Naftzger Auditions and Awards

Since his 2004 Metropolitan Opera debut as ‘Mime’ in Das Rheingold conducted by legendary conductor James Levine, David Cangelosi has returned to the Met in Magic Flute, Andrea Chenier, Il tabarro, The Tales of Hoffmann, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Le Nozze di Figaro, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, and other 'Ring' related assignments. He rejoined the Metropolitan Opera roster in 2021/2022 to sing the role of Monostatos in their Holiday Presentation of The Magic Flute and returned to the Met roster in 2023.

He has performed his signature role of Mime with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Opéra de Montreal, Boston Wagner Society, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood. Additionally, he performed Mime in Das Rheingold and Siegfried with the Hong Kong Phil, both of which were recorded on Naxos and conducted by Jaap van Zweden (New York Philharmonic). Other notable ‘Ring’ highlights include a recording of the ‘Forging Scene’ (Siegfried) with Placido Domingo for EMI Classics’ Scenes from the Ring, and a special presentation of Siegfried with Juneau Lyric Opera.

Recent and upcoming engagements include hosting the 50^th Anniversary celebration of Chicago Opera Theater, his Pacific Symphony debut as Mime in Das Rheingold (2025); Des Moines Metro Opera debut in a new production of Cunning Little Vixen (2025); a special 50^th Anniversary production of Die Fledermaus with Juneau Lyric Opera (2025); an Opera Festival of Chicago debut in Dallapiccola’s Il Prigioniero (2024); The Nose with Chicago Opera Theater (2023); and a role debut of Edrisi for Chicago Opera Theater’s new production of King Roger (2022).

Cangelosi has performed the roles of Mosquito/Schoolmaster in the original multi-media production of Cunning Little Vixen with the Cleveland Orchestra in Cleveland and toured Vienna, Luxembourg and Detroit Opera with the same. Recent notable highlights marked a return to Carnegie Hall for the U.S. Premiere of Bohuslav Martinu’s Juliette with the American Symphony Orchestra, and his role debut as the Blind Judge in Das Wunder der Heliane with the Bard Music Festival; his Houston Grand Opera debut with Tosca and Eugene Onegin as well as Tosca and Magic Flute with Washington National Opera. Additional recent performances include Shuisky in Boris Godunov with the Dallas Opera and he has returned to the company for Moby Dick, Madame Butterfly, Tosca, and Magic Flute along with a concert version of Boris Godunov with the Anchorage Symphony and Der Rosenkavalier with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Major career highlights include televised performances of Paglicacci in the legendary Franco Zeffirelli production starring Placido Domingo; the Saito-Kinen Festival in Matsumoto, Japan; Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, along with Le Nozze di Figaro and Die Zauberflöte with Paris Opera (Bastille/Garnier); performances as the Witch (Hansel & Gretel) with Opera Fairbanks and Western Plains Opera, new productions of Die Fledermaus and Tosca with the Canadian Opera Company (COC, Toronto); Magic Flute, Turandot, Salome and Tales of Hoffmann with Santa Fe Opera.

Cangelosi made his cinematic debut at the Venice Film Festival in the feature film Tosca starring Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna along with his debut at the Hollywood Bowl in a concert version of The Magic Flute with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He debuted at the Spoleto Festival (U.S.A.) singing the roles of the Noctambulist/Pape des Fous in Louise and performed as a featured soloist for their Intermezzi Recital Series. A decades-long veteran of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Mr. Cangelosi made his debut in Salome in 1996 and returned for 20 consecutive seasons singing dozens of principal roles, concert performances, and hosting special events. A pandemic shortened 2021 season would have found Mr. Cangelosi in his role debut as Loge in Das Rheingold at Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires.

Mr. Cangelosi has also served as Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Huntingdon College as well as the Artistic/Program Director for the Vann Vocal Institute in Montgomery, Alabama for the past 17 years. He actively travels the country as a recitalist, symphonic guest-artist, competition adjudicator, and Master Class instructor for aspiring vocalists at such well-regarded venues as Roosevelt University/Chicago Summer Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Baldwin-Wallace University, Fairbanks University, and Minot University among others.

Thomas Keck serves as Director of the Division of Music in the SMU Meadows School of the Arts, where he is the chief academic and administrative officer of the division. Prior to this, Keck served as Chair of the Department of Music at Utah Valley University and had over twenty years of faculty experience as Director or Associate Director of Bands at the Universities of Georgia, Miami, New Hampshire, Ball State, and Utah Valley. In these roles, he oversaw concert and athletic band programs while mentoring undergraduate and graduate students.

Keck has conducted at regional conferences of the CBDNA and NAfME in addition to high school all-state engagements. He held the unique distinction of being the first conductor to have their concert ensemble and marching band be invited to perform for the membership of the CBDNA in the same year. Keck has guest conducted the US Army Field Band, the US Air Force Band of the Golden West, and has served as Assistant Conductor of the Greater Miami Symphonic Band. He has appeared with university and high school ensembles throughout the United States, Bahamas, Bermuda, Haiti, Mexico, Canada, Europe, and China.

