Ben Flanders
Baritone Ben Flanders is the founder and Artistic Director of Slavic Voices, as well as the workshop for singers, conductors, and pianists “Slavic Voices at Big Blue”. An Alexander teacher and former professional horn player, Mr. Flanders has been a member of Cincinnati’s Vocal Art Ensemble since 2013 and has appeared as a soloist with the Cincinnati Fusion Ensemble, Collegium Cincinnati, the Bach Ensemble of St. Thomas and other groups in the Cincinnati area. Mr. Flanders has sung as a core member of the Cincinnati Opera Chorus, and has performed or covered roles for Dayton Opera, Concert Nova, Queen City Opera, Nanoworks Opera, and others. He has performed as a recitalist in the US and Ukraine and is committed to bringing people together through music and poetry in the languages of eastern and central Europe.
Lauren McAllister
Lauren McAllister is a lyric mezzo-soprano based in Cincinnati. Her upcoming appearances include Vesta in the world premiere of Fierce (Cincinnati Opera), Nicklausse in The Tales of Hoffmann (Opera Louisiane), and the premiere of Robert Kyr’s work for sixteen voices, Earth Ritual (Conspirare). She recently performed with the Lubbock Symphony for their Chamber Sound! Series, sang the role of Queen of the Virtues in Hildegard von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum, and covered the role of Ännchen in Queen City Opera’s Der Freischütz. As a recitalist, she made her Salon 21 debut in December with works by Heggie, Schumann, and a premiere of Edgar Allen Poe texts by Stephen Variames. Lauren is an avid performer of art song and contemporary music. While in Lubbock, she presented Jennifer Jolley’s Shine a Light on our Rights and David Little’s You Shiver, from his opera JFK. She joined the Cincinnati Song Initiative in their Survey of Les Six program, was a guest artist with Cincinnati Soundbox in their concert series, and sang with the Lynx Project as a member of their Autism Advocacy Project, where she premiered works by Steven Variames and Travis Reynolds.
As both a soloist and ensemble member, Lauren is sought out for her passion and musicianship. She performs regularly with a variety of choral ensembles, including Conspirare, the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble, Collegium Cincinnati, and the PaTRAM Institute Singers. Lauren is an artist on two Grammy®-nominated recordings for Best Choral Performance: Conspirare’s The Hope of Loving and the PaTRAM Institute Singers’ Sander: The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. As a featured soloist, her performances include the Bach Ascension Oratorio and B Minor Mass, Corigliano’s Fern Hill, Ode to Common Things, Arc in the Sky, Considering Matthew Shepard, Handel’s Messiah, Duruflé’s Requiem, Vivaldi’s Gloria, the US premiere of the Telemann Brockes Passion, and a staged performance of the Bach Saint John Passion. As an operatic performer, her role credits include Laura and Marta cover (Queen City Opera), Melanto (Ulysses: an American Mythology- Opera Louisiane), Der Trommler (Der Kaiser von Atlantis- Cincinnati Chamber Opera), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel- ROKCincy), Lazuli (l’Étoile- Vegas City Opera), Courtier and Maid Cover (The Witches of Venice- Opera Saratoga), Cherubino cover (Le nozze di Figaro- Opera Saratoga), and Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus-Undercroft Opera).
Lauren received her Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music (CCM), in the studio of Karen Lykes. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Robert McIver. Lauren was the 2015 Nebraska District winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, was a finalist in the 2012 Jesse Knesset Lieder Competition, and won first place in the 2011 Syracuse Civic Morning Musicals Competition.
Daniel Weeks
Daniel Weeks is an American Tenor - Artist/Professor. In 2015, he joined the voice faculty of the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music, and continues to maintain a performance career encompassing opera, concert, solo recitals, and recordings. Praised for his Italianate voice and sensitive musicianship, Mr. Weeks is also a highly sought-after teacher and master clinician. From 1998-2015, he was a member of the faculty at the University of Louisville. Since 2002, he has collaborated with pianist, Naomi Oliphant, giving over 150 performances throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. These include recitals in Katowice, Poland, Brno, CZ, and an appearance in Toronto, Canada, at the 2007 Collaborative Conference.
Alina Kotliar
Alina Kotliar has been the language coach for Slavic Voices since 2020. She was born and raised in Lugansk, Ukraine, and speaks Russian, Ukrainian and Polish. Since her early years Alina has had an interest in foreign languages and has been studying English all her life. She lived and studied in Warsaw in 2014, and has studied Slavic languages, as well as Romance languages such as French, Italian and Spanish. Since 2014 she and her family have been living in Kyiv where she was studying for her master's degree in psychology, as well as teaching Russian and Ukrainian. Currently she is based in Warsaw from where she continues coaching and teaching the singers of Slavic Voices.