Meet the Cast and Artistic Team

Jeri Lynne Johnson

Jeri Lynne Johnson was the first Black woman to win the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship in 2005. Since then, she has continued to break barriers in Europe and the United States as the first woman or first African-American woman on the podium for many orchestras and opera companies, including the Bournemouth Symphony (UK) and the Weimar Staatskapelle. Lauded by the Los Angeles Times as "a stunning, rhythmically vital conductor," Jeri is a versatile artist who has developed a reputation for offering masterful and compelling performances of contemporary repertoire and has led numerous world premieres. In 2022, Jeri conducted the Pulitzer Prize-winning composition Stride by Tania Leon as part of the composer's tribute for the Kennedy Center Honors. Other recent conducting engagements include performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, National Symphony, Sao Paulo Municipal Symphony, Santa Fe Opera, Omaha Symphony, Symphony Nova Scotia, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Highlights for the 2023–24 season include Cincinnati Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the National Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic, Tulsa Symphony, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and Opera Memphis. Jeri is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra. Established in 2008, Black Pearl combines artistic excellence and cultural diversity and has been recognized internationally as a leading innovator in meaningful community engagement. Jeri established DEI Arts Consulting in 2015 as a vehicle to share the insights and results of Black Pearl’s programs through data-driven strategic and creative solutions for cultural institutions seeking to create a culture of belonging. jerilynnejohnson.com | @jerilynnejohnson

Dennis Whitehead Darling

Dennis Whitehead Darling is an award-winning stage director in opera, theatre, and video/film. With an extensive background in theatre and musical theatre, his opera career began in 2018 as an Opera Memphis inaugural McCleave Fellow, a fellowship dedicated to advancing the careers of stage and music directors of color. Directing credits include the world premieres of Marian Song (Houston Grand Opera), Sanctuary Road (North Carolina Opera), Why I Live at the PO (UrbanArias), Buried Deep (Endstation Theatre), and The Secret River (Opera Orlando). Other works include The Anonymous Lover (Boston Lyric Opera), Madama Butterfly (Opera Carolina), Susannah (University of Kentucky), The Cunning Little Vixen (Manhattan School of Music), Ride The Cyclone (Ramapo College of New Jersey), Maria de Buenos Aires (Opera Columbus), Jelly’s Last Jam (Long Wharf Theatre), The Falling and the Rising (Arizona Opera), Lost in the Stars (Annapolis Opera), Hansel and Gretel (Playground Opera), La bohème (Opera Columbus), Giulia Cesare in Egitto (Carnegie Mellon University), The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Red Mountain Theatre), Independence Eve (Opera Birmingham), Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Hattiloo Theatre/Spazio No’hma in Milano), Intimate Apparel University of Memphis, Moving Up in the World (Opera Memphis), Sunset Baby (Hattiloo Theatre), James and the Giant Peach (Circuit Playhouse), Blue Viola (Opera Memphis), and Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet (Hattiloo Theatre). Associate Directing credits include The Mountaintop (Geffen Playhouse), Arts in the Armed Forces on Broadway (Studio 54), The Last of the Love Letters (Atlantic Theatre), Light’s Out: Nat King Cole (Geffen Playhouse), and Skeleton Crew (Geffen Playhouse). denniswhiteheaddarling.com

Ned Canty

Ned Canty has directed productions at dozens of companies, including Glimmerglass, Wolf Trap, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Santa Fe, New Orleans Opera, and New York City Opera. The New York Times has described his stage direction as having "a startling combination of sensitivity and panache." (Though others have differed. Strongly, at times.) He joined Opera Memphis as general director in 2011, expanding their season and launching a series of commissions centered on Memphis stories. The signature program under his leadership is 30 Days of Opera, which has brought free performances to over 400,000 Memphians in more than 200 locations since its launch. He received the Alliance for Non-Profit Excellence “Innovation Award” in 2016, and was Inside Memphis Business “CEO of the Year” in 2017. He served two terms as a board member of Opera America, in addition to serving on numerous committees, panels, and working groups. From 2005 to 2010, Canty was Festival Director of the New York Television Festival. Over those five years, he helped develop the Festival into a nationally recognized forum for discovering new television talent and exploring digital and new media storytelling. Before discovering opera, Canty worked as an actor, director, and stuntman at Hartford Stage Company, The McCarter Theatre, Six Flags, and the New York Renaissance Festival, among others. He has given his presentation, “Opera Doesn’t Suck,” for multiple IGNITE and TED-X gatherings in the Mid-South. (Google and find out.) He lives in Midtown Memphis with his wife and three dogs.

