Faculty
Michael Bunchman
Executive Director, IPAI Germany
Pianist Michael Bunchman maintains a fulfilling schedule as a collaborative pianist with both singers and instrumentalists throughout the United States and abroad. He is currently on faculty at the University of Southern Mississippi as the director of the Collaborative Piano Program, where he is honored to coach, teach and guide the next generation of collaborative pianists in both vocal and instrumental repertoire. He has given masterclasses at such institutions as Arizona State University, University of Texas at Austin, North Carolina School of the Arts, Texas Christian University, Illinois State University, Troy and the University of Albany to name a few. Prior to working at the University of Southern Mississippi, Dr. Bunchman served as coordinator of Collaborative Piano at Truman State University from 2015 to 2017.
Dr. Bunchman maintains an active performance schedule outside of his work in academia. He has spent six seasons as a principal coach and collaborative pianist at the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater, as well as appointments with the Natchez Festival of Music and Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra. His many collaborations with opera companies also include Santa Barbara Opera, Opera Saratoga, the Princeton Festival and El Paso Opera. He has performed collaborative recitals with members of the Atlanta Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony and soloist from the Metropolitan Opera, to name a few. In January 2024, he played a chamber concert in Carnegie Hall’s Weill hall to a sold out crowd. Active as a concerto soloist, Dr. Bunchman has performed with the Festival Música nas Montanhas, in Poços de Caldas, Brazil, Ridgefield Symphony, the Breckenridge Music Festival, the Antara Ensemble in New York City, the Utah Festival Opera Orchestra and the National Repertory Orchestra.
In the summer of 2017 Dr. Bunchman had the honor to be counted among the amazingly diverse and talented group of artists of A Prairie Home Companion, hosted by Garrison Keillor, on their multi-city European cruise. In 2024 Dr. Bunchman was named the Executive direct of the Institute of the Performing Arts, International (IPAI) in Bavaria, Germany. In addition, Dr. Bunchman has served as the Director of Collaborative Piano at IPAI since 2018.
Dr. Bunchman holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder, a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the Peabody Conservatory, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. He spent three summers at the prestigious Aspen Music Festival. His teachers have included Anne Epperson, Rick Rowley, Marian Hahn, Joseph Kalichstein, Antoinette Perry, Adrienne Sielaff and Doris Pridonoff-Lehnert.
Anica BiNder
Artistic Producer, IPAI Bavaria
Anica Binder graduated from the University of Mobile in 2010 with a BA in Theatre. Some of her show credits include, Godspell, Thoroughly Modern Mille, Joseph and the Technicoler Dreamcoat, Lend Me a Tenor, Oklahoma, etc. Following graduation she attended The International Performing Arts Institute in Kiefersfelden, Germany for Musical Theatre and then returned in 2011 for the Stage Management Program. Upon completing the program, she returned to her Alma Mater and took the position of Assistant to Dr. Bruce Earnest in the Theatre Department. In the summer of 2012 she had the opportunity once again to return to IPAI and work alongside Dr. Earnest as his assistant. It was during this program that Anica met a local by the name of Andreas Binder. On January 26, 2013, the two of them were married in Mobile, Alabama. After the wedding Anica moved to Oberaudorf, Germany where she now lives with husband Andreas, her daughter Skyler and son Leo.
Since living in Germany Anica has had the privilege of continuing her work with the International Performing Arts Institute and IPAI Bavaria as the Artistic Producer. She has also had the privilege of working for Dr. Maryann Kyle, and was the Assistant Artistic Director for Everblue Social Media and Promotions from 2019-2021.
Director of Opera and Voice and Audition Coordinator
Dramatic tenor Tyler Smith has appeared in numerous operatic and concert performances throughout the United States, Europe, and South America. Most recently he was seen as Canio in the Mobile Opera production of I Pagliacci and Tamino In Louisiana Opera’s production of Die Zauberflöte. He also performed the role of Howard Boucher in New Orleans Opera’s critically acclaimed production of Dead Man Walking. Other appearances with Louisiana Opera include Rodolfo in La bohéme and Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana. For Opéra Louisiane he has performed the roles of Siegmund and Siegfried in a production of The Ring: a two-hour reduction created by Michael Borowitz. For his performance as Eléazar in a highlights concert of La Juive, he won The Big Easy Award in New Orleans for Best Community Opera in 2013.
