Michael Chadwick

Composer, Teacher, Stage Director, Performer

I have been involved with music for almost fifty years.

You read that correctly. I honestly don’t recall learning how to read music because I was too young to remember it.  I started piano lessons at age three, took up the French Horn in sixth grade, began singing opera in college, and stage directed my first opera, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, in 2005.


I hold a Master’s degree in Music Theory

What is Music Theory? Think of it like music engineering. It’s a vitally important part of any good performer’s education, and it’s critically important for composers. Understanding how one sound at a given pitch relates to the sounds around it, and understanding what role in tonality that a certain note plays, is just the beginning of Music Theory. Training to be a musical performer without learning theory is like someone training to be a surgeon without taking any anatomy courses.

I earned my Master’s Degree in Music with a specialization in Music Theory from Stephen F. Austin State University. I would be very happy to help blossoming musicians improve both their learning process and their performances through a better understanding of Music Theory.


In-home private vocal coaching and theory tutoring

I am happy to offer private vocal instruction and coaching to highly motivated students in the southern New Jersey area. My many years of singing, stage directing, and music theory study give me the ability to meet multiple needs in one lesson.

I believe in teaching healthy and efficient vocal production in a positive and constructive environment. I’m not going to teach a child to sing something that could cause them vocal damage, and I’m going to give them the tools they need to sing in whatever style they choose, in a healthy manner designed to help ensure vocal health and longevity.

When your child wants to audition for the high school musical or for the All-South Jersey/All-State choirs, give them an important leg up on their competition with private lessons taught in your home. You don’t have to bring them to me. I will come to you!

Michael in La traviata
Michael Alexander Chadwick

Vocal Performer

Michael Chadwick’s powerful bass has been featured in various operatic roles including Rocco in Fidelio, Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Daniel Webster in The Mother of Us All, Colline in La bohème, Betto in Gianni Schicchi, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, the title character in Inessa Zaretsky’s The Man in the Long Black Coat, and Judge Thatcher in Tom Sawyer. Concert solo credits include Händel’s Messiah, Fauré’s Requiem, and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, among many others.

Michael spent decades singing professionally in opera and oratorio choruses around the U.S. and abroad including Dallas Opera, Dallas Symphonic Choir, the Opera Festival of New Jersey, the Spoleto Festival USA and Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi, Princeton Pro Musica, Fort Worth Opera, Princeton Opera, and many others.

Additional credits include singing on the composer’s demo for the 2013 Disney feature film Frozen, performing the roles of Caiaphas in Jesus Christ Superstar, Cléante in Le malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), Mendel in Falsettos, Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ham in Two by Two, Mortimer in The Fantasticks, Cox in Cox and Box, and Eddie/Dr. Scott in The Rocky Horror Show.

Opera Performances Gallery

Here are just some of the photos taken of performances in which I have been fortunate enough to participate.