Poster Presentations
2025 National Conference (Jan 5-8, Savannah, GA)
As part of NOA’s commitment to the advancement of excellence in opera and musical theatre performance and pedagogy, the annual National Conference includes a poster session to encourage members, prospective members and friends of NOA to share information about their current research. Proposals are considered and reviewed as follows:
Authors are invited to submit abstracts for poster presentations designed to highlight original research.
Poster presenters are required to register for and attend the conference in order to present.
Juried awards are given to recognize exceptional poster presentations; these will be announced at the closing banquet on the closing evening of the conference.
In celebration of this year's conference collaboration with NATS members, the research committee encourages scholars to be inspired by this year's theme, Building Together - Curating Tomorrow.
Some suggestions in keeping with the conference theme include:
- best practices (Diversity/Equity/Inclusion//Belonging, Production, Development, Policies and Procedures)
- diversified genres (opera, musical theater, commercial music, new music)
- pedagogy (learning new works, opera workshop curricula, cross-training, science-informed pedagogy)
- engagement (outreach, education, community, young singers/young audiences)
We invite submissions from all members and friends of NATS and NOA and encourage submissions representing the full range and diversity of our respective memberships, their work, and scholarship.
Deadline: October 15, 2024
Abstracts should be submitted electronically using the online form.
Presenter Notification: November 16, 2024
Call for Posters
Guidelines for Abstracts
Proposals for the poster session at the National Conference are peer-reviewed and must adhere to the following guidelines. No informal email descriptions will be accepted.
- Abstracts should be 250-500 words. Please ensure the abstract includes proposal title only without any additional identifying author information.
- Only abstracts clearly related to the topics stated in the Call for Posters will be considered.
- Abstract format must include a description of the nature and purpose of the project, methodology as appropriate and the application, results or conclusion reached.
- No abstracts promoting a profit-making method, concept or product will be accepted.
- No abstracts will be accepted after the deadline.
- Abstract submission commits authors to poster presentation at the national conference if accepted. Poster presenters are required to register for the conference.
- A 150-word biography of the author must accompany the abstract. Committee members reading abstracts do not see identifying information; bios are held for use in the conference program if the abstract is accepted for presentation.
Poster Competition: Undergraduate Division
As part of NOA’s commitment to the advancement of excellence in opera and musical theatre performance and pedagogy, the national conference now includes a poster session to encourage undergraduate students to share information about their current research interests and projects.
Undergraduate authors are invited to submit abstracts for poster presentations on opera-related topics. This session is designed to highlight original research projects related to performance, pedagogy, composition, and production.
Submission Procedure
- Abstracts should be 250-500 words. Please ensure the abstract includes proposal title only without any additional identifying author information.
- Abstract format will include a description of the project, methodology as appropriate, and results or conclusion reached.
- No abstracts will be accepted after the deadline.
- Abstract submission commits authors to poster presentation at the national conference if accepted. Poster presenters are required to register for the conference.
- Supporting material includes:
- A 150-word biography of the author
- The name and contact information of one academic reference
Committee members reading abstracts do not see identifying information; bios are held for use in the conference program if the abstract is accepted for presentation.
Submissions must be received by the deadline to be adjudicated. All abstracts should be submitted electronically using the online form.
Further Information
If you are thinking of submitting an abstract for a Poster Paper, here are some notes about this mode of presentation:
Posters Papers are a fabulous way to disseminate research to a large conference audience. They enable the presenter to create a visual presence unique to their work, answer questions, and speak one-on-one with a significant number of delegates. At NOA, we provide space and encourage all presenters to leave their papers for viewing and discussion throughout the conference.
Poster Papers should be freestanding or able to be supported on an easel (if supplied by the presenter). Each presenter will be provided with a table onsite.
Poster Presentations are typically presented on one or two boards of 36"x48" but are only really limited by your imagination. They need to be large enough to allow information to be easily organized and key points of your research communicated to an audience. Supplemental materials could include a handout (abstract or other), your business card, or any audio or visual materials that will amplify your presentation. Audio or video can be shared while you are present with a personal laptop or iPad and headphones set up beside your poster.
