Paul Houghtaling

Bass-baritone Paul Houghtaling has sung a diverse repertoire throughout the U.S. and abroad. Career highlights include the Philip Glass soundtrack to Reggio’s film Naqoyqatsi for SONY; several Carnegie Hall solo appearances with Cecelia Chorus of New York, American Composers Orchestra, and others; U.S. tours with the Waverly Consort, including Kennedy Center appearances; and “Opera  Buffa: Comedy On Stage” on Lincoln Center’s “Meet the Artists” series. He has appeared previously with Opera Mississippi as Ko-Ko in The Mikado and the Major General in The Pirates of Penzance, in addition to Gilbert & Sullivan and opera reviews in the fall 2018 and 2019 seasons. Additional engagements include Ko-Ko in The Mikado with Anchorage Opera, Natchez Opera, and Opera Saratoga; Sir Joseph in H.M.S. Pinafore for Nashville Opera; a return to Mobile Opera as stage director and Angelotti in Tosca and another Angelotti with Opera Las Vegas; and his debut with Opera Birmingham as Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore. Currently the Director of Opera at the University of Alabama, he has also appeared with the Central City, Baltimore, Boston Lyric, Knoxville, Long Beach, Opera on the James, and Santa Fe Operas, and the Metropolitan Opera Guild, and has created roles in works by Lee Hoiby, Michael Ching, and others. www.paulhoughtaling.com

Temperance Jones

Temperance Jones is from Birmingham, Alabama. At an early age, she learned the words to James Weldon Johnson’s "Lift Every Voice and Sing." Her mother, an artist and arts educator, taught her the Black National Anthem, among other songs and composers in Black culture, like Margaret Bonds and Hall Johnson. Temperance also fell in love with theatre at the age of thirteen, when she first saw the National Tour of The Lion King. In this production, she saw, for the first time, professional actors who represented her, and dreamed of becoming like Audra McDonald and Heather Headley.

After graduating high school, Temperance received her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Belhaven University, with an emphasis in Musical Theatre. Since that time, she has had opportunities to showcase her talent in settings such as the International Performing Arts Institute, Everblue Arts, Bright Star Touring Theatre, Opera Mississippi, RWS Entertainment Group, Opera Birmingham, and now Opera Mississippi. From her mother's inspiration, to performing internationally, Temperance honors the legacies of the Black artists who came before her and looks forward to the contributions she still has yet to make. 

Tyler Kemp

Tyler Kemp, Piano - An accomplished pianist and collaborator, Tyler Kemp has become an essential part of musical life in and around Jackson, MS.  His captivating and exciting performances of classical, jazz, and pop music showcase confidence and fluency from the concert stage and bandstand alike.

Tyler joined the faculty of Mississippi College in 2014 as Faculty Accompanist and Instructor of Collaborative Piano. He gives recitals regularly with students, faculty, and guest artists, as well as working with the Opera Theatre and Musical Theatre.  In the community, he serves as music director at Bellwether Church and is a frequent performer with the Mississippi Opera. He is a founding member of NEW JXN, a new music ensemble based in Jackson.

Maryann Kyle

Maryann Kyle has dedicated her professional life to guiding singers and teachers in their pursuit not only of exceptional singing, but also captivating performance. In addition to her active studio of performers she also actively mentors over thirty teachers of voice and theatre in various universities across the United States, and her students can be found on the stages of the finest opera and musical theatre companies, conservatories and training programs across the globe.

Kyle remains an active performer of multiple genres of music and has shared the concert stage with some of world’s greatest artists including Denyce Graves, William Warfield, Timothy Noble and Marietta Simpson. She has appeared as a soloist on the pop music stage with famed artists  Patti Labelle, Patti Austin, Dionne Warwick, Ann Nesby and Vesta Williams. Kyle’s one-woman-show, Sondheim in the City, premiered in NYC at the Laurie Beechman Theatre/West Bank Café in 2011 followed by her concert entitled Apparitions and her upcoming recital, Reminiscence presented by Opera Mississippi.

Specializing in the teaching belt, power belt and high belt technique, Kyle has had a tremendous success in training singers and teachers in the best and healthiest use of their voice, and in integrating the function of singing with their character and physical acting process. In addition, she has developed a curriculum in musical theatre and commercial music pedagogy and literature which she presents as a part of the Alabama School of the Arts Artistic Development Series and the International Performing Arts Institute Teaching Fellowship.  This acoustically sound training for athletic vocal technique and style is easily connected to classical vocal training while maintaining an authentic musical theatre and commercial music sound.

Kyle’s students have performed leading roles with New Orleans Opera, Seattle Opera, Oper Frankfurt, Oper Berlin, English National Opera, Virginia Opera, San Francisco Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre, Sarasota Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Florida Grand Opera and St. Louis Opera Theatre to name a few.  They have also garnered numerous awards including top placements in national and international competitions and apprenticeships with Seattle Opera, Lake George Opera Festival, Aspen Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, Ohio Light Opera, Brevard, Wolf Trap, Ashlawn Opera, Opera North, Utah Festival Opera, Opera Saratoga, Sarasota Opera, Des Moines Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Central City Opera, Savannah VOICE Festival and continue to pursue their studies in major conservatories and schools including Juilliard, Indiana University, San Francisco Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Cincinnati Conservatory, Oklahoma City University, Florida State University, Fordham University, Louisiana State University, the University of Illinois and New England Conservatory of Music.

Kyle is the director of the Teaching Fellowship Program with the International Performing Arts Institute. In her free time, Kyle enjoys riding her Yamaha V-Star 950 motorcycle, gardening, spending time with friends and mothering her five shih tzu pups.

