WINNER • VOICE

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AWARD COORDINATOR

Alexander Taite - Greenfield Award Coordinator

Oakland California native and graduate of Pepperdine University, Alexander Taite performed with the San Francisco Opera Chorus for 17 seasons, in over 50 productions. He teaches voice, theory, & piano, directs Chorus Eclectic, and Piccola Carolers, and coaches the Nova youth choir at Cantare Con Vivo. Onstage credits include nearly every opera company in the Bay. He was music faculty at OSA and led the graduate ensemble of the SF Boys’ Choir. Alex wrote a one-man show, Deep River: The Musical Evolution of the Negro Spiritual which performs in venues across the country, and in 2026 published his first songbook.

the Semi-FINALS judges

Taiwan Norris

Taiwan Norris is an internationally acclaimed lyric tenor known for his rich voice and global performances. A Grammy certificate recipient, he has sung with premier Lincoln Center institutions, including the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, and the New York Philharmonic, alongside a debut at Carnegie Hall. Internationally, Norris has graced prestigious stages across Europe and South America and tours with the American Spiritual Ensemble. Notable credits include Porgy and Bess at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He trained at the acclaimed Duke Ellington School of the Arts and holds a B.A. from Morgan State University. 

Michael Belle

Recent credits:Drum Major(Wozzeck-West Edge Opera), Faust(Faust-Verismo Opera), Prune Vendor(La boheme-San Francisco Opera), Norfolk(Elisabetta-West Edge Opera), Hoffmann(Les contes d'Hoffmann-San Francisco Parlor Opera), Nemorino(L’Elisir d’amore-Pocket Opera),Ralph Rackstraw(HMS Pinafore-Lamplighters), Soloist(Porgy & Bess-Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera),Andy(Treemonisha-Opera Providence). Michael debuted as a regular chorister with the San Francisco Opera Chorus in 2009. He currently studies with Antonio Nagore in Antioch, CA.

Megan Kellogg

Mezzo soprano Megan Kellogg has most recently appeared with the San Francisco Opera chorus in Beethoven’s 9th symphony and at Cal Performances as a chorister for Alvin Ailey’s Revelations. Megan sang for several seasons with the Washington National Opera Chorus at the Kennedy Center, appearing in operas such as Madama Butterfly, La Fille du Regiment, Dead Man Walking, The Flying Dutchman, and Carmen. She lives in the East Bay with her husband, bass Kenneth Kellogg, and three young children.

Wilford Kelly

Wilford Kelly is a multi-talented bass-baritone currently based in San Francisco, California. He is a tenured member of the San Francisco Opera Chorus, having done recent engagements with West Edge Opera, Opera Parallèle, Wolf Trap Opera, the San Francisco Choral Society, Pacific Edge Voices, the Marin Oratorio Society and many more. He’s also garnered attention on the competition circuit, winning Encouragement Awards multiple times in the Laffont Metropolitan Opera Competition in the San Francisco District. As a passionately black, nonbinary, and queer human navigating today’s tumultuous society, he firmly believes in the power of music and seeks to inspire unity and change in the face of the many injustices that run rampant in today's society.

Damien Sneed

Damien LeChateau Sneed is an Emmy Award–winning conductor, composer, producer, and arts educator whose work spans opera, orchestral music, film, and interdisciplinary performance at the highest international level. He is widely recognized for his ability to unite classical rigor with culturally resonant storytelling across live performance, recording, and screen-based platforms. Sneed has received multiple opera and chamber-opera commissions in recent years. His operatic works include Treemonisha, commissioned by the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, with a new major commission scheduled to premiere in March 2026 with the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center.

Kedrick Armstrong - Chair

Kedrick Armstrong is the Music Director of the Oakland Symphony, becoming the 9th Music Director in the orchestra’s almost 100-year history. He is also the Creative Partner and Principal Conductor of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony. Kedrick's recent highlights include debuting at the Lyric Opera of Chicago to premiere a new opera, The Factotum, by Will Liverman and K Rico. Named by the Washington Post as one of “22 for ’22: Composers and performers to watch,” Kedrick uses his voice and platform as a Black conductor to advocate for classical music’s performance, publication, and preservation of minority voices. This advocacy has led to various speaking engagements and a research fellowship with the American Music Research Center (University of Colorado-Boulder) studying Black female composers within the Helen Walker-Hill archives.

Tichina Vaughn

Grammy-winning mezzo-soprano Tichina Vaughn commands international stages with her “superb singing” and “electrifying presence.” Her distinguished career spans the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, Arena di Verona and Semperoper Dresden, with signature roles including Amneris, Azucena, Ulrica, Herodias, and Klytemnestra. A celebrated interpreter of opera, concert, and recital repertoire, Vaughn is also a passionate educator and mentor. She serves as Associate Professor of Music in Voice at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she received the 2025 Trustees Teaching Award in recognition of her excellence in teaching, and holds the prestigious German title of Kammersängerin. Highlights of the current season include performances of Porgy and Bess at the Komische Oper Berlin and concert performances of Elgar’s Sea Pictures with Welsh National Opera.