Joshua Banbury is a multi-dimensional vocalist and lyricist, gaining international attention for his work in jazz, folk, and opera.
He started his classical training as a teenager and now is equally at home singing with jazz trios as he is with symphonic orchestras, string quartets, and folk ensembles.
Since 2021, the rising star from Austin, Texas has made solo appearances with some of the most respected artistic organizations in the country, including The Apollo Theater, The New York Philharmonic, The National Black Theater, The Phillips Collection, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s All-Star Orchestra, Jazz at The Ballroom, The Kelly Strayhorn Theater, and The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra.
Additionally, Joshua has been fortunate to work with some of the most alluring figures across jazz and opera, including Aaron Diehl, Samara Joy, Russell Thomas, Denyce Graves, and Anthony Roth Costanzo.
In recent years, he has held artist residencies at Soho House Austin, Looking Glass Arts, and The American Lyric Theater, considered the country’s premier mentorship initiatives for promising operatic writers.
Joshua’s operatic work has been presented by The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Opera, The Kennedy Center, and Washington National Opera.
PERFORMACE REELS
FORGOTTEN FOLKLORE, 2020
FOLK EP WITH KEVIN SHERWIN, FUNDED BY YOUNGARTS
“Static crackles over the track, pulling the listener back in time. Joshua's Banbury's voice is lush but somehow also spare, holding the weight of each word as the verses dip and chirrup. He slides into his role as storyteller, giving the song wings as it escapes from somewhere between his throat and his ribcage”.
- NEW HAVEN ARTS
“Brightest and Best,” the lead single from Joshua Banbury’s and Kevin Sherwin’s Forgotten Folklore, starts with the crackle of a record, a wash of strings that evokes wide open spaces, before settling into a sparse, urgent guitar pattern, a voice hovering somewhere between a warble and a chant.”
- NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT
Joshua Banbury and members of The New York Philharmonic in “Beauty in the Abyss”, 2022
“Last night at the intimate Stanley H. Penthouse, I attended a fascinating and insightful program entitled Beauty in the Abyss, which was curated by National Black Theatre in collaboration with the New York Philharmonic.
In terms of music, a quartet of players from the New York Philharmonic joined vocalist Joshua Banbury, who used his smooth, Anohni-esque vocals and organic sensibility as a librettist to striking effect in selections from Herb Jeffries’ “The Singing Prophet”.
- Adrian Dimanlig
Joshua Banbury and members of the New York Philharmonic in “Beauty in the Abyss”, 2022
PRESS, REVIEWS & INTERVIEWS
2020-2023
JAZZ AND CLASSICAL SINGING
The Phillips Collection - IN CONVERSATION WITH JOSHUA BANBURY AND AARON DIEHL
Yahoo Finance - FIRST LOOK FROM "CHILDREN OF BRONZEVILLE": FEATURING EMERGING ARTISTS, JOSHUA BANBURY AND VANISHA GOULD, And GRAMMY® AWARD WINNER SAMARA JOY
The Salting NYC - thesalting spotlight | joshua banbury | vocalist & opera librettist
Soul Citi - JOSHUA BANBURY GOT NEXT ON THE JAZZ SCENE
Billy Strayhorn Songs Inc - CELEBRATING BILLY STRAYHORN: A TRIBUTE BY AARON DIEHL AND JOSHUA BANBURY
Downbeat Magazine - Downbeat: Preview ‘Children of Bronzeville’ Song Cycle
Broadway World - NY Philharmonic Announces Details of AUTHENTIC SELVES: THE BEAUTY WITHIN
Hays County Press - Joshua Banbury, Hays County native performs at Apollo Theater in New York
Savage Content - Savage Content: A Look Back on the Music Highlights of 2021
At The Podium - At the Podium with Joshua Banbury: A Place to Dwell
FOLK
New Haven Arts - "Forgotten Folklore" Honors The Past, Looks To The Future
New Haven Independent - New Album Ensures The Folklore Isn’t Forgotten
The Arts Salon - Joshua Banbury & Kevin Sherwin, Forgotten Folklore
New Music USA - Different Cities Different Voices, Austin
Folk Radio UK - New Music from Joshua Banbury and Kevin Sherwin
OPERA
Austin American Statesman - Truly Texan: One Austin man's journey to keep opera alive, inclusive.
Chicago Classical Review - Banbury and Geter’s passionate song cycle stands out amid tepid MusicNOW opener
SF Classical Voice - Russell Thomas Gets Emotionally Honest and Close to the Bone
Washington Post - Kennedy Center’s ambitious ‘Cartography Project’ makes a strong showing with eight premieres
Washington Post - Kennedy Center’s ‘Cartography Project’ aims to map the future of classical music
New York Social Diary - American Lyric Theater (ALT) presents InsightALT: Opera in Eden
Opera Wire - American Lyric Theater Announces New Resident Artists of Composer Librettist Development Program
OPERAS
“THE BURNING BUSH”, 2020 (music by Jasmine Barnes)
KENNEDY CENTER & WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA
"The night closed with “The Burning Bush,” an opera from the Baltimore-based team of composer Jasmine Barnes and Joshua Banbury — and set in a surrealist version of that city’s long-ago vaudeville scene....it was a clever way of reflecting the spectacle made of violence against Black people (in this case, Freddie Gray), and inviting revision of the stories (and histories) too often consumed as entertainment.”
- WASHINGTON POST
“THE MAGIC CABBAGE”, 2021 (music by Johanny Navarro)
THE AMERICAN LYRIC THEATER & THE METROPOLITAN OPERA LINDEMANN YOUNG ARTIST PROGRAM
“This season marks the first collaboration between ALT and the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, whose artists will perform the new works…the second opera is “The Magic Cabbage,” by composer Johanny Navarro and librettist Joshua Banbury, featuring MET OPERA young artists Jonah Hoskins, Cierra Byrd, and Samson Setu…”
- OPERAWIRE
“ANNUNCIATION”, 2023 (music by Damien Geter)
LOS ANGELES OPERA / CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