Chauncey Packer

American tenor Chauncey Packer, hailing from southern Alabama, has been featured in highly acclaimed productions at Metropolitan Opera, bringing stirring performances which are also broadcast live to cinemas throughout the world. These performances include Luis Rodrigo Griffith in Champion, Howard Boucher in Dead Man Walking, Spinner in Fire Shut Up In My Bones, Bardolfo in Falstaff, and in Porgy and Bess he has appeared both as Sportin’ Life and in the roles of Crab Man and Robbins. Additional recent highlights include Alfredo in La Traviata with Knoxville Opera, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel at New Orleans Opera, Sportin’ Life in Porgy and Bess with Germany’s NDR Elbphilharmonic Orchestra, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls with Charlottesville Opera, Cavaradossi in Tosca with Chautauqua Opera. and Handel’s Messiah with the Louisiana Philharmonic. Upcoming he sings his celebrated Sportin’ Life for his debut with Washington National Opera, and will return to the Met. Chauncey honed his craft in theater and musical theater productions including Baby, The Wizard of Oz, School House Rock Live, and Big River. He performed in Paris’ Louvre Museum in controversial and provocative European choreographer/director Robyn Orlin's Babysitting Petit Louis, and was in the first national Broadway tour of The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Mr. Packer is featured on several commercial recording releases, including Nashville Symphony’s Porgy and Bess on Decca Records, Paragon Ragtime Symphony’s Treemonisha and Black Manhattan Volume 3, both on New World Records, and San Francisco Opera’s DVD release of Francesca Zambello’s Porgy and Bess. chaunceypacker.com

Marquita Richardson

Opera Memphis Handorf Company Artist roles: Juno in La Calisto, Mimi in La bohème.
Marquita Richardson is a soprano raised in Nashville and the Greater Philadelphia area. Having grown up in a musical family, Marquita learned to sing and appreciate a wide variety of musical styles at home, but she started studying voice officially after attending college (Oakwood University, B.S. in Biology). She fell in love with the unique world of opera under the tutelage of Dr. Lloyd Mallory at Delaware State University. She continued her studies with Dr. Everett McCorvey at the University of Kentucky in 2018. Marquita has performed leading and supportive roles for Opera Memphis (Giunone in La Calisto, 2024), the Chautauqua Opera Conservatory (Suor Angelica in Suor Angelica, 2023), Kentucky Opera (Musetta in La bohème, 2022), and the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre (Mimì in La bohème, 2022; Abigail Williams in The Crucible, 2021; Suor Angelica in Suor Angelica, 2019; and covering Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly, 2018). She served as a chorus member with Chautauqua Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Nashville Symphony Orchestra (The Jonah People, 2023 world premiere) and as a featured soloist with the Louisville Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, and Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. She also serves as a 2023-2024 Handorf Company Artist for Opera Memphis, as a 2022-2023 Barbara & Halsey Sandford Studio Artist with Kentucky Opera, and as a 2023 Apprentice Artist for Chautauqua Opera. Marquita maintains her love of performing a variety of music—opera, musical theater, pop, gospel, and spirituals—and enjoys every opportunity to connect with and inspire others through music. Marquita believes in creating a more empathetic world through art and great storytelling. marquitarichardson.com

Reginald Smith, Jr.

