With a track record of excellence that spans performance, pedagogy, research, directing, fundraising, and producing, Dr. Mathew Schloneger brings a wealth of experience and expertise to fields of voice, opera, and musical theatre. Currently Associate Professor of Voice at Friends University, Schloneger’s students continue to shine, with multiple NATS National Student Auditions first and second place regional wins and national semifinal appearances each of the past six years. 2023 marked his students’ third straight appearance in the national finals of National Opera Association (NOA) Collegiate Opera Scenes Competition, winning 2nd place. Friends’ production of The Mikado, for which he 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 it’s second season in summer 2023. Schloneger spent 10 years as the director and 16 years as the primary fundraiser 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 Storycatchers 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. He is a past Central Region Governor of the Pan American Vocology Association.

 

As an operatic tenor, Schloneger continues to perform frequently in regional oratorio performances and in vocal chamber music with The Sunflower Trio for tenor, violin, and piano. He has performed principal roles with Opera Kansas, Wichita Grand Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Operafestival di Roma, and others.  Schloneger is the current President of the Kansas Chapter of NATS. 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.