Voice Faculty

GRACE WEBER JOHNSON, Mezzo Soprano
Voice (Classical and Music Theater)
D.M.A. in Voice Performance, Shenandoah Conservatory, Winchester, VA. M.M. in Voice Performance/Pedagogy, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC. A.B. in Music, Coker College, Hartsville, SC.

Member of The National Association of Teachers of Singing and Performing Arts Medicine Coalition of San Francisco. For all genres of vocal music, Dr. Johnson's teaching is grounded in bel canto technique. She enjoys working with both beginner and advanced students and has over 30 years teaching experience, including K-12 general/choral music and college-level Applied Voice. Her former students are performing and teaching. As part of her ongoing interest in the psychological aspects of singing stemming from her doctoral research, she has lectured widely in London and in the United States. In addition to several scholarly articles regarding psychology and singing she published a children's book about stage fright, The Little Fish Who was Afraid to Swim (Author House, 2008). Her book with co-editor/author Patrick Gannon, PhD The Psychology of Singing is forthcoming. A mezzo-soprano, she specializes in the Oratorio and Art Song repertoire.

SHARON KAYE, PhD, Mezzo Soprano Voice
(Classical and Music Theater)
Classically trained Mezzo-Soprano has sung with many companies in the United States, Europe and Pacific Rim. Locally these include San Francisco Lyric Opera, Livermore Valley Opera, San Jose Lyric Theatre, and Mission City Opera. She has also sung with the Grammy-Award-Winning San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Opera Chorus. Her roles include the Dames of Gilbert & Sullivan to Verdi's Azucena, from Strauss' Octavian to Ward's Elizabeth Proctor and from Moore's Augusta Tabor to the perennial favorites, Carmen and Dalila. Sharon's CD, Classic Christmas highlights her long relationship with master vocal coach, Russell Norman, and she has also been invited to record with the Bulgarian Radio Orchestra in Sophia.
Ms. Kaye participated in the inaugural year of BASOTI and has had the opportunity to participate in many competitions. She was a first place winner in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Regional Competition. As an accomplished oratorio and recital soloist, she reaffirmed her artistry, winning 1st place in the professional division of Santa Clara University's International Art Song Festival.
She has also been active in the business of singing as a member of the Board of Governors for the American Guild of Musical Artists and is now the retired president of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing after four years in that office.
Sharon took undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University, holds a Masters in Vocal Performance and a Ph.D. in Historical Musicology from Ashford University. She is now returning to school for a teachers' credential.
Growing up in the Bay Area and returning here after an eight year career in Germany, Sharon saw a need for more quality performance opportunities in the Bay Area and so founded Mission City Opera in 1996. MCO was founded to provide an intimate arena for the many excellent local artists to present quality opera at an affordable price for Santa Clara and Bay Area residents. As General Director she envisions the company growth to a full season, an expansion of the outreach programs to more elementary and secondary schools and the opening of the Mission City Opera Academy to train the next generation in operatic professions of all kinds.