Mari Hazel is a voice teacher from Columbia.  She grew up participating in summer courses through the Royal School of Church Music in America.  She received her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Converse College in 2009 and her Master of Music in Voice Performance from the University of South Carolina in 2013.  She has performed in a number of opera roles through Converse Opera Theater, such as the Mistress of the Novices in Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Peep Bo in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado.  Mari also has experience in musical theatre productions like Lerner and Loewe’s “Brigadoon,” Jerry Bock’s classic “Fiddler on the Roof” as Chava, as well as experience with choreography and stage directing.  Mari’s background also includes a set of famous opera scenes from “Carmen,” “Dialogue of the Carmelites,” and “The Medium.” During her time in Columbia, she has been a voice teacher and vocal coach for Trinity Episcopal Cathedrals Choir for Boys and Choir for Girls.  These choirs have performed works such as Handel’s “Messiah,” Benjamin Britten’s “Rejoice in the Lamb,” and Mozart’s “Requiem.”  She has also been an active member in the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Choir of Adults who have performed the Bach “St. John Passion,” Rachmaninoff “Vespers,” and premiered John Fitz Rogers “Magna Mysterium.” “My passion for teaching comes from the work that I’ve done with the great directors, conductors, and teachers throughout my lifetime.  The teachers that have helped me grow musically through explanation and patience are the teachers that have stayed in my memory, and I continue to hear their instruction through my own music making now.  It’s my goal to pass it on and help others love music in the way that makes them happy.”