Isaí Jess Muñoz

Isaí Jess Muñoz joined Boston Conservatory at Berklee in 2022 as chair of the voice, overseeing and supporting all areas of voice/opera curricula and artistic programming. In 2021, Muñoz was named president-elect of the National Opera Association (NOA), where he previously served as vice president for conferences.

Muñoz has collaborated with some of the world’s leading ensembles, including the Israel Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, American Symphony Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, Verbier Festival (Switzerland), New York City Opera, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. 

A champion for contemporary and underrepresented works, the tenor is featured on numerous audio recordings available on the Naxos, Albany, Sony Classical, and Decca Gold labels. His latest solo album, Visca L'Amor: Catalan Art Songs of the XX and XXI Centuries (Bridge Records/Naxos, 2021), is a BBC Music Magazine five-star honoree.

For teaching and interdisciplinary activities, Muñoz has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts, National Association of Teachers of Singing, American Prize, National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists, and the Grace Farms Foundation. From 2015–2021, he chaired the NOA’s Sacred in Opera Initiative, which explores the interplay between music-drama and the ideologies of world religions. His students appear in opera houses throughout the United States and abroad, on Broadway and with national companies, and on major recording labels including Sony, RCA, and Atlantic.

Muñoz is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and Stony Brook University, and has formerly served on faculty at the University of Delaware and Indiana Wesleyan University. As a guest lecturer and clinician, Muñoz appears with universities and performance programs worldwide.