philharmonic, Harmonia Seattle, and SkyOpera, and has been a soloist for orchestral tours in both Italy and China. As a member of Soprello, Allison has performed chamber music across North America with cellist Alistair MacRae.
Recently performed roles include both Countess and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Adina in L’elisir d’amore, Blanche de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, Nannetta in Falstaff, Norina in Don Pasquale, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Musetta in La Bohème, and Yum-Yum in The Mikado.
In 2023, Allison was appointed Artistic Director of Vashon Opera, building on a history of leading roles at the company. She is a Seattle Opera Career Grant recipient, winner of the Seattle Philharmonic Concerto Competition, is on faculty at Brevard Music Center, and holds degrees from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music and Boston University.
Patricia Grace Hazard
Collaborative Piano
P.G. Hazard is a vocal coach and pianist living in Winston-Salem, NC. Her most recent collaborations have been with Piedmont Opera and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, her alma mater. In the 2019-2020 season Ms. Hazard was an apprentice with Palm Beach Opera and a staff pianist for the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at UNCSA.
During her employment at UNCSA she prepared Werther with Maestro Antony Walker, Rodelinda with Grammy-award winning conductor Stephen Stubbs, and was assistant conductor for Piedmont Opera’s production of La Bohème with Maestro James Allbritten.
While pursuing her masters degree (M.M. ’18), Ms. Hazard held the inaugural Fletcher Fellowship in Collaborative Piano. P.G. has had the privilege to attend summer festivals such as Music Academy of the West, Si Parla Si Canta, SongFest, and the Miami Music Festival. She has appeared in masterclasses with Marilyn Horne, Speranza Scappucci, William Bolcom, Libby Larsen, Jake Heggie, Warren Jones, Wu Han, Jeanne-Michelle Charbonnet, Harolyn Blackwell, and Renée Fleming.
P.G. is a graduate of Florida State University (B.A. ’13) where she accompanied The University Singers choir in recital and on tour. Her first music director positions were with FSU’s Student Opera Society’s productions of A Little Night Music and FSU Opera Outreach’s production of The Magic Flute.
Mya Brown
Acting Coach
Assistant Professor and Co-Coordinator of the BFA in Acting at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. Mya also serves as Assistant Faculty with Theatrical Intimacy Education, one of the nation’s leading organizations in theatrical intimacy practices. She teaches acting, directing, voice, movement, and Shakespeare. She is inspired to cultivate brave & consent-based acting spaces that celebrate a diversity of cultures and thoughts.
Recently, Mya performed the role of Detective Poole in Triad Stage’s (Greensboro, NC) staged reading of the new play Jekyll. Some of her favorite roles include Marcus Lycus in WV Public Theatre’s (Morgantown, WV), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum & Nurse in Romeo & Juliet, and in the main cast of the NuBlack Arts West Theatre’s (Seattle, WA), The Colored Museum. You can follow her on Instagram and TikTok @myasturnnow.
Christina Lindhout
Dance Instructor
Christina Lindhout is an Assistant Professor of Dance in the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Performing Arts. She has been teaching at BW since 2019, and joined the full-time faculty in 2024. Christina is the director of all Dance Series performances at Baldwin Wallace University. Outside of BW, Christina is a professional dancer, choreographer, and director based in Cleveland, Ohio. With over 26 years of training in classical ballet, contemporary, modern, jazz, and tap, she has danced professionally since she was 17 years old and has performed many principal roles both locally and internationally to critical acclaim. Before coming to BW, Christina performed as a Company Member with BalletMet and Ohio Contemporary Ballet, and served as the Director of Community Engagement at the Ohio Contemporary Ballet Center for Dance. In 2020, Christina premiered a full-length choreographic and directorial dance for film titled FEAST: a ballet, for which she and the creative team were awarded a Satellite Fund grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation through SPACES gallery. To date, FEAST has been the recipient of awards all over the world, including Best Documentary at the Virgin Spring film festival in Kolkata, India. Christina has also had choreography selected to be performed at Playhouse Square, Cleveland Public Theatre, Ohio Contemporary Ballet, Baldwin Wallace University, Cuyahoga County Community College, for the Brain Injury Association of Ohio, and as an official selection of the CAN Triennial. Christina is the recipient of a 2020 Akron Soul Train Fellowship, a 2022 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for Choreography, as well as the Summit Artspace Arts Alive Award as the 2023 Outstanding Artist in Dance.
Dale Girard
Stage Combat
Dale is an award winning Fight Director, Choreographer and author of the stage combat manual Actors On Guard. He is a third degree Black Belt (Sam Dan, 1st level) in Taekwondo/Hopkido and Hydong Gumdo, a founding member of the North Carolina Stuntmen’s Association and one of only sixteen recognized Fight Masters in the United States by the Society of American Fight Directors. His breadth of work and contribution to the art of staged violence has also earned him recognition in the Canadian guild, Fight Directors Canada, and The Russian Guild of Stage Movement Directors and Teachers. His work has been featured in professional theatres and opera houses throughout North America and in numerous motion pictures. Credits include the Metropolitan Opera, The Folger Theatre, Signature Theatre, Arden Theater, San Diego Opera, Opera Carolina, Piedmont Opera, Pioneer Theatre, Studio Arena Theatre, Triad Stage, and the Chautauqua Opera. Film credits include “Eyeborgs,” “The Key Man,” “The Trial,” “10 Rules for Sleeping Around” and the critically acclaimed “Junebug.”
As a master teacher, Mr. Girard has instructed classes and seminars in stage combat, acting, and dramatic movement at colleges and universities throughout North America. Based in North Carolina, he is a full Professor on faculty for the School of Drama at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he serves as Director of Stage Combat Studies and the Assistant Dean of Academics and Administation. Previous teaching experience includes Yale’s Schools of Drama and Music, the National Theatre Conservatory and the Hartt School.
Dale Girard IMDb Page
