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Bio

Tenor John Wesley Wright holds degrees from Maryville College and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he earned the M.M. and D.M.A. in Performance Studies. A native of Rome, Georgia, he works as Associate Professor of Music at Salisbury University (Salisbury, MD), coordinating the voice and opera workshop programs. An active clinician and leader of workshops on voice production, interpretation, and African American song tradition, he also co-directed the musical theatre program at the Maryland Summer Center of the Arts (2007-2014). Making his Lincoln Center debut in Handel’s Messiah (2017), he has performed solo repertoire ranging from baroque to Broadway throughout the world, including as a member of the internationally celebrated American Spiritual Ensemble. Acclaim has also come as gold medalist of the American Traditions Vocal Competition 2000, with other top prizes from the National Federation of Music Clubs, the Metropolitan Opera National Council, and the International Schubert Competition. His doctoral dissertation (2014) studies musical borrowings underlying the role of the Celebrant in Bernstein’s Mass.