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The American tenor and former baritone, Donald Oliver Henderson, graduated in 1994 from the Baylor School where he studied piano with Tom Schow and voice with Ed Huey. He obtained his Bachelor of Music degree in Voice from Middle Tennessee State University (Cum Laude, 1994-1999), and his Master of Music degree in Performance and Literature (voice).from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York (2001-2003). Currently he is nearing the end of his doctoral studies in voice at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he studies with Carol Vaness. Vocally, he has recently made a transition from baritone to tenor, and he feels this experience has taught him much about the mechanics and technique of the voice as well as the neurotic psychology of the operatic tenor!
As a singer, Oliver Henderson is critically acclaimed for his “perfect comic timing” and is accomplished not only as a comic singer/actor but also in romantic operatic leads. He made his professional debut with in H.M.S. Pinafore with the Nashville Opera. Since this debut he has performed in a variety of roles and venues, notably with the Ohio Light Opera (OLA) in Wooster, Ohio. Highlights of his work with the OLO include the role of Danilo in Franz Lehar’s Merry Widow, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, and the title role in the recording of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Grand Duke on Albany Records. His roles with the Indiana University Opera include Dapertutto in Les Contes d’Hoffmann and Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette.
Oliver Henderson’s teaching experience began at the collegiate level. Before beginning his doctoral work at Indiana he served two years on the voice faculty of East Carolina University where he taught studio voice and diction classes.
Outside of the classroom, Oliver Henderson is an avid cyclist. When he was 21 Oliver worked a summer job as a Manhattan bicycle messenger. Later, in 2006, he rode his bicycle across the country on the TransAmerica trail. You can read the blog of his coast-to-coast adventure. He also enjoys hiking, and fulfilled his dream of walking the 2000-mile Appalachian Trail after graduating from college in 1999, finishing the trip after 198 days in the woods. |