Research
Renee Anderson | “Operas About Vietnam Veterans”
Logan Contreras | “The Singer’s Guide for Discovering Diverse Repertoire Tools and Resources for Programming Inclusively and Diversely”
Nalani Defensor & Mackenzie Block | “The Sound of Storytelling: An Exploration of Leitmotif in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel”
Anne Foradori & Mirim Kim | “Retelling a Fairytale: A New Production of Zémire et Azor by André Gretry”
Mara Gibson | “The Devil's Dream: Composer/Librettist Collaboration”
Madeline Harts | “Taking Care: The Case for Voice Care in the Opera Company”
Mitchell Hutchings | “Opera Unbound: Cultivating Young Opera Singers and Enthusiasts with Cost-Effective Strategies”
Shayna Isaacs | “Queering the Aria Package: Reimagining Gender and Desire in Opera”
Sylvia D. Jones | “How Did She Do That? An Analysis of Black Female Gospel Singers and their Tool Kit”
Sayo Kajiyama | “Strategies for Cultivating Italian Lyric Diction Skills for Native Japanese Speakers”
Jane Kozhevnikova | “The Librettist’s Voice Versus the Composer’s Voice: Models of Collaboration in Contemporary Opera”
Judy O. Marchman | “Challenging the Norm: Exploring Concepts of Diversity in Non-Diverse Music Programs”
Christopher McKim | “‘The (Not So) Long and Winding Road’ - Creating a Musically Diverse Vocal Program: Ideas and Resources from our Journey.”
Kimberly Monzón | “Singing Through the Silence: Investigating the Intersection of PCOS, Endometriosis, and Vocal Performance”
Victoria Nimneh | “Considering Black Trauma as a Component of Authentic Storytelling in Contemporary Opera”
Hannah Park & Zoe Rose Pallas | “‘Apparve e sparì’: A Bel Canto Era Excavation of the Life and Works of Carolina Uccelli”
Rebecca Renfro & Kyle Kindred | “Uncovering Pierrette’s Ruse: Adapting Nineteenth-Century Operetta for Twenty-First Century Opera Programs”
Kim Robson & Corbin Abernathy | “Current Demands for Genre-Bending Vocal Virtuosity”
Jordan Roth | “Opening the Curtain: A Guide to Russian Opera”
Caroline Schiller | “Sustainable Beauty: Ethical Design in a Time of Global Change”
Rebecca Walsh | “Music in Context: How Societal and Cultural Trends Influence Dramatic Impetus in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera”
Olivia Yokers, Bonita Bunt & Laura Pritchard | “Opera Pedagogy from Studio to Stage: Merging the Methods of Michael Chekhov, Rudolf Laban, and Body Mapping to Train the Emerging Singing Actor by Expanding Opera Workshop Curricula”
Ziwei Cen | “The Application of MBTI in Teaching Opera Workshops”
Chuck Chandler | “New Operas / New Pedagogies”
Ellen Denham | “Creative Partnerships: Opera, The Environment, and Collaborations Beyond the Music Department”
Brian Downen | “4 Ways to Shift Your Performance Anxiety Today”
Robert Dundas | “Composer in the Crossfire of History: The Operatic Saga of Nietzsche’s Favorite Composer.”
