Paul Spencer Adkins (tenor)

A winner of the First Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition, Paul Spencer Adkins is today a leading tenor with opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States and abroad. He has performed with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Miami Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Orlando Opera and Opera New England, among many others.  Paul has also performed in a number of world premieres including Menotti's The Hero, Anthony Davis' X, and Leslie Adams' Blake. He made his New York debut at Lincoln Center in the title role of Virgil Thomson's Lord Byron. 

Paul's guest artist  appearances with orchestra include performances with the Stockholm Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, North Carolina Symphony and the Fresno Philharmonic. Mr. Adkins also produced and starred in the PBS television special The Musical Legacy of Roland Hayes and has served as artist in residence at a dozen universities coast to coast.  Paralleling his work on stage and in the classroom, Adkins has worked to open a creative, uplifting dialogue on cultural diversity in the workplace and centers of learning.   Paul Spencer Adkins is graduate of West Virginia University, the University of the Arts and The Academy of Vocal Arts.

 

Dianne Legro (Soprano)

Dianne Legro has starred in countless musical theater productions including the Broadway revival of My Fair Lady.  She has co-starred with opera luminaries Carlo Bergonzi and Roberta Peters in New Jersey State Opera's L'Elisir d'Amore and appeared as guest artist with numerous American orchestras performing both classics and pops. She is also an accomplished recitalist and cabaret artist who performs to critical acclaim in New York and coast to coast. 

A native of Boston, Dianne began her musical career at age 12 in THE SOUND OF MUSIC.   She made her Broadway debut in MY FAIR LADY and has toured in numerous leading roles, among them, Hedy La Rue in HOW TO SUCCEED, Ursula in SWEET CHARITY, and Hannah in THE MERRY WIDOW, the latter hailed by The Daytona Observer as "Absolutely Scintillating!' 

A graduate of the New England Conservatory and The Juilliard School, Dianne is the winner of Rockefeller Foundation and Presser Foundation Awards as well as fellowships at the Bel Canto School in Italy and the Aspen Music Festival.  Dianne has also completed advanced studies in Bioenergetics, Alexander Technique and Yoga and has successfully applied her combined competencies in inventive programs on peak performance, stress management and leadership development in the business sector.  Her dual backgrounds in theater and wellness sciences can also be felt in her imaginative, highly nurturing approach to vocal instruction and performance master classes. 

 

John Cimino (baritone)

John Cimino is an award-winning operatic and concert artist who performs throughout the United States and Europe.  Among his performance credits are a gala opening night with the Opera Company of Philadelphia as "Marcello" in La Boheme opposite tenor Luciano Pavarotti; "Miller" in Verdi's Louisa Miller with Carlo Bergonzi at the International Verdi Festival in Busseto, Italy; "Cascart" in Leoncavallo's Zaza at the Wexford Festival in Ireland; "Alfio" in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana with New York City Opera; "Wulf" in Puccini's Le Villi, and "Silvio" in I Pagliacci with New Jersey State Opera; "Figaro" in Rossini's Barber of Seville with Piedmont Opera; the title role in Verdi's Rigoletto with San Francisco's Western Opera Theater; and the title roles in Man of La Mancha and The Most Happy Fella with various American theater companies. 

Cimino has more than 20 international prizes to his credit including the First Pavarotti International Voice Competition and the International Verdi Competition.  As a composer, Cimino has penned works based on the writings of Stephen Crane, William Blake, Miguel de Cervantes, Robert Penn Warren, Daniel Berrigan, Buckminister Fuller and Loren Eiseley as well as the paintings of Thomas Cole.  Cimino's initial education was completed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he studied biology and physics and the State University of New York at Albany where he studied educational theory.  His musical training was accomplished at the Manhattan and Juilliard Schools of Music where he studied voice with Maestro Daniel Ferro and in Italy where he studied Verdi with the famous Maestro Ettore Campogalliani. 

