Richard Lissemore is an internationally acclaimed voice teacher and performance coach who is equally adept at teaching vocal technique and performance for classical as well as non-classical contemporary styles such as musical theater, rock, pop, R & B, and jazz. His myriad students perform on Broadway, at Carnegie Hall, at New York ‘s Radio City Music Hall, in both American and International touring productions and in theaters throughout the world. He has worked extensively with recording artists from many of the top record labels in the United States. In addition, he has taught on the faculties of CAP 21, the former musical theater conservatory of New York University, at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, at Rutgers University, and at Music Theatre International, an opera training program founded by famed Metropolitan Opera singers, Jerome Hines and Marilyn Horne. He is especially well known for his innovative and entertaining master classes in vocal technique and performance, which have been presented regularly in New York, Canada, Korea, Mexico, and Germany. As a guest speaker and clinician, he has taught workshops and masterclasses in voice pedagogy for The Voice Foundation, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Columbia University, the University Of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory Of Music, and for The British Voice Association at London’s Royal Academy Of Music. He is presently pursuing a Ph.D. in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at The City University of New York, where he is a Graduate Teaching Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Douglas Whalen.
As a versatile performing artist, Mr. Lissemore has been equally at home performing opera, musical theatre and concert repertoire. He has appeared with Cincinnati Opera, Central City Opera, National Grand Opera, the Opera Festival of New Jersey, the Juilliard Opera Center, and as a guest artist for Opera at Rutgers in roles such as Mozart’s Papageno, Figaro and Masetto, Morales in Carmen, Thomas Putnam in The Crucible, Albert in Werther, Valentin in Faust, Sid in Albert Herring, Owen in Britten’s Owen Wingrave, and Dr. Blind in Die Fledermaus.
Mr. Lissemore’s musical theatre credits include the title roles in Phantom (Kopit/Yeston) at the Jupiter Theatre, the National Tour of Phantom of the Opera (Hochman/Madden) and The Stephen Foster Story in Bardstown , KY. Other performances include The King and I in Japan with Stacey Keach, Fred Graham in Kiss Me Kate at Miami ‘s Ring Theatre, Ramon Novarro in Lover, The Valentino Musical at the Westport Country Playhouse and the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance with the Masterworks Chorale and Orchestra.
Concert and Oratorio appearances include Messiah, Faure’s Requiem, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Mendelssohn’s Elijah at churches and synagogues throughout the New York City area. Mr. Lissemore has performed the solos in Puccini’s Messa di Gloria at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where he was the resident baritone soloist for two years and where he recorded two CDs, O Come Let Us Sing and The Famine Remembrance. His solo debut recorded on CD is the role of the Count de Courville in John Philip Sousa’s Desiree, which was released on Albany Records. Released in 1998 is Soon and Very Soon…The Cabrini Singers, for which Mr. Lissemore served as soloist and producer.
Educated at two of America ‘s finest conservatories, Mr. Lissemore was a full-scholarship Young Artist at the Juilliard Opera Center and a full-scholarship Master of Music student at Cincinnati ‘s College-Conservatory of Music. He is also a Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in Microbiology and Music. In addition, he has been featured nationally on CBS television news for his innovative work in pulmonary rehabilitation at Beth Israel Medical Center and his speaking voice can be heard in television and radio commercials throughout the United States. His professional affiliations include Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), the National Association Of Teachers Of Singing (NATS), and The Voice Foundation. Mr. Lissemore presently owns Lissemore Music Studios in New York City where he teaches his many students who perform throughout the world.
