New York City

Mezzo-soprano Katya Powder (they/them) hails from the suburbs of the great Motor City—Detroit, Michigan. They received their Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Music Education from Oakland University and graduated with a Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music. Since 2005, Katya has been teaching private voice and piano lessons, adjudicating national competitions, hosting master classes, and working as an opera singer in both Metro Detroit and New York City. They are a classically trained mezzo-soprano; their most recent operatic roles include Zita (Gianni Schicchi) and Cléone (Pénélope), both of which received praise in Opera News and The New York Times, respectively. Recently, Katya has been working with Queer Opera in Portland and with Detroit Opera; past productions include La bohème, Faust, Aida, and Ainadamar. Katya’s first love is teaching, and they specialize in voice masculinization/feminization for trans artists. Katya has been working with ArtSmart since 2018 and currently lives in Detroit, Michigan as a vocalist and educator.

Mentoring Philosophy

A good mentor has the ability to meet the student where they are, provide compassion and empathy, and listen openly.

“Art is to comfort the disturbed, but it is also to disturb the comfortable.” – César A. Cruz

A native of Sacramento, soprano Christine Moore Vassallo (she/her) is a versatile performer and sought-after teacher, having trained numerous competition winners. She has been a proud ArtSmart mentor in NYC since 2019, working at Brooklyn Tech, East New York Family Academy, and, since 2021, her current assignment at Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music. Christine is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and has trained at Tanglewood, Chautauqua School, Central City Opera, and Santa Fe Opera. She was a Regional Finalist (Pacific) in the Metropolitan Opera Guild Competition and has sung Mimi in La Bohème (with Oper Leipzig, where she performed for several years), Micaëla in Carmen, the title roles in Madama Butterfly, Suor Angelica, and Aida, Alice Ford in Falstaff, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, and Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro. Her recordings include Christine Moore–Arias and the recently released From Al Andalus to the Americas–An Odyssey of Spanish Song. Christine speaks five languages fluently.

Mentoring Philosophy

“Patience, dedication, skill, and passion are the four most important ingredients for making a good mentor. You have to love the idea of having an effect on a young person that could change their view of themselves, and even their lives.”

“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness. For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.” — Kahlil Gibran