Jermaine Smith, Director of Arts & Special Programs at Sumner High School, was recognized as the St. Louis Public Schools’ 2023 ‘Arts Educator of the Year’. In partnership with OTSL, The Muny, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and more, he created an award-winning arts program that brought new life to the historic Sumner High School. A tenor, Jermaine is associated with the role of Sporting Life in Porgy and Bess. He has performed the role across the country and around the globe. He originated the title role in Opera Theatre’s 1998 world premiere of Joshua’s Boots and made his Festival Season debut singing Zodzetrick in 2000’s Treemonisha. 

Michael Breaux, baritone, is a junior voice student at the University of Houston, where he studies under Cynthia Clayton. Recent credits include Papageno in The Magic Flute at Angelo State University and appearances as an Apprentice Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera. Michael is an alum of Houston Grand Opera’s Young Artists Vocal Academy (YAVA) and was a finalist in the 2025 Meistersinger Competition at the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria. Michael makes his Opera Theatre debut portraying the title role in Joshua’s Boots.

Ava Hettenhausen, soprano, is a chorus member in Joshua’s Boots. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance at Webster University. Ava was a part of Opera Theatre‘s  Artists-in-Training (AIT) Program and won the 1st place prize at the 2024 Spring Recital. In spring of 2025, Ava sang at Carnegie Hall as a featured soloist with the Community Music School’s Young People’s Symphonic Orchestra. She recently sang in the chorus of both Stray Dog Theatre’s The Second Hurricane and Arch City Opera Project’s Susannah. In Webster University’s 2026 production of Cendrillon, Ava sang the role of Magoulenne.

Dr. Philip A. Woodmore, conductor for Joshua’s Boots, is COCA’s Artistic Director of Voice & Director of Camps. He spent 14 years in the classroom teaching choir at Ferguson, Berkeley, Crestview Middle Schools and currently coaches students in St. Louis, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and New York in voice. Alongside Shawna Flanigan, he built COCA’s robust music department to train singers through the lens of musical theater. Philip also founded the Allegro Music Company, wrote the score for Antigone in Ferguson, and has written four musicals — including Team M, which premiered at COCA in May 2026.

Jonathan Heaney, Associate Music Director for Joshua’s Boots, is an accomplished classical musician and vocal coach. He has performed and taught in Italy, worked for The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, and co-founded two opera companies. Jonathan made his OTSL Festival Season debut in 2025 serving as repetiteur on Die Fledermaus and returned as a member of the music staff for the 2026 Festival Season.