Andrew Lloyd Webber 'Requiem'

Dr. Nicholas Perna is Associate Professor and Director of Vocal Pedagogy at the University of Colorado Boulder. There, he runs the Berton Coffin Voice Lab and supervises graduate theses and dissertations in voice pedagogy. Perna was the 2025 Van L. Lawrence Fellow for research focusing on velopharyngeal opening in treble musical theater singers. He has publications in the Journal of Singing, the Journal of Voice, and VOICEPrints, and he authored a chapter in the forthcoming Oxford Handbook on Voice Pedagogy. A Presser Music Foundation awardee, he has presented research on four continents at events such as the Voice Foundation’s Symposium, the International Congress of Voice Teachers, the NATS National Conference, the PAVA Symposium, and the Physiology and Acoustics of Singing (PAS). Dr. Perna’s research areas include voice acoustics, nasality and the singing voice, online voice teaching, and vocal cross-training. Perna is a Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA) Recognized Vocologist. For nine seasons, Dr. Perna has been the co-host of the VocalFri Podcast (http://www.vocalfri.com), a vetted, cited, and trusted source for cutting-edge voice pedagogy and voice science information.As an in-demand vocal cross-trainer, Perna’s students have appeared on stages throughout the world. Student successes include appearances on Broadway (Wicked, Waitress), regional theaters, and national and international tours (My Fair Lady, Shrek, The Sound of Music). His clients havewon prestigious competitions, including the Lotte Lenya Foundation Grand Prize and the International Chinese Art Song Competition. Students have also been apprentice artists with prestigious summer festivals, including The Santa Fe Opera and Glimmerglass Opera. Additionally, he is a sought-after mentor of fellow voice teachers. Those clients have earned tenure-track and adjunct positions at universities, served as NATS Interns (3), and run successful private studios of classical and musical theater singers.Perna’s tenor voice has been hailed by the Houston Chronicleas “an impressive sound,” and the South Florida Sun Sentinelpraised his “emotionally driven performance.” He has appeared multiple times in recent seasons with Opera Mississippi and has been afinalist for the American Prize for Men in Opera. Perna was twice selected as a Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist singer. Equally adept on operatic and musical theater stages, roles to his credit include Don José in Carmenand Rodolfo in La Bohème, as wellas Ravenal in Show Boatand Archibald Craven in The Secret Garden. Symphonic soloist appearances include Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.Perna holds graduate degrees from the University of Miami Frost School of Music and the University of Houston Moores School of Music. Previous faculty positions include Mississippi College, West Virginia University, and New World School of the Arts. During his tenure in Mississippi, Perna was a voice research associateat the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He has also served on the faculty of notable continuing education programs such as Donald G. Miller’s Singing Voice Science Workshop and the Acoustic Vocal Pedagogy Workshop. Perna is currently Vice President for Outreach for the National Association of Teachers of Singing (2022–2026) and was recently elected President-Elect.

Christie Conover’s rich, warm sound is complemented by a personal grace both on and off the stage. Described by the San Francisco Classical Voice as having a “well-focused instrument with a lovely timbre, perfect trill, and soaring top,” audiences and critics alike agree: Christie Conover is a standout.
She has performed lead roles with Komische Opera Berlin, Minnesota Opera, Opera Colorado, Central City Opera, Opera Steamboat, Opera San Jose, and others. On the concert stage, Christie has performed with the Colorado Symphony, Colorado Music Festival, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Grand Junction Symphony, Denver Philharmonic, and many other Front Range symphonies.
She was proud to represent her home state of Montana in the 2007 Miss America Pageant and traveled extensively speaking on the platform: “Music Makes the Difference.”
Now living in Denver and working as the Eklund Opera Program Manager at the University of Colorado Boulder, Christie strives to find balance between raising a family and filling her soul with music-making.

To read her full biography, please visit www.ChristieConover.com

Lincoln Blanchard-Alleman is delighted to make his Cheyenne Chamber Singers debut as the Boy Soprano soloist in Requiem. A Vocal Major at the Denver School of the Arts under the direction of Dr. Ryan Garrison, he studies privately with Ellie Siegman and has appeared in numerous productions with Theatre SilCo, including Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, Scar in The Lion King, Kids, Shere Khan in The Jungle Book, Kids, and Roger in 101 Dalmatians, Kids. Lincoln was selected for the 2025 American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) National Honors Choir and the 2026 Colorado All State Middle School Choir, and in 2025 earned First Place in the West Central Region National Association of Teachers of Singing Youth Musical Theatre division.  Lincoln enjoys basketball and swimming. Love to family and friends for their support.