Jen Townsley
- Instructor of Voice
Additional Information
Biography
Dr. Jennifer Townsley is an Instructor of Voice at The University of Nebraska Omaha. Prior to serving at UNO, Dr. Townsley taught as an Instructor of Voice at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, where she was awarded the Harriette Yeckel Award, the William L. and Caroline M. French Award, and the UMKC Conservatory Superior Graduate Teaching Assistant Award. Her areas of research focus on LGBTQIA+ inclusion in collegiate voice studies, opera curriculum development, contemporary singing styles in music education, and French composer Charles Koechlin and his Shéhérazade songs.
Dr. Townsley is passionate about providing singers with the tools to become technically skilled and artistically sound musicians. She is pedagogically trained in both classical and contemporary singing styles, and her voice students have been highly successful in competitions and performances nationwide. One of the cornerstones of Dr. Townsley’s teaching is helping her students to become self-actualizing and highly capable performers and teachers, and she emphasizes a clear understanding of multiple styles and genres of music in her studio. Her teaching focuses on creating a healthy rapport with students through individualized instruction in an environment where students can pursue their goals effectively.
Dr. Townsley (soprano) has performed across the country, with appearances as a featured artist and soloist at Scheherazade Music Festival and Atlantic Music Festival. She recently performed on Kansas Public Radio’s Live Performance singing award-winning composer Laurent Courbier's "From The Chrysalis," and she will be performing Lori Laitman’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest in July 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas. Her recent dramatic roles include the Queen of the Night in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, L'Ensolliead in Massenet's Chérubin, and Mariann Paroo in the musical The Music Man, among others. Dr. Townsley’s recent stage directing credits include Family Matters: A Musical Revue and Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera The Medium at William Jewell College, the children's opera The Three Little Pigs by John Davies at Scheherazade Music Festival, and selected opera scenes at Atlantic Music Festival.
Alongside a successful career teaching voice in an academic setting, Dr. Townsley also teaches vocal lessons in partnership with the University of Kansas Medical Center Otolaryngology Clinic, where she rehabilitates amateur and professional singers following vocal injuries or trauma. She is Artistic Director of Vocal Music and Director of Outreach at the Scheherazade Music Festival, a nonprofit chamber music festival that centers on storytelling through innovative programming. She previously served as Secretary of the Kansas City chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and on the Fellowship/Scholarship Committee for TEXOMA NATS.
Additional Information
Biography
Dr. Jennifer Townsley is an Instructor of Voice at The University of Nebraska Omaha. Prior to serving at UNO, Dr. Townsley taught as an Instructor of Voice at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, where she was awarded the Harriette Yeckel Award, the William L. and Caroline M. French Award, and the UMKC Conservatory Superior Graduate Teaching Assistant Award. Her areas of research focus on LGBTQIA+ inclusion in collegiate voice studies, opera curriculum development, contemporary singing styles in music education, and French composer Charles Koechlin and his Shéhérazade songs.
Dr. Townsley is passionate about providing singers with the tools to become technically skilled and artistically sound musicians. She is pedagogically trained in both classical and contemporary singing styles, and her voice students have been highly successful in competitions and performances nationwide. One of the cornerstones of Dr. Townsley’s teaching is helping her students to become self-actualizing and highly capable performers and teachers, and she emphasizes a clear understanding of multiple styles and genres of music in her studio. Her teaching focuses on creating a healthy rapport with students through individualized instruction in an environment where students can pursue their goals effectively.
Dr. Townsley (soprano) has performed across the country, with appearances as a featured artist and soloist at Scheherazade Music Festival and Atlantic Music Festival. She recently performed on Kansas Public Radio’s Live Performance singing award-winning composer Laurent Courbier's "From The Chrysalis," and she will be performing Lori Laitman’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest in July 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas. Her recent dramatic roles include the Queen of the Night in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, L'Ensolliead in Massenet's Chérubin, and Mariann Paroo in the musical The Music Man, among others. Dr. Townsley’s recent stage directing credits include Family Matters: A Musical Revue and Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera The Medium at William Jewell College, the children's opera The Three Little Pigs by John Davies at Scheherazade Music Festival, and selected opera scenes at Atlantic Music Festival.
Alongside a successful career teaching voice in an academic setting, Dr. Townsley also teaches vocal lessons in partnership with the University of Kansas Medical Center Otolaryngology Clinic, where she rehabilitates amateur and professional singers following vocal injuries or trauma. She is Artistic Director of Vocal Music and Director of Outreach at the Scheherazade Music Festival, a nonprofit chamber music festival that centers on storytelling through innovative programming. She previously served as Secretary of the Kansas City chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and on the Fellowship/Scholarship Committee for TEXOMA NATS.