Mexican American tenor Joshua Thomas Diaz is an up-and-coming talent from Texas praised for his "rich and agile voice and sensitive interpretation."

 

He has had success on the operatic stage in the roles of Don José in the concert version of Bizet’s Carmen, as Judge Danforth in Robert Ward's operatic adaptation of The Crucible, as Le Chevalier de la Force in Poulenc’s Les Dialogues des Carmélites, Mayor Upford in Albert Herring, the Schoolmaster/Mosquito in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Beppe in I pagliacci, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, Pedrillo in Die Entfürung aus dem Serail, B.F. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto with Really Spicy Opera, a company in Minneapolis, an the challenging role of Male Chorus in the University of Minnesota Opera Theater's production of The Rape of Lucretia by Benjamin Britten.

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Josh is also an accomplished singer on the concert stage and in the recital hall. He has performed as soloist with the Notre Dame Chorale, Notre Dame Chamber Orchestra, Peabody Symphony Orchestra, the Concert Artists of Baltimore, Symphony Number One, Mississippi Valley Orchestra, and the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra. Highlights of his concert appearances include the tenor solos in The Defiant Requiem, a concert-drama presentation of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, tenor soloist in the chamber version of Das Lied von der Erde by Gustav Mahler, as the seldom-programmed tenor soloist in Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra, as tenor soloist in Britten's Canticle II: Abraham and Isacc in recital with mezzo soprano Rihanna Cockrell, as soloist in the world premier of the song cycle Sonetos del amor oscuro by Joshua Armenta with the Great Noise Ensemble directed by Blair Skinner, as tenor soloist for Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra and the St. Cloud State University Choirs, and a return to his hometown for a recital as part of the San Angelo Chamber Music Series at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. Josh was also featured as a regular performer at Opera on Tap and OperaTease, monthly operatic concerts in the Twin Cities. 

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Josh received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame where he majored in Vocal Performance, Music History, minored in Italian, and studied voice with Dr. Mark Beudert. He went on then to Baltimore where he received his Master of Music in Voice in 2013 and the Graduate Performance Diploma in Opera in 2015 from Peabody Conservatory where he studied with Dr. Stanley Cornett. Josh began his work with John De Haan at the University of Minnesota to pursue his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Voice. Josh is still based in the Twin Cities where he is completing work on his doctoral dissertation which is focused on chamber arrangements of beloved Mariachi music with the eventual goal of using this music to bridge the divide between the Latinx musical traditions and the Western Classical music establishment.