Detroit Opera Youth Chorus

The Detroit Opera Youth Chorus (DOYC) is a world-class training program for young vocalists ages 8 to 17 from metropolitan Detroit. The chorus performs as a separate ensemble as well as with international opera stars in Detroit Opera mainstage productions. Rehearsals take place at the Detroit Opera House on Monday evenings from September through May, led by Detroit Opera Chorus Master Suzanne Mallare Acton, Principal Chorus Conductor Sadarra Fields and Preparatory Chorus Conductor Jane Panikkar.

The 2023–24 season includes two major performances:  A Winter Fantasy concert on December 3 at First Presbyterian Church of Royal Oak and a fully staged opera, Ben Moore and Kelley Rourke’s Odyssey, at the Detroit Opera House, directed by Sarah Hawkins Rusk, on April 20, 2024. In prior seasons, DOYC featured only treble voices—girls through age 16 and boys with unchanged voices. Beginning this season, the chorus is open to all voice types: sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses, ranging from elementary-school students to high-school seniors. In May 2024, singers from the Principal Chorus also will perform in the Detroit Opera’s professional presentation of Janáček’s opera The Cunning Little Vixen, with several small solo roles to be selected from the DOYC.

Sadarra J. Fields

Principal Chorus Conductor

Sadarra J. Fields, a Michigan native, originally from Lansing, is an educator, conductor, vocalist, and pianist. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music education from Western Michigan University and a Master of Science in Education - Family Life from Concordia University Wisconsin. Currently, Sadarra teaches choir at Forsythe Middle School in Ann Arbor. She is a singer in Detroit’s Brazeal Dennard Chorale; a pianist for Detroit Northwest Seventh-Day Adventist Church and Clarenceville United Methodist Church; and is a trauma recovery coach. Sadarra is a foodie who enjoys yoga, salsa dancing, travel, blogging, and spending time with loved ones.