Bio

International performing artist, author, and composer Dr. Tish Oney tours as a symphony pops and big band soloist, jazz vocalist, voice pedagogue, and musicologist. An avid arranger and composer, Oney has arranged several hundred pieces for jazz combo including contemporary jazz, Great American Songbook standards, and her originals. Many of her songs are published by North Star Music and available for purchase. An esteemed conductor, she often works with professional, university, church or community choirs, vocal jazz ensembles, and solo singers as a guest clinician and master teacher.

Tish produced her fifth major recording project with John Chiodini (guitar), Chuck Berghofer (bass) and Ray Brinker (drums). This jazz album, The Best Part (BluJazz), is comprised of original songs by contemporary jazz composers in addition to three never-released songs with lyrics by jazz diva Peggy Lee. Each of Oney’s recordings including Songs from the Heart, Sweet Youth, Dear Peg, and Forever Friend, were honored by the Recording Academy on the first-round Grammy ballot in several categories including “Song of the Year”, “Record of the Year”, “Album of the Year”, “Best Jazz Voice Album”, and “Best Improvised Solo”.

Oney has performed and/or recorded with scores of renowned jazz and classical artists and has headlined at hundreds of performance venues worldwide. She has performed as soloist with the Detroit Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Williamsburg Symphony, Aiken Symphony, Spartanburg Philharmonic, Symphoria, the U.S. Army Jazz Ambassadors, Army Voices, Army Blues (Pershing’s Own), SC Bach Choir, North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, Greenville Chorale, Greenville Jazz Collective Big Band, Madrigalia, the three-time Grammy-winning Gregg Smith Singers, and other outstanding ensembles. She has headlined at international jazz festivals, Las Vegas casinos, and major stages throughout the world. She has appeared as headlining performer at many jazz hotspots including The Jazz Bakery (Los Angeles), The Jazz Corner (Hilton Head Island), Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, and the off-Broadway Triad Theatre (New York). An experienced film, stage, and television actress, Oney imbues her live performances with dramatic power and warmth.

Dr. Oney was honored in 2016 to win the Jazz Artist/Group of the Year award from the South Carolina Music Awards, and in 2015 her high school honored her among the inaugural five ‘Graduates of Distinction.’ She was lauded in the book The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide authored by jazz critic Scott Yanow. She was also honored as a U. of SC Winter Scholar for her creative activity as a faculty member and was named a Robert G. Boehmler Visiting Artist at Ithaca College School of Music. A recipient of The Diane Warren Award, Dr. Oney earned two initiations (by faculty at both IC and USC) into national music honor society Pi Kappa Lambda for her musical and scholarly excellence. Dr. Oney earned her doctorate with honors in Jazz Studies, Musicology, Choral Music, and Voice Pedagogy from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, and a Master of Music degree with honors in Voice Performance from Ithaca College School of Music. Respected for her knowledge of voice science, she holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University as well as a certificate of Executive Leadership from the same institution.

In addition to her full performing and recording career, Dr. Oney was appointed Coordinator of Music, Director of Jazz Studies and Commercial Music, Director of Voice, and Director of Choral Activities during her years serving on the music faculty at six universities and colleges. Several of her former voice students enjoy major careers on Broadway, and others have excelled in opera, jazz, and commercial music. Considered an expert in multi-genre singing, Dr. Oney has served the National Association of Teachers of Singing as a workshop presenter and master teacher of jazz, classical voice, opera, musical theatre, and commercial styles. She currently teaches professional singers throughout the United States and abroad.