Matt Morgan

Having the distinction of making debuts at three of the four theaters at New York's Lincoln Center, Matt Morgan has established himself as a tenor to watch. His New York debut came as Don Gomez in Weber's Die drei Pintos with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra. The very same season, his New York City Opera debut occurred in the world premiere of Charles Wuorinen's Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Following these successes, Mr. Morgan debuted with the National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall as the tenor soloist in Handel's Messiah. His Kennedy Center debut came in Das Klagende Lied with the Washington Chorus. Since his debuts he has been a frequent return guest as a principal tenor with New York City Opera and the National Chorale. 

Recent and upcoming engagements include returning to the Sanibel Island Music Festival for an all Lerner and Leowe concert, Don Jose in Carmen at the Phillips Center for Performing Arts, Opera Theatre of Connecticut for an all Andrew Loyd Weber concert, the world premiere recording of Thomas Harrison’s Turning Corners, and a return to Sarasota Key Chorale for Bach’s Magnificat and Hadyn’s Lord Nelson Mass, and Mozart’s Coronation Mass. 

Other recent engagements include appearances with Broadway Bangkok as lead voice instructor, a return to Crested Butte Music Festival as tenor soloist, and the tenor soloist in Beethoven 9 with the University of Florida. Last season saw him as the the tenor soloist in Hadyn’s Lord Nelson Mass , as well as concerts of opera and musical theatre favorites with the Crested Butte Performing Arts Center, Music Director for Apex Theatre’s Chicago and Vocal Director for the University of Florida’s upcoming production of Pippin. Recent seasons included the tenor soloist in Bernstein’s Broadway with First Coast Opera, an all Sondheim concert with the Sanibel Music Festival, his debut as the tenor soloist in Haydn’s Mass in Time of War and Beethoven’s Chorale Fantasy with the Fort Myers Mastersingers under the baton of Paul Nadler, the U.S. premiere of Ravalo’s La Resureccion de Cristo, appearing in a concert of musical theatre favorites in Bangkok Thailand, and returning to Apex Theatre as Music and Vocal Director for their productions of Newsies and Fun Home.  

Last season saw his debut as the tenor soloist in Hayden’s Mass in Time of War with the Sarasota Key Chorale, Weill’s Berlin Requiem with the Jacksonville University Wind Symphony, and a return to Sanibel Music Festival for The Gems of Broadway’s Golden age. Mr. Morgan recently created the leading role of Charles Drouet for the world premiere recording of Aldridge and Garfein’s Sister Carrie which was named one of the top five new works of 2018 by Opera News.

Katie Newton

Katie Newton, a crossover musical theatre and standards artist, is excited to be home after singing in Spain since July. Her work includes singing for the feature film “Indigo Valley” and its Sony Music released soundtrack. Her performance of “At the Edge” was described as “hauntingly beautiful” and nominated for “Best Score in an Independent Film” by Hollywood Music in Media. She is also featured on the soundtracks of the Emmy-Award winning series “The Rehearsal” and the film “The Delta Girl.” On stage, she recently performed in Jesus Christ Superstar (NOLA Lyric Theatre), Band Geeks (Everblue Arts Festival), Our Town, Little Women, Oklahoma and The Mayfair Affair. The University of Mobile graduate was selected to train at the prestigious Stella Adler Studio of Acting (NYC) and International Performing Arts Institute (Germany). Please visit her website at KatieNewton.com. 

Jessica Wilkinson

Jessica Wilkinson is a SAG-AFTRA actor from the Jackson area who has worked at New Stage Theatre for over 20 years. Credits include Mother Superior in Sister Act, Truvy in Steel Magnolias, Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker, and Percy in The Spitfire Grill. Other favorite shows include Best of Enemies, The Miss Firecracker Contest, Hairspray, The Foreigner, Boeing Boeing, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Annie. Select feature film credits include The Livingston Gardener, As I Lay Dying, Starve (Syfy), Lies My Sister Told Me (Lifetime), Every Time a Bell Rings (Hallmark) and I Killed My BFF (Lifetime), working with actors such as James Franco, James Kyson, Tim Blake Nelson, James Caan, and David Spade. Wilkinson has a master’s degree in English and taught at Florence High. During that time, she was awarded Distinguished Arts Educator in Theatre Arts by the MS Alliance for Arts Education. She now teaches English at Jackson Prep. She’s mom to Belle Grace, Noble, and Schnorkie Boo Radley, and she’s wife to Lenny, a colonel in the MS Air National Guard. www.imdb.me/JessicaLemonWilkinson

Christopher Withrow

Baritone Christopher Withrow has been praised for “bringing masculine gravity both in voice and performance” to the stage. His “powerful stage presence” and “moving performance” has been seen throughout the United States with Opera Fairbanks, Townsend Opera Players, Northstar Opera Company, Modesto Symphony Orchestra, The University of Nevada, Las Vegas Opera Theater, Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, The University of Alabama Opera Theatre, Mississippi State University State Singers, and other organizations. A native of Redding, California, Mr. Withrow has been seen in the title role in Gianni Schicchi, Papageno in The Magic Flute, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Gabriel von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, and James Agee in the world premiere of Joseph Lander’s Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Concert works to his credit include Johannas Brahm’s Ein Deutches Requiem, Ralph Vaughan William’s Dona Nobis Pacem, Gabriel Faure’s Requiem, W. A. Mozart's Vesperae Solennes De Confessore, J. S. Bach's Coffee Cantata, Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Felix Mendelssohn's Psalm 42, and Robert Cohen’s Alzheimer’s Stories. Mr. Withrow holds a Bachelor of Music from California State University, Stanislaus, a Master of Music from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from The University of Alabama. Mr. Withrow was the 2019 Vann Vocal Institute winner as well as the recipient of a major scholarship from the McConnell Foundation. Mr. Withrow currently teaches at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.