Keck is a published author in nine volumes of the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series, the leading compendium of wind band repertoire. Keck is also a contributing author to the recent rehearsal techniques textbook, What Would You Do? An Anthology and Methodology for the Development of Rehearsal Techniques for Band, and the leading marching band methods textbook, The System. For 25 years, Keck was a director and collegiate conducting curriculum designer at the Smith-Walbridge Clinics, the first summer training program for high school and college drum majors.

Keck holds a terminal degree in conducting from Arizona State University and music education degrees from the Universities of Illinois and Iowa. He also earned an M.A. in Higher Education Leadership with a concentration in fundraising leadership from Penn State University. He has twice received the National Band Association Citation of Excellence and was included in the 20th annual School Band & Orchestra magazine 50 Directors Who Make a Difference. 

Jodi Levitz is an internationally acclaimed violist and dedicated educator who currently serves as Professor of Viola and String Program Director at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. Her distinguished career spans over four decades, featuring performances as a soloist and chamber musician across Europe, North America, South America, and Asia.

While still a student at The Juilliard School, Jodi won first prizes in the D'Angelo and Hudson Valley Competitions, launching her career as principal viola and soloist with the Italian chamber ensemble I Solisti Veneti. She performed in renowned venues worldwide and has produced numerous recordings with labels such as Concerto, Dynamic, Naxos, and Erato, covering both classical and contemporary works, in addition to chamber music recordings as violist of the Chicago String Trio, the Ives Quartet, and historically informed projects with fortepiano.

As an educator, Jodi is known for her inspiring approach and dedication to her students' growth. She has received the Sarlo Family Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching, and her students have won major competitions, including the Naumburg and Fischoff, and have gone on to perform in prominent orchestras and teaching institutions worldwide. She has led masterclasses globally, co-directed the Zephyr International Chamber Music Festival in Italy, and is a core faculty member at the Blackburn Academy at Festival Napa.

Prior to her role at Frost, Jodi was Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she also served as Chair of Strings and Chair of Chamber Music. Her teaching emphasizes technical excellence and creative individuality, guiding students to develop their own artistic voices. Her contributions to both performance and education continue to resonate throughout the music community.

Caroline Oltmanns is a pianist, presenter and pedagogue.

She reveals in her playing a deep connectivity between music and culture, and her impeccable musical phrasing combined with an engaging stage presence have attracted audiences both in the US and abroad. Caroline Oltmanns’ playing is ‘filled with fantasy in the greatest sense of the word’ (Dr. Ursula Adamski-Stoermer, Bayerischer Rundfunk). Critics have raved about her 'clear, light and scintillating tone' (Guy Engels, Pizzicato), and her uninhibited lyricism and understated power (Jeremy Reynolds, ClevelandClassical).

Caroline Oltmanns has recorded seven solo CDs on the Filia Mundi label. Her newest concept album WIND was recorded in the prestigious Reitstadel in Germany, it was released in 2022. Event highlights of this concert season include concert appearances in the United States, in Switzerland, and in the UK. Previous concert seasons have included concerto appearances with Youngstown Symphony Orchestra (Randall Craig Fleischer), Johnson City Symphony Orchestra (Robert Seebacher), Harburger Orchester Akademie (Rainer Schmitz), and Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra (William Slocum). Caroline Oltmanns presented recitals at Steinway Hall and Weill Recital Hall in New York City, Preston Bradley Hall in Chicago, and the Redlands Bowl and Leo Bing Theater in Los Angeles.

Caroline Oltmanns has commissioned, premiered and recorded numerous new works including concertos for piano and large ensemble by James Wilding, Till McIvor Meyn, Edward Largent, Rainer Schmitz, Dave Morgan, and Tom Janson.

Her playing has been heard on radio stations in Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Cape Town. Radio interviews in Germany have been broadcast on Bayern IV, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Süddeutscher, Rundfunk, Radio Bremen, Hessischer Rundfunk and Westdeutscher Rundfunk. Televised interviews and performances include Bayerisches Fernsehen, Channel 25 Chicago, and KVCR-TV San Bernadino.

A Professor of Piano at Youngstown State University, Caroline Oltmanns has presented master classes and workshops in the United States, Switzerland, Germany, the UK, South Africa, Canada, and China. She serves as a regular screening member of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, and she recently was appointed Vice President of the Board of the documentary series Living the Classical Life. Caroline Oltmanns has initiated and supported several philanthropic causes through regular benefit appearances including 88 Hearts for Youngstown, an endowed fund to support scholarships for piano students at Youngstown State University.

Caroline Oltmanns received her early pianistic training in her native Germany based on the Walter Gieseking and Karl Leimer traditions. She is a Fulbright Scholar, an International Steinway Artist, a 2022 Steinway Top Teacher Awardee, and a Steinway Spirio Recording Artist. She was awarded substantial support through the Annette-Kade-Stiftung and the Stipendium der deutschen Wirtschaft to pursue her Diploma at the Staatliche Musikhochschule Freiburg and her Master's and Doctoral degrees at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Her musical mentors were Robert Levin, John Perry, Vitaly Margulis and Malcolm Frager.