GRAMMY and Emmy-winning baritone Reginald Smith, Jr., a native of Atlanta, Georgia, was the 2021 U.S. representative at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, a Grand Finals winner of the 2015 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a graduate of the Houston Grand Opera Studio. In the run-up to his 2023-24 season, Smith made his Sante Fe Opera Deubt as Scarpia in Tosca. As the season got underway, he returned in to the Houston Grand Opera to take the title role in Falstaff. Among, his other operatic appearances, he sang the roles of Emile Griffith in Champion and of Amonasro in Aida at the Lyric Opera of Chicago; he later appears with the Dayton Opera as Scarpia and with Opera Memphis as Marcello in La bohème. In concert, he returned as the featured baritone soloist for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's Christmas Pops. He also performed in recital at Temple University and with Texas State University. During the 2022-23 season, Smith returned to HGO as Pascoe in Ethel Smyth's The Wreckers and made his Fort Worth Opera debut as Amonasro. In concert, he debuted with the San Francisco Symphony in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and the Memphis Symphony in Braham's Ein deutsches Requiem. Smith also took part in a United in Song concert with the American Pops Orchestra, televised nationally on PBS, and appeared in the Richard Tucker Music Foundation's annual gala in David Geffen Hall. He also performed in recital at Mercer University. reginaldsmithjr.com

Kayla Oderah

Opera Memphis Handorf Company Artists roles: Linfea in La Calisto, Musetta in La bohème.
Kayla Oderah is an emerging soprano hailing from Louisville, Kentucky. Last season, Kayla was a Dayton Opera Artist-in-Residence, where she performed the role of Woglinde in Das Rheingold. She made her Dayton Philharmonic debut, performing as the soprano soloist in the Vaughan Williams’ Pastoral Symphony and the Mozart Missa Brevis in C Major k259. Kayla made her professional debut in 2022, performing the role of Girlfriend 2 in Blue with Toledo Opera and Despina in Così fan tutte with Finger Lakes Opera as a Tomita Young Artist. She also sang as a young artist with Opera Ithaca, where she performed the role of Zegner Daughter Littler in Proving Up and Anna in Nabucco. Kayla returned to Ithaca in the spring of 2023 and performed the role of Cupid in Orpheus in the Underworld. Kayla has trained at the University of Michigan (MM), the Aspen Music Festival as a studio artist, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BM). kaylaoderah.com

Eric McKeever

American baritone Eric McKeever has won consistent praise for his voice of “power and brilliance” (Chicago Tribune) and “considerable flexibility and a communicative presence enhanced by expressive, crystalline diction.” (Opera News) Career highlights include: Artist-in-Residence (Don Alfonso), OperaDelaware; title role, Der Kaiser von Atlantis and Michele in Il tabarro with On Site Opera; William Still, Sanctuary Road, Penn Sq. Opera; Monterone, Rigoletto, Opera Columbus; Porgy, Porgy and Bess, Festival Casals de Puerto Rico; Malatesta, Don Pasquale, Anchorage Opera; Papa-Daddy, Why I Live at the P.O., UrbanArias; Sharpless, Madama Butterfly, Opera Columbus; David, L’amico Fritz, Baltimore Concert Opera; Germont, La traviata, Pacific Opera Project; Tebaldo, Giulietta e Romeo; Teatro Grattacielo; Speaker, The Magic Flute, Florentine Opera; Leporello, Don Giovanni, Festival of the Voice and, title role of Verdi’s Macbeth with Opera Company of Middlebury. A proponent of new music, Mr. McKeever has appeared as the Revival Singer in Florentine Opera’s Elmer Gantry, performed the title role in The Fall of Stag Lee with Buffalo Opera Unlimited; joined the Center for Contemporary Opera as the Security Guard in the a cappella opera Sweat; performed as the Baritone in Experiments in Opera’s Flash Operas and was heard as the Scientist in Stephen Mellilo’s Son of the Storm. On the concert stage has appeared as a soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, Princeton Symphony; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the New Albany Symphony; Bernstein’s Songfest at Skidmore, and debuted with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra in Dave Brubeck’s The Gates of Justice. EricMcKeeverbaritone.com

