Music, especially singing, has brought Courtney joy from a very young age. While growing up in church, she was naturally drawn to sing harmony with her tenor dad—before she knew the term for supporting the melody. Since 2014, she has been a member and leader within Allen Symphony Chorus in Texas, and performs solos as well as sings in the chorus. She has also performed with a chapter of Opera on Tap. In 2022, she performed as part of the Masterwork Festival Chorus at Carnegie Hall, singing Mozart’s Requiem. Courtney debuts with Dallas Classical Singers in their upcoming August 2023 show, Aria Laughing?.

Yana White is a native of St. Petersburg, Russia where she began studying voice as well as attended the prestigious Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, graduating in 2000 with a BA in humanities. Yana developed her passion for opera in her late teens, and, after graduating college in Russia, she started pursing her music education. Yana graduated cum laude with a BA in Music from the University of North Texas, where she has performed the roles of Stepmother in Sondheim’s Into the Woods and Mrs. Peachum in Weill’s The Threepenny Opera. She has enjoyed performing roles of Mrs. Herring in Britten’s Albert Herring, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, and Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro as a part of educational summer programs with Spotlight on Opera and New York Lyric Opera.

As the Artistic Director of the Dallas Classical Singers, Yana enjoys wearing all sorts of hats: administrator, stage manager/director, singer herder, occasionally even a translator! Yana hopes that the Dallas Classical Singers will be able to present fully staged operatic productions in the upcoming years!

Brian D. Bentley, a native of Dallas, has a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from Oklahoma Baptist University and Master of Music degrees in choral conducting and piano accompanying from Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. Bentley completed additional coursework in sacred music at SMU Perkins School of Theology. He joined the faculty of Meadows School of the Arts as an adjunct lecturer in fall 2015.

Upon completion of his graduate studies, Bentley served for three years as a staff accompanist for the divisions of music and dance at Meadows School of the Arts. Though serving the next 15 years within the Diocese of Dallas—for five years as director of music at Holy Trinity Catholic Church and for 10 years as director of music and liturgy at the Cathedral Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe—Bentley remained active as an accompanist and voice coach in the Dallas area.

Bentley is an adjunct professor of music at University of Dallas, where he conducts the UDChorale, the UDSchola, and teaches a course on the history and theory of Gregorian chant. In addition, he serves as music consultant for Cistercian Abbey–Our Lady of Dallas, and is the founding director of the Schola Cantorum Stellæ Solæ, an ensemble dedicated to the study and singing of Gregorian chant.

Dallas, TX native Blake Davidson is an award-winning singer who has performed all over the world, and whose range of experience includes opera, symphony, and musical theatre. Mr. Davidson has sung with the Anchorage Opera, the Dallas Opera, the Dallas Symphony (on whose Christmas CD he is the featured soloist), the Fort Worth Symphony, and The Florida Orchestra. Performances outside the US include New Zealand’s Auckland Philharmonia and the Filharmonico de Jalisco (Guadalajara, Mexico). Early in his career he was seen off-Broadway at 2nd Stage, and as the ringmaster for the Shrine Circus. Davidson’s awards and nominations include the American Repertoire Award at the Bellini Competition in Sicily, and a Best Actor in a Musical nomination for the prestigious Leon Rabin Award for his portrayal of Fred/Petruchio in Kiss Me, Kate.

Will Derusha, baritone, is a graduate of the University of North Texas, where he studied Spanish and Music with a concentration in voice. He has performed professionally in the DFW area for the last 9 years, having had the pleasure of sharing the stage with such ensembles as American Baroque Opera Company, Orchestra of New Spain, Mansfield Philharmonic and Incarnatus. His most recent operatic engagements include Colas in Mozart’s Bastien und Bastienne, Schlendrian in Bach’s Coffee Cantata, Neptune in Richard Delalande’s Les élémens, and Il Mago in Handel’s Rinaldo. He is thrilled to be rejoining Dallas Classical Singers for Aria Laughing: A Comedy Concert.

Hadassah Misner, a Dallas-based soprano and foster youth advocate, is a graduate of Texas Woman’s University where she studied music with a concentration in voice. During the last decade, Hadassah has performed with national and internal companies and ensembles, including her most recent work with the DFW-based organization Opera in Concert in Italy, where she portrayed roles such as Nannetta (Falstaff), Amina (La sonnambula), and Adina (L’elisir d’Amore).

She also worked with Dr. Stephen Dubberly in a recital at The Creamery in Springfield, Missouri (“A Tale of Two Cities”) dedicated to educators, friends, and family who have supported her singing journey. During the pandemic, she participated in soprano Angel Blue’s Opera Studio where she was invited to sing in a masterclass led by soprano Christine Goerke. She has also performed with the Texas Woman’s University Opera department in the role of Miss Pinkerton (The Old Maid and the Thief).