Emily Heilman | “Mykola Lysenko’s Natalka Poltavka: A Symbol of Ukrainian Identity in Opera”
Courtney Kalbacker | “Against the Stream: Eleanor Everest Freer, American opera advocate”
Kimberly Monzón, DMA & Michelle Soummers, MA-CCC, SLP | “Vascular Voices: the impact of cyclical sex hormones on the vocal health of Women+ performers”
Anthony Offerle | “New Works, New Workings: A Modern Approach to Compositional Collaboration”
Marc Schapman | “The Comprimario Collection”
Kimberly Soby / Shannon Rose McAuliffe | “'La voila! Voila la Carmencita!': Exploring Gender-Based Violence in Opera Through Carmen”
Miracle Amah | “Decolonizing and Enriching Opera: A Nigerian Folktale One Act Opera”
Christina Amonson | “Backstage Dramaturgy in Opera Workshop”
Dylan Glenn | “Becqueriana: Rediscovering Operas by Iberian Women Composers”
Bonita Bunt | “The Vocal Load: A Performer’s and Pedagogue’s Primer to Planning and Pacing”
Thaddaeus Bourne | “Synergy for Survival”
Laura Ann Carroll | “Weaponized femininity and the marginalization of women in opera”
Emily Clements | “Letters to Lily”
Keith Colclough | “Schubert’s Liedrezitativ and the Opera That Might Have Been”
Josaphat Contreras | “Can Opera be folk Music? :The historical connection and application between Opera and Mexican Mariachi Folk Music”
Lillian Rose Goetzman | “A Pedagogical Approach to Vocal Artistry from Cabaret to Art Song: A Study in Kurt Weill’s Die sieben Todsünden (Seven Deadly Sins)”
Courtney Kalbacker | “Operatic Innovation within the Constraints of Academia: A case-study examining the selection, commission, collaboration, and creation of a new version of Ching’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Micah Rae Patt | “Musical Viewpoints: Modifying Viewpoints to serve the Opera Rehearsal Process”
Kimberly Soby | “Analyzing Character through Musical Form in Hindemith’s Cardillac”
Christine Steyer | “Engaging Young People in Making an Opera from A-Z”
Shelby VanNordstrand | “Asset-based work and interorganizational relationship building for the opera program and its partners”
Christopher Withrow | “Expanding the Canon: The Peculiar Case of Dr. H. H. Holmes”
Undergraduate Division
Cole Perkins | “Russian Government Influence on its Opera Composers:1874-1951”
Tyler Clay | “The Orpheus Legend on the Lyric Stage”
Hanna Peterson | “Analysis of 21 st Century Opera Through the LGBTQIA+ Lens: An Exploration of the Operas As One and Sweets By Kate”
Christina Amonson | “American Women Writing Operas”
Johnnie Bankens | “Hungarian Lyric Diction: A Guide to Pronunciation as Applied to Béla Bartók’s A Kékszakállú”
Susan A. Boddie | “Indigenous Canadian Opera and Vocal Composers: Highlighting Canada’s only Inuk Opera Singer, Ms. Deantha Edmunds”
Ísis Jarnicki de Carvalho | “Chamber Opera Chant d’amour de la dame à la licorne: A Proposal for Staging”
Chuck Chandler | “Cinemopera: Updating our Pedagogy”
Annelise Guimaraes Dias | “Opera from the clouds: Exploring Brazilian Opera”
Kristin Ditlow | “Opera Beyond Covid-19: Implementing Pandemic Lessons to Enhance Casting, Creativity and Learning”
John Peter Springer Ford | “Chadwick and Barnet’s Spicy Fiasco: Tabasco”
Brenda Jean Hamilton | “Crossover Performance Practice: Authentic Vocal Production and Storytelling of Rodgers and Hammerstein Repertoire”
Ariana Horner Sutherland | “The Bechdel Project: How Pastiche Can Inspire Artistic Responsibility and Purpose”
Nathan Krueger | “Tailor-Made Opera: Creating Pasticcio Operas to Maximize Student Talents”
Anthony Offerle | “Reimagining the Wheel - Creating collegiate Tele-Opera during the pandemic and beyond”
Laura J. Pritchard | “Operatic Adaptations of Émile Zola's ‘Thérèse Raquin:’ A Comparative Analysis”
Emma Louise Steiner | “Learning a Role with a Dyslexic Mind: A Case Study of a Dyslexic Singer Performing Soeur Constance from Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites”
Casey Keenan Joiner and Shayna Tayloe | “They/Them/Theirs: Casting Nonbinary Actors in Operatic Productions”
Sahoko Sato Timpone | “The Impact of Classic Literature on Berlioz’s Two African Queens: History and Comparative Analysis of Cleopatra in Cantata Cléopâtre and Dido in Opera Les Troyens”
