Long Island native Ricky Ian Gordon is one of today’s leading American composers of opera and art song. He studied piano, composition, and acting at Carnegie Mellon University before settling in New York City, where he quickly emerged as an acclaimed writer of vocal music. Mr. Gordon’s songs have been performed and recorded by such internationally renowned singers as Renée Fleming, Nathan Gunn, Kelli O’Hara, Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Frederica von Stade, and Nadine Sierra, among many others.

Patricia Racette is known as one of the great singing actresses of our time, and she continues to share her artistry with audiences around the world. However, in St. Louis, she is even more beloved for her work as the Artistic Director of OTSL’s Young Artist Programs. Every season, she crafts a rigorous curriculum for our young artists that helps push them to new heights of musical and dramatic interpretation — and this master class is the perfect example of that work in action!

American tenor and former GYA Richard Cox has appeared on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, and many other renowned opera companies. In addition to being an accomplished concert singer and recitalist, Richard is a dedicated teacher and mentor for young artists. He currently serves on faculty at the Bard College Conservatory of Music and makes regular teaching appearances at the San Francisco Opera Center Adler Fellowship Program, Westminster Choir College, and several other universities around the world.