Judith Overcash, soprano, originally hails from Charleston, South Carolina, but now claims Ohio as her home. She has spent several years specializing in the performance of music from the Medieval through the early Classical period and the 20th century, and has received repeated critical acclaim across the country. Judith was recently named as a finalist in the International Bodky Award Competition, the only vocalist ever to receive such a distinction. She holds masters and doctoral degrees in Early Music Performance Practice, as well as a BA in vocal performance, and she maintains active careers as a professional performer, musicologist, and educator.
Judith makes frequent appearances as a featured soloist with a number of period and modern ensembles and orchestras across the country, performing in programs ranging from 11th-century song to American musical theater. As a concert soloist, Judith has established a reputation performing large oratorio and dramatic works, but is perhaps most well-known for her performances of smaller, more intimate early music, florid compositions and chamber works. She is also ever-active as guest faculty and lecturer for special events and workshops, including most recently the International Historical Harp Conference, the Southeast Medieval Association International Conference in New Orleans, and the Amherst Early Music Festival and Workshop in Storrs, Connecticut. Judith has also done significant research into issues of early vocal performance and technique, making numerous appearances as lecturer, panelist, and instructor on topics such as musical rhetoric, early Baroque vocal ornamentation, the history and origins of early opera, and the editing and performance of early English songs.