1/23 Fri.7:30pm
Shelton Laurel: An Appalachian Opera
Friday, January 23, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Music and Libretto By:
Dr. Damon Sink
Shelton Laurel Inspired by works of: Ron Rash | Director: Dr. Isaiah Feken Conductor: Dr. Margaret Underwood
Cast:
Dominic Armstrong, Andrea Price, Madison Garris, Colin Wasmund, Eddie Garner, Patricia Sands, Audrey Welsh, Jake Surzyn, Gwen Aguiar, Davin Broadhurst, Isaiah Feken, Elizabeth Ashley, Nick Peterson-Paugh, Jackson Deutsch, Brennen Foerst, Maddox Wilson, and Thomas Tant
Chorus:
Soprano: Lilly Davis, Ella Ledford, Tiffany Birchum, Alana Barwick, Ruth Welsh, Gwen Aguiar, Ella Ledford, Madison Garris, and Jay Shuster | Alto: Izzy Reynozo, Maggie Ashley, Ashleigh Hobden, Kathy Dills, Annalysa Sperduto | Tenor: Eddie Garner, Maddox Wilson, Tristan Rice, Bob Houghton | Bass: Nick Peterson-Paugh, Byrd Nichols, Stephen Lambert, Jackson Deutsch, Thomas Tant, Michael Hrivnak
Orchestra Members
Woodwinds | Barb Amalong Sink, Flute & Alto Flute, Esther Waite, Flute & Piccolo +, Shannon Thompson, Clarinet +, Robyn Dixon Costa, Oboe & English Horn, Jackson Smith, Bass Clarinet *, Brass | Bruno Dippolito, French horn *, Katie Sammons, French horn *, Madison Barton, trumpet +, Brandon Mathis, trumpet *, Ashlyn Douglas, trombone *, Aidan Moore, bass trombone *, Jerry Bradley, tuba *, Piano | Michael Yannette, Percussion & Timpan | Ethan Robbins *, Jason Parker * Violin 1 | Mariya Potapova, Oleg Melnikov, Daniel Pinelli, Teresa Curran, Violin 2 | Jonathan Urizar, Julian Smart, Alex Travers, Shawn Hurt, Viola | Cameron Rehberg, Daphne Bickley, Jason McCoy Cello | Ashlee Booth, Amanda Durst, Patrick O’Neil, Bass | Daniel Iannucci
* denotes School of Music Student, + denotes School of Music Faculty
Artistic & Technical Team
Scenic Designer: Scott Ashley, Lighting Designer: Ben Howard, Costume Designer: Mary Evelyn Gunn (Mev), Lead Technician: Logan Wallace, Production Stage Manager: Elizabeth Cruz, Assistant Stage Manager: Anabel Gutierrez, Bardo Arts Center Tech Team: Casey Moore, Nathan Berlingieri, Phil Bevilacqua, Nic Denman, Ozzie Long, Zoe Taylor
Special thanks to Michael Yanette, Rehearsal Pianists and Coach.
No photography, videography, or recordings of any kind. This performance is 1 hour and 45 minutes long, with no intermission. This performance includes startling loud sounds (such as simulated gunshots), haze/ smoke effects, and onstage depictions of domestic, sexual, and physical violence such as war reenactments. By entering Western Carolina University’s campus you understand that you may be photographed, filmed, or videotaped, and you authorize Western Carolina University the unqualified right to take pictures and or recordings of you and grant the perpetual right to take your likeness, image, photo without compensation, for broadcast or use in any medium. Theperformanceissponsoredin partbytheWCUCampusThemeCommittee–WNCMountainLife.
Shelton Laurel Creative Team
Creative Team
Dr. Damon Sink
Dr. Sink teaches music theory, composition, and commercial music courses in the School of Music and also serves as the Music Core coordinator for theory, aural skills, and class piano. In addition to his creative work as a composer, Dr. Sink is active in other areas of media production, film, and classical and jazz recording. Before coming to Western, he served as a full-time member on the faculties of Xavier University and The University of Dayton and founded dalSegno Media, an audio/visual production company. Recent projects beyond the new opera include a commission for System Five Brass, “Hymn: Under Menin Gate,” performed in October 2022 in Ypres, Belgium, and Quartet for winds and piano, selected for performance at the 2025 Penn State New Music Festival.
