American Soprano Katie Dukes is an experienced music educator and co-founder of Studio Forza. While obtaining her graduate degree at the University of Northern Colorado, Ms. Dukes was granted a vocal teaching assistantship and taught private voice lessons to undergraduate and graduate level students. During her undergraduate degree at San Jose State University, she was the President of Mu Phi Epsilon Professional Music Fraternity (Phi Mu Chapter) and during her term co-founded the MPE Education Outreach Program where she taught the fundamentals of music to local underprivileged elementary school students. Katie is a member and adjudicator for the National Association of Teachers of Singing and she is also Secretary and co-founder of the UNC Opera Theater Society. In Europe, Ms. Dukes has participated in summer training programs at the Tyrolean Opera Program in Maurach, Austria as well as La Musica Lirica International Festival in Novafeltria, Italy. In addition to her teaching experience she is an avid performer. Recently, she made her debut with Roundabout Opera for Kids as the Baker’s Wife in Into the woods (Junior). This season, she is delighted to return as Mooch in the premiere of Mooch the Magnificent. In addition to her roles with ROK, Ms. Dukes frequently performs with Intimate Opera of Indianapolis where she performed Helen in the The Three Sisters who are not Sisters. She also participated in their “Opera On Demand” as Meg in scenes from Little Women and Mrs. Gobineau in The Medium. Ms. Dukes’ ultimate goal is to bring opera to new audiences so they can begin to cultivate a love affair with classical music. With her horn- playing husband Mike Walker, she has created Studio Forza, an organization that brings the power of music to all people. Her studio consists of all ages and levels of students in voice, beginning piano, diction, songwriting, music history and music theory.

California raised hornist Mike Walker is passionate about life, beer, french horn and all genres of music. His ultimate goal is to ignite the power of music in his students and audiences. Mr. Walker has been teaching music for over a decade. Mike earned his Bachelor's degree in horn from San José State University and his Master's degree from the University of Northern Colorado. Currently, Mr. Walker is the Associate Instructor of Horn at the prestigious Indiana University Jacob’s School of Music. Mike is currently pursuing a Doctor of Music degree in horn with a minor in music history and natural horn.  Mr. Walker currently studies horn with Jeff Nelsen, Dale Clevenger and natural horn with Rick Seraphinoff. Equally at home in an Orchestra, Mike is currently the second horn of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic. Mr. Walker has also performed with the Utah Festival Opera, Bel Canto Institute, Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, San Jose Wind Symphony and is a performing artist with Melos Music. Mike is excited to team up with his Opera Singing wife Katie to create Studio Forza. Here, he will share his love of music with the Bloomington community.

Susie Takach Seligman is a textile designer from Bloomington, Indiana. She is the founder of Fiber Art Furniture, which produces one of a kind furniture, children’s furniture, journal covers, coin purses, postcards and jackets. She has developed the use of surface design and collage techniques for textiles that can be seen in her furniture and one of a kind art pieces. Ms. Seligman uses found objects, hand printed fabric, vintage fabric pieces, photographic imagery, beading and embroidery in her work. In addition to her own emotional advancement as an artist, Ms. Seligman is an active mentor to contemporaries and emerging artists. More specifically, she works to help free the self-esteem and motivation of blocked artists and supports artists in the marketing of their work. She has won numerous awards including best of Show from Ohio Designer Craftsman (Cincinnati) and best show display from the Fourth Street Festival of Fine Arts and Crafts (Bloomington). Her work can be seen at the International Quilt Market and Festival (Houston, Cincinnati and Kansas City), Philadelphia Buyers Market, American Crafts Council Show (Baltimore), All Baby and Child Show (Louisville) and the Indiana State Museum Artists and Craftsmen Show (Indianapolis).

Michelle Hennessy is a soprano, crafter, administrator, foodie and lover of all things "art".  Ms. Hennessy graduated from San Jose State University with a BM in vocal performance and is currently pursuing a Master of Art in Arts Administration at IU.  As an avid crafter, Michelle is excited to join the Studio Forza team as the beading and jewelry instructor.  Michelle has been beading as a hobby for over ten years and beading professionally for six. She formerly worked at a professional quality beading store in Los Gatos, California where she designed and crafted one of a kind pieces for clients.  In addition, she sold beads and beading supplies to professional jewelry designers from all over California.  Her knowledge of semi-precious stones and beading materials has enabled her to master all types of beading techniques, which she loves to share with her students.  Michelle knows first hand that without the knowledge of how jewelry is put together it is hard to be inspired, so it is her goal to instill confidence in her students so their creativity can blossom. Ms. Hennessy is also working behind the scenes at Studio Forza helping with administration and marketing. 

