DR. CLAYTON JOLLY, PhD- Vice President
Clay Jolly has been entertaining audiences for nearly three decades. He began performing as a teenager in his hometown in Milledgeville, Georgia. He went on to study singing and acting and has had an international career in opera and musical theatre. In recent years he has focused his time and talents on directing and conducting as well as teaching. Dr. Jolly has worked regularly as a clinician and guest artist throughout the USA, Europe, South America, Africa, and the Caribbean.
Dr. Jolly has had the opportunity to study with fine teachers in the United States and Italy. In addition to his academic studies, he has worked as a guest teacher and led master classes at UCLA, Stella Adler Academy of Acting and Theatre (LA), New York Film Academy (LA), The College of the Bahamas, Yale University, Harvard University, and Mercer University.
Dr. Jolly is best known for his dramatic interpretations of bel canto music of Rossini and Donizetti including Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville and Tonio in Daughter of the Regiment. He is especially known for his latter role and the famous aria in this role with nine high C’s. Dr. Jolly has also appeared in musical theatre productions, cabaret, and solo concerts in the US and internationally. He attributes his technique and performance style to his training with great teachers. As a result, he has dedicated his career to teaching others and helping performing artists discover who they are as actors who sing. In addition to his hectic performing and teaching schedules, he has also coached singers for the popular television show American Idol and directed and starred in productions of The Cotton Patch Gospel. He can also be heard on recordings with Atlanta Singers, Spivey Hall Children’s Choir, William Baker Festival Singers, Bel Canto Choir, Athens Symphony, Florida State Opera, Tallahassee Symphony, OurSong Atlanta, and The College Choir of the College of the Bahamas. His other directing credits include Cosí fan tutte, Rock of Ages, The Wiz, Evita, Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Aïda.