Univ.-Prof. Dr.
John Thomasson
The renowned American baritone taught voice and vocal pedagogy at universities in the U.S. for more than 20 years, and in 2014 he was appointed University Professor of Voice (Music Pedagogy) at the Mozarteum University. He is a much sought-after lecturer for master classes and workshops. His students have won numerous prizes at international competitions and are successful singers and voice teachers.
John Thomasson received the doctorate in voice performance from The University of Iowa, as well as performance degrees in opera and German Lied from the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. In 2014 he joined the faculty of the Universität Mozarteum, where he is Professor of Voice. Former positions include Professor of Voice and Opera Director at Florida Southern College, Lakeland, Florida, and Professor of Voice at Shorter University in Rome, Georgia.
An active operatic soloist, he has performed with opera companies in Europe and the United States, including the Salzburger Landestheater (Austria); the Sudostbayerisches Städtetheater (Germany), where his performance as the Musiklehrer in Ariadne auf Naxos was praised as “masterful” by the German opera magazine “Opernwelt”; Cartersville Grand Opera (Georgia); and Imperial Symphony and Opera, Lakeland, Florida. Among the many opera roles he has performed are Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro), Toreador (Carmen), Belcore (L’Elisir d’amore), Schaunard (La Bohème), the title role in Rachmaninov’s Aleko, and the Emperor in the world premiere of Milton Granger’s The Bronze Mirror in Atlanta.
Awarded First Prize for Art Song in the Ada Sari International Vocal Competition (Poland), Dr. Thomasson has appeared in recitals throughout the United States and Europe and has performed in concert with renowned orchestras, including the Mozarteum-Orchester (Salzburger Festspiele), Grosses Rundfunkorchester Berlin, Orquesta de la Catedral Primada d’América (Dominican Republic), Orquesta Academica de Madrid, Heidelberger Kantatenorchester, and the Cappela Savaria (Hungary).
A former National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Intern, Dr. Thomasson has served as NATS president in Georgia and as Vice President of Tampa Bay NATS in Florida. He serves currently on the Board of Directors for the European Voice Teachers Association-Austria. His students have won numerous prizes in vocal competitions, and have been engaged to perform in musicals on Broadway, and in operas throughout the United States and Europe.