From TOLEDO OPERA
Toledo Opera will welcome Jenna Grissom, soprano; Caroline Friend, mezzo soprano; Jeremy Do, tenor; Timothy Krueger, baritone; and Charles Ligus, pianist, as resident artists for the 2026-27 season.
Krueger and Ligus are graduates of Bowling Green State University.
All five will serve as touring artists for the Opera on Wheels program which travels extensively, visiting local educational institutions and bringing live opera to the greater Toledo area. Annually, the program is performed for 20,000 students from Findlay to Ann Arbor and Sandusky to Archbold.
In the 2026-27 season, the traveling production will be John Davies’ retelling of the nursery tale, “The Three Little Pigs,” set to music selected from operas by W.A. Mozart. Toledo Opera General Director James M. Norman will direct the production.
“Opera on Wheels remains one of our most impactful educational initiatives, and this year we are particularly pleased to present a distinguished work from the children’s operatic repertoire,” shared Norman. “Our exceptional resident artists, selected from a competitive pool of more than 150 applicants nationwide, will bring this timeless story to life for K-6 students throughout the region. It is a meaningful opportunity to inspire imagination and cultivate curiosity through music, storytelling, and discovery.”
“We are thrilled every year with the level of talent demonstrated by our resident artists,” added Toledo Opera Artistic Director Kevin J. Bylsma. “But what sets them apart from other young singers is their commitment to education. With the Opera on Wheels performances, our resident artists are teaching and encouraging the next generation of opera singers and opera lovers.”
The five will also perform Toledo Opera’s fall and spring tours of Opera ‘Round Town, a series of pop-up live performances at community hubs throughout Toledo. Vocal selections from the classical repertoire, along with musical theater, and other American standards will be heard in the fall of 2026 and the spring of 2027.
The resident artists will also sing comprimario roles in Toledo Opera’s mainstage production of “Aida” and “H.M.S. Pinafore,” which are slated for the 2026-27 season.
Described as a “stage animal,” Grissom began her career at Opera Memphis at the age of 11. She recently received her Graduate Performance Diploma at Peabody Conservatory under acclaimed soprano Elizabeth Futral and earned her preceding degrees at Louisiana State University. Grissom has previously studied with teachers Sandra Moon, Dr. Loraine Sims, and Dennis Whitehead-Darling. She has received honors from Pittsburgh Festival Opera, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Classical Singer, and Opera America. At the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, she was the winner of the Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition and recently won the Encouragement Award from The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in the Tennessee and New Orleans Districts.
Grissom made her Carnegie Hall debut in April of 2022, singing the works of composer Mikeila McQueston. Some of her recent engagements include Rosalinde – “Die Fledermaus” and Donna Anna – “Don Giovanni” with Peabody Opera, as well as Fiordiligi – Così fan tutte” and Alice Ford – “Falstaff” with The Turner-Fischer Center for Opera. Grissom was also the Sandman – “Hansel and Gretel” with Opéra Louisiane, Micaëla – “Carmen” with Music on Site Incorporated, and several performances with Opera Baltimore as well as Ohio Light Opera.
Friend is an American mezzo-soprano passionate about performing and producing opera for the modern audience. Known for her “good-natured charm” (“Cleveland Classical”), her stage roles include Hänsel – “Hänsel und Gretel,” Mercédès – “Carmen,” Zerlina – “Don Giovanni,” Presendia – “Dark Sisters,” Prince Orlofsky – “Die Fledermaus,” Mère Marie – “Dialogues des Carmélites,” and the Spirit in the opera film “Dido & Aeneas” in collaboration with Red Point Digital. Friend performed the role of Cherubino – “Le Nozze di Figaro” in the 2024 La Musica Lirica Festival in Italy and at the Estates Theatre in Prague Summer Nights Young Artist Festival 2023. Under the tutelage of soprano Dina Kuznetsova, Friend completed her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in vocal performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music with a minor in music theory. While completing her studies, Friend often performed in CIM Opera Theatre’s mainstage operas, opera scene programs, and collaborative recitals.
In concert, Friend was a featured soloist in the first annual Vincent DeMio Scholarship Gala in 2026 and in the centennial anniversary concert of the Beaver Valley Choral Society in 2023. She has been invited to perform with “Musical Upcoming Stars in the Classics,” a concert organization dedicated to performance opportunities for world-class young artists in northeast Ohio. An avid recitalist, Friend won the Diamond Prize and Best Debussy Performance Award in the 2026 Debussy International Music Competition. She is a recipient of the 2025 Boris Goldovsky Prize in Opera for the most outstanding operatic performance and the 2024 Ernerst Bloch Artist Distinction Scholarship.
