Merced Stratton’s House Party
Merced Stratton hosts her first NATS BOSTON House Party, bringing together two members of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, jazz singer-songwriter and teaching artist Cassie Kollman and tenor, voice teacher, clinician, and Brown University teaching associate Tyler Cesario. JJ Thomchick joins them on piano for an evening centered on vocal performance and musicianship.
Stratton is a Boston-based singer, teacher, and scholar whose interests include psychoacoustics, cross-training, and asset-based pedagogy. She has premiered works with Los Angeles Opera Connects, Vibrant Matter Collective, and Guerilla Opera at Boston Conservatory, and has performed operetta, musical theater, and jazz internationally. Her scholarly presentations include work for the Pan-American Vocology Association, The Voice Foundation, and Boston Conservatory’s Vocal Pedagogy Symposium. During a post-master’s fellowship at Berklee College of Music, she created “Introduction to Functional Hearing and Singing,” a collegiate ear-training course focused on vocal timbre across musical styles. She holds an MM in Vocal Pedagogy from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, teaches voice at the University of Massachusetts Boston, serves as Boston NATS chapter president, and maintains a private studio in Cambridge.
Kollman is known for a jazz-rock style that combines technical precision and emotionally direct storytelling, with influences from jazz, R&B, and blues shaped through a contemporary improvisational approach. She has performed as a soloist and bandleader throughout the East Coast and internationally, and has ensemble credits with Sweet Honey in the Rock and the Afghanistan Freeharmonic Orchestra. Her debut album, *Lady in Shoes*, was released in 2021, and her second album, *Mixed Messages*, is scheduled for October 2026.
Cesario is a Boston-based tenor whose recent engagements include Verdi’s *Aida* and *Carousel* with Boston Lyric Opera, Verdi’s *Don Carlo* with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Handel’s *Samson* with Cambridge Chamber Ensemble, *Le Nozze di Figaro* with the NEMPAC Opera Project, and César Franck’s *Messe à Trois Voix*. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Westminster Choir College and a master’s degree in vocal pedagogy from Boston Conservatory. His teaching emphasizes flexible technique and broad, versatile repertoire.
When: November 7
Venue: Club Cafe, Boston
Lineup: Merced Stratton, Cassie Kollman, and Tyler Cesario, with JJ Thomchick on piano
Tickets: Price not available