Biography
Jeremiah Selvey is bicultural, raised in a combination of Spain and Tennessee. He started piano lessons at the age of 5, when his parents noticed he was writing his own songs already. Composing, playing, and singing music saved his life and has become a lifelong friend to him, hence his deep passion for sharing it with others. He founded his studio in Chicago, Illinois in 2000 and now teaches private and group music lessons to aspiring and current performers in conducting, singing, piano, musicianship, and theory in Santa Monica, California. He is also a vocal coach for professional and semi-professional singers. Jeremiah’s students receive a strong foundation in the integration of technique with expression toward a convincing artistic performance. Many of his students have gone on to perform on Broadway and TV, in community theater, and several lead high school, college, and community music programs.
Jeremiah is active as a conductor, clinician, singer, and composer. Jeremiah's influential voice and conducting positions include Seattle Men’s Chorus and other gay men’s choruses in Chicago and Oakland, Blackburn College, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Connecticut College, and currently, Santa Monica College, where he holds the position of tenured professor. At Santa Monica College since 2017, Jeremiah directs the Concert Chorale and Chamber Choir, oversees the choral program, and teaches applied voice to musical theater, opera, jazz, and commercial music majors. He also teaches beginning and intermediate classes in voice, musicianship, and theory.
Maestro Jeremiah is internationally known and recognized. He is The Winner of The American Prize in Conducting, Professional Choir Division. In 2019, he co-conducted, sang on, and produced the critically acclaimed 2019 double-CD on the Centaur Records label, Empowering Silenced Voices, which gives artistic voice to marginalized communities. He co-directs and sings with Chorosynthesis Singers, a prestigious, project-based chamber ensemble based in Seattle.
His other vocal performance credentials span the globe, with appearances in premier venues including performing with the Tallis Scholars in England and in venues, such as the Sydney Opera House, Symphony Hall in Chicago, The Vatican, Benaroya Hall, McCaw Hall, and Peachtree United Methodist in Atlanta. In addition to his professional ensemble work, Jeremiah has performed solo oratorio and opera roles as both a baritone and countertenor. His repertoire includes notable works such as Renaissance masses, Bach cantatas and motets, Bach’s Magnificat, Handel’s Messiah, several Schubert masses, Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem, Faure’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Messiaen’s Cinq Rechants. He has also premiered significant roles in Timothy Brady’s Edalat Square and James Blachly’s “We Have Not Long to Love.”
Jeremiah contributes research and education to the choral and vocal fields by way of articles, interviews, research studies, and international presentations, including in Thailand, Greece, and Spain, and throughout North America.
Outside his professional pursuits, Jeremiah enjoys spending time with his fiancé and friends, planning his upcoming wedding, traveling, hiking, and hanging at the beach.
Education:
Bachelor of Music in Sacred Music, Voice, 2001
Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, IllinoisMaster of Music in Choral Conducting, 2008
Emory University, Atlanta, GeorgiaDoctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting w/ Music Education Cognate, 2014
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington