Suzanna Guzman

Mezzo-Soprano

Suzanna Guzman

Suzanna Guzman, mezzo-soprano, has performed as principal artist in many major opera houses worldwide, including the Metropolitan. She has performed her one-woman show, Don't be Afraid: It's Just Opera for more than 200,000 students nationwide. Guzman is principal soloist on the Grammy-nominated CD, Carlos Chavez, Volume III, has been honored by People's Magazine as an outstanding Latino in Music and was the first recipient of the Placido Domingo Award for Arts. Last year she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music from Occidental College. She serves on the Thornton School of Music board, UCLA's Design for Sharing and is an active member of the Music Center Education Division's Artists Roster. This year she was named Mexican American Opportunity Foundation's Woman of the Year.

Robert MacNeil

Tenor

Robert MacNeil

Tenor Robert MacNeil has been praised by the L.A. Times for possessing a voice that is "clarion and clear." He made his San Francisco Opera debut in 2008. Recently, he performed with L.A. Opera in Lohengrin after many previous previous appearances, including Il Trovatore, Der Rosenkavalier, Tannhauser, La Boheme and others. An accomplished concert artist, the tenor has been a soloist in more than 60 performances of Handel's Messiah. He has performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Sydney Choral Festival, in Beijing, Carnegie Hall, Rome and elsewhere. MacNeil has appeared as a guest artist with the L.A. Master Chorale, Pacific Symphony, Long Beach Opera, William Hall Master Chorale and others. He was named Most Outstanding Graduate Student from the Thornton School of Music.

Linda Leyrer

Soprano

Linda Leyrer

Linda Leyrer made her professional debut singing the roles of Tonina in Antonio Salieri's Prima la Musica, poi le parole and Madame Herz in Mozart's The Impresario for Dayton Opera's celebration of the Mozart bicentennial. Leyrer made her European debut as soloist with the Kurpfatzisches Kammerorchester of Mannheim, Germany, singing Mozart's Exultate Jubilate. She has appeared as guest artist with the world-renowned percussion ensemble NEXUS, the Lyric Mountain Summer Music Festival in Pittsburgh, Pa., and the Huntington Symphony of West Virginia. The soprano has been a featured soloist with several orchestras. Recently she performed with the L.A. Inter-national Dance Invitational. Leyrer has been on the Irvine Valley College faculty since 2003 where she teaches voice classes and has been teaching at Cal State Fullerton since 2002.

Cedric Berry

Bass Baritone

Cedric Berry

Bass Baritone Cedric Berry, who received his bachelor's and master's degrees from USC, has performed a variety of operatic roles. Among them are Mephistopheles in Gounod's Faust, Falstaff in Merry Wives, Lepporello in Mozart's Don Govanni and others. He gained his first professional experiences with LA Opera covering roles in a number of operas. As a resident artist, the bass baritone has sung many other roles. He made his European stage appearance in Spain in a concert version of Porgy and Bess. He has also performed in Finland and Paris, France. Berry has appeared with numerous symphonies, including the Pacific, Arizona, Bakersfield, Fresno, Santa Fe, New West, LA Philharmonic and Pasadena Pops. He has been the recipient of several awards, including first place in the Metropolitan Opera Western Region Competition.