RANDALL UMSTEAD, tenor, has performed widely in both operatic roles and in concert music. He has performed the title role in Britten's Albert Herring, the Doctor in Dominick Argento's The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe, the Lecturer in Argento's one-man monodrama A Water Bird Talk, as well as Lurcanio in Handel's Ariodante, all at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. He was twice a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. During his first fellowship, he performed multiple roles in Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges with conductor Robert Spano. He also was selected to participate in the Tanglewood Bach Institute, directed by Craig Smith. During his second fellowship, he returned to Tanglewood to appear as the title character in Stravinsky's Mavra. Opera News praised this performance, calling him, "impressive as the soldier/Mavra, with exemplary diction and a strong, bright sound." The Hartford Courant said of this performance, “Lyric tenor Randall Umstead, playing the charismatic Vasily…stole the show. His voice has colors beyond his age, and acting enhanced his fit with this character.”

In a concert setting, Mr. Umstead has performed the role of the Evangelist in Bach's St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion, as well as in the Bach/Handel/Kaiser St. Mark Passion (1747) with Bach Society Houston. Other highlights include an appearance with bass-baritone Simon Estes, soprano Bronwen Forbay, and the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra as a soloist in Haydn's Creation at the National Arts Festival of South Africa. Mr. Umstead has an extensive concert repertoire, including Bach’s Mass in b minor, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Mass in C, Handel's Messiah and Dixit Dominus, Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine, Mozart's Mass in C minor and Requiem, Haydn's Missa in tempora belli, Rossini's Stabat Mater, and Orff’s Carmina Burana. He has performed as a soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Flagstaff Symphony, Colorado Bach Ensemble, Cincinnati Baroque Orchestra, Catacoustic Consort, the KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Bach Society of Dayton. Mr. Umstead was as a quarterfinalist in the 2010 International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch, and in 2008 was a finalist in the American Bach Society's 5th Biennial Vocal Competition.  

Randall currently serves as the Gordon and Sarah Herring Chair of the Department of Music at Furman University, after having previously been a faculty member at Baylor University. At Baylor, Randall served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the School of Music, Director of Vocal Studies, and Professor of Voice.  He also served two terms as Governor of the Texoma Region of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing), and he currently serves NATS as its President-Elect. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he was a student of Barbara Honn.