The Honorable Board members of COUSC:

President

Kira Dills-DeSurra is currently a Junior at the University of Southern California pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Arts. She studies with soprano Shigemi Matsumoto. This is her third year with COUSC, having previously appeared as Tracy Turnblad in a selection from John Watters’ Hairspray and the title role in Amahl and the Night Visitors. A native of Petaluma, California, she performed with Cinnabar Theater as Mabel in Pirates of Penzance, Belinda in Dido and Aeneas, and Mad Margaret in Ruddigore.

Board

Ann Simon (Vice-president) is a sophomore pursuing a BM in Vocal Arts, studying with Elizabeth Hynes. Growing up in Washington, DC, Annie performed at professional theaters including Signature Theatre, The Folger-Shakespeare, and the Kennedy Center. Over the summers, Annie attended the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan, and participated in the Washington National Opera Institute for Young Singers. In 2005, Annie won first place for the Classical High School Women Divisino in the NATS Mid-Atlantic Region Auditions. Annie loves COUSC and thinks you should come and join the fun!

Benjamin Cortez (Productions Manager) is a sophomore under the vocal direction of Elizabeth Hynes. He has been participateing in the Thornton Opera since the beginning of his freshman year to the present. Most recently, he has covered the role of Male Chorus in "The Rape of Lucretia" and will be appearing in Opera Scenes and "Don Giovanni" in 2009. He has attended Aspen Music festival where he also participated in chorus and the scenes program. He is excited to continue his work at USC and as well as to support the Chamber Opera program.

Nate Widelitz (Treasurer) is a junior pursuing a BM in Vocal Arts. He studies with Gary Glaze, and is a current member of the USC Chamber Singers, as well Director of the Trojan Consort. He has appeared in COUSC productions of Amahl and the Night Visitors and scenes from The Taming of the Shrew. He has also appeared in the Thornton Opera's production of I Capuleti e i Montecchi and participated in their Winter Scenes program. Mr. Widelitz hails from the Philadelphian suburb of Perkasie, Pennsylvania, and much prefers the weather in the Los Angeles Basin.

Marisa Johnson (Public Relations) is a twenty year old B.M. Vocal Performance major at USC. She has performed in several community theatre musicals in her hometown of Bakersfield, as well as numerous Opera scenes at Bakersfield College, Cal State Bakersfield, and USC. Some of her favorite roles were Maria in West Side Story, Carmen in Carmen, and Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte. She has won many awards including Female Vocalist of the Year at the Kern County’s Most Talented Singer competition, Bakersfield’s Idol, Best in Classipop at the Best New Talent Awards, a Talent Award at Miss California, and the title of Miss Kern County ’08. She expects to be a star on Broadway as well as in the Metropolitan Opera.

Megan Franklin is a sophomore at USC pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Voice. She won the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Awards, the Orange County Performing Arts Center Tomorrow's Stars Awards, and the Opera Pacific Competition, among others. Megan has performed as a soloist at the International Church Music Festival in Chester, England and appeared on the BBC's "Songs of Praise" program. Interested in choral music, Megan sings with the Pacific Chorale, the Scuola Contorum of St. James' in the City, and the USC Chamber Singers and Oriana Choir.

Stage directors/Musical directors

Alexandra Loutsion debuted with the COUSC in 2007 stage directing scenes from La Traviata and Le Nozze di Figaro. When she isn’t behind the scenes, she is pursuing a career as a soprano. Currently, she is a graduate certificate candidate at the University of Southern Califronia where she recently completed her Masters degree. With USC, she appeared as Alma Winemiller in Summer and Smoke as well as Fay Doyle in the West Coast premier of Lowell Liebermann’s Miss Lonelyhearts. Other stage credits include Anna Glawari in The Merry Widow, Dido in Dido and Aeneas, Geraldine in A Hand of Bridge, and Sie in Hartmann’s Wachsfiguren Kabinett with the Aspen Opera Theater Center. Ms. Loutsion was a featured as a guest soloist for the Washington and Jefferson College concert series in “For the Love of Legacy”, a concert of Russian and Czech art song. Other past concert engagements include Mahler’s Symphony #4 with the Aspen Conductor’s Project, and Greig’s Peer Gynt with the Aspen Sinfonia. She has a deep love of contemporary classical music, performing Issac Shankler’s Sharp with the USC Contemporary Ensemble as well as Los Angeles composer Alexander Tovar’s And do they dance and Hallucination Hipster as Voice. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree magna cum laude from Ithaca College. Future engagements include Second Woman in The Dido Project in New York City, as well as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with the USC Thornton Opera in 2009.

Aurelien Eulert is currently completing his Graduate Certificate in Piano Performance at the USC Thornton School of Music in the studio of Kevin Fitz-Gerald. He has already been an active performer both in the United States and Europe. Regularly performing both as a soloist and collaborative pianist, he has given numerous performances in his native France, as well as Germany, Luxembourg and both coasts of the United States. Aurelien graduated from the Strasbourg Conservatoire National de Musique where he studied since the age of 8 with French pianist Jean-Louis Haguenauer and American pianist Amy Lin. He passed all his diplomas in Strasbourg with the highest grades: the First Prize of Piano in 2002 and Chamber Music in 2003, combined to obtain the Diplôme d’Etudes Musicales, and the Diplôme de Perfectionnement in Chamber Music in 2004 and in Piano in 2005. Offered a full scholarship at Syracuse University Setnor School of Music, NY, Aurelien left France to pursue his Master’s of Music in Piano Performance in the studio of Dr Fred Karpoff. After holding a teaching assistantship in Piano, along with his accompaniment duties at Setnor, he graduated with his Master’s degree in May 2007.As a collaborative pianist and chamber musician, he has often performed in various large ensembles (Saint-Saens’s Carnaval des Animaux; Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire; Bartok’s Sonata for two Pianos and Percussion; Brahms' Liebeslieder...), as well as in more intimate formations. Aurelien also has had great experience with the Vocal repertoire, having coached singers for many years and being fluent in French, English, German and Italian.

Stage Manager

Webmaster

Monika Beal will graduate from the Thornton School with a Bachelor's degree of Music in Vocal Performance in May 2010. She is involved with the USC Chamber Singers ensemble and recently performed with COUSC in The Daily Grind. She is also a member of the Classical Singers Association. When she is not working on expanding her repertoire, she enjoys researching operas, listening to past and present "greats" in the opera world, and soaking up as much wisdom and artistry as possible from the masters.