S Joshua Sheppard (born September 21, 1997) is an American operatic bass-baritone, voice teacher, and doctoral candidate at the Eastman School of Music. Joshua received his Bachelor's degree in voice performance from Vanderbilt University where he studied voice with Amy K Jarman, and his Master’s Degree from the Eastman School of Music. Joshua currently lives in Rochester, NY where he is pursuing his Doctorate at Eastman and studying voice with Anthony Dean Griffey.

Joshua’s most recent opera credits include Ben Upthegrove in Menotti’s The Telephone, Musiklehrer in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos with the Eastman Opera Theatre, Pizarro/Fernando in Beethoven’s Fidelio with the Opera Company of Middlebury, Count Ceprano/Usciere in Verdi’s Rigoletto with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, . He has also been privileged to perform a number of roles with the Eastman Opera Theatre including Melisso in Handel’s Alcina, Mortimer/Judge in Lear of the 2nd Floor, the Narrator/Mysterious Man in Sondheim’s Into the Woods, Giove in Cavalli’s La Calisto, the Sodbuster in Missy Mazolli’s Proving Up, Mr. Greatorex/Gissing/Etcher/Off-Gerard in Kevin Putt’s Elizabeth Cree, and Herman from Enemies, a Love Story in Our Voices — Ben Moore, A Journey Towards Freedom. He also played Major General Stanley in Rochester Summer Opera’s production of The Pirates of Penzance and covered the role of Alvaro in Eastman’s production of Florencia en el Amazonas.

Joshua is also an active concert singer having recently performed as baritone soloist in A Night at the Opera with the Niagara Opera Company, bass soloist in Bernard Rand’s Anti dell’ Eclisse with Music Nova, baritone soloist in Vaughan William’s A Sea Symphony with the Eastman Philharmonic Orchestra, and baritone soloist in Robert Cohen’s Alzheimer’s Stories with the Buffalo Philharmonic Chamber Players and Chorus. He has also appeared as a baritone soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Creation, Bach Cantata BWV 140, Bach Cantata BWV 101, Mozart’s Requiem, St. Matthew Passion, and Mozart’s Coronation Mass. Joshua also appeared recently as a finalist in the 2022 Friends of Eastman Opera Competition and competed in the 2023 and 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.

Joshua teaches secondary voice lessons at the Eastman School of Music and is a voice intern at the Eastman Community Music School. In 2024, Joshua won both the graduate teaching award at Eastman and the Frank L. Jack Teaching Award at ECMS. Joshua would like to thank his parents, family, friends, teachers, coaches, and mentors for all supporting him on his journey. He could not have gotten this far without their unending love and support.