Music and Love

Debra Hillabrand

Mezzo-Soprano

Mezzo-Soprano, Debra Hillabrand is critically acclaimed for her moving portrayals and vocal beauty. She has worked with Union Avenue Opera, Central City Opera, Wichita Grand Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Washington University Opera.  Favorite roles include Elmire/Tartuffe, Flora/La Traviata, Florence Pike/Albert Herring, Lizzie Borden/Lizzie Borden, The Mother/Amahl and The Night Visitors, Mrs. DeRocher/Dead Man Walking, Natalia Petrovna/A Month in the Country, Paulina & Daphnis/Pikovaya Dama, Prince Orlofsky/Die Fledermaus, Rosina/Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Suzuki/Madama Butterfly.

A sought-after local collaborator and concert soloist, Ms. Hillabrand has performed with many St. Louis area organizations including The Bach Society of St. Louis, Masterworks Chorale, St. Louis Philharmonic, The Gateway Festival Orchestra, The Chamber Project of St. Louis, Collegium Vocale, American Kantorei, and numerous universities. She is currently the Alto section leader at First Presbyterian Church in Kirkwood and the Coordinator for CRESCENDO at Union Avenue Opera.

Charles Croissant

Pianist & Organist

Charles Croissant is a retired librarian who spent most of his career at the main library of Saint Louis University. Before embracing librarianship, Charles studied music at Indiana University, then completed a music performance degree at the Musikhochschule Lübeck in Lübeck, Germany – it was during the years he spent in Germany that he developed his love of the German Lied repertoire. He started playing piano while in grade school and kept with it through adult life. In the 1990’s, he served as organist at the United Church of Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; he later served as Music Director of Parkway United Church of Christ here in St. Louis. Charles has been a member of First Presbyterian Church of Kirkwood since 2014 and enjoys singing in the Chancel Choir.