Board of Directors
Meet IOC Board Members!
Kyrian Corona
Vice President
Ken Simms
Treasurer
Chelsea Obermeier
Board Member
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Alexis Wesley
Secretary
Aaron Ball
Board Member
Brooke Iva Lohman
Board Member
Paul Yoshinaga
Board Member
Kyrian Corona
Communications professional with over 20 years experience in public relations, social media, urban development, and arts management.
She has worked with global brands including Walt Disney Pictures, Tournament of Roses, Replay Jeans, Playboy Enterprises, and The Roger Wagner Chorale.
The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Business Journal, Los Angeles Times, Forbes.com, AllBusiness.com, Burbank Leader, Glendale News-Press, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and Reader's Digest, and my photos have appeared in Life & Style Weekly, LA Business Journal, Burbank Leader, Glendale News-Press, Benaki Museum (Athens, Greece), NEON-BREAKING NEWS ATHENS (Athens, Greece).
Alexis Wesley
Versatile actor and mezzo-soprano Alexis Wesley is equally at home in opera, oratorio, musical theatre, stage plays and film.
She is also a writer and producer of both independent film and theatre. Locally, she has performed principal roles with The Definiens Project, Independent Opera Company and Pacific Opera Project.Favorite roles include Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd), Charlotte (A Little Night Music), Prudie Cupp (Pump Boys & Dinettes), Madame Flora (The Medium), Spring Beauty (The Snow Maiden), Princess Anhilte (The Gipsy Princess), Gertrude (Roméo et Juliette) and Marcellina (Le Nozze di Figaro). Favorite oratorio solo work includes Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah, Kodály’s Missa Brevis, Buxtehude’s Jesu Meine Freude and Vivaldi’s Gloria.
She is also a soloist/section leader for Lutheran Church of The Master in Los Angeles. Originally from Cincinnati, she holds an M.M. in Voice from CSUN and is a graduate of the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting in NYC. By day, she is a graphic designer.
Ken Simms
Baritone is a proud member of Los Angeles’ opera community.
A native of Los Angeles, he began his formal musical training as a youth with the California Boys Choir.
After a long break which included attendance at the University of Southern California and several private occupations in the field of Finance, he began studying with William Bohn in 1999 until his retirement in 2001.
He continued his vocal development with Richard Fredricks.
Presently, Mr. Simms works with Gail Gordon Dennis Parnell and Christopher Luthi.
Mr. Simms has performed the principal baritone roles in Verdi’s Luisa Miller, La traviata, Un ballo in maschera, Aida, and Otello, Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Cosi fan tutte, Puccini’s La boheme and Tosca and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Tsar’s Bride.
Chelsea Obermeier
Chelsea Obermeier is a Lyric Soprano based out of Los Angeles, California. Chelsea has performed around the country with a variety of companies, including Opera Carolina, Pacific Opera Project, Independent Opera Company, and Opera Omaha. During her time in California, Chelsea has joined IOC as Odarka in A Cossack Beyond the Danube, the title role in Little Red Riding Hood, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, and the chorus of Snow Maiden. She has also sung several productions with Pacific Opera Project, including Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. Chelsea holds a BM Vocal Performance degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a MM Vocal Performance degree from Temple University in Philadelphia. She is also an instructor in musical theatre and classical voice at Pierce College.
Aaron Ball
​Hailed as "a master of declamation and interpretation... a wonderful voice with enumerable vocal shadings... and flexibility of expression," (Sharon Mabry, Journal of Singing; author, Exploring Twentieth Century Vocal Music), Aaron's career highlights include many premieres. Aaron has appeared in leading and principal roles with Long Beach Opera, Pacific Lyric Opera, Mission Opera, Independent Opera Company, Lyric Opera of Orange County, the Huntington Beach Symphony Orchestra, the Valley Chamber Ensembles, and as soloist at Carnegie Hall; his signature roles include Don Giovanni, Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Papageno, Escamillo, Falke, and Sweeney Todd. An accomplished audiobook narrator & producer, Aaron’s most recent projects have been published by Beacon Audiobooks and are currently available on Amazon and Audible. Aaron serves as principal and creative director for his company Command virFormance offering performing arts organizations solutions for digital delivery of performance content as well as production design for opera including projection design and implementation of digital sets, animations, and video production/direction. Widely sought after as a coach and consultant for the performing arts, Aaron serves on the board of directors for Independent Opera Company in Los Angeles, as an advisory board member for Mission Opera in Santa Clarita, CA, and as a Mission Opera company trustee member of Opera America. Aaron serves on voice faculty at NOVA Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale and holds his BM and MM in vocal performance from California State University, Northridge. Aaron currently resides in Deerfield Beach, FL where he maintains a private voice studio.
Brooke Iva Lohman
Hailed as “witty, adorable, and one to watch” (Lauri’s List), soprano Brooke Iva Lohman is an active recitalist and performer throughout California. Lauded for her clear, high range, crisp, clean fioritura, and moving character portrayals, she is quickly gaining attention as an adept interpreter of some of the most demanding lyric coloratura repertoire for soprano.
Brooke has sung with many Southern California opera companies, including Opera Santa Barbara, Pacific Opera Project, Glendale Opera, Orange County Opera, and Independent Opera. Notable performances include Adele (Die Fledermaus), Monica (The Medium), the title role in the West Coast premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Snow Maiden (Snegúrochka), Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), Olympia (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Atalanta (Serse), Madame Goldentrill (Der Schauspieldirektor), and three of Gilbert & Sullivan’s well-known heroines: Mabel (Pirates of Penzance), Josephine (HMS Pinafore), and Yum-Yum (The Mikado). From 2013 to 2015, she was a Resident Young Artist with Riverside Lyric Opera, covering roles such as Suor Genoveffa (Suor Angelica), and Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi).
Brooke was recently named the Cal-Western Region Winner for the 2020 NATS Artist Awards competition and was awarded the Irvin Bushman Award, is a recipient of the Anna Sosenko Assist Trust grant, the Opera Buffs grant, the Opera Guild of Southern California scholarship, and the Northridge Arts Council scholarship. She received a MM with distinction in Vocal Performance from CSU, Northridge, a BMus in Vocal Performance from California Baptist University, and currently studies with Shigemi Matsumoto.
Paul Yoshinaga
A lifelong student of music, Paul enjoys playing jazz bass. He has performed with Grammy Nominee drummer Randy Drake and currently studies with 6 string electric bass master Todd Johnson.
Paul practiced law for over three decades as an attorney for the County of Los Angeles specializing in trial advocacy, land use and workers compensation.
He resides in La Crescenta with his wife Carey and their herd of cats.