Justin T. Swain has most recently served on the collegiate faculties of Otterbein University as Lecturer of Commercial & Musical Theater Voice as well as Assistant Professor of Instruction - Voice (Contemporary, Musical Theatre & Classical) & Lyric Diction, Coordinator of Musical Theater and Commercial Vocal Studies at Ohio University (Athens), and was a Faculty Fellow within the OHIO University Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. He now mentors students of all ages and provides teacher training, mentorship, and career coaching to early-career teachers of singing.

Swain was selected as a 2024 National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS)Intern and is currently in the second year of his Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Pedagogy with a specialization in Voice Research at Shenandoah Conservatory. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and a Master of Arts in Vocal Pedagogy where he studied voice under Dr. Scott McCoy, Dr. Robin Rice, and Dr. Errik Hood. Swain has taught courses in applied voice, Diction for Singers (German, French, Italian, English), and served as the faculty advisor for the NATS Student Chapter at OHIO, Dynamics and Tempo Tantrum acapella groups during his time at Ohio University.

A Columbus native, Swain has served as a teaching artist for Opera Columbus, and has performed extensively throughout the region including engagements with Opera Columbus, featured in the Columbus Italian Festival, in concert with Harmony Project Columbus, the New Albany Symphony Orchestra, Opera Project Columbus, Capriccio Chorus, and has performed several world premiere works in and around Central Ohio. Of the dozen roles Swain has performed, most notable among them include Maximilian in Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, McCarthy in Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers, Aedeta in the world premiere of Charles Wakefield Cadman’s Ramala: Land of Misty Water, Marcello in Puccini’s La Bohème, and Junius in Benjamin Britten’a Rape of Lucretia. Oratorio and chamber credits include Fauré’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass, the Schubert Mass in G, Bach’s Magnificat and other cantatas, Last Breaths by Armando Bayolo, and Of a Smile’s Echo by Thomas Wells, Swain was recently featured on 10TV WBNS in Columbus, OH in celebration of Black History Month, as well as in the culture section of Athens News.

Beyond his roots in classical voice, Swain is a versatile performer and teaching artist with extensive background in contemporary vocal pedagogy and works with clients in modern styles ranging from jazz, R&B, pop, musical theatre, folk, to rock. Current research interests include the singing health of contemporary vocalists, the physiology and processes of vocal distortions, confirmation bias in cross-over singers and teachers of singing, and contemporary music pedagogy in higher education. 

Swain holds affiliations and memberships with the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), Black Classical Music Educators (BCME), Ohio Music Educators Association (OMEA), the Royal Conservatory of Music Certificate Program (RCM), the Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA), Estill International, and the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society Alpha Rho Chapter. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Ohio Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

With over a decade of experience teaching and coaching singers and actor-musicians, current and past students of Justin T. Swain have been accepted into collegiate programs in voice, acting, and musical theater at Brown University, Columbia University, the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (CCM), James Madison University, Utah State University, University of Southern California, Point Park University, The Ohio State University, Belmont University, Liberty University, Cedarville University, Ohio University, Catholic University, Capital University Conservatory, Youngstown State University, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, Otterbein University, Kent State University, Cleveland State University, Pace University, Wright State University, and Eastern Michigan University. His students have found success at both the State and Regional Levels of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Student Auditions winning first place in musical theater and contemporary vocal categories.

Beyond academia, Swain’s students have performed with the College Light Opera Company (CLOC), Columbus Children’s Theater, The Contemporary Theater of Columbus, Opera Project Columbus, Opera Columbus, Milwaukee Rep, Busch Gardens, Camden Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Disney, 54 Below, Tantrum Theater, Middletown Lyric Theater, Seattle Public Theater, Ashtabula Arts Center among other theaters and companies.