Voice Faculty

Supervisor of the Master of Music in Vocal Performance 

Karen Bauer, mezzo soprano, is in her 30th year of teaching at North Park University.  She has soloed with the Chicago Baroque Ensemble, Northwest Symphony, Elgin Symphony, and the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia Festival. She is a respected pedagogue, committed to developing sound vocal technique with singers at all levels. Her pedagogical methods have helped many students enter careers in opera and teaching in the United States and Europe.  As well as teaching applied voice at North Park, she has directed the opera program and Chamber Singers, taught voice-related courses such as Vocal Literature, Vocal Pedagogy, and Vocal Diction, and served a seven-year term as director of the School of Music. Bauer is sought after as a master class teacher, most recently at the Opera Festival di Roma in Italy, for Korean universities in Seoul and KwangJu, and in American colleges and universities. Bauer has held various posts in the National Association of Teachers of Singing including president of the Chicago Chapter, and is currently on its Board of Directors.  Her two-part article on the Baroque solo cantata was published in the NATS Journal of Singing in 2007.

Jeffrey Ray, baritone, made his European opera debut at Deutsche Opera, Berlin in 1997 after which he became a regular on the roster there.  In the United States, beginning with the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists in Chicago, he has sung roles with Opera Delaware, Utah Opera, Knoxville Opera, DuPage Opera, and Opera Grand Rapids.  His roles include Marcello, Sharpless, Seville's Figaro, Gianni Schicchi, Belcore, and Don Giovanni.  Mr. Ray's orchestral collaborations include two appearances at Carnegie Hall, Handel's "Messiah" and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ "Dona Nobis Pacem."  He made his debut at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, singing the "Messiah" with The National Chorale. He has worked with conductors Leonard Slatkin, Bruno Bartoletti, and John Nelson, among many others.

Baritone Ronald Watkins has been a member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Chorus since 1992.  His featured appearances on the Lyric stage include roles in "Peter Grimes," "Boris Godunov," "Madama Butterfly," and "Sweeney Todd." His regional credits include Eisentstein in "Die Fledermaus," Marcello in "La Boheme," Enrico in "Lucia di Lammermoor," and the Baron in "La Traviata."  A frequent concert artist and recitalist, Watkins has appeared with the South West Symphony, Corning Symphony, Colgate Symphony, Lake Placid Sinfonietta, Finger Lakes Symphony, Rochester Bach Festival, and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series.  He can be heard on composer John Giles' recording entitled A Song for All Seasons.

Felicia Coleman-Evans made her Carnegie Hall debut as featured soloist in the tribute to the great Leontyne Price. She continues to concertize throughout the United States and Europe, astounding audiences with mesmerizing performances combining flawless classical technique with spirit-filled soulfulness as demonstrated in the magnificent performance of David Fanshawe's African Sanctus with the Northwestern University Choral and Instrumental Ensembles, Robert A. Harris, conductor. She was the soprano soloist for the premier performance of The Ties That Bind, composer Robert Morris' work celebrating victory through the struggles of Africans in slavery and the Jewish people in the holocost which premiered at the Plymouth Music Series. Her vocal music has been shared with the highest elected officials and dignitaries, most notable at President Jimmy Carter's Inaugural Prayer Breakfast, the Congressional Black Caucus and the U.S. Senate Legislative Staff.

Never forgetting her roots, Felicia has performed in numerous churches, concert halls, conventions for the National Baptist USA, Inc., National Religious Broadcasters, National Women's Radio and Television, and The Chicagoland Christian Women's Retreat and various ministries and organizations, including those of her pastor, Rev. Clay Evans and the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, Rev. Karl B. Wilson and the Bryn Mawr Community Church where she serves as Minister of Music, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., and comedian/activist Dick Gregory.