A rising star
Baritone Jonathan Rhoades is a recognized emerging artist, receiving praise for his ability to sing well into a tenor’s range with warmness and finesse.
A frequent performer at the University of Memphis as a member of their opera studio, Jonathan Rhoades also joins Opera Memphis for their 2024-25 season in the choruses for The Rake’s Progress by Stravinsky and Carmen by Bizet. He has previously performed as a chorister with Opera Memphis in La Bohéme and the roles of Hans in Künneke’s Der Vetter aus Dingsda, Mr. Gobineau in Menotti’s The Medium, and Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. He has also received training from Matthew Burns, Dr. Stephan Karr, and Benjamin Smith on the roles of Joseph de Roche from Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, Starbuck from Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick, Figaro from Gioachino Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, Fritz from Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Die tote Stadt, Mercutio from Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, and John Brooke from Mark Adamo’s Little Women.
Jonathan Rhoades taught 6th-8th grade choir and theatre from 2021-2023 in Snyder, Texas. In that time, he developed his ability to teach students and get them excited about the performing arts.
Equally passionate about oratorio and art songs, Jonathan Rhoades is dedicating a substantial portion of his studies to the vocal works of Ralph Vaughan Williams. He has previously performed the entire song cycle The Songs of Travel and is working to perform the Five Mystical Songs during his degree recital at the University of Memphis.
Jonathan Rhoades believes in the importance of being a well-rounded musician and pursues music wherever it leads him. He often composes music in his free time, focusing on the texts found in the books of ll Samuel and the Psalms, the words and letters of significant political figures such as Abraham Lincoln, and poetry from the Christian liturgy, Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, Lord Byron Nelson, and Sara Teasdale.
He holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma and is pursuing a Master of Music in vocal performance at the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee, where he will reside until he finishes his degree.