THURSDAY FACULTY

  • Mike Ruckles (M.M., SVS, PAVA-RV) is a vocal technician and singing voice specialist based in New York City. He maintains one of the city’s premier voice studios specializing in healthy, transformative technique for Musical Theatre and contemporary commercial singing. His clientele includes Tony, Grammy, and Oscar winners, with students performing in leading roles on Broadway, the West End, national tours, and concert stages across the world.

    His methodology integrates a broad spectrum of pedagogical modalities, drawing from Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais, Lessac, Estill, Stemple, Body Mapping (Conable), Laban, and Fitzmaurice Voicework, among others. As an SVS, he collaborates closely with leading NYC laryngologists in the care and rehabilitation of injured voices. Mike is also privileged to work closely with some of the industry’s most respected musical directors, composers and casting directors, allowing him to remain at the vanguard of the latest vocal trends and industry standards. 

    He serves as production vocal coach for several long-running Broadway shows and for film/TV. From 2013 to 2016, he was Associate Music Director and conductor of the Tony Award-winning A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder on Broadway.

    A frequent lecturer/clinician, Mike was a guest speaker on the topic of vocal rehabilitation for Weill Cornell Medicine’s Center for the Performing Artist, and has lectured on belt voice for Dr. Ingo Titze’s esteemed Summer Vocology Institute. He is a frequent clinician for both the Westminster Voice Pedagogy Institute and the Vocal Pedagogy Professional Workshop (Boston Conservatory/Berklee), and in the summer of 2024, Mike was honored by the National Association of Teachers of Singing as a Master Teacher, serving as a mentor for the NATS intern program.

    Mike served as musical director/private voice faculty for the School of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Northern Colorado for eight years before heading East. He studied piano at the University of Southern Colorado before completing a vocal performance degree and M.M. at UNC, training under esteemed pedagogue Dr. Melissa Malde. His thesis, “Aesthetics and Pedagogy of the Belt Voice” was completed in 2002, and has proven influential in revamping the training of Musical Theatre performers, particularly at the university level. Mike has also taught on the voice faculty for the New Studio on Broadway at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, at the New York Film Academy, The Growing Studio (NYC), the Broadway Theatre Project, and the Broadway Collective.

    He is a proud member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Voice Foundation, the New York Singing Teachers’ Association, and the Pan-American Vocology Association, having earned their distinguished “PAVA Recognized Vocologist” designation. 

    www.mikeruckles.com @rucklesvoice

  • Kate Morton, mezzo-soprano, is a Cherokee Nation citizen from Tahlequah, Oklahoma. She holds a Master of Music degree in Vocal Arts from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music in Music Theater and Vocal Performance from Oklahoma City University. At Juilliard, she performed as a soloist with New York Festival of Song, La Chatte/L’Ecureuil in L’enfant et les Sortilèges, and Sœur Mathilde in Dialogues des Carmelites.  In 2026, Morton will be a Resident Artist with the Glimmerglass Festival performing in their productions of Oklahoma! as Ado Annie and in Madame Butterfly. Morton was a Schwab Vocal Rising Star at New York Festival of Song’s Caramoor Residency and a summer Festival Artist with Opera Saratoga in their productions of She Loves Me (Ilona Ritter) and La vie Parisienne (Madame de Folle-Verdure). Morton has performed with Lincoln Center, Opera Saratoga, Opera Montana, Caramoor, National Sawdust, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and Canterbury Voices. She recently premiered the role of Loksi’ in Jerod Tate’s historic Loksi’ Shaali’ with Canterbury and the OKC Philharmonic. Morton has been a guest artist with the Seagle Festival, Alexandria Summer Nights, and the Castleton Festival. Morton’s other credits include Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, and Sor Andrea in With Blood With Ink. Morton is also a proud recipient of the Novick Career Advancement Grant, Timothy Long Award, and Cherokee Nation Trail of Tears Award.

  • Sarah Hinrichsen is a New York City–based performer, director, and producer originally from Southern California, with a career spanning Broadway, international concert production, and large-scale cruise entertainment.

    As a performer, she toured nationally as Rachel in the 1st National Broadway Tour ot Escape to Margaritaville and has appeared in leading roles including Winnifred (Once Upon a Mattress), Gabrielle (Cinderella), Marian (The Music Man), and Katherine (Newsies). She was also an original cast member of The Imbible at New World Stages Off-Broadway in New York.

    As a director, Sarah has worked with Royal Caribbean International Entertainment on the original musical The Effectors, and served on the creative team for the inaugural production aboard Icon of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world. She has served as a Resident Director for Royal Caribbean for multiple ships. Most recently, she was Associate Director on the world premiere of The Great Emu Wars at Goodspeed Opera House and on Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at Olney Theatre Center, and has directed numerous 29-hour readings and developmental workshops in New York and Los Angeles. A strong advocate for new work, she is passionate about shepherding projects from early development through full production.

    In addition to continuing to audition and perform for stage and television, Sarah serves as Director of Operations & Development for 10th & Main Productions, alongside founders Susan Egan and Adam J. Levy. She produces and directs large-scale theatrical and symphonic concert events in partnership with Disney Concerts, as well as championing the Broadway Stars Series for Disney Cruise Line. Currently, she is developing a "Broadway HITS!" production for the Taipei Cultural Center, debuting in April.

    Raised in a family that operates one of the largest costume companies on the West Coast, Sarah grew up immersed in the infrastructure of live performance — a foundation that continues to inform her leadership in large-scale entertainment. She is passionate about building sustainable, artist-driven creative ecosystems within the cruise, concert, and Broadway industries. 

  • Shortly after graduating from Oklahoma City University, Sarah started her five year career with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines on the Adventure of the Seas. In 2021she was honored to come back for Adventure’s Return to Service. She went on to perform in the Quantum of the Seas’ Two70 show “Starwater”, and then returned to the Adventure of the Seas to serve as Dance Captain and Company Manager. You can now find Sarah at the Steps on Broadway Academy as a Jazz teacher and Community Outreach Coordinator. 

    @sarah_e_harrison