Dr. Max Moreno

Originally from West Jordan, Utah, baritone Max Moreno is a seasoned performer and master vocal teacher, specializing in many diverse genres including jazz, pop/contemporary, musical theater, opera, and barbershop/choral music and currently holds the position of Music Department Head at Iowa Conservatory. He is a graduate of Copper Hills High School and holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Utah State University and Portland State University in Vocal Performance. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Miami’s prestigious Frost School of Music in Vocal Pedagogy & Performance in 2016. He previously was the Director of Choirs and Co-Director of Musical Theater at DaVinci Academy of Science and the Arts in Ogden, Utah from 2017-2023 and also has taught as Adjunct Professor of Voice at both Weber State University and Utah State University. He also was a member of the world renowned Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square from 2018-2023 and regularly appeared on their weekly TV/radio broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word, a position which brought him much joy and fulfillment as a choral artist and musical ambassador.

Dr. Moreno has appeared on the operatic and musical theatre stage in many diverse roles and productions, including the title role in Sweeney Todd, Aristotle Onassis in Jackie O, the title role in Gianni Schicchi, José Tripaldi in Ainadamar, The Representative in A Game of Chance, the title role in Giulio Cesare, Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Rambaldo Fernandez in La Rondine, Ali Hakim in Oklahoma!, Sir Harry in Once Upon a Mattress, and Horton the Elephant in Seussical. He has performed in venues across the United States, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Brazil. Some of these include the Miami Summer Music Festival, Portland Summer Opera Workshop, Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, and the Hispano-American Lyric Theatre along with several others. He has also shared the stage with many prestigious vocal artists including Lea Salonga, Kelli O’Hara, Sissel, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Megan Hilty, Kristen Chenoweth, Matthew Morrison, Laura Michelle Kelly, and Andrea Bocelli.

As a pianist, Dr. Moreno started studies in the Alfred and Suzuki Methods at age 5 and continued through high school, college, and graduate school. His training also includes workshops with Lisa Marsh, instructor of Body Mapping at Portland State University. He has performed as keyboardist and rehearsal pianist for various productions, including The Little Mermaid Jr., Seussical, The Hello Girls, and other musical theater and operatic showcase and scene performances. He also has appeared as a guest artist with the jazz ensemble Standards & Substandards and regularly appears with the DaVinci Academy Teacher Band as keyboard player and lead/background vocalist. Dr. Moreno is also an experienced conductor, vocal coach, musical director, and stage director, having worked on such shows & concerts as Sweeney Todd, Mean Girls, Once on This Island, Legally Blonde, Lucky Stiff, Monty Python’s Spamalot!, The Hello Girls, Urinetown, Bright Star, Ruthless!, Dialogues of the Carmelites, Seussical, The Elixir of Love, Così fan tutte, The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses, Avenue Q, Roméo et Juliette, and The Cunning Little Vixen.