Once Upon a Time...
...there was a little girl whose mom rented VHS tapes of golden age musicals and whose dad played folk guitar and sang with his kids. When she was 8 she auditioned for her first musical, and the rest...is history!
Dr. Emily Castleton
Dr. Emily Castleton is a world-class voice technician, vocal styles and acting coach, voice scientist, and Vocologist. She holds a BFA in Music-Dance-Theater from Brigham Young University, an MM in Vocal Performance–Opera from BYU, and a DMA in Contemporary Voice Pedagogy (Science Research) from Shenandoah Conservatory at Shenandoah University. With more than 30 years of experience teaching in both private and university settings, Dr. Castleton has taught at four universities and currently serves as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Contemporary Voice in the Theatre Department at the University of Utah. In fall 2026, she will join the faculty at the University of Notre Dame as Associate Teaching Professor of Musical Theatre/CCM Voice.
Her students and former students perform professionally on Broadway, in national tours, on cruise ships, at regional theaters, as lead singers in bands, as recording artists, and on television. Others have gone on to teach professionally at the collegiate level and in private studios. She has helped students prepare successfully for college auditions in musical theatre, music education, music therapy, opera, and commercial music, as well as for high school and regional musical theatre auditions and competitions.
As a performer, Emily has toured internationally with BYU’s Young Ambassadors and Lex de Azevedo’s Millennium Choir, and throughout the United States with Michael McLean’s Celebrating the Light. Her performance credits include appearances at Tuacahn, Hale Center Theater Orem, Sundance, Jackson Hole Playhouse, Promised Valley Playhouse, Abravanel Hall, and De Jong Concert Hall. She has studied with leading contemporary voice pedagogues and is a member of NATS, PAVA, The Voice Foundation, MTEA, and is an NCVS-trained Vocologist. Emily regularly presents at conferences and universities, including The Voice Foundation’s Annual Symposium in Philadelphia, the NATS Cal-West Regional Conference, the Annual Utah Performance Voice Conference, Central Utah NATS, and the Utah Music Educators Association (UMEA), where she has been an invited lecturer.
