VOICE

CHAIR OF THE VOICE DEPARTMENT

FORREST BUNTER, from Neosho, Missouri, holds an MM in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a BA in Voice from Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Missouri. As a singer, Forrest brings drama to the stage and concert hall with his expressive voice. Establishing his presence as a comic and versatile performer, he currently sings with the North Carolina Opera Chorus joining them in 2022 and most recently performing in their production of La Fanciulla del West.

In addition to stage productions, Forrest has a special interest in choral repertoire. Singing with the Chancel Choir at First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, Forrest debuted solo performances in Fauré’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah. As a Choral Scholar with Bach Akademie Charlotte, Forrest joined the early music ensemble’s 2021/2022 season for their concert Florilegium at 400. And in his current position at Westminster Presbyterian Church, he continues to expand his repertoire with a debut performance of Schubert’s Mass in G. Forrest is also an active member of the Greensboro Symphony Master Chorale which this season partnered with professional choir Conspirare, and performed Poulenc’s Gloria in addition to pops concerts with the Greensboro Symphony: Video Games Live! and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Honing his stagecraft, Forrest has performed with theater and opera companies including North Carolina Opera, UNCG Opera Theatre, Greensboro Opera, Missouri Southern Theatre, Heartland Opera Theatre, Ozark Family Opera Company, Joplin Little Theatre, and Cherokee County Arts Association. Encompassing a wide range of genres, notable roles include Charles Condomine (Blithe Spirit), Warden Frank (Die Fledermaus), Gianni Schicchi (Gianni Schicchi), Mr. Cox (Cox and Box), Tony Brockhurst (The Boyfriend), Mack the Knife (The Threepenny Opera), and Mr. Feldzig (The Drowsy Chaperone).

As a teacher, Forrest focuses on supporting the individual goals of each student while providing a foundation for healthy singing. This includes incorporating techniques for all styles of singing. He also believes that creating a supportive space to learn allows students to discover new confidence in music-making. In this way, his students are able to use their unique voices to enjoy singing for years to come.

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

STEPHANIE FOLEY DAVIS, Associate Director and Master Teacher, was praised
by the New York Times in her Glimmerglass Festival debut in The Tender Land as a
poised, touching Ma Moss and Opera News said she was a loving, careworn Ma,
warm of voice and presence. Ms. Davis subsequently returned to Glimmerglass
to create the role of Mary McCarthy in the world premiere of Jeanine Tesori’s A
Blizzard in Marblehead Neck. Of her role debut as Charlotte in Nightingale Opera
Theatre’s production of Werther, Cleveland Classical said, “Foley Davis and Culver
were terrific in their singing and in delineating their sadness.”

Ms. Davis has appeared in leading roles throughout the US with companies
such as Arizona Opera, Nashville Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Nightingale
Opera Theatre, Orlando Philharmonic, and almost every professional opera
company in North Carolina, including Opera Carolina, Piedmont Opera, North
Carolina Opera, and Greensboro Opera. Stephanie made her company and role
debut with Opera Roanoke, singing Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia in May 2019.
She sang with Memphis Symphony Orchestra for the Messiah, the Portland
Symphony Orchestra (Maine) to perform the mezzo-soprano solos in
Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 Jeremiah and Jenkins The Armed Man all under the
baton of Robert Moody, after which they reprised the concert with the Winston-
Salem Symphony. Other recent credits include Mercedes in Greensboro
Opera’s Carmen, Suzuki in Piedmont Opera’s Madama Butterfly, the mezzo soloist
in the Winston-Salem Symphony’s Beethoven’s 9th, and as a distinguished
alumna in Verdi’s Requiem at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Joseph Newsome (Voix des Arts) said, “Verdi entrusted the first phrases of Lux
Aterna luceat eis, Domine to the mezzo-soprano soloist, and it is difficult to
imagine that he could have expected them to be sung more handsomely and
incisively than Foley Davis sang them in Greensboro.”  Stephanie created the
role of Flo in the World Premiere of Libby Larsen’s Picnic in April 2009,
commissioned by the UNCG School of Music.

Ms. Davis is currently Associate Director at The Music Academy of North
Carolina, where she has been teaching voice since 2011.

WOODSON E. FAULKNER, II is a graduate of Greensboro College with a Bachelor of Music degree subsequently attending UNCG for post-graduate study in choral conducting, voice training and music education. He was a featured soloist with the Bel Canto Company in their appearance at the Hinshaw Music Festival held in Raleigh August of 2014 and also in 2015 where he was again soloist in the 2nd Premier of John Rutter’s Six Canticles of Light. In 2007 Mr. Faulkner became the Choir Director/Organist at Wake Forest Baptist Church, Winston-Salem and on Sept. 11, 2011 in Wait Chapel, Mr. Faulkner conducted the premier performance of Angels and Fireflies written by Kevin Malone for solo flute and string orchestra for the 10th anniversary commemorating the tragic events of 9-11. The performance was simulcast to the Imperial War Museum in Manchester, England and radio broadcast live from Wake Forest on local NPR station WFDD. In addition, Mr. Faulkner serves as Accompanist, Assistant Director, and Vocal Coach for the Burlington Boys Choir since 1999, with tours to New York, Atlanta, Toronto, Mexico and Vienna.

