Lauded as having a "stunningly large round sound," as well as a “steely, velvety” timbre, American dramatic soprano, Helena Brown, is quickly distinguishing herself as a force of nature for the international stages. Recently, Helena made her role debuts as Lucia in Terence Blanchard's Champion, First Mother in Dead Man Walking, and Fisherwoman in Peter Grimes at the Metropolitan Opera; she also debuted as Mrs. Dickson in Ricky Ian Gordon and Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center Theater, Sieglinde in Die Walküre with Miami Wagner Institute, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Rioja Lirica/DIVAria Productions, Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia with New Camerata Opera, as well as Serena and Strawberry Woman in Porgy and Bess on the New York Harlem Theater European tour at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Chassé Theater, and Amsterdam RAI. Additional appearances include the Glimmerglass Festival for multiple seasons, most notably to sing Isabella in the American premiere of The Siege of Calais; Bloody Mary in South Pacific at Opera Roanoke, concerts as a featured soloist with Maryland Opera, Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, Fairfield County Chorale, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, LOFTrecital and Out of the Box Opera.

Helena has received awards such as the Top Prize, Robert Lauch Memorial Award, in the Wagner Society of New York Competition, Second Place in the Brava Opera Theatre Competition, the Sergio Franchi Award in the Deborah Voigt/Vero Beach Opera Competition, Second Place in the Young Patronesses of the Opera/Florida Grand Opera Vocal Competition, as well as awards from the Cooper-Bing Foundation, Opera at Florham, Opera Birmingham, and Opera Ebony Benjamin Matthews vocal competitions. Helena additionally received grants from the Gerda Lissner Foundation, Giulio Gari Foundation, Opera Index and Encouragement Grants from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in Philadelphia, the Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation, and the MetroWest Opera Vocal Competition in Boston.

Formerly a mezzo-soprano, Helena was a young artist at the 2016 Glimmerglass Festival where she performed Rebecca Nurse and covered Tituba under the baton of Nicole Paiement in Francesca Zambello’s acclaimed production of The Crucible. Additionally, Helena appeared with Minnesota Opera, performing Dryad in Ariadne auf Naxos; sang Addie in Regina and Mrs. Herring in Albert Herring at Bronx Opera; covered Mama McCourt in Ballad of Baby Doe with Chautauqua Opera; and covered Grandmother Buryjovka in Jenůfa with Des Moines Metro Opera, where she also appeared in scenes concerts as Dalila in Samson et Dalila, Mistress Quickly in Falstaff, Martha in Faust, and Filippyevna in Eugene Onegin.

Helena holds a Master’s degree from Manhattan School of Music as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Music, Summa Cum Laude, from Hollins University where she also studied arts management and theatre. In addition to appearances in/out of the US, Helena teaches privately and conducts masterclasses. A fierce ally to the arts, Helena holds her position as a Vice President on the board for the American Guild of Musical Artists and was previously an Advisory Director on the Metropolitan Opera Board of Directors.

In addition to serving on the Board of Directors, Mr. Khodadad is a Co-Founder of New Camerata Opera and its acting Treasurer and Director of Production. Now entering its 10th season, NCO has provided Mr. Khodadad with a wealth of behind-the-scenes experience in areas ranging from production to opera administration to arts in education. A trained actor and singer, Mr. Khodadad received his MFA in Acting from the prestigious American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco and his classical vocal training from The Hartt School of Music in Hartford. His professional singing credits span regional companies across the United States including Mississippi Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Lincoln Center, Atlanta Symphony, Natchez Opera Festival, Hot Springs Music Festival and many more in the roles of the leading lyric tenor repertoire. Being born of an Iranian father and a Cuban mother offered Mr. Khodadad a unique cultural upbringing. Having lived across the United States, he has connected with his rich ethnic heritage and continues to do so as a resident of New York City where he has lived for over 30 years. From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Khodadad took formative voice lessons from Nicolai Gedda in Switzerland from 2006 to 2009.

Scott Lindroth is an experienced program manager and specialist in program development, social media, fundraising and marketing with seven (7) years of expertise in operations management, program development, and communications consulting. His experience has involved such major companies as Manhattan School of Music, Dicapo Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera Moderne, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Wildlife Conservation Society. At Manhattan School of Music, one of the country's most renowned, Scott focused on program development and marketing directly with customers. Scott has multi-year experience in communications consulting for various enterprises, which complements his program development work. Over the course of his career, Scott has developed a significant skill set in: (1) consulting; (2) website development; (3) operations management; (4) event coordination; (5) social media management; and (6) fundraising. Scott's consulting and operations management skills include: (1) developing multi-year strategic plans for development; (2) implementation and execution of the strategic plans; and (3) working with executives to track revenue and cost results, and make changes as needed. 

www.scott-lindroth.com

Ms. Smith currently serves as the Chief of Staff to the President of Manhattan School of music. Before that she was the Director of Marketing at New York City Opera (NYCO) where she was focused on the Pride Opera Initiative and the Ópera en Español series. In this position she sets the strategy for marketing initiatives, including e-newsletters, social media, season brochures, advertising, etc. Before working at NYCO, Alexa worked for Baltz & Company, a full service public relations firm first as Executive Assistant to the President, then Account Manager, and finally Operations Manager.

Ms. Smith holds a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University

As a performer, she has been seen on the stages of New York City Opera, CNR Drama, The Martina Arroyo Foundation's Prelude to Performance, dell'Arte Opera, and BarnArts Theatre. She was most recently seen as an Elfe in Respighi's La Campana Sommersa with New York City Opera.

Her recent roles include Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro (dell'Arte Opera), Beatrice in the off-Broadway revival of Michael John LaChiusa's Marie Christine (Columbia Stages), Sarah in Ragtime Clara (CNR Drama) in Porgy & Bess (BarnArts Center for the Arts), Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi (Martina Arroyo's Prelude to Performance) and Sharon Graham in Terrence McNally's Master Class (ArtisTree Center for the Arts). She made her Lincoln Center debut in New York City Opera's production of Rachmaninoff's Aleko and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.

She won an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions and was a semi-finalist in the Giulio Gari Foundation's International Vocal Competition and the Joy in Singing art song competition.