A three-time winner of The American Prize in Vocal Performance, Justin John Moniz’s “superb high tenor” (South Florida Classical Review) and “commanding stage presence” (TalkinBroadway.com) has been thrilling audiences in opera houses, theaters, and concert halls across the nation, among them Opera Grand Rapids, Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, Sarasota Opera, Florida Grand Opera, the Opera Company of Middlebury, Opera New Jersey, DreamCatcher Theatre/Adrienne Arsht Center, Orchestra Miami, Gulfshore Opera, Palm Beach Dramaworks, the Orchestra of Northern New York, and Chicago Symphony Center. His unique style and versatility have afforded him an active career in opera, concert, and musical theatre, having sung over 90 roles to date. Justin’s recently released debut album, Along the Way, is available now on all streaming platforms.
Career highlights in include Prince Karl Franz in The Student Prince with Opera Grand Rapids (Wilde Award Nominee), Cinderella’s Prince/The Wolf in Into the Woods with DreamCatcher Theatre/Adrienne Arsht Center (alongside Tituss Burgess), Alfredo in La traviata with Florida State Opera, both Pang in Turandot and Gastone in La traviata with the Opera Company of Middlebury, Old Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit with Sarasota Opera, Nanki-Poo in The Mikado with Gulfshore Opera, Something Wonderful: The Music of Rodgers & Hammerstein at the Chicago Symphony Center, Detlef in The Student Prince and a victorious debut as Cassio in Otello (with less than ten minutes notice) during the production’s closing performance with Utah Festival Opera.
As both a stage and music director, Justin operatic and musical theatre productions regularly receive great acclaim and have been the recipient of numerous awards from The American Prize, the National Opera Association, and BroadwayWorld. Recent productions include the world premiere of Dawn Sonntag’s Verlorene Heimat with Cleveland Opera Theatre, Into the Woods, Hair, Sweeney Todd, and The Mikado with Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, as well as Amahl and the Night Visitors and The Mikado at Florida State University. He will conduct Titanic at NYU Steinhardt, accompanied by the NYU Broadway Orchestra in February 2024.
A recipient of the Yahama 2022 Top 40 Music Educator Award, Justin currently serves as Associate Director of Vocal Performance and Coordinator of Vocal Pedagogy at New York University (NYU) Steinhardt School where he holds the rank of Associate Professor. At NYU, Justin leads the graduate vocal pedagogy program, teaches courses in pedagogic theory, practice, applied voice, and directs the DownBeat Award-winning NYU Pop/Rock Ensemble, a group he founded in 2019. He also serves as Program Director of the NYU Contemporary Vocal Summer Workshop. In addition to his appointment at NYU, Justin is a member of the Vocal Arts Faculty at Manhattan School of Music where he teaches Vocal Wellness & Physiology. He previously served as Chair of Vocal Studies at Millikin University and Visiting Instructor of Opera at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
As Executive Director of Hawaii Performing Arts Festival (HPAF), Justin regularly serves as a mentor to the festival’s professional fellows in voice, music direction, and stage direction. His diverse and innovative programming has earned HPAF global recognition and multiple awards. Throughout Justin’s administrative tenure, he has won the organization over a million dollars in public and private grant funding, increased the annual operating budget by nearly 40%, and yielded the highest student enrollment in the festival’s 20-year history.