The hand-picked faculty at OVAA is comprised of seasoned professionals from NYC and Dresden, Germany at the top of their game.  We offer a stunning array of skill emphasis, and you'll be in masterful hands with the chance to work on everything from Baroque performance practice and conversational German to bel canto technique and achieving a healthy belt.  

FULL OVAA FACUlty 2024 to be announced soon!

CHECK BACK SOON FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING THE FACULTY FOR 2024!

Countertenor &
Voice Faculty/Opera Workshop Director - Wagner College, NYC 

Alan Dornak (General Director and voice instructor) In addition to a successful international performing career, Alan has been a sought-after vocal pedagogue, both Stateside and in Europe, for over twenty years. He has consistently pursued both careers simultaneously and with equal passion, bringing his knowledge of the stage into the studio.  Alan is currently on the faculties of Wagner College and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy NYC (AMDA), and has been on the teaching rosters of several top summer training programs including Musica Coeli (Graz, Austria), Festa Lirica Italiana (Ischia, Italy), and the renowned American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) (Graz, Austria). In the US, he has been a frequent guest lecturer at New York’s Columbia University and Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.

His students have graced the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro Comunale di Bologna and Modena, Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as Broadway, National and International Tours.

In Germany and throughout Europe and South America, Alan has sung leading opera roles as a tenor and countertenor, and in 2006 joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera. In 2010, he co-founded the critically-acclaimed ensemble Opera Feroce with whom he performs as both countertenor and baritone. Opera Feroce’s mission is to develop entertaining and accessible conceptualized performances of obscure works and lesser-known composers primarily of the Baroque era.

In founding his own summer program, the Orfeo Vocal Arts Academy, Alan chose the magnificent city of Dresden, Germany as the program’s home.  Alan was a resident of the Saxon capitol for most of his time in Germany, pursuing multiple degrees at the Conservatory and launching his European performing career.  He continues to enjoy a tight-knit relationship with many of his longstanding German colleagues, many of whom are now valued OVAA collaborators.  Alan is proud to call Dresden his second home and is passionate about sharing its rich cultural heritage with every new group of students.  In return, OVAA has been embraced by the people of Dresden, and each summer sees a growing amount of enthusiasm and support.

 www.alandornak.com

To view Alan's performing history, CLICK HERE!

Instructor, musical Theatre/Acting - American Musical and Dramatic Academy

Jeff Caldwell is a versatile musician and theater artist. His career encompasses opera, musical theater, and everything in between and on the fringe. After earning degrees in Piano Performance from Oberlin Conservatory and Stage Direction for Opera from Indiana University, he moved to Seattle and taught at the University of Washington and Cornish College of the Arts, specializing in singing training for their professional actor training programs. He appeared as a faculty guest artist in several productions at both schools, including the roles of Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte and Bunthorne in Patience. He also music directed and conducted productions at the 5th Avenue Theater, Seattle Repertory Theater, Seattle Civic Light Opera, and Village Theater, and sang with the Seattle Opera Chorus in several new productions. He was a faculty member at the University of Puget Sound School of Music, serving as the Collaborative Pianist for the Vocal and Choral Programs, and as music director and conductor for their spring operas.

Since moving to New York City he has played keyboards in the Broadway pit of The Producers, sung with the New York City Opera Chorus and the New York Philharmonic, and taught in the Drama Division at Juilliard, NYU’s Tisch and CAP21 programs.

Summer 2024 will mark his 5th summer as the Coach-Accompanist at the Orfeo Vocal Arts Academy.
 

Musical Theater faculty - American musical and dramatic academy, NYC

Kristen Mengelkoch currently serves on the Musical Theatre Faculty at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. As an actor, she appeared in the First National Tour of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and has worked Off-Broadway in multiple editions of Forbidden Broadway and NEWSical the Musical. Kristen has originated roles in some exciting world premiere plays over the years and has starred in

musical roles throughout the United States. She has also worked in television and was the co-founder of Ampersand Theatre Company. Teaching has long been part of Kristen's DNA as both a university professor in Southern California and as a guest artist for many master classes nationwide. As an educator, she believes in and encourages a full synthesis of acting, vocal, and physical work to help young performers find full ownership of themselves and their art. Above all, she aims to empower students to enjoy their craft and thrive in this ever-changing, ever-exciting professional world.

