History:  Born in the fine state of Oregon, Alika made her singing debut at age 3 when her parents put her in the gospel choir to give her mom a break. Little did Alika's mother know that this would become Alika's vocation. Alika graduated from The University of Notre Dame (Go Irish!) and earned a master's degree in an academic field from Columbia University.

 

New York: Alika made her Manhattan debut in H.M.S. Pinafore with Village Light Opera in November of 2000. She choreographed and performed in the off-Broadway revival of The Emperor Jones. New York's Westsider newspaper exclaimed: "The large cast...under choreographer Alika Hope's direction...decisively added to the cumulative terror of the piece" (February 22, 2001). Opera Now magazine also heralded the choreography (July/August 2001). Alika then appeared before New Yorkers as Babe Williams in the hit classic The Pajama Game. In September of 2001, Alika re-created the title role in the "modernist classic" (New Yorker Magazine, September 17, 2001) Philomel. This off-Broadway production, also reviewed in Opera News (Online, March 2002) was again performed in December of 2001. After leaving NYC for 2 years and focusing on concert work, Alika returned and performed as Sharon Graham in Master Class with Center Stage in New York City in March and April of 2005. She also performed as Andrea in Once on This Island in NYC.

 

Regional performances include: Alice in Big River, Helene in Sweet Charity, Ayah in The Secret Garden, Mad Margaret in Ruddigore, La Chatte in L'Enfant Et Les Sortileges, and other shows including Anything Goes, My Fair Lady, Pirates of Penzance, and La Boheme.  Alika spent two years as a singing waitress in the Portland landmark "Der Rheinlander", where she entertained Oregonians and tourists alike with songs in English, Spanish, French, and, of course, German.  Alika sang with the popular salsa band Sabor Latino, and at the same time performed with regional opera companies.  While in Sabor Latino, she sang in the famed Excalibur club in Chicago, and was a regular performer at various nightclubs throughout Indiana. The Goshen News proclaimed "Alika Hope...displayed memorable voice when her star turn came."

 

She performed with Cincinnati Opera (July, 2005) and Opera Company of Philadelphia (February, 2006) in the premiere of Margaret Garner starring Denise Graves. She recently enjoyed being Monisha in Treemonisha at the Natchez Opera Festival.

 

Sacred: Alika also sang with the Maranatha Church (Portland, Oregon) gospel choir for nearly 10 years, and performed in various liturgical choirs at Notre Dame. She performed in Messiah with The Portland Symphonic Choir, and Messa di Requiem (Donizetti) with Indiana Opera North. She serves as a liturgical cantor and soloist for various churches. Alika was a featured soloist at The National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in April of 2003, which was broadcast live worldwide on EWTN and Radio Maria. In July 2003, she performed at the Youth and Family Encounter at Chicago's Navy Pier. She continues to sing for churches all over the East coast.

 

Recently: Alika has increased her repertoire and is in demand as a classical and sacred music soloist. She has also created the one-woman production "Black Experience Through Word and Song", a musical re-telling of the history of Black music. This production is performed for elementary and middle school children.

 

She recently finished authoring a section of a new early childhood textbook to be published by McGraw-Hill in 2008 and has started working on a parenting handbook with her brother Emille.

Personal:  Alika enjoys singing with her husband, making her new baby laugh, and eating vegetarian hot and sour soup.