ROBERT O'HARA (director) is the Tony-nominated director of Slave Play and is currently working on several film, television, and theater projects. He's a two-time Obie Award and two-time NAACP Award Winner whose work has been seen around the country.

American conductor Kazem Abdullah currently lives in Nürnberg, Germany. He was Music and Artistic Director of the City of Aachen, Germany from 2012 to 2017. During his tenure, he succeeded in reaching newer and diverse audiences through innovative programming and moving out of the concert hall, and into atypical venues. In addition to exploring new venues to bring concerts to audiences and experimenting with juxtapositions of styles in non-traditional concert formats, he also performed over 25 operas and collaborated with musicians such as Johannes Moser, Lise de la Salle, Angela Gheorghiu, Augustin Haedelich, and Midori. A passionate advocate of new music as well as established repertoire, Mr. Abdullah continues to develop relationships with national and international orchestras and opera houses. Among his recent orchestral credits are the symphony orchestras of Oregon, Indianapolis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati. In addition to his symphony engagements, he recently conducted an opera Gala for the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the American premiere of Charles Wuorinen’s opera Brokeback Mountain with the New York City Opera, and Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda for Cape Town Opera.

Heralded as “[one] of the most powerful voices of our time” by the Los Angeles Times, the “immensely gifted American bass-baritone Davóne Tines has won acclaim, and advanced the field of classical music” (The New York Times) as a path-breaking artist whose work not only encompasses a diverse repertoire but also explores the social issues of today. As a Black, gay, classically trained performer at the intersection of many histories, cultures, and aesthetics, his work blends opera, art song, contemporary classical, spirituals, gospel, and songs of protest, as a means to tell a deeply personal story of perseverance that connects to all of humanity. Davóne Tines is a winner of the 2020 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, recognizing extraordinary classical musicians of color. He also received the 2018 Emerging Artists Award from Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and is a graduate of Harvard University and The Juilliard School. He is the first Artist-In-Residence for Michigan Opera Theatre starting in the 2021-22 Season.

Victor Ryan Robertson made his Metropolitan Opera debut in their new 2017 production of Merry Widow as Raoul, and concurrently his Broadway debut in its longest running show, Phantom of the Opera as Piangi. He made his professional debut in Baz Luhrmann’s La Bohème, at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, winning the coveted Ovation Award. Victor sang his signature role, Count Almaviva Il barbiere di Siviglia across the US, and continues to appear in bel canto roles nationwide. With a natural ability for contemporary music, Victor inaugurated the role of Benny “Kid” Paret in Terence Blanchard’s celebrated Champion in its world premiere in 2017 at Washington National Opera and later revived the role at Michigan Opera Theatre and at Opera de Montreal.   Other international highlights include Candide at Opera National de Lorraine in France, Rinaldo Armida at Garsington Festival Opera (UK), the title role Orpheus at New York City Opera, Sportin’ Life in Francesca Zambello’s production of Porgy and Bess on tour worldwide, and Rodolfo La Boheme at Royal Albert Hall in London.

Rising star Whitney Morrison has earned praise for her “big, gleaming soprano” (Chicago Classical Review) and “vocally sumptuous” performances (Chicago Tribune). A Chicago native and recent alum of the Ryan Opera Center, Morrison champions an African American aesthetic in classical music, embracing a style of performance that blends classical singing technique with elements of the gospel singing tradition. Of her most recent performance in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s virtual concert, “Lawrence Brownlee and Friends: The Next Chapter,” Opera News raved, “Whitney Morrison was simply astonishing in everything she sang…This is a voice we need to hear live.” Morrison’s future engagements include 7 Deaths of Maria Callas with Marina Abramović at the Greek National Opera Athens. She appeared earlier this season as Leonie Baker in the world premiere of Freedom Ride at Chicago Opera Theater, prompting The Wall Street Journal to declare, “One impassioned aria caught my ear: Leonie Baker (soprano Whitney Morrison)” and Classical Voice America to say, “the production’s big surprise was soprano Whitney Morrison, who nearly stole the show.” Morrison also garnered acclaim for her “richly textured performance and luxurious voice” (The Times Weekly) as Sister Rose in Dead Man Walking at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. While at the Ryan Opera Center, Morrison covered the roles of Liù (Turandot), Marguerite (Faust) and Mimì (La Bohème) and performed as Countess Ceprano (Rigoletto), Gerhilde (Die Walküre) the First Cretan Woman (Idomeneo) and the Confidante (Elektra).   Other recent credits include the role of Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) with Chicago’s Floating Opera Company and appearances at the 2018 Grant Park Music Festival and the Rochester Institute of Technology’s celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, “MLK Expressions.”

