Our Leadership is made up of some of Pittsburgh’s finest and newest members of the creative community.
Meghan M. Hilker, Artistic and Managing Director/Founder (President)
A native to the South Hills, Meghan grew up creating and performing in the Pittsburgh area. She holds her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Penn State University and her Master of Music in Voice Performance from The University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also spent a summer in Graz, Austria where she studied at the American Institute of Musical Studies.
For the past ten years, Meghan has performed with several small opera companies across the country and served on the faculty as a voice instructor and musical coach of several schools in Wisconsin including Ripon College, Rhapsody Arts Center, Inc., and the Children’s Theater of Madison. As a performer, teacher, and director, often all at once, Meghan gained a unique perspective into the creative process. Inspired by colleagues, mentors, and audiences, the idea for Steel City Opera was born. After spending several decades mastering the technique and the artistry required to be a professional opera singer, Meghan realized the need to take opera to the people. This incredible art form deserves to be rediscovered by a broader audience in new and exciting ways and she could not think of a better way to achieve that goal than to bring it to her hometown.
Caryn Alexis Crozier, Executive Director (Secretary)
Caryn is a Soprano originally from North Carolina but currently resides in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She holds her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from West Virginia University, where she currently teaches. Caryn started her singing career in musical theater, having sung Babe (The Pajama Game), Gertrude (Seussical), and Urleen (Footloose). She found her love of opera while understudying Despina (Così fan tutte) in undergrad at Appalachian State University. She has since gone on to sing Rose Maurrant (Street Scene), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Anna I (Seven Deadly Sins), Susanna/Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro), Bianca (La Rondine), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), and Tatyana (Eugene Onegin).
Caryn is just as at home in operetta and children’s opera, having sung Josephine (HMS Pinafore), Julia Jellicoe (The Grand Duke), Giannetta (The Gondoliers), and Elsie Maynard (Yeoman of the Guard) to great acclaim. Ms. Crozier has performed as Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Edwina Bombastina (Mystery on the Docks), Papagayo (Papagayo), Granny (Little Red’s Most Unusual Day), and Lead/Lover (The Enchanted Forest) in traveling children’s operas across Western NY, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Pittsburgh. She has performed with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, ViVace Opera, Portland Summer Opera, Pittsburgh Savoyards, Toronto Summer Opera, Finger Lakes Opera, and Undercroft Opera.
Caryn is incredibly happy to be making this dream of starting an opera company happen with Meghan and is looking forward to the coming season for Steel City Opera!
Mitchell Greco, Sound Engineer
Mitch Greco is Assistant Professor of Music at West Liberty University (Wheeling, WV), where he is the Director of Percussion and World Music. He directs the Percussion Ensemble and the Marching Hilltoppers Drumline, as well as the Advanced and Beginner Steel Bands and African Drum & Dance Ensemble. He is an active percussionist, clinician and sound engineer. For bookings, please contact mitchell.greco@westliberty.edu.
Brian Hilker, Board Member (Treasurer)
Emily Gallagher, Board Member
Maureen W. Hilker, Board Member
