26-27 Resident Artists

Toledo Opera's 2026-2027 Resident Artists

Jenna Grissom, soprano
Described as a “stage animal,” soprano Jenna Grissom began her career at Opera Memphis at the early age of 11. Currently, Ms. Grissom is a resident artist for Toledo Opera for the 2026-2027 season. She recently received her Graduate Performance Diploma at Peabody Conservatory under acclaimed soprano Elizabeth Futral and earned her preceding degrees at Louisiana State University. She has previously studied with applauded teachers Sandra Moon, Dr. Loraine Sims, and Dennis Whitehead-Darling. Ms. Grissom has received honors from Pittsburgh Festival Opera, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Classical Singer, and Opera America. At the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, she was the winner of the Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition and recently won the Encouragement award from The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in the Tennessee and New Orleans Districts. Ms. Grissom made her Carnegie Hall debut in April of 2022 singing the works of renowned composer Mikeila McQueston. Some of her recent engagements include Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) with Peabody Opera, as well as Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) and Alice Ford (Falstaff) with The Turner-Fischer Center for Opera. She was also the Sandman (Hansel and Gretel) with Opéra Louisiane, Micaëla (Carmen) with Music on Site Incorporated, and several performances with Opera Baltimore as well as Ohio Light Opera.

 Caroline Friend, mezzo soprano
Caroline Friend is an American Mezzo-Soprano passionate about performing and producing opera for the modern audience. Known for her “good-natured charm” (Cleveland Classical), her stage roles include Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Mercédès (Carmen), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Presendia (Dark Sisters), Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Mère Marie (Dialogues des Carmélites), and the Spirit in the Opera Film Dido & Aeneas in collaboration with Red Point Digital. Ms. Friend performed the role of Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro) in the 2024 La Musica Lirica Festival in Italy and at the Estates Theatre in Prague Summer Nights Young Artist Festival 2023. Under the tutelage of acclaimed soprano Dina Kuznetsova, she completed her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in vocal performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music with a minor in music theory. While completing her studies, Ms. Friend often performed in CIM Opera Theatre's mainstage operas, opera scene programs, and collaborative recitals. In concert, she was a featured soloist in the 1st Annual Vincent DeMio Scholarship Gala in 2026 and in the Centennial Anniversary Concert of the Beaver Valley Choral Society in 2023. She has been invited to perform with Musical Upcoming Stars in the Classics, a concert organization dedicated to performance opportunities for world-class young artists in Northeast Ohio. An avid recitalist, Ms. Friend won the Diamond Prize and Best Debussy Performance Award in the 2026 Debussy International Music Competition. She is a recipient of the 2025 Boris Goldovsky Prize in Opera for the most outstanding operatic performance and the 2024 Ernest Bloch Artistic Distinction Scholarship. She won 1st Prize of the 2024 American International Music Competition in Group I for Voice and 2nd Prize for the 2023 ACPC Marcella Kochańska Sembrich Vocal Competition, granting a full scholarship to perform Cherubino in 2024. Ms. Friend performed in masterclasses under Kirill Kuzman, Julius Drake, and Annemarie Kremer. An advocate of early music performance, she specializes in Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony in scholas across Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Jeremy Do, tenor
Tenor Jeremy Do is thrilled to be joining Toledo Opera as a Resident Artist for the 2026/2027 Season where he will be making his mainstage debut as The Messenger (Aida). Last year, Mr. Do was a Resident Artist at Shreveport Opera where he made his company debut as Parpignol (La Bohème). Mr. Do also covered Rodolfo for this production, and later in the Spring, he covered Don Ottavio in Shreveport’s production of Don Giovanni. Do recently graduated with a performer’s diploma and master’s in music from the Indiana University Jacobs school of music. At Jacobs, he performed the roles of Peter Quint (The Turn of the Screw), Anthony (Sweeney Todd), Tybalt (Roméo et Juliette), and Peter Van Daan in the world premiere of Shulamit Ran’s Anne Frank. He was also featured as the tenor soloist in the Jacobs Oratorio Chorus and Concert Orchestra’s performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Mr. Do has also worked as a Vocal Fellow with Spoleto Festival USA where he performed as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Dixit Dominus and in the chorus of Spoleto’s production of Samuel Barber’s Vanessa.

Charles Ligus, pianist
Charles Ligus is a pianist, composer, arranger, and music director originally from Cleveland. He is a graduate of Bowling Green State University, where he received his Bachelor of Music Education with instrumental specialization. Mr. Ligus currently serves as music director and organist at Grace Lutheran Church in Fremont, Ohio where he regularly rehearses and accompanies a community choir for weekly services. In addition to his work in sacred music, he is an active freelance musician throughout the Toledo region, regularly collaborating with vocalists, instrumentalists, and theatre companies. He has served as music director for several local theatre organizations, including Perrysburg Musical Theatre, The Village Players, and Owens Community College, contributing as both a conductor and keyboardist for numerous stage productions. An accomplished collaborative pianist, Mr. Ligus received first prize in the Undergraduate Division of the 2024 Marjorie Conrad Art Song Competition alongside soprano Laney Mitchell. During his time at Bowling Green, he performed with several major ensembles including the BGSU Men’s Chorus, Collegiate Chorale, and the Falcon Marching Band. He also served as music director for the BGSU Musical Theatre Students’ 2026 Cabaret, a benefit performance supporting the national organization Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. In the summer of 2025, Ligus completed and recorded his first original musical, Like You, in collaboration with lyricist and librettist Tyler Milicic through a generous grant from BGSU’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship. The album is available on all major streaming platforms. In addition to his theatrical work, he has composed and arranged music for various Cleveland-based projects. Mr. Ligus studied piano with Yevgeny Yontov, organ with Kevin Bylsma, and composition with Christopher Dietz.