Sean Cooper, D.M.A., attended Carnegie-Mellon University, the Manhattan School of Music, and completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree with a minor concentration in musicology at the University of Memphis. He quickly established himself as an authority in Mozart scholarship regarding late 18th-century recitativo semplice. His dissertation entitled The Virtue of Recitatvo Semplice in the Operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the winner of the National Opera Association’s Biennial Dissertation Competition. Subsequently, an article contrasting the Mozart and Gazzaniga treatments of Don Giovanni was published in The Opera Journal. 

 

Dr. Cooper has presented for the Toledo Opera Lecture Series, at the National Conference of the College Music Society, and for the Mozart Society of America’s Annual Meeting at the American Musicological Society’s National Conference. He has also served on the review boards for the North American Opera Journal and the National Opera Association’s Scholarly Research Committee. Sean is a guest lecturer for the Metropolitan Opera Guild.

 

As a performer, he has appeared on Broadway and with several regional symphonies and opera houses. Mozart roles include Figaro, Leporello, Don Alfonso, Sarastro, and Der Sprecher.