Kimberly Saunders Randall |
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The last decade has brought wide-ranging recognition to my current and former students, including: two (of six) 2023 National Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition winners; multiple Met/Laffont Competition winners at the district level: (e.g., see 2017 & 2019 ); feature/lead performers in: Five (Off-Broadway, 2024), Hits! The Musical (National Tour, 2023), Annie (National Tour, 2022/23), The Elf on the Shelf (National Tour, 2021), a 2019 American Idol Top 8 contestant [see Voice Lesson @ 1:05]; many leading roles at Juilliard, Cincinnati Conservatory, Oklahoma City University, Oberlin Conservatory, Ithaca College and the Eastman School of Music; performances at venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, the United States Capitol, Alice Tully Hall, the Fox Theatres in Atlanta and Detroit, the Dolby and Orpheum Theatres in LA, the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, and in Holland Park (London), Palace of Versailles (France), Germany, Italy, as well as leading roles with Chautauqua Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Opera Hannover (Germany), Santa Fe Opera, Washington National Opera, Opera in the Ozarks, and Opera Orlando, among others. Students won admission to Top 10 conservatories of Music and Music Theatre, Equity performance contracts with Disney, Dollywood, and Universal Theme Parks, international and national cruise entertainment contracts, community and professional theater and operatic roles, and have won various local, regional, national & international competitions. Several Orange County Public School choruses, whose directors (and some participants) were my students, were competitively selected to perform at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) - National, Southeastern and Florida conventions and/or entry to top doctoral programs.
Since 2006, I have had the distinct honor and pleasure of adjudicating Solo & Ensemble on 53 occasions for the Florida Vocal Association (FVA) – 32 times at the District level (including Districts 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 & 14) and 21 times at the State level (North, Central, South and Panhandle), working with at least 2600 individual students in a Master Class setting. I also had the distinct privilege of presenting at the FVA 2022 Summer Conference, and judging a myriad of various competitions.
My students, who, over time, have hailed from 16 or more Florida counties, have matriculated at many first and second tier schools of music and music theatre, and have accepted millions of dollars in scholarship along the way. Once there, they frequently have won leading roles, and though they have all been talented, their most distinguishing characteristic has been their work ethic.
As I embark upon my 25th year of teaching, domestically and abroad, I remain convinced that daily, mindful, intentional and deliberate practice, paired with the requisite gifts, aptitudes and training, is critical to improvement and to success.
My "Bio"
A native of Maine and a graduate of Smith College, soprano Kimberly Saunders Randall received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Voice Performance, the Ludwig Bergman Opera Scholarship and membership in the Pi Kappa Lambda Honor Society at Boston University. She continued her operatic training at the Minnesota Opera Institute, the Chautauqua Institute, Opera North in New Hampshire, and the Des Moines Metro Opera.
Ms. Randall made her professional operatic debut in Frankfurt, Germany, singing "Suzuki" in Madama Butterfly on a tour which featured the National Chor Okinawa and the Sofia Symphony Orchestra, and, before becoming a soprano in 2000, where she focused on the soprano heroines of Mozart, Verdi and Puccini, she performed such roles as "Dorabella" in Cosi fan tutte, "Cherubino" in Le nozze di Figaro, "Romeo" in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, "Blanche" in Dialogues of the Carmelites, and "Rosina" in Il barbiere di Siviglia.
Concert engagements have included a solo appearance with the Taipei Symphony; over fifty appearances with the Mantovani Orchestra; galas in Switzerland, Guam and the Asian cities of Manila, Seoul, Bangkok and Hong Kong; tours with Community Concerts (a division of Columbia Artists); recitals in Trentino, Italy and Shenyang and Xi’an China, where her partially televised program was reviewed as “perfect” and “intoxicating”; and a public coaching and performance of Night of the Four Moons for the much-lauded American composer, George Crumb, while he was in residence at DePauw University. She has appeared as a soloist with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park and with Opera Naples, and Ms. Randall’s soprano oratorio repertoire includes Verdi's Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Mozart's Requiem, Dvořák’s Te Deum, and Handel's Messiah.
Visiting Artist-In-Residence at the University of Central Florida (UCF) for the fall 2011 semester, Kimberly spent a decade as a college voice professor, most recently serving on the voice faculty of Rollins College [2009-2010]. Prior faculty appointments include UCF [2005-2008], Indiana State University in Terre Haute [2000-2003] and the DePauw University School of Music in Greencastle, Indiana [2003-2005], where she was an assistant voice professor, taught applied voice and diction for singers, served on the faculty of DePauw’s Vocal Arts camp and was appointed Assistant to the Dean for Recruiting and Programs. Ms. Randall also served for several years on the faculty of the Community Music School in Terre Haute, Indiana and directed the UCF Vocal Arts camp.