Ronnita Miller received her Masters of Music from the Manhattan School of Music and graduated from The Juilliard School before spending two years in the Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program at Los Angeles Opera.  In 2008, she became a principal artist in the ensemble at Deutsche Oper Berlin where she remained until 2019 singing many roles including Mama Lucia Cavalleria Rusticana, Third Lady Die Zauberflöte, Mary Der fliegende Holländer, Madelon Andrea Chenier, Ulrika Un Ballo in Maschera. Ronnita appeared in several roles in Der Ring des Nibelungen, most notably Erda and First Norn, roles she also sang at San Francisco Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Semperoper Dresden and The Metropolitan Opera of New York. She sang concert performances of the work at Tanglewood Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival and in Amsterdam at the Concertgebouw. Miss Miller has appeared in many concerts worldwide, and has shared the concert stage with Christian Thielemann, Simon Rattle, Andrew Davis, Alexander Vedernikov, Donald Runnicles, Fabio Luisi and Riccardo Muti among others.  Returning to the US in 2020, the artist joined Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for their Gala concert last fall, and she’s currently appearing as Mrs Peacham The Threepenny Opera at The Atlanta Opera. She returns to the Metropolitan Opera next season for the role of Big Stone in Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice.

Baritone Joshua Conyers, a native of Bronx, NY, is quickly being championed for his captivating performances as he continues to be recognized as one the promising young dramatic voices of today. Equally active in contemporary opera, Mr. Conyers performed the role of Jason in the world premiere of Matt Boehler’s 75 Miles, and Uncle Wesley in Carlos Simon’s Night Trip for Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative. His 2019-2020 season included returns to the Cafritz Young Artists of Washington National Opera for First Priest in The Magic Flute, John Sorel in The Consul, cover of the Reverend in Jeanine Tesori’s Blue, and singing Jim and covering Jake in Porgy and Bess as well as Tom Joad in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath with Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS. During WNO’s 2018–2019 season, Mr. Conyers performed Giorgio Germont in La traviata, British Major in Silent Night, Donkey in The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me, and Zaretsky in Eugene Onegin. Most recently Joshua was seen as Eustis in Le maréchal ferrant with Opera Lafayette and Tonio in Pagliacci and Tiger Brown in The Threepenny Opera, as part of Atlanta Opera’s innovative and acclaimed tent series.

Charles Dennis makes his production debut in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. He has studied dance at Rhythm-N-Jump Dance Academy in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, where he is currently a member of the competitive dance team. Charles has earned several awards and scholarships at both regional and national competitions and currently holds the title of Detroit Teen Elite Dancer. He is currently an honor roll student at Jefferson Middle School and loves spending time with his friends. Charles would like to thank his two older sisters, his parents, grandparents, and his dance family for being a major part of the village that has supported him as he follows his performing arts dreams.

