Allegri International Foundation, Inc.
Board of Trustees
Chrissellene G. Petropoulos
Founder, President
Dimitri A. Mantzouranis
Vice President
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Alan H. Paul
Head of Trust
Alan Paul is a director of theater and opera. He is currently the Associate Artistic Director of Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC (Recipient of the 2012 Regional Theater Tony Award). Alan is also the recipient of the 2014 Helen Hayes Award for Best Director of a Musical for his production of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. Selected directing credits include work at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Signature Theatre, Round House Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Strathmore Concert Hall, The National Symphony Orchestra, The Washington National Opera, Portland Opera, The Palm Beach Opera, and Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre.
Carole G. Gelfeld
Esquire attorney
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Griffin T. Black
Future attorney
Trish Dennig
Cum Laude graduate with B.A. from Trinity University. Educator and Financial Advisor.
Lawrence Gould
Certified Public Accountant
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Luisa Gonzales-Flores
Denise Young
Trust Protector
Denise Young was born and raised in the Washington DC area. She attended the University of Maryland studying voice before settling on banking as a career where she has worked for more than 40 years in many capacities. In her spare time, she has worked in opera and operetta since college in many capacities - principal singer, costume designer, producer, stage manager with Victorian Lyric Opera Company, The Forgotten Opera Company, Opera International, Opera Camerata of Washington among others. . She has also served as a director or officer on the boards of several non-profit organizations including Victorian Lyric Opera, The Forgotten Opera Company and Interact Story Theatre.
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Tim C. Rogan
Trust Protector
Tim Rogan is an actor from the Washington, D.C. area in Potomac, Maryland. He began pursuing the performing arts when he attended St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Potomac, MD. During this time, Tim began studying with Chrissellene in the fall of 2003. He earned his Music Theatre degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Tim started working professionally in the DC area and around the country, until moving to New York City in 2015 where he currently resides.
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Joshua Aaron Rosenblum
Trust Protector
Josh Rosenblum has worked in theatre, film, and education for over a decade. As an actor, director, cinematographer, properties designer, stage manager, and puppeteer, his work was seen all around the DMV region. As an educator, he worked in Arlington Public Schools for 10 years as a guest artist and classroom teacher. Josh has also been a staff member of Educational Theatre Company in Arlington, VA since 2011 where he led the ETC-on-Film program & still serves as Director of New Media.
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Danielle Alexander
Danielle is Founding Principal of Studio AKA, a landscape architecture and research practice based in Washington D.C. Through design, activism, writing, and teaching, she aspires to shape the public realm to be more equitable, resilient, and compelling. She is a Climate Reality Leader through The Climate Reality Project, and focuses on education and adaptation strategies to rising seas. Dani earned her Bachelor of Arts at Harvard University and her Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Virginia. She enjoys hiking and traveling with her husband, being with animals, flower arranging, painting, reading, and SINGING!
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Hugo James Carney
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Ricky Drummond
Ricky Drummond is an actor, director, and playwright, based in Washington, DC. He graduated with a degree in Musical Theatre from James Madison University and has been working in DC ever since. As an actor, he has appeared at The Kennedy Center, Signature Theatre, Keegan Theatre, Imagination Stage, Monumental Theatre, and NextStop Theatre, among others. As a director, he has worked at The Kennedy Center, Signature Theatre, Keegan Theatre, Imagination Stage, and other theatres. He also directed the 2018 Helen Hayes Awards. His works have had readings at The Kennedy Center Page to Stage Festival, NextStop Theatre, and James Madison University.
Blair Eig, MD
Blair has been performing in community opera productions in the Washington, DC area for the past 25 years. However, he really began to sing properly and achieve leading bass/baritone parts when he started lessons with Chrissellene about 15 years ago. Since then, the vocal commandments and performance mode have led to Blair playing many roles for the Victorian Lyric Opera Company and The Forgotten Opera Company, including: Doctor Dulcamara in Elixir of Love, Bartolo in Marriage of Figaro, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Agammenon in La Belle Helene, Orgon in Tartuffe, Don Alhambra in The Gondoliers, the title role in The Grand Duke, Phantis in Utopia Limited, Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow, Pooh Bah and the title role in The Mikado, Viceroy in La Perichole, Will Scarlett in Robin Hood, Zsupan in The Gypsy Baron, Dick Deadeye in HMS Pinafore, Arac and Hildebrand in Princess Ida, Sargent of Police in The Pirates of Penzance, Despard in Ruddigore, and the Learned Judge in Trial By Jury. Blair’s entire family now studies with Chrissellene, mostly for the confidence that she inspires in all of her disciples. It’s even helped Blair at work where he has been the Chief Medical Officer at Holy Cross Health for the past 19 years.
Kaethe Eig
Kaethe grew up with artist parents so it was no surprise that she embraced both the visual and performing arts in her own life. This Theatre Arts major from Brandeis even met her husband while working on the set of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. Many years later love of the theatre brought Kaethe and her husband on a collision course with Chrissellene Petropoulos and her unique Performance Mode. They both became students in the Vocal Mastery studio and were so impressed with the techniques they learned there that they have since turned it into a family affair bringing their three children into the studio as well. Now the whole family is flourishing from Chrissellene’s approach.
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Julie Gold
Julie Gold is an actor, writer, and social worker. She studied theater at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, William Esper Studio, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Chautauqua Summer Theater, and Brown University.
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Laura Goodman
Laura was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Laura was in the financial industry for most of her adult life, starting at the age of nineteen as a loan officer. She parlayed her love of words and writing into a position with Trip Rides as the Director of Corporate Communications. Music is in her blood, as her paternal grandmother was a Peabody-trained opera singer, and one of her great-grandfathers was also an opera singer. Ms. Goodman currently resides in Rockville, Maryland.
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Susannah Eig-Gonzalez
Susannah Eig-Gonzalez is an actor, director, and PhD candidate in the PhD in Creativity program at University of the Arts. She received her BA from Rice University in English and Theatre and her MA in Shakespeare and Creativity from the University of Birmingham’s Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-Upon-Avon. After graduating from The Shakespeare Institute, Susannah served as the Artistic Apprentice at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, MD. At Round House, she assistant directed I’ll Get You Back Again (dir. Rachel Chavkin), Book of Will (dir. Ryan Rilette), The Legend of Georgia McBride (dir. Tom Story), and Oslo (dir. Ryan Rilette). She also assistant directed King John and The Winter’s Tale at Folger Shakespeare Theatre (dir. Aaron Posner). Other directing credits include: The Tragical Comical Fool’s Game (once at the RSC’s The Other Place and once in the 2018 Capital Fringe Festival), The Altruists (Rice Theatre Program), and The Mystery Plays (The Rice Players). Susannah has been studying with Chrissellene and Vocal Mastery since she was in the 8th grade.
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Sammy Hakim
Sammy Hakim is a NYC/LA-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for her command over pop hooks and left-of-center approach to emotional lyrics. Hailing from Virginia and writing songs since the age of 12, Hakim has received early Indie chart placements and won the Songwriters Universe competition as a teenager. She has since collaborated with Tippie (Katy Perry), Saint Claire (Macklemore), Brooke Williams (Arista), Mothica (Kobalt), Alex Koste (Loote), BadHabit (Zara Larson), Jake Torrey (Lauv, BTS), and Wyatt Sanders (Diplo) among others. Hakim has secured cuts with acts including Matilda Jonsson, Marcella Fruehan, Coyote, Eyers, and Rose & Kennedy. She is a Berklee graduate and counts Kara Dioguardi and Bonnie Hayes among her mentors.
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Anna Jackson
Anna Jackson was born and raised in Northern VA, Anna received a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from UNC School of the Arts, performing with Piedmont Opera in NC and the Vocal Arts Symposium in CO. After graduating, she moved back to the DC metro area and began to pursue theater. She has worked with Studio Theatre, Imagination Stage, The National Theatre, Arts Alive, Nextstop, Landless, and Studio 3 Children’s Theatre, as well as in numerous Fringe Festivals. Anna also taught with InterAct Story Theater and Wolf Trap, bringing arts integration to early childhood classrooms.
In 2016, she moved to NY to study in the Stella Adler Studio’s 3-year acting conservatory program. There, she performed roles in As You Like It, Escape From Happiness, Top Girls, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She is currently living and working in NY.
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Amanda Jones
Amanda Jones has been performing in the DC area since 2011. She has most frequently been seen in productions by the Victorian Lyric Company, Rockville Musical Theater, and Reston Community Players. Favorite roles include Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast, Meg Brockie in Brigadoon, Betty Haynes in White Christmas, Winnifred Banks in Mary Poppins, Tessa in The Gondoliers, Mad Margaret in Ruddigore, Phoebe in Yeoman of the Guard, and Pitti-Sing in Mikado. By day, Amanda is a nurse practitioner at NIH, studying rare cystic lunch diseases.
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Emma Kingsley
Emma Kingsley has most recently appeared in the ensemble of My Fair Lady at Way Off Broadway in Frederick, Maryland.
Having completed the Overtures Intensive program at Signature Theatre, she continues to train in her dancing and singing and looks forward to many more shows in the DC area! As a dancer and choreographer, she is also involved in local dance projects including choreographing for her alma mater (National Cathedral School)’s annual dance gala. Emma also runs her own online company Lady Farmer, a sustainable apparel and lifestyle brand.
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Rebecca Letsinger
In my first lesson with Chrissellene, I was too scared to sing in front of my own mom. I was worried she was going to think I wasn’t talented because I wasn’t perfect and still practicing.
Today I have the confidence to go up to someone with a guitar and ask to sing along with them. Unrehearsed, but full of confidence.
My life is no longer plagued by fear. Performance mode has provided me with the skills to face the world with objectivity and curiosity. I am so grateful for the skills Chrissellene has provided me with which benefit my life both on and off the stage.
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Holly Morgan
Holly Morgan is a graduate of Muhlenberg University. She currently works at Interlochen Arts Academy as a Residence Hall Coordinator.
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Rajni Rao
Rajni Rao is the founder of Brave Math LLC, a tutoring company based in Washington D.C. Prior, Rajni taught math at DC International School, where she was inspired to investigate and invent methods to help creative kids love math.
She’s involved with St. Mark’s Players in Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. and The Arlington Players in Northern VA.
Carolyn Oxenford
Carolyn Oxenford learned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Emory University. She is a Professor of Psychology at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. Dr. Oxenford was the founding Executive Director of Marymount’s Center for Teaching and Learning, and founding Director of the Marymount University Center for Teaching Excellence. She is an active local musician, singing with Senza Nome Women’s Chorus, Bethesda Little Theatre, and Mini-Musicals on the Move.
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Madeleine Smith
Madeleine Smith is an actor and director in Washington, DC. She has been in the Vocal Mastery Studio since 2002, building her confidence, voice, and artistry.
Madeleine is a dauntless theatre maker who is most exhilarated by classical theatre and committed to making smart, stunning, exciting work.
Through the confidence and skills provided by Performance Mode, she has attended the BFA Acting program at the University of the Arts, The Directors’ Studio at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, and directed critically acclaimed local productions.
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Noah Robbins
Noah Robbins is an actor based in New York.
Broadway: Brighton Beach Memoirs(Outer Critics Circle nomination), Arcadia.
Off-Broadway: Lewiston/Clarkston (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), “Master Harold”…And The Boys (Signature Theater), Punk Rock (MCC Theater), The Vandal (Flea Theater), The Twenty-Seventh Man(Public Theater), Secrets of the Trade (Primary Stages) (Clive Barnes Award nomination).
Regional: several shows at the Kennedy Center with director/choreographer Debbie Allen. Film: Miss Sloane, The Week Of, Indignation, Villains, Set It Up,Aardvark,Cruise, Fatal Crossing, The Outcasts, Aftermath,Newsworthy(Best Actor Award, L.A. Comedy Festival).
TV: “Forever” (opposite Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen), “Grease: Live,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Masters Of Sex,” “Younger,” “Orange Is The New Black,” “Gotham,” “Evil,” “The Good Wife,” “Blue Bloods,” “The Slap.” He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Columbia University, where he majored in Philosophy.
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Eliana Roseen
Eliana Roseen recently moved to New York and is now pursuing a career in TV and Film after graduating from Muhlenberg College a semester early in 2018. She continues to find ways to use her skills in confidence and commands while working as a brand ambassador and auditioning every chance she gets! She is a recent college graduate, having performed in 10 stage performances and 3 student films during her time at school. She recently moved to New York City to pursue acting. Her acting credits include Calpurnia in Julius Caesar, Carolyn Kennedy in Spacial Disorientation, Jemma in Still Growing Up, Lisa in Do Over, Rainbow in Springtime, and Grace in Life and Bang.
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David Trachtenberg
David Trachtenberg was born and raised in Montgomery County, Maryland. David is a lifelong musician and entrepreneur. In between founding MLMSocial and acting as Chief of Staff for Trip Rides, David has tickled many ivories, banged on bad drums, blown a few mean trumpets, thumped a few basses, scratched some sweet guitar and sung a lot of songs.
Maryita Wiener
My mother introduced me to the arts through her love of operettas (Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy) and through musical theater. I grew up in Philadelphia, and beginning in my high school years, we would plan Saturday train trips to NYC to see Broadway plays – “Camelot” with Robert Goulet, “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying” with Robert Morse (saw the Danial Radcliffe version more recently), “Hello Dolly” with Ginger Rogers, and trumpets please, “Funny Girl” with Barbara Streisand, to name a few. And Philly summers meant musicals at Valley Forge Music Theater – remembering, Howard Keel in “Man of LaMancha” and Yul Bryner in “The King and I.” I introduced my husband to local musical theaters and to Broadway, so I continue the journey begun so many years ago.
My professional background includes teaching, working as a liturgy director at Holy Trinity in Georgetown, and 30 years as a Licensed Professional Counselor, with focus in Imago relationship therapy and pastoral psychotherapy. I served on the non-profit Board of Imago Relationship International for 18 years, with two terms as chair.
My training in Jewish prayer leadership led me to becoming a student of Chrissellene Petropoulos. I am a living example that one is never too old to repair her voice.
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Winston Wilde
Winston Wilde is a lifelong DC area native. He graduated from Winston Churchill High School in Potomac in 2004, and graduated from Duke University with a BA in Public Policy and a specialty in Journalism in 2008. With the exception of a (very random) three-year stint in Atlanta working for The Weather Channel, Winston has spent his entire career covering DC politics for NBC News, based out of Washington.
He is now a White House producer for NBC.
Members who will continue our Foundation