Josaphat R. Contreras - Music
Josaphat Contreras is a first-generation Mexican-American tenor, educator, and Fulbright Scholar.
Josaphat was named a 2024-2025 COMEXUS Garcia-Robles Fulbright Scholar where he researched Mexican folk music style, interpretation, and Mariachi vocal pedagogy at the National Mariachi conservatory Ollin Yolitztli Garibaldi in Mexico city, Mexico.
As a performer, Josaphat has interpreted a diverse range of roles. His favorites include Gastone (La Traviata) Ferrando (Cosi Fan Tutte) Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Orpheus (Orpheus in the Underworld), The narrator (into The Woods), Giove (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria), and the Narrator (Bach’s Coffee Cantata). Contreras has performed with companies including the Teatro Ángela Peralta (Mazatlán, Mexico), Boston Lyric Opera, Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, Opera Maine, Connecticut Lyric Opera, Odyssey Opera of Boston, Quincy Choral Society, Eureka Orchestra Boston, Opera Memphis, and On Site Opera.
In 2022, Josaphat formed part of AGMA New York Philharmonic Chorus for the Beethoven 9th symphony Concert at the newly renovated David Geffen Hall that can be streamed on PBS’ Great Performances. In 2023, he joined Musica Sacra of New York City in the St. Matthews Passion concerts at the David Geffen Hall in collaboration with the New York Philharmonic orchestra. Comfortable in other genres, Josaphat sung back up for the Josh Groban summer tour in 2019, in 2022 made his musical theatre debut in Boston as the Narrator in Into the Woods, and in 2024, was hired as a backup singer for Andrea Bocelli. Beyond opera, Josaphat is an established concert soloist singing works from Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem to Goodall’s Eternal Light: A Requiem in venues all over the country.
His students have consistently secured top placements in the Texas All-State Choir process and have successfully competed in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) competitions across multiple regions. He has also severed on the voice faculty for Ocean County College and on the voice faculty at New England Conservatory’s Voice for Non-Majors program. In addition to these institutions, he had his own private studios in Boston, New York city, greater Houston area.
His research has been presented at institutions including the National Opera Association, Houston Grand Opera, NPR Illinois, the International Congress of Voice Teachers, the New England Conservatory of Music, the Pan American Vocology Association and Arizona State University. In 2023, his deeply researched presentation, Can Opera Be Folk Music?, won first place at the National Opera Association conference.
Beyond his professional life, Josaphat is a devoted partner and father. His family and heritage continue to inspire his commitment to building a more empathetic and inclusive world through music. He holds a Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy from the New England Conservatory (NEC). When not working, he spends his time with his dog Rufus, wife Amanda Michelle, and 2 year old daughter Ava Michelle.