Community Voices Choir
Adult | September - December
A program where individuals with Alzheimer’s or dementia and their caregivers create community through joyful singing. In partnership with Penn Memory Center, Curtis Institute, and The Salvation Army Kroc Center, this program fosters connection, sparks memory, and celebrates creativity with care and dignity.
Fridays 1:00-2:00 p.m. starting September 26th, running till December 12th
Kroc Center (Room 204)
4200 Wissahickon Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19129
Emilie Kealani, Community Arts Facilitator
Filipino-American soprano Emilie Kealani makes her house and role debut with Opera Philadelphia this season as Corinna in Il viaggio a Reims. Praised by The Wall Street Journal for her “delicate” and “ideal” title role portrayal in La Calisto at The Glimmerglass Festival, she has also been featured in past productions with Staatsoper Stuttgart, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Curtis Opera Theatre, and has earned acclaim for her crossover work in Into the Woods, Candide, and West Side Story.
Beyond the stage, Emilie is a passionate advocate for community and cultural empowerment as the founder of the Kapwa Passion Project. The project strives to bring AAPI artists together, creating spaces for us to cultivate a shared sense of community and identity through music. Programming ranges from multidisciplinary recitals to panel discussions and has been featured on PBS WHYY TV-12 in their new Concert Specials Series in celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
A San Francisco native, Emilie is dedicated to community engagement in the Bay Area with her work as a guest alumna and mentor with the San Francisco Arts Education Project – the youth musical theatre company that introduced and nurtured her love for theatre. Emilie has also worked with Horizons Unlimited as a youth community leader, helping develop programming that supports young people and families in the Mission District.
Elizabeth Gautsche, Community Arts Facilitator
Praised by the Houston Press for performances “full of vigor and spirit,” soprano Elizabeth Gautsche made her professional debut in 2017 with Opera in the Heights as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte. Her repertoire includes Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Armida (Rinaldo), Peep-bo (The Mikado), and the title role in Rusalka. She was also an emerging artist in the Opera Works Summer program in Northern California.
Beyond the stage, Ms. Gautsche is a dedicated Teaching Artist, recently joining Opera Philadelphia. She has held similar posts with Los Angeles Opera and Houston Grand Opera, leading workshops that use music and storytelling to build empathy in communities such as the Harris County Juvenile Detention Center, The Women’s Home, and refugee after-school programs. With the Houston Area Women’s Center, she coordinated and performed in the 2018 benefit concert Exultate! Uplifting Women through Song.
An active educator, she has taught as Adjunct Voice Professor at Sam Houston State University and maintains a nationwide private studio. She previously served in administrative roles with Houston Grand Opera and as assistant at the Accademia Vocale Lorenzo Malfatti in Lucca, Italy.
Ms. Gautsche earned her Master of Music from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and her Bachelor of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Julian Nguyen, Community Arts Facilitator
Julian Nguyen is an eclectic multi-genre pianist and vocalist. His formal training in classical and jazz piano—in combination with a wide range of experience in R&B, soul, pop, gospel, and musical theatre—has made him a versatile performer and skilled collaborator in the greater Philadelphia area. He frequently accompanies choral organizations and soloists across various age groups and styles and holds several accolades at the state and national levels. He is currently attending Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University to attain his B.M. in music education with a concentration in jazz piano and an emphasis on choral music. There, he is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA), and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME).