James Smith-Parham

With a M.M. in Voice Performance from the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Jim Smith-Parham has sung with Virginia Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Memphis Opera, and Connecticut Opera.  Operatic roles include Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Marcello in La Boheme, Guglielmo in Cosi fan Tutte, Lescaut in Manon, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Gianni Schicchi in Gianni Schicchi and Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas. Smith-Parham has sung under conductors Max Rudolph, Anton Guadagno, Michael Tilson Thomas, Richard Woitok, Peter Mark and Lucinda Carver and was a student of the opera buffa legend, Italo Tajo.

Many roles in the oratorio repertory include Brahms’ Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Durufle’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and St. Paul and Faure’s Requiem.  Musical theater roles of importance are Archibald Craven in Secret Garden, Papa Charlie in Shenandoah, Father in Children of Eden and El Gallo in Fantastics.  He has appeared in concert at the White House, the National Cathedral of Washington, DC, the French Embassy in Washington, DC, and St. Bartholomew’s in New York City.  Smith-Parham has toured extensively, performing in Europe, the Middle East, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Antigua, Cuba and Panama. 

He teaches on the voice faculties of the University of Richmond and VCU, also a director/teacher/coach with the Operafestival di Roma in Rome, Italy.