Tenor Bernard Holcomb has “already made a name for himself in the world of opera” with his “delicate and flexible” voice (Opera Wire) and the “appealing sweetness and clarity [of] his tone” (New York Times). Katy Walsh of Chicago Theater Beat said it best: “Although everyone [at Lyric Opera of Chicago] can sing, Holcomb reminds us why we come to the Lyric.”  Most recently, Holcomb returned to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra as a soloist in Lush Life: Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, after making his début there in 2019 with Dancing in the Street: The Music of Motown.  He also appeared in On Site Opera’s Diary of the One Who Vanished and What Lies Beneath, Elmwood Concert Singers virtual Messiah and appeared in workshops for Beth Morrison Projects and Washington National Opera.  2020 engagements were to include the role of EJ in Nolan Williams Jr.’s Grace: the Musical, his début as Tamino in The Magic Flute with Opera Southwest, Porgy and Bess with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, amongst a series of additional concerts. This season, Holcomb will join Opera Carolina for I Dream, make his début with Portland Opera to reprise the role of Kevin Richardson in Central Park Five, which he will also sing with Long Beach Opera, return to Michigan Opera Theatre for their production of X, Life and Times of Malcolm X, and perform the role of The Dancing Master in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Lakes Area Music Festival.  In concert, he will sing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with St. John the Divine, tour with Harlem Gospel Choir throughout Europe, and sing the World Premiere of Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem with the Resonance Ensemble and the Oregon Symphony.  He will also once again perform Dancing in the Street: The Music of Motown for both the Buffalo Philharmonic and Greensboro Symphony. Upcoming engagements include a house début at Opera Omaha.

Olivia Johnson, born in Jacksonville, NC, is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where she earned her Master’s degree while studying under Professor George Shirley. Recently, this summer she took part as a Fellow in the Vocal Institute of Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA. Ms. Johnson also made her debut with the AEPEX Contemporary Ensemble as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Julia Perry’s Stabat Mater in Spring of 2021. She completed a young artist residency with Toledo Opera in Toledo, Ohio for the 20/21 season. In October 2020, Ms. Johnson appeared with Michigan Opera Theatre as the second Rheinmaiden, Wellgunde, under the direction of Sharon Yuval in his re-imagining of Wagner’s Ring Cycle in the modern adaptation, Twilight: Gods. After performing the comprimario role of the Girlfriend in Daniel Sonenberg’s The Summer King at MOT in 2018, Ms. Johnson made her second appearance with MOT in the role of La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi) followed by Buoso’s Ghost by Michael Ching. Wherein she was reviewed in Opera News as “…the intriguing mezzo-soprano Olivia Johnson and her cool, stylish demeanor as La Ciesca.” She has appeared as a soloist for Rackham Choir and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Johnson also participated in young artist summer programs including the Martina Arroyo Foundation, Prelude to Performance and the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria.

Soprano Jennifer Cresswell was last seen at Michigan Opera Theatre as the Cropper Woman in The Grapes of Wrath. While she has enjoyed success in many traditional roles, including Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and Liù in Turandot, her true operatic passion lies in American Opera, as demonstrated in performances such as Magda Sorel in The Consul, Anna Maurrant in Street Scene, Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Charlotte in Before Breakfast, Hannah After in As One, and her most recent adventure, Olivia in INTERSTATE, a new chamber opera with music by Kamala Sankaram, for which Jennifer also served as co-librettist with Kathleen Kelly (premiering digitally through Minnesota Opera in October 2021). Cresswell is also an accomplished recitalist and concert performer, including performances as soprano soloist for Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Bach's Mass in B Minor, Poulenc's Gloria, Mendelssohn's Elijah, and David Lang's Simple Song #3. In recent seasons, she has performed in concert at the Toledo Museum of Art, Kerrytown Concert House, in virtual distribution through the Ann Arbor Arts Alliance, and in concert with acclaimed tenor George Shirley, featuring the music of George Gershwin and Kurt Weill.

German American tenor Steven Andrew Murray was born in Heidelberg, Germany. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Music with Vocal Performance emphasis from Charleston Southern University and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Shenandoah Conservatory. He made his Washington, D.C. area debut as Alfredo in La Traviata with the Repertory Opera Theater of Washington, and portrayed Lippo Fiorentino in Street Scene with Shenandoah Conservatory. He made his debut in the title role of Faust with Loudoun Lyric Opera, and sang Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with the Bethesda Summer Music Festival. Recent performances include the title role in La clemenza di Tito with Opera Fest New Jersey and Rodolfo in La bohème with Mason Opera. Steven has also performed as Elder Hayes in Susannah with Opera Roanoke, as well as with Maryland Lyric Opera, Piedmont Symphony Orchestra, and recently, as tenor soloist in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem at the Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in Baltimore.

Baritone Wayne Arthur’s recent engagements include the Ensemble of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones at the Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Wayne was in the Ensemble of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess at the Metropolitan Opera, which won a 2021 Grammy Award. Upcoming engagements include reprising Baritone 1 in Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X with Opera Omaha. Past credits include Jonathan González’s Lucifer Landing II(Abrons Art Center), Errollyn Wallen’s Liverpool Crossing (the cell), Kathleen Battle’s Underground Railroad: A Spiritual Journey (The Metropolitan Opera), Missy Mazzoli’s Songs from the Uproar (LA Opera), and Courtney Bryan’s Yet Unheard (National Sawdust).

Third-year Ryan Opera Center tenor Martin Luther Clark completed his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, receiving a master’s degree in opera. In 2019he sang in concert with the Russian Opera Workshop, as Vaudemont in Iolanta and King Charles in The Maid of Orleans. A year earlier, he was heard as an Apprentice Artist at Central City Opera and as tenor soloist at the Library of Congress. Other appearances include Lyric Opera of Kansas City as a Resident Artist, University of North Texas Opera in numerous roles and galas, The Dallas Opera, Charlottesville Opera, Opera in Concert, Opera North, and Wolf Trap Opera. For Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2020–2021 virtual programming, Clark performed in Lawrence Brownlee and Friends: The Next Chapter, Creating The Factotum, Sole e Amore, Magical Music Around the World, and Rising Stars in Concert. In 2021–2022with the company, he performs as First Armored Man in Die Zauberflöte, and Adult William and Chicken Plucker in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones.

Brandon Coleman has been praised for his “exotic vocal coloring” by Opera News and “wonderful resonance” by Classical Singer. He has performed with Hawaii Opera, Kentucky Opera, Utah Opera  Festival, Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia, Connecticut Opera, Connecticut Concert Opera, Opera New Jersey, Sarasota Opera, Tuscia Opera Festival, Dicapo Opera Theatre, Opera North, Toledo Opera,  Central City Opera, Opera on the James, Tri-Cities Opera, Middlebury Opera, Syracuse Opera, and Stuttgart Opera in Germany. Brandon has been most recognized for role appearances as Mephistopheles  in Faust, Ferrando in Il trovatore, Crown in Porgy and Bess, and Joe in Showboat.

Edwin Jhamal Davis is a native of Utica, Mississippi. He is an alumnus of Jackson State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology with dual minors in Chemistry and Music. In 2014, he made his professional debut with the Mississippi Opera singing Simone in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. Edwin is a master’s degree recipient of the Manhattan School of Music. He has since become the  national winner of the Marian Anderson Vocal Arts Competition hosted by the National Association of Negro Musicians in its centennial celebration, and became the first African American to win one of the  top two prizes in the Opera Columbus Cooper-Bing Competition in 2021, second only to Denyce Graves. He is a Metropolitan Opera Eastern Region award winner and he recently served as Resident  Artist with the Portland Opera Association for the 2020–2021 season. His 2021–2022 season includes debuts with On Site Opera, Florentine Opera, the Merola Opera Program, and these performances with Detroit Opera.