Outside of singing, Hadassah is known for her fierce passion in uplifting foster youth voices. Working with the National Foster Youth Institution, she was invited to sing for their 10th anniversary. In 2019, Hadassah was selected to accompany NFYI to Washington, DC, where she spoke with congressional members about the living experience of foster youth in the United States. She has written articles for The Imprint and the National Foster Parent Association about her own experience in the foster care system.

Hadassah is thrilled to be making her debut with Dallas Classical Singers in their upcoming August 2023 show, Aria Laughing?.

Francisco Bedoy is a Mexican tenor, originally from the state of Jalisco. Mr. Bedoy graduated in 2013 from the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal performance summa cum laude. In 2015, he earned his Masters of Music in Opera from the University of Michigan. He is part of the Education and Community Engagement Program at the Dallas Opera, in which he sang the role of Jack in the opera Jack and the Beanstalk, in an online production launched for theDallasOpera.TV. Mr. Bedoy has been the recipient of multiple scholarships and awards in his native Mexico as well as in the United States. He has been heard as Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville by Rossini, Tamino in The Magic Flute by Mozart, Cop in Dead Man Walking by Heggie, Alfredo (cover) and Gaston in La Traviata by Verdi, Nemorino in The Elixir of Love by Donizetti, and Goro in Madame Butterfly by Puccini.

For Doug Brunker, singing has always been an important part of life. This includes performing in community theater productions and singing in University of Utah A Cappella and Chamber Choirs. Doug chose a career in professional social work and worked for over 30 years as a mental health professional in public, non-profit organizations. Singing helped sustain and balance the challenges inherent in this profession. Doug has sung the roles of Buford in Cold Sassy Tree and Francesco in The Gondoliers with Utah Opera, various roles with Dallas-based Opera In Concert, and participates in the Dallas Opera and the Utah Opera choruses. Doug serves as a tenor section leader with The First Presbyterian Church, Dallas. Later this fall he will be appearing in Opera in Concert’s Marvelous Massenet.

Kyle Hancock, bass-baritone, is a Dallas-based singer and performer.  He has sung in the chorus of The Dallas Opera for over 20 years and is a staff singer at Christ the King Catholic Church, Temple Emanu-El and St. Mark’s School of Texas.  He has performed on stage with Garland Summer Musicals, Theatre Britain, the Natchez Festival of Music, Regal Opera, The Living Opera, Theatre Coppell and Mesquite Community Theatre.  He has appeared in concerts with a wide variety of organizations including the Dallas Symphony Chorus, Brookhaven Choral Society, Irving Chorale, Aria Chamber Chorus, Voces Intimae, Classical Open Mic, and Opera on Tap.  He is a Victorian Caroler with Collins Classical Carolers and has sung opera at Eatzi’s and Central Market.  During Christmas, Kyle has been a jolly Santa on the North Pole Express in Grapevine.  You may even occasionally spot Kyle singing dressed as Elvis, with whom he shares a birthday!

Nina Polachek is a Dallas-based soprano and a singer-philosopher. She studied voice at both Boston University College of Fine Arts and Rollins College School of Music in Winter Park, FL. Over the past decade, Nina has been featured in recitals and concert series throughout the U.S., singing with ensembles such as the Imperial Symphony Orchestra, The Villages Philharmonic Orchestra, Concert Lyric Opera, and The Word on Broadway Series. At age 17, she was invited to Bolivia as a featured soloist for their International Festival de Musica Barroca. She spent the last four years of her graduate study developing a philosophy of singing, recently graduating from Boston University with a M.T.S. in philosophy and aesthetics. Most recently, Ms Polachek can be found traveling between DFW, Orlando, and the northeastern U.S. coast as a featured artist in concerts and recitals.

Ukrainian pianist Konstantyn Travinsky has won prizes in numerous international piano competitions across the globe including Grand Prize at the Valsesia-Musica International Competition (Italy), 1st prize at Konzerteum Piano Competition (Greece), 1st prize at the Sorantin Music Competition, 1st prize at the International Wideman Piano Competition in Shreveport, Louisiana and 3rd prize at the California International Young Artist Competition. Konstantyn was invited to study with Vladimir Viardo, Artist-in-Residence of the University of North Texas, where he completed his Master’s degree in May 2010 and is currently pursuing his Doctorate degree in piano performance. He is a recipient of Toulouse Graduate School scholarship as well as College of Music and Viardo Fellowship Foundation scholarships.

