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Tenor Nicholas Perna’s voice has been hailed as “an impressive sound” and the South Florida Sun Sentinel praised his “emotionally driven performance” (Houston Chronicle). Perna was a recent finalist for the American Prize for men in opera and has appeared multiple times in recent seasons with Opera Mississippi. Perna was twice selected as a Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist singer. Additional stage credits vary from opera roles such as “Don José” in “Carmen” and “Rodolfo” in “La Bohème” to musical theatre roles such as “Ravenal” in “Show Boat” and “Archibald Craven” in “The Secret Garden.” Symphonic appearances include Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde” and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. 

Perna was appointed associate professor and director of vocal pedagogy at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2024. He has been published in the Journal of Singing, Journal of Voice and VOICEPrints. A Presser Music Foundation awardee, he has presented research on four continents at events such as the Voice Foundation’s Symposium, the International Congress of Voice Teachers, NATS National Conference and Physiology and Acoustics of Singing (PAS). Perna is currently vice president for outreach of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (2022-26), and he’s the creator and co-host of the . 

Perna holds graduate degrees from the University of Miami and the University of Houston. An active arts administrator, he is executive director of Opera Mississippi. Previous faculty positions include Mississippi College and West Virginia University, and he has been a voice research associate at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He also previously served on the faculty of notable continuing education programs including Donald G. Miller’s Singing Voice Science Workshop and the Acoustic Vocal Pedagogy Workshop. Perna’s research areas include voice acoustics, nasality and the singing voice and vocal cross-training. 

Vocal pedagogy