An Evening with Beethoven

Soprano Jenna Ziccardi, based in Pittsburgh, has had the pleasure of performing with various companies such as Aria412, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Resonance Works, Marble City Opera, Knoxville Opera, Steel City Opera, and Pittsburgh Savoyards. A few of Jenna’s most notable roles include Blue Fairy in the world premiere of The Blue Fairy,  Lady in the world premiere of Thomas the Rhymer,  Jennie in the world premiere of The Doctor & The Devils, Annie in the world premiere of Royal Flush, Hildegard Hummingbird/Purple Twirling Kitty in the world premiere of Mister Rogers’ Operas, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Rose Maybud in Ruddigore, Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto, Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro and First Spirit in The Magic Flute. Jenna earned her Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from West Virginia University and her Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance from the University of Tennessee.  She pursued further studies at the CoOPERAtive program at Westminster Choir College and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, where she received the audience favorite award in the Meistersinger Competition.

After receiving a Bachelor of Music Performance from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, Karen Archbold, mezzo-soprano, continued her studies in Bremen, Germany at the Hochschule fur Kunste. She has appeared as Flora in DuPage Opera Theatre’s production of La Traviata, Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw, Buttercup in HMS Pinafore, Abuela in La Vida Breve, Katisha in the Mikado and Berthe in Barber of Seville. Karen’s solo appearances include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, John Rutter’s Magnificat, Lili Boulanger’s Psalm Profundis, the Verdi Requiem, and the Mahler Kindertotenlieder. In addition to St Charles Singers, Karen has performed with the Grant Park Chorus, the Camerata Chicago Chorus and the Belle Ensemble. She also performs with her husband as the Duo Striata. Karen is a certified Alexander Technique teacher and offers a holistic approach to singing incorporating the discoveries of F.M.Alexander. In 2017, Karen won first prize in the Fox Valley Rising Stars Competition. In 2016, she was the Sinfonietta Bel Canto’s Voice Competition First Place Winner. She was a 2014 and 2015 finalist in the American Prize Vocal Division and runner-up in the American Prize Chicago Music Theatre Award. Karen is also a  private voice teacher. She also participates in the Bridging Memory through Music, a weekly therapeutic program for patients with late stage Alzheimer's. She lives in Wheaton with her amazing husband and three daughters.

Benton DeGroot (baritone) has worked both on and off stage in numerous productions throughout Michigan. In 2020, he received his Master’s in Vocal Performance from the University of Michigan where he studied with Stephen Lusmann and George Shirley. While there, he performed as Marcello (La Boheme) and Pangloss (Candide). More recently he sang the Mozart Requiem with both Flint Institute of Music and Saginaw choral society as their bass soloist. He has been singing as a chorus member with Detroit opera since 2017 and been featured in bit roles in Puccini's La Bohème and Verdi's La traviata. His work spans many other musical projects on the side including vocal jazz recordings, barbershop quartet at Greenfield Village, contemporary a capella, and section leading at First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor.

When not performing, he also conducts, music directs, and teaches private lessons. Some highlights include music directing Teenage Musical Inc.’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Hartland Player's Cinderella, and directing the pit orchestra for TMI's productions of Brigadoon and The Little Mermaid. He hopes to continue singing, directing, and teaching going forward.

George Milosh is a singer, teacher and conductor based in Aliquippa, PA. George has been seen onstage as Rodolfo in La Boheme (SERIO), John Adams in 1776 (Center Theatre Players), Hero in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (Center Theatre Players), Prince Charming in Pauline Viardot's Cendrillon (Pittsburgh Festival Opera), Tamino in The Magic Flute (West Virginia University), and Acis in Acis and Galatea (Central City Opera). 

Recently, George has been seen in concert as the tenor soloist in Verdi's Requiem and Beethoven's Mass in C, both with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra. He has also been seen singing solos in Bach's St. John Passion with Resonance Works Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Bach's Magnificat and Handel's Messiah and Chandos Anthems with the Pittsburgh Camerata and Chatham Baroque. Other concert solo credits include Carmina Burana with the Butler Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven's Mass in C and Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, both with the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. George currently serves as the Music Director at Saint Elijah Serbian Orthodox Church in Aliquippa, PA, as well as for the Tsar Lazar Men's Choir, a group of singers from around the Tri State Area who specialize in Slavic music written for men's voices. Both groups have performed to great acclaim in concerts and in worship throughout the United States, Canada and Serbia. George holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The Boston Conservatory and a Master of Music from West Virginia University.