Dr. Matthew Schloneger, associate professor of voice, coordinates the voice area, teaches Voice Performance, Opera Workshop, Diction, Vocal Literature and Vocal Pedagogy, and directs operas and musicals at Friends. He also serves as the Executive Director of both Opera Kansas and Opera Seme, a summer opera and Italian language program base in Arezzo, Italy. Schloneger was a Rotary Scholar at the Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano and has a certificate in French language from the Sorbonne (Paris). He has performed principal operatic roles with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Operafestival di Roma, Wichita Grand Opera, Opera Kansas and others. Dr. Schloneger is co-winner of the 2017 Van Lawrence Fellowship of NATS and the Voice Foundation. He was also awarded Best Research Poster at the 2022 Pan American Vocology Symposium, Best Research Poster at the 2014 NATS National Convention and Best Student Presentation at the 2015 Voice Foundation Symposium. His research has been published in the Journal of Voice, the NATS Journal of Singing, the Journal of Research in Music Education, and the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing. Since arriving at Friends, his students have annually reached national semifinals of the NATS National Student Auditions, and many of his former students have gone on to successful careers in the performing arts. Schloneger has directed scenes presented at the national finals of the National Opera Association Collegiate Opera Scenes Competition each of the last three years, including a second-place finish nationally in 2023.
Education:
A.A., Hesston College; B.A., Goshen College; M.M., University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; Ph.D., University of Kansas