Carleen Graham
Carleen Graham Directed the RSAMD Opera Scenes Spring 08
Carleen was born and raised in the mid-west region of the U.S. and graduated from Ohio University-Athens, with a Bachelors degree in music education and taught vocal music in the public schools. During this time, she also enjoyed an active performing career on the stage and in the concert hall. She then earned an M.M. and G.D. in vocal performance from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, studying voice with Helen Hodam and opera with John Moriarty and James Robinson.
After graduating from NEC, she took a position at The Crane School of Music at The State University of New York – Potsdam. Over the next eighteen years, she has led The Crane Opera Ensemble to national recognition with its diverse repertoire of opera, operetta, musical theatre and opera education outreach programming, including La Bohème, Dido & Aeneas, Orpheus in the Underworld, A Little Night Music, The Threepenny Opera, The Marriage of Figaro, A Wrinkle in Time, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, L’incoronazione di Poppea, Mikado, The St. Matthew Passion (Bach), and more recently, the world-premier production of The Sailorboy & the Falcon (music by Paul Siskind, libretto by Alan Steinberg) starring mezzo soprano Stephanie Blythe (a Potsdam alumna). In addition to her duties as Opera Director, she teaches Performance Practices for Singers, Opera Literature, and Teaching Opera to Children. She has also worked diligently to develop a strong collaborative relationship with the college’s Department of Theatre & Dance resulting in shared productions, courses and staff.
She also stage directs for the Curso Internaçional de Música Vocal summer program at the Universidade de Aveiro in Portugal in the summers and has directed productions for Berkshire Opera Company, Tanglewood Music Festival, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Central City Opera/Colorado Symphony, and The Eastman School of Music Opera Theatre. She is currently on sabbatical leave completing an Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University, in NYC. Her research interests include educational practices of collegiate level opera programs, entrepreneurship, and opera education curriculum.