(San Francisco, CA) - There are a few opera world provocateurs these days, but no one hits like Haus of Shmizzay on Instagram. Online research tells us that he’s a classically-trained tenor James Smidt, who’s studied at both the University of North Carolina School of the Arts' A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute and University of Maryland's Maryland Opera Studio, the latter for his master's degree in opera performance. In addition to being a voice teacher - the focus of our December 2023 chat - he's an in-demand speaker and one of opera's more excitingly unpredictable English-speaking voices on IG, with receipts from grateful and succeeding artists (client testimonials and work wins speak for themselves)…

(Paris, France) - Voice teacher Karen Nimereala first came to our attention through a friend in 2019. Classically-trainer and a former opera singer herself, some of Ms. Nimereala’s longtime clients include pop music icons Sting and Mylène Farmer. Prior to flying to Paris to see Ms. Farmer’s landmark residency, a friend mentioned that they had a social media connection to “Karen, Mylène’s voice teacher…did you know she was an opera singer?” A longtime fan of Ms. Farmer, this information had somehow eluded me…