Other recent roles include Canio for New Orleans Opera and The Southern Opera & Musical Theatre’s productions of I Pagliacci as well as Maxwell in Pensacola Opera’s world premiere of The Widow’s Lantern. For his debut as Canio with New Orleans Opera, Mr. Smith stepped in with six hours notice for an ailing colleague. Opera News deemed his performance a “heroic job…[a] powerful voice and was remarkably in touch with the drama.” For Des Moines Metro Opera, he has covered the roles of Max in Der Freischütz, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Otello in Otello and Riccardo in The Masked Ball. Other roles performed include Don Jose in Carmen, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Max in Der Freischütz, Boris in Katya Kabanova, the title role in Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann, Florestan in Fidelio, and Belfiore in Argento’s Casanovas Homecoming (released on the Newport Classics label). In 2001 he made his Houston Grand Opera Debut as Carlson in Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men (released on the Albany label). Future engagements include leading roles in Verdi’s Macbeth, Susannah, and Die Fledermaus.
Mr. Smith is currently Extraordinary Professor of Voice and Coordinator of Voice Studies at Loyola University of New Orleans. He received his doctorate in Vocal Performance from the University Houston’s Moores School of Music. He holds a Masters of Music from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a Bachelor of Music from Southeastern Louisiana University. Some of his teachers have included, Scharmal Schrock, David Holley, Joseph Evans, and Bill Shuman.
Dr. SCOTT WRIGHT
General Artistic Director Mobile Opera - IPAI General Director Emeritus, Guest Judge, Master Clinician
Dr. Scott Wright, is the General & Artistic Director of Mobile Opera, a singer, conductor, composer, actor and an active supporter of the arts. For many years he has conducted theatrical productions and most recently served as Music Director/ Conductor for the LaGrange Lyric Theatre (GA), and as Resident Music Director/Conductor for the University of Mobile’s Alabama School of the Arts in opera and musical theater. He is the former conductor of the Baldwin Strings Orchestra and the Bay Area Strings Community Orchestra. He served as assistant conductor to the Mobile Symphony Youth Orchestra, was principal guest conductor for the Eastern Shore Chamber Orchestra & Chorus and guest conductor for many others. As a singing actor, he has performed in more than sixty operas and operettas as well as numerous oratorio and concert presentations. He has performed as an actor in numerous roles such as Don Quixote/Cervantes in Man of La Mancha, Frederik in A Little Night Music, Miles Gloriosus in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Lancelot in Camelot, Jupiter/Amphytrion in Olympus On My Mind, Emile DeBecque in South Pacific, and Rip Van Winkle in the premiere of Fred Baldwin’s musical, RIP!. Dr. Wright is an active advocate for the arts. He is a past president of the Mobile Arts Council and is a member of the International Advisory Board of IPAI.
KIRSTIN CHáVEZ
International Mezzo Soprano and Artist in Residence
Mezzo-soprano Kirstin Chávez is considered one of the most riveting and significant young artists performing today. She is praised for her luscious and velvety tone that transcends classification, with its rich evenness in her lower register and the easy ripeness of the top. The combination of the dramatic intensity of her acting, along with her natural physical beauty, make her an arresting and unique presence on the operatic stage. During the 2010 - 11 season Ms. Chavez was heard as Maddalena in Rigoletto with The Metropolitan Opera and with the Dallas Opera, and as Carmen at the Arena di Verona in Italy and at Central City Opera. The 2011 – 2012 season includes leading the production of Dead Man Walking with Tulsa Opera, Baba the Turk in the Rake's Progress with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and Carmen with the Graz Opera, among others.
