Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ Artists-in-Training program in 25th year
Thanks to the Monsanto Fund, 23 high school students from across the St. Louis region engaged in weekly college-level vocal coaching from faculty at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Washington University, Webster University, and University of Missouri–St. Louis.
These were the members of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ 2014-2015 Monsanto Artists-in-Training (AIT) class, chosen through a highly competitive audition process. Those talented students were:
- Dennis Barber, Junior, McCluer North High School, 1st year AIT
- McLaine Beeman, Senior, Triad High School, 3rd year AIT
- Abby Benson, Junior, Parkway South High School, 1st year AIT
- Mykel Blair, Junior, Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, 1st year AIT
- Melvin D. Bozeman Jr., Senior, McCluer North High School, 2nd year AIT
- Monet Britts, Senior, McCluer North High School, 2nd year AIT
- Rayna Campbell, Sophomore, Belleville East High School, 1st year AIT
- Amber Joy Carrasquillo, Junior, Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School, 1st year AIT
- Kelsey Degardin, Senior, Ritenour High School, 3rd year AIT
- Marissa Rae Dickman, Sophomore, Pattonville High School, 1st year AIT
- Thalia Dimitriou, Senior, Eureka High School, 1st year AIT
- Kamil Frierson, Sophomore, Belleville West High School, 1st year AIT
- Michael Hawkins, Senior, Belleville East High School, 2nd year AIT
- Caleb Johnson, Junior, Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, 2nd year AIT
- Ricky Johnson, Sophomore, Homeschool, 1st year AIT
- Lorenzo B. Jones, Senior, Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, 1st year AIT
- Lauren Lundy, Junior, Notre Dame High School, 2nd year AIT
- Aileen Markovitz, Senior, Eureka High School, 2nd year AIT
- Julia Pottinger, Senior, Cor Jesu Academy, 3rd year AIT
- Abigail Powers, Senior, Mehlville High School, 3rd year AIT
- Trevor Scott, Sophomore, St. Louis University High School, 1st year AIT
- Jessica Stone, Senior, McCluer North High School, 2nd year AIT
- Hannah Willmore, Sophomore, Edwardsville High School, 1st year AIT.
The program culminated in a recital and scholarship competition at Sheldon Concert Hall on April 19, where awards of over $12,000 in scholarships were distributed.
The program was recognized as one of 10 outstanding programs for youth in the nation by the President’s Committee for the Arts and the Humanities at a special ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Five alumni of the AIT program are in the midst of professional singing careers which have taken them to performing venues throughout the U.S. and overseas. They include tenor Jermaine Smith (1991), mezzo-soprano Kendall Gladden (1994), baritone Robert McNichols (1995), soprano Jennifer Sheehan (2003), and soprano Julia Bullock (2004).
In 2013, AIT graduate Derrell Acon, also a member of Opera Theatre’s Gerdine Young Artist program, received a Fulbright award to pursue both performance and research in Italy. AIT graduate and 2014 Naumburg Prize winner Julia Bullock will make her debut in the starring role of the English National Opera’s 2015 production of The Indian Queen.
The Monsanto Fund, the philanthropic arm of Monsanto Company, has been the principal underwriter of the program since its inception in 1990. In 2014, the Monsanto Fund gave a combined gift of $90,000 to support both the Artists-in-Training program and Opera on the Go!, a program that brings opera singers into area schools to conduct participatory workshops.