While at DePauw, Kimberly Randall received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, enabling her to accept an invitation to teach in China. There, she conducted numerous Master Classes for students and/or faculty of the Xi’an and Shenyang Conservatories of Music and the Art College of the Xi’an University for Architecture & Technology, and has an open invitation from all to return as a visiting professor.
The two-term, 2014-2018 Florida District Governor of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and formerly the two-term President of the Central Florida Chapter of NATS, Ms. Randall has conducted master classes locally, regionally, nationally and internationally; and maintains a private voice studio. She has judged numerous major voice competitions in both Indiana and Florida, including the Indiana State School Music Association Solo and Ensemble competitions at the regional and state levels, the Florida Vocal Association district and state competitions, the Indiana Choral Directors Association All-State choir, the prestigious Indianapolis-based Prelude Awards, the Schmidt Youth Awards, the NATSAA Competition, the "Negro Spiritual" Scholarship Foundation Grady-Rayam Prize, the Stetson Concerto Competition, Arts for Life!, the Van Sickle Competition, and many Show Choir invitationals.
Kimberly resides in Orlando, Florida with her husband, baritone Thomas Potter, and their adopted stray dog (and teaching assistant), "Ragamuffin," while their son, oboist and software engineer, [T. Colton Potter] has earned a Master's Degree in Oboe Performance from San Francisco Conservatory and Bachelors Degrees in Oboe Performance and Computer Science from Oberlin College/Conservatory.
Site updated August 2024
Ms. Randall made her professional operatic debut in Frankfurt, Germany, singing "Suzuki" in Madama Butterfly on a tour which featured the National Chor Okinawa and the Sofia Symphony Orchestra, and, before becoming a soprano in 2000, where she focused on the soprano heroines of Mozart, Verdi and Puccini, she performed such roles as "Dorabella" in Cosi fan tutte, "Cherubino" in Le nozze di Figaro, "Romeo" in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, "Blanche" in Dialogues of the Carmelites, and "Rosina" in Il barbiere di Siviglia.
Concert engagements have included a solo appearance with the Taipei Symphony; over fifty appearances with the Mantovani Orchestra; galas in Switzerland, Guam and the Asian cities of Manila, Seoul, Bangkok and Hong Kong; tours with Community Concerts (a division of Columbia Artists); recitals in Trentino, Italy and Shenyang and Xi’an China, where her partially televised program was reviewed as “perfect” and “intoxicating”; and a public coaching and performance of Night of the Four Moons for the much-lauded American composer, George Crumb, while he was in residence at DePauw University. She has appeared as a soloist with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park and with Opera Naples, and Ms. Randall’s soprano oratorio repertoire includes Verdi's Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Mozart's Requiem, Dvořák’s Te Deum, and Handel's Messiah.
Visiting Artist-In-Residence at the University of Central Florida (UCF) for the fall 2011 semester, Kimberly spent a decade as a college voice professor, most recently serving on the voice faculty of Rollins College [2009-2010]. Prior faculty appointments include UCF [2005-2008], Indiana State University in Terre Haute [2000-2003] and the DePauw University School of Music in Greencastle, Indiana [2003-2005], where she was an assistant voice professor, taught applied voice and diction for singers, served on the faculty of DePauw’s Vocal Arts camp and was appointed Assistant to the Dean for Recruiting and Programs. Ms. Randall also served for several years on the faculty of the Community Music School in Terre Haute, Indiana and directed the UCF Vocal Arts camp.
While at DePauw, Kimberly Randall received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, enabling her to accept an invitation to teach in China. There, she conducted numerous Master Classes for students and/or faculty of the Xi’an and Shenyang Conservatories of Music and the Art College of the Xi’an University for Architecture & Technology, and has an open invitation from all to return as a visiting professor.
The two-term, 2014-2018 Florida District Governor of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and formerly the two-term President of the Central Florida Chapter of NATS, Ms. Randall has conducted master classes locally, regionally, nationally and internationally; and maintains a private voice studio. She has judged numerous major voice competitions in both Indiana and Florida, including the Indiana State School Music Association Solo and Ensemble competitions at the regional and state levels, the Florida Vocal Association district and state competitions, the Indiana Choral Directors Association All-State choir, the prestigious Indianapolis-based Prelude Awards, the Schmidt Youth Awards, the NATSAA Competition, the "Negro Spiritual" Scholarship Foundation Grady-Rayam Prize, the Stetson Concerto Competition, Arts for Life!, the Van Sickle Competition, and many Show Choir invitationals.
Kimberly resides in Orlando, Florida with her husband, baritone Thomas Potter, and their adopted stray dog (and teaching assistant), "Ragamuffin," while their son, oboist and software engineer, [T. Colton Potter] has earned a Master's Degree in Oboe Performance from San Francisco Conservatory and Bachelors Degrees in Oboe Performance and Computer Science from Oberlin College/Conservatory.
Site updated August 2024