Biography
I love my career but
I love my life more.
Get to know who I am outside of my accomplishments.
My name is Josaphat Contreras and I am a first-generation Mexican American born in Brooklyn and raised by a single mother, an immigrant from Mexico. My siblings and I enjoyed countless communal celebrations, filled with authentic food, and traditions only seen in Mexico. We broke piñatas, ate pan dulce, and grew up with vibrant music that to this day, I have song lyrics memorized that I learned in my childhood. I was the “singer” in my family. I would sing in the car, at family gatherings, and simply put, the music of my childhood was my first love. It was all Mexican music all day every day; this music is what taught me to speak. The music, this language, was the foundation for what was to come.
Around the time I was finishing my undergraduate degree, I met my
partner Amanda, who has brought in an era of stability to my life.
Amanda’s unconditional love gave me a reason to tune into my life. I found
my voice for the first time in my adult life with the help of Amanda in my
life. So we decided to have our first child. Ava Michelle Contreras
is a culmination of 10 happy years of dating and 5 years of marriage. To me,
she represents my hope for a better world. I have dedicated my life to
building a more nurturing empathetic world through music, and these two
women are a huge part of that dedication.
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I began my teaching career in 2014 in the Spring and Aldine school districts as a voice teacher, where students placed in various ensembles throughout the Texas All-State Choir process. My students were in All-District, All-Region, and All-Area Ensembles. In 2016, for the first time, I had multiple of students place in the Texas All-State Mixed Choir.
My students have competed in the National Association of Teachers of Singing student competitions - Greater Houston Chapter from 2016-2018 where I had multiple students who were awarded 2nd, 3rd and semifinalist awards. I have also had students compete in the New York City Chapter in musical theatre divisions and contemporary commercial divisions.
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In 2018, Josaphat moved to Boston where he taught bilingual music class as the Director of Coro at the Hurley School in South Boston, and was the associate music director at United Parish in Brookline. From 2019 to 2020, Josaphat serves as an assistant conductor for the Junior and Young Tenor Bass ensembles at Boston Children's Chorus. From 2020 to 2021, Josaphat served as the one of the voice instructors for Boston Children's Chorus program
the studio @ BCC.
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For 2 years, I served as a voice teacher for the New England Conservatory of Music's Voice for Non-Major Student's where he held a studio and would prepare student's for vocal juries at the end of each semester.
Currently, Josaphat is employed by the Eleonor England studio in Manhattan, New York where he teaches a variety of styles within his students that include classical, musical theatre, pop, rock and folk music.
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In 2025, Josaphat was named visiting assistant professor of voice & pedagogy at the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee.
As a researcher,
Josaphat's career as a researcher began at the New England Conservatory of Music's Vocal Pedagogy program under the supervision of Dr. Ian Howell.
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His research has been presented at institutions including the National Opera Association, Houston Grand Opera, NPR Illinois, the International Congress of Voice Teachers, the New England Conservatory of Music, the Pan American Vocology Association and Arizona State University. In 2023, his deeply researched presentation, Can Opera Be Folk Music?, won first place at the National Opera Association conference.
Beyond his professional life, Josaphat is a devoted partner and father. His family and heritage continue to inspire his commitment to building a more empathetic and inclusive world through music. He holds a Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy from the New England Conservatory (NEC). When not working, he spends his time with his dog Rufus, wife Amanda Michelle, and 2 year old daughter Ava Michelle.
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Josaphat was named a 2024-2025 COMEXUS Garcia-Robles Fulbright Scholar where he researched Mexican folk music style, interpretation, and Mariachi vocal pedagogy at the National Mariachi conservatory Ollin Yolitztli Garibaldi in Mexico city, Mexico.​
Josaphat has interpreted a diverse range of roles. His favorites include Gastone (La Traviata) Ferrando (Cosi Fan Tutte) Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Orpheus (Orpheus in the Underworld), The narrator (into The Woods), Giove (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria), and the Narrator (Bach’s Coffee Cantata). Contreras has performed with companies including the Teatro Ángela Peralta (Mazatlán, Mexico), Boston Lyric Opera, Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, Opera Maine, Connecticut Lyric Opera, Odyssey Opera of Boston, Quincy Choral Society, Eureka Orchestra Boston, Opera Memphis, and On Site Opera.
In 2022, Josaphat formed part of AGMA New York Philharmonic Chorus for the Beethoven 9th symphony Concert at the newly renovated David Geffen Hall that can be streamed on PBS’ Great Performances. In 2023, he joined Musica Sacra of New York City in the St. Matthews Passion concerts at the David Geffen Hall in collaboration with the New York Philharmonic orchestra. Comfortable in other genres, Josaphat sung back up for the Josh Groban summer tour in 2019, in 2022 made his musical theatre debut in Boston as the Narrator in Into the Woods, and in 2024, was hired as a backup singer for Andrea Bocelli. Beyond opera, Josaphat is an established concert soloist singing works from Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem to Goodall’s Eternal Light: A Requiem in venues all over the country.