Oliver Worthington | “Together but Distant: Technology Solutions for Real-Time Online Music Making and Opera Preparation and Productions”
Poster Presentations, Undergraduate Division:
Emily Bopp | “Méhul's Le jeune sage et le vieux fou: Adapted English Translation”
Emma D. Emde | “Policies and Procedures for Collegiate Lyrical Theatre Productions”
Rochelle Hazelton | “Trouser Roles in Nineteenth Century French Opera”
M. Sawyer Branham, co-author Danny Roush | “Dramaturgy Production Packet for Dido & Aeneas”
Casting Baritenors
Dr. Thaddeus Bourne
Exploring Unique Collaborations: Singing Actors in the World of Choral Storytelling
Dr. Trey Davis
Civic Practice 101: A guide for the 21st-century opera professor
Skyler Elise Dykes UNDERGRADUATE POSTER PAPER COMPETITION
Breaking Production Barriers Through Creative Collaboration: How to Produce Opera in a World of Ever Increasing Restrictions
Dr. Bethany Mamola
Global Impact Amidst A Global Pandemic: Hawaii Performing Arts Festival's 2020 Virtual Season
Dr. Justin John Moniz
Time's Up: How Opera is Facing its Own Me Too Reckoning
Dr. Craig Price
Broadening Our Scope in 2021: A selection of scenes from the operas of Carlisle Floyd
Laura Pritchard & Jamie Balter
Producing Live Opera in the Pandemic: A Case Study of a Successful Collegiate Production
Dr. Matthew Schloneger
Charm and Superiority: A study on the impact of Commedia dell’arte on Le Nozze di Figaro’s Susanna
Carissa Scroggins
Strauss's Elektra: The psychoanalytic infantilization of a strong, ambitious female in the age of Sigmund Freud
Jennifer Cresswell
Why Wait for Drama? Diving into dramatic work without upsetting the voice teacher?
Dr. Emily Heilman and Dr. Wesley Lawrence
Is your vibrato in style?: A cross-cultural historical analysis of vibrato in operatic versus operetta styles
Theodora Nestorova
The Art of Auditioning and the Business of Singing: A Curriculum Model to Bridge the Pedagogical Gap in Training Young Opera Artists
Dr. Colleen Brooks
What do I do with this odd assortment of singers?
Dr. Oliver Worthington
Opera Workshop to Opera Outreach for Children: How to adapt your opera curriculum to serve new audiences, your students and your budget
Dr. Anthony Radford
Undergraduate Student Poster Competition
Writing an Opera for the Unborn
Marina Malcolm
What He Left Behind: The Origin, Significance, and Impact of Strauss' Four Last Songs
Abigayle Williams
Cuckold: the husband’s unfaithful wife in operatic plots
Susan Williams
Scenes of Kurt Weill: Democracy in Programming a University Opera Workshop
Christina Amonson
Kaija Saariaho’s Path to the Met: The Merger of Conventional and Unconventional Musical Devices in L’amour de loin
Amy Prickett
Singers, Inc.: Practical Entrepreneurship as a Core Competency for Voice Students in the 21st Century
James Harrington
Yuujoo å‹æƒ…: A Case Study of Trans-global Opera Collaboration”
Rebecca L. Renfro
Soft Skills: Preparing Singers for the Future
Jen Stephenson
The Voice of Samson: An Exploration of the Vocal Writing of 19th century French tenor Gilbert Duprez’s Opera Samson”
Garrett Torbert
Analysis of fluctuation in vibrato rate using affect in operatic repertoire
Shayna Tayloe
Sonata Form in Mozart's 'Riconosci in questo amplesso' from Le Nozze di Figaro
Tracelyn Gesteland
The Rise of the Tenor Voice in the late Eighteenth Century: Mozart's Opera and Concert Arias
Joshua May
The Changing Face of Opera in America: Musical Theatre On The American Operatic Stage
Justin John Moniz
American Opera & Voodoo Culture: An Investigation of William Grant Still's Minette Fontaine
Jillian Johnson
Civic Operetta: grow your audience by including them on the stage
Kristin Kenning
An Introduction to an operetta: Pauline Viardot's Le dernier sorcier for the young opera studio
Lydia Beasley
Gendering the Lover Boy: Romeo to Stephano in Opera's I Capuleti è I Montecchi [Bellini] and Roméo et Juliette
Lauren Carlton
Social Justice in Lyric Theater Repertoire
Nicole Leupp Hanig
500 miles with Raven Summer Opera: An intermediary step in training the singing actor
Rebecca Renfro Grimes, Rachel M. Harris, Wesley Lawrence
Traditional approach re-examined: ethnographic exploration of early career opera singer training in Australia and UK
Maria Briggs
A Perfect Partnership: Opera and Community Organizations
