Andrew Skoog, tenor, is Professor of Voice and Voice Area Coordinator. Professor Skoog is also conductor of the University of Tennessee Men’s Chorale.

Professor Skoog made his New York debut at Carnegie Hall as tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by John Rutter, internationally acclaimed composer and conductor.  He returned to Carnegie Hall as tenor soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with Andrew Litton and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.  In addition, Skoog has sung the piece with the American Symphony Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center.  In demand for orchestral engagements, Skoog made his international debut singing Carmina Burana with the Bergen Philharmonic in Bergen, Norway.

Critics hail him as ideal in Carmina Burana because of his “full, lyric delivery in the demanding, high tessitura.” As a Carmina specialist, Skoog has performed this role forty-seven times in his career, including with the Minnesota Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Toledo Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Albany Symphony, Bangor Symphony, Baton Rouge Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Tulsa Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Midland Symphony and Valley Symphony Orchestras. Other engagements include Rachmaninoff’s The Bells in a return appearance with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Die Erste Walpurgisnacht with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Berlioz’ Requiem with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, as well as performances of Britten’s Saint Nicolas, Handel’s Messiah, Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes, Mozart’s Requiem and Ramirez’s Misa Criolla.  Prior to the COVID pandemic, he appeared in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Buffalo Philharmonic and Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with the University of Tennessee Chamber Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with the Knoxville Handel Society, Turandot with Knoxville Opera where he sang the role of Pong, and five performances of Carmina Burana with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Atlanta Wind Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Chattanooga Ballet and Delta Symphony Orchestra.

Also sought after for Messiah, Skoog has performed this work with the Duke University Chapel Choir and Symphony Orchestra, the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, and with numerous orchestras throughout the United States.  He has performed Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Choral Society of Durham at Duke University, Franck’s Die Sieben Worte Jesu am Kreuz, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Petite Messe Solonnelle, Beethoven’s Christus am Ölberge and Mass in C Major, and Dvorak’s Mass in D.

Skoog is recognized for his moving performances of the Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.  Other orchestral appearances include Mozart’s Requiem with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Verdi’s Requiem with the Modesto Symphony Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Dallas, Corpus Christi, Victoria, and East Texas Symphony Orchestras.  He appeared for two seasons at the OK Mozart International Festival, and as tenor soloist with the Canterbury Choral Society in Bruckner’s Te Deum and Mozart’s Coronation Mass.  Mr. Skoog’s passionate, artistic performances of Benjamin Britten works have attracted attention, with praise for his performances of the Canticles, Abraham and Isaac with the Dallas Opera Project, and Saint Nicolas with members of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra.

Twice a Metropolitan Opera regional finalist, Skoog made his professional operatic debut as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the Lyric Opera of San Antonio.  His operatic credits include such roles as Sam Polk in Susannah, Alfred in Die Fledermaus, Camille in The Merry Widow, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Pong in Turandot, Satyavan in Savitri, The Prince in The Love for Three Oranges, The Teapot in L’Enfant et Les Sortileges, as well as roles in Carmen, The Pirates of Penzance, Rita, and Werther.  An alumnus of the Des Moines Metro Opera Apprentice Program, Skoog was a finalist in the Dallas Opera Career Development Grant Auditions, and coached in master classes with John Wustman and the late Jerry Hadley.

In 2011, Skoog was the recipient of a Sandra G. Powell Excellence Professorship. Earlier that year, he received the Distinguished Faculty Award in Teaching awarded by the student body of the UT School of Music. Skoog has served as faculty advisor for the Theta Omicron chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity since 2006. He is a charter member and past-president of the Tennessee chapter of National Association of Teachers of Singing and is past-president of the UT chapter of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

Before his appointment at the University of Tennessee in 2003, Skoog was Instructor of Voice and Choral Music at Tyler Junior College (1995-2003) and the University of Texas at Tyler (1993-1995). During his tenure in Texas, his choirs performed at Carnegie Hall, Westminster Hall in London, England, the 2000 London New Year’s Day Parade, and for the Texas Music Educators Association.