Matthew Schloneger, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Voice and Diction

Matthew Schloneger is excited to be joining the faculty of Texas A&M University-Commerce as Assistant Professor of Voice in Fall 2024. With a track record of excellence that spans performance, pedagogy, research, directing, fundraising and producing, Schloneger brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the fields of voice, opera and musical theatre. Over 20 years in academia at Friends University and Hesston College, both in Kansas, Schloneger's students secured regular NATS National Student Auditions first and second place regional wins and have made national semifinal appearances each of the past six years. This past spring marked his students' fourth straight appearance in the national finals of National Opera Association (NOA) Collegiate Opera Scenes Competition, winning 2nd place in 2023. Friends' production of The Mikado, for which Schloneger served as producer, music director and conductor, won 2nd Place in the NOA Opera Production Competition for small schools. His students have gone on to varied successful careers in the performing arts, from opera, to musical theatre, to an artist using hip hop to work for sustainable development as a United Nations Young Leader.

As an accomplished producer and director, Schloneger currently serves as the Executive Director of both Opera Kansas, a company dedicated to bringing affordable, accessible opera to the local community while providing performance opportunities for young singers, and Opera Seme, a young artist opera program based in Arezzo, Italy which celebrated its third season in summer 2024. Schloneger spent 10 years as the director and primary fundraiser for the Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts series, bringing world class touring acts to Hesston College and Bethel College for concerts and educational residencies each year. He worked as a grant-writer for Chicago's Storycatcher's Theatre, which works with incarcerated youth to write hip hop musicals based on their own stories.

Schloneger has channeled his passion for the singing voice and vocal health into award-winning research. He was 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.

As an operatic tenor, Schloneger continues to perform frequently in regional oratorio performances. He has performed principal roles with Opera Kansas, Wichita Grand Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Operafestival di Roma, Whitewater Opera, and others. He performed for twenty years and produced two album recordings with The Sunflower Trio, chamber music for tenor, violin, and piano.

Schloneger has served as President of the Kansas Chapter of NATS and Central Region Governor of the Pan American Vocology Association. He holds degrees from the University of Kansas, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Goshen College and Hesston College. He was a Rotary Scholar at the Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano and has a certificate in French language from the Sorbonne.