Dennis Willhoit
Assistant Professor of Voice
Education:
- 2007: D.M.A. - University of Iowa
- 1989: M.M. - University of Massachusetts at Amherst
- 1986: B.M. - Simpson College
Courses Taught:
- Studio Voice
- Opera Workshop
- Vocal Pedagogy
- Diction for Singers
- Chamber Singers
Biography:
DENNIS WILLHOIT has received numerous awards for singing and served as tenor soloist with various ensembles in New England and the Midwest. Concert appearances include performances of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Orff’s Carmina Burana and Handel’s The Messiah for the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra, University of Iowa Symphony Orchestra, Truman State Symphony Orchestra, Iowa City Chamber Singers and the Janesville-Beloit Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Wisconsin where his performance of the Carmina Burana was released on compact disc.
Equally at home on the operatic stage, Dr. Willhoit’s opera credits include Die Fledermaus, Cosi fan tutte, Carmen and Cenerentola and most recently Dr. Caius in Falstaff with the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre. He has performed in master classes with Frederica von Stade, Adele Addison, Dawn Upshaw, Leslie Guinn and Martin Katz and sung at summer music festivals in Aspen, Colorado and Brattleboro, Vermont.
Dr. Willhoit is the founding Artistic Director of the Greater Ottumwa Vocal Arts Project in Ottumwa, Iowa where he served as the conductor to the children’s choruses and musical director for the summer musical theatre productions for eleven seasons. He will serve as the musical director for the 2008 Illinois All-State Theatre Festival’s production of Jason Robert Brown’s Parade.
Dr. Willhoit graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Music degree from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa; holds a Master of Music with honors in vocal performance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he studied with Jon Humphrey; and recently graduated from the University of Iowa with a Doctorate of Musical Arts in vocal performance and pedagogy, where he studied with Stephen Swanson. His scholarly research has focused on the operatic works of Vivaldi. He recently traveled to Torino, Italy on a Stanley Fellowship from the University of Iowa to complete his work for the publication of a critical edition of selected tenor arias from that composer’s opus.
Prior to his appointment at UWSP, he has taught at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa and Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Dr. Willhoit’s former students have been winners of numerous competitions including the National Association of Teachers of Singing; have continued training at Berklee College of Music, Roosevelt University and other major institutions; and are performing with both regional musical theatre companies and national Broadway tours.