James Martin, baritone

Baritone James Martin has won critical acclaim for his performances in opera and concert as a versatile singer/actor and entertainer, with an artistic repertoire that spans Bach to be-bop, Busoni to Burleigh, and Berg to Bernstein. Recent raves include Messiah, Noah in Britten’s Noah’s Flood, the Leading Player in Pippin and Joe in Show Boat. He has appeared with leading musical organizations throughout the United States and abroad, including opera companies in Mississippi, Chicago, San Francisco, Santa Fe, St. Louis, New York, Toronto, Strasbourg, Basel and Oslo; the music festivals of Marlboro, Ravinia, Aspen, Moab, Colmar, and Tel Aviv; and concert appearances in New York with Continuum, Summergarden, Joy in Singing, the American Composers Orchestra, Meet the Composer and the New York Festival of Song. Operatic roles include Sam in Trouble in Tahiti, Mozart’s Figaro, Don Giovanni and Papageno, Silvio in I pagliacci, L’Horloge comtoise and Le Chat noir in L’Enfant et les sortilèges, Betto di Signa in Gianni Schicchi, and Pistola in Falstaff. Mr. Martin created the role of the black American pioneer Matthew Henson in the world premiere of Facing South with Canada's Tapestry New Opera Works. Regional musical theater credits include Billy Crocker (Anything Goes), Quixote & Cervantes (Man of La Mancha), Lucky (Dames at Sea) and Bill Starbuck (110 in the Shade). Mr. Martin is an active music educator and has worked closely developing outreach programs, master classes and concerts with many regional organizations including the Juilliard School where he continues to serve as director/advisor of the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration. He received his bachelor of music degree from Illinois Wesleyan University and his masters degree from the Juilliard School, where he was also a Young Artist with the Juilliard Opera Center.

Recent and upcoming performances include recitals in Mississippi, New Orleans, and New York, Marcello in La bohème, a concert of Mozart arias and Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer with the Mississippi Symphony. Mr. Martin now makes his home in Jackson, Mississippi and serves as adjunct instructor of voice at Jackson State University. He last sang with NYFOS during the 2006-2007 season in Dvorák and the American Soul.