​
Ms. Chávez has captured attention and acclaim in her signature roles and is now known as one of the definitive Carmens of the day, a role that she has performed with great success throughout the United States, and elsewhere in the world, including in Japan, China, Taiwan, Europe, and Australia. Opera News reported that her Carmen in Graz, Austria was “the Carmen of a lifetime. With her dark, generous mezzo, earthy eroticism, volcanic spontaneity and smoldering charisma, Chavez has it all, including a superb command of French and a sense of humor.” She has also been praised for her renditions of Rosina in il Barbiere di Siviglia (San Diego Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Orlando Opera), Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte (Orlando Opera, Connecticut Opera), Cenerentola in Cenerentola (Kentucky Opera, Fresno Opera), Desideria in The Saint of Bleecker Street (Central City Opera) and Maddalena in Rigoletto (San Diego Opera, New York City Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia).
The mezzo-soprano sang the title role of Carmen with the China National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, at The New National Theatre in Tokyo, Japan, Manitoba Opera, Opera Carolina, and Opera New Jersey all during the 2009-2010 season. During the 2008-2009 season she was Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice (Metropolitan Opera), Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Opéra de Nice, France) the title role of Carmen (Staatsoper Hannover, Germany, and with the Opera Australia on tour in Taipei), Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte (Oper Graz in Austria), Maddalena in Rigoletto (San Diego Opera), and Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino (Caramoor Festival, NY). In addition, she joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for concert performances at the Meadow Brook Music Festival and she appeared with the Wintergreen Performing Arts Festival in performances of Manuel de Falla’s El Amor Brujo. Ms. Chávez has also performed regularly on the concert stage with works such as: Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Bach’s Magnificat, and Rossini’s Stabat Mater, and will add the Bach B Minor mass to her repertoire with performances in New Mexico in the spring of 2012.
​
Kirstin Chávez was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but spent most of her formative years in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where her parents worked as English and Music teachers. She received a Bachelor of Music degree, with Honors, from New Mexico State University, and a Master of Music degree, in Performance, and the Performer’s Certificate, from the Eastman School of Music. After beginning an Artistic Residency with the Orlando Opera, Ms. Chávez won several major international competitions, including The Sullivan Foundation, The George London Foundation, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, the Opera Index Foundation, The Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Jensen Foundation, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (National Finalist).
ERIC GIBSON
International Stage Director - Stage Directing, Acting, Opera Scenes
Eric Gibson, visiting assistant professor of music and director of Opera Theatre at The Ohio State University, is a stage director based in Columbus. His extensive experience directing opera and musical theatre keeps him in great demand. For five years he was director of Lyric Theater at Northern Arizona University–Flagstaff, staging original productions of The Light in the Piazza, Kiss me, Kate!, Dido & Aeneas, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, and The Magic Flute which garnered a first prize win in the National Opera Association's 2019 Opera Competition.
Recent career highlights include new productions of The Mikado and HMS Pinafore for Union Avenue Opera, Barber of Seville for Opera Tampa and Mobile Opera, a debut with Winter Opera in St. Louis staging Italian Girl in Algiers, and remaining a regular at Fargo-Moorhead Opera, where he has staged Die Fledermaus, The Pirates of Penzance, Madama Butterfly, Hansel & Gretel, and Barber of Seville. He recently guided the Young Artist Program productions of Trouble in Tahiti, Cinderella, and Bastien and Bastienne.
For a dozen seasons at LOOK Musical Theatre (Tulsa, Oklahoma) Gibson directed over forty original productions, including Die Fledermaus, The Merry Widow, My Fair Lady, Candide, Evita, Gypsy, Hello, Dolly! and nearly all of the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas.
Gibson debuted with Varna International in Bulgaria, staging Così fan tutte in 2019; recent projects include his annual summer journey teaching acting and directing scenes for IPAI (Kiefersfelden, Germany), staging La Rondine for Winter Opera (St. Louis), and a return to Fargo–Moorhead Opera to stage La Bohème.
Recently, Gibson debuted with a production of Salome for the MusikfürMusik Künstler Kollaborativ in Berlin, Germany, and as the new Executive Director for Opera Project Columbus, his inaugural production was staging The Pirates of Penzance in summer 2024.
