Faculty
Dr. Robert Best
Robert Best, baritone, is an Associate Professor of Voice at Baylor University and serves as the Recruiting Coordinator of the Vocal Studies Division. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance/Pedagogy from the University of Colorado at Boulder where he studied with Barbara Doscher and Robert Harrison. He also earned BM and MM degrees in Vocal Performance and Vocal Performance/Pedagogy from Arizona State University where he studied with Jerry Doan.
Dr. Best has recorded vocal chamber music on the Capstone and Innova Recording labels, served as an apprentice artist with Opera Colorado, and performed at numerous national music conferences including the National NATS Conference and the College Band Directors National Conference.
Dr. Best’s students have performed and been named winners in such diverse venues/competitions as the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Arizona Opera, Austin Opera, Utah Opera, Boston Early Music Festival, Haymarket Opera Festival, numerous levels of Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Lotte Lenya Competition, Broadway productions of Hairspray!, Legally Blonde, the Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, and national tours of West Side Story, Fosse!, and Mamma Mia!, among others.
Julianne Lungren Best
Julianne Best, soprano, holds an MM in Vocal Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she studied with Barbara Doscher and Robert Harrison. Other studies include the Stuttgarter Hochschule für Musik, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University. She worked with Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge at the Britten-Pears School and Martin Isepp at the Banff Academy of Singing.
With Opera Colorado Artist Center, she performed the roles of Susanna, Despina, & Miss Wordsworth, as well as Clorinda and Lucia with Opera Colorado. She has performed another dozen roles and has sung in over 50 oratorio and concert performances with orchestras & choral organizations. Ms. Best was a World Finalist in the Pavarotti International Competition in 1995.
With more than twenty years of college teaching experience, Ms. Best also holds a special interest in the development of adolescent singer. J Best Studio owns a successful private voice studio in Waco, TX. Her students have received awards in NATS, Schmidt Vocal, Hal Leonard, and the National Federation of Music Clubs competitions. They have been chosen for summer programs at Tanglewood, Northwestern, and the Schmidt Vocal Institute and have received music scholarships to universities throughout the United States, such as James Madison University, The New
School at Mannes and Manhattan School of Music.
Dr. Ellie Shattles
Dr. Ellie Shattles, mezzo-soprano, voice teacher, collaborative pianist/coach, and MT Music Director, is thrilled to join the 2025 Colorado Vocal Institute for her sixth year. Dr. Shattles received her D.M.A. in Opera Performance from The University of Texas, and her M.M. and B.M. in Vocal Performance from Baylor University. She participated in several prestigious apprentice opera programs including Aspen Opera Theater, Merola Opera Program, Santa Fe Opera, and Nashville Opera. Professional credits include performances with the Canton (OH) Symphony, Austin Symphony, Austin Opera, Round Top Symphony, and with Ars Lyrica, Houston. She was a 2008 National Semi-Finalist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, as well as a 2010 finalist for the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition.
Before Ellie joined CVI in 2019, she was a Faculty Member for The Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artist Vocal Program and taught undergraduate musical theatre students at The University of Texas. Dr. Shattles now lives in the Austin area where her skills as a pianist, added to her singing experience, have led her to become an award-winning musical theater coach and conductor for productions such as The Wild Party, In the Heights, Legally Blonde, The Last Five Years, Lizzie, Mamma Mia!, Footloose, Next to Normal, Ride the Cyclone, and Grand Hotel, among others.
Lee Ann Scherlong
Lee Ann Scherlong: Native of Colorado, Lee Ann has worked professionally as a director, music director, theatre educator, actor, teaching artist and arts administrator for over 30 years. Lee Ann has worked extensively within the world of Theatre for Young Audiences and has a passion for providing opportunities for young people to learn the craft of acting, singing and to participate in the performing arts.
Organizations Lee Ann has worked with include Colorado Vocal Institute, Fort Collins Children’s Theatre, Northglenn Youth Theatre, Cherry Creek Theatre, Neighborhood Music School, Aurora Fox, Factory Five Five and Vintage Theatre Productions. Youth productions directed include Seussical, Alice in Wonderland (play), and Wizard of Oz. Youth theatre productions music directed include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Honk!, the Musical, Sound of Music, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Freaky Friday, Cinderella, and Frozen Jr.
