Artistic and Administrative Staff

Daniel Bates

Artistic Director

Daniel Bates joined Florida Singing Sons as the Artistic Director in the 2019-2020 season. A performing artist committed to arts education, Daniel is currently serving at North Broward Preparatory School as a Resident Artist, Voice Teacher, and Opera Director. While at North Broward Preparatory School, Daniel has directed student productions, led choral rehearsals and sectionals, taught diction classes, coached student singers for opera performances and private recitals, and taught private voice lessons for students in grades four to twelve.

Daniel has been a Voice Teacher at the Summer Music Academy at Ithaca College for five years. Daniel is also a sought-out Guest Practitioner, having done workshops at Ithaca College for their Opera Workshop class, Notre Dame High School (Elmira, NY), and Broadway Middle School (Elmira, NY). Daniel was a Voice Teacher, Coach,  and Opera and Music History Teacher at the Young Artist Learning Academy (YALA) for Florida Grand Opera. Daniel maintains an active private voice studio to students of all ages. Daniel received his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at Ithaca College and his Master of Music in Vocal Performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Daniel Bates has students who have been accepted to prestigious music programs at such schools as the Berklee School of Music, Florida State University, University of Southern California, Ithaca College, and Stetson University. 

An active performer, Daniel Bates is a Grammy Award-nominated tenor who has enjoyed a wide-range of performance opportunities in concert and opera. Daniel has performed widely in the United States, but made his international debut with Israeli Opera in 2019 performing in Weinberg’s The Passenger. Daniel was nominated for a Grammy Award as a part of the cast of the World Premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain at The Santa Fe Opera in 2015 in which he originated the roles of Junior and Charlie. Also at Santa Fe Opera, he performed as an Apprentice Artist in right shows during their 2014 and 2015 seasons. Daniel has performed many beloved roles to critical acclaim including the title role in Candide with Anchorage Opera; Ernesto in Don Pasquale at Anchorage Opera, Florida Grand Opera, and Vero Beach Opera; Rinuccio with Opera Ithaca, and Imperial Symphony Orchestra; Nadir in The Pearl Fishers, and Ferrando in Così fan tutte both at Florida Grand Opera; Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at Syracuse Opera, and Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Opera Ithaca.

Malcolm Rogers

Associate Director/Music Theory Instructor

Mr. Rogers is a recent graduate of the Florida State University College of Music, where he received his Bachelors of Choral Music Education. Before that, he was an 11 year member of the Florida Singing Sons, completing all levels of theory up to Full Chorister. Some of his fondest memories are on tours to South Africa and Argentina with the Boychoir. Mr. Rogers is extremely excited to educate a new generation of musicians!

Mr. Rogers is currently serving as the Choral Director at Fort Lauderdale High School. Mr. Rogers serves as the Interim Associate Director leading the Apprentice Choir and teaching all theory levels to the choir.

We are very proud to have a FSS Alumni back teaching and conducting.

Anthony Ciotti

Accompanist

An accomplished accompanist and award-winning tenor, Anthony teaches music at Harbordale Elementary in Ft. Lauderdale.  He has also been accompanying the NSU Nova Singers for 16 years.  He has been a vocal coach/accompanist at the New World School of the Arts-College Division as well as accompanying numerous soloists, choirs, and musicals throughout South Florida, Massachusetts, and Missouri.  As a tenor, Anthony has sung roles and chorus with the Florida Grand Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and New England Conservatory Opera Theater.  He has earned awards in several prestigious competitions, most notably the National Italian-American Foundation Pavarotti Scholarship and the National Association for Teachers of Singing, Kansas City Chapter Competition.  He earned his bachelor’s degree in music education from the Conservatory of Music at University of Missouri-Kansas City and his master’s degree in vocal pedagogy from New England Conservatory.  Anthony and his wife, Andrea, are residents in Cooper City and proud parents of three children.

Nicole Granroth

Office Manager

Nicole Granroth is a Fort Lauderdale-based flutist who has over a decade of international performing and teaching experience. Originally from Milford, Michigan, she received a Bachelors degree in music from Grand Valley State University and a Masters degree in flute performance from the Hartt School of Music (University of Hartford). During her last year of school, she won a job playing second flute/piccolo with the Orquesta Sinfonica Sinaloa de las Artes in Culiacan, Mexico and moved abroad for the adventure of a lifetime. While there, she toured the country with the orchestra, playing often in Mazatlan and in venues such as the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, and in festivals like the International Cervantino Festival in Guanjuato and the International Ricardo Castro Music Festival in Durango. Additionally, she had the opportunity to share the stage with guest artists such as Il Divo, and to perform with other orchestras such as the Orquesta Filarmonica de Jalisco. She was a member of a variety of chamber music ensembles and a teacher of flute and chamber music at the Superior Music School of Sinaloa, where she assisted her students in winning competitions, scholarships, and earning degrees in music. After leaving Mexico, Nicole moved to Connecticut for a short time where she was a teaching assistant at a public high school, and then recently moved to Fort Lauderdale, where she is currently a flutist with the South Florida Symphony, the Symphony of the Americas, the new Florida Philharmonic, and plays substitute flute/piccolo with Miami City Ballet and more. She brings to FSS vast knowledge and experience of and within the music industry, and hopes to help the organization grow and continue to succeed!

Natalie Pendás

Education Coordinator

Natalie Pendás is a coloratura soprano who is known for “her vocal beauty and agility, her engaging stage presence, and her thorough preparation and reliability”. Ms. Pendás graduated from LSU in May 2023 where she received her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance. Her opera role performances at LSU include Anne Egerman from Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, La Fée from Massenet’s Cendrillon, Eurydice in Philip Glass’s Orphée, Tebaldo from Don Carlo, and Clorinda from La Cenerentola. These performances were with the Turner-Fischer Center for Opera at LSU. Ms. Pendás graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2021 where she received her Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance. There, she performed the roles of Ottile in Manuel Garcia’s Le Cinesi (billed Le Inglesi) and was in the chorus of La Clemenza di Tito, Werther, and Bernstein’s Mass. Additionally, Ms. Pendás was hired by the Piedmont Opera Company to be in the chorus in Maria Stuarda and L’elisir d’amore. During her summers, Ms. Pendás studied abroad and attended the summer programs Si Parla, Si Canta in Urbania, Italy and the Patti & Allan Frost School of Music in Salzburg, Austria. This past summer, Ms. Pendás made her debut as an Apprentice Artist playing the role The Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at Soo Opera Company. Hired in the spring of 2025, Ms. Pendás will be singing in the chorus at Palm Beach Opera’s Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart. Ms. Pendás currently works as the Education Coordinator at Florida Singing Sons. She is happy to be a part of the team and help recruit more students into the Singing Sons family.