Mr. Faulkner was Artistic Director and Founding Conductor of the Triad Pride Men’s Chorus from 1998 to 2012. His professional credits include appearances conducting TPMC at the International Festival of Gay and Lesbian Choruses (GALA) in Montreal, Miami, Denver, and at a regional conference in Cincinnati, OH. He has also sung professionally under the direction of the late Robert Shaw at Carnegie Hall and has performed as singer/assistant director of The Desert Chorale of Santa Fe, NM in four summer seasons.

Among his other artistic endeavors, Mr. Faulkner is a past Board President of Greensboro Opera and was recently a featured writer for the O.Henry Magazine in the July 2014 issue. He has been a presenter/speaker at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Didactic Seminar on Arts and Healing for Chaplaincy program May 25, 2012, a guest presenter at the SEA (Southern Entrepreneur in the Arts) Conference at UNCG in Feb. 2012, Music Director/Arranger/Actor for the Touring Theatre Ensemble of NC from 1995-2004. He sang with the Bel Canto Company of Greensboro for 20+ years appearing numerous times with the ensemble as soloist. Mr. Faulkner also holds a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from Duke University.

CRYSTAL KACHEVAS, from Paragould, Arkansas, holds an MM in Voice Performance from the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ and a BM in Voice Performance from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, AR. She is currently working towards her DMA in Voice Performance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she serves as a graduate teaching associate for the voice area.

On the operatic stage, Crystal’s recent roles include Madame Herz in Mozart’s Der
Schauspieldirektor, the Dew Fairy in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, Lord Birkenhead in the American premiere of Elena Langer’s Rhondda Rips It Up!, La Fée in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Pietro Baglioni in Catan’s La hija de Rappiccini, Bastienne in Mozart’s Bastien und Bastienne, and Velena Sue Davenport in Richard Pearson Thomas’ A Wake or a Wedding.

In addition to stage productions, Crystal also has a love for choral and ensemble singing. She has performed internationally with choral and operatic ensembles throughout the United States, Ireland, and the Yucatan Peninsula ranging from early music to world premieres. Notable performances include the soprano soloist of various Requiems by Mozart, Fauré, Rutter, and Duruflé, Schubert’s Mass in G, Liszt’s Via crucis, Allegri’s Miserere mei deus, and Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard. Crystal recently had the honor of singing in the combined chancel choir for the ordination and consecration of the 14th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of
Arkansas. Crystal continues to expand her repertoire in this genre in her current position with the chancel choir at Westminster Presbyterian Church and as a visiting artist nationwide.

An avid teacher, Crystal was previously the Instructor of Voice and Opera at Arkansas State University where she directed Viardot’s Cendrillon and the world premiere of Dr. Murl Sickbert’s realization and adaptation of Mozart’s incomplete L’oca del Cairo. She continues to hone her passion for stage directing and theatre in collaboration with the UNCG Opera Theatre and Greensboro Opera. Along with opera production and voice, Crystal has also taught classes for group voice lessons and lyric diction for singers.

Crystal’s main focus in her role as a voice teacher is working alongside her students to discover and improve their own unique, individual sound in a safe and warm environment. Crystal’s past and current voice students range from 12–85 and encompass a wide variety of genres such as musical theatre, classical, jazz, popular music, and choral. Her students have enjoyed successes in NATS and MTCA competitions and hold performance contracts for Broadway national tours,
Disney World, cruise ships, and various theatre companies across the nation.

CHARLENE MARCHANT, Master Teacher, joined the voice faculty of The Music Academy of NC in 2012 when she moved to Greensboro from Hampton, VA. She is a graduate of Harvard College with an A.B. cum laude in Visual and Environmental Studies, and an M.M. in Vocal Performance from The Catholic Univ. in Washington, D.C. She has served as adjunct faculty at Hampton Univ., Chowan Univ., and The Governor’s School for the Arts in Norfolk, VA. In Greensboro, she has taught voice at Bennett College, and music at several area schools.

She sang professionally in the choruses of over 30 different operas with Washington (National) Opera, Washington Concert Opera, Virginia Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and Opera Ayr (Scotland). She is a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, former member of British Equity, and a lifetime member of the music fraternity, Sigma Alpha Iota. She is a Board of Trustees member of Greensboro Opera, where she serves as co-VP of the Education Committee and leader of the Task Force for Social Justice.  She has lived in India, Kenya, and England; has a son in Seattle, and a daughter, son-in-law, and two lively grandsons who live in London.  She is a voice teacher for students who want a strong foundation in vocal technique. Her students range in age from eleven to eighty and learn repertoire from Disney to Debussy. She also teaches a lyric diction class at MANC using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).