Known as a resourceful, irrepressible artist and inveterate performer of pants roles, mezzo-soprano Ivey Barr co-founded Comet Opera while still in graduate school and sang Mozart and Handel roles including Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito), Ruggiero (Alcina), Despina (Così Fan Tutte), Benedick (an original Mozart pastiche based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing), and Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro). Ivey has also appeared with Dallas Theatre Center as Perdita (The Winter’s Tale), under the direction of Kent Gash; with Little Opera Company of Charlotte as Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus); and with Altered Shakespeare, Spooky Goose Opera, and Opera on Tap – North Texas. Ivey holds 9 “Billy Awards” from Plague Mask Players, including three successive wins for Best Song, and now resides in Atlanta, GA. Ivey returned to the role of Cherubino in January 2022 with Peach State Opera Company.

Holly Howard, soprano, is a Texas native and graduate of Baylor University. Since moving to Dallas in 2014, she has been fortunate to sing with such distinguished organizations as Respiro Opera, Opera in Concert, and is currently a principal artist with Orpheus Chamber Singers, Dallas Classical Singers, and the Inspirata Chamber Singers. Her most recent accomplishments include singing the role of Diana in Orpheus in the Underworld by Offenbach with the celebrated Utah Vocal Arts Academy Summer Festival, and she is greatly looking forward to singing the role of First Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with Music Ministry Conservatory in February 2022. She enjoys worshipping at All Saints Catholic Church as a Staff Singer and Section Leader.

Praised for her “most genuine performing” by Birmingham Post (UK), Meng-Jung Meg Tsai is a soprano originally from Taipei, Taiwan and currently based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Meg has performed as a soloist in concert and for various engagements with Diversitá Opera Arts Company, Dallas Classical Singers, Opera Shorts, Lewisville Lake Symphony International Chamber Series, Louisiana Tech University, Greater Dallas Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce, Formosa Chorus of Dallas, and Flower Mound United Methodist Church. Meg was most recently seen as Annina in La Traviata with National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Lola in Cavalleria rusticana with The Louisiana Opera, Narrator in The Hiding Tree with Spotlight on Opera, and Polly Peachum in Die Dreigroschenoper, Colette in Le Devin du Village, and Noémie in Cendrillon with UNT Opera. Meg is the winner of the Cecil Drew Oratorio Prize and the Birmingham Conservatoire Singing Prize. During her studying in England, she played in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte, Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, Dido and Aeneas, and Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along. She holds her Master of Music and Post Graduate Diploma from Birmingham City University Birmingham Conservatoire, UK, and her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Catholic Fu-Jen University in Taipei, and a Certificate in Television Director of Performing Arts from Taiwan Ministry of Culture. She is a member and former young artist at National Taiwan Opera Studio. She is now a Doctoral Candidate at UNT College of Music.

Taiwanese baritone WeiShu Tsai has been praised for his singing and stage presence as “technical mastery and high-energy, contagious charisma”. His recent stage engagements include Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with Dallas Classical Singers, Narrator in Hansel and Gretel with Diversita Opera Arts Company, Dandini in La Cenerentola with Alamo City Opera, Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana and Marullo in Rigoletto with The Louisiana Opera, Sam in Trouble in Tahiti and Dancaïre in Carmen with Spotlight on Opera, and Dottore Grenvil in La traviata with National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. Along with his stage works, Tsai is equally accomplished as a concert and recital artist. Tsai is currently teaching at Louisiana Tech University School of Music and Tarrant County College, has a large studio at Keller High School, and served as a Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas College of Music. Tsai received his Doctor of Music Arts in Voice Performance from University of North Texas, and Master of Music from National Taipei University of Education.

Kay George has sung leading operatic roles across the United States, most recently the roles of Donna Elvira in W. A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Pensacola Opera, Nedda in Ruggiero Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci with Ashville Lyric Opera and the title role in Jules Massenet’s Manon with Baton Rouge Opera. She is a Metropolitan Opera National Council finalist, a winner of Borchers Prize through the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award, and a national finalist in the National Federation of Music Club Young Artist Competition. Kay is currently in the final year of the DMA program in voice and opera at the University of North Texas. Kay serves on the voice faculty of the Texas A&M University in Commerce, TX.

Mark Graham passed away on October 28, 2022, and Dallas Classical Singers remembers him fondly.

Mark Graham was a native of Denton, TX. Mark studied Piano Performance and Theory at the University of North Texas. His music career spanned decades: aside from working as a Music Director at the First Christian Church in Denton, he was the owner of the Denton School of Music where he taught piano. Mark travelled and performed across the United States and in Europe, conducting and accompanying for shows like A Chorus Line, Sweeney Todd and Evita. In addition to teaching and performing, Mark was a writer, and worked on a publication of an illustrated children’s book.