Joseph S. Spann, D.M.A.

B.M., State University of New York at Fredonia, School of Music
M.M., The University of Hartford, Hartt School of Music
D.M.A., The University of Iowa, School of Music

A native of Westfield, New York, Joseph S. Spann, earned a bachelor of music in vocal performance degree from the State University of New York at Fredonia, a master's in music from the Hartt School of Music and a doctor of musical arts in vocal performance and pedagogy from the University of Iowa. Spann has previously served on the faculties of the University of Iowa, the California State University at Chico, Florida Southern College and the University of Minnesota - Duluth, instructing voice, opera, vocal pedagogy, vocal literature, French diction, vocal techniques, graduate vocal pedagogy, and graduate vocal chamber literature.

Throughout his academic career, Spann has performed in opera, oratorio, and in recital in many regions of the country. He has performed as a featured soloist with the Choral Ensembles of the Hartt School of Music at Carnegie Hall and at the National Cathedral. He was a member of the Connecticut Choral Artists during their 1985 season that saw the American premiere of the Maunder edition of the Mozart Requiem with the Orchestra New England. His operatic roles have included Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte, Marco in The Gondoliers, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and other lyric tenor roles. In oratorio, Spann has been the tenor soloist in performances of the Mozart Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Mendellsohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Mass in Time of War and Orff’s Carmina Burana. During a three year Scandinavian Art Song Festival concert series in Duluth, MN, Spann was a featured soloist, performing art songs in the native languages of Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. 

Spann is also an experienced stage director of opera and musical theater, having served as director of opera theater at both CSU-Chico and Florida Southern College. In 2007, he joined the staff of the Richard Crittenden Summer Opera Workshops as a stage director. He has directed in workshops in Washington, DC, and Boston, MA.

Spann is a long-standing member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and Pi Kappa Lambda, the national music honor society.