Chantelle Grant is very excited to join the ensemble of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X in 2022 with Detroit Opera and Opera Omaha. She was thrilled to be invited to join the extra chorus of the Metropolitan Opera in the 2021–2022 season for four productions including historic production of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones. Chantelle made her solo debut with City Lyric Opera in The Medium and Riverside Opera Company in 2019. She has also sung with Trilogy: An Opera Company as Erda in Wagner’s Siegfried, Waltraute in Götterdämmerung, and Monisha in Scott Joplin’s  Treemonisha, as well as performed on such illustrious programs as the American Song Book series at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center Honors, and the Metropolitan Opera summer concerts in  Damrosch Park. Chantelle holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Windsor, an Artist Diploma from The Glenn Gould School, and a Professional Studies Diploma from Mannes College.

Richard L. Hodges is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina. Richard is a 2019 nominee for Best Lead in a Musical with the Las Vegas Valley Awards for his role in Gianni Schicchi with Vegas City Opera.  His other recent roles include the Preacher in Sweet Land with The Industry, Michele in Il tabarro, and the title role in Hamlet, to name a few. Some of his other roles include Frank in Die Fledermaus, Porgy from Porgy and Bess, and Peter in Hansel und Gretel. He is an Emerging Artist in the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices program and has received several awards. In addition to performing, Richard is also a writer, director, and composer. His most recent work Women of the Black Panthers was premiered with Vegas City Opera. Richard received his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University  of Nevada, Las Vegas; Master of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro; and a Bachelor of Music from North Carolina Central University. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Voice at South Carolina State University.

Emily Mwila recently completed her graduate studies at Mannes School of Music in New York, receiving a Master of Music and Professional Studies Diploma in Voice. In 2021, she appeared in the chorus of Porgy and Bess at the Metropolitan Opera. She made her operatic debut in New Zealand at Eternity Opera as Zerlina in Don Giovanni. Other roles include Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Mae Jones in  Street Scene, and Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice. In 2022 Emily made her house debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago performing the role of Evelyn in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones.

Tenor Elliott Paige is a native of Hampton, Virginia. Most recently, Elliott performed with On Site Opera in their production of What Lies Beneath and made his Portland Opera debut in Anthony Davis’s The Central Park Five. In previous years, Elliott has sung with the Metropolitan Opera in their production of Der fliegende Holländer and was an Apprentice Artist with the Santa Fe Opera, where he sang  the role of Parpignol in La bohème. Other recent credits include performing as an Apprentice Artist with Palm Beach Opera; being a Young Artist with Glimmerglass Opera, where he performed as  Giacomo de Wisants in L'assedio di Calais; and being a Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where he sang the role of Bombur Yambarzal in the world premiere of Jack Perla’s Shalimar  the Clown. He also performed as Duncan in Bloch’s Macbeth and Orlando in Haydn’s Orlando Paladino. Elliott makes his Detroit Opera debut in these performances of Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and  Times of Malcolm X.

Lyric soprano Kimberli Render recently made her Off-Broadway debut in the Lincoln Center Theater’s critically acclaimed premiere of Intimate Apparel, an opera by Ricky Ian Gordon with libretto by  Lynn Nottage and directed by Bartlett Sher. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as a featured chorus soloist in the Grammy Award–winning cast of James Robinson’s new production of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Roles include Liu in Turandot, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow, Elisetta in Il matrionio segreto, the Governess in The Turn of the Screw, and Lucinda in Into the Woods. Kimberli’s career includes solo, concert, ensemble, and chorus work. As an extra chorister in the Metropolitan Opera, she has been seen in Turandot, Die Meistersinger, and Boris Godunov. Kimberli completed a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance at Colorado State University and two Bachelor of Music degrees in Music Education and Vocal Performance at Columbus State  University’s Schwob School of Music.

