Joshua May

Biography

Dr. Joshua May, tenor, is an Associate Professor of Voice, Director of Opera Activities, and serves as the Voice Area Coordinator at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University. He has performed and premiered works throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States. He is an avid recitalist and oratorio singer, performing recently as a soloist in Bach‘s Magnificat, Mozart‘s Requiem, Handel‘s Messiah, and Dubois‘s Seven Last Words of Christ. He has been a featured performer in recitals across the United States. In the 2026 season, he will premier new vocal works by American composers, Griffin Candey and Traci Mendel. He is also an operatic artist in high demand, performing over thirty operatic roles that range from the Baroque repertoire to premiers of new works. He has performed such recent roles as Tamino in Mozart‘s Die Zauberflöte, Male Chorus in Britten‘s Rape of Lucretia, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Prince Paul in Offenbach‘s La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein, and Ferrando in Mozart‘s Così fan tutte.

As an opera director, his recent national and international directing credits include productions of Suor Angelica, The Medium, Così fan tutte, Falstaff, Cendrillon, Amahl & the Night Visitors, Die Zauberflöte, La Bohème, Rusalka, Don Giovanni, Hansel & Gretel, and Pelléas et Mélisande. His work as a director has been recognized with awards from both the American Prize and the National Opera Association. Dr. May is an active stage director working with universities/colleges, opera companies, and international festivals. Dr. May is a current faculty member and stage director at the Festival of International Opera in Urbania, Italy.

He has presented his research on vocal literature, vocal pedagogy, and opera performance practice with the National Opera Association, College Music Society, National Association of Teachers of Singing, New Voice Educators Symposium, Alabama Thespian Festival, Alabama Music Educators Association, Georgia Music Educators Association, Georgia THESCON, Tulane Vocal Arts Festival & Symposium, the 13th Annual International Conference on Visual and Performing Arts in Athens, Greece, the 15^th Annual Prague Quadrennial in the Czech Republic, and the National Lilly Conference. As part of his commitment to research, teaching, and creative activities, Dr. May serves as a CSU Honors College Faculty Fellow.

As a voice educator, he is an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. He was selected by the National Association of Teachers of Singing for the NATS Intern Program in 2014. He currently serves as the President of the Georgia Chapter of NATS. In addition, he serves as the Vice President of Regions and Co-Chairs the Student Programming Committee for the National Opera Association. He has served as an active adjudicator, master clinician, guest director for Classical Singer, Georgia Governor‘s Honors Program, Solo & Ensemble Festivals, NATS, NOA, Georgia Literary Competition, MTNA, MSVMA, Kiwanis Club Music Showcase, Great Lakes Male Chorus Association, university programs, and both national and international opera young artist programs.

His voice students have won state, regional, national, and international prizes. They have been recipients of scholarships at the undergraduate and graduate levels in university/collegiate music programs and have been selected for prestigious young artist and resident opera programs.

Dr. May holds a D.M.A. in Voice Performance from the University of Connecticut, an M.M. in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, an M.M. in Vocal Pedagogy from the New England Conservatory of Music, a B.M. in Voice Performance from the University of Florida, and a B.A. in French from Grand Valley State University. Dr. May has completed all three certification levels at the LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework.

For information on upcoming engagements, please visit his website www.joshuamaytenor.com.