Alumnae Colleen Keene has been cast in the Ventura County Gilbert and Sullivan Repertoire Company as Julia in The Grand Duke. It will run September 28 – October 21, 2012 at the Theatre on the Hill in Thousand Oaks.

Frieda Caplan, one of the conservatory’s most frequent concert attendees, is a pioneer in the produce business. The LA Times recently ran a wonderful article on Frieda. You can find it here. If you love kiwi, thank Frieda!

Olga Artemova Spriggs is nearing completion of her doctorate at the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) at the University of Cincinnati. She received a full tuition scholarship and was given the responsibility of directing the UC Men’s Chorus. They work with local high schools, contract orchestras for smaller choral/orchestral works, commission new works, and travel nationally or internationally each year. In 2011, they went to Washington D.C. and worked with Frank Albinder, former director of Chanticleer. This past May they traveled to Toronto, Canada and worked with Dr. Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, director of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, and performed at the historic Hart House on the campus of the University of Toronto. (Hart House looks and sounds like a smaller version of the dining hall from the Harry Potter movies). In 2012-13, they will host the first Men’s Chorus High School Festival and travel to New Orleans.

In addition to directing the Men’s Chorus, Olga has served the assistant director of the Cincinnati Children’s Choir (CCC), ensemble-in-residence at CCM. They performed at Central ACDA followed by the 2012 World Choir Games in July, taking home a gold medal in the Youth Choirs of Equal Voices category.

The World Choir Games occur every two years in various locations throughout the world. Two years ago they were in China and in two years they will be in Riga, Latvia. Olga had the opportunity to meet all of the delegates from the various nations involved, and presented a workshop on Russian Diction and IPA to an international audience.