Alexander Smalls Opera singer and author Alexander Smalls has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of Opus 118, the school’s Board of Directors announced today. Smalls succeeds Phillip Willis, Opus 118’s former Executive Director. A native of Spartanburg, SC, Smalls is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He made his professional operatic debut in George Gershwin’s Tony Award winning Porgy and Bess. Smalls has received numerous awards, among them top honors in the prestigious Baltimore Opera Competition. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1994 and has shared the concert stage with such notables as Anna Moffo, Renata Scotto and Michael Tilson Thomas. After touring with Porgy and Bess, Smalls studied opera and culinary arts in Italy and France. Returning to New York, he launched Small Miracle, a catering and event planning business. The success of that venture led to his celebrated Cafe Beulah, a southern revival bistro in Manhattan, as well as two other restaurants, the last being The Shoebox Café in Grand Central Station. Smalls also published his memoir-cookbook, Grace the Table, which includes a foreword by his friend and colleague Wynton Marsalis. He is completing his second cookbook, entitled Southern Serenade: Sophisticated Recipes for Special Occasions to be published in early 2009.
Karen Geer Prior to joining Opus 118, Karen was a lawyer at Harris Beach LLP where she was National and Regional Counsel to major medical device and nutraceutical companies. Karen was responsible for a team of lawyers and staff which handled lawsuits nationwide in federal court. Karen also handled large document productions, attended court conferences and drafted complicated legal documents. Karen obtained her law degree from Fordham University School of Law, and an L.L.M. in Environmental Law from Pace University School of Law. In addition to being a lawyer, Karen was a music teacher at the Ethical Culture School in Manhattan and taught general, vocal and instrumental music. Karen also led all School-Wide assemblies including the Holiday Assembly, various musicals. She also prepared and arranged music for Graduation ceremonies. Prior to teaching at Ethical Culture, Karen taught Music and Movement for preschool children at the prestigious Diller Quaile School of Music. Karen has taught in a variety of settings including “family music” at Caldwell College in New Jersey; singing and song leading at Pinewoods Music Camp in Plymouth Massachusetts, and brass choir at the Interlochen Music camp. Karen also received her Orff certification from the Bloomingdale House of Music and attended workshops in Austria and England for Orff teaching certification. Karen received her undergraduate degree in Music Education from Kent State University and her Masters Degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Ms. Geer is currently the soprano soloist for the Leon Berger Chorale, and was the soprano soloist at the Brooklyn First Unitarian Church for the last ten years. She has performed with the Canton Symphony, Akron Symphony, Cleveland Women’s Orchestra, Kent Opera Theatre, The Opera Ensemble of New York, The Brooklyn Lyric Opera Company and was a regular performer with the Beekman Hill Recital Series in Manhattan. She currently studies voice with Elizabeth Cole. |
