WCU Student Profile: Braedon O'Hara '27
Wells School of Music Vocal Performance Major Selected for Prestigious Seagle Festival
When Braedon O’Hara ’27 first arrived at West Chester University in 2022, becoming a professional opera singer was not part of his plan. A Music Education major at the time, O’Hara had only recently begun considering voice as a serious area of study.
Four years later, the senior Vocal Performance major is preparing for his professional opera debut, pursuing graduate study at some of the nation’s leading conservatories, and celebrating a summer experience that placed him among a select group of emerging opera singers from across the country and around the world.
This summer, O’Hara was one of approximately 30 young singers selected from more than 500 applicants to participate in the Seagle Festival in Schroon Lake, New York. The 111-year-old festival is the Adirondack region’s premier opera and musical theatre festival, and also one of the oldest summer vocal training programs in the United States.
The Collegeville, Pennsylvania, native initially planned to become a music teacher, following in the footsteps of his mother, who taught piano, voice, and choir. At Methacton High School, O’Hara participated in choirs but focused much of his musical energy on cello, percussion, and guitar.
At West Chester, however, studying voice with Wells School of Music Professor Dr.
Stephen Ng changed the trajectory of his education.
“Dr. Ng was hard on me and applied a lot of pressure,” O’Hara said. “I wanted to work for him. I kept working, and eventually I realized that this was what I wanted to do.”
O’Hara changed his concentration to Vocal Performance and began pursuing opportunities both inside and outside the classroom. He became a section leader for WCU’s Concert Choir, the Wells School of Music’s highest-level choir, and regularly performs as a soloist. He was a bass soloist for a Bach Cantata, and he won the WCU Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition last winter.
His work in opera has been equally extensive. At West Chester, he has performed principal roles including the Father in Hänsel und Gretel, the Frog King in The Three Feathers, and Guglielmo in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. He made his first appearance on the stage in 2023 as a bass soloist in the University’s production of Candide.
“After Candide, I thought, ‘This is exciting. I want to explore what this could bring,’” O’Hara said.
That persistence led to one of his most significant accomplishments yet: acceptance into the 2026 Seagle Festival Emerging Artist program.
The approximately three-month residency immersed O’Hara in the life of a professional opera company. O’Hara performed two principal roles. In Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, he portrayed George Benton, the prison warden responsible for carrying out an execution. He also performed as Bob Becket in Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore. He additionally participated in the festival’s production of The Sound of Music as part of the ensemble.
For O’Hara, Dead Man Walking was particularly meaningful.
“It was a super amazing piece of art, but it was really emotional to deal with,” he said. “We were dealing with some very difficult subject matter.”
O’Hara credits the Wells School of Music faculty with helping him develop both the technical and intellectual skills necessary to have a career in Opera. His education at West Chester has extended well beyond learning musical notes and vocal technique. O’Hara has studied music history, literature, and languages, including German, Italian, French, and English.
“I love history, and I love writing papers,” he said. “There’s so much more to music than just learning the notes. You need to understand the context of what you’re singing and why it matters.”
O’Hara is already beginning to make the transition from student performer to professional artist. This fall, he will make his professional opera debut in Delaware as the cover for Escamillo in Georges Bizet’s Carmen. The work is a collaboration between Wilmington Concert Opera and Opera Fresca. in Newtown Square, PA. The cover run is on November 12, at 7 p.m., at the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant in Wilmington, Delaware. O’Hara will perform as an ensemble member during both Company’s runs.
After graduating from West Chester, O’Hara’s ultimate goal combines performance, scholarship, and teaching.
“I love teaching, but I also love performing,” he said. “I want to sing as much opera as I can and experience as much as I can before I settle into a career as a professor.”
O’Hara will present his senior degree recital at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 4, in Ware Recital Hall at West Chester University. Video of O’Hara singing is available at his YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2HooLYQcak5excre_0OeSg