Kristen holds a Master of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from San Diego State University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Degree from Emporia State University.

Co-founder and Instructor at the Mundwerk Language Institute

Jürgen Hübner was born in Dresden in 1970. After high school he worked in the south of France as an au-pair for 9 months. From 1991 he was a university student in Halle and Dresden, intending to become a high school teacher for languages. During this time he spent 7 month at the University of St. Petersburg, Russia, where he took courses in Russian and French literature. In 1995 he began a second qualification at the University of Leipzig to become a simultaneous interpreter. These studies also took him to Geneva, Switzerland. In addition he won a scholarship to attend a university summer course in human rights in Paris and made regular visits to Brussels and Edinburgh.
Beside his work as a conference interpreter and translator, since 1999 he has been teaching English, French, Russian and German to companies as well as to private individuals and groups. Every year he organises language trips to Great Britain and Ireland.
Jürgen regularly interprets for both of Dresden’s great orchestras, the Staatskapelle and the Dresden Philharmonic, as well as for the Shostakovich Festival in Gohrisch. Together with his partner Derek Henderson, he founded Mundwerk, a collective focused on the art of language and vocalization.

Jürgen is also the Orfeo Vocal Arts Academy resident Coordinator and overall Knight in Shining Armor. OVAA owes Jürgen a great big Dankeschön for all he’s done!!

Collaborative pianist &  
co-founder of Mundwerk Language Institute  

Derek Henderson was born in the small town of Thurso, in the north of Scotland, in 1970.
At an early age he began music lessons in oboe and piano. He studied mathematics at Edinburgh University, while also taking piano lessons privately with the pianist and organist Michael Lester-Cribb.
In 1997 he moved to Germany for personal reasons, thereafter pursuing a variety of careers, while continuing to study the piano privately with Prof. Rieko Yoshizumi at the Carl Maria von Weber Conservatory of Music in Dresden.
Today Derek is a successful translator, working regularly for the Semperoper Opera House, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Kurt Weill Festival in Dessau, the Shostakovich Festival in Gohrisch, the University of Vienna and the Technical University of Dresden. In addition he teaches English to a diverse range of private students and scientific institutions. Together with Veronika Streitwieser he has written a Business English Trainer published by Haufe Verlag (Munich).
Simultaneously Derek enjoys a successful career as an accompanist, chamber musician, rehearsal pianist, arranger and sound engineer. He is a member of Trio Cantiamo and performs regularly with the singer/songwriter Annette Richter and the singer Uta Hauthal, with whom he has released two CDs.

Conductor - Saxon State Operetta

Peter Christian Feigel studied at the Detmold Music Conservatory and Bielefeld University with an emphasis on conducting, as well as organ, piano and percussion. Other studies included school and church music, and Theology and Philosophy. Upon completion of his studies, he worked in Vienna with Dennis Russell Davies, Valery Gergiev and Lutz Herbig.

Maestro Feigel’s initial professional engagement was as a coach/conductor at the Brandeburg State Theater Cottbus. From 2002-2010, he was deputy chief conductor of Berlin's Friedrichstadt-Palast and, until 2013, the Musical and Artistic Director of the youth ensemble. Since 2010, he has also been the 2nd Kapellmeister at the Dresden State Operetta.

At the Operetta, Peter conducted the acclaimed German premiere (and subsequent CD recording) of Stephen Sondheim's "Passion". He has also led new productions of "Kiss Me, Kate" and "The Rocky Horror Show", "Planet of the Dragon" and "The Wizard of Oz", and "The Little Shop of Horrors" and "Evita". Most recently, he was the Music Director of the German premiere of "Catch Me, If You Can", slated to be released as a live recording on CD.

Maestro Feigel is a regular guest conductor at the Komische Oper Berlin, the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Other engagements have been with the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin, the State Philharmonic Rhineland-Palatinate, the Robert Schumann Philharmonie Chemnitz, the Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt, the RIAS Youth Orchestra and Rundfunkblasorchester Leipzig.