Kathy Pyeatt, Director

Kathy first became involved with the Wisconsin District MONC as a singer, when her teacher and mentor Pat Crump, convinced her she might just be able to sing opera. The first year was a bit nerve racking and Kathy’s main goal was simply not to faint. Luckily she did not and she actually won an award for “most promising female”. Kathy auditioned for four years and won various prizes and places and eventually won the District Auditions in 1996 and placed second at the Upper Midwest Regionals in 1997. Kathy has gone on to sing with leading orchestras and opera companies through out the United States. Kathy joined Pat as Co-Director in 2003, after being convinced again that she might just be a good administrator. Thanks to Pat’s guidance she is doing pretty well and is pioneering new territory by leading our district into twenty-first century communications! Kathy is really enjoying giving back to the organization that gave her a start. Kathy currently resides in Fredonia along with her husband, Dan Kerkman, 4 year-old daughter Emma, and her two chocolate labs, Hershey and Nestle.

Patricia Crump, Director Emerita

This is Pat's 37th year of service to the Wisconsin District MONC Auditions. She served 7 years as Treasurer, 25 years as Director, and 4 years as Co-Director. Pat's life work was teaching singing. She has many students who are teaching, performing or both and is very proud of them. There is no one of which she is prouder than Kathy Pyeatt, who has not only distinguished herself vocally but has brought the Wis. Met Auditions into the computer age, serving as a model for other districts. Pat is also grateful for the loyal Wis. Met Audition Board. Most are singers also, and give freely of their time and energy to maintain our reputation as one of the best districts in the country. This history would not be complete without giving credit to my right hand helper of these 37 years of Met work (actual years - 52!), my husband Phil. He has helped with every facet of this work from the beginning and is still our chief financial advisor. We wouldn't be where we are without him, nor would I.

Julie Calteaux, Media Coordinator

Helen Ceci, Secretary & Publicity

Helen Ceci is secretary of WI MONC, and is also in charge of publicity. Back in the Dark Ages she sang in the Met Auditions. She graduated from Oberlin Conservatory of Music with a BFA in Vocal Performance, which included a year of study and performance at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. She has performed in many local concerts, operas and solo recitals for such groups as Milwaukee Opera Company, Florentine Opera on Wheels, Civic Music Association, Sullivan Chamber Ensemble, Bach Chamber Choir, Ceciliana Quartet, Pike River Musicians. She currently teaches private voice to an enormous number of promising students. She lives on the East Side of Milwaukee with her little dog, Thumbelina, and when she is not teaching she likes to read, cook, camp, hike and sew.

Marguerite Greinke, Treasurer

Marguerite has been involved with the Wisconsin District MONC for over 20 years as a volunteer. She is also a singer, having performed with the Florentine Opera, Milwaukee Choristers, and several church choirs. Marguerite sits on the Board of Directors for the Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Harmony Club and Supporters of Opera Singers. She also belongs to the MacDowell Club, Waukesha Music Club and Harmony Club. Marguerite graduated from UW-Madison and worked as a Medical Technologist at Lutheran Hospital, Fairview Clinical Lab, and Bayshore Lab.

Tanya Kruse Ruck, Rehearsal Rooms Chairperson

Tanya Kruse Ruck was a winner of the Wisconsin Met Auditions in 2002 and went on to receive and Encouragement Award at the Regional level. She won the Joan Kreitzer Snyder Award and placed during other years in the competition. For two years, Kruse received coachings from the Supporters of Opera Singers program as a result of her performances in the competition. She is also a past winner of the Levin Competition sponsored by the Civic Music Association. Kruse is a graduate of Luther College and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She made her European debut as Fiordiligi in Cosí fan tutte as part of the Opera Theatre of Lucca, Italy. Stateside, she has been seen as The Soprano in Weill’s The Royal Palace, Madama Cortese in Rossini’s Il Viaggio á Reims, Rusalka in Dvořák’s Rusalka, and Angelica in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. Kruse made her Skylight Opera debut in the title role in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. She returns to The Skylight in the 2007-2008 season playing Margaret in David Carlson’s The Midnight Angel. Kruse has recorded several companion CDs to Hal Leonard vocal publications, several of which can be heard on the company’s website. Equally versatile on the recital stage, Kruse frequently performs as part of the prestigious Chamber Music Milwaukee series at UWM, in addition to her regular solo recitals. She is currently the vice president for the Wisconsin chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee since 2003. Kruse is delighted to have the opportunity to honor Pat Crump, a mentor of Kruse’s for a number of years, with her service to MONC Wisconsin. She believes that the auditions can be a stepping stone to other opportunities for young singers, as it was to her.

Carlene McMonagle, Facilities Coordinator

Carlene McMonagle retired from the voice faculty of the University of Wisconsin Whitewater in May 2005, following twenty-five years teaching studio voice, diction and voice pedagogy; she also served as coordinator for vocal studies. Ms. McMonagle received the University Academic Staff Excellence Award in Teaching. She was also recognized by the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for excellence in Private Studio Voice Instruction. Numerous McMonagle students have gone on to achieve success in prestigious graduate school programs and professional auditions, including district MONC Auditions. McMonagle presented annual faculty recitals; and as soprano soloist, she has performed in the upper Midwest and sung in such ensembles as Les Jongleurs, the Milwaukee Consort of Viols and the Medieval Consort. Ms. McMonagle holds a Master of Music with Distinction from Indiana University and Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She serves on the Boards of Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Wisconsin Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Committee and Supporters of Opera. McMonagle also is an active member of the National Association of Teachers of singing, having served as state president, north central regional governor and national board member.

