Staff

HOC

Perry Price — Music and Artistic Director ﷯Mr. Price has had a long and enviable career as an international opera and concert singer which has taken him to the music centers of over twenty countries. His appearances have included San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Philadelphia Opera, Houston Opera, National Opera Kennedy Center, Des Moines Opera and, internationally, the opera companies of Rome, Venice, Palermo, Lisbon, Antwerp, Stuttgart, Nordberg, Augsburg, Magdeburg, Schwerin and Canadian Opera in Toronto. His long and varied repertoire has spanned the works of Rossini, Donizetti, Mozart (including the rarely heard Clemenza di Tito and Idomeneo title roles) Verdi, Puccini Massenet, Gounod, Thomas as well as several World Premieres including Luis Reil by Somers, Don Perlimplin by Belamaric and Beatrice Cenci by Goldschmidt. Most recently, at the advice of famed Wagner conductor Wolfgang Rennert, Mr. Price turned to the "Helden" repertoire undertaking the title roles in Wagner's Siegfried, Tannhauser and Parsifal as well as lead roles in Der Fliegende Hollander and Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and Salome. Most recently, Mr. Price was invited by friend and colleague Placido Domingo for the role of Herodes in Salome at Kennedy Center, a role he performed in many European centers, and he repeated it to great acclaim in Des Moines Opera. In the course of his career, Mr. Price has appeared with many well known singers including Anna Moffo, Beverly Sills, Joan Sutherland, Carol Neblett, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Heather Thomson and famed conductors Bruno Bartoletti, Wolfgang Rennert, Gunther Neuholt, Roger Wagner, and Ulrich Weder to name a few. Mr.Price can be heard in recordings of Messiah with the New York Choral Society as well as Handel's Acis e Galatea and Clemenza di Tito recorded by RAI, Torino. In addition to his singing activities, Mr. Price is now passing on his vast experience to the next generation as Professor. He is also a regular for Master classes twice yearly at University of British Columbia's famed Opera School as well as a frequently sought Judge for the Nat. Assoc. of Teachers of Singing in which he is a long standing member. Mr. Price has also served as Coordinator for the Connecticut Alliance for Music Semi-Annual Vocal Competitions. Mr. Price received his B.S. in Music Education and Administration from Texas Lutheran University (from which he has received a Distinguished Alumni Award) and his M.M. from University of Houston. He completed post-graduate work in San Francisco, New York and London. He was a Prize Winner in both the San Francisco Opera and Metropolitan Opera International Auditions. In addition to his other teaching commitments, Mr. Price has taught at Otto-von-Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany, Western Connecticut State University and teaches privately, specializing in vocal technique and voice preservation. Michael Trnik — Board Member, Treasurer, Baritone ﷯Baritone Michael Trnik is having the great pleasure of performing opera currently throughout the Connecticut/New York region. Ever since winning a chance to be part of Connecticut All State Choir in High School, he knew he wanted to something in the world of music. Since then, Michael has had the opportunity of working with several regional opera companies. These include Eastern Festival Opera of Westchester, Le Nozze NY in New York City, Hillhouse Opera Company of New Haven, New Rochelle Opera, and OSH Opera in New York City. Roles that Michael has performed with these companies were Count Almavia in Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro”, Valentin in Gounod’s “Faust”, the title role of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and both Baron Douphal as well as the Marquis in Verdi’s “La Traviata”. Michael has also performed via opera gala Figaro in Act I of Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” and Sharpless in Act I of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”. Michael two most recent performances were Guglielmo in Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” with Hillhouse Opera in New Haven, CT and Dr. Falke in Strauss Jr’s “Die Fledermaus” with Troupers Light Opera in Westport, CT. Michael is the recipient of the Olga Berzins Scholarship through the Rosa Ponselle auditions in Meridan and the first prize of the Connecticut NATS auditions. Michael holds a Bachelor’s Degree in music from Western Conn. State. Current residence is in Bethel, CT. Michael also continues to study voice with legendary tenor Perry Price.

Harmony Wheeler holds a degree in Journalism and an emphasis in Public Relations from Biola University. In addition to managing the website and publicity materials for HOC, she has worked as a Marketing and Public Relations assistant for Sierra Repertory Theatre, the Gallo Center for the Arts, Biola University, Epic Time Pieces, the La Mirada Chamber of Commerce, MJM Entertainment Group and Zimbabwe Gecko Society. Wheeler has written dozens of articles for various publications including the Biola student newspaper, The Chimes, where she served as the News Editor. She has also written feature, news, and entertainment articles for The Modesto Bee, StaticMultiMedia.com, The Christian Communicator Magazine, Church Libraries Magazine, Taylor University Fort Wayne’s Alumnus Magazine, and Christianbookpreviews.com. Wheeler recently completed editing and photography work for the soon to be released book, "The Dominican Dream."
She can be contacted at HarmonyWheeler@Gmail.com

Sarah Kennedy (General Director) Sarah Kennedy has been a ballet teacher in the New Haven area for more than ten years. The soprano is the director of Sarah Kennedy Ballet for Young People and intern with Site Projects New Haven. Receiving her ballet training at the San Francisco Ballet School, the Connecticut Ballet, and at George Washington University, with Jane Bonbright (where she also received a B.A. in fine arts), she then went on to study theater and opera. She has been a teacher at the Neighborhood Music School Pre-school and Toddler Program, NMS Dance and Audobon Arts programs, and a teacher and performer with the New Haven Ballet. Sarah offers, with the child oriented Ballet for Young People, classes that nurture the spirit as well as the skills of the dancer, and enrichment programs including the Ballet Discovery Series of studio workshops about the great ballets, trips to the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center, as well as The Nutcracker and Winter Carnival-Ballet Parties! Young dancers are invited to come together to create artwork connected to ballet, and Her Children’s Ballet Theater students are invited to give small performances (some inspired by the Angelina Ballerina books!) With all students of her studio, she has adapted: The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, and Cinderella, performed in the warm environment of family and friends! Victoria Leigh Gardner (Founder) Victoria Leigh Gardner began her study of Classical singing at the age of 12. Since that time, she has performed throughout the world in solo recitals, operas, musicals, operettas, and with various choirs. Some of her roles include: Marguerite in Faust, the title role in Alcina, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Kate in Yeomen of the Guard, Cinderellas mother in Into the Woods, Annabelle in The Gods Hate Kansas and the title role in Iolanthe. She has also sung the following partial roles: Micaela in Carmen (Duet and Aria), Violetta in La Traviata (Acts I and II), Valentine in Les Huguenots (Act IV), and Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier (Act III). In 2006 she performed the Soprano II role in the Bach Magnificat with the New Haven Oratorio Choir. Miss Gardner obtained her Master's degree from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and her Bachelor's degree with a double major in music and archaeology from Yale College. While at Yale, she sang with the Yale Glee Club, the Yale Schola Cantorum and the Marquand Chapel Choir. In 2002, Miss Gardner was selected to be a participant in the Spoleto Vocal Arts Symposium in Spoleto, Italy, where she sang in master classes for Enza Ferrari and Bruno Rigacci, as well as performing in concerts and opera scenes. In both 1998 and 1999, she was a finalist for the Allentown Community Music School Gala recital competition. Currently, Miss Gardner can be seen performing in productions and concert venues in the greater New England area and producing operas as the founding President and General Director of the Hillhouse Opera Company.

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