Dillinger

Darren Canady

Darren Canady hails from Topeka KS. His work has been produced at the Alliance Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, Aurora Theater, Congo Square Theater, Horizon Theatre, London’s the Old Vic Theatre, M Ensemble, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, American Blues Theater, and others. His awards include the Alliance Theater’s Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Award, Chicago’s Black Excellence Award, the Black Theatre Alliance Award, and the American Theatre Critics Association’s Osborn Award. His work has been developed at numerous festivals including the O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwright’s Conference. His play You’re Invited appeared in The Best American Short Plays 2010-2011. His work has been seen or developed at the Quo Vadimus Arts’ ID America Festival, the Fremont Centre Theatre, Premiere Stages, the BE Company, Penumbra Theatre, and American Blues Theater. Darren is an alum of Carnegie Mellon University, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and the Juilliard School. He is a current member of the Core Writers Program at the Playwrights’ Center and Midwest Dramatists Center. He is an artistic associate with American Blues Theater and Congo Square Theatre. He currently teaches playwriting at the University of Kansas.

Caryn Alexis Crozier

Dr. Caryn Alexis Crozier is hailed as having “a lush voice with a sparkling bloom in its upper register.” Greco has had the privilege to perform all over North America in leading roles with ViVace Opera in Vancouver BC, Toronto Summer Opera, Finger Lakes Opera, Portland Summer Opera, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Bloomington Summer Opera, Undercroft Opera, Pittsburgh Savoyards, and Steel City Opera — her favorites being Rusalka, Manon, Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Yeoman of the Guard. She has also been featured as a soloist with the Appalachian Symphony Orchestra, Finger Lakes Opera Symphony Orchestra, and the West Virginia Symphony. She is a huge advocate for new music and has had the immense pleasure to premiere roles in three large works within the past couple of years; Helen Martin: An American Moment, Five Haiku, and DILLINGER: AN AMERICAN ORATORIO. Greco is currently an Assistant Professor of Voice at Point Park University, Voice Area Coordinator at Saint Vincent College, and is the Managing Director/Co-Founder of Steel City Opera. Thank you to Matt, Darren, and Kym for involving me in this project and for entrusting us with your music and words!

Leigh Usilton

Leigh Usilton, D.M.A. is a voice teacher, performer, and proud “recovering academic” originally from Salisbury MD and now making her home in Pittsburgh PA. She owns Northside Voice Pittsburgh, a private voice studio that exists to encourage and embolden adult learners seeking to explore and unearth their unique voice.

Her true joy is in exploring popular music styles. She is currently working on an album of pop/rock covers, and has performed professionally with The Auburn Knights Swing Orchestra in Auburn AL, and was signed to MCA Nashville as a member of the pop-country group McAlyster.

George Milosh

George Milosh is a singer, teacher, and conductor based in Aliquippa PA. Milosh has been seen onstage as John Adams in 1776 (Center Theatre Players), Hero in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (Center Theatre Players), Prince Charming in Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon (Pittsburgh Festival Opera), Tamino in The Magic Flute (West Virginia University), and Acis in Acis and Galatea (Central City Opera).

Juwan Johnson

Juwan Johnson is a baritone currently based in Tulsa OK. He has competed regionally and nationally in the NATS and Classical Singer competitions and consistently placed in both the semifinals and within the top three placements. In 2019 he competed as a national finalist in the Hall Johnson Spiritual Competition in Las Vegas NV. In 2022 he was invited to Roanoke Opera to premier Songs Of Death, a song cycle by renowned composer, Tyshawn Sorey. He looks forward to his debut as the baritone soloist in Mathew Heap’s Oratorio, DILLINGER: AN AMERICAN ORATORIO.

Kym Scott

Dr. Kym Scott is the Director of Choral Activities at West Virginia University where she conducts the WVU Chamber Singers, Mountaineer Singers, Mountaineer Chorus, and Community Choir. She also teaches conducting, choral techniques, and choral literature, and oversees the choral conducting graduate program. She has directed choirs in Australia, Asia, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States, including several performances by the USC Chamber Singers with The Rolling Stones in Los Angeles and Anaheim during their “50 and counting” world tour. In June 2022 she directed the WVU Chamber Singers in a performance at New York City’s Carnegie Hall.

Mark A. Benincosa II

Mark A. Benincosa II is an eclectic audio engineer, producer, composer, and musician. As a recording engineer, he prefers a hybrid approach that combines techniques common in classical music, in conjunction with methods that are more at home in a rock or EDM environment. He has engineered, mixed, produced, and/or mastered a variety of rock, electronic, new music, and classical music for independent and label releases. His work has received excellent reviews from publications such as Gramophone Magazine. He is a full voting member with the National Recording Academy of Arts & Sciences. He co-produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered, Mademoiselle: Premiere Audience, which was nominated for a Grammy during the 2018 awards season. Benincosa works alone and with collaborators as a composer, instrumentalist, and vocalist under the name Black Hole Zion where he has written and performed various genres of music for live theater, independent films, video games, and standalone releases. His song, 8-Bit Rage, was featured in the video game, Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Steam), as the theme song for the team, Cracksumskull Jugulars. He currently teaches recording technology and music production at West Virginia University where he applies his diverse interests and background to equally diverse groups of students.