Raised in Rochester, NY Tess is a singing actress, stage director, and choreographer, with over 22 years of formal training. Tess incorporates elements of dance and body awareness into her work. She just completed her role debuts of the title role in Handel's Agrippina and of Mère Marie in Poulenc's Les Dialogues des Carmélites. This Spring, Tess choreographed a musical review for Oldenburg Academy and sang the role of Ruth in Opera Fusion: New Works Workshop with Santa Fe Opera in Gregory Spears and Tracy K. Smith’s The Righteous. This summer, she returned to the Cincinnati Opera Chorus and stage directed the Bach Coffee Cantata for Queen City Opera. She recently associate directed Chicago Summer Opera's production of Handel's Rinaldo and sang her role debut of Third Lady with Luke Housner Summer Opera this Summer. This Fall, Tess will sing the title role in CCM’s production of the Rape of Lucretia and the role of Morozova in Tchaikovsky’s Undina, reconstructed by Queen City Opera’s Isaac Selya. 

Tess is also a burlesque dancer and dance instructor. She teaches bi-monthly classes with Confidence Builds in Heels, and performs regularly throughout Cincinnati as burlesque artist Paris Euphoria. 
 
Some other recent credits include Core Chorister for Cincinnati Opera, Dorothée in Chevalier de Saint-George's L'Amant Anonyme and Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro.  She also debuted the role of Turnspit in LAH-SOW's production of Dvořák's Rusalka, the title role in Bizet's operas Carmen and Djamileh at CCM’s Opera Bootcamp, and Suzy in CCM's production of La Rondine. Some of Tess’s other roles include Adina in L'elisir d'amore, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Musetta in La Boheme.