JOSHUA COPELAND (baritone) recently completed his masters degree in voice at Yale University's Institute of Sacred Music, and is now pursuing an Artist Diploma in the Yale Opera program.  A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Joshua received a Bachelor of Music degree in Church Music from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, before moving to Yale to further his vocal study.  In addition to his work at Yale in the fields of opera, concert performance, recital, and chamber music, Joshua is also active in the greater New Haven community and beyond.  In June 2006 he was awarded second prize in the American Bach Soloists International Young Artists Competition, and this past January, Joshua gave his debut performance of Schubert’s monumental song cycle Winterreise in Yale’s Morse Recital Hall with pianist Ted Taylor.  Other recent engagements include a recital of Charles Ives songs at New York’s famed Weill Recital Hall, Messiah with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Bach Magnificat and Christmas cantatas with Helmuth Rilling, Mozart Vespers with Sir Neville Marriner, Faure Requiem with the Yale Glee Club and the Yale Symphony Orchestra, Barber Dover Beach at the Yale Center for British Art, Mendelssohn Elijah with the South Hadley (MA) Chorale, Bach St. John Passion with the Choral Union of Jackson (TN) and the Brahms Requiem with the Hendersonville (NC) Symphony Orchestra. His performing engagements for the upcoming year include several concerts with the Miami chamber ensemble Seraphic Fire, as well as Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the American Bach Soloists.