Dr. Sean Stanton

Sean Stanton is a singer, educator, conductor, and clinician who serves as Director of Vocal Studies at Chapman University.

Stanton has appeared with leading American opera companies, including Central City Opera, Opera San Antonio, Opera Southwest, Opera North, Opera on the James, and Opera Steamboat. Performance highlights include a Los Angeles NATS Chapter–sponsored recital of Schubert’s Winterreise, J. S. Bach’s Ich habe genug (BWV 82) with the St. Paul’s Chamber Orchestra in Philadelphia, and a featured appearance in An Evening with Willa Cather as part of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles’ ALOUD series. He was also a 2025 and 2026 Artist with Berkshire Choral International.

Stanton is a member of the LA Opera Chorus and Los Angeles Master Chorale and has performed extensively with the Lyric Opera of Chicago Chorus, Grant Park Chorus, and Chicago Symphony Chorus, where he served as bass section leader under Duain Wolfe. His choral career has included performances under conductors Riccardo Muti, James Levine, Charles Dutoit, Jaap van Zweden, James Conlon, and Nicholas McGegan, as well as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Grammy Award–winning recording of Shostakovich’s Babi Yar. His work as a conductor has included high school and collegiate ensembles, as well as choirs for ACDA, ILMEA, and Varsity Vocals. He also serves as Assistant Conductor at Saint Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church in Newport Beach.

Stanton has received numerous awards and honors for his work as a singer, including the Lola Fletcher Award from the American Opera Society and recognition from James Toland Vocal Arts, the New York Lyric Opera Theatre, Classical Singer, the Bel Canto Foundation, and the Luminarts Cultural Foundation. His competitive achievements include first-place honors in the Chicago, Illinois, and Central Region NATS competitions, as well as the Los Angeles NATS Young Artist Award.

Prior to joining Chapman, Stanton taught voice at the University of Southern California, Pepperdine University, and Scripps College, working with students across classical, CCM, and AMT styles. He also served as a Teaching Artist Fellow with the Classical Music Institute and Opera San Antonio. Stanton currently serves on the Board of the Los Angeles Chapter of NATS and has been recognized with the 2026 NATS Emerging Leader Award, the 2026 Clifton Ware Group-Voice Pedagogy Award, and a 2025 Los Angeles NATS Professional Development Grant.

Stanton completed his doctoral studies at the University of Southern California, with work spanning vocal arts, vocology, arts leadership, and choral conducting. His culminating research in vocology and arts leadership, Foundations of Sustainable Vocal Performance: A Skills-Based Approach to Practice, Performance, and Well-Being, explores how motor learning, deliberate practice, attention, motivation, rest, and physical and psychological well-being can be integrated into collegiate vocal training. His research advocates for a student-centered approach that equips developing singers to practice effectively, perform sustainably, and take greater ownership of their artistic development.

His work in performer wellness extends into an ongoing interdisciplinary collaboration with Chapman University faculty member Pamela Mikkelsen, PT, DPT, OCS. Together, they havepresented at the Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA) International conferences, including Empowered Performance From the Core (2025) and Cultivating Vocal Tract Resonance (2026).

Stanton is also a certified Informatics Rehabilitation QiGong Healer through the Master Zhao Institute and holds an RYT-200 yoga teacher certification. He has led interactive workshops on Qi Gong and mind-body practices for singers at the University of Southern California, University of New Mexico, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and regional NATS chapters.