After a highly competitive process with more than 70 applicants, BCI is delighted to present our 2024 roster of conducting and voice Apprentices. These young artists are undergraduate or graduate students with their sights set on careers as conductors, vocal soloists, or educators. During their all-expense paid apprenticeship week with BCI, they will not only sing the repertoire of the week with our choristers, but also coach and study with our vocal faculty and conducting staff. This program is made possible by generous gifts from BCI’s singers and supporters.
Sarah Benson is an educator, conductor, and performer currently based in Oxford, Ohio. She graduated in May 2024 with her Bachelors of Music in Music Education with a focus in Choral and General Music. In addition, she is an accomplished soprano with experience performing as a soloist with Miami University Choirs as well as within special recital programs. She has performed as a featured soloist in works such as Handel’s Messiah and Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepherd. Sarah is looking forward to starting her career as a classroom teacher beginning in Fall 2024.
Mallory Coakley is a tenor from Chicago, IL currently completing a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Mallory received a Bachelor’s in Music Education from North Park University and taught elementary and middle school general music for two years. Mallory is the choir director at First Congregational Church of South Hadley and the Choral TA at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. In addition to singing, Mallory enjoys playing guitar, piano, and banjo.
Hailed as “luminous” and “supremely tender” by the Chautauqua Daily, Henry Griffin is a 24-year-old baritone and conductor who is thrilled to serve as a conducting apprentice for Berkshire Choral International this year. Henry is currently the Robert P. Fountain endowed fellow in choral conducting at the Eastman School of Music, studying with Dr. William Weinert. As a baritone, Henry was the youngest singer at the Verbier Festival in 2023, performed the role of Germont in La Traviata at Opera in the Ozarks, and he has won numerous awards including the Hugh Ross Award from his alma mater, the Manhattan School of Music, as a “singer of unusual promise.”
Cecilia Kowara is pursuing her Masters of Music in Choral Conducting at the University of Michigan, studying under Dr. Eugene Rogers. During her time at Michigan, she has served as the Assistant Conductor for the University Choir, Orpheus Singers and Arts Chorale, as well as organizing and conducting a student-led chamber choir. She is passionate about all classical music, with a specific interest in sacred choral music. In addition to conducting, Cecilia is an established vocalist and organist. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Organ Performance from the University of Michigan in 2023.
Mahima Kumara (she/her) is an MM candidate in Choral Conducting at the Yale School of Music. She graduated from Yale College in 2020 with a BA in Statistics and Data Science and an Education Studies certificate, after which she taught with the Yale Music in Schools Initiative on the Yale Glee Club Service Through Music Fellowship. Mahima grew up in State College, Pennsylvania and returns to New Haven from Boston, where she worked in health policy research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and conducted with Boston Children’s Chorus and Tactus Ensemble Cambridge. She is also a pianist and Carnatic vocalist, and in all her work, aims to center educational equity and inclusive community music-making. In her free time, Mahima enjoys reading and trail running.
Michael Martin is a recent graduate of Westminster Choir College with a BM in Music Education. Michael loves vocal harmony, and takes every available opportunity to make music with others in a variety of styles and settings. He is currently working as a choir singer and private voice/piano teacher, and has performed with a variety of ensembles such as the Handel & Haydn Society, the VOCES8 US Scholars, the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir, Choir Next Door, and the LOTUS Project, among others.
Juliet Schlefer is a lyric soprano hailing from Brooklyn, NY. She has completed both her undergraduate and master’s degrees in vocal performance at the University of Michigan. Juliet has a penchant for opera, art song, and strange contemporary music. She loves singing and working with her peers and looks forward to creating interesting performances for the rest of time!
Ukrainian-American conductor, bass, and pianist Sergey Tkachenko is working on his Doctorate in Choral Conducting at The University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. He earned his BM in Music Education from Westminster Choir College and an MM in Choral Conducting from Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music. Before pursuing graduate studies, Sergey was the choral director at Moorestown High School in NJ, directing three choirs and the spring musicals. He enjoys chamber music, hiking, and the culinary arts, and is your go-to for coaching in Russian and Ukrainian diction.
Madeline Tokman is a choral conducting graduate student at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she has assistant conducted the Singing Hoosiers and All Campus Choir, as well as assisting opera chorus master Walter Huff for Anne Frank (a premiere), Don Giovanni, and Sweeney Todd. Tokman received her B.A. from Yale University, where she student-conducted the Glee Club, directed Yale’s Jewish choir, Magevet, and conducted a chamber orchestra. Tokman has also assistant conducted the Greater New Haven Community Choir, served as a conducting intern for Boston’s largest Jewish choir, Zamir Chorale, and studied with Matthew Lazar as a fellow at the North American Jewish Choral Festival. As a vocalist (Mezzo-Soprano), Tokman has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall with the HaZamir international choir and has worked as a professional choral singer in various church and secular ensembles.
Jasmin Villatoro is completing her BM in Music Education from Westminster Choir College. She is a Conducting Fellow at the Princeton Girl Choir, a music ministry intern at First Baptist Freehold, and President of Westminster Collegiate Chapter 183 of the National Association of Music Education (NAfME). Jasmin has been in choir since third grade, and her love and curiosity for music education and singing have only deepened. Outside of her musical endeavors, she loves making magazine collages, hanging out at the local library, and trying new recipes!
Genevieve Welch is currently completing her Master’s in choral conducting at the University of Michigan and holds a BA in music with a minor in psych from Wellesley College. She serves as the director of the Belleville Community Chorus and the assistant conductor of the Michigan Youth Chamber Singers. She was named a semi-finalist for a Fulbright at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest for next year. Originally from Portland, Maine, she can make a wicked blueberry cobbler and a terrible lobster roll, and can’t wait to make some music with everyone this week!
Originally from Harrisonburg, Virginia, Leah Wenger grew up in a musically rich Mennonite tradition, with four part hymn singing, choral arts, and bluegrass traditions playing large parts in shaping her musical upbringing. Graduating from Eastern Mennonite University in spring of 2020 with undergraduate degrees in psychology and music, Leah spent two years in social work before pursuing graduate studies. Leah will graduate in May from Peabody Institute with Master’s degrees in Historical Performance Voice and Musicology. Outside of her professional musical pursuits, Leah loves spending time outdoors near moving water, playing soccer, and having the kinds of conversations that can only happen over a cup of tea.
Liyao Yu is a conductor and vocalist who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Voice and Choral Conducting. Currently, she is pursuing her Master’s degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She served as the Assistant Director for the UC Chorus Women’s Choir and was formerly the Assistant Director of the Cincinnati Youth Choir. Recently, she made her debut as a guest choral director for the Shenzhen Symphonic Choir and collaborated with the Guiyang Symphonic Orchestra for the Carmina Burana New Year concert in China.
Program Assignments:
Amherst Week: Benson, Coackley, Martin, Villatoro, Yu
Denver Week: Kumara, Schlefer, Wenger, Welch
Vienna Week: Griffin, Kowara, Tkachenko, Tokman