Daniel Ley
Collaborative Pianist and Music Director for Musical Theatre
Daniel Ley is a music director, pianist, and conductor based in Shreveport, Louisiana. He has worked as conductor and music director for over 100 professional, academic, and amateur theatre productions. Daniel is the Director of Music Theatre at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. He has a B.M. from Centenary College of Louisiana and a M.M from Northwestern State University
.jpeg)
Mary Wilson
Voice Faculty, Classical Voice and Opera, Director of Teaching Fellowship Program, Master Clinician
Soprano MARY WILSON has been hailed as one of today's most exciting artists, receiving critical acclaim for a voice that is “lyrical and triumphant, a dazzling array of legato melodies and ornate coloratura” (San Francisco Chronicle). Opera News heralded her first solo recording, Mary Wilson Sings Handel, stating “Wilson’s luminous voice contains so much charisma,” they dubbed her recording one of their “Best of the Year.”
​
In consistent high demand on the concert stage, she has appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Detroit Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, National Symphony of Costa Rica, Singapore Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Eugene Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Dayton Philharmonic, Boulder Philharmonic, San Antonio Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, Colorado Music Festival, IRIS Chamber Orchestra, VocalEssence, Berkshire Choral Festival, and at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. She has frequently worked with conductors Jeffrey Thomas, Nicholas McGegan, Martin Pearlman, Martin Haselböck, Robert Moody, Carl St. Clair, JoAnn Falletta, Giancarlo Guerrero, John Sinclair, Anton Armstrong, and Leonard Slatkin. With the IRIS Chamber Orchestra, she sang the World Premiere of the song cycle “Songs Old and New” written especially for her by Ned Rorem. She was named an Emerging Artist by Symphony Magazine in the publication’s first ever presentation of promising classical soloists on the rise.
​
An exciting interpreter of Baroque repertoire, “with a crystal clear and agile soprano voice perfectly suited to Handel's music” (Early Music America), she has repeatedly appeared with American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque, Musica Angelica, Boston Baroque, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Grand Rapids Bach Festival, Bach Society of St. Louis, Chatham Baroque, Musica Sacra Festival de Quito Ecuador, Baltimore Handel Choir, Florida Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, Colorado Bach Festival, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, and the Carmel Bach Festival.
Equally at home on the opera stage, she is especially noted for her portrayals of Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Susannah in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Gilda in Rigoletto. She has created leading roles in North American and World Premiere performances of Dove’s Flight, Glass’ Galileo Galilei, and Petitgirard’s Joseph Merrick dit L’Elephant Man. A National Finalist of the 1999 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, she has appeared with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Minnesota Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Dayton Opera, Arizona Opera, Tulsa Opera, Opera Memphis, Opera Southwest, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Goodman Theatre.
She is the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the new Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Oratorio Competition, starting in February 2024.
An accomplished pianist, Ms. Wilson holds vocal performance degrees from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She is an Associate Professor of Voice and Vocal Area Coordinator at the University of Memphis, and resides in Bartlett, Tennessee, with her husband, son, and two dogs. www.MaryWilsonSoprano.com
Meredith Johnson
Voice Faculty, Classical and Music Theatre Voice, Master Clinician
In her career, Mississippi native Dr. Meredith Melvin Johnson, has coached collegiate level and professional singers in multiple genres as well as trained future music educators in diction, pedagogy, and literature. She frequently presents vocal seminars and workshops for singers and ensembles throughout the region. Her variety of performance credits and stage appearances inspire her students and encourage them to pursue a life-long cultivation of the art of singing, performing across genres with healthy vocal production regardless of style. Maintaining an active performer-teacher career is a vital part of her teaching philosophy.
Dr. Johnson specializes in both classical and belt techniques and is an active adjudicator and vocal clinician, offering workshops for choral groups, showchoirs, musical theatre students, and church ensembles. She maintains a thriving private studio catering to a wide variety of musical styles and is the creator of the online courses “Virtual Vocal Academy,” “Audition Bootcamp,” and “College Choir Audition Assistant.”
