MUSE • Musicians United for Social Equity

Biography

Equally well-versed in musical theatre, opera, art song, and pop/rock repertory, Jermaine is the Assistant Chair of the Theater Division at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Prior to joining BCB, he was an Assistant Professor of Theatre, Music Director, and Coordinator of Musical Theatre at Columbia College Chicago. From 2015 to 2017, he was an Assistant Professor of Theatre and Coordinator of Musical Theatre and Dance at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. He teaches acting and voice classes including fundamentals of acting, acting for the musical stage (scene study and ensemble work), and voice for the actor.

Outside of academia, he is an award-winning music director, vocal coach, and actor. Recent music directing/conducting credits include Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies with Porchlight Music Theatre, Spunk with Roundabout Theatre’s Refocus Project, and Goodman Theatre’s production of The Music Man directed by Tony Award-winner Mary Zimmerman and choreographed by two-time Tony nominee Denis Jones. Other recent credits include music directing The Color Purple at Drury Lane Oakbrook and the North American premiere of Nell Gwynn at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. In 2017, he music directed and played piano for Ragtime at the Griffin Theatre, and Madagascar: A Musical Adventure at CST. Other Chicago music directing credits include Too Heavy For Your Pocket at TimeLine Theatre, the Midwest premiere of The Gefilte Fish Chronicles at the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival, and the Summer Musical Theatre Intensive at the Actors Training Center in Wilmette.

From 2013 – 2015, he was the Assistant Director, Accompanist and Arranger for the Purdue Varsity Glee Club, Director and Arranger for the Heart & Soul gospel ensemble, and music director and arranger for the Lighthouse gospel quartet, the 50’s and 60’s tribute group Ba Na Na, the 70’s and 80’s tribute group Flashbacks, and the six-voice contemporary acapella group Voiceovers at Purdue University. He also served as a Creative Consultant, Vocal Arranger, Orchestrator and Script Writer for the Purdue Christmas Show, attended by more than 18,000 people annually and broadcast nationwide on public television and radio stations.

As a singer, he has performed with such diverse groups as the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Cornerstone Chorale and Brass (MO), the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme (UK), The Orchestra of Saint Luke’s (NY), Roanoke Island Historical Association (NC), Cayuga Vocal Ensemble (NY), Ithaca Opera (NY), The Newton Community Orchestra (MA), and at the Capitol Theatre (NY). He has appeared at Chicago’s Symphony Center, Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall (Boston), Saint Mark’s Basilica (Venice), the Notre Dame Cathedral (Paris), and has sang in choirs under such distinguished conductors as Bernard Haitink, Michael Tilson Thomas, Richard Egarr, Simon Carrington, Sir John Scott, and Duaine Wolfe. He has participated in master classes with internationally renowned coaches Martin Katz, Della Jones and Pierre Vallet, and in concerts, recitals, and competitions throughout the United State and Europe.

Orchestrating and arranging work began with his early involvement with Music Theatre International, where he worked on the 1994 re-orchestration of West Side Story, the Paper Mill Playhouse premiere of Stephen Schwartz’ Children of Eden. Equally proficient in Finale and Sibelius notation software, he has arranged and orchestrated scores of all sizes and configurations for recital, concert, and theatrical performance. He also continues to work privately as a voice teacher and vocal coach for professional actors, including Tony and Grammy Award winner Heather Headley.

Recent credits include a guest spot on NBC’s Chicago Med; commercial and industrial work with The Onion Labs, BlueCross and BlueShield, the National Restaurant Association; performing the role of Sam in Breathe With Me (Erasing the Distance); and readings with The Other Theatre (formerly known as The Other Theatre Company).

Originally from New York, he holds a Bachelor of Music from Ithaca College and a Master of Music with Academic Honors from the New England Conservatory of Music. He is an ensemble member of the Griffin Theatre Company and sits on the Artistic Council of the Sarah Siddons Society.