Cimino's musical world extends innovatively well beyond the concert stage.  He is also president and CEO of Creative Leaps International (1992), The Learning Arts (1982) and Associated Solo Artists, Inc. (1972) producing ground-breaking concerts and innovative learning initiatives for schools, colleges, universities and the business sector.  As a champion of the arts in education and the arts in professional life, Cimino has succeeded in bringing his unique arts applications and "Concerts of Ideas" into the high-stakes learning centers of big business and big government dramatically demonstrating the power of the arts to transform lives and shape the future.  To learn more, visit his website at www.creativeleaps.org.

 

Donna Wissinger (flutist)

Ms. Wissinger made her New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1984 to critical acclaim and returned to the Carnegie Main Stage in 1990.  Ms Wissinger won the 1986 Artists International Distinguished Artist Award, and was selected by Musical America as a Young Artist to Watch.  She has played solo recitals in New York, Chicago, Paris, Florence, Graz, and Munich, regularly tours the Mid-West and the East Coast, and has distinguished herself in radio and television appearances in the US, USSR and Europe. Ms. Wissinger recently played a solo recital at the State Academic M I Glinka Capella in Leningrad and has concertized with The Altoona Symphony and in the 1989 Artists International Distinguished Alumni Series.  She is an official artist in residence for the State of Florida and also tours nationwide with her arts-sports-health show "Top Form".

 

Richard Albagli  (percussionist, marimbist)

Richard Albagli is a percussionist, teacher, composer and interdisciplinary explorer.  He is co-founder with John Cimino of Associated Solo Artists, Inc. (1972).  A graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Albagli worked with distinguished physicist Dr. Robert Resnick on the development of texts on relativity and quantum mechanics.  A graduate as well of the Eastman School of Music, Albagli is principal percussionist of the Albany Symphony Orchestra, timpanist with the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra, and member of Capitol Chamber Artists and The Classic Apple Ensemble.  His performances have been featured throughout the USA and in Europe. 

Albagli is a member of the music faculty at SUNY-Albany and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he directs three percussion ensembles at these institutions.  He is also Director of the Empire State Youth Percussion Ensemble.  An avid composer, Albagli has written works for marimba, timpani, percussion ensemble and chamber orchestra as well as several art songs for voice and percussion.

 

Jon Klibonoff (pianist)

A versatile recitalist, orchestra soloist and chamber musician, Jon Klibonoff has performed extensively throughout the U.S. and abroad.  His various honors include first prizes in the Kosciuszko Chopin Competition and the Pepsi-Cola Young Artists Competition, and the silver medal in the 1984 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition.  Klibonoff has appeared as soloist with the Utah, Baltimore, Richmond, Denver, New Orleans, Oakland, Syracuse, and North Carolina symphonies, as well as the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Denver Chamber Orchestra. 

Mr. Klibonoff is a former Xerox Affiliate Artist, a past recipient of a NEA solo recitalist's grant, and has been sponsored by the Pro Musicis Foundation.  Mr. Klibonoff is a member of the acclaimed Bowdoin Trio and winner of the 1984 Concert Artists Guild International Competition.  He has also recorded several albums with renowned violinist Maria Bachman. He holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and from Juilliard.

 

Tom McCoy (pianist)

In his youth, Tom McCoy studied piano with Heifitz’s accompanist, Louis Greenwald, and later with Busoni-specialist, Peter Armstrong. He studied composition with Richard Winslow at Wesleyan, where he also studied Javanese, Balinese and South Indian music. As a jazz pianist, he is mostly self-taught. He has performed at Town Hall, the Village Vanguard, Broadway, national television, NPR, worldwide and has shared the concert stage with Ray Charles, James Taylor, Judy Collins among many others. He is on the faculty of the State University of New York, and co-founded Footlights Music Theater Workshop. McCoy’s compositions include jazz and classical concert music, orchestral scores as well as the scores of two new musicals, An Orphan’s Tale, which premiered in 1999 and Madam President.   He resides in Cold Spring, NY.