As critically acclaimed musicologist and bestselling author of Peggy Lee: A Century of Song (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020), Tish enjoyed opportunities to travel and share her knowledge as part of the official Peggy Lee 100 worldwide centennial campaign. She was honored to be invited as musicologist/artist to the Grammy Museum panel discussion and toast for Lee’s 100th birthday (May 26, 2020) and to 92nd St Y for a Peggy Lee tribute. She was honored to do a book signing at Carnegie Hall alongside Michael Feinstein’s performance honoring Peggy Lee. Her book served as a primary resource for the Grammy Museum’s breathtaking Peggy Lee exhibit (2021-23). Following the worldwide acclaim for her first book, Tish has been a guest on international talk shows “q with Tom Power” broadcast on the CBC, NPR, PRI, and Sirius XM networks, as well as “The Daily with Dave Hodgson” on Talk Radio Europe (broadcast to 120 countries). She is a frequent guest on talk radio, podcasts, and television, and has hosted her own podcast, “The Singer’s Muse”.

Oney’s second book, Jazz Singing: A Guide to Pedagogy and Performance (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022) has been widely praised by world class singers and voice teachers. A prolific jazz journalist, blogger (“The Intersection of Art and Faith” on Substack), and contributing author to The Journal of Singing, JazzTimes, ARSC Journal, and Classical Singer Magazine, Oney also writes a column titled “Anatomy of a Standard” for All About Jazz.

Dr. Oney recently contributed a chapter to the 2026 NATS-Bloomsbury volume, Sotto Voce: Readings in Voice Pedagogy – Legacies of Richard Miller and has written two Forewords for other leading books about music.

Dr. Oney has served as Director of Education for GVL Jazz/Greenville Jazz Collective, co-directing the Youth Jazz Ensemble and spearheading new concert series and music educational initiatives for the Upstate SC community. Currently the mentoring chair for Jazz Education Network Research Interest Group (JENRING) she is also an Editorial Board member for the professional journals Jazz Education in Research and Practice and The Journal of Singing, as well as a charter member of the Editorial Board for NATS-Bloomsbury Books. She joyfully serves the Voice Study Centre (University of Essex, UK) as a lecturer in jazz voice pedagogy. A lifetime church musician, Dr. Oney enjoys serving as Interim Director of Music at First Baptist Church, St. Simons Island, Georgia.

Tish Oney, DMA

Education

• DMA, University of Southern California (Jazz Studies, Voice Pedagogy, Choral Music, Musicology)
• MM, Ithaca College School of Music (Voice Performance)
• BS, Cornell University (Microbiology; TA in Communications)
• Certificate of Executive Leadership (Cornell University)

Faculty Positions

• Voice Study Centre (University of Essex, UK)
• GVL Jazz, Director of Education
• University of South Carolina Upstate, Coordinator of Music, Director of Jazz Studies and Commercial Music, Director of Voice Studies, Director of Choral Activities
• University of Southern California, Teaching Assistant/Instructor
• California State University, Los Angeles, Commercial Voice Faculty
• Syracuse University Setnor School of Music, Voice Faculty and Vocal Jazz Director
• Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Voice Faculty
• Christian Heritage College, Voice Faculty
• Southwestern College, Voice Faculty
• Conference presentations and master classes: NATS Conference presenter and lecture recitalist, LA-NATS Winter Workshop Master Teacher, CS Music Convention Master Teacher, SC-NATS Fall Workshop Presenter, Mid-Atlantic NATS Presenter and Master Teacher, Jazz Education Network Conference Presenter, International Congress of Voice Teachers Presenter (Vienna, Austria), Documenting Jazz Presenter/Performer (Dublin, Ireland), JENRING Webinar presenter.
• Artist residencies: University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, Furman University, Syracuse University, The Master’s University, Francis Marion University, Boehmler Visiting Artist at Ithaca College School of Music, The Adirondack Festival of American Music.

Affiliations

• Voice Study Centre (University of Essex, UK)
• NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences)
• Pi Kappa Lambda (national music honor society)
• ACDA (American Choral Directors Association)
• NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing)
• ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers)
• JEN (Jazz Education Network)
• Jazz Education in Research and Practice (Editorial Board)
• JENRING – Jazz Education Network Research Interest Group (Mentoring Chair)
• NATS-Bloomsbury Books (charter member of the Editorial Board)
• Jazz Journalists Association
• Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador