BOARD OF DIRECTORS & ADVISORS

Dr. Joshua R. Wentz

Baritone Dr. Joshua R. Wentz has had the privilege of singing nationally and internationally in nine countries and many states throughout the US. He has worked with Cleveland Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Opera Carolina, Dayton Opera (Ohio), Harrower Opera, Festival Internaccional d’Opera Americas, Rome Festival Opera, Darmstadt Festspiel, and various other venues. Recent engagements included Lindorf/Crespel in Tales of Hoffmann and Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow, both in São Paolo, Brazil with the Festival Internacional de Opera Americas. 

In 2013, Wentz debuted the role of Sam in the world premiere of Bambino by Richard Maltz. He performed Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro and Pistola in Falstaff with the Rome Festival Orchestra in Rome, Italy, and Papageno in Die Zauberflote in Darmstadt, Germany. Favorite roles include Giovanni, Figaro, Top in Copland’s The Tender Land, and Pangloss in Bernstein’s Candide.

Dr. Wentz serves as Artistic Director and President of Mission Opera. Launched in 2019, Mission Opera strives to produce high-quality, accessible opera and musical theater, to provide members of the community the opportunity to participate at all levels of these productions, and to afford both participants and audiences enjoyment and a deeper appreciation of opera and musical theater. Additionally, he serves as the Director of Music at Santa Clarita United Methodist Church and Consultant for Landmark Opera.

In addition to opera, Wentz has sung many oratorio and musical theater roles at various levels throughout the United States. He began his orchestra conducting career with the SBOCES Orchestra in Wyoming, debuting large-scale works such as Handel’s Messiah. As a musicologist, Wentz’s published research on American Opera, and in particular, Carlisle Floyd, is becoming one of the leading sources in the world on Floyd’s works of the 1960s. “Dr. J” is an Associate Professor of Music at Los Angeles Mission College, where he oversees the choral and vocal area. Wentz holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of South Carolina, and Master's of Music from Winthrop University, and a Master's of Science in College Student Affairs from Nova Southeastern University, where he specialized in Conflict Analysis and Resolution.