Our brilliant board members come from diverse professional fields, but they are united by a love of singing and passion for our mission.
Samual Keeler
Chair
Samual Keeler is a strategic business leader and accomplished tenor based in Philadelphia, combining arts administration expertise with performance experience.
As Vice President of Operations for The Society for Collegiate Leadership & Achievement (2018-2024), Samual empowered college students with essential soft skills for their transition to professional careers. His work focused on preparing students for a competitive job market and promoting holistic development.
As Founder and Executive Director of Liberty City Arts, a non-profit performing arts initiative, Samual creates high-quality artistic experiences accessible to all. He leverages his strategic planning and operational skills to support artists and foster community engagement through the arts. His earlier role as Co-Founder of The Society for Performance and Visual Arts further demonstrates his ability to build and grow arts organizations.
A critically acclaimed tenor, Samual has been praised for his “rich tenor” (Culpepper Times) and “strong vocals and crisp, clear delivery” (DC Theatre Scene). Notable performances include concerts with Michael Spyres and Maryland Opera, and roles such as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor and Alfredo in La traviata.
Samual holds a Bachelor’s in Vocal Performance and a Master’s in Opera Performance.
Emma Cosgrove
Vice-Chair
Emma Cosgrove is an award-winning journalist and a soprano based in Harlem in New York City.
Emma is currently a senior reporter at Business Insider where she covers the rise of artificial intelligence. She was a lead reporter on BIâs 2022 SABEW award-winning âWarehouse Nationâ project. Emma has been a business reporter for 15 years with previous stints covering food, agriculture, venture capital and banking. She has reported in six countries on four continents and started her journalism career as a financial reporter in Beirut, Lebanon. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from George Washington University and a Certificate in Economics and Business Journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Emma caught the opera bug in 2022 on Instagram of all places. A few months after she saw her first opera â a production of Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera in New York â she decided it was time to stop torturing her neighbors and finally try learning to sing it. She attended a BCBC workshop in the summer of 2023. After one week, she was hooked and has been working with Rachelle and Derrick ever since to both improve her singing and introduce others to the warm and welcoming community of opera lovers that is BCBC.
Paul Kentor
Treasurer
Paul Kentor is a certified public accountant and tenor based in Queens, New York.
Paul Kentor began singing as a young child in synagogue, led services at his bar mitzvah, and took a hiatus for a while, other than occasional shabbat and holiday services. While immersed full time in yeshiva, and college studying accounting, he discovered classic cantorial singing of the Eastern European Jews, a nearly lost art, and fell in love. Immersed in self-study of old cantorial recordings circa early-1900s, reminiscent of so many of the great bel canto singers of yesteryear, he began more formal cantorial study, first with the late Cantor Moshe Schulhof, and later with Cantor Noah Schall.
Throughout his accounting career, Paul has expanded his musical horizons, and is an avid concert goer, and a critical listener. He continues to lead services in local synagogues on occasion. An avid runner, Paul has been heard serenading fellow runners during races and air conducting (he doesn’t read music), as he logs his miles.
Chris Eaglin
Member
F. Christopher Eaglin is an Assistant Professor in the Strategy Area at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, and a tenor based in Durham, NC.
Chris works at the intersection of strategy and economic development, focusing on the following areas: understanding how entrepreneurs set strategies in uncertain environments, how entrepreneurship environments are governed, and more broadly how firm strategy-setting impacts the building of inclusive and sustainable economies.
He earned his Ph.D. in Business Strategy at Harvard Business School. Previously, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Economics and Mathematics from Morehouse College, graduating as valedictorian. He also earned an M.Phil. in Development Economics and International Development from the University of Oxford as a Marshall Scholar. Prior to academia, he worked in the non-profit sector, financial services, consulting, and Fortune 500 companies developing infrastructure and services for marginalized populations in the US, UK, Brazil, and South Africa.
Praised for his âemotional vocalismâ, he most recently sang Enzo in Opera MODO’s production of La Gioconda. He was a resident artist at Pittsburgh Festival Opera and sang Don JosĂ© in Carmen and Tamino in The Magic Flute at Opera51. He has also performed the title role in Faust with Opera51, Florestan in Fidelio with NEMPAC, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with Lowell House Opera, Vaudemont in Iolanta with Opera Slavica, and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the Martina Arroyo Foundation. A lover of art song, Christopher was a resident artist of the Art Song Society of New York and the International Vocal Arts Festival performing Brahms Liebeslieder Walzer, Dichterliebe, and other song cycles. He is the winner of the Metropolitan International Music Festival and a finalist for Joy in Singing. He is part of an ongoing project to presenting a series of concerts and lectures in Boston, London, Oxford, and New York around war and remembrance for the centennial of the First World War.
Xavier Flory
Member
Xavier Flory is a political theorist and a tenor, based in Brooklyn, New York.
Xavier’s research on the relationship between democracy and technology makes him particularly excited to join the BCBC board in its effort to make the beauty and techniques of the unamplified voice accessible to all. His work is predicated on the idea that democracy is not just a form of government, but an egalitarian experiment, and after teaching at Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Sciences Po Paris, he has joined the faculty at the Bard Prison Initiative, where he also runs a choir.
Xavier started his singing career as a soprano soloist with the Vienna Boys Choir, and he is now returning to the stage as a tenor. Hailed by Opera Canada for his beautiful phrasing and âsoaring top notes,â in 2024 he appeared as Macduff in Macbeth (Shakespeare Opera Theatre), Tamino in Die Zauberflöte (No Strings Theatre), and the Prince in The Student Prince (Toronto Operetta Theatre). In 2025, he will be making role debuts as Don JosĂ© in Carmen and Ernesto in Don Pasquale, giving Lieder recitals in Prague and New York, and spending the summer as a resident artist with Teatro Nuovo.
Jennifer Moore
Member
Jennifer Moore is an online education expert and soprano, based in the Bronx, NY.
Jen brings more than 15 years of experience in education and business management to the board of Bel Canto Boot Camp. Currently, she serves as the founding general manager of K12 Tutoring, a subsidiary of Stride, Inc., where she oversees a dynamic team of professionals spanning product development, marketing, sales, operations, customer experience, and academic research. Jenniferâs career has encompassed a variety of educational leadership roles, including her tenure at Kaplan Test Prep, where she progressed from teaching to leading content and curriculum development, managing product technology, and ultimately guiding Kaplanâs pre-medical programs as executive director.
Jennifer is also a passionate advocate for the arts. In addition to her work with BCBC, she serves on the boards of Teatro Nuovo and the Bronx Opera. An accomplished singer, Jennifer began her performance journey in the International Opera Studio at Zurich Opera and has since performed extensively in the New York City area. She has portrayed roles such as MimĂŹ in La bohĂšme, Violetta in La traviata, Gilda in Rigoletto, Ninetta in La gazza ladra, Aspasia in Mitridate, and the title role in Dinorah with respected companies including the Bronx Opera, Regina Opera, Amore Opera, and the Little Opera Theatre of NY. She has also been the lead cantor at the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus for over 14 years.
As a BCBC board member, Jennifer is thrilled to leverage her expertise in educational innovation and her deep commitment to the operatic art form to help dismantle barriers of distance, cost, and time in training the next generation of singers.