In her current role as a voice professor at The University of Southern Mississippi, Dr. Johnson teaches applied voice, vocal pedagogy courses and serves as vocal coach to the musical theatre productions. Previously, she served 9 years on the voice faculty at Jones College where she built a flourishing musical theatre workshop program producing large-scale musicals and student created productions.
As a performer, Johnson graced the stage in numerous musicals, operas, operettas, and concerts. Some of her favorite roles include Into the Woods (the Witch and Cinderella), Les Misérables (Fantine), The Drowsy Chaperone (Drowsy), La Bohème (Musetta), The Mikado (Katisha), Pirates of Penzance (Ruth), and Turandot (Liù). Her next appearance will be this summer during FESTIVALSOUTH in HubCity Players’ production of Beauty and the Beast.
Dr. Johnson graduated summa cum laude from William Carey University and holds a master of music and a doctor of musical arts in vocal performance and pedagogy from The University of Southern Mississippi. She resides in Hattiesburg, Mississippi with her husband, Tony and their spoiled pup GusGus.
Casting Director, Stage Entertainment Germany - Musical Theatre Auditions & Career Development, Master Clinician
Ralf Schädler is the Casting Director for Stage Entertainment and is a member of the Musical Theatre Intensives workshop faculty. With an international career as a performer, he is responsible for casting European productions for StageEntertainment including Sister Act, Wicked, Tarzan, The Buddy Holly Story and Lion King in a dozen European cities. Mr. Schädler is member of the IPAI Advisory Board works with IPAI Artists on career development, casting and musical theatre acting.
Opera and Collaborative Pianist in Residence
Mark Lawson was born in Mason City, Iowa. After a year at the Juilliard School, Mark was a student of George Katz at Drake University, Gary Graffman at the Manhattan School of Music, and Nelita True at the University of Maryland and the Eastman School of Music. After receiving his Doctorate from the Eastman School of Music, Mark moved to New York City, where he worked as a freelance pianist for three years before joining the Yale Opera as a pianist and coach. While at Yale, Mark learned German, and in 1997 he joined the music staff at the Aalto Theater in Essen, Germany. Two years later he auditioned in Munich at the Bavarian State Opera for Zubin Mehta, and from 1999 until 2017 was on the music staff there. In those eighteen years, he worked with all of the most famous singers in the world and many of the most famous conductors. In 2017 Mark left the Bavarian State Opera to have more time for freelance projects, and since then has divided his time between the Stopera in Amsterdam, the Teatro Real in Madrid, where he has a part time contract, and yearly productions at the Bavarian State Opera. In addition, he has worked regularly with the Young Singers Group at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Besides traveling with the Bavarian State Opera to Tokyo and Hong Kong, Mark has also worked at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the Paris Opera, The New Israeli Opera, the Landestheater Salzburg, the National Theater in Prague, the Salzburg Festival, the Glyndbourne Festival, and the Bayreuth Festival.
Choreographer, dance teacher, yoga teacher and social worker. Training as a stage dancer at the Iwanson School, Academy for Contemporary Dance in Munich, Master of Arts in choreography at the Palucca School, University of Dance in Dresden, Bachelor of Arts in social education at the KSH Munich.
After a scholarship at the Marie Brolin Tani Danstheater in Arhus, Denmark and several study visits to New York, numerous engagements as a stage dancer in opera, film, television, musical and contemporary productions followed. Among others at the Bregenz and Salzburg Festivals, at the Bavarian State Opera, at the Semperoper Dresden and at the Frankfurt Opera.
