Musical Theater

Sara Brians is an award winning, New York City based director, choreographer, and educator. Sara began her dance career as a Radio City Rockette and made her Broadway performing debut in the revival of 42nd Street. She has worked on seven Broadway shows as a performer, resident and associate choreographer, including the seven-time Tony nominated The Hills of California, directed by Sam Mendes, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, Billy Elliot the Musical, Matilda the Musical, The Terms of My Surrender, and After the Night and the Music. Sara has a varied career as a director, choreographer, educator and performer, having choreographed and taught in New York City, across the US, and the globe. She was recently appointed Associate Professor of Musical Theatre at the University of Oklahoma’s Weitzenhoffer School of Musical Theatre. In addition to Broadway, she has worked overseas in England, Scotland, Wales and Denmark, and in the US at prestigious institutions including New York City Center, The Kennedy Center, 5th Avenue Theatre, Goodspeed Opera House, Asolo Repertory Theatre, The Alley Theatre, Theatre Aspen, and many more. She loves developing new musicals as well as bringing new life to revivals of existing work, and has also choreographed numerous industrials, concerts and entertainment events. Sara has been on faculty at Pace University, New York University, Manhattan School of Music and is on faculty at Steps on Broadway in NYC. For more visit www.SaraBrians.com

Chris York is a New York City-based voice teacher and vocal coach of professional actors, singers and musicians.  While maintaining a full private studio in midtown Manhattan, Chris has also served as the production vocal coach for the movies O’Dessa (starring Sadie Sink), 13: The Musical on Netflix, ANNIE Live! on NBC, the Broadway productions of Cabaret, Hell’s Kitchen, How to Dance in Ohio, MJ the Musical (Young MJ’s) School of Rock, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Cirque du Soleil’s Paramour, Ink (MTC), and the workshops of both Wonder and The Lost Boys.

 Chris is also on the voice faculty in Pace University's BFA Musical Theatre program, and served as a contributor to the popular vocal pedagogy book The Vocal Athlete by Wendy Leborgne and Marci Rosenberg. He’s the proud father of two amazing children (Leo and Violet) and husband to his incredible wife, Jessica. 

Justin Adams is a music and choral director based in Central Florida. He has been a musical theatre music director, conductor, and pianist for over fifteen years. Some favorite credits include When You Wish at Tuacahn Center for the Arts, Kinky Boots at Orlando Shakes, and End of the Rainbow at Highlands Playhouse. In addition to his professional theatre work, Justin has also extensive experience in educational theatre, including Walnut Street Playhouse, The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati, and Summer Performing Arts with Juilliard. Currently, Justin serves as the Director of Choirs at Westridge Middle School. 

Justin holds a Master of Music in Music Education from the University of Florida and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Valley City State University. He is an active member of the Florida Music Education Association, the National Association for Music Education, and the Florida Vocal Association.

STEPHEN AGOSTO is an award-winning producer, director and educator currently serving as Director of Theater at Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, MA. Most recently, Stephen was Line Producer at two-time TONY Award winning theater, Goodspeed Musicals where he produced five world premieres and two Broadway transfers. Previously, Stephen worked for Paper Mill Playhouse as a member of the TONY Award winning artistic team that shepherded such new musicals as Newsies (Broadway transfer) and Bandstand (Broadway transfer) to name a few. 

In addition to his long career in commercial theatre, Stephen has simultaneously worked as an educator and arts education advocate. In January 2017, Stephen drafted the Musical Theater Common Prescreen, a universal set of guidelines for college entrance that now boasts over 100 participating Musical Theatre programs and impacts over 20,000 students annually. Additionally, Stephen annually partners with online arts platform, Acceptd, to facilitate and host national round table discussions on equity in collegiate arts training. 

For 10 years he served as an adjunct Professor of Theatre at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University and is a frequent expert instructor for universities across the country in the area of Song Interpretation and Performance. Stephen taught at the prestigious Paper Mill Playhouse Summer Conservatory for 12 years and served as Conservatory Director in his last three. Beginning at age eight, Stephen performed professionally as both a dancer and in musical theatre. Most notably he was seen in tours of Beauty and the Beast (2nd National) and Godspell (2001). Stephen holds a BFA in Acting from DePaul University and a Graduate Certificate from The Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre.

Sarah is a singing teacher and licensed speech pathologist based in New York City. Before going into full-time private practice, Sarah maintained a clinical caseload at the Grabscheid Voice and Swallowing Center of Mount Sinai for 5 years as well as an adjunct faculty position at Pace University teaching the graduate level voice disorders course. Sarah regularly presents educational lectures on vocal health and performance, most recently with the Institute for Vocal Advancement and Tu Experiencia Broadway. Her research has covered a wide variety of topics in voice, swallowing, and upper airway disorders. In 2022, her study on training graduate level SLP students in voice therapy was presented nationally at the Fall Voice Conference.​

When not fulfilling her mission to make vocal technique and voice therapy more accessible through her empowering teaching and training, Sarah enjoys performing on a regular basis herself. A classically-trained soprano who performs as a crossover artist, Sarah earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance at Chapman University. She later earned an MS in Speech-Language Pathology from Northwestern University, where she focused her studies and training in voice rehabilitation.

Sarah holds a Certificate of Clinical Competency in Speech Pathology and is certified in Level 1 and 2 Estill Voice Training. In 2020, she was awarded a Distinguished Early Career Professional certificate by the American Speech and Hearing Association for her impact on the voice field. Her specialized combination of singing background, performance experience, and clinical education and expertise have enabled her to serve elite performers including Broadway performers, Metropolitan Opera singers, and Netflix actors.

Broadway: Ain't Too Proud, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, Sunset Boulevard, & Doctor Zhivago.  He starred in Arthur Laurents' final directorial project, the revival of West Side Story with new lyrics by Lin Manuel-Miranda. He also performed West Side Story at the Hollywood Bowl, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.  He has been seen on numerous Morning Shows, Tony Awards, Macy's Thanksgiving Parades, and heard on several Original Broadway Recordings. Regional Credits/NY include: La Jolla Playhouse, Dallas Theater Center, The MUNY, Shakespeare Theater DC, Orlando Shakespeare, The Old Globe, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and The Red Bull, among others. 

Drew served as the Artistic Director for Shakespeare at the Manor on Shelter Island from 2013-2020 and as the Resident Director for the Tony Winning Ain't Too Proud on Broadway.  He spent 5 seasons as a company member of the Asolo Rep and has been a guest artist for 10 rehearsal projects at the Juilliard School.  This fall he will begin as the director of the drama program for the King School in Connecticut. Drew holds a Master's Degree in Educational Psychology and a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Drama from The Juilliard School.

Najah is a director, educator, actor, and host based in Beacon, New York. Regardless of the hat she is wearing, Najah uses the arts as a communicative tool to connect. She has directed new works in multiple NYC Festivals, as well as developmental workshops for companies such as Full Out Creative and NC Black Rep. Najah’s passion for arts education has led her to direct students in musicals, plays, and Shakespeare, as well as teaching intensives on improv, audition prep, acting the song, scenework, Laban Movement, and more! She currently directs teens in the Hudson Valley, works for Beacon Performing Arts Center, Disney on Broadway, and is the Director of Education for Leaders by Choice, which teaches leadership skills through the arts. Najah works to amplify everyday voices and give them a throne, through her podcast, Underrepresented Representatives. She holds a degree in Theatre Education and Acting from Emerson College.

Lynn Peghiny is a pianist from Orlando, FL. She is a graduate of the University of Central Florida  with a degree in Piano Performance. A passion for choral music led to Lynn’s position as accompanist for the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park under the direction of Dr. John V. Sinclair. In January she was honored to perform in concert with Morten Lauridsen and Julia Foster in collaboration with the Bach Festival Choir.

