Anna Cley
FOUNDING PRESIDENT
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Anna Cley is a transformative artist, author and artistic director who is passionate about growth, empowerment and transcendence. During her career as an opera singer, she has performed on the stage of Carnegie Hall and in the title role of Carmen, and appeared several times on the runway of New York fashion weeks.
Cley authored The Journey of the Heart, a fictional yet universal story of overcoming obstacles and self-discovery. Anna fosters a strong relationship with nature and wildlife, and rejoices in co-creating a better world for tomorrow. She believes that individuals who overcome their limiting beliefs and dare to follow their heart can find true happiness and freedom, allowing them to care more for others and to make the world a better place. She is certified in neurolinguistic programming and in hypnosis.
Her coaching expertise has been valued by opera companies. With a deep understanding of the human being and of the vocal instrument, Anna realized that her technique could be applied to any individual willing to develop their self-confidence and deliver their message into the world. She creates transformational work through interdisciplinary and immersive storytelling and empowering workshops ("Breathe Happy", "The Art of Charisma").
Amazed by the miracle of life, Anna is dedicated to charitable projects. She has been volunteering in children’s hospitals in Paris with “Main dans la Main” and in NYC with “Sing For Hope”. She has also been supporting "Mission Be" to help children thrive through mindfulness. In Paris, Anna has been an ambassador of ANICA which defends animal rights. Anna is currently an ambassador of Veterinarians International.
Rachel Hall
BOARD DIRECTOR
SECRETARY
Rachel Hall is an American soprano singer and teacher in the NYC area. Born in Princeton NJ, but raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Rachel moved to the Big Apple to pursue her musical career in 2008. Ms. Hall earned her Master of Music degree at Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of illustrious soprano, teacher, and director Catherine Malfitano. She holds Bachelor degrees in both Music Performance and Music Education from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.
Ms. Hall has been praised as "a force of nature… with a gracefully huge voice" (Berkshire Fine Arts) for her August 2017 breakout performances in the title role in Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen with New York's Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble. The New York press lauded her as "simply astonishing… a warm soprano of full body, easily fluidity and perfectly consistent tone… completely alive to every moment on the stage" (New York Classical).
Rachel performs opera, musical theater and symphonic works with orchestras and opera companies all over the US. She's passionate about helping people and loves being able to connect with others through music.
Rachel is a big advocate for the arts, the power of positivity and empowering children to find their true voice. These things are what interested her in being part of the VOCALISE team. Rachel knew Anna from her performing life, but is thrilled to be working alongside her on this new project with such a talented and diverse team.
Some favorite roles and performance include her contemporary opera debut in the role of Madeline Usher in Philip Glass’ The Fall of the House of Usher at the iconic MASS MoCA; making her role debut as Fiordiligi in Opera on the James' production of Così fan tutte, and rejoining the Canton Symphony as the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana.
Additional recent stage performances include Ms. Hall's role debuts as Oscar in Un ballo in maschera and Adina in L'elisir d'amore (the latter with Shreveport Opera), her Lincoln Center debut as Gretel in a new production of Hansel and Gretel with the Little Orchestra Society at Avery Fisher Hall, and an eight-month stint as Adeline in the original off-Broadway production of Serenade. Her concert appearances include a Mostly Mozart program with Annapolis Opera, her Santa Fe Symphony debut as the soprano soloist for Mozart's Exsultate, jubilate, her Canton Symphony debut as the soprano soloist for Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem and her return to the Canton Symphony as the soprano soloist in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.
Ms. Hall initially earned national attention for her mainstage debut as Barbarina in Santa Fe Opera's 2013 production of Le nozze di Figaro, for which she was hailed as a "musically nuanced, clear soprano with a perfectly charming stage presence" (Ionarts). She fulfilled two seasons as an Apprentice Artist with the Santa Fe Opera and also fulfilled a young artist residency with Shreveport Opera, performing Micaëla in La tragédie de Carmen and Valencienne in The Merry Widow. In 2015, Ms. Hall won an encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (North Carolina district).
Rachel has been giving teaching privately and giving master classes since 2010 and is thrilled to be a part of the Long Ridge Music Center in Stamford, CT. Rachel lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and enjoys a life full of music, art and nature!
Patricia Sheridan
BOARD DIRECTOR
Ms. Sheridan is a New York Singing Teachers’ Association Distinguished Voice Professional, having completed The Oren L. Brown Professional Development Program core curriculum of Vocal Anatomy, Vocal Acoustics, Developmental Repertoire, Vocal Health and Comparative Pedagogy. She has served on the board of NYSTA and is a member of NATS and NATS/ENY. She is the co-founder of ACTING OPERA and presently serves as the president of the board of The Midwest Institute of Opera based in in Bloomington, IL, at Illinois State University.
Students in the Sheridan Studio have performed at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, regional opera companies, on- and off-Broadway, as well as in jazz and country music venues. A specialty of her studio is training a healthy, more beautiful sounding speaking voice for women in business and in the public eye.
She is a philanthropist and thrives to make the world a better place.