Company Members
Cory O’Niell Walker
Co-founder, Executive Artistic Director
Cory O’Niell Walker is a diverse performer, composer, and designer who performs in many genres including Opera, Musical Theater, Art Song and Dance. Cory has been a soloist with The Network for New Music in Philadelphia (world premiere, Morning Has Broken by Donald St. Pierre), Opera Boston, Longwood Opera, New England Light Opera, Boston Theater Bridge, Fiddlehead Theatre, North Shore Music Theater, and Cape Rep Theater. Cory has also been seen at the Philly Fringe Festival performing his own art-song based theatre works, such as L’Heure Exquise and Cupid’s Little Prick. He holds a Master’s degree in vocal performance from Ithaca College, where he also studied composition. Cory maintains a popular voice studio in Philadelphia, where he also performs regularly with The Opera Company of Philadelphia and The Mendelssohn Club Chorus.
Jennifer Beattie
Co-founder, Managing Artistic Director
Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Beattie, called a “smashing success” by the San Francisco Examiner, has been praised for her “exuberant voice and personality” (Opera News) and her “warmth” (New York Times). A remarkably engaging and versatile performer, she embraces a wide range of repertoire, from Handel to Puccini to Mahler to new American music. She is also dedicated to expanding the boundaries of classical performance, and frequently collaborates with musical theater, jazz, folk, language, visual, and performance artists
An important voice in the world of American music, Ms. Beattie has premiered pieces by such pre-eminent composers as Tom Cipullo, Laura Schwendinger, Kathryn Alexander, Jeremy Gill, Michael Klingbeil, Byron au Yong, and Tom Whitman. She has been the Vocalist-in-Residence at the New Music on the Point festival in Vermont since 2011, as well as a regular artist-in-residence with the Yale College composers along with her duo partner, pianist Adam Marks, since 2009. Ms. Beattie and Mr. Marks are also co-curators of the Artists at Albatross Reach artists’ colony in Gualala, California, which provides a laboratory for new music and cross-arts collaborations and development.
Jillian Zack
Music Director, pianist
Since moving to New York in 2005, Jillian Zack has had numerous performance opportunities with instrumentalists and both classical and musical theatre vocalists. She performs frequently at the Juilliard School, and at various other venues throughout New York City, including Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. She has also performed throughout the United States, England, and New Zealand.
Highly interested in the process of collaborating with living composers, Ms. Zack was the resident pianist for the first annual New Music on the Point, a two-week program work-shopping the new works of young composers. There, she had the opportunity to collaborate with artists in residence from the Chicago based Fifth House Ensemble, as well as mezzo-soprano Jennifer Beattie. While attending Songfest in 2009, she worked with renowned composers John Musto and Tom Cipullo, and has presented several of their works in recital.
Ms. Zack graduated with a BM in Piano Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, and was awarded the Josephine C. Whitford Award for her significant contribution to the enrichment of the school. She completed her studies in the Collaborative Piano Program at The Juilliard School in 2012, where she studied under the tutelage of Margo Garrett, Jonathan Feldman, J.J. Penna and Diane Richardson. She was a recipient of the Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship, the William Petschek Piano Scholarship, and the Greene Fellowship. While at Juilliard, she began a collaboration with cellist Hannah Sloane, and together they formed the y3duo, which performs throughout the US and the UK.
Cara Latham
Soprano
Soprano Cara Latham is noted for her wealth of artistry and musicianship, and her direct and powerful communication with an audience. Drawing from an extensive professional music theatre background she has received critical praise for her many roles including Maria in Bernstein’s West Side Story, Mabel in the Pirates of Penzance of Gilbert and Sullivan, Louisa in The Fantasticks, and Sr. Amnesia in Nunsense, to name a few. Her professional and academic opera credits include the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors of Menotti, Mrs. Wordsworth in Britten’s Albert Herring, Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutti of Mozart and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi of Puccini. Locally, she has performed as a soloist with the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, the Reading Choral Society and has been a guest artist on various recitals with the art song series, Lyric Fest. She presently teaches at the Agnes Irwin School. Cara has taught voice and musical theater on the faculties of West Chester University, The Guthrie Theater and the Yale School of Drama. She holds a doctorate in Voice from Temple University as well as degrees in vocal performance from Oberlin Conservatory and the Yale School of Music.
Jean Bernard Cerín
Baritone
Shahara Benson
Front of House Manager
Artsong Repertory Theater Company 