Rose is also an active orchestral player, holding contracts with the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra and, most recently, the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra. Additionally she has held a contract with the Round Rock Symphony and played in the sections of numerous other orchestras including the San Antonio Symphony, Austin Symphony, Monterey Symphony, Reno Chamber Orchestra, Mid-Texas Symphony, Abilene Philharmonic and the Texas Festival Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Rose was a member of the Nightingale String Quartet for two years and has played at the Nevada Chamber Music Festival and the Round Top Festival. When she is not involved in her passion for music and teaching, Rose enjoys cooking, reading and outdoor sports.

Yoon-Wha Roh, a native of Korea, has won numerous competitions including Piano Texas Concerto Competition, Hakata Fukuoka Piano Competition in Japan, Korea Piano Society Competition, National Youth Music Competition and Korea Music Association Competition in Seoul. Her 2009 performance at Villa-Lobos Competition in Brazil was broadcast in Television program "Fantastico", and her Rachmaninoff Concerto Performance was featured in <Eumak Journal> in Korea as a cover story.

Yoon-Wha Roh, a native of Korea, has won numerous competitions including Piano Texas Concerto Competition, Hakata Fukuoka Piano Competition in Japan, Korea Piano Society Competition, National Youth Music Competition and Korea Music Association Competition in Seoul. Her 2009 performance at Villa-Lobos Competition in Brazil was broadcast in Television program "Fantastico", and her Rachmaninoff Concerto Performance was featured in <Eumak Journal> in Korea as a cover story. 

Her concert highlights include Harris Concert Hall in Aspen, Steinway Hall Student Concert in New York, Crescendo Club presents at Boston Center for Education and Beethoven/Schoenberg Piano Festival in Jordan Hall, Boston. She has been actively participating in summer festivals, such as Aspen Music Festival, GMMFS, Piano Texas 2010 & 2011, Schlern International Music Festival, Banff Center, New Paltz International Summer Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival and International Keyboard Institute & Festival in Mannes College, New York.

Miss Roh is currently a candidate for Doctor of Music Degree at Indiana University where she studies with Arnaldo Cohen. She obtained her Performance Diploma at Peabody Institute where she studied with Alexander Shtarkman. She holds her Master of Music Degree from New England Conservatory where she studied with Victor Rosenbaum.

Dr. Diana Smith Nixon is a performer, teacher, and scholar. She has performed in several orchestras, has soloed with David Baker’s big band at Indiana University, and is a regular guest artist at the Honeywell House, having played there with Dean Emeritus Charles Webb. As a teacher, she brings twenty years of private music teaching experience to her students, including having taught at the DePauw University School of Music. She is an active clinician, giving master classes at various institutions at both pre-college and college levels, nationally and internationally. Recently she received the honor of being accepted to the roster of Fulbright Specialists, a program that promotes the collaboration of leading U.S. academics and professionals with their counterparts overseas. She earned her doctorate in clarinet performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and had the unusual distinction of having been accepted into the Jacobs School of Music graduate school without a bachelor’s degree in music. In addition to her musical talents, Dr. Nixon brings expertise in business, computer science, and multimedia productions to the table. She teaches business computer courses at Ivy Tech Community College and is currently devoted to a music e-learning enterprise: Mpingo Studios. Diana loves to teach all ages of students, and when not teaching she can be found in the company of her three children, golden retriever and labradoodle!

Alex Nelson is a graduate of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he received his Bachelor of Music in piano performance under Edmund Battersby. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Alex began piano at the age of four and later continued with Dr. Janet Favreau for eleven years. In addition to performing throughout California and the United States, Alex has performed in Poland, Austria, Hungary, Canada, and Japan. Since August of 2012, Alex has served as Production Manager of Roundabout Opera for Kids, a non-profit opera-outreach program designed for K-12 area students and the community of South Central Indiana. Alex currently lives in Bloomington, Indiana where he works as an arts coordinator, in addition to teaching privately. He recently sang in the IU opera chorus for the collegiate premiere of the Philip Glass opera, Akhnaten, and is also a member of the Voces Novae chamber choir.