Mitra Sadeghpour
A Dia de los Muertos Hansel and Gretel: Looking to folk art and culture as inspiration for a children’s opera
Nicole Asel, Assistant Professor of Voice, Sam Houston State University
A D.I.Y Guide to Revitalizing Underperformed Works: Translating and Reducing Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet for University Forces and Budgets
Bonita Bunt, Doctoral Candidate, University of Nevada
From Meisner to Mozart: Combining Theatre and Opera in a Workshop Setting
Marc Callahan, Assistant Professor of Voice, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
El gato con botas: A Multicultural Approach to Building a New Audience in the New Millennium
Karen Esquivel, Florida State University & Gustavo Castro, Eugene Opera
Entrepreneurship as a Core Competency: Preparing Voice Students for a Career in Singing in the 21st Century
James Harrington, Graduate Student, Florida State University
Reviving Instinct: Pedagogy and Assessment of Movement and Improvisation Education
Dr. Daniel Hunter-Holly, Associate Professor of Voice, University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley
Opera on the Prairie: The Forgotten Opera’s of Felix Vinatieri
Ryan Landis, Mississippi State University
Massage for Singers
Christopher Meerdink, Assistant Professor of Voice at West Texas A&M University
Not Just Clowning Around Anymore: Commedia dell’Arte for the Modern Opera Actor
Jennifer Stephenson, Assistant Professor and Director of Vocal Studies, Tabor College
The 21st Century Way: Fostering Flexibility and Versatility in Varying Genres
Justin John Moniz, Doctoral Candidate, Florida State University
Emotional Extortion and Sacrifice: The Father Daughter Relationship in Verdi's Luisa Miller, Rigoletto and La traviata
Dr. Suzanne Ramo, West Texas A & M University School of Music
Hormones and the Female Voice
Dr. Patricia Vigil, DMA from Temple University
The Highs and Lows of Breathing: A Historical Approach to Understanding Breathing for Classical Singing
Dr. Deborah Popham, Shorter University
Teaching Lucas: A Transgender Student's Journey from Soprano to Tenor
Dr. Loraine Sims, Louisiana State University
Exceptional Students in the Voice and Opera Studio:
Understanding and Training Students with High Functioning Autism
Dr. Ann K. Cravero, Drake University
Against the Odds: A Singer's Battle with Chiari Malformation and the Discovery
of Her True Instrument
Dr. Bonnie Cutsforth-Huber, Penn State University-Altoona
The Ill Fated Queen: Lady Macbeth and Sexuality, Witchcraft, Patrilineage and
Motherhood in settings of Verdi, Shostakovich, and Pasatieri
Dr. Andrea Garritano, Washburn University
The Future of Opera Project Case Study
Dr. Kristin Kenning, Samford University
Developing a Children Focused Opera Outreach Program for Opera Teachers
Dr. Sooah Park, University of Texas at Tyler
Eros and Psyche: Opera and Myth In the Twenty-First Century
Dr. Linell Gray Moss, Mary Baldwin College
Kurt Weill and the influences of Americana on Street Scene
Dr. Mitra Sadeghpour, University of Northern Iowa
Vocal Health and Repertoire for the Dramatic Mezzo-Soprano:
A Suggested Course of Study
Dr. Bonnie von Hoff, Georgia College & State University
The Marschner Baritone-Profile of a Character and Voice Type
Dr. Jeffery Williams, Austin Peay State University
Songs of the Fisherman: A Collaboration to Create an Opera-Ballet Hybrid
Brian Arreola
Integrating Mime and Dance into the Opera Scenes Narrative
Rebecca Renfro Grimes
J.P.E. Hartmann’s Liden Kirsten: A Hidden Gem
Anna Hersey
Polish Opera in the United States: a Call for Education, Performance, and Production
Kristin Kenning
Chiaroscuro: A Singer’s Approach to Exploring Artistic Individuality in Interpretation
Janene Nelson
Opera and Sustainability: A Case Study
Mitra Sadeghpour with co-authors Jordyn Beranek, Danielle Bronshteyn, and Michaela Tures
Reinventing Opera Outreach Programs in Canada’s Outports
Caroline Schiller
A History of Operatic Voice Types
Jeffrey Snider
Severo de Luca's 'Aglaura e Corebo': from Manuscript to Stage
Mary-Louise Catsalis, Stanford University
Opera, Research & Advocacy: Exploring history and literature through the lens of undergraduate research and arts advocacy