Edwin Jhamal Davis

Praised for his “booming and room-filling bass” accompanied by “mesmerizing, fully immersed acting,” basso profondo Edwin Jhamal Davis is quickly establishing himself as an artist on the rise. This season, Mr. Davis makes house débuts in X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X with The Metropolitan Opera as Garvey Preacher and Seattle Opera as Bass 2, a role he reprised last season with Opera Omaha. He also joins First Coast Opera, Amelia Island Opera, Intermountain Opera Bozeman, and Opera Memphis for Colline in La bohème, as well as National Concerts for Mozart’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall. Last season he sang the King in Aida with Opera Grand Rapids, Messiah with Danbury Symphony, and he was a Glynn Studio Artist with The Atlanta Opera, where he appeared in such roles as Masetto in Don Giovanni. He was previously a member of San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Merola Opera Program where he performed Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, as well as excerpts from Macbeth as Banquo. Previous engagements include Bass 2 in X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X for Detroit Opera, Sparafucile in Rigoletto for the Florentine Opera, the bass soloist in What Lies Beneath for On Site Opera, and Uncle Wesley in Night Trip for Portland Opera, where he was a resident artist for the 2020-21 season. He toured with the American Spiritual Ensemble, sang the world premiere of Brother Nat: Rise, Revolt, Redemption in the role of Will at the Boston Paramount Theatre, and was a soloist in the symphonic premiere of Without Regard to Sex, Race or Color. edwin-jhamal-davis.com

Marcus King

Born and raised in Memphis, Marcus King graduated from the University of Memphis with a bachelor’s degree in music education and a master’s in vocal performance. In 2013, he made his European debut in Norfolk, England as Demetrius in Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Yorke Trust. In 2014, he rejoined the company as Ubalde in Gluck’s Armide. In December 2014, he traveled to Japan as a soloist for the New York-based professional touring group The Glory Gospel Singers. As a young artist, Marcus performed in Porgy and Bess (Jake) and Ragtime (Coalhouse Walker Jr.) at Utah Festival Opera. For Charlottesville Opera, Monterone in Rigoletto. For Opera Memphis, he has performed in The Medium (Mr. Gobineau), Dido and Aeneas (Aeneas), Blue Viola (Vernon), Pirates of Penzance (Samuel), Later the Same Evening (Joe Harland), and Tosca (Angelotti). In 2018, he debuted at Carnegie Hall with the New York Lyric Opera singing Zurga.  In 2019, he performed the Homecoming Soldier in The Falling and the Rising, an Opera Memphis and US Department of Defense co-commission. In 2021, he performed at Opera America’s Scorca Hall in the world premiere of Sohrab and Rustom. In 2022, Marcus debuted with Art Song Colorado in the Voices of the Diaspora. He debuted with Lighthouse Opera of New York’s reading of Twice Upon a Birthday. This year, Marcus returned to Carnegie Hall in the reading of 9131: A Sing Sing Opera. He debuted with Opera Theatre of The Rockies in Blind Injustice (Derrick Wheatt). Recently, Marcus was a Lakes Area Music Festival Vocal Fellow. Marcus is an adjunct voice professor at Rhodes College. marcusbaritone.com

Sergio Mandujano

Sergio F. Mandujano is a tenor from Norwalk, Connecticut, who was an Opera Memphis Handorf Company Artist in 2022, performing Joe in The Companion and Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte. He is so excited to join Opera Memphis again as Parpignol in La bohème and cover Rodolfo. Upcoming roles include Tamino in The Magic Flute and Il Duca in Rigoletto with Tri-Cities Opera. 

Jonathan King

Celebrated as a “fresh presence,” and “fully alive” (Washington Post), Jonathan King is in his first season as Music Director at Opera Memphis. He has previously served as Associate Conductor for The Washington Chorus and as adjunct faculty at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, where he coached with Peabody Opera Theatre. He served as assistant conductor, chorus master, and junior lecturer with Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland. He prepared choirs to work with conductors, including Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop, and Gianandrea Noseda. King has regularly served as assistant conductor to John Nelson, most recently in the 2022 Handel’s Messiah with The English Concert at Coventry Cathedral. As “a deft and sensitive accompanist” (Chicago Tribune), King has served as répétiteur with National Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Opera, Intermountain Opera Bozeman, Opera Saratoga, Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Unlimited Series, and Oregon Bach Festival, where he also served as assistant conductor during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. As a collaborative pianist, King has worked with celebrated singers, including J’Nai Bridges, Renée Fleming, Nicole Cabell, Michael Spyres, John Holiday, and Will Liverman.King and Liverman have recorded with Deutsche Grammophon, Cedille Records, Odradek Records, and maintain an active recital schedule. They have appeared at historic venues, including Wigmore Hall, the Aspen Summer Music Festival, and the Kennedy Center Opera House. Their album, Whither Must I Wander (Odradek, 2020), was named one of ten “Best Classical Recordings of 2020” by the Chicago Tribune and received a Critic’s Choice Award by Opera News.