Course Instructors
Charles Conwell
Instructor in Stage Combat
In addition to teaching stage combat for The Academy of Vocal Arts, Charles Conwell is an associate professor at The University of the Arts where he teaches stage combat, script analysis, and directing. A certified member of the Society of American Fight Directors, he has directed violence for every professional theater company in Philadelphia as well as for the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Curtis Institute of Music. Mr. Conwell is also frequently employed at the Hartford Stage Company in Connecticut, where he directed the fencing match for Hamlet starring Richard Thomas in the title role. In 1993 he staged the combat scenes for the Metropolitan Opera’s premiere of I Lombardi, directed by Mark Lamos.
Debra DeVries
Instructor in English as a Second Language
Debra DeVries holds a graduate degree in international business from the University of Michigan and has had a career in management in international corporate finance. Ms. DeVries received her Cambridge University certification in ESL instruction in Edinburgh, Scotland, and has taught English as a second language in Europe and the U.S. She has taught English at the Academy of Vocal Arts since 2001.
Thor Eckert
Professional Development Coach
Author and opera consultant Thor Eckert has been a regular guest quizmaster on the popular Opera Quiz intermission feature of the Toll Brothers/Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network broadcasts since 1988. He was chief music critic of The Christian Science Monitor for fifteen years. In addition to his work for the Monitor, he contributed cover stories and other feature articles for such publications as Opera News, Opera, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Business Week. A former artists’ manager, Mr. Eckert served on numerous judging panels, including the George London Foundation Awards, the Greater Buffalo Opera International Competition, the Opera Index Vocal Competition, and the Richard Tucker Music Foundation (RTMF), for which he served as chairman of the Juries and Awards committee and continues to serve as a board member. Mr. Eckert specializes in consulting with young singers on career development.
Valentín Fernández
Instructor in Spanish
A graduate of the University of Puerto Rico and The Academy of Vocal Arts, Valentín Fernández is included in the book 150 Years of Zarzuela in Puerto Rico and Cuba. Besides singing the premieres of several works by Puerto Rican and Cuban composers, he has an extensive song repertoire. Mr. Fernández is also an experienced translator, diction coach and Spanish instructor. He has served as a bilingual/bicultural consultant for several organizations.
Teresa Butini Hanes
Instructor in Italian
Teresa Butini Hanes is a native of Italy’s Tuscany region. Mrs. Hanes graduated from the University of Rome, where she studied the classics. She has taught Italian at The University of the Arts and Bryn Mawr College, Latin at Germantown Friends School, and English at the School for Interpreters in Bologna, Italy. In 2008 she was the Italian coach at Glimmerglass Opera, working with both the protagonists of Giulio Cesare in Egitto and I Capuleti e i Montecchi and with the Young American Artists program. Mrs. Hanes currently teaches Italian Literature at the America-Italy Society of Philadelphia.
Lisa Lovelace
Instructor in Stage Movement and Dance
Lisa Lovelace received her Master of Fine Arts in Choreography and Performance from Temple University. In her seventeen years as a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer in the Philadelphia area, Ms. Lovelace has traveled the world with her husband, internationally acclaimed opera tenor, Richard Troxell (AVA class of ’92). As an independent choreographer, she has performed all over Philadelphia and the five-county region. Ms. Lovelace collaborates with opera singers and performs extensively with children of all ages. She is currently on the faculty at West Chester University and has been a guest artist at Eastern College and St Joseph’s University, where she has been commissioned to create dances, hold workshops, and conduct master classes. Formerly a member of Dance Conduit, Danceteller, and co-director of Sacred Ways Dance Company, Ms. Lovelace is in her eighteenth year teaching modern technique at Feet First Dance Studio.
Robert Thayer Sataloff, M.D., D.M.A.
Head of Voice Science Department
Dr. Robert Sataloff is a graduate of Haverford College with a degree in music theory and composition; the Jefferson Medical College, the Otorhinolaryngology Residency and Neurotology Fellowship of the University of Michigan; and Combs College of Music (D.M.A. in Voice). Currently, Dr. Sataloff is professor of otolaryngology at Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University; adjunct professor in the department of otolaryngology at the University of Pennsylvania and at Georgetown University; chairman of the department of otolaryngology at Graduate Hospital; chairman of The Voice Foundation; and chairman of the American Institute for Voice and Ear Research. He is also on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music.
Dr. Sataloff is the author of more than five hundred publications, including twenty-three textbooks, and has lectured extensively on the voice throughout the world. He is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Voice and on the editorial boards of the Journal of Singing, Ear Nose and Throat Journal, and numerous other professional publications. Dr. Sataloff has also served as conductor of the Thomas Jefferson University Choir since 1970. He adds a special dimension to the AVA faculty as the only otolaryngologist in the United States who is a fully trained professional singer, voice teacher, and conductor.
