Sydney Kucine is a distinguished American operatic soprano with a prominent career in opera and concert repertoire. She earned her Master’s degree in Music from Mannes College of Music at The New School and her Bachelor’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Most recently, she covered the role of Juliette in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette with Opera Maine. In the previous season, Ms. Kucine returned to Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium in New York City as the soprano soloist in the Gloria from Misa Criolla. She has also appeared as Pamina in The Magic Flute on a United States tour with acclaimed author Carolyn Sloan and as soprano soloist in Górecki’s Symphony No. 3, Op. 36. Earlier engagements include singing the Gloria at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium and Fauré’s Requiem at Marble Collegiate Church in New York City.

Sydney has received several prestigious awards, including The Maria Callas Tribute Prize, as well as prizes from The Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, The Mildred Miller International Voice Competition, and The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. In addition to her performance career, Sydney is passionate about teaching voice and piano. She began playing piano at age ten and singing at age six. She specializes in beginning to intermediate piano and voice students of all levels, emphasizing strong foundational skills, self-motivation, and confidence in performance settings.

Andrew A. Hill is a freelance conductor and professional musician based in New York City. As a conductor, Andrew guest conducts the New Amsterdam Symphony in April of 2027 and made his New York City debut with the New Conductors Orchestra leading the orchestra in David Diamond's Symphony No. 1 (1941) in February of 2023 and gave the U.S. Premeire of Robin Haigh's Concerto for Orchestra (2023) in February of 2026. He served as assistant conductor of the West of England Youth Orchestra in January of 2026 and in May of 2025, he conducted & recorded with the FAMES Institute Orchestra in Skopje, North Macedonia collaborating with composers from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam recording new music for short animated films. As a professional musician, he has performed at Carnegie Hall (NYC), Davies Symphony Hall (SF), Walt Disney Concert Hall (LA), Berliner Philharmonie (Berlin, Germany), Milan Conservatory (Milan, Italy), Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine (Udine, Italy), The Royal Concertgebouw Hall (Amsterdam), Smetana Hall (Prague), Teatro El Círculo (Rosario, Argentina) and Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires, Argentina). In 2021-2022, he was awarded Educator of the Year as the Music Director (band, orchestra and jazz director) at Los Gatos High School, California. Currently, he is an active freelance professional musician in New York City. He holds a Masters of Music in Conducting at Colorado State University and a Bachelors of Music in Music Education/Trombone Performance from San José State University.

Zoey Xinyue Zhou is known for her versatile repertoire spanning vocal, instrumental, and orchestral music. Her performances grace prestigious venues across North America, Europe and Asia, including stages as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Kaufman Music Center, Caramoor Music Center and Michael Klein Music Tent. 

Currently, she works as a staff pianist at The Juilliard School and serves for distinguished pedagogues, including Timothy Cobb, Harold Robinson and Cynthia Hoffmann. She frequently performs in recitals with members of San Fransisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and New Jersey Symphony. She was a staff pianist for the International Society of Bassists Competition in 2025. She has worked in masterclasses with renowned artists such as Renée Fleming, Lawrence Brownlee, Frans Helmerson, Sébastian Jacot and Dominik Wagner.

Zoey holds a bachelor’s degree from the Royal Academy of Music in London and master’s from The Juilliard School. In the past, she participated in prestigious programs such as Festival Napa Valley, Schubert Institut, SongFest, Aspen Music Festival and School and Schwab Vocal Rising Stars at Caramoor.

Mimika Muscillo is a Toronto born accomplished singer-songwriter and holds a degree in songwriting from Berklee College of Music.​ She has spent the last few years performing in major cities such as NYC, Los Angeles, Nashville, Boston, and in her hometown. With a love for musical theatre, Mimika has also performed in various shows including most recently making her Wavestage debut in the spring 2025 production of “Anastasia.” ​​

As a songwriter, her catalogue has more than 4 million streams and spans genres from indie rock, to country, to dark pop. Mimika’s love for performance extends fully to her music teaching; she teaches voice and piano lessons in NYC. Her students regularly perform and compete in regional competitions, talent shows, musicals and much more. Mimika specializes in providing contemporary voice lessons: pop, musical theatre, rock, R&B, and more.​ As a voice teacher, she places heavy emphasis and focus on vocal health and performance technique. She has aided students with preparing for auditions and exams, helping to bring their performance abilities to the next level and above all nurturing their love for music.

David Morales is a pianist, singer, songwriter, producer, arranger, and musical director based in Long Island. Originally from Nicaragua, David migrated to the U.S. with his family at the age of 13 in pursuit of a better life, which ultimately led to his discovery and passion for music. After graduating from The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in NYC, David further honed his craft in jazz performance while retaining his roots in salsa and other Latin rhythms, helping him stand out among his peers.

As a performer, David has had the opportunity to tour the East Coast, from Philadelphia to Florida, Virginia, and Massachusetts. Additionally, David is a music educator specializing in piano and general music education, teaching primarily in minority and bilingual communities in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. He believes that music is a core component of the education system and should be accessible to all students, regardless of their racial, linguistic, or financial backgrounds.

In October of 2025, Sebastian performed select Spanish works by Julio Osma and Manuel Ponce alongside Savannah Bergli with The Why Collective in New York City and give a Masterclass to students of Upper East Side Music. Summer of 2025 saw Sebastian collaborate for the first time with Opera Festival of Chicago. Sebastian Armendariz returned to operatic stage in 2024 as Nemorino in New Jersey Lyric Opera’s production of L’elisir d’amore. He made his debut at 54 Below in August 2024 singing the works of Christian De Gré Cardenas, and created the role of Juan Escutia at the premiere of Orgullo! by Christian De Gré Cardenas at The Public on September 15th. In 2023 Sebastian joined Opera Theatre St. Louis in a new opera workshop in NYC and appeared as the titular role in a concert performance of Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux at St John’s in the Village. In 2022, Sebastian performed Richmond County Orchestra’s Hispanic Heritage Concert, a recital for Salon 58, and placed as a semi-finalist in the Federation of the Art Song’s Art Song Fellowship competition. Summer 2021 saw Sebastian join Theatre Now’s developmental reading of Steve Wallace’s new musical adaptation of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” as the villainous propagandist pig, Squealer. In the Fall of 2019, Sebastian joined Indianapolis Opera as a Resident Artist where he covered the role of Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.