Who are we?

Singer, actor, and educator, Caden Cole, from Centralia, Illinois, has performed roles such as Don Giovanni in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Sid in Britten’s Albert Herring, and Mr. Moss in Copland’s The Tender Land. This season, he will perform as Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with the Chicago College of Performing Arts as well as understudy Samuel in the Chicago Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company’s production of The Pirates of Penzance.

Outside of the operatic repertoire, Caden has been a featured soloist for masterworks like Faure’s Requiem, Vivaldi’s Gloria, and Leopold Mozart’s Mass in A Major.

Caden is a graduate of Southern Illinois University Carbondale holding a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Music Education. Caden also trained at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland. He is currently a Master’s candidate in Classical Vocal Performance at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

Alongside performing, Caden is an established voice teacher with students all over Illinois.

Caden Cole is a founding board member of the Centralia Opera.

Award-winning composer, conductor, organist, pianist, singer, and carillonneur Elijah Harrison Buerk is a rising talent in the world of classical music.

He currently studies organ performance, composition, and conducting at the highly esteemed Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. He studies organ under Dr. Janette Fishell and Dr. Jeffrey Smith and composition with renowned composers Don Freund, PQ Phan, Han Lash, and Aaron Travers.

There, he is a member of the innovative NOTUS Contemporary Vocal Ensemble under the baton of Dr. Dominick DiOrio. He currently serves as organ scholar at Trinity Episcopal Church in Bloomington, Indiana.

Growing up in Centralia, Illinois, Elijah served as organist and choir director at Trinity Lutheran Church. In Centralia, he studied with Lynda Marshall, Sandy Humphry, Barb Roberts, and most extensively with the great organist and carillonneur Roy Kroezen.

He is thankful for his many mentors, parents, friends, family and amazing fiancée.

Elijah Buerk is a founding board member of the Centralia Opera.

During the 2023/2024 Season, tenor William Johnson was a Studio Artist at the Madison Opera where he performed the roles of Spoletta in Tosca, Colin in The Anonymous Lover, and the Captain in Candide. Johnson also covered the roles of Cavaradossi in Tosca, Valcour in The Anonymous Lover, the title role of Candide, and Ivan the Lackey in Francesca Zambello's production of The Nose at Chicago Opera Theater.

Other professional credits include Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at Mozart in the Knobs Festival, tenor soloist in Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Albany Symphony, and Mozart's Requiem with the Carolina Philharmonic.

While pursuing his graduate degree at Northwestern University, he sang roles including Rodolfo in La bohème, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, and Fabian in If I Were You.

During his undergraduate studies at Michigan State University, Mr. Johnson performed roles including Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Pluto in Orpheus in the Underworld, and Alfred in Die Fledermaus.

William Johnson is a founding board member of the Centralia Opera.