Anna R. Lenhardt, Founder & Executive Director

Ms. Lenhardt is the Founder & Executive Director of Opera Singers Initiative, a nonprofit organization that focuses on supporting young opera singers. Founded in 2007, Opera Singers Initiative actively supports 10 young opera singers per year through mentoring, performance opportunities and funding. 

Born in Oregon, Ms. Lenhardt launched her career in the arts by appearing in multiple musical theatre, opera and theatre performances. As an educator, Ms. Lenhardt has been on the voice faculty of New York University's Steinhardt School of Education as Adjunct Professor teaching voice, and as was a finalist for the Vilar Global Fellowship which recognizes extraordinary talent in the arts. While at New York University, Ms. Lenhardt appeared in multiple solo and opera performances including Hansel and Gretel and Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.

After New York University, Ms. Lenhardt worked at McKinsey & Company managing client and alumni relations while coordinating the launch of McKinsey Alumni Consulting in North America.  Currently, Ms. Lenhardt is head of Administration at TCC Group, a management consulting Firm for the philanthropic and nonprofit community. 

Ms. Lenhardt was seen on WNET as the host and creator of Young Opera ­ - a series about emerging opera singers in New York. An arts entrepreneur and innovator, Ms. Lenhardt is currently focused on establishing Opera Singers Initiative as the premiere nonprofit organization supporting young classical performers.

Ms. Lenhardt can be reached at anna_lenhardt@operasingersinitiative.org.

 

William R. Lee III, President

Bill Lee joined Cushman and Wakefield’s Manhattan Office in 2009 as an associate director. Mr. Lee is recognized as an entrenched, prolific, and accessible component of the commercial real estate landscape and well known by many in the industry. Highly respected by his peers, Mr. Lee specializes in providing first hand insight for tenants he represents, while also focusing on point of service trust for acquisition, disposition and emerging industry specific companies.

Prior to joining Cushman and Wakefield, Mr. Lee worked at Newmark Knight Frank, with such significant assignments as the marketing and disposition of approximately 242,000 RSF of office space in Manhattan with a proposed buildable availability of 500,000 RSF.  Additionally, sourcing and assembling an RFP response for The Loews Corporation's Building Agency of 150,000 RSF in Tennessee, and separately for Dallas. On the tenant side of transactions, Mr. Lee was instrumental in sourcing C.V. Starr & Co.'s national RFP in corporate services and lease administration, The Associated Press’ National RFP for Lease Administration and Transaction Services,  Intuit in Project Management and General Corporate Services, and The United Way in New York City disposition and acquisition RFP.

Mr. Lee began his corporate real estate activity at Insignia/ESG in Manhattan and was leasing account executive at CB Richard Ellis where he sourced the Misys International Banking Systems account and was a member of the internal disposition and acquisition team who executed a combined acquisition of 53,000 RSF in Downtown, Midtown and New Jersey in repositioning. Also during that time, Mr. Lee represented J.P Morgan in  a number of deals including a 45,000-square-foot sublease at 120 Broadway Downtown where he ahs worked for 2 years. Additionally,  he has acted as tenant representative for Or Music, LLC in their move from the GM Building to 37 West 17th Street. He has coordinated multiple brokers in a subleasing disposition at 15 Exchange Place in Jersey City for NASDAQ.

Mr. Lee's goals for servicing his clients revolve around generating superior ideas, advising his clients on best practices, drawing deep market insights, leveraging landlord and tenant relationships, and simplifying standard Manhattan protocol.

 

Vikram Vatsalan, Finance Director

Vikram Vatsalan is a Vice President at Morgan Stanley. He is based in New York and focuses on Strategy and M&A for the firm's Wealth Management and Asset Management Businesses.

 Mr. Vatsalan has worked with a variety of leading financial services companies and clients on issues of strategy, organization, and operations, including McKinsey (serving financial services, healthcare and non-profit clients) Citigroup (in its Consumer Banking business in NY, India and Dubai) and Bank One, now part of JPMorgan Chase (in its Capital Markets Business).

 Active in community service, Mr. Vatsalan has also provided consulting services to the Robin Hood Foundation, Mt. Sinai's Adolescent Health Center and Wharton Community Consultants.

 Mr. Vatsalan holds master's degrees in Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania and the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, a master's degree in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, and a bachelor's degree in Chemistry from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University, India.

 

W. Stephen Smith

W. Stephen Smith joined the Voice Faculty at The Juilliard School in the fall of 1998 after having served for eight years on the voice faculty at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. He has held a position on the voice faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 1996 where he was honored in 2001 as a “New Horizons” faculty member. Additionally, Mr. Smith was on the staff of Houston Grand Opera as Voice Instructor for the Houston Opera Studio from 1990 to 2003. He is in great demand as a voice teacher for many professional and aspiring professional singers in New York City and around the world. After moving to Houston from St. Louis where he was Chairman of the Voice Department at the Saint Louis Conservatory of Music, he maintained a voice studio in St. Louis for three years. He was a member of the music faculty at Oklahoma Christian College for eleven years and has also been on the artistic staff at Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony and the Cimarron Circuit Opera Company. He holds the Bachelor of Arts degree in Voice from Harding University (voice study with Erle T. Moore), the Master of Music degree in Voice from the University of Arkansas (voice study with Richard Brothers), and the Master of Performing Arts degree in Opera from Oklahoma City University where he was a voice student of the late renowned Inez Lunsford Silberg. Other teachers include Dr. William White.

Mr. Smith has given master classes and clinics throughout the United States, including the Aspen Music Festival and School, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Oberlin Conservatory, and at Regional and District NATS conventions. He has also been a guest lecturer at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grand. Mr. Smith's voice students have performed leading roles in most of the major opera houses and concert halls around the world including the New York City’s Metropolitan Opera, London's Royal Opera at Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, La Scala, New York City Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Paris Opera, Oslo Opera, Vancouver Opera, Miami Opera, Sarasota Opera, Omaha Opera, and Des Moines Metro Opera among many others. In addition to numerous places in the District and Regional Metropolitan Opera Auditions, twenty- five of his students have been National Finalists in the Met Auditions. 

 

Naveen Anumolu

Mr. Anumolu is currently a certified Project Manager, managing million dollar projects across the country.  Currently, Mr. Anumolu manages two businesses, one in Supply Chain Management, where Mr. Anumolu works with the vertical integration of major corporations, the second in ecommerce where Mr. Anumolu works with clients such as Barnes & Noble, Dell, Dick's Sporting Goods and AT&T.

Mr. Anumolu is heavily involved in women’s rights funds and is in the process of building a not-for-profit children's hospital in Brazil, set to open in May 2010. Mr. Anumolu is a graduate of the State University of New York at Stonybrook.