Joshua Copeland recently completed his Masters degree in voice at Yale University's Institute of Sacred Music, and will complete his Artist Diploma in the Yale Opera program in May.
A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Joshua received a Bachelor of Music degree in Church Music from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, before moving to Yale to further his vocal study.
In addition to his work at Yale in the fields of opera, concert performance, recital, and chamber music, Joshua is also active in the greater New Haven community and beyond. In June 2006 he was awarded second prize in the American Bach Soloists International Young Artists Competition, and made his debut with ABS in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio this year.
In January 2007, Joshua gave his debut performance of Schubert’s monumental song cycle Winterreise in Yale’s Morse Recital Hall with pianist Ted Taylor, and in October he participated in a recital of Charles Ives songs at New York’s famed Weill Recital Hall. In February he appeared in Yale Opera’s Die Fledermaus as Falke, and will appear again in the spring as Ramiro in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole. This June, Joshua will serve as a resident artist with the Orchestra Sinfonico Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, where he and other Yale Opera members will undertake a month-long concert opera and recording project for Naxos.
Other recent engagements include Messiah and Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Bach Magnificat and Christmas cantatas with Helmuth Rilling, a commercially released recording of the Bach St. John Passion conducted by Simon Carrington, Mozart Vespers with Sir Neville Marriner, Faure Requiem with the Yale Glee Club and the Yale Symphony Orchestra, Barber Dover Beach at the Yale Center for British Art, Mendelssohn Elijah with the South Hadley (MA) Chorale, Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs with the Rutgers Glee Club and Mt. Holyoke Orchestra, Bach St. John Passion with the Belle Meade Baroque of Nashville, and performances of the Brahms Requiem with both the Hendersonville (NC) Symphony Orchestra and the Miami-based chamber ensemble Seraphic Fire. Next year holds a return engagement with American Bach Soloists for a performance of the Mass in B Minor.
On May 11, 2008, Joshua won First Prize in the Fifth Biennial Bach Vocal Competition for American Singers. The competition is co-sponsored by the Bethlehem Bach Festival and the American Bach Society. First Prize includes a career stipend and a solo appearance with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem in the 2008-2009 season.
Joshua Copeland