Dr. Johnnie Bankens

Assistant Professor of Voice

Music Annex A252
(985) 549- 2249
Johnnie.Bankens@southeastern.edu

Dr. Johnnie Bankens joined the faculty of Southeastern Louisiana University in the Fall of 2019 where he teaches Voice Pedagogy, Song Literature, Applied Voice, and Class Voice. Dr. Bankens received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Performance and Master of Music in Voice Performance degrees from Louisiana State University. He has studied voice with Dennis Jesse, Matthew Anchel, Patricia O'Neill, Michelle Martin, and Peter Volpe.

Known as an “impressive bass” and a singer of “high caliber,” Dr. Bankens has performed a variety of opera and music theatre roles. Most recently, Dr. Bankens was seen as Don Annibale Pistacchio in Donizetti’s Il campanello, the title role in Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle (sung in Hungarian), Prince Gremin in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Uncle in Elizabeth Cree by Kevin Puts, and as the bass soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. In 2016, he made his San Diego Opera debut as the Jailer in Tosca alongside Greer Grimsley, Gwynne Hughes Jones, and Alexia Volgaridou. Internationally, Dr. Bankens has performed the title roles in Don Giovanni and Falstaff in Italy and San Marino. His other roles include the title character in Le nozze di Figaro, Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Colline in La bohème, Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette, Junius in The Rape of Lucretia, Fredrik Egerman in A Little Night Music, Bob Beckett in HMS Pinafore, The Inn-keeper in The Man of La Mancha, and Orin Scrivello, DDS in Little Shop of Horrors, among others.

On the concert stage, Dr. Bankens has performed the solos in Mozart’s Requiem, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, and Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio, as well as in numerous cantatas by J.S. Bach. As an avid recitalist, Dr. Bankens has been a featured performer all over the nation. He has made professional appearances with San Diego Opera, Nevada Opera, Opéra Louisiane, Blue Lake Opera, The Montefeltro Festival, Starkville Symphony, West End Collegiate Singers, The Stonewall Chorale, The Lied Society, and Louisiana Choral Foundation.