One of the most sought-after Duo acts in Florida and beyond, soprano Alicia Branch and baritone William Stafford have established themselves as performers whose repertoire spans the full spectrum of music including opera, sacred music, musical theatre, and swing/standards. Hailing from Florida and Ohio, respectively, Mrs. Branch and Mr. Stafford have recently launched their 4th consecutive season of Opera Brooks and Benvenutos, a hugely successful series at two south Florida restaurants featuring the very best of Opera, Broadway, and popular song. Also, this traveling duo will be performing there 3rd year with the Delray Beach Chorale and there 4th year at the Delray Beach Playhouse Musical Memories Series as well as show dates with Sunset Arias at Tween Waters on Captiva Island, Ocean Reef Clun in Key Largo, Key Biscayne and their 2nd season tour with the Florida Grand Opera as the Mayor and Piper lead roles in the Pied Piper of Hamlin Children's Opera.
Florida native soprano Alicia Branch emerged on the musical scene after winning 1st Prize at the Kiwanis Club Junior Vocal Competition at the age of 13. Alicia spent her school years at the prestigious Alexander J. Dreyfoos School Of The Arts and then Shorter College majoring in vocal performance. During her educational years, she participated in The Art Singers Advent Sing in Vienna, Austria and the International Choral Singers Concert in Verona, Italy. While there Alicia was heard in the role of Mabel in the comic operetta "The Pirates of Penzance". Since then Alicia has received glowing reviews as The Mother in "Amahl and The Night Visitors", as Mother in the rock opera "Tommy" and most recently as the Mayor in The Pied Piper of Hamlin. Alicia has performed at such venues as The Gusman Performing Arts Center in Miami where she performed selections from The Phantom of The Opera, The Kravis with The Palm Beach Opera, the Harriet Himmel Theatre, The Joseph Caleb Auditorium in Miami, The Palm Beach Main Public Library, Mar-a-lago, The Norton Art Gallery, The Everglades Club, The Breakers Palm Beach, The Doral, and The Villagio on Miami Beach. Oratorio credits include being the Soprano Soloist in "Handel's Messiah" and the Mezzo Soloist in the "Durufle Requiem". She also received award at the NSAL Voice Competition held at Lynn University in 2008.
William Stafford has performed leading operatic roles with such prestigious companies as The Palm Beach Opera, The Gold Coast Opera, The Greater Miami Opera, The Young Patronesses Of The Opera, and The South Florida Opera Company. He has also sung the major bass/baritone oratorio solos with The Columbus Symphony, The Virginia Symphony, Virginia Pro Musica, The Delray Beach Chorale, The Bel Canto Singers, The Greater Palm Beach Symphony, The Port St. Lucie Chorale and Orchestra. Additionally, he has performed the standard Broadway and swing classics with The Serenade in Blue Big Band, The Michael Rose Orchestra, The Coral Springs Pops, The Hallandale Beach Pops, The Sunshine Pops, and The John Branzer Big Band. William began his vocal training with Dr. Macon Delavan at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma and has since studied with baritone Frederick Burchinal of The Metropolitan Opera in New York City, William McGraw of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and locally with maestro Thomas Cavendish of The Gold Coast Opera in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.