The Department of Voice & Opera, in conjunction with the University Musical Society, is pleased to present four separate Master Classes, Friday, December 5, 2025, 10:30am-12:20pm at the Earl V. Moore Building.

Each class will be led by a soloist from this year’s UMS presentation of Handel’s Messiah, each working with four of our SMTD voice students. The master clinicians are Sherezade Panthaki, soprano; Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, counter-tenor; Miles Mykkanen, tenor; and Enrico Lagasca, bass-baritone.

All classes are open to the public to come and observe. Class locations are as follows:

Sherezade Panthaki, soprano - McIntosh Theatre
Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, counter-tenor - Watkins Lecture Hall
Miles Mykkanen, tenor - Hankinson Rehearsal Hall
Enrico Lagasca, bass-baritone - Kevreson Rehearsal Hall

GUEST ARTIST BIO

SHEREZADE PANTHAKI, soprano, enjoys ongoing international collaborations with conductors Nicholas McGegan, Masaaki Suzuki, Mark Morris and more. Recent engagements include early music and oratorio performances with the New York Philharmonic, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Bach Collegium Japan, Wiener Akademie (Austria), NDR Hannover Radiophilharmonie (Germany), the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston Early Music Festival, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (Canada).

Born and raised in India, Ms. Panthaki holds graduate degrees from the Yale School of Music and the University of Illinois. She is a founding member of the Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble, celebrating racial and ethnic diversity in performances and educational programs of early and new music. Ms. Panthaki is a renown clinician, has taught voice at Yale University, and currently heads the Vocal program at Mount Holyoke College.