Justin T. Swain

Owner & Master Instructor of Voice & Vocal Pedagogy

Justin T. Swain serves as Lecturer of Commercial & Musical Theater Voice at Otterbein University. Previous academic appointments include Assistant Professor of Instruction - Voice (Contemporary, Musical Theatre & Classical) & Lyric Diction, Coordinator of Musical Theater and Commercial Vocal Studies, and was a Faculty Fellow within the OHIO University Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. Swain was selected as a 2024 National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Intern and is currently pursuing his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Vocal Pedagogy with a specialization in Voice Research at Shenandoah Conservatory. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and a Master of Arts in Vocal Pedagogy where he studied voice under Dr. Scott McCoy, Dr. Robin Rice, and Dr. Errik Hood. Swain has taught courses in applied voice, Diction for Singers (German, French, Italian, English), and served as the faculty advisor for the NATS Student Chapter at OHIO, Dynamics and Tempo Tantrum acapella groups during his time at Ohio University.

A Columbus native, Swain has served as a teaching artist for Opera Columbus, and has performed extensively throughout the region including engagements with Opera Columbus, featured in the Columbus Italian Festival, in concert with Harmony Project Columbus, the New Albany Symphony Orchestra, Opera Project Columbus, Capriccio Chorus, and has performed several world premiere works in and around Central Ohio. Of the dozen roles Swain has performed, most notable among them include Maximilian in Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, McCarthy in Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers, Aedeta in the world premiere of Charles Wakefield Cadman’s Ramala: Land of Misty Water, Marcello in Puccini’s La Bohème, and Junius in Benjamin Britten’a Rape of Lucretia. Oratorio and chamber credits include Fauré’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass, the Schubert Mass in G, Bach’s Magnificat and other cantatas, Last Breaths by Armando Bayolo, and Of a Smile’s Echo by Thomas Wells, Swain was recently featured on 10TV WBNS in Columbus, OH in celebration of Black History Month, as well as in the culture section of Athens News.

Beyond his roots in classical voice, Swain is a versatile performer and teaching artist with extensive background in contemporary vocal pedagogy and works with clients in modern styles ranging from jazz, R&B, pop, musical theatre, folk, to rock both in Athens and Columbus, OH. Current research interests include the singing health of contemporary vocalists, the physiology and processes of vocal distortions, confirmation bias in cross-over singers and teachers of singing, and contemporary music pedagogy in higher education. 

Swain holds affiliations and memberships with the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), Black Classical Music Educators (BCME), Ohio Music Educators Association (OMEA), the Royal Conservatory of Music Certificate Program (RCM), the Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA), Estill International, and the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society Alpha Rho Chapter.  

With over a decade of experience teaching and coaching singers and actor-musicians, current and past students of Justin T. Swain have been accepted into collegiate programs in voice, acting, and musical theater at Brown University, Columbia University, the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (CCM), James Madison University, Utah State University, University of Southern California, Point Park University, The Ohio State University, Belmont University, Liberty University, Cedarville University, Ohio University, Catholic University, Capital University Conservatory, Youngstown State University, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, Otterbein University, Kent State University, Cleveland State University, Pace University, Wright State University, and Eastern Michigan University.

Beyond academia, Swain’s students have performed with the College Light Opera Company (CLOC), Columbus Children’s Theater, The Contemporary Theater of Columbus, Opera Project Columbus, Opera Columbus, Milwaukee Rep, Busch Gardens, Camden Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Disney, 54 Below, Tantrum Theater, Middletown Lyric Theater, Seattle Public Theater, Ashtabula Arts Center among other theaters and companies.

Education

  • Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Pedagogy & Voice Research (In-Progress), Shenandoah Conservatory

  • Certificate in Vocology, New York University

  • Certificate of Distinction in Vocal Pedagogy, Boston Conservatory at Berklee

  • Certificate in Vocal Pedagogy with Distinction, Voice Study Centre, University of Wales

  • Master of Music Vocal Performance, The Ohio State University

  • Master of Arts Vocal Pedagogy, The Ohio State University

  • Bachelor of Music Vocal Performance, The Ohio State University

  • Associate of Arts, Columbus State Community College

Specialties

Vocal Pedagogy, Musical Theatre, Contemporary Commercial Music, Italian, French, and German Diction & Solo Repertoire, College Audition Prep

Teaching Demos