Leroy Bynum Jr.

Lyric tenor Leroy Bynum, Jr. joined the academic leadership team of Portland State University in August of 2017 as Dean of the College of the Arts and Professor of Voice. Bynum holds degrees from the University of Georgia, where he studied with David Stoffel; the University of South Florida, where he studied with Annetta Monroe; and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, having studied with Joel Carter. Bynum’s studies abroad include the Mozart Conservatory in Salzburg, Austria, where he studied with Werner Krenn; and the Berlin Conservatory in Berlin, Germany, having studied with renowned baritone, Dietrich Fischer Dieskau. Bynum’s other voice teachers include Bennie Middaugh, Bill McGraw, Richard Hughes, and Richard Cassilly. Leroy is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Kappa Lambda, and the Blue Key National Honor Societies and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for vocal study in Germany from 1990-92.

Active as a performer, Leroy has appeared as a recitalist, and soloist throughout the United States, South America, and Europe. Bynum has sung operatic roles with the Opera Company of Bahia, in Salvador, Brazil, the Munich Opera Company, the German States Opera in Berlin, the Lyric Opera of Salzburg, the St. Petersburg (FL) Opera, Orlando Opera, North Carolina Opera and the Godovsky Opera Workshop.

Dr. Bynum has been a professor of voice and opera for over 30 years, and has directed opera productions in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. Graduates from Bynum’s voice studio have been accepted in graduate programs all over the country, and many are currently maintaining active performance careers.