Sandford Studio Artist Program

The acclaimed Barbara & Halsey Sandford Studio Artist Program at Kentucky Opera brings young professional opera singers to Louisville as apprentices to expand their performance experience. With more than 400 singers auditioning for limited positions each year, the program features some of the most talented upcoming voices to be heard worldwide.

The Sandford Studio Artist Program provides tailored training experiences and career guidance for emerging opera singers at an important stage in their career. Studio Artists have typically completed their graduate studies in voice and are looking to cultivate their training through mainstage experiences. Studio Artists gain exclusive access to professional artists, conductors, directors, and coaches, as well as other professional development opportunities. In addition, Studio Artists have the opportunity to sing in recitals, concerts, participate in master classes, and represent Kentucky Opera in various community and patron cultivation programs.

Previous projects have featured Studio Artists as principals in collaborative semi-staged concert operas with regional partner orchestras and arts partners; education and family audience programming; and the Composer Workshop, a composer in residence project with the University of Louisville School of Music. Composers in Residence in the Composer Workshop have included Jake Heggie, Ben Moore, Daron Hagen, and Paul Moravec. Professional development opportunities include coachings, lessons and masterclasses with industry professionals.

2024/25 Barbara & Halsey Sandford Studio Artists

Danielle Casós, soprano

Danielle Casós is from Boise, Idaho and is completing her Specialist of Music degree in Vocal Performance at the University of Michigan, where she also received her Master of Music degree. At the University of Michigan, Danielle sang the roles of Elizabeth Cree in Elizabeth Cree (2024), Zerlina in Don Giovanni (2023), Lišak in Cunning Little Vixen (2022), and Mrs. McLean in Susannah (2021). Danielle participated in the Central City Opera Bonfils-Stanton Training program in 2023 and was a Lehrer Institute Vocal Fellow at the Music Academy of the West in 2022, where she covered the role of Olga in Eugene Onegin. In 2022, Danielle won an encouragement award at the Michigan District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and was the winner of the UM Graduate Voice Competition. Danielle is a student of Professor Freda Herseth.


Ryan Henry, baritone

Ryan Henry, a baritone of Mexican American heritage, captivates audiences with his compelling renditions of strong-willed characters, commanding the stage with a potent blend of vocal prowess and dramatic intensity. He is a recent graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where he earned his master’s degree in vocal performance under the tutelage of Dr. Quinn Patrick Ankrum. Mr. Henry will be continuing his studies at CCM in the Fall of 2024 to earn his Artist Diploma in Vocal Performance. While studying at CCM, Mr. Henry has performed the roles of Dr. Rappaccinni in Rappaccini’s Daughter by Daniel Catán, Junius in Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, and Tommy McIntyre in Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers earning acclaim for his charismatic and intense portrayals.  While earning his bachelor’s degree at Georgia State University, Mr. Henry received acclaim for his portrayal of the role of Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with: “Henry… deftly demonstrates his emotional range, conveying aggression and charisma by turns…” (The Signal, Atlanta) Mr. Henry was a finalist of Mobile Opera and Atlanta Opera’s scholarship competitions and was the winner of Georgia State University’s Honors Competition. His other stage credits include Scarpia/cover (Tosca), Falstaff (Falstaff), Bastianello the Elder (Bastianello), David (A Hand of Bridge), Elder McLean (Susannah), and the jazz trio baritone (Trouble in Tahiti). Equally at home with oratorio, Mr. Henry has sung the baritone solos in Haydn’s Creation, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Handel’s Messiah, Duruflé’s Requiem, Fauré’s Requiem, and Saint-Saëns’s Oratorio de Noël. While living in Atlanta, GA, Mr. Henry joined the professional Mariachi group, Mariachi Búhos de Oro, as a vocalist and instrumentalist touring the deep South. In the upcoming fall season, Ryan Henry will embark on a new chapter as he joins the acclaimed Barbara & Halsey Sandford Studio Artist Program at Kentucky Opera.


Joshua Thomas, bass-baritone

Bass-Baritone Joshua Thomas was born and raised in Hosuton, TX. In the summer of 2022, he joined Des Moines Metro Opera as an Apprentice Artist covering Crown in Porgy and Bess as well as Marv in the world premiere of A Thousand Acres (Kuster/Campbell). Upcoming engagements include joining the Barbara and Halsey Sandford Studio Artist Program at Kentucky Opera where he will be seen as the Seargant of Police in Pirates of Penzance. and cover the Pirate King. He’s also excited to be seen as the Maestro in Salieri’s Prima La musica, poi le parole and Mathew in Thomas Pasatieri’s La Divina at the University of Nevada Las Vegas where he will continue his studies pursuing an Artist Diploma with Baritone Andre Chiang and teach voice as a part time instructor with the university.

In the summer of 2023, he is excited to return to Des Moines Metro Opera as an Apprentice Artist where he will cover the roles of Zuniga in Carmen as well as Farfarello/Cook in Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges.

Some of Mr. Thomas’ notable opera performance credits to date include Commendatore (Don Giovanni), Le Baili (Werther), Le Comte de Grieux (Manon), Tolomeo (Giulio Cesare), Bonze/Yamadori (Madame Butterfly), the title role in Hailstork’s Rise for Freedom: the John P. Parker story, and Simone (Gianni Schicchi).

On the concert stage, Josh has been seen as the Bass soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Alexander’s Feast, Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise, Bruckner’s Te Deum, and the North American premiere of Schumann’s Adventlied. In addition to oratorios in concert he performed excerpts of Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro).

Joshua Thomas currently holds degrees from The Univeristy of Michigan (M.M. Vocal Performance) and Louisiana State University (B.M. Vocal Performance).