Dr. John Seesholtz

John Seesholtz, lyric-baritone, native to San Antonio Texas, was awarded the Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2001, a Masters of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Michigan School in 2003 and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance with a secondary emphasis in Vocal Pedagogy from the University of North Texas in 2009. John's most prominent voice instructors include Juli Wood, world-renowned vocal coach and author; Martin Katz, Dr. Stephen Austin and renowned Metropolitan Opera Tenor; George Shirley.

His most recent operatic performance credits include; Cosi fan tutte (Guglielmo), Verdi's Falstaff (Ford), Gianni Schicchi (Gianni Schicchi, Simone), and Xerses (Ariodate). He has also performed as baritone soloist in Fauré’s Requiem, Nielsen's Symphony No. 3, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Brahm’s Requiem, Stravinsky’s Pulchinella, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Mozart's Requiem, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, the Five Mystical Songs and Dona Nobis Pacem by Vaughn Williams, Durufle's Requiem, and numerous performances of Händel's Messiah. He has been a recitalist throughout the country and has worked closely with Art Song composers: Jake Heggie and Ricky Ian Gordan, through the Texas Lutheran University Artist in Residence series.

Some of John's personal awards include the Irwin Bushman Award as one of the top twelve national finalists in the NATSAA competition, 2nd place in the Singer of the Year Competition, the Alice Dutcher Thornton Award, the D. Ralph Appleman Award, the David L. Schrader scholarship and finalist for the Merola San Francisco Opera program.

John’s publications include, “An Introduction to the AIDS Quilt Songbook and Its Uncollected Works,” and “Verdi Baritone: Musica per la voce,” with the internationally distributed publication, The Journal of Singing. John will be presenting a lecture recital at the 2010 Texoma NATS Conference on the uncollected works of the AIDS Quilt Songbook and has received a grant to collect, record and published the pieces. He hopes to complete the recordings and publication by the summer of 2011.