From a robust list of talented applicants, Berkshire Choral International is pleased to present our 2023 class of Choral 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.
Sadie Cheslak is a dramatic mezzo soprano based in Chicago, Illinois and is originally from Duluth, Minnesota. Sadie pursued her Bachelor of Music degree at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, her Master of Music at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, and now is working towards her Post-masters Certificate in Voice at DePaul University in Chicago where she studies with Dr. Linda Di Fiore. She enjoys singing Verdi, watching horror movies, and caring for over 50 house plants.
Michael McCormick currently serves as Music Director of Ars Musica Chorale (Ridgewood, NJ), Choir Director and Organist of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (Basking RIdge, NJ), and Choral Program Associate at Princeton University. He received a B.M. in Music Education (Voice) from Westminster Choir College, and recently graduated with an M.M. in Choral Conducting from Rutgers University. Michael’s professional choral singing experience has included the Philadelphia Orchestra and New York Philharmonic and Spoleto Festival USA. Outside of his music activities, he most enjoys cooking, playing pickleball, and spending time with his wife, Noël, and cat, Penelope.
Soprano Grace Ellen Thompson holds degrees in Voice Performance from Ohio Wesleyan University and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is currently pursuing her Post-master’s Certificate in Performance at DePaul University. Highlights of her career in concert work include appearances as a soprano soloist in works by Honegger, Respighi, Beethoven, Handel and Bach. Grace also enjoys appearances on the opera stage, most recently performing the roles of Pamina and Musetta. When not performing, Grace spends her time watching thrillers, reading 3-5 books at a time, and working on the fundraising team at the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
Joseph To holds a master’s degree in choral conducting and a bachelor’s degree in music education. He serves as music director for multiple organizations, including the Norwegian Ladies Chorus of Seattle; the Magnolia Chorale; and the Tukwila School District, one of the most diverse school districts in the nation. He serves as Co-Chair of the Northwest GirlChoir Racial Equity Committee as well as the Community Repertoire and Resources Chair of the Washington Chapter of American Choral Director Association(WAACDA). He is the recipient of the “Outstanding Emerging Choral Director” 2022 by the WAACDA.
Liyao Yu is a conductor, vocalist, and current master’s student of Choral Conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She serves as Assistant Director of the Cincinnati Youth Choir. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice and Choral Conducting from China.
Elaine Kong is currently pursuing her MM in Choral Music at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. Her musical highlights in 2023 so far include performing at the ACDA National Conference in Cincinnati with Sterling Ensemble and Carnegie Hall with the USC Thornton Chamber Singers. Apart from choral music, she enjoys cooking, hiking, and googling historical facts while binge-watching The Crown.
Ryan Rogers studied Piano Performance and Choral Music Education at the University of Houston, graduating summa cum laude. After completing his undergraduate, he served as an Assistant Choir Director at North Shore High School in Galena Park ISD. During the pandemic, he began editing audio for virtual performances, assembling in excess of two hundred songs for various organizations throughout the country. Currently, Ryan is pursuing a Master of Music in Choral Conducting at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, where he is the Principal Assistant Conductor of the Yale Glee Club and Director of the Glee Club Chamber Singers.
Boston-based Chinese tenor Xiao Shi is an avid oratorio, choral, and art song singer. Xiao received graduate-level voice training from New England Conservatory faculty and holds a degree in Computer Science from Yale. He has appeared as a soloist with Cantata Singers, Boston Choral Ensemble, and First Lutheran Church of Boston. An advocate of contemporary compositions and environmental awareness, Xiao premiered Hypnosis by Peter Child and Mass for the Endangered by Sarah Kirkland Snider. Outside classical music, Xiao has sung backing vocals for pop icons Darren Criss and Ellie Goulding and is a published researcher.
Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Boston-based vocalist Cait Winston (she/her) is set to graduate spring 2023 from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee with a degree in Vocal Performance.
She recently performed in the chorus of Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah with the Boston Conservatory Opera and originated a lead role in an off-Broadway workshop of an original musical. Cait is also a member of the Lilith Vocal Ensemble, a small professional choir with a mission to amplify art by women and gender-marginalized composers, and builds its repertoire by commissioning choral works and poetry from local artists.
Hannah Duff is a conductor, soprano, pianist, and educator currently pursuing her Master’s degree in choral conducting at the Eastman School of Music with Dr. William Weinert. In addition to her work as a choral conductor at Eastman and Summerville Presbyterian Church, Hannah teaches undergraduate music theory and works as a collaborative pianist and ensemble singer. As a certified yoga instructor, she specializes in innovative practices of mindfulness, meditation, and movement for musicians, and has offered workshops and published research on using movement and meditation as rehearsal, practice, and teaching tools.
Sierra Farquhar-Wulff is a choral-orchestral conductor with a B.M. in music education from the Frost School of Music and an M.M. in Choral Conducting from California State University Fullerton. She currently resides with her family in Birmingham, England where she is pursuing another master’s degree in Conducting. Sierra has taught in the K-12 school system in the US, directed many nonprofit community choirs, and has held choral and orchestral assistantships during her master’s work. In addition to conducting, Sierra enjoys singing in choirs, and has performed in venues across the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Omer Aziz Kayhan is a graduate student in conducting at the Eastman School of Music. His conducting education started with Dr. Mark Shapiro at Juilliard Institute. He is engaged with the teachings of Nadia Boulanger and Narcis Bonet in keyboard harmony, counterpoint, and analysis. He attended Norfolk Chamber Festival, singing under the tutelage of Simon Carrington and student conductors. In December 2022 he rehearsed and conducted Eastman Repertory Singers in a student recital, teaching Turkish and German pronunciation, and exploring Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s harmonic universe, as well as additional composers.
Alex Whittington is currently completing a Masters of Arts in Music History at Yale University, where they also received their BA in Music. Their primary area of study is Puerto Rican choral music, focusing on reconstructions of works by Felipe Gutiérrez y Espinosa. Alex is currently a Teaching Artist with the Yale School of Music’s Music in School Initiative and has performed with ensembles such as the Opera Theatre of Yale College, the Yale Baroque Opera Project, and the Yale Collegium Musicum. Outside of academics, Alex spends their time baking, cycling, and dancing salsa, reggaeton, and—though less frequently these days—ballet.
