RMTA Festival Presenters
 Educated at the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music, Lynn Dixon holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance with a subsequent Performance Certificate in Opera, Oratorio and Art Song.
Mr. Dixon has studied with noted vocal pedagogists, performers and coaches Hubert Kockritz, John Fiorito, Dr. Andrew White, Claudio Desderi, Eleanor Steber, Mo. Giulio Favario, Mo. Lee Schaenen, Jorma Jynninen and Sigmund Nimsgern.
He was an original cast member of the First National Company of Phantom of the Opera performing in ten cities in the U.S. He also performed various leading roles in this production in Hamburg, Germany and Antwerp, Belgium in the native languages of both countries. During his time with the Phantom productions worldwide, Mr. Dixon had opportunity to sing, as a principle player, for Presidents Bush (’41) and Clinton, Prime Minister John Major, Chancellor Helmut Kohl and the Belgian Royal family.
In addition to performing on two continents, Mr. Dixon has performed for regional opera companies across the United States. The roles performed range from the comedic Warden Frank in Die Fledermaus to the tragic Rigoletto and include Baron Scarpia, Don Bartolo, and Il Tabarro’s Michele among many others.
An alumnus of the prestigious Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, Dixon performed the Father in Hansel and Gretel and Coronato in the world premiere of the contemporary opera The Fan; a creation of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s resident composer programs. Mr. Dixon provided main stage season cover roles for Rodrigo di Posa, Baron Scarpia and Herr Faninal and covered other main stage roles in successive years.
Orchestral credits include solo appearances with the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, Musica Sacra of Cincinnati, The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Grant Park Symphony and Cincinnati May Festival performing the bass/baritone solos in works by Handel, Beethoven, Fauré, Britten, Brahms and Verdi. Mr. Dixon has worked with Maestri Thomas Schippers, Julius Rudel, Robert Shaw, James Levine and Eric Kunzel.
Mr. Dixon has held positions as a vocal pedagogist for the Stella/R1 Musikal Theatre Academie in Hamburg and the Hamburger Theater HochSchule. He has performed as a recitalist at American University (Washington, D.C.), Randolph Macon College (Lynchburg, VA), Cumberland (KY) University, Georgetown (KY) and Campbellsville (KY) Colleges in addition to offering master classes on these campuses. He has served as an adjunct faculty member for the community college in his home town where he maintains a private studio. He is also the founder and current chairman of the Greater Cheyenne Arts Advisory Council, an arts-as-economic-development advisory group to the office of the mayor.
Mr. Dixon has been used in commercial campaigns, both as a singer and announcer, for MacDonald’s and for Procter and Gamble Products as a part of their nationwide advertising efforts.
Mr. Dixon is an active Artist Roster member of the Wyoming Arts Council offering recitals and audience development efforts throughout Wyoming. He was cited by former Wyoming Governor Jim Geringer for his “Suddenly Shakespeare “, “Sing, Play, Act, Tell Me a Story “and “Broadway… Bravo!” presentations and their success in generating greater student interest in reading, writing and theatrical participation in elementary and secondary schools throughout Wyoming.
“Mr. Dixon’s voice displays the richness and warmth in the lower and middle ranges and the facility in the upper ranges indicative of a lyric/dramatic baritone. The vocal size and ease of production are best suited to the music of Verdi and Puccini.”- Ardis Krainik, late General Director, Lyric Opera of Chicago
“Wm. Lynn Dixon is a perfect comic baritone… [his] aria is one of the opera’s few moments….” – Newark, NJ Star-Ledger
“… [Wm. Lynn Dixon] struts and puffs with delicious pomposity.” –St. Louis, MO Post-Dispatch
 Allison Wedell Schumacher is the author of Shaking Hands with Shakespeare: A Teenager’s Guide to Reading and Performing the Bard, published by Simon and Schuster in 2004. Originally from Cheyenne, Ms. Schumacher grew up attending and acting in the productions of the Cheyenne Little Theater Players. She went on to earn her BA in Theater and English from St. Olaf College and her MFA in Theater from the University of Louisville. She now lives in Seattle, WA, where she has acted professionally for such companies as the 5th Avenue Theater and Theater Schmeater, and currently serves as a writer for a nonprofit organization.
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