6. A Waterbird Debra Rentz, soprano, is Chair of the Voice Division at Ohio University. She received her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance and Music History from Illinois State University and a Master of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Illinois. Rentz has performed extensively in opera, operetta, oratorio, recital, and orchestral concerts. She has been featured as a soloist in numerous oratorios, including Mozart’s Requiem, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Mass in Time of War, Bach’s B Minor Mass, and Orff’s Carmina Burana. Operatic roles include Gilda in Rigoletto, Violetta in La Traviata, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Pamina and First Lady in Die Zauberflöte and Naiad in Ariadne auf Naxos. In addition, Debra has considerable experience performing Gilbert and Sullivan. Other operetta performances include the American stage premiere of Emmerich Kalman’s Duchess of Chicago with Chicago Light Opera and Josephine in Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore on board the USS Constitution in collaboration with the U.S. Navy and The Boston Academy of Music. Debra lives in Athens, Ohio with her husband John and their two sons, Sam and Jacob.