Choir Days @USF

SPECIALTIES: High School & College Chorus, Vocal Jazz, A Cappella Ensemble, Commercial Music Ensemble, Cultural & World Music Ensemble

Ms. Allyssa Jones (she/her), is an award-winning musician and educator whose career spans nearly 30 years in the classroom and on stage. An alumna of Adelphi University and Northern Illinois University, she studied with baritone Robert Sims, soprano Jayne West, conductor Larry Newland and composer Judith Lang Zaimont. Her creative credits include five solo recordings as a singer-songwriter, over 35 theatrical productions as a composer, music director and sound designer, and commissioned works for professional artists and pedagogical projects, including New Voices New Orleans Youth Choir.

Formerly the Program Director for Performing Arts for Boston Public Schools and Music Faculty at Boston Arts Academy, Jones is known for championing student choice, voice and identity in music pedagogy and performance. Currently the Chair of the NAfME Council for Innovations, her service record includes the Institute for Composer Diversity (Head of Outreach), Cultural Connections by Design (Board Member), the Massachusetts MEA-Eastern District (inaugural Advocacy and Outreach Chair), ACDA Massachusetts (Jazz Chair), the NAfME Perspectives Group (co-facilitator), and the Handel + Haydn Society (Education Planning Team). Her work as a conductor and choral clinician includes the Pinellas County Schools Ignite Festival (Clinician), Florida Vocal Association District 11 MPA (On-Stage Clinician), Massachusetts MEA Northeast District Honor Choir (Conductor), Boston Children’s Chorus (Guest Conductor), Worldstrides Heritage Festivals (Adjudicator/Clinician), and numerous schools and community arts organization across New England and in Greater Tampa Bay. In February 2026, she will serve as conductor of the TMEA All-State Treble Chorus.

Link: USF Faculty Page

SPECIALTIES: Musical Theatre, Middle School Chorus, Show Choir

Latoya McCormick-Hutchinson joined USF Theater and Music faculty in 2023.  Her responsibilities at USF include directing the Musical Theater, teaching choral education courses, and conducting the University Singers. McCormick-Hutchinson earned an M.A. degree with an emphasis in Music Education from the University of South Florida and a Bachelor of Music Education degree with an emphasis in Piano from Florida Southern College.  Prior to coming to USF she taught choral music and music theater for a total of 20 years in elementary, middle, and high schools.  

McCormick-Hutchinson is an active musical director and actress throughout the Tampa Bay area.  She has worked with productions at the American Stage, The Straz, and Stageworks.  In 2022 she was was awarded Outstanding Musical Direction by Theater Tampa Bay, and in 2023 received the same award from Broadway Stars of the Future in 2023.  She is an active member of the Florida Vocal Association and Educational Theater Association. 

Link: USF Faculty Page

Vocal performance & pedagogy (classical, opera, Korean vocal music)

Dr. Kyoung Cho, renowned for her exceptional vocal artistry, is an internationally acclaimed Korean soprano and serves as Professor of Voice and Head of the USF Voice Program. Since joining USF in 2007, Dr. Cho has received twenty-six prestigious research and teaching grants, including the Faculty Research Award from the Women in Leadership Philanthropy (WLP) Program at the University of South Florida for the “Korean Art Song CD by Leading Korean Women Composers Project,” and a Certificate of Global Achievement from USF in 2016. Dr. Cho’s repertoire spans oratorio and opera. She has performed major works such as Brahms' Requiem, Mozart Requiem, Saint-Saëns' Christmas Oratorio, John Rutter’s Requiem, Fauré Requiem, Mozart C minor Mass, Bach's Magnificat, Messiah, and The Creation. In opera, she has portrayed roles including Violetta, Mimi, Liù, Gretel, Pamina, Fiordiligi, Antonia, Donna Anna, Susanna & Contessa, and Cio-Cio San.

In addition to her achievements as a performer and scholar, Dr. Cho is a distinguished voice teacher and vocal pedagogue. Her former students have been accepted into esteemed institutions such as the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College of Music, Eastman School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, and Yale University, and have pursued successful careers in performance and university teaching. She has served as Artist Faculty at the Vianden International Music Festival & Nei Stëmmen International Vocal Institute in Luxembourg, CMS Vienna Europe Vocal Camp, Assisi International Music Festival, and Yanbian University in China. Dr. Cho has conducted master classes and delivered solo performances in numerous countries, including Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, France, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Israel, Serbia, Kazakhstan, China, Korea, Japan, Cambodia, Thailand, Canada, and the United States, performing at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, and Merkin Concert Hall in New York City.

Link: USF Faculty Page

SPECIALTIES: Vocal performance & pedagogy (classical, opera, musical theatre, popular music styles)

Sarah Klopfenstein, mezzo-soprano, joined the adjunct voice faculty at USF in the Fall of 2020. Her responsibilities include private voice instruction for undergraduate students. Klopfenstein holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Performance from the University of Kentucky, where she wrote A Performance Guide on Fauré’s La chanson d’Ève, Op. 95. She also holds a Master of Music in Voice Performance from the same institution, and a Bachelor’s of Music in Voice Performance from Texas Christian University.

Dr. Klopfenstein is an active performer, both in opera and concert settings. Locally, she sings with Opera Tampa and St. Petersburg Opera. Last season she appeared in numerous concerts and productions throughout the Boston area. She has previously performed roles with Nashville Opera, Opera New Jersey, Kentucky Opera, and Cincinnati Opera.

Link: USF Faculty Page

SPECIALTIES: Vocal performance & pedagogy (classical, opera, musical theatre, popular music styles)

Stephanie Sager began teaching Voice Lessons at USF in 2020. She is a Full Lyric Operatic Soprano who received her Bachelor’s Degree from Florida State University and her Master’s Degree from Manhattan School of Music.She is the Music Director at Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brooksville Fl, an is also on the faculty of Hillsborough Community College. Her students have gone on topursue degrees at Manhattan School of Music, FSU, the University of Miami, and Boston Conservatory. Otherstudents have been featured on American Idol and The X Factor.

Sager has sung with Opera Tampa, St. Pete Opera, Lake George Opera Fesitval, Des Moines Metro Opera, and New York Opera Project. Her roles include: Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Mimi is La Bohème, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Dido in Dido and Aeneas.

Link: USF Faculty Page