Since 2000 he has been a choreographer at various state and municipal theaters in Germany, Austria and France, including the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus (Orpheus Illegal), the Residenztheater Munich (From the bourgeois heroic life), the Marstalltheater Munich (Mefistocks), the Schauburg Munich (guest bed ), at the Schauspielhaus Graz (Medea), at the Vienna Chamber Opera (Moscow Moscow), at the State Theaters in Kiel (Struwelpeter), Oldenburg (Hello Dolly) and Dortmund (Anatevka, The Seasons), at the City Theaters in Hildesheim (Hair), Ingolstadt ( La Cage Aux Folles), Trier (Into the Woods) and Hagen (Spring Awakening), at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen (How to sucseed in business without really trying), at the Burgfestspiele Bad Vilbel (Evita) at the Landestheater Passau (Cardasfürstin, Manon, Ariodante) and Linz (Next to Normal), at the Opera National de Lorrain Nancy/France (merry widow), at the Semperoper Dresden (Wildschütz) and at the Frankfurt Opera (Martha). Numerous choreographies (Head Voice, Rent, Spring Awakening, Avenue Q) and teaching assignments in the period from 1998 to summer semester 2019 at the Bavarian Theater Academy August Everding/University for Music and Theater in the Prinzregententheater in Munich. Since 2019 Michael has been the Professor of Dance for Musical Theater at the Hochschule Osnabrück.
Expansion of professional skills through a degree in social pedagogy in Munich. This has resulted in a number of projects, including at the TheaterAtelier Munich with people with mental illnesses, with young people aged 10 - 20 and with unaccompanied, underage refugees as part of the Future Campus educational program at the youth meeting center in Oberschleißheim.
Dennis had the honor of premiering in the first German production of [title of show] where he portrayed the role of HUNTER. Following which he played ROLF ISAAKSOHN in Neuköllner Oper Berlin’s award winning production of Stella.
Over the past 7 years Dennis has had the pleasure to portray leads on most major theatre stages in Germany from
Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern (JOE GILLIS in Sunset Boulevard) to Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater (BARRET in Titanic) to Komische Oper Berlin (RICHARD III in Schneewittchen und die 77 Zwerge).
Most recently Dennis Weissert could be seen entertaining audiences as CAMERON, the leading player of the Arise Grand Show at the iconic Friedrichstadtpalast Berlin, home of the largest theatre stage in the world, following a list of legendary performers including Louis Armstrong, Ute Lemper and Liza Minelli.
In 2023 he is performing the role of ARAMIS in 3 Musketeers at Staatstheater Augsburg as well as reprising his role of RIFF (West Side Story) at Landesbühnen Sachen. To conclude the year he will be premiering Titanic at Theater Erfurt, this time in the role of the naval architect THOMAS ANDREWS.
In addition to his career as a Vocalist and Voiceover Artist, for years Dennis has been honing his craft as both a translator and songwriter. He is a certiefied syng: Trainer and is regularly recruited as vocal coach to both aspiring performers and seasoned artists teaching both classical and modern approaches to song interpretation.
_1688486233789.jpeg)
Patrick Schenk
German Agent - Guest Artist
Patrick Schenk absolvierte in den Jahren 2001-2005 das Studium im Fach Musical an der renommierten Folkwang-Universität in Essen, wo er u.a. bei Bruce Earnest im Fach Gesang ausgebildet wurde.
Danach folgten diverse Haupt- und Nebenrollen in Musicals in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, wie z.B. Tony in der West Side Story, Radames in Aida, Axel Staudach in Ich war noch niemals in New York, Petrus in Jesus Christ Superstar, Benvolio in Romeo und Julia, Bobby C in Saturday Night Fever, Sky in Mamma Mia, Marius in Les Miserables und viele mehr.
In den Jahren 2014 und 2015 übernahm Patrick die Künstlerische Leitung am Stage-Metronom Theater in Oberhausen. 2016 war er maßgeblich an der erfolgreichen Neuproduktion des Musicals „Ludwig²“ in Füssen beteiligt.
In den folgenden Jahren war Patrick Geschäftsführer des Musical-Start-Ups „Stuttgarter Off-Broadway Theatre Company“ und auch hier maßgeblich an der Produktion des Musicals Annie beteiligt.
Für das Opernstudio NRW war Patrick in der Spielzeit 2020/2021 tätig und hat u.a. das jährliche Opernstudio-Vorsingen organisiert.
