Webster Music Student Takes Top Spot at CRESCENDO! Opera Program
March 11, 2024
Edwards as Suor Genovieffa in the January Opera Studio production of Un po' di Puccini (A little Puccini).
Webster University voice students recently participated in CRESCENDO!, a collegiate enrichment program run by Union Avenue Opera. The program culminated on March 3 with a recital and scholarship presentation on
the Union Avenue Opera stage.
Anna Edwards placed first and received the John J. Prcic Memorial Scholarship. Edwards
is a Webster University sophomore majoring in vocal performance and is a voice student of Jacob Lassetter.
Webster students Elizabeth Button, Riley Cameron, Holly Connor, Hana Hiromitsu, Olivia
Knopf, Lauren Miles, Audrey Sondag, Keira Quintana, and Emma Wittenauer also participated
in the program.
CRESCENDO! is a free, hands-on, performance-based training program developed to further
the education of local artists still young in their careers as they prepare to join
the St. Louis art community.
Webster University Department of Music faculty also participated in the program. Adjunct
professors Sandra Geary and Nancy Mayo served as vocal coaches. Geary also coached
and played for the third-place performance, and Mayo coached and played for the second-place
performance.
Karen Kanakis, adjunct associate professor of music, and Jacob Lassetter, director
of Opera Studio and acting director of vocal studies, taught Italian Diction. Kanakis
also taught the third-place winner in masterclass and Lassetter taught the second-place
winner in masterclass.
Alice Nelson, former director of Opera Studio, taught German and French diction.
Scott Schoonover, conductor of the Webster Opera Studio January production, is the
artistic director of Union Avenue Opera.
For more information about Union Avenue Opera and the CRESCENDO! enrichment program,
visit unionavenueopera.org.