Dr. Colin B. Johnson, bass-baritone, is a dynamic educator, performer and researcher.

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Dr. Johnson avidly teaches private voice lessons in a variety of genres including both classical and contemporary commercial music. His students have competed in the NATS National Student Auditions successfully. His approachable but passionate style generates a fun collaborative environment. As an instructor, Dr. Johnson follows the needs of each student finding an ideal approach best suited for the student’s needs. Dr. Johnson has also taught class voice at Shenandoah Conservatory and classes on practice methods and semi occluded exercises at York College of Pennsylvania and Mary Baldwin University.

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As a performer, Dr. Johnson has been heard in many opera houses and theatres across the country as well as in Germany and Italy. His voice has been described as “ebullient” in roles such as Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, Leporello in Don Giovanni, Dr. Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore, Méphistophélès in Faust, Caspar in Der Freischütz, and Sam in Trouble in Tahiti. He has performed with Opera Colorado, Des Moines Metro Opera, Connecticut Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera Lancaster, and Opera Naples. His other concert works include Baritone Soloist in Brahms' Requiem, Elijah in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Bass Soloist in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, and Handel’s Messiah. Dr. Johnson also performed the bass solo in Verdi’s Requiem in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Dr. Johnson is also a devoted lieder singer having performed Schubert’s Winterreise, Schumann’s Dichterliebe and Brahms’ Vier ernste Gesänge.

 

Dr. Johnson’s research interests include the application of motor learning strategies to the singing voice studio and vocal tract acoustics. Recently, Dr. Johnson successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on The Application of Motor Learning Feedback in the Singing Voice Studio completing his Doctor of Music in Pedagogy at Shenandoah Conservatory. Dr. Johnson has presented this research at national symposiums including the Voice Foundation and the Pan American Vocology Association. Dr. Johnson is also a National Center for Voice and Speech trained Vocologist. In addition, Dr. Johnson completed an internship with Dr. Sid Khosla, renown otolaryngologist at University of Cincinnati Health where he observed laryngeal surgery, voice treatment and therapy at the Voice and Swallowing Center. Dr. Johnson continues to study the benefits of motor learning in singing in addition to practical voice acoustics.

 

In addition to his doctorate, Dr. Johnson holds a Master of Music in voice pedagogy from Shenandoah Conservatory and Bachelor of Music in voice performance from the University of Iowa. He also is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), the Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA), and the Voice Foundation.