Friend won first prize of the 2024 American International Music Competition in Group I for Voice and second prize for the 2023 ACPC Marcella Kochańska Sembrich Vocal Competition, granting a full scholarship to perform Cherubino in 2024. She performed in masterclasses under Kirill Kuzman, Julius Drake, and Annemarie Kremer. An advocate of early music performance, she specializes in Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony in scholas across Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Do is thrilled to be joining Toledo Opera as a resident artist, where he will be making his mainstage debut as The Messenger – “Aida.” Last year, in 2025, Do was a resident artist at Shreveport Opera, where he made his company debut as Parpignol – “La Bohème.” He also covered Rodolfo for this production, and later in the spring, he covered Don Ottavio in Shreveport’s production of “Don Giovanni.” Do recently graduated with a performer’s diploma and master’s in music from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. At Jacobs, Do performed the roles of Peter Quint – “The Turn of the Screw,” Anthony – “Sweeney Todd,” Tybalt – “Roméo et Juliette,” and Peter Van Daan in the world premiere of Shulamit Ran’s “Anne Frank.” He was also featured as the tenor soloist in the Jacobs Oratorio Chorus and Concert Orchestra’s performance of Carl Off’s “Carmina Burana.” Do has also worked as a vocal fellow with Spoleto Festival USA, where he performed as the tenor soloist in Handel’s “Dixit Dominus” and in the chorus of Spoleto’s production of Samuel Barber’s “Vanessa.”
Krueger, an Ohio native and bass-baritone, will be reprising his role as Dick-Deadeye in Gilbert and Sullivan’s “H.M.S. Pinafore” this spring. He debuted Bartolo and Antonio – “Le Nozze di Figaro” at the Brancaleoni International Music Festival in Piobbico, Italy in 2023. Krueger was a studio artist at Madison Opera, performing as Sciarrone – “Tosca” and Ragotski – “Candide” during the 2023-24 season. He was an apprentice artist at Sarasota Opera in 2024 and 2025, performing in the chorus for “Carmen,” “Luisa Miller,” and “Lucia di Lammermoor” in 2024, as well as “Il Barbiere di Siviglia,” “Le Nozze di Figaro,” “Cavelleria Rusticana,” “Pagliacci,” and “Stiffelio” in 2025. Additional roles include Tobit in Jonathan Dove’s “Tobias and the Angel,” Il Commendatore – “Don Giovanni,” Giant in the world premiere of Clarice Assad’s “The Selfish Giant,” Father – “Hänsel und Gretel,” Priest in Handel’s “Semele,” and Bass in Tom Johnson’s “The Four Note Opera.” Krueger has also worked as a soloist with the civic choir in his hometown of Findlay, recently singing Schubert’s “Mass in G Major” and as a recurring soloist at Immanuel Lutheran of Findlay. He has been the bass soloist in Handel’s “Messiah” for four consecutive years and has also sung in Beethoven’s “Mass in C” and Fauré’s “Requiem.”
Krueger received his bachelor’s in music education from Bowling Green State University and his master’s in voice performance from Roosevelt University. He attended the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, and he is currently studying with Kurt Link in Chicago. Krueger teaches voice, piano, violin, and trumpet lessons in Chicago.
Ligus is a pianist, composer, arranger, and music director originally from Cleveland. He is a graduate of Bowling Green State University, where he received his Bachelor of Music Education with instrumental specialization. He currently serves as music director and organist at Grace Lutheran Church in Fremont, where he regularly rehearses and accompanies a community choir for weekly services. In addition to his work in sacred music, he is an active freelance musician throughout the Toledo region, regularly collaborating with vocalists, instrumentalists, and theatre companies. Ligus has served as music director for several local theatre organizations, including Perrysburg Musical Theatre, The Village Players, and Owens Community College, contributing both as a conductor and keyboardist for stage productions.
An accomplished collaborative pianist, Ligus received first prize in the Undergraduate Division of the 2024 Marjorie Conrad Art Song Competition alongside soprano Laney Mitchell. During his time at Bowling Green, he performed with several major ensembles including the BGSU Men’s Chorus, Collegiate Chorale, and the Falcon Marching Band. Ligus also served as music director for the BGSU Musical Theatre students’ 2026 cabaret, a benefit performance supporting the national organization Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. In the summer of 2025, he completed and recorded his first original musical, “Like You,” in collaboration with lyricist and librettist Tyler Milicic through a grant from BGSU’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship. The album is available on all major streaming platforms. In addition to his theatrical work, Ligus has composed and arranged music for various Cleveland-based projects. He studied piano with Yevgeny Yontov, organ with Kevin Bylsma, and composition with Christopher Dietz.
For more information about the 2026-27 resident artists and/or Opera on Wheels, visit toledoopera.org.
