Mark Tempesta

Dr. Mark Tempesta serves as Assistant Professor of Voice and Vocal Pedagogy at the University of North Texas College of Music. A distinguished voice teacher, researcher, and operatic tenor, his students have gone on to perform with major companies including the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and Opera Philadelphia, while his research has been presented internationally.  

Dr. Tempesta holds degrees in voice performance and physics from Oberlin College and Boston University and received his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Voice Pedagogy from New England Conservatory.  

Dr. Tempesta’s research interests include using Artificial Intelligence to compare the laryngeal gestures and vocal fold vibrational patterns of contemporary style singers and classical singers, and to utilize the results to enhance student learning outcomes; exploring small timescale acoustics and how they can inform our understanding of the physical action of the vocal folds at onset; and expanding classical ideas of vocal registration to better reflect the true possibilities of the voice. Dr. Tempesta is also passionate about enabling voice students to do their own research and has helped guide student projects on topics ranging from examining the effects of hormonal changes on the singing voice, to the effects of vocal training on breathing patterns in speech and daily life.  

As a performer, Dr. Tempesta is an award-winning operatic tenor who has performed leading roles with opera companies across the United States, including Sarasota Opera, Shreveport Opera, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Opera Company of Middlebury, and Odyssey Opera. Notable roles in his repertoire include Luigi in Puccini’s Il Tabarro, Gherman in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, Father Grenville in Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, Tony in Bernstein’s West Side Story, and Loge in Wagner’s Das Rheingold.  

Early in his career, Dr. Tempesta was an Apprentice Artist at Sarasota Opera and a Resident Artist with Shreveport Opera, where he honed his craft in a wide range of productions. He was also selected for the inaugural Mastersinger Program for Young Dramatic Voices led by renowned soprano Jane Eaglen. In 2018, he earned the Outstanding Performer Award at the Metropolitan International Music Competition. He is can also be heard as a tenor soloist on Voices of Earth and Air with Navona Records.