Jane O'Connell, Registration Chairperson

While living in New York Jane was a steady listener to the Met Opera radio broadcasts, subscribed to the Metropolitan Opera, was associated with the MONC auditions and attended the National Winners Concert on a regular basis. She was hooked on opera! When Jane retired from her thirty-two year career as an educator and adminstrator to join her husband in Wisconsin she quickly became an intergal part of the cultural arts community. Jane has been the Registration Chairperson since 1987 and chaired the 25th Anniversary Event honoring Pat Crump's years of service to the MET auditions. She has held many key board positions with the Florentine Opera, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Skylight Opera Theatre, and Opera Guilds International. Jane loves traveling and has toured 132 countries on six continents and has attended opera in all but Antarctica. She holds a BS in Education from SUNY at Fredonia, Master of Arts in Curriculum Development from Hofstra University and Post-Masters Administrative Certification from NYU. She served as teacher, principle and college professor. Jane is a member of Opera America, has been honored by Opera Volunteers Internaional, is listed in Who's Who of American Women and recently was elected as a Life Director at the Florentine Opera.

Kristin Piefer, Hospitality

Gayletha Nichols

Ms. Nichols joined the artistic staff of the Metropolitan Opera in the fall of 2000 as Executive Director of the National Council Auditions. She brought to the Met two decades of experience as a singer, teacher and career advisor. From 1992-2000, she was Director of Houston Opera Studio, the young artist development program at Houston Grand Opera, where she created and individualized the training both for singers and pianists. Ms. Nichols auditions hundreds of singers across North America every year and in her travels addresses many universities, conservatories, and festivals on developing the next generation of opera singers. She is a frequent adjudicator in national and international competitions and consults for other young artist programs across the country.

David Starkey

David Craig Starkey is currently the General & Artistic Director of the Asheville Lyric Opera in Asheville, North Carolina. He also has become a leader in regional opera touring and opera producing in the southeast; as artistic director of critically acclaimed co-productions and opera productions at many leading opera companies and universities through out the vocal arts institutions of the southern United States.

Keith Wolfe

Keith A. Wolfe is Managing Director and Artistic Administrator of Fort Worth Opera, as well as the former Artistic Director of the Fort Worth Men’s Chorus. Mr. Wolfe is extremely involved in the training of young singers through masterclasses, seminars and private consultations, and served as seven years as the General Manager of the Seagle Music Colony, a young artist training program in upstate New York, where he returned this past summer to conduct Mark Adamo’s LYSISTRATA. With Fort Worth Opera General Director Darren K. Woods, he has developed “The Ten Commandments of Auditions,” which was featured in a recent article in CLASSICAL SINGER. Mr. Wolfe holds both bachelors and masters degrees in education and opera. Prior to moving into arts administration, Keith has sung, as both a soloist and professional chorister, with the Virginia Opera, the Washington Opera, the Virginia Symphony, the Shreveport Symphony, the Norfolk Savoyards, and the Virginia Pro Musica. His roles have included Tamino in Mozart’s DIE ZAUBERFLOTE, Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’ELISIR D’AMORE, and Nanki-poo in Gilbert and Sullivan’s MIKADO.

Jamie Johns

Jamie Johns is the Skylight Opera Theatre's resident Music Director. He has music directed Skylight’s productions of TINTYPES, THE TRAGEDY OF CARMEN, A TALENT TO AMUSE, THE LAST FIVE YEARS, CABARET, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, THE ALL NIGHT STRUT! and THE WORLD GOES ROUND. He is also a frequent pianist in the Skylight’s Cabaret Series. In 1997, he made his conducting debut at Lyric Opera Cleveland with Mozart’s THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO. He has also worked with Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Madison Repertory Theatre, Florentine Opera Company, Orlando Opera, Orlando Philharmonic, Present Music, Bel Canto Chorus of Milwaukee, Kenosha Symphony and UW-Milwaukee.

Timothy Shaindlin

Timothy Shaindlin is from New York City, and has been on the music staff of the Lyric Opera of Chicago for 12 seasons. He has also played for the Washington Opera, New York City Opera, Virginia Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, San Diego Opera, Glimmerglass Opera and the Wolf Trap Opera Festival. For five summers he accompanied master classes in Italy for Tito Gobbi, and has also played classes and private coachings for Renata Scotto, Marilyn Horne, Beverly Sills, Carlo Bergonzi, Sherrill Milnes, Joan Sutherland, Regine Crespin, Regina Resnik, Natalie Dessay, Ben Heppner, Birgit Nilsson, Denyce Graves and others. His other European credits include a two-year stint with the Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu. He was music director for Sarasota Opera's Studio Artists Program and coaches regularly for Hawaii Opera Theatre.