Michael Hanley

Michael Hanley joined the Conservatory in 2015 and is an associate professor of voice. He teaches applied voice for undergraduate and graduate students in both classical and musical theater degree programs, as well as courses in career skills. Hanley currently serves as the program director of the Boston Conservatory Vocal/Choral Intensive, a summer program for pre-college singers.

An in-demand voice teacher and pedagogue of both classical and contemporary styles, his students perform on and off-Broadway, in national tours and regional productions of opera and musical theater; have been accepted to top-rated undergraduate, graduate, and young artist programs; and have won national competitions. Currently, he maintains private studios in Boston, New York, and online.

Hanley is a frequent presenter and clinician who is recognized for his expertise in cross-training at the pre-professional and professional levels. He is currently engaged in research seeking to align the methodologies of a diverse range of pedagogical methods, and has created a vocal exercise and training database as a resource for his students. Michael presents annually at the Eastman Summer Semester; and alongside colleagues Robert Swensen and Kathryn Cowdrick, he created and presented Schubert to Sondheim: Pedagogy for the Male Voice, a summer teacher training workshop at the Eastman School of Music. Hanley is a frequent presenter at programs such as the Vocal Pedagogy Professional Workshop, the Fall Voice Conference, NATS, and various professional conferences. He is a consultant for a number of performing arts consulting firms in Boston and New York City.

Hanley previously served on the faculty of Syracuse University’s Department of Drama and Setnor School of Music, where he taught classical voice, voice for musical theater, and musicianship courses. 

Hanley holds a B.M. in music education from the Eastman School of Music, an M.M. in voice pedagogy and performance from Penn State University, and was chosen to participate in the 2016 NATS Intern Program, where he was mentored by master teacher Jeanie LoVetri. Throughout the course of his career, Michael has been fortunate to be mentored by renowned pedagogues and leaders in the field, including Kathryn Cowdrick, Robert Swensen, Mary Saunders-Barton, Norman Spivey, and W. Stephen Smith.

Hanley has performed as a classical singer on stages across the United States and performs regularly in the Greater Boston area. His favorite operatic roles include Schaunard (La bohème), Mercutio (Roméo et Juliette), and Frank (The Impresario). His musical and academic interests range widely and include art song, opera, musical theater, music education, classical guitar, collegiate a cappella, entrepreneurship, career education for artists, and playing the violin after a 10-year hiatus. He combines all these passions to help build versatile and authentic voices.