American tenor Joshua Collier, praised for his “thrilling high range” and “passionate commitment to character,” was hailed as “a great Italian tenor on the make” by Boston’s Classical Scene in his June 2016 role debut as Roméo in Roméo et Juliette. In addition to teaching at UVM, he is a professor of Voice at Castleton University and is the founder and Artistic Director of BARN OPERA, now Opera Vermont.
A graduate of The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (Bachelor in Music - Vocal Performance) and The New England Conservatory (Masters in Music - Vocal Performance), he has performed throughout New England and beyond in roles including: Rodolfo (La bohème - Opera Ithaca), Nemorino (L'elisir d'amore - Opera Company of Middlebury), Mario Cavaradossi (Tosca - BARN OPERA) Chevalier de La Force (Dialogues of the Carmelites - Sarasota Opera), Calaf (Turandot - Opera Company of Middlebury), Macduff (Macbeth - Raylynmor Opera) B. F. Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly - BARN OPERA), Camille (The Merry Widow - Opera Wilmington), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte - Opera New Hampshire), Tony (West Side Story - Asheville Lyric Opera), Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Lowell House Opera), Male Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia - Opera Brittenica), Frederic (The Pirates of Penzance - Opera Providence), Fabrizio (The Light in the Piazza - Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre), among others.
In addition to the lyric stage, Mr. Collier has performed the tenor solos in much of the symphonic and oratorio repertoire including Requiem by both Verdi and Mozart, Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings (op.31), Rejoice in the Lamb, Abraham and Isaac - All by Benjamin Britten, Elijah and Paulus of Mendelssohn, Handel’s Messiah, as well as Beethoven's 9th Symphony and the Coronation Mass of Mozart. He was the tenor soloist for the New England premiere of Robert Aldridge’s Parables: An Interfaith Oratorio with Bennington Choral Society.
Throughout his career he has been fortunate to work with such conductors as Nicolas Giusti, Stephen Lord, Lidiya Yankovskaya, John Moriarty, Emmanuel Plasson, James Albritten, Andy Anderson, and Michael Sakir, among others.
Mr. Collier founded the Bostonian opera company, Opera Brittenica, championing the works of Benjamin Britten, in 2013.
In the news:
- 9/13/23, Seven Days: “Mergers and Expansions in Vermont’s Opera Scene”
- 9/9/23, Times Argus: “Can opera conquer Vermont? Barn Opera’s Josh Collier is betting it can”
- 9/14/22, Seven Days: “Barn Opera’s New Season Promises to Delight and Challenge Audiences”
- 9/2/20, Seven Days: “Joshua Collier Launches Socially Distant Opera, Online and Outdoors”