Dr. Isaiah Feken (Also playing the role of Colonel Allen)
A former Patricia and Dr. Carl S. Hoveland Opera Fellow, Dr. Isaiah Feken has appeared with Central City Opera, Opera Colorado, Des Moines Metropolitan Opera, Des Moines Ballet, Crested Butte Music Festival, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, and the Blue Ridge Orchestra. Isaiah has been the recipient of Central City Opera’s Robert Orth Award, Opera Colorado’s Harold Noblom Award, and the Denver Lyric Opera Guild’s Mary Wise Memorial Award. Previously, Dr. Feken was the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor for Drake Opera Theatre at Drake University. A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Dr. Feken received his B.M. from the University of Tulsa, later completing his M.M. and D.M.A. at the University of Georgia where he served as a principal baritone for UGA Opera Theatre under Frederick Burchinal. Dr. Feken currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Voice at Western Carolina University
Dr. Margaret Underwood
Dr. Margaret Underwood is Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at Western Carolina University where she conducts the Wind Ensemble, guides all aspects of the wind bands, and teaches courses in music education. Dr. Underwood maintains an active guest conducting schedule, conducting performances across the United States. Ensembles under her direction have performed at state and international conferences and she has conducted at the College Band Directors National Association Northcentral Regional Conference. In addition to her presentations at numerous state conferences, she has also presented her research at the College Band Directors National Association Regional and National Conferences, the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles International Conference, the US Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium, and the International Society for Research and Promotion of Wind Music.
Cast
Dr. Andrea M. Price is Assistant Professor of Voice in the School of Music at Western Carolina University. Operatic roles include Mrs. Ford in Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, Ciesca in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, and La Contessa in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. In addition to performances in Italy, Dr. Price has presented recitals in Greece and New Zealand. She was a winner of the 2010 Georgia National Association of Teachers of Singing Artists’ Awards competition.
Audrey Welsh, mezzo-soprano, is a native of Houston, Texas, and a second-year Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist in 2025-26. Last season, her roles included Lola in Cavalleria rusticana, Clotarco in Armida, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and the Curator in Woman with Eyes Closed. This season, her roles include Lucy in Fellow Travelers and Meg Page in Falstaff. This summer, Welsh will join the Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist and make her mainstage debut as “Young Woman” in the American Premiere of Tobias Picker’s Lili Elbe. Welsh was also Knoxville District Winner in the 2025 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Welsh is a 2024 graduate of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where she received a Master of Music in Voice Performance, under the tutelage of Nova Thomas. She is also an alumna of the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Music in Voice and a Bachelor of Arts in Italian Studies.
Colin Wasmund – Jason Gunter
Originally from West Central Minnesota, Colin Wasmund is an Actor, Director, Writer, and Improvisor. Colin grew up on a hog farm and found his way into the arts through curiosity, an over-active imagination, and the need to find belonging. For the last 7 years, that belonging has been as a faculty member in WCU’s School of Stage and Screen. This year, Colin is also serving as the Interim Associate Dean for the BCFPA.
Dominic Armstrong has been celebrated for his musicality and characterization on stages both nationally and internationally, having performed with companies including Opera Philadelphia, Chicago Opera Theatre, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opera Regio Torino, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, LA Opera, Memphis Opera, Dayton Opera, Opera Colorado, the Ojai Festival, Wolf Trap Opera, Chautauqua Opera, and Opera Omaha. This season, Mr. Armstrong will make a return to Piedmont Opera (Don José, Carmen), will perform as the tenor soloist for the Beethoven Choral Fantasy at Carnegie Hall, make a return to Brooklyn Art Song Society, and create the role of Howard Reich in Tom Cipullo’s new opera The Dialogue of Memories with Music of Remembrance. An Associate Professor of Voice at The University of South Carolina, he also serves on faculty at The Summer Performing Arts at Juilliard program, Chautauqua Opera Conservatory, and the USC/Castleton Immersion in Castleton, VA.