American tenor Edward Washington II was born in England, raised in Saudi Arabia, and lives in New York City. He studied voice at Stetson University and later received his master’s degree from Morgan State University. Edward has premiered several new songs by American composers/arrangers including Timothy Amukele and Robert Troeger. He has performed as soloist with the United States Air Force  Band, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Orlando Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Morgan State University Choir, Vox Fortura, and the American Spiritual Ensemble. He was a featured vocalist twice at Carnegie Hall and has performed with Orlando Opera, Central Florida Lyric Opera, Opera Orlando, International Festival of the Voice, New York City Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Metropolitan Opera. Edward was formerly the Music and Education director of the “Negro Spiritual” Scholarship Foundation in Orlando, Florida. He directed their professional choral ensemble, Master Singers. He is still a proud ambassador for the foundation and a proud brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Dorse Brown began his dance career at the age of seven in his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from the University of Memphis with a bachelor’s degree in music and a minor in dance.  While training, Brown received a Young Artist Talent Scholarship to attend the American Dance Festival; he also appeared and competed on the fifth season of TV’s So You Think You Can Dance. From  2011 to 2015, he danced with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company in Dayton, Ohio, after which he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and participated in guest artist residencies at various universities  and companies. On a Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Dorse performed as an aerialist while being a hip-hop soloist. He was also a Specialty Performer with Cirque Dreams Productions on Norwegian Cruise Lines. Recently, Dorse was selected for the Emerging Black Choreographer Incubator presented by Mojuba Dance Collective and was a dancer in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2021 production of Fire Shut Up  in My Bones. Dorse is currently in his first season with Camille A. Brown & Dancers.

Dance credits include: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Ailey II, Camille A. Brown & Dancers, Elisa Monte, River North Dance Chicago, New Jersey Dance Theater, Victory Dance Project. Theater  credits include: Disney’s The Lion King National Tour, The Wiz (Broadway 40th Anniversary Concert), Dreamgirls The Musical (DTC), Dorothy Dandridge The Musical (NYC), Let There Be Light (NYC), On The Town (NYC), Porgy and Bess (Metropolitan Opera), Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago). Choreographer credits: Assistant Choreographer for Porgy and  Bess at the Metropolitan Opera in 2020; Associate Choreographer for Toni Stone at Roundabout Theatre Company NYC, Mighty Real: A Fabulous Sylvester Musical, A Soulful Christmas: A Groovy Musical. Awards include: Alvin Ailey Fellowship; Oprah Winfrey Scholarship (Ailey); nominated for Best Choreography in an Off-Broadway show for A Soulful Christmas on Broadwayworld.com.

Andre Malcolm is a Brooklyn native and graduated in 2016 from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, where he studied Theatre Dance. He has worked with various choreographers all around  New York and has traveled with many Broadway tours. His favorite credits include Finding Neverland National Tour, Pippin National Tour, and Bandstand National Tour. He would like to thank his mother Blossom for giving him guidance in his life.

Eric Parra’s on-stage credits include Fire Shut Up in My Bones at the Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago, as well as Awaited at the Arnoff Center for the Arts. He has danced for Limón Dance  Company, Carolyn Dorfman Dance, Earl Mosley’s Diversity of Dance, Von Howard Project, and Doug Elkins Choreography. Most recently he has served as a teaching artist for the José Limón Dance Foundation, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts. In 2020, he and his cousin Erica Kika Parra co-founded Parra La Gente, a project company designed to celebrate Afro-Colombian heritage through music and dance. Eric is currently in his first season with Camille A. Brown & Dancers.

Jay Staten is a multi-talented artist and community activist whose dance company for African American youth has served more than 200 children and raised over 3.2 million in scholarships. The  Washington, D.C. native is a graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and received a BFA in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. His associate choreographer credits  include Toni Stone (Arena Stage and ACT) and Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Lyric Opera of Chicago). His performance credits include After Midnight on Broadway (Soloist), Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Metropolitan Opera), Shuffle Along and Superfly The Musical (Workshops), Cabin in the Sky (New York City Center), and New York Spring Spectacular (Radio City Music Hall). His film and TV credits  include Smash (NBC), A Capitol Fourth (PBS), and Amici (Canale 5/Italy). His dance company affiliations include Spectrum Dance Theatre in Seattle and The Philadelphia Dance Company in Philadelphia. Jay is currently a member of Camille A. Brown & Dancers, where he also works in the capacity of artistic associate.