Lyric Theatre Ensemble
A professional Ensemble in Residence at Kent State University at Stark
Our diverse repertoire includes opera, operetta, musical theatre and traditional holiday music. The Lyric
Theatre Ensemble is available for programs, recitals, master classes and dinner theatre. We offer performances of varying length and allow options for intermissions. Our prices are negotiable. Please consider
our local group when scheduling your upcoming season.
Catherine Robison is well known throughout Northeast Ohio as a singer of opera,
oratorio, and musical theater. She has appeared regularly with Cleveland Opera, Ohio Light
Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Akron Lyric Opera Theatre, Opera Birmingham, and Carousel
Dinner Theater. In addition, she has sung with symphony orchestras in Akron, Johnstown,
Canton, Dayton, Wooster, Lakeside, and the Cleveland Pops and Cleveland Women’s Orchestras both at Severance Hall. Ms. Robison often performs operatic and musical recitals and
reviews with her husband, Todd, resulting in glowing reviews. She is a member of American
Choral Directors Association, National Association of Teachers of Singing, American Education Association and Ohio Music Education Association. She is currently the Director of Choirs at Berea-Midpark High School in Berea, Ohio.
Laurel Seeds received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Music Ed-
ucation and Vocal Performance from Kent State University. She is an Associate Professor
of Music at Kent State University at Stark and teaches Applied Voice, Studio Musicianship
Voice and Class Piano. Laurel was awarded a Research and Creative Activities Award and
subsequently composed Thirty-Six Essential Etudes for the Study of Italian Songs and Arias.
Recent performances include featured soloist at the International Delta Omicron Conference in Covington, Kentucky, soprano soloist with the Akron Baroque Orchestra in the Vivaldi Gloria, soprano soloist in Mozart’s Missa Brevis with the Canton Youth Symphony. She
has performed with the Concert Series at The English Church of St. Mark’s in Florence, Italy, the Akron Lyric
Opera Theater and The Canton Comic Opera. Laurel also enjoys performing with the Cleveland Orchestra’s
Blossom Festival chorus each summer. She is a member of Delta Omicron, National Association for Music
Education, The MacDowell Music Club, and The College Music Society.
James GraySmith brings a wealth of experience in vocal performance and theater in
his role as tenor of the Lyric Theatre Ensemble. Currently a soloist at the historic Saint John
the Baptist Catholic Church in Canton, he has performed with many of the finest orchestras,
theaters and universities in Northeast Ohio. He has sung with the Canton Symphony, the
Cincinnati Opera, The Ohio Light Opera, as well as the performance of Verdi’s Requiem with
conductor Loren Mazzel in his final performance with the Cleveland Orchestra at Carnegie
Hall in New York City. Jim is a founding member of the Actors of Farinella’s Ghost, a professional theater company in Canton. He has also worked with the New York director, Dorothy
Silver, and directed productions for the Lyric Theatre Ensemble, The Player’s Guild of Canton and The Hudson
Players. His theatrical resume includes performances with The Kent Acting and Touring Company, Theatre
Kent, The Akron Children’s Theater, Blossom Festival Theatre, Contract Players, The Player’s Guild of Canton
and Kent State Stark Theater. Among many others, he has been seen in starring roles in A Christmas Carol,
The Fantasticks, South Pacific, Guys and Dolls, The Robber Bridegroom, The King and I, American Buffalo, I’m
Not Rappaport, Pirates of Penzance and Candide.
Kenneth Kramer holds bachelor’s and master’s of music degrees from Kent State
University and was an associate professor of music at Kent State University at Stark for 30
years. He was a founding member of the Ohio Light Opera in Wooster where he performed
and served as assistant to the stage director for eleven seasons. He has been a soloist with
the Akron, Canton, Youngstown, Mansfield and Tuscarawas Symphony Orchestras and has
performed in more than 100 different productions of opera, operetta and musical theatre.
Ken also performed the Britten War Requiem under Robert Shaw at Carnegie Hall and was
Captain Ahab in the world premiere of Moby Dick, An American Opera at the Canton Player’s Guild. He has performed numerous roles in Kent State Stark Theatre productions including everything
from the title role in Sweeney Todd to Dr. Craven in The Secret Garden. The recording of The Nativity According to St. Luke by Randall Thompson on the Koch label features Ken in the role of Zacharias.
Kenneth Furlan holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in piano performance from
Kent State University where he studied with Earl Kelly and Ruth Laredo. He has collaborated with Sam Morgenstern of the Metropolitan Opera as well as with Dr. James Stuart from
the Ohio Light Opera Company in the areas of vocal coaching and accompanying. For 35
years, he taught piano, class piano and music theory at Kent State University, the last 30
years of which were at Kent State Stark, where he attained the rank of full professor. Ken
was coordinator of the music program at Kent State Stark for 20 years. Together with Kenneth Kramer, he was the co-founder to the Workshop in Lyric Theatre, a student ensemble
emphasizing music for the theatre. He has a great interest in all genres of musical theatre and has been the
musical director for more that 125 productions in a number of area theatres including Kent State, Kent State
Stark, the Canton Player’s Guild and 16 seasons at Porthouse Theatre. He has also been associated with the
theatre of Loretto-Hilton at Webster College in St. Louis. Favorite productions include Candide, A Little Night
Music, Evita, Sweeny Todd, Into the Woods, The Secret Garden, and Man of LaMancha, as well as Pirates, Patience, etc. and From LaScala to Broadway. Earlier in his career he coached and accompanied the opera programs for Kent State University, as well as for The Blossom Festival School of Music. Continuing to be active
as both an accompanist and chamber musician, Ken has performed with Tony Award winner Ken Howard,
Tony Award winner Alice Ripley and noted character actor Ray Wise. Following, his retirement in 1999, he was
appointed emeritus professor and continued to teach music theory and piano on a part-time basis at Kent
State Stark. He is currently pursuing a variety of performance opportunities.