Dominic Armstrong – Reverend Yates
Andrea Price – Eliza Harmon
Audrey Welsh – Rebecca Harmon
Eddie Garner – Ira Wilkey
Edward Garner holds degrees in Opera Performance from the Boston Conservatory and in Voice Performance from UNC Greensboro. After completing his collegiate studies, Edward spent the next two decades honing his musical craft by both studying and performing in New York, Switzerland, and Italy. He and his family have recently relocated to Franklin from Baltimore, MD where Edward also taught yoga and music in the public schools. Mr. Garner is the Director of Family Ministries at First United Methodist Church, Franklin and teaches K-12 Music for Jackson County Public Schools at Blue Ridge School/Early College.
Jake Surzyn, baritone, has worked with companies across the United States including Detroit Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Central City Opera, Opera Idaho, Charlottesville Opera, Madison Opera, and Opera North. Notable operatic roles include Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Older Thompson (Glory Denied), Marcello (La bohème), Schaunard (La bohème), Dandini (La Cenerentola), The Pilot (The Little Prince), King Melchior (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Samuel (Pirates of Penzance), Der Lautsprecher (Der Kaiser von Atlantis), and Alfio (Cavalleria Rusticana). An avid performer of oratorio, Jake has been a soloist in a wide span of works including Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s The Seasons and The Creation, J.S. Bach’s St. John Passionand Christmas Oratorio, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Brahms’ Requiem, Smyth’s Mass in D, and Lang’s the little match girl passion. Jake’s upcoming season includes The Mandarin in Music Hall’s production of Turandot and the bass solos and Christus in J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion.
Patricia Sands – Widow Franklin
Patricia Sands taught Music and Theatre in Honduras, South Africa, Malaysia, Taiwan, Serbia, Qatar and Singapore. Patricia performed in Barcelona, Belgrade, Urbania, Doha, Taipei, and with Singapore Lyric Opera, New Opera Singapore, Doha Community Orchestra, Braddell Heights Orchestra, and the South African Broadcasting Choir. She also studied with Lorraine Nawa Jones, student of Tito Gobbi.. Patricia directs Music/Theatre and is a Voice Instructor/Vocologist in the Asheville area. She is a WCU Field Supervisor.
Gwen Aguiar: Pearl B.M./B.S.Ed Music Education, Class of 2029, Jackson Deutsch: Corporal/Conscript, B.S. Cultural Anthropology, Nick Peternson-Paugh: Sergeant B.M. Performance, Class of 2027, Thomas Tant: Conscript 2, Class of 2029, Maddox Wilson: Conscript/Musician, Smoky Mountain High School Class of 2026
For all bios, please visit arts.wcu.edu/shelton-laurel.
Jake Surzyn – John Shwver
Madison Garris – Susannah Harmon, Brennen Foerst – A Traveler, Elizabeth Ashley – Lovisa Shwver, Davin Broadhurst – Hartley
House Policies for Shelton Laurel
No photography, videography, or recording of any kind is permitted. Food and drinks are NOT permitted inside the Performance Hall
If personal items are displaced during the event, please visit our BAC Box Office or call during operational hours at 828-227-2479 for assistance.
2025 - 2026 Bardo Arts Center Ticket Prices
Box Office Website - arts.wcu.edu/boxoffice
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WCU Student: $5
General Student: $15
WCU Faculty/Staff: $20
Adults: $25
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Bardo Arts center staff
Scott Ashley - Production Manager and Technical Director
Denise Drury Homewood - Executive Director
Carolyn Grosch - Curator of Collections and Exhibitions
Rachel Hood - Marketing Manager
Kim Kopak - Administrative Support Specialist
Greg McPherson - Exhibition Designer
Sara Rincon - Audience Services Manager
Amber Rousseau - Visitor Services Coordinator
Logan Wallace - Lead Technician
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