Carleen Graham, The Crane School of Music, State University of New York-Potsdam
Opera as Film Noir: Integrating film narrative into a scenes production
Rebecca Renfro Grimes, Sam Houston State University
From Song to Carmen: How to prepare young singers
Marielle Petricevich and Anthony P. Radford, California State University, Fresno
Jean-Baptiste Lully: Facilitating the use of French Baroque arias in undergraduate voice study
Mitra Sadeghpour, with Nicole Korbisch and Britney Shattuck, student researchers
Mozart's 7 Deadly Sins: Making Theatre from Excerpts
Maryâ€Louise Catsalis from Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
Eros and Psyche: Opera and Myth in the Twentyâ€First Century
Linell Gray Moss from James Madison University, the Lifelong Learning Institute in Harrisonburg, VA, and Germanna Community College in Fredericksburg, VA
King and Queen of the High Cs: The Bel Canto Love Affair of Dame Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti
Mitra Sadeghepour, Jonas Hacker and Erin Kenneavy from the University of Wisconsinâ€Eau Claire
Music and Architecture: Opera Production at the University of Miami
Dean Southern from the Frost School of Music, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
Exploring New Methods in Opera Education
Carleen Graham, Director of The Crane Opera Ensemble and Director of The Center for Undergraduate Research at SUNY-Potsdam with Vincent Covatto, Derek Downs and Shaun Cunningham
Performance Practice of Jody Nagel's Opera Fifty-Third Street: World Premiere performance at Ball State University
Tammie M. Huntington, Assistant Professor, Indiana Wesleyan University
Synthesized Pit Orchestras No Longer the Pits
Damon Stevens, Director Nevada Chamber Opera, University of Nevada, Reno
The Trickster and the Troll: Commissioning and producing a new chamber opera
Emily Wood Toronto, Department of Music, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota
America's Social History and the Changing Face of Opera: The case of race and African American singers at the MET
Maurice B. Wheeler, Associate Professor, Department of Library and Information Sciences, College of Information, University of North Texas
A visual-analytical comparison between Puccini’s and Busoni’s Turandot
Mihaela Buhaiciuc, University of Mobile
The musical and philosophical relationship between Richard Strauss’s Krämerspiegel Op. 66 and Capriccio, Op.85
Matthew Hoch, Shorter College
Realizing Rosina: Operatic realizations of Beaumarchais’s heroine
Linda Lister, Shorter College
A celebration of the life and compositions of Pauline Viardot
Jessica McCormack, Wittenberg University
Touring: Planning, implementing and survival
Patrick Newell, University of Wyoming and Helios Ensemble of Dallas
A vocal profile of Mozart’s first Don Alfonso, Francesco Bussani (1743-c.1807)
Anthony Radford, California State University, Fresno
Eleanor of Acquitaine or the power of disempowerment
Elke Riedel, School of Music of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
The development of an opera education program for high school students
Mitra Sadeghpour, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire: Operatunities
Witness: a new opera with relevance, musical immediacy and rich solo and chorus roles
Zae Munn, composer
Reinventing Opera: The role of dance and choreography in contemporary opera
Jeff Michael Rebudal and Maggie Allesee, Wayne State University Department of Dance
Heart vs Head: the implications of register sensation on the characterization of Mozart’s women in Le nozze di Figaro
Donna Harler Smith and Jamie Riemer, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
From Dido and Aeneas to Carmen: an exploration of the role of dance in opera
Mitra Sadeghpour, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire
Using Popular Culture to Create Opera Outreach
Amy Bouterse, University of Wisconsin – Parkside
Empowerment through Apprehension Management
Jo Ella Cansler, West Texas A&M University
Finding Figaro’s Voice: Informing Today’s Casting Choices
Anthony Radford, University of Lethbridge
Contemporary American Opera: an exploration of American operas of the past 25 years
Mitra Sadeghpour, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire