Nicholas Perna, DMA

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 09:25:25 -0500

Dr. Perna is Assistant Professor of Voice Pedagogy at Mississippi College where he teaches studio voice and varying courses related to voice pedagogy. He holds degrees from the University of Miami and the University of Houston. An active researcher, Dr. Perna was awarded a Presser Music Foundation Award leading to research into nasalance and the acoustics of the tenor passaggio. His research on nasalance has been presented at conferences such as The 8th International Congress of Voice Teachers in Brisbane and has been published in Journal of Singing. An active NATS member, he is currently Governor of the West Virginia District, and Vice-President of the Tri-State Chapter. Previous faculty appointments include West Virginia University and New World School of the Arts.

In Nicholas Perna's debut as the Prince in Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges Charles Ward of the Houston Chronicle said, “an impressive sound, (he) made the show work vocally.” Operatic credits include Rodolfo in La Bohème, The Duke in Rigoletto, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’amore, Alfred in Die Fledermaus, and Tamino in The Magic Flute. Concert appearances include Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Beethoven's Symphony no. 9, Rossini's Petite Messe Solenelle, Handel’s Messiah, and Orff's Carmina Burana. He can be heard on the Albany label, as Paolo in Mancinelli’s Paolo e Francesca. A frequent recitalist, Perna regularly performs the songs of Benjamin Britten. In collaboration with soprano, Dr. Mandy Spivak, they created The Comprehensive Britten Song Database, an open source reference for voice professionals worldwide. http://www.brittensongdatabase.com. His teachers include David Alt, Jerold Siena, and Joseph Evans. Dr. Perna twice apprenticed with the Santa Fe Opera.

Mandy Spivak, DMA

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 09:25:02 -0500

Dr. Mandy Spivak, a native of Miami, Florida has found success in teaching, as well as performing in concert and on the operatic stage. Dr. Spivak received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami and a Master of Music degree from the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. She also holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Miami. She is currently Assistant Professor of Music at West Virginia Wesleyan College and Adjunct Professor of Voice at West Virginia University.

Dr. Spivak has been a featured performer at the John Duffy Composer’s Institute at the Virginia Arts Festival for the last five summers in Norfolk, VA. She recently portrayed Desdemona in the world premiere of The Bride of the Moor by Thomas Pasatieri with Opera Beaumont in Beaumont, TX. Additionally, she has performed the title role in Puccini’s Tosca in a concert version with Frost Opera Theatre and in a staged performance with Amarillo Opera. Other roles with AO include Love Simpson in Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree and Minnie in Wage of Sin for a KACV television production. Her portrayal of Miss Lavish in the production of Robert Nelson’s A Room with a View has been made available on commercially-released DVD in recent years. Other roles Dr. Spivak has had the privilege to perform include Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow, Adina in The Elixir of Love, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Arminda in La Finta Giardiniera, Laetitia in The Old Maid and the Thief and Anne Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Dr. Spivak has also been seen in a series of “Cameo Concerts” in the South Florida area associated with Gold Coast Opera.

On the concert stage, Dr. Spivak has most recently been heard in Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with Fairmont State University, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra, Handel’s Saul with the Miami Bach Society, Schubert’s Mass in C with Collegium Cantorei in Miami and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Moores Symphony Orchestra in Houston, Texas. Her other concert appearances include solo work in Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, the Solemn Vespers by Mozart, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Missa Cubana by Vitier, and Bach’s Cantata 140.

About the Authors | The Comprehensive Britten Song Database

Nicholas Perna, DMA

Mandy Spivak, DMA