Lynn is enthusiastic in the field of  collaborative  piano. She was thrilled to perform recently with Grammy© award-winning vocalist Sylvia McNair.

In addition to performing, Lynn is a dedicated  teacher. Her studio consists of 51 piano students at Lake Highland Preparatory School in Orlando, FL.

She is a member of the American College of Musicians/National Guild of Piano Teachers  and the National Federation of Music Clubs. Lynn had been an accompanist with Berkshire Choral International Festival and sits on faculty at Rollins College and with Summer Performing Arts with Juilliard.

Baritone Adam Richardson is a celebrated artist known for his captivating performances across opera, concert, and theatre stages. Richardson's career has been marked by a series of impressive achievements and notable debuts. Some highlights of his favorite credits include his 18 months on the Broadway 1st National Tour of Cats, the international tour of Porgy and Bess, the Off-Broadway cast of Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center Theater, Mr. Linquist in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music at Barrington Stage Company, Malcolm X in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, and the role of John Mack which he originated under the direction of two-time Tony winner Bill T. Jones. 

Richardson’s versatility extended to the realm of film, marking his first appearance in the famed “Blue’s Clue’s” franchise with Blue’s Clue’s Big City Adventure.

He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University and a Masters degree from The Juilliard School.

Under the tutelage of Jared Trudeau and Kevin Wilson, Rose infuses her voice teaching with knowledge of anatomy and physiology, comparative pedagogy, voice and speech, and acting.  Rose is currently an Adjunct Vocal Instructor at Pace University and Marymount Manhattan College, and also an Associate Teacher at BroadwayVox in New York City. Her research presentation entitled “Black Intersectional Identity and Vocal Expectations: Incompatibility Between Musical Theatre Voice Training and Industry Standards for Black Singers” has been seen at several vocal pedagogy conferences. She has taught masterclasses both nationally and internationally at such institutions like Wuhan University, Suffolk College, and Sarah Lawrence.

She has a Master of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre Vocal Pedagogy from Boston Conservatory at Berklee. She is an active member of Music Theatre Educators’ Alliance and Pan American Vocology Association.

Rose works frequently as a guest voice teacher in NYC with Actor Therapy and Innovative Voice Studio. She worked on the Broadway re-opening of Waitress (starring Sara Bareilles), where she would lead vocal warm-ups for the cast. 

Rose’s students can be seen on CBS, Broadway, off-Broadway, and national and international tours. She maintains an active private studio in New York City. 

Kristopher Schave is a conductor, vocalist, and music educator with a dynamic career spanning performance, teaching, and artistic leadership. He serves as Music Director at St. Ann Catholic Church in Florida, where he leads multiple choirs, and is the founder and conductor of the Celebration Community Chorus. A member of the professional core of the Orlando Sings Symphonic Chorus and its chamber ensemble, Solaria Singers, Kristopher performs regularly in a wide range of repertoire, from classical masterworks to contemporary compositions. He holds a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University and a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Central Florida. Kristopher is known for his vibrant musicianship, collaborative spirit, and commitment to nurturing expressive artistry in singers of all ages.

Julie Campese is a sought after performer, music director, vocal and piano teacher, collaborative pianist, and organist residing in Central Florida. Julie earned her degree from Rollins College, where she studied with Dr. John Sinclair, Dr. Gloria Cook, and Dr. Terry Yount.

In addition to maintaining her performance schedule and private studio, Julie is currently a vocal instructor at Lake Highland Preparatory School, Music Director for the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, and the Musical Director of the Orlando Children’s Choir.

In the fall of 2009, Julie founded the Orlando Children’s Choir, a performance-based organization for singers in grades K through 12. Singers in OCC perform throughout the United States for different corporate events, local festivals, on-stage with singers including Barry Manilow, and at Carnegie Hall. As a collaborative pianist and organist, Julie is known for her high-energy playing, expressive musicianship, stylistic accompanying, and innate ability to connect with performers.

Julie lives in Central Florida with her husband, Jeff, their two beautiful cats, and their highly-energetic dog, Caymus.