Des Weiteren betreibt Patrick seit 2015 die Künstleragentur „art&weise“ und konnte sich in der Deutschen Theaterlandschaft als verlässlicher Ansprechpartner in Fragen rund um die Künstlervermittlung etablieren.
Ramses Sigl
Dance and Choregraphy - Guest Artist
Ramses Sigl has been working as a dance teacher and choreographer at the University of Music and Theatre - Bavarian Theater Academy August Everding since the musical course was founded in 1996.
From 1998 - 2012 he was leading the dance education of the Musical Department.
In addition to his work as a lecturer, he choreographed Bernstein's "On the Town", Sontheim's "Company" and "Into the woods", the Weill Revue "Ladys in the light", "Lucky Stiff", "City of Angels" , "Little Shop of Horrors", "Hello again", "The Black Rider" and cross-curricular projects such as "King Arthur", "The Fairy Queen", "Street Scene", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Flight" as well as numerous Autumn and Summer concerts and much more.
Outside the academy, he works very closely with Claus Guth.
For example, "The Merry Widow", "Dialogues des Carmelités" and "Der Rosenkavalier" were created at the Frankfurt Opera, Handel's "Messiah" and "Saul" as well as "L'incoronazione di Poppea" at the Theater an der Wien, "Julietta", "Aschemond" and “Don Giovanni” at the Berlin State Opera, “Rodelinda” at the Teatro Real in Madrid, “Bluthaus” at the Bavarian State Opera and “La clemenza di Tito” at the Glyndebourne Festival.
He also choreographed Claus Guth's productions of "le nozze di Figaro", "Cosi fan tutte" and "Don Giovanni" for the Salzburg Festival.
Another important and close partner is the director Jens-Daniel Herzog - for example,
“Rinaldo” and “Le Pecheurs de Perles” at the Zurich Opera House, “Giulio Cesare” and “Capriccio” at the Semperoper Dresden, “The Flying Dutchman” and "Anna Nicole" at the Dortmund Opera,
at the Salzburg Festival "The Magic Flute" and "The Mastersingers of Nuremberg", at the Residenztheater Munich Schiller's play "Turandot" and Schitzler's "the lonely path", at the Nuremberg State Theater "War and Peace", " Le Nozze di Figaro", "Don Carlos" and "Orfeo"
Ramses also worked with directors such as Bálazs Kovalik, Rolando Villazón, Aron Stiehl, Dieter Dorn, David Alden, Burkhard Kosminski, Gil Mehmert, Stefan Huber and August Everding, among others in Munich at the Prinzregententheater, the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz and the Bayerische State Opera, at the Liceu Barcelona, ​​the Amsterdam Opera, the Opera national de Paris, the Lyon and Nancy opera houses, the Monte Carlo Opera , the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, the Hamburg State Opera and the Bunka Kaikan Tokyo as well as at the Bregenz and Schwetzingen Festivals and the Kurt Weill Festival Dessau.
Most recent works were the premiere of "Turing" (also stage collaboration), "Le Nozze di Figaro" and "Pelleas and Melisande" at the Nuremberg Opera House, "Barbiere di Siviglia" at the Opera Monte Carlo, "La clemenza di Tito" for the Salzburg Whitsun and the Summer Festival, as well as Handel's "Semele" for the Munich Opera Festival
At the Schauburg Munich, the youth theater of the city of Munich, where he was also engaged as an actor, he directed and choreographed his dance theater pieces “Klasse Klasse”, “suche,versuche versuchung” and “welcome to my world”.
He also works for film and television, among others “Im Winter ein Jahr” by Oscar winner Caroline Link, “Der Alte” (ZDF), Bavarian Theater Awards and he also choreographs shows for example for the Sony Customer Days in Mallorca and the Cebit in Hanover.
He works/worked as a lecturer at the August Everding Bavarian Theater Academy, the Iwanson School for Contemporary Dance in Munich, the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, the Acting School "Schauspiel München" and the Royal Swedish Ballet Academy, among others.