Ethan Watermeier Adjunct Instructor Performing Arts
- Bio
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Ethan Watermeier is Musician-In-Residence and the Coordinator of Vocal Studies at American University. Professor Watermeier is an interdisciplinary teaching artist, voice and speech educator and practitioner, and journeyman professional actor and singer who has performed a broad range of leading roles in musical theatre, theatre, opera and concert throughout the United States. Selected performance highlights and company credits include: Broadway National Tour of Les Misérables (Javert and Factory Foreman/Combeferre), Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Folger Shakespeare Theatre, Signature Theatre, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Aspen Music Festival, Theatre Under the Stars, Olney Theatre Center, and Strathmore Music Center. An advocate for contemporary music and new works, Watermeier has premiered compositions by Ricky Ian Gordon, Jake Heggie, Mark Adamo, Martin Hennessy, Peter Hilliard & Matt Boresi, Pulitzer Prize finalist and Emmy award-winner John Musto, and Academy Award-winning film composer Rachel Portman. As educator and specialist in Voice, Speech, Musical Theatre performance studies and Contemporary and Commercial Music (CCM) voice pedagogy and repertoire, Professor Watermeier has taught at The University of Maryland, The Catholic University of America, The University of Virginia, and Montgomery County Community College, as well as maintaining an active private voice, speech and dialect coaching studio in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. Watermeier’s formal music and theatre education and training includes: Northwestern University (BM); The Manhattan School of Music (MM); Doctoral Studies, University of Maryland, College Park; MFA Studies, Shakespeare Theatre Company's Academy for Classical Acting, The George Washington University. In addition to training in Knight-Thompson Speechwork and Fitzmaurice Voicework, Watermeier holds certifications in Colaianni Speechwork (under the direct training of Louis Colaianni), Somatic Voicework™ - The LoVetri Method, Estill Voice Training, and in July ’22 at the Linklater Voice Centre in Orkney, Scotland, enters the final stage of his official designation as a Linklater Voice Teacher -- of which there are currently less than 250 designated teachers worldwide. Watermeier has performed in the ensembles of multiple Helen Hayes Award nominated productions, and he is a winner of numerous awards such as the Kurt Weill/Lotte Lenya International Competition, the Anna Case-Mackay Award from Santa Fe Opera, the Aspen Music Festival Fellowship and the University of Maryland College of Arts & Humanities Service Award. Watermeier was a founding panelist on the national podcast OperaNow, and he is also a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA), and the Somatic Voicework™ Teachers Association. He is the current board President of the Maryland/DC district of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS).
“The voice is the truth thermometer…if a voice is not plugged into the true and transparent inner life of instinct and emotional impulse, the truth will not be revealed. Voice is the revelatory channel through which thought and feeling are conveyed.” – Kristin Linklater
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Teaching
Fall 2024
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MUS-021 Private Instrument Study: Voice
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MUS-022 Private Instrument Study: Voice
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MUS-121 Private Instrument/Vocal Study: Voice
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MUS-122 Private Instrument/Vocal Study: Voice
Spring 2025
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MUS-021 Private Instrument Study: Voice
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MUS-022 Private Instrument Study: Voice
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MUS-121 Private Instrument/Vocal Study: Voice
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MUS-122 Private Instrument/Vocal Study: Voice