Edward Zambara
Zambara's teaching career began at the University of Tennessee in 1952. Between 1958 and 1960, he taught at the University of Oregon. In 1961, he returned to the University of Tennessee as the chair of the voice department, teaching there until 1981. During that tenure, Zambara also founded the Knoxville Opera, and in 1980, he received the Tennessee Governor's Award in the Arts.
For many years, Zambara had been one of the most sought-after voice professors in the United States. Many of his pupils are successful performers in the opera houses of Europe and the United States. As well, many are successful teachers who follow his example by training young singers in the bel canto vocal tradition.
Delores Ziegler
Born in Atlanta, Ziegler earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Maryville College (1973) and a Master of Arts degree in vocal performance from the University of Tennessee where she was a pupil of Edward Zambara. After first performances in concert, she made her operatic debut as Flora in Verdi's La traviata in Oxfield, Tennessee in 1978.In 1979 she was a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. That same year she performed the role of Maddalena in Verdi's Rigoletto at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
Carroll Freeman
Carroll Freeman is an American operatic tenor, opera director, and music educator. He began his career as a prominent boy soprano in the 1960s. From the late 1970s through the mid 1990s he performed widely as a tenor with opera companies and orchestras in the United States. After that he worked as a director of opera productions with opera companies throughout North America. He is the former director of the opera program at the University of Tennessee and currently directs the opera program at Georgia State University. He is also the former Artistic Director of Mississippi Opera, Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point, and opera studios at Knoxville Opera and Des Moines Metro Opera.
Cheryl Studer
She attended Herbert Henry Dow High School, then transferred to the Interlochen Arts Academy for her junior and senior years and graduated from there in 1974. Following high school, Studer studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music but left the program after a year, deciding to move with her family to Tennessee. She continued her studies at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance in 1979. Studer won several awards and competitions during this time, including the High Fidelity/Musical America Award in 1977 and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1978.[5]
Andrew Wentzel
Retired Professor of voice, serving on the faculty at the University of Tennessee since January, 1996, he has established a strong reputation as a trainer of young professionals as well as a highly sought after adjudicator for such many important vocal competitions, including those of the Metropolitan Opera National Council.
At the Metropolitan Opera, where he made his debut in 1985, Mr. Wentzel has appeared in numerous productions including Roméo et Juliette, Billy Budd, I puritani, Rigoletto, La fanciulla del West, Turandot, Manon, and Les Contes d'Hoffmann. Other operatic credits include Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with New York City Opera and San Diego Opera, Mr. Flint in Billy Budd with Houston Grand Opera, La bohème with the Washington Opera, Norma with Minnesota Opera, Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte with Glimmerglass Opera, and Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Sparafucile in Rigoletto with Boston Lyric Opera and many more.
Grace Moore
Moore was born Mary Willie Grace Moore, the daughter of Tessa Jane (née Stokely) and Richard Lawson Moore. She was born in the community of Slabtown (now considered part of Del Rio) in Cocke County, Tennessee. By the time she was two years old, her family had relocated to Knoxville, they then moved to Jellico, after high school she studied briefly at Ward-Belmont College in Nashville before moving to Washington, D.C. and New York City to continue her musical training and begin her career. Her first paying job as a singer was at the Black Cat Cafe in Greenwich Village.
In 1935 Moore received the gold medal award of the Society of Arts and Sciences for "conspicuous achievement in raising the standard of cinema entertainment." In 1936 King Christian X of Denmark awarded her his country's medal of 'Ingenito et Arti.' In 1937, she was commissioned as a colonel (an honorary position) on the staff of the governor of Tennessee, and was also made a life member of the Tennessee State Society of Washington, D.C.
George Bitzas
For 28 years (1971–1999), George Bitzas’s tenor voice started University of Tennessee home football games with the “Star Spangled Banner.” He joined the music faculty in 1965 as an assistant professor of voice. His first appearance on Shields-Watkins Field was to sing the tenor aria La Donne e Mobile in a halftime show titled “Back to Bluegrass.” Director of Bands WJ Julian then recruited him for regular national anthem duty. He retired from regular teaching in December 1998 and became professor emeritus.
Kevin Burdette
Dubbed “the Robin Williams of opera” by the New York Times, Knoxville native and University of Tennessee graduate Burdette has impressed audiences around the world with his mellifluous bass voice and strongly dramatic characterizations. Recent career highlights include Señor Russell in Adès’s The Exterminating Angel and Stefano in The Tempest (Deutsche Grammophon, 2014 Grammy Award) with the Metropolitan Opera; Pangloss and Martin in Candide with the Gran Teatre del Liceu; Beck Weathers in the world premiere of Everest with Dallas Opera; Doktor in Wozzeck with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra; over a dozen roles with Santa Fe Opera; Leporello with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and Sulpice in La fille du régiment with Washington National Opera. An active lecturer and teacher, Burdette is committed to providing the next generation of opera students with the opportunities and the foundation to find their voices and tell their stories