Meet Our Team
Angela Gilbert
Director
Angela Gilbert was born in Cape Town, South Africa and is an accomplished international interpreter of the Bel Canto repertoire.
She has performed the title roles in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Maria Stuarda for San Diego Opera under the batons of Richard Bonynge and Edoardo Müller, respectively. The title role in Lucia has also taken her to the Anna Livia International Opera Festival in Dublin, Ireland; Cape Town Opera, South Africa; Connecticut Grand Opera, Kentucky Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and she has covered the role for Natalie Dessay at the San Francisco Opera. She has also performed Norina in Don Pasquale with Cape Town Opera and Wolf Trap Opera, Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore with the Bar Harbor Festival, and Inez in La Favorita for Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall.
An alumna of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera, Angela is a versatile performer, particularly relishing her ongoing relationship with Mozart and Verdi. Angela is a graduate of the University of Cape Town and is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including the VITA award, the Oudemeester Music Prize, the Adcock Ingram Music Prize and the Chiappini Opera Trust, and in 2003 she represented South Africa in the 'Cardiff Singer of the World' Competition.
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Angela is passionate about vocal instruction and creating authentic opera performance experiences for young singers. She is currently a voice teacher in the College House Instruction program at the University of Pennsylvania and leads a private voice studio from her home in Point Breeze, South Philadelphia.
Todd Williams
Co-Director
A preeminent exponent of the Natural Horn in America, Todd Williams is an active performer and educator based in South Philadelphia.
In high demand, he currently serves as Principal Horn of numerous ensembles across the country including Philharmonia Baroque, the Handel & Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, Trinity Baroque, Apollo’s Fire, Mercury, Opera Lafayette, Tempesta di Mare, and more.​ He’s appeared as guest Principal with The English Concert (London), Tafelmusik (Toronto), American Bach Soloists (San Francisco), Bach Collegium San Diego, and Musica Angelica (Los Angeles).​
Prominent solo and chamber engagements include performances with the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Aston Magna Festival, and the Connecticut Early Music Festival, to name a few.​ On the topic of the Natural Horn, he has conducted lectures and master classes at the music schools of Curtis, Eastman, and Oberlin and in 2018, joined the faculty of The Juilliard School.
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Equally comfortable on the modern valve horn, he is a staple of the Philadelphia music scene regularly performing with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chamber and Opera Orchestras, the Philly Pops, and the Philadelphia Ballet where he is currently Acting Principal.
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Bridging the gap of the period and modern instrument worlds, Todd has had the distinct privilege of performing under the baton of many notable conductors including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sir Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gianandrea Noseda, Christoph Eschenbach, Lorin Maazel, Joshua Bell, John Williams, Harry Bicket, Harry Christophers, Richard Egarr, Nicholas McGegan, Masaaki Suzuki, Jonathan Cohen, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Václav Luks, Bernard Labadie, David Stern, and others.
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He’s recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, RCA/Sony Records, CPO, Atlantic Records, CORO, Naxos, Musica Omnia, Chaconne/Chandos, NASCAR/Paramount, Warner Brothers, and Apple TV. Todd is a graduate of Indiana University.
Andrew Samlal
Conductor
Described as a “fine and quite serious musician, with excellent technical command”, Trinidadian conductor and pianist Andrew Samlal has appeared as associate conductor and coach with the Des Moines Metro Opera and Guest Conductor with the Canton Symphony Orchestra. Samlal was also music director of the Delaware Valley Opera Company’s Le nozze di Figaro, assistant conductor of the Prague Summer Festival’s Le nozze di Figaro and also conductor for Independent Sounds Festival’s La Traviata and Le nozze di Figaro.
Praised for his “skilled technique at the keyboard but also for his acute sense of the classical and baroque period styles” Samlal was also an apprentice conductor and school pianist with the Philadelphia Ballet and served on faculty as a conductor and pianist at Temple University. ​
Samlal has worked as Music Director of The University of Maryland’s University Orchestra and Assistant Conductor with the Maryland Opera Studio (MOS) where he assisted with MOS’s productions of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte and Otto Nikolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Samlal has a Master's Degree in Collaborative Piano and Opera Coaching from Temple University and is currently pursuing a doctorate in orchestral studies at The University of Maryland where he is a student of David Neely. Some artists Samlal has worked with include Markand Thakar, Beatrice Affron, Lambert Orkis, Sara Davis Buechner and Joyce Lindorff.
Joe Rim
Répétiteur
Joe is a pianist and singer who has been involved in many productions as a performer and producer in various amateur and professional organizations. He is a collaborative pianist (répétiteur) for IndependentSounds, which he has been with since its inception, and filled various roles as needed in a startup opera company!
He was fortunate to have great mentors in high school at the Manhattan School of Music precollege program and in college at Brown University who fostered a love of working with singers and an openness to experimental or startup projects. He has music directed a wide range of shows including Candide, The Turn of the Screw, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Patience, Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George and various new student and professional works. As a singer, he contributes his voice to area church choirs as an alto or bass substitute and a member of the The Chestnut Street Singers, a collaborative vocal ensemble.
Joe is a college counselor at William Penn Charter School in East Falls, Philadelphia where he helps young people find their best college fit. As a career educator who taught physics and filled various leadership roles in Philly public schools, he enjoys IndependentSounds's commitment to developing young singers at all levels and providing nurturing but demanding experiences for everyone who is interested in opera!
Michael Hogan
Business Manager
Michael J. Hogan has been a performer and producer of campus and community opera productions since 2008. While in college, Mike served President and Publicity Manager of Brown University Gilbert and Sullivan, where he also performed in six opera productions. In 2010, he was stage director of The Gondoliers, and in 2011 he was Italian coach for Gianni Schicchi, produced by Brown Opera Productions.
Mike went on to pursue a PhD in molecular biology at the University of Pennsylvania, during which time he performed in several more opera productions with the Penn Singers and the Rodin Opera Scenes concert series (2015 - 2017).
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Mike is a tenor and currently studies voice in the studios of Jack LiVigni and Angela Gilbert. Along with Angela and Todd, Mike was one of the founding members of IndependentSounds! when we were inaugurated in 2023. In our 2024 festival, Mike had the pleasure of playing Alfredo in La Traviata, one of his dream roles.
While a passionate amateur of music, Mike is also career scientist and is currently an Assistant Professor of Pathobiology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he runs a laboratory investigating the immune response to viral infections and vaccines. Mike is thrilled to be able to repurpose his scientific grant-writing skills to also support a fabulous performing arts organization like IndependentSounds!