*Contact Dr. Nicole Leupp Hanig to schedule a consultation lesson as part of your campus visit.
* See our biographies at the end of this page
All those who wish to improve their singing.
It is of primary importance that you ensure your needs will be met by the department in which you plan to major. If your interests extend to continuing vocal study or beginning vocal study alongside a major in another field, you may wish to consider the following:
Soprano Nicole Leupp Hanig serves as Director of Vocal Studies at University of Portland. She has appeared as a soloist with the Jussi Björling Festival in Sweden, the Maggio Musicale Festival in Italy and the Pacific Music Festival in Japan. She has performed solo recitals at St. Martin’s in the Field, London and for the Cairo Opera in Egypt which was recorded for Egyptian television. Opera roles include Die Feldmarschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, The Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw, and the role of Sian in development workshops of James McMillan’s opera The Sacrifice. Recent projects include premiere performances of works by composer Cynthia Gerdes, two solo recitals with Atelier Lyrique in Paris, and a faculty position with Music in the Marche, an opera training program and festival in Mondavio, Italy. Her primary areas of research are social justice themes in art song and lyric theater repertoire and the sacred in opera. Dr. Hanig holds degrees from The University of Colorado, and The University of Illinois as well as a Post Graduate Diploma from The Royal Academy of Music in London where she was awarded the Diploma of the Royal Academy for distinction in performance. Her teachers include Inci Bashar, Nelly Miriciou and her beloved mentor, John Wustman. Lyric soprano, Jill Soltero, has performed a wide variety of roles with regional opera companies including Arkansas Opera Theatre, Berkshire Opera, Sarasota Opera and Connecticut Opera. Opera roles include Anna in NABUCCO, Mimi in LA BOHEME, Barbarina in the MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, and Papagena in THE MAGIC FLUTE, Nedda in I PAGLIACCI, Micaela in CARMEN, Adina in ELIXIR OF LOVE, and Gretel in HANSEL AND GRETEL. Jill Soltero has served on the faculty of Oregon State University, Pacific University, Marylhurst University, Lewis and Clark College and is currently teaching at University of Portland. Soltero holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California and a Master of Music degree from the Yale University School of Music. Her teachers include Ellen Faull, Martin Katz, Gwendolyn Koldofsky, Evelyn Lear and Joan Dornemann. Bass-baritone, Daniel Mobbs, has won praise for his "solid, resonant voice and boundless energy...his stage presence virtually ensured that he was the focal point of nearly every scene in which he appeared," as written in the New York Times. Mr. Mobbs has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Boston Lyric Opera Minnesota Opera, Portland Opera and many others. He is sought after as both a performer and teacher, teaching young artists at the Caramoor International Music Festival, Portland Opera and at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Mr. Mobb’s awards include first place in both the College Division of the MacAllister Awards and the Mario Lanza Scholarship. He is a winner of the Sullivan Foundation Award and also a recipient of a grant from the Puccini Foundation. In 2008, New York City Opera awarded him the Kolozsvar Award, recognizing his "memorable performance of multiple roles in Purcell's King Arthur." He is a graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. Mezzo-soprano Sarah Maines is a versatile performer experienced in musical theatre, classical, and choral styles. As an active singing voice specialist, she also administers voice rehabilitation to injured singers referred by Portland laryngologists. Dr. Maines is the Cascade National Association of Teachers of Singing Student Auditions Co-Chair and President-Elect. She holds a BA in music from Berea College as well as MM and DMA degrees in voice pedagogy from Shenandoah Conservatory. Vocal Coach/Pianist Susan McDaniel has performed around the world in locations such as France, Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. She received a bachelor’s degree in music from Linfield College in 1997 and a master of music degree from Manhattan School of Music in 2001. McDaniel has been a member of the music staff at Seattle Opera, Portland Opera, and the Atlantic Music Festival, as well as music director and pianist for the San Diego Opera Ensemble, Off-Center Opera in Seattle and Puget Sound Concert Opera. In addition to playing as an accompanist, McDaniel is a soloist and a chamber musician with Northwest Piano Trio. Mezzo-soprano Lisa Actor-Leslie earned her master's of music in vocal performance from the Yale School of Music. An Oregon native, she received her BFA from Portland State University after returning from studying abroad in Vienna, Austria with renowned Viennese Staatsoper basso, Otto Edelmann. Ms. Actor-Leslie has appeared as an artist with Glimmerglass Opera, Pittsburgh Opera and Yale Opera and has been a guest soloist with Columbia Orchestra, Norwalk Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Portland Sinfonia Concertante, Cape Cod Bach Concerts, Norwalk Music Festival, New Haven Masterworks Chorale, Tucson Masterworks Chorale, Willamette University-Salem Chamber Orchestra, Oregon State University Symphony, Trinity Consort Music Series, Friends of New Music in NYC and the Alamos Music Festival in Sonora, Mexico. An avid singer and promoter of art song and chamber music repertoire, Ms. Actor-Leslie has sung on many art song series and festivals, including New Music New Haven, Trinity Episcopal Treasury of Art Song, and the St. Mary's Cathedral Sacred Recital Series. Ms. Actor-Leslie is President of the NW Cascade Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, a member of The College Society and The Bach Society and is an active clinician and adjudicator in the NW. She taught at Pacific University, Oregon State University, Portland State University prior to joining the voice faculty at the University of Portland.