ABOUT US
Your Child’s Musical Wish, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, through Opera Is Awesome, LLC, seeks to enrich the lives of all children though the arts of music, drama and dance. Utilizing melodious song, engaging drama and expressive dance, our program promises to nurture young minds to develop an appreciation for the performing arts.
Our operas, cast with mostly elementary through middle school-aged children, have been produced with sweeping success throughout the country and are now being offered in your area. Three operas are currently available for your organization to produce, utilizing a cast of mostly children:
These short operas are boisterous, fun and engaging, and are written exclusively for children to perform. As the children so aptly put it:
“Opera doesn’t have to be boring,
all you have to do is communicate with the audience
and you’ll have them eating right out of your hand.”
Please contact us if you are interested in bringing any or all of these unique and amazing operas to your school for your children to perform, with free workshops offered by none other than the writer who penned them, Ms. Linda Suda, CEO.
OUR MISSION
Opera is Awesome, LLC and Your Child’s Musical Wish seeks to fully enrich the lives of all children through the arts of music, drama and dance. Utilizing melodious song, engaging drama and expressive dance, our program promises to nurture young minds to develop an appreciation for the performing arts.
OUR STAFF
Linda Suda, Director and CEO
Past Instructor UNC at Charlotte | Past Visiting Artist at Davidson | Past Music Faculty at Covenant Classical School.
Linda Suda has performed a variety of operatic and musical theatre roles with companies on the east coast as well as in the west. A native of Pennsylvania, Ms. Suda graduated from Seton Hill College and pursued graduate studies at the University of Missouri and Peabody Conservatory.
While a student at Peabody, Ms. Suda was chosen, through process of audition, as an Artist Diploma candidate. She was a national winner in the American Opera Awards, a Metropolitan Opera Regional Finalist and a finalist with the Center for Contemporary Opera in New York City. Ms. Suda has received critical acclaim for her oratorio roles including the Angel in LAUD TO THE NATIVITY, and soprano soloist in the ELIJAH, BACH CANTATA #51, and the Rutter REQUIEM. She has performed as a soloist with the Four Corners Opera of Colorado, Light Opera of Manhattan, Baltimore Opera Company, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis among others. Ms. Suda’s appearances with other organizations include soloist with the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Seattle, Wa., Tacoma Opera,Wa, and the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle, Wa. One of her most memorable appearances was as a soprano soloist with the Earshot Jazz Duke Ellington Sacred Concerts, Seattle, Wa.
Linda was co-founder and general director of Oklahoma Civic Opera in Oklahoma City and as an Oklahoma State Arts Council Artist in Residence Linda directed and performed the role of the Queen of the Night in that company’s first production of THE MAGIC FLUTE.
Linda is a past Artist in Residence in New York, Oklahoma, and was a rostered artist with the Washington State Arts Commission and the Educational School District in Mt. Vernon, Washington. She is a former instructor of music and drama at Archbishop Murphy High School in Everett (formerly Holy Cross High School) and served as director and choreographer for their musical theatre productions. Linda held the position of Arts Director at Cannon School and most recently served as a music studies lecturer and adjunct professor at UNC Charlotte. She was chosen again to direct the opera scenes at Davidson College for the Department of Music.
She was a voice faculty member at the Gaston School of the Arts and maintained an active private voice studio in Concord, North Carolina. She has recently retired as the Director of Music at the Covenant Classical School in Concord, North Carolina in order to concentrate on her children’s opera company, Opera is Awesome.
Penny Sowards, Chief of Marketing Operations
Primary Goal: The CMO is at the center of growth for Opera Is Awesome, LLC. This growth will be greatly tied to the effective education of client schools about the artistic and educational scholastic benefits of performing the Opera Is Awesome productions for early and middle school students. To date, these productions have proven to be a popular enterprise of broad student involvement and a success at evoking an active participation by a wide spectrum of student personality types.
Penny has worked in the media/marketing field for more than 30 years and is thrilled to be working with the Opera Is Awesome team to bring this wonderful opportunity to children everywhere.
Randi Wilson, Guest Soprano Soloist
Randi is excited to team up with Opera Is Awesome, and is available for narration and/or as a vocalist for the more difficult pieces in our repertoire. She is an accomplished vocalist, actress and performer with an impressive resume that lists extensive work in the theatrical and musical fields. She has held title to numerous awards, including as a NATS Regional Winner and Entertainer of the Year as well as Vocalist of the Year at NACMAI.
A former student of Ms. Suda, Randi is a musical theatre graduate of Lees-McRae University and has traveled extensively being cast as lead and primary roles in plays such as Showboat, Into the Woods, Beauty and the Beast, Carousel, Baby, Ash Girl, and many others. In addition to performing, she has devoted recent years of her career to teaching music and dance, and acting locally in the Charlotte area.
Amanda Summers, Music Transcriptionist
Amanda is a graduate of Western Carolina University where she earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration. Although she has spent her career in the healthcare and financial industries, Amanda has had a life-long love of music. Amanda grew up in a family of musically-gifted individuals and has sung in church all her life. She is also an accomplished flautist. Amanda enjoys working with Mrs. Suda because it provides her another opportunity to share the joy of music with others. She and her family reside in Maiden, NC.
OUR BOARD
Ann Benfield, ex-officio
CEO Cabarrus County Partnership for Children
Lizette Lampe
Teacher of Exceptional Children
East McDowell School Middle School, Marion, NC
Debin McGee
Bachelor of Science in History
Guilford College, Greensboro, NC
Maria Seavey
Bachelor of Arts
University of New Hampshire
Gail Watson
Faith Formation Director
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, Morganton, NC