Matt Edwards

Position:

Associate Professor, Voice and Musical Theatre; Coordinator of Musical Theatre Voice; Artistic Director, CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute

Pronouns:

he/him/his

Location:

Ruebush Hall, Room 234

Email: medwards09@mblayst.com

Employed Since:

2010

Applied Area(s):

Voice

Teaching Area(s):

Musical Theatre

Conservatory Professional Highlights:

Matt Edwards is one of the leading voice teachers for commercial and musical theatre styles in the United States. He is currently an associate professor of voice and coordinator of musical theatre voice at Shenandoah Conservatory. He also serves as artistic director of the Contemporary Commercial Music Vocal Pedagogy Institute, was awarded the Van Lawrence Fellowship, has served as a National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Intern Program master teacher and is a guest editor for the Journal of Voice.

Edwards’ vocal interests encompass many styles. He has performed dozens of roles in plays, musicals and operas with companies including Tri-Cities Opera, Ash Lawn Opera Festival, New Jersey Opera, Atlantic Coast Opera Festival, Bay View Music Festival, the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic Pops, Hudson Valley Symphony, the Miami Valley Symphony, Cincinnati Opera Outreach, Lyric Opera Cleveland Outreach, Theatre Lab, KNOW Theatre and many others. He has performed with numerous bands while receiving awards for his classical singing from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Dayton Opera Guild Competition and the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Former and current students have performed on “American Idol,” Broadway, off-Broadway, on national and international tours, on national television, cruise ships, at theme parks and in bands touring throughout the world. He has written articles for the Journal of Singing, Journal of Voice, VoicePrints, American Music Teacher, The Voice, Southern Theatre, and has been a vocal coach in residence for Voice Council magazine. He has contributed to books including “A Dictionary for the Modern Singer,” “Vocal Athlete,” “Manual of Singing Voice Rehabilitation,” “Get the Callback,” “The Voice Teacher’s Cookbook,” and the CCM, Music by Women, Folk, Sacred Music, Gospel, A Cappella, Blues and Country editions of the “So You Want to Sing” book series. His book “So You Want to Sing Rock ‘N’ Roll?” is published by Rowman and Littlefield Publishing and was called “an authoritative text on rock ‘n’ roll singing” by Classical Singer magazine. He is also one of the featured pedagogues in “Training Contemporary Commercial Singers” and was honored for his contributions to the profession by VocalPedagogy.com.

In high demand for his presentations, workshops, and masterclasses, he has presented at the National Association of Teachers of Singing National Conference, Voice Foundation Annual Symposium, Acoustical Society of America, Southeastern Theatre Conference, Musical Theatre Educators Alliance, Pan American Vocology Association, Israeli Voice Association, Vocology in Practice, at universities including Penn State, Florida State, Ithaca College, University of Toronto, Sheridan College, Brigham Young, Hardin-Simmons, Lehigh University, Wright State, Georgia Southern, Otterbein, Illinois Wesleyan, Missouri State, University of Northern Colorado, Bårdar Academy (Oslo, Norway), NATS Chapters in Toronto, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Arizona, Oregon, Texas, New York, NYC, and Virginia along with many other presentations, workshops, and podcasts for educational and professional organizations throughout the world.

Educational History:

B.M., Cleveland Institute of Music; M.M., Louisiana State University; D.M.A., Shenandoah University

Fields of Expertise:

Musical Theatre Styles Specialist (Pop, Rock, Country, R&B)

Personal Quote:
Shenandoah Conservatory is a one-of-a-kind institution with opportunities for students to be exposed to a wide variety of music and creative artists. You will be hard-pressed to find another conservatory where you can hear Bach, Mozart, Puccini, Gershwin, Jason Robert Brown, Karmin, Metallica, and Green Day coming from the same studio. The faculty are on the cutting edge of voice training and the collaborative atmosphere makes it a joy to teach here.

Personal Highlights:

Married to Jacqlyn